2 out of 5

Where to start, where to start…

There should be excitement that Douglas Wolk wrote a Dredd comic book. His Dredd Reckoning reviews were tons of fun to read, and still serve as great references to me to connect little minutiae, or just to get another point of view on some of the non-“major” Dredd collections. It’s undeniable from sifting through those that Wolk knows his Dredd, or had a mind for collating years of history – both real and fictional – and applying it to a critical lens, but also a fandom one; i.e. accepting the long-running 2000 AD characters with their flaws, but able to acknowledge them at the same time. Add to this some great analytical work done on comics itself, and we’ve got someone prepped with all that MC-1 lore, and also quite familiar / comfortable with the comic book format as well.

But, y’know, comic book writing is still a skill that has to be trained.

Mega City Two: City of Courts is a fantastic concept, and that concept is, er, fantastically visualized by artist Ulises Fariñas, but it’s beat-by-beat storytelling is, unfortunately, incredibly lacking, both in writing and art. I should say that I haven’t been a fan of Fariñas, who I will put into a category with artists like Brandon Graham and some other Meathaus crew types – incredibly dense, detailed work that I, personally, find illegible. It’s awesome Where’s Waldo stuff, I just have not had success at reading books from that style of artist, where a kind of flatness makes focus (for me) impossible, and overly stylized pages interrupt eye direction and flow. I’d snip that Mega City Two includes some flip-the-book sideways layouts in its final issue; if you have a kneejerk twinge to that… yeah.

To dial back a bit, I think that Ulises insanely dense pages and cartoonish character designs – very bubbly, slightly aloof looking characters – vibes with the lighthearted vibe of the book, but does not vibe with the plot; it’s something that I think could’ve worked well as a one-shot or maybe two-issue tale, but extended to five… it’s exhaustive, and very much undermines any sense of buildup in the story.

Regarding which: Wolk smartly identified that MC-2 has not had much focus in years, and decided to give it some. And I think his pitch for the city is, sincerely, brilliant: MC-1 has adapted evolving technologies into its locked-down law-ordered state; MC-2 is rather imagined almost like the modern world – run by social media – and figures how the judges might fit into that. So Dredd has an invite to Mega City Two to star on a “reality” show of sorts, and can only be equipped with friendly weapons, and has staged fights, and etc. I really, really like this idea. But again, that idea on its own – done up for a laugh, at least – supports maybe only a couple of issues. So Wolk lays it on top of an undercover op, trying to suss out some MC-1 baddies in MC-2, and I think issue by issue Dredd makes progress on finding his perps – while suffering the “do it for the cameras” operations, and not trying to let the social-media-star MC-2 Chief Judge know what he’s up to – but Wolk overstuffs things with (perhaps unsurprisingly) way too many lore nods, and the offhand banter combines with Fariñas’ over-the-top style to completely distract us from any plot advancement. By the last issue, it essentially felt like the story had been crumpled up and thrown away.

So I have my bias, and perhaps some expectation at seeing Wolk on writing duties. Alas, the general reception of the book in the 2000 AD forums seems to somewhat align, but all that suggests is maybe people with like opinions gather in the same place. I think if you like Fariñas’ style, and have an easier time reading than I do, that’ll take you a long ways. I still don’t think the story is very strong in City of Courts, but I also would still stand by the concept as very cool, and, again, maybe that’s enough to carry one through.