The Light And Darkness War (#1-6) PART TWO

"In the beginning oh son of the wise...there was nothing... in the end also, there is nothing.  All that passes is but a dream, my son... a dream of light and darkness." - Zip

The story so far.  Paraplegic Vietnam vet Lazarus Jones ends up in a coma after a car crash.  His soul finds it's way to a star system called Abaraxis where a aeons long war is being fought between the forces of Light and Dark.  Warriors from Earth's wars find themselves drafted into the battle on the side of the Light and Lazarus finds his old crew, Captain Engle, Huff and Slaw in command of a stone barge and they welcome him back to the fray even though he isn't quite dead.  A powerful agent of Darkness called Lord Na attacks and takes control of the planet of Black Gate.  Laz and co. manage to get the ruler's daughter Lasha out just in time and she and Laz hook up, realising they have known each other across a thousand different lifetimes of fighting the dark.  Lord Na has figured out a way to defeat the Light for good, he has made contact with an arms dealer on Earth called Odom and demands more modern weaponry.  To take the weaponry over to the other side, he gets Odom to employ Nikola Tesla's nephew who has created a machine that can link the two dimensions up. Laz's team decide on an all out attack on Lord Na before he can bring the weaponry across but end up going through a dimensional rip and winding up on Earth.  There Lord Na's men take control of an attack chopper and shoot the barge causing it to crash into a building, we left it on that cliffhanger and now the conclusion.

Lord Na: "In the beginning oh sons of destruction, there was darkness. In the end also there is darkness.  The darkness is real... the darkness is all that is."

As a pitched battle between Lord Na's forces and the lightsiders takes place, Lord Na declaims some more about the "purity of the night".

The lightsiders beat a retreat from the mortal world.

Outgunned by his forces, the lightsiders withdraw leaving Laz's ship still stuck in the side of a building in the mortal world, located in Odom's South African weapons depot.  They have the Tesla machine used to stablise the hold between dimensions, so although one of Lord Na's commanders Mangler is piloting a modern attack chopper it doesn't try to destroy them.

There alien engine/communications device, Zip is dying.  He manages to pull the ship out of the side of the building and it crashes to the ground.  Zip then disintegrates leaving a small book behind that Laz picks up.

Engle: "Fifteen years he fought with us.. and he was built into the ship 200 years before that."

Zip, the ships navigator and communications enabler, passes on.

They investigate the bunker and find several more attack chopper including one identical to that which they flew in Vietnam, handily all fueled up and ready to go. So they start it up, and attack Lasher and the deadsiders in their chopper.

Meanwhile Nikola Tesla is being visited by Leonardo Da Vinci.  Leonardo is practically worshipped by the lightside, technology, much to Tesla's disgust, has not been allowed to progress past Leonardo's level.  He says that the acquisition of modern weaponry by the deadsiders means that they need Tesla, one of the rulers with him says "the Galaxy must bring forth a new generation of military machines.  Can you help?"

Leonardo ain't too proud tah beg.

Tesla says warfare has been the last thing on his mind, he's been trying to improve living conditions "in this backwards galaxy" which has always been met with official resistance.

Leonardo Da Vinci: "It is time for everything to change, Mr. Tesla.   It is time for the galaxy to make use of your talents... and to honour you as it has honoured me."

Tesla thinks to himself that they came begging when they realised they couldn't stand up to weapons of pure energy. Then we join Lord Na saying that in in honour of his new arsenal he is declaring today a holiday.  He orders the attackers on Black Gate wiped out and his slaves worked to death.

Meanwhile back on Earth, the four man crew is refamiliarising themselves with the helicopter controls.   It comes easily to them and Engle comments about Vietnam, "God how I loved that war". 

Back in with Lord Na, he asks for Nicky, the nephew of Tesla and his psychic girlfriend Delpha to be bought to him.  He demands Nicky build him another Tesla machine .  Nicky refuses saying he is an American citizen and "my government will have something to say about this".  This doesn't bother Lord Na and he orders his second-in-command Fasher to escort Nicky to his quarters with a copy of "The book of the Great Darkness" to read. He has Delpha to himself now and offers to share a glass of wine with her.

Lord Na tries to seduce Delpha.

In South Africa, Laz and his team manage to bring down the chopper filled with deadsiders.  They flee the wreckage before it explodes and Laz takes Odom, who was riding the chopper hostage. Engle demands Odom provide them with weaponry:

Engle: "I want guns Mister. Lots of 'em. I want ordinance an' I want lasers  like ya gave ol' Na. I want some heavy shit!"

Lord Na in the meantime is attempting to seduce Delpha.   He says as soon as he saw her he knew she was a "very special person".   He says she has great insight and does it tell her how he is "helpless... before your beauty.. and freedom?"  She says she'll trust him if he returns her to Earth.  Lord Na says by the next day Mangler will have reopened the gate and she can go back if she wishes.

He leaves her alone and she reflects that her connection to the "Vietnam warrior" helped her resist Lord Na's charms.  Meanwhile said warrior, Laz and his crew have loaded up with ordinance and fly the Huey back through the dimensional gate but the Huey wasn't built for dimensional travel and nearly shakes apart.  They make it though and plan to go back for another supply run.

Tesla is trying to contact his nephew via a vision, and Delpha is able to channel him so his message gets through.  He says to Nicky he has an idea for for a weapon that he needs Nicky's help with.  As the lightsiders collect more choppers and weapons from the South African depot, Laz and the others make their final run and bring the Tesla machine with them.

Taking the machine through the rip unfortunately backfires on Laz.

Suddenly there is a flash of green light, turns out dragging the Tesla machine into its own energy field was not a good idea.  Then we see Laz standing on his own while a prayer echoes around him. He is shot in the eye with an arrow and falls, only to wake up from his coma with his wife Chris praying for his return.   She is exstatic he has woken up but he just wants to go back to the fight saying they are alive "but I'm the one who's really dead now."

Lazarus Jones: "For a single hour I dreamed hope.. rebirth... new legs to carry me into war.  The war of dreams...the woman... even love is dead."

Bitterly he reflects that none of it was real, his friends aren't alive/dead and fighting, Lasha doesn't exist.  As Chris fusses over him talking about mundane things, he moodily wallows in self pity, "I'm just a legless asshole... doomed".

Then he demands his dope, when Chris says she threw it out in case the police came. He sends her for some emergency stuff he has stashed elsewhere.  She leaves and he reaches into his shirt for some matches and finds Zip's book tucked in there.  Zip appears in his mind saying he will read the book to Laz who must destroy it when he is done.

Zip begins his story.

As Zip recites the story of the history of the relationship between the Light and Dark, it overlays images of Laz's crew piloting the Earth attack chopper in a battle against the deadsiders.  They are having trouble with it, it doesn't seem to want to work properly in this dimension and Laz was their expert in fixing things up.

