Cover by Boo Cook

JS: Well, it’s a striking image and the composition's fantastic; I particularly like the background of the justice eagle.  However I don’t think Boo Cook was quite the right artist for this cover, his cartoony style means booth looks less than threatening and the entire thing is a bit blue.  Ideally this would’ve gone to someone who could draw it a bit grittier.  In summary, I like Boo Cook’s style and this cover, just not together. 

RH:This is a fantastic cover, and my favourite one as of yet. Very symbolic, and proof that Boo Cook has everything it takes to create fantastic and moving artwork. 

Origins - Part 20 - The Re-making of a President Script: John Wagner Art: Carlos Ezquerra Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Dredd bows down to the President's will...

Synopsis: Dredd is subdued by Booth's followers, as Booth sends men to pick up the rest of the money. Dredd's back-up watches the posse head out as Booth tells Dredd that his rehabilitation (see the Cursed Earth) was a joke, and it didn't take him long to build up a power base. Soon, the posse has picked up the money, abandoned by the judges. However, the judges ambush and tie up some of the local hillbillies and use their clothes as disguises.

Booth shows Dredd the suspended animation capsule that must have been ejected by the escaping judges many years before. It was worshipped by the locals and was a more advanced unit than the one used to keep Booth alive - thus still sustaining Fargo to this day.

As Booth takes Dredd to the courthouse to charge him with treason, the remaining judges have infiltrated the base...

JS: That nine-week gap has made it feel like origins has been going on forever, but now we’re seeing some action to speed us towards the conclusion. 

There's been a lot of speculation about how this’ll wrap up, personally I think it looks like we’re going to see some major follow-up. The revelation that Booth and Fargo are still alive just can’t wrap up in three weeks and I, for one, can’t wait to see what happens.  Origins has gone from a slow burn to boiling point in the last couple of weeks and the only things wrong with it are nitpicks, like how Booth expects to take back America with an army of 5000, and where are they going to spend the money.

Ezquerra’s art is as solid as ever and occasionally brilliant - can’t say fairer than that.

RH: After weeks and weeks of back-story, interludes and other stalling, it seems the story is finally picking up. I'm still unsure as to why Dredd is struggling to fight this mob as he has fought mobs this size many times before. Still, good story and great artwork, Ezquerra has proved that he is the best man for the job and I’m looking forward to seeing much more from him.

Double Yellow - Part 7 Script: Pat Mills Art: Charlie Adlard Letters: Ellie De Ville

Savage, full of festive spirit...

Synopsis: Bill and friends pick up Martine by posing as black cab drivers. They take her to her flat where Savage confirms with her that she seduced Tom and persuaded him to go back to the office where Deacon and Knight tortured and killed him. Martine tries to seduce Savage, who is almost taken in by her so his sister Cassie, who has been following, kills her instead.

Savage returns to see Mr Granville, as he has deduced that Granville set up the hit on Tom. Granville reveals that he is the Head of Disonformation and Psychological Warfare against Terrorism and has been creatng fiction to keep the masses subdued. Outside the shop, government forces are closing in...

JS: Another story rocketing towards its end, Mills has managed to keep this fast, if not accelerating, throughout, and this week is no exception.  His method of storytelling really shines this week as Savage’s surprise at his sister’s rather unsneaky arrival can be excused as he was distracted by Martine in the car and then the houseboat.  Speaking of houseboats, that was a nice subtle homage to Spielberg’s Munich.  Anyway, its rapid, high quality stuff with a distinctly character driven plot.  Someone should make a film of it.

Adlard’s art is superb, 100% suited to this strip and a notch up on his work on savage book 2 which I re-read this week. 

RH: Pretty boring run of the mill action here. The artwork is fast growing old and the script seems a bit drab in comparison with other strips in this prog. The main problem is that, despite ending on a cliff-hanger, nothing really exciting has yet happened. Hopefully, this strip will pick up before the end.  

The Last Thing I do: Part 5 Script: Dan Abnett Art: Simon Davis Letters: Ellie De Ville

Sinister plays dirty...

