2000AD Prog 1640 - 17 June 2009

Cover by Leigh Gallagher

Richmond Clements: I’d love to say ‘cool’ but it’s not, is it? And if I said it was ‘hot’, then I’d just come off sounding like a perv... So, I’ll limit myself to saying this is a quite superb piece of work from Gallagher. The artist has captured a real meanness in Defoe’s eyes.

Hugh Platt: The scorching colours of Leigh Gallagher’s raging inferno are a nice counterpoint to his etched monochromes on his Defoe work inside. A Suitably badass cover to mark the thrill’s return…in a Cromwellian sort of way. 

High Spirits - Part 1 Script: Ian Edginton Art: Dave Taylor Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Lamia gets ready to exorcise...

Synopsis: Ex perps have been going psycho in Mega City One, but there isn't a trace of any drug in their systems. Dredd calls in Psi Judge Peach to interrogate one of the victims only for the process to go wrong. Exorcist judge Lamia bursts into the interrogation and fires something that reveals a monster attacking Peach...

RC: Dave Taylor’s work is always worth the price of admission. I love his buildings, and the chunky tyres he puts onto his vehicles and the design of the exorcist’s gun. I love the sense of dankness, of oppression and of all round futureness his colouring style brings to the Big Meg. 

He’s given us some great images in this episode, from the opening panel and its brilliant perspective, to the silent panel on page four where we see Lamia striding towards the sector house. Not sure about Dredd’s prune skin neck though! But it’s good to see Iggy Pop (Because that must be him on page four!) finally getting what he deserves for selling out to insurance companies... 

And while I’m here, I suppose I better mention the script? Intriguing stuff so far, with the introduction of a potentially interesting new character (we haven’t seen an exorcist judge in a while) and an excellent final panel reveal, I’m looking forward to seeing what unfolds next week. 

HP: Let’s just stop a minute to marvel at Dave Taylor’s sublime depiction of Mega-City One. His blue-grey palatte instills the mean streets of the Starkweather-Fugate Conurb with an almost tangible personality. The grimy concrete and fading neon succeed in giving MC-1 a real presence this week – something that’s often talked about happening, but only so very rarely is achieved.  

Oh. Exorcist Judges. Hmmm. It’s a sub-division of Justice Department too far for me I’m afraid. Dredd’s confusion over their very existence further compounds the feelings of ‘wrongness’ I have of them – the idea that there are entire categories of Judges that Dredd seemingly has no knowledge of whatsoever just doesn’t sit well with how I see Dredd in my mind.  

I’m fairly sure Ian Edginton will have some great Dredd tales to tell in future, but this already doesn’t feel like it will be one of them. 

Script: Pat Mills Art: Leigh Gallagher Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Servitor was displeased with his haircut...

Synopsis: Defoe and his crew are preparing to attack the Super Reeks, through a sewer located outside of a barber shop loyal to the Queen of the Zombies. Servitor distracts and eventually kills the barber and they all head down into the sewer, ready for a fight...

RC: Now, compare the line work Gallagher displays here to the thick lines Smith employs on the previous strip. Gorgeous stuff from start to finish! If ‘gorgeous’ is a word that should be employed to describe a team of filthy zombie hunters wading through sewers...

I warmed to Defoe over time. In the beginning I didn’t quite know what to think of it... but tis’ really just fun, isn’t it? The reader is having a ball; Gallagher is having a ball, and last but not least, so is Pat. 

And am I the only one who thinks Rebellion should be building a game around this strip? 

HP: The last series of Defoe suffered from plot-wanderlust, never quite settling on its own course of action. Having re-read it to remind myself what the Zombiesmiter General was up to, Queen of the Zombies already seems to be sporting a stronger sense of direction. Mills still hasn’t quite got the balance right for juggling such a large cast of reek-slayers yet, but it’s getting there.  

Leigh Gallagher’s black & whites make this entire strip seem like it’s permanently illuminated by candlelight, complimenting superbly the story’s stormy night-atmosphere. And that closing splash of the super-reeks rising from the grave is a grand way to bring this opening episode to a close. 

Part 8 Script: John Smith Art: Edmund Bagwell Letters: Ellie De Ville

Shane starts to regret...

