2000AD Prog 1423 - 26 January 2005
	Judge Dredd (Rennie / Williams) Second City Blues (Kek W/ Pleece) Slaine (Mills / Langley) Caballistics Inc. (Rennie / Reardon) Nikolai Dante ( Morrison / Burns) Synopsis and review by Gavin Hanly 2nd Opinion by Paul White Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

GH: An decent enough attempt by Jason Brashill, but not scaling the heights he managed with the Total War epilogue. Of course, it's hard to escape that part of me links this cover with my utter disappointment with the series it depicts. Much as I try to see the merits of the cover, I'm distracted by the fact that it reminds me that this series is still running...

Plus, I really think 2000AD should start moving away from these stock covers and come up with more unique ones that relate to the story inside. Reworking the "flashing" incident inside the comic would have been a potential cover image for sure, whereas this "flying towards the camera" shot does seem rather lazy.

PW: Despite seeing the image before as a 'teaser' for the then-upcoming Second City Blues, I was pleasantly surprised with how well it looked adorning the cover - striking even. I'm pleased it got an 'official' runout and is - for me - better than most of the 'stock' Dredd covers.

Visiting Hour

Dredd is king of the bar fight...

Synopsis: Dredd is called away to look into a bar brawl - despite trying to take some personal time. Elsewhere, Judge Rico is at the hospital, about to visit Vienna, where he attracts the attention of one of the orderlies.

Vienna's friends Renee and Colin are visiting when Rico arrives. They make their excuses and leave - as Vienna berates Rico for hiding his emotions and figures out that Dredd couldn't make it because he was too busy. She tells him that Dolman keeps in touch and even has a girlfriend. She also asks Rico if he's ever worried that Dredd will eventually go after him too, since he's killed most of the other clones. She says she wants nothing to do with either of them, before Rico tells her that Dredd volunteered his resignation for her after the bombs. He leaves, with Vienna in turmoil.

Outside, Dredd is arriving, but Rico warns him not to go inside - and that Vienna wants them out of her life. He resumes patrol.

Elsewhere, the orderly has hacked into Vienna's files and discovered that her DNA records are Justice Department classified. He makes a call, unsure what he has "but it's bound to be worth something to somebody..."

GH: Finally, this is the last piece of the puzzle I was looking for from Rennie's Dredd tales. While his previous efforts have shown his strength at accurately portraying Dredd's character, they always seemed slightly divorced from the main "reality" of Wagner's tales. This one is far more entwined with the aftermath of the Total War bombs and actually has Rennie picking up a fairly major strand from that tale - namely the bloodline aspect and Dredd's relationship with his niece. It's good to see issues from Total War directly addressed by Rennie, from Rico telling Vienna about Dredd's concern for her and discovering that she knew well what Dredd did to Nimrod (something that wasn't clear from Total War).

This is as good an epilogue to Total War as Wagner's previous "After the Bombs" and if there is more intertwining between Wagner's and Rennie's efforts over the year, then it can only be a good thing. All this and some excellent foreshadowing make for an excellent tale.

And Rennie is ably backed up by Anthony Williams, whose art here is a major improvement on his recent VC's work. Distancing himself from the computer generated imagery that was threatening to overpower his linework, this is a much cleaner approach - and eminently suitable for a more low key episode like this one.

PW: I'm extremely pleased to see that the fall-out from Total War can still be felt 3 progs on (and hopefully counting). It's been said before that it's a fault of Dredd epics that everything goes back to 'normal' once it's over, so i'm glad there's more to come.

Also, the fact that Rennie is on script chores pleases me. Not necessarily because I like him as a writer (which I do), but that someone else is "trusted" with the task of interweaving plot strands...

Anyway, I liked the fact that we get to see more of Rico and that Vienna has to give him pointers on social etiquette ("you're as bad as Uncle Joe!"). I'm not sure why he
felt he had to tell her that Dredd had tried to hand his badge in, but that and the name-dropping of Dolman tell me that this isn't over yet. The artwork is good without being outstanding, and there's one obligatory niggle over the misplacing of a speech balloon on the last page. good stuff overall.

