2000AD Prog 1432 - 30 March 2005
	Judge Dredd (Rennie / Cook) Tiger Sun Dragon Moon (Parkhouse) The VCs (Abnett / Williams) American Gothic (Edginton / Collins) Synopsis by David Knight Review by Suzie Doyle 2nd Opinion by Martin Charlton Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

SD: The cover was not a "sit up and take note" cover, but I did like the symbolism with the red sky, sharp salutes and the large military helmet on the cross. It gives a good intro to a new run of the VCs.

MC: At first I liked this. It’s an eye-catching image, reminiscent of many classic ‘war’ comics. Then I actually picked up the prog and looked at it. I like Anthony Williams’ work as a rule, with his recent Dredd tale producing some of his finest work. This isn’t it though. It would make sense to have the characters from the strip standing there, but instead there are three identikit soldiers and a geek standing to attention. Did I say geek? Okay, a strange cross between a sea horse & a hippo. Funny looking thing, so it is…

Anyway, The main image is eye catching enough, so I’ll stop splitting hairs. It looks good when you walk past it in Smiths, so mission accomplished, I guess.

Descent - Part 1

Karyn gets a flash...

Synopsis: The area devastated by the terrorist nuclear bomb attack on Ezra Pound block is being redeveloped, but the gaping, radioactive hole through to the under-city still remains, and has itself become a tourist attraction. A tourist hover-bus is struck by a runaway stolen hover-car and crashes down into the hole.

Psi-judge Karyn sees the incident in a psi-flash while successfully preventing a suicide, and heads over to the Ezra Pound reclamation zone where Dredd is supervising the rescue effort. Flying camera probes are sent down into the hole and discover that there are too few corpses aboard the bus to account for all its passengers. The remote probes are quickly destroyed by troggies – the half-human cave dwellers who still inhabit the under-city. Although Tek judges imagine any crash survivors have been killed by the troggies, Karyn’s powers tell her at least a dozen are still alive. Judge Dredd calls for a radiation-shielded hover-wagon to take him into the hole to look for survivors.

SD: Superb first instalment. I particularly liked the reference to John Peel and the voyeurism of the tourists in the first few frames. I loved the detail in the artwork, a welcome return for Boo Cook after his work on Asylum 2. The way in which the tension is increased frame by frame until the burning wreckage falls into the underworld keeps the tempo up, and the superb frame where PSI Karyn sees the wreck falling into a clawed hole in her mind is excellent. Looking forward to the next part.

MC: Another fine Dredd from Rennie here, displaying a grasp of the Dredd universe that stands us in good stead for the years to come. The continuation of the Total War thread continues to impress, showing that it was a truly great mega epic, at least through the criteria of providing ample scope for spin offs. This story is obviously just starting, and although I do wonder slightly how different to the recent Wagner Nosferatu tale this will turn out to be, but at least I know we’re in safe hands. I just hope this tale has room to breathe.

I must admit that at first glance Boo Cook’s art will always remind me of Dead Men Walking, so it’s always a nice surprise to find his work applied to better stuff. I always find myself distracted by his composition, and find myself just looking around the page at the detail. The second and third pages here are prime examples of this, nd his Dredd is lovely too, with a nice wide helmet giving a retro feel to the art at least.

Part 7 (final episode)

Mizo falls apart...

Synopsis: On a floating island in Earth’s sky, the Imperial Palace is under attack from the warlord Chang’s sorcerer, Kabal. In the shape of a flying monster, Imperial bodyguard Sukonami attacks General Mizo. Mizo defends himself with the sword Tiger Sun. Suko’s supernatural strength under Kabal’s control is so great that Mizo breaks his arm fending off Suko’s sword with his own.

Suko cuts off Mizo’s hand; but while back on Earth Kabal celebrates his victory prematurely, Mizo returns to the battle. Though pinned by a javelin, Mizo calls Suko to her senses, and runs her through with his sword as she deals the death blows against him. Without Suko to serve as his proxy, Kabal’s magic destroys him. Fearing further attacks against the floating island, Judge Kai and Lieutenant Konda escort the Imperial children to Hondo city in a shuttlecraft.

SD: I liked this story as it put history into the future and I could see where certain aspects of old cultures could remain far into the future. However, I thought the end of Kabal was a bit short - surely he should have put up more of a fight? The sword fighting scenes were cool but there was a part of me that thought if only they had a gun. The ending where both Suko and Mizo die together was a smart way to end this part of the story and the art work showed the agony of realisation across Suko’s face well. With the Emperor and his sister heading to Hondo City I expect this will be back sometime soon.

MC: When read as single chapters: No bloody idea.

