2026AD: Judge Dredd Megazne 490

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Judge Dredd: Human Grade

‘Human Grade’ opens with a literal dog bites man situation and Wessel, a long-time friend and one of the most consistently fun writers working today, picks that up and runs with it. The investigation leads Dredd through a surprisingly large slice of the Big Meg, including the couple at the heart of it, the city’s unusual attitudes towards meat and my new favourite Judges, Animal Control. Their helmets have paw prints. It’s adorable.

It’s not alone either. Boo Cook’s art is expressive and just a little unsettling in the way all good Dredd is. There’s this lovely, Gilliam-esque sense of the city moving a little too fast, being a little too big. The fact the story opens with animal euthanasia (And it’s Dredd so it isn’t subtle) plays into that but in a weird and very successful way. Citizens have been wronged, including the dog and Dredd’s righteous fury is not species specific. There’s some fun panel choices too, including a split screen beatdown that emphasizes Dredd’s implacability and the fragility of the very bad men he’s in the process of arresting. This is FUN and feels nested inside the bigger story of the city. A good time all around.

Tales of Cursed Earth: Judge GRRRR’s Last Stand

Ned Hartley, another friend, is up next with Judge Grrr’s Last Stand. Grrrr is a T-Rex. He is in judge boots and a judge helment. This is so much fun. Hartley gives Grrrr a Dredd-ian internal monologue and some pretty solid Judge skills, albeit folded into a terrifying three storey-tall murder chicken. There’s pathos too! Steve White’s art and the carefully washed out colours of John Charles, wrapping around Simon Bowland’s lettering to create an absurd, rad-soaked western with a surprising amount of heart.

One of the things that sets the Megazine apart is its commitment to non-fiction, which in comics, is incredibly rare. This issue that includes a look at overlooked and 40(!) year old Pete Milligan and Brendan McCarthy story that’s well worth a revisit. It’s a nice piece, and it plays like an extended Moviedrome intro. And now you know how old I am.

Following that is an interview with PJ Holden, another friend and recent Dredd artist over on 2000AD. PJ has a lovely eye for chunky SF and big ideas and the interview is a welcome spotlight for a great artist. It also includes a few pages of his patreons strip, Terran Omega, whch publishes weekly and is excellent. Classic spooky abandoned spaceship stuff that will warm the cockles of every Mothership warden, Warframe player and anyone who ever wanted to read about bad things happening in space. I always do.

Fargo & Mcbane: Favoured Sons

Ken Niemand’s Fargo & McBane is up next, with Holden on art! Quinton Winter is on colours and Annie Parkhouse letters her second strip for the issue. Jack McBane is a one-eyed justice machine! Eartha Fargo is his partner and only friend in their two cop battle against the Supernatural! The premise isn’t new ground but Holden’s lovely, characterful art and Winter’s grimehouse colours make every page land, especially the ones set underground. The script knows what it is and pushes it’s luck in some very fun ways too. McBane is a ludicrous figure aware of how ridiculous he is and the pathos that brings forward gives the story a surprising edge. I wasn’t expecting to like this one as much as I did.

Department K: No More

Hartley’s back on deck with Department K, about the apparent fall of the Tek-Div unit designed to fight etradimensional threats. The first page hits like a hammer blow, as Mike Walter’s night drenched art and Simon Bowland’s careful, pained lettering read us into the very bad thing that’s happened to everyone. At the core of it is a catastrophic first contact with an entity riding Judge Afua and Hartley plays the scene as one part fight one part rescue mission and at a pace that tells you tragedy is imminent. And then tragedy arrives as we see Afua and her passenger rip the department apart. I have no idea where this is going to go, I’ve never read the strip before and I’m invested.

Rok the World: Part 3

John Wagner’s Rok the World is next and has one of the best ‘Sure, why not?’ premises I’ve ever seen, Rok is a galactic warlord who has ended up on Earth disguised as a professional footballer. He’s surprisingly okay with this. Wagner can do this sort of thing standing on his head and there’s some nice Doomlord vibes for those who remember him. What makes it work though is how deadly straight it’s played, and Dan Cornwell’s expressive art and the grounded colours from Jim Boswell speak to that. Rob Steen’s lettering is great too and if you want Ted Lasso crossed with my favourite Futurama newscaster, this is for you.

Another non-fiction feature next about the upcoming Action 50th Annversary Special. Again, nicely handled work and while, like Rok, it’s not a type of story I connect with it’s one I can certainly appeciate the talent behind.

Megatropolis II: Part 6

Niemand’s second appeaance this month is Megatropolis II, which is one of those strips I instantly need to read the rest of. Set in an art-deco alternat timeline, it’s drenched in chrome and halogen by Dave Taylor’s art and plays like an extraordinarily angry gumbo of Metropolis, Megalopolis and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. The art is incedible and the fragility of the characters and their world echoes the opening story in some very clever ways. I particulr love the idea of Rico as the only honest cop in the city and the not-quite Judge uniforms but what I appreciate most is that this doesn’t feel like a ‘What IF?! Batman was BLONDE!’ alternate universe story. It’s got a reason to exist, it feels weighty.

And that’s my first issue of the Megazine…possibly this decade?! It’s a fun one!

Issue 490 is available now.The Megazine is published monthly

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