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Devlin Waugh #1
Devlin Waugh: Swimming in Blood
A STUDY IN THE SUBTLE ART OF DISPATCHING UNSPEAKABLE MALEVOLENCE WITH STYLE!THE MEGA-CITIES THAT ARE HOME TO THE LAST VESTIGES OF HUMANITY are constantly preyed upon by bestial forces from beyond the realms of decency. Thankfully such monstrosities are kept at bay by spiritual envoys employed by Vatican City such as Devlin Waugh – a Brit-Cit born bon viveur and jolly good fellow to boot.
When Vatican precognitive telepaths predict a horrific presence at the underwater prison ofAquatraz, Devlin is sent in to investigate and uncovers an uncompromising evil which will cause him to cancel elevenses and abandon the Queensbury rules in order to survive!
Created by the pairing of distinguished scribe John Smith (Indigo Prime) and the illustrious artist Sean Phillips (Marvel Zombies), with additional art from Steve Yeowell (Zenith) Swimming in Blood sets the precedent in elegant, pugnacious fiction!
When Vatican precognitive telepaths predict a horrific presence at the underwater prison ofAquatraz, Devlin is sent in to investigate and uncovers an uncompromising evil which will cause him to cancel elevenses and abandon the Queensbury rules in order to survive!
Created by the pairing of distinguished scribe John Smith (Indigo Prime) and the illustrious artist Sean Phillips (Marvel Zombies), with additional art from Steve Yeowell (Zenith) Swimming in Blood sets the precedent in elegant, pugnacious fiction!
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1993
7 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
John Smith
74 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John Smith (1967- ) is a British comics writer best known for his work on 2000 AD and Crisis. He has a host of creative credits to his name, including A Love Like Blood, Devlin Waugh, Firekind, Holocaust 12, Indigo Prime, Pussyfoot 5, Revere, Slaughterbowl, Tyranny Rex, Leatherjack, Dead Eyes and Cradlegrave. Smith has also written Future Shocks, Judge Dredd, Judge Karyn, Pulp Sci-Fi, Robo-Hunter, Rogue Trooper, Tales from Beyond Science, Vector 13 and Tales from the Black Museum. Smith's work beyond the Galaxy's Greatest Comic includes the long-running New Statesmen series in Crisis, DC/Vertigo's Hellblazer and Scarab, and Harris Comics' Vampirella.
John Smith (1967- ) is a British comics writer best known for his work on 2000 AD and Crisis. He has a host of creative credits to his name, including A Love Like Blood, Devlin Waugh, Firekind, Holocaust 12, Indigo Prime, Pussyfoot 5, Revere, Slaughterbowl, Tyranny Rex, Leatherjack, Dead Eyes and Cradlegrave. Smith has also written Future Shocks, Judge Dredd, Judge Karyn, Pulp Sci-Fi, Robo-Hunter, Rogue Trooper, Tales from Beyond Science, Vector 13 and Tales from the Black Museum. Smith's work beyond the Galaxy's Greatest Comic includes the long-running New Statesmen series in Crisis, DC/Vertigo's Hellblazer and Scarab, and Harris Comics' Vampirella.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 2, 2020
And so on to the next instalment and the introduction of another character - this time Devlin Waugh - by the authors own description - The face and character of Terry Thomas with the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger and I must admit its rather good fun.
The thing is this character is very recognisable and as such I have seen references to him all over the place which is rather surprising considering the number of appearances he has had and the length of time (apparently) between them.
However the character is very recognisable and the action (and blood and gore) are perfectly offset against the dialogue. You have in effect the extremes - and as such they counter balance each other perfectly. This is not however a storyline for the faint hearted - it still lives up to the ultra violence levels that Judge Dredd achieved.
What I am learning is that this series (Mega Collection) is showcasing all the characters and storylines that made Judge Dredd (and 2000AD) famous and try and explain why to this day so many of them stay in our memories.
The thing is this character is very recognisable and as such I have seen references to him all over the place which is rather surprising considering the number of appearances he has had and the length of time (apparently) between them.
However the character is very recognisable and the action (and blood and gore) are perfectly offset against the dialogue. You have in effect the extremes - and as such they counter balance each other perfectly. This is not however a storyline for the faint hearted - it still lives up to the ultra violence levels that Judge Dredd achieved.
