The latest Megazine his packed with more action from Dredd, Blunt, Lawless, and The Vigilant!
Judge Dredd Megazine 421 is out now!
WE’RE CELEBRATING CLASSIC BRITISH COMICS THIS MONTH AS THE THIRD CHAPTER IN THE VIGILANT SAGA COMES TO THE MEGAZINE!
If you’ve read the previous two instalments, released as separate issues in 2018 and 2019, then you’ll know that the Brit superhero team of Doctor Sin, the Leopard From Lime Street, Blake Edmonds and more have assembled to take on the nefarious plans of the evil Von Hoffman.
Now, in the 22- page Rapture, Simons Furman and Coleby reunite for the grand finale – but will The Vigilant be victorious?
If you’re new to the characters, the mini-trade bagged with this issue contains some of the first episodes of their adventures when they were originally published in Jet, Speed, Buster and the like, while Stephen Jewell takes a deep dive into the history of Lion, one of the most popular anthology titles from the sixties and seventies, home to Robot Archie, The Spider, Dr. Mesmer’s Revenge and much more.
Elsewhere, there’s a complete Judge Dredd thriller from Rory McConville and Staz Johnson, the penultimate part of Blunt, and the latest instalment of Lawless.
We’re only a couple of months away from wrapping up all the current storylines to make way for the bumper 30th anniversary issue in September – you seriously don’t want to miss that, citizens!
Judge Dredd Megazine 421 is now available from all good comic book shops and newsagents – as well as 2000 AD‘s webshop and apps.
Don’t forget that if you buy this issue in print direct from
our webshop within the next month you’ll not pay a penny in postage fees in the
UK! And if you subscribe to the Megazine you’ll get a FREE print of each
month’s cover with each issue!
Script: Rory McConville / Art: Staz Johnson / Colours: Jim Boswell / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
JUDGE DREDD // The Fugitive // Part One
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Home to over 130 million citizens, this urban hell is situated
along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America, with the irradiated wasteland
known as the Cursed Earth to the west. Unemployment is rife, boredom universal and
crime is rampant. Tensions rest on a knife-edge and only the zero-tolerance Judges can
stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law!
Script: Simon Furman / Art: Simon Coleby / Colours: Len O’Grady / Letters: Simon Bowland
THE VIGILANT //Rapture // Part One
In an attempt to ascertain the secret of eternal life, the evil Nazi genius Von Hoffman plucked the immortal Adam Eterno from the timestream and trapped him in a hulking robot body. This action created a quantum bottleneck, causing different realities to crash and merge together. Master of occult magic Doctor Sin has assembled a team of superpowered individuals to confront Hoffman and his cronies, who are intent on raising Hell via the Blood Rapture…
Script: T. C. Eglington / Art: Boo Cook / Letters: Simon Bowland
BLUNT III // Part Seven
The Mega-City One colony Getri-1, 2138 AD. Earth colonists attempted to make a new home on the planet, but discovered that its flora and fauna are psychically linked, and the world itself fought back against any intruders. Following battles with mutants and the alien Zhind, half-human, half-Uplift Blunt has led the survivors to safety. Now, a rescue ship is coming…
Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Phil Winslade / Letters: Jim Campbell
LAWLESS // Boom Town / Part Seven
Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funds Badrock. Now, MC-1 has dispatched an SJS contingent to oversee Badrock as it becomes a free-trade town…
The latest Megazine his packed with more Devlin Waugh, Blunt, Lawless, Zombie Army, and more new Judge Dredd action!
Judge Dredd Megazine 420 is out now!
We know for many of you 2000 AD and the Meg are just what you need right now, delivering escapist entertainment as we’re all quarantined in our homes, and this issue is no exception, containing as it does the explosive final parts of the current Dredd, Devlin Waugh and Zombie Army thrillers.
Alongside Blunt and Lawless, we’ve also got an interview with art-droid Jake Lynch – who illustrates the Arthur Wyatt-scripted Orlok stories collected in the bagged mini-trade, and who also has drawn Al Ewing’s Dredd story for next month’s 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special.
Plus you get a look at a couple of new comics that deserve your attention: Rob Williams, Ollie Masters and Laurence Campbell’s Old Haunts, and the latest of Rebellion’s specials, Smash, which features all-new stories for the likes of the Spider, the Steel Claw and the House of Dolmann from creators such as Charlie Higson, Charlie Adlard, Chris Weston and more.
Talking of classic Brit characters, next month’s Meg will play host to the climax of The Vigilant, Simons Furman and Coleby’s superhero team-up. Don’t miss it!
Enjoy!
Judge Dredd Megazine 420 is now available from all good comic book shops and newsagents – as well as 2000 AD‘s webshop and apps.
Don’t forget that if you buy this issue in print direct from
our webshop within the next month you’ll not pay a penny in postage fees in the
UK! And if you subscribe to the Megazine you’ll get a FREE print of each
month’s cover with each issue!
Script: Arthur Wyatt / Art: PJ Holden / Colours: John Charles / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
JUDGE DREDD // BAD SECTOR / Part Three
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Home to over 130 million citizens, this urban hell is situated
along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America, with the irradiated wasteland
known as the Cursed Earth to the west. Unemployment is rife, boredom universal and
crime is rampant. Tensions rest on a knife-edge and only the zero-tolerance Judges can
stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law!