Back with Nikola Tesla and Leonardo Da Vinci, Tesla is still a little affronted he is being asked to build a powerful modern weapon when his attempts to modernise the society has been looked down on in the past.  Practically through gritted teeth, the leaders say that although the council has "great displeasure at your thoughts" they have no quarrel with someone who can "advance the cause of war."

Tesla says there are probably other scientist who have crossed over who have been afraid to speak out, but no matter, he has discovered "a curious physical truth about the galaxy".  The atmosphere of the planets are supercharged with voltage and he and his nephew can use this to amass huge charges.  Nicky designs something called a "Voelkel gate" to focus the charge and have built the "Tesla Energy Accumulator" which he is now showing the leaders.

Two Teslas are better than one.

He says in return for this he wants to be able to publish the "knowledge which can transform this backward society".  He is told no, that it is not allowed, but Tesla says even Da Vinci has seen the need for progress.  The Tesla cannon (hey that's a weapon you can use in Fallout 3, cool) is sent to Engle to help in the liberation of Black Gate.

The leader of the fleet, Lepp is also on its way to Black Gate.  Engle pleads with them to wait for a while, that Lord Na's new weapons will destroy them.  His advice is shot down as Lepp seems to think weight of numbers will work in their favour.  "How many worlds have you captured?" he sneers and cuts the connection.  Engle decides to enact a plan using their own captured weaponry, they'll attack full on while blowing up the tunnels underneath the planet.  Then Lasha has a vision of Laz, "I see him! he's alive!"

While Zip continues to tell Laz about the Darkness, Lord Na and Delpha speak with each other. Delpha says she has not accepted Lord Na, she and Nicky want to leave immediately.  Lord Na says her face says otherwise, why did she put on such a skimpy costume?  Delpha says it's because his man took her clothes, "believe me, all I feel towards you is fear."

As Engle slips his ships under the "arc" to get to the palace and the others lay charges in the tunnels underneath, Lord Na purges Laz's influence from Delpha's mind.  "I've freed you from his influence.. he was the weak one" he says.  When she feels lost without his strength, Lord Na says she has her own strength.

He then sends her on a "Journey into my vastness".  She sees images of dead worlds, monstrous beings and war.  He says she should pity him, for he is filled with emptiness and an "infinite sadness".

Lord Na: "Sadness beyond all joy in the death of multitudes.  Ravaged by a rip in his being.. his wound that has bled for a thousand years.  Perhaps Na's wound can be healed... by Earth flesh joined to darkness intangible."

Delpha just responds that his visions are sickening her and his words are making her die.   He says that together they both can be healed and she can rule with him.  He then thinks to himself that despite herself she is intrigued, but she doesn't realise she is interacting with a projection and we see the back of a being sat in on a throne saying his real face is "broken by an ancient affliction". Will she still lust after him when she sees his real self? She screams at him to stop murdering her, but he embraces her struggling form saying she was his before time began.

The real Lord Na watches his seduction of Delpha from afar.

Then the lightsiders begin their all out assault on the palace.  Delpha, who is feeling Laz's prescence again is to be locked away and drugged as Lord Na says "I feel her working furiously to undo the benediction I placed on her."  The attack isn't going without a hitch.  The super attack chopper they bought over refuses to work.  Engle beats himself up for making such a bad call to bring it over and lose Laz in the process.

The stone-ship that Lasha is commanding crashes, and it looks like she might be dead.  But Delpha sees her, and notes that she too belongs to the warrior Lazarus.  She reaches out to her, hoping Lasha can give her strength to escape the dark lord's hunger.  As the battle rages outside, Lord Na commands the laser cannon is mounted on his command ship.

Nicky finds the woken up Delpha who says Lasha is alive and can help them.   On cue Lasha appears to lead them out of the palace, but Lord Na and Lasher stop them.  He gloats that she has come home to meet her fate.  "Are you still looking for your damned father... or is it that legless asshole you want?"  And this penultimate chapter ends with Zip commanding Lazarus to "destroy this book".

Lasha comes to rescue Delpha and Nicky, not entirely successfully.

The final chapter begins with Laz in a semi-coma again.  He is asleep and dreaming but can't be woken up.  He's been put on a drip with his wife Chris watching over him.  Lasha meanwhile goes to attack Lord Na, but Lord Na fights back and mortally injures Nicky. "Most fools die to come here... young Tesla came to die" he gloats.  Nicky's "light body" rises from his dead body and Lord Na demands "give me the woman!"

Then an apparition of Laz appears and tells Lasha to get out of there with Delpha, but Lord Na stabs through him and hits Delpha.  Lasha then grabs a hold of her as Lord Na laments they could have been "the only free ones." He tries to banish Laz's spirit saying he doesn't belong.  Then he takes Nicky's lightbody back to the citadel to know "the innocence and purity of absolute might".

Laz still between dimensions helps Lasha escape.

Outside in the battle, Huff says his light-eyes can see an image of Laz, standing out in the middle of the battlefield looking sad.  Back with Lord Na, the laser cannon has been mounted on his command ship.  Engle and crew manage to get within spitting distance of it before being shot down.  Lasha meanwhile has managed to get the badly injured Delpha onto another stone ship.

Lasha is unable to heal her wounds and as Delpha slips away she says they belong to Lazarus, they are sisters and now she has nowhere else left to go. And she dies.  On board Lord Na's command ship he is told the Galactic fleet will be there in an hour, which pleases Lord Na as he wants to strike a decisive blow against them.  Once that is done, he'll abandon this planet and make a new beachead on a neighbouring one.

Lord Na: "But just for today Na will cause their blood to rain from the skies."

As the fleet approaches Black Gate, they have Tesla with them and his powerful machine.  Then they come under attack.  On the planet surface, Lasha is directing the battle against Lord Na.  She goes to attend to her own wound and wonders if she'll ever touch Laz again.  Then the legless apparition of Laz appears again, he says Zip told him he is made of light and if she puts all her thoughts into bringing him across, he can travel over.  She does so but he keeps being pulled back to his mortal body.

Laz then finds himself in a strange place, Zip is there, he has transcended himself, "as must you" he says.  He says if Laz wants a new light body he must fall through the "Mentep Gate of Vision".  That way he can deal with the self-doubt, the fear that clamps his heart and fall through "Hellworlds made especially for you".  Laz enters the gate.

TMI Lord Na!

As Lord Na's ship starts decimating the attacking Galactic fleet, he senses what Laz is doing.  Tesla's machine is having something of a hiccup as Lord Na begins to proclaim his victory:

Lord Na: "I am darkness.  I am the perfection of death.  I am the war that never ends.  I am the black mirror of defeat and desolation.  I am the dark mind that consumes the warrior's will.  I am the hammer of pain.  I am the despair of the doomed.  I am the sword of judgement."

