Joy. Not a bad cover, I do like his art. I just can't be done with Sin/Dex. But then, everyone knows that by now eh.

What about JD? Still the pinkeye thing?

So FINALLY the War of the Moses is going to be properly hitting! FINALLY!

Or so the cover says, anyway...

YAY! Bring on the boring!

Tch. That's what we're led to believe every time Sin/Dex returns. I don't understand how a series with such a high episode count (second only to Dante and Dredd, it seems) can manage to have so little ever actually happen.

Well they are hitmen, so their life is just the same thing each day only slightly different due to the variations of the contract.
It just seems that they dip in and out of the big story now and again.

SinDex wasn't that bad actually, though it's a bit annoying to see that the War seems, er, resolved before anything ever happened.

What a shocker in Shakara though, eh?

Review now up - thanks to Daniel and John, whose opinions are somewhat divergent:

http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/site/index.p...000AD-1661.html

Although I certainly don't think of it as a classic the way so many seem to, I don't agree with your low opinion of Kingdom. Understandable maybe, given that you don't like it, but this quote seems to suggest that you just haven't been paying attention to the story. It has been repeatedly shown, going back to their first meeting, that Clara has the serious doggie hots for Gene. Even if that wasn't the case, saving him from the Them can easily be read as not wanting to be deprived of the opportunity to kill the traitor yourself.

I'm pretty surprised to see both reviewers seem to accept this as the end of Shakara. There are simply too many unresolved plot strands for this to be the case. Eva Procopio to take up the mantle of avenger and show us all how the bitter cycle of violence and vengeance can never be broken. With really cool guns and art.

Also I thought this cover was a vast improvement on Davis' customary full face against a blank background efforts. The colours seemed to give it a very deliberate Miami Vice vibe which I liked.

Totally agree on Shakara - I'm fully expecting it to return. The whole background to the "artifacts" needs to be told, for a start. I'll try to find out from Robbie Morrison - am trying to get in touch with him for an interview.

You're correct, I haven't been following Kingdom very closely, for the reasons I described—so thanks for the correction and sorry for the error.

Regarding Shakara, my reaction to the last episode was that it appeared to be over; but, as I mentioned, there also seemed to be a lack of finality to it. Considering Robbie Morrison's taste for bringing characters back from the 'dead', and the transcendent nature of Shakara, I wouldn't be surprised if you're right.

Besides which, we'd need a fifth and final book to give us enough for a second TPB...

Which is a really horrible reason to structure a story a certain way.

Psst, keep it under your hat, but Henry Flint told me Shakara is scripted for 5 books. Mums the word, alright?

Don't worry, we won't tell anyone........

Obviously I'm a bit emotional at the moment, but I nearly cried at the endings of both Kingdom and Shakara. Powerful stuff, especially from Richard Elson and Henry Flint. Cinematic tone, perfectly rendered for comics.
WANT MORE!

(and good to hear its coming)

I like the idea of Eva coming back a la Evey in V for Vendetta - maybe she's called Eva as a subtle nod to Evey for this reason? Time will tell.

Really enjoyed this run of Kingdom, more so than the last. Surely it will come back for another series?

Whilst on Abnett and Elson - was Avatar ever collected into one volume - I recall the first series was released as a hard back. I loved that story.