Script: Ales Kot / Art: Mike Dowling / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
DEVLIN WAUGH // A Very Large Splash / Part Six
The Amalfi Coast, 2141 AD. A freelance paranormal troubleshooter and exorcist for the Vatican, Devlin Waugh is the world’s foremost supernatural investigator. Despite becoming a vampire after getting bitten tackling an outbreak in an underwater prison, Devlin continues to enjoy the finer things in life. Recently, he trapped the spirit of the demon Titivillus in a dildo…
Script: T. C. Eglington / Art: Boo Cook / Letters: Simon Bowland
BLUNT III // Part Six
The Mega-City One colony Getri-1, 2138 AD. Earth colonists attempted to make a new home on the planet, but discovered that its flora and fauna are psychically linked, and the world itself fought back against any intruders. Following battles with mutants and the alien Zhind, half-human, half-Uplift Blunt has led the survivors to safety. Now, a rescue ship is coming…
Script: Chris Roberson / Art: Andrea Mutti / Colours: Matt Soffe / Letters: Simon Bowland
ZOMBIE ARMY // Last Rites / Part Five
Southern France, the second year of the Dead War. In the closing stages of WWII, Hitler called upon occult forces to raise an army of zombies to battle the Allies. Efram Schweiger, Marie Chevalier, Major Haripal Singh, Reginald Patterson and Shola are a team of Deadhunters, tasked with clearing out areas where the ghouls may still be present…
Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Phil Winslade / Letters: Jim Campbell
LAWLESS // Boom Town / Part Six
Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funds Badrock. Now, MC-1 has dispatched an SJS contingent to oversee Badrock as it becomes a free-trade town…
The latest Megazine his packed with more Devlin Waugh, Blunt, Lawless, Zombie Army, and more new Judge Dredd!
Judge Dredd Megazine 419 is out now!
AT THE TIME OF WRITING, THE DROIDS OF THE NERVE CENTRE HAVE BEEN SCATTERED TO THEIR VARIOUS homes to work remotely following the unprecdented spread of the coronavirus pandemic so you’re reading a Meg that has been assembled and edited in the most extraordinary circumstances.
Still, the plan is to keep providing the Thrills – because drokk knows we could all do with the escapism right now – and I hope you’ll all stick with us.
I know many of you may be self-isolating, and with non-essential shops shut it’ll be harder than ever to pick up your prog and Meg, but we’ve got additional copies of the latest issues in the warehouse so all you have to do is head over to shop.2000AD.com and you won’t miss an issue.
Keep an eye too on the Thrill-mail and the Twitter and Facebook feeds for the latest freebies to keep you entertained under lockdown.
As far as this month goes, we’ve got the penultimate parts of the current Dredd, Devlin Waugh and Zombie Army stories, plus there’s more action in Blunt and Lawless, chats with artists Chris Wildgoose and David Roach, and a look at the new Cor!! Buster special, which provides some much-needed laffs. Stay safe, citizens!
Enjoy!
Judge Dredd Megazine #419 is now available from all good comic book shops and newsagents – as well as 2000 AD‘s webshop and apps.
Don’t forget that if you buy this issue in print direct from
our webshop within the next month you’ll not pay a penny in postage fees in the
UK! And if you subscribe to the Megazine you’ll get a FREE print of each
month’s cover with each issue!
Script: Arthur Wyatt / Art: PJ Holden / Colours: John Charles / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
JUDGE DREDD // BAD SECTOR / Part Two
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Home to over 130 million citizens, this urban hell is situated
along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America, with the irradiated wasteland
known as the Cursed Earth to the west. Unemployment is rife, boredom universal and
crime is rampant. Tensions rest on a knife-edge and only the zero-tolerance Judges can
stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law!
Script: Ales Kot / Art: Mike Dowling / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
DEVLIN WAUGH // A Very Large Splash / Part Five
The Amalfi Coast, 2141 AD. A freelance paranormal troubleshooter and exorcist for the Vatican, Devlin Waugh is the world’s foremost supernatural investigator. Despite becoming a vampire after getting bitten tackling an outbreak in an underwater prison, Devlin continues to enjoy the finer things in life. Recently, he trapped the spirit of the demon Titivillus in a dildo…
Script: T. C. Eglington / Art: Boo Cook / Letters: Simon Bowland
BLUNT III // Part Five
The Mega-City One colony Getri-1, 2138 AD. Earth colonists attempted to make a new home on the planet, but discovered that its flora and fauna are psychically linked, and the world itself fought back against any intruders. Following battles with mutants and the alien Zhind, half-human, half-Uplift Blunt has led the survivors to safety. Now, a rescue ship is coming…
Script: Chris Roberson / Art: Andrea Mutti / Colours: Matt Soffe / Letters: Simon Bowland
ZOMBIE ARMY // Last Rites / Part Four
Southern France, the second year of the Dead War. In the closing stages of WWII, Hitler called upon occult forces to raise an army of zombies to battle the Allies. Efram Schweiger, Marie Chevalier, Major Haripal Singh, Reginald Patterson and Shola are a team of Deadhunters, tasked with clearing out areas where the ghouls may still be present…
Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Phil Winslade / Letters: Jim Campbell
LAWLESS // Boom Town / Part Five
Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funds Badrock. Now, MC-1 has dispatched an SJS contingent to oversee Badrock as it becomes a free-trade town…
The latest Megazine his packed with more Devlin Waugh, Blunt, Lawless, Zombie Army, and the finale to Judge Dredd: Plunder!
