downthetubes publisher John Freeman is interviewed by Matthew Badham in the latest issue of the new look Judge Dredd Megazine (Issue 451), on sale now, an edition rammed with action-packed comic strips.
The Megazine has had a face-lift this month – the print mag is now squarebound, with the reprint moved inside the mag itself, ditching the polybag and the separate mini-trades.
To mark this format change, this bumper Xmas issue is a massive 144 pages in which alongside the latest instalments of “Devlin Waugh”, “Surfer”, “Storm Warning” and “Death Metal Planet” – plus, of course, a complete seasonal case for Judge Dredd, courtesy of Ken Niemand and Stewart K. Moore. There are also got two bonus stories in the shape of an eight-page “Judge Dredd” by Rob Williams and Will Conrad, and the debut of “Mega-City 2099”, a slice of retro law enforcement from Niemand and Conor Boyle, channelling that 1970s aesthetic.
Elsewhere there are interviews with two comics creators that have dipped their toes into prose – former “Rogue Trooper” script-droid Gerry Finley-Day and cover artist John Watson – as well as writer and editor John Freeman, discussing his 30-year plus career in comics, from Marvel UK through to B7 Comics today, plus reprints of the first issues of Judge Dredd: Year One and Mega-City Two: City of Courts, both originally published by IDW, and some classic Steel Claw material.
• Judge Dredd Megazine #451 is available in print from: newsagents and comic book stores via Diamond | Available in digital from: 2000AD webshop and apps for iPad, Android and Windows 10
Strips in this issue…
JUDGE DREDD // Dollman
Script: Ken Niemand / Art: Stewart K Moore / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Mega-City One, 2144 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 180 million citizens. Unemployment is endemic, boredom universal, and tensions run on a constant knife-edge. Crime is rampant, and stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law!
STORM WARNING // Dead & Gone, part three
Script: John Reppion / Art: Clint Langley / Letters: Jim Campbell
Brit-Cit, 2147 AD. Much like its Mega-City counterpart, Brit-Cit Justice Department has its various divisions, from Tek to plainclothes, Tactical to Psi, and one of its more prickly operatives in the latter is Lillian Storm, who has the ability to talk to the dead, and is always accompanied by her ghostly helpers. Now, Storm has been seemingly laid to rest to cross into the afterlife…
DEVLIN WAUGH // Karma Police, part three
Script: Aleš Kot / Art: Rob Richardson / Letters: Simon Bowland
Brit-Cit, 2144 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. Now, after a trip to Hell, he must investigate the curse on his bloodline…
DARK JUDGES // Death Metal Planet, part three
Script: David Hine / Art: Nick Percival / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
After the events on the Mayflower, in which the Dark Judges were ejected into space, they ended up on the colony world of Dominion, which they proceeded to decimate. When Mega- City marines were sent in, assisted by survivor Rosco, the planet was destroyed. Worshipped like gods on Thanatopia by a death-cult, they’ve now been targeted by a death-metal band…
SURFER // Book Two, part three
Script: John Wagner / Art: Colin MacNeil / Colours: Chris Blythe / Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Mega-City One, 2144 AD. Skysurfing is one of the most popular pastimes in the twenty-second century metropolis, a sport that requires a great deal of skill and agility. Young Zane Perks is a particularly gifted surfer, and won a place to be in an illegal movie recreating the famous Supersurf 7. Now Zane’s trying to save his father from local crim Snarky by doing a courier job…
JUDGE DREDD // Year One
Script: Matt Smith / Art: Simon Coleby / Colours: Len O’Grady / Letters: Chris Mowry
‘The Long Hard Road’ begins here! In an adventure from Joe Dredd’s early days as a Mega City-One Judge, writer (and Eagle-Award-winning 2000 AD Editor) Matt Smith presents a tale where ‘all the young juves, carry the news,’ only in this case, the news is delivered with a lethal blow!
JUDGE DREDD: MEGA-CITY TWO // City of Courts
Script: Douglas Wolk / Art: Ulises Farinas / Colours: Ryan Hill / Letters: Tom B. Long
Dredd heads Californee way! As part of a judicial exchange program, Dredd is sent packing to Mega-City Two, a sprawling city covering 5,000 square miles of the Californian West Coast and centered in what was once known as Los Angeles, where he soon discovers that they do things differently there.
THE STEEL CLAW // Reign of the Brain
Script: Tom Tully / Art: Jesús Blasco
A preview of the second collection of the sci-fi classic, The Steel Claw: Reign of the Brain! This collects writer Tom Tully’s first two stories originally published in the comic Valiant between 1963 and 1964.
MEGA-CITY 2099 // Rampage
Script: Ken Nieman / Art: Conor Boyle / Letters: Jim Campbell
A brand new retro tale set 45 years ago in the year that Judge Dredd first roared onto the pages of 2000 AD! In 2099 AD, Judge Dredd is the law!
JUDGE DREDD // Sole Occupant
Script: Rob Williams / Art: Will Conrad / Colours: Dylan Teague / Letters: Simon Bowland
• Judge Dredd Megazine #451 is available in print from: newsagents and comic book stores via Diamond | Available in digital from: 2000AD webshop and apps for iPad, Android and Windows 10
• 2000AD Prog 2312 – Bumper Christmas Issue – Still on Sale
The traditional bumper, end-of-year prog celebrates your planet’s festive season and also cap another scrotnig twelve months of circuit-frying zarjazness!
We’ve unfortunately had to bid farewell to a number of beloved creators this year, such as Ian Kennedy, Garry Leach, and most recently Alan Grant and Kevin O’Neill, so this issue has something of a melancholic feel, with fellow writers and artists paying tribute to Alan and Kevin, who were so enormously influential in the Galaxy’s Greatest’s development. You’ll also find inside what turned out to be Kevin’s last work for 2000 AD, as he teamed up with Garth Ennis to revisit that scourge of the spaceways, Bonjo From Beyond the Stars, a strip he originally created for this pulse-pounding publication well over forty years ago.
Elsewhere, an old face from Dredd’s past turns up in ‘The Last Temptation of Joe’, there’s the start of new series for Joe Pineapples, Proteus Vex and The Out, a complete Rogue Trooper story, and much more.
Available in print from: newsagents and comic book stores via Diamond | Available in digital from: 2000AD webshop and apps for iPad, Android and Windows 10
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