2000AD Prog 1438 - 11 May 2005
	Judge Dredd (Rennie / Richardson) The VCs (Abnett / Williams) Slaine (Mills/Langley) Bec & Kawl (Spurrier/ Roberts) American Gothic (Edginton / Collins) Synopsis by David Knight Review by Paul I 2nd Opinion by Gavin Hanly Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

PI: As an image, I actually love this cover. I like it a lot. It's a striking, imposing image that is magnificently drawn. Everything, from the positions of the characters to the various facial expression is perfect. And it all makes for a spectacular cinematic image. Very dramatic, and it really stands out on the news stands.

The text however, leaves a lot to be desired. While I actually liked and got a slight laugh out of 'conical carnivorousness', The Shape of things to Cone? No. God NO! It's one of those puns that make you feel like you've been punched in the stomach. It hurts so much that it makes you pine for the nearest bathroom. A pretty shameful blemish on an otherwise top notch cover.... But hey, at least the logo is visible (so new readers will know who to charge the damage to...)

GH: Another collaboration between Steve Roberts and Simon Davis, this one left me with a bizarre feeling of Deja vu - mainly because it was the last scene from last week's tale (excluding the terrible pun). It's a decent cover, the two artists do mesh well and it has a good pulpy feel to it.

Radstock - Part 2

The gig turns nasty...

Synopsis: The rock band Death Rattle fly in to play their headlining set at the Radstock festival, held outside Mega-City One and outside the judges’ jurisdiction. Before commencing to play they salute from afar the Dark Judges (Death, Fear, Fire and Mortis), imprisoned in Mega-City One, to whom their music is dedicated. Judges Guthrie and Dredd, watching from the West Wall, have concerns about the radiation storm blowing in hiding a greater threat to the festival-goers.

Under the cover of the radioactive dust cloud, a force of mutant religious fanatics attacks the festival site. The bike gang hired to provide concert security is taken by surprise, and the mutants fire bazooka shells into the audience before skirmishing with the rock fans. Judge Dredd orders his judge force to move in against the combatants and stop the festival.

PI: This one pretty much passed me by. I read it, I finished it and I don't remember much in-between. Nothing really wrong with it, it's just that it doesn't really anchor itself on your thrill-power receptors long enough to make any impact. There were a few nice points like the various in jokes (brown rad pills, band names, etc.) and I liked the idea of the lead singers face changing to a new serial killer every week... But you know, not a lot I can say about this.

Artwise, it's pretty decent. A lot more solid than last week (no horribly deformed blonde men for a start) and indeed a lot of panels do look very nice. But I just don't like how he draws Judges on bikes. They look so static and unreal, no momentum to them at all.

GH: Karl Richardson has done well to go straight in with a Dredd tale - not something granted to many new artists. And there are large chunks of his art that make it clear why he's been given this chance. Things like his first panel revealing Martha Murder, the lead singer of the band, the overall look of the attacking mutants and a pretty decent stab at Dredd himself put him clearly in the filed of "artists to watch". In addition his computer colouring is exemplary and really goes some distance to enhancing his art, especially with the scenes of the mutants emerging from the red mists.

There are downsides though. Occasionally the more normal of his characters, in particular some of the concert goers, look a little disproportionate - with the occasional huge head being out of place. This is fine on the mutants, but looks damned odd on some of the citizens. But like all artists, it takes some time to find a style. Just compare either Andy Clarke's or Henry Flint's early Dante work to what they're turning in today and you'll see the difference a few years of experience makes. So, as mentioned, one to watch.

As for the tale, it's a pretty standard forgettable Dredd tale. It'll do fine until Blood Trails starts in a fortnight.

Part 7 - Veto

Ryx prepares to check out

Synopsis: On Edgeville, which Major Smith’s squad of VCs has discovered to be the destination for abducted military personnel, Trooper Ryx has gone AWOL to chase down the traitor Commander Veto. Ryx corners Veto and his star-trooper squad and opens fire on them with a blitz cannon. In the ensuing gunfight, Veto’s crew are killed and Ryx is wounded in the shoulder. Veto ambushes Ryx and holds him at gunpoint, but Veto is shot dead by Ryx’s comrades before he can execute Ryx. Major Smith curses Ryx for his stupidity, as the alien federation known as the Polity, which has been monitoring activity on Edgeville, will have already observed the exchange of gunfire. A shadow falls across the VCs, and it appears the Polity are about to descend upon them.

