I think it's fair to say that End Of Days has a few rough edges. I mean, quite apart from the remote possibility of releasing disease layers from beneath ancient perma-frost, it doesn't seem like a good idea anyway to be blowing up vessels one suspects of harbouring deadly airborne infections.
Still on board with the epic as a whole, though, the odd dodgy moment or uneven pacing notwithstanding. Often the acid test of a strip's worth is how often one re-reads it and I've been through this instalment half a dozen times. The overall concept of mankind inflicting destruction on itself is hardly new but it's being handled well here. Also, if Dredd and his crew are going to be permanently debilitated by each Horseman they encounter, as they have been by Famine, it'll be interesting to see what condition they're in by the time they rock up to Death.
(Oh, and any long-term fans of Rhys Thomas's spoof radio phone-in Down The Line will know why I can't help grinning every time I think of the '
Four Horsemen')
Elsewhere I guess we're into the mid-phase of several other strips' runs so it's basically a case of 'as you were' for Diaboliks (excellent, though Fuso's work isn't
quite the calibre of Reardon's - has he perhaps been instructed to copy his style?), The Order (great) and Full Tilt Boogie (good, but always seemingly an episode away from really kicking in). But The Out takes the thrill trophy this week, having over a mere four episodes already developed into one of Dan Abnett's great works. Absolutely adore the series of snapshots of other races (despite the Body Snatchers lift) - it's so good when a strip has the confidence to pause the action like that for a moment.
I do miss episode two's logo though.
