Cover by Ian Gibson

AF: It's always a pleasure to see Ian Gibson on cover duties. There's something striking about this latest effort. It's not spectacular, but it just works. Something to do with the composition, I think there are points scored also for giving promise to the Five of Spades, the most interesting RoboHunter character to emerge since Winnegan's Fake. The whole thing speaks of gentle Sci-Fi charm, which is one of Tharg's many messages to the world.

MN: I know that some people don't like the sparse backgrounds in Ian Gibson's work (personally I think it gave the art a clean, uncluttered look) but I think it really works here on a cover.  A background here would simply take away from the central image, a nicely composed piece featuring Sam Slade staring straight out at the reader.  Not a contender for cover of the year by any means, but a striking image that does it's job of piquing interest about what's going on inside.  It covers the logo slightly, which always irrationally annoys me, but that's probably more my problem than anyone else's. 

Origins - Part 18 - The Iron Grip Script: John Wagner Art: Carlos Ezquerra Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Dredd and Rico join the party...

Synopsis: Dredd winds up his story, telling of a huge judicial force, which he and Rico were part of, that fought against Booth's loyalist army and took back the White House. Booth escaped, but was recaptured the following year as Justice Department tightened its grip on the city. Booth was sentenced to 100 years suspended animation at Fort Knox (see the Cursed Earth storyline).

His tale over, one of Dredd's judges, Logan, collapses and they have to take his arm off to stop the infection. The storm lets up and they send up a remote to get a signal back to Mega City 1. It's destroyed by a missile - coming from a group that shine the signal to indicate that they're the ones the judges have come to meet. Dredd takes a look and discovers that they're there to meet Snap, Crackle and Pop - the robotic former nursemaids of the formerly suspended Robert Booth (again - see the Cursed Earth).

AF: Well, the history lesson is now presumably wrapped up for this tale, and it's interesting to see that there are still plenty of questions left unanswered, such as what actually happened in the atomic wars, and how the Mega Cities became quite so affluent afterwards. Origins 2, anyone?

This is not to say that the story has been unsatisfying, far from it. However, Wagner has done a great job of bringing us crashing back into the present, so that I for one am more interested to see what will happen to Logan, and look forward to Dredd's reunion with Snap Crackle and Pop. What a fantastic final page (for anyone who's read the Cursed Earth epic, that is).

MN:Judging by the message boards, I'm not alone in thinking that the, seemingly, final flashback episode feels a little rushed.  Not that it isn't very enjoyable still, but the pacing in this prog is certainly ramped up a few notches.  We've gone from a blow-by-blow account of Dredd's early days on the streets, to the great man covering a year in a couple of lines.

To be fair, it makes perfect sense that the capture of Booth, the Armageddon War and the rest of it would be common history that all the Judges knew, whereas at least some of Dredd's reminisces are about the events behind the Events, and his own personal experiences.  The reappearance of Snap, Crackle and Pop didn't mean quite as much for me as it might, as I really don't remember them.  I'm not sure whether I wasn't a reader when the original stories were published, or if I've just forgotten them, but they really didn't ring any bells.  However, older (or should I say more experienced?) readers seem to have reacted well.  Carlos' art continues at a high level of quality, with nice touches like the animal corpse withering away under the rad-storm. 

Double Yellow - Part 5 Script: Pat Mills Art: Charlie Adlard Letters: Ellie De Ville

Savage starts his campaign of revenge...

Synopsis: Bill and his mates surround Darren who tells them he has a grenade in his pocket - but Savage tells him that Noddy switched it with a dud. Darren says he never met the person who ordered Tom's death, the contract was made in a dead letter drop picked up by Deacon. He says he was killed because of some reports he was working on. Savage kills him and heads for the pub.

In the pub, he watches footage of the new president Kransnodon, a good looking man married to a celebrity. Bill tells Noddy he has another job for him tomorrow, and while listening to the chatter of the pub, Bill realises that the compass that Tom gave him has a disc hidden in it.

The next day, Noddy is following Deacon, but is caught out and Deacon pulls a gun...

AF: Well, it's more cold, hard brutality from your man Savage. I'm not quite sure where the story is going at the moment, with Savage seemingly on a pure revenge mission at the moment. Is Mills giving us a painful reminder that the situation he's in is essentially one of despair. Savage can make himself feel a bit better with a bit of killing here and there, but actually affecting the regime? No chance. Still powerful, emotional stuff.

MN:I wasn't a big fan of the previous Savage book.  The Volgs seemed like two-dimensional Nazi knock-offs, where every footslogger was an SS-style nasty piece of work, and the lead character was thoroughly unpleasant.  But, just as I ended up enjoying Kingdom after my interest began to wane around episode four, this story is really starting to grow on me. 

For a start there seem to be more acknowledgements from the supporting cast that Bill Savage is actually a nasty piece of work.  The addition of a Volgan character that isn't a psychopathic rapist would add another twist to the proceedings.  I also seem to be appreciating the story on more levels, perhaps because this arc is a bit less shooty - or at least that's how it seems - than the last.  The standard of Charlie Adlard's art never dipping below excellent doesn't hurt either. 