PI: Suffered the same problem as Dredd with this one, which is odd as I've been enjoying it up to this point. So lets recap the main events. Veto is dead, hooray I suppose. And they've been discovered by superior alien beings. Pretty epic, story shattering events that should grab you by the scruff of you're neck and shake you vigorously until you take notice. So why, I ask, do I care more about the V.C.s training cadets than these two major events? I really don't know. It just seems that the build up is far more exciting than the conclusion. But hey, the later progs may put it all in focus and I may be forced to eat these words...

Art is pretty much the same as it's always been. Nice on the crowd shots, but I'm really not enjoying the facial expressions. They don't seem to hold enough weight and feeling for a story like the V.C.s, which is a shame as everything else is rather good.

GH: This continues to be a massive improvement on the previous series. Everything from Williams' more restrained style to the actual inclusion of a plot puts the VCs back on form again. Williams seems much more at home with human interaction and ground based action a opposed to space battles. His ships leave a little something to be desired so this tailoring the strip to suit his strengths helps considerably.

As for the story? With Abnett concentrating on far less characters and also keeping them out of those damned suits, I'm starting to remember who they all are - and as such actually care what happens to them. Overall, far better than I had hoped it would be.

Odacon - Part 3

Odacon's spawn revealed...

Synopsis: It is winter after Slaine and the defenders of Tara have driven the Fomorian sea-demon invaders from their land. Slaine travels from village to village exterminating the contamination of sea-demon possession among his people, killing peasants who are host to the creatures and burning the bodies. He uses a captive demon to sniff out infestation by the Spawn of Odacon. In the village of Rury, the smell of garlic is used to disguise the Spawn’s tell-tale odour, but the demons are given away by the youngest villagers’ urgent need to swim in the water even though it is ice-cold. Slaine questions a child and his suspicions are confirmed, that the villagers are infested with the Spawn of Odacon. Suddenly, the possessed villagers surround Slaine and his men, and the Spawn reveal themselves for what they are. Slaine’s men stand with their flame lances at the ready, and he orders the village condemned.

PI: Whoa. What happened here? Am I reading the same Slaine as I was a couple of months ago? No, scratch that, is this even the same comic as appeared last week? Surely not! This just can't be the same character! This man in Slaine's clothing is actually doing something I care about and thus enjoy reading about! Well, apparently it is the same man, so I have to say I am gob smacked. Mills has really turned this around.

Langley's winter work is certainly something deserving of praise as well. I've always thought Langley was a terrific artist, but I have to admit I have been tiring of the moody red skies of late. So this is like a breath of fresh air, how fitting. I really did enjoy this, despite a few minor niggles. Wet business is something I could pick up on, but despite the fact this is the second week running we've heard about it, Slaine's reply was just pure gold. I'm also a bit skeptical of the women walking around in pretty much nothing in the middle of winter. I'm not sure if this is how it was back then, but I suppose they draped some bearskin over their shoulders... So that's all right.

Again some truly amazing work from Langley as the mother of the boy revealed her inner self (so to speak) and it was a really excellent twist to have Slaine and his merry band of men (and women) playing demon hunter. Just hope Mills can keep this kind of quality to the end of this tale as it really is something to behold!

GH: Good lord - this is much more like it.

Away from the almost interminable series of one battle after another, the change of pace here is much more acceptable and, as such, it breathes new life back into Slaine. The slight confusion as to how the story has progressed since we last saw Slaine is pushed away as Mills gradually reveals how the humans have been tracking down the Formorians. Plus there's the revealing of the secret of the villagers that is handled particularly well by Mills. We just know there's something wrong with the town, but right up until the end we're not sure if the humans will move on before revealing their mistake. If Mills can keep up this low grade tension and actually tell a "new" Slaine tale as a result, we could be in for a treat here.

Langley, too, provides some excellent art. He draws a damned good winter scene and the glow of orange as Slaine condemns the village is a fantastic effect. So far - so surprisingly good.

Attack of the Cones - Part 2

Bec lashes out...

Synopsis: Aliens have infiltrated Britain disguised as traffic cones. Jarrod Kawl has brought a cone home on a drunken whim. Its alien occupant has emerged to attack Bec, Kawl and the French paranormal pest-controller Pierre Ramonez. The cone’s sensory apparatus detect Beccy Millar to be a Messiah who should not be attacked, but its controller decides to allow the attack to continue on the grounds that the cone’s occupant doesn’t stand a chance against Ramonez, who blows a hole through the cone alien’s midriff with a gun. Beccy is most unhappy at being drenched in alien intestinal goo as a result.

