Judge Death: The Wilderness Days (Judge Dredd Megazine vol.2 #209-216)

"I'm a natural born killer." - Judge Death

Of all of Judge Dredd's many enemies, the Dark Judges and their leader Judge Death in particular, have to be the most popular and enduring.  No matter how often they are defeated and imprisoned, they'll always find a way out to continue judging the living merely for the crime of being alive.  Their warped thinking is that because all crime is committed by the living, life itself must be a crime.  They quickly wiped out the population of their own Earth and via reality shifting shenanigans, came across to Dredd's Earth to continue their mission.  This storyline focuses on Judge Death, the only one of the four Dark Judges to escape in a previous storyline, and his road trip across the Cursed Earth (the radiactive wasteland outside of Megacity One) as he considers how to enact a quantity over quality policy of judgement. Normally he likes to do his killing up close and personal, pushing his hand into a person's chest and squeezing their heart until they die.  But feeling that judging a whole world alone might be a bit beyond him, he starts to search for weapons of mass destruction to aid him in his task.  This storyline also gives us a peek into his mind as he interacts with the various humans he meets along the way.  The story is penned by veteran 2000AD scribe John Wagner and the art is by Frazer Irving whose thick, black linework gives it a medieval woodcut look that befits the somewhat dark subject matter in hand.

A small farmhouse in the Cursed Earth, a family working outside it.  A rangy figure comes into view.  It is Judge Death and "I mean you no harm".  However the woman points a shotgun at him while the old man says "It's the Devil Incarnate" and the two young boys cower behind them.  The woman tells Judge Death to get lost or she'll cut him down where he stands.  Judge Death shrugs and says:

Judge Death: "I can ssee I am not wanted.  Sso be it.  I havve never been one to impossse myselff.  What happened to the old tradition of welcoming ssstrangers."

The woman says he is "too damn strange" for her liking so he leaves, bidding her a "good day" as he does so.  But he lurks close by waiting for nightfall as he needs to be careful out here, he has no way of repairing damage to his body.

Not even children are safe from Judgement.

It is out in this wilderness that he understands the vastness of this world and his task.  So many born every minute, faster than he can bring them to justice, "each one a new sinner born into crime". 

He returns to the farmhouse and lures the woman out to the barn where he impales her on a pitchfork and shoots the old man with her shotgun.  She yells at the children to run before Judge Death kills her via a squeeze to the heart.  The boys run, but Judge Death has found the quad bike and is able to catch the older one and runs him through with the pitchfork.  The younger one hides in the cornfield until Judge Death gives up looking for him and moves on.

Next day his father, Hocus Ritter, returns home to find his family killed apart from Morty who he holds tight when he finds him alive.  He says Morty can tell him all about what happened once they have buried the others.

Biking across the Cursed Earth, Judge Death comes across some circled wagons and kills everyone there.  He makes use of the gun, but:

Judge Death: "Where possible I have come to prefer passing sentence face-to-face.  Up close and personal.  Justice with a smile".

Next day he comes across a lone dwelling, feeling vaguely unsatified by the previous nights judging.  There is a man sitting outside the house drinking tea.  He is blind and invites Judge Death to sit down and have a chat and a cuppa.

The friendship of the blind.

He asks if Judge Death is travelling far, and Judge Death complains that it is such a big world with so many sinners, maybe he should leave back to his own world or find one smaller.  Then he scolds himself saying if he shrinks from the magnitude of his task he has no right to call himself a Judge.  And his brother Dark Judges need freeing as well. 

The blind man seems unfazed by what Judge Death is saying, and just makes polite interjections every now and then.  Three men walk past and shout at him that Judge Death "doesn't look right".  Judge Death shoots two of them, the other flees.  The blind man says he should be careful with the gun, "somebody could get hurt."

Judge Death reiterates his philosophy that crime is committed by choice, therefore choice is a crime.  "Simple logic.  Yet so few of you seem to grasssp it" he hisses.  The blind man comments that "you sure have a lot on your mind stranger".

Truly an evil book!

