2000AD 1400 - 28 July 2004
Cover by Clint Langley

Synopsis and 1st review by Gavin Hanly
2nd opinion by Eric Moore

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

GH: Once again Mr Langley gets a wraparound cover. He's produced some fine covers in the past but, to be honest, I find this cover lacking something. Producing a "let's get all the characters in" cover is never easy, so perhaps this feeling is inevitable.

It's by no means bad, just not the "grab me from the shelves" cover I'd like to see from a big relaunch issue. I'd certainly like to have seen much more on the new stories (and perhaps creator credits too) to really push the new line up. All that and the cover line is a bit old hat. So it's an OK cover, but just not quite enough.

EM: It's been a while since a cover got the amount of flak that this one’s getting. I've got to say – what’s the problem? Gatefold covers are always nice, seeing an artist take on characters he’s not known for is always fun and seeing how Clint Langley would go about rendering non-humans in his photo-realistic style is an intriguing idea.

And it works. Tharg looks suitably alien, Dredd and Alpha – you wouldn’t mess with them, eh? - and the ABC Warriors look fantastic. I like the way their bodies are so pumped up their heads are too small. Something I’ve never spotted before is how Steelhorn looks so insect-like with those mandibles of his.

On the Caballistics front, it looks like Clint’s re-used his previous C.I. cover for two of the head shots, while that Demon Jenny is vaguely familiar. Got the feeling it’s a still from a film – but I could be wrong.

Big Deal at Drekk City - Part 1

Dredd's culinary skills were lacking...

Synopsis: Dredd leads another hotdog run out into the Cursed Earth, training a group of cadets.

Talking to the other tutor, Vance, he feels that this group will do well with no failures. They are interrupted by a cadet who sees a group of riders coming by. Taking up a hidden position , they watch the riders, a group of "wheelers" who are wanted criminals. They decide to go after them, sending out a remote camera to follow.

An hour later, they reach their goal: Drekk City, a former space junk dumping ground and now home to a casino. The Wheelers, Cuss Clanton's Wild Bunch , Popey le Peu and his Ugly Riders and the Shamazons are all in town for something.

Dredd thinks it's to rob the annual World Poker Challenge - The Big Deal.

GH: There's been something of a return in prominence for the Cursed Earth in recent Dredd storylines, With Koburn, the recent Damned Ranger, Cincinnati to name the ones this year alone. But the Cursed Earth is a big varied place, and does allow for a break from the downbeat nature of Terror. This series is clearly geared towards the more farcical nature of Dredd's World, with at least 4 unique gangs already set up, as well as the particularly cocky group of cadets.

Indeed, it's the interaction with the cadets which is the most successful part of this week's tale, outstanding moments being Dredd's sarcastic response to Wing: "I'm glad you agree, Wing. I know I'm on the right track now" to Vance's test of the Cadet's resolve to take the Wheelers down. It's also amusing to see Dredd declaring that he doesn't expect any failures - something we wouldn't have expected from him about 10 years ago. He really is getting old, isn't he..?

Of course, immense kudos must go to Cam Kennedy, easily one of my favourite artists on Dredd and much more besides. He brings such a unique look to the piece, and one that is particularly suited to the grime of the cursed Earth, that already it's hard to imagine any artist taking this series on. There are little touches like the design of the remote camera and the Wheeler's vehicles that simply scream how astonishingly good Kennedy is. In addition, his collaboration with Blythe is as seamless as ever, with Blythe continuing to match the look of Kennedy's hand painted work from earlier in his career.

A great start to what looks like being a fun storyline.

EM: Hmmm, I'm finding it kind of hard to see why this is being praised so much. To me, it seems a pretty pedestrian affair with not quite the amount of Thrill Power I’d expect from the first issue of the Summer Assault. Cam Kennedy again shows what he’s been demonstrating since at least the eighties – a real knack for hardware, no matter what the form. Never been a fan of his version of the Judge’s helmets though, what with the dead horizontal top to the visor. Draws a mean Dredd chin though.

The Shadow Warriors Book 2 - Part 1

The Warriors in action

Synopsis: (Continues from Book 1) The ABC Warriors are riding into New Sidonia where they see a Sky Dancer, a floating human beatbox, in the distance. They are there to stop the Confederacy re-taking the city and to fight the Shadow Warriors.

They find a lone hovering G Man being attacked by Cyboons, former intelligent apes that have long since descended into anarchy. They take out the Cyboons and bring the G Man down, but he's in bad shape. Hammerstein says they are to bring him to a hospital, despite the objections of others, as we are reminded of the 4 Shadow Warriors they are aware of, Dog Tag, Bootleg, The Rev and more.

They come across a Talk Cone, which indicates they are in a "no talk zone". Mek Quake notes that it has a bomb strapped to its back, so they switch to Mind Com to avoid setting it off. HOwever, it detects a new target, the Sky Dancer and his friends, who berate the Talk Cone, unaware of the bomb. Mek Quake kicks the cone away as B Boy, the Skydancer, starts to vomit Biol as his implanted speaker starts to malfunction. Hammerstein says they'll take him to the hospital too, unaware that a new doctor has started there, and he doesn't have the patients' welfare in mind...

