Judge Dredd, The Megazine Volume 1
I can still remember the jolt I felt when I learned that 2000AD was getting a companion publication dedicated to its most popular character. The Megazine was announced in the fall of 1990, and I instantly knew it was going to be something special. It always felt like the world Dredd inhabited was the “real” main character, and a handful of spinoff stories had already proven that it was too big to be contained in a single strip limited to 6 or 7 pages a week. A monthly 48-page magazine would be just the thing to let it expand and breathe with longer, deeper stories. The first issue instantly showed its mettle with America, an emotionally-charged series by Dredd creator John Wagner that still easily scores among the favorite stories of all time.
This set is referred to as “Volume 1” because it shifted from monthly to fortnightly (bi-weekly) after issue 20 and started over as Volume 2 with a new first issue. As of this writing, it’s up to Volume 4.
Bonus content!
Here’s a retrospective on Megazine Vol. 1 from Judge Dredd Mega-Special No. 5 (1992)…
