Synopsis and 1st review by Gavin Hanly
2nd opinion by Leigh Shepherd

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

GH: A Mark Harrison cover to round off the adventures of Durham Red. Unlike some of his work on the strip, this is very clearly defined with the light background emphasising the two main figures. Also impressive is the use of the headline, putting the rock outcropping to its best effect.

LS: The cover does a good job of summing up the story inside - nice if vaguely incomprehensible art featuring a rather ludicrous and oddly posed fight - very much reflecting the actual contents!

Gulag– Part 5 (Final Episode)

Dredd catches a lift

Synopsis: The defence division gunships open fire on the Sovs and Judge Troopers lend assistance to the ground team. The 7 remaining judges are extracted and the camp is destroyed, as the ships head back to Mega City 1.

Later, Dredd appears at an informal hearing to discuss the mission. The mission lost only 3 men, thanks to Votten's defence team intervention. There is a concern that there will be a diplomatic incident, but Dredd reveals that the badge numbers he found at the camp match up with judges missing presumed dead after the war. He says the Sovs won't say anything because they've been caught out as much as Mega City one were.

Hershey requests time alone with Dredd, where she reveals that they have identified Anatoli Grogoravich Kazan, crippled clone son of the Apocalypse War Marshall, and a "supra genius" as the one they suspect of the trap. Sov cloning technology is behind MC1's hence Kazan's condition. She suspects they'll hear more from him, while Dredd says he'll still keep looking for the missing men...

GH: This has been a tour de force for Rennie, and has arguably been his first chance to put a lasting stamp on the world of Dredd. He's used all the characters to great effect, introduces some cool new suits and, most importantly, has come up with a decent bad guy. Unlike some of Rennie's other stories, this one doesn't feel like it's existing in a vacuum, as it has clearly laid down plot points that will be picked up in future episodes. The series has also been full of ingenuity, the best being the botched Sov cloning, resulting in a flawed clone physically, but one that will greatly outmatch Dredd in the brains department. The fact that Hershey didn't brief Dredd on Kazan before his mission seems somewhat odd, but it would have messed up the story mechanics, so we'll let that one pass.

Now all I'd like to see is John Wagner refer to elements introduced in Rennie's strips in his own. Rennie consistently references Wagner's work, and for the Dredd world to seem a more cohesive whole, Wagner needs to do the same.

Finally, there's Adlard and Blythe's art. Adlard has turned in such an impressive job here, that it's lucky we only have to wait until next week for him to return with Savage. As with lasts week's installment, he instills elements of havoc into the first half of the strip that mesh perfectly with Rennie's story, and even manages to make Dredd's "hearing" dramatic. Combined with the colours and special effects of Blythe, he's produced some of the best Dredd work next to Ezquerra.

So in all, this strip has been a massive success. Let's hope it's not too long before we get a follow up.

LS: Only Wagner can write Dredd. That was the theory, and it had withstood the test of time - many had tried all had failed, until that Rennie fellah came along and sneaked a few stories under the radar - sometimes, you actually had to read the credit box to realise it wasn't a Wagner story, so well had he nailed the characters and settings of MC1. Not always of course, but often enough to make you wonder what he could do with a longer storyline. So here we have Rennie's longest Dredd strip so far, and while it's entertaining in a no brainer action movie kind of way, I have to say there's something about Dredd here that doesn't ring true. Its hard to put my finger on it, as Dredd has been petulant, arrogant and pigheaded in the past - maybe it was his lack of concern for the 3 Judges dead, or Giants injuries? Well maybe but Dredd's consigned Judges to death in the past (Lopez for example - though at least that was a sound operational decision).

I think its possibly that we see too many of these traits, and little to suggest Dredd feels anything other than an unturning belief in his own actions. Other than that, the story itself was OK, though a little too heavy on continuity, what with Guthrie, Karyn, Giant, Kazan and more - Wagner might use one or two elements from the past occasionally, but this seemed a little bloated on past glories. Kazan's clone might turn out to be an interesting opponent, though I'm still unsure exactly why this man is seen as a mastermind if he can't arrange the capture 10 Judges with an army of Sovs.