Judge Dredd Megazine 418 is out now!
THE PRECURSOR TO 2000 AD, THE TITLE THAT LAID THE TEMPLATE FOR THE GROUND-BREAKING GALAXY’S Greatest Comic a year later, Action blazed brightly in 1976 before being withdrawn from sale for its violent content and subsequently neutered.
Now it’s back this month in the shape of a one-off 48pp special, featuring contemporary creators like Garth Ennis, Henry Flint, Ram V and Staz Johnson tackling such classics as Dredger, Kids Rule OK, Hookjaw and Hellman of Hammer Force (drawn by Invasion! artist Mike Dorey, returning to the House of Tharg for the first time in thirty-five years!).
Those of you that order it via shop.2000AD.com can also get it bagged with an exclusive reproduction of the ‘banned’ issue from October 1976 that was pulled from newsagents’ shelves (the cover for which managed to use the word ‘suicide’ no less than three times…).
Here in the Meg we’ve got the start of a new Dredd thriller, Bad Sector, from Arthur Wyatt and PJ Holden, plus the latest instalments of Devlin Waugh, Blunt, Zombie Army and Lawless, plus looks at the new Trigan Empire editions and IDW’s latest Dredd mini-series.
Enjoy!
Judge Dredd Megazine #418 is now available from all good comic book shops and newsagents – as well as 2000 AD‘s webshop and apps.
Don’t forget that if you buy this issue in print direct from
our webshop within the next month you’ll not pay a penny in postage fees in the
UK! And if you subscribe to the Megazine you’ll get a FREE print of each
month’s cover with each issue!
Script: Arthur Wyatt / Art: PJ Holden / Colours: John Charles / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
JUDGE DREDD // BAD SECTOR / Part One
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Home to over 130 million citizens, this urban hell is situated
along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America, with the irradiated wasteland
known as the Cursed Earth to the west. Unemployment is rife, boredom universal and
crime is rampant. Tensions rest on a knife-edge and only the zero-tolerance Judges can
stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law!
Script: Ales Kot / Art: Mike Dowling / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
DEVLIN WAUGH // A Very Large Splash / Part Four
The Amalfi Coast, 2141 AD. A freelance paranormal troubleshooter and exorcist for the Vatican, Devlin Waugh is the world’s foremost supernatural investigator. Despite becoming a vampire after getting bitten tackling an outbreak in an underwater prison, Devlin continues to enjoy the finer things in life. Recently, he trapped the spirit of the demon Titivillus in a dildo…
Script: T. C. Eglington / Art: Boo Cook / Letters: Simon Bowland
BLUNT III // Part Four
The Mega-City One colony Getri-1, 2138 AD. Earth colonists attempted to make a new home on the planet, but discovered that its flora and fauna are psychically linked, and the world itself fought back against any intruders. Following battles with mutants and the alien Zhind, half-human, half-Uplift Blunt has led the survivors to safety. Now, a rescue ship is coming…
Script: Chris Roberson / Art: Andrea Mutti / Colours: Matt Soffe / Letters: Simon Bowland
ZOMBIE ARMY // Last Rites / Part Three
Southern France, the second year of the Dead War. In the closing stages of WWII, Hitler called upon occult forces to raise an army of zombies to battle the Allies. Efram Schweiger, Marie Chevalier, Major Haripal Singh, Reginald Patterson and Shola are a team of Deadhunters, tasked with clearing out areas where the ghouls may still be present…
Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Phil Winslade / Letters: Jim Campbell
LAWLESS // Boom Town / Part Four
Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funds Badrock. Now, MC-1 has dispatched an SJS contingent to oversee Badrock as it becomes a free-trade town…
The latest Megazine his packed with more Devlin Waugh, Blunt, Lawless, Zombie Army, and the finale to Judge Dredd: Plunder!
Judge Dredd Megazine 417 is out now!
Welcome, citizens to the second Judge Dredd Megazine of 2020! We’ve got the final instalment of Dredd thriller Plunder, plus there’s the latest instalments of Devlin Waugh, Blunt, Lawless and Zombie Army!
In the bagged mini-trade we delve again into Brit comics history by reprinting The Nightcomers and Terror of the Cats from the 1980s horror anthology Scream!.
The spiritual descendants of The Nightcomers’ Beth and Rick Rogan can be found in Finder & Keeper’s Meera and Eliot, the duo from the all-ages ghost-hunting strip that debuted in last year’s Regened issue, and is back again in Prog 2170, out 26 February.
Don’t miss it!
Judge Dredd Megazine #417 is now available from all good comic book shops and newsagents – as well as 2000 AD‘s webshop and apps.
Don’t forget that if you buy this issue in print direct from
our webshop within the next month you’ll not pay a penny in postage fees in the
UK! And if you subscribe to the Megazine you’ll get a FREE print of each
month’s cover with each issue!
Script: Michael Carroll / Art: Karl Richardson / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
JUDGE DREDD // PLUNDER / Part Three
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Home to over 130 million citizens, this urban hell is situated
along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America, with the irradiated wasteland
known as the Cursed Earth to the west. Unemployment is rife, boredom universal and
crime is rampant. Tensions rest on a knife-edge and only the zero-tolerance Judges can
stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law!