But before he can continue, Tesla gets his machine started up and obliterates Lord Na (or a least this projection of him).  Fasher takes over the attack and the battle continues.  Engle, Huff and Slaw managed to escape the destruction of their chopper and hook up with Lasha who says Laz is free, but gone forever.

Lord Na finally defeated.

They scale the "arc" to sabotage it and let the attacking fleet through.  Engle is working on the scaffolding when suddenly Laz, fully manifest with legs appears.  They finish the sabotage and retreat and Engle asks where the hell Laz has been? "Took some R&R stateside Cap'n... tried to get right back.. had trouble making connections".

Returning to Lasha, he asks her about Delpha, and Lasha tells him she is dead.  Then they activate the bombs and blow the arc to hell and the remainder of Lord Na's fleet is mopped up. We see Lord Na, in his true old and ugly form.  Nicky is with him.  Lord Na says he could have loved Delpha as Nicky never loved her.  But a voice from inside Na says:

Mystery Voice: "Enough!  To speak against me is to intiate your own destruction.  There can be no punishment for you... no chastisement of any kind.  For you there is only nothingness.  You have ceased to exist".

And Lord Na dwindles away.  Meanwhile Laz now lives in two worlds conciously.  He is kissing Chris and Lasha at the same time.  He says to Chris she must think he's crazy, she says she knows he's crazy:

Laz: "Crazy like a Light Warrior.  Who's pushin' back the Darkness.  Forever".

A girl in each dimension?  You lucky dog Laz.

And that brings this epic to a close.  The collection has more treats in store though. Tom Veitch has written a long article giving a full background and history to the galaxy and the non-stop war between light and dark, as well as Da Vinci's influence on it.  It makes for fascinating background reading and shows that the backdrop could have comfortably accomdated an on-going series.  Steve Bissette a well known American artist/writer (most well known for me for his work on Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run) also contributes an essay about the making of the series with short biographies of Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy.  It's another most welcome piece of added value to a marvellously presented collection.

So, overall, this was a story worth waiting for.  Cam Kennedy's artwork is magnificent, and suits the "stone-age sci-fi" aesthetic beautifully.  My one complaint is more a case of personal perference for more decompressed work, I'd like to have seen the same material stretched across a couple more issues with some downtime here and there.  But I can hardly complain it having so much story crammed into one miniseries.  That makes it feel even more like a 2000AD story that found itself being published in the USA by mistake.  The general themes of the story, of a Valhalla for Earth's soldiers where they can fight a war where there are no shades of grey and the bad guys are obvious is a fascinating one. And cheekily throwing Nikola Tesla into the mix as a man frustrated by the primitive conditions he knows he can do something about adds a little levity to an otherwise heavy story.  The ending is a weirdly happy one, Chris doesn't lose her husband, Lasha doesn't lose her lover, Laz gets to exist in both worlds finding redemption as a light warrior while still being a husband to the woman who has cared for him for two decades.  This is a very dense work, and very much a labour of love for Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy who would go on to work together on an acclaimed comic series set in the Star Wars expanded universe after this.  If you're at all interested in the work of either writer or artist this is well worth checking out, and worth it if you're interested in science fiction war stories as well.  Cracking stuff.

The Light And Darkness War (#1-6) PART ONE

"War is heaven" - series tagline

Imagine, gentle reader, a time when a comic book fan who didn't reside in the USA would never be sure if they could get their hands on the more obscure comics coming out over-the-pond.  That was my big frustration in my years of hunting up and down in Manchester's two Odyssey Seven shops (alas no more, were taken over by the all conquering Forbidden Planet) for the issues needed to fill in gaps in my Cerebus collection, as well as all the fascinating looking mini-series and stuff from the various indie companies in the years of the late 1980's to early 90's.  The Light And Darkness War was actually bought to my attention by a 1989 Channel 4 TV programme called "The Day Comics Grew Up" a serious look at mature works such as Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, The New Statesmen and this six issue series, The Light And Darkness War.  It also bought anime and manga to my attention as well as an nice bonus.  As the first issue of The Light and Darkness War was released in autumn 1988, it was already over and done with when the TV show piqued my interest and so I only ever found one issue (no.4) in the back issue bins.  I was very taken with the art by veteran Scottish artist Cam Kennedy, but it was hard to judge the story, by Tom Veitch on the basis of just one issue.  It has taken nearly three decades but I finally got my hands on a beautiful re-issue of the series by Titan books (even though the original was published under the Marvel Epic imprint), with a hardcover and lots of "extra features".  So it's been a long wait to experience the book in it's totality, will it live up to expectations?  Ah, read on...

Lazarus Jones: "'How many women and children didja kill in'Nam? - That's what the idiot said. 'Hey jerk' I said 'what about the bodybags full of arms and heads.. and boots with the feet still in 'em? -- What about the guys who left their guts stuck to the decks of the Hueys? 60,000 just like you' I says 'cept they were heroes and you're crap!'"

And with that we are introduced to Lazarus Jones, who lost his legs twenty years ago in the Vietnam War.  He is being pushed in a wheelchair by his wife Chris to the Vietnam War Memorial to see the names of the rest of his chopper crew who died in the attack that resulted in his injuries.

Laz remembers the dead.

As he traces his fingers across the names he has a long flashback to that fateful day.  His crew was made up of Captain Engle, Huff, Slaw and Laz.  They prepare their copter for a sortie and fly into an ambush.  We then get a symbolic scene of the four men's spirits walking into the light, Laz goes gladly but yet "it told me to go back."

Souls set free from the bonds of flesh.

In some distress Laz falls from his wheelchair and other veterans come help him.  Laz beats himself up for what he is doing to Chris, first with the smack addiction he bought back from Vietnam, then the drinking he used to kick it with.  Ten years ago he started having vivid dreams about fighting with his war buddies against a foe using weapons that looked like they came from the stone-age. Then the dreams stopped, but in a funny way he missed them. He's driving himself and Chris home when suddenly he blacks out and crashes the car.

A mystery voice says to his spirit, "I can take you to your friends Lazarus Jones.. or you can go back.  The choice is yours." Lazarus doesn't want to go back if it means losing his legs again.  The voice says he is  on "the edge of the outer darkness.  In a star system called Abraxis"  A stone barge appears and the voice says Laz can join his friends if he wishes.  Laz calls to them and finds himself on the surface of the planet with his legs intact.

He rushes forwards and Engle, Slaw and Huff who are piloting the barge pick him up.  They are happy to see him and it seems time moves differently for them as they ask if he died in the war.  Laz said the war ended in 1974 and "we lost".  The others don't seem too concerned.  Slaw says "grab some ammo.  I'll teach you how to kill the dead."

Reunited in the afterlife.

