2000AD Prog 1488 - 17 May 2006
	Judge Dredd (Rennie / Holden) The V.C.s (Abnett / Williams) Lobster Random (Spurrier / Critchlow) Low Life (Williams / Coleby) Nikolai Dante (Morrison / Burns) Cover: Colin MacNeil

Synopsis by Gavin Hanly
1st opinion by Sue Doyle
2nd opinion by Jordan Smith
3rd opinion by Charles Ellis

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

Cover Review

SD: There he is, the big man himself, trying not to let things get too explosive, the perp’s reflection in the knife and the tag line along the blade, absolutely lovely stuff. I missed the list of included strips at the top but realise that this would have detracted from the impact of what is a striking cover by Mr. MacNeil, who certainly does not disappoint. It’s definitely one which will be on my list of best covers for 2006.

JS: I was hoping for more of a Lobster Random cover this prog but Colin MacNeil does a nice enough job on a Dredd cover. If I was new to 2000AD this cover would want me to pick it up just because Dredd looks threatening and you just wonder what could be happening inside. Another thing that could catch your eye is the terrified picture of a perp reflected on Dredd's blade. A very good cover which is now up there with my faves of the year.

CE: The point of the cover is to attract readers and give them an idea about what the title’s about. So here we get a scowling Dredd sticking a knife at us, with the reflection of a screaming perp in it. Now if that doesn’t tell you what 2000AD is about, nothing will! Lovely work by MacNeil.

House of Pain - Part 4

Dredd doesn't concern himself with the Hippocratic oath...

Synopsis: Dredd starts operating on his perp with a view to removing the suicide box while the bomb squad talks him through the job remotely. Dredd decides to interview the perp while working to save time, although he has to avoid certain phrases to prevent the box from exploding. The perp said he was locked up for 6 years and then became a "trustee" for 2 more after he had "repented". The head guy is known as the Warden and is only ever seen wearing a mask, but has to be rich to run the place. The perp doesn't know where it is, as it's somewhere remote and they always get sent off on jobs in a sealed H-lifter. He gives Dredd the location of the transfer point, just before the box finally explodes - taking the perp with it, but not Dredd.

The judges find the H lifter at the transfer point and have picked up rad pollution from the Black Atlantic..

Out in the Atlantic on the House of Pain, an operative is reporting that the snatch squad has not reported in. Their boss, in Mega City 1, considers detonating all the suicide boxes, but instead decides to come to the House of Pain personally. Later Faustus Krush goes to visit the office of his right hand man Robert, but he's gone - and it's clear that Robert is the head of the House of Pain.

SD: I am enjoying what is the longest running story in Dredd for some time. It’s been fast paced and with just enough intrigue, with the underlying feeling of another judge's involvement, to keep me hooked. PJ Holden’s art works well with the script and I particularly liked the facial expressions of the bomb victim and his rendition of Dredd’s helmet which is drawn from all angles throughout the script. It’s not excellent ground breaking Dredd, but it is a good script with very good art.

However, although I’m enjoying this and have liked some of the previous shorter stories from Dredd, I do feel that it’s merely treading water and was very interested to hear that the lead in story to Origins starts in 1500. Perhaps a few teasers or obscure references would help to whet the appetite? I know I’m just not being patient.

JS: Part 4 of The House of Pain is a very nice change indeed. The first thing I noticed was the change of artist which is a good thing seeing as I wasn't too fond of Ian Richardson's work. If PJ has art like this in forthcoming episodes of The 86ers,
that is if he'll be doing it, I'll be even happier with his work than I am right now. I'm a little worried about how he'll draw Guthrie though. I also prefer Eva De La Cruz's colours to Chris Blythe's.

Another good thing this week is the story that seems to be getting somewhere at long last. I'd have never have guessed that The House of Pain would be out in The Black Atlantic. But I am confused about who's behind it all. I'm glad this looks like it's about to wrap up soon though because I don't want to see this head downhill again.