Casino Royal Script: Alan Grant Art: Ian Gibson Letters: Simon Bowland

Hoagy's last stand?

Synopsis: With the droids invading the casino, all hell breaks loose and the dodgy robo-card tells Sam that she needs to stop the attackers so that they can both walk away with 50 million each. Sam successfully takes out the attacking mafiosos, only to be distracted by Hoagy and Stogie and is knocked to the ground. Tony gets ready to throw a fragmentation grenade at her, only for Hoagy to knock him out of the way. The grenade kills Tony and destroys Hoagy and Stogie in the process. Sam starts a fight with Tony's wife...

AF: This latest outing has been ticking along nicely without setting anything on fire. It's still a little confusing to me why Slade is at the tournament, and why the nifty 5 of Spades has picked her out to help, but no doubt all will be revealed next week. More importantly, what of Hoagy and Stogie? Can they be rebuilt? Would anyone want to? And if they stay dead, then I say top marks to Grant and Gibson for giving them such an appropriate send-off. Both droids come from the classic mould of inept but well-meaning sidekicks who save they day by mistake, usually involving some level of mayhem. So it had to come to this one day, didn't it? 

MN: I always seem to like the more light-hearted of Tharg's tales more a few other people.  It may well be that there's a silent majority that really enjoy the simple fun that episodes of Bek and Kawl, Banzai Battalion, or the lighter Dante stories can bring, but there does seem to be an element of the readership that object to anything comic appearing in their comic (although the cynical would suggest these people call comics mags, graphic fiction, or anything else that means they don't have to say the C-word). 

Anyway, backhanded swipe at an element of the fanbase over, lets carry on with the review.  This run of Robo Hunter has been enjoyable enough, but it's been elevated in the last two progs by the antics of Sam's robotic assistants.  Hoagy is more to the fore in this episode, but it's Carlos' performance against the sewer rats that will stay with me for some time. 

The Last Thing I do: Part 3 Script: Dan Abnett Art: Simon Davis Letters: Ellie De Ville

Kutter makes things good...

Synopsis: Kutter defeats Maybach's guards and leaves him to the police, telling Broadus that the police were already there (when he had, in fact, called them himself).

Elsewhere, Tushman meets with Tracey Weld to get some code clearance data - hidden in a book of Irish verse.

In jail, Sinister is given the book, and hears from Deakus that Maybach is being brought into the prison...

AF: Something about Simon Davis's this week art feels amazingly cinematic. Normally I dislike it when artists leave the background blank too often, but in this case it adds to the tension. Anyway, we're building up gradually to some big to-do or other, with the actual prison break hopefully showing the same excellent mix of drama and comedy Abnett has found of late in this series. And let us not forget how exciting it all is, despite that fact that Dexter isn't seen at all, and Sinister only on the final page. Downlode and its denizens are a true rival to Mega-City 1.

MN:I'm sorry, but Sinister and Dexter should both be taking a dirt nap by now.  The series was treading water for years, and the ending to And Death shall have… was a really brave new direction.  Malone was a wonderful twist, but it didn't take long for Dex to be brought back, and Sinister to slip back into happy-go-lucky mode. 

That said, the story here isn't half bad.  I'm always a big fan of Simon Davis (even when he was doing *shudder* Stone Island) and the scumbag lawyer character is well realised.  If it wasn't a Sin/Dex story, or I could shake the feeling that the two lead characters have run their race, I'd probably be enjoying it even more than I am. 

Hellfire - Part 5 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Simon Fraser Letters: Annie Parkhouse Colours: Gary Caldwell

Dante piles on the charm...

Synopsis: Elena and Dante fight Lulu's demons and Dante wounds Lulu with the huntsman rifle. He tells Lulu that he's seen her mother, who says she's disappointed in her. He tells her there's a way out and that he has a plan (which we don't hear the details of).

Lulu is interested, but at that point, the Lord Protector begins his attack. The Tsar's troops invade and Lulu sets off the facility's self destruct sequence. She escapes to the Lord Protector's position and they begin to fight - she unaware that the Protector is her brother.

AF: I don't have much to say about this week's Dante. It's business as usual, i.e. sterling stuff. Lulu has a different and appropriate facial expression in every panel; for me, that sums up the genius double-act of Fraser and Morrison that give this series so much life.

MN:The end of this story has me worried.  I'm worried because I'm pretty sure that Lulu is going to be a goner next prog.  The fact that I'd be sorry to see as unsympathetic character as Dante's sister get killed off shows just how strong Robbie Morrison's characters are, and when you have a cast this good, good stories are sure to follow.  Add that to Simon Fraser's art - always a personal favourite - and I'm a very happy camper indeed.

AF: An almost perfect prog, much as it has been for the last few weeks. Hard to pick a favourite, so I'll go with my gut...

Best Story: Sinister Dexter

MN: Three good and two very good stories mean that it's a nailed-on thumbs up for this weeks prog.  Dredd is gearing up for the endgame, Savage is winning me over, Robo Hunter is good, clean (if you don't count the swearing) fun, Sin/Dex is enjoyable, even if I'm not into the characters any more, and Dante is on a serious roll.  And there's a letters page! 

Best Story: Nikolai Dante