"Prog 2003" - 18 December 2002
Cover by Greg Staples and Graham Rolfe

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

GH: A truly stunning cover this week, and yet another starring cover turn for Tharg this year. However...it doesn't mention the "all new stories" or give any indication of the content inside - so I wonder if it'll do the much-needed job of attracting new readers to the comic?

WRL: After 25 years of producing the Galaxy's Greatest Comic, The Mighty One is starting to show his age. A cracking Cover image from Greg Staples and those eyes are just hypnotic: "Buy The Prog…Buy The Prog…" As there isn't a prog for the next three weeks, Tharg should take himself off, as it looks like it's time he had another shedding.

Dredd Vs Aliens: Incubus Part 1
Synopsis: Citizens are staging a protest rally against the new power tower. Caught in a resulting traffic jam, "Jimmy" panics, desperate to get to a hospital and runs through the jam. He's spotted by Carlos Lenning, "notorious anti-judicial activist" who pursues, guns blazing, and eventually taking out Jimmy's knee. "Where are they, Jimmy?" - but Jimmy's already been exposed to a hugger, and before he can learn where the others are, the gun-toting Lenning is gunned down by Dredd.

Fellow judge Sanchez and Dredd take Jimmy to the hospital, but it's too late - he starts convulsing, and an alien tears through his ribcage...

GH: Well this story has had more press than any other Dredd tale in recent memory - so there's an awful lot to live up to here. From the first episode, it looks like they're about to show us all how a crossover should be done in style. Already Wagner and Diggle have managed to set up the basic storyline, and have me wanting to know more about the protagonists involved. At Dreddcon 3, Diggle mentioned how he was impressed at how Wagner manages to juggle a large amount of characters with ease - and it's already easy to see what he's talking about. But the two of them clearly work well together, as this already has the hallmarks of a classic Dredd tale.

And as for the art? Absolutely astounding - and the only worry is, with this being printed in America too - will this be the last we see of the mighty Henry Flint in the comic?

One minor point - only 6 pages? Not a double sized intro? I suppose it ends on a good cliffhanger, so I shouldn't be too picky. We've got 15 more episodes of this, so I guess it's best to keep us wanting more...

WRL: Wagner, Diggle and Flint are the perfect opening combination for this end of year prog. The first four pages don't give you any clue as to what the story is about; it’s a slow build up and if it wasn't for the splash page and title, Dredd's enemy would remain unknown. Then page five, and the final panel "RRRRIIPPP"... Henry Flint's artwork is absolutely sublime. A true genius at work and the artist that most represents the classic style of 2000AD. Wagner and Diggle don't rush into the story and it leaves you wanting more. My only complaint is that I've got to wait three weeks before part two.

Escher's Well
Synopsis: The VCs are surrounded by geeks; Jupe and Smith are outgunned. Smith tells Jupe it's time to pull out, and just as Jupe refuses, he's shot in the head - "Jupe's Dead" - and then Smith awakes from his nightmare, still in his ship on Mars.

Smith goes to Escher's Well, a drinking den fashioned after Escher's works - i.e. stairways, gravity etc. all topsy turvy. He meets Jupe and tells him about the dream, but Jupe doesn't take it seriously. Smith says they're up against Geek extremists this time - not the homeworld - and it'll be a whole new kind of war. Jupe suggests that the "Polity" will step in "an enlightened confederation with 10000 years of peace behind them" - but Smith says they didn't help last time, so why would they now...

Keege, Smith's Geek crewman enters the bar, and is set upon, but Smith and the rest of the VCs start a major bar brawl in defending him, along with Diderot, a new VC. As the bar brawl finishes and they leave, Jupe still refuses to believe there's a head shot with his name on it...

GH: The return of The VCs for a one off story - clearly setting up the forthcoming second series. It really is a case of exposition gone wild - but that doesn't hurt the story too much, as the plot threads laid by Abnett are compelling enough for the reader to want to know more. It has me looking forward to the developments that the second series will bring. It also highlights that this is influenced by real-world events, with the VCs up against extremists, rather than the Geek homeworld. The bar fight is a little pointless - but I guess a little action was needed.

