Cover by Jon Davis Hunt

Robert Frazer: This week's cover is a mixed bag. The actual art is fairly average - entirely competent in depicting the characters in terms of pure physical parameters but lacking much spirit or vim. It just seems flat to me, chief reason for which can probably be attributed to the too-bright background bleaching out the atmosphere.

Compositionally, however, it's very interesting - the tipped viewing angle is a simple but effective way of injecting a little energy. The odd-couple vibe of two hard-jawed commandos, with mystery and intrepidness in their sweeping roles as much as resolution in their brandished weapons, carrying their complete antithesis between them is certainly very vivid and striking. It's only a pity that this sets us up for disappointment when it doesn't actually reflect the contents.

Robert Frazer: After the high drama and courtly intrigues of "Mega-City Justice", this more light-hearted Thrill is a curious alternative perspective on the focus of "Tour of Duty". It focuses on another minority in the Mega-City, but one laboured under not quite so much opprobrium as the mutants. That change in focus, not away from but to the side, makes it an ideal tonic to cleanse and freshen the palette and prepare us for a renewed setting and another round of stories.

Even if it is a thematically appropriate staged retreat from "Tour of Duty", though, I still get a sense that this was more through serenedipity than design. I have the impression that this Thrill was kept on file to be deployed during gaps in the schedule. The spate of Fathers-4-Justice activists protesting while dressed as superheroes that it is lampooning is a few years gone, now but that is not so great a problem - even if it is not quite so topical anymore it nonetheless remains a valid point to make.

The Thrill is entertaining in other respects, too - seeing Dredd preside over a civil case allows the story to bask in the glow of "Block Court", which I'm sure many will agree is one of the best oneshots in the whole of Dredd's case files. There's nice dialogue as well, as Dredd pens out some laconic wit. The man of few words sets each one down dead-on - "that's guaranteed to be a short procession" and "now you're getting carried away to the cubes".

Haward's art here is some way removed from where I'm most closely acquainted with him - the moody and Orientally austere Shinobi stories for Sonic the Comic. Here he definitely shows plenty of range with his rounder, softer figures (no pun intended) here, along with little details like people's toupees flying off. All this, combined with Blythe's bright colours are an ideal stylistic match to the script. Also, do I see Haward imitating Ezquerra's classic dotted-line outlines on the final page? Cheeky!

Robert Frazer: In a previous review I described Red Seas as an essentially 'retro' Thrill. Its dialogue is a mix of portentous declarations and earthy salt. It has an established pirate setting, references to classical myth and its choice of bluff-rogue heroes and Satan-spawn villains alike. Red Seas evokes the spirit of traditional Boys' Own honest adventure.

Whenever I see it in the Prog, then, I feel a sense of reassurance. It's never been the most exceptional of Thrills, but it's always been consistent, and its always been reliable, a solid foundation to the comic. Even if the rest of the Prog is absolute cobblers Red Seas will always be able to bear it up, soldiering on sedulously in its quiet, workmanlike manner. It's never been exhilarating, but it is no less satisfying, and its 'anachronistic' tone is a real service allowing us to enjoy the pleasures that modern tastes forbid. Let's face it, in no other comic these days could you get away with a horned devil and a parchment of human skin or a literal Skull Island unless you were being cynical or postmodern about it. Red Seas doesn't just 'not give a damn' - it doesn't even recognise that there's an issue about it in the first place, and as 'unsophisticated' as it may seem to have the lines drawn so clearly, it is all the better for it.

A few people have complained that recent Red Seas adventures, focusing on side-stories with the secondary cast in a multi-part administrative exercise of shepherding all of the principals together, has beaten around the bush and caused the story to sag. This week's instalment might be seen in a similar light because it's a talky chapter with much discussion on what people are going to do and no actual doing of it. While all these talking heads don't give Yeowell much opportunity to express himself (although there's a few missed opportunities where a bit of imagination would have enlivened the page - for instance, when Sir Isaac speaks of how the Cradle Of Filth can smash through the reefs), it doesn't really harm the story.

The dialogue does allow for some good puns and wordplay ("lie of the land" is actually very witty) and all the planning does have promise - as Dancer's recent escapades have all been landlubbing, the prospect of an entire fleet taking to the waves is a welcome one.

