Prog 1363 - 22 October 2003
Cover by Clint Langley

Synopsis and review by Gavin Hanly
2nd Opinion by John Amans

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

GH: I'm not usually a fan of photo covers, since they can occasionally look far too cheesy, but this one isn't too bad at all. The model is perfect for Hannah Chapter, and Langley has touched it up with some eye-catching effects. A much better cover than it deserves to be...

JA: Can't say I'm a real fan of the "photo" covers that 2000AD has put out. It's not exactly striking and lacks that "wow" factor that would attract any new readers. It's all a little too brown in tone and the gun is lost among the coat. Not one of my favourites!

Inside Job - Part 1

The Lynch family

Synopsis: Dredd is called to see the body of Mob enforcer for the Lynch family turned informer Norm Lamont - who has died on unknown causes on the toilet inside a judge interrogation block. He's shown the vid surveillance which shows Lamont receiving some food from New Delhi Chilli. Soon after eating it, he rushes to the toilet and appears to have a heart attack. Dredd surmises Gila Munja, but that idea has been ruled out already. He's called over to view a breaking news report: an interview with the Lynch family - Hitch, Shank, Double, Sheep and Granny - the matriarch. Originally from the Emerald Isle, she and her family were laundering money, bodies and stolen goods, and profited from a gang war which took out all their enemies. She now earns most of her money from legitimate business, and says that she has never heard of Normski Lamont. Moab McGonigal, the last remaining Lynch informer is under guard with his son and wife, but trying to get out after seeing the report. Dredd reminds him that it's informing or the iso cubes. Later that night, Moab is dead in his bed...

GH: Ian Edginton tries his hand at Dredd, and it's an entertaining affair - but a little too early to tell if he's got the handle on Dredd that Rennie seems to have. Still, we get a nice mention of the Gila Munja (it's been far too long since we "saw" them - ideal for the next Dredd game perhaps?). However, the most obvious talking point of this story is Pugh's artwork. It's a very odd style, appearing to be painted-over pencils, and takes some getting used to. That said, the artwork has a wonderfully original and European feel to it, and Pugh's excellent characterisation is put to good use here - especially in the Lynch family, with its Queen Mother like matriarch. So while this style has a slightly experimental feel to it, and isn't always successful, it's still enough to make you stop and pay attention.

JA: After some real "filler and no killer" stories over the last few months it's good to see a Judge Dredd story with real substance. No cheap humour, no gimmicks! I like the Steve Pugh artwork with its subtle tones, and at last here's a story with some meat on it. It has a touch of mystery, some good new MC1 mobsters and a nice crisp, no nonsense script from Ian Edginton. When it all comes down to it, Dredd works better when we have some good old fashioned "storytelling" to push it along. Nothing beats the interaction between the Judges and criminals and a murder mystery to solve.

I'm looking forward to the next couple of episodes, and I haven't thought that in a while! Good stuff, Dredd is back on form at last!

Part 2

Jude makes her point...

Synopsis: Saben Dru is taken to the doctor and Jude follows. Vadimir is sent down to the mines where he can work without eyes as the robotic doctor sews Dru's mouth shut. Anyone who dies on Lazarus becomes one of the mindless flesh eating zombies within a day - called Mutes. The doctor says Jude is ideally suited to be a Mute Wrangler. She is taken away as the now revived and in agony Dru undergoes a painful vivisection. Jude is placed in a cell with Zykurk. He tries to attack her, but Jude easily repels his advances, throwing him out of the cell. Then his friend, Racine - a huge tentacled beast, arrives who wants to "tame" Jude. But Jude isn't that easy, and she kills Racine - her first murder - "I'm top bitch on Lazarus now!"

GH: As mentioned by Leigh in last week's review, it's so hard not to read this and have the experience coloured by Harry 20 which is currently being reprinted in the Megazine. And it hurts that Harry 20 has aged so well, because this strip will clearly suffer in any comparison. So - the good points first. The artwork shows a gradually learning and evolving Boo Cook. A touch of early McMahon now and again, not that that's a bad thing, but generally speaking full of inventively designed monsters, robots and environments. Cook also continues to make great use of computer colouring to enhance the art without overwhelming it.