The blind man decides to let Judge Death into a secret of his saying, "you seem like a decent sorta fella."  His home is on top of a "mine" that leads to a library of books that predate the war that saw the formation of the megacities, "the answers are all in there stranger" he says.  Although he cannot read them, he likes to hold and touch them, "be warmed by the knowledge burning inside."

He leaves Judge Death to read in peace.  Outside the friends of the two men Judge Death gunned down have arrived looking for revenge.  Judge Death meanwhile has found a book called "Great Mass Exterminations".

Judge Death: "As I absorbed the words of the ancients, my course of action became clear.  I must complete the task I had begun - the annihilation of the human race.  Satisfying as individual executions may be, I had to be prepared to make sacrifices.  Sheer weight of numbers demanded I seek a more comprehensive solution".

The gang outside seal the mine up with a huge rock, but Judge Death tosses it aside easily and kills several of them, he allows the rest to flee because he will kill them later instead when he enacts his new plan.

You shall be Judged!

When it is just him and the blind man left, sadly the blind man says "don't usually get a man so wrong" as he realises he is next to die.  And Judge Death slowly squeezes the life out of his heart.

Judge Death: "And I took him down and laid him out in the place that he had loved.  Among the words of the ancients.  He had been useful.  He deserved no less.  And they say I don't have a heart".

Still following his trail of death is Hocus Ritter.  He finds one settlement in which only some nuns survived and leaves his son with them to continue his quest for vengeance.  Meanwhile, Judge Death's bike has broken down, but he is almost immediately picked up by a kill crazy couple, the female "Nirvana" and male "Slide".  They shoot people as they drive past and Judge Death thinks, "sinners, perhaps.  But their hearts were in the right place."

"Jay" makes some new friends.

They stop at a small settlement and go order food in a diner.  Nirvana asks the other patrons if they know where there are weapons of mass destruction as "Jay" is looking for some.  When the patrons try to leave, she shoots them and Judge Death kills the diner owner when he protests.  Then the three of them go on a rampage and wipe the settlement out.  Later while Slide sleeps, Judge Death and Nirvana go on a bicycle ride.  She asks if he wants to sleep with her, he kills her with an arm through the chest in response.

Judge Death: "I fffear I'm well passt that ssstage, my dear.  Ssstill.  Iff we're talking fffull penetration..."

I can't believe they got away with that joke! Anyway, then he goes and kills Slide and takes all their weapons and the car and sets off again, looking for clues to something to help him wipe humanity out.

After a couple of days and nights travelling he finds himself in "a veritable den of iniquity", Las Vegas. Unable to control himself he passes judgement on a man playing the slots. He is arrested by a pair of Judges and allows himself to be taken, thinking he'll get closer to the seat of power that way and maybe get some information on tracking down some W.M.Ds.

"Spin, spin, spin the Wheel Of Justice.  See how fast the bastard turns!"

The Hall of Justice is in fact a casino with a Vic and Bob style wheel of justice that has various punishments people can bet on as it is spun, with the sentence carried out there and then.  Judge Death's turn comes up and the wheel picks disembowelment for him, but he kills the two Judges sent to carry the sentence out, then he rips the wheel off its mount and flings it at the other Judges coming for him.  The Chief Judge, now somewhat freaked out, agrees to see him in private in the Council Chambers.

There he tells Judge Death that sometime ago a Judge called Dredd came through the town and put "The League Against Gambling" in charge.  So they bided their time and struck back and ran the "goody-goods" out of time bar one, the former Chief Judge Rudy who is just a head on a small dog's body.  Rudy is somewhat surly and is on the receiving end of a few zaps from a device the Chief Judge has.  Asked what he wants, Judge Death says he is after W.M.Ds to end the human race.

Not-at-all put off by this answer, the Chief Judge says he can help but only if he gets some quid pro quo.  If he agrees to a ten night run fighting in the arena as "The Dark Destroyer" with people paying 10,000 creds to fight him for the chance of one million if they defeat him, he'll help him out.  Judge Death grits his teeth, thinks of his mission and agrees.

The "Dark Destroyer."

