Prog 1356 - 3 September 2003
Cover by Charlie Adlard

Synopsis and review by Gavin Hanly
2nd Opinion by Leigh Shepherd

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

GH: After putting in what I considered to be some solid work in the Satanist over the last few weeks, it's a big disappointment to witness this week's cover. Unlike the work inside, it's messy, confusing, and not eye-catching at all. Not what I would have expected from Adlard.

LS: Dear Lord! I thought 1354's Bek and Kawl cover had cornered the prize for years worst cover, but this one not only corners it, it laughs in its face while beating it to death with a rolled up copy of this very mag! Even the inept muddiness of the paint job can’t disguise the badly thought out perspective and frankly amateurish anatomy (judging by Dredd’s torso, it’s a wonder he hasn’t expelled himself from the City on grounds of defective genes!) . I feel mean about being so harsh here, but whichever way I approach this, I can’t muster the words to be tactful - a real stinker.

The Satanist - Part 7

Synopsis: The demon possessing Mercator starts to take form in his body as the sacrifice is at hand and he prepares to kill Dredd. Dredd strains at his chains and breaks loose at the last moment. He knocks the knife out of Mercator's hand which flies up, and down again, landing in Mercator's jugular. But to no avail. Mercator withdraws the knife, holding it aloft, but a bolt of lightening hits it - frying Mercator. Dredd easily subdues the remaining worshippers, trapping his henchman and Vienna, who still seems to be under the thrall of Mercator. Brit Cit judges arrive and congratulate Dredd on a good job, sedating Vienna while they try to discover what drug was used on her.

2 weeks later in a Brit Cit hospital, Dredd picks up Vienna. She doesn't recognise him due to the treatment she's been through, but has been told he's her uncle. Her memory will return in time, and until then Dredd takes her back to Mega City One - vowing to take care of her.

GH: Much like many of Wagner's recent longer solo Dredd outings, this has become victim to the law of diminishing returns. What started out as a solid story, fully of promise and mystery has slowly broken down into a fairly mediocre tale. Dredd's escape from certain death was very poorly handled: breaking free from his chains? He's not a superhero, you know? Compare this escape to his desperate breaking of his handcuffs in the "Day the Law Died" saga, and there's nowhere near as much drama in the Satanist. There never seems a point at when Dredd was really in any danger. This whole series has clearly been a set-up to get Dredd back with his niece and will clearly provide some interesting plot developments further down the line - but many of us were hoping for some further resolutions in this series.

Now it's becoming clear that the big changes in Dredd's world only happen when Wagner's writing. As Rennie's taking over for a few issues for some one-off's we can assume that the Vienna story will be put on ice for a bit - which is a shame. Wagner needs to take on more of a "producer" role with Dredd. I.e. continuing to write many of the main stories, but also setting out overall character and plot paths for other writers to follow. Then we might lose this disjointed feeling we get every time a longer running strip like this ends and it will also give other writers - namely Rennie, more of a stake in the character development.

Adlard, meanwhile has done a good job throughout the series, this week's cover notwithstanding. His layouts have been clear, and in many cases inventive, and he's certainly shown himself to be a confident Dredd artist. As long as he stays away from painted art, I'll be happy to see his work again, and look forward to his Savage with Pat Mills.

LS: Well, after an interesting start, it's been something of a letdown in some areas. The whole demon plot was more than a little cliched and unoriginal, mainly in Dredd's convenient escape and the subsequent divine intervention. It's a shame, because otherwise, the main thrust of the story was a good one. Dredd's long held beliefs in the Law as a Judges only concern are compromised, hopefully to good dramatic effect in future storylines. You get the sense that the whole purpose of the story was to reach this point, with the Satanic elements as a barely thought through afterthought. A great artist might have helped raise this a little, but unfortunately Adlard’s art remains solid but dull, though his inked art here is a lot better than his painted cover.

