Synopsis by David Knight
Reviews by Richmond Clements and Leigh Shepherd

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

RC: A fantastic mean and moody image from Simon Davis. Mean and moody and brilliant as the image is though, does it really fit with the style of the strip? I dunno, but on the other hand: just look at that cover! The eyes are hypnotic...

LS: It's always nice to see a cover that seems to have had a bit of thought put into it, with the logo incorporated into the art rather than obscured by it. Simon Davis does a suitably grumpy looking Lobster, and the only real downside is its all a bit washed out - a brighter logo might have helped address the balance.

Total War - Part 12

Nimrod checks out...

Synopsis: Suffering a fit, Nimrod staggers to the edge of a precipitous drop, carrying Judge Dredd’s niece Vienna. A Justice Department H-wagon opens fire on Nimrod, and a medical crew lands to rescue Vienna. Judge Dredd makes his way to the scene on his Lawmaster, ignoring injured citizens’ cries for help. Vienna is taken away to be treated for her injuries and radiation poisoning, while Dredd ends Nimrod’s suffering with a bullet.

Chief Judge Hershey announces to the citizens that the terrorist threat has been ended and judges are returning to their normal duties. Back at the Grand Hall of Justice, Dredd hands in his badge for dereliction of duty while concerned for his niece. Hershey excuses Dredd’s lapse and returns his badge to him. His actions were understandable, and Justice Department cannot afford to lose him in any case.

RC: So that’s Total War finished; was it all worth it? I think so. Certainly, the last time I reviewed here, I compared it to the Apocalypse War.

But, I have some reservations. This ending was, to me, a bit of a damp squib in places. Vienna’s death would have made an incredible emotional ending. That’s not to say there’s not a lot left to resolve here. Vienna is, I’m sure, going to be none to happy with uncle Joe when she gets out of hospital, and Dredd is going to have to come face to face with his feelings for his niece at some point.

What troubles me is the feeling that this is it, there’s going to be no political fallout (pun intended) for the city, with the only knock on effects being seen in the extended family Dredd.

Having said all that, we are dealing with the mighty John Wagner here, and he’s got the ability to surprise us again and again. So, a great story, but time will tell if it has the impact of the Apocalypse War or not.

LS: This time it's personal, or at least, this episode it is, with the focus firmly on Vienna, Nimrod and Dredd. Poor Vienna is definitely not going to want to leave the house after this one!

While this isn't the world changing epic that some expected (and I'm not sure was ever billed as), it has served two purposes (besides being a damned fine tale). Firstly, the stakes are raised between Total War and the Judges, with a rematch inevitable. Secondly, we've seen Dredd asking himself some hard questions. Of course, we've been in this territory before. When Dredd last resigned, it was because he could no longer believe in the system. This time, the damage is that much deeper, as Dredd is questioing his own beliefs at a much more personal level. How many times has Dredd reprimanded (or worse) a Judge for getting too close and allowing feelings to get in the way of Duty? Now he's found himself a "family", he's discovering that there are ties that are hard to ignore, even after all these years of being a Judge rather than a human being. Great stuff, and hopefully, a theme that Wagner will be able to return to without mellowing Dredd too far.

I'd say well done to all involved and a special thanks to Henry Flint at the end of an epic unbroken run of consistently high standard artwork.

Part 8

Kilquo meets the royals...

Synopsis: As the trans-dimensional bus departs for Kakkak, the body supposed to be Kilquo turns out to have been one of the clone assassins. Kilquo is aboard the bus as it leaves. In a hospital on Kakkak, Senator Qarkkill informs Kilquo that he has been obstructing General Stunal’s plans to invade Earth. Kilquo faces down Stunal, telling him she knows he killed her father and Stunal doesn’t want her for an enemy if he knows what’s good for him. Qarkkill begins building diplomatic relations with Earth, and introduces Kilquo to a clone created from a sample of Carl Woolf’s hair, which she turns down.

The real Carl Woolf is released from the Tower of London without publicity The Chief’s shadowy superiors decide to suspend their invasion plans until their clone assassins’ unreliability can be corrected. Carl drowns his sorrows, missing Kilquo.

RC: This series started well, and lost its way a bit in the middle. But, it has almost pulled it all together again here at the end.

I didn’t like the cheat cliff-hanger resolution, it reminds me of the rant by Annie Wilkes in Misery about King of the Rocketmen, and how this kind of thing is just wrong. Apart from the fact we seem to have been left all the threads needed for another series, the endings we did get were nice, with the juxtaposition between Carl’s fate and Kilquo’s being particularly well done.

Do we want another series? Not sure about that one, but if there is, hopefully it’ll not be another 10 or 15 years before we see it.

As for the art, I love the work of John Higgins, and this cartoony style he’s pushing here is very nice. I might be unsure about seeing another series of Faces, but more Higgins art in the prog would certainly be welcomed.

