Bato Loco

rebel[14 Aug 2012]. Free.
68 pages. Colour & B&W.
Rebellion.

Edited by Keith Richardson.

Cover by Simon Coleby, coloured by Chris Blythe.

Free with Judge Dredd Megazine (Rebellion) #326 (14 Aug 2012).

Contents:

 2 Credits / Indicia

 3 Bato Loco title page; illustrated by Simon Coleby.

 4 Judge Dredd Bato Loco credits page; illustrated by Simon Coleby.

 5 Judge Dredd Bato Loco w: Gordon Rennie; a: Simon Coleby, lettering by Tom Frame, colouring by Chris Blythe.

r: Judge Dredd Megazine (Rebellion) #202 (11 Feb 2003).

17 Bato Loco True Romance credits page; illustrated by Simon Coleby.

18 Bato Loco True Romance w: Gordon Rennie; a: Simon Coleby, lettering by Tom Frame.

r: Judge Dredd Megazine (Rebellion) #208 (27 Aug 2003).

26 Bato Loco Head Job credits page; illustrated by Simon Coleby.

27 Bato Loco Head Job w: Gordon Rennie; a: Simon Coleby, lettering by Tom Frame, colouring by Chris Blythe.

r: Judge Dredd Megazine (Rebellion) #229 (08 Mar 2005) - #230 (05 Apr 2005).

39 Bato Loco Kiss Me Deadly credits page; illustrated by Andrew Currie.

40 Bato Loco Kiss Me Deadly w: Gordon Rennie; a: Andrew Currie, lettering by Simon Bowland, colouring by Peter Doherty.

r: Judge Dredd Megazine (Rebellion) #290 (10 Nov 2009) - #291 (08 Dec 2009).

58 Judge Dredd Meat Patrol credits page; illustrated by Simon Coleby.

59 Judge Dredd Meat Patrol w: Gordon Rennie; a: Simon Coleby, lettering by Tom Frame, colouring by Chris Blythe.

r: Judge Dredd Megazine (Rebellion) #224 (19 Oct 2004).

67 Bagged with Megazine 327 On Sale 15 August 12 in-house advertisement for Marauder.

68 Goin' Loco!

In the Big Meg's Barrio blocks, they called Carlito Agarra the 'Bato Loco' - 'Crazy Guy'. He's just trying to make an honest cred, but if it ain't the Judges on his back it's the Mob - Madon'!

You have to love a cover where someone steals Judge Dredd's badge.

So I know what it is you are thinking.

'Carlito,' you are saying, 'why is it you are doing this strange thing with this big fat dead guy, and all those Judges and bad news scary mob guys? Is this why they are always calling you Crazy Guy?

And so then I say to you, 'Patience, my friends, for soon you will be seeing that all this is not so crazy after all...'

There have been more eccentric beginnings to Dredd's stories. Not many, but there are a few which can top the image of a man riding a giant corpse on wheels.

A week earlier. Louie the Gut, returning from making his regular smuggling route through the Black Atlantic tunnel, collapses from a heart attack and dies, the haul of uncut diamonds in his stomach. Carlito Agarra is picked up by Don Morte's men for a sit-down, despite the fact that Don Morte is a taxidermied corpse, whose wishes are 'interpreted' by his consigliore, Vito Machievelli. Asked to retrieve the diamonds from the Resyk morgue, he discovers that two of his associates also have the same idea.

There are two corpses of similar size present, though the choice of which one is their corpse is settled when Guido Guisperre - 'Grand Guignol' - bursts from a corpse's stomach wielding his chainsaw. Hearing the disturbance, Dredd orders all squads to move in on the morgue, though Carlito and Guignol burst through the morgue's doors riding Louie the Guts' corpse. Managing to escape from both Guignol and Dredd, Carlito makes a run for freedom, and fate is smiling on him as he searches for a way to square things with Machievelli.

While most of the time I would have a problem with coincidence playing a part in the resolution of a story, here it works to the advantage of characterisation and the overall mood of the strip. Yes, there is a whole series of unlikely events, but in Mega City One this is business as usual.

Okay, so here we are again, and every time we are doing this, it seems as if you are catching me in the middle of something crazy happening.

