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If it's not been mentioned yet a big nod to the exhibition put on by David Roach - what a variety & quality of pages - super stuff and what can I say about that Lego exhibit, awesome stuff

Yeah that exhibition was terrific. I wandered around it about four times. Loved that Bellardinelli Flesh spread. I leafed through most of the David Roach pages, some lovely stuff in there.

The Lego guy said they'd shortly be breaking the whole thing up for their next project - unless someone bought it. They were asking for £3000.

Yeah that's a very good point the gallery was astonishing. I spent a very plesent 30 minutes in there as my energy levels were flagging on Sunday. It was incredible the range of pieces on display. My visit was enhanced by the fact Mike Dorey came in at the same time to me and was chatting to a friend about various pieces and yes I creepily eavesdropped. Hearing his thoughts on pieces gave me such insight.

Wow to say those are great Strontium Dog pages is a bit of an understatement. Amazing pages.

[Dredd]

Arh the ebb and flow of a great line up. I'm going to say this is a slight dip in quality BUT when you consider how good last Prog was that's no hardship. This is still great comics, just not as great as last time.

Dredd builds the myth and legend of the Underworld quite wonderfully, but in doing so let's the plot slide a little this week. It felt a little indulgent, great but indulgent.

Intestinauts continues to play with ways to tell it story but a little like Dredd this week missed a bit of that narrative drive and felt a little info dumpy. Again still very fun.

3riller - The Blue Skies over Deathwick oh this is a beaut as we get a switch in our POV and maybe a twist of the old school delivered with guile. We'll see if this one sticks that landing but to this point its all gone wonderfully

Brink - what's left to say. Devine!

Proteus Vex - steady issue by this strips epic standards, or maybe know the penny has dropped with me that this is wrapping up soon my expectations have shifted? Hmm maybe. Either way not quite as strong this week... or maybe I'm just a bit tired and grumpy. Who knows.

So a Prog being  not quite as good as last weeks is not big deal, well except it is, its still great, just not quite as great!

The old adage - Looks better in the flesh - has rarely been as true as when applied to Trooper McFad's models. You think they look good on here, if you ever get the chance to see them in the real world - well wow they'll blow you away even more.

I was lucky enough to see them at Lawless (yes Trooper McFad has the energy to carry a literal crate of his models around!) and they are simply amazing seen up close.

Well quick(ish) sat on the train too tired to read report from YNWA.com.

That was an absolute blast. Can't believe it took me so long to get to Lawless as its everything everyone says it will be. The atmosphere is great, a lot less hectic than other Cons I've been too. The ratio of creator to punter means you genuinely get to see everyone and have a bloody good chin wag with most. The writers, artists, colourists and letterers were super lovely to a tee and were so generous with their time and happy to talk about just about anything.

For a small two day con there is so much to do, yet I never felt like I was having to compromise stuff, well aside from getting into too many chats with folks on Sunday meaning I missed all the panels, but that was cool and I was tired so chewing the fat with lovely people was defo the option to take for me.

I think the only gossip I can add to Le Fink's is Garth Ennis may have a short Strontium Dog thing lined up.

There are any number of new loviest people in comics to add to the list. Seeing the Great Dante Read Through live was an absolute blast and Edie and Simon F were just so generous with their time chatting to Irregulars like us.

The very best thing though is of course the 2000ad Fan Community is just the lovilest and shiniest in fandom. So many folks I just chatted to randomly whose names I didn't get but were a pleasure to be around to a fault.

The folks from this board however are the best of the best. From folks it was brill to finally catch up with again after far too long, Hawkmumbler, Dandontdare, Jim Campbell.

To the folks I'd not met before, but am very much looking forward to meeting again as soon as possible. Barrington Boots and Charlotte, Le Fink, and the Clan Trooper McFad just made the weekend and put the community into 'I love the comics community' just a joy to spend time with.

Thanks folks, brill weekend but I'm a wittering so will shut up now!

Well train boarded and off on time. The adventure begins...YAWN...

Rishi Sunak is an anagram of Hi Risk Anus.

Gold!