Adlard's art was quite nice - not one of my favourite Dredd artists, but solid stuff, with some particularly nice inking in some of the panels.

Toothache - Part 4 (Final Episode)

Tooth decay...

Synopsis: Bec gives the Tooth Faerie his tooth back in return for leaving her friends alone. The faerie takes the tooth and decides to kill them anyway. As he's about to destroy them, the tooth begins to react and rot. Bec bored out the tusk and filled it with chocolate pudding which rots both the teeth. The faerie shrinks down to his smaller size, and is crushed by the "boy wizard" who appears after removing his invisibility underpants. After dispatching the boy to his worst enemy in response to his arrogance, the others prepare to leave the land of faerie, which returns to it former self. Bec takes home some teeth, hoping to extract their power, and everyone disappears...

GH: Once again, this strip unfortunately fails to grab me. Clearly, from Ed Berridge's review last week to comments in the forum, Bec & Kawl has a big enough following to warrant it's inclusion in the comic but I think it's hope of converting me has finally been lost. There are the odd amusing moments, but this week, the story tails off at the end so much that the last page seems redundant, almost if Spurrier was killing time. It's true I don't have the venom for Bec & Kawl that I used to have - it's just turned into grudging acceptance instead.

As for Steve Roberts, I don't say much about him in the reviews, mainly because I'm put off by the story too much. But he's clearly made for the strip and is one of the best things about it (his collaboration on the "star scan" with Simon Davis is pretty impressive too). However, I think I need to see him on another strip where my judgement isn't clouded by my feelings for the two main characters in this one.

LS: On the art front, Steve Roberts' work here is really nice, and perfectly suited to the story. Certainly his style works here in a way that, for me, it doesn't on a more humourous Sinister Dexter tale, say. The actual story refuses to grow on me, and that's probably for the reasons I've outlined before - humour strips that are joke led rather than action led (like Robohunter, Ace Trucking or indeed Lobster Random) don't have anything to fall back on when the joke misses its target. Similarly, this story has had its fair share of spoof characters - OK if you've read a lot of Vertigo comics, but while I'm aware of the Sandman and Constantine, I don't know that much about them. Therefore, I expect a lot of the jokes whizzed straight past me, or seemed corny when actually they were spot on.

The star scan (or left over cover - you decide!) was a nice piece of work though, with Roberts and Davis styles working surprisingly well together. More star scans would be lovely, but I won't hold my breath.

Keeping it Real

Phil gets caught in the act...

Synopsis: Hiram Cowell, journalist with Rolling Stone, goes to visit Harlan Bryce in a secure psychiatric ward. Bryce was known as The Lyrics, a one man band who graduated from a TV talent show into real stardom. Bryce had been begging for candles, which Cowell had brought him, so he tells him his story. He believes he was in fact part of a 2 man band, together with his brother Phil. Phil took criticism hard, and would disappear in his room for hours, appearing later with some amazing music. Harlan tried to find out what was going on, but Phil wouldn't tell him.

So one day, he went in anyway and found Phil surrounded by candles and runes, summoning a demon. But the opening door, knocked over one of the candles, snuffing it out. Phil disappeared and then ceased to ever have existed, with only Harlan remembering him. Cowell leaves, believing none of it, but later on Bryce tries the same incantation as his brother, when one of the candles falls over and is extinguished. Suddenly, no one has ever heard of Harlan Bryce, except for Hiram Cowell...

GH: Another first timer to the Terror Tales, and it's not bad at all. I particularly liked the idea of the candle snuffing out and wiping the existence of the brother from the world, even if it didn't work terribly well the second time around ("I think I remember the markings" being a bit too vague for me.) Still it's a decent tale with some good writing, although the twist is a little full of holes (why does Cowell still remember etc.). It's certainly worth giving Ewing another commission, based on this.

As for Cam Smith - he turns in another wonderful piece of work here, and he's slowly beginning to develop his own art style. He's done enough Terror Tales and Past Imperfects to be let loose on a longer tale now - and I'm also curious to see some of his work in colour.

LS: Now this is good - a Terror Tale that has a good premise behind it, and sees it through with a nice sense of logic driving the story, rather than the all too often random incidents or unlikely coincidences that seem to power a lot of Tharg's one-off tales.

