Synopsis and review by Gavin Hanly
2nd Opinion by James Mackay

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

GH: An action-packed "chase scene" cover by Clarke and Blythe - nicely mixing the headline with the art and, as with last week's cover, remembering to frame the logo for maximum effect. So, in all, an eyecaching image that works well.

JM: A nice dynamism here, with the gunshot and debris flying around. This is good, as I sometimes have a problem with Clarke's images being a little too perfect and looking like frozen photographs - see the second panel of the last page of this week's Sinister/Dexter for an illustration of what I mean. But the dull colours aren't going to make it stand out either on the newsagent's shelf or when comparing it to other covers. Sinister's mouth has a nice blend of coolness and cruelty, good since his flaming red hair streaming in the wind make this the focal point of the image.

Brothers of the Blood – Part 4

Vienna sees Dolman off...

Synopsis: Dredd muses about his clone "brothers" and begins to feel that the city will be in safe hands once he goes, with Rico's stats already looking better than his own. Rico, for his part, hadn't told Dredd that Dolman wanted to quit, and also realises that no matter how good they both might be, they can't compete with Dredd's history. Dolman is still reverberating from the after effects of the slaughter at Feldman - and realises he'll have to take many more lives if he stays on the streets - something he knows he can do if it comes to that. Rico keeps the rest of the day easy, showing him the less violent side of the job. As the day ends, Rico offers him a positive assessment, and Dolman asks if he ever had doubts. Rico said he had - but he got over them as he has the "best job in the world." Dolman replies "How do you know?"

Back in with the principal, Doman finds out that Dredd has requested that he be accellerated through the academy. Dolman agrees that he was made for the job, but still wishes to leave on a matter of principle. "I'm not a machine, sir."

Later at the spaceport, a face-changed (so that he can't be linked to Dredd) Dolman is heading off to Columbus to a school for the Space corps. Vienna and her friend meet him to send him off and she tells him to call if ever he needs to.

GH: So, one of the most highly praised Dredd stories in a long while comes to an end. In the past there have been vocal contingents, myself among them, asking for some longer Dredd epics. But when the stories are this well created, it doesn't seem as necessary. This has been a tightly plotted story to introduce us to Dolman and as such has done its job incredibly well. Along the way, it's also managed to set up specific character paths for all the Dredd family. Dredd as the older mentor with the weigth of history on him, entering possibly the last of his years on the force. Rico as the "new blood" with all the skills of the younger Dredd, with a lighter touch and the acknowledgement that he'll never be like the old man, although willing to cut his own path. Then we have Vienna - the "Alfred" of the family - the one that looks out for them all, and is'nt afraid to take them down a peg or two.

Finally we have Dolman - the wild card. There are many ways his character could go, and the series has build him up into the most intriguing aspect of the family. The mention of the Space Corps does screm "potential spin-off series" and he's clearly a character worth following. Certainly the aspect of "what would Dredd have been like if he wasn't a judge" is one well worth exploring.

So the storyline has done just what was needed in Judge Dredd. I.e. bringing the strands of the Dredd family together to effectively lay the groundwork for a whole heap of stories involving the Dredd clan. My only concern now is whether Wagner has the time to follow up on all of these, and whether or not he'll let Rennie take the leash of a couple of the main characters. Wagner's clearly the best Dredd writer, as this series reminds us, but more freedom needs to be given to Rennie if the strip is to avoid a feeling of "waiting until the real story starts again".

As for other aspects of the strip? The art has been wonderful, and it's unfair to only give us 4 weeks of Ezquerra on Dredd when we now just want more. OK - so he'll be back on Strontium Dog soon - but it doesn't seem quite enough after this. He has once again proven himself to be at his best when matched with Wagner, and still produces some of the best computer assisted work in the business. As for that final page? For a split second, as with many readers I'm sure, I thought we'd finally got to see Dredd's face, but alas that was not to be. But I'll be very surprised if we don't see Dolman again soon.

