Prog 1319 - 27 November 2002
Cover by Simon Davis

Synopsis and 1st review by Gavin Hanly
2nd opinion by W.R. Logan

GH: A great Charlie's Angels pastiche by Simon Davis. A catching image that should work well on the news-stands.

WRL: It may come as a surprise to anyone who's read any of my previous reviews but I may have something positive to say about Sinister Dexter. I'm sure it won't last. Whilst this week's cover by Simon Davis isn't the most action packed eye opening cover to grace the pages of 2000AD, it certainly made me wonder what was happening in this week's episode. I've always liked covers that in some way reference what is happening inside the Prog, instead of generic action poses.

After Hours
Synopsis: Dredd is on "Mandatory 24" - enforced 24 hour leave for any judge who's been doing too many double shifts and over-using the sleep machine. He can't sleep and goes for a walk, musing about the advice of his younger colleagues to relax more.

He ends up at Planet Gary's bar. Ordering a coffee and refusing to take it for free (avoiding a percieved attempt at bribing a judge). Gary tells him about the clientele for that time of night, "bums and deadbeats", but nothing too bad. Another patron, Manny, starts talking, telling Dredd how he served in the Apocalypse war - giving him something in common with Dredd. As Manny stumbles out the door, Dredd authorises Gary to get him a cab, paid for by the city (It'll be cheaper than paying for his arrest for being drunk & disorderly).

As Dredd leaves, he realises it's good to remember that Mega City one isn't completely full of creeps, but decent citizens exist too...

GH: Another first class one-off Dredd tale from Gordon Rennie. It's been a while since we had one of these slower tales where Dredd examines his motives. Rennie proves himself to be just as adept at this as he is at the more satirical stories he's done recently. It's good to see that someone besides Wagner can bring out the heart in Dredd once in a while.

Rennie once again teams up with Ian Gibson (last together in Give Me Liberty) who compliments the script perfectly. In my mind Gibson is one of the top Dredd artists, using his unique style to great effect in depicting Dredd and his environment. It's also a treat to see Gibson colouring his own work again, and it doesn't appear to be computer generated (although I could be mistaken) giving it a fresher feel.

Overall, an excellent story and well worth the cover price alone.

WRL: Once again Gordon Rennie turns in yet another quality Dredd story with art by one of 2000AD's old masters, Ian Gibson. This week's Dredd has no major revelations, Dredd doesn't draw his Lawgiver and doesn't even send a single cit to the cubes. This story reiterates that Dredd just isn't about violence and the rigid application of the law, there's more to Dredd than daysticks and 6 types of bullet. In recent times Rennie has shown that he can handle all facets of Dredd's character and he should have the chance of doing a multi part story which will give him more pages to show us he can handle more than 6 pages of Dredd at a time.

Gibson's artwork perfectly compliments the story, I'm sure some may say that his work on After Hours is sparse, but it's exactly why it works, this is a story without the usual Dredd excesses and doesn't need the artist to distract the reader away from the story. My only negative: Gibson didn't manage to fit in any of his fantastically drawn women 8-)

Under the Banner of King Death - Part 7
Synopsis: Dancers crew is beginning to question his motives, and it becomes clear that he hasn't filled them in on the whole story, nor told them of the talking Dog's head. They are led to the Devil's Triangle. According to the dog "The Almighty made it first so he'd have somewhere to stand while he crafted the world. It is the first and oldest piece of creation."

Dancer is called to the deck as a sail is sighted, but it turns out to be a huge shark - larger han the ship. The shark destroys the ship, but Dancer sees it off, stabbing it in the eye with a harpoon. The survivors cling to wreckage.

GH: Now that is a big fish. Most of the episode this week is devotes to the "shark" attack, and Yeowell excels himself at illustrating the carnage that follows - although it seems a little hard to swallow that Dancer could so easily see off the beast. Further interesting developments ar revealed as we learn of their destination and how it fits into Doyle's plan. Dancer's crew are also considerably less irritating than I feared - and there aren't that many of them left now anyway...

Part 7
Synopsis: More destruction on the station as Ashcroft's fingers are severed by an explosion. He runs to escape, killing another alien on the way - but is followed by Belly. Holt confronts Lombard, who says "there's an army of us willing to fight to keep our lands clean, pure and human" - which is a bit rich as Lombard's only half human himself. Holt blows off his hand and chucks him into the pipe towards Earth.

Meanwhile Ashcroft dives for safety through a blast door - which severs his leg while closing - but Belly smashes through it...

GH: This series seems to have turned into an extreme firefight. Boo Cook does some fine action pages, but I find myself missing the intrigue that accompanied the earlier episodes. This appears to have been sacrificed for an action packed finish, and the motives of Ashcroft and his allies are becoming paper thin. It's still enjoyable though, and it looks like Ashcroft's going to come to a very nasty end indeed. Holt's assertion that there are more like him, potentially lays the groundwork for a second series, but we'll have to see how things end up next week...

Assassination
Synopsis: The president in going on holiday in his interstellar craft when he is contacted by Parador Gortht of the "illegal union of disgruntled slaveworlds" and told there is a bomb on board his ship. The President tells his commander that he's deploying the Psycho Mutant Tactical Response team. They're given holomaps by the commander of the locations of the bombs - each in tactical areas of the ship. After fighting their way through the malfunctioning security, they get to the bomb locations - but there are no bombs. The commander is making his getaway in the meantime. The holomaps are actually bombs, which he now sets off in the target areas, blowing up the ship. "You shouldn't have banged my sister, you bastard!"

GH: Not a bad Future Shock. The baddie was telegraphed from the beginning, but the whole thing is pleasantly lighthearted, if not terribly groundbreaking. However, the art is another matter. Disraeli is an amazing artist at any time, and proves himself more than capable of elevating this Future Shock to the highest levels. The characters and design are all of fantastic quality, and show just how this sort of Future Shock should be done. His work is, like Yeowell's in Red Seas, greatly suited to the black and white strips, as evidenced by his use of shading techniques (something that some other black and white artists should consider employing).

I'd really like to see much more of D'israeli in 2000AD, and hopefully this will be the harbinger of more work to come...

The Off-Lode Experience - Part 7
Synopsis: The crew are attacked by a group of Space Pirates, the Amazines, who hate men. They board the ship ready to kill any man they see, and are met by Billi, who introduces them to her crew: Sinster, Dexter and McCandless all dressed in drag. Billi says "I have...enslaved them! I have forced them to follow the - uh - ultra-fem way of gynodominancy". The Amazines buy this and leave, but not before pointing them in the direction of Lux's ship...

GH: Much better than last week, with the emphasis again put on placing the crew in an odd and unfamiliar situation. It's basically just an excuse for a few jokes, but that's when Sinister Dexter works so well. The interplay between the crew and the Amazines is very funny, and Billi seems to be over-enjoying her position. It'd definitely be a good idea to keep this group dynamic together in the next Sinister Dexter series, as S&D can get a bit tiresome on their own.

Simon Davis certainly seems to be having fun with this issue, although you have to feel sorry for his live models...