After a short fight with another flying barge which they win, Engle takes Laz down below to meet the strange little blue alien called Zip, a "Mentep" who powers their barge and acts as their subspace communicator.  He holds the "power of Urumm, the Source in me".  He cannot heal the flesh wound Laz just picked up as Laz isn't fully dead.  His body is in a coma back on Earth.

Then their ship flies to a palace in a place called Black Gate they are supposed to be investigating. They are greeted by a woman called Lasha, daughter of Nethon the governor.  While they wait for an audience with the governor, Lasha warns them that they should leave, there is darkness in the air. He father is sick with it.

Meeting Lasha.

Nethon receives them but is confused and rambling, mistaking Engle for an old friend.  His doctor says it's time for his elixir, then asks Engle how things are at "Galactic" and that he's sorry they came all this way for nothing. Then he orders them taken prisoner.  Fortunately Lasha comes and helps them escape via some underground tunnels and Engle says she is to come with them with her help they can deal with the darkness infestation.

The traitor reports to a Lord Na, saying the prisoners escaped.  No matter, Lord Na asks if the planetary chiefs have assembled, when told they have he says, "now I begin the subjugation of these light-cursed worlds".

Lord Na.

On board the ship, Laz and Lasha recognise each other from... somewhere before. She is able to mend his wound and they exchange significant looks while back in the mortal world Chris watches over the comatose Laz saying she's lost him for good hasn't she?

Narration: "A galaxy of light.  One of the myriad of universes men go when they die... a warrior's galaxy... ensnared in a 10,000 year struggle with the infinite darkness that surrounds it.  What lives in the outer darkness?  Nothing.  What moves in the outer darkness? Warships... bearing primitive weapons carrying soulless warriors named Deadsiders...storming a light world called Black Gate.  A military outpost in a star system called Abraxis... here living men - who died in Earth's bloodiest battles have been born to fight again".

On the planet Black Gate Lord Na has revealed himself, criticising the gathered "servile captives of the light".  He says using the power of darkness he has been liberating souls.  A planetary chief called Blood says only a "simpleton would give fealty to you".  Lord Na zaps Blood with his powers and Blood starts praising him.  A fight breaks out amongst the watchers and Lord Na's guards and the lightsiders are captured and enslaved.  Watching this from afar are Slaw and Huff who go and report back to Engle and Laz.

Lasha's information on the planet paid dividends and they have found an old fortress their sky barge can lurk behind.  Using the blue Mentep they get in touch with Galactic who are in the middle of a battle.  They report the situation at Black Gate which they think might be being prepared as a beach head for a major Galactic strike.  Engle wants a full defence fleet but command can't spare even one as they are on a major push into the "Dark Regions". Engle and crew will have to resort to hit and run until reinforcements can arrive.

Sexy time for Laz and Lasha.

Lasha and Laz menawhile start to get to know each other... intimately.  Neither seem bothered by the fact Laz is still alive and married back on Earth.  As they make love Laz says "we go way back don't we Lasha?"  Talking of Earth, Lord Na has a way to ensure his coming victory over the lightside.  His necromancers have made contact with a Satanist on Earth called Odom who is a weapon manufacturer.

Lord Na asks if they can bridge the gap between worlds.  They can't but someone on Earth has built a machine that can.  We then join said Earthbound scientist Nicky, the nephew of Nikola Tesla and his girlfriend Delpha a psychic channeler.  Using Tesla's theories, Nicky has created a machine to "exteriorise the contents of the concious and subconcious minds".  Meanwhile Delpha is getting images of the light and darkness war in her dreams.  Both are somewhat dubious about each others abilities, but love each other in an "opposites attract" kind of a way.

Nicky Tesla, Delpha and a brief guide to NikolaTesla.

Meanwhile Lord Na appears to Odom who is surprised to find that he wants a favour from him. He shows Odom an image of Nicky and his machine saying it will transport the weapons to him, "do that and I will give you everything".
Back on Black Gate, Engle has a plan to get more men.  They are going to raid the slave camps.  Laz and Lasha meanwhile have gone to attempt a rescue of Lasha's father.  They sneak past the throne room where Lord Na now sits and find Nethon in a cell being fed upon by giant worms.   The doctor appears and says Lord Na would like to see the "dutiful daughter".  She kicks him in the stomach and Laz guns down the rest.

Lord Na however appears and kills both the treacherous doctor for being weak and Nethon to wound Lasha, then lets Lasha and Laz go, telling them to take back the message to "make the game more interesting".  He wants to test his army, he wants to feel some real resistance against him.

EPIC BATTLE THEME PLAYS.

Engle and his crew attack a slave barracks, a thrilling battle occurs and they manage to liberate the place along with vehicles and ships.  However when Laz and Lasha return, Laz has the bad news they overheard about Lord Na getting weapons from Earth and how powerful they'll be in comparison to the stone-age tech they have now.  They decide on an all-out assualt on the palace the next day, sacrificing themselves if necessary before things can get a hundred times worse.

We then rejoin Nicky and Delpha.  Odom has offered Micky a huge salary to come make his machine for him.  Lord Na tells Odom:

Lord Na: "... his device has stimulated the vibrational channels that were active in ancient times.  Reopening the physical link between Earth and the Afterworlds!"

He tells Odom to watch Nicky and Delpha and when the time comes, take them prisoner.  Nicky is showing Delpha his nearly complete machine which he has unoffcially nabeed some lasers to complete, but she says there is something "really frightening about this place" and that her channeling in which she sees "the Vietnam guy and the woman" has got more intense.

Lord Na and Odom the arms dealer.

But she helps Nicky try his machine out, letting him place a headset on her. She has a vision of people coming towards the lab, then Odom arrives and accuses him of bouncing images to the CIA in Langley.

To prove he's not a spy, Nicky demonstrates the machine to Odom. He puts on the headset so he can show you what a person is dreaming.   He envisions soldiers from the Light and Darkness war fighting.  Odom says it's "quite marvellous".

We get more images of the fighting and the antique weapons of war the fighters use.  As Nicky marvels at all this being inside him, another voice intrudes saying "who would have imagined that my work would reach its utmost fulfillment after I am dead?!"  It's Nikola Tesla who has "survived" his death by crossing over into the afterworld he was investigating just before he died.

Nikola Tesla lives (sort of) take that Edison!

Nikola says he scoffed at such a place when he lived but can't deny he's now in a very real place.   He says he is in a "rather backwards galaxy" and to continue his inventing he has had to start from scratch creating electricity from the rawest of materials.  he used his machine to join up with Nicky's and establish the link.  He tells Nicky that this universe has eschewed the "wonder that is electricity"

Nikola Tesla: "The barbaric science of Da Vinci and his followers is held in high esteem here... I was told 'don't upset the old ways'. It was decreed that his contraptions were divine revelations.  To move beyond them was forbidden."