Part 5

A new definition of handball

Synopsis: Donna realises that she has to distract the Centaurians so pulls up her shirt and distracts them with her breasts - managing to score. The Centaurians rapport is controlled by hormones. Danny has now harmonised with them and they stand a chance - but they still manage to lose 2-1.

The press are no longer interested in them and as the gang recovers from their defeat, the House of Lords arrive and start a fight. The fight is immediately stopped when two gun toting Oasis look-a-likes shoot the leader's hat - making them scarper. After them comes a Squid called Mourn Slater. He offers the team the chance of a trial for the national leagues...

GH: Oh dear. Much as the flashing incident would have made a better cover than the one we got, it's still an example of the nadir we're reaching with this series. There has recently been a debate of whether or not 2000AD should be aimed towards a younger market and it almost feels that this series is designed to put paid to that argument once and for all. After all, if this is 2000AD's attempts at going after the youth market, then let's put an immediate stop to it right here.

But there's much more at the heart of the problems to the series. As mentioned by other reviewers, the actual timeline of the series seems indistinct, with far future ideas sitting uncomfortably beside Eastenders style soap opera. And the characters are, without exception, extraordinarily difficult to empathise with. Perhaps it's my grumpy old man nature coming to the fore, but bloody hell, they're an irritating bunch of brats, aren't they?

And as for the aforementioned flashing scene - can 2000AD at least come up with a standpoint on how it's going to approach situations like this, regardless of previous complaints etc? We see realistic semi-nudity in the Slaine strip that follows, but the flashing incident here which is actually integral to the plot, no matter how flimsily, is shielded from our eyes.

It's almost as if this whole story was done for another publication and has been supplanted into 2000AD.

As for the art? It just saddens me that we finally get Warren Pleece to draw for the comic and this is what he gets to illustrate. Once again, oh dear...

PW: Warren Pleece was responsible for one of my favourite ever stories - True Faith. I still love his art and was excited to see that he was getting a regular gig in the prog. Well, I like this. Not a lot of people do, but there you go. It's fairly lightweight with some random occurrences taking place to whisk the protagonists off from one "gee-whiz" adventure to another, but I think that's it for me... it reminds me of reading comics when i was younger (ok, there was no tit-flashing of whoring that I can remember in Buster or Whizzer and Chips), but it's definitely got that feel. Maybe that's not what readers want in a magazine for an older audience, but let's face it,
it's knocks the pants of Slaine. big style.

The Books of Invasions - Tara - Part 5

Slaine in a bad mood. Again.

Synopsis: Slaine meets some El Women. Each of them has a different aspect, but all of them agree that they don't like Slaine. One things he doesn't match up to Morholt, one appears to enjoy the company of other women, one has amazing battle skills and accuses Slaine of not having a sense of humour. They don't want to tell him where the goddess is, so he starts a fight. He start killing them all, trying to get an answer, eventually leaving only one alive. She agrees to tell him eventually...

Back in Tara, XXX is performing an incantation that, when she kills the goddess's hare creates a poisonous mist that heads towards Tara killing everything in its path. In Tara Amergin tries a counter spell, creating a magic wind that blows the mist away. But it comes to9o late, as the Formorians are now through the outer defences...

GH: And we go from "oh dear" to "oh dear god no". 4 pages of what can only be called absolute nonsense before we finally end back with the plot. When I first picked up this issue, this was the first time I actually started Slaine and then skipped it for later, quickly realising that I just couldn't face any more of it on the first reading. Is Pat Mills aiming to be incredibly misogynistic here or is it some clever double bluff that he's playing? Do I care? Basically, Slaine meets up with a bunch of women who confuse him so he chops them up.

There's something slightly psychopathic about the writing in this week's story that just makes for some unpleasant reading. At least he realises that Slaine doesn't have a sense of humour. Pity it doesn't look like he's going to do something about it...

