Prog 1361 - 08 October 2003
Cover by Simon Davis

Synopsis and review by Gavin Hanly
2nd Opinion by Edward Berridge

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

GH: Simon Davis, as usual creates a good Sinister Dexter cover, and the details on the faces, especially Shinzen's makes this one of his better covers. However it suffers from the Sinister Dexter ennui that's beginning to grow on me - and I can't help think that an Irving "From Grace" cover would have been a more original choice.

EB: I have to admit to rather liking the Simon Davis covers of late, even the yellow background of prog 1354. This cover is no exception, with a good action shot of Shinzen and Sinister, which nicely compliments the cover image of prog 1359. I'm always a sucker for these head to heads. However, it does seem a little disappointing that regular features like Sinister/Dexter get so many covers, whilst recent one-off stories like Leviathan, Interceptor and From Grace only get the one.

See Zammy Run - Part 2

Dredd finishes off Zammy

Synopsis: Zammy gets into more trouble searching the safehouses looking for Nino Raspler - but with no luck. Meanwhile Nino and his girlfriend Louella are heading to her apartment, as Nino figures it'll be safe, not realising that Zammy knows the location as he was having an affair with Louella - who had suggested to the ever-loyal Zammy to get Raspler out of the way. Zammy sees them arrive at the apartment, and Dredd's not far behind.

Zammy bursts in, having taken out Nino's bodyguards - thinking this all started because he was having an affair with Louella. But Louella snaps, telling them that she ordered the hit on Zammy after her refused to take out Nino. Nino goes after her, but Zammy takes the bullet and kills Nino - but he's now hurt bad. Dredd finally arrives and Louella tells him that Zammy's trying to kill her. Dredd takes Zammy out once and for all. The judges arrive to clean up, thinking Louella just got caught in the middle of a gang war - but she's got just what she wanted...

GH: Zammy certainly can take a beating - even if Dredd dispatches him pretty quickly. It's been an OK Dredd tale - concentrating on pretty much everything but the judges, and showing how even Dredd can get unwittingly used. There's not much more to say than that, really. Enjoyable, but not a classic by any means. Whether we'll be seeing more of Louella remains to be seen, though, as it's about time Rennie started putting together his own rogues gallery for Dredd.

The artwork, however, shows distinct promise from the newcomer Miranda (backed up with some very impressive colouring from Eva de la Cruz). Miranda will definitely be an asset to the comic if he decides to stick around. His style is very "US friendly" though and I wonder how long it'll be before one of the "big two" are knocking on his door. Miranda's strengths lie in some innovative panel layouts, combined with original and exprssive character design. It helps too, that his Dredd is impressively imposing, and even gets to pull a cool wheelie in pursuit of his goal. Hopefully he has some more 2000AD work lined up in the near future.

EB: The recent Gordon Rennie run of short Dredd stories has proved to be particularly enjoyable for me, with a nice "old-school" feel to them, without aping the stories that went before. This story is a good case in point. Normally a Dredd story in which Dredd himself is only a peripheral character would be a bad move. Here it's a positive boon. The tale of Zammy Zocco is one that has clearly been influenced by hard boiled writers like Frank Miller and John Wagner, but the character of Zammy seems particularly reminiscent of the character of Moose Malloy, from Raymond Chandler’s Farewell My Lovely. This actually aids the story as it gives the sense of this being a real character in a real world. It was also interesting to see a real femme fatale get one over on Dredd, as this doesn't happen very often.

The art for this has also been absolutely superb; watching as Zammy increasingly gets more and more holes in him with each passing encounter. Also demanding attention is the glorious colouring. I am normally a big fan of Chris Blythe, but the colours of the last two progs have totally blown me away. I hope we see a lot more of both Inaki Miranda and Eva De La Cruz.

The Great War

Crowley gets help from above

Synopsis: 1916, at the battle of the Somme the allies are attacked by an alien squid. Months later at the reform club in London, Sassoon meets Lovecroft and another figure and is told about Al Hazred, a madman who worships an alien god and is trying to bring about a dark age - and the stars are right for his latest attempt. Sassoon and the stranger go to Egypt where Lawrence takes him to Giza where Al Hazred is preparing to summon his god. They burst through his demon followers and the stranger calls down the hoards of Beelzebub to wipe them all out. Sassoon recognises the stranger as Aleister Crowley who tells him that this is just the beginning...