JM: Anyone who's been a fan of 2000AD for some time will have heard the words "Wagner" and "Ezquerra" and known that they were in for quality when this strip was announced, and the pair have delivered in spades. Dredd's musings on his own mortality, told in third person, subtly show the core of this man who's stood aside from his own humanity. Meanwhile, Rico's character, which until now hasn't amounted to much more than "young Dredd" is beginning to develop, with a sense of humour and compassion alien to his older clone-brother. But this prog belongs to Dolman's decision to quit the Judges, with the downbeat comment "I'm not a machine, Sir": a Dredd in civvy street offers all sort of possibilities, although we shouldn't forget it took Wagner twenty years to bring back Vienna. What these last four episodes have done is to give Joe back the hinterland that he lost when he got rid of the juvenile plot devices that were Maria and Walter - a connection, however slight, to the non-Judge world.

Lucky for some

Not so lucky after all...

Synopsis: Aboard the medi cosmic ship Buck, the supersticious astrogator is causing havoc with his bizarrre beliefs. As the rest of the crew grow exacerbated with him, they get an incoming transmission from Alphonse, working for their rival Pharmaceutical company Galaxico. The communication is interrupted as the captain is called to the bridge to investigate a planet with remarkable flora. But as they get planetside, Alphonse has beaten them to it and claims the planet. His crew start investigating the trees but as they touch them, it generates an explosive ejection of spores - killing Alphonse and his crew. The crew of the Medicosmic land and bring back a tree to the ship. They appear to have won, and nothing can stop them - although Buck touches the wood to be sure - causing another explosion....

GH: There's a good "Future Shock" story at heart here somewhere, but it's a bit clumsily handled. Ideally Buck's supersticious nature should have been alluded to throughout the story, not at the beginning and end. Instead, it makes the resulting climax slightly confusing as the set up of the "shock" is almost forgetten by the time you get to the pay-off. The middle section of the rival companies is also a wee bit too confusing and again takes the reader too far away from the central premise of the storyline. As for the art - it's Alan Burrows' first work for 2000AD and as such, isn't too bad. However it doesn't work terribly well for me, and Burrows clearly needs a few more episodes under his belt to get his craft up to scratch.

Just Business - Part 2

Sinister asks questions later...

Synopsis: Kal drags Isolbel away from the club telling her that someone wants her dead. He sees Sinister and Dexter emerge and heads to a waiting limo. He morphs his hand to a gun, forcing the driver to leave, and they race off in the car, almost running over Sin and Dex who note that he's got the mark in the car with him. Sinister realises that he's "thinking with his crotch" just like Sinister and his wife and Dex with Melody Broadway. In the Limo, Kal tells Isobel that there's a contract out on her but doesn't explain how he knows. Sinister rings him and orders him to pull over, but Kal refuses, so they open fire on the limo. Sin shoots a Hi Ex and the car careers off the road...

GH: Ok, as reminded by the form and this week's episode, this storyline has indeed happened before. Abnett may well be pointing out that this is a regular thing for gunsharks or being very self referential but all I can think is that it seems more than a little lazy. While it's an enjoyable chase episode, which Clarke handles very well, I just can't get past that niggling feeling that we've seen this all before. Now if Isobel turns out to be evil (very much a possibility if we want to make this story different) or if she's just a random person picked by Apelledo to test Sin Dex - none of this can wipe out the "been here, done that" feeling. Still, it's enjoyable at heart and miles better than the VCs so we should be thankful for that, I guess...

JM: Taken just as it is, throwaway action, this is fine. If I were to analyse it any more I might add the phrases "lazy", "rehash" or "pointless", but why criticise what is essentially pulp for not being Shakespeare? Yes, the plot's appeared before - though we'll have to wait until next week to find out if the ending's been changed - and, yes, the characters even refer to how similar Kal's escapade is to previous adventures of their own. But the gunshots are loud and the angles of the art are exciting. And those who criticise our amoral killers suddenly becoming all moral in the face of a
pretty girl or innocent bystander need to pay attention Sin/Dex/s sudden ruthlessness when they need to take out their protege Kal Cutter. Andy Clarke's art is, as ever, beautifully precise.

Part 5

As does Kara...

