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Prog 1316 - 6 November
2002
Cover by Cliff Robinson and Chris Blythe
Synopsis and
1st review by Gavin Hanly
2nd opinion by W.R. Logan
GH: A decent
cover from the very reliable Cliff Robinson (now it would be nice to see him on
a more serious longer Dredd story - any chance of that happening?).
WRL: Has
Cliff Robinson ever turned in a bad cover? Nice action shot of Dredd and Prager;
my only niggle is Chris Blythe's background colouring but otherwise a good action
cover.
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Script:
John Wagner
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Art:
Carl Critchlow
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Letters:
Tom Frame
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of the Undercity - Part 4
(Conclusion)
Synopsis:
"Bones", a mutant leader, has caught Prager, and reveals that he and
his minions plan to blow the undercity gate and destroy the city. Dredd attacks
before they can kill Prager, and with his help fights the mutants. The leader
backs out, after saying "I'll be back -- an' next time I'll turn their damn
city into a killing ground!"
The roof falls
on Prager, but Dredd pulls him out, as he turns human again. He says he's the
last of the werewolves, but has learned to control the killing instinct and doesn't
want to be cured. Dredd gives him his uniform and fresh ammo, and Prager heads
back into he undercity.
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GH: Unfortunately,
this story didn't really take off for me. I was impressed by the art to start
with - but there's only so much dark blues and greys you can take. So good drawing,
but more invention is needed on the colouring. I have, however, much preferred
Critchlow's line drawing to his painted work - but let's get him in a story set
above ground, in the daytime?
Now for the story.
When it all comes down to it, it seems to be a precursor to a much more interesting
Dredd Mega Epic that we can expect in future issues - either the uprising of the
undercity or a Cursed Earth invasion. And as a result, the denouement can do little
but disappoint. Prager could be an interesting character - but needs to bounce
off Dredd a bit more to make him more compelling. Perhaps he'll be back again
soon, and Wagner will be able to have a little more fun with the character. So
in all - not really a bad Dredd tale - just a bit underwhelming.
WRL: The conclusion
to the return of Prager story line sees some decent action and the introduction
of a new mutant bad guy Mr Bones, who we will no doubt see again. As with all
4 parts the story has been interesting enough with Prager, werewolves and the
Undercity but I couldn't get into Carl Critchlow's artwork. There wasn't anything
wrong with it but I felt that it didn't fit the story, the 'Colin Wilson Light'
style just didn't do it for me. Let's hope we get to see more of Prager soon and
more werewolf action. |
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Script:
Ian Edgington |
Art:
Steve Yeowell |
| Letters:
Annie Parkhouse |
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Under the Banner of King Death
- Part 4
Synopsis: Isabella
has been caught by Dr Orlando, and held on his zombie ship, the Black Galleon.
Orlando is attracted to the witchcraft that is in her blood - and not learned
through books. After she puts up a fight, Orlando threatens to feed her to the
crew, so she gives in and says she'll do what he wants. Which is: "We're
going to kill God".
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| GH:
I'm still enjoying this - and Dr Orlando seems like a fun villain, so it's good
to hang a couple of issues around him. As before, Edgington seems to be having
fun with the proceedings, and lets loose with a few nice and tasteless jokes.
Not a great deal actually happens this week - but the plot is set down a clearer
route (Dancer will head out to the rescue, next week, I'd assume) and has me wanting
to find out what happens next. Yeowell's art is great as ever. Some people believe
he's particularly unsuited for 2000AD - but sod 'em. He's clearly an incredible
talented artist, who's ideally suited for this sort of swashbuckling nonsense.
WRL: Never
been a big Steve Yeowell fan, so I was surprised to find myself liking his art
on Red Seas, wish I could say the same about the story. Some stories in
2000 are perfect for reading in the usual weekly installments but occasionally
stories appear that I find are better read in one sitting and I believe Red
Seas is one of those. When the last episode appears I shall sit down and read
it in one sitting and hopefully I'll enjoy it more. |
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Script:
Rob Williams
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Art:
Boo Cook
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Letters:
Ellie De Ville
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4
Synopsis: Lombard
beats Belly's son, trying to find out where his father is. Holt is restrained
nearby - they say they won't kill him as he's part Human, and the bible forbids
it. However, it says nothing about aliens. Ashcroft says only 6 hunters remain
and wants Holt to join them (along with Megan who is revealed as a baddie - "just
looking after number one"). Lombard wants revenge for his wife's (accidental)
death, and says they're going to round up the aliens on Earth. Ashcroft kills
Belly's son, and reveals a torture/killing chamber full of aliens.
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GH: Now
looking at the 2000AD website, this story is getting only mediocre ratings from
readers. However, I'm really starting to like it. The art is great, for a start,
and with the writing Williams has managed to create a hero that you can sympathise
with (it's always a good thing to put the hero through complete crap before he
comes back and saves the day). Plus we've got a number of bad guys for the hero
to go up against in the coming weeks. Let's just hope this carries on a bit longer.
