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Another poor cover. It looks very 1980s.

'Terror' is coming along very nicely. Similar subject matter to Savage, but executed with much more finesse.

Also, I liked this installment of Lowlife. Witty dialogue, and I like the premise a lot. But I think I fancy Amiee. Help.

The future shock was just confusing and weird.

I hate Sinister Dexter with a passion, it's offensive and the characters are totally unsympathetic. But I did actually like this episode. No doubt something will happen in future installments to make me hate it (like the leads shooting a group of women and children in their faces and then stamping on their brains or something).

I thought the Tripods from the series of the same name were pretty cool...

Fair enough, she needed people to live in squalor for her own reasons. But... er... why? All the ending serves to do is make Nixon a rather unsympathetic character.

Maybe I'm over-reacting to it, but I just didn't really like the way it was resolved. I did like the earlier episodes though.

I've got to say it - the final episode of Savage was really, really bad. This isn't a comic strip drawn for the purposes of entertainment - it's a soapbox for Pat Mill's bland political views.

One panel contains what is perhaps the most ridiculous (not to mention unsubtle) piece of dialogue I have ever seen. It reads "They claimed they were here to save us - but it was the same as EVERY war... they just wanted the oil". Yeah, just like Kosovo & Sierra Leone. We were after the OIL! Just like in EVERY war!

Just when did Piers Morgan become the editor of 2000AD? I must have missed the announcement. Newsflash people: This isn't 'intelligent commentary' or insightful metaphor. A twelve year old could have written this rubbish. There's no thought in it, it doesn't tell us anything new. Nothing we couldn't read in the Daily Mirror.

Just to rub salt in the wounds, the opening editorial claims that Savage is bringing the original Invasion! story into 'intelligent and increasingly pertinent new waters'. If this is intelligent, I'd hate to think what their idea of an unintelligent, knee-jerk reactionary strip would be like.

I don't have anything against Pat Mills. His stuff has always been simplistic (perhaps even childish), but I used to enjoy a lot of it when I was younger and I don't have a problem with him personally. In fact, until Savage, I have not had any particular dislike for any of his stuff.

Rant over.

Rest of the issue was average. Terror isn't bad at all. Low Life had a very poor ending - this whole 'people are better off living in poverty' idea grates with me. It reminds me of Mother Teresa's  vacuous statement that 'the world benefits greatly from the suffering of the poor'. No, don't think so. Cop-out ending.

Photoshop is infinitely superior to PSP - nobody in design or graphics uses PSP seriously, it's kind of like Photoshop's cheap and cheerful second cousin.

No offence meant, but Photoshop is worth sticking with.

Looks much better than the hideous coloring recently used in Damned Ranger (or whatever it was called) and Brothers of the Blood.

The following sentiments were attributed to me:

Therefore, torture's what they understand, isn't it? It's not like torturing a Christian, after all. Not the same sensitivity to pain, see?

If you are going to say one thing but actually mean something else perhaps it is you who ought to engage your brain. Whatever you meant to say read as "hanging in a net? So what, thats not genuine torture. Muslims do worse to Muslims so what the fuck are they complaining about." Are you really surprised you got a "typical knee-jerk pseudo-liberal" reaction?
Simply, hanging in a net is not torture. It's abuse, sure. But if you want torture, go to Egypt or Iran and see what goes on behind closed doors. When you see them ripping someone's fingernails out or wiring their genitals up with electrodes, you might understand what real torture is, and how hanging in a net probably doesn't compare (as unpleasant as it is).

I say again, abuse of prisoners is not to be tolerated. Ever. But you'd think these muslims that are so outraged about the Iraq abuses (it's been wall-to-wall on Al-Jazeera) might be a little more concerned about the abuses in their own back yard. Glass houses, stones and so forth.

I accept that many muslims are unhappy with the situations in their own countries, and these people might obviously be equally distressed about the abuses in Iraq as they are with the ones in their own country. But given the anti-western sentiment amongst muslims, I believe that much of the fuss is because it's the dirty infidel invaders doing the abusing, rather than fine, upstanding muslims.

Perhaps people would consider your arguments at greater length if you refrained from unwarranted ad hominem attacks.

Right, so I'm called a racist for no reason, and I'm the one using unwarranted ad hominem attacks. That makes sense.

"I don't understand what function the word "truly" has there other than to cast doubt on the veracity of these stories with no back-up or rationale."
No, I meant 'truly' as in actually torturing them, rather than giving them a shove as they enter their cell, or pointing at their penises.

"And surely you meant "should face court martial and criminal procedings", rather than a summary death penalty that'd drag us back to their level?"

No, I meant courtmartial then firing squad. I was exaggerating though - having them locked up for a long time would suffice.

"If I get what you're saying here (and do correct me if I'm wrong), the logic is

1) Some Muslims regularly take part in torture
2) The victims of this torture are Muslims
3) Therefore, torture's what they understand, isn't it? It's not like torturing a Christian, after all. Not the same sensitivity to pain, see?
4) It's not right, of course. But in a strange way it's not as wrong.

I can't see any other reason for the "but" in your sentence"

Then perhaps you should switch your brain into the 'on' position. I was just making the point that although muslims around the world are outraged over these unpleasant incidents - to the point of foaming at the mouth - in actual fact they do far worse to their own people as a matter of routine. Muslim states generally do not give two hoots about 'human rights'.

That doesn't excuse what coalition troops have done, and as I said, those responsible should be punished severely.

I don't think that torture is ever acceptable in these situations, and I certainly am not the racist that you're making me out to be. Still, typical knee-jerk pseudo-liberal response, I shouldn't be surprised.

Piers Morgan did what he did for the attention - nothing else. The man is dirt.

As to these photos - it appears I was wrong, so I apologise - and if they are genuine, then naturally it is terrible. Anyone truly torturing Iraqi prisoners should face a firing squad. But on the other hand, hanging in a net from a forklift sounds like luxury compared to the genuine torture carried out routinely by muslims, towards muslims.

The slight pro-terrorist subtext of Savage has kind of irked me a little since this revival began.

"But then I think of Abu Ghraib and the photos developed by the British soldiers that have so far been hidden from us..."

Er - what photos taken by British soldiers? Only photos of American abuse have thus far been uncovered.

Shonen Jump is good if you can get it. 350 pages per issue is hard to beat, though it might not be to everyone's taste.

Very nice.

I actually like the artwork. Have you ever studied art properly? If not, you probably should, because looking at it, I think you'd probably be quite good if you worked hard at it.

I wasn't mad keen on the script, but don't be put-off.