Miniature Monday // Durham Red by Warlord Games and 2000 AD

Welcome back Stront heads! As I am sure you may have guessed we are back with another Strontium Dog paint job. This Durham Red! Here is her back story.

As a result of radioactive fallout (strontium-90) from a nuclear war in 2150, Durham Red was born with a mutation that made her resemble a vampire in appearance and behaviour, although she had no supernatural attributes. Shunned by other mutants, she joined the Search / Destroy agency at a young age, becoming a bounty hunter, or "strontium dog." Whilst working for the agency, she met Johnny Alpha (the lead character in the Strontium Dog series) and they were briefly romantically involved, but he was unable to trust her, and this lead to their relationship ending.

At some unspecified time after Alpha's death, Red became tired of her life and entered suspended animation. She only intended to do this for a couple of years, but she was not awoken until 1,272 years later. She discovered that the human race had spread throughout the galaxy on her revival but was still divided between pure-blood humans and mutants. As a mutant who drank the blood of normal humans, she had become a mythical figure to the mutants, who revered her as a saint ("Saint Scarlet"). Her efforts to end the conflict backfired and only made things much worse, costing the lives of billions. However, she lived for another ten thousand years, and eventually witnessed a renaissance of human civilization. In the last episode of Dan Abnett's stories, it is implied that she became an empress and was responsible for a new golden age of humanity, before faking her death and withdrawing from public life. Stories published since then are set before she entered suspended animation.

As far as my scheme went I kept it simple with her classic comic strip look. Black mohawk, red hair, yellow straps, orange suit, chainmail parts and black boats. Hope you enjoy! I am working on a painting video as you read this. If finished in the time it will be here below.

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Comic Review 141 // Durham Red: Empty Suns by Dan Abnett

Just like that, I am on the final 162 pages of Durham Red! It's been a blast and I know there are some e-books for me to enjoy, but I am going to miss Red. Here are the details of the final comic of Durham Red:

Title: Durham Red - Empty Suns

Page Count: 162

Write up: Awakening after 1200 years in suspended animation Durham Red found herself worshipped by the mutants as Saint Scarlet. Persecuted by the human iconoclasts, the mutants entreated her to lead them in a galaxy-spanning holy war against mankind, but Red refused the responsibility.

Collects:

- The Empty Suns Book I (Prog #1362-#1368)
- The Empty Suns Book II (Prog #1382-#1386)
- Necrocultura (Meg #4.12)
- Semblance (Meg #4.13)
- The Spirit and the Gaki (Meg #4.14)
- Children of the Night 1 episode (Meg #4.15)
- Genegun SD (Meg #4.16)
- Red Menace (Meg #4.17)
- In the Flesh (Meg #4.18)

Review

The final chapter has come. Set further into the future the galaxy has now gone to pieces. After being tricked by the super mutant Offspring, Red watched as he used his powers to make the human race sterile. Now, only a few pockets of humanity survive, and where they no longer live, mutants now reign. Sadly now these planets seem to be falling into disrepair or entered weird feudal law systems. Watching the galaxy fall to pieces Matteus Godolkin and a group of the last humans seek out Durham Red in hopes of rescuing the human race.

Of course shit doesn't go to plan. They discover a crazy, feral Durham Red, who with Godolkin has had a son! After restoring her sanity they start tracking down the Offspring's chosen and killing them forcing the Offspring to hunt them down. Then Durham using a Time distortion faces off against the Offspring killing it, but not before the Humans completely die out. Now the galaxy belongs to the mutant!

A great final entry for Durham, it finished off everything very satisfactory, though it felt a little rushed. The artwork was stunning and I enjoyed the story for the space opera it was. Well worth reading if you can find it.

After this, we get seven one-shot stories of Durham Red throughout time. Some are great, some good and some miss the mark for me. But they all add in their unique ways and I hope there will be Durham Red from 2000 AD soon. A great spin-off series.

But what is next? I feel it is time to ease back into Judge Dredd or possibly Anderson. Who knows?

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Miniature Monday // Unboxing Strontium Dog - SD Agents by Warlord Games

Hey, welcome to some more Warlord Games Strontium Dog content. This time it is a simple Youtube unboxing of the SD Agent Set. More of my content can be found at Adventures with Peps, I would love it if you stopped by to say hi.

