2000AD Prog 1486 - 26 April 2006
	Judge Dredd (Rennie / Richardson) Lobster Random (Spurrier / Critchlow) The V.C.s (Abnett / Williams) Low Life (Williams / Coleby) Cover: Anthony Williams

Synopsis by Gavin Hanly
1st opinion by Gavin Hanly
2nd opinion by Hugh Platt
3rd opinion by Adam Crabtree

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

Cover Review

GH: A strong cover from Anthony Williams to herald the return of the VCs. I still find myself rather unimpressed by his spaceship design, but the main image of the soldiers is decent enough to draw the reader in.

HP: Even if you’d never heard of The V.C.s, the cover leaves you in little doubt that they’re a) macho guys with guns, and b) macho guys with guns…IN SPACE. A very clean and crisp effort from Anthony Williams, it’s very 90’s Starship Troopers, and gives a good feel for the strip inside - accessible but not exceptional.

AC: Excellent work; a hero shot invested with a good mix of light and dark and a grim fatalistic attitude. It takes a lot to make me really take notice of a cover but Anthony Williams has earned my praise… THAT is how good he is.

House of Pain - Part 2

Guthrie stretches the rule book...

Synopsis: Faustus Krush, a billionaire citizen, is given an award by the Chief Judge for his programme to rehabilitate criminals. Later, Krush seems unconcerned with the daily running of his empire and leaves it to his assistant and robot replicas.

Elsewhere, Dredd and Guthrie meet again and discuss the Vint case. A witness saw Vint being abducted, but didn't report it. Guthrie says that it reminds him of something called the House of Pain. Dredd calls up another Wally Squad member, Hollister. She tells him that it's an urban legend among perps - an impossible to escape from prison, where the perps are tortured in order to give up their fellow criminals - who are then added to the House of Pain themselves.

In the House of Pain, someone who resembles Krush is looking over the dismembered Vint - who has had various organs removed while undergoing his torture. If he gives up "Ballan Pryce", he's told he'll get all his body parts back...

GH: There have been some comparisons between this story and the recent "Beating Heart" storyline by Wagner. While there is clearly something different at the heart of each story, there is also something of the same vibe about them. Substitute the House of Pain for the serial killer and you're not left with a strip that has offered too much in the way of ingenuity just yet. Still, there may be plenty more to be gained from the exploitation of the House of Pain theme and, as for Krush, I'm sure that line about the robot replicas isn't a throwaway one.

The return of Guthrie to the streets has been the best thing about this storyline so far, but I can't help but think that it would have gone down better with Giant as the main acting judge in the strip - and using this strip as a continuation of the storyline begun during Guthrie's convalescence. I also can't help but feel that the story would also have had more weight if told from Guthrie's perspective, and that might have helped to push away the feeling of familiarity about the plotline.

As for the art, Ian Richardson, who hasn't been used in 2000AD much before now, turns in a better that average job here. In many ways his art feels similar to Patrick Goddard's (something which may contribute to the likeness between this and Beating Heart). Not bad at all, so far, and an artist who deserves some more commissioning by 2000AD.

HP: Haven’t I read this somewhere before? Rich degenerates hunt and torture perps for their own vigilante amusement, only this time given a 2006-twist with a bit of Hostel thrown in for good measure?

Rennie continues his trawl through the Dredd supporting cast - can Rennie write a multi-parter without a gaggle of extras to take up Dredd's flak? This time it looks like Hollister’s going through the mangle – for a member of the Council of Justice she seems to spent a lot of time on the street. I know people go on about how the story is more about the City than the premier lawman, but it wouldn't hurt to have a bit of more of Dredd and a bit less of his extended “family” once in a while.

Ian Richardson does a sterling job in a headshot-heavy episode. Chris Blythe seems to have given it a lighter, airier feel than some Dredd’s penciled by others. The sunlit corridors of the Krush Foundation contrast superbly with the gloomy squalor of the House of Pain.

Here’s hoping the pace picks up in the coming weeks.

AC: A surprisingly measured tale from Gordon Rennie, whose Dredd work is always sophisticated urban sci-fi. I sense some tension between Dredd and the newly rejuvenated Guthrie, whose cavalier treatment of his new role on the streets is surely a cause for concern. We’re left wondering if the man with the granite chin is feeling a little guilty over what happened to his ally in Blood Trails… This is a fascinating story, and I look forward to seeing how the strands will be brough together by the end.

Random makes friends...

Synopsis:   Following the latest job, the group's boss, the Master Don (AKA Rex Ferris) decides to set up a meeting with Random. After a long journey which Random spends "entertaining" the resident robot, they arrive at a mysterious asteroid base.

Ferris's assistant, Emmanuelle Teak, shows Random around. She shows him the device they're using against the rich - it siphons off the sensations of "wealth, superiority and power", creating Haut-E: concentrated smugness and the most expensive drug in the galaxy.

Random is finally brought in to see Ferris and is told not to stare at his conjoined brother. Finally, Ferris is unveiled as a man attached and hanging underneath the jaw of a T Rex - "Scientists, huh? What can you do?"