What I am learning is that this series (Mega Collection) is showcasing all the characters and storylines that made Judge Dredd (and 2000AD) famous and try and explain why to this day so many of them stay in our memories.
June 5, 2019
I could see a few glimmering bright spots in the writing, the action, and the art, but on the whole this story didn't grab me all too well. Devlin Waugh himself could've been fun to follow - a flippant exorcist-assassin with ridiculously skewed priorities that is nonetheless competent when he gets down to it, a deliberate douchebag in a world full of stories that do it only by accident - but the story itself wasn't nearly comedic enough to let him shine.
December 19, 2015
One of my favourite 2000ad collections. Beautiful art, ridiculously rampantly over the top hero, and vibrant plot. Lots of (very violent) fun
June 25, 2020
‘Swimming in Blood’ is a collection of adventures featuring Devlin Waugh, an exorcist and assassin working for the Vatican in the era of Judge Dredd. He is a muscular, sadistic, tea drinking Olympic flower arranging champion who prefers the company of young men. The title story, ‘Swimming in Blood’, was my introduction to Devlin and I wasn’t hugely impressed. It was a routine 2000AD adventure, heavy on gore and violence. As ever with material from that source there was a degree of invention. Aquatraz was the popular name for an undersea prison in the Bahamas to which Waugh is sent when it is taken over by vampires. He beats them but gets turned into a vampire himself and decides to retire. The story by John Smith was okay, not great, and the art was likewise, marred by the appearance of being filmed through a dirty milk bottle. This was apparently the fault of some problems in reproducing Sean Phillips’ original paintings.
Happily, it got better. ‘Brief Encounter’ is entertaining. Devlin goes to Mega-City One and is stopped at customs because his luggage contains tobacco, alcohol and several other illicit items, including blood. Dredd can’t touch Waugh because he has diplomatic immunity but finds a way to get at him even so. This was more promising.
Next is a prologue for ‘Chasing Herod’ in which a paparazzi tells us a bit about Devlin’s history before revealing that ‘something’ is coming to the world and there is no one to save us. Cue Devlin Waugh, coming out of retirement when the skull of the Herod is stolen from the vaults of the Vatican. The skull of the Herod! It was stolen by the Fakir, recruited by Lady Fading Light who then has an auction attended by four-armed oriental fiend Harry Kiri and other evildoers. ‘Chasing Herod’ benefits from a sharper script with more wit and less bloodletting and very neat art from Steve Yeowell with colours by D’Israeli. The former Tory Prime Minister must be a vampire too, as he’s still around and working in the comic book industry. He used to be a writer, you know.
‘Chasing Herod’ is followed by several other episodes but it’s all part of the same apocalyptic story about which it would be unfair to reveal more, except to say that it’s very good. Devlin Waugh is assisted by various other characters and the interesting cast makes for a much livelier narrative. Waugh is a cross between Rambo and Oscar Wilde which is okay for a few laughs but you need more to make a substantial story. You get more here.
The book tails off with ‘A Mouthful of Dust’ in which Waugh helps an old friend try to find a cure for a demonic disease and ‘A Love Like Blood’ which is a text story about a fan obsessed with Devlin. Both are okay but it’s the ‘Herod’ saga that makes the book.
Happily, it got better. ‘Brief Encounter’ is entertaining. Devlin goes to Mega-City One and is stopped at customs because his luggage contains tobacco, alcohol and several other illicit items, including blood. Dredd can’t touch Waugh because he has diplomatic immunity but finds a way to get at him even so. This was more promising.
Next is a prologue for ‘Chasing Herod’ in which a paparazzi tells us a bit about Devlin’s history before revealing that ‘something’ is coming to the world and there is no one to save us. Cue Devlin Waugh, coming out of retirement when the skull of the Herod is stolen from the vaults of the Vatican. The skull of the Herod! It was stolen by the Fakir, recruited by Lady Fading Light who then has an auction attended by four-armed oriental fiend Harry Kiri and other evildoers. ‘Chasing Herod’ benefits from a sharper script with more wit and less bloodletting and very neat art from Steve Yeowell with colours by D’Israeli. The former Tory Prime Minister must be a vampire too, as he’s still around and working in the comic book industry. He used to be a writer, you know.
‘Chasing Herod’ is followed by several other episodes but it’s all part of the same apocalyptic story about which it would be unfair to reveal more, except to say that it’s very good. Devlin Waugh is assisted by various other characters and the interesting cast makes for a much livelier narrative. Waugh is a cross between Rambo and Oscar Wilde which is okay for a few laughs but you need more to make a substantial story. You get more here.