His first bout lasts less than one minute as he punches his opponent's head clean off.  We then get a montage of him punching through various challengers, when one opponent tries to avoid him using fancy footwork, Judge Death briefly possesses him and crushes his skull.  When his first night comes to an end, he is left alone in his dressing room.  Then Rudy appears and says he has important information for Judge Death.

He knows where he can find W.M.Ds. But first he wants Judge Dredd's assurance he'll wipe the whole of Vegas off the map with them, Judge Death agrees so Rudy shows him his information. He taped a council meeting where the Chief Judge states they will string "the Dark Destroyer" along for another ten night run then kill him, because even he won't be able to withstand twenty guns.  This enrages Judge Death and as Rudy tries to stop him, he marches to the Council Chamber killing everyone in his path, "sometimes the effrontery of sinners would try the patience of a saint - and mercy knows I am no saint".

Immortal but not invulnerable.

Sadly for him, he can't indeed stand up to twenty guns and his body is blasted to bits, while his spirit howls "Foools! You cannot kill what doessss not livvve!"  Along  with Rudy they escape the building.  Rudy says he's got them into a fine mess, but Judge Death says they can make him a new body.

They sneak up on a nurse out with an old male patient, Judge Death takes control of the nurse and goes and buys a Judge Death cosplay outfit the merchandisers are stocking due to his popularity.  Then he takes the old man back to the hospital and into the pathology lab, dresses him in the outfit, kills him and uses the "dead fluids" to soak the body and turn it into a vessel for him.  He leaves the nurse and takes control of it, and kills her.  Rudy is unsure he should be helping him now, "I was a good guy once" he says.

Judge Death: "I prefer you consssumed with hatred and bitterness.  Ifff you know what'sss good for you, keep it that way."

Back with Hocus Ritter, his horse collapses with exhaustion but he soon comes across another settlement decimated by Judge Death.  When they hear of his mission of vengeance they give him a car and he keeps following the trail of the dead.

Rudy shows him the silo.

Judge Death and Rudy arrive at what is labelled a "research facility" but Rudy says "everyone in these parts knew what they were up to".  Judge Death rips his way through the fence and goes inside and is greeted by a tank ful of robot troops.  When they hear he is looking for W.M.Ds they take him to see the General.

The General is old, wheelchairbound and practically senile.  When he admits during a rant that he is the only human left in charge, Judge Death possesses him.  He orders the robots to take Judge Death to the weapons and obey his every order, but first they need to leave them alone.  He relaxes his hold on the confused General and then strangles him.  Afraid, Rudy tries to sneak off, but Judge Death says he hasn't had his reward yet.  Then he goes with Rudy to inspect the missiles, ready for firing in forty-five minutes.

Ritter has made it to Vegas, but when he sees someone dressed as Judge Death he attacks him mistaking him for the real thing.  Then he sees more and attacks them too.  Two Vegas Judges arrest him and when he realises his mistake he apologises, but it falls on deaf ears and they drag him off to the Hall of Justice for sentencing.

Ritter arrives in Vegas.

Back at the missile silo, one of the robots says they are supposed to receive confirmation for launch on the Red Phone.  Exasperatedly Judge Death possesses it and makes it ring which is enough to get the launch codes given to him.  There are not enough missiles to wipe out the whole human race so he picks Megacity One and Las Vegas as targets.  Rudy nervously thanks him and tries to sneak off, but Judge Death says "you can't go just yet.  You'll miss the best part of your reward!"

Rudy is tied to the missile aimed at Las Vegas so he can see the destruction "firssst-hand!"  Then Judge Death launches all the missiles.  In Megacity One interceptor missiles are dispatched to deal with them.  Meanwhile in the unsuspecting Las Vegas, Ritter's punishment is the electric chair.  As they start to fry him, he calls for his horse, while Rudy and the missile he is strapped to hit Las Vegas wiping out everyone in a mushroom cloud of death.  But Ritter and his horse's spirits are suffused in a heavenly light much to his confusion.

Unleashed destruction!