Anyway all these Tory MPs running scared and bailing is going to deny us the possiblity of so many glorious moments. What will we have left for the Portillo Moment? Gove was my banker.

The only colour I think is on the covers (still only flicked through) and there are only examples of editorial stuff in the extra materials section I think.

Still overall a very handsome package.

I will defo be saying hello and fully expect to be given triffle when I do!

So cool. Brian K Vaughn is a great catch!

PS - I still would like a complete edition starting from the beginning collecting all the stories.

Omnibus editions of Sin/Dex and Dante really do feel like a truly unbelievable gap in Rebellions library, and two series I'd devour in a heartbeat.

Given the number of goes they've had at trying to make S&D work in collections I doubt this will ever happen now alas.  Shame as I would snap it up as well.

Its feels off though to be griping after your love letter to an all time classic.

To be honest its the fact that his does read like a love letter that means alternative takes are even more important to avoid by love filled and therefore distorted gaze!

I assume that the Hachette deal means Rebellion can't publish SinDex (or Dante, or anything else) as Omniboo or Compendium's? It's a shame as my ocd won't allow me to put random Hachette spines on the bookshelf, so will have to wait it out.

I suspect its more to do with the fact they don't seem to do that well (a lot of guess work there on my part!) that'd stop things happening.

[Number 81 - Sinister Dexter - Part 4]

Number 81 - Sinister Dexter - Part 4

Where to find it

Much to my frustration there has never been a complete collection of Sinister Dexter in just about any form I'm aware of. There are all sorts of bits and pieces which certainly cover most of the bulk of the early stuff, but there are all sorts of gaps. Not sort of 'Hit files', or other end to end collections. So we'll just have to make do with what we have... or get the Progs. The Progs of course are available digitally since 2002 and if you use the links below you can find which of the many Progs you'll need.
There are also currently three volumes (maybe other spin-offs?) In the  Hachette 2000ad Ultimate Collection but again it was never going to get to it all. So you'll need the Progs!

Learn more

As with all things 2000ad the first go to places are the brilliant Funt Solo's 2000ad in stages - here I've linked to the specific Sinister Dexter page. There are of course pages for all the spin-offs as well.

And Barney. Again linked to the Sinister Dexter page but again other relevant pages a plenty. Alas it's not been updated to cover Azimuth.

Obligatory Wikipedia page is actually pretty useful for this one too.

2000ad online's own  article about the strip, in part pulled from the 2000ad Encyclopedia entry.

There is of course a 2000ad ABC entry for the series.

While you might think I have passion for this strip watch the man himself talk about his favourite things to write. It gets relevant after about 2 minutes. Now this is from like 14 years ago now (gulp) and he may well say he chuffin' hates it now. I doubt it and I really hope not. And its this passion I think comes through the series when I read it.

What is all this?

Conscious that this is becoming a long thread and if you're wondering what the heck you've just read and can't be arsed (quite sensibly) to search back to find out I'll link to my opening posts that try to explain all this.

What this all came from

And of course a nerd won't do a list like this without setting 'Rules' / guidelines

Some thoughts on what will not be on the list.

[Number 81 - Sinister Dexter - Part 3]

Number 81 - Sinister Dexter - Part 3


Copyright - Rebellion

One final complaint I often hear is that Ray and Finny are morally questionable and their ethics flux with the needs of the story. As characters some folks find them difficult to get on with. Now whether you get on with specific characters is as subjective as art, some characters will work for you, some won't, all good. For me I think the two gun sharks are fantastic and another key strength of the series. To call them out as they are morally questionable, in a comic whose most popular character is Judge Dredd is just plain odd to me though. Just like, say Tony Soprano, these two are horrible people, who do terrible things, yet they are charming, likeable characters. You might not like what they do, they may never want to meet them, but damn they are fun and compelling to follow in their adventures. This is something that 2000ad has always done and makes the comic the fascinating read that it is. Its stock in trade is so often the anti-hero.