As for the story, the idea of the planet where no-one can die is intriguing as long as it's carried off well in future episodes. There is also some potential in the set up of Lazarus - the mines, mute-wranglers etc. But as for the prison itself, it's all a bit cliché-tastic. We've seen the whole "underdog has to prove themselves" thing before and so far you can't help think that if the whole prison aspect was thrown away, this could have been a more intriguing story. And if Harry 20, the Shawshank Redemption, the Great Escape and any other great prison story has taught us anything, it's that you have to root for the character. Here we have "habitual escapee" who kills someone and enjoys it this week. Hmm - she's our heroine? Excuse me if I don't care what happens to her in the next few issues...

JA: I quite liked the first episode of this new story. I also liked Boo Cook's art as it's easy on the eye and nicely coloured, even though it doesn't look one bit different from a lot of his previous stuff.

My only problem with this is where is this prison drama tale going? What is going to be unique about it? What is going to be different? Ok, dead inmates become zombies and the place is populated with nasty people and various psychos that our heroine has to avoid being hacked up by. It's rather like a number of other stories it just doesn't grab me and make me look forward to next week like other recent stories have done (Leviathan, Lobster Random)

However, I do rather like to the depraved little sexual sicko who looks like the great actor Peter Lorre, must be the eyes!

Downtime. 1 - Chapter

Chapter's "men in black" days

Synopsis: Chapter is in Soho, drowning her sorrows, as another girl offers her a drink. Chapter tells her about herself, that she hunts down "weird shit" for real. She used to work for the US government but is now freelance with Caballistics. As she finishes her introduction she finds herself alone again. She carries on regardless, saying that one of her colleagues from her U.S. work is across the road in a "private freak club" and she's going over there to kill him. She forces her way in and finds "Warren", tied to a bed inside. She reminds him of the last time they were together, when they were all attacked by a beast that Warren's research said wouldn't be there. Only she and 2 others survived - one is locked away somewhere in Quantico. The only other one is Warren. She gets ready to kill him, but finds she can't do it. As she escapes, we see that some men are following her - trying to find out all they can about Caballistics so they can go in and get "that Nazi bastard".

GH: Caballistics makes a welcome return - it's longish run early in the year gave it the breathing space needed to make it one of the top new stories in 2000AD in 2003. This new run is going to be a series of vignettes concentrating on the individual members of the team and the strand holding it together looks like a quest to take down Ravne. Unfortunately, we don't learn quite as much as I would have liked about Chapter's past here and as such this week's story doesn't quite get going. Perhaps that's because it's being used as a catch up - the first page is pretty much exposition. This is, of course, no bad thing in such a plot-heavy series so I don't feel I can complain too much. Still, it's great to see this back in the comic even though it shows up the deficiencies in Dead Man Walking and Synnamon. Dom Reardon is also continuing to improve - any chance of him getting to do a cover?

JA: I was a little wary of Caballistics at first. But, now its various pieces are starting to fall into place. It has a wonderful individualistic style of art work courtesy of Dom Reardon and a multi layered story that has taken a few series to build up. The list of usual suspects: immortal ex-Nazis, demonic monsters, various sexual deviants, and political/occult skulduggery rather adds to this story which I finally think is coming to life. We have enough little subplots and teasers to make this worth reading. I actually went back and reread all of the previous series to get a handle on what was going on. It's good to see it having an "adult" sense and not sinking into a rather "kiddie" immature slash fest.

Facing Mecha - Part 2

Synnamon's hologram

Synopsis: Synnamon uses her holographic projection to talk to Cromwell who's being attacked by creatures infected with a nanovirus that is turning people into machines - a virus traced back to Planet Mecha, originally believed to be full of "dumb drones". The attackers close in and Cromwell tells her that Macauley industries, creator of Mecha, also seems to be in the dark. Macauley is hidden on Earth, and his partner Kassad is also lost. Synnamon has to find them. The infected close in as Cromwell sets off a bomb to disable the intelligence control network. The communication link is cut and Synnamon prepares for her mission. Kassad vanished a year ago as her ship wonders if there's a link to "Peter's death". But Synnamon doesn't think there is. They head to Earth and get a trace on Macauley - in "the glass desert".

