2000AD Prog 1576 - 5 March 08

Cover by Cliff Robinson

Robert Frazer: This cover is simple, square and striking. It doesn't particularly excite, so I can't say that it's necessarily "THRILL-POWERED", but rather than try to be gimmicky it's a solid, certain statement which assures you that if you like heroes and monsters, you'll be reliably well-served by the contents.

(Although I must say that it's not a very flattering rendition of Gene Hackman, with the stocky dog-soldier degraded into something like an albino weasel...)

I haven't spoken on the logo redesign yet, and this cover provides with an opportunity to. In short, I'm favourable towards it. The wide banner aspect makes it more familiar to the designs of most other magazines and so it looks more comfortable and natural on the newsagents' shelf. The very fact that it's larger makes it more recognisable. It's also an anchor which aids composition of the cover, ensuring that the main elements will always be kept bold and attractively central.

Sticking the rogue logo in all sorts of odd places may allow for wilder covers, but in the end of the day the cover has to sell the comic and it's counter-productive if the browser can't identify what he's picking up. Overall, the redesign works well.

Robert Cornell : Are widescreen TVs standard on lawmasters now? This kind of thing should be saved up for the celebration progs, and even then, it rarely works. A bad idea, although quite well executed.

Nuked! Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Ian Gibson Colours: Chris Blythe Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Justice Dept standards had relaxed somewhat...

Synopsis: Dredd investigates a series of crime sprees by occupants of Joe Haldeman block. A crime blitz is initiated and they discover Neuro Nukes - banned telepathic parasites which offer people an escape from daily MC1 life. They were banned once the users of the parasites started to lose their minds. Dredd tracks down the nukes to Leon Huff, who was leading a smuggling operation - but started using the merchandise. Dredd catches him in the act and takes him down - bringing him back to the harsh realities of life in Mega City 1...

RF: When the "Next Issue" caption at the end of last week's prog read "nuked!", I was dismayed. Nuclear catastrophe? Again? But enough uranium's been dumped onto Mega-City One to rebuild devastated city blocks out of it?!

The different meaning of "nuked" here, though, happily wrong-foots that perturbing prospect. Instead, bright colours, fantastic creatures and the absence of blood ensures a keener approach to the comic from the very first page.

Gibson's sketchy art won't appeal to all. The front of Dredd's Lawmaster almost looks like a smiling face, and when Huff imagines himself shooting Dredd we see that plastic surgeons evidently offer chin jobs as much as nose jobs! However, he successfully makes squelching snot-balls dramatic with a brief but appealing montage sequence in Trite's apartment. His style in general is an ideal tonic to freshen the palette and be a pleasant difference from MacNeil's largely pedestrian offerings in the previous story.

It's interesting to see how the judge attacked by the Neuro-nuke spreads her legs as she falls - Gibson's a cheeky devil, isn't he?

The dialogue is sharp throughout and helps to energise a script which isn't able to rely on deep plot to hold the reader's interest. There's some good wordplay ("Blubbabus"), Dredd cracks off a fine spark of acerbic wit ("they've got enough padding to cushion the impact"), Lewis's self-commentary is suitably delusional and fantastic, and the denouement in the final panel is a soundly-delivered example of just deserts.

There are a lot of generously-sized caption boxes bulking out this story with information on the nature of the neuro-nuke, which I find interesting and a quite welcome expansion of the background detail to the Dreddverse. I realise that I've said in other reviews that I'm not terribly keen on blunt exposition, but this is a different context. Allowances can be made when you've only six pages and it's sensibly held distinct from the action.

It's a shame that Dredd wasn't slapped with a lime-green jellyfish himself though... it seems a wasted opportunity, even if only for some light slapstick. Dare we imagine what hidden and suppressed desires lurk behind that Lawgiver and visor...?

RC: Block names are usually significant but I don’t get the Joe Haldeman reference. Let’s see, Joe Haldeman wrote The Forever War, which was a big influence of Halo Jones, drawn by Ian Gibson, who drew this week’s episode. Obvious, really.

Perhaps you can tell that I’m struggling to find much to say about this story. It seems like left-overs after the three course meal and jelly desert of recent weeks. The aliens might as well be some new drug. The crazy cits might as well be futsies. Dredd says, “Punk.” (You’re not Dirty Harry of the future now, Joe.) It’s the kind of story that’s been
turning up for decades.

These days it almost seems like I should apologise for it, but I like Ian Gibson’s Gibson-esque artwork.

Rapture Ready Script: Arthur Wyatt Art: Edmund Bagwell Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Religion gone wrong...

Synopsis: Instances of people being snatched up by a blinding light has made people believe that the "rapture" has arrived. However, one woman sees the light for what it really is - extra dimensional parasites. She is found by a man calling himself Gabriel, an immortal who gives her the key to destroying the parasite. She does so - only for Gabriel to tell her that humans will soon be ready for a harvest, and the only reason he stopped the parasite was to pave the way for that...