The trio go outside to find the street thronged with traffic cones, but they appear to be inert and made of harmless plastic. Then a cone-shaped spacecraft descends and beams up Bec and Kawl, leaving behind Pierre minus his trousers. A ray from space activates the cones, which grow limbs and tentacles.

Bec and Kawl find themselves on an alien ship face to face with General Skragg, the cone leader. Hungover and travel sick Kawl, throws up into the General’s cone. The General threatens Kawl with death, but is overruled by his superior, the Great Cone.

Down on Earth, Pierre is saved from a cone warrior by a falling bus, dropped by ‘grey’ aliens intent upon opposing the cone invaders. On board the bus are abductees collected by the greys on previous visits to Earth. A note sellotaped to the bus suggests they might be useful against the cones. The cone invasion continues, with a fleet descending from the sky and cone warriors surging over the landscape.

PI: I'm in what seems like the minority of people who actually like this strip. It's a welcome bit of light hearted fun as far as I'm concerned and fun it defiantly is. While not quite as wonderful as last weeks episode, I did get a kick out of the line 'Say 'allo to my petit friend!' and I can't wait to see what happens with the various abductees. In fact, I think I'm looking forward to seeing them in action more than finding out what is happening on the cone ship. And yes, once you start to look for them you *do* realise just how many there are...

Lovely art. Can't say a bad word about it. Steve Roberts does an excellent job on this, although the cone ships do look a lot like carrots...

GH: Bec and Kawl have certainly come a long way since their early tales. There's much more of a sense of telling a story - kind of important - and even character development is taking place, albeit in small doses. The character of Pierre works as a straight man for B&K and helps to reduce the irritation factor that the two characters alone have in spades.

Yet, despite the clear improvements, this still just isn't for me. I still find it hard to resist the inevitable sigh that comes when I discover that the duo have returned to the comic, and some of the references to films like Star Wars are just too obvious. Spurrier just seems much better when he's writing purely original fiction as opposed to this "satire" or his movie pieces in the megazine. And it's that - "I know he can do better" feeling that harms this for me.

As for Roberts - he turns in another good job - but the whole thing is coloured by an overall dislike for the strip at heart.

Chapter 7

Duke Philippe needs blood...

Synopsis: The wagon train of supernatural creatures has been captured by the hunter Oniegin Zaroff, Duke Philippe’s cousin. ‘Spare’ captives are released as target practice by Zaroff’s men and shot for sport. Zaroff intends to keep the children as breeding stock to ensure a supply of targets in the future.

Zaroff finds his cousin Philippe’s coat under a waterfall and continues to look for him. Meanwhile, Philippe arrives at LaChance’s campfire. Philippe drains LaChance’s horse of blood to repair the damage to his body caused by falling into running water without protection from the sun.

Philippe tells LaChance that Zaroff his murdered his living relatives one by one to extinguish the evidence of his mixed heritage which would threaten his growing political influence his influence with the crowned heads and governments of Europe. Zaroff’s main goal is to kill his cousin, so Philippe believes he endangered his fellow monsters by bringing them to America in search of a better life, bringing them more easily to Zaroff’s notice.

PI: A real dialogue orientated affair this week. And that is by no means a bad thing. I've really been hooked on this since the start, but not a whole lot is happening in this issue, and nor should it. The interaction between LeChance and Philippe continued the gradual process of spoon-feeding us information and hopefully next week we'll see some action.

A lot has been said about the art on this story over the past few progs, and I have to say, I love it! I really think it suits the story and can't, for the life of me, see why people dislike it. The only frame I did have a problem with was the one where LaChance went for his gun as Philippe attacked, it took a few seconds to compute what on Earth had just happened but I figured it out eventually and all was well. I was really impressed with Philip's disfigurement as a result of exposure to sun light, and the panel with the dead horses head still makes me feel a little uneasy.

GH: Some noticeably excellent art appears this week, with the first page and the reveal of Philippe's torched self being outstanding in particular. This is a fine series, and the idea, stemming from Bristol this weekend, that there may actually be more of American Gothic further down the line is certainly welcome. Whether there will actually be any monsters to lead to the new world remains to be seen, as they do appear to be being cut down rather fast.

Like Edginton's Red Seas before it, this is a fast read with developing characters that you actually care about. I feel it may well take a second series to really find its feet, though - again, like Red Seas before it. The overall plot is fine, but I can't help but feel that when LaChance is a more willing member of the wagon train that there is more scope for the series. As it is, it makes a welcome change to anything else we've seen in the comic recently.