Synopsis and review by Gavin Hanly
2nd Opinion by Richmond Clements

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

GH: A fairly enjoyable cover from Mark Harrison, making a significant departure from the style we're all used to from Durham Red. There are some great touches here, notably the Dante/Jenny moment, but the cover does seem a little self congratulatory.

This is a key "jump on" moment for new readers and I can't help think that it should be designed with that purpose in mind, as opposed to throwing a sly wink at the readers who already know who all these characters are. Certainly, the phrase "All new stories" should be bandied around here somewhere, and it should sell itself more as a special issue. So, in all, a nice cover, but one which seems to rather miss the point.

RC: There’s a lot going on in this cover. Every time I look at it, I see something I hadn’t spotted before.

One thing stands out however, and that’s the fact that it’s a bit of a mess. It’s not eye-catching as a cover to this sort of prog should be. And the fact that it’s a cartoony style of art doesn’t excuse some of the basic anatomy problems, like Slaine’s left arm and Dante’s right.

Christmas with the Blints

Oola and Homer's old look...

Synopsis: (Continued from their previous appearance) Oola and Homer Blint have escaped to Brit Cit where, after face changes, they have started up a euthanasia clinic - legal in Brit Cit. However, a new run of non-sanctioned euthanasia killings have started in Brit Cit and Dredd has been brought in to investigate. Dredd feels that most of them are copycats, but one killing raises his suspicions, and also those of Homer, who accuses his wife. She admits to some of the killings, as it wasn't the same when they "want it". Later, she decides that Homer isn't committed to the mission and that he'll be her next killing - having bought him a death suit for the occasion - planned for Christmas day. Homer loses his nerve and phones the judges, but hangs up before giving Olla up.

On Christmas day, after a busy day art the clinic, Oola prepares Homer, but it's too late - and he's called the judges again. They arrive after she's already injected Homer but manage to save him. The judges race after a hoverporter, believing her to be on board, but Dredd, seeing footprints in the snow, thinks otherwise. He follows the prints, finally catching Oola Blint. Homer and Oola are locked up in the same cell - but Oola no longer speaks to an ever more exasperated Homer...

GH: After the non-stop action of the past few weeks, a Christmas flavoured Dredd tale is very welcome this issue. Christmas tales used to be a staple of many comics at this time of year, but American publishers seem to have shyed away from them recently. However, 2000AD's weekly frequency means there's always room for some festive celebrations. The Blint saga had to wind up sooner or later, and if the Angel of Mercy was going to get her just reward, I guess Christmas was the time to do it.

By far, the best element of this tale is the interaction between Oola and Homer, as Homer begins to see that he has no choice but to shop his wife. The relationship here has always been the most enjoyable part of the Blint tales, with Oola's quiet and insane determination set against her husband's weak willed nature. This conclusion is fairly simple tale, but laced with a few memorable touches. Oola's ed to refrain from killing even when it's her job, as well as her distaste of the copycats highlights her insanity more than ever. Plus her treatment of Homer at the end, as if he is already dead, indicates that this might not be the last we see of the Blints.

Andrew Currie turns in an excellent job on the art duties. Ok, he might put in the odd celebrity here and there (Morgan Freeman and Steve Buscemi to name a couple), but he keeps the story moving well, never turning in a dull panel. He also clearly enjoyed drawing the well endowed Oola, who rarely wears too much throughout the entire strip. A good choice of artist for what is more of a character - led piece than an action- fest. Special mention goes to Chris Blythe for creating some wonderful effects on the snowy scenes too.

As for the end of the Blints? It's a little anticlimactic. The panel of the judges finding the empty hover porter breaks up the shots of Dredd following Oola's prints, making the confrontation a little confusing. But a low key end was just what the character deserves, and the closing shots make up for any disappointment, with Homer in for a long silent stay in the cubes.

RC: This story, while fun and funny, with some great characters, does seem to be designed to fill twelve pages, rather than tell a story over twelve pages. Given that criticism, this is a fun tale to read.

The art is nice, reminiscent in places of John Burns’ earlier Dredd work, and of course, the colours are bloody awesome.

