2000AD Prog 1597 - 30 July 08

Cover by Karl Richardson

Steven Denton: Karl Richardson has in the past done some good work - I quite enjoyed his art on Lone Wolves for example. This cover, on the other hand, I don’t like at all. There seems to be some kind of monkey in a hat with perspective defying arms fighting a few smudgy cadavers.  

Pete McCosh: Despite a general lushness, Karl Richardson often seems to draw people with heads too big for their bodies and the central figure of Defoe appears to be suffering this week. I realise it must be hard to provide context for something like this, but the overall impression I get from it is of the Wild West – some sort of Jonah Hex thing – rather than Restoration England. Nonetheless, the brutal violence shines through the brown palette and this image of a lunatic with an axe blowing a zombie’s head clean off is a winner. 

Blindside - Part 2 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Richard Elson Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Kerrigan gets her hands dirty...

Synopsis: Kerrigan and the blinded Dredd enter the Phoenix Building and manage to take out two of the guards. Dredd warns Trask that he's after him, and Dredd tells Kerrigan that Trask was responsible for the murder of an undercover judge. Kerrigan sees another goon reflected in Dredd's eyes, but the goon gets off a shot...

SD: I don’t remember any of the continuity this relates to and I’ll have forgotten this one as soon as it’s finished. Its not bad as such but its not good either and it veers on the side of so over the top it's silly. To be honest it reminds me of Millar and Morrison Dredd’s From the 90’s.

The art work is all right but after the dazzling eye candy that Elson has been producing of late I am feeling a touch underwhelmed. With the Early 90’s style cover and Dredd hitting the wrong tone I’m starting to think I’ve fallen into a parallel universe. I just hope there aren’t any stories involving parallel universes in this issue… 

PMC: A great central idea and some typically lovely art from Richard Elson (an artist who always seems able to make his colours a little deeper than others) but nothing much else to recommend this tale. Robbie Morrison has certainly demonstrated an ability to come up with good Mega-City 1 ideas and stories but is too often hamstrung by a need to turn it into a character drama. In ‘Blindside’, it is exactly these elements that undermine what could’ve been an excellent 1 or 2 parter.

I’ve always been led to believe that The Academy of Law is the toughest school on Earth, so the hysterical inability of a senior cadet to keep it together under fire seems pretty ridiculous and designed solely to show how she’s grown when she finally saves the day. And I really can’t hear Dredd saying “short-ass.” 

Brethren of the Night - Part 9 Script: Pat Mills Art: Leigh Gallagher Letters: Ellie De Ville

Defoe spells out the suspect list...

Synopsis: Defoe kills the zombies while Prussian Blue leaves. Meanwhile, Defoe's crew are taking time off at the Three Pigeons in Wapping, where a large group of zombie fighters have gathered. Defoe finally arrives and meets with Servitor, who tells him of Jones's fate and that Mene Tekel has disguised himself as a spy, possibly in the secret service. Defoe tells Jones that he knows everyone in the secret service - and agrees that one of them is indeed a spy..

SD: The writing style of Defoe I find more of a chore to read then a joy. In my opinion, most of the things said neither forward the story or the characters. I find myself reading entire pages twice just to work out who has said what. Then I'm looking for a why and realising the why is just - why not?

I understand the point of Defoe and I can see why it has a fan base but it’s not for me There is however a sneaky picture of Peter Cushing this week and that’s always nice. 

PMC: Overall, I’ve been enjoying this series of Defoe just as much as the first (for reference, that’s quite a lot.) The setting is great and Leigh Gallagher’s heavy blacks seem to drip off the page like thick, congealing blood. However, I sometimes feel like I’ve missed an episode along the way. We seem to have gone from a standard zombie-hunt to a bare-knuckle boxing match to a sudden set of revelations about a bunch of new people we’ve never met before. There’s setting up material for future stories and there’s shoehorning in everything you can lay your hands on just for the sake of it.

For example: I’m now intrigued to find out what Nathaniel’s (whoever he is) suit is “hungry” for, but we already knew there was some sort of double agent amongst the secret service, so the last page doesn’t serve much purpose.

Thinking about it, it might be the way Pat likes to arrange stories into discrete books that causes the problem. Looking back at how Slaine started, there were a lot of shorter stories designed to show us around the world and introduce some of the villains and creatures who inhabited it. For a story like Defoe, which seems to have so many different strands, this might’ve been a better way of making them all stand out.  

Rogue Elements Script: Alec Worley Art: Nick Dyer Letters: Simon Bowland

So the smoking ban is eventually revoked, then...

Synopsis: Dick Toogood, PI is investigating a series of reports that robots have been killing people throughout the city. His investigations lead him to reports from the city computer that predict the useful lifespan of humans in the city. it seems the robots are helping to make the prediction true. Before he can report the story, Toogood's own robot turns on him...

