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[Final Solution, Late Assessment]

Final Solution, Late Assessment

I picked this up in the sale, and thought that you all deserved a white-hot, up-to-the-minute review of something that is only thirty-four years old.

Unlike previous posts, this isn't a first impression of anything. In some respects it's a last impression. This is where Strontium Dog, a mainstay of the comic since before I could remember, came to an end.
Oddly enough, I didn't care too much at the time. I was fully engaged with the prog, but I was at the stage where was I appreciating stories rather than being thrilled by them. The truth of it was I hadn't got a kick out of Strontium Dog since we'd first met Durham Red and I hadn't been invested since the hunt for Max Bubba. There was no dramatic tension. Stories went on like they were trying fill a quota. But then, for the first time in ages, something interesting happened. Simon Harrison took over on art duties.
I know that opinions even still are many and loud but in those days, unless the Nerve Centre printed a lot of letters on the subject, the 2000AD forum was just you and your buddy. If you liked it and he didn't, that was as divisive as it got. I liked Harrison's work. It was different, and Strontium Dog had been the same for too long. I used to be more open-minded about art way back when, and there's no denying that what was on show was quality work. But the old-school, stuck-in-the-eighties stick-in-the-mud that I am now looks at Harrison's art and says, 'It's all very nice, I suppose, but it's not Strontium Dog, is it?'
Middle-aged conservatism aside, though, let's just concentrate right now on how very nice it is. Alright, the characters are odd to the point (and often long past it) of being grotesque. Elongated faces, tiny eyes, lumpy musculature. It's hard to tell who's mutie and who's norm here. On the other hand, this is beautifully done. Forms are delineated with the finest of lines and the smudgiest of shadows. Its all brightest and darkest at the same time. I don't know if chiaroscuro is the correct term, or even if I'm allowed to use such a hifalutin word in regard to comics, but damn me if I'm not going to use it. The Harrison fella's got his chiaroscuro sorted, and no mistake.
But on the other hand, it's not Strontium Dog, is it?

Ignoring my usual memory lane schtick, what's the bottom line on The Final Solution?

For:
Some thrilling stuff here. It's action-packed and (for a Strontium Dog script) fast-moving.
The one detail that I remembered from long ago was the New Church's coup. Given the present state of UK politics, I appreciated it even more this time around. The bad guys seizing control of parliament is Die Hard cool and the royal family 'taking the honourable way out' is a hoot.
And bigger-picture, this is a worthy sequel to Portrait Of A Mutant. Stuff is happening. Big stuff. Important stuff. For the first time in a long time, Strontium Dog is on the move.

Against:
Harrison's acid house skater vibe has dated badly. Case in point: the Keeble kids on Smiley's World. I only remembered how they'd been in The Slavers of Drule. Seeing how they're portrayed here, I cringed. I really did. This is where you miss Ezquerra's sci-fi spaghetti western thing.
But the main drawback? It's LONG. Not just Strontium Dog long, but long and broken up. If you count The No-Go Job as part of it, then this is a story that ran for two years. Seriously.

In honour of the staggered and fragmented way the story was presented to us originally, and because my attention span (and yours, I'll warrant) ain't all it might be, I will take a break here and consider the MacNeil finale in a later instalment.

My pleasure, Doc.
Every word of it true.

The stuff with the robot was excellent.

Niemand does great robots, no mistake.

I got deer, boys.
Everything from little Bambis to big effing stags. And a lot of 'em.

Your deer might be bigger than my sparrows, but do they have a coffee habit? Are they at least all fucked up on diet pills?

Yes, but are you feeding these foxes stimulants?

(On an unrelated note, but seeing as it's you: I think I saw a hawk on Sunday. Brown thing with large wingspan. It was gone before I could get a better look. Calling after it was no use. If only, I thought, there was someone I knew of who could communicate with hawks, albeit in a low and indistinct voice!)