Catalonia, Carlito's girlfriend, who he met when she took the contract on his head, is angered that a year has passed since Carlito promised to marry her within a year. Catalonia promised to herself that she would kill him if he didn't keep his promise, and she gives him a week to purchase her a ring. As the days tick by, without money or a ring, things look bleak for Carlito. Hearing that the Slyrrm, aliens seeking ingredients for narcotics on their homeworld, he scams them out of enough money for his needs.

As Carlito is ready to ask Catalonia to marry him, the Slyrrm catch up with him.

With a good sense of the variety of life in the setting, Rennie manages to weave a very funny - and quite light, given prior strips - action-adventure story. Catalonia is fantastic character, and it is pleasing that she is so much more competent than Carlito.

Head Job crosses Carlito's path with that of Judge Dredd once more, as Machievelli orders him to deal with Cubans from the Wastes who are running an organ-legging racket. A bulk shipment of executed politicos turns out to be merely their heads, and Carlito doesn't want to pay for something he can't sell on. As the deal goes south, Dredd leads an assault on the exchange. Recognising Carlito from Resyk, Dredd chases after him, as the other Judges clear up the organ-leggers.

Seeing Dredd covered in body parts is amusing, though somewhat predictable now. The circumstance in which he manages to get in such a predicament, however, is rather fresh. Unlike the rotting head thrown at him.

Okay, so I know what it is you are thinking -

"Carlito", you are thinking, "is that Abadonna Morte I see you with, beloved daughter of your boss, Don Morte? Why is it you are in this situation with her, when everyone know she is crazy as hell, and liable to get you in very serious trouble indeed?"

And I say to you, "that is a good question my friend, with an answer that is maybe long and not so simple to explain..."

Called in to deal with Abadonna's latest break-up, Carlito is told to assist Billy-17 cleaning up the mess. While there, Abadonna asks him to accompany her on a date, as she has invitations to the Cocabandito, and can't turn up alone - for appearances sake. A kidnap crew hits their car before they reach the club, however, and his worries about Abadonna killing him are replaced with a worry he's going to meet his end another way. Carlito's (entirely unintentional) heroics impress Abadonna enough that she kisses him, and Machievelli informs him that he should consider Abadonna his girlfriend from now on.

Which, considering his fiancée is a contract killer, isn't the best news he's had.

Catalonia orders Carlito to meet her on a rooftop, which he agrees to, as Abadonna tells Machievelli that she fears he is cheating on her. Obviously this means he must die, but Abadonna insists she be there to witness Carlito's demise. Things soon escalate out of control.

The final story in the collection is a very sombre and low-key Dredd story in which he takes night shift on meat wagon pick-up with a Judge whom he failed. It isn't often that we get to see the less glamorous side of the judicial system's tasks, and here we see what it takes to go out every day and collect corpses for Resyk. Following a relatively normal night of pick-ups, Dredd answers a call, drawing the truck into a fight which it isn't designed for.

Not as funny as Low Life, though a fine example of the less dramatic side of Mega City One's inhabitants. Following through on the promise of an excellent introduction to the character, Gordon Rennie delivers on Bato Loco's promising premise with one unlikely event after another, increasing the stakes with each installment. Gloriously illustrated by Coleby and Currie, there isn't a dud panel in the entire collection.

Space Precinct #5

16 Jan 1996. Cover price £1.25.
36 pages. Full colour.
Manga Publishing Ltd.

Edited by Cefn Ridout.

Cover by Tony Luke.

Contents:

 2 Fanderson - the Official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society (half page) advertisement. / Telephone Collector Phonecards (half page) advertisement for P & J Promotions.

 3 Gerry Anderson's Space Precinct 2040 introduction by Cefn Ridout. / Contents / Indicia

 4 Double the Pages! Double the Action! in-house advertisement for Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition.

 5 True Believers, part one, w: Simon Jowett; a: Graham Manley, lettering by Annie Parkhouse.

17 Roll Call Officer Aurelia Took fact file by Lee Brimmicombe Wood; photographs (uncredited).

18 Space Hopper [Specifications for a VW118-GB] cutaway by Graham Bleathman.

20 Mind Over Matter Mary Woodvine interview by Jim Swallow; photographs (uncredited)

22 Soundbite Simone Bendix interview by Ralph Titterton; photographs (uncredited).

r: FAB Magazine (Official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society) #19 ().

