Reviewer: William Cooling
Editor: Matt Smith
Publisher: Rebellion
Cover by Boo Cook
I like Boo Cook but Jude is bloody ugly and I don’t want her on my prog (or in it to be honest). The rest of the cover is okay with some nice monsters in the background but I’m getting so antipathetic to Dead Men Walking that anything to do with it is raising hackles. Its bad enough Cook being wasted drawing the damn thing without him doing covers of it as well.
Judge Dredd
(6 Pages)
Title: Meatmonger
Written by: John Smith
Art by: Siku
Lettered by: Tom Frame
All across the world people are disappearing amidst bright, white light. Of course the Justice Department must respond before panic sets in amongst the population.
Hmm, I’m not quite sure about this. On the positive side this ushers in a welcome return to form by John Smith as he constructs a typically weird sci-fi tale based on these disappearances. He really builds the tension up, not only showing the crazies that come out to play but more importantly getting across the progression of time in a way that really adds to our feel for the speed of the crisis. In addition, Smith has a good grasp of Dredd having written it a few times before and this grasp can be seen with Dredd’s reaction to the Chief Judge’s debriefing. Despite this, Dredd is once more relegated to the background.
What has me undecided on the merits of the story is the art. Siku’s style is extremely angular and to be honest poorly defend in some areas. In particular his version of Dredd seems unfinished with a poorly detailed uniform and a dodgy chin. That’s not to say the art doesn’t have its merits, its very good in the opening scenes but its inconsistent and in places just plain bad. Hopefully Siku will retain a steadier style for the latter parts.
Still this is a good opener that promises an interesting and different story.
Dead Man Walking
(5 Pages)
Written by: James Stevens
Art by: Boo Cook
Lettered by: Annie Parkhouse
Last issue we see the introduction of yet another set of Clichés to this “story†as we were to introduced not only to the prison kingpin but also to talking black buddy.
You can imagine the excitement I felt.
This is bad; no it’s beyond bad. This is every Prison B-Movie cliché chucked together in the hope that some story, some characterisation and some excitement will come. Well none has! This issue we see the Governor return, Jude fight the prison Kingpin and then her and talking black buddy to be put in a dangerous situation. And you know what? I couldn’t care less! The writer has provided no depth to any of the characters, has an idea that dialogue is a load of made up swear words and tough-isms (I swear if I hear “I’m top bitch now†again I will scream) and that rewriting Harry 20 will do for a story. What’s worse all the cool sci-fi ideas that made this near bearable have gone, meaning that this story now focuses on Jude, a character who you’ve guessed it I hate.
What’s worse is that Boo Cook is producing some great stuff with this story including some awesome looking zombies at the close. Honestly this guy’s stuff has to be seen to be believed, the colouring in particular just brings his stuff alive.
So in short, this is a story best enjoyed if you’re illiterate.
Caballistics Inc
(5 Pages)
Title: Downtime Pt. 3 ~ Ness
Written by: Gordon Rennie
Art by: Dom Reardon
Lettered by: Tom Frame
The only non-Dredd story that is consistently producing the goods in this line up, once more shows the pygmies of the Autumn Offensive how it’s done, with a cracking story that is a complete swerve. Where as in the previous parts we have been shown two of the existing members of Caballistics Inc enjoying some downtime, in this part we are introduce to Ness.
Now Ness was a soldier in the First Gulf War who fought a load of demons in a temple. However instead of lauding him as a hero, the Establishment (!!!) covered the incident up, packing him off to the loony bin and convincing him that the incident never happened.
Well now Nessy’s escaped and is none too pleased…
This is great! Rennie brilliantly shifts gears as we go from the low key, characterisation based opening two parts to this nasty, violent action script as we see Nessy seek revenge for what happened to him. Similar to last week’s part this interspersed with flashbacks this time of his battle with the demons. Rennie really gets across just how tough and crazy this guy is and he is definitely a promising character.
The art of course is as great as usual although Reardon is becoming more and more like Jock, which whilst no bad thing in itself is a slight bummer when you consider the uniqueness of his opening work. Still its top stuff!
Synnamon
(5 pages)
Title: Facing Mecha Pt.4
Written by: Colin Clayton & Chris Dows
Pencilled by: Laurence Campbell
Inked by: Lee Townsend
Coloured by: Gary Caldwell
Lettered by: Ellie De Ville
I’m sure you’ve all sat through something that whilst had nothing seriously wrong with it just bored the hell out of you.
Well Synnamon is like that.
This is an extremely okay story, with extremely okay scripting, coupled with some extremely okay art. This story just oozes the predictable, mechanical efficiency of your little sister’s favourite pop band. The writers know where they want to go and are staying focus on that destination but its somewhere where we’ve all been before.
The art has a nice stylised quality that makes up for what it lacks in character with sleek design and good layouts.
This part is good as it gets away from the slightly ditzy characterisation that they had been giving Synnamon and is almost all action, which allows Campbell to show off with some cool set-pieces and layouts.
But all that still doesn’t stop it being as boring as hell.
Durham Red
(6 Pages)
Title: The Empty Suns: Book 1: Pt 4
Written by: Dan Abnett
Art by: Mar Harrison
Lettered by: Ellie De Ville
Last issue, something actually happened as Godolkin and his band of merry men captured Durham Red, her son and her acolyte. These have now been brought onto Godolkin’s ship as they attempt to bring Durham Red back to sanity.
Dan Abnett takes the opportunity to explain to us the wider situation involving the Offspring who is the ultra-powerful mutant that is going round killing humanity. He shows not only the destruction that he is spreading but also the effect of his contraceptive virus is having on the human population. These scenes allow Harrison to really let rip with some stunning scenes of destruction and carnage that bring us closer to his previous style.
We also see inside Godolkin’s ship as we see his attempts to bring Durham Red back from her current feral state. These attempts appear to be fruitless until Godolkin notices something that he thought lost…
This is a great improvement as Abnett develops the current status quo further whilst quickly moving the plot on. The art also improves this part with some great depictions of the Offspring’s destruction by Harrison. Overall this is a much-improved part and gives me hope that this book can equal the heights reached by its predecessors.
An improvement on last issue as Durham Red shows improvement whilst Dredd and Caballistics Inc maintain their usual standard. However, Synnamon continues to only moderately entertain and Dead Men Walking is still there.
