Cover by Simon Davis

SW: I quite like this extreme close up of Savage by Simon Davis. The detail lets you see the artist’s skill, with the brush stokes and colours on intimate display. The Volg logo in his eye ties nicely with the ‘Terror Eyes’ strap line and the kiss curl reminds you that it isn’t the Punisher!

On a whole it’s a good job and a serviceable if not totally memorable cover. That said this issue contains the last episode of ‘Origins’, a series that was trumpeted for many months in advance and ran for half a year including delays. The point is shouldn’t ‘Origins’ be sent off with a grandstanding cover? Of course it should have, and no doubt that was the intention, but with the publishing delays the schedule was clearly knocked off meaning a landmark Dredd bows out somewhat anonymously.

DK:I didn’t really look at the cover, except to see the 2000AD logo and to register that it wasn’t the same Prog I’d bought the week before. What is it? Okay, it’s an extreme close-up of Bill Savage’s right eye. I don’t get nearly as excited about 2000AD covers as I did when I was a nipper; and this one didn’t ‘speak’ to me especially. 

Origins - Part 23 - The Bitter End Script: John Wagner Art: Carlos Ezquerra Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Fargo's dying wish...

Synopsis: Logan is rescued, but badly wounded, and the judges escape with Fargo. Back-up arrives, finally driving the NMA away.

Back in Mega City 1, Logan is being patched up and the teks try to revive Fargo. However, after being in suspension for so long, it is doubtful that he'll last the night. Hershey tells Dredd that Fargo wants to speak to him. Dredd goes in alone and Fargo tells him that they've made a terrible mistake and that the tyranny of the judges has "killed America". He says that only Dredd and Rico (not being aware that Rico is dead) are the only ones who can change things.

Fargo dies and a ceremony is held. Dredd asks Hershey what Fargo told her. She replies that Fargo was happy to see the city in good hands and to keep the faith. Dredd tells her that Fargo told him "pretty much the same."

SW: My duty here is to review this episode of ‘Origins’ but it’s inevitable that the final episode will demand a comment on the enterprise as a whole. I would say the series has been a great exercise in tying up Dredd continuity and setting the agenda for years to come, but as a story in itself it’s left me somewhat underwhelmed. It was good, interesting stuff but at no point did I get really engrossed or excited.

The conclusion sees Dredd fight off the Muties in a couple of pages with the rest of the episode dedicated to an intriguing epilogue that perhaps offers more that ‘Origins’ did in it’s entirety.  Dredd and Hershey both play their cards close to their chests regarding Fargo’s last words, and I sense a division between them may follow.

It was brave to let Fargo die after such a protracted rescue and his words to Dredd with hopefully reverberate around the strip for years to come. With Dredd facing old age it makes sense to shift the focus of the strip and I could see him moving upstairs with perhaps Rico taking on the action and violence side of the family’s affairs.

The publishing delay of six weeks was a dampener on what was to be the comic’s flagship anniversary strip but I am glad they decided to stick with Carlos Ezquerra’s definitive Dredd art, which will no doubt boost the popularity of the collected edition.

I don’t think ‘Origins’ will make many peoples ‘Best Mega-Epic’ list but it will figure high in the ‘Most Important’ one.

DK:It feels like an awesome responsibility, having the opportunity to pronounce upon the closing chapter of Origins, and I don’t feel I can do justice to the task. There are four good set pieces here: Logan survives getting shot to hell, the crew of the rescue ship sees ex-President Booth’s corpse, Judge Fargo comes round – and dies, and we get to see no fewer than fifteen judges standing in Fargo’s honour at his tomb. 

But what of the culmination of an epic, and its implications for the future of Judge Dredd’s world? Well, the epic was kind of bitty. Judges follow a ransom trail, judges fight mutants, judges shelter in a cave while Dredd tells them the backstory, judges fight ex-President Booth, judges rescue Fargo. Nothing wrong with that as a story, but Dredd’s adventure in the present is as small-scale as any routine hotdog run, and his account of events in the past had a tendency toward “and then what happened was…”, with the effect that I never felt transported back to the time the events took place. 

As to the implications of Fargo’s last words: well, should Dredd fix what the judges have done to America’s ideal of freedom, or was Fargo’s just rambling? I don’t think this need have long term repercussions, as there are limits to what Dredd can do to change the system he’s trained and conditioned to uphold. Better the devil you know. 

Double Yellow - Part 10 Script: Pat Mills Art: Charlie Adlard Letters: Ellie De Ville

The citizens are revolting...

Synopsis: Savage manages to stop Royce from beheading the PM on national TV by showing him that London is uprising and there are demos all over the city. Later, on New Year's Day, Trafalgar Square is surrounded by demonstrators. The Volgans prepare to fire, but their guns have been "jarked". The demonstrators surge forward as Savage gets a call from Alison, his American contact. He tells her they "don't need you anymore".

Later, Savage visits the grave of his wife and children and that of his brother. The south of Britain has been liberated although the Volg forces have moved north to add protection to the oil fields, while the PM wes sent to a war crimes tribunal...

