2000AD 1551 - 22 August 07

Cover by Clint Langley

Daniel Payne: This is not a brilliant cover. Clint Langley's fans will presumably enjoy it, but it is unlikely to leap off the newsagent's shelf at anyone else. The predominance of mud colours are not ideal for cover artwork, and the decision to use a black and dark green logo does nothing to improve the situation.

Pete McCosh : Lovely work from Clint Langley, but I really don’t think this should be on the cover of a readily available periodical. 

It should be on 100ft tall billboards across the land! 

The ongoing series of ABC Warriors covers is ridiculously good. Only a churl could fail to be moved by the sight of Blackblood raising a cop of flaming oil to the reader as he gets to at least act out his fondest desire of blowing Hammerstein’s smug positronic brains clean out of his stupid-looking head. And the old chestnut of pretending the blood is oil means no newsagent can complain about it unless they’re going to ban car magazines.

Time's Squared Script: Ian Edginton Art: D'israeli Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Another perp slips thorugh Dredd's grasp...

Synopsis: Herbert George Sewell, a time traveller that Dredd has encountered before has escaped from his iso cube. Sewell has been freed by his future selves and they go back through time to kill Dredd before he can arrest them. However, as they travel into Dredd's past, they see that they cannot kill him without putting many lives at risk. Eventually, they go back to the time when the original Sewell arrived and prevent him from meeting Dredd - sending him back to his own time unscathed. The future selves somehow still exist and go off to find a tea shop...

Daniel Payne: In what appears to be the final instalment of Ian Edginton and D'Israeli's time traveller's visit to Dredd's world, the creative duo further reinforce the impression that they can scarcely put a foot wrong when they join forces for 2000AD. This story caps off the arc succinctly, and takes readers though a pleasing retrospective of some of Dredd's past exploits. Disraeli's artistic tributes to the classic stories are charming, and his work in general shows great character as usual. Meanwhile, Edginton's script exhibits the rare quality of genuine wit.

Let us hope that their partnership continues to yield work of this standard. 

PMcC: The recurring misadventures of Edginton & D’Israeli’s Victorian time traveller come to a reasonable conclusion, although there is the distinct whiff of more to come. Dredd quickly gets the newcomers – and those of us who can’t remember the details of every story from the last five years – up to speed with the back story before we get to the main event. This sequence of stories really hasn’t done much for me and, while it does manage to wrap things up in Time Twistery enough fashion, this latest instalment is no better than the others. 

Now, I love D’Israeli. He’s one of the very best artists on Tharg’s speed-dial these days. Leviathan, Xtnct, Stickleback: every one a new approach and a joy to look at. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to draw Dredd. Everything else here is good enough. The cityscapes, the temporal infundibulum, the “perp” shirts, even The Goodies’ Trandem and the artist clearly had a whale of a time doing his own little mini-series of “Great Moments in Thrill Power.” There’s something indefinably wrong with his Dredd: whether it’s the chin that looks like a an old sock filled with lumpy custard or the helmet that appears to float half an inch above his head I just cant’ say. 

Finally, the Dr Who stuff just irritated me. From two such talented creators I expect far more from their next Dredd outing. Perhaps they could start with something better than simply transplanting a leftover idea from their other projects into MC1. 

Ashes - Part 1 Script: Gordon Rennie Art: Dom Reardon Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Clearly a real bastard...

Synopsis: During the funeral of Professor Brand (killed by Mike Ness), Ethan Kostabi arrives to take control of the group, joined by Sir Alex Nestor. They are told that Magister has escaped and that they are to stop him. Meanwhile, Magister is heading to Glasgow, leaving death and destruction in his wake...

DP: Caballistics followers will be relieved to see the return of the series, as this is its first appearance in the comic for well over a year. Judging by the opening episode, their patience will be justly rewarded. Dom Reardon's work shines as brightly as ever, and stands as a glowing example of why black and white strip deserves a place in the galaxy's greatest comic. Gordon Rennie writes dialogue well, but his stories are too often uninspiring. Fortunately this does not seem to be a problem here, as we bear witness to the return of an extremely interesting character, briefly introduced to us in prog 2005. 

PMcC: Hard to believe it’s been a year and a half since the last series of Caballistics, but it already looks like it was worth the wait. As the directors of gangster films know, a funeral is the perfect situation for all the players to get together and remind us what’s going on. It’s a real testament to the strength of the series and Rennie’s deft touch, in an episode so heavy on set up and crowded with returning characters, each of the team gets a panel or two that feels just right. Of course, the story would be much reduced were it not paired with Dom Reardon’s supremely atmospheric drawings which do so much to create the sinister atmosphere. Frankly, he could draw every story in the Prog and my only complaint would be that he didn’t do the cover! 