Couple of niggles though. This story might as well not have been set in Brit Cit for all we saw of the city. There is no real flavour of being somewhere else, and this isn’t helped by the unimaginative uniforms that the Brit judges are wearing. Still, glad to see that Oola and Homer are still alive at the end, I wouldn’t say no to hearing from them again.

Talking of being alive, Morgan Freeman must be nearly 200 in this story!

Weird War Tales

Magister shows his power...

Synopsis: (Continued from the last series) Professor Brand visits Michael Magister, locked away on "Smallpox Island" off Scotland. He's a high level telepath/telekene and previous member of Department Q - kept uinder heavy guard. He tells Brand about Operation Doppelganger, of which there is no record since Magister destroyed all written records in 1952.

Department Q were after two Nazi telepaths in London. They subdued one of the telepaths and took her to Magister for questioning. She tried to fight back, but Magister tore her mind apart while finding the information they needed, stopped too late by one of the department, Farralay. They discover that Hitler was setting up homunculi labs, planning to assassinate world leaders and replace them with Nazi controlled doubles.

A U Boat of the doubles was due to take the place of the members of department Q, but they attack first, destroying the submarine. They discover the location of the main lab and send a bombing expedition to destroy it. Thule responded, but Nestor made their bombers pick the wrong target with a cabal of "spell mumblers" sacrificing Coventry instead, where 1400 people were killed. Brand, appalled by what he has heard, gets up to leave. Magister says he looks forward to meeting again, and hopes he brings his fiance next time...

GH: Rennie's been promising us tales of department Q for some time and this is just the sort of thing we were waiting for. Set as a self-contained tale, this seems ideal for Prog 2005. Following the relatively disappointing last outing for the Caballistics, this concentrates far more on the character-driven aspect and intrigue of the series which has always worked so well. We don't get enough Caballistics as it is, so it seems to make more sense to stick to pushing forward the overall plot, as opposed to getting distracted by monsters in film studios.

This lays some interesting ground for future episodes - not least the character of Magister, who clearly seems far too powerful to be cooped up in "Smallpox Island" for too long (a nice aside to Silence of the Lambs there). While I'm unsure of the remaining members of Department Q being enough to sustain a spin-off series, there's more than enough plot elements laid down here to catch up on in future episodes of Caballistics.

Reardon's art is on top form as usual, and he continues to improve with every issue. Let's hope he sticks around for a lot longer and doesn't get tempted away by Vertigo...

RC: This is the one that fans for this series have been waiting on. The ‘original’ team had been hinted at, and even a tantalising glimpse of them given at one point, so when Rennie revealed he was working on this tale, expectations went sky high. Could it possibly live up to the high hopes we had for it?

Bloody right it does. It doesn’t just meet the fans expectations, it easily surpasses them.

Dom Reardon’s art just gets better and better, as he conveys atmosphere effortlessly. And just have a look at the second page in the strip. This could have been just as easily a page full of talking heads, but in the hands of Reardon it becomes something quite brilliant.

This is not to say Rennie is off in the script department. Not only has he left the reader desperate for more tales of the old team, but also introduced an interesting new villain in the shape of Magister.

Tharg, please, tell Rennie he’s getting no more alcohol until he’s written another years worth of these.

Dunce Macabre

Sinister and Dexter have a joint bad hair day...

Synopsis: Sinister and Dexter are at Bar None, talking about their last target who ran away from them into a semi trailer - doing their job for them. They then continue to tell Vijay about previous stupid targets. One was a pavement artist who drew his own chalk outline before they killed him, one hid in a wardrobe - forgetting that it was the only thing in the room at the time.

Another was a high wire act who tried to escape using tram overhead lines - forgetting that they were live. Another locked himself in a bulletproof freezer, but forgot that he couldn't open if from the inside. One raced off in his car, forgetting that he was on the top of a multi-story carpark, and finally Jeffy Mulville filled out the fact totem incorrectly and called out a hit on himself.

GH: The high point of this episode of Sinister Dexter is Simon Davis' art, which seems to be getting better every time we see it. There's a wonderful vibrancy to the art this time around, which makes every page a joy to look at. That combined with Sinister and Dexter's retro haircuts makes the episode well worth checking out.

