2000AD Prog 1586 - 14 May 08

Cover by Patrick Goddard and Chris Blythe

Steven Denton: In a word, Rubbish. It’s a poor composition with stiff, badly observed, poorly executed figure work, life less, lacklustre and bellow professional standard. Quite frankly, I hope Patrick Goddard either has a good excuse or is thoroughly ashamed of himself. 

David Page: Bill doing battle with a guy with a camoed pillow on his head. It does nothing for me whatsoever. And I still hate the new layout and logo of the book.

Road Stop - part 5 Script: Gordon Rennie Art: Dave Taylor Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Dredd faces down another monster...

Synopsis: Dredd discovers that the eldsters thought that the creature in the basement was their mother - but it's much more likely that it was a monster that actually ate their mother. Dredd finishes it off, while his bike finishes off the hitwoman trying to make an escape at the same time. In the morning, the storm clears and Dredd escorts the remaining citizens out of the zone...

SD: Gordon Rennie and Dave Taylor came up trumps with this zippy little tale of crazy citizens in a can. At 5 parts it was never going to outstay its welcome. Even if, at times, it feels like there are a few too many threads squeezed in and a few too many villains for any of them to really get any page time, it’s still a good solid and nostalgic reed. Road Stop almost had me asking myself if it was written by Gordon Rennie or T B Grover? You can’t really get much higher praise then that.

The artwork was reasonable throughout with an extremely good use of colour raising it well above your average presentation, excellent work all round.

DP: To tell you the honest truth I am sort of ambivalent about this one. On the one hand Gordon Rennie is actually writing a 2000AD story again (more Caballistics please!) but on the other hand I really want more of the Mutants/Fargo/Maybe storyline. So while this story has been a nice break I really the strip to move back into Wagner territory!

The Guv'nor - Part 10 Script: Pat Mills Art: Patrick Goddard Letters: Ellie De Ville

Savage knifes some steak...

Synopsis: Savage kills Steak Knife as the surveillance blimp crashes. The Volgans kill 100 hostages in response to the attack and this looks like moving the Americans closer to joining the war. Later, the General crashes into the pub looking for Bill - who confirms the General's suspicions that he is Bill Savage. Savage kills him in a firefight.

SD: This latest series of Savage is an all time low for Pat Mills. It seems unconnected with everything that went before and frequently disjointed within itself. Its giant clumsy ham fists constantly smash at the wrong keys and undermine any attempt at political relevance. Its cartoon one dimensional characterisation distances it from any sense of reality and its over earnest po-faced sense of self worth stops it from even being taken in as entertainment.  

As for the art - after a really poor run of covers and strip art that could be considered patchy and lifeless, I really am beginning to wonder if Dylan Teague didn’t bring the lion's share of the talent to the table in the former Goddard/Teague artist/inker partnership.

Savage seems to polarize its audience into love and hate with the battle lines being redrawn after each book. With this one I think it has lost me for good and I would be happy to see the back of it.

DP: Okay I was a fan of the first trilogy of this Savage series but my god has it jumped the shark spectacularly this time round. Who is this Steak Knife person ? Which side is the good side? Why should I care? Thank god this is over with and if it does come back I hope there’s an improvement. Still Defoe’s back soon…that won’t suck will it?

Part 10 Script: John Smith Art: Lee Carter Letters: Simon Bowland

Unther begins surgery...

Synopsis: The Earthlights swarm as Unther starts the healing process of the populace's minds. Meanwhile, Wynter prepares to bomb Caslterigg...

SD: Let’s all join a cult founded on the religious texts of  John Smith. Let's join a cult and then tell Pat Mills and Grant Morrison and Alan Moore and Tom Cruse About it. Let's all go mad and weave together fantasy/sci-fi stories with pagan religion and new age magic. Let's do that, it sounds like fun…

But it’s really boring to read. 

Probably the most clunky thing about the writing in Dead Eyes has been the tendency of any character, no matter who they are, to suddenly blurt out a John Smith caption in conversation, making you acutely aware that any one who isn’t an evil military or establishment type is just a mouth piece for Smith. The art work is nothing special but it’s not actually bad either.

I don’t hate Dead Eyes It’s more the comics equivalent of the natural law party then Scientology. Its harmless and un-engaging and it’s not going to be hard to forget.

Let's not join a cult, it’s a silly thing to do. 

DP: Am I the only person in the world that loves this? It appears so, going by the message boards, which is a bit of a shame as it’s the John Smith craziness that I love so much. I must mention that the art is a bit - err what’s the right word? - "murky" and resembles that period in the 90s when artists appeared to favour the colour brown for some reason. It's nice art, mind you, but its just a bit too "murky".

Make Believe - Part 9 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Shaun Thomas Letters: Ellie De Ville

Harris mulls over his fate...

Synopsis: As Harris and Kane continue their journey,the cult leader is given something by Root which appears to turn him into a God...

SD: The Ten Seconders has suffered greatly from its revolving door of artists and the large space of time between series.

Viewed as an essay on types of comics and their interaction when embodied by characters in a ravaged intellectual landscape, it’s packed full of references and little jokes. Viewed as an action adventure strip, it's cinematic and fast moving even if it’s taken for granted that you will still know who everyone is. If Make Believe had come within living memory of the first series and if it hadn’t had 3 artists I would have probably enjoyed it a lot more. As it is it’s my second favourite strip at the moment by default.  

DP: Ah yes. The story which has gone through as many artists as The Doctor had regenerations in the curse of fatal death. I didn’t like the first series and this second series has taken so long that I’ve completely forgotten the characters. The vertigo parodies don’t help either. Worst story of the week for me.

Part 6 Script: Al Ewing Art: PJ Holden Colours: Eva De La Cruz Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Kolnikov rationalises...

Synopsis: Kolnikov begins his assault on the people he believes are responsible for his condition - in the hope that he will recover from his coma. However, it appears that another party is pulling the strings. Maybe he's not in a coma after all..?

SD: I find myself at a loss for anything to say about Dead Signal. Reality bending is nothing new. Although Dead Signal is fairly well produced and it’s easy to see Al Ewing’s skill with character and words, the plot really isn’t doing anything for me.  

DP: Now here we are the best story of the week. Just when the series was getting over a major twist we are hit with yet another one. Al Ewing is a genius I have yet to read a stinker with his name on it. May he continue his long trend of awesome stories as long as he pens a 2000AD tale. Tharg give Ewing a long-run story!

SD: 2000AD arrives on Saturday and normally I still have at least one strip to read still on Friday. It’s just not must-read at the moment, and not even that high up my to-do list after I have finished Judge Dredd.  

Best Story: Judge Dredd

DP: Dead Signal and Dead Eyes continue on at full steam while the Ten Seconders dies on the vine. Dredd finishes with a shrug and Savage is finally put down! All in all, a pretty half-and-half prog which has just has enough to make me justify putting the cash into it.

Best Story: Dead Signal (though Dead Eyes comes close)