Unfortunately for Judge Death none of his missiles aimed at Megacity One get through.  He is philosophical about it though:

Judge Death: "Ssstill I never exxpected it to be an inssstant sssolution.  No victory worth havving comess eassy".

However in retaliation, Megacity One launch a couple of missiles of their own at the base and it is blown to bits, Judge Death along with it, "Fools!  You only postpone judgement. I shall return!" vows his disembodied spirit.

Ritter's revenge after death.

On the astral plane he is in for a nasty surprise.  Hocus Ritter is waiting for him and Judge Death is shocked when Ritter hurts him.  Ritter keeps attacking him.

Ritter: "Not enough! Nothin' can ever repay you for the hurt you handed out!"

They fight and Ritter calls for help and a whirlpool of angry souls appears and grabs ahold of Judge Death.  "This cannot be -! Thisss iss my domain! I hold power here" he cries.  But he can't stop himself being dragged down by the "lost souls cryin' out for retribution! Such power is greater than you!" says Ritter.

Ritter: "Burn Devil Judge.  Burn in the pits of Hell!"

And Judge Dredd disappears, hellbound, with one final "it cannot be!" And then he is gone and the storyline comes to a close.

The end of Judge Death...? (nah)

It's an interesting ending for a 2000AD/Megazine story.  The world of those two publications has tended to strike me as somewhat atheistic, although there are outliers like the Devlin Waugh stories that confirm the Catholic church at least has survived in some form.  So a biblical punishment for Judge Death seems like it's been a long time in coming.  Is it the end of Judge Death? Well I am only a humble trade reader but I assume he manages to find his way out of hell, he's too good a villain not to use.  Because he is so full of go-ahead, can do enthusiasm for his self-imposed quest to wipe out all life, and does it with such a blackly comic approach you almost forget about the truly awful stuff he does, which is why having Hocus Ritter as a sort of morality anchor all the way through works so well and pays off so nicely.  There's also an interesting indictment of the effectiveness of Judge Dredd's approach to problems as well with the reveal that it didn't take long for the clean-up he enacted on Las Vegas while passing through to revert back to the same-old, same-old with Rudy as the victim of a pretty horrible transformation.  With no one in any position of strength left to defend the cleaned up Vegas Dredd's reforms were basically ignored in the long term after a short term gain. As I said in the intro, Frazer Irving's art is superb, very individualistic and striking, while John Wagner proves he still has what it takes to make the Judge Dredd world live and breathe.  If you don't want to track down the original Megazines, it is also collected in the trade paperback "Judge Death: The Life and Death Of..." along with a couple of other serials and one-offs, including "Young Death" which I have also covered on this blog (and a big thankyou to my very good pal Lucy for the book).  Highly recommended.

Seven Soldiers Of Victory: Klarion The Witchboy (#1-4)

"Shall I tell you the hour and date of your death?" - Klarion

With each miniseries Morrison has been having fun experimenting with different genres.  Klarion the Witchboy sees Morrison trying his hand at very weird fantasy, matched with artwork by Frazer Irving that is (once again) absolutely perfect for the subject at hand.  Klarion is reboot of a character of the same way, once again another Jack "King" Kirby creation for DC. Kirby's Klarion came from a place that was called Witch-World where everyone practiced dark magic.  He was extremely talented, but frustrated by the adults of his world, so he opened a portal to the normal universe and with his cat familiar Teekl, arrived on Earth wanting to know all there was about witchcraft and maybe wreak a little havoc on the way.  Morrison stays true to these very broadstrokes, but relocates Klarion to a lost Puritan colony (called Roanoke, which is a real, and infamous case of a town that just vanished) that fell through the earth and was renamed Limbo Town. Klarion is still rebellious and still has a ginger cat called Teekl, but aspects of the Limbo Town's magic and backstory is tied in with the Sheeda storyline rather than following Kirby's narrative.

A "Grundy".

The story begins in Limbo Town, a recently deceased inhabitant is being resurrected, so he can be put to work until he "crumbles".  Klarion, watching this, tuts about what a terrible world it is and his sister hears him and tells him he won't escape the same fate.