Robert Frazer: It's curious to reflect on what serves as cultural shorthand to represent the peoples of the world. Britain has foot guards in bearskins, cups of tea, fish and chips and the stiff upper lip; America has cowboys, hamburgers, the Star-Spangled Banner and Noo Yoik; and Japan has ninjas, samurai, really tiny electronics... and that timeless and universal icon, the schoolgirl! It's a touchstone that resonates with us Westerners seeking quirky style as much as it does haggard Tokyo Office Ladies nostalgic for their days of youthful freedom - and so, the Meg has a team of murder machines dressed in dainty seifuku, while here in the Prog we see the return of Mangapore's own T-1001, Polly Alloy, in improbable but spectacular twintails and a fetching Sailor Moon getup.

I've always been ambivalent about Williams's art, with the needle of my opinion continuously twtiching between contentment and disappointment. This time round, he's on the better side. The characters have decent definition, there is some good light-sourcing (particulalry in the final panel with the reflected glare from the Mover's monitor), and the page with Sinister and Dexter at the bar has excellent style in how the bartop seuges into a background flash. I
can't deny that Hosanna and Deeds touch up the page with own charms, either...

The super-casino may be a generic setting, but last week Abnett depicted it well with a tight script that cracked with sharp style, not trotting out clichés but rather evoking a certain spirit. It's a relief to have a casino story which, for once, does not focus in any way on a heist (even Zombo couldn't resist it!) - despite a whole rogue's gallery descending down on the Reef, thankfully Danny Ocean is not on the guest list. This week there's a stumble in that beguiling dance, however, as some of the dialogue missteps. Polly Alloy's lines in particular are baffling - maybe Abnett was attempting to play up her foreign exoticism and inhuman nature, but her rambling just comes across as incoherent. I also assume that Sinister's remark to the bartender was supposed to have some sort of plot significance,
but it's flown straight over my head - and if he genuinely was saying nothing more than a sly indirect remark that Solemnis is actually a terrible singer, why was three-quarters of a page dedicated to it?

Despite those trips, though, the story remains an interesting one. Captain Valentine evidently runs a tight ship... can he keep the course when the storm breaks?

Robert Frazer: Mills has put in a great turn with "Crims". It has been a consistently enjoying action-adventure that has been taut and pacy throughout, while Mills's reflections surrounding the action have been gentler in tone and more effective for it. That trend continues this week. The comments about rival resistance groups are nicely observed. It's an abiding truth that the only thing that guerillas hate more than The Man is each other (Hell, I've read about sectarian groups in Ulster who killed more people in internal feuding than with bombs) - and it's also doubly interesting that it's being quite deftly tied into the plot rather than just being an odd bit of flavour text.

Goddard continues to be a tour de force, with all of his figures having splendid body, weight and presence, coupled with unstinting detail. If my discussion on his art seems to be small here, it's because I honestly can't find all that much to fault!

With Savage's posse now putting on their game faces, "Crims" seems set to romp home to a surefire win. Some people have questioned  the infiltration of outright scifi into Savage's universe with teleporting tigers and the Ro-busters tie-in, but as a big continuity nut myself I empathise entirely with Mills and his desire to craft a grand world for his creations to inhabit; I'm also genuinely interested to see what freaky reality-bending mad science Savage unlocks with the blast of the accelerator...

Robert Frazer: I'm quite disappointed to find that we don't actually get to see Feral's breakout. Escapes with your toned and athletic heroes are one thing - but mandling a human boulder between multiple layers of defence would have been a sight to behold, and its absence only suggests that how to do so defeated Wagner's imagination. If there was originally an escape scene that was excised to keep the plot revelations going from week to week then it was definitely a bad editorial turn, a case of cutting off too much. The fade-out that we're instead given feels more like a cop-out. Why bother making Feral fat in the first place if all he's going to do is lie down (and if he can shapeshift why did he never employ the power until now)?

While the script may under-use Feral and his unique situation, the Ezquerras make up for it with their artwork - Feral himself is wonderfully expressive.

Robert Frazer : We may be winding down here at 2000AD Review, we can bask in the satisfaction that we've leaving on a high, suffused with the golden radiance of a bright sunset. The Galaxy's Greatest Comic is earning its epithet, and if my experiences of reading and examining Tharg's tremendous transmissions over the last two years as a staff writer suggest anything, it's a sure confidence that 2000AD's great form will continue far into the future. Splundig Vur Thrigg!

Best story: Savage