2000AD 1374 - 28 January 2004
Cover by Ian Gibson

Synopsis and review by Ed Berridge
2nd Opinion by Paul White

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

EB: Yet another classy cover by Ian Gibson. This has the look of a classic cover from 2000AD's golden age: Dredd leaning in menacingly, obviously scaring the crap of a citizen, or in this case a bomb! But one of the greatest things about Gibson's colour work is his understanding of the use of colour itself. Examine the background colour scheme: it shifts subtly from a dirty cream colour, through a pinkish indigo to a deep purple, highlighting the bomb at the bottom of the page, and Dredd in his helmet at the top, as well as offsetting the logo rather nicely. Plus a nice bit of cheesy alliteration on the cover never goes wrong. This seems a particularly nice start to the issue that celebrates Matt Smith's one hundredth issue as Tharg.

PW: I suppose that no-one does funny little robots better than Ian Gibson, and this is an alright effort - even if he has gone all 'pastel' on us again. While it's enjoyable to have one of the all-time 'greats' still on board some 27 years later, I'm not sure I'd like to see him drawing a 6 page Dredd again - being a cover artist seems to suit him, unless there's more Banzai Battalion lined up.

S.A.M.

Dredd loses his patience

Synopsis: Mega City One. Aggrieved citizen Mikel P. Groober takes the Bureau of Creative Bureaucracy hostage. With him is a S.A.M. – Self-Arming Munition, which he is using to demand that he is given an apartment he is rightfully owed, but was unable to receive tenancy over due to the ludicrous red tape put in his way by bureaucrats so as to save the city money. The civil servants agree to give Mike a new apartment, red tape free. However, S.A.M. smells a rat, refusing both to believe that the offer of an apartment is genuine and Mike's request to shut itself down. Eventually the Judges are alerted.

Dredd arrives and informs the other Judges that they cannot take out the bomb, as it will trigger the explosion they are trying to prevent. They give Mike the key to his apartment, where they then whisk him off to, in an attempt to hunour the bomb. The bomb requests pictures of Groober in his new apartment, and refuses Dredd's request to release some of the hostages. Dredd is informed that S.A.M.'s battery could last up to six years, so he decides on some drastic action. He marches into the office, ordering all the hostages out, playing on the fact that the bomb cannot carry out it’s threat to kill them as, once it has, Mike will immediately be evicted. Dredd then offers S.A.M. a deal: if it gives itself up, he will give Groober an extra sixty days in his apartment, but if the bomb goes off he'll be evicted early. Dredd exits, leaving an extremely frustrated explosive device behind him.

EB: This is what the comic felt like it was missing last year. John Wagner is known for his blackly comic short stories (nearly a good two thirds of Titan Books The Chronicles of Judge Dredd twenty-seven volumes were made of similar short stories). Today we are treated to yet another crazy slice of twenty-second century Mega-City One life. This contains all the typical elements of the typical Wagner black arts. We have the crazy cit; the unfeeling, loopy bureaucracy of Mega City One, casting a shadow over our own fairly loopy way of living; robots overruling and outwitting human beings, as well as nabbing all the best lines; topical references to recent events and notable people (Harold Shipman Block). Of course, best of all, we have the classic version of Dredd: taking no crap from anyone as he cuts through the robot’s Gordian knot of a hostage crisis. This tale almost has the feeling of familiarity, almost as if it had been read before. Indeed, this strip would not have seemed out of place had it appeared during the period between 1982 and 1989 of the comics’ history. As it is, it comes as a welcome breath of fresh air, after the more serious tales of last year, such as Meatmonger, The Good Man or Revenge of The Chief Judge’s Man. The Bureau of creative accountancy is a creation of a superior writers’ craft and, as those who work for both national and local government will attest, is not actually so far from the truth.

The art is highly complimentary to this story, coming as it does from Dredd first-timer Semeiks and long time contributor Robinson. In fact, it seems that Robinson, in his inking, has consciously attempted to submerge his own style in that of Semeiks, and they make a truly wonderful combination, with only the Judge's showing Robinson’s hand. There is a nice set of characters on display here, each helping to imbue their personalities with the illusion of reality when they only have a few scant panels in which to appear. Likewise, the design of S.A.M. is also another little triumph, with the artists able to produce the appearance of suspicion, anger and demented frustration in what is basically a round mine-like ball with two stumpy legs.

Wagner seems to be on a roll after Strontium Dog and Judge Death last year, and we can only hope that this newfound vitality can continue in the ongoing stories of Judge Dredd.

