Prog 1326 - 5 February 2003
Cover by Clint Langley

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

GH: A highly detailed cover from Clint Langley this issue with Sláine taking center stage. However, while the detail is intricate and impressive, it's a fairly standard Sláine pose. It's supposed to depict Slaine's thirst for vengeance, but he looks more like he's trying to pose for a catalogue cover. A slightly more dynamic approach would have been welcome...

WRL: Clint Langley turns in a Sláine image worthy of the cover of the galaxies Greatest Comic. When the background is bright and vivid it allows his artwork to be seen, unlike some of the pages and panels that have appeared in the actual strip. Also good to see the 2000AD and Prog logo adapted so that it doesn’t get lost in the bright orange background.

Dredd vs Aliens: Incubus - Part 6
Synopsis: The Alien leaps past Dredd and into the hospital, and finds its way into the maternity ward, the only ward still populated. It approaches the babies, so the Judges can't fire on it. Dredd taunts it, to lure it away. The Alien takes the bait, knocking Dredd and itself through the window - "Slight miscalculation-!". They manage to land on a hover-zoom. Dredd clings onto a pipe on the end, but in the process drops his gun. The pipe begins to give away, as the Alien creeps forward, but Dredd throws a "road flare" into its mouth. "Gotta go in for the kill"

GH: The action hots up even further, as Dredd takes on another Alien. The scene in the maternity ward is one of the best yet, with a palpable sense of tension, as the Alien examines the children.

With only 6 episodes down, there's been a large amount of fast-paced storytelling, as the aliens run amok. But with 10 episodes to go, I hope there's more in store besides Dredd casing after the Xenomorphs. Don't get me wrong, it's been great so far (despite a small case of exposition-overdrive towards the end of this week's episode), but I'm going to want a little more meat in the story soon. Although we do have a face-huggered judge to get back to before too long. And there's always the question of where the eggs came from in the first place.

The art's still fantastic, by the way...

WRL: Part six already and I’m running out or descriptions and ways of praising this strip that I've not already used. Henry Flint once again shows that not only is he the Dredd artist of the modern age, but take away Tom Frame's excellent lettering and his storytelling is flawless. My only fear is that with the new century we have another exodus of 2000AD artists, Jock and Frazer have both been lured by the Yankee dollar and how long can it be before the Land of the Free lures Henry to its shores?

Moloch - Part 6 (Double-sized final episode)
Synopsis: The funeral of Niamh. Afterwards, Sláine abdicates as High King and heads to Albion to find Moloch, telling his son, Kai, to wait behind. We then get back to the "present" (from episode 1), where Ukko uses the tears from some thieves that Sláine killed to learn about Moloch's whereabouts - at the Swarming. They arrive at the location of the Swarming, and Sláine and Ukko part company - Sláine parting with the words "Goodbye, My friend".

Every demon imaginable is at the swarming, where they plan to terrify and slaughter children, using their terror to summon a "great old one" from Sirius. Moloch presides over this, surrounded by a pit of fire. Sláine bursts in, and frees the children, heading for Moloch. Moloch taints Sláine further, warning the other demons not to attack, as Moloch wants him for himself. But Sláine fights on, pushing Moloch closer to the edge of the pit. Sláine says he knows that Moloch is a coward from their previous battle - whereas Sláine wants to die to join Niamh. He charges at Moloch, and they both plunge into the fiery pit...

GH: The last episode already? I know I've been tad harsh on this series so far - but wasn't that all over a bit quick?

The week's episode does show a marked improvement, as we get into the meat of the story, and begin to see where this is heading. The scenes from the swarming are impressive indeed, and offer a sense of scale that was missing from the earlier battle scenes. It's also quite reminiscent of the arena scene in the recent "Attack of the Clones". Again, things are much brighter this issue, so it's much improved on the retina-damaging earlier parts.

The fight scene is also much more enjoyable with a good turn in taunting by Moloch helping to keep things interesting. At least there seems to be less needless exposition this week - and lets hope Mills keep that to a minimum in the next book.

But overall - there needs to be a much greater improvement in the next book to regain my interest. In hindsight, this looks like one long prologue to what could be a more interesting story - and a such, has proved to be a bit of a waste of my time. The loss of Ukko, who could be a foil to Slaine's earnest nonsense, could also prove to be damaging unless another similar character is introduced next time. So I'm afraid it's a combination of two review clichés from me to end on: "too little, too late" and "could try harder."