I have caffeinated sparrows.
They congregate in a bush that overhangs the little concrete yard behind my kitchen. The yard is only big enough for the wheelie bins and it's littered with leaves from the bush above and by the dregs from my morning pot of coffee. The coffee sludge is chucked out there and left to dry. Sometime in the future it gets swept up along with the dead leaves, and the snail shells, and the rest of the organic rubbish, and put in the bin.
I've only started noticing the sparrows this past year because of their numbers and the noise they make. It occurs to me that they're there for the coffee. When I see them pecking away in the little yard, it may not be seeds they're after, but coffee grounds. That might explain their liveliness. I have caffeinated sparrows.
No wonder they're all chirrupping loudly at the same time and flying in rapid little flurries – going nowhere but going fast.
These sparrows are buzzed.
I can hear them now, cheeping at each other like they've got a million ideas for a tech start-up.

I gave my number 1 vote to Grinder, but Working Girl has just the best opening panel. Top notch work from Goddard and a great way to reintroduce a character.

Oh yeah, Lawman – I should have said right off the bat. Your feedback is hugely appreciated. I'm delighted you liked the book. Many thanks.

[The Apocalypse War: Forbidden Tales!]

I think Dossier is a decent name as it fits the wartime theme well.
...
Re: the chapters, certainly wasn't a problem - For the most part it reminded me of the short Prog chapters in the original story and made for easy reading, going through a couple chapters a night!

The Apocalypse War: Forbidden Tales! (parental advisory)
I can live with Dossier.
As for reading short chapters, I'm at the age when I find long ones daunting. Actually, I think I always did, but at least long ago I was able to stick my nose in a book and keep it there for hours on end. Nowadays there's just too much stuff.

By the way, the release of the three volumes was originally to have been staggered, with one novella every three months.

I was out of the loop, but Michael Molcher can confirm (or deny).
I believe there was to have been greater fanfare for the 40th anniversary of the Apocalypse War, but then Vladimir Putin did a Bad Thing, and celebrating Soviet nukes flying around suddenly didn't seem so funny anymore.
I know that once the Ukrainian war started, I got onto Mike to ask him if I could axe the cheery publicity I'd written at his request, and that's when I was told that publication had been put on hold. The novellas all came out at once (six months behind) because the schedule for the omnibus edition couldn't be so easily changed.

Somebody read my book! Yay!

[spoiler]Dredd was kept in the background because his story has been comprehensively told already. (Also, I didn't quite have the nerve to write him.)[/spoiler]

The chapters were kept short because I feel pulp demands it.

You can thank my editor, Jim Killen, for [spoiler]McGruder's inclusion[/spoiler]. I only had an idea for a Block Mania story, but Rebellion wanted the full set, and there was no way on God's earth I was going to turn down that opportunity. I got the impression that Jim (who's American) had only read the original comic the weekend before our Zoom call, but when he made a few suggestions, I naturally said Yessir.

I have precisely zero ideas for further stories, and I have no idea if Rebellion is even planning on any more novellas. My efforts right now are on writing the last of my Dirty Shirt books, but obviously, if the House of Tharg should need my services, rest assured I will answer the call. No sacrifice is too great.

By the way, the release of the three volumes was originally to have been staggered, with one novella every three months. Hence the little recaps in the second and third volumes.
Also, the title Dossier was an editorial decision, and nothing to do with me. I suppose they could have called it The Apocalypse War Omnibus, but then people might have complained when they found that the original comic wasn't included. I dunno. I haven't a clue what I'd have called it myself.

And that's the sort of incisive criticism this forum has been missing lately!

Only nitpick is how contemporary the vehicles look this week in the art

Too true. Dredd's uniform is the only thing that looks futuristic in this story, and because of that it looks incongruous, if not downright silly.


And I love that cover to bits.

There actually is a Judge Norton Canes in the story I'm currently writing!

Does he have matinée idol looks? Does he crack the case and save the day? I look forward to reading it. Also, allow me to congratulate you on the success of Proteus Vex, voted best strip of 2022 in a late landslide. Well deserved.

And maybe you could promise that an important character in an upcoming story is to be called Norton Canes.
That'll make sure your vote will be counted.

I suspect I might not be unbiased

Just say that your vote for Proteus Vex is based purely on the quality of the art and the lettering. That should keep everything convincingly above board.