SD: Rogue Elements is as familiar as a Jeremy Clarkson rant about the environment and as welcome as a Daily Mail editorial on the nanny state. If the rest of the issue is a step into the 90’s this is a time tunnel directly back to the 80’s. Future Shocks are difficult to come up with and even harder to execute well but that’s no excuses for a tired pare of ideas mashed together in a cramped narrative.

I’m not particularly impressed by the art, the backgrounds are blocky and the figures all look like plasticise models from a student short film.

So far none of this week's strips have interested or engaged me.  

PMC: On first read, I thought this was quite a neat little story. Take a current social issue and pass it through a noir filter to get a stylish output without worrying too much about the details. Rereading, I find that the Philip Marlowe/Sam Slade schtick still works well (I particularly liked the last panel on page 1) but the glaring holes in the plot are a bit too much even for a genre which is all about atmosphere over logic. Put simply: It’s too bleedin’ obvious your own robot’s coming for you! 

There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth recently when Nick Dyer made his 2000AD debut on ‘..Regrets.’ It didn’t bother me too much, but it’s slightly odd to see him making the trip to Future Shocks the wrong way round. He handles this story ably enough and I’d be quite happy to see him take over as the full-time artist on any further Robo-Hunter stories we have to endure. 

The Importance of Fleecing Ernest - Part 3 Script: Dan Abnett Art: Anthony Williams Letters: Ellie De Ville

Dex needs more practice...

Synopsis: Dex fires at the goons, but misses with every shot, hiding out until Sinister comes to help. While they leave Trish with Piccho, they go to see what Tracy has discovered. They see a shots of Bournmouth entering a building to be followed by Broadus, Kutter and another Bournmouth. They realise there may be two of them...

SD: Suddenly I fell the need to go back and read Defoe again - at least Pat Mills still has some flashes of originality.

Let’s start with my biggest bugbear, multiple universes. In the case of Sinister Dexter it’s just an excuse to bring back characters you have killed instead of creating new ones. In Red Dwarf (as much as anything else) it was an excuse to kill alternate universe versions of the cast. Where ideas-bankrupt fantasy has ‘the chosen one’ as a substitute for an actual plot, sci-fi has the multiverse as a multiple undo.

I know recycling is good for the environment but ideas aren’t like glass or cans.  

PMC: Neither particularly good nor especially bad, this story kind of floats along. A complete absence of absurd, forced puns this week is made up for by the boys finally finding out how much has been going on behind their backs in the last couple of month's build-up. 

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

Dante still had his mind on Jena...

Synopsis: The White Army has taken over Manhattan, but Dante and Jena have escaped - only to end up in the hands of the insurgents. He manages to get their trust and together they launch a counter-attack against the White Army. However, the Tsar is on his way with the fleet and he's not happy that the White Army dared to attack his daughter...

SD: Simon Fraser seems to have sent his thumbnail sketches to be coloured instead of actually finishing any artwork. They are nice thumbnails but they look rushed and a little unfinished. Fraser is a fantastic artist with bags and bags of natural talent but he seems, to my eye, to be looking for the fastest way to work instead of the best finished product. It’s a shame really as I have enormous respect for the man’s skill and dynamic energy with line but cant help but to feel short-changed by his recent work.

Amerika has continued Dante’s recent run of good form, even if it’s unlikely to ever reach the dizzy heights or Tsar Wars, it’s still a good strip and I can’t help but to enjoy reading it. Sure, the White Army come from an alternate universe but in this case it’s just a sci-fi short hand easy of describing them as ‘other’. They may as well come from communist China, the dark side of the Moon or darkest Clacton-on-Sea for all it actually matters. They are just the enemy from behind the iron curtain.  

Nikolai Dante has always been a family drama set against a sci-fi backdrop. More then anything it reminds me of North and South but that’s probably because the rest of issue has dragged me back to the 80’s 

PMC: I’m not quite sure whether simply jumping from last week’s cliffhanger to Jena coming round with little real explanation is a neat sidestep or a bit of a cheat. Something of the two maybe.

The other side of Robbie Morrison’s writing is on display here: in stark contrast to Dredd - it’s the characters that make this so good. When Dredd does or says something unexpected we all just shrug and whine that Morrison doesn’t “get” Dredd. When the Tsar does something unexpected at the end of this episode, I readily accept it as growing from the conflicting emotions of a real and complex character. When we see Dante make another impassioned speech about freedom, I know he really believes it and the gulf between his ideals and what he’s doing working for the Tsar can only stretch so far before the tightrope breaks and he has to react.

Add in the opportunity to see Simon Fraser knock out a couple of ruined cityscapes and the Imperial Fleet in battle formation and you’ve got the engine that’s driving the comic at the moment. 

SD: One win 2 draws and 2 own goals.

Best Story: Nikolai Dante

PMC: With Dante on scintillating form and Defoe still providing decent backup, the comic is still value for my money. The other three strips are readable, but not ones I’ll be rushing back to. All is as it should be two weeks before Prog 1600.

Best Story: Nikolai Dante