When read as a complete tale: Although seemingly a disappointment, Steve Parkhouse’s solo project isn’t a complete failure. There were some nice ides in here, and it really deserved to be billed like From Grace was before publication: something different for 2000AD. Sitting closer to Crouching Tiger et al than any of its SciFi based 2000AD stable-mates, it’s a relatively effective clone, with some interesting ideas that more than anything didn’t get enough room to breathe. I couldn’t identify with the characters, and therefore didn’t realise what was going on with the Tigers & Dragon coming from the swords, as too much was left ‘to figure out yourself’. But another side of the argument could be that that is the Chinese films Tiger Sun harks towards do the same thing.

So in conclusion, not a failed experiment, just one that didn’t really work in 2000AD or in a 6 page anthology format.

And I got through the whole review without mentioning the Dredd universe link!

Part 1 - Old Soldiers

The VCs pay their respects

Synopsis: In 2582 AD, following a warning from Smith’s crew about a Geek mass driver weapon that might have wiped out Earth altogether, a Global Combat Corps taskforce moved in on the Geek position outside Earth’s solar system and wiped out the enemy force.

V.C.s Smith, Kali and Keege pay tribute to their fallen comrades at the Arlington memorial maze. Their other comrade, Diderot, was revealed to be an android created by the Polity, a superior alien civilisation. Not even Diderot himself had known he wasn’t human until he was wounded in action. There are 200 construct like him locked up in G.C.C. custody, and all of them had a perfect service record defending Earth.

The survivors of the fight on Charon are reassigned to Fort Kennedy training camp on Mars, where they will serve as combat trainers.

SD: The last strip was excellent so it’s good to see the VCs back, though not in action. Diderot is excellent with his half exposed face and his coming to terms with the fact that he is an alien construct. I liked the introduction giving the background and feelings of the surviving soldiers and their wish to get right back to the front line. I really wouldn’t like to be getting lessons off of these guys - they’d give me hell! Good groundwork and art.

MC: I know it’s easy to point the finger at Dan Abnett as a guy who treats his 2000AD work as a career rather than an art, what with his workman like treatment of Sin/Dex, but I like his stuff. Especially The VCs, when it works. This story finds the VCs in less of a Bang bang shooty shooty place, and more of a character building situation, which I fully expect to reap rewards. As much of an epilogue as a prologue, this first part sets the scene, continues the over arcing meta narrative and provides us with our next batch of VC recruits. I can’t wait for this to unfold, personally.

The art inside is also excellent, with detail strangely absent from the cover. Like I said, Anthony Williams has been turning in some great stuff, and this is no exception. I can’t imagine anyone else doing this strip now.

Chapter 1

Even complete dives have standards...

Synopsis: In Chicago, in 1865, a strangers walks into a saloon and enquires after the men who lead the pioneers’ wagon trains. In the bar, a bunch of rowdies are tormenting a drunkard. He rummages in a spittoon for a coin one of the men tossed there. When the drunk tries to buy whiskey, the bartender throws him out. The drunkard is Will Lachance, blamed for leading a wagon train into Indian territory and abandoning a hundred pioneers to be massacred when the Indians attacked.

Lachance’s tormentors resume their bullying outside, demanding back the nickel tossed aside earlier, and hold a gun to his head. The stranger from the saloon intervenes, ripping off the hooligan’s gun hand in the blink of an eye. As the men open fire on him, the stranger reveals himself as a vampire and slays all three, drinking their blood. He announces himself as Will Lachance’s saviour.

SD: I was just thinking that this is a Western and had it all pegged when the mysterious stranger rips off a guys hand, not to mention the fangs. He almost looks an innocent with the close up frame of his face smiling benignly. Jury’s out about the artwork. While the attention to detail is there and the characters are well drawn, it may be that I’ve been spoiled with all the colour work in this edition. Looking forward to chapter 2.

MC: Oh, the joys of reviewing the first episode of a new thrill. I must admit to not being blown away by the preview art. I remember thinking it carries a weight around its shoulder coming from the same pen as the Red Seas & Leviathan, and I really don’t want this to be either of them with cowboys. I’ll give it a few more weeks before judging completely, but it looks like Edginton has pulled it off. Producing a believable fictional Western world without falling into ‘ya pesky varmit!’ territory is not always easy, but this is good stuff, right down to the ‘The Spits on Th’House’ style dialogue.

I’m not sure about the vampire, but I remember not being sure about the licker creatures in Leviathan, and being pleasantly surprised. This looks like a ‘proper’ new thrill for 2000AD after the hit & miss Second City Blues and Tiger Sun Dragon Moon. I think I’m gonna enjoy this.

Mike Collins’ art has a somewhat retro 2000AD feel to it, but has some lovely detail and composition that makes that retro look exactly what the doctor ordered. The last page is especially well structured, with the speed of the events depicted reflected in the panel structure. Nice. Call me crazy, but it’s also nice to have a prog that isn’t full colour again.