Prog 1333 - 25 March 2003
Cover by Cliff Robinson & Chris Blythe

Synopsis and 1st review by Leigh Shepherd
2nd opinion by Gavin Hanly

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers.

LS: Yet another Cliff Robinson standard Dredd stock picture? Surely he's running out of different poses by now? Nice enough in itself, with a rather fetching grey/beige background, but a little unadventurous, maybe? Still, at least there's the fun of another deliberate mistake to be spotted!

GH: A fairly generic Cliff Robinson cover it has to be said. It looks great, admittedly, and Blythe's colouring on the gun is fantastic (he seems to produce some of his best work with Robinson) but looks just a little too - unoriginal. Still it sticks out from the news-stand, and that may be all they want...

Dredd vs Aliens: Incubus - Part 13

Synopsis: Dredd awakes to find himself and Sanchez encased in the Aliens' nest. He realises they have both been impregnated. Bones arrives to gloat about Dredd's predicament. At the Grand Hall of Justice, the breach has been sealed, and Giant is organising an assault squad of Judges, Mechanismo units and the surviving Verminators to track down the Aliens' nest. Dredd manages to free one arm, just as Bones returns to tell him that the Judges' assault squad is on its way, and he plans to escape before they arrive. With his free arm, Dredd grabs and crushes Bones' pheromone tag, causing the Aliens to turn on Bones.

LS: Despite the top class creative team we have here, the clichés are still coming thick and fast. Sanchez is not a very convincing Judge, while Bones is one cackling villain who’ll I’ll be glad to see the back of. And is it really a good idea to be setting off nukes under the grand Hall (no matter how "mini" they are?). It's not that this is particularly bad - as a stand alone tale it might be quite enjoyable in a throw away kind of way. However, there really isn’t enough to sustain my interest over the three long months this has been stretched over. Compare the linear nature of this story to the multiple plot threads in Sin City, which was a few episodes shorter than this. Flint's artwork is good, and while Blythe does a good job on the colouring, I prefer to see either Flint's work in pure black and white or hand coloured by Flint himself.

GH: Sanchez continues to act like a frightened girl, perhaps the only annoying factor of the Dredd vs Aliens series for me - a little more characterisation for her would have been welcome. It's a very talky episode this week as plans are made, and Bones gets his comeuppance (a bit of a shame - I would have liked to have seen him used again). Dredd being impregnated is a nice touch, but he strangely still retains his helmet - is it superglued on? Flint still handles all these scenes with style, and it has to be said - his tanks look cool...

Moving In - Part 3

Synopsis: Chapter and Verse attempt to blow down the door into the basement, but it's protected by a powerful warding spell. Brand accuses Ravne of being responsible for conjuring up whatever has taken Miss Simmons, but he denies this - "Whatever going on in this house, the cause of it all is in that room". Inside the basement, the demon that has possessed Jenny attacks Critchley and his followers - it explains that it escaped from Hell into Jenny's body. Now that the demon has found Critchley, it believes that "they’ll" let it stay in this world for as long as It likes.

The door explodes, and the Caballistics find Jenny and a tiny, withered ‘thing‘ that is all that remains of Critchley. As Brand helps the dazed Jenny from the basement, Ravne eyes her with suspicion. Slater tries to insist that the press conference goes ahead, but to no avail. Chapter also shows her feelings about Slater’s hidden cameras - "I catch you at it again, I get to kill you." Meanwhile Ravne is checking up on Miss Simmons - Brand thanks him for his concern - Jenny cannot remember what happened but Brand is "just glad she is okay."

LS: While there's a superficially similar ending to the first run of Caballistics Inc., this moves the plot-threads on another step. If anything, the one area I’d like to see beefed up is the threats they face. Certainly, a main focus of the stories so far has been in characterisation and set up, which is no bad thing. This is the first story since Danté that you sense is actually going somewhere. Dom Reardon's art is a bit of a conundrum. It certainly suits the story, and at times is very effective, though at others it seems a little too primitive. Having said that, so far every episode shows an improvement, and I look forward to the next run (and hopefully a meatier adversary for the group).

A story where you can't quite see where it will go, but you can’t wait to find out the answers - why can’t they all be like this?

GH: Another intriguing Caballistics tale, as the mystery surrounding Simmons continues to grow, although it appears Ravne (whose name I just realise I've been mis-spelling until now...) is starting to suspect something. The ongoing nature of Caballistics, much like the way Danté was introduced is allowing the characters time to develop, and it's becoming a far more enjoyable read because of it. Rennie clearly has "plans" for his characters, and this shows through in the slow burning nature of the sub plots. Much better than I had originally hoped for.

M.I.A.

Synopsis: Keege is looking at the alien devices retrieved from the jungles of IO. He surmises that they were designed to seed pathogens into the food farms. Smith decided to take the device to Mars for the "Tech boys to look at", but is interrupted by an emergency signal from beyond Pluto - Jupe’s ship the Red Spot is in trouble! Smith orders the crew to set course for Pluto. When they arrive they discover Veto and Laker's ship have beaten them to the wreckage of the Red Spot. While Veto gloats, Diderot picks up another signal - it’s Jupe and he’s broadcasting from a nearby automated mining platform. The only problem is that the platform is swarming with Geeks!

