Looking forward to Vol.32, I haven't read Blood Cadets since it came out. Anything else of particular interest expected in that volume?
Depends on your definition of
interesting. As far as regular humans are concerned, John Wagner's return to PJ Maybe is the other big attraction, beginning a cycle of stories that only really ended in 2016, with
Ladykiller.
The other two big stories are
Sabs, which sees Cam Kennedy return to skysurfing, and
Shirley Temple Of Doom, which introduces 'block insurance'* and has the Big Story continuity development of Stark from
The Hunting Party and
Doomsday dying from Grubb's disease.
Even the least interesting story,
Turned Out Quite Nice Again, features the colonic explosive exploits of the activist Urban Terror (and the art of Henry Flint).
The Island is notable for John Wagner ripping-off Alex Garland years before the latter returned the compliment.
Artistically speaking, we get Jock's debut
Dredd, the beginning of Chris Blythe's reign as Dredd colouring doyen, Siku ditching paint for linework, the third of four Dredds Steve Parkhouse has ever drawn, and Frazer Irving's only
Dredd strip work.
There are two excellent one-offs from Wagner and Pete Doherty,
Slow Crime Day and
Blow Out. They're both
hilarious and continue the arse fixation of Urban Terror, the former introducing cavity specialist Judge Skerrit, who sees every situation as an excuse to pull-on latex.**
* Protection rackets run by organised crime gangs, a plot element that will feature again most notably in the first Mandroid story
** Skerrit accompanied legend Phil Winslade on his only visit to MC1, the Jack Straw takedown, Caught In The Act (1450-1451)