2000AD 1396 - 30 June 2004
Cover by Charlie Adlard

Synopsis and 1st review by Gavin Hanly
2nd opinion by John Amans

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

GH: While not quite up to the extremely high standard of his black and white interior art, this is still a striking image to herald the end of Savage. Perhaps the only disappointment is that it should have been just Savage and Chantry on the cover - Noddy looks a bit stupid - and Savage should have looked much meaner...

JA: A very nice “red fire” feeling cover. This cover is very much like Charlie Adlard’s art on this story, very stripped down with simple lines. But, it works because of this minimalist feel. The predominant use of red really works with the “London burning” slogan in the bottom left corner.

Terror - Part 5

Dredd spoils the fun...

Synopsis: The judges put tracers and cameras inside Sonny to track him. He wakes up in a hospital, none the wiser and is told he was stung by a scorpion bee. Meanwhile the judges have discovered that he was called occasionally by the same unregistered number, so they check it out discreetly. The judges continue to watch him as he talks to Zondra, goes shopping for her, and generally goes about his normal life.

After 6 weeks, nothing has happened, until finally the call comes for a meeting. The judges discover it’s the same number as before and trace the voice to Arlo Baine Mostyn. At the meeting, Sonny (known as “Mitch”) is given a job to drive a vehicle to the Worldbowl match – and destroy it manually – a suicide job. Mitch takes the job, as the judges arrange surveillance on the other members of his cell.

Back at the meeting, the other members have learned of Zondra and have decided that she needs to die to…

GH: By far the most entertaining part of this is the judge's bizarre growing interest in the reality show they've concocted between their surveillance and the implants in Sonny. The line "she'll look good in that" combined with Dredd's exasperation shows Wagner's skill at interweaving black comedy into what may well otherwise turn into a very bleak storyline. As for the rest of it? It's good to see Wagner taking his time and the developing characters in both the democrats and judge's camps make this easily one of his best Dredd tales in years. As for MacNeil - he's still bloody good, what with the colour coding mentioned last issue being continued to the Democrat meetings and some wonderfully grim Dredd shots peppered throughout the issue. On its way to becoming a classic.

JA: One of the strengths of Judge Dredd is its ability to comment on today’s problems/issues by using MC-1 as a backdrop. I was really looking forward to “Terror” and have not been let down. For one you have Colin Macneil’s beautiful, lush and colourful artwork. Then you have John Wagner’s sharp script. I like the stories where Dredd goes into full fascist policeman mode. He’s the amoral bad-guy, the unmovable object of judicial repression. Somehow I always cheer for the Judges! This kind of story shows Dredd at his most extreme; part of a machine that will do everything to stay in power. I have no sympathy for the terrorists in this story, but what it does do is suck you into the relationship between Sonny & Zondra. Is he using her as a pawn or is does he really want out? I honestly don’t know and I don’t really care, wrapped up in the story as I am! And that is a fitting tribute to all concerned with this excellent tale.

Book 1 - Taking Liberties Part 10

Savage's vocabulary wasn't improving...

Synopsis: The Prime Minister announces that he is meeting the National Freedom Movement to discuss the removal of the peacekeeping forces and the abolition of the security police, and the Volgan troops are to withdraw immediately. He also promises the election of a new provisional government. Celebrations start, but Savage is still morose, as Chantry calls in his discovery.

Later, Savage meets with Noddy to find out what he’s found out about Operation Phoenix. He has discovered that the Volgans are securing the airports so that they can fly in reinforcements to crush the resistance – a reign of terror worse that anything before is to start. Savage realises that they just want the oil, and they’ll never leave. He notices movement and tell Noddy to run as Volgan troops move in on him. Savage puts up a fight, but is captured alive by Chantry with an electric smart net. “Hello Bill”…

GH: So Savage draws to the close of an opening series that has far exceeded most expectations. It's proving to be one of the most inventive retro tales in 2000AD, and shows that with a bit of ingenuity there's much to be gained from mining the vast number of 2000AD back issues for inspiration. Pat Mills has done wonders to his reputation with this series, almost making up for all those plodding Slaine series we've had to put up with. This has shown just why he's considered to be one of 2000AD's greatest assets. Once he strips away the obvious preaching and tells his tales straight, while still making just the occasional aside, he's a much more successful writer. This was possibly the series I was least looking forward to in the last Spring Assault, but it has emerged as one of the best. The length of the series was just right, and unlike his recent work on Slaine, the cliffhanger doesn't seem like it's come in the middle of a scene, but clearly draws the curtain for the first act.

