Customer Reviews

Strontium Dogs #1: Bad Timing

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4 star:		(1)
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Huge fan of the Strontium Dog comic series that I am, I was practically slobbering over this book. It didn't disappoint. It was great to see Johnny Alpha in action again, especially after all hopes of seeing the character in action again were removed when 2000AD (the comic that the story used to appear in) made the idiotic and pointless move of killing him off.

Anyway, the book is a great read. It's got all the usual Strontium Dog elements that you know from the comic - a ruthless and psychopathic villain, crooked background deals, a danger fraught hunt, fascinating mutants, a heck of a lot of futuristic hardware, time distortions and a weird universe to set it all in. The action is pretty fast-paced and the book doesn't really slow down. There's always the desire to read the next chapter, even though you've told yourself you need to put it down and go to work now.

It also captured the characters exceptionally well. I loved the portrayal of Johnny Alpha in his older, more cranky form, right down to his lack of interest in sex or any other form of enjoyment and his total dedication to the hunt. Middenface McNulty was the usual brawling drunkard, but unlike in the comic, you got to see a little bit of what was going on in his mind and what made him tick (which apparently isn't a lot). Durham Red was also convincing in her ruthless and treacherous way. All in all, these characters really worked.

I would recommend this book to any fan of the series, or anyone who likes to read books about non-stop mayhem. Rebecca Levene, the author, is clearly someone to look out for. I hope she does some more Strontium Dog books soon.

150 years from now the world is quite a different place. For one thing due to the detonation of a very large nuclear bomb humans have had a tendency to mutate. Unwelcome by their more normal brethren the mutants must find a way to survive doing jobs no one else wants or dares to do.

Our bad-ass mutant in question, Johnny Alpha has chosen to be a bounty hunter. He, along with several other hunters, is tricked into a meeting with one of the most wicked crime bosses in the galaxy. In exchange for their lives dangerous Durham Red the vampiress, confused Jo/Joe the man woman, Min Qi Man the simian (get it? Min Qi Man?), and several other mutants must go to the planet Epsilon Five to retrieve their target.

Sounds kind of simple and straightforward...right? It would be if a time bomb of titanic proportions hadn't exploded there. The aftereffects of the bomb left a field of time distortion in which time speeds up for anyone or thing not from the planet itself. For every day they are on the planet Johnny and his mismatched team age a year. Even if they survive the hazards of the planet itself, time is running out, literally for the team.

Packed with nonstop action, well ok it paused here and there for time distortion, Bad Timing is right on time for a good read.

What a fun read! Full of great comic book attitude and weird adventure. Johnny Alpha and the Strontium Dogs: Durham Red, a vampire, his sidekick, Middenface McNulty, and the X team go to the planet SPEED, where time is 400 times faster than Earth to fight Bad Boy O'Blarney (a robot). One of the troup, One-Eyed Jack, has the ability of sending his eye ten seconds into the future in order to keep eveyone out of trouble. Levene is such a talented writer with her engaging dialogue and fast-pace action. You really should read Bad Timing; you'll be so glad you did.

Johnny Alpha and several other Strontium Dogs are ambushed and trapped into working for a very bad man, thanks to the old micro-explosive-implant device. This includes Durham Red.

They have to kill a robot for him, but the catch is that the robot is on a planet that is sped up in time.

This 'Team X' is forced to work together, but everyone is not as they seem, and a high-level betrayal and complicated relationship surface at the end.

Good thing Johnny understands time bombs better than anyone else.