As for the story itself, it's a throwaway tale of stupid marks which is entertaining enough, despite effectively being a series of one liners. Not so much a story, as a few jokes bundled together. Not bad - but not a classic by any means.

RC: Is it just me, or do these two seem to be going through a bit of a renaissance at the moment?

This is a good strip. Solid fun and funny scripting, and some lovely work from Davis.

Worth it just for Dexter’s afro.

The Books of Invasions - Tara - Part 1

Gael gets an eyeful...

Synopsis: (Continued from the last series) Slaine, Gael and their army head for Tara, fighting Shoggy Beasts on the way. Gael tells Slaine how he first me Scota, at the home of the Pharaoh of Egypt. He was with Princess Fais, but that didn't stop Scota coming onto him. Later Fais tells Gael that if he really wants to go to Scota, she won't stand in his way. Gael jumps at the chance, but it was only a test, and Gael failed miserably. Fais couldn't take the rejection to this day. Now a Golamh, she dreams of getting back together with Gael, painting herself to look like Scota.

As Slaine's army arrives at Tara, the city is already under seige. Inside, Lady Leora prepares her priestesses to run into battle to help Slaine defeat the Formorians. On the battlefield, Fais tries to convince Gael to get back together with her, while Slaine starts killing the sea demons.

GH: There's no doubt that Clint Langley's art can look absolutely astounding. As many have mentioned, it can occasionally look like a CGI enhanced photo strip, but the artwork is so astoundingly detailed and well designed that this criticism is easily forgiven. He's also steered well away from the overuse of dark tones, which simply didn't print very well, and everything appears much clearer these days. There is some stunning imagery on display here, from the party in Egypt to the siege of Tara, and Langley always makes you spend extra time taking it all in. A truly unique artist that potentially deserves a better vehicle.

As for the tale itself? Slaine has never been one of my favourites, and over the past couple of years has varied wildly in terms of quality. This episode is no different. There are some enjoyable scenes in the the flashback, but once Slaine comes on the scene, the strip takes itself far too seriously. He's just become a very dull character - little more than a brute who gets into fights occasionally. At least Gael seems to have something of a personality, and Fais makes for a good foil for him (with the Formorians' slightly sarcastic massaging of their Golamhs' egos being a brilliant touch).

But in the middle of it all, Slaine just plods along from one interminable speech to another. And those priestesses look like another borefest/adolescent wet dream waiting to happen. The art makes it worth putting up with, but let's hope these books of invasion start to actually get somewhere soon. I'm sure there's an overall plot arc here somewhere, but I'll be damned if I can find it...

RC: Just when you think he can’t get any better, he pulls it up yet again, to another level only dreamed about by his peers. I am, of course, talking about Clint Langley. I find the accusation that he uses photographs rather puzzling. There seems, to me at least, to be an underlying insinuation in this that he can’t draw because he uses a computer. This is, as you know, complete balls. Langley is creating art for grudsake. He is pushing the envelope more than any other artist I know.

It’s a pity then that he’s let down here by some risible dialogue. ‘So when will you show me how to twang my bow’... I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one cringing at this clunker.

Having said that, I’m hopeful for what’s to come, it looks like we’re going to be treated to a big fight next prog, and it’s about time too.

The Davinchy Code

Stogie gets propositioned..

Synopsis: Samantha, Stogie and Hoagy are looking for somewhere to set up shop as robo hunters. They find a place listed as "dirt cheap" as it's previous owner was disintegrated by a hand grenade and it's infested with Robo roaches. Soon after they settle in, two robo heavies burst in and tell her that the previous tenant, a Mr Davinchy stole a million creds and has it hidden in the apartment - leaving only one clue "It's here... but it is not there". They give her 24 hours to find the money.

Later, Hoagy finds them a client, by landing on her when falling out the window. She'd lost her robodog, when she went to see Mr Davinchy about her lost robocat.

Later, Samantha visits the local club to find out more about Davinchy, but just ends up getting into a fight over the holopgraphic dancers. The next day, the heavies return, but Samantha is prepared and has installed an electromagnet in the wall. She gets ready to shoot the heavies for their rewards, but Stogie, also affixed to the wall deactivates the magnet so he can watch - releasing the heavies too.