GH: It's very hard to take against a strip which has that ending. I found myself staring at the last splash page image thinking "but... but... but... that's just..." with words failing me. But it was clearly very, very funny, and very much in keeping with the tone of the strip.

Critchlow's art, which keeps getting better helps to make an extraordinarily ridiculous page work very well, and i can't wait to see more of Ferris in future episodes. Critchlow's work ion the rest of the episode is also excellent, with the interference and tinted look to the cam feed on the first page being a particularly good touch.

As for the script - Random's chatting up of his Robot companion is priceless, as is the "it sucks" line. Lobster Random, as with much of Spurrier's output, is a strip that takes a little more concentration that others, with the amount of detail that is crammed in, but ends up being the most rewarding one in the prog.

HP: Sweet shitehawk on a skagchuffer, Spurrier has won me over again. I wasn't too impressed by recent Bec'n'Kawl, and Harry Kipling... let's just say I'm holding back judgment. But the Lobster is pushing all the right… bits that need bigger adapters.

Lobster's mechanical fetish drops to new depths when he propositions Piston Charlie. That said, do robots even have genders? Why am I wasting so many words contemplating the semiotics of gay robo-sapian love? Almost on a par with “whurr..click. I’m in” for sick comedy genius.

With Hogg & Pin and a Smiley Masked Bounty Hunter lurking in the wings, Spurrier’s got enough sub-plots to supplement the intergalactic gangster drug-ring for a while yet. A boost to the complexity is a welcome addition to the rather linear (but still superb) Tooth & Claw.

Carl Critchlow’s colouring seems richer than ever, but still features those distinctive subdued hues that are the hallmark of his current work. Top marks as well for the distortion on the edge of Lens’…lens.

And possibly one of the best splash-pages in years, we have the big reveal of the cheekily-named Rex Ferris. Full marks to Tharg and PYE-01 for ensuring it requires a page-turn and keeping it hidden till the last moment. If there’s one thing I like to see on the pages of The Galaxy’s Greatest, it's dinosaurs and dinosaurs…IN SPACE are even better.

AC: 2000AD humour, while typically appreciated (miles and miles of poker faced space drama and hard bitten revisionist cyberpunk would get old with the speed of haste) doesn’t usually raise much more than a chuckle to be fair; comedy isn’t necessarily the calling of these people after all. This week, Lobster Random, a demented space opera flavoured with disparate elements of criminal behaviour, pasta twisted concepts and even prehistory (the final page reveal is a killer) continues to escalate in quality, as it has done since the somewhat cluttered beginning of this tale.

This instalment actually made me guffaw out loud once or twice, almost as much in disbelief at the audacious nature of what was playing out on the page as in good humour; the central conceit of liquid smugness for example. If the Spurrier droid could just cut down on the rather dense narration and the tendency to just squeeeeze every wacko concept and joke into such tiny spaces, this could be quite perfect.

Part 1 - Mail Call

The Hoff joins the VCs but leaves KITT behind...

Synopsis: Continues from the last series. James Earl Carter (AKA Hoff) has just joined the VCs. His first turret drill does not go well, with the turret slow to activate. He isn't particularly appreciated by the other VCs and even the other new recruit, Tycho, hates him.

The battlecruiser he is on is trying to meet up with Geek Apologists (as opposed to the Hardliners) as an effort to get allies against the Polity. Hoff is introduced to Smith (who still talks to his dead comrades) but Smith is left unimpressed by the new recruit and even Keege makes no attempt to befriend him.

The next day, they take a ship out and are attacked by Geeks. Hoff's turret again takes an age to start up but he finally manages to make a kill. They land on the planet, suit up, and get ready to meet some Geeks...

GH: So we come to the alleged final book of the VCs, and things start off with a somewhat understated episode. This takes the path that I felt this issues's Dredd story should have taken - i.e. tell the whole story from the eyes of a supporting character to help get a different perspective and shake things up a little.

This also helps give us a much needed reintroduction to the plan that the VCs are undertaking - mainly that they're trying to make friends with the Geeks so that they can both go up against the Polity. However, you have to do a fair bit of digging to uncover that vital bit of info and I can't help but feel that the scene with Major Smith and Hoff could have been an ideal time to get us back up to speed with the storyline, rather that sifting through Hoff's letters home. This is something that I think 2000AD needs to improve on. Picking up where things have left off after almost a year's wait can be quite jarring. A one page summary, or at least dedicating the Nerve Centre to a catch up, is not a bad idea when carrying on with an ongoing storyline after such a long gap (the update referred to in this week's Nerve Centre just isn't enough).

In the art area, Williams continues to improve and has made this story his own, now that the rather unavoidable memory of Henry Flint's art on the series has faded. Williams is at his best when depicting human/character scenes, however, and just doesn't seems to cut it when it comes to the space-set action scenes. The scene were Hoff finally takes the shot, for instance, is more than a little unclear and I had to scan it a couple of times before working out what was going on. Still, he seems to have got the hang of computer colouring after his earlier efforts proved a little too much, and it's now a pleasure to have him on art duties.