WRL: A double-length episode to wrap up the first book of the latest saga and as with this weeks cover, the backgrounds to this episode are either light in colour or very vivid. Most panels are much clearer than we’ve seen previously, so character and background don’t all blend into one. After the promising start in Prog 2003 this double length episode ends book one in a better position than it has been in for the previous few weeks. Whether it has done enough to once again make the reader interested in where the adventures of the warped warrior will go is debatable, but book two needs to regain the readers attention for more than just the opening and ending episodes as book one has done.

Going Underground - Part 6 (Last episode)
Synopsis: As miss Simmons falls into the pit, something odd happens, and she begins to spark and float, with light pouring from her eyes. The rest of the team try vainly to fight back the demons, as the horned skull approaches. But just before it's too late - Miss Simmons levitates from the pit, still putting on a light show, and the demons are all destroyed. Rayne: "Hmm. Interesting. Not at all what I expected."

The danger over, Simmons is taken to a hospital, but Chapter and Verse now think they'd better keep a close eye on Rayne. Later, Rayne is at Q Branch, removing a secret document, when Dr Brand comes in. Rayne hides the document as Brand tells him that Miss Simmons remembers nothing. Rayne hands him a Mission Statement from Mr Slater about forthcoming changes: "Caballistics?"

In another room, Rayne destroys the file, while in Tel Aviv, there is a report of the incident on the news, where a Holocaust survivor sees Rayne - "Der Teufel!". We flash back to see the burning file - which contained a picture of Rayne, in his former guise as Sondercommander Thule...

GH: This, much like Sláine, has proved to be one long prologue. However, unlike Sláine, this has offered an interesting set-up from the start, with plot threads being cleverly strewn around that are only now beginning to come together. I've enjoyed this series on the whole - but mainly for the promise it shows. Next time around, though, I'm going to want a little bit more. Let's develop the background of the Caballistics and Rayne before throwing in any more "asides" - and let's also have a mission with a little more originality. After all - the Caballistics had little else to do this time but wave around some weapons and put on a secret light-show, with the ending a little too vague to be truly satisfying. But as a set-up, it was fun to read, and has potential.

The art also has potential - but needs to work on improving the clarity in some scenes. I still, after reading the issue a few times, have no idea of what happened to the zombie demons. Did they explode, disintegrate, disappear? Did Simmons kill them with her "lasers". Reardon is great at depicting individual characters, but clearly needs to work on his action for next time.

Well, only 5 issues to wait. Let's see what happens then.

Hell and High Water - Part 6
Synopsis: Dante comes out of the bathroom dressed only in a towel - considerably more than Akita is wearing. She's covered in semi-sentient and empathic tattoos, which react to her moods, and asks Dante if they disturb him. "Not me Milady, I've always been an art lover." They fall into bed together. Meanwhile the kids are eating, but collapse - drugged, by the guard Murakami.

Back in the bedchamber, Akita tells Dante that the Tsar is channeling aid to her enemies, and asks Dante to join her in taking back the empire. But Dante refuses. walking out onto the balcony, she asks him why he's protecting the children. "Because I've seen enough people who didn't deserve it crushed by the likes of you and the Tsar." But Akita reveals the children drugged on a table below - "Submit to my will or Murakami will decapitate the little darlings in their sleep." Dante has no choice but to back down...

GH: Dante once again finds himself in a position where he has to side with the bad guys against his will. and his overdeveloped libido helps to get him into trouble. Not a great deal to report on this one for this week. Great art as usual, and the story still shows signs of growing into a much larger conflict. Dante's simple mortalities are thrown into question by the role he played in the war - but at heart he shows that his good nature lets him be manipulated a little too easily.

WRL: The Russian love machine proves once again that if he’s not fighting, then its time for some loving. Dante thinks of himself after saving Mina and Karl from the Kraken, but the interlude doesn’t last long before he finds himself putting his interests second to that of the children. As with previous weeks John Burns produces panel after panel of beautiful artwork and as the last strip in the Prog it ensures that you close this weeks prog on a high.