SW: The third book of Savage draws to a close this issue with things at last looking good for the downtrodden British people. In his early days Savage lived up to his name, simply blasting the Volgs where he found them, making small gestures of opposition where he could. The skill of Pat Mills reinvention is to show that to win the day  more than a sawn off shot gun is needed.

The political infighting and treachery on show here is great stuff and it’s supplemented with plenty of trademark violence. I never really liked the ‘Who is Bill Savage’ angle but it has worked out well with his dead brother effectively winning the day.

The strip looks fantastic, and is clearly one which benefits from being in black and white. I don’t know if this decision was in tribute to the original or to play to the strengths of Charlie Adlard’s art but it was certainly the right one.

The economy of line and background serves the strip well as it covers a lot of ground and has plenty of dialogue. The resolution was well handled although the ‘blood for oil’ parallels with our contemporary situation was a bit too in-your-face. I know Pat Mills likes his soapbox but he should give us credit and not preach in such an obvious fashion.

The ending seems a natural parting of the ways, and it’s difficult to see what is left for the character now that the Volgs have been effectively beaten. Of course there will always be other enemies both foreign and domestic and I wouldn’t object to another Savaging somewhere down the line.

DK: Despite their flimsy premise, ropey dialogue, manufactured outrage and frequent lapses of logic, all three books of Savage to date have been hugely entertaining. 

Royce Rolls is the worst character to have appeared since the series began. Terrible name, terrible penchant for melodrama, terrible ‘I’m-backing-Britain’ one track mind. Bovril! Elgar! Commuters in bowler hats! The suspense that was built up around the impending execution of the British Prime Minister, ‘Scooty Blair’ or whatever his name is, suddenly deflates like a bouncy castle when Savage shows Rolls the crowds of ordinary people revolting against the Volgan invaders, thanks to Bill’s circulation of Tom Savage’s pamphlet. He didn’t even have to kick Rolls in the teeth or point a gun at him. 

Even so, it was a rousing finale. Charlie Adlard knocks out two marvelous crowd scenes on pages 2 and 3, and it gave me a great sense of relief to see the resistance wiping out the cordon of Volgan soldiers in Trafalgar Square and ultimately, the country divided into Free Britain and a Volgan-occupied zone. The Volgans still have the oil, and no-one is safe under Volgan occupation, but I’m glad a new situation has been set up for future runs of Savage. As for storytelling, it’s admirable that so much ground was covered in this single installment, with the political digs at America and Tony Blair nicely understated. 

Part 2 Script: Ian Edginton Art: Steve Yeowell Art: Chris Blythe Letters: Ellie De Ville

Giant robots - attaaaaack!

Synopsis: A new group of massive robots, the Dominators, attacks a new outbreak of monsters on Mars. One of the robots is hit and crashes to the ground and the others swoop down to defend him. They fail, however, as the robot and its pilot is overcome. The leader of the mission, Colonel Holt, ejects and flees...

SW: This new strip from the ‘Red Seas’ duo of Edginton and Yeowell arrived with a bang last week, unveiling a new world of dinosaurs and robots and a lot of intrigue to boot. This week things tapered off somewhat with the whole episode basically one big scrap. It is good fun though, with the greener throwing dinos seemingly a match for the Detonators. The focus of the strip is not yet clear but hopefully it will amount  to more than a ‘Zulu’ defend the line scenario.

The style of the strip with it’s military sound bites and fantastical hardware is reminiscent of ‘Maniac 5’ a previous outing for Yeowell which was largely disliked. This looks like it will be an improvement not least because Ian Edginton is on the scripting duties.

It’s clearly too early to form a definite opinion on whether the strip has legs, but for now there is enough mystery and mayhem to keep me interested. It will of course need a bit more depth and characterisation, but given the creative talents on board I have no worries that things will soon blossom.

DK: To borrow a catchphrase from the old Saturday morning children’s television show Tiswas, “this is what they want!” – giant robots vs. giant alien dinosaur lizard monsters. But no Detonators this week! Instead we have the curvaceous, less angular and altogether less macho-looking Dominators (let’s hope there’s not a ‘Dominator X’ among their ranks, or things could get a bit tense in the real world!). 

So far, so good. Every Prog should have a story drawn by Steve Yeowell, and Ian Edginton is an ever-reliable script droid (much as I didn’t enjoy Stickleback, but each to their own). Just let’s hurry up and get those Detonator robots into the action. 

One thing I’m wondering though: is it Detonator Ex, or - and my girlfriend seems convinced of it - Dominator Ten? 

The Doctor is In - Part 1 Script: Dan Abnett Art: Simon Coleby Colours: Len O'Grady Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Ramone's last hope...

Synopsis: Having escaped from the jail, Deakus goes his own way, as does Rocky, while Sinister, Billy and Dexter head off to meet someone called "The Surgeon". This is the man how helped Billi and Sinister when they were leaving Downlode and who gave him his old face back when he returned. Dexter seems subdued by the whole idea.

