2000AD Prog 1614 - 26 November 08

Cover by Jon Davis-Hunt

Joe Saxton: A rather nice, bold image from Jon Davis-Hunt.  His designs of the snakes have been one of the better things about Stalag 666, and this image is a decent summary for the final episode. 

Sue Doyle: Snakes & Skulls – what’s not to like? Although I’m always torn when the 2000AD logo is obscured with the artwork, it’s a tricky balance between ensuring the art work is correctly sized and the tag lines giving the information and branding us punters expect. In this case the trade off works simply because decreasing the head shot just wouldn’t have given the same punch. 

Birthday Boy - Part 2 Script: Pat Mills Art: Vince Locke Colours: Chris Blythe Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Uh oh - made-up history alert..

Synopsis: Dredd realises that Klesa ages 1 year for every 150 normal years and his birthday was approaching - on which he always seemed to sacrifice at Time Square. Dredd brings a team into the Undercity to follow him and discover that Klesa has already made the sacrifice. Dredd and his team open fire...

JS: This seems an interesting tale.  Interesting because it could go either way.  If Mills takes all the old native myths seriously it could end up as a bad mish-mash of mythology and future law.  But if Klesa turns out to be something rather less fantastic and Dredd takes him down in an exciting fashion it could be a rather nifty little story.  I seem to be something of a fence-sitter on this.  I like it so far but I think its too early to call.

Vince Locke’s art is more stylised than some, but I think it works pretty well here, even if his Dredd sometimes looks a bit scrawny. 

SD: I never usually mind those stories that I think of as there to fill some space before a more intense longer script comes along.  These can be fun and sometimes excellent snapshots of Dredd’s world and his temperament.   Usually though, the markers or information to progress the story are carefully hidden. But in this installment the information to progress the story is laid out in front of you. There's no real subtlety.  The previous murders all presented to the ancient times with lots of helpful detail – it’s like watching dominos being set up. However, I will add a caveat that this is Dredd with Pat Mills in the hot seat, so perhaps my pessimism is ill founded and I should expect to expect the unexpected.  We shall see. 

As for the artwork, on some frames it’s almost there and in others it just doesn’t seem to gel with my image of Dredd.  I’ve liked Vince’s art work in other scripts perhaps he’s not the best choice to draw the big guy. 

Part 15 Script: Tony Lee Art: Jon Davis-Hunt Letters: Ellie De Ville

Chapman reads out from his "bad things I've done/said" list...

Synopsis: Chapman crashes into the missile, sacrificing himself to save the prisoners. Holland kills the camp commander even as he surrenders. He leaves the planet - honouring Chapman with his earned name - Raider.

JS: Ah, to sum up Stalag 666.  Erm, well, I think the idea of a space set great escape with snake people has lots of potential.  However I think it was very badly realised (though the last few episodes were comparatively coherent).  I re-read the whole thing for this review and came up with quite a big list of problems with it.  A lot of it was just sloppy inconsistency  As an example, at the end of part 3, The Old Man and Holland agree to leave the snake they just killed to be found as hiding it would lead to a search of the camp and discovery of the tunnel.  But then at the start of part 4 the dead snake HAS been hidden, and the guards are threatening to search the camp.

Another major problem that I had was the central relationship between Chapman and Holland.  The whole, is he Raider? Maybe, he acts kind of like he is, he hasn’t denied it, there was no Raider, you bastard you let me believe you were Raider, sequence just never really rang true.  I also couldn’t fathom what Chapman, knowing himself not to be Raider, had to do with The Old Man’s death because Holland seems to think it was an issue- ‘He knew, he knew the truth and you let him die’.

I could carry on a lot longer but I’ll leave it at that, if anyone wants a full essay on problems with this series, ask in the forums.  Of course, it is possible that the whole series was about the emotional issues of hopelessness and trust faced by POWs with little reason to ever expect escape, and I just didn’t get it. 

SD: I really appreciate it when a story is given the opportunity to develop over a period of time.  It took me a while to get into this story but as each week came round I really started to appreciate the characters, the Christian snake, the hero who wasn’t a hero, the traitor in the midst.  The last episode was entertaining enough with the story going out with a bang.  Chapman saving the day and Holland becoming the disillusioned war hardened soldier and changing Chapman’s name to Raider was all good corny stuff. 