GH: Past Imperfect tales can be a very mixed bag. The last 3 parter by Steve Moore was certainly lacking something, and for me, this tale doesn't quite go the distance either. Part of the problem can lie with the basic concept, which requires a good knowledge of history from the reader to be particularly effective. So you can consistently run the risk of alienating or confusing readers who just don't get every reference that can permeate a story. This tale in particular highlights this particular issue, with most of the strip taken up by introducing one "out of place" character after another. Past Imperfect writers should instead concentrate on paring down the ideas, and working on the plot, rather than showing off knowledge of history. So with all this in mind, this week's tale left me rather cold. Too much set up - not enough pay off. I think Wilkinson could come up with the goods, but he needs to write a more original and compelling plot next time around.

The artwork by Leigh Gallagher shows promise, especially with the eventual attack at the pyramids. His art is improving with every strip he illustrates, with some particularly expressive characters this week - a sign that he's developing nicely.

EB: I have to say from the start that I am not normally a fan of blending war with horror (although I did like Fiends of the Eastern Front). Having said that, I actually really enjoyed this tale. Often these Past Imperfects and the like are nothing but filler, but this one was so full of references that I couldn’t help but enjoy it. With a group made up of famous historical characters (Lord Kitchener, Aleister Crowley, H.P. Lovecraft and T.E Lawrence), the plot does sound quite like Necronauts. They are even battling against some Lovecraftian "ancient mad demon, an alien god", just like Necronauts (or Zenith, come to think of it). The art stops it from becoming too familiar. I enjoyed Leigh Gallagher's art in his previous Past Imperfect in prog 1356, and it was even better here. The opening could almost have dropped out of an old issue of Battle, whilst the parts set in Giza seemed particularly reminiscent to Bryan Talbot’s The Adventures of Luther Arkwright. The image on the last page of the mushroom cloud forming howling faces was a particular highlight. Combine this with a twist that I didn’t see coming, and you have the recipe for a very enjoyable five page tale.

Junk Bond - Part 6

Tracy to the rescue

Synopsis: Dexter tells Wendy that they have micro implants that fooled Shinzen's scanners, and the whole thing was a huge double cross to draw Shinzen out, and get Wendy back at the same time. Tracy arrives, clearing the exit for them, but Sinister has to go to his wife. She's fighting with Shinzen and as he is about to kill her, Sinster's gun gets in the way of his sword. They fight, and Shinzen lunges, just missing a fatal blow. But Sinister doesn't miss, shooting Shinzen in the head. As they leave, Carrie warns them they'd better stay away to avoid more trouble - but Sinster doesn't believe he can stay away forever. Back in Downlode, Rocky and Wendy finally get married...

GH: So Sinister Dexter save the day once more. When I started out 2000AD Review, I was very much on the side of the gunsharks, finding them to be enjoyable pap in the comic. While they remain enjoyable pap, I'm really starting to want something a little more substantial. For a strip which has managed to alienate so many readers, it's not showing any signs of developing beyond the usual jokes and gunplay. The introduction of Vijay promised a new direction - but that has gone by the wayside to give us another fairly pointless diversion.

Abnett really needs to do something original with these characters to get them out of the rut they've fallen into of late. We're willing to let this latest series go as one last bit of nonsense but if they return in the near future (something which seems highly likely) please can we shake things up a bit?

And feel free to keep Davis around, who seems born to draw the strip and is one of its clear selling points (even though you wish he could occasionally be given something a little meatier than this and Black Siddha).

EB: I am another in the crowd of people who think of this strip as a "take it or leave it" kind of thing. Sometimes it's quite good fun, sometimes it has great art (Simon Davis, Andy Clarke, Frazer Irving, etc) and sometimes I couldn't care less. This story falls somewhere between these boundaries.

On the one hand, it has some lovely art by Simon Davis, with the fight between Carrie and Shinzen being a particular highlight. On the other hand, the first page contains some rather clunky exposition, and I find that I am somewhat hampered by the fact that I have no idea who half the supporting cast are. Yet Abnett's writing quality still shines through. The transition on page five of Carrie and Sinister moving in for a clinch, followed by Rock and Wendy in the immediate frame underneath completing the kiss at their wedding was very nice indeed. I actually have to admit that I quite enjoyed this story. I doubt that I'll be digging this out again in five years time, proclaiming how great it is, but it was fun, forgettable stuff. Plus, I'm just a sucker for weddings.

