There’s a lot of imaginative Ron Smith art this issue. He does an excellent job mixing action with setting detail, especially since all of Wagner’s stories have something to do with Mega-City One, whether with the block architecture or with the people.
Unfortunately, Wagner’s stories of Dredd and the general public, even when they’re good, are too much of Wagner trying to play up Dredd’s ideals. The first story has a minor crime turn into a major, the second has Dredd showing compassion (while appearing not to show compassion), the third and fourth are Walter stories.
The final story, from Alan Grant and Kelvin Gosnell, is this way too conceptually big, but way too small in terms of pages–and Smith’s scale–story of a runaway mobile traffic thing.
These Mega-City One details, even with good art, are really hard to take one after another. There’s no story.
B-
CREDITS
Writers, John Wagner, Alan Grant and Kelvin Gosnell; artist, Ron Smith; colorist, John Burns; letterers, Peter Knight and Tom Frame; editor, Nick Landau; publisher, Eagle Comics.
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