GH: Whereas Langley gets all the double covers, Mills seems to get all the double sized stories. Have they got some sort of blackmail related hold over the Nerve Centre? Regardless, this is an entertaining start to the latest series of the Warriors, with Mills retaining the best elements from the first part. He still shows himself to be a dab hand at coming up with some clever and bizarre new technology - the talk cone and the human beatbox being obvious examples.

And the bickering relationship between all the Warriors is still highly entertaining, as there seems barely enough time for fighting the enemy in-between the squabbles. Like Savage, it takes itself less than seriously, and as a result this is a tale where Mills is on form. Indeed,there's one particularly good thing about reviewing a Mills written story from a reviewer's perspective, and that's coming to each issue never knowing if you're going to like it or not. He keeps us on our toes.

Of course, it's impossible to deny that the artwork is the main attraction here, with Flint managing to step up a notch from his work on Low Life. Flint shows the flights of fancy that artists like McMahon and O'Neill have exhibited before him, managing to create a huge amount of humour from the lumbering robots, something that Ezquerra didn't quite manage to do last time around. He's clearly the perfect ABC Warriors artist in so many respects that it's getting impossible to fault him. So I shan't.

EM: Sigh… Henry Flint on art duties – what more to say? With this standard of Thrill Power bouncing off the page, I can forgive the pages of exposition. There are some nice ideas in here, what with the no talk zones and the belly speakers and all. Last page is a bit of a puzzler. Judging by his shadow, the Doctor isn’t the usual looking type but the nurse doesn’t seem bothered?

As I said, the Flint Droid's perfect for this tale – can anyone draw a more evil looking Blackblood? – and every page had me thinking “want to buy it, want to buy it”. And I don’t do that very often.

The Headly Foot Job - Part 1

Dogs in the mist...

Synopsis: In the courthouse of Feefo, the autonomous state on Fum, Headly "Bootsy" Foot is sentenced to six years for assault, abusive behaviour and affray.

However, after Bootsy brags that he'll escape within a week, they up the sentence to death, to be carried out the next day.

Alpha and Sternhammer are watching, and think that the sentence is way too harsh, resolving to break him out. As Feefo has no extradition treaties with its neighbouring states, all they have to to is get across the border.

They attract some of the guards to a smoking fire, while taking care of the watchtower. They break in easily to the crumbling prison, taking a reluctant prisoner as a guide, overcoming is wishes to serve his sentence with the help of the barrel of a gun...

GH: Clearly in the mould of last year's excellent Tax Dodge this is a promising start to the continuing, and thankfully not dead yet, Johnny and Wulf. Unlike the Rogue Trooper revamp, these retro Strontium Dog tales play particularly well due to the creation of some bizarre alien cultures, and the Dogs' interaction with them. It's not about furthering the characters of Johnny and Wulf, but using them in a similar wy that Wagner uses Dredd - as a catalyst for a series of bizarre situations. The law abiding, and rather strict people of Feefo are a good start, despite their ridiculous name, and the art from Ezquerra again shows why no one else should ever again be let near Johnny Alpha. .

Part of me would prefer to see the next series take a more serious tone, but this will certainly do in the meantime. Entertaining, if not groundbreaking

EM: Again, I really don’t see what the fuss is about. Sure, its great to have Wagner/Ezquerra back with Johnny and Wulf but not a lot happens this issue does it? Three pages just to get into the prison feels like filler to me. Still, Carlos is on top form here, bringing back fond memories of getting Starlord each week.

Picking up the Pieces

Jenny's new look...

Synopsis: Continued from Krystallnacht. The tale opens in Prague. 1672, with a body encased in a bizarre looking chamber.

Back in the present, Brand is asking himself "exactly how long have I been sleeping with a creature from hell". He discovers that Chapter knew about Jenny, as they discuss how they can exorcise the demon. But the demon Jenny arrives, and reminds them that Jenny was killed by the gunfire, and the demon is the only thing that's keeping the body alive and isn't going anywhere. Demon Jenny proposes a truce, promising not to kill them "anytime soon" and that they should be paying attention to what Ravne's "groupies" are doing with his body in the basement. The door rings, and Mikey Ness has arrived (last seen in issue 1365), told by Kostabi that he is being offered a job.

Meanwhile, in the basement, Ravne lies in a chamber that resembles the one from Prague...

GH: Perhaps the most shocking revelation in this week's episode is that the real Jenny is actually dead, following the attack on the mansion, something I wasn't expecting, and makes the whole situation far more interesting. Otherwise a slow start to the long overdue return of Caballistics Inc. Clearly one of the bigger success stories of the past two years of 2000AD, this proves that absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Both Rennie and Reardon are on top form, although it will take another couple of issues to really see where this is going. After 7 months' wait - thank god it's back.

EM: About blumming time! HOW much of a cliffhanger were we left on last time? A great opening start to the new run what with some decent, believable characterisation, a great twist with Demon Jenny and Nessie just about to join the fold. Dom again shows what a great storyteller he is with the nine panel layout on page two and the great introduction to the new-look Demon Jenny.

Can’t wait for next week.