The Comicon Monthly Megazine Preview – Issue 408: Marvelous Marshal Lawson’s The Star

The Monthly Megazine – does exactly what you think it does! Every month, here at Comicon.com, we give you a look inside the latest Judge Dredd: Megazine, packed full of extended sci-fi action.

Inside, there’s the second part of the new Dredd series, The Crazy, more brilliant Lawless, more Storm Warning, and another chilling episode of Dark Judges horror in The Torture Garden. And rounding it out, there’s a new Black Museum tale.

Megazine Issue 408 is out in the UK and on digital on the 15th of May. If you’re elsewhere in the world, where you don’t have to cope with the stupidity that is Brexit, you’ll need to pop in your local comic shop and ask for it. You won’t be disappointed!

JUDGE DREDD: THE CRAZY – PART 2 – FINAL PART – Kenneth Niemand, Nick Dyer, colors John Charles, letters Annie Parkhouse.

Dredd made his way out to the Cursed Earth to investigate illegal and dangerous broadcasts from ex-Judge Harrigan, who took the Long Walk some 18 years back.

But, with Cursed Earth marauders finally working out that the old defences round Harrigan’s compound are all knackered, Dredd finds he’s got more pressing problems than sorting the comms problem out.

It’s been a nice little 2-parter, with interesting ideas about just what happens when a Judge’s mind starts going, with Harrigan’s problems dealt with far more sympathetically by Dredd than you’d expect. As for Dyer’s art, it’s got an old-school ruggedness about it, and there’s even a moment on the final page tribute to a lost relative. Nicely done.

LAWLESS: ASHES TO ASHES – PART 9 – Dan Abnett, Phil Winslade, letters Ellie De Ville.

Well, Dan Abnett sure put us all through the mill there with that jump forward, giving us all chance to grieve alongside the magnificent Metta Lawson, Marshal of Badrock.

Now, it’s time to debrief, as Lawson throws open the door to the SJS and the rest of the cavalry, and watch the downfall of Munce, Inc. while Marshal Lawson makes her case for a peaceful co-existence with the Zhind.

But first, a drink…

Yes, we’re getting to the end of this series of Lawless. It has the feeling of being the final Lawless as well, but I’m so hoping it’s not. This has, genuinely, been an incredible ride, with some magnificent characters and incredible tales.

And, of course, all of this is made so much greater thanks to the simply gorgeous artwork from Phil Winslade. It’s just wonderful to look at, completely different from anything else out there and has been right from the start.

STORM WARNING: GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND – PART 5 – FINAL PART – Leah Moore, John Reppion, Tom Foster, colours – Eva Del La Cruz, letters Simon Bowland.

As we reach the end of this third Strom Warning series, the excellent Judge Lillian Storm has a close encounter with some psi-activated flora and figures out exactly who’s behind all the deaths she’s been investigating.

It’s been an excellent Storm series, the best yet, and Tom Foster’s artwork really does get better and better, in all its Bollandish glory.

BLACK MUSEUM: JUST BUSINESS – Rory McConville and Neil Googe, letters Annie Parkhouse

Deep in the heart of the Grand Hall of Justice, you’ll find the Black Museum, collection of criminal ephemera and dangerous devices, all curated by your undead guide, Henry Dubble.

Now, you wouldn’t think Neil Googe’s artwork would be a good fit for Balck Museum, but you know what? You’d be wrong.

We’re used to seeing it in full colour in Survival Geeks, but here, in glorious black and white, he captures all the tongue in cheek necessary for another good tale told by Rory McConville, through our host, Henry Dubble.

It’s all about big business and little people, about crime, about the inevitable fall from grace. But, when these Black Museum strips are done right, just like this one, they turn into a great, extended future shock type of thing.

THE DARK JUDGES: THE TORTURE GARDEN – PART 9 – David Hine, Nick Percival, letters Annie Parkhouse.

As the Torture Garden reaches its finale, the Marines have, finally, arrived to rescue the survivors. But there’s just the small matter of getting past the Dark Judges, detonating the bomb to wipe them out, and getting the hell off this planet. And, wouldn’t you know it, something’s gone wrong with the detonation sequence… oh, that old chestnut!

Aside from that pretty predictable twist with the bomb, it’s all great stuff, Percival’s art still the best when he’s doing the nightmarish Dark Judges.