Part 5 - double sized final part

Kaith strikes

Synopsis: Kaith is 41 and the end is nearing. The humans have had enough and have decided to fight back. They storm the Shee led my a masked man and a huge battle ensues. Kaith sees someone who he believes is his father, so he attacks and butchers him - but it doesn't make him feel better. Kaith pauses and the battle is turning against the Shee as he is knocked out by the masked man who reveals himself as his now wingless brother Aib, accompanied by his mother. The humans took them both in. She tells him she loves him, holding him to her as she drives a dagger into his back. The humans tell Aib they'll honour the agreement to stay away "for now" in return for the tyrant's death as long as they are taken far away. They leave Kaith's body hanging as a warning to the others, with the word "monster" daubed underneath - as Kaith's life finally slips away.

GH: So From Grace ends, almost as soon as it started, it seems. This story suffers very much from the same problem as Spurrier's The Scrap - namely it's just far, far too short. The story was a great idea - the fall from grace of a character who never really stood a chance at the beginning. But it all happened too fast. A much longer set-up where we could actually be enticed to liking Kaith would have made his complete downfall all the more tragic. Instead, he's been pretty much a bastard right from the very beginning. So it's quite difficult to see what Spurrier was trying to achieve here. This is a shame as the story had huge potential, and Spurrier has already shown himself to be a very good writer, only a few short steps away from being a unique talent. The use of cyclical events and the flashback devices were great ideas which don't quite come together successfully.

However, stories like this need room to breathe - and perhaps that's something that the 2000AD editorial team needs to take under advisement. With complaints that the much longer Leviathan was cut too short and this truncated run, perhaps some bigger risks need to be taken next year? With strips Harry 20 appearing in the Megazine at the moment, we can see that much longer runs can be much more satisfying.

Frazer Irving's art, meanwhile has been very impressive - all the more because this was all done via computer, but still looks very much like painted art. Irving's art is continually evolving, which makes him a fascinating artist to watch. It's a pity the much trumpeted colour coded flashbacks weren't used more, though. The strip became a little too linear in it's last episodes, which seemed a wasted opportunity. still - the last page when we finally get into full technicolour is a very arresting image.

So in all, a worthy attempt - and by no means a bad story. In fact, despite all my nitpicking, it's still the best story this week. It just suffers from the feeling that it could have been so much better.

EB: So Kaith finally reaps the whirlwind which he has sown. Many people have complained about this strip, saying that they didn’t like the flashback structure, and that it was too short. While I agree that, like many recent 2000AD strips, it could do with being expanded by a couple of episodes, I think that the narrative device has worked particularly well. Mention must also go to Frazer Irving, without whose colour coding, the whole structure might have fallen apart.

It is perhaps worth going back and reading the whole series in one go, so as to gain the full effect, because this is a series that’s all about cyclical patterns. Just as Kaith wants revenge on his father for the hurt and shame that was heaped upon him, so his own brother and mother attack him for their own perceived scars. Just as Kaith’s people rose up against those who raided them, so the wingless that they revenged themselves upon in turn come back for vengeance. Kaith's confrontation with his father is very telling here, with a beautiful full page spread by Frazer Irving as Kaith delivers the death blow. Just two pages later he is betrayed by the family that both he and we, the audience, had given up for dead. With his portcullis-like helmet, Aib seems reminiscent of Fraser Irving’s rendition of Judge Death in the magazine, although I imagine that this is not intentional. On the eighth page, Kaith's mother stabs him in his back as she cradles him, just as Kaith had done in the previous issue with the blind girl. All of this adds to the allegorical nature of the work. The story could be read as a reference to racism, religious conflict or even international terrorism. Or it could just be about an angry, picked-upon little boy, who drags his scared, picked-upon people into his own madness.

Special mention must be made of the last page. I am a great fan of Frazer Irving’s colour work, and the image of Kaith crucified in front of a beautiful blue sky, both monster and victim, completely blew me away. Credit must go to both Simon Spurrier and Frazer Irving for making me feel both pity and compassion for a character that has wings made from the stretched face-skin of those people he has killed. This probably comes only third to Leviathan and Strontium Dog in my top thrills of the year so far.