2000AD 1389 - 12 May 2004
Cover by Richard Elson

Synopsis and 1st review by Gavin Hanly
2nd opinion by Richmond Clements

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

GH: After a couple of issues where my biggest bugbear was highlighted (covering the logo so that you don't know what you're buying), here comes a cover which does everything right. This is an extremely good cover from Richard Elson that is striking, frames the logo well, and is also astonishingly well coloured (check out the metallic armour). AHAB was shaping up to be a formidable character after last week, but he looks downright nasty in this issue - something that makes the reader want to turn to the episode immediately. Very impressive indeed.

RC: Wow! Now this is what we have been talking about! A big giant hard looking alien guy, waving his fist in your face: you just can't argue with it, can you? Seriously, this is the best cover in a long, long time: dramatic and bold; it makes you want to open the comic!

More like this please Tharg, it couldn’t do the sales any harm, being that you can read the name of the comic and all...

Last Respects

Giant cleans up..

Synopsis: Dredd is attending the funeral of Don Alberto Salerno, one of the last MC1 godfathers. Most of the crime families are in attendance given that the funeral is where the Don's successor will be announced. There are a number of possibilities, including Salvio Salerno: the eldest son, Vinny Nocenti: the Don's main ally and Nachio Reyes and his boys: some ambitious newcomers. After the Don is processed by Resyk, the unrecycled remains are given to Nocenti, a sign that he is to take over. But the Reyes boys don't like this and a firefight ensues as they wipe out Nocenti and his men. Reyes then turns on his own men as he wants the prize for himself, running to the roof with the remains while Dredd eliminates the last remaining Salerno. Giant takes down Reyes who ends up in the Resyk grinders and they start cleaning up - with the rest of the gangs now pretty much wiped out.

"Last of a dying breed, Dredd"

"Not anymore. More like extinct!"

GH: The first thing that struck me about this episode was that it marked the return of John McCrea to the comic - someone who's been touting his wares in American comics for a while now. He makes a triumphant return, filling the pages with his trademarked over-the-top violence and dynamic linework. Indeed, when the action finally kicks off this week, McCrea really comes into his own with a highly entertaining gunfight ensuing where the judges are more bystanders than active participants. A special mention must go to McCrea's Dredd. He manages to make the uniform stylised enough to fit in with his own artwork style, giving us a slightly unique look that works surprisingly well. I'd like to see more artists take more of this impressionistic approach to Dredd, and far less complaining from the 2000AD masses when they do.

As for the story? It's a throwaway tale of guns and mayhem which Rennie does well, but it isn't one that's going to stick in the memory for long.

RC: After the brilliance of Gulag, Mr Rennie returns to Dredd with what, it has to be said, is a pretty run of the mill script. Not that it is bad; as always, he has Dredd nailed perfectly, especially in his opening line to Vito. But the story seems just to consist of Dredd standing around and waiting for the families to start shooting each other. Then he shots the rest of them, and that is that really. Maybe Rennie's extraordinary work on Gulag has spoiled us, by raising his own personal bar so high, that anything less will be a disappointment?

John McCrea returns to the Galaxy's Greatest Comic, but is it worth the wait? Well, it's pretty good, and in places very good, but not great. He draws the best Dredd chin I've seen in a long time, and his judges look cool. In fact, looking through it again, I can’t see anything wrong with it at all; it just doesn’t float my boat. Sorry John!

Book 1 - Taking Liberties Part 3

Savage in one of his less pensive moods

Synopsis: The Volgans muse about the death of Savage, and are considering that the man they killed was a double. They discuss how he went on the rampage for 10 years and then, after visiting the US, he disappeared.

A flashback shows us Savage's meeting in New York with Alison, his contact in the US government. He talks about how he want plastic surgery to look like his brother Jack, who he believes to have died when the Volgans dropped the bomb. His sister Cassie and her husband Noddy will cover for him, and he says his Brother Tom will too. He expects the US to declare war on the Volgans, but Alison tells him that the US isn't going to get involved, possibly after making a secret deal with the Volgans. Savage is appalled, and walks off.

Back in the present, and in his new identity, Savage is getting tooled up while watching news of a demonstration in Hyde Park. The protestors are fought back with Chem Cannons, but one of them steps on the Pyrophoric Tar, which ignites when the surface is broken. The protestors are burned alive - as Savage turns the TV off.