Beulah: "I suppose you think you can follow father beyond High Market and never come back.  Think again Klarion".

The undead workers are called "Grundys" and are branded by the towns religious leader, Submissionary Judah. Although the Grundy pleads to be left to sleep in peace he is broken by "Great Croatan who abides and knows all things."  Teekl then grabs something, which turns out to be a tiny Sheeda.  Klarion asks to touch it, but Judah asks if he would be a submissionary and bear the heavy knowledge?

Klarion: "Possibly.  It's the sort of work I'm sure I'd find it very rewarding."

Teekl, Klarion's familiar.

Judah is unimpressed by his sass and warns him off.  Klarion then talks with the new Grundy's son, Ezekiel (who is also Klarion's step-father).  Ezekiel says they aren't dying fast enough to keep the workforce supplied with fresh zombies. Klarion says their world seems insane.  But it seems long ago in the past they were condemned to life in Limbo Town because of a taint that still threatens Great Croatoan.  Klarion wonders how they can both come from a place called "Blue Rafters" and yet be in a place Judah tells them is completely surrounded by stone.  The Book Of Shadows makes no sense he says.

Klarion and Ezekiel chat about things

Ezekiel then distracts Klarion from his ruminations by showing him a precious thing he has.  It was given to him by one of the "trolley men" he met while out looking for Klarion's run away father.

Ezekiel: "This cake of light was not made to last long in our solid world.  But I defied the submissionaries and ate it and I kept it's miraculous imperishable covering so I might remember its sweetness."

And he shows Klarion a Kit-Kat wrapper.  Klarion is fascinated by it, and possibly is the final push he needed to run away himself.  He must move fast though, because of the Sheeda the religious elders plan on closing "the Wicket Gate" and cease trading with the trolley men.  At a town meeting Judah claims to channel their God Croatoan who unsurprisingly agrees the gate must be closed.

Submissionary Judah.

Back home, despite the best efforts of his sister to stop him, Klarion and Teekl sneak out ready to leave Limbo Town for good.  He bumps into Ezekiel who tells him that Judah fears the Witchmen parliament who are not living in fear of Croatoan and implies they won't allow the gate to be closed.  He says he is more scared of his own people than the Sheeda and then leaves to go harvest stones with his Grundified dad and the other Witchmen.

Klarion sends Teekl to cause some mischief with Judah, and using his eyes sees Judah and his two men summon a being called Horigal to deal with the Witchman parliament members.  Klarion races through the Wicket Gate to warn them, but all are killed, and Klarion comes face to face with Horigal, who appears to be a gestalt entity made up of the three summoners and their reptile familiars.

Horigal: "Ye broke the law!  Ye ran away! Ye shall be judged!  Ye sought a world beyond Limbo Town but there can be no such world!  The truth would blind ye!"

Horigal.

Using his wits, Klarion sets a Grundy on Horigal and tries to make a getaway.  Horigal rekills the Grundy and chases after Klarion.  Suddenly a shot rings out, knocking Horigal back for a moment.  An older man appears telling Klarion to hurry as Horigals don't stay down for long.  They are on some subway tracks and Klarion is confused by the approaching noise and lights.  He finally jumps to safety and Horigal is mashed up beneath the train's wheels.  The man introduces himself as Ebeneezer Badde (which I have to wonder if it's a terrible pun based on the infamous Shamen song "Ebeneezer Goode").  Badde asks Klarion his name and where he resided in Limbo Town, after Klarion introduces himself, Badd says:

Badde: "Do you return to you self-imposed punishment down there in the mills of Croatoan?  Or would you go on?  To higher things?  The choice is yours."

Ebeneezer Badde.

Horigal's remains twitch and moan and Badde says it's time to leave before it recovers.  Klarion worries that he can't find Teekl, but Badde says his familiar will find him.  They get on a giant alligator and cruise down a sewerway.  Klarion is gleeful about being away from Limbo Town, in a place that's "hollow and filled with a thousand, wondrous holes that might lead anywhere!"  Feral children congregate on the bank and watch them and throw stones at them.

Klarion: "What a world of mad wonders is this!"