23 In the Next Issue of Space Precinct

24 Crimewatch readers mail.

25 Limited Edition Space Precinct Phone Cards to be Won! competition; photographs (uncredited).

26 Timebomb w: Cory MacRae; p: Andrew Currie, i: Graham Higgins, lettering by Peter Nichols, colouring by Nigel Parkinson.

32 Blast from the Past, part one, Twizzle to Supercar text feature by Chris Bentley; photographs (uncredited).

34 Episode Guide The Snake recap by Peter J. Evans; photographs (uncredited).

35 It Found it's Voice... Now it Needs a Body - Ghost in the Shell in-house advertisement for cinematic release.

36 From the Hidden Files of the FBI in-house advertisement for The X-Files: Firebird and The X-Files Special Edition.

The penultimate issue, featuring a somewhat Tarantino-esque cover courtesy of Tony Luke, has a breath of life injected into the issue which makes it stand out, even among the stellar work published so far. True Believers, the first strip of the issue, opens with a dramatic image of a derelict spaceship , and opens out the world of the characters with an idea which would later form a central part of Babylon 5's spin-off series, Crusade.

Deep space archaeology.

Long range scanners and space suits have replaced ancient maps and shovels, but the same questions occupy the minds of every member of the team:

What is it? Where does it come from? When was it built?...

Writing found aboard the ship contains vague similarities to ancient Tarn and Classical Creon scripts, but remain untranslated.

Brogan and Haldane stop a hooded figure assaulting a Creon, and discover that it is Professor Sondra Conway, head anthropologist from the expedition. Taken to talk to Captain Podly, she informs the officers that the explosion which destroyed the vessel, and which killed all but one of her friends and colleagues, was no accident. Her actions that night were in order to receive information about a sole shipment of artifacts from the vessel, stolen before it reached Pan-Simter Museum. The young Creon claimed he could lead Sondra to stolen relics, for a price, but had been frightened into reneging on their deal.

There are a lot of elements in play in the first installment which hint at the scope of worlds away from that seen in the series, and it is a shame we don't get to spend more time on the archaeological site. A peace rally is a little too mundane following the initial pages, though gives a good indication of variety within Demeter city, allowing tension to be ratcheted up a few notches.

Bleathman's Space Hopper cutaway calls to mind Red Dwarf's Bug shuttle, a pleasingly aware colour scheme (Thunderbird 2 not far from thought), though is slightly too clean and showroom-fresh to convince as a day-to-day vehicle. It is a problem with much of televisual SF, and attendant spin-offs, so it isn't a critical problem.

Mary Woodvine comes across as someone thrown into the deep end, and left to sink or swim, in Mind Over Matter. Despite the extensive make-up and appliances constraining her ability to perform with nuances, she seems remarkably chilled out about her experiences. Simone Bendix's interview, pulled from FAB, doesn't reveal nearly as much of her personality. It would have been nice for someone to quiz the cast on how they saw their characters progressing, especially as a darker second season had (to whatever degree) been considered.

Timebomb is a quick little story which contains a solidly alien threat, allows Romek and Took to shine in the limelight, and has a twist ending which feels satisfying. It isn't, unfortunately, a startlingly original tale, but it is fun - for a series which veers inconsistently from dark and tormented to light and breezy it makes a nice pause between more dramatic material. Introducing temporal mechanics to the equipment already seen is, perhaps, not the most original notion, but raises plenty of time-travel options for writers to play with.

Delightfully, and bizarrely, The Adventures of Twizzle and Torchy the Battery Boy are featured in Blast from the Past, which looks at the early days of Anderson's career. Unfortunately, due to space limitations, the piece moves on quickly to Four Feather Falls, then Supercar, without spending enough time to really delve deeper into the series than the most basic overview. While these series have had retrospectives elsewhere, it would have been greatly appreciated to receive more than "this thing exists, so... yeah," which is pretty much the approach taken.

#4

Space Precinct

#6

Space Precinct #1

31 Oct 1995; Cover price 1.25p.
36 pages. Full colour.
Manga Publishing Ltd.

Edited by Cefn Ridout.