He says he is a heretic who speaks out against their "stupid war."  But he is told they have always been at war and it's good for the Galactic economy.  Bitterly Tesla fades away and Lord Na appears yelling "My weapons Odom! I am under attack!"

Odom says he he was told he had six months, but Lord Na threatens to destroy him. Meanwhile Nicky and Delpha are amazed that someone has been able to physically cross over. We then cut to Laz's team and the rescued slaves attacking the Black Gate palace where Lord Na is based.

As the battle ensues, we get a conversation between Lasha and Laz, he says when they made love he saw they had made love a thousand times before, "we're older than your father.  We've been fightin' this war... together... for thousands of years."  The barge works it's way through the palace, battling as it goes.

The barge of the dead returns to the mortal world.

Lord Na says he wants his weapons and also he wants to take Nicky and Delpha back with him to see if living flesh can survive the trip back to his dimension (he being dead means he's been able to make the journey himself).   As Laz's barge gets deep into the palace they find the dimensional rip Lord Naz has travelled through and they pilot the barge through it and arrive on Earth.

Delpha recognises Laz, "it's you isn't it?  You're real". Lord Na manages to make his getaway back to Black Gate with the weapons Odom has provided him while Odom's men fight the light warriors.   Odom leaves behind a squad of men who commendere a military helicopter in order to better fight the light warriors who have captured the Tesla machine.

Slaw asks Laz how he feels being back on Earth.  Laz says it's weird, knowing his comatose body is 8,000 miles away.  Then the darkness warriors attack in their helicopter, hitting the stone barge and causing it to come crashing down which brings the first half of this series to a cliffhanger ending.

And crashes into a building, well done guys.

I've choosen to split this into two parts because it would get ludicrously long otherwise.  I'll hold off on some of my thoughts until my conclusion to part two of this look at the miniseries, but I'll say right now, Cam Kennedy's artwork is amazing.  There is a rough hewn and very "2000AD" feel to this mash-up of science-fiction, fantasy and war story.  Not surprising as Kennedy was a veteran of such series as a similar future war take on Vietnam, "The V.C.s". We've only had three issues so far and it's been chock full of incident with some truly epic set piece battles.  If I have one criticism it's a purely subjective one, the pace is so breakneck and the plot so full of incident it might have been nice to slow down a little in places to explore more the reuniting of the dead men with Laz and also his growing relationship with Lasha.  Throwing in a guest appearance by the dead but crossed over Nikola Tesla and his somewhat grouchy frustrations with the war being fought with Leonardo Da Vinci level tech is actually pretty funny.  There is an honour to the Light and Darkness War as it is being currently fought, and Lord Na, by going to the kind of person inciting and prolonging wars on earth to supply him with modern weaponry is seen as a truly evil act, even if making the arms dealer a Satanist is a little on the nose.  There is plenty of extra stuff in the collection, it kicks off with an interesting introduction from a retired Naval commander whose father fought in Vietnam and who makes the point that this story came a long when men's service in Vietnam was being reevaluated from the pariahs they were seen as at the time as people understood more about PTSD as well as the complicated set of loyalties and emotions that are found in those who served their country during an unpopular war and their difficulties in reintegrating into "normal" life, especially those with dreadful physical injuries.  I'll be winding up this look at the series in four days time, as well as a look at the other bonus features this collection includes.

The V.C.s (2000AD #140-143, #145-165, #168-169, #171-175)

"Suck it in, Smith" - Jupe

Once upon a time, before trade paperbacks became a thing, the publishers of 2000AD exploited their rich back catalogue with a monthly compilation of a series from the early days of the comic.  This was the way I discoved things like The Ballad of Halo Jones, early Slaine, Strontium Dog and Nemesis The Warlock, and The V.C.s.  The V.C.s was an epic tale of future war that saw the well worn trope of a rag tag band of military misfits buck authority and win a war against their galactic enemies, the insect like "G'egeekajee" or "Geeks" for short.  Set in the early 26th century all the human colony worlds were dragged into the conflict between Geeks and Human, and the V.C.s are made up a various colonists who tend to resent Earth born humans.  And it is one of the Earth born humans, an everyman called "Steve Smith" who is assigned to the V.C.s fresh out of military training school whose eyes we see the conflict through.  The V.C.s name is short for "Vacuum Cleaners" which they gained for their ability to score clean kills with little to no debris.  Nicknamed "earthworm" by the rest of the crew, Steve Smith narrates the story as he struggles to prove himself and gain acceptance from the rest of the crew.  It's magnificently grubby space opera with sterling early work from artists such as Mike McMahon, Cam Kennedy, Garry Leach and John Richardson. The script is by Gerry Finley-Day and Steve MacManus.  There has been a trade paperback of the strip released in 2008 called "You're Hit, You're Dead" but is infuriatingly out of print.  Luckily I own all three Best Of 2000ADs the story was serialised in (#30-32 if you're looking for a cheaper way to get a hold of the story) and this is where I am getting my scans from.  With that intro out of the way, lets dive in.

The original gang.

A brief history lesson, Earth had been at peace for a long time and it looked like the day of the professional soldier was over, when suddenly the Geeks appeared.  A Global Combat Corp was formed on Earth and sent out ships with squads of six aboard them to patrol and kill any Geeks they came across.  Steve Smith joined up and on the day of his graduation an old soldier says to him, "this is where you forget your training and start learning from experience!"
Steve then gets a harsh lesson in how the V.C.s operate.  His supply ship rendezvous with his new posting and the sergeant, Jupe flies out in his space suit to guide Smith to the ship as the coffin of Smith predecessor is ejected into space.  But then then the Geeks appear.  The V.C.s take them out, but the supply ship is destroyed in the process.  Smith protests that some survivors could have been saved but Jupe says, "Ain't no such thing as wounded in this war kid.  You're hit, you're dead - all clean and quick."

The whole sick crew.

Smith comes aboard and is surprised to see the rest of the crew are all half castes born on the colony worlds.  Jupe the sergeant, Ringer the ship's pilot, Dwarf Star the ship's gunner, Hen-Sho the missile man and Loon the second gunner.   Smith asks them what the nickname the V.C.s means.  Jupe says it's because they keep the system free from Geeks, "secure and clean".  Smith ponders the old general's advice and realise he has a lot to learn if he doesn't want to leave in a coffin as well.

We then cut to the V.C.s ship chasing down a Geek ship.  It manages to hide out in a field of wrecked spaceships.  Jupe and Smith suit up to go and smoke the Geeks out.  Smith is excited but Jupe wants him to stay "hard guard" in the airlock much to Smith's annoyance.  But a large Geek attacks him and Smith shoots it, and thousands of eggs pour out of its dead body.

Ringer hits the airlock button and the Geek and the egss are sucked out into space.  Smith is then chewed out for killing a "Kamikaze Geek".  Then the Geek ship is wracked by an explosion thanks to Jupe, and the gunners onboard the V.C.s ship blast it to pieces.  Smith thinks to himself he still has a lot to do to prove himself a V.C.