It’s no secret that Cabs is heading towards a finale and, with the convergence of so many of the cast in these five pages, Magister’s wry “Still, not far to go now.”  might be even nearer the truth than I’d thought. It looks like being a bloody, fantastic (comma optional) rollercoaster ride to the finish and I’m already salivating at the thought of legions of Glaswegian neds dying hideously at the hands of all and sundry.

The Volgan War - Vol 2, Ep 1 Script: Pat Mills Art: Clint Langley Letters: Simon Bowland

Blackblood gets a new trinket...

Synopsis: The Hammersteins surrender to Blackblood as they know he will not kill the humans if they do. Blackblood destroys the surrendering Hammersteins and also kills the head of the Special Forces, as an exception in the Geneva Convention allows him to. Volkhan contacts Blackblood and tells him to stop a group of BEAR robots, led by Zippo, who are helping some officers to escape...

DP: Clint Langley's art divides readers' opinions as much as almost any other work in 2000AD at the moment (unfortunately this reviewer sits on the side of the divide that cannot stand it.) However, Langley does not even come close to the controversy surrounding Pat Mills, who has certainly been the subject of more vitriol than anyone in the comic's history. Some readers make it their business to berate everything he does, while others merely hold his work in deep suspicion and mutter that his early writing was much better. Hence the unfairly negative reception of stories like Greysuit – which was a wholly enjoyable read, despite the unconvincing science. 

The current A.B.C. Warriors tale has several interesting leads so far, and Mills continues to bring life to these great characters – not least Blackblood, who is probably the most consistently amusing figure in 2000AD's line up. The anti-war polemic, on the other hand, is not a resounding success. Time will prove whether this is a worthwhile adventure, although many will find the artwork too troublesome to bother finding out. 

AC: Not much happening this week, but doing so beautifully. Blackblood’s war memoirs were the ones I was most looking forward to. So far, while stuff like Eyepods and so forth are cringeworthy, the lovable traitor’s characteristic distaste for honour and decency and love of tortuous jokes certainly hasn’t disappointed. The thing that intrigues me here is: given that Zippo has turned up to pull each of the other Warriors’ fat out of the fire, how is he going to get on with General Blackblood who is clearly intent on murdering everyone in his care? 

The initial buzz of seeing Langley’s vision of the Warriors has worn off now and I simply expect the same level of excellence each week. All the criticisms about stock poses and lack of facial expressions melt away when he’s drawing robots rather people. Sadly, this episode didn’t feature one of the really jaw-dropping splash pages that have so impressed, but I was particularly tickled by the background details showing the treatment meted out to those massacred Hammersteins.

The Harrowers - Part 2 Script: Ian Edginton Art: Simon Davis Letters: Ellie De Ville

Except none of them actually seem to wear grey...

Synopsis: Harry and Sara are taken into custody by special forces, who tell then that they need their help. They leader Lt Colonel Carmody tells them that they fought to stop a Trans D Gatekeeper in another prison before he could form a brindgehead - and now they are going to take the fight to them. They are attacked in their helicopter by flying aliens, but Harry beats them back as they arrive at a secret military base...

DP: It is doubtful that Stone Island will be the story that many readers turn to first when they pick up this week's prog. In a fairly generic man-versus-aliens knockabout, Edginton does not exhibit the same quality here as elsewhere in the comic. Simon Davis is a talented artist with a highly distinctive style, but he requires a more compelling script than this to release his potential. Consequently, the strip tends to fall rather flat – all the more so, in fact, for Davis' insistence on filling every page with a grey wash. 

PMcC: First Detonator X. Now this. Or was it the other way round? Either way, it seems that “Trans-D” portals are the new Alternative Victorian Britain in Ian Edginton’s life. Very much on the fence with this one. As we all know, the first series started off okay and ended up pure gash. This one’s started off mediocre and I think we’ll only be able to tell which way it’s going once they get down that rabbit hole. So far everything seems very by-the-numbers: Harry’s smart-mouthed in that very identifiable Edginton way and the army chick spouts some cool sounding military jargon in place of being a character. 

One thing that makes me slightly hopeful is the appearance of a new kind of beastie. Hopefully Mr Davis has been scouring Brother Bertold’s famous bestiary in search of inspiration for a grotesque assortment of bloodthirsty creatures waiting to brutally eviscerate the team of highly trained marines who’re sent into the rift. 

