Judge Dredd Megazine #478: Meg 478

The Megazine’s publisher Rebellion has a new videogame out this month, the very British post-apocalyptic action-survival epic Atomfall, set in the fictional 1950s village of Wyndham after a nuclear disaster, and tying in with it is a brand-new four-part series starting this issue by Jonathan Howard and Anthony Williams, which acts as a prologue to the game.

Elsewhere, there’s the final parts of Riley’s Rebels, Devlin Waugh and Fargo & McBane, and Lawless takes a break for a few months before resuming later this year.

We also mark an auspicious anniversary this year – not just the Meg’s thirty-fifth birthday, but thirty years since the release of the Sylvester Stallone-starring Judge Dredd film, which opened in the UK in July 1995. To celebrate the occasion, the official comic adaptation by Andy Helfer and Carlos Ezquerra is getting reprinted this month for the first time in decades, a curio that’s an interesting addition to the Dredd library.

As David Bishop reveals in the feature about the strip, the lawman couldn’t look like Stallone – but then again, he isn’t the Dredd we know from the comics, either. Whatever you think of the movie, the book’s a worthwhile purchase!

JUDGE DREDD // MESSIAH COMPLEX, Part Two

Mega-City One, 2146 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 200 million citizens, bordered by the irradiated Cursed Earth to the west and the toxic Black Atlantic to the east. Tensions run a knife-edge and crime is rampant. Stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law!

DEATH CAP // FRONTIER JUSTICE, Part Six

The Cursed Earth, 2144 AD. This blasted, irradiated wilderness covers much of what’s left of post-apocalyptic twenty-second century North America. Here, mutants scratch out a meagre existence in ramshackle townships. Former Judge Anita Goya’s family were massacred, and she became infected with a virulent fungus. Now she’s being hunted by Justice Dept…

FARGO & MCBANE // NEW YORK’S FINEST, Part Six

New York City, the 1970s. Detective Jack McBane was one of the toughest cops to patrol the metropolis, having no compunction in handing out summary justice upon criminals. Although his ruthless attitude wins him few friends, he has one in Officer Eartha Fargo, who worked with him in NYC before moving out to Jaxville with her family. Now they’ve reunited…

DEVLIN WAUGH // TWO MONTHS OFF, Part Six

Brit-Cit, 2146 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, he’s on holiday with three friends, but things have turned weird…

ROK OF THE REDS // Chapter Three

Dangerous intergalactic outlaws and an arrogant footballer collide, on the run after his home world is destroyed, Rok of Arkadi needs a hiding place. And that hiding place happens to be troubled football star Kyle Dixon. A black comedy about revenge, redemption and the ‘beautiful game’.

RILEY’S REBELS // Part Five

The Cursed Earth: an irradiated wasteland covering much of what was once the United States. Inhabited today by mutants, exiles… and lost children. Now, Riley wanders this wilderness, looking for something important…

ATOMFALL // Part One

It’s 1957, and investigative journalist Jenny Coggins has been sent by her bosses to explore the picturesque village of Wyndham. Nothing ever happens in Wyndham – except that recently a mysterious plant has been built in the confines of the village. After receiving a message that the plant is not all that it seems, Jenny finds out that something very strange is happening in the woods…

LAWLESS // A TOWN CALLED BADROCK, 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 funded Badrock. Now, with the SJS also running things, Lawson’s recently returned to the force after going undercover…