Script: Ales Kot / Art: Mike Dowling / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
DEVLIN WAUGH // A Very Large Splash / Part Three
The Amalfi Coast, 2141 AD. A freelance paranormal troubleshooter and exorcist for the Vatican, Devlin Waugh is the world’s foremost supernatural investigator. Despite becoming a vampire after getting bitten tackling an outbreak in an underwater prison, Devlin continues to enjoy the finer things in life. Recently, he trapped the spirit of the demon Titivillus in a dildo…
Script: T. C. Eglington / Art: Boo Cook / Letters: Simon Bowland
BLUNT III // Part Three
The Mega-City One colony Getri-1, 2138 AD. Earth colonists attempted to make a new home on the planet, but discovered that its flora and fauna are psychically linked, and the world itself fought back against any intruders. Following battles with mutants and the alien Zhind, half-human, half-Uplift Blunt has led the survivors to safety. Now, a rescue ship is coming…
Script: Chris Roberson / Art: Andrea Mutti / Colours: Matt Soffe / Letters: Simon Bowland
ZOMBIE ARMY // Last Rites / Part Two
Southern France, the second year of the Dead War. In the closing stages of WWII, Hitler called upon occult forces to raise an army of zombies to battle the Allies. Efram Schweiger, Marie Chevalier, Major Haripal Singh, Reginald Patterson and Shola are a team of Deadhunters, tasked with clearing out areas where the ghouls may still be present…
Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Phil Winslade / Letters: Jim Campbell
LAWLESS // Boom Town / Part Three
Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funds Badrock. Now, MC-1 has dispatched an SJS contingent to oversee Badrock as it becomes a free-trade town…
The latest Megazine contains more new Dredd, Devlin Waugh, Blunt, Lawless, and a brand new Zombie Army story!
A New Year and a new story joins the line-up in the shape of Zombie Army: Last Rites, a tie-in to Rebellion’s forthcoming videogame Zombie Army 4: Dead War, out 4 February.
Writer Chris Roberson – co-creator of DC Vertigo’s iZombie – makes his debut for the House of Tharg, while Andrea Mutti inks the ghoultastic mayhem as a squad of Deadhunters tackle an infested village in southern France. Fans of the franchise won’t also want to miss Roberson’s novel, Fortress of the Dead, which is published by Abaddon next month.
Elsewhere, we’ve got the second instalments of the current arcs for Judge Dredd, Blunt, Lawless and Devlin Waugh, a chat with Last Rites colourist Matt Soffe, and there’s also a look ahead to some of the stunning collections heading your way over the next twelve months, including The Trigan Empire, Third World War, Johnny Future and more.
With the number of books emerging from both the 2000 AD and Treasury of British Comics stables ever increasing – plus you’ve got all-new Action, Battle and Smash specials on the way too – there’s a cornucopia of graphic delights to enjoy in 2020!
Judge Dredd Megazine #416 is now available from all good comic book shops and newsagents – as well as 2000 AD‘s webshop and apps.
Don’t forget that if you buy this issue in print direct from
our webshop within the next month you’ll not pay a penny in postage fees in the
UK! And if you subscribe to the Megazine you’ll get a FREE print of each
month’s cover with each issue!
Script: Michael Carroll / Art: Karl Richardson / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
JUDGE DREDD // PLUNDER / Part Two
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Home to over 130 million citizens, this urban hell is situated
along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America, with the irradiated wasteland
known as the Cursed Earth to the west. Unemployment is rife, boredom universal and
crime is rampant. Tensions rest on a knife-edge and only the zero-tolerance Judges can
stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law!
Script: Ales Kot / Art: Mike Dowling / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
DEVLIN WAUGH // A Very Large Splash / Part Two
The Amalfi Coast, 2141 AD. A freelance paranormal troubleshooter and exorcist for the Vatican, Devlin Waugh is the world’s foremost supernatural investigator. Despite becoming a vampire after getting bitten tackling an outbreak in an underwater prison, Devlin continues to enjoy the finer things in life. Recently, he trapped the spirit of the demon Titivillus in a dildo…
BLUNT III // Part One
The Mega-City One colony Getri-1, 2138 AD. Earth colonists attempted to make a new home on the planet, but discovered that its flora and fauna are psychically linked, and the world itself fought back against any intruders. Following battles with mutants and the alien Zhind, half-human, half-Uplift Blunt has led the survivors to safety. Now, a rescue ship is coming…
Script: Chris Roberson / Art: Andrea Mutti / Colours: Matt Soffe / Letters: Simon Bowland
ZOMBIE ARMY // Last Rites
Southern France, the second year of the Dead War. In the closing stages of WWII, Hitler called upon occult forces to raise an army of zombies to battle the Allies. Efram Schweiger, Marie Chevalier, Major Haripal Singh, Reginald Patterson and Shola are a team of Deadhunters, tasked with clearing out areas where the ghouls may still be present…
Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Phil Winslade / Letters: Jim Campbell
LAWLESS // Boom Town / Part Two
Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funds Badrock. Now, MC-1 has dispatched an SJS contingent to oversee Badrock as it becomes a free-trade town…
Lawless returns in Judge Dredd Megazine #415 – out on 18th December!
Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade take us back to Badrock in ‘Boom Town’, where Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson IS the law.
