Saviour #2

Feb 1990. Cover price £1.
28 pages. B&W contents.
Trident Comics.

Edited by Martin Skidmore.

Cover by Daniel Vallely.

Contents:

 2 Britain's Bounciest Letters readers' mail; illustration by Nigel Kitching. / Credits / Indicia

 3 Saviour Shakespeare's Sister w: Mark Millar; a: Nigel Kitching.

27 Britain's Bounciest Letters cont..

Another fine cover, with a wonderfully apocalyptic tone to the artwork. The title's logo is, sadly, stretched and difficult to read clearly against the red background, sitting ill at ease in the overall design. On the bright side, it is a joy to find a letters column in this issue, even if it is awkwardly positioned in the inside cover, necessitating flipping past the pages to continue reading. Any interaction with a title's audience is to be commended, so minor quibbles about formatting can be put aside.

The question hanging over this issue is whether Saviour can bear losing Vallely as artist.

Annoyingly, despite giving over room for letters, there is no explanation of the artistic switch. These types of alterations to creative personnel are important in an ongoing title with only one feature - it speaks to creative intent and continuity of ideas. Are we to accept, however ridiculous the notion, that the appearance and layout would largely have remained the same had Vallely remained? Regardless of occurrences behind the scenes, the continuing narrative of Saviour and the assorted cast are handled magnificently, if not as precisely.

Jesus' hands itch, though he notes that they are not due to bleed until the next day. Attending a church, he hijacks the sermon to call people to his cause, although the priest is quick to summon the authorities to have him removed. His mood is further darkened when see sees a news report that Saviour has been awarded the United Nations' Peace Prize. Saviour, meanwhile, is determined to get his hands on the Apostle of Azrael

The change to Kitching is noticeable, though not an unpleasant change - different rather than inferior. While it would have been more beneficial for the title to retain a single artist throughout at least one complete story arc, the switch is as smooth a transition as is possible.

Millar peppers his script with religious references, which tend towards slightly heavy-handedness, and this issue is the first to present plotting oddities - there's a distinct break with the first issue, focusing almost entirely on Jesus' odd, and later drunken, behaviour. He isn't a particularly likable character, and it is puzzling to see so much space expended on him. I'm guessing that this series will make more sense to the strongly religious.

#01

Saviour

#03

Red Dwarf Smegazine Vol.2 #1

May 1993; Cover price £1.50.
48 pages. Full colour.
Fleetway Editions Limited.

Edited by Mike Butcher.

Cover photograph. Cover design by Steve Curley

Free postcards.

Contents:

.2 Look out, Universe, here come... THE BOYS FROM THE DWARF! Introduction text by Mike Butcher?

.4 Smegatorial by Mike Butcher. / Win a Red Dwarf Script Book competition. / Indicia

.5 Lister the God, part one, w:/a: Nigel Kitching, lettering by Elitta Fell.

15 News from the Dwarf text feature by Jane Killick.

16 Behind the Scenes with Red Dwarf VI text feature by Jane Killick.

18 Red Dwarf merchandise advertisement.

19 Craig Charles text feature by Jane Killick.

22 The Junior Encyclopedia of Space Readers Q&A feature by Maxine Lehmann.

23 Androids The Big Scrap Heap of Life w: James Hill & Pat Kelleher; a: Kev F. Sutherland.

24 Red Dwarf Lands in Chicago - A Review of Visions '92 text feature by Joe Nazzaro.

26 Ace Rimmer fact file.

27 Super-Ace w: Steve Lyons; a: Nigel Dobbyn, lettering by Elitta Fell.

34 "The End" episode retrospective by Jane Killick.

37 The Terminator He's Back and He's Meaner Than Ever toy advertisement.

38 Red any Good Books Lately book reviews by Joe Nazzaro, Jane Killick, and John Ratcliff.

39 Captain's Log Mac McDonald interview, by Chris Howarth & Steve Lyons.

42 Hollygrams readers letters. / Next Month in the Smeg

43 Jake Bullet and Dwayne Dibbley The Case of the Cashed-In Contestant, part six, Don't Lose Your Nerd w: Noble & Kitching; a: Flint & Kitching, lettering by Phoenix.

47 News from the Omni-Zone television news by Adrian Rigelsford.

48 A New Beginning - It'll Blow You to Pieces in-house advertisement for Judge Dredd The Megazine.

Before we get too comfy, there is the unfortunate cover text to address:

The Gary Glitter of Space?
Craig Charles Confesses!

How different that innocent line has become in the intervening years.

The first strip, Lister the God, delves into history of the Felis sapien, who descended from Lister's pregnant house-cat. A holy war raged for fifteen hundred years, with no end in sight. Fritz, Krazy and Juma are selected to use the time obelisk to travel five hundred years into the future to return with the false god known as 'Cloister' in order to bring peace to their race. Holly suffers a power drain (necessitating Rimmer being shut off) as the three cat warriors arrive, and Holly - after deciding it has gone far too long without a facelift - decides to help the cats in their quest.

Lister immediately goes to fetch bazookoids to deal with the problem, but before he can reach them runs into the cats. Kryten is seemingly destroyed, and Lister is dragged away to the time obelisk to face his fate. Meanwhile (or, alternatively, five hundred years in the future) Holly has sorted out the glitch. Cat finds he isn't the sole remaining crew-member when Kryten, missing many pieces, arrives with Rimmer's Light Bee.

A strong start for the strip, with a genuinely interesting series of problems for the crew to untangle. There are also, naturally, the moments of comedy which the series is built around. Distinctive artwork, bold colouring (a very stark Rimmer, Holly's distinctive look), and unobtrusive lettering combine to create a very satisfying read. It is always appreciated when a long-ignored piece of back-story is expanded upon, and moreso when done as well as this is.

The Red Dwarf feature film was talked about a lot in the nineties, and the news section once again raises the prospect, with Universal named as being interested. Unfortunately there isn't a reason given for the optimism - were contracts signed? Were names and dates suggested? Had Rob Grant and Doug Naylor merely been seen standing near a producer, raising everyone's hopes for no good reason? The other big news item was a delay in Red Dwarf videos being released.

A quiet note about Danny John-Jules releasing a record is tucked away at the bottom of the page. It's nice to see even those privy to inside scoops can get tongue-tied from time to time.

The Androids one-page strip is a funny interlude, based upon the television show much liked by Kryten, but doesn't do enough with the material to be especially memorable. More fleshed-out and absurd, taking place in Alternative 2X13/L, the city of Smegopolis, an alternative in which genetic engineers have bred a new kind of hero: the hero of the masses! Faster than a speeding bazookoid blast, stronger than a raging stimulant..

Super-Ace. Not quite as strong as a dimension-hopping spaceship, unfortunately. Ace finds himself in a superhero dimension, replete with quirky references to Red Dwarf lore. He has to convince Super-Ace that there is more to being a hero than having powers, but is forced to don the hero's costume and take out the villains in his stead. There's a hilarious conclusion to the strip, and as Ace zips off to another alternative reality things are restored to their proper course.

There is a freshness and vitality to the presentation, making the most of the colour pages. The features are, for the most part, really entertaining, and the postcards are... Well, they are postcards. It is hard to screw up postcards. A poster would have been nice instead though.