Badde: "It's just a world Klarion...you'll soon get bored."

Badde agrees to show Klarion "Croatoan" and as they walk there they stumble across the dead bodies of the subway pirates from Manhattan Guardian's mini. Klarion asks if Badde ever bumped into his father on his travels, Badde says he has no. Then he finally shows Klarion "Croatoan".  It's the same stone in a radioactive pool No-Beard and All-Beard were fighting over.  Badde shows Klarion a die.

Badde: "This is the house of Croatoan.  This is where the Witchmen come to be initiated in their one great and terrible truth.  There is no Croatoan.  Croatoan is an absent God.  Maybe there was a God here once, but he's long, long gone.  He escaped and left us on here alone.  Only his dreadful chains remain."

Klarion finds out his religion is a lie and is amused.

Klarion finds these revelations to be hilarious.  They return to the sewerway and soon arrive at "the lights of Vanity Fair" where the upper and lower worlds meet.  We then find out what Teekl has been up to.  First she kills "the Rat King" then she communes with the feral children and telepathically tells Klarion that they want revenge on a man they called "The Hunter-Of-Children"  who is of course Ebeneezer Badde, selling kids to a man called Mister Melmoth a person who has specifically wanted a Limbo Town kid.

At the last minute Badde's guilt gets the better of him and he draws his gun, telling Klarion to run.  But the feral kids attack en masse and overwhelm and kill him and it seems the men he was being sold to as well.  Klarion takes Badde's die from his body. 

Note Manhattan Guardian's helmet here.

Later one of the kids is taking Klarion to the nearest station.  She asks if he would stay with them, now the Rat King and Badde are dead, things will be easier for them.  But Klarion wants to see the surface and climbs the stairs into a New York daytime.

Klarion: "Adventure Teekl!  What can we do next?  Which way do we go?

Mister Melmoth: "Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Mister Melmoth".

Now we already know from the Shining Knight mini that Melmoth is Queen Gloriana's husband (although if you are reading the stories in the suggested order, this revelation comes after Melmoth's introduction).  Still the story doesn't beat around the bush, we are told he is a villain from the off.  The next issue begins with Melmoth speaking to a mysterious group of men.  We are filled in on the backstory of Limbo Town and how it is in fact the lost Puritan colony of Roanoke.  The colonists experienced "intimate contact" with something not entirely human, and when the first changelings were born the colonists turned to a darker religion.

Man: "Like monstrous maggots burrowing away from he clean light, they hid their sins deep underground and there, somehow, they thrived, a lost trive of half-human witches."

Mister Melmoth.

Melmoth says the hostel he runds for underpriviledged youngsters has been joined by one of Limbo Towns inhabitants - Klarion of course.  Who is in awe and wonder at everything he sees.

Melmoth: "Everything is new to him.  Everything is holy."

He says they will be using him to burrow down to Limbo Town and will be "Travelling in style".  The action cuts to a terrified Klarion in a taxi being driven at high speed by one of the other delinquents from the hostel.  They end up at the Museum of Superheroes.  The pimp suited leader is called Billy Beezer, who says his gang was taught by Goldenboy and only takes the best.  Although the better team is called "Team Red" a mysterious group they join when they turn sixteen.

Stealing the giant drill.

Klarion uses Teekl to scout in the museum, and then they all go inside and cause a commotion.  Billy lifts a security guards keys in the confusion and they steal a huge drilling machine which they all drive back to where Melmoth is waiting.  Klarion grumbles that Billy threatened Teekl, Melmoth says that at midnight Billy will turn sixteen and graduate to Team Red.  There is a minor dust-up between Billy and Klarion, Billy feeling Klarion is going to replace him as team leader.  But he stops fighting Klarion when Klarion seems to be abou to curse him.  Later that night it strikes midnight and Goldenboy appears to Billy.  he is exhausted and wearing breathing equipment.

Billy: "I don't think I'm sure about Team Red."

Goldenboy: "...It's lies Billy, and pink skies and gold.  It's a hard labour gang.  Oh help me I've seen the gold mines.  The gold in the red place...You're my apprentice Billy Beezer.  Happy Birthday."

