2000AD Prog 1473 - 8 February 2005
	Judge Dredd (Wagner / Goddard) The Ten-Seconders (Williams / Harrison) Slaine (Mills / Langley) Synnamon (Clayton/ Dows/ Roach) Caballistics Inc. (Rennie / Reardon) Cover: Mark Harrison

Synopsis by Gavin Hanly
1st opinion by Marcus Nyahoe
2nd opinion by Susan Doyle

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

Cover Review

MN: Hmmm. This is a bad start to the latest issue. I've been fairly impressed with Mark Harrison's interior artwork lately, but this lets him down somewhat. It may be that he's used too narrow a palette, so that the different hues are too close to each other and are indistinct; or it may be that it's badly composed, with nothing for the eye to follow. Whatever the reason, it is one of the worst covers I've seen for a long time.

SD: I found this cover very dark and confusing at first it looked like two ships colliding, then I realised that one of the structures was a ‘God’ and the other a battle suit. It’s highly detailed and imaginative to the point that you can imagine the racket that this fight must be causing from the heat of the explosions to the leaking fuel and tearing limbs. It's one of those that the more you look at it the more you like it. However it’s not going to be one to grab the attention of passing trade, but one to spoil the old diehards.

Your Beating Heart - Part 6

Dredd gets his man...

Synopsis: The second Surgeon, Gurt Veiner, gets ready to kill his latest victim in his hover home.

Meanwhile, Dredd is trying to track him down and Hurst helps him pinpoint a possible location. Veiner is disturbed by a judge, but the judge is only routing him past a riot. Veiner goes back to work only to be interrupted by a second judge – this time Dredd, who breaks into the vehicle. Veiner is killed by his own Laz saw in the struggle and his latest victim is saved later it’s discovered that another clone has been captured in Krakow – so something was obviously wrong with the cloned stock.

MN: I must admit that I have enjoyed every bit of this story. Sure, it’s not been the most far reaching and exciting of Dredd arcs but, for me, that makes a welcome change. Not all multi-issue stories should have a huge impact on Dredd’s world. In fact, I would argue that such stories should be rare, otherwise their impact is lessened when they do occur.

John Wagner tells a solid tale. It won’t go down as one of the classics, but it has moved along at a decent pace, and each instalment (this one included) has provided a satisfying read in its own right. Patrick Goddard’s art has been a bit of a revelation, though. I know very little about him, but his work on this has been impressive. He draws with a very attractive, smooth line. Everything in the strip is clear, and everyone is easily recognisable (and it must be mentioned that Chris Blythe’s muted colours have played a great part in creating an effective atmosphere on the strip). There was just one slip-up in this week’s story, and that was when Veiner accidentally impales himself on his own knife during his altercation with Dredd. This could have been depicted in a clearer manner, as I found myself having to look at the panels a few times to figure out how this had happened.

Still, a satisfying conclusion to an enjoyable, solid story.

SD: I’ve enjoyed this story of Dredd doing some good old fashioned crime fighting with its attention to detail and Dredd catching his men. I found the story line entertaining with the serial killer tale given an imaginative twist of there being more than one and that you could purchase your very own serial killer in a clone kit. The last clone stabbing himself in the heart was a nice, if improbable, touch.

The artwork looked quite slick with smooth lines and bold colours, however I found some of the perspectives confusing and it detracted from the story. My impatience with what is, generally, a good story is that I’ve been spoiled in recent months by excellent ones.

The American Dream - Part 7

Uh oh...

Synopsis: Harris flashes back to his life before the war and having a few drinks with friends.

Back in the present day, he takes his new robo suit out for a spin and starts attacking Damage. He appears to be doing well until the suit breaks down and Damage is unharmed – and begins fighting back.

Meanwhile, Jennifer is being attached by Mack – only to be attacked by the Scientist who uses his stretch powers to tie him up. Jennifer takes the opportunity and shoots Mach.

Damage throws the remains of Harris’ machine at the Scientist’s feet. “Damage missed you…father”.

MN: There were such high hopes for this strip. It started off so well, but ever since the group started the journey to the US, it seems to have lost its way. I think there are a number of problems that are exacerbated a little in this issue.

Firstly, there are no real characters. I can’t tell the difference between any of the protagonists, except that one is a young girl and one a God. It’s hard to care about them as individuals as they do not appear to be individual characters, just two dimensional constructs that spout occasional lines of dialogue. This issue it seems very badly scripted too. For instance, when Harris tells the God he’s fighting that they took his life away – we’ve already been given the information visually. There’s no need to then explicitly state it.

Secondly, and maybe this is a hangover from the cover, but the artwork, which has been so good so far, looks rushed and ugly. The layouts are all over the place and, whilst they are not exactly confusing, they do nothing to add to what little story we get in this issue.

SD: I find it hard to believe that there have been seven instalments of this, it has flown by. However I noticed that this happens in one week when after five pages, I felt that it ended before it really began. Regardless of time passing us and the Gods by - I quite like the idea a rogue God helping out the old humans even if it’s likely to be a family feud. My favourite character in this strip is ‘Damage’ as it reminds me of ‘Mongo’ in ‘Blazing Saddles’ – not he brightest of creatures but definitely capable of a good pummelling and someone you’d like on your side.