As they arrive at the Surgeon's, he is shocked to see them. He meets with Sinister and Dexter downstairs, as Sinister asks him to look into Dexter's condition, while his assistant calls Apellido from an upstairs room...

SW: The slow rebooting of Sin/Dex continues this week with the newly liberated duo off to find a doctor to look into Ray’s paralysis. It is brave to move the strip away from familiar gunshark territory but I think it’s becoming too much of a soap opera for my liking.

The seemingly endless prison based stories were dull and this quest for a cure doesn’t look live livening things up much either. The attempts to humanise characters that were originally drawn in one dimension is fine, but we do need some thrills along the way.

To be fair it is only the first episode and  the final panel suggests some gun play ahead but I’m finding it hard to care. Simon Coleby’s art is fine but he has little to do apart from constructing the many talking heads who drag the strip along.

The once ‘next big thing’ of 2000AD has stalled badly and I’m not yet convinced that the miracle resurrection was the right way to go. Futuristic hit men in a European Mega-City is a fine scenario, men in a van looking for a doctor isn’t, as the strip amply demonstrates.

DK: Good episode. How Ramone Dexter is going to bounce back, I can’t imagine. How Finnegan Sinister bounced back is a bit of mystery to me also; I presume the surgeon has some revolutionary technique at his disposal that enables the body to re-grow missing chunks blasted out through an exit wound. Maybe stem cells are involved somehow. 

It’s interesting to see how Sinister Dexter can so quickly switch between knockabout comedy and serious action suspense drama. After the fireworks and slaughterhouse slapstick of the prison break, our heroes are back in a situation of deadly jeopardy and desperation. Their fate depends entirely on the co-operation of the Surgeon, whom their worst enemy already has in his back pocket. 

Billy No Mates provides the comic relief: “whaddaye say?” is a perfect feed line for a gag about Tourette syndrome. Simon Coleby’s artwork is far more restrained here than we’ve seen lately on Lowlife, and that can only be a good thing. From a storytelling point of view, it’s far more legible. Having it coloured (by Len O’Grady) helps a great deal too, bringing the characters to life and heightening their distinctiveness. The exploding ambulance on the third page is well served by the extra contrast that colour gives it.

The Beast of Rudinshtein - Part 4 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: John Burns Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Dante the werewolf slayer...

Synopsis: Dante makes a quick visit back to the Imperial Palace to discover that the beast is an Imperial sleeper agent and that it's the priest - Kordev.

Meanwhile, Elena is fighting back Kordev, who has now fully transformed into a huge wolf, and is almost beaten until Viktor and Dante swoop in. Kordev is defeated in battle and killed by Dante.

Afterwards, Dante decides to leave Viktor in peace and vows not to tell the Imperial Palace about his whereabouts...

SW: Dante winds up another short arc in his usual cavalier fashion, with an exciting episode that  has a good battle and some plot advancement.

This isn’t a favourite strip of mine, mainly because most of the extensive back story has been lost to my foggy memory. The extended cast of characters is well handled by Robbie Morrison who deserves credit for moving the story along with the appropriate nods to the action his readers crave. It is a two edged sword in that what makes the strip great is also what holds it back from being universally accepted. There is no way that a floating reader can dip in and know what is happening, just as seasoned
readers like me still wonder ‘Who’s that again?’

The questions raised about Viktor mean that he will definitely return and it will be interesting to see what long term plan Morrison has for the character. Although I do miss out on many of the nuances there is enough to make the strip a welcome addition to the Prog especially when John Burns is on the art duties.

His werewolf did have claws like Wolverine, but his ‘Dantes’ on the penultimate page were great as was the mournful Christ panel which wonderfully commented on the action.

DK: I’m glad Viktor’s not dead. I quite liked him as a character, especially after he apparently ate Octobriana! Otherwise, I can’t be bothered to say much about this four-parter. Two monsters fight it out: one good, and one bad and outnumbered. It’s a bit like a monster-of-the-week episode of Doctor Who. You know: for kids. But with more rape. 

I always enjoy Nikolai Dante, however slight a read it is; and these short story arcs make a welcome change from those long epics that change the world 4 evah. John Burns’s artwork, which suited those epic battles and pirate escapades, seems an unnecessary luxury here, and heavy black inks might easily have created the right atmosphere for this bogeyman hunt. 

SW: Another strong Prog that sees the deck being cleared of three major strips. Next week sees a 12 page Dredd so it’ll be interesting to see the new line up in a fortnight. The Prog has been far stronger than the Megazine for some time now with only the continuing lack of a letters page my only bugbear.

Best Story: Savage

DK: 2000AD is definitely keeping up the good work at the moment. Judge Dredd, Sinister Dexter and Nikolai Dante can’t be accused of having dropped the ball. Detonator X looks like a worthy addition, with a captivating first chapter in Prog 1534, but it’s early days yet.

Savage does its readers proud, with not only a triumphant resolution to book III, but also a worthy epilogue to all three volumes to have seen print thus far. If there was never a book IV, the only tragedy would be in Savage’s capacity for more adventures going undeveloped, and not in the story of the Volgan occupation of Britain going unfinished. 

Best Story: Savage