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Strontium Dog: Repo Men

The Game: The Good, the Bad and the Mutie - Worth it for the miniatures alone.

Comic Review 140 // Durham Red: The Vermin Stars

Continuing the Durham Red fun with The Vermin Stars. Set five years after the first comic Scarlet Cantos, Durham Red, and her crew have arrived back in normal space and are starting to cause trouble again. Here are the official details: 

Title: Durham Red: The Vermin Stars

Author: Dan Abnett

Illustrator: Mark Harrison

Starring vampire mutant Durham Red, this science fiction graphic novel from the pen of "Sinister Dexter" author, Dan Abnett, features a bold mixture of painted and computer-assisted artwork by Mark Harrison.

As far as the story goes, it is very similar to Cantos, in the idea of Mutant vs Mankind. This time though after her five-year adventure in the Vermin Stars, Red seems pro-fighting. She is seeking out mutant terrorist groups to team up with, she is also assassinating high-ranking humans. In her quest to reignite the war, she is destabilizing the galaxy and seems to be getting a following of enemies eager to take her out. But what has caused the change of heart? Well, it would seem that Red has discovered Earth, the original Earth that for some reason was moved and hidden away to be forgotten about during the Dark Age. She also seems to have picked up a new sidekick/mentor but who is this being?

 It is a very good sequel, it keeps up the grim, darkness of the first collection, but manages to keep itself entertaining. The ending to this tale is slightly depressing you have been warned. It shows just how willing Abnett is to sacrifice parts/characters/species to push the story in a new and exciting direction. I am excited to start book three to see where we go next.

Unsurprisingly Harrison continues the beautiful computer-assisted artwork, which is just inspiring. I just love how he makes realistic mutants. They aren't comical looking, they are just mutants, plain and simple, no heads of ducks or eyes from a fly, they are just straight up down on their luck mutants.

Well worth the read!

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Durham Red: The Vermin Stars - but shop around as this is not cheap. This is like gold dust!

Comic Review 139 // Durham Red: The Scarlet Cantos

What do you do when you run out of Strontium Dogs? Well here is the answer: Durham Red. For those who don't remember Red was a popular cameo character in the later issues. She has the mutant abilities of a Vampire and none of their weaknesses (apart from carving blood). Now lucky for me she got her spin-off series written by Dan Abnett and I just so happen to have the bundle!

Let us dive in.

Title: Durham Red: The Scarlet Cantos

Written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Mark Harrison.

Durham Red is a mutant unlike any other. Radioactive fallout from atomic wars gave Durham a unique gift - vampirism. She must drink blood to survive, but her vampirism is metabolic, not supernatural. As a result, she is fearless in the face of crosses, not afraid of sunlight or running water, and just loves the taste of garlic.

Set way into the future of Strontium Dog, we are transported into a dark, grim future that you can't help but draw a 40k parallel with. Within this dark setting we a strange truce between Humans and mutants, but in this new society, the mutants are still deemed lower than the mutants. This has led to a terrorist group of mutants forming, creating an element of fear and distrust. This group called the Tenebrae also worships the Scarlet Cantos aka Durham Red. They see her as a figurehead to their cause, as she feasted on the blood of humans. It is believed she will return to mutant-kind, unite them, and lead them against their enemies.

Well, as it turns out Durham had put herself in stasis for 100 years to have a good sleep. The only problem is no one woke her up! She laid asleep for 1200 years instead. Waking from a long sleep is one thing, but to discover 1000's have died in your name must be a hard thing to swallow. Soon she is caught in the thick of the action and has to decide not only her destiny but that of all mutant kind.

The story was well written unsurprisingly as it Dan Abnett. The setting as mention is grim, dark with a lot of 40k vibes to it, genetically enhanced soldiers who fear the unclean. With hatred of the non-human species high on the agenda. The artwork is stunningly beautiful and Durham Red looks kickass in the comic panels. After reading this I am excited to delve further into the stories and I feel we will be completing this series rather quickly. 

Going to show a few more panels as the artwork is truly great. As always thanks for stopping by and reading. Use any of these links to help support the blog and thank you.