Cam Smith's art isn't usually to my taste, but this was certainly the best I've seen from him. Apart from the slightly lame demon/tentacled beasty scene, this set the tone perfectly.

The Empty Suns - Book 2 - Part 5 (Final Episode)

The offspring has met his match...

Synopsis: As Haema prepares to fire, Johnny appears behind her, knocks her to the ground and kills her by biting her neck. He says goodbye to Father Syte and takes Godolkin safely out of the decaying ship into an escape craft.

The fight between Red and the Offspring continues, but the Offspring says it is futile, as he can't be killed. But Red has lured him to a singularity pit - fall into one and you fall forever. She drags him in, and they both fall. Red experiences countless realities until finally she activates her grav shute, propelling her to safety while the Offspring falls into eternity. Finally safe, she watches Godolkin die from his injuries, and tells her son that it won't be long for her either. He says that he can save her, but she replies that it's time for her to die - and "she does not speak again".

10,000 years later, the story of Durham Red is being told round a campfire to the latest generation of the Mutant Race. The old woman telling the story, The Empress Redwina tells them that Johnny, who's blood flows in her, became the first emperor, and they have been free of war and persecution. When they are alone, her grand-daughter asks her if she is ever inclined to tell the truth, and what it was like to give up the name. "Like Dying. But it was worth it." She looks upon the world she created, tears off her old age mask and reveals the still young Durham Red beneath - "Sneck me, look what I did..."

GH: So after only 5 episodes, we come to the end. Yes it's very clear that this should have been one long book and it has suffered from being cut in half (like reading a book and having it snatched away from you for 6 months when you were only half way through, and in the middle of a chapter).

But overall, I've rather enjoyed this series of Durham Red. There have been a few hiccups along the way, like Red's mega quick re-habilitation, and the slightly dull attacks on the Offspring's followers, but there's was enough inventiveness going on here that should make it well worth picking up the inevitable trade when it hits the shelves. Indeed, this should read much better as a single piece, than being slightly fragmented for the weekly.

Abnett's writing on this strip has been streets ahead of his work on the other space bound series, the VCs. So much so that it's hard to conceive of the two series being written by the same person. If Abnett managed to instill some of the space battle scenes in the VCs with the effort he's put into the ones in the latter half of Durham Red, there might be hope for that series. While Red's ascension didn't exactly ring true for me (and was actually a wee bit confusing), it does set up a far better ending in the far flung future. So in all, a series that turned out to be much better than I had hoped for.

As for Harrison's art, it has varied between "quite confusing" and extremely inventive, with the closing page showing a fantastic image of a setting planet. His somewhat odd "musical notes" aside, he's been the right artist for this series all along, bringing it a unique sense of "alien" imagery, especially in designs like Johnny's camouflage, and the dive into the singularity. (Now were those images drawn for this scene specifically or taken from elsewhere? - I couldn't tell for sure).

But finally, it's the "end" of Durham Red. Well as far as the current heads of 2000AD see it - but given the way things work, who's to say that in 5-10 years time, they won't try to revive her. After all it's been left pretty open ended...

LS: A double helping of Red, and what do we learn? Unfortunately, the story ties up a bunch of continuity that I'm really not interested in and without any real revelations, just seemed fairly contrived. I'd say it's a bad sign when the hero pulls out a singularity from their back pocket to resolve the impossible situation the writer has put themselves in, right in the very last episode. It's doubly bad when the magic monster loses the magic powers that he had (the ability to fly for example) that would have been a lot more use than a Grav chute in getting out of the "bottomless pit". If one thing has dogged this tale, it's been the sense that there was no real logical universe at work (Red's agelessness remains as much a mystery as the Offspring's magic powers) and it's sad that we weren't working up to some revelation that would have made sense of a lot of the inexplicable things we were expected to swallow (or perhaps more likely overlook as we gazed at Reds equally unfeasible figure).

Really, all I can say is I'm glad this is over and hope we can lock all this Strontium Dogs stuff into Tharg's "seemed like a good idea at the time" drawer never to see the light of day again.