Anthony Williams does a good job - especially in the dream sequence fight against the geeks - but is given a particularly tricky task in rendering the topsy turvy nature of Escher's well. Unfortunately, it makes the story hard to follow, but I suppose it serves to distract the reader from the fact that it's just two people having a drink in a bar. It'll be a shame if Flint's not doing the next series - but Williams is setting himself up as a decent replacement.

Angels
Synopsis: Female GIs weren't allowed to fight initially, but necessity soon drafted them into the airforce as the war progressed. Rafe, a female GI is shot down over Nu Earth. Her onboard AI ejects with her, its gravitic motor allowing them both to land safely. A Nort tank and a platoon of Norts attack her, but she beats them off, with help and battle advice from an an unknown friend she hears over her radio. But she misses one Nort, and he's about to take his shot, when a sniper takes him out. The voice on the radio tells her that the craft is near, and she spots a figure slipping away - "Maybe it was our very own Guardian Angel..."

GH: A considerable improvement on the series which I lambasted earlier this year. The heavy use of the AI to interact with Rafe provided her with the counterpoint that was missing from Rogue's scenes in the previous series. I liked the idea of the air force too.

But it's the art which really impresses here. The last time Coleby illustrated Rogue Trooper, I was extremely critical - especially as I found it very confusing. I suggested that greater use of shading might be the answer - and I feel totally vindicated by the results shown here. The shading is used intelligently to give real depth and greatly enhance Coleby's work, making it the best art so far on this re-launched Rogue. Now, I'm not suggesting he listened to my criticism or anything, but if he does read this, I'd like to stress that this is absolutely the right direction for his black & white art - and look forward to seeing him again in the next series.

The Books of Invasion Part 1
Synopsis: Slaine is in Albion with Ukko, looking for someone. A bunch of Formorians try to pick a fight, and eventually Slaine decides to give it to them. As he takes them on, we flash back to Ireland, one year before.

Balor and the Formorians are up against the Irish in a great battle. Slaine is chained up, as he is too important to his people for them to let him enter the battle - although his wife Niamh is deep in the fray. The battle is going poorly and a "demon with many swords" arrives to ensure that battle worsens. Balor opens his "evil eye" and even the great magical weapons of the goddess cannot turn the tide. Ukko keeps telling Slaine how the battle is nearly lost, until Slaine can take no more, and goes into warp spasm...

GH: Now I have something of a problem with Slaine. I used to love the series in the early days, but after the Horned God it seemed to have lost its way. I think the main problem was that as king, Slaine just wasn't very interesting. Just arrogant, burly and very boring. I also grew weary of the constant dalliances with the Earth goddess. I also preferred it when Ukko sometimes had the upper hand over Slaine, rather than just being a target for a beating. Niamh in particular started to really annoy me, too. So I approach this series with caution.

Yet, i'm cautiously optimistic. The initial scenes before the flashback hint that there may be a return to the wandering barbarian aspect of the earlier series, and it'll be interesting to see how they ended up there. There's still some self consciously flowery dialogue that I could do without, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for the moment.

The artwork is really very good though. It may be a little too dark in places, but it really is a return to form for the series, and possibly the highest quality since the Horned God.

WRL: Slaine has to be one of the best characters that 2000AD has. Some of the best art ever to appear in Tharg's weekly dose of thrill power has been produced for Slaine (if you've never read Sky Chariots, then dig out Progs 352 - 360 or one of the many reprints) by the best Slaine artist Mike McMahon.

Anyway I digress, and for a reason. When was the last time a Slaine story appeared that really worked? Since The Horned God Slaine has been on a downward spiral both artistically and story-wise until he became just a shadow of his former self. When I heard he was coming back I really couldn't have cared less, but after reading the first episode of his new adventures, I'm intrigued. One episode isn't enough to win back a former Slaine fan but it can give you hope. Pat Mills, once the mightiest of script droids, needs to tap into that earth magic more than his warped warrior as his thrill power chip seemed to have burnt out some years ago. But hope is eternal so lets keep our fingers crossed.

Clint Langley in my opinion is one of those art droids that you either love or hate and I've probably been in the latter category, but once again I may be moving camps. It's still dark and more than likely looks fantastic on the Langley droid's drawing board, but loses something in printing. I'm not going to get my hopes up but I look forward to seeing the warped warrior's continuing adventure and pray to Danu that Mills and Langley can bring the saga I believed to be dead back from the sourlands to the land of the young.