PW: Speak of the devil... It's always there festering and causing a stink when I'm asked by Gavin to review the prog. I loathe this with a passion. sure, the "artwork" is good, but god I'm so bored of this ongoing saga and care not a jot for anything contained in the pages.

Give it up, it's over. 6 wasted pages.

Safe House - part 4

Angel vs demon...

Synopsis: Demon Jenny goes head to head with the Angel while Ravne warned Verse to get out while he still can - even though Ravne himself wants to remain and watch. A battle ensues during which Jenny tears the demons throat out while getting speared by a sword. As the Angel lies helpless, Ravne uses its sword to cut off its head , despite it burning his hands. He calls Kostabi to warn him of the "situation".

Meanwhile Brand and Chapter are looking at the room they have uncovered in the East End, full of equipment that resembles that in Ravne's lab. They realise that the mummified rabbi is in fact Emmanuel Konterman, one of Department Q. Then, the golem comes to life...

GH: Ah, now this is much more like it. Well developed characters, with still lots of room to explore their backgrounds and motivations. A decent amount of action that doesn't distract to much from the overall goals of the plot. The ability to surprise (Demon Jenny's nasty "scratch" this week or Ness's actions last week). The gradual unfolding of plot threads that have been laid many issues before. And finally some wonderful artwork that suits the series perfectly.

Easily the best thing on offer this week.

PW: I like this as per usual, although - once again - I'm left with the feeling that a collected reading would be more suitable. The artwork is top-notch-scritchy-scratch as per usual from Dom Reardon, and the range of characters and situations goes Gordon Rennie great credit. It's been often said that team stories are harder to write than single "hero" adventures, but Rennie pulls this of week after week.

That said, I did feel that the fight was over far too quickly this week, but i'm hoping that there's some things left unresolved that'll lead to a big kick-off in the next couple of weeks. I'd like Jenny to not be as invulnerable as she appears and get a bit of a kicking.

Top stuff, keep it coming please.

Agent of Destruction - Part 5

Dante leads the way towards trouble...

Synopsis: Dante muses that as he has gotten involved in espionage, everyone seems to have their own agenda and it was easier being a thief.

They continue into the rig, finding more bodies and finally make it to the weapons lab. The weapon they have come to steal appears to be a "glorified lava lamp". As they try to find out what it is, they meet Kraken (first heard of in issue 1322). Marguerite fires at Kraken, but the bullets have no effect and a fight ensues, Kraken and Dante start fighting, but this leads to Kraken's sword cracking the weapon chamber. The goo inside explodes all over Dante, Marguerite and Lauren.

GH: Recently having re-read the early adventures of Nikolai Dante in the recent DC collected edition, I can't help be a mite disappointed with this latest Dante series. John Burns's artwork seems somewhat rushed - without some of the detail that can be seen in his earlier work. The overall plot seems a little sub-par too, with not a great deal having been achieved in the 5 episodes so far.

And finally, Dante himself doesn't seem to have been growing as a character recently. He's being pushed around so much by the others in the series that he's in danger of losing his way as the focal point. It's not terrible by any means - it just feels like the series has lost its way somewhat. Perhaps the secret weapon will spark something off next week, but I'm becoming strangely unaffected as the weeks pass.

Oh, and the re-introduction of a villain who hasn't been in the issue for almost 100 issues surely deserved something of a recap, didn't it?

PW: Speaking of wasted pages... I wasn't "around" when Dante first debuted, and only got my first introduction to the gentleman thief in prog 1322. Now, everyone tells me how good it is (or was) and all text on the subject points to Dante being one of the 'star' regular showcasing just how good 2thou is these days... but I just can't seem to see it. I love the artwork, and the story is competently written, but I just can't get excited about it I'm afraid. I put it down to the irregular frequency of appearances, but it could be that the current storyline contains the not-in-any-way interesting character of Dante's cliched bitch-mother. I *was* going to get the Rebellion/DC collections, but then the mills-and-boon covers put me off. At least it looks nice. Please do something with him.