2000AD Prog 1477 - 1 March 2006
	Judge Dredd (Rennie / Kennedy) ABC Warriors (Mills / Flint) The Ten-Seconders (Williams / Harrison) Bec n Kawl (Spurrier/ Roberts) Rogue Trooper (Edginton / Pugh) Cover: Cliff Robinson

Synopsis and 1st opinion by Alex Frith
2nd opinion by Ryan Hickling
3rd opinion by WR Logan

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

Cover Review

AF: A sneering Dredd in the background really ties this cover together; otherwise the image is well constructed, but strangely static. It nicely evokes the story inside, though. Robinson has done better, but this will certainly do.

RH: Another ‘Dredd’s face’ cover. I’ve always wanted to see a cover with Dredd, high as a kite, surrounded by luscious ladies in lingerie. Imagine the witty tagline there! Still, nice artwork, just nothing new. Ah well, I guess we need something to calm us down from last weeks double whammy!

WRL: Dredd & Skysurfers - now that should be an exciting cover, but you’ve just got to get the right artist to draw it.

Many have tried but few artists can convey the look of speed and madness that Skysurfing must be, Martin Emond managed it in the Megazine story ‘Dead man’s Curve’, Colin MacNeil produced career defining art on ‘Song of the Surfer’ but the true genius of depicting Skysurfing is Cam Kennedy and ‘Midnight Surfer’ - still a classic nearly 21 years later.

Cliff Robinson produces a good cover, the layout works well, Dredd looks towards the perp's with the usual disdain he has for skysurfer’s but I just don’t believe the skysurfers are whizzing along at breakneck speed. There’s something about their pose that I cant explain but when skysurfers look good - you just know it. MacNeil and especially Kennedy can take that frozen image in a panel and make it look like skysurfing is the most dangerous thing imaginable. It's that magic ingredient that’s missing from the cover to Prog 1477.

The one small part of the cover that does draw your attention and makes you want to jump straight to this week's Dredd is that small yellow circle on the helmet of the lead surfer, that small yellow circle with the smiley face which we all recognise as the symbol of the greatest Skysurfer ever: Marlon Shakespeare.

Direct Action - Part 1

Dredd being as jolly as ever...

Synopsis: A year on from the nuclear bombs of 'Total War', there are still a number of refugee camps in Mega City 1.

A gang of skysurfers from one such camp decides to go looting for supplies beyond their regular allowance. They successfully bring down a munce convoy, only to find Dredd on their tail in an H-wagon.

One plucky surfer disarms the wagon with an EMP spike, but fails to escape. Dredd sees something in the perp's surfing style, and makes an arrest rather than a simple kill. The surfer sports a variation on the classic Chopper logo, and reveals herself to be one 'Mercey Shakespeare'.

AF: Cam Kennedy is back on skysurfing and elongated chin duty, and pulls it off with aplomb. Except the loop-the-loop bit – how did that help, exactly? It's also not yet clear how a ragtag bunch of skysurfers could be so well-equipped and tech-savvy, but I'll let Rennie off as, overall, it's a fun chase sequence to open up this latest entry into the Chopper mythos.

Rennie continues to evoke the atmosphere of MC1 and Dredd with retro perfection, but could try harder to make sense of the sci-fi fighting. 'Emergency A-G activated' indeed! Why not 'emergency guns' while you're at it?

RH: A Nice opening to what could potentially be a good Dredd saga. The artwork is lovely and, although the dialogue was a bit dodgy, as far as the juve slang went it wasn’t that bad. It is good to see that the Total War scar is still affecting many citizens, especially the criminal underworld, though its mention in this story seems to come off as a somewhat flimsy excuse to give the reader reason to sympathise for the perps. The action is easy to follow, and although the judges seem to succeed too early, this could be for many reasons, such as: Judges are experienced. This scene will prove unimportant as the story progresses, Rennie just wanted to move the story along without an annoying bastard like me nitpicking as I tend to do.

The only real little detail that I must get off my chest is that it is highly coincidental Dredd should be the judge to cross paths with chopper’s nipper (or Jug's daughter, as it was left unclear who the surfer was. Chopper may be about to surprise us with a long lost son, though it does complicate matters naming them the same, D’oh). Other than that, great issue, can’t wait until next week.

WRL: After looking at the cover and wishing that Cam Kennedy had drawn the skysurfers you turn the page and, as if by magic, the master of the sky-board is there. I don’t know why but, for the exact same reasons that my mind says the skysurfers on the cover look wrong, the group of boarders you see as you open the cover seem so right.

What you do notice on the lead boarder is the Chopper symbol is wrong; it’s not a sphere with a smiley face but cute little face with small ears. The Chopper symbol, or a variation of it, skysurfers, Manta Prowl Tanks and the chase was, for me, a great start to Prog 1477 and topped off by being written by the heir apparent, Gordon Rennie. I liked nearly everything about this opening episode, the art, the writing and even the colouring. My only slight niggle is - what are the chances of Dredd’s main writer and creator and his potential replacement coming up with the same name for the child of a Skysurfer?