However what made this must read stuff was Jon Davis-Hunt’s abilities to draw humanoid snakes.  They were brilliant. 

The Volgan War - Vol 3 Part 10 Script: Pat Mills Art: Clint Langley Letters: Simon Bowland

No one liked to mention Grobari's unfortunate overbite...

Synopsis: The G-Man meet with Grobari, a Nosferatu like man who levitates and speaks only through "thought-mail". They torture Zippo and finally prepare him for his death in the furnace. Just as he's about to die, the ABC Warriors attack...

JS: Well, what to say, not much happens. Z inspires a spontaneous social uprising, with nice poetic chanting, and Clint Langley’s final page is about the best of the series. 

I hope we’re finally getting to the practical part of this series, Volkhan’s escaped, the ABCs are freeing Zippo, and most people have had enough of theories on repression and social control (nothing wrong with writing about these but it can slow the action right down).  I’m rather sitting on the fence with this as well.  

SD: I’m always blown away by Clint Langley’s art but sometimes I can find it confusing and occasionally the story is lost within his extremely stylised work. 

However this storyline is being elevated by the art and is getting my attention rather than distracting me.  I end up pouring over the the drawing, trying to soak up the detail, admiring the use of colour to show the life within Z and the rebellion within their midst. It’s definitely improved over the last story line and I’m looking forward to the next installment. 

Vile Bodies - Part 4 Script: Ian Edginton Art: Simon Davis Letters: Ellie De Ville

Ampney and Cromwell wander into a porn film...

Synopsis: Cromwell and Ampney arrive at Redfer's mansion and find it over-ridden with monsters and jungle flora. They head into the over-grown mansion and find naked women feeding men who are tied up in the roots of the plants. They are spotted...

JS: Now this I rather like, Edginton writes with confidence, even if the rather common butler can get a bit irritating when he’s allowed free speech.  

This has also turned genuinely unsettling, I can’t think of many artists beyond Simon Davis who could have turned out something so beautiful and ugly at the same time, possibly the best work he’s ever done in tooth.  Very interested to see where this goes, and hopefully we’ll see more of this calibre in the future. 

SD: I really can’t seem to get into this story.  I like the idea of it. The 1930’s vibe, the English gentleman with his monocle, butler and Bentley coupled with supernatural occurrences’ should be a winning formula, especially with the superb art work of Simon Davis and Ian Edginton writing. 

I think that the fairest way is to reserve judgement which I know is a complete cop out but I really can’t tell if I like it yet. 
 

Prisoner of the Tsar - Part 3 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: John Burns Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Jena lays her cards on the table...

Synopsis: Jena confronts her father with her evidence, asking him if he ordered the death of her mother. He denies it, but she clearly still has her doubts. The Tsar visits Dante, disappointed that his torturers have been unable to wring a confession out of him. He threatens to kill the psychic Odessa in front of him unless he agrees to sign a confession. Dante reluctantly agrees...

JS: And so, the underlying story of Jena’s mother bears fruit.  Though could anyone really expect the Tsar to admit to having her killed?  I suppose the question we face is whether Jena believes him or not.  Also, will she notice that he claims to have only ever loved two women, her mother being one, can have forgotten that he had two daughters so soon?  Or does he refer to the Romanov matriarch.  I highlight these points as Robbie Morrison has a glorious habit of taking seemingly inconsequential points and bringing them back to bite us later.  Otherwise we’re reminded what a nasty piece of work the Tsar is, but I seem to have missed the point of exactly what information he wants from Dante. 

John burns is turning out some of the best art he’s produced for Dante for this story, usually an indication that he likes the strip.  Overall it remains one of the best strips in 2000AD by a mile. 

SD: Thank you, thank you, thank you. More please, more please, more please.  The art is superb, the storyline is getting better every time. This is my reason for opening the cover at the moment – the first one I read, and the last one I read.  Excellent. 

JS: A fairly decent prog. Stalag 666 ended in character and I still don’t care much for ABC Warriors.  The Dredd tale is fairly decent and we have two high quality strips to round out the prog.  Not firing on all cylinders, but good to see some high quality material just before a clear out. 

Best Story: Nikolai Dante

SD: Dredd disappoints, Stalag 666 is good solid stuff, the ABC Warriors are much improved, the jury is out on Ampney and Dante is stellar stuff.  A mixed bag, but there is always Dante 

Best Story: Do you need to ask? Dante!