LS: The final episode arrives and I'm left wandering just what exactly has been filling these six pages for the last eight weeks. It all seems like a blur, and though I know I've read this story, very little of it remains in the memory. In this situation, I'd normally revisit the progs, but I really can't pick up the motivation to do that. That being the case, I'm not really feeling in a position to make any kind of valid judgement about the strip, other than that which my lack of interest infers. The only other comment that springs to mind is the characterisation of Carl, which seems to contradict the whole point of Freaks. At the end of the original series, Carl has learnt that looks aren't everything (though this is again going on memory, so forgive me if I've missed the point, either of Freaks or Faces).

Tooth & Claw - part 9

Redd just before seeing himself...

Synopsis: On the Planet Nixx, Lobster Random is pursued by the immortal crustacean form of Professor Cadmium Redd as he attempts to escape by spaceship. As a distraction, Random throws the robot body of Redd’s wife out of the airlock with a jetpack targeted on a hungermissile silo. Redd breaks off his attack to rescue his wife, and changes into his human form to embrace her. Meanwhile, his wife’s brain is in a jar, safely on board the ship. The robot’s chest storage contains a flying monkey drone holding a bomb, which Random detonates.

Cadmium Redd draws all his blasted fragments together and flies after the fleeing ship, with a newly launched hungermissile following him. Lobster Random is certain the missile has destroyed Redd, but instead he is clinging to the missile, which has locked onto the ship’s flight path. Random steers his ship toward the wormhole and transmits the deactivation code for the missile. Redd is sucked into the wormhole and is destroyed by the omnidevil Warathaal.

Lobster Random has a mechanical claw manufactured to replace the one sacrificed to the demon, and heads off into the sunset with Mrs. Redd to spend her fortune.

RC: Unlike Faces, I have no doubt about whether I want to see this series back again. Lobster is one of the best new characters we’ve been treated to in a long time.

However, like Faces, this tale lost its way a bit in the middle and in places seemed to be a load of ideas stuck together, rather than an actual plot, but was never less than entertaining because of this. The Spurrier droid is certainly coming on in leaps and bounds.

There are a load of places in this weeks episode that I could point to as being great: Redd’s monologue at the beginning, Lobster’s line as he threw the monkey in the suit from the ship, Critchlow’s subtle colouring and the expressions he manages to give his characters, and both the endings.

More please.

LS: Now that all the exposition is out of the way, the strip comes to a fairly enjoyable conclusion, though it has to be said I found this run a bit of a disappointment after the promise of the first Random tale.

I'd put this down to two things. Firstly, there was a hell of a lot of exposition - seemingly near as damnit whole episodes of it at one stage. I wouldn't be surprised if there was more flashback than "present" action over the whole run, and while it was sometimes done in a clever way, the overload eventually made it all seem a bit contrived. Secondly, this was another story about Lobster and his origins, rather than his world and his escapades. It was a few years after Strontium Dog first appeared that we saw "Portrait of a Mutant", and it was all the more potent for it. I'm not sure if the revelation that Lobster is part of some pan-dimensional beings evil plans wouldn't have had more resonance if we'd just had a few more tales to get to know Random as a character rather than the minute details of his biography. It's almost like the way Pat Mills feels compelled to show how much research has gone into his strips by putting it all in there; here it's as if all the work that's gone into Lobsters backstory is damned well going to be made clear to the reader! That said, at least the lobster demon angle explains the rather previously unexplainable claws, and perhaps I'm being more critical because I really think the strip has great potential. I'd just prefer to see more about the world Random lives in than Random himself at this early stage.

Carl Critchlow's art does the business though, and his computer colouring far out performs his painted work for the comic, improving with each episode.

Meanwhile... - Part 4

Erebus has his day...

Synopsis: Seeing that Professor Toten intends to kill Meryl, Jimmy crashes into the plantation house through the window and pretends to have a gun that he will fire at Erebus unless Toten releases the women.

Toten sees through the ruse and cuts off Jimmy’s wooden finger. Jimmy hits Toten in the face, breaking his mask, and hauls Erebus out of his bowl by the ears and puts him on the mechanical dog’s body.

With the clockwork mechanism wound, clamps lock Erebus’s heads into place, and he destroys Toten’s straw men.

Toten realises he is outnumbered, and vows vengeance as he abandons his solid form. His empty clothes fall to the floor.

RC: Take all the best bits from the above reviews and cut and paste them here. There ate no bad bits here. This script has been perfect from beginning to end.
The dog should have its own series too.

Edginton and Yeowell must be on cloud nine, not believing that they could be getting paid for having this much fun.

LS: A nice enough short series, and it's good to see Tharg letting strips run to their natural lifespan rather than dragging out every idea into a 10 parter. What with this, Synnamon and the shorter Stront tale earlier in the year, it almost feels like old times - all we need back are the mega epics to address the balance at the other end of the scale. Toten is an interesting villain, and while his scarecrows were a bit weedy, let's hope he returns with a better plan and stronger straw men next time!

The thing that's particularly impressed me over this run of Red Seas is Steve Yeowell's art, which appears to have had a bit more attention to detail than some of his previous work. It's certainly paid dividends, and suits the earthy piratical storylines rather better than the sometimes overly smooth lines he's renowned for.