Prog 1332 - 19 March 2003
Cover by Clint Langley

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

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers.

GH: I have to admit, I'm not sure what to think of this cover. When I first pulled it out of the envelope, my first impression was "oh dear". However, the more I look at it, the more I'm warming to it. The spectral images in the background are impressive, and benefit from Langley's computer effects genius. The film poster approach is a bit long in the tooth now, but still works well. So a decent cover on reflection - but not really an instant eye catcher.

One last point- wasn't it a bit mean of whoever wrote the caption at the bottom not to include Clint Langley - and indeed to almost cover his signature with said caption...?

WRL: To come...

Dredd vs Aliens: Incubus - Part 12

Synopsis: The judges and the Mechanismo robots force the Aliens back - much to the relief of Sanchez. A robot explodes, the resulting acid killing another verminator, Butterman, as an Alien grabs Sanchez and drags her into the undercity. Dredd follow after her, ordering Giant to stay behind, mop up and seal the breach behind him. Dredd edges down the Alien made tunnel and from a high vantage point sees hundreds more Aliens. His communication with Giant breaks up, as Dredd is attacked by dozens of facehuggers: "Doesn't look like I'm going to make it out of this one-!"

GH: So finally we see that Sanchez does play an important role - she's to be the damsel in distress. A bit of a cliché, but given that Sanchez isn't a regular character, she's probably the best candidate for abduction as she may not make it back. Meanwhile, the Verminators are dropping like flies, and act as opportunities for Flint to create ever more gruesome deaths. We've still got 3 more episodes to go (one double-sized), and with Dredd now in the undercity, we should see another change in pace for the story.

But kudos must go to Flint for this episode, and in particular that last panel as the facehuggers swarm over Dredd. This series will be the benchmark for all future Aliens series, although I'd be surprised if any artist could make the creatures as terrifying as Flint makes them.

WRL: TBC

Moving In - Part 2

Synopsis: Chapter sees a blinking light in her room's mirror, smashes through and finds the camera. She hears a scream, and with Verse meets one of Rayne's assistants who says "it came along the corridor...it went right through me..." Rayne demands to know what's happening as Brand comes out and says Jenny's missing. They head for the basement.

Jane Simmons has meanwhile made her way down there in a trance, and the spectral Critchley confronts her - "You have a special gift...that is why I called you here". But Simmons is already possessed, and turns into a black demon - "you made a deal with the powers of hell, Malcolm, and now we've come back to take what is rightfully ours". The house erupts in light...

GH: This series is becoming much more entertaining than before. The characters, as mentioned last week, are starting to clearly develop, and there's enough intrigue to make the reader coming back for more. Even Chapter's not as annoying as she was. The whole "what is Simmons" storyline is proving very intriguing, and I hope we're strung along for a while more before we find out what's going on. This is becoming one of the "must reads" in the prog, and is a vast improvement on the somewhat lacking first series. The art also continues to improve with each issue - one to watch, and no mistake.

WRL: TBC

Green

Synopsis: Lin Fu and Ryx are on patrol on the Jungles of IO. They take on a few Geeks while Ryx lusts after Lin Fu. Afterwards they have to wait for an hour for a pick-up. Lin Fu makes contact with something and leads them to an Earth-gov Crop Farm. Inside, they find some Geeks and kill them. They also discover an alien device left by the Geeks - but they don't know what it's for, but do know that it's definitely not Geek made.

GH: I'm starting to become more and more disappointed by the V.C.s every week. The plot this week is very light (once again) and filled with Ryx's embarrassing and frankly dull lusting after Lin Fu - written and drawn in a way that seems to be aiming for a very young teenage male market (not actually the target market of 2000AD these days, or am I mistaken?). The overall plot creeps forward at a snail's pace, and the jokey art seems totally inappropriate for this series. It seems such a shame that this has taken such a plummet after the wildly successful first series. Once again, Williams excels himself in the computer effects department, but is lacking elsewhere.

WRL: TBC

One Cold Winter Night...

Synopsis: Huntress Zanisha Tray camps out in the frozen forests of Varthor. A demon asks to join her fire, promising not to eat her. She agrees, letting him drink wine and promising not to eat him either, so he tells her a story. It is of how he and his 40 demon brethren continually raided the city of Tsang, and were caught by the magician Rek Edlo. He clipped their wings and kept them captured until a meteor hit the city, freeing them. They escaped, eating the magician and his family, then fled the city to the frozen wastes. But Tray is not fooled by the story, designed to occupy her while the demon's imps attempt to steal her weapons (tied to her wrists). She is Rek Edlo's granddaughter - there for revenge and has already killed 14 of the other demons. The demon's wine is poisoned with a paralytic drug, as Tray decides how to kill him, and roast his corpse...

GH: Not as good as the last two parter, it has to be said, but still enjoyable in a lighthearted way. The need for a twist at the end does drag down the one parters, so I still think it'd be nice for a format change for Telguuth. Again Haward is a great collaborator for Moore, and I'm growing to like his work more and more. I'm enjoying Telguuth much more than I ever thought possible - although I would like to see Moore tackle something different for the comic too.

WRL: TBC

Part 4

Synopsis: Atavar is attacked by Worldbreaker, while Jad watches, pleased. Voidshaker questions the decision to attack Atavar, but is told to stand down. The Atavar struggles to maintain his defenses, but manages to recover, launching 4 "Cruise-ceptors" at Worldbreaker. 3 are intercepted, but one breaks through the defenses, shaking Worldbreaker. Atavar launches 3 more, but halts them just before they reach their target, giving Worldbreaker the chance to back down, as Atavar still wishes to ally with the Binods. Worldbreaker backs down. Jad leaves in anger, suspending relations between the Binod and the Kalen - "I pray you do not come to regret this error!"

GH: It's actually rather hard to believe that this is written by the same creator as the V.C.s. Intrigue, good characterisation, and a damned decent dogfight all take place in this issue - while we've seen nothing to match this in the V.C.s recently. That aside, this is a great strip, and already far beyond the first series, where the amnesia aspect wore thin pretty early on. Worldbreaker and Voidshaker are original creations, as are the Binod, while the growing antagonism of Decider Jad is being played well. Much better than I was expecting.

And it's helped massively by the art of Richard Elson, who makes what could be a hard to follow space battle, simple to understand, while offering vibrant layouts. A growing star of 2000AD in my opinion, and I can't understand why I'm only starting to notice his work now, when he's been contributing for a while.

WRL: TBC