Part 6

Synopsis: Lament and Sky head into the engine room, which is covered in huge fungi - used for food if anyone's brave enough to go in and get them (what with man-eating rats, wild pigs and cannibals in the area). They hear a clanging sound, and Lament pulls out his (earlier concealed) pistol. They find a boarding hatch which has com loose. Sky said they tried fishing out of them but there's nothing alive in the water. Lament sees something, and realises it was a trap. They are surrounded by dozens of stokers. Lament opens fire but there are too many of them, and he and Sky are hoisted up by the Stoker's tongues. A voice is heard: "Bring them to me..."

GH: More chance for D'israeli to shine as we sink further into the bowels of the Leviathan. At every turn he manages to create something new and fascinating to look at, which still emphasising the scale of the ship. The boarding hatch and the swarm of stokers in this issue are great examples, and it's things like this that make the strip a joy to look at.

The story continues to move along at a steady pace, with each episode clearly tailored for weekly installments, something that many writers seems to forget when writing for 2000AD. Each episode drops enough clues, hints and plot points to make this a thoroughly enjoyable read and one that will no doubt be reprinted in the upcoming 2000AD showcase.

LS: This remains a real treat, with the art alone worth the price of admission. Thankfully the story has so far fallen into Ian Edginton's "good" pile (it's unusual for me to find a writer whose work I find so variable - it seems a little odd that the same man behind this and Scarlet Traces was responsible for the merely average Red Seas and Interceptor).

If there’s a gripe to be levelled, it’s a fairly universal one in terms of recent 2000AD stories - it all seems to be happening so quickly. A lot of the so-called "classics" from the comics glory days benefited immeasurably from the room to move off from the main plot for weeks at a time. Imagine a story like Meltdown Man told in 10 parts - it’s difficult to see how it would have built up such a cult following if it had been forced to tell as linear story as we‘ve had up to now in Leviathan. Certainly, the setting of this story would stand a bit more exploration than we’ve seen so far, with only a couple of episodes in first class, a couple in second and steerage, and already in the bowels of the ship, about to face up to the force behind the murders. Still, if your only complaint is that you want to see more, then that’s not too bad (until of course the good story finishes and you’re faced with week after week of substandard filler)!

Junk Bond - Part 1

Synopsis: Sinister and Vijay are with Rhodes at the registry office, waiting for Wendy. Rhodes tells Sinister that the ring he's had made is coded specifically to her DNA - no one else will be able to wear it. Dexter is waiting outside Wendy's place, and heads up to get here. Wendy is inside with the girls getting ready when they hear the doorbell. As Dexter heads up the stairs he hears a crash from the room. Running up, he bursts through the door, to find an empty samurai costume hanging in the air and brandishing a sword.

GH: So the much maligned gunsharks return, and with a pretty unremarkable tale too. While the art is decent, with Simon Davis making amends for his recent Bec and Kawl cover, the story is so inconsequential you could be forgiven for forgetting it existed almost immediately after putting the prog down. The introduction of Vijay, so well handled in the last episode, is sidelined as Abnett feels the need to concentrate on Rhodes and Wendy - two of the duller characters in the Sin/Dex group dynamic. This is a shame, as I thought Abnett had something intriguing up his sleeve after the Vijay story - but we're right back to run-of-the-mill Sin/Dex stories. Maybe this will improve, but I can't help think that time and effort should be spent in revitalising the gunsharks. I used to enjoy Sinister/Dexter, but the frequency at which they appear in the progs is quickly leading to boredom.

LS: Now this is the kind of story that takes it as read that you've grown so fond of the main characters and the supporting cast that the fact that nothing happens isn't too much of a distraction. Obviously, there's one flaw in that assumption, and I can't see this story winning over many converts in the way the recent one-off (see prog 1348) seemed to. While I'm the first to have reservations about the limitations of SB Davis' style of art, he did turn in a good job on Black Siddha, and the art here is attractive, if prone to the usual "talking heads" syndrome. The last page was a little odd, with the static feel of the art not really helping to make for a particularly exciting cliffhanger.