CE: It was a bit jarring to have the art crew suddenly change on us, but I quickly got used to it. The first three pages are a pretty tense and grisly affair with Dredd’s unlicensed surgery and the bomb ticking away, and we get more detail on the House of Pain – and it’s a much more disturbing outfit now you know all the guys working for it were former inmates. The really interesting bit is finding out Krush, who was practically walking around wearing a “Hi! I’m The Bad Guy!” T-shirt, is not running the House of Pain but it seems his loyal aide Robert is. So why is Krush acting so suspicious then?

The real question is how such a large operation as the House of Pain could be operating for years without the Judges noticing until now, but I guess we’re not meant to think about that. So basically we’ve got good writing with plot twists and wonderfully gratuitous nastiness, and art showing bits of exploding perp spattering on Dredd’s helmet. What more could you want?

Part 3 - Warrior Caste

The Hoff lets one off...

Synopsis: Keege is about to be killed by a gun wielding geek , but his attacker is sniped by Tycho.

The attacking Geeks are slaughtering the apologist colony. Hoff gets out his "Holy Moley" gun which sends a subterranean charge right under the landed Geek ship and destroys it. Hoff, Tycho and Keege start their attack but the Geeks have already gotten into the assembly hall.

Ryx and Smith hold them off, outside while Keege heads into the Hall and Kali prepares to bring the ship in to evacuate them. Inside, Keege sees the Loyalist Geeks slaughtering the colony and goes on a killing rage, vaping all the attackers. Keege has a conversation with the last Geek before killing him, telling Smith that all he was saying was a load of Geek anti-human rhetoric, and that the Apologists were worse than humans.

The Apologists have fled - this mission was a failure...

SD: Talking of patience, I have to admit that, on opening my copy of 2000AD a few weeks back and seeing the VC’s on the cover, I was genuinely pleased they had returned. I like Anthony Williams's style especially - the characters chiselled faces, muted tones of the colours and his aliens are excellent. The perspective of the new kid of the block is quite refreshing in a story where there is real tension with the imposing threat of the Polity and the Loyalists scuppering this chance of an allegiance with the Apologists. You get a real sense of futility from the characters and a perception that it is a win or lose situation.

It was a shame that we had to wait so long for the return of this strip but well worth it. I am looking forward to the next instalment.

JS: I may be speaking too soon but every week that comes this is gonna get better and better. It's part 3 and I'm already beginning to get attached to the characters, the art and the story. But do you know what the problem is? I've began collecting 2000AD too late and this is going to be the last book!!

I loved the action this week and didn't expect it to be as violent as it was on the last two pages. There are some flaws with the art, though. The most annoying flaw is that the rain and the gunfire are the same colour making it sometimes difficult to make out the difference. But I'm happy there wasn't so much of this confusion this week around.

The really weird thing this prog was on page 4 though, final panel. Is it me or did Keege seem pretty sad rather than angry when he removed his helmet to talk to the Geek? Other than those few flaws everything seems good and cool.

CE: Well, Books III and IV of the VCs bored the crap out of me, but this one is more interesting with the focus being on trying to make peace with the Geeks rather than killing – although this is the VCs, so we got lots of violence as well. Keege seems to be getting more of a focus in this story, and seeing as he’s the most inherently interesting of the VCs, this is great. He’s been well overdue some focus. His bitter rant at the Loyalist explains why he’s in the VCs in the first place: he just wants to see the Loyalists dead.

Aside from that, this week’s VCs is mainly what you’d expect from the VCs – nice art and the VCs shooting Geeks while using weapons with names like Holy Moley. The one unexpected bit is the Loyalists killing the entire Assembly Hall. You’d have thought the VCs would’ve come in, saved the day, and the grateful Assembly would’ve allied with Earth. But that’s boring, so let’s be glad Abnett’s went down the route of massacring everyone and showing how difficult the VCs mission is going to be. I hope he’s got some more twists up his sleeve though, because the VCs going round from Geek colony to Geek colony and shooting Loyalists is something that could get very dull very quick.

Random plots...