I’m sure there will be many a theory being developed on message boards and forums to the relevance of the name but it seems that by pure coincidence Wagner & Rennie named both girls Merci & Mercey.

The Shadow Warriors - Book 3 - Part 2

Blackblood revels...

Synopsis: The big battle continues. Steelhorn is once again liquified and runs down a drain. The Reverend marks him down as a confirmed kill. Meanwhile, Mongrol reattaches his head, and Blackblood scores some damage with his 'holocaust bombs', at some cost to the local humans as well as the Shadow Warriors, who are only halted temporarily.

Joe Pineapples tries to find weak spots in the enemy, but fails, and is shot in the head by Dogtag for his troubles; Doc Maniacus adds Joe to the confirmed kill list.

Is there any hope for the 5 remaining warriors and their besieged Human friends?

AF: More mindless fun from Mills and Flint. I'm loving the retro feel of the weapons, dialogue and angst that Mills is bringing to the Warriors at the moment. Shame that the story behind it seems so empty. Why are the Shadow Warriors so superior in armour and weaponry ? If it's just because the plot dictates they must be, I feel a bit cheated. It's interesting to think that Joe Pineapples really could be dead, but if he's 'Atomic, Bacterial and Chemical' warfare proof, wasn't it a given that he's also bullet proof?

Flint's art, of course, is superlative. Fantastically robotic movement to the panel with Joe's final salute – a perfect fusion of O'Neill, McMahon and Bisley, but in a way that Flint's own style shines through. I'd be more up in arms about Joe's death, except I fully expect all the Warriors to 'die' before this story is done.

RH: I'm not really sure what to think here, chaps. The artwork is so good I would say it is Flintastic…but I realise how bad that sounds.

So yeah, apart from the artwork, I don’t really know what else to applaud. The battle scenes were a little lame, not because the ABC’s were thoroughly whupped (though that didn’t really help) but in all honesty, it just wasn’t exciting. The action just didn’t seem tense enough, and it seems as though Pat Mills is still trying to impress us with pointless weaponry and cheap jokes. The only high point I can really point out, besides the artwork, was the ‘Judas Priest!’ remark. Funny. Not great. It is a shame that Hammerstein and crew have somewhat gone downhill, but their antics are becoming somewhat tired. Still, there’s hope yet!

WRL: As with Sláine, I think the Warriors have gone well past their prime. I gave up trying to work out their timeline and how they got to Mars ages ago - the only saving grace is the artwork of Henry Flint, the best art droid bar none. It may be a bold statement considering the people who work on the galaxy's greatest comic, especially with the old droids like Kennedy & Ezquerra consistently turning in great work, but is there any other that can turn in the body of work on so many of Tharg’s key characters and create new ones like the Flintmeister? Dredd, The VCs, Nemesis, Rogue Trooper, Shakara, Low Life and others, no matter what he’s asked to do he makes it his own or surpasses what we’ve seen before and I hope the Yankee dollar doesn’t mean we wont see him return to TGGC in the future.

As I’ve said, I’ve given up trying to work out the bigger picture for the Warriors and now I just read it week by week. The first two episodes of ‘The Shadow Warriors’ have been entertaining enough but if it wasn’t for Henry’s artwork I would probably skip over these 6 pages and I wonder how a story about 7 war droids could register so low on my thrill circuits.

The American Dream - Part 10

Famous last...

Synopsis: The 'God' Watchtower sits chained to a skyscraper looking down over Manhattan, observing. Hearing something below- he takes off...

Meanwhile, the Scientist has kidnapped Jennifer in a fit of jealous rage, claiming to be able to protect her. Malloy and Harris run out to look for her, despite Armstead's warning that to leave the compund during daylight is certain death. As soon as they begin their search, Armstead arrives to help out anyway and is instantly vapourised by Hero, who has swooped down on them, just as Armstead predicted he would.

Malloy and Harris are confronted by Hero...

AF: I got slightly frustrated by the Ten Seconders for a few weeks, when it seemed to be a collection of panels of whining and fighting without much coherence to it. The last two episodes have been great, though: a chance to take stock of who is where, how people feel, and what it is that they're trying to do. And this week, we get another chance to see just how weird and dangerous the 'Gods' can be.

I have to admit that I haven't been a massive fan of Harrison's art on this series. The sense of design is just right, with the grit of an urban war laced through the colour and smoke, but I just don't think he draws people very well. There are at least a few great faces in this episode.

RH: To some this up in one (and justifying) word: Excitement!

Part 10 seems to be running on a Professor/God steals girl, Flying God sees/hear them and secretly alerts Hero, Lots of guns and a death, kind of theme, which along with killer script and artwork, is set to shock all the thrill sensors.

Was very pleased to read this, but saddened to hear the tale will be coming to end shortly. I only hope the end is as exciting as the story has been so far, if not more!

Unfortunately, I can’t find many words that give this prog the respect it deserves, so I think we can all agree to just leave it at ‘Excitement!’