The Man They Couldn't Hang

Synopsis: 1730 - Dick Turpin holds up a coach, but finds it ridden by Dracula and his vampires, who leave him for dead. He survives, but returns as a vampire. He continues his highwayman life, much stronger and impervious to injury. He is caught once, and hanged at dawn, but when taken down was still alive and he feasts on the executioners before escaping. In France, a revolution took place once the aristocracy also became vampires, with the guillotine being a useful deterrent - but not used in England. But Turpin became complacent and was taken in by the Scarlet Pimpernel. While captured, one of the punishments is to be branded with a T as he is a thief. But the brand is in the shape of a cross, and Turpin is finally destroyed.

GH: Unfortunately, I just found this Past Imperfect rather uninspired and with a rushed conclusion. In many of these tales, there seems to be so much need to explain the historical setting, that there isn't a great deal of space left for a significantly interesting plot, which in this case it "what if Dick Turpin was a vampire?" The art is acceptable, if a little heavy on the inking, but I just found the whole thing a little bit pointless. Oh - and why wasn't he killed when he was "hanged at dawn?" The cloud cover seems to be too much of a handy excuse...

LS: There's nothing inherently wrong with this strip that an actual story wouldn’t fix. Like the Vector 13s before them, these Past Imperfects can be let down by being a series of events explained in the panels with an accompanying picture, rather than a tale in themselves. It also features a pet peeve of mine - vampires that shrivel up and die at the sign of two sticks placed loosely together (I blame Peter Cushing and those damned candle sticks!) .

Leigh Gallagher's art is OK, but still a little rough around the edges - the sort of thing that in years past would appear in a special or annual as a try out, and would either be followed up with an improved second story, or be the last we saw of the artist. Hopefully, he’ll get another chance to show what he can do, though there’s little sign yet of any strong style behind the art to give it the coherence and consistency that mark out the best (though that hasn’t stopped a number of 2000AD artists in the past!).

The Tax Dodge - Part 7

Synopsis: Alpha and co head after the bird, which finally makes it back to the Brother's hiding place. They lose it, but catch sight of one of the Brothers and follow him. Back inside, the Brothers look doubtfully at the kabob, as the bird begs to be set loose. They agree and set off the charge round its neck - but it's a dud and the bird is saved. The Brother the Stronts were following returns to the base and warns that they are being tracked, just as Johnny and Wulf take out two of them, blasting the deflectors in their bags before they can react. The remaining two Brothers fire back, pinning them down, but Johnny, Wulf and an increasingly concerned Paxman dive for cover. They head for the house, but the Brothers have escaped the back way. They catch them crossing the market square, but one of them gets a shot out, badly wounding Johnny's gun hand. He needs to find a way around the deflectors, so loads and shoots a "number two cartridge!"

GH: Wagner thankfully proves with Strontium Dog that he can turn in a consistently entertaining longish series, as this is still a great way to end the prog. The art is wonderful, benefiting well from the red border (which I oddly hadn't noticed in previous issues) and Ezquerra really excels at blowing things up. Like the issue when the house was brought down on top of them, he doesn't shy away from the pyrotechnics, and the art combined with an accomplished use of computer effects combine to give an excellent rendition of all hell breaking loose.

All the characters are compelling, especially shown by the way we actually now feel sorry for the bird, and are glad that its managed to survive. If there's one qualm, it's that PAxman doesn't appear to have been utilised as best as he could. He seems relegated to expressions of shock and dismay, when it would have been much more fun if he'd kept his taxman's concerns to the fore, counting every shot Alpha makes etc.

That aside, it's pretty great, and helps to save this week's prog being a complete disappointment.

RC: The best tale saved until last again this prog. I've really been enjoying this story, and it's been an eye opener to see the kind of tale that I thought dead when the Grant/Grover writing team split - equally good at both outrageous humour and all-out action. This weeks installment is more heavy on the action, and it's a shame not to hear from the Gnobs, but all told, if this doesn't answer the detractors who questioned the wisdom of reviving Alpha, then nothing will. Sure, it's heavy on ‘nostalgia‘, but the best kind - showing what made the formula so good in the first place and broadening the range of the strip rather than merely repeating past glories. I’ll be interested to see what a number 2 cartridge does after all this time - I've spent half the week trying to find prior mention of them in previous Strontium Dog stories, to no avail…