It had had a couple of hic-cups along the way. Some confusing early episodes could have sunk the series, and there's the issue of the swearing. But despite my initial feelings of aghast shock at the use of the word "funk", it actually now works rather well in a blackly comic way. Whether this is intentional or not, I don't know, but it now adds another level of enjoyment for me.

This series has also been the making of Charlie Adlard in 2000AD for me. His work in Dredd for both the Satanist and more so Gulag had certainly been impressive. But the work he's put into Savage has been phenomenal, and he is easily as responsible as Mills for making this series a success. Under no circumstances should book 2 be produced until Adlard has a gap in his schedule, as he's made this character his own.

In all - I hope it's not too long before book 2...

JA: After an atrocious start, I can’t funking believe how good this has got near the end. Adlard’s minimalist and scratchy black & white artwork really has complemented the story line. Though it is a little encumbered by the usual Pat Mills’s weaponry techno babble and political undertone it is still an enjoyable romp. You sort of know that the Volgan’s weren’t going to just walk away and that as this is only Book 1 Savage would fall into the hands of the SSP at some point. You can visualise the first frames of Book 2. Savage in a cell being tortured etc etc…..

Though not the total disaster that I feared after the first episode I hope this series shifts up a gear in Book 2 and shakes off some of the clichés that has weighed it down so far.

The Comeback - Part 2

Tyranny does a matrix...

Synopsis: Tyranny is being fitted with an anti-matter cap in case she is caught and she initiates an infodump to learn more. A number of Von Neuman probes were sent out to establish waystations, build more probes and continue exploring the galaxy, achieving full coverage by 3184. Meanwhile, it is now possible to store consciousness as information – transmitting it into new bodies – allowing faster than light travel. Physical FTL is still impossible, but Operation Underlord launched a test FTL probe – but it crashed in the Alajja desert, Tzoltzin. Tyranny has to retrieve the probe without anyone learning about it. She is armed with Vovotny’s untraceable weapon, against “all world pacifist protocols”. After pressing Indrid, she discovers that the probe brought an infection with it which they wish to investigate.

Later, Tyranny parascends into the Alajja Desert and heads towards the outpost. She meets Clay, the owner, and she tells him that she’s to get transport there, and he leads her to the “taurochs”, but warns her that it will be a hard trek. But there are armed men inside waiting for her – Clay tries to warn her, as they have his son – but it’s too late and thy have the drop on her…

GH: As I've mentioned before in reviews, one of the benefits of doing this site is that I'm forced to read the issue carefully to provide the synopsis - and manage to get far more value out of each issue in doing so. When it comes to a tale like Tyranny Rex, it becomes even more useful. Before, I would have glossed over this and never come back to it - each week understanding less and less of the plot. But after careful studying, I think I've got this one now. Should Smith make this more accessible as he's done with his more recent work? Perhaps - but as it stands, this is one of those series where paying attention does bring rewards. Time will tell if the attention was well spent - but so far it seems Smith has a number of clever ideas up his sleeve, especially with the ideas behind FTL travel.

Yeowell provides solid back up, but this issue he isn't given much to play with, so he puts in a dependable, if not particularly outstanding job.

JA: Ah, green the lizard-tailed Tyranny. I’ve never quite known what to make of this particular character ever since she first appeared way back. None of her stories have exactly been classics. The “god skin” nunnery saga was ok, but not totally riveting. I just feel his some of his other creations have been better and deserved more exposure (Fervent & Lobe and Indigo Prime, but NOT Pussyfoot 5).

This TR story is the usual mix of baffling Smith-esque story line where you spend half the time wondering what is going on and being not surprised when the whole theme does a U-turn and heads in another direction! Steve Yeowell turns in his usual high standard work. He is one of those artists that suits both colour as well as black and white.

The jury is still out on this one. I’ll just go with the flow and see where Mr Smith takes us!

The Mainstream - Part 1

Anders' unpleasant end...

Synopsis: The aftermath of a space battle – captions tell us Marshall Anders is the only survivor – heading for planetfall – having defeated the robotic clench. Now badly injured, he ha much of his body replaces by machinery – effectively becoming Clench. He returns to the Clench – becoming one of them – but his consciousness is “taken to a higher plane”.