WRL: What can I say - 10 episodes in, I like the art, I’m enjoying the story, and do I have any idea how it’s going to end? No. This may be the shortest comment about a thrill in this weeks Prog but as much as I’m enjoying it also doesn’t provoke me to rant either, which can be no bad thing.

Kawl begins to regret the date..

As Bec and Kawl leave the circus, we meet an even more sinister clown, who appears to have evil intentions for the two slackers...

AF: Having just written that rather disjointed synopsis, I feel obliged to point out that this is a really well constructed 5-page story. Forget how much you may dislike the duo and some of their early adventures, and just look at the comics goodness on show here. Steve Roberts has come a long way, and there's a delightfully thick and fleshy atmosphere in his work now. Great clowns, too.

Bec and Kawl's interplay can get tiresome, but this time we get to see one or other pushed into the background in most panels, giving them both room to breathe and to actually be funny. It's something that comics do better than any other medium – letting two people talk and act at the same time, giving depth to the reading experience. It's not a deep story or anything, but the way it's told draws you in to the silliness going on. And Kawl gets to be genuinely sympathetic for a change, as opposed to annoying. For the first time, I actually care about his feelings and his future. Or maybe I just loved that Batman joke.

Hats off to Spurrier and Roberts for a great mix of storytelling and characterisation. With clowns!

RH: The Uni stoners are back, and this time, things are looking up for Kawl. Yes, slightly surprised to see Kawl on a date with Bec, I kind of hoped we’d get more issues of him failing miserably after the underwear thief/homosexual mishap a few Bec & Kawls ago. The humour seems to have changed from Harry Potter references to annoying, unpleased girlfriend, and who says change isn’t good? Stop your whining you crazy fanboys! This is good stuff. I especially loved the bit were Kawl thinks parts of the original Batman movie is part of his past due to getting stoned at the cinema. Also! Will Kawl finally land the girl he deserves? (the new girl that is) An educated guess would say no, and that she’s actually the villain behind the whole sordid carnival.

Realising many of you will no doubt disagree with me, I applaud the return of Bec and Kawl. You think I’m the kind of dumbass who is easily entertained by 5 pages a week of pot jokes? You all know me so well!

WRL: Ok, every now and again there must be a thrill that is to some people their guilty pleasure, the thrill that you know others will mock and have a go about. You’ll see threads on message boards, or comments on letters pages about how bad it is and why does Tharg allow such tripe to see print in the Galaxy's Greatest Comic, but I don’t care.

For some people it’s Shako, other’s it may be Death Planet, Ant Wars, Hell Trekkers, Bad City Blue or Witchworld but on my guilty pleasures list, there appears Bec & Kawl.

I can’t put my finger on why. Like many things my thrill circuits either like it or not and I try not to analyse too deeply. Is it the writing of the Spurrier droid or the fact that his sense of humour may be on a par with my own? Is it the comedic artistic ability of the short and very self deprecating Robert’s droid? Whose work I’d like to see given a wider airing or is it just the pairing of the two? Whatever it is I like Bec & Kawl, I don’t mind saying so out loud and I know that I’m not the only one.

There’s a huge number of people who collect their Prog’s from newsagents, don’t know a single other person who reads 2000AD or go on line to talk about it and among those I reckon are the people who with no idea about what others think. Enjoy the stories of Beccy Miller & Jarrod Kawl - long may these two slack arsed students pop up in from time to time to thrill the fans.

New Model Army - Part 1

Rogue states the obvious...

Synopsis: Somewhere on Nu Earth, Rogue stumbles across an old battle site. Norts and Southers have both been killed by a hail of flechettes, which Bagman identifies as being made out of human bone.

They stumble across an strange creature, locked in mortal embrace with a Nort and Souther soldier, all three now dead. Rogue notes that the creature bears a Nort insignia, but even so, ended up as a mutual enemy. It seems that the creature might be some modified human designed by the Norts as an ultimate warrior. Suddenly, more bones flechettes rain down, and another creature appears out of nowhere and knocks Rogue unconscious.

He wakes up in a strange compound, sans equipment...

AF: A classic 'Rogue gets kidnapped by a side-outfit' opening. Well constructed by Edgington, good use of all the biochips, all boxes ticked really. Nice to see Steve Pugh back, with an almost photographic style that suits Rogue surprisingly well. Solid.

RH: The return of Rogue Trooper was obviously inevitable due to the computer game release, but I don’t think any of us expected anything this…weird. The artwork is very good, but not really right for this story in my opinion, but still good none the less. Great? No. Good? Yes. Well, it seems part 1 has left us with a mystery on our hands, and I’ll be damned if I know what’s going to happen. Still, it's a good saga starter, Great? No. Good? Yes.

The only thing I would change about this really was give the last panel a dialogue box, the ending is pointless unless you look at the smudged sign at the bottom of the page really close. Like. Reeeeeeaaaalllllyyyy close. I exaggerate. But still…

WRL: Liked the story but didn’t like the art, liked the art, didn’t like the art and keep repeating for the five pages that the story covered. I liked the greyscale colouring on some panels but there were far too many panels that I didn’t. I look forward to seeing how the story proceeds but for me the art didn’t fit the story.