Prog 1336 - 16 April 2003
Cover by Brian Bolland

Synopsis and review by Gavin Hanly

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers.

GH: Well now- it's Brian Bolland - so you can't really complain can you? Clearly he's still the best Dredd artist around, and this is a very striking cover image, surprisingly made all the more so by the vivid background colour. Small niggles? The Dredd pose seems a little basic, but I guess that's to be expected from an artist who may well be a little Dredded out by this point. So next time Bolland returns - any chance in getting him to work on another 2000AD great? Like Jonny Alpha?

The Trial of Orlok - Part 1

Synopsis: Crowds chanting "murderer" have gathered outside the Halls of Justice for Orlok's trial. He finishes writing some "poetry", is led away in handcuffs and a gag to the trial and put in a cage on the podium. Judge Emery is assigned to his defence although lodges an official complaint that he is too junior for the position, thus immediately prejudicing Orlok's chances. He also petitions, successfully to have Orlok's gag removed - at which Orlok snaps at the judges and says he doesn't recognise the court.

The trial begins, and shows how Orlok dropped the Bacterium in Sin City, despite promise of safe passage from Dredd - "it's a military grade weapon, designed to spread rapidly...mortality rate of the sin city plague topped 89 per cent". The prosecution rests and demands the death penalty. Emery starts the defence and calls Judge Dredd - to question him about the Apocalypse War. Despite the senior judges exceptions, Dredd agrees, but doesn't think it'll do Emery any good.

GH: This story has been in the offing for some time now (originally having being scheduled before Dredd/Aliens - so has it been worth the wait? Well in many respects, yes. It's good to see Dredd getting back to his own storylines after the Alien diversion,and the complex nature of this trial story works well in contrast to the heavy pyrotechnics of the previous issue. There are many similarities to the Dredd trial in the Doomsday epic with, if anything, the MC1 trail seeming even more of a kangaroo court than the Sov one. The absence of Anderson to work on Orlok's defense no doubt hurt his case too. Oddly also, Orlok seems far more dangerous in that cage than when he was out of it. Another note to make is that the scale of the Sin City disaster is made much greater here in a few panels than it was in the actual story itself (the Sin City Epic did seem a little rushed at the end).

But the art is simply amazing. Cam Kennedy has a perfect collaborator in Chris Blythe, and they both bring some of the greatest Dredd artwork I've seen to the comic for a while. There's so much expression in the character's faces, from the crazy Orlok to the passive and restrained supreme court judges. The panel layout is also striking, with intricate layout, inventive angles and moody lighting. As mentioned above, the scenes of turmoil in Sin City are incredibly well realised, and do more in two panels than the previous series managed. We don't see enough of Kennedy on Dredd, and It'd be great to see him on a much longer epic.

The Shadow Warriors - Part 1 (double sized)

"Digital Angel" is the latest invention of the future. It's an implant which "links your mind directly to your bank, doctor and family". The Fargo Supercoach is crossing the Trans Martian Highway when it's boarded by the robotic "Dogs of Gore" led by "Dog-Tag", a suave highwayman robot. They used to be "cannon-fodder" in the confederate army. The gang kills the guards, and then rob the passengers hidden "digital angels" of all their money - although remain polite throughout the robbery.

Meanwhile, crammed in the robot class compartment, a robot lights up - it's Joe Pineapples. He removes a hidden gun from his leg, and when questioned about why he's helping to foster the war by another robot: "The Warriors aren't on the union or the confederacy's side, Ma'am. We're here to increase the peace". He enters the passenger compartment blasting, taking out the Dogs, as Dog Tag escapes on his waiting getaway truck. Joe takes up position on the top of the Supercoach, and destroys the truck with one shot: "Sloppy. I was aiming at Dog Tag. Not the Jeep".

The coach reaches its destination, and Joe walks out of the city towards Getty City and the sound of warfare. The rest of the Warriors are fighting the confederacy - Deadlock is meditating, fearing that a rival robotic group is being creates to destroy them all: "The Shadow Warriors"

GH: Pat Mills continues to regain some of the critical ground he lost during the recent turgid Sláine saga with a much livelier story. He seems to have remembered that we shouldn't really take these comics too seriously, and both this and Black Siddha have seen a welcome upping in the dose of humour. He still has a tendency to have his characters utter their catchphrases a little too often, as well as some clunky exposition, but this has been a fun read so far. Mills last ABC series was similarly entertaining, as he doesn't seem to feel the need to preach to us too much with the Warriors. It's early days, mind, and I'll reserve complete judgment for a while.

In the meantime, it's always a joy to see Ezquerra back in the comic - alongside Kennedy as one of the true great artists that the comic has spawned. While it would be nice to see him do some colour work again, Ezquerra has so much experience in black & white that his work can be ideally suited for the medium. Apparently, this is his first ABC work since 1979 (which may well be before my time as a regular 2000AD reader), but he seems perfectly at home in his rendition of the characters.

Pax Americana - Part 1 (Double sized)

Codename Snow, a female British officer of Arabic descent is trying to talk down a group of bomb wielding muslim militants - when Tiger, her American male counterpart bursts in hard, and kills all the terrorists. Outside, Snow complains that Tiger rushed in too fast, and that now they have no-one to question. But Tiger believes in shooting first, and eliminating the threat instead of taking chances. They are both agents of TACTIC (Trans-Atlantic Counter-Terrorist Intelligence Command).

The information about the raid reaches the press, and Snow thinks there may be a leak. Meanwhile one of the hostages is trying to get a soldier to let him leave, and when he is refused, the hostage cuts the soldier throat and flees. Tiger, investigating the bomb, discovers that it could never have detonated, and they learn it was a diversion, as samples of the ebola virus have been stolen - made possible as the rigorous control procedures were ignored to get the "hostages" to safety.

Somewhere else, an army of green shirted soldiers, stands to attention listening to a diatribe about how ethnic cleansing must now be undertaken on a global scale - led by an American Texan, with a huge swastika emblazoned behind him.

GH: I'm unsure what to make of this one. I have to admit, I was looking forward to this, what with Diggle's great work with Wagner on the Dredd/Aliens epic. However, it's yet to work for me. Perhaps it's the profoundly irritating Tiger, who so far seems like a one-note moron with a gun. It seems Diggle has some fond memories for Dempsey and Makepeace that he needs to work though. We're also given very little time to find out what the working dynamic is between them. In fact, you learn much more in reading the summary at the front of the prog - which isn't quite the point. Surely the first story of these characters should have contained a little more background information - especially given the increased page count? I'm willing to wait a few weeks before forming a more concrete opinion (after all, my opinion of Caballistics Inc improved dramatically over a few weeks), so let's see.

Andy Clarke's art is very impressive, though. The very clear precise lines may put some people off, but it is a distinct style, and is improving every time I see his work. His characters also seem less "stiff" than they have been in previous outings, and his artwork is showing much more life because of this. Also pleasing to note is less tendency to put too many lines on a character's face. It's still in there a little, and needs toning down in places, though. His basic artwork and character design is good enough, so he needs to avoid "over-drawing" what is already perfectly acceptable.