Painted cover by Kev Walker.

Free Space Precinct sticker album and stickers.

Contents:

.2 A cosmic new album and sticker collection from Panini advertisement for Space Precinct sticker album and stickers.

.3 Gerry Anderson's Space Precinct 2040 Editorial by Cefn Ridout. / Contents / Indicia

.4 Patlabor 2 The Movie in-house videocassette advertisement.

.5 The Last Warrior w: Ian Carney; a: John Erasmus, lettering by Annie Parkhouse.

17 More Mega Manga Action with... in-house advertisement for Manga Mania.

18 The Station House cutaway by Graham Bleathman.

20 Policing the Final Frontier text feature by Peter J. Evans.

23 Parental Guidance w: William Cade; a: Andrew Currie, lettering by Peter Nicholls, colouring by Steve Whitaker.

29 Space Precinct Action Figures and Toys to be Won competition.

30 The Imagineers text feature by Peter J. Evans.

32 Roll Call Lieutenant Patrick Brogan fact file by Lee Brimmicombe Wood.

33 In the Next Issue of Space Precinct

34 Episode Guide Double Duty recap by Peter J. Evans.

35 Breaking the Barriers in-house advertisement for Manga Books.

36 Street Fighter II Animated in-house videocassette advertisement.

Gerry Anderson's work has inspired many great comics, and Manga obviously saw in Space Precinct potential to recreate some previous successes. This issue gets off to a good start with a painting which captures the essence of characters without being too faithful to likenesses - the bold image is one of several in the comic's run which surpasses series visuals, which is a problem. The show wasn't exactly the most aesthetically-pleasing SF to air, and when it compares unfavourably to a spin-off comic there's a problem no amount of promotion can fix.

The comic was living on borrowed time, and determined to live life to the full.

A car crash is the inciting incident in The Last Warrior. Okay, technically it is a 'hopper' (the flying vehicles of the series), and despite some really effective art, the first story here opening with a fender bender is something of a let-down. Unable to shoot it down while they are over a heavily-populated area, Brogan and Haldane take chase. Haldane jumps onto the vehicle and, discovering a dead Creon, has to regain control before crashing into Demeter City Hospital. I take back my disappointment.

Graham Bleathman's cutaway of the Station House is gorgeous. This is a location which has obviously had some thought applied to requirements for a police force operating in space: garage and a maintenance bay, holding pens, administration offices, hermetically sealed office for non-air breathing visitors, canteen... If Space Precinct had shown such workings of the world in as much detail, then we would be talking about the show with as much respect as Babylon 5 receives.

Policing the Final Frontier, a text feature on the series, brings up 1986's Space Police pilot without offering up any visuals to contrast and compare with what eventually ended up on screen. I can honestly say that I have never seen this pilot, not for scarcity but due to never having been sufficiently intrigued, and background details offered here do not encourage me to go look for it.

The opening of Parental Guidance is funny, but once again highlights an inconsistent tone which was to plague the nascent franchise. Silas' parent drop in for a visit while he is at work, arranging for him to show Morin, a young woman who bullied him as a child, the sights. This feels like a story intended for younger readers, which is somewhat at odds with stated intentions that the series was to appeal to a multi-generational audience - explaining episodes focusing on drug smugglers.

Aiming material at a slightly more mature audience could have opened up so many storytelling avenues.

Photographs of tie-in toys for The Imagineers, an article on Vivid Imaginations, aren't appealing. It appears as if someone has hurriedly stood the figures on a table and snapped a couple of shots rather than crafting images which would encourage readers to go out and purchase them. This isn't grumbling about a lack of artistic flair - either the toys are an important link in the overall marketing strategy or they aren't.

The run-down of officially-licensed products is interesting, and seems comprehensive enough to make the article of lasting interest to fans of the show, but most of what is described is left unseen on the page. The more I consider the lack of decent photographs, the more it feels like the comic was in desperate need of a photographer to help supply shots. And you'll note, no doubt, that all of the cast photos peppered throughout are from promotional material which was also issues to other magazines and newspapers.

For fantastic artwork alone, this is still a great read. It is a shame that supplementary material wasn't up to similar high quality.