GH: 2 episodes into Synnamon, and I'm afraid just too much is going on here. It's especially telling when Cromwell spends a panel explaining what's happening with the virus and then sums it up in the next panel with: "people are turning into machines". Just say that to start with! There's nothing gained in needless techno babble that confuses the reader so early into the series. There's potential here - that's for certain - but it takes at least 2 reads to work out what the hell is going on. It seems writers for 2000AD these days need a reminder that simplicity isn't a bad thing. That said, there are a bundle of decent ideas gasping for breath here, and if the series starts to take things a little easier over the coming weeks we could see an improvement. The art is good, without having any particular outstanding qualities to recommend. This has room for improvement - but I'd like to see it quite soon, please?

JA: Unlike a lot of other people I actually liked Bison (honest)! When I saw it was the same team I thought: "OK, let's give this a try". Unfortunately, this is a real let down. The story is a jumble: I don't have a clue what is going on! What is this thing all about for grud's sake? Sometimes the complex stuff works, but it needs a really good idea and sometimes some outstanding art work to stop it from falling on its face. Dead Man Walking is at least unpretentious and an easy read. This is a mess. The artwork does nothing for it and I can already see this whole thing being a real torturous read in the future weeks. I'd love to be wrong, but it's not looking good!

The Empty Suns - Book 1 - Part 1

Haema cuts loose

Synopsis: An old man watches over the feral Durham Red and warns her that humans are coming - as he foresaw. He rips open his wrist allowing Red to feed. Elsewhere Goldokin and the others realise that the leader of the attackers is Red's son, and that Durham Red is an honorific carried by the leader of the tribe. He points her towards Red's lair. They arrive, and Homer says the place stinks of her. As they head in, the old man rushes out, telling them that it's a holy place, and that Red's dead. But Goldokin sees the feeding marks on his wrist. They push him aside and head in, realising that it was part of the containment facility for the offspring. Haema suddenly starts firing wildly - saying she thought she saw movement. Goldokin chastises her, as Nelius realises Homer's missing. They find him skewered on a large pole - as Red leaps at Nelius, severing his throat. They won't be able to save him, but realise they can use him as bait...

GH: More than ever, this series is proving to be an eye opener into the work of Mark Harrison. I knew he was OK before, but there's something about the work here so far that is outstanding, and is starting to make me look forward to this series much more than I expected. It's probably the fact that the overuse of computer effects in provious outings is toned down, allowing his draftsman skills to shine through.

The story itself doesn't seem quite as "up its own arse" as the last Durham Red, which became incredibly tedious. Perhaps it's the main character herself? I never found her to be that compelling, so when all the supporting cast were falling over themselves to impress her it became deathly dull. But a an insane vampire? Now that works! And Goldokin doesn't seem anywhere near as emasculated as he was last series, either. So this has great potential - but if Red gets back to her own self too soon, there could be trouble ahead.

JA: I sometimes weep at what they have done to Durham Red. While she was still in the original Strontium Dogs timeline she was a character that fitted in great alongside Johnny Alpha. Sadly, rather like some other great characters (Feral Jackson and the whole SD timeline); she's been painted into a corner by a writer who seems a little scared to do something bold. I though the last DR story was a good place to finally put her to rest. All of this mutant's v human with a quasi-religious vampire theme thrown in was wearing rather thin and had the feel of reaching a natural conclusion.

What we have now is a rather desperate story that is not really going anywhere. I don't really care what happens to anyone in this story and certainly not Miss Red. I feel like urging Godolkin to please put DR out of her misery. At least the previous stories had that wonderful sexual tension between Godolkin and Red. Now what do we have? Mark Harrison's once wonderful art with all of the computer enhancements now looks rushed, scratchy and dull. Sorry, but this story is like a boxer who should of quit ages ago instead of taking that one last fight!