HP: The double-length opener for this series carries on the strengths of the last series - take them away from the samey-looking battle locations and there's actually some interesting story going on here. The form of Hoff's letter allows a good amount of catch-up and exposition for anyone who missed the previous three series, as well as introducing two new faces to the line-up - although what impact Hoff and Tycho will be able to have in the last quarter of the overall story is anyone's guess.

Okay, so the letter writing scene is lifted from any one of a dozen war movies you could care to name. But comics are an inherently derivative medium, after all.

There’s a real feeling of Opressed Weedy Guy vibrating off the page. With everyone except Keege getting right in Hoff’s rookie face, it’s the comic book-equivalent of a solid hazing.

Anthony Williams keeps it clean and suitably claustrophobic, although the action felt safe and a little cluttered. And who knew there was so many variations of “grim and angry” when it came to doing faces?

AC: Ahh, after five weeks the 86ers has sloped off, and already I find myself unable to remember what the plot of Touchdown was (serously; I’m getting something about some alien crypt and black ops training re-emerging in the heroine but it’s an incomplete picture). What was most remarkable about it was just how little actual flying got done, considering the strip revolved around a squadron of eponymous fighter pilots, the lead character is a fighter pilot, and there’s a general fighter plot theme.

Well, no more. Dan Abnett’s VCs comes into the picture, and it’s the first complete saga I’ll see through as a 2000AD reader (one year anniversary hoving into view). The battle against the nefarious Polity flares up and our heroes (a decidedly prickly but oddly appealing bunch) go out to make friends with former enemies the Geeks so that they might better bring the hurt. We get more space based action in this bumper 10 page opener than in the past five weeks, mixed up with a clever introduction session to the crew for newcomers (exemplary for all thrills returning after a long absence) and unforced grit and wit (too many strive for dark humour and fail in this mag). Here’s to the rest of the journey.

Con Artist- Part 3

Aimee starts to fall apart...

Synopsis: Nixon and Morse are called up on stage to demonstrate how to kill the man hanging there, begging for his life. Morse takes up the knife and looks like he's about to make the kill when Nixon steps in and tells him he's about to miss the artery, and that he promised that the next time they killed, it would be together. She drags him away as the trussed up man, a volunteer too, complains that Morse actually looked ready to kill.

Outside, she threatens Morse, telling him to be more careful and not call her Judge Nixon, but there's still something slightly wrong with Morse who seems determined to prove himself.

Nixon then gets a panic attack and has to run for cover. She finds a movie theatre and starts watching snuff movies, just as someone approaches her, tells her she's enjoying it and calls her "judge". She recognises him as "Cracker" and punches him, running out of the theatre.

Elsewhere in the conference, Homicide falls off the balcony, dead, with a note "the best?" taped to him. "Looks like Blackbird made it after all!"

GH: I'm not too sure what to make of this latest outing of undercover judge, Aimee Nixon. In the positive sense, I like that there are a lot of plot strands being dropped, from potential secrets about Aimee's past, through Morse's real agenda, the mysterious Cracker and also just who is Blackbird? The jovial take on the comic con is also quite amusing, especially the slaughter tutorial this week. The reveal that it's only a non violent demonstration handily answers the question I had last week when I didn't understand how they could do this if killing was banned at the con.

So there's much to unravel here but, at the same time, I'd like to see a bit more guidance in next week's issue, as we haven't really seen Nixon get anywhere with her case yet, or even work out what she's going to do at the con. Perhaps it's this lack of purpose to Nixon's role that is slightly dragging down the strip. It's still highly enjoyable in many ways, don't get me wrong, but I feel it's yet another strip that needs a bit of a shove to get it moving.

Coleby, in the meantime, turns in another excellent and atmospheric job - even though the film show section had me totally confused and could have done with some better differentiation, as I thought it might be Aimee flashbacking...

HP: Con Artist has so far been the dullest tale that Rob Williams has knocked out with his Wally Squad protagonists. Is there anyone reading this who doesn't know who blackbird is yet? Could it be signposted any more obviously?

As for the convention schtick, it's all very funny if you've ever been and immersed yourself in it, but I'm already finding them too self-referential and grating.

The only thing that mildly peaks my interest is the re-appearance of Cracker, from Aimee Nixon's first jaunt in the pages of the prog. It remains to be seen if he gets any kind of character beyond that of “slightly creepy guy with not much hair”. Perhaps this won't just be a bad throw-away comedic interlude for Low Life after all.

Simon Coleby's work captures the frenetic pace of Aimee’s panic attack, even if it took me a good few minutes to get what the message of the film screening was all about. Nixon’s childhood trauma and the low-rent convention jokes just don’t juxtapose very well together.

AC: Unfalteringly competent scripting from yon Williams droid, coupled with moody, draconian black and white visuals (whose stuff is growing on me more than it has before; I’m beginning to appreciate the somewhat slimy looking individuals in his art world, with the decidedly unslimy Aimee Nixon not being so bad either). Typical Mega City One humour abounds, with a pastiche of the convention culture being pulled off with great panache. Judge Nixon herself is a compelling focal point; you might think such a consistently hostile character might get a little boring (like a lot of teenage emos tend to do), but oddly enough the few moments of real feeling are worth putting up with the rest for.