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Durham Red: The Scarlet Cantos - but shop around as this is not cheap.

Comic Review 138 // Strontium Dog: Repo Men

Looks like I am on the final tale of Strontium Dog. I believe that after this one there are no more tales as alas Carlos Ezquerra has passed away. This fills me with sadness at the thought of no more tales for Johnny, but I do understand, that it is best to leave the adventure unfinished in honor of such a great artist.

With this in mind, it is time to savor this last book and dive into Strontium Dog: Repo Men. With the 140+ pages, we have three stories: The Stix Fix, Repo Men, and The Judas Strain.

Set in the Aftermath of War Dogs, the Search and Destroy Agency is gone, mutants are no longer welcomed as bounty hunters. But this doesn't stop them from having a unique set of skills people still want to use. In the first story, The Stix Fix, we discover Johnny Alpha was captured and is being held with some of the other main characters in prison. Here Johnny is blackmailed into working for the North Koreans, his mission to rescue the kidnapped leader from the Stix clan. A great opening story continuing the mistrust of the Stix clan, as well as catching up on the characters post-war. It's a classic Stront tale with the job becoming more than what it started as and with Johnny attempting to keep everyone safe.

In Repo men, the main group is back together. Their goal: to reclaim the Rock (a giant asteroid space station) from a pirate group. Another great story that sees Johnny manipulating political groups against each other in an attempt to get what he needs. Strange aliens everywhere along with some great robots, this is truly a great tale.

Then finally the short story Judas Strain. Where we see Johnny and Durham Red teaming up once more. Of course, when Durham Red is involved the plan can never be straightforward. Plenty of double-crossing, blood, and gunfights in this fun little tale, not sure when it is set in the timeline though as they seem to be bounty hunters once again.

As with all the other stories, we are shown a big galaxy that is surprisingly small when it comes to the cast of players. It is definitely sad to think this is it, as far as I know, there are no more Johnny Alpha tales as Carlos Ezquerra passed away not long after this set. I think this is the push I need to start painting up more Warlord Games miniatures and to get playing some games.

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Strontium Dog: Repo Men

The Game: The Good, the Bad and the Mutie - Worth it for the miniatures alone.

Comic Review 125 // Strontium Dog: The Final Solution

We have reached the final book of the original Strontium Dog series. As I reach this issue I am left feeling a little sad that it is going to end. I know that more stories have been made and that the adventure continues but for now I am reaching the end. It has been fun reading these all back to back and I am happy to have completed the set now.

Strontium Dog: The Final Solution

A short book when compared to some before, it has a total of 160 pages. But where this book differs is the fact that it is one long story. It continues on from the final tale in last week's omnibus. In that final tale, Johnny Alpha aided in the recovery of a relic, which happens to be a magically infused skull that acts as a gateway to 'Another World".

This device has now become a tool for the New Church, which is violently taking over Great Britain, with its military strength. They are also able to manipulate the population with their popular viewpoint on the mutant problem. This priesthood has created the 'Final Solution', using the relic to open a gateway to another dimension and offering the mutants a new life on the other side. The issue is no one actually knows what is there as no one has ever come back. Of course, the mutants aren't keen on being explorers and soon they are being herded up by the military and forced through the portal.

During these round-ups, one mutant manages to get a message off to Johnny Alpha and with the aid of Middenface McNulty, they go to investigate. Here they discover the young mutant called Feral who tells them what is going on and that it is all being lead by Sagan. A 'Norm' who holds a strong grudge against Alpha (for reasons that are a big spoiler). Soon Alpha and Feral are captured and forced to go through the portal and discover first hand what is on the other side. Here they discover a Chimera style monster killing the mutants and it is up to Alpha to make the ultimate sacrifice to get his fellow mutants back to Earth.

Whilst on Earth McNulty manages to escape and alert the other Strontium Dog's to what is happening and together they lead the mutant populas against the Church in all out war.

The story itself is very enjoyable if different, the artwork is a bit off putting and jarring at times and I really miss the cleaner styling of the earlier books. It is actually hard to tell who is a mutant and who is a norm at times due to the art style. I can definitely see why this story upset a lot of people and why they have attempted to the right the wrongs caused by this story.