The V.C.s ship.

Next we find them passing Pluto the last post before deep space.  Then a Geek ship appears. Smith gets a head start and runs to the ships laser cannons, he hopes he can prove himself worthy by shooting down the Geek ship.  But his shots just spark off the Geek ship's hull, Dwarf Star yanks him out of his seat and cripples the Geek ship then angrily yells at Smith for not allowing him to get a clean kill.

The Geek ship ablaze drifts into Pluto's orbit and two life pods eject.  Jupe and Hen-Sho suit up to go kill them.  Smith wonders why they are bothering as the Geek'll die on Pluto within a couple of days.

Jupe: "Listen, Smith letting Geeks die in their own time may suit other troopers. But not the V.C.s!  We like to keep things clean, so we gotta follow them down and fight it out!"

Ringer is left as acting Captain and when Smith notices another two Geek lifepods eject, Ringer and Dwarf Star brush it off as more debris.  But Smith decides to suit up and go down to Pluto and watch Jupe and Hen-Sho's backs.

Off to hoover up the last bits of rubbish.

He lands and finds Jupe and Hen-sho easily disposing of the Geeks with a Blitz-cannon.  Then he spots the other Geeks sneaking up behind them.  And he realises he made a rookie mistake and didn't get the radio frequency to warn Jupe via his helmet comms.  So he steps out into the open and engages the Geeks.

Jupe finds the frequency and tells Smith to run over to them, he'll cover him and Smith can use his Hades grenade to deal with them which Smith does so. Jupe and Hen-Sho thank Smith for saving them and Smith is pleased to finally feel "my first bit of comradeship with these vacuum cleaners."

Geeks.

We next find the V.C.s ship under heavy attack and we're introduced to "Brother" the ship's sentient computer represented by a jester puppet.  He fritzes out and Jupe switches the ship to manual.  Then Dwarf Star calls up the bridge and says Loon has freaked out and is "hunting Geeks" again. Jupe and Smith go look for him while Dwarf Star fends off the attacking Geek ships.

Loon, armed with a knife and smeared in camoflage paint, leaps on Smith and tries to kill him. Jupe appears and knocks him out, he says he's gone too far this time and they'll dump him at the next planet they call at.  Then Brother comes back online but with a whole new personality.  He's now a sterotypical sixties hippie and refuses to countenance combat operations.  Smith has an idea and introduces Loon to him.   Loon as a "fellow hippie" convinces Brother to come around to the idea of war.  Brother thinks about it for a couple of hours then agrees, and this allows Loon to stay aboard as well.

Brother gets a new look.

The ship is at rest for a while, Jupe, Dwarf Star and Hen-Sho are starting to accept Smith but Ringer is still surly towards him and still calls him "earthworm".  Dwarf Star is happy because they are going to meet up with the ship his brother Midge is on. He has the same eerie appearance as Dwarf Star.  Early hyperspace travel did strange things to the people on board and "freaks" like him and his twin brother were the result.

Smith: "So you're like a couple of binary dwarf stars, huh?"

Dwarf Star: "I've heard it a million times Smith!  But I don't mind - you're gonna make out OK."

The reach Midge's ship and find it's been in recent combat.  Midge communicates to them over the comms, while Dwarf Star suits up and starts to fly over.  Midge repeats a phrase in his message to them to "Get Everything on an Even Keel".  Realising this is a message that the Geeks have Midge's ship captive they call Dwarf Star back to their ship saying he needs his weapon checked so as not to arouse suspicion, also three Geek ships are about to "back jump them" informs Brother.

Midge pleads for a mercy kill.

The V.C.s don't like traps and hit the incoming ships viciously, "let's put out the mat and start cleaning!" shouts Jupe. They take out the Geek attack ships, but Midge's ship is being readied to leave, Midge begs them not to let the Geeks take him alive.  The decision is left in Smith's hands.  Midge says to do it for Dwarf Star's sake.  So Smith takes the shot and destroys Midge's ship.  Even Ringer agrees it was the right thing to do, but Dwarf Star tells him he can't but hate Smith and to stay out of his way from now on.

Smith: "I did the right thing - the only thing.  I saved Dwarf Star's brother from a fate worse than death, but I blew any chance of being his buddy.   Yeah... I'm beginning to learn it's a dirty job keeping space clean."

We next encounter the V.C.s dealing with a swarm of tiny Geeks.  They are part of a Geek tactic called "Hiving".  They drop their eggs into nearby space and when they hatch they have a ready made army in enemy territory.  They atack the ship and although some of the V.C.s "vape" loads of them, they still start to overwhelm them and begin to breach the ship.

Armed and looking badass with swords and shield the V.C.s aboard the ship start fighting the Swarm. They fight until the are exhausted and on the verge of collapse.  But Ringer has managed to rig a sound that inteferes with the Geeks sonar and jamming it leaves the Geeks milling about in confusion. They deal with the leftover Geeks and blow up the asteroid they were hiving from.  Smith says they have some tidying to do.  "Cleaning Smith - cleaning" corrects Jupe.

Phobos Harbour.

Next they arrive  Phobos Harbour, the biggest spaceport in the system orbiting Mars colony. Jupe is concerned as to why so many troopers have been called there.  Hen-Sho proudly tells them of the city of New Peking built on the planet, Ringer just wants to hit the nightclubs and bars.

They dock and disembark and the V.C.s meet familiar faces apart from Steve who feels left out. We then meet the General who is a cyborg, they snap to attention "more out of respect to his war record than discipline."  He tells them there is a member of the Diplomatic Workforce, nicknamed "Dishwashers" by the soldiers, who is there to speak to them.

Smith: "We hated him and he knew it.  As soon as he walked in everyone sat down without waiting for the word."

He gives them the bad news.  They are making peace overtures to the Geeks and have withdrawn the bulk of the fleet leaving only a skeleton force in place.  Loon's friend Quicksilver freaks out at this and starts screaming abuse at the Dishwasher.  Before he gets killed, Smith knocks him out with a chair.

A "Dishwasher."

The Dishwasher comes up to Smith and thanks him and notes he is one of the few Earthborn humans there.  Smith doesn't want the attention from him, it's making him look bad. The men have a "Liberty Capsule" which means they can travel down to the Mars colony for some R&R. Jupe decides to stay on Phobos though.

Hen-Sho shows off New Peking a colony of forty thousand people.  Ringer says they want "bars, not culture."  But they are greeted by guards who say they don't like how Hen-sho is part of the decadent group known as the V.C.s.  Ringer aims a racial slur at them, the guard says they have to hand over their weapons before they can enter.  Reluctantly they do so.