Ms Teak strikes first, giving Random a strong dose of HautE so that he is only concerned with his own brilliance. She frames the whole thing on Random once Ferris wakes up and they get ready to send him into Vacuum. But before they can throw the switch, the door bursts open and Hogg and Pinn reveal themselves...

SD: Another edition of the ‘spumtwisted geriatwit’. You just have to love that description. I always enjoy this strip because even though the main character is a crusty, backstabbing, mutilating, torture loving bastard, you can’t help but like him. The may be because there is not much in the way of moral fibre in the supporting cast, but weird and wonderful are always great and there is real humour in this strip, with the snappy text and Lobster’s advice to children. The script always ensures that the slippery Mr Random always gets away to land himself in another mess but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

The artwork is superb, especially the centre page with the boxes dotted around the main picture of Random and the Joyglyph working their seesaw. Main plus for this strip is there is never any point second guessing because, no matter how much you think you know where it’s going, it always surprises you.

JS: Whoa. The art in the middle pages of this prog was amazing. I initially thought that there seemed to be a bit too much going on but the more I come to look at it, the more I come to like it. Lobster Random himself looks more cool and threatening than ever. The only thing that could be wrong about the art is the darker style to it, seen on the first page and the last two.

Speaking of the last two pages, the second last with Random on HautE was pure class. Had me laughing out loud, it did. The next part of this looks set to be amazing but it kinda hints that it's coming to an end doesn't it?

CE: Critchlow and Spurrier have clearly got to be gulping down large quantities of a very illegal substance. There is no way a sane and sober-minded person could come up with a double-page image like that! It’s absolutely bloody mental, which means it fits it quite well with the story of subconscious torture and lap-dancing being done on a mobster who’s mentally & physically conjoined with a Tyrannosaurus. At this point, you don’t really need the review, you know what Spurrier’s writing is like and at this point you should know whether or not you like that sort of thing. If you do, this week’s Random is going to have you cackling over and over, especially Random getting double-crossed before he can do his double-cross and being too doped up to notice.

And Hogg and Pinn have finally turned up! Once again, what more do you need?

Con Artist- Part 5

Nixon contemplates her future...

Synopsis: Nixon is about to be gunned down when Cracker comes to her rescue. He appears to have fallen for her since their last meeting and warns her that she's more like one of them than a judge these days. They are interrupted as a man wearing a jetpack blasts through the roof and, once going back downstairs they see the convention in chaos. Nixon calls in the judges and warns Cracker that he should consider running before they arrive - and he asks her to come with him. She goes to find Morse instead. She finds him beside the bodies of the Siblings who run the convention. Morse tells her that Blackbird was here. Cracker is behind Nixon with a gun to her head "He's been here all along..."

SD: Well, finally this story is starting to get interesting. I’ve had difficulty with the premise behind the script as I couldn’t see your basic assassin as the Conference going type, but with the introduction of Cracker, his obvious soft spot for our Judge Aimee and the delegates getting a little tense it’s definitely improved. Not sure about the ‘Let me take you away from all of this’ routine as I’ve always thought of Miss Nixon as tough as nails but it’s an interesting slant, especially with her giving him the three minute warning. With Cracker exposed as the King of Killers (I love that tag line) and the delegate list in his hands, this story may well redeem itself in the closing episodes.

As for the art, there are no complaints whatsoever - it is superb. There is a real flow of movement, the inking is great and the odd use of strange perspective gives it added edge.

RH: This is another story that finally seems to be getting somewhere. Although I'm still not fond of the humour, when I think this should be dark and serious, I think it's safe to say that it may just turn out to be OK after all. There still are a few dumb things about this though. For a start - hitmen are actually holding a convention. I mean, what could be more dumber? And how the hell did they manage to make it to the hotel where it's taking place, with all those guns we see on the third page?

And speaking of that scene, that might just be my favourite picture in the whole prog!! And for all those people who think Simon Coleby's art is confusing and weird, you dudes or dudettes have no taste!! I'm very confused about the last page regarding the story though. There is no way Cracker killed The Siblings because he
could never have reached them before Aimee and what would be the point? It's
possible he's Blackbird but Ronson must be the killer, surely?

