Review by Ian Keogh

Mega-City Undercover concerns Judges allocated to what’s known as the Wally Squad, working out of uniform among the criminally impoverished and dispossessed in Mega-City One. Vol. 01 introduced a number of characters operating in Rob Williams’ ‘Low Life’. Aimee Nixon is so dedicated she had her left arm removed and replaced by a robotic equivalent, while Thora, a similar age, has undergone genetic surgery to make her resemble a pensioner. Dirty Frank has been undercover too long and his sanity departed along with his personal hygiene. Eric ‘Mortal’ Coil’s exposure to radiation mutated him back to infancy.

Vol. 01 indicated ‘Low Life’ as a series with promise where the strong cast needed greater focus, but the opening story here has Williams stepping up a notch. The docks are viable means of exploring deprivation, and Nixon’s task is to ingratiate herself with an activist demanding humans replace robots, yet a bigger purpose is soon revealed. New artist Rufus Dayglo is at this stage still finding his style, sticking to traditional page layouts when he’d later fly, and his stylised Aimee won’t be to all tastes, but the signs of what’s coming are here.

D’Israeli draws most of the remainder, modifying his usual precision for greater artistic consistency. It’s maverick, and very good art, but still some contrast. Also good is the mysterious Smudge, later revealed as an alias for Cam Smith, over a short Christmas story in which his portraits stand out.

Aimee is pretty well sidelined after her role in the opening story, with Dirty Frank obviously so much more fun to write. The two longer stories both concern his attempts to bring down the Big Man, Low Life’s undisputed criminal mastermind. In the first the Judges have decided Dirty Frank is too far off the scale, so he’s being forcibly retired, but before then has to be shadowed by his replacement. It’s part of a larger plot concerning drugs in the pits, but with some really imaginative Biblical distractions from Williams underlining the madness that’s daily life in Mega-City One, while also introducing a new undercover Judge. Cameron seems limited at first, but Williams makes him work.

This selection closes with a serious challenge to the Big Man’s authority, Aimee caught in the crossfire, and Williams inflating the mystery as to just who the never seen Big Man might be. It’s a first rate thriller involving corrupt judges and building to a fantastic ending. It’s a story that should be held in higher regard. Perhaps a reprinting in one of the Best of 2000AD volumes is in order.

It’s not exactly a cliffhanger taking the cast into Vol. 03, but many questions remain unresolved.