Inside Hen-sho says drinking is forbidden but he knows of a bar they can go to.  Smith doesn't want to go get drunk so goes to the library computers and starts doing research on what is known about the Geeks which is not much.  He looks down and sees some guards closing in on the V.C.s. A big brawl ensues as more guards and troopers join in. Even Smith gets some shots in, he finds "I was beginning to enjoy it."

But then the Geeks launch a suprise attack many of them landing on the planet from the ships above. Hen-sho shows them a secret way out of the city and they get suited up in Mars colony space suits. They manage to vape some Geeks but soon realise they are trapped on the Mars surface and New Peking goes up in a massive explosion.  Mars and Phobos are dead and they would be soon if not for a miracle.

The Geeks surprise attack.

They are backed into a canyon and Geeks bear down on them, then a miracle does happen.  Jupe survived and sweeps down in their ship and picks them up.   He explains he and Brother moved the ship just before the Geek attack.  Mars has been destroyed and much of the fleet all because of a misguided peace initiative.

The Geeks have regrouped and are heading for the next planet, Earth!   Ringer picks a fight with Smith about why they should care and Smith loses his temper but Jupe keeps a lid on things.

Smith: "We returned to our controls and you could see each man was taut with the strain of worrying if his home would go the same way as Hen-sho's"

Later Smith is waxing lyrical about the Earth and Ringer mocks him for it saying it it's so great why doesn't he go back if he likes it so much and leave space to the guys who can take it.  Smith balls his fists in anger.  But before they can fight again a call comes through that they have to head for Earth, which renders Smith triumphant.

Earth, Transatlantic City.

He sees Transatlantic City sitting on the vidscreen, it's a city that floats between America and Europe and where his parents live.  He calls them up and his father is pleased to hear from him but also casually insults Jupe much to Smith's embarrasment.  Smith's dad says he knows with soldiers like him they know they have nothing to worry about and Ringer sneers at this sentiment.  Smith grabs him by the collar, but Jupe breaks them up again.

They discover a platoon of Geeks hiding out on the moon's darkside.  Helped by the soldiers from Lunar base they wipe most of them out, but some Geek ships reach Earth and completely destroy Transatlantic City, with at least 80 percent casualties.

Ringer:  "Yeah that's a helluva lot of worms cut up".

Ringer and Smith finally come to blows.

Smith punches him and they get into a full on brawl.  Angrily he says he'll take them all on, but Jupe grabs him.  Ringer goes to smash him in the head with a rifle butt but Jupe stops him and gives them some more bad news.

Jupe: "The Geeks have hit some more worlds. Gannymede in my system has been novad, with two million dead. They've hit one of Saturn's moons, too... the Geeks just started something - we're gonna finish. No more patrolling the system - I reckon we're going to take the war to the Geeks now."

Jupe says they've all suffered so don't laugh at Smith.  He asks if Smith wants to go on comassionate leave?   But Smith snarls he's a V.C. now, "I'm gonna find the Geek galaxy.  Rip back the mat and wipe that filth out! You hear me? Wipe them out!"

New Dishwasher, new plan.

Six months after the Geek attack a new bunch of soldiers have been trained and readied.  The resident "Dishwasher" says their job is to go out and wipe out the Geek homeworld.  Their ship has been refitted to work as part of a team of battle escort ships requiring retraining for all of them.  Ringer has a new toy, a "powered Kill Disc" which he throws at Smith narrowly missing him.

Then the recce craft return with information on where the Geek homeworld is so the battalion moves out to take the fight to them.  But as they warp in they are met by a huge Geek battlefleet.  The nearby twin suns have them running blind.  The troopships are to be protected at all costs, so one of the escort ships sacrifices itself to block a Geek attack and the debris from it blocks some of the suns light so they can see to return fire.

They make short work of the Geek battlefleet and escort the troopships to the Geek home planet.  The Earth troops beam down, but in the words of Admiral Akbar "It's a trap!". The city is a fake and waiting inside are thousands of heavily armed Geek troops.

The Dishwasher orders the fleet to disengage to avoid further losses and the troops left behind must fend for themselves.  No one is to leave their ships to mount a rescue via airlock.  But Smith tells Jupe they could leave by missile tube and fly down and organise the troops still on the planet.  Jupe agrees and down they go, but not before Ringer warns Smith nothing better happen to Jupe or it will be his fault.

Jupe organises the troops.

Jupe and Smith take control of the troops organising a more effective set of fighting tactics.  Then they are called by the Cyborg general who says although the Dishwasher is "going spare" he's stuck his neck out and thinks he can rescue them and the rest of the surviving troops.  He tells them to get the troops to the nearby big hill and at sundown he can come pick them up.  The sun sets and the Geeks retreat. They take off their armour to leave as decoys and surruptiously make for the hill.

They make it to the hill and vape the Geeks waiting, the suns starts to rise without their glar shields they'll bein trouble, but the ship arrives in time and picks them all up.  Unfortunately Jupe, who was holding off Geek pursuers with a Blitz Cannon looked at the suns too long and has been rendered blind.  Ringer is PISSED.

Smith: "I've let them down! I-I've destroyed Jupe! We've lost out leader!"

Angry at Smith and Jupe's disobediance the Dishwasher puts the whole squad on "punishment duties."  They are to be locked up, apart from Jupe in the hospital, and let out when they reach the next system and given the dirtiest jobs possible.

The fleet runs into an asteroid belt and they are assigned the job of going outside the ship and repairing the hull damage.  Ringer lunges at Smith with a laser cutter and they start fighting. Their oxygen is cut off and they are bought inside.  The Dishwasher says the penalty for fighting on duty is death and he pulls out his gun to carry it out.

Ringer is such an arsehole.

Then the cyborg general creeps up behind him dressed as a Geek.  They've created lifelike Geek suits so someone can go on an infiltration mission.  So Ringer and Smith are "volunteered" for a test run of this idea.  As they are suited up, Jupe appears and says he wants them to shake and make up, they agree but Ringer has a razor concealed in his palm and cuts Smith as they shake.

Smith and Ringer make a drop onto a planet that has severe weather conditions and can't be scanned.  He loses Ringer in the drop.  He changes out of his armour but hears some yelling and screaming for him, Ringer has been discovered and is being tortured.  Smith shoots the Geeks responsible and cuts Ringer down.  Ringer grudgingly expresses gratitude.

He puts the top half of his Geek suit back on and they carry on with their mission.  They stumble across a giant Geek base.  They have a wander round unchallenged, they even have speech translators in the suits.  Then a Geek commander says he has found their equipment, they know someone is on the planet.

The Geek leader starts inspecting everyone, he passes by Smith, but Ringer's razor disc cut a hole in his suit and he's discovered.  He starts begging for help from Smith again, but Smith doesn't want to blow his cover.