I’m not a massive fan of Davis, but something that did stand out was the infrared targeting beams playing across Billi Octavo’s chest. Not for any weird reason, you understand; I just thought it was a neat touch.

The Hitman's Daughter - Part 1 Script: John Wagner Art: Frazer Irving Letters: Ellie De Ville

There's little worse than a preaching zombie...

Synopsis: In 1992, A Hitman and his daughter Adele are hiding out in Scotland. However, more Button Men find him, apparently joined by Harry Exton. They attack the house where he's staying and kill him - but not before he can hide his daughter in a cupboard. She hears as her father is killed, and at the last shot, someone says says - "and this is from Harry Ex".

DP: If Caballistics fans have been made to wait a long time for their latest dose, then admirers of Button Man must all have grown enormous beards by now. John Wagner and Arthur Ranson last brought Harry Exton to our pages in early 2001; clearly, a character of this calibre is not to be used lightly. Sadly Ranson has reportedly been unwell, and was not able to commit to drawing this fourth instalment of the story. His sublime work will be missed greatly, but it is difficult to think of a better substitute than the excellent Frazer Irving, who replaces him here. 

Each previous chapter has begun slowly and exploded into a gripping classic, and the evidence here suggests that the trend is set to continue. Wagner sets the scene perfectly in this opening episode, with Exton taking part in a casual execution that it certain to have profound consequences – thus exploring the themes that the creators intended for this saga from the outset. Harry will never look the same as when drawn by his creator, but Irving appears to have raised his game for the occasion, and it will be somewhat interesting to see the character taken into the hands of another brilliant artist. Moreover, it is a welcome return for Irving, who has not drawn a strip for the comic since the Shaun of the Dead one-off more than four years ago.

PMcC: Hands up. I’ve only ever read the first Button Man story and I don’t even remember the specifics of that, only that the quality stood out at the time. I mention this because I’m fairly certain there must be things leading up to this story that I’m missing. Thus warned, you may continue. 

A few months ago, Finnigan Sinister partook of a lengthy monologue on the subject of foreshadowing in fiction. John Wagner isn’t the kind of writer who draws attention to what he’s doing in that way, he just gets on and does it. If the events and dialogue of this first page doesn’t have a powerful resonance in ten or twelve weeks time, then I’m be a badger’s nadger.  

Right from the start, Wagner gets us off balance. The automatic assumption (okay, my automatic assumption) was that the eponymous girl was Harry Exton’s daughter but now I’m not so sure. Is the traumatised child we see this week going to hunt down her father’s killers Blanche Tatum style? Will Harry’s guilty conscience lead to him taking her in a la Leon? Is this whole episode a red herring and we’ve yet to meet Harry’s daughter. These two girls may both be following in their father’s footsteps: carrying on the game. Or perhaps they’re destined to get together and get it… Well, I think we can probably rule out that last one! The point being: already I want to read more, to find out what’s going on and have all my suppositions proved wrong as usual. You can’t really ask for much more from a first episode. 

Clearly, the absence of Arthur Ranson from art duties will have an impact on the way this story is perceived and the way it follows on from the others, especially with such a different artist taking over. My point of view is that it’s just as good to see the excellent Mr Irving back in my weekly prog as it would have been to have Ranson continue his saga. To my untrained eye, Fraser’s strengths are his design sense and the use of colour to bring out the mood of a story and here he plays to those strengths rather than going down the road of trying to emulate Ranson’s painstakingly detailed draughtsmanship. The bright sunny palette juxtaposes the ominous tone of the first page before giving way to a maliciously blue night in the woods. Lovely stuff and a great way to finish off a prog.

DP: The first-class Dredd episode could easily have been finest thing on offer in any given prog. However, uncommonly high standards elsewhere deserve the honour this week. The opening episode of Caballistics, Inc. leaves readers with ample reason to be excited, but no one should underrate the importance of the return of one of the 2000ad's greatest characters; Button Man is the best thing in the comic this week, and possibly this year. 

Best Story: Button Man

PMcC: Two below par efforts from last season’s golden boy Edgington let the side down badly but those experienced old hands – The ABC Warriors – steady the nerves before the triumphant returns of Button Man and Caballistics have the crowd going wild. 2000AD is back on top of the league after a Samantha Slade infested summer layoff.

Best Story: Caballistics, Inc. No question.