I think (and I'm projecting here) that the issue is you are meant to like Ray and Finny, to be charmed by them and enjoy your time with them, rooting for them. I do, not because they are good people, but as they are great characters in a fictional work and sometimes it's fun to root for the bad guy. It is also fair to say however that Dabnett has at times struggled with this a little. He's tried to balance the fact that our leads are people who coldly, clinically kill folks for money with no real moral qualms. He's done this by trying to make the people they kill even more terrible. By saying their murderous acts of murder bring balance to Downlode and things would be much worse without them. To place them in scenarios that allow you to cheer for them without having to worry too much about who they are and what they do. If you don't look too close he gets away with it too. He handles it with the same skill as the rest of his writing. I do wish sometimes so he wouldn't worry too much about this. 2000ad has a long, rich history of making you like and support terrible people who do horrific things. Ray and Finny are no different. It's perfectly possible to be brutal killers, but also charming and likeable on the surface and Dabnett makes this work in Sinister Dexter, I just sometimes think he gets a little too caught up in justifying what they do.

Dabnett does write great characters however and beyond our leds the ever changing supporting cast is sublime. From folks who appeared early like Nervous Rex, Demi and Billi Octavo. To folks introduced as the series developed, Tracy Weld, Rocky Rhodes, Kal Cutter, Carrie Hosanna he's never short of characters who come and go in the series. They are diverse and fantastic, though as you can see the one thing that unites them is Dabnett's love of a good pun!

So while I of course respect the fact that for many there are significant problems with the series I just see its charms and delights. Enjoy its energy and creative world building. One thing I've not discussed is the host of artists who have supported Dabnett on crafting the series. There have been so many and if I'm honest not all have been good, most are though. As mentioned Simon Davis' glorious painted masterpieces so full of character and precision, yet never lacking in energy are most closely associated with the series. Others though have made a very significant contribution including Andy Clarke, Anthony Williams, Steve Yeowell, Greg Staples, the list of top tier artists who have worked on the series is a veritable roll call of the talent that has graced the second half of 2000ad's history.


Copyright - Rebellion

Time and 2000ad move on and the comic is a restless story devouring beast and Sinister Dexter has to move with that to stay alive. It currently appears as Azimuth with Dabnett teamed up with Tazio Bettin in the stories third spin off series (I've not mentioned one as its one of 2000ad first and greatest twist stories that didn't reveal itself to be anything to do with Sinister Dexter until the end). At this time Ray is being chased in an AI altered Downlode by Finny... well not Finny... its complex (but explained each episode as much as the reader needs!). This seems to have given the series new life in some folks eyes. For me it's just the next chapter in a series that has always been brilliant, always been bold enough to reinvent itself. Always maintained its quality by having the consistent bullet in its barrel of the Magnificent Dabnett crafting superb long form storytelling, using compelling, exciting and funny shorter form stories. 

[Number 81 - Sinister Dexter - Part 2]

Number 81 - Sinister Dexter - Part 2


Copyright - Rebellion

So what makes Sinister Dexter so good? Well its longevity speaks to this, but I'd like to answer this question by tackling some of the things held against it these days by readers who think its past its sell by date.

Firstly folks seem to identify specific potential end points, moments the story hit a moment when it felt like a natural conclusion. This can be as early Eurocrash in 1999, an epic 13 part story that dealt with the death of a major character. The ramifications of which lead to the series 'ending' and spinning off into its first... well spin off, Downlode Tales which told how Ray and Finny dealt with that death in very different ways. Another popular point of closure for some folks is 2005's '...and Death shall have no dumb minions." another epic tale with very significant consequences and ultimately another spin off. There are others but we'll stick to those for now. Often folks seem to suggest after these points the series has run its course. It's dealt with all it can and anything else was just repetition. Or they hark back to the shorter, sharper, often more comedic tales that fill in between these larger, more impactful stories.