LS: After last week's "funny" episode, anything would be an improvement, but this series is still suffering in comparison to the Flint run (despite a promising opening episode to this second series). This episode illustrates the two major failings highlighted by this run. Gerry Finley Day's crew might have been rather broadly sketched (the guy from the moon is a lunatic called Loon, for example) but "‘the planetary stereotypes" were a hell of a lot more enjoyable and interesting than this crew. Keege should be an unusual character, but there's little to mark him out as a Geek. Similarly, the conflict with Veto isn’t as compelling as Smiths struggle to prove himself in the original series.

Williams' art just seems too cartoony to add any depth to the story, and the over use of photos in place of drawing gives the art an empty and rushed feel. The final page could have been a stunning image in the hands of Leach, Kennedy or Flint - instead, the cut ‘n’ paste matchstick geeks make it look like a screenshot from an 80’s spectrum game.

GH: We start to return to some semblance of a plot this week - but it may be too little too late. I feel the previous weeks would have been far better spent if they had a slow burning plot threaded through all of them - but it's been going for weeks now, and all we have is the clichéd "They're going to poison the food supply" (hell, why not make it the "water supply" if you're really going for the cheese factor). This series just doesn't seem to know where it's going, and unlike say, Caballistics, has had no interesting characters developed yet - I'm not sure I even recognise half of them yet. This is a big problem when one of the points to the series is wondering who's going to end up dead.

Williams, meanwhile works better on the character pieces, but the last shot of the stick figured geeks is really appalling. Great ship, but the crap Geeks totally spoil the effect.

The Iniquities of Snedron - Part 1

Synopsis: Sylvana, the daughter of wizard Zebero Penba is awoken from her dreams of handsome swordsmen by a foul demon, who claims he will carry her off to be his virgin bride when the ninth moon is full. Her father says this must have been a nightmare, but the demon appears to Sylvana while she is bathing, claiming to be "Snedron, Lord of the evil ooze". She runs to her father, who says he knows of Snedron and by using the Talisman of Belqwith he will deal with him. However, Sylvana overhears her father talking to the Demon - the pair have already struck a deal whereby Snedron gets Sylvana to be his plaything in hell, while Zebero gets the plague-hand of Yoth-Kax...

LS: While Telguuth continues to plough a similarly predictable furrow with this latest run, the added humour and the complimentary art of Jon Haward seem to have made this latest set of tales a little bit more enjoyable. What with Zirk and now Snedron, there’s a definite slime ‘n’ tentacles theme emerging in Steve Moore’s work! Jon Haward’s art may be as cartoony as Williams, but it has a lot more detail and helps play up the more comical element of the strip. Angus McKie’s computer colouring is a little antiquated compared to Blythe’s work though, and does detract a little.

GH: Another very entertaining Telguuth. I really enjoyed this first parter again, especially with the cheesy "cliffhanger" ending. The only thing that spoils it for me in retrospect is that as I write this, I've read next week's prog, and the "surprise" ending spoils it yet again. Perhaps for the next series, he should try a much longer story, each ending with a TV serial style cliffhanger. It'd be considerably different from the usual "future shock" style endings and would provide a much more enduring read. it's still generally fun, and I'm still surprised I'm enjoying them. I believe part of that is down to the collaboration with Haward, whose art I'm really getting into - it's very much a "get used to it" style - but very rewarding when you do.

Part 5

Synopsis: Batavia is reviewing the Binod’s databanks, and asks Chief Plural about the "fifth race" that is mentioned. Chief Plural explains that while three races have fallen to the UOs, there is a race known as the Wosk who have so far refused to involve themselves in the affairs of others. Atavar decides to try to convince the Wosk to aid the Binods, and sets off with Worldbreaker. Arriving in Wosk territory, they discover UOs advanced raiders already in orbit and preparing planetary assault rafts. Atavar and Worldbreaker destroy the UOs threat and land on the planet's surface, only to find a deserted city. It appears to have been abandoned only recently, and Atavar leaves his Weapon sheathe in order to explore further.

LS: First things first - the art is great. Elson's beasties are always more successful than his humans, but either way the art is so darn polished and well thought out, it’s hard to make such tiny criticisms. The story's OK, but there are echoes of Abnett’s other space opera Durham Red (resurrected hero is seen as only hope of ending centuries of conflict, but in the end releases a terrible force of destruction). Possibly a problem with this story is the way it is trying to tell a huge epic in only a few parts - given a run the length of Meltdown man or Return to Armageddon, which would allow for more twists and turns to the plot, might make for a more involved experience.

GH: Continually much better than the V.C.s by the same writer, Atavar's character led nature is one of its best selling points. The other is Richard Elson's ever improving art which, with some brilliant colouring is starting to approach an almost animated effect. I'm not sure how long this series is going to last for, but hopefully we'll get a little more time to ease into is, as opposed to the rushed ending of The Scrap (for example). This is inventive, thoughtful sci fi and compliments the other stories in the issue well.