They are about to shoot Samantha when suddenly she works out where the loot is - hidden behind a holographic projection of a fake ceiling. The heavies take the box of cash, but also inside the box is the missing robodog who takes one of them through the window while Samantha shoots the other. Samantha gets a reward for getting the money back, taken in a bank heist, and the reward for the Krays - a nice start to her business.

GH: The last series of Robo Hunter was a major disappointment, enlivened by some wonderful art from Ian Gibson. However, this one-off seems to show something of a turnaround. As Samantha has finally accepted her calling, we can thankfully get down to developing her character and situation more. The absence of the old Sam Slade helps too, as two similarly grouchy Robo Hunters in one strip was proving to be rather dull. So this one off tale sees a distinct raise in quality, with the overall crux of the tale holding together well, supported by some of the insaner elements of humour that ave been a staple of Robo hunter stories in the past. Elements like the window that keeps getting broken, Stogie's astonishing stupidity and the robo ads all raised a smile. So on the basis of this showing, there may well be hope for Robo Hunter yet.

However, the improvement in the script area has seen a notable reduction in the quality of the artwork. Gibson still turns in an acceptable job, but it's well below what he achieved for the previous two series. While his new Samantha Slade design works much better than before, being much less a rehash of Sam Slade, there's a distinct sign of the artwork for this tale being a little rushed. A shame, but not a dead loss, since Gibson on a bad day is better than many other artists on a good one.

RC: I was not expecting to like this strip. I had been assured that it wasn’t going to be any good.

Maybe despite this, or maybe because of my low expectations, I had a great time reading this. It’s light, it’s frothy and it’s fun. It’s not going to change the world, it doesn’t have anything to say about the human condition, by Hoagy says ‘Yup’, and Carlos continues to think he’s a lot smarter and more able than he really is.

Nice to see Gibson filling up the panels again too. More of this standard would be gratefully received.

Chosen Son

Hastur finds another victim...

Synopsis: One year out from Liverpool, Ashbless is making the captain dress up as Santa Claus to entertain the people. He orders everyone to decorate the ship.

Elsewhere, a young boy works down in the engine room, constantly tormented by the other engineers and his boss. Later on, he hears a voice come from the depths of the ship and is drawn to the furnace. There, he meets Hastur who tells him that he will help him have revenge against those who would do him wrong. He turns him into one of his monsters and lets him loose on the engineers.

Later, up on first class, Ashbless finds his Christmas tree decorated with severed heads - a gift from Hastur via the boy, who has now been converted to one of his own....

GH: The return of Leviathan is a very welcome surprise, and it gives us everything we could have wanted. The chance to show some more background to the journey of the Leviathan is much appreciated, and gets around the issue of the main series having a very finite end. There's plenty of scope for more Leviathan stories based on this outing - potentially forcing on more of the characters that were introduced in the main tale. Hopefully this will be more than just a one off, as this has everything we liked about the original series: astoundingly good artwork, great characterisation and even though we know how everything will turn out, Edginton still manages to rack up the suspense all through the 5 pages.

Please let's have some more of these in 2005!

RC: I’d forgotten how much I liked Leviathan.

This tale is certainly bittersweet. Reminding us as it does, of how good the story was, and at the same time showing how much of a wasted opportunity it was when it ended so soon. These would make a nice occasional series, in the style of the Tales of Telguth. Only better.

Man, that D’Israeli: he’s a god.

PArt 1

Minger gets ready...

Synopsis: In Second City, Eurostate Six, Minger and Johnno have been selling Squid Ink in an effort to get money together for the Grand Slam. But they are stopped by The Lords, who accuse them of dealing on their turf. Minger tells them he's connected and that his dad is Barry Macready before beating them with his board and hightailing it to Danny's restaurant. Danny, someone with the face of a horse, works at the King Chicken and helps fight the Lords. They are soon joined by Shaila Kapoor and Donna who also join the fight.

Once things calm down Danny is fired, and they all head to a Slamboarding Pit to qualify for the regional Grandslam. Minger takes some drugs before starting. They practice using a dead ball, and manage to get through - but now have to find five thousand to play in the tournament.