But things have changed, with the events of ‘Ashes to Ashes’ (Megazine 400-409) transforming everything and everybody. Badrock is now the Free Town of Badrock, an incorporated free trade settlement zone, something totally new, totally different. We’re into unknown territory with Lawless, but then again… weren’t we always?
So with the beginning of ‘Boom Town’ in the new Megazine, Richard Bruton chatted with Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade about just where things are going in Lawless…
Now, after the events of ‘Ashes to Ashes’, things in Marshal Lawson’s world on Badrock and things affecting the Justice Department when it comes to Badrock have changed dramatically. Can you bring readers up to date with things and give us some idea of where you’ll be taking us in this new series?
Dan Abnett: The town of Badrock was established as a ‘service town’ for the mines and corporate developments of Munce Inc. Having survived Munce’s efforts to wipe them off the map, the people of Badrock have won an experimental ‘free trade’ status to help them stand on their own two feet. Lawson is driving that initiative, but it means she has to play by the book a little more and abide by the Justice Department terms and rules. It could be a new ‘lawful’ era for Lawless, which doesn’t quite suit Metta.
So the strip is shifting from ‘frontier survival’ to a new era of growth and stability. Which sounds lovely for the people of Badrock and as dull as ditchwater to for the readers.
But don’t worry… with new characters, the return of some old ones, new problems, and new threats – it will combine to keep things lively and “lawless”.
Again, the title of this one harks back to Westerns, the idea of the Boom Town of gold rushes and the like.
DA: It IS a western, and Phil and I are gleefully and shamelessly exploiting all the western tropes. Though not large scale like the “Alamo” warfare of the Munce fight, this first story may be the most brutal yet, in terms of violence and personal trauma.
Are we going to see major changes in the way Lawson has to deal with things now that she’s distinctly higher profile and under the watchful eye of the SJS and Justice Department?
DA: Some of the main new characters are the SJS watchdogs placed in town to oversee Lawson’s handling of the new status quo. There’s going to be some interpersonal conflict. And though several of the main storylines have come to an end, there are still some ongoing threads. Lawless is a bit of a soap opera, in many ways, and right from the off, all our series leads (Metta, Pettifer, Roy, Rondo, Hetch etc) get interweaving storylines of their own. There’s a lot going on, and some of them are going to go to some surprising, not to say shocking, places.
And whilst we’re talking about the SJS team that have been foisted on Lawson, it strikes me that there’s comedy gold in Lawson’s relationships with these SJS intruders, some of which we’ve already seen.
DA: Indeed. There’s Drury, who seems pretty ‘nice’ for an SJS guy (and he’s a bit of a hunk), and there’s the brittle and severe McLure (BTW – those character names are no accident, as any fan of The Virginian will notice). I am particularly enjoying the Lawson/McLure dynamic.
And the comedy is something that’s always featured throughout Lawless, something that comes out of the characters you’ve fleshed out so well.
DA: For a brutal story, there’s a lot of character comedy. I think it’s vital, otherwise everything gets too grim. But the humour comes from the personalities – and, hopefully, just sometimes from the vernacular. Some of the lines that people say seem to me to be funny not because they’re inherently funny, but because of the way they’re phrased. Each character (including new ones like Tony Dancer) have their own ‘voice’. Humour is an antidote to the bleakness. And there will be some bleakness.
Phil Winslade: And some gunfights!
Oh, yes, the gunfights!
There’s a real sense of the different in Lawless, that sense of collaboration and understanding that’s all through the saga. That idea that this community of humans, meks, uplifts, and mutants have found a way to work and live together, all of it brought about by the different attitude and approach of Lawson.
DA: We’ve always wanted to capture that sense of the immigrant community, very much based on the Old West model – different communities, different ‘ethnicities’, pulling together, each with their own specialisms, and some of them biased against others. Lawson is (for a judge) very much a supporter of equality and things here are somewhat an extension of themes begun back in Insurrection.
It is, I suppose, the cliché of the American ‘melting pot’, that can produce greatness but which can also manufacture prejudice and inequality as a by-product.
PW: I think we both saw more possibilities in quite complex dynamics. Dan’s really good at interweaving emotional or character plotlines, where the layers provoke ideas and interesting twists along with a real emotional punch. (It’s sometimes taken me by surprise when I’m reading the scripts or drawing it.)
We’ve talked of this before, but it bears repeating, the way that Lawless has always been a strip not just featuring strong female characters but one where they drive the story.
DA: I’m glad about that. We don’t plan it that way, but it’s nice to apply it in hindsight and see that we passed. Right from the start, the characters were just the characters. I didn’t sit down and decide to make the main leads strong female characters. Actually, that sounds dangerously like a white cis-gender male saying, ‘I don’t really see colour/orientation’, which is a bullshit response. What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t pursue a consciously ‘woke’ (ugh) agenda. I just came up with some characters and a storyline, and the story went where it went, and the characters were strong enough to react the way they were going to.
I think there’s every reason, in this day and age, for all writers to be more positively discriminating, but there’s a danger when that’s done deliberately of make it seem forced or artificially diverse.
I love Metta, and I adore Nerys. It never occurred to me that they would be anything other than they are. When, long after the strip’s debut, it was pointed out that it was a story lead by strong female characters, I saw what we’d done. And now I’m fully aware that I’m sound smug on top of everything else, so I’ll shut up.