PW: The kind of story that has Gordon Rennie believing slightly less in himself, as John Wagner gives us a very 'Mega-City-1' kind of story. The Bureau of Creative Bureaucracy injects the necessary humour as joe-cit struggles to make sense of it all and, even though we know he won't get away with it, we're totally on his side. Dredd makes the customary hard-ass appearence and saves the day with minimum fuss (although it's this kind of ruthless efficiency that frequently shows up his colleagues as hapless bufoons - surely other judges can take charge of such situations in the same manner?)

I very much liked the art - although I can't really claim to have seen any Val Semeik's art before, it seems to give Cliff Robinson the opportunity to stamp his unique look on it without having to worry about all those inconsistent angles and non-dynamic poses that seem to marr his work.

Frozen Stiffs

Zahir about to make a gruesome discovery...

Synopsis: London, England. Dr. Zahir Rashmoun, head of the Museum of British Egyptology and his assistant and girlfriend Sophie Wilson are examining a new acquisition – a mummy, complete with magic amulets and scroll of life for reanimation purposes. They are interrupted by the arrival of a man calling himself Monsieur Mort, who wishes the museum to lend him one of their mummies for his exhibition of preserved, skin-less corpses – "Afterlife". Mort shows them round his exhibit, but Dr. Rashmoun is disgusted, as his Egyptian upbringing inures in him a respect for the dead. However, Sophie appears captivated by Mort and his collection.

A couple of days later, Rashmoun sees Sophie get into a car with Mort, and she never returns. After visiting the police, Rashmoun decides to follow Mort’s exhibition to Hamwick, in an attempt to talk to Sophie. After entering the exhibition, Rashmoun sees an exhibit entitle "Jealousy". He realises that this is Sophie, who has been murdered and skinned by Mort. That night, Rashmoun breaks back into the exhibition, and reads the scroll of life over Sophie's preserved body. The next day the police arrive, finding Sophie’s corpse with one of her hands around Mort's throat, the other holding what used to be half of his face. The scroll of life lies at their feet.

EB: Yet another twist in the tail story from the past master of deceptive tales, Mr. Steve Moore. This one has an odd feeling, it almost feels like it comes from a past era of British comics publishing. The story itself could easily have appeared in long lost eighties anthology Scream, for which Moore did indeed write, or even for any of a multitude of E.C titles. Yet you almost get the feeling that Moore is attempting to send up the wholesome style of children's comic publishing. Cosy references to fictional English towns called Hamwick, police detectives who arrive in trench coats smoking pipes, and suspicious foreigners with mysterious and deadly secrets. This is perhaps where Moore shows his hand, with the revelation that "Monsieur Mort's" real name was Peter Mortimer, immediately reducing him from foreign villain to banal figure of evil, which seems, to me at least, much more scary. Rashmoun is different character, and as such is much harder to call upon. His insistence that: "I’m from Egypt, where we respect the dead!" seems out of place (it's been my experience that modern Egyptians are about as respectful to the dead as any other culture: that is, not very). Likewise, the "Bodyworks" style exhibit seems slightly out of its place in time. This would have been very topical had it been in the comic a year ago, but now its punch seems a little delayed.

The art by Phil Winslade is revelatory. His is one of the most original art styles to arrive in the comic for some time. Looking at his art, it has a curious cross between the old school of British comic-book artists such as could be seen in Battle, Lion, Valliant, Tiger and all the rest, and at other times, such as the arrival of the police on the last page, has the appearance of a Kim Raymond (but without falling into Raymond’s old trap of being crap). Art-wise, this could almost be a filler episode of One Eyed Jack, or something similar, if it weren’t for the Egyptology, skinned human bodies and gruesome violence. I certainly hope to see a lot more of Mr. Winslade in the galaxy’s greatest.

The Books of Invasion 3 - Scota Part 5

Gel finally shows some backbone

Synopsis: From atop a hill, Slaine and Scota observe the battle between the Atlanteans and the Irish as the Fomorian reinforcements arrive. They prepare to join the throng when they see Gael – he has been gruesomely tortured by Odacon, as punishment for his disobedience, and he is now grossly deformed. Odacon displays his contol of Gael by forcing him to speak, like a puppet, although he hardly seems capable. Slaine and Scota ride into the crowd, decrying Gael's fate as a call to arms for both tribes against the Fomorians. The final straw comes when Odacon tries to force Gael to order his men to attack, which results instead in another order: "DEATH TO THE DEEEHMMAAAHNS!" At this, the two tribes turn as one against the invading army, and the battle is joined to one chant: "FOR FREEDOM!"

