Quote of the issue: “Did you see my televised debate — the one where I made Richard Dawkins cry? I wanted to use a picture of that on my personalised Christmas cards but the Archbishop wouldn’t let me.” Unnamed Church of England operative, Caballistics, Inc.

It’s finally arrived! And it’s a good’un…

Cover: Clint Langley draws Dredd in the foreground, with the other characters featured in this issue in the background.

Bit of a damp squib this. The non-Dredd characters are merely taken from other artists while there is something about the face of Dredd that I don’t like. I think it is the slightly pointed helmet.

The twin-logo design doesn’t exactly do it any favours either. I hope this “2000 sideways AD” logo isn’t here to stay as it is awful - a complete throwback to the bland logo they used around 2000. The fat exclamation mark design is a classic - if there’s no reason to change the name, there’s no reason to change the logo.

Strips: Droid Life, Judge Dredd, Shakara, Kingdom, Nikolai Dante, Stickleback, Sinister Dexter, Caballistics Inc, Strontium Dog.

Features: Best ever covers, letters, three “great moments of thrill power” pinups (The Apocalypse War by Boo Cook, The Angel Gang by Clint Langley, Nemesis the Warlock Book IV: The Gothic Empire by Bryan Talbot.

Spoilers… (more…)

Two weeks to Prog 2008, and things are coming to a close (I’ve been saying that for a while now, haven’t I?)

Cover: The mysterious Karel Toten from The Red Seas, as rendered by Steve Yeowell. A dramatic enough image, and Steve Yeowell is on good form at the moment.

Quote of the Week: “Slaughterhouse! The is Dredd! Kitty is dead! The woman you think is your wife is just an empty shell! They tricked you Slaughterhouse!” Judge Dredd (speaking through the cybernetically-controlled corpse that was Slaughterhouse’s wife)

Spoilers (in addition to that one)… (more…)

A really scrotnig issue as the storylines begin to slot into place.

Cover: A Peter Doherty-drawn montage of the main characters in the current Mandroid storyline. Well drawn and timely if a little underwhelming.

Doherty is currently doing colourist duties on Dredd and in that respect is woefully underutilised. When will he resume artistic duties? He doesn’t seem to have drawn anything of substance in over a decade.

Quote of the Week: “Amassed! The man was a bloody menace! You couldn’t put anything down for a minute without him whipping it! Half the lost treasures of the ancient world ended up stuffed down his trousers!” (Erebus, The Red Seas)

Spoilers below… (more…)

Face offs galore this week as the new strips start to get going.

Cover: Simon Davis draws Finnegan Sinister John Woo style. Not sure about that gun chain - seems a little taut and impractical. I have visions that he must have something similar for his gloves, bless him. For those new readers wondering why Sinister has such a white face, it’s a Simon Davis thing.

Spoilers a-go-go… (more…)

The Red Seas is back - sort of. And the final showdowns begin in Button Man and Judge Dredd.

Cover: Frazer Irving draws Harry Ex. Effective but quite dark, meaning it doesn’t exactly leap off the shelf at you.

Spoilers ahoy! (more…)

Best issue in a while as the new strips get into their strides.

Cover: A great painted Dredd by Boo Cook. Boo’s art has been coming on in leaps and bounds in recent years and he really captures Old Stony Face here. It’s all in the chin.

Spoilers below… (more…)

Three old staples return. Dredd and Button Man are on good form as well.

Cover: Nikolai Dante by Kev Crossley. Competent but nothing to blow you away.

Spoilers below… (more…)