"It's time."

GH: Now, this is much more like it. There's nothing in this episode to get anyone worked up at all, but it remains a very well paced tale. Finally, we're getting round to seeing some Savage action, and frankly the initially slow pace has been worth it. OK, Mills has peppered the pages with a few action flashbacks to keep us happy, but we really didn't need these, as the impending feeling of "something about to happen" is portrayed very well within this episode. From the inaction of the US government, to the rather messy end to the protestors this is actually a fine bit of writing from Mills. Ok - he has his ups and downs, and there will probably be more of them as this series unfolds, but in the meantime it's quite easy to see that Mills is able to turn in the odd gem now and again. I'm very much looking forward to it all kicking off next week.

As for the art, Adlard is still a great companion to Mills and he particularly shines in the scenes where Savage is getting ready to get back out on the streets. The final shot of Savage putting his "shootah" in his coat promises much for next week...

RC: Well, if this doesn’t shut up the detractors, then nothing will. This is the best script Mills has written in a long time. But even now, I see people jumping on the fact Bill describes his brother-in-law as being "a bit simple". For Christ's sake people, just read the story and enjoy it, without picking through every funking word looking for something to offend you!

But on with the show. After a couple of weeks of back story, things are beginning to kick up a notch. This script shows just why Mills is one of the best at this kind of thing, when he can be bothered. The last two pages are worth the price of the prog alone, with Bill tooling up to the horrible news on the TV.

Roll on next week, and Bill shooting a load of Volgs (I hope!).

Adlard’s hurried style suits this strip perfectly. The shadow and grittiness complement the dark edged script, and he throws us a couple of classic images, Bill checking his .45, and the last frame where he’s putting away the shotgun are super.

Part 3

One supporting character down...

Synopsis: Ishmael fights off a couple of Khana in the lower decks, admitting that she was once married to one of their kind. Queequeg intervenes, even though Ishmael says she could take care of herself. The crew are called to their stations as the Koheynu comes into view.

The Captain and AHAB head out for the beast, taking crewmen with them and leaving the Chief Science officer Spence in command. As Spence and Ishmael watch, Spence says that the creature could save Earth from extinction. Outside, the captain and AHAB argue about orders until AHAB kills the captain with one swipe - telling the only shocked witness that it was clearly a "piece of flying debris". AHAB orders the crew to take him in closer, and he starts harpooning the koheynu.

"Jesus Christ. He's slaughtering it."

GH: Another of the new series where everything's starting to kick off. The death of the captain was an incredible surprise, and all the more effective for the slightly matter-of-fact way in which AHAB slaughtered him. The shellshocked crew member might cause problems later on, but the way that AHAB effectively suggested to him that he'd better not try and tell anyone else what happened was effectively chilling. Indeed, after we thought AHAB was a bad guy last week, it now turns out that he's way more dangerous than had initially appeared.

AHAB (the tale) is coming slightly out in front as my favourite new story of this new batch of tales (an impressive feat, when the others are so all good too). Both Kitching's writing and Elson's art make this strip a must-read and my only hope is that the story is given more room to breathe. I'm not sure how many episodes we have of this, but I hope it's more than 6...

RC: When this latest offensive was announced, I’m sure you, like me, were all excited at the prospect of the return of Bill Savage and Chopper, and a story about the Wally Squad... oh yeah, and there’s this other thing too...

Well, that other thing is looking like being the surprise hit of the season.

Kitching is firing on all cylinders here, throwing in an unexpected twist when he kills of what we assumed to be one of the main players, and does it in such an offhand way that it is truly shocking. So much so that I had to go over those couple of panels again just to make sure I didn't imagine it!

A.H.A.B. himself is easily the most memorable, and bloody insane, villain we’ve had since... well, I can't remember. But he's mad and bad, and he looks cool, what more do you want from a baddie?

Elson is one of those artists who seem to split the readership into two camps. Those who like his clear detailed panels and those who don't. I’m one of the former. No-one can draw Space Opera like this droid, his space suits and ship designs are second to none.

Paranoia - Part 3

Fleischmann prepares to make an impression...

Synopsis: Mob boss Mr Fleishmann and his robot guards meet with an unidentified man at the top of a Mega City 1 building. He gives him a comlink so he can speak to his employer, who has purchased a number of his Low Life buildings. After the deal is complete, the mystery buyer uses the comlink to control his body functions and makes him walk off the building. "I own the Low Life now".