PW: I’ve had the good fortune to work on really good female characters and find myself drawn more to them than anything else. Some artists are really into the grim and gritty or super guys or cheesecake but I’ve always found that stories with strong female leads appeal because of the emotional complexity, nuance and subtlety they can bring, as well as a different kind of strength.
In ‘Ashes to Ashes’, you finally had Lawson come clean to Nerys (of sorts) about the connection between Lawless and Insurrection, between Lawson and Freely. It established, in stone, that connection that was always hinted, glimpsed, there for readers who caught it.
DA: Yes, it’s always been there. I’ve never thought that people should have to read Insurrection first: they are separate entities. But the connections are there to be enjoyed for those who are aware. It’s time to pay that off, or the resonance is meaningless. And so, we’re about to.
Now, let’s talk about one of the big draws of Lawless; the glorious and different look to the art with Phil’s black and white style really making this a strip that stands out.
DA: Phil’s work is, and always has been, mind-blowingly good; the character work, the insane detail, the storytelling. It’s a proper honour to work with him and to develop a long and satisfying run on something with him. We have a rapport (I hope) and pass ideas back and forth, and they evolve. To be honest, I just do what I do – Phil’s the main draw. His work is the reason to follow this strip.
PW: Aw shucks (blushes) – I get really excited every time a new script is due, I cannot wait to read the next part and find out what’s happening to the characters who I see as friends (I certainly spend more time with them than anyone else in my life). It’s the characters that make this strip and Dan’s the lucky guy who hears their voices.
Dan, you work with artists using lush colour schemes, such as Mark Harrison on Grey Area and INJ Culbard on Brink, but you’ve also been involved with two great black and white series in Insurrection, with Colin MacNeil, and Lawless with Phil.
DA: I could myself very lucky to have built ongoing partnerships with such talented artists. As I said, I feel a real rapport with Phil, and I do with Ian and Mark too, but those rapports are all very different. Each collaboration is distinct, and works in a different way, and allows stories to grow individually. Grey Area, Brink and Lawless couldn’t be more different, really. I’m kinda delighted when people express surprise that, say, Brink is written by the same writer as Lawless.
What is it that determines the decision to go bold colour or equally bold black and white?
DA: Publication budget! To be fair, I’ve always loved black and white graphic strips. Buscema and Alcala on Conan is an all-time fave. But Phil’s work doesn’t need colour – it’s there intuitively. I think colour might even spoil the art or diminish his work. Lawless has the perfect look, and it’s the finest showcase of Phil’s work and visual effect I can think of.
PW: I KNOW there are things you can do in black and white and just line work you can’t in colour. I’m still discovering most of it, that’s what’s really fascinating and keeping me on the edge of competence. I learn from every page and see opportunities to constantly evolve, improve and create. One of the great things about a long strip is the chance to take creative risks, play with texture and light, character, mood and tone. Sometimes it’s tricky as you end up in a sort of no man’s land where you feel so far from what comic art is expected to be these days you struggle with confidence but then what I’m doing is hardly as radical as Mike McMahon or Kev O’Neil.
And Phil, if you wouldn’t mind taking us through what your process is for Lawless now, and has it changed much since you first started the strip?
PW: Well I’m annoyingly old school, the drawbacks of digital outweigh the myriad advantages for me – the main being the physical presence of the art. So I read the script a few times and break it down (roughly working out the shape of the layout, which are the bigger panels, etc.) I draw these as 10cm by 8cm thumbnails (it stops you getting too fussy with details), Then I transfer those by eye to an A4 sheet to look at body language and storytelling flow, then roughly make those more refined (usually by way of a lightbox), this is mainly characters, faces, indications of backgrounds etc. Then I put those on a lightbox and ink them (I don’t like erasing out on inks as the ink fades and I can see the inks as they form and can be sure the weights are right (well as right as I make them). I like there to be some drawing in the inks as tracing is boring and loses the spontaneity of line I like. I have done layouts on a few episodes digitally but found that I over-fussed and spent too long on them.
Nothing much has changed in the process since I started but each new episode evokes creative ideas to build on what’s gone before and explore from that to achieve the mood or feeling I get from the script. Sometimes it’s in the finish or the layouts or the character work. It’s very intuitive.
We’ve seen Lawless go through a fair few changes and just as we thought we knew where it was going, you threw us a fake and switched it around to bring us right where we are now, with a whole new set of rules alongside the old ones. It’s a big, bold new future for Lawless… but is this a brand-new direction or the beginning of the end of the saga? Just how many more tales do you have with Lawless?
DA: Right now? A lot!
Phil and I are so happy producing it, we don’t see an ending soon. It’s about the most fun either of us have ever had in comics, and the creative freedom of the long-form is wonderful. To my mind, we’ll stop the day we run out of ideas. When it feels like we’re just doing it for the sake of doing it, and forcing stories, or scraping barrels, then we might step back. I hope that’s not any time soon, and I don’t think it is.
PW: Agreed! I’m working with the best writer on the best strip with the best characters for the best publishers and the best, most supportive readership so as much more of this as they allow, please!
Thank you to both Dan and Phil for their answers and you can find the brand new Lawless series, Boom Town, in Judge Dredd Megazine issue 415 and you can catch up with the Lawless saga with the collections; Welcome to Badrockand Long-Range War.