EB: Slaine, and Pat Mills, have certainly come in for a lot of stick this last year or so, and somehow I don’t think this one review is going to conclusively end it. Nevertheless… Perhaps I was lucky, in that I hadn't read any Slaine since the excellent The Horned God when I began The Books of Invasion, so I was rather excited by the prospect of his return. I don't feel as if I've been let down either.

Certainly Mills is not free of blame of the problems he is accused of: he does tend to drag the minimum amount of plot over five pages, and he does tend to paste his views over the top of the piece, as opposed to subtly working them into the framework. However, I think it's worth pointing out that Mills has been much less guilty of that during this saga than he was during past stories. Instead, Mills' jet black humour has come back to the fore. The stories have also contained more serious moments, such as the departures of both Niamh and Uko, which gave the strip added impetus and felt as though it were being allowed a breath of fresh air. This episode is one of those more serious moments, where the plot gets a good non-literal "working over" as the Irish and Atlanteans finally unite against the sea demons.

Clint Langley's art, meanwhile, has been growing from strength to strength. When I first saw his work, in Tales of Telguuth, I have to admit that I really didn't like it - I didn't like computer art in general. But this strip has really opened my eyes. The characters are possessed of such life, whilst Langley clearly has an eye for the design of crazy looking demons and sea beasts that perhaps no-one has had since Kevin Walker. The look of Gael, after he has been "modified" by Odacon is actually rather nauseating, giving the impression of watching a burns victim who’s been in a car crash, and is still attempting to move around. The look, design and layout of the strip is also different from anything else in the strip, giving it a European feel to the strip, a good example of this is the last two page spread, and acts as nice counter against the more traditional strips in the comic.

Although I have been enjoying this latest Slaine saga, I still find myself hoping that this will be leading towards the conclusion of the series in the not too distant future. It would be better to see the strip go out on a bang, rather than a whimper.

PW: I'm in a state of perpetual confusion when it comes to this series. Admittedly I think it's poorly written and has survived at least 10 years past it's sell-by date, but I love the artwork (well, computer-aided wizardry) and even though nothing seems to happen much (ever), I find myself disliking the series less and less as it progresses. I can only summise that it's careful expectation of (fingers crossed) the end finally being in sight for Slaine and the vast array of interchangable and uninteresting characters (Odacon and Gael apart). Anyway we're finally at war, some people are going to die and I predict that I won't care either way. Oh, and I can't claim that I was the first to notice the filling in Slaine's teeth, but it did make me laugh...

Part 5 - Home

Smith in the calm before the storm

Synopsis: Charon, ice moon of Pluto. Major Smith awakes to find himself in a hospital bed. Keege is standing over him. Keege tells Smith that they are one Earth, having been picked up by G.C.C. Taskforce Laramie on an evac from Charon. Keege tells Smith that Earth is safe, the command informed of the geeks mass driver weapon, although they might want to ask Smith about the data log later. Keege tells Smith that they were the only ones out of their crew to survive, and that they are both going to be decorated. Keege leaves, and Smith stares thoughtfully at the panorama out of his window when he is disturbed by voices. It is his dead shipmates from the first Geek-Human war: Ringer, Loon, Hen-Sho and Dwarf Star. They warn him that he needs to start fighting: "Real hard. Real Soon." Then they hear noises and disappear. Smith finds himself surrounded by two sinister looking surgeons, who attempt to restrain him. He pulls the face mask from one, to reveal the Geek underneath. We finally Smith as he actually is: strapped to a Geek interrogation table, with mechanical tubes and attachments inserted into various parts and orifices of his body.

EB: So it looks like Smith won’t be getting the Distinguished Service Cross after all. Finally the mystery of the two Keeges and the mysterious returning to life characters is solved. In a way, part of me wishes it was the other way around. The excitement and interest generated when Abnett seemingly killed all but one of the supporting characters back in prog 2004 was great indeed. However, Abnett still has enough balls in the air to keep this series interesting and entertaining. Although the revelation this week was to be expected, the actual truth of Smith's situation still proved to be somewhat horrific. Credit for this must be laid at Anthony William's door. Although his style has adapted and changed since his Judge Dredd days, he still has a surprisingly subtle art style which, when pushed to extremes such as the last page, can still provide surprisingly shocking results. He also captures the personalities of Smith's former shipmates perfectly, and this time they get to talk as well. Hopefully they will make a few more appearances before the conclusion of the series.

Part of the problem with this series is that it is the sequel to one of 2000AD's most popular strips of yesterday, which ended with the war finished and most of the characters dead. To try and follow this up would already sound like a somewhat loony idea, but Abnett has tried very hard, after the disappointing last series, to combine both the style of the old series whilst make it his own. I'm not sure that it quite works, but I'll certainly give it the benefit of the doubt till the end of the series. This is one of those rare events: a strip I was dreading, but actually find myself enjoying.