The story is good definitely off the wall and the art work certainly helps to give it the surreal feeling, so I’m looking forward to reading the next instalment.

Carnival - Part 7

Slaine sees red...

Synopsis: Slaine kills Sepha, believing her to be the killer. Kai thinks she was trying to kill her family because she hated them being Shoggys, and was jealous of Estella.

As things get back to normal, Slaine can’t help but think he’s missed something, even though he has to go our and track down Crom Dubh. Slaine supposes that maybe Sepha was trying to protect her daughter by drawing attention away from her – and that maybe Estella is Skathan’s daughter. They go to find them to make sure.

In the woods, Skathan and Estella shelter from the rain in a cave, and it turns out that she is indeed Skathan’s daughter. Skathan had been trying to kill her to [prevent her from turning into a Shoggy and that’s why she keeps her awake too. Skathan waits for night to fall so that she can turn into a Shoggy and finish the job…

MN: My contempt for Slaine has been voiced before, so there’s no real reason to repeat the same thing again. Suffice to say, if you like poorly defined characters spouting bad dialogue, all depicted using art that appears to be put together by a very skilled illustrator who doesn’t know the first thing about comics, then you’ll enjoy it.

The rest of us will cheerfully ignore it until it goes away.

SD: I really thought I was finally getting a grip on this story but I started getting confused last week and it’s not getting any better. Slaine’s last outing left me decidedly baffled. Unfortunately I seem to be returning to my bewilderment when they try to explain why Sepha killed Wardo and then tried to kill her daughter, but then it turns out it could have been Skathan, which one is she? Why did she do that? Where did Crom Dubh go? I’m hoping that someone will tell me that it’s not just me and that they don’t understand it either….

I’ll just have to console myself with appreciation of the artwork which although I’m getting used to it still weird’s me out slightly with the realistic faces and bodies.

Arc of Light - Part 2

Synnamon forgets the first rule of fiction cliches...

Synopsis: Synnamon fights back against the people surrounding her until the leader, Captain Wetherall asks her to stop and listen to them. He says they were sent on the arc of light to find a new galaxy, but the Heinkel gate put them light years out of the way. Many ships were snt through after the Arc, some destroyed en route. Once the new ships stopped coming, they decided to make the long journey home, gathering together the fleet to give them the power necessary to make the trip – which has taken them 68 years.

The story rings true – but doesn’t explain the Arc of Light on Arbor – which seems genuine too. However, Synnamon tells the captain that borders have changed in the last 68 years and they’re heading into an international incident if they don’t turn around. But it’s too late as the Chinasian alliance start attacking…

MN: The issue isn’t getting any better with Synnamon. I’ve never been a fan of this strip, and to be fair this is better than the Synnamon stories we’ve had in the past. Still, it is essentially one big piece of exposition, setting up what looks to be a predictable science fiction plot. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with exposition. This information does have to be conveyed to the reader, but the method used is just old, lame and boring. There’s no thought gone into it.

The art is slightly better. It’s at least aesthetically pleasing, with some nice touches on the facial close-ups, but it can’t save a rather boring reading experience.

SD: I always appreciate a woman who can kick ass. However, droopy boobs and chubby cheeks aside I don’t seem to be able to like this character. There are too many themes with Synnamon looking like a cross between a futurist Buffy and leather clad Mrs Peel with the hair band and youthful good looks. The back to the future story line and the lost in space feel don’t help give it any originality.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh but I skimmed this last week and if I wasn’t reviewing this week I’d have probably skimmed it again. They say that you can’t please all of the people all of the time and I dare say that’s simply the case with this.

Changelings - Part 6

Ravne finds a new ally...

Synopsis: Under the earth, Chapter and Verse kill Puck after he throws a skull at them. Chapter tells the “earth mother” that they were clearly dragged down there for a purpose and wants top know what’s being proposed.

Back at the manor, inspector Absolam is informing Ravne and Jenny of the death of Professor Brand. He tells Ravne that he learned that Brand was looking into the past of Kostabi and asks him how long Ravne has known that Kostabi is effectively his “father” and how is he going to “stop him rebirthing as the most powerful occult entity on earth”.

Meanwhile, off the coast of Scotland, Michael Magister has escaped and is heading to the mainland…

MN: At least The Might One had the decency to let us go out on a high. Caballistics gets better and better. Each new arc brings more revelations, and with them even more questions, and this does not disappoint. Some other writers in this issue would do well to look at Gordon Rennie and try to learn how he manages to construct character. There’s sharp dialogue, cynicism, shocks and mystery, all wrapped up in some extremely effective art.

For me, this works so well as Dom Reardon’s art is so well suited to the strip, and Rennie seems to ensure that he writes to his artist’s strengths. It’s a true team effort, and you couldn’t imagine it continuing if one of them left. A true joint creation in much the same way V for Vendetta or Watchmen was.

SD: What can I say but this is excellent script and artwork. I particularly liked the hard talking-to the earth spirit and the doubling of the lines with the same question on two characters lips. I think this finale asks more questions than it answers but I don’t mind being kept guessing when the strip has been of such excellent quality.

Favourite panel so far this year was the very last – superb – I just hope it doesn’t take the dream team of Rennie and Reardon to recharge.