RF: I know that it's petty of me, but I could never fully acquaint myself with the idea of Future Shocks in colour. As the starting block for new talent, it always seemed to me that they should show the bare bones onto which flesh will later grow.

Idle meanderings about concept aside, Bagwell's art is of a generally high quality. The brown filter which seems to be overlain over every panel is as dull as dishwater, but the level of detail on even background details is superb. I can't fault his anatomy (the tentacle which sweeps up the maw's hapless victims even looks genuine and naturally fleshy) and he does a good job of making a big hole looking dangerous and genuinely threatening.

The monstrous antagonist to "Rapture Ready" is effectively introduced, and the disconnect between the heroine and the rest of the witnesses of the 'rapture' is handled well in what brief space it's allowed. However, Wyatt's script it is dragged down by a number of flaws. We don't learn the heroine's name, which seems clumsy. It's difficult to accept her lack of a name as due to her being an everyman figure when the plot revolves around her precisely being an uncommon sort of human. The hammering in of an Atlantis reference just seems plain contrived, and there is little opportunity to appreciate the twist - which needs a moment for lingering anxiety that we're just not allowed in the final panel.

A fair effort all-round, but one where the art is better than the writing.

RC: A pretty decent story with a nice idea, good set up and very well delivered twist. On the other hand, it’s only a Future Shock.

The Promised Land - Part 11 Script: Dan Abnett Art: Richard Elson Letters: Simon Bowland

Gene prepares for the long walk...

Synopsis: Gene and Leezee escape the farm - the only survivors. He tries to take the tick from her - but the tick warns Gene that she would not survive. He decides to leave it until they find someone who can help. They go walk-around looking for other survivors...

RF: Kingdom's defining traits have been measured, considered understatement and elongated storytelling. While the final destruction of The Promised Land in the previous two parts was a far too abrupt for both my own liking, this final instalment opts for a characteristically low-key epilogue - under a clear, cool, quiet night rather than an explosive finale.

A mood of melancholy prevails in this strip, encouraging quiet, sad reflection as the ash blown from the blazing farmhouses begins to settle. The entreaty of Leezee's tick to Gene is bleak, genuinely bereaved, plaintively wishing to mourn for its brethren. This is an emotion given additional emphasis when we recall from previous strips just how viciously determined these things are to survive. It's astonishing that a sense of pathos might be expressed by these faceless lumps. Indeed, giving the ticks some actual personality has been a singular success for this strip, lifting the plot above the cookie-cutter X-Files staple of a hypnotic parasite.

With two series completed, Gene Hackman seems well-established as an ongoing character. That presents the traditional problems of resetting the scenario, in order to leave the character free and essentially unchanged to allow future adventures to unfold. Dredd encounters this most often, of course - just look at this prog's Dredd. With the repeal of of the mutant laws, an event of great importance has happened in the Mega-City, and yet this week he's back to knocking heads together again, as happy as can be. Alternately, giving Ramone Dexter his legs back has, as we well know, kicked up an almighty stink amongst the readership.

The last pages of Kingdom demonstrate that the same cannot be said of Gene. The ending here forms a beautifully sombre coda to the first series' conclusion. The actions are the same - Gene meditates on the stars as he walks away to the horizon - but the essence is quite different. There, Gene was a great figure in the closing panel, dominating the empty land - now, he's a small figure, almost smothered by the environment rising up around him. There's a twinge of desolation when he says "they named me after the stars", the encompassing cinematic effect of the 'widescreen' panels only further enlarging the enormity of the empty sky.

Leezee says it best, with "my daddy, he told much better stories." The world beyond, from the increased greenery to the inhabitants themselves, is new and terrible and confusing, far beyond the driving mission of scrapping with Them. The certainty and resolve which propelled Gene into the world have drained away. He lingers looking up as if waiting for answers to condense and fall out of the sky above, but they're not forthcoming and only the leaves of the land beneath sweep up and away before him.

Comparing the scenes at the end of each series, we can see that the traumas of discovering The Promised Land have effected a genuine change. When Gene repeats Old Man Gary's tale, his expression is tired - maybe rueful? - as if he's burnt out.

Leaving us now are an odd troupe. A dog-soldier, a young girl and a weird creature: all as different in character as much as they are in size, and yet all seeking a place to go; a purpose to have. I hope that they find it.

RC: This sharp and action-packed adventure story has surpassed the original and has established Gene as one of the most entertaining new characters of recent years. (This seemed unlikely when he first appeared.) Perhaps
the low-key ending was a surprise after all the getting whet of previous weeks but a satisfying one as Gene comes to terms with the dynamics of his unlikely new tribe/family.

So, Abnett can write interesting new worlds with good characters and surprising stories. He should remember that next time he comes to write Sinister Dexter.

England's Glory - Part 11 Script: Ian Edginton Art: D'israeli Letters: Ellie De Ville

Cody comes apart at the seams...

