2000AD Prog 1578 - 19 March 08

Cover by Simon Davis

John Amans: Biohazard with a bloody hand print. Stark, simple yet very effective, almost made me think the story associated with the cover was the same! Boy was I wrong, still good cover though.

Adam Crabtree: Oh good. A handprint.

...Regrets - Part 2 Script: John Wagner Art: Nick Dyer Colours: Chris Blythe Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Dredd wrings out the "truth"...

JA: After the first part of Regrets I thought “good story, don’t like the art!”
Nick Dyer's art was just a little too “cartoony” and didn’t have a real person feel like some of the other Dredd artists. So by the second week I’ve sort of lost my dislike of the art as the story has grabbed my attention making the art seen unimportant.

We really have been spoilt for the last 12 months as most Dredd stories have been top notch with so many good plot and story developments. Regrets is more of the same. We have Total War, the Fargos, anti-mutant paranoia all wrapped up in a cracking story.

Who cares the art isn’t that lifelike, the story is, and sometimes that is what matters most.

AC: There's something of a ballad playing in the background to this charged hostage drama. From the unconventional title ("...Regrets", as spelled here) to the uneasy transition made by the Fargo clan into MC-1's high life, and the simple, poetic way that Dredd is kept from his relatives by circumstance. Never a strip, or a writer to lend itself to sentiment, the tersely uttered "regrets" is as far as it goes. The reader can hang their own hat on this one in terms of the tale's real emotion.

The "A" plotline is a doozy too, complete with sustained story arcs (it's almost like a serial these days, and all the more involving for it), and a welcome bit of quirkiness in the automated 'snooper' device. The stylish art by Nick Dyer helps the reader invest in proceedings that little bit more; don't know about you but I'd take an iconic, individual approach like Dyer's over plain utility and function anyday.

Make Believe - Part 1 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Dom Reardon Letters: Ellie De Ville

Left out for dinner...

JA: What the hell is going on part 1!

Rather than a briefing about what this story is about in the Nerve Centre, it could have done with a full retread. As this was last in the pages back in 2006 I’ve sort of forgotten what happened at the end. All I remember is that it left me under-whelmed first time around.

Ok, after 5 pages I had absolutely no idea what the hell is going on. I was even more confused that I was with Dead Eyes. The art is ok but too many flash-backs and flash-forwards left me even more under-whelmed than first time around.

Looks like I’ll have to drag all of my 2006 progs off of my 2000AD “rack” to refresh my memory.

AC: It's been...

...phweet-phwoo...

...it's been a pretty long time since this brassy post-apocalypse yarn made its debut and promptly disappeared, playing out like an Ultimate Marvel title with all the ambition and none of the smugness. Just about two years as it goes, which rather counts against it as the central characters and world need to be established anew. Still, Rob Williams sidesteps this issue neatly by introducing new plotlines and characters to fix on, ably assisted by the rather funky colour artwork of Dom Reardon.

But what strikes the reader most about this first part is a reminder that the scale of the storytelling leaves only so much room for plot development in these five page instalments... will enough happen week-to-week to hold the interest? Again?

Part 2 Script: John Smith Art: Lee Carter Letters: Simon Bowland

And someone to explain the plot...

JA: What the hell is going on part 2!

Ok, I’m utterly confused. One minute we’re in Basra the next we’re in Porton Down without a clue as what is this story is about. After the second page I’m even more baffled, Nazi lizards, wolves in compromising positions! What the hell is this all this about? The following three pages of dialogue and events don’t exactly clear-up or make clear what the story is supposed to be or developing into.

Nice art, though and, after all, this is a John Smith story. After twenty plus years of reading his scripts, why am I not surprised by this?

AC: Script-wise, this isn't pushing any buttons for me; when it's not lumpy and over-worded it's rather repellent, and never manages to sound natural. It's a shame because Smith, even given his status as the wild-child of Tharg's idea-driven stable of talent, doesn't usually require that much indulgence to spin a compelling story out of the weirdness. Here the ideas are there, but aren't attractively presented.

On the subject of attractive presentation though, Lee Carter's art is luminous, and his enterprising visuals go some way towards papering the cracks.

The Guv'nor - Part 2 Script: Pat Mills Art: Patrick Goddard Letters: Ellie De Ville

Bill got upset when people didn't take his Rambling Association membership seriously...

JA: I’ve actually enjoyed the return of Savage and the whole link to modern day events. I still have fond memories of buying my Prog 1 in the newsagent in Ramsgate, Kent next to the King of Denmark pub on a rainy day in February 1977. The first panel of Volgan paratroopers coming down past the BT Tower was the first thing I saw and I went “wow, I’m going to enjoy this!”

Well 31 years later I’m still enjoying the whole Volgan/Savage ballet. Even though this series has a new artist the black/white depressing feel is still there and that keeps faith with the previous series. It’s the usual mix of political analogies and violence with the customary Volgan policemen getting wasted like some poor bunch of hapless Nazis that always get killed in any WW2 movie. Predictable with one dimension characters and the usual plots that will no doubt are developed with the finesse of a hammer cracking an egg.

Still bloody good fun though!

AC: Bits of this thrill don't always hang together, largely in the way the title character and his assorted hangers-on can take on overwhelming odds time and again and walk away unscathed (You can do it Noddy!), but the characterization and scripting is some of the most assured in the prog, and the world presented in it's one of the headiest and most frightening future visions the mag has yet offered.

And compared to Mills' Greysuit, which seems to come from a similar place, it's a funking meisterwerk. ;)

The Tsar's Daughter - Part 1 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: John Burns Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Dante was still floored by Jena...

JA: Ah, the return of our Russian rogue with John Burn’s fantastic colour artwork.

What Robbie Morrison has done so well with this saga is to develop the wonderful background details and ensemble cast. One of the best has been Jena, tough, vulnerable, loyal, yet also carrying a ton of emotional baggage. This story has that wonderful element of backstory that fills in some of the gaps of Jena’s childhood and also gives us a rest from Nikolai, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

This is shaping up to be an excellent side story to the ever improving Dante saga.

AC: It's Morrison and Burns again, a comfortable fixture in the 2000AD firmament these days. Maybe a little too comfortable... if the name "Fraser" ain't in the credits, people tend not to expect much to happen in these jaunts. The possible format-break offered by a Dante-free, story-led tale such as this could be worth keeping an eye on though...

JA: A very strange prog this week, two strong stories, one developing and two utterly baffling. The baffling ones aren’t necessarily bad just very confusing!

Considering the feast of quality we’ve had so far this year a slight dip was to be expected. Still, there is enough to make the subscription very worthwhile.

Best Story: Nikolai Dante

AC: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is literally, canonically experimenting with other women now. That's like... whoa. :P

Best Story: Savage