2000AD Reviews: Progs 1200-1209 Last update: 17th August 2000

I don't like this cover - there's too much wasted space and the people don't look realistic. The colouring is good on Devlin, giving him a realistic skin tone and well-defined muscles that look believeable. However, the man with him doesn't look as believeable. For a start he seems to be dressed in 3M reflective fabric (which glows intensely under UV light). He stands out too much and except for a crusifix and zip there's no detail on his clothing whatsoever. Overall it's a pretty poor cover.

Judge Dredd: War Games, part 7 - Good script. It flows well and also works pretty well as a stand-alone episode, thanks to the caption on frame one which explains what's been happening. It's nice to see Brit-Cit joining in, too.

The artwork is good - detailed yet still clear, with decent colouring. Dredd is well drawn - he actually looks his age, which is good. My only gripe is that the Brit-Cit Judge on page 5, frame 2 isn't shown well enough to notice the differences in his uniform when looking at him. When I first read the strip I was confused as Dredd was obviously talking to a Brit judge yet this man looked like a Mega City judge. Looking closer you can see the lion on his shoulder and helmet but having him further onto the frame wouldn't have hurt, would it? As it is he's almost off the side of the picture.

Downlode Tales: City on Fire, part 5 - I really don't have a clue what's going on here, although I recognise the main characters from Sinister Dexter: Gun Lovin' Criminals. The story is pretty good but, unlike Dredd, it doesn't work all that well as a stand-alone episode.

The artwork is pretty good though, although if that's Billi Octavo in the first 2 pages then she's changed a lot! Nervous is more haggard than before but he's still recogniseable, as is Dexter. Sinister, however, has changed almost as much as Billi - where's his long multi-coloured hair and red nose gone? He's almost normal-looking. Aside from these changes the artwork is fantastic - loads of detail, plenty of background details (only 1 frame has no background - cool!) which really adds to the artmosphere of the strip - this place looks real. Brilliant.

MazeWorld: The Hell Maze, part 9 - This is the ninth part of, if I recall correctly, the third book, so I'm sure you'll forgive me for not having a clue what's going on. >:) It reads well though and reminds me of the old Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, for some reason. I think it's the way someone from Earth has gone to a medieval-esque fantasy setting. After reading it I feel like I do when I'm flicking through TV channels and catch the last 15 minutes of a good film - I wish I'd seen (or, in this case, read) it from the start.

I like the artwork, too. It's got a scruffy style that makes it look good. Everyone's well drawn and easily identified. There's a fair amount of background detail too. It's pretty good.

Pulp Sci-Fi: War of Words - Only the great artwork makes this poor script enjoyable. The detailed art on the aliens is excellent and really brings them to life. However, the same can't be said of the script, which is rather bland and has an outcome which is obvious from page 2 onward. It's full of silly jokes in the names, too: "Ambassador Kala-Mari of Phibia", who is a fish, and "General Bellos of the War-Thog Dictatorship", who is (unsurprisingly) a humanoid who looks like a warthog. It's silly.

Devlin Waugh: Reign of Frogs, part 1 - This is just plain weïrd, although strangely compelling. The script is tense but it's relying mainly on the script for everything, as the artwork is pretty bland and very much lacking in detail; which works well for the Herod but not for anything else. Decent script, but the artwork lets the whole thing down.