The book tails off with ‘A Mouthful of Dust’ in which Waugh helps an old friend try to find a cure for a demonic disease and ‘A Love Like Blood’ which is a text story about a fan obsessed with Devlin. Both are okay but it’s the ‘Herod’ saga that makes the book.
August 10, 2018
Está bien. Son varias historias de diferenre extensión compartiendo el mismo guinista y cambiando al artista. La primera que da título al tomo es la mas extensa, el problema es que no tiene final. O no lo entendí o continúa en otro lado, algo pasó.
Hay un tal Siku que es una copia del gran Simon Bisley. Al final hay una historia en blanco y negro y dos relatos cortos ilustrados. El personaje está bien, el universo es el de Judge Dredd y está muy bien pero ninguna historia en sí me pareció descollante. Potencial no explotado.
Hay un tal Siku que es una copia del gran Simon Bisley. Al final hay una historia en blanco y negro y dos relatos cortos ilustrados. El personaje está bien, el universo es el de Judge Dredd y está muy bien pero ninguna historia en sí me pareció descollante. Potencial no explotado.
November 4, 2020
Pikkaisen alan kyllästyä hirveään räiskintään ilman aivoja.
Ensimmäinen pitkä tarina on maalattu kauniisti, toinen pitkä tarina on piirretty ihan mukavasti, mutta ei ihmeellisesti. Mukana on myös muutamia lyhyitä tarinoita, joista Michael Gaydosin piirtotyylistä pidin. Pidin myös enemmän lyhyistä tarinoista. Lopussa on myös novelli, joka loppuu siihen, että Devlin kummastelee kuinka hänen koko elämänsä on yhtä antikliimaksia.
Olen samaa mieltä. Devlin Waughin hahmo on hyvä, mutta tarinat eivät tee sille oikeutta. Lihaksikas ylienglantilainen draama-queen taistelee pimeyden voimia vastaan, kyllähän siitä pitäisi saa aikaan draamaa. Mutta esimerkiksi toisessa pitkässä tarinassa ei oikein päästä asiaan kuin silloin tällöin ja tarinaan tuodaan paljon sivuhenkilöitä, jotta ne voidaan sitten tappaa pois. Pidin tunnelmallisesta tarinasta Ubarin kadonneeseen kaupunkiin, mutta toisaalta tarina olisi voinut olla Hellboysta.
Noh, kaikesta ei tarvitse tykätä. Kansi on kyllä hyvä. Riittää, että katsoo sen.
Ensimmäinen pitkä tarina on maalattu kauniisti, toinen pitkä tarina on piirretty ihan mukavasti, mutta ei ihmeellisesti. Mukana on myös muutamia lyhyitä tarinoita, joista Michael Gaydosin piirtotyylistä pidin. Pidin myös enemmän lyhyistä tarinoista. Lopussa on myös novelli, joka loppuu siihen, että Devlin kummastelee kuinka hänen koko elämänsä on yhtä antikliimaksia.
Olen samaa mieltä. Devlin Waughin hahmo on hyvä, mutta tarinat eivät tee sille oikeutta. Lihaksikas ylienglantilainen draama-queen taistelee pimeyden voimia vastaan, kyllähän siitä pitäisi saa aikaan draamaa. Mutta esimerkiksi toisessa pitkässä tarinassa ei oikein päästä asiaan kuin silloin tällöin ja tarinaan tuodaan paljon sivuhenkilöitä, jotta ne voidaan sitten tappaa pois. Pidin tunnelmallisesta tarinasta Ubarin kadonneeseen kaupunkiin, mutta toisaalta tarina olisi voinut olla Hellboysta.
Noh, kaikesta ei tarvitse tykätä. Kansi on kyllä hyvä. Riittää, että katsoo sen.
December 27, 2025
Some earlier adventures of Devlin Waugh and it does ever so slightly show. The bombastic, high society gay occult buster takes center stage in Swimming in Blood, and while Smith's story is okay-ish (but a bit too long), Sean Phillips often muddy painted art really doesn't do much to prop it up. The other main story is Fetish, again from creator Smith's pen, but with art by Siku which is always a mission to try and follow. Two more legible artists would have done wonders for this book in my opinion. There's also a few entries from Megazine's saving money period, meaning a not bad black and white strip, and then the annoyingly unforgivable inclusion in a graphic novel - text stories. That was annoying when I first encountered the practice in the Megazine, and it is even more annoying to come across it in collected edition.
