2000AD Prog 1600 - 20 August 08

Cover by Greg Staples

Darren Stephens: Wow. An iconic portrait from one of 2000ADs best ever contributors, in my opinion, Greg Staples. There's an almost Bolland-esque feel to the way this has been inked and coloured, which is probably the biggest compliment I can give.  Excellent stuff.

Charles Ellis: “New Stories Start Inside!” and a big image of an iconic character, with a “We’re Watching You” label so you know the tone of Dredd. Not the most exciting of all-new-stories covers but it does exactly what it should be doing. 

Mutie Block Part 1 Script: John Wagner Art: Kev Walker Colours: Chris Blythe Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Anarchy gets organised...

Synopsis: More mutants are entering Mega City One since the repeal of the Mutant Laws. However, violence against them is on the increase and in general MC1 citizens are against the reintroduction of the mutants. To keep them safe, they are given Norma Jean Baker block as an all-mutant block. However, when passing on patrol, Dredd notices that the block has no guard and begins to smell a rat. Indeed, several groups are converging on the block in preparation for an attack...

DS: This is a great opening episode, as usual from the mighty Mr Wagner. Muties are starting to arrive at the Mega City one gates in their droves, but not everyone is ready to welcome them with open arms. Parallels with modern society are clear, of course. We get to see the story from several different angles, which gives the story an interesting edge. The mutants, turning up at immigration only to be heavily dissuaded from accepting citizenship, the immigration workers themselves and the city's citizens, who are up in arms about the 'invasion' of mutantkind.

The artwork is supplied by Kev Walker who, in recent years, has been slowly turning into Mike Mignola. I much prefer his earlier, heavily detailed work, but hey, this is still pretty good stuff.

CE: It’s well-known by now that Wagner’s Dredd stories on the mutant sub-plot are him bringing his A-Game, but it does no harm to restate it. In just six pages he establishes how mutant immigration work, how the immigrants live, public and Justice Dept views on it, and this story’s villains, as well as a rather sharp skewering of British discourse on immigration and asylum seekers.  

Combined with Kev Walker’s art, this leads to strong moments like the Bickerstaff family scene. We have two panels, no movement by the characters, and only four word balloons (with one character not even talking). The structure of the dialogue, babbling for the missus and terse for the husband, combined with Walker’s facial expressions and body language, and we know Mrs Bickerstaff is no longer sure this was a good move but doesn’t want to get on the human’s bad side, Mr Bickerstaff is seething with anger at how they’re being treated, and the son is scared and wishes they’d never come. And with that one family, you’ve got the reactions of all the mutants summed up for you. 

Also, I’m darkly amused that the Mothers of Mega-City woman screaming “we don’t want their sort round here!” is black. I bet that’s intentional on Wagner’s part. 

Part 1 Script: Tony Lee Art: Jon Davis-Hunt Letters: Ellie De Ville

Making a point...

Synopsis: In 2237 Earth and its colonies are at war - with the outer colonies siding with the alien race Shh'Keen - the Snakes - who are violent and rapidly take the upper hand in the alliance. The Snakes keep their prisoners in prison camps that are moved from planet to planet to evade detection. In one of the new camps, inmate Holland befriends a new inmate Collins and in introduced to their commanding officer Newton. Several escapees have just been recaptured and the camp leaders, the human Major Andrews and Snake Trsss'tkk, kill one of them as a message.

Later, a group of prisoners meet to discuss the escape and believe that someone is betraying them. They also reveal that Collins is in fact a mole and kill him that night, leaving his body outside as a message to the guards. They then hear word of another escapee who has been captured - the legendary "Raider".

DS: I'm really not sure about this one. From this extra long opening episode, this seems like a straight Great Escape rip-off. But set in space. With nasty aliens as the bad guys. Mmmm. Part one ends with the imminent arrival at the camp of a legendary escapee known as Raider. Surely there is more to it than that?

It would be unfair to judge it after just one week, but if this is as original as it gets, Tharg's dropped a bit of a clanger here. Also, let's hope the green one doesn't pull another one of these 'surprise' appearances by an existing character. That would be stretching the concept to breaking point, but I fear the worst...

The artwork, by Jon Davis-Hunt lifts the strip into the above average zone, with some tastefully drawn ultra violence. The Shh'keen, the reptilian alien baddies are nicely realised, too. One to keep an eye on in the coming weeks then. 

CE: The general reaction on the message board is that this isn’t the most original of 2000AD strips. And that’s a fair comment and (based on part one) accurate. However, Tony Lee clearly knows how to craft a serial and has put some thought into this – in ten pages we have all the backstory and world-building we need, the characters and their dynamics set up (both with the villains and the heroes), a Legendary Hero set up to arrive, several subplots on the go at once, and future lingo (“Mussolini’s”) so we know this is set in the future. And there’s an evil sadist bastard who chops people in half (and you get the feeling Davis-Hunt really enjoyed drawing that panel). 

And for me, it works quite well. I like it. I want to see who this Raider is, find out what’s going on with Holland and the guard, and see the camp commander do more overly violent and sadistic things. The strip does exactly what it’s meant to and I’m eager to see next prog’s part.  

Old Gods - Part 1 Script: Ian Edginton Art: Steve Yeowell Letters: Ellie De Ville

Dancer back where he belongs...

Synopsis: in 1775, an invulnerable Viking army attacks a village in Albany, New York - killing everyone in sight. The leader ominously declares "The Sleeper shall not awaken"

Elsewhere, on the Connecticut coast, Captain Dancer and his crew are coming to shore, having lost young Jim on their last mission. As they make port, the colonial militia make moves to arrest him. He resists, until George Washington himself arrives and tells Dancer that he merely wanted to have him escorted, not arrested...

DS: Continuing the adventures of Captain Jack Dancer and his motley crew. It's always nice to see Red Seas back in the prog. It's an unashamedly old fashioned strip and all the better for it. This first episode sees a group of seemingly unkillable Vikings attacking a small settlement in upstate New York, and a brief catch up with Jack's crew.

Artist Steve Yeowell is also back. The perfect artist for the strip.

CE: Lord, it’s been too long! Props to Edginton for doing a three-page sequence reminding us of everyone’s names and what’s happened before (very useful for those new readers too) – then, of course, he changes everything on us!  

The Red Seas has proven to be extremely flexible; as long as the tone is right, Dancer and his mates can be plugged into any type of fantasy story you want (and as the side-stories have shown, you don’t even need pirates or the 18th Century setting). In theory, this means The Red Seas can go on and on and on as long as Edginton can think of new fantasy stories to plop the cast into, and he’s showing he can. Putting Dancer’s crew into the American War of Independence – and meeting Washington, no less – is certainly something I’d never have expected to see him to do. Add in undead Vikings out to prevent a mysterious “sleeper”, clashes with the natives, Dancer’s take on the revolution (“hey, if they’re paying…), and Yeovil’s scenes of Vikings VS Revolutionaries, and it looks like another fun trip with the boys.   

DS: An average prog this week, wrapped in a fantastic cover. For me, the ten pages of Stalag 666 hog far too much of the comic. At least ABC warriors are back next week, eh?  

Best Story: Judge Dredd

CE: If there was any other writer on Dredd, The Red Seas would be the winner, but the best is inevitably: 

Best Story: Judge Dredd