2000AD Prog 1596 - 23 July 08

Cover by D'Israeli

Charles Ellis: I don’t know about new readers, but this certainly got me interested in finding out what would happen!  

Robert Cornell: I suffer from spoilerphobia, so I went straight to The Vort without looking at the cover. As an illustration of what’s inside, it’s fine. As an image to attract new readers, I can’t see it working.

Blindside - Part 1 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Richard Elson Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Dredd berates...

Synopsis: A block war has erupted between the Ike Clanton and Wyatt Earp blocks, started by a sniper in Clanton. Dredd, along with Cadet Kerrigan are brought in when the sniper is noted as Marsden, an associate of Harry Trask - a judge Killer that Dredd was after. Dredd stops Marsden and discovers that Trask planned the block war as a diversion away from a heist on the Phoenix Tower. Dredd heads to the tower, but Trask sets off an EMP device. As Dredd has bionic eye implants - he is blinded...

CE: When The Incident said Dredd would be investigating Trask, I didn’t think he would actually be running into him – it’s a pleasant surprise to see this come out of nowhere. Of course, the fact we haven’t seen Dredd doing anything about Trask does undermine the “top of my list” rhetoric, but oh well.

Trask himself is a more impressive villain this time round, orchestrating a pretty ambitious scheme, and on re-reading I quite like his big scheme is just an “up yours!” to everyone. And blinding Dredd! That was a surprise, and it’s even more surprising nobody thought of doing this before. Really, this is just the set-up to the real action (blind Dredd and clueless Cadet VS umpteen villains) but it’s an extremely well executed set-up. 

RC: It occurs to me that newer readers might not even know that Judge Dredd is blind. His bionic eyes have been mostly ignored since the unpleasantness with The Mutant. I always like to see one of Wagner’s “understudies” take a minor aspect of the Dredd universe and run with it.

So, a potentially interesting situation is developed but otherwise basic Dredd 101; rookie cadet, block war, dangerous situation, Dredd arrives, things go pear shaped. A good, solid start.

I must damn Elson’s Dredd with faint praise. Tidy, easy to follow, subtle colours. A bit dull.

Brethren of the Night - Part 8 Script: Pat Mills Art: Leigh Gallagher Letters: Ellie De Ville

Zombie gastronomy...

Synopsis: Servitor is at Scotland Yard where he is told that his brother has been put to rest and where he is shown the latest weapons against the zombies - including a huge steam chariot - the Reek Reckoner.

Elsewhere at London-beyond-the-walls, a lady is watching a staged fight between an man and a zombie. However, the zombie soon turns into a flaming zombie and wins the fight until Defoe arrives and kills it. Defoe goes to La Voisin who identifies herself as Countess Maddalena Von Konisberg - also known as Prussian Blue. He wants to bring her in, but she tells him that she has diplomatic immunity and she has a bodyguard - Baroque - who has two tusks and most of his innards replaced with clockwork. As they stand-off - the zombies in the cages for the later fights also become flaming...

CE: Slightly all over the place, and I’m disappointed Defoe hasn’t gone to Scotland Yard to follow up his lead; you’d think the Queen of Zombies operating near the centre of government would get his attention! Except, er, she seems to have gone to London Beyond-The-Wall instead. Bit confusing, though not as confusing as a cyborg bodyguard with giant tusks for no reason… 

Those disappointments aside, there’s still a lot to admire. Pat Mills continues some fun world-building, fleshes out both Servitor and La Voison, and shows us more barmy steampunk zombie-killing gear – all backed up by Gallagher’s art (you all grinned when you saw the Reek Reckoner, admit it!). There’s also the interesting revelation that La Voison is actually a Prussian agent under diplomatic immunity – so we’ve not just got zombies ravaging 17th Century England, they’re zombies controlled by rival foreign military powers. Between this, the Vizards and the background murmurings of manipulative angels and alchemy wars, Pat seems to be quietly setting up something of quite big scope while we all look at the shiny fire-reeks…   

RC: Why settle for zombies when you can have… fire zombies! Anti-zombie gun? Why not anti-zombie machine gun! A body guard with tusks… and clockwork organs! Steam punk zombie horror – kitchen sink style. Defoe himself is almost a stabilising influence.

The best thing about Defoe is that there are so many ideas crammed into it. There’s never a dull moment. And the worst thing is also that there are so many ideas crammed into it. With no pause for thought, some of them get lost in the rush.

This week I loved the zombie fight, the Reek Reckoner and Defoe’s dramatic entrance. Not so keen on the secret society stuff and there are WAY too many characters now.

Gallagher is great with the zombies and the retro-futuristic stuff. It just a shame the seventeenth century was so badly lit. The backgrounds have been coloured in with a black marker pen.

Part 8 Script: G Powell Art: D'Israeli Letters: Simon Bowland

Meridien gets closer to the truth...

Synopsis: Meridien Bless and Crispy are picked up as they leave the atmosphere and dock with a larger craft. Crispy is taken for surgery while Bless develops her photos. However, she noticed that in the photos, all the people seem to have creatures attached to their heads. All except Crispy. her contact calls and tells her that he/she is on the way to collect him with the reward. She asks what Crispy's name is.

