2000AD Prog 1495 - 05 July 2006
	Judge Dredd (Smith / Fraser) Red Seas (Edginton / Yeowell) The V.C.s (Abnett / Williams) London Falling (Spurrier / Garbett) Cover: Anthony Williams

Synopsis by Gavin Hanly
1st opinion by Jordan Smith
2nd opinion by Alex Frith

Summaries and reviews contain spoilers for this issue.

Cover Review

JS: This is an outstanding cover by Anthony Williams. And when I say an
outstanding cover I not only mean that it's a great cover, no, I also mean
that it actually "stands out". If you were an old reader of 2000AD and swore to never pick up another copy but saw this lying on the shelf? You'd probably think "Crap! The VC's is coming to an end!" and immediately grab the copy and buy it, just to see what's happened to them. Have they lived or have they all perished? I bet you'd skip to this first!

As for the fact that it's a great cover I simply mean, "Wow! This was far better than the last cover!" It's got some nice colours of different shades and just look at that VC! Is he dead?" I bet you probably already skipped ahead if you hadn't already read the words, "RIP VCs?"

AF: A fairly straightforward cover choice to honour the last ever episode of the VCs, but when it's done this well it hardly matters. The stench of sunset, death and endings hangs off the Prog, but y'know, in that enticing way.

Sanctuary

Dredd attacked by beastie...

Synopsis: Mikey Tubble reaches a Justice Department Sanctuary Station in the Martha Chesteron memorial Park, telling its AI that something is after him. He's let into the secure "portaloo" styled convenience, but a monster has followed him and starts breaking inside.

Dredd is taking a perp away from the nearby Church, set up by an endowment in Chesterton's will. The priest believes the church is a Sanctuary while Dredd is told to check in on the other Sanctuary currently being attacked. When he gets there, the Sanctuary has been destroyed and Dredd is immediately set upon my the werewolf type monster. Dredd fights off the beast with a boot knife but, after a chase, loses its tracks.

Later, the beast has come to a rest near Chesterton's gravesite and the priest finds it - "oh my poor child...what have they done to you now?"

JS: The first thing that I noticed that PJ Holden's art is again improving since House of Pain and his work on The 86ers. Although I feel that the monster or wolf or mutie or whatever wasn't drawn very well, almost everything else seemed fine to me! Once again Dredd was drawn superbly so I've got absolutely nothing to complain about there.

Now let's talk about the "Park Beast". First of all, could Gordon Rennie came up with a worse name? He's a great writer but what's that for an urban legend? And second look at its face! Doesn't look like something you should be afraid of is it? For a monster it looks kind of puppy-eyed! Otherwise, the story is ace and the Sanctuary Booth is an excellent idea. But I'm afraid disappointment reaches me by the last panel with a hell of a cliffhanger and then two damned words:THE END. Bugger...

AF: When PJ Holden is on art duties, it always strikes me that the tone of the story is not going to be too serious, and with 'Sanctuary' that's absolutely appropriate. It's no instant classic, but this is as fun a Dredd tale as we've seen since, oh, PF. Not that long, then. But fun Dredds should come along this regularly. The 'sanctuary station' is a brilliant concept, Rennie once again showing that he both gets Mega-City 1 and what makes for a good story hook. Also, extended fight scenes with a slavering were-beast - can't go wrong there. I wasn't too convinced by Holden's close-ups, but there are some awesome silhouettes that set the mood, and the sort of storytelling that trots off the page.

The Hollow Land - Part 5

the brothers find something to agree on...

Synopsis: The crew runs from the huge birds but Dancer Snr can't keep up with the pace. Caesar manages to stop one of them with a well placed gunshot, and the other birds stop to attack its corpse, giving them a breather. They head for some tall rocks, and believe they have escaped the birds. Dancer Snr stops to congratulate Caesar on his marksmanship, much to the chagrin of his sons whom he manages to deride along with the compliment. They aren't out of the woods yet as the huge birds have made their way to the top of the rocks - but one of them is speared by a descending Ma' har ship, which lowers its ropes. They have no choice but to climb, and are met by the Empress - Jack's old flame - Isabella.

JS: This is a lot more like it! I've been busy reading the previous parts and have begun to realise how much fun it can be. The reason I didn't enjoy it before is because of the lack in dialogue, which is beginning to disappear, I'm happy to announce. Although I don't have the faintest clue what went on before this story, that doesn't matter a bit to me. All I know for sure is that whoever was looking for this land found it, Jack and his crew went down to explore,and found lots and lots of dinosaurs! I should also mention their escape from the giant chicken things. They're not doing to well with keeping their talking dinosaur friends alive, are they?