Back in the real world – the writer of this, Michael Anderson, is showing his latest Clench novel (the above) to his agent, who is horrified that he’s ending a successful franchise.

His agent tries to talk him around, and they go for a coffee as he explains that the Anders will be able to control the Clench from within. But as he looks up – he sees a clench ship attacking a building – and collapses.

GH: As with Tyranny Rex before it, I had to read this several times to work out what the hell was going on. It was only after about the third reading that I noticed the "next issue" blurb and finally realised that this wasn't a self-contained Future Shock. Then everything fell into place, and I realised the last page wasn't supposed to be the finale. After feeling a bit stupid, I warmed to the tale more, and am certainly in favour of the Future Shock framework being used for a multi-part storyline. There are some decent ideas here, and it'll be worthwhile following Clayton and Dows to see what they do with them. Clarke's artwork is good - but just doesn't seem a patch on the Dredd artwork he's producing for Metro at the moment.

JA: A nice quirky episode supplemented by Andy Clarke’s excellent art. I missed the “Part 1” tag and after finishing reading this thought, “what the hell was that all about?” Reading back and realising it was not finished I then thought; “Look forward to next week.”

I do prefer my Future Shocks in 1 part bite sized chunks that either makes me chuckle or go “wow, that was a cool twist at the end”. Not quite sure what category this one will fall into.

I did also wonder if any of the writers have gone into Tharg’s office with script entitled “The Death of Judge Dredd”…

Paranoia - Part 10

Even those glasses can't stop Farnsworth losing his cool...

Synopsis: Back at Links’s apartment, Nixon cradles his already decaying body. Farnsworth appears behind her and demands the evidence that Link had against him. She asks him what kind of person she is – and answers too: “a liar”. She gives him 3 possibilities, that Link had evidence which is on its way to the judges and only she can stop it, that she’s going to kill him and take all the money, or that the judges already know. Farnsworth demands to know the truth, as Nixon flashes back to what happened to her mother.

After her mother was attacked by her father, Aimee killed him before he could get near her, even though he wasn’t going to harm her, and she told the judges it was self defence. Back in the present, Nixon has learned to accept that she’s actually not a good person – and she needs to leave the low life as it is, because it’s her true home. She then kills Farnsworth, later lying to the judges that it was self defence. She passes their test, also revealing that Cracker seems to have disappeared. She still wants to go back to the Low Life – “it’s where I belong…”

GH: This has been a very promising first series for Low Life. Williams has done a similar job to Simon Spurrier with regards to creating a compelling recurring character for 2000AD. Namely that the first series has to feature the main character as a central point. Lobster Random's first series helped us get inside his head, and this series has left us with a much clearer idea both of what Nixon is capable of, as well as making us want to come back to see just how far she's willing to go. It's a lesson that should hopefully be learned by the returning Synnamon, whose first appearance told us next to nothing about the character, and thus made us care less.

Like Savage, the length of this series has helped it to gain the ground it needed. It's also helped that it was set in Dredd's world, allowing Williams to spend more time creating the characters and their motivations as opposed to having to explain everything about their surroundings. At heart, it's been quite a simple tale: Nixon gets framed, but turns the tables on her persecutor. But Williams has employed a light touch that is a massive improvement over both Family and Asylum, and this bodes very well for the return of Asylum later this year.

The other star of this series has of course been Henry Flint. He seems to have been force fed some sort of stimulant this year, with his (continuing) run on this to be followed by the ABC Warriors and the promise of another Dredd tale later in the year. His increased speed hasn't harmed his work however. A quicker turnaround time can occasionally have the effect of lessening an artists work, but Flint is looking better than ever, and every time we see him, a clearer style emerges, while retaining the best of his influences. Easily one of the top artists ever in 2000AD.

And there's even more of this next week! Hooray!

JA: So Low comes to an end. Driven by Henry Flint’s superb atmospheric art this has in my opinion not quite reached it full potential. In the end the story was a little “by the numbers” with the heroine coming through intact. It is a little bit of a shame as it had some great supporting characters that were killed off. I just hope that the editorial team do not waste this series. If developed correctly, the whole Low life area, Aimee Nixon and her attachment to the environment could be cranked up a notch and supplemented with other characters from the Judge Dredd strip. Imagining pairing Nixon with Rico or Giant with a really quality story and Henry Flint’s art!

The foundations have been laid; please don’t waste all of the work that has been put in.