Anderson, Psi-Divisionand Diamond Dogswrap up this issue, plus we have a complete Judge Dredd thriller from Rory McConville and Ian Richardson, another Tale From the Black Museum, this time courtesy of Laura Bailey and Brian Corcoran, and the penultimate part of The Returners:Chandhu.
Elsewhere, we chat to Steve MacManus and Dr Julia Round about their latest books – in Steve’s case, an excursion into prose fiction for The SheerGlam Conspiracy, a thinly veiled, blackly comic look at 1970s office politics in the Goodenough Publications building; in Julia’s a delve into the eerie world of supernatural title Misty in Gothic For Girls – plus there’s pieces on the new Fall of Deadworld novellas and No Yetis Allowed’s Judge Dredd Crime Files free-to-play mobile game, which you can download for iOS and Android devices right now!
Be here next month for no less than four new stories – alongside Dredd, we have the welcome return of Lawless by Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade, the third and final series of Blunt by T.C. Eglington and Boo Cook, plus Devlin Waugh’s back in A Very Large Splash by Ales Kot and Mike Dowling.
Judge Dredd Megazine #414 is now available from all good comic book shops and newsagents – as well as 2000 AD’s webshop and apps.
Don’t forget that if you buy this issue in print direct from our webshop within the next month you’ll not pay a penny in postage fees in the UK! And if you subscribe to the Megazine you’ll get a FREE print of each month’s cover with each issue!
Rory McConville (w) Ian Richardson (a) Matt Soffe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North
America is home to over 130 million citizens. Unemployment is rife, boredom universal, and crime is rampant. Stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges, future law-enforcers empowered to dispense instant justice. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law!
BLACK MUSEUM // BIG MARILYN
Laura Bailey (w) Brian Corcoran (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Deep in the heart of the Grand Hall of Justice lies the Black Museum, Justice Department’s permanent exhibition of the relics from bygone crimes. Whether it’s a notorious serial killer’s trophies or the weapons of the Dark Judges, the violent history of the Big Meg is laid bare here. Let undead guide Henry Dubble show you around…
DIAMOND DOGS // PART SIX
James Peaty (w) Warren Pleece (a) Simon Bowland (l)
Brit-Cit, 2141 AD. The remnants of old Britain still exist alongside the twenty-second century Mega-City, and these ruins are fought over by the Brit-Cit street gangs, who see them as valuable territory. Jimmy Slick’s Diamond Dogs is one such outfit, making a name for themselves in the criminal underworld. But Jimmy’s lieutenant, Nia Jones, is an informant for the Judges…
THE RETURNERS // CHANDHU // PART SIX
Si Spencer (w) Nicolo Assirello (a) Eva De La Cruz (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Ciudad Barranquilla, 2141 AD. Four different people – academic Barrancourt, ex-Judge Mineiro, gangbanger Correira, and transgender street-walker Chavez – all awoke from near-death experiences, and as a consequence are capable of dealing with the supernatural. Now, in the ruins of amuseument park Chandhu they’ve discovered something’s been buried…
ANDERSON, PSI DIVISION // THE DEAD RUN // PART FIVE
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Psi-Division is a section of Justice Department that specialises in Judges with accentuated psychic talents – from precognition to exorcism, it is at the forefront in the war against supernatural crime. Cass Anderson is the division’s top telepath, and together with fellow Psi-Judge Corann Ryan she’s leading a group of psi-cadets on their Hotdog Run…
WELCOME TO THE OCTOBER ISSUE OF THE JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE!
October is a month often associated with the supernatural, so naturally it’s the ideal time to release the latest Scream special, which should be hitting retailers’ shelves even as you read these words.
Rather than the anthologies for the previous two years, Scream Presents The Thirteenth Floor: Home Sweet Home is an all-new 48-pager singularly devoted to Maxwell Towers, and picks up the story from the last two instalments.
Scripted once again by Guy Adams, it features a remarkably diverse cast of artists, including John Stokes, Kelley Jones, Abigail Harding, Vince Locke, Tom Paterson and more.
Elsewhere, there’s a complete Dredd and a Black Museum tale alongside Diamond Dogs, The Returners and Anderson, Psi-Div, a chat with new Defoe artist Stewart K. Moore, a look at Osprey Games’ latest 2000 AD release Helter Skelter, and a tribute to Medivac 318 artist Nigel Dobbyn, who sadly died suddenly last month at the age of fifty-six. Respected and admired by all who knew his work, he will be much missed.
Judge Dredd Megazine 413 is now available from all good comic book shops and newsagents – as well as 2000 AD‘s webshop and apps. It can be ordered from comic book stores via Diamond Distribution using code JAN192059.
Don’t forget that if you buy this issue in print direct from our webshop within the next month you’ll not pay a penny in postage fees in the UK! And if you subscribe to the Megazine you’ll get a FREE print of each month’s cover with each issue!
T. C. Eglington (w) Dan Cornwell (a) Jim Boswell (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 130 million citizens. Unemployment is rife, boredom universal, and crime is rampant. Stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges, future law-enforcers empowered to dispense instant justice. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law!