Synopsis: En route to Hel, Kara looks at the personell manifest to see who she has to impersonate and dresses in the garb of the crew. They tell the planet that they've captured the Ring ship. As they land, they are contacted by Baldur who tells them the Ring ship is the perfect "delivery system". They are met by a car, but Kara kills the driver. She orders the others to stay out of sight as she bluffs her way through. Baldur begins loading "Trez sattelites" needed to set off a wormhole onto the ring ship. Suddenly a commotion breaks out as Squeaks starts attacking the mega men. Kara orders the rest to attack and for Grimhild to rescue Squeaks. She'll need two patches - which could kill her - but will get the job done. The Mega men close in...

GH: Less t & a to distract us from the story this week, but unfortunaltely not much movement in the plot either. We learn a little more about the way the wormholes are being produced, but the whole meeting with Baldur seems more than a little unlikely, as it seems faintly stupid that Baldulr wouldn't have recognised that Kara wasn't one of his men. That said, I'm still enjoying this series as a whole, and think it's much better than some others have felt. A better summing up will happen for next week's final episode. I also think Lucas art is wonderful, and am indcredibly perplexed by the assertion that it's "dreadfully drawn" by Philip Emery in this week's Input section. I think Lucas could be a great asset for the comic as he's clearly extremely talented. Let's hope the reaction of some of the 2000AD faithful doesn't put him off coming back for more.

JM: With the exposed female flesh count down to an all-time low, it's time to
concentrate on what else is lacking in Valkyries. Namely, any semblance of a logical plot. Let me get this straight. The Trez are an ultra-advanced alien species, and they're giving the men genetic technology and military aid - in order to get their hands on their meat (pun unintended)? Surely with that kind of technology it would be easier to capture a few breeding pairs? Or maybe even, um, eat something else? The art's passable, if let down by the overenthusiastic colouring, but as a story this is well below par. The only bright moment this week was when Squeaks used the phrase "Meadheads" - a nice little reference to the honey wine of the Vikings.

Realpolitik - Part 2

Arkhan follows his own agenda...

Synopsis: Two months earlier, Rogue Trooper was captured by the Norts who froze him to keep him from dying. After that Dr Kinsella worked with the Norts to bring him back to full health. In the present day, she goes to see Rogue, but he grabs her, asking her to explain her actions. She tells him it was her duty to help him and that the Norts had a complete toxicology file on Rogue. Rogue and the others guess that this was put together by "Sister Sludge" who secretly tried to poison him earlier. But the info she gathered eventually saved him, helping Kinsella to destroy the virus. Rogue tells Kinsella that the Norts want him to asassinate the War Marshall after which they'll stop the bombardment. He says he has no choice to help them if he wants to save Souther lives.

Elsewhere Arkhan is still looking to find Rogue Trooper, and an officer helps him track down a ship that was carrying Rogue back to General Harrkas' orbital platform. Arkhan kills the officer before he can pass this data on, wanting to confront Rogue himself...

GH: More fantastic art from PJ Holden that is really hepling to make Rogue Trooper one of the best strips in the comic again. The greyscale art is a perfect match for the mood of the strip and the overall style of drawing is something I'd like to see him try on some other strips too - especially Dredd. The last image of Arkhan is particularly good, with the light shading helping to create a wonderfully laid out panel. Elsewhere, the storyline is still intriguing, even if I had almost forgotten who Arhhan was (read 1344 onwards for a recap). While the whole virus thing has been wiped under the carpet rather cleanly, it wasn't a teribly engaging plotline, so it's best we forget about it and go forward with the far more interesting assassination plot. So far this is the best Rogue yet - let's hope it stays that way.

JM: 2000AD's editorial staff clearly thought that putting Gordon Rennie onto the original Rogue Trooper would be a shot in the arm for the character. To a certain extent, their decision proved right: this feels like Rogue-as-we-knew-him, a man of action rather than emoting, rather than one of the increasingly pallid spin-offs. But while I understand Rennie's decision to decentre Rogue in favour of exploring a plot in the Nort High Command and the feelings of the doctor who saves the GI's life, it doesn't exactly warm my Thrillcircuits. It's obvious, though, that for PJ Holden
this has been the series where he comes of age. The subtlety of his greyscale art in conveying anything from the nuance of emotion to the grisly image of Rogue on the operating table is truly outstanding, and lifts this strip a good few notches.