Feb 2013
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist ("We've Got You Now"): Nelson Daniel
Artist ("Fugitive Daze"): Inaki Miranda
Colourist ("Fugitive Daze"): Eva de la Cruz
Cover (A): Zach Howard
Cover (B): Garry Brown
IDW Publishing, colour, $3.99 print, $1.99 digital
Two covers again, not counting special incentives, subscriber-only versions, and covers only visible on gibbous-mooned nights when Mars and Jupiter are aligned. And bugger me sideways! A cover that has something to do with the story? Could the staff have been reading my blog and taken my earlier screed to heart?
Of course not, don't be silly. This is from February last year, and it's May now. Besides, how many readers does this thing attract? Beyond the embarrassed loyalty of a couple of friends, I'm guessing zero at the time of writing. Woe is me.
Anyway, Zach Howard gives us Dredd, arms folded, looking pissed off as another judge's hand (presumably Tarjay's) aims a Lawgiver pistol right between his eyes. I'm not so sure about the side view and the fact that a gun and a gauntlet is all we see of our attacker. Sure, anyone in the know would know that's a judge, but maybe a different POV might give a relative newcomer a better idea of what's going on. I dunno. Still, I like the piece: we had a cliffhanger last issue and not to call back to it would be a mortal sin. Garry Brown's offering is a close-up of Dredd firing his Lawgiver. Sure, it's not necessarily about the story inside, but it's a good, dynamic piece. Well composed, and a big bright muzzle flash with sparks flying. It's eye-catching and that is an important part of a good cover. I can't fault it at all.
The first couple of pages bring us up to speed, explaining how Tarjay happened to be in both 'We've Got You Now, part 1' and 'Naked City', if you hadn't already guessed. While recovering from the events of 'Ripe', the Surgeon cloned him. The clone's on board the hovercraft; the real McCoy – er, Tarjay – was last seen running around without a stitch on him in 'Naked City'. There follows a flashback, narrated over by Dredd as he deduces what happened. Info-dump? Maybe, but it's not forced and it works. Tarjay's clone isn't an evil doppleganger revealing his evil scheme: he's a confused but devoted judge and it's his would-be victim who spells it out for us. Plus of course Swierczynski keeps it mercifully short, and Nelson Daniel does an admirable job of getting that story across. I'm not sure how much of the flashback is Swierczynski and how much is Daniel as I've not seen the script. Whether Mr S uses terse descriptions and leaves the rest up to Mr D, or instead goes to Alan Moore-length descriptions I really couldn't say. Still, it works. One page and that's your lot.
A quick note about dialogue. For the most part, again, very good. Swierczynski's characters speak naturally, and it doesn't come across as stilted or wooden. That's not to say that sometimes it can't get a little ropy: last issue had a bit of a clunker in the middle of 'Naked City'. This issue, though, amongst the usually excellent verbals, Swierczynski gives us an example of ropy dialogue that still works, because it's fun. It's because what Tarjay says is so unlikely and yet so accurate that it got a laugh out of me. It's a tough call, deciding when one's speech should get a bit florid, but evidently Swierczynski knows when to do so and when not. Of course, it could just be the case that people in Mega-City One talk funny. It is (in this strip) 86 years in the future, after all!
I should say something about the villains of this story. The people responsible for the DNA-jacking are a group of renegade doctors, whose leader goes by the nom de crime of 'The Surgeon'. Daniel's design for this short-lived gang is terrific. Since they all wear identical surgical gowns, caps and gloves, he has to concentrate on differentiating their builds and faces and equipment; while the Surgeon himself keeps everything below the eyes covered with a mask. It works pretty well: beetle-browed and bug-eyed, one can't help thinking they practiced brain surgery on each other in their spare time! Their equipment's hilariously nasty too: ostensibly surgical instruments, they look more like a cross between power tools and military hardware. Twin-bladed buzzsaws, rapid-firing hypodermic needle guns, Edward Scissorhands-style scalpels and various other rip-a-ma-jigs. I'm put in mind of Sean Phillips's work during the 90s, circa Swimming in Blood, and this is no bad thing in my book.
The second story of this issue, 'Fugitive Daze', deals with the fallout of the Surgeon's plot. With Tarjay's clone dealt with, it's time to bring the real Tarjay back into the fold, his name cleared. What could possibly go wrong? Another short, tightly plotted piece from Swierczynski, I don't mind saying. We see Tarjay's use of memory pills (as seen in 'The Good Parts') and notes written on his skin result in another tragic misunderstanding being heaped upon the tragic misunderstanding that put him on the run in the first place; and then another catastrophic mishap that's sure to have dire ramifications. Moreover, it's a story where Dredd doesn't win, partly due to Tarjay's knee-jerk response, partly due to his escape strategy, but mainly because Dredd's approach (warning shots, barging in as if he were trying to bring in a perp) is entirely wrong. Given that we expect Dredd to be competent, is this in character for him? It's a tricky question, but I'm going to say yes. The cases presented to Dredd thus far have been the sort he could meet by simply ramping up his customary heavy-handed aggression. It usually works, but not always. Errors of judgement can occur and Dredd is fallible. It doesn't often happen, but it can, and no-one is less forgiving of his errors than Dredd himself.
Inaki Miranda's art is nicely suited to this sort of smaller-scale, darker-toned outing. His depiction of Dredd has a few more wrinkles, suggesting he's closer to 50 or 60, making me wonder if Dredd is old at this juncture (the story's set in 2100, making me think he was in his forties) or Miranda was basing his version on what we see in 2000AD, in which Dredd is old and beginning to feel it. Either way, he's in stark contrast to the younger and faster Tarjay. Miranda's exploration of the comic page is noteworthy too; characters aren't confined to the panel borders, allowing for a greater sense of depth. Nowhere is this more striking than when Tarjay sets off his device, blowing Dredd out of the panel. Lovely.
One minor goof has come up though: last issue Tarjay's wanted poster listed his first name as Martin. This issue he's Nick. Oops!
Bloody good issue, building well on the previous three. 9/10.
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