GH: Future sport tales have been an infrequent staple of 2000AD since its very early days. From Harlem Heroes to the Mean Arena, there seems to be a bizarre belief that all series based around future sports are bound for success. However, in most cases, they've turned out to be rather dismal failures. So why carry on with the premise that Future Sport series work well? The blind hope that "maybe, this time it'll be different?" Well, on the evidence of what we see here it looks like history is going to repeat itself again.

Really, this is a very unimpressive debut for Second City Blues. Leaving aside the general pointlessness of trying to depict a sport in the pages of a comic - especially one where we have absolutely no idea what they're supposed to be doing - the rest of the strip just doesn't work at all. From dire moments like "watch in amazement as its inertialess drive allows him to defy gravity" (did I really read that?) to the final problem of how they are supposed to find "five thou in less than a week". Well, why the hell didn't they think of that more seriously before the trial?

Even Warren Pleece's art seems far less inspired than usual, and he can't rescue this strip. Maybe things will improve in upcoming week's but there's some ground to cover...

RC: Gavin, can I leave this one out? Please..? Alright then, I’ll give it a go.

What I’m going to say is that it’s not really fair to judge a strip in it’s entirety based on the first episode. Which is a good thing, because as first episodes go, this is not the strongest thing I’ve ever seen. Some poor exposition and the unforgivable ‘leg it’ make for hard reading.
There could be some possible reasons for this though, let’s be fair. What we may be reading is a clever pastiche of the sport tales we used to read in our youth in comics like Warlord, Victor and the like. It may be aimed deliberately at the younger end of the market, as an attempt to pull in the skater type 10-14 year olds. If it’s the former of these two scenarios, then it’s failed somewhat, if it’s the latter, then I suggest we shut up and let it run, and hopefully it’ll bring in some new readers.

Nice art though. I think it’d look even better in black and white.

So, I’m not that excited about what I’ve read here, but I’m not going to write it off on the strength of one episode.

Agent of Destruction - Part 1

Dante does a little foreshadowing...

Synopsis: (Continued from the last appearance) It is 2672 and Nikolai Dante is on one of his mother's ships, getting ready to board another. Dante starts barking orders to the consternation of the real Captain, Marko, but the men eagerly follow Dante's lead. They easily take the ship, but Marko looks like he plans to rape one of the women. Dante beats him back, as the captain orders his men to attack Dante. But they've chosen Dante's side and he's forced to kill the Captain. They take the possessions and Dante signs the ship, burning the Romanov crest into it.

Back at shore at Escondida, the pirate haven, Dante has a procession of women meeting him in his quarters. One of them leads a disgruntled ex to Dante's quarters, but Dante easily defends himself. Marguerite arrives to take him to his mother, who has a mission for him.

One of her spies has identified an imperial plot in Pacifica, and his mother needs him to get the spy out. She thinks Dante is out to take over as leader of the pirates, but Dante says he was only protecting his mother's name and ship. He accuses her of "shirking your responsibilities" and she hits out at him. They leave on bad terms.

GH: The return of Dante to the prog is always call for celebration and this is no exception. Once we get to the first double-page spread, it's clear that we're in for another treat. Burns was somewhat uninspired on his latest Dredd outing in the Megazine, but this shows him back on top form again, realising in the battle scenes, as well as the more mundane situations while the men clean the ship.

It's very clear why Dante is one of the best loved creations in 2000AD of recent years, as Morrison is able to slowly push the overall thread of the series forward while sending Dante out on a number of parallel missions for his mother. There are many of threads laid down by the past series - like wondering what happened to the two children and what Dante's motivations really are here. But finding out should be a treat, and it all makes me want to catch up with the trade collections that are coming out. A strong return for one of 2000AD's best characters.

RC: Remember when you were young? You had this really cool uncle that you hardly ever saw, but when he did come round your house, you always looked forward to his arrival, and had a bloody great time while he was there because he had a million great stories, and your mum never quite approved of you spending time with him because he was a bad influence, and he never stayed long enough, so you where always sad when, all too soon, he went away again for ages?

That’s Dante.