June 26, 2021
The Aquatraz arc is funny and gorgeously drawn by Sean Phillips but the second one is basically your Hellblazer once again. The biggest problem I have with it is that, apparently, life outside of Mega-Cities did not change much. Europe sure looks like Europe so the Dredd setting is nowhere to be seen apart from the futuristic flying cars, maybe.
June 10, 2017
It's an absolute, crying shame that Smith created Devlin and has basically left him to languish, doing a short run of a few installments every couple of years. And now it's been 10 years since the last time Devlin showed up !
August 1, 2019
First, title story is the best. Siku's artwork and layouts in the second long story is unclear and hard to decipher.
October 23, 2022
Like Dr Strange but if you reversed all the good decisions they made about the character
December 7, 2023
Quiero de la que toman los ingleses.
October 27, 2024
This collection took awhile to get going but by the end it was pretty great. I will definitely read the next volume.
May 20, 2025
Got a lot of time for John Smith. Some lovely art in here - story’s a bit thin, mind.
July 17, 2022
Recently revived by Aleš Kot in the Megazine, this is the not quite successful debut of everybody’s favourite flamboyantly homosexual vampiric Vatican operative, Devlin Waugh. Smith has created a wonderful character for the Dreddverse but Waugh is top arch and silly here to really work: instead it feels like a thriller that is almost bold enough to have a strikingly different hero than you would expect in this universe but one that’s bottled by the endless annoying cliches and nonsense. Instead it seems to be Kot who has realised the potential of Waugh of late which is pretty unprecedented
The first story is very good, with excellent art by Sean Phillips and the second... is just annoying and this and the African story proves how hard Dredd is to write well. Smith really has no understanding of the character at all and he’s not helped by Siku’s art which is just awful, muddy, confused nonsense with no sense of anatomy and that whole nightmarish belief of the nineties that painted art was somehow elevating to comics, even if the basic art skills were lacking. Thank god for the modest, but well drawn by Michael Gaydos, final story that is far better. Flawed but fascinating
*reread review for the Mega Collection edition which compiles Swimming In Blood with stories illustrated far more sympathetically by Colin MacNeil and John Burns. Sadly the stories suffer from being 1. basically a redo of the first but with some new characters and 2. a muddled two parter which demonstrates how much Burns struggles to draw Dredd. It also makes me appreciate the Aleš Kot era far more because he’s broadened the story considerably from just being yet more tiresome vampire nonsense, and making Waugh’s sexuality a far more complex and interesting proposition*
The first story is very good, with excellent art by Sean Phillips and the second... is just annoying and this and the African story proves how hard Dredd is to write well. Smith really has no understanding of the character at all and he’s not helped by Siku’s art which is just awful, muddy, confused nonsense with no sense of anatomy and that whole nightmarish belief of the nineties that painted art was somehow elevating to comics, even if the basic art skills were lacking. Thank god for the modest, but well drawn by Michael Gaydos, final story that is far better. Flawed but fascinating
*reread review for the Mega Collection edition which compiles Swimming In Blood with stories illustrated far more sympathetically by Colin MacNeil and John Burns. Sadly the stories suffer from being 1. basically a redo of the first but with some new characters and 2. a muddled two parter which demonstrates how much Burns struggles to draw Dredd. It also makes me appreciate the Aleš Kot era far more because he’s broadened the story considerably from just being yet more tiresome vampire nonsense, and making Waugh’s sexuality a far more complex and interesting proposition*
June 1, 2015
Devlin Waugh is one of the best characters I've come across in ages In essence he's Noel Coward with the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger; a flamboyant gay, Vatican exorcist turned vampire. In swimming in Blood the underwater maximum security prison Aquatraz gets overrun by vampires and the Vatican send in their top agent Devlin Waugh.
In the next major story Red Tide, Waugh, now a vampire has teamed up with Van Helsing to rescue/transport the only day-walking vampire Lilith Karnstein to take her for experimentation. Only problem she's in heat and every vampire in Fangland wants to get a piece of her so that they can have her day walking ability for themselves.