But I'm losing myself here with the story, let's discuss the art. I don't understand why some people find this art confusing. Steve Yeowell rules, okay? But only in black and white.

AF: Having just seen the latest 'Pirates of the Caribbean' film, I can confirm that this strip captures much of the film's essence, only without the childishness. This story in particular has had the quality of an extended comedy chase/fight scene. Luckily Yeowell is a strong enough artist to make that work, his ability to provide a sense of scope and scene-setting absolutely spot-on. This episode is another roller-coaster, with a brief interlude for a touch of character development and a couple of jokes. Good, clean, fun.

Part 10 - Last Man Standing

Smith makes his move...

Synopsis: The Naxon pack leader stands over the dead geek and realises something is off. Hoff attacks him, but is almost killed before Smith arrives, pointing a rifle at him. The Naxon uses Hoff as a shield, so Smith goads him into a fight one on one without weapons. The Naxon agrees, but as he gets closer, Smith pulls out a weapon and shoots him. Hoff tells Smith that Keege was disguised as Gaek'rr and gave his life for him. However, the Naxon is not dead and gets into a proper fight with Smith, which Smith ends by putting a knife through its head.

They take Gaek'rr to the conference, where the talks have stalled due to the fear of what the Loyalists are capable of. Gaek'rr arrives with the rest of the VCs - Keege was their only one who died in battle - and goes in to talk the Geeks around. The VCs walk away...

JS: Great. So the first book of The VCs that I read is also my last? Fabulous.

This last part has easily been the best. For a start we have an excellent story and what do you know? - it was Keege who died and I will never forgive Dan Abnett as long as I live. He killed Keege, for the love of god! Keege! Why do writers of comics do such horrible things to their best characters? I still think that Smith dying would have been a better choice. The ending is one of those that can work to great affect, where the reader decides what happens next. This tried so hard to be an epic and but I felt it could have been so much better. I'd have liked to have seen Major Smith's dead buddies as haunting ghosts again. That would have been cool, right? And then he dies!

And as for the art, I don't know about everyone out there, but Anthony Williams provided his best art ever for this conclusion. But I still want to know one answer. What does The VC's stand for? (Ed's note - I believe it's "Vacuum Cleaners - don't ask...)

AF: OK, so the episode title is somewhat misleading since plenty of our heroes survive. Perhaps it refers to the enemy? Much like the Red Seas, this episode runs headlong through fights and character beats in a refreshingly simple way with some glorious work from Williams, who will be sorely missed. There is Real grit and anguish in the face of Smith as he goes through the wringer of violence and grief yet again. And then Abnett treats us to a peach of an ending.

The original VCs strip ended with peace declared with the Geeks in a deeply satisfying but far too simplistic way. Abnett had set up a similar ending in the shape of Gaek'rr, but then allows us to imagine what might happen. The VCs are about war, not peace, and it's fitting that the gateway to a peaceful future is slammed in their faces, and we are left with the cynical feeling that even if the peace talks are successful, it won't be long before the vaping starts again...

(not that this means they should get a new series - we can let the action play out in our own heads thank you very much)

JS: So many great secrets are revealed for the final part of this epic and one that has become one my own personal favourite stories ever! Well, Simon Spurrier's best story this year anyway. This has been a whole lot better than Harry Kipling, Lobster Random and Harry Kipling again! Simon Spurrier definitely put a lot of research into this story - and the last page reveal of the "Monster zap" had me laughing out loud.

I also hope we see more of Lee Garbett who I hear, from his own entry on Wikipedia, is starting a new story with John Smith. Can't wait for that one. More violence I hope.

So London Falling's over, a sequel perhaps?

AF: Over the five weeks of this short story, I've found that the premise behind it - monsters of old back on the rampage - is entertaining enough, but I haven't really engaged with the story. Perhaps there wasn't enough time to establish any kind of motivation for the characters. I could see that Jack liked killing but also loved his family, but didn't see why he ends up valuing one more than the other.

Luckily, Garbett's delicious art has made the story stand out. Gnarly faced bogies and fresh-faced innocents. And much credit to the colourists, who bring the scary atmosphere to life. But then we get a last page reveal at the end of this final episode that proves it's Spurrier's story all along. In retrospect something of an extended 'terror tale', this was nonetheless a fun experiment.