Synopsis: Stickleback returns to the circus only to find everyone dead, and Cody's true demonic form revealed. Cody tells of how a demon took him once he had gone mad and slaughtered his own people while lost in the Sierra Nevadas. The demons were old creatures waiting for their time - and with the last dragon about to be gone - there is nothing to stop them now...

RF: Ah, the ever-dependable Lovecraft... he is to horror as Tolkien is to fantasy. Mix in foetid crypts with regressed peoples, heat to simmering with the fire of elder gods, season liberally with lots and lots of gyrating tentacles, and before you can say "Nylarthotep!" you have your own supernatural mythos. Consequently, the substance of Cody's biography can be seen coming a mile off through a blizzard with heavy crosswinds during the International Balloon Jamboree. Even so, it still retains the reader's interest because of the method of delivery - the voice of a Southern bandit making a great difference from the lettered (and blinkered) reductivist struggling to rationalise the paranormal that's typically the viewpoint for these sorts of stories.

With the plotting pleasant if predictable, D'Israeli's art again shoulders much of the burden for making this strip deliver, and once again he carries the load manfully. Not just in that singular standout panel of Cody the Human Mouth, but in other scenes such as devouring the last walker crew and Cody's withered and wasted appearance in the caverns, are true appallingly magnificent feats of the grotesque. Showing the Chinamen vampires polishing off the last of the walker crews is good attention to detail too.

RC: After a strong start, Stickie lost his way but this is the best episode of England’s Glory so far. Horror needs a victim, even if it’s only a half-naked teenager walking through the haunted woods at night, and Stickleback is obviously the one who should be DOING the nasty stuff, not receiving it. This is all flipped on its head when Cody returns from the dead, again. Now that see the fear in Stickleback’s face, he’s a potential victim. The origin stuff about Cody was a nice touch, too.

I had forgotten what all this was about – some kind of magic crown thingie, apparently – but perhaps we’re going to get a proper climax rather than yet another zombie punch-up.

Do I even have to say how good D’Isreali’s artwork is? I do? Well, it’s superb.

The Glum Affair - Part 11 Script: John Wagner Art: Carlos Ezquerra Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Alpha changes professions...

Synopsis: Alpha and Sternhammer break into a party and corner the pathologist for the Milton Keynes Mutant ghetto. They force him to reveal documents that prove that Glum was innocent and that the police officer Glum was accused of killing had actually been killed by a ricochet. They bring it to the First Lord who decides to pardon Glum. However, he cannot be so lenient to Alpha and Sternhammer - and he bans them from entering New Britain ever again. Alpha and Sternhammer return to the Doghouse - looking for a much easier job...

RF: I can't say that I wasn't expecting this. Similarly to how we knew that there was sordidity lurking behind the pristine facade in the Dredd tale "The Secret of Mutant Camp Five", we could take it as very much a given that there was more than met the eye to Glum's conviction by the very fact that it was an open-shut matter.

That's all plot threads neatly tied up, then and, while I know that I've made it clear before now that I can't abide the character of Billy Glum, it's more than my antipathy which feels that he's got off very lightly. Even if he wasn't responsible for the actual death, the fact that he thought he did and was so unrepentant about shows plain intent to kill. His official exoneration doesn't endear me to him any further. The fact that he missed makes him seem incompetent as well as rotten, and there's a part of me that wishes that the miserable toerag got locked up for something at least.

Billy aside, though, the strip works well. The infiltration of the party is straightforwardly but cleanly handled, and Ezquerra demonstrates that he can show as much diversity in human build and expression as he can in aliens. There's also a nice exchange of knowing smiles between the First Lord and Alpha in the last panels of the fourth page which is a great demonstration of their rapport. The design of the Strontium Dog in the foreground when Alpha's and Sternhammer's warrants are torn up recalls that of Faceache, and so neatly illustrates all of the frustrated ambitions of the bounty hunters surrounding them!

The weird, wild and wonderful names of the contract offered to our Search/Destroy duo in the last panels is an entertaining piece of levity, and a promise of a return just like old times.

RC: This story has been going on forever and I honestly can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed a John Wagner story less. Usually I would be talking about his “lean storytelling” but this could have ended a month ago and still
been too long. The final episode unconvincingly gets Johnny out of the deep, brown stuff with some detective work and friends in high places.“Vhy ve haf not done this in the first place, Old Cucumber,” says Wulf,“I don’t haf long to live, you know.”

RF: The most salient elements of this strip are the endings to both Kingdom and Strontium Dog. Johnny Alpha's adventure has come to its end, settling down in the warm groove left back where it had begun, while the journey of Gene Hackman continues ever on down an unknown road, and so is the one which holds more promise.

Best Story: Kingdom

RC: In the last Prog I reviewed, Kingdom, Stickleback and Glum were just getting started, (“old-fashioned but in a good way, shaping up to be a worthy sequel… Stickleback is a fascinating character… The kind of disposable action strip that Wagner and Ezquerra could knock off in their sleep...”) which leaves me feeling that the New Year line-up
contained some good stuff but has dragged on for too long. I’m looking forward to some fresh blood next prog.

Best Story: Kingdom