Synopsis: Shane is appalled by the view of his friends drinking from Mary, but is soon drawn in towards her too. The next morning, Donna is worried about Cal whose sores are getting worse while at home, Shane is throwing up black gunk, trying not to think of the night before. Cal, meanwhile, goes to Tozzer's only to find Skully there - who's waiting for Shane to turn up too...

RC: Seriously though. This is horrible. It is utterly repulsive. I want to know what the goes on in John Smith’s head to come up with stories like this. 

Actually, on second thoughts, I don’t... it’s too weird. 

Bagwell’s art is astonishing, subtle colours and clever use of photographs help to convey the realism of the situation, and you can almost feel the oppressive heat and stench radiating from the page. 

Thrill of the Year? Without question. It’s certainly the best thing I’ve seen from Smith in 10 years, and I think there’s an argument to be made that it’s the best new thing in the comic as a while in that time too. 

HP: Stomach-churning. Grotesque. Thoroughly unpleasant. That’s three reasons why Cradlegrave looks set to be remembered not just as a highlight of 2009, but as a potential future classic of 2000AD. 

It’s strips like this that remind you why Tharg is willing to risk giving huge page counts over to Smith. Unlike the leaden-pacing of Dead Eyes, the slow ratcheting up of fear and tension in Cradlegrave has worked in its favour, making the reader almost feel the simmering madness brewing during the heatwave on the Ravenglade Estate. The juxtaposition of brooding real-world violence with warped inhuman horror has never, never been done so well. There is literally no other outlet in comics for something like this – hell, there’s no other outlet anywhere for something like this – and it’s why 2000AD is as important today as it’s ever been. 

Edmund Bagwell’s panels depicting Shane succumbing to Mary’s temptations, showing everything but the actual act of unholy feeding, deserves special mention as a masterful piece of storytelling. I feel sunstroked and am sweating just reading that page. 

1984 - Part 9 Script: Pat Mills Art: Patrick Goddard Letters: Simon Bowland

The Noannoia attacks...

Synopsis: Savage arrives back at his pub in disguise, and his men are already there waiting for him, inside and outside. They make a break for it, followed by the police, but the general unleashes the "Noannoia", a panther-like beast which homes in on Savage, but starts attacking the policemen first. Savage realises that the information he has given to the Americans is fake, but there's nothing he can do about it...

RC: So, at last we get to see the Beast! And it’s a big cat!  

This is what I want from Savage- action all the way. I’m not bothered by any political shenanigans, I just want to see Bill killing Volgs with his shoota.  

This series has moved along at a tremendous rate- it’s hard to believe that we’ve reached episode nine already. This is a testament to both Mill’s tight scripting (which is not something you hear every day!) and Goddard’s dynamic action scenes.  Yes, it’s corny and clichéd in places (‘Shoot me, Guv!’), but the story is told with such confidence and skill, it’s hard not to be swept along by it all.

HP: Mills’ other strip doesn’t fare as well as Defoe. The police seem like badly-realised parodies of The Sweeney or The Professionals, but without any of the glee or aplomb that’s needed in order to pull this off. After last week’s rather somewhat cunning reveal of the depth of the Volgan plot, Savage’s “I worked out their scheme but I’ll be buggered if I’ll tell anyone else about it till it’s too late!” antics just seem a bit daft. Unless next week’s conclusion ends with a battalion of ABC Warriors storming British beaches, then it looks like Savage will be limping to a lacklustre finish. Again. 

RC: The prog is on a bit of a high at the moment. In fact, it has been for quite some time. I can’t actually remember the last time I thought a story wasn’t good... 
I’ll probably remember as soon as I send this in to 2000AD Review, but by then it’ll be too late and I’ll not care anyway... 

Best Story: Cradlegrave 

RC: There’s no way Cradlegrave can falter now, is there? I want to read the next part almost as much as Craig and co crave their next hit of Black Milk. Defoe’s solid start and Dave Taylor’s Dredd makes up for the rest of the prog’s post-Zombo sag, but with a brace of new stories set to start in the coming weeks, the prog looks set to continue its current mostly-gold run well into the Summer. 

Best Story: Cradlegrave