I've never felt this as I think that one of the key things Sinister Dexter does so well is provide a platform for almost any type of story. As I've said above its as about as robust a format as any series in 2000ad has ever had, aside from Judge Dredd. Its flexible nature, its setting of Downlode allow for such an array of different story. It handles short one part comedic gag strips. It can handle mid-range stories with different themes and tones, exploring both the light and dark side of the world and hit men in a city like Downlode offers. Just like Dredd it can then flex to longer, more emotionally resonant 'epics' that have real long term impacts. Arguably Sinister Dexter can do this more powerfully than Dredd since the series isn't as pivotal - in the long term - to 2000ad the impacts can really stick. Something that is often held against Dredd epics, in that massive storylines can quickly be washed away by the 'status quo' and the need to keep Dredd the story hunger engine fed. Events in Sinister Dexter epics, well in fact even short stories can be felt to this day.

Far from being points of closure for the series, I see these larger, more 'important' stories as gear changes for the long ongoing overarching story of Ray and Finny, that in fact reinforce how flexible it is and actually help it sustain. They provide balance, while also functioning as chapter endings for a series, that by its very design to me doesn't need to end. Obviously that won't change the mind of folks who feel differently but for me these 'endpoints' are actually evidence of why it should continue as long as Dabnett desires.


Copyright - Rebellion

This neatly leads to another complaint I often hear for the series, that it has been running so long it's become a convoluted mess and needs shooting as a mercy, and not just in the shoulder. This was particularly true during the 'Moses Wars' an arc that ran from as early as 2002 - dependent on what you consider the start - up to 2011. It involved the return of a mob boss who was pivotal in the series very first run, but killed off in those very, very early days. In fact due to interdimensional shenanigans and cloning and ... well other sci-fi stuff, there were two Moses Tannebaum - the gangland boss - and one was bringing across duplicates of other key characters from his 'home' dimension to replace 'our' world's equivalent character to wrestle a seat of power in Downlode. Then the interdimensional police ninja's got involved and....

...okay, okay fair to say by that description certainly supports folks who say the series has become a bit of a mess. It reads like they have a very good point BUT the Magnificent Dabnett is a supreme craftsman where I am not. I've re-read this arc a couple of times and he uses 2000ad's episodic structure supremely. He provides recap and summary for each individual story that runs during the period of the 'Moses War' to give the reader enough to get a satisfying read for that story. He then uses those small stories to push the overall story forward in engaging ways that build tension and drama to unpin it all. When read back it really worked and was in fact a prime example of episodic long form fictional writing. It was so deftly done and exposes the series key strength. The Magnificent Dan Abnett. He's such a good writer and uses 2000ad's format as well, if not better than any other, with maybe the exception of the great John Wagner.

He crafts individual episodes with the skill of the very best tv soap opera writers. Stealthily ensuring a new reader can join this long, ongoing, convoluted series awash with history and backstory at any point and gets a satisfying read. At the same time he's constantly building on that story, crafting real change and development as he goes. It's an incredible body of work and he's written each and every episode of it. He can mix playful, pun laden humour with tense, driven action and real emotional power and weight, aided by sharp, insightful character beats all in a single story. One that in some cases can be just 6 pages long. He does the same thing over the longer form stories and builds all that into a series that I find so easy to fully engage with and care about.

Yes the series has reset, in story. Resets that don't take away anything that's gone before but build upon it. But these are just catches of breath, that allow for more development and new directions rather than rewrite the fantastic work that has gone before. His passion and love for the series and its characters shine through all this and makes the series a joy to read, whatever type of story it's presenting at any given point.

[Number 81 - Sinister Dexter - Part 1]

Number 81 - Sinister Dexter - Part 1



Number 81 - Sinister Dexter

Keywords: 2000ad, Flexible moral code, long running, reinventing itself, Dabnett's brilliance

Creators:
Writer - Dan Abnett
Art - David Millgate followed by LOADs of different artists, most notably Sinister Dexter
Colours - So many

Publisher: Rebellion

No. issues: Well now there's a question. By a very rough estimate, including all the spin offs I'm going with over 140 US size comics by page count*.
Date of Publication: 1995 - date - still ongoing currently as Azimuth

Last read: Ongoing

* Based on the page counts from the brilliant 2000ad in Stages any mistakes here are mine not theirs.