BLACK MUSEUM // TAINTED LOVE
Rory McConville (w) Joe Palmer (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Deep in the heart of the Grand Hall of Justice lies the Black Museum, Justice Department’s permanent exhibition of the relics from bygone crimes. Whether it’s a notorious serial killer’s trophies or the weapons of the Dark Judges, the violent history of the Big Meg is laid bare here. Let undead guide Henry Dubble show you around…
DIAMOND DOGS // PART FIVE
James Peaty (w) Warren Pleece (a) Simon Bowland (l)
Brit-Cit, 2141 AD. The remnants of old Britain still exist alongside the twenty-second century Mega-City, and these ruins are fought over by the Brit-Cit street gangs, who see them as valuable territory. Jimmy Slick’s Diamond Dogs is one such outfit, making a name for themselves in the criminal underworld. But Jimmy’s lieutenant, Nia Jones, is an informant for the Judges…
THE RETURNERS // CHANDHU
Si Spencer (w) Nicolo Assirello (a) Eva De La Cruz (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Ciudad Barranquilla, 2141 AD. Four different people – academic Barrancourt, ex-Judge Mineiro, gangbanger Correira, and transgender street-walker Chavez – all awoke from near-death experiences, and as a consequence are capable of dealing with the supernatural. Now, in the ruins of amuseument park Chandhu they’ve discovered something’s been buried…
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Psi-Division is a section of Justice Department that specialises in Judges with accentuated psychic talents – from precognition to exorcism, it is at the forefront in the war against supernatural crime. Cass Anderson is the division’s top telepath, and together with fellow Psi-Judge Corann Ryan she’s leading a group of psi-cadets on their Hotdog Run…
WELCOME TO THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF THE MIGHTY MEGAZINE!
In this month’s zarjaz meg we’ve got the thrilling final instalments of The Red Queen’s Gambit and DeMarco, P.I. plus more Diamond Dogs, The Returners and Anderson, Psi-Div!
Rebellion’s genre fiction imprint Abaddon has been expanding its range of 2000 AD titles in recent years, and in this month’s meg we chat to the authors behind a couple of the newest titles!
Firstly Judge Anderson: Year Two, in which Mega-City’s top telepath has been handed to Danie Ware, Laurel Sills and Zina Hutton to chart cases from Cass’s formative years, and secondly Scarlet Traces, an Ian Edginton-edited shared-world anthology in which writers like Stephen Baxter, Emma Beeby, Adam Roberts and more get to explore this post War of the Worlds universe!
Look out too this month for The Fall of Deadworld: Red Mosquito, the first novella in a trilogy of terrifying tales set in the same apocalyptic continuity as Kek-W and Dave Kendall’s popular strip.
Those selfsame creators are back in the Galaxy’s Greatest on 25 September for Doomed, the latest arc in the Dark Judges saga, joining brand-new stories for Dredd, Hope, Defoe and Brink in the bumper 48-page jumping-on issue Prog 2150, which you most certainly won’t want to miss.
See you in thirty, citizens!
Judge Dredd Megazine 412 is now available from all good comic book shops and newsagents – as well as 2000 AD‘s webshop and apps. It can be ordered from comic book stores via Diamond Distribution using code JAN192059.
Don’t forget that if you buy this issue in print direct from our webshop within the next month you’ll not pay a penny in postage fees in the UK! And if you subscribe to the Megazine you’ll get a FREE print of each month’s cover with each issue!
Arthur Wyatt (w) Jake Lynch (a) John Charles (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 130 million citizens. Crime is rampant and stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges, empowered to dispense instant justice. Toughest of all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law! Now, Dredd’s battling a clone of Sov agent Orlok, lieutenant to Euro criminal the Red Queen…
DEMARCO, P.I. // AN EYE… – Part Three
Laura Bailey (w) Paul Williams (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Galen DeMarco was once a Judge, a rising star operating out of the corrupt dumping ground that was Sector House 301. But she quit the force after one romantic indiscretion too many and set herself up as a P.I. Now, having been approached by prospective client Charlu Chetcutti to keep an eye on his paranoid mother, DeMarco investigates her death…
DIAMOND DOGS // PART FOUR
James Peaty (w) Warren Pleece (a) Simon Bowland (l)
Brit-Cit, 2141 AD. The remnants of old Britain still exist alongside the twenty-second century Mega-City, and these ruins are fought over by the Brit-Cit street gangs, who see them as valuable territory. Jimmy Slick’s Diamond Dogs is one such outfit, making a name for themselves in the criminal underworld. But Jimmy’s lieutenant, Nia Jones, is an informant for the Judges…
THE RETURNERS // CHANDHU – Part Four
Si Spencer (w) Nicolo Assirello (a) Eva De La Cruz (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Ciudad Barranquilla, 2141 AD. Four different people – academic Barrancourt, ex-Judge Mineiro, gangbanger Correira, and transgender street-walker Chavez – all awoke from neardeath experiences, and as a consequence are capable of dealing with the supernatural. Now, they’ve been tasked with rescuing a Sino citizen from the Mongolian Free Zone…
ANDERSON, PSI DIVISION // THE DEAD RUN – Part Three
Mega-City One, 2141 AD. Psi-Division is a section of Justice Department that specialises in Judges with accentuated psychic talents – from precognition to exorcism, it is at the forefront in the war against supernatural crime. Cass Anderson is the division’s top telepath, and together with fellow Psi-Judge Corann Ryan she’s leading a group of psi-cadets on their Hotdog Run…