Synopsis: Ronko, head enforcer of Apellido's mob, and crew infiltrate the prison, killing all the guards. They get ready to blow the doors leading to the cells, but Sinister suddenly opens them all using the code he got from Tushmann. Sinister, Deakus and Billy make a break for it, killing one of Apellido's goons and taking his gun on the way. However, they run into Herman Vermin, who also has a gun...

JS: Hmm, I’m normally a Sinister Dexter fan but this hasn’t been their most exciting outing.  The dialogue is a bit hamstrung by Dexter’s absence, but I salute Abnett for taking the strip out of its comfort zone.  With any luck they’ll be out of Feasey’s next week and the plot can move on.

Simon Davis’s art isn’t quite at its best either. Admittedly, a prison isn’t quite the rich background that Downlode is but he made it a bit more exciting in Stone Island.  He also seems to be going through a slight change of style at the moment, using larger brush strokes and a lot of blue on faces, I’ll be interested to see if its permanent or an experiment.  He might just be pushed for time. 

RH: A great strip! Very exciting stuff, and very different from the ordinary Pulp Fiction-esque action the strip usually offers. My only problem wit this arc is that not enough happens in each prog, I can’t keep waiting a week! This prog has offered so much in the way of story telling that it has quickly become my favourite, and that includes Dredd. 

Drive, He Said Script: Alan Grant Art: Ian Gibson Letters: Simon Bowland

Top Gear of the future...

Synopsis: An archaeologist discovers a long lost tomb in the Amazon desert which appears to have oil flowing out of it. Oil has long been extinct on Earth, but this new find makes Jeramiah Clarke 111, a multi billionnaire, dream for a world full of gas guzzling cars again. He creates a new car and starts drilling for the oil underneath the temple. However, the oil appears to be alive, and is instead the spirit of the Petrolons, who take over the bodies of the people attending the drilling and prepare to take over the world...

JS: A solid effort from Ewing, not up there with some of his other recent efforts, but enjoyable none the less.  It has a distinctly retro feel, with art that could comfortably hide in the 1970s. It's nice to see someone doing this sort of classic pencil work, and Edison George certainly has interesting ideas about page layouts. 

Speaking of Edison George it’s nice to see a completely new name in the prog.  I’ll be interested to see what else he’s got, particularly some coloured work (assuming we see him again, of course).

The Beast of Rudinstein - Part 1 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: John Burns Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Dante works best when the odds are against him...

Synopsis: Dante and Elena return to Rudenstein and reminice about the people they lost in the war. Dante meets with the local preist and tells him that he and Elena have returned to take the town back. Once they have, the Imperial blockade of Rudenstein will end. The priest points them towards the Governor's mansion where Ivan Rothko lives, the crule new governor of Rudenstein. Dante and Elena attack, and Dante kills Rothko in front of the townsfolk. Dante announces that he is in charge of Rudenstein again...

JS: I needn’t say much about the plot, it’s Dante and he’s not doing something daft like fighting giant topless women so it’s going to be good.  The opening two panels certainly made me nostalgic though as Tsar Wars part 4 was one of the first strips I read. 

I was slightly surprised to see John Burns back again, but I’m happy to if he keeps delivering his art at high quality.  Burns seems to have two distinct quality levels on Dante, high quality seen here, and recently in Road of Bones, and low quality as seen in the Amazon story and the later pirate stuff.  I get the impression that he puts the effort in when the scripts are better and it might be worth tharg noticing this, particularly as Simon Fraser has always produced the goods on the less serious strips as well as the serious stuff. 

RH:A lot darker and more intriguing than the previous jolly sex romps of the previous Dante, and definitely a whole lot more interesting. The usual bloody violence, heroic fighting and colourful characters are still there, and yet there is something else too, something more human, and a lot more fun to read.

JS: The run of high quality continues with three excellent stories, one reasonable story and a decent Future Shock.  My only niggle is that I always like at least one new strip in the prog, but the rest of you probably don’t care so I’ll stop typing.

Best Story: Judge Dredd

RH: Despite the depressing lack of story in Savage, and still the ho-hum backdraft in Dredd that has rendered this mega-epic to nothing more than a few months worth of back story with what seems to be some quick violence tacked on the end, this has beena fantastic prog. I haven’t been in this anticipation since Mandroid! 

Best Story: Sinister Dexter