Elsewhere, Nixon is meeting with fellow Wally Squad judges Dirty Frank (who speaks about himself in the 3rd person), Link and Parker who has had face changes to make him look like a 13 year old. Nixon says that something big is going down and wants to hear if they know of anything. She asks then if they've heard of Ragnarock - and Link says it's an underground club for hardcore punks.

As Nixon enters the club, she's made by the same person who met Fleichmann on the roof. He gives her a drink, and she soon realises that it's drugged...

GH: Rob Williams has been one of those writers who has shown distinct promise, but hasn't managed to completely deliver yet. Both Asylum and Family showed great potential but ultimately failed to quite live up to early promise. So it's quite gratifying to see him come up with the goods on Low Life. So far, he's livened things up with a bit of action to start with, introduced us to all the main characters, and set the baddie up to be one that's not going to be a walkover. All in all, there's enough intrigue about the mysterious employer to make me want to stick around and the character of Amiee Nixon certainly looks like one worth exploring over the weeks to come. And plenty more of Dirty Frank, please!

As for the art, Flint starts off with a wonderful set piece, with the tower top introduction of our bad guy's accomplice looking particularly menacing - and Fleichmann's demise being all the more brutal for what we don't see than what we do.

RC: I'm still not sure about this strip. The introduction of a plot in the first couple of pages was a welcome sign, but I think the main problem in the strip is Amiee Nixon herself. Maybe I just don’t like her, but I think it's more the fact that I have yet to see any real character development with her. But, it's still early days, and as I said, the introduction of a villain has moved things along a bit, so it might turn around yet. Alec Trench was a masterstroke, by the way.

That Flint droid? Listen here, he’s my tip for the top. Keep your eye on him people, because he’s going places. There is little point of me trying to review Flint's work, everybody thinks he’s brilliant, and he is. I'll give honourable mentions to two exceptional frames for those who may yet need convinced: the first frame on the first page, and the two guys fighting with chainsaws. Classics.

The Big Meg - Part 3

Jug gets a good turnout...

Synopsis: Another flashback to Jug's funeral, a huge event led by Merci, Jug's daughter. Chopper sees Charlene, who asks him if he's still a beach guard and if he'll ever do anything with his life. Later, Merci sees him rescue a child from "squiddies" on his board and is impressed. She is a competent surfer - but not a great one - and he takes her out to one of Jug's favourite places in the outback, where she scatters the ashes. While there, she talks about her mother and how she's incredibly beautiful. Later, after calling her mother, she tells Chopper that the line goes dead after hearing her scream. She tells Chopper that her mum's a scam artist, and she can't get the judges involved. So Chopper agrees to come with her to Mega City One and help out. But in the present day, they finally get to Merci's mother's apartment. Opening the door, they see her - looking perfectly well and unaware that anything is wrong...

GH: Hmm - could Chopper fall for this scam so easily? It seems that Merci may just be trying to set Chopper up with her mum in a rather terribly misguided way. One thing's for sure, I don't actually believe much of what Merci's said after this last panel of this week's episode. That said, Chopper clearly wants to make something of himself, which may be why he was so eager to put his life at risk.

This is an enjoyable tale, but I'm not sure that it's the classic that everyone else is hyping it up to be. Low Life and AHAB both add something new to the prog, and another tale of Chopper, while entertainingly written and very well illustrated, doesn't seem terribly risk-taking to me. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, as an issue of 2000AD needs some tried and trusted favourites and for whatever reason, Chopper is one of them. I'm just not sure I see the attraction of the character myself - but if Wagner's intention with this series is to bring back some glory to him, then it could be worth sticking around with yet.

RC: Now we come to the back-story episode, and Wagner, as we can expect him to, handles it well. Nice touches abound here, from Jug making a speech at his own funeral, to Chopper using his board in his job as a life guard. The only thing that threw me a little was the final panel. Are we supposed to know this woman? If so, who is she, and if not, I can’t see much drama in "nothing has happened to someone you don't know". But then, it may all be some nefarious plot to get Chopper back in the Meg for some reason. I don’t know, but it’s going to be fun to find out.

Goddard, Teague and Blythe have slipped into this strip effortlessly, instantly the character was their own, and nothing lets up this week. The image of the funeral procession flying over Sidney harbour is breathtaking.