CE: You know Ronson’s Blackbird, I know Ronson’s Blackbird, the characters know Ronson’s Blackbird. Let’s move on.

While the current Low Life hasn’t been as good as previous stories, it’s picked up with this part. You can’t go wrong with a large panel full of demented hitmen all trying to kill each other in a burning convention hall. The thing interesting me more is that Low Life has finally gone back to its first story and Nixon’s murdering of Farnsworth so the Low Life would remain a crappy, decaying ruin for people like her to live in. I was wondering when we’d get a follow-up to that. Better late than never, I guess. The question is, if Nixon does take Cracker up on his offer, where does the strip go from there? And why wouldn’t she take him up on his offer when we all know she probably would prefer it over being a Wally? Seems like Rob Williams has painted himself in a corner slightly, but I’m sure he’s got a way of resolving it that I haven’t thought of.

Dante sets up some exposition...

• The baron - a Haitian voodoo master
• Gentleman Jack D'arcy - a renegade captain from the Britannia navy
• Scarlett Areteria - a high priestess of the succubi cult
• Sharko - a genetically engineered half human/half great white
• His mother, Katarina, and himself...

Katarina fights the zombie hordes of The Baron, while Dante goes after Areteria. The Baron is killed by Sharko while Katarina burns the zombies, only to be ambushed by D'arcy while, after a quick session in bed, Areteria prepares to kill Dante...

SD: And so it begins - the war of the pirates. I do enjoy a good swashbuckler and this latest caper looks like it will not disappoint. Script wise I like the way the story starts as historical remembrance and then skips between Nikolai’s and his Mother’s success or lack of it, with him, true to form ending up in the nude.

This brings me to what I particularly like about this strip the fact that the art is painted. Admittedly being painted it sometimes loses clarity in the more detailed screens, such as a couple of frames with Katarina fighting off the zombies, and the initial bedroom scene but up close and personal is where it is best and the very last panel shows that when it’s good its down right fantastic. As for Scarlett, she’s all woman and with Nikolai being all man, it will be interesting to see what happens - although you do get a sneaky feeling that it’ll end up being a show down being Mum and son. Perhaps it will surprise.

JS: Last week was a disappointing start. This week has everything to keep everybody of different tastes happy. It has sex vampires, zombies, pirates with guns and swords and of course the all-famous...nudity. What more do you want from a strip? More of the same is the correct answer.

So that's the big highs with the story, what about the art I hear you say? It is yet again brilliant. The lighting on the first page is superb and beautiful, followed by some more lovely art on the pages that follow. The only thing I can see happening is this finishing too quickly and, let's be honest, we don't want that, do we?

CE: So what is Dante’s plan? Is this him finally carrying through with his forced mission to get his mother killed for the Black Dragons, or is up to something devious in an attempt to turn that around? After all, if he does end up as the Pirate King of all the combined gangs, he can probably escape being blackmailed by sheer force of arms. Assuming he doesn’t get offed, of course…

A diverse and interesting group of baddies in a group being used as cannon fodder? We’ve seen this before from Morrison in the last Shakara story, and again in Lobster Random and the recent ABC Warriors – but if the baddies are always going to be this fun and diverse, I’m not complaining! Dante continues to be Dante and get himself into trouble with the ladies; Sharko does us all a favour and kills the Baron so we don’t have to listen to his blabber about tearing down the barriers of death (and I didn’t expect to see one of the pirates be killed off this soon into the story!), and Mrs Dante is at gunpoint. Since I’m sure we’re not going to see her killed by cannon fodder, she’s going to get out of this – quite how, I’ll be interested in seeing.

Plotwise, Dante’s on the move again after the last few filler & recap stories, and hopefully we’ll be getting a nice big Dante story sooner rather than next year. The art… it’s done by John Burns. Everyone knows how good John Burns is (and he draws some great decaying zombies).