If they kept Bison going for so long - this should certainly have a good bit of
life in it.
WRL: Asylum
is an interesting story; whilst it's certainly not the best thing presently appearing
in the galaxies greatest comic, it isn't the worst. The story is entertaining
enough and Boo Cook's artwork has certainly developed over recent times. The strong
point of the story and artwork is that at times it certainly can be uncomfortable
to read, the small green alien, being beaten and saying "Thank you…
Sorry… Thank You." And "can I see the rabbits now?" are scenes
that I found affecting me in ways that I didn't expect from this story. I'll be
interested to see where this one goes in future Progs. |
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Script:
Gordon Rennie |
Pencils:
Mike Collins |
| Letters:
Tom Frame |
Inks:
Lee Townsend |
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| Infamy
Synopsis: In
this week's alternate universe, Japan uses Godzilla to attack Pearl Harbour, and
America has the "Super-Guys" fighting on their side. The Super Guys
defeat Godzilla, as our narrator, who recently signed up, flies off to Japan in
the Enola Gay. As the Super Guys help defeat Mothra on the way, the Enola Gay
reaches its destination. But instead of a bomb, it drops our narrator, now transformed
into a new kind of Superhero - one that detonates with a nuclear explosion.
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| GH:
OK, this week we have some more seasoned creators on Part Imperfect. But
I still can't warm to these stories. Maybe it's because I've just read far too
many Future Shocks, that I'm past caring. Maybe it's because I'm slightly bored
with the whole elseworlds/alternity premise. Certainly each of the stories so
far could have easily sat under the Future Shocks banner. Why not just
call all these "tales of the unexpected" that rather than search for
a new name every time? These one-offs always have a bit of a hill to climbs before
they start, due to the shackles imposed on them by the basic premise.
Anyway - rant over.
This week's story is Ok - nothing more. OK art, OK script (the subtext of the
change from the more upbeat Silver Age superheroes to the ones we have today just
about saves it) - but we should be getting so much more than this...
WRL: The concept
of stories retelling well known points in history is definitely a breath of fresh
air after so many poor Future Shocks and with this tale by Gordon Rennie
these one-offs seem to have hit their stride. This is definitely the best one
to appear yet and confirms in my opinion that the Rennie droid (next to John Wagner)
is the most consistent droid in Tharg's stable of regular droids. This retelling
of the Americans coming into W.W.II is the benchmark that future Past Imperfect
stories has to live up to. |
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Script:
Dan Abnett
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Art:
Simon Davis
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Letters:
Ellie De Ville
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Off-Lode Experience - Part 4
Synopsis: An
alien family are sitting down for dinner when our heroes' spacecraft lands in
their backyard - and they emerge looking for petrol. The episode is done from
the alien's perspective (we can understand the aliens - but not Sinister &
Dexter & co). Our heroes fill up with petrol from a nearby tractor as the
alien father informs the authorities. They launch an attack and the spaceship
takes off again (leaving a crop circle behind them) as the authorities decide
to forget everything they saw...
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GH: Well
I should first start off by apologising for completely killing all the humour
in the story with the above synopsis. But you try summarising a story where most
of the dialogue reads something like "Jobo Jab jabby jab". So Sinister
& Dexter seem to land on a planet filled with south park aliens - and we get
the whole alien invasion cover-up from a different angle. Lots of great dialogue
as usual, and some wonderfully stupid looking aliens from Simon Davis. Sinister
Dexter hasn't been this good for ages - so it's nice to see it on a roll.
WRL: Anyone
who knows me from the 2000AD message board or Newsgroups will know that I loathe
Sin/Dex with a vengeance, and have called for the series to be culled for a long
time, and the Gun Sharks latest outing in no way makes me reconsider my opinion
of this well past its sell by date series. Simon Davis' artwork used on the right
story is a welcome addition to any Prog, Dan Abnett has revitalised my opinion
of him with his recent outings on other stories, especially The VC's, but I'm
afraid that I just can't get into this one trick story that for some reason that
I can never fathom constantly returns and consistently is the worst thing to appear
in 2000AD. |
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Overall:
GH: Another
good issue - but still let down by Past Imperfect, which feels SO much
like filler material now, it's unbelievable. There appear to be a number of other
series waiting in the wings - so hopefully one of them will take over soon.
WRL: So
Prog 1316, hit or miss? Whilst certainly not the best Prog to appear in recent
weeks it entertains and has more pluses than minuses. Dredd & Past
Imperfect being this weeks best reads; Asylum is interesting, uncomfortable
at times, but still has me looking forward to the next episode. Red Seas,
I reserve judgement till I've read it in one sitting and Sin/Dex I read
and hope that one day I'll see something that I can appreciate, but not this week.
The Galaxies Greatest
Comic? You bet.
Best Story:
Gavin Hanly:
Sinister Dexter
WR Logan:
Judge Dredd
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