Strap yourself in I once wrote 20,000 word in a series of articles tracking the history of


Copyright - Rebellion

while doing a re-read of the strip from start to finish. Don't worry on two counts. Firstly I'll try not to harp on anywhere near as much here as I did there. Secondly they are no longer up so I'm not going to try to pimp my wares and link to them!... I mean I do have my original Google Docs if anyone is desperate to read that guff... but I'd not advise it! Suffice to say though this is a series I'm invested in and have spent far too much time thinking about.

Let's cover the basics first, though most folks here will know most if not all of this. Dan Abnett famously came up with the concept for Sinister Dexter in 1994 (? or early 1995)) when heading into the Nerve Centre with a number of stories to pitch. He didn't feel he had enough so apparently on the journey he created a few more to be shot down to better highlight what he thought of as his better stories. Tharg (I think it was David Bishop as his helper at the time, I might well be wrong there too.) rejected the rest and pulled out Sinister Dexter as the series to be developed.

Teamed up with David Milligate the series debuted in the 1995 Winter Special 'Alternity' which presented alternative versions of various characters and oddly Sinister Dexter, a new creation. Fair to say it was raw in this first story, in many ways suffering from the worst of 90s excess and muddy art not well served by the printing available. David Bishop saw its potential however and commissioned a run of stories that started in early 1996. I believe another story ran late and so Bishop asked for some extra episodes to fill the gap. This showed two things, firstly you could rely on Dan Abnett (here after to be referred to as Dabnett or The Magnificent Dabnett) to get the job done. Secondly the robust, flexible nature of the series to fill a hole when needed. So this initial run lasted 13 Progs.


Copyright - Rebellion

Fair to say these early stories remain a little rough. Which is hardly surprising given its rapid creation from what Dabnett (Magnificient) thought of as a throw away idea. That idea being a couple of Tarantino inspired hit men, or gunsharks,   as they are called in the story, who kill for money, but have a 'code' that places rules around them in doing so. Finnigan 'Finny' Sinister and Ramone 'Ray' Dexter, our gunsharks operate in a european mega city called Downlode - and if you think that's going to be the last pun you see in the series you are very sadly mistaken, one of its funniest tools is using Dabnett's seemingly inexhaustible ability to come up with great puns.

The roughness of these early stories is amplified by having a number of different artists draw them. Most significantly Simon Davis who is the artist most associated with the series. They caught readers' imagination despite this and became a breakout hit. The leds easy charm, the propensity for easy, consequence free violence and the flexible nature of the concept allowing it to sustain all types of story in a way I'd suggest only Judge Dredd can better in 2000ad was there to be seen, even in these early tales.

Six months after this initial run it returned. The break allowed it to develop and start to become a little more solid. It also saw its first long form story - the initial run dominated by 1 or 2 part tales - in the 8 part crucially all realised with Simon Davis' wonderful art, given more time to produce the art it was simply wonderful. I'd suggest the series really doesn't come into its own until its                  second long form story, also painted by Simon Davis, 1997's  'Murder 101'. Regardless 2000ad had a smash hit with readers.

The importance of Sinister Dexter to 2000ad can't be underestimated. Alongside the emerging Nikolai Dante and John Wagner's return to Judge Dredd in the Prog Tharg had three fantastic, regularly appearing thrills that really helped stir the good ship 2000ad out of the doldrums of the mid 90s. Having these three as a foundation, Tharg's little helper David Bishop was able to allow the other strips in the Prog to be a little more experimental, or rough. 2000ad needed to introduce new creators as so many regular creators had left for the US and this new talent had to be thrust into Prog often before they were ready. There was also a mass of famously poor quality material that had previously been benched and tucked away in a drawer in the hope it would be forgotten, that now needed to be run to pay the bills. With typically at least two of these three great thrills available Tharg was able to make 2000ad a good read despite some of this poor material being present. For me Sinister Dexter, in this triumvirate, helped save the Galaxy's Greatest and gave it the time it needed to get back on track and truly reclaim that title again.

The series has been a regular in 2000ad, or at least semi-regular, occasionally taking longer breaks, ever since.