The truth about Team Red.

Melmoth appears and mocks Billy as Goldenboy drags him through something called an "Erdel Gate" to Mars to be set to work making money for Melmoth, and we shall see more of this in the final miniseries Frankenstein.  Teekl watches all this with Klarion seeing what's going on through her eyes, he says to the other kids:

Klarion: "Your beloved Melmoth is a liar, a devil and a betrayer as I suspected.  he wants you all for slaves."
Meanwhile Melmoth has assembled a group of armed men to travel with him in the drill to go plunder Limbo Town.  The other kids want Klarion as their leader, but he walks away from them, saying "look not to me for salvation".

Teekl: "Brother Klarion.  Evil will come to Limbo Town."

Klarion tries to brush this off, saying it's not his problem anymore.  But his conscience forces him to return to warn them of Melmoths coming attack and he reluctantly descends back through the subway.

Cat's are masters of guilt tripping.

The final issue begins with Klarion tied to a stake, about to be burned alive by the the inhabitants of Limbo Town, his desperate warnings falling on deaf ears.  He is ironically saved when Melmoth's giant drill comes crashing through the town's ceiling.

Melmoth: "Hello everyone.  Daddy's home... I had spider-sex with all of your ancestors, you know.  All those hot puritan girls  They thought I was the devil and they crawled underground to have our babies."

Klarion in a spot of trouble.

A woman tries to hex him and she is torn apart by automatic gunfire.  Melmoth says the "royal blood of the Sheeda court" mingled with their human strain.  He wants their homes turned into breeding pens and the adult men killed.  Klarion who was set free as Melmoth arrived, reaches the church and rings nine bells which summon the Grundy's back to town.  They start fighting the soldiers.

Meanwhile Judah is dying from the injuries he sustained while being part of Horigal.  He decides to make Klarion a Submissionary.  He hands him his rod and points to a door which has a closely guarded secret behind it.  It's a map.  As Klarion contemplates it, the others chant "come Horigal, come!"  Outside the soldiers have defeated the Grundies and Melmoth comes to the church.Judah refuses to believe he is part Sheeda, but Melmoth somehow "switches" him off mid sentence.  Suddenly Klarion is revealed as a Horigal, a blending of himself and Teekl.  He shreds the soldiers with Melmoth, who runs outside.  Kalrion gives chase and Melmoth gets set on fire:

Melmoth: "Oh this is tiresome.  Tiresome.  This isn't blood that flows in old Mister M's veins anymore, oh no.  The waters of the Cauldron of Rebirth run through me  So try all you want, I'll never die."

Teekl/Klarion attacks.

Still blazing, he warns the Limbo Townfolk that after the Harrowing of humanity, he will return for them.  Then he disappears.  Klarion and Teekl can't seperate but one of the Witch-Women is able to do it for them.  The remaining soldiers are tied to stakes ready to be burned.  Klarion's mother asks if he will take Judah's place.  Klarion replies:

Klarion: "I would like to be many things before I die mother.  Today... today I will be a soldier."

Teekl and Klarion head back to the surface.

And thus the mini ends with him returning to the surface in the giant drill, to be part of the resistance to the Sheeda invasion.  This is a great little miniseries.  Helped along massively by the gorgeous gothic artwork, Morrison establishes a believeable, stagnant, occult yet God fearing culture in the space of four issues.  Klarion is a fun character, something of a smartarse but fiercely intelligent and of course has a fantastic pet cat (Morrison is a real cat lover and has written his own cats into comics before, notably his run on Animal Man, I wonder if the marvellous Teekl is based on another of his?). Melmoth is introduced as another credible threat and the Team Red stuff is quite chilling and will pay off in the Frankenstein miniseries later on.  One of Klarion's interesting traits is his selfishness, and this will have ramifications down the line in the final issue. The die is also important to remember, especially as Misty from Zatanna's mini also has one. Anyway, this dabbling in weird fantasy by Morrison is impeccably pulled off and makes this one of the maxi-series real highlights.