Meanwhile, the doctor is repairing all of Crispy's scar tissue, with only a small amount of older wounds irreparable. Bless arrives and tells Crispy his name - Lobster Random...

CE: That’s three times in as many years now that Tharg’s sneaked returning strips under our radar, and I still fall for it! It’s done quite well here too: Crispy being Lob is something that is incredibly obvious in hindsight, and even if you took the revelation out you’d still have had a brilliant seven parts of future-war strip. The downside to the final page, of course, is anyone who started reading after Lob’s last run will be going “who”; luckily there’s still that other mystery of the mystery blobby on-head things to keep them intrigued.  

I hope Meridan Bliss sticks around in the later stories, she’s been a great protagonist (and I’d be interested to see how she’s described in Lob’s narration…). It has been slightly uncomfortable seeing her this battered, but then that’s the point; but god, when you ask D’Israeli “draw the lead looking bruised”, he doesn’t mess about… 

RC: Let’s see… immune to pain, good at torture, serious problem with authority… is it Halo Jones?

The secret of a good twist, I mean a REALLY good twist like this one, is for it to be guessable in retrospect. It was a privilege to be made to feel so thick so deftly.

So, that’s the last two pages dealt with. What about the rest? If it really had been written by a noobie, it would have been a promising start to a career but I don’t think The Vort ever made the most of it’s central premise – the planet without technology where everyone’s driven crazy just be being there – and the Apocalypse Now stuff was strangely uninvolving, despite the intimate (and, now I think about it, very Spurrieresque) first person narration.

D’Isreali certainly draws a mean Lobster Random. Previously, he captured the otherworldliness of The Vort perfectly. I just wish the colouring had been a little less Mardi Gras.

I hope we see more of The Vort in future stories.

The Importance of Fleecing Ernest - Part 2 Script: Dan Abnett Art: Anthony Williams Letters: Ellie De Ville

Dex fails at stealth...

Synopsis: As Sinister takes Trisha to Inker Macho Picchu, Dexter rings Ernest to find out what's going on. However, Ernest does not seem to recognise that they are friends and hangs up. He's then attacked by Ernest's men - but starts shooting back...

CE: Not really much to say on this strip, though I’m hoping that Ray completely fails to kill those guys and sends everything to funt due to his bad aim. Nothing feels like it’s happening this week, though I do quite like the idea of the Mover quietly replacing key figures with his agents without our heroes even knowing. Williams’ art, as always, is superb.  

RC: And here they come, hobbling along on their Zimmer frames, 2000 AD’s answer to “Last of the Summer Wine.” Nothing ever changes Sinister and Dexter. Having his mind wiped didn’t change Sinister. DYING didn’t change Dexter.

Current storylines: Kal Kutter’s revenge, alternative universe take-over of Downlode and Sinister can’t hit an elephant at two paces. Now, that last one sounds quite interesting but for now we get a very minor character buying a fake passport. It seems that they can only concentrate on one thing at a time.

Artwork: passable. I don’t think it matters who draws this any more.

(OK, I’ll confess that the “because he’s an inker” joke nearly made me laugh but I felt ashamed afterwards.)

Amerika - Part 8 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Simon Fraser & Gary Caldwell Letters: Ellie De Ville

Carmen tries out a new look...

Synopsis: As Futura finally reveals himself as a White Army leader, half of Manhattan turn into White Army soldiers - all with the aim of killing Dante and Jena. They manage to escape in a hovercar but run into a ravenwing. Unfortunately, the ravenwing has also been taken over by the White Army - and it shoots them down. They crash in the water...

CE: Foreign extremists are infiltrating a beaten-down, demoralised state occupied by an imperial power, with their men even within the occupation government… Robbie’s continuing to pile on the metaphors and allegories, but if politics aren’t your thing you still get to marvel at our heroes surrounded by an endless horde of alien monsters appearing everywhere.

The White Army never came off to me as that big a deal, but that’s certainly changed – and while it’s a fun and breathtaking six pages, this doesn’t look like the story will have a very nice ending. Still, at least Jena’s talking to Nikolai again, eh? 

RC: In lesser hands, Dante could be repetitive and talky. Each episode starts with Dante in deep trouble and ends with the same. And he’s certainly fond of the sound of his own voice. (Or speech bubbles.)

Fortunately for us Dante is the perfect fusion between writer and character. Amerika is certainly his best adventure since Tsar Wars and has lived up to my (high) expectations with plenty of action, an intriguing storyline and, above all, GREAT dialogue. The interplay between Jena and Nikolai, as they flee the Whites and crash to a fiery death was sublime. Line of the week: “No, I just figured hot-wiring a car wasn’t something they taught at princess school.”

Fraser’s typically dynamic artwork is perfect for an all-action episode like this one. There’s a palpable feeling of speed to the chase.

CE: Despite strong showings from most of the strips, the clear winner is: 

Best Story: The Vort (aloha)

RC: Sinister Dexter aside, a good, action-packed Prog. Top story is a tough call between the wow factor of The Vort and sheer class of Dante.

Best Story: Nikolai Dante