Review by Ian Keogh

Mega-City Undercover spotlights Judges employed by the Wally Squad, who live among Mega-City One’s criminal underclass gathering information to bring them to justice. It’s notable as a series featuring the early work of a number of creators who’d either become 2000AD/Judge Dredd Megazine mainstays, or progress to greater success elsewhere. It means much of what’s seen over this opening volume is inconsistent, talent and enthusiasm high, but work still needed on finding a voice or finding a style.

Andy Diggle and Jock are responsible for letting Lenny Zero loose on the world. The opening story disguises his reality well, portraying him as a small time hood on the make before revealing him as an undercover Judge. Diggle has a neat line in gangster dialogue, and Jock’s art is good, if crowded, but barely recognisable as his if placed alongside later work, and influenced by several 2000AD greats. A neat story of double, triple and quadruple crosses provides one final excellent twist that prompts much of his second outing.

‘Low Life’ occupies the remainder of the collection, introduced by writer Rob Williams with a great Michael Chicklis story, and Henry Flint’s imaginative visuals immediately suck readers into a sleazy world where Aimee Nixon now actually feels more at home than among the Judges. Like Lenny, her progression is one of burning bridges. Williams would have contracted her introduction more efficiently as his career progressed, but the vulnerability beneath Aimee’s tough exterior connects and there’s good use made of a world without hope.

Fat-shaming comments in the sequel haven’t held up well, despite coming from the villain, and it’s a slim story. Far better is Simon Coleby’s debut drawing Williams’ rock band satire. It’s where supporting character Dirty Frank comes into his own, supplanting Aimee. Frank looks like Alan Moore, but for those with long memories a closer personality analogy would be Taxi’s acid casualty Reverend Jim. He and Aimee then alternate in stories concerning a creepy Christmas threat, a hitman convention and babies with accelerated IQs. The Dirty Frank stories are shorter and funnier, while Aimee’s investigation of hitmen is dragged on too long.

However, Williams is about to up his game, and the perils of being in Low Life continue by occupying all of Mega-City Undercover Vol. 02.