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Comic Review 124 // Strontium Dog: Search/Destroy Agency Files 04

It's the final week of February already! I've just finished Strontium Dog: Search/Destroy Agency Files 04, meaning I only have 05 left to go. After that omnibus, I may do a few Marneus reviews and then a couple of Dredds before heading back to SD for the non-omnibus tales.

But back to Strontium 04. You know the deal by now, adventures in a far-flung future, where Britain has been nuked and a downtrodden mutant faction now attempts to survive. In this setting, we have Johnny Alpha, the son of an infamous Mutant hater (Keeler) and now himself a galaxy renowned Bounty Hunter. Working out of the Dog House Alpha and other mutants like him, now hunt down the criminals of the Galaxy. No job too big, if you have the money to pay. Welcome to Search/Destroy agency aka Strontium Dogs.

I'm excited about this issue and the reason for the excitement is on the cover. Durham Red, when I first was reading 2000 AD my real introduction to the S/D series was actually through Durham Red. I hope to visit her tales soon, but to actually read her introduction will be a great experience. Also from my understanding a large amount of the 352-page omnibus has her staring in it.

I wanted Durham Red and it turns out she is in the first story, which also turns out to be the longest one as well. Titled, Bitch. The tale introduces Durham Red to the S/D stories. Durham is a vampire-themed female mutant and a rare female character in the S/D series. She thirsts for blood but does not suffer from a classic vampire weaknesses. The story itself is pretty fun; involving an alien race who is suffering from the colonisation of their world by humans. A rebel factor fighting for freedom, travels back in time to kidnap Ronald Reagan from Earth and then attempt to use him as a bargaining chip to force the human populace to leave their planet. Into this mix, the Search/Destroy Agency has been hired to find the kidnapped leader of the free world, meaning loads of mutants are now heading to this world. Into this mix comes Alpha and Red, soon they have tracked down the kidnappers, but here the plot takes a twist as Johnny sides with the aliens. His reasoning is the aliens cause mirroring the mutant freedom movement of his past. Overall a great story, that made Durham interesting and not just comic relief like McNulty.

Following this first story up, we have a politically themed story called 'The Royal Affair'. In this story, the King of England, hires Johnny Alpha to protect him whilst he chases his true love. The only problem is  who that happens to be, a mutant. Ultimately this is a story of hope, the hope that things might change. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen and the King is ultimately overthrown and forced into exile, but love did win out.

Then we get a comedy story in 'A Sorry Case', followed up with 'The Rammy" which is pure action. Though nothing is really added by these stories, they do offer a break and reset for the reader. It helps to remind us of what S/D should be about. Then we hit 'The Stone Killers", which brings back Durham Red and introduces an alien world of Stone based lifeforms. An exciting and fun story that also reintroduced the Stix Family - how many members of the family are there? It also seems like the creative writers are struggling on plots, as they continue to rehash already used themes as showcased with 'Incident On Zeta'. Once again Johnny Alpha is on a Spaceship, which is captured by pirates and because once again he is a mutant, he is staying in the storage area when it happens. Giving Alpha the chance to save the day once more. Now, before you complain, I understand that there were most likely years between the actual stories if you were to read them in the comics. Sadly when reading these Omnibus' it seems we have to have one version of the spaceship heist per omnibus.

Then like that, we are at the last tale of the book. 'The No-Go Job" - Now let's be clear from what I have read people either love this one or hate it. I personally loved it. Simon Harrison's artwork is strange when compared to Ezquerra's. But it works and I enjoyed the change of style. Now if it was a permanent change, I am sure I would have an issue.

With that I am technically finished. But wait! There is more. We get a couple of one-off stories from the specials and the annuals. We even see the return of the beloved Wulf. I am going to be brutally honest and state that the artwork sucked on these. I found myself skipping through them, lacking interest which is a real shame. Overall this collection is a lot more light and comical, lacking any real depth at times. Though enjoyable mostly, it did feel like I was reading filler pieces, something to remind people what the S/D series is. It's a solid four out of five, though after the last omnibus it felt lacking.

Come back next week for Omnibus and the final book in the series.

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Kindle Edition - Search/Destroy Agency Vol.3

The Game: The Good, The Bad, The Mutie by Warlord Games