Cover by Simon Davis

AC: The same high standard of work from Sinister Dexter’s Simon Davis. It’s a kick-ass action shot, although it tips you off to events within that would have been better left a surprise.

Origins - Part 19 - Army of the Damned Script: John Wagner Art: Carlos Ezquerra Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Dredd and Rico show what they've learned...

Synopsis: Dredd continues with his story as Logan lies ill; he covers the controversy of Judd’s campaign for a clone population. Fargo’s veto of the scheme sees attempts made on his life, and after a final talk with his genetic ‘sons’, he was spirited away in cryo-stasis. The transport however was shot down over the Cursed Earth, and never recovered.

Meanwhile, Snap, Crackle and Pop approach, clad in the uniform of the New Mutant Army, and extract Dredd to show him the ‘goods’. Dredd is escorted, alone, to the encampment of the NMA, where he discovers their leader is none other than Robert L Booth.

AC: Another week of extremely squashed storytelling in the epic that turned out to be a bit of a non-event; otherwise poignant moments in the history of Mega City One and its founding fathers are hammered into wafer thin panels and jarring jump cuts. Top it off with an “I might have known (but didn’t)!” Dredd moment revealing the main antagonist, and with four weeks or so left on the clock, it looks like the cavalry ain’t comin’ after all.

Double Yellow - Part 6 Script: Pat Mills Art: Charlie Adlard Letters: Ellie De Ville

Savage "deals with" Deacon...

Synopsis: Savage goes looking for Noddy, with Deacon baiting him on the phone. He is led into an old junkyard, where he finds Noddy tied up in a wrecked out car. Inevitably, as Savage tries to rescue Noddy they have to contend with the claw and crusher of the junkyard, as Deacon taunts them with details of Tom’s death. Somewhat worse for wear, they survive, and Savage shoots Deacon as he comes to gloat. He presses him for info, learning more about the hit, before killing him. Looking through Deacon’s papers, retrieved from his car, Savage finds a trail leading to hitwoman Martine…

AC: It’s a classic set-up; the old abandoned junkyard, the heavy machinery all around and heroes in peril. It’s done with a lot of panache however, with some eerily competent Pat Mills scripting and stark Adlard monochromes forming the horse-shoe in Savage’s boxing glove. Even a sub-Arnie one-liner as Deacon meets his wonderfully realised death (matter of fact, I’m pretty sure he used “I lied” in Total Recall!) can’t mar this awe inspiring piece of work.

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

Sam was skilled in the art of exposition...

Synopsis: Sam fights it out at the Casino with the cops, interloping robots and an irate gangster’s moll. After this brisk exercise, she goes on to win the poker game with the help of the robotic Five o’ Spades card, who speculates that he was the victim of a random electronic mutation… just before he skips town with the money and fits up Sam for fraud…

AC: So, uh, hey… Hoagy and Stogie were killed last week in a devastating explosion… Samantha is banged up for fraud this week… and it was all engineered by a giant playing card! All in all, I don’t think I could asked more… from a Robo-Hunter finale :D!

A little harsh maybe, (Casino Royal was actually passable stuff) but I hope they have the stones to just let it all lie there. A strong argument is made for its continued presence, “it’s an anthology” and all that, but to my eye its really very mild. The greatest comic insight it had to offer this time around was that Tom Cruise is a bit short, and its ‘augmented’ with a slightly embarrassing brand of smuttiness (see the  cringey Janet Jackson moment this week…).

Hell, if it takes another year and a half to come around, I pro’ly won’t even remember where they left the story…

The Last Thing I do: Part 4 Script: Dan Abnett Art: Simon Davis Letters: Ellie De Ville

Maybach makes new friends...

Synopsis: Maybach receives a frosty welcome at Feasy’s, being thrown into general population. As Apellido plots to extract the banker, Sinister fills his fellow prisoners in on the escape plan. The next day, Apellido’s crew storm Feasy’s, and the cons get ready to make their bid for freedom in the chaos.

AC: The renaissance of Downlode’s finest continues strong, with Abnett and Davis keeping it together in all respects. This is a transitory episode really, the set-up for larger and more frenetic happenings next week, but it’s all played with a cool-headed sophistication and an impressive sense of grit.

Hellfire - Part 6 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Simon Fraser Letters: Annie Parkhouse Colours: Gary Caldwell

Families at war...

Synopsis: Nikolai races across Edinburgh in a bid to save his half-sister from the Tsar’s forces. Lulu exacerbates the situation by unknowingly rucking with brother Konstantin, and instigating a high speed aerial chase. She crashes her ship and is determined to go down fighting until Nikolai appears, catching her off guard… and killing her. Her body falls, and Konstantin (in Lord Protector mode) subtly hints at the extent of his involvement in this family drama. 

AC: I come to you fresh from reading the first volume of Tsar Wars; I’m reading a lot of Dante’s earlier strips for the first time, and it’s becoming ever clearer that the pleasantly whimsical and quaintly rendered Boy’s Own strip I walked in on was a mere blip in the history of a true 2000AD great.

Hellfire concludes with a seismic shock of an episode; a tense and tragic (in the classic, foreordained sense) coda that, as a bonus, also manages to include a high speed cruiser race and super-powered swordfighting, and culminates in the death of one of the aristocracy of Dante’s fictional world; the decadent Lulu Romanov.

You’ll be missed Lu, but you’ll have to forgive us for not taking time to mourn… rather too much else is going on at the mo…

AC: The prog’s in a good place right now, despite some continued disappointments that we’ve had ample time to grow used to. Dante, Savage and Sinister Dexter entertain potentially classic stories in their histories, and are worth the cover price alone. 

Best Story: Nikolai Dante