PW: I like this series a lot, but I'm not always sure why. The artwork is cartoony but, despite the gritty nature the strip has always enjoyed - this series no exception - it really suits. Anthony Williams came in for a lot of stick in the last series due to his alleged over-use of his computer, and from comments on the 2000AD online messageboard he really took the comments to heart, but I think he's under-rated and an asset to the prog.

As for the writing, I can easily hate Dan Abnett's work on SinDex and Durham Red, but thoroughly enjoy it here. It's interesting stuff, I'm not sure where it's all going (which i think is good), and I look forward to reading it each week - it basically fits the criteria for what i'm looking for in 7 day spurts.

This issue finally resolves certain questions from the last few progs and leaves major Smith in a bit of a pickle... keep it coming

Twilight of the Idols - Part 5

Aladdin revealed!

Synopsis: Tabletop Island. Captain Jack Dancer and his crew are stranded in the ocean, apparently having been abandoned. The harpies circle for another attack when they are blown from the sky. Alhazred and his ship have returned. Alhazred explains that he was trying to destroy the other ship that attacked them. He asks for the map, but Dancer wants to know who attacked them. Alhazred claims they were former employees, led by a Captain Sarita, who wish to pillage Laputa for themselves. Dancer decides to hold onto the map for insurance, and Alhazred's impatience boils over, his eyes blazing inhuman energy.

At this point, a dislocated voice appears, telling Alhazred not to hurt the men. Out of the inside of Alhazred steps a wizened old man. This is Rashad Eben Al-Aladdin (of childrens story book and Disney cartoon fame). He explains that Alhazred is his Genie, or Shaitan, from his story, whom he controls with his magic ring. He has taken to living inside Alhazred for protection and sustenance since his brush with Captain Sarita, as well as providing his path to immortality (he is over one thousand years old). He explains that he wishes to find Laputa so that he can die there in peace, leaving his magic ring safe amongst the other forgotten treasures of myth. Convinced, Dancer and his crew set sail for their next destination: the Sleeping Giant of Rhodes.

EB: When the last series of this appeared, I have to say that I didn't expect to enjoy it. Pirates had been done to death, I thought. However, it was a fun series with some lovely art, and most importantly, pre-empted the current craze for pirates which is now sweeping the western world. So far this series has been moving at a breakneck speed. Only five episodes in and we’ve already had references to or appearances by Pugwash, Sinbad, Gulliver’s Travels, Jason and The Argonauts and now Aladdin, scourge of numerous pantomimes across the land. This works greatly in the strips favour, helping to establish the idea of this being a comic form of a Ray Harryhausen film. This has also helped to establish the strip as more fun to read than the last series, which, although enjoyable had to deal with the messy business of establishing characters in the middle of one of those "chases that result in the final fate of the world resulting in a fight between two guys with swords" sort of things. Edginton seems more settled in the series now: admittedly, of the crew only Dancer really stands out as a character in his own right, but with the revelations of Alhazred this week, plus the extended mystery of "Captain Sarita", there is still a lot to like and hold the interest in this series. This "drip-feeding", works to great effect when combined with a weekly publishing schedule.

Meanwhile, Steve Yeowell's art has been great for many years, from Zoids, Zenith, The New Adventures of Hitler or his work on The Invisibles, he always manages to almost indefinably. This case is no different. His work on this series at first seem like a step backwards, a return to his earlier style as typified in the first book of Zenith. Yet, despite stepping back from the heavy inked style of his previous work, this series still retains the distinctive character design of the past, but adapted perfectly to fit the concept of the series. This is definitely one of series that you couldn’t imagine with any other artist, and it is to Yeowell’s credit that he manages to pull off the central conceits of the series, the meeting of these different fantasy worlds, both realistically and entertainingly. This is a series I shall continue to follow with rapt attention.

PW: Has it really been 5 episodes already? I'm sure phrase 'enjoyable romp' has been used by either myself or another reviewer with reference to this series, but it does seem to accurately describe it. Very 'Jason and the Argonauts' to me, and - as that is one of my all-time favourite films - I'm happy to read it each week. After championing Stevel Yeowell in my end of year review, he seems to be stuck a bit on auto-pilot at the moment, with some of his line-work looking a bit sketchy. However, he's still a class act and perfectly suited to the strip.

Jack Dancer and the crew take all the revelations and monsters thrown at them in their stride, and it all seems perfectly natural to meet the real Aladdin. But then when you've met the devil and befriended a talking two-headed dog, the (drug-induced?) world you live in must seem pefectly natural.