Smith:  "I heard him.  But I kept still... You're safe Smith.  You can turn away like any other Geek. Yeah, this is the chance you wanted.. you've got rid of Ringer at last."

He watches somewhat dispassionately as Ringer is tortured again. He turns away and finds a Geek comms outpost and transmits the details and coordinates of the Geek base to the ship.  Then he returns to Ringer and takes the Geek commander hostage.  They free Ringer who is almost catatonic and the three of them get picked up as the fleet above come down and attack.

Ringer breaks under torture.

Ringer is taken away to be looked after elsewhere now his spirit and mind has been broken.  The rest of the V.C.s watch the final destruction of the Geek base, and then see the Geek commander being lead away after having the "probe" used on him.  Ringer sees him and as the Geek commander passes an airlock he opens it and the Geek is sucked out.  In a rage the Dishwasher asks who is responsible.  None of the V.C.s own up so the Dishwasher says all of them will share in the infiltration missions now.

Now a Suicide Squad, the rest are dressed as Geek too.  The jump to what looks like a dead system, but are then challenged by a Geek ship which quickly sees through their deception. They ride it out to hide by a black dwarf star but there is a secret missile base there.  Dwarf Star manages to blow it up, but is hit and the others can only watch in horror as his turret cracks and splinters and Dwarf Star is sucked into space.  Angrily Smith says the Dishwasher is a cancer and he's going to kill him before he gets the rest of them killed.

The death of Dwarf Star.

He decides agains splattering the Dishwasher's brains out but does punch out a guard of his and is docked a years pay. The rest of the fleet fly to the black dwarf and take out the rest of the Geek forces and secret missile bases, "another victory for me!" crows the Dishwasher. Steve is about to kill him then spots a guard globe protecting him, he stops then sees Hen-sho had the same idea but hasn't seen the globe so he quietly knocks him out.

They say they'll get him next time, but don't believe there will be a next time, their Geek disguise ploy has run it's course, they'll be killed if they try it again.  Nevertheless they fly out and it looks like they hit the jackpot and found the Geek homeworld.  They are spotted and put up a valiant fight but the ship is lost and only two lifepods remain.   Hen-sho knocks Smith and Loon out and puts them inside sacrificing his life as the ship explodes around him.

Hen-Sho says farewell.

Their pods land on the moon above the Geek homeworld. Loon has retreated into a childlike state.  Smith manages to get him into a crater behind him so he  can hold off any attackers and protect him.  Down to his last powerpack things look bleak then the attacking Geeks turn back.  A Geek ship comes hovering down to look for them and Loon picks a bad time to jump back into Smith's crater and is blasted to pieces.

Gutted Smith hears a familiar voice then sees the strange sight of himself and his companions still alive.  Turns out the Geeks are doing their own bit of infiltration in diguise.  They are going to infiltrate the Flagship so they can ambush the rest of the fleet.  He has to warn them.

Loon is blown to bits.

He takes out his lookalike and takes his place.  As they make the jump back to the human fleet, he thinks about who he cares about, the Cyborg general and Jupe and Ringer stuck in sickbay. The jolt of coming out of hyperspace cuts Smith's cheek and the Geeks notice.  Smith desperately tries to warm the flagship but the Geeks shoot him, leaving him barely alive thinking, "you failed Smith, you failed."

He comes to a little later badly burned by the lazgun but still alive.  He makes his way onto the flagship which the Geeks have gained a foothold in.  He makes his way to the med bay and picks up Jupe and Ringer.  Jupe casually breaks a Geek's neck, Ringer is still terrified.

Smith collects Jupe and Ringer.

They see on a scanner screen connected to the bridge that the Dishwasher has cravenly given into the Geek's commands.  If they leave him alive he'll call the fleet and order them into a trap.  The cyborg general there calls him a coward and is clubbed to the ground.  Jupe says if they cut the power they can stop the comm signal, so head for the power room rather than the more heavily guarded bridge.

Smith hands Ringer a Kill disc, he receives it ungratefully. They shatter the ships power crystal and everything goes dark. Then they storm the bridge, Ringer gets his killing mojo back and Jupe takes out a couple close range as well.  With all the Geeks dead the Dishwasher turns on them saying he can't have evidence of his cowardice come out and he draws a gun on them.  Ringer throws his kill disc at him but takes a blast from the gun that was meant for Smith.  He dies stating that in the end Smith was a V.C.

Ringer goes out a hero.

The cyborg general is the new ships commander.  The flagship takes off and the rest of the fleet follow.  It jumps into hyperspace and Smith feels unwell as hyperspace is proving hard on his wounds.  The Geeks still think Smith is one of theirs. Smith starts to pass out, but visions of the dead V.C.s keep him going and they get right up close to the Geek flagship thanks to his deception of them.  Then they let go at it with everything they've got and destroy it taking out the whole of the Geek high command.

Then the rest of the human fleet arrive and a huge space battle occurs, though the loss of their flagship has demoralised the Geeks totally.  As the human troops drop down onto the Geek homeworld, Smith finally passes out and wakes up in sickbay  six days later to the news the Geeks have surrendered.

Cue epic space battle.

There is a reception commitee as more Dishwasher's arrive and take a ring off the finger of the traitorous one who Ringer killed.  It has a holographic message conerning Smith.  But before the Dishwasher can damn him after death, Jupe "accidentally" hoovers up the ring and destroys it.  The cyborg General says the Dishwasher was going to reward Smith for his gallant actions and should therefore be promoted.  Which he is, to second leiutenant.  Shaking hands with the General, Smith thinks:

Smith: "At last a bit of dirt, but the general and Jupe put their heads on the block to clean it up for me. Yeah, now I've got a new crew to form, maybe new wars to fight... but I'm never going to wipe away the memory of those first V.C.s... the Vacuum Cleaners."

Smith is finally rewarded for his heroism. The end?

And that brings this first V.C.s saga to an end.  A well remembered and well loved strip from the first few years of the comic, it inspired one young reader at the time, Dan Abnett to beg for and be allowed to write new V.C.s strips picking up the adventures of Steve Smith fifty years after the end of the first Geek War.  And I shall be coverning those in future UK comic months.  For now though this is a brilliant story, full of twists and turns, vivid characters, some clever wordplay around the concept of "cleaning" the Geeks up and a well established future world military.  Our bunch of misfits and Smith's quest for acceptance are fantastic plot drivers as the raw recruit just out of military school is forged into a man who would go on to save all of humanity, but only with the help of his friends and colleagues and their sacrifices to get him into that position to do so. All the artists turn in exceptional work, I have a liking for Cam Kennedy's episodes the best, but they are all good.  The writing takes all the cliches of the genre and runs with it gleefully and is a lot of fun to read.  This is not a subtle story, these are not subtle characters, the script is not at all subtle. This is a good, solid space bound military adventure and I hope the TPB comes back into print one day so more people can enjoy it.