There are a couple of bonus stories - Brief Encounter in which Dredd and Waugh meet at a checkpoint and Dredd tries to stop him entering Mega City 1. And Bite Fight! In which Dredd and the judges are trying to put down an illegal vampire-fight club and Waugh is one of the fighters.
Absolutely adored this one. Waugh is brilliantly realised and very witty. I also liked the idea of aquatic vampires and the seahorse design of Aquatraz is gorgeous.
The artwork's a mixed bag and you can tell that the artists are clearly experimenting with different techniques with varying degrees of success. Still, the story on this is so strong, that even the less great art doesn't detract much.
Vampires 2000AD style. Punchy, witty and very clever with loads of blood and guts. Recommended!
In the next major story Red Tide, Waugh, now a vampire has teamed up with Van Helsing to rescue/transport the only day-walking vampire Lilith Karnstein to take her for experimentation. Only problem she's in heat and every vampire in Fangland wants to get a piece of her so that they can have her day walking ability for themselves.
There are a couple of bonus stories - Brief Encounter in which Dredd and Waugh meet at a checkpoint and Dredd tries to stop him entering Mega City 1. And Bite Fight! In which Dredd and the judges are trying to put down an illegal vampire-fight club and Waugh is one of the fighters.
Absolutely adored this one. Waugh is brilliantly realised and very witty. I also liked the idea of aquatic vampires and the seahorse design of Aquatraz is gorgeous.
The artwork's a mixed bag and you can tell that the artists are clearly experimenting with different techniques with varying degrees of success. Still, the story on this is so strong, that even the less great art doesn't detract much.
Vampires 2000AD style. Punchy, witty and very clever with loads of blood and guts. Recommended!
August 4, 2015
A simple inversion of the basic Judge Dredd formula: where Dreddy is a straight-down-the-line kind of guy in a wacky world, Waugh is an unremittingly flippant camp caricature regularly plunged into environments that make Arkham Asylum look like In The Night Garden. Personally I don't think it works very well; to undercut the tension of a horrific scene with the lead character wondering if there might be time for a quick Charleston is a good joke once, but it's the same gag *every single episode*, and leads in my opinion to Waugh being an incredibly two-dimensional and maybe even borderline homophobic (homotrivialising?) character.
As a side note, in the shorter story "Bite Fight!" we once again (q.v. the Holocaust Squad in the Heavy Mob volume) see John Smith writing about Judges who are entitled, due to the hazardous nature of his work, to exemption from the law. Here a Wally Squad member clocks off to enjoy the company of a couple or three women and Dredd himself says "sure, I guess you've earned it". Is it just me who finds this hugely contradictory to the core spirit of the Dredd strips, and utterly, utterly inappropriate to be endorsed by Old Stoney Face himself?
As a side note, in the shorter story "Bite Fight!" we once again (q.v. the Holocaust Squad in the Heavy Mob volume) see John Smith writing about Judges who are entitled, due to the hazardous nature of his work, to exemption from the law. Here a Wally Squad member clocks off to enjoy the company of a couple or three women and Dredd himself says "sure, I guess you've earned it". Is it just me who finds this hugely contradictory to the core spirit of the Dredd strips, and utterly, utterly inappropriate to be endorsed by Old Stoney Face himself?
October 15, 2024
When you first start it feels amazing, right out from the start there is loads of fun for the first few chapters that then falls really quickly in terms of quality. It wasn't for me by the end and its a shame because when it first started I thought it was going to blow my mind.
My problem with it was it became exposition heavy and so determined to be 'alternative' that is kind of left plot behind. This was a shame because I liked the world and the characters. It may also have been because the writer was not given the time and space to really say what they wanted to say.
Its was an OK book, the start is a wonder but as the collection progresses the quality dips.
My problem with it was it became exposition heavy and so determined to be 'alternative' that is kind of left plot behind. This was a shame because I liked the world and the characters. It may also have been because the writer was not given the time and space to really say what they wanted to say.
Its was an OK book, the start is a wonder but as the collection progresses the quality dips.
September 8, 2015
Very fun. It was good too see gore and darkness brought back to the vampire genre. Even if the story arc is old, when vampires still had some oomph and wasn't all just sex and romance.
Devlin is a great character, a total opposite to Dredd. A kind of supernatural investigator for the vatican, he likes fine wine and art and is camp as they come.
It's a muscle bound character that i could picture David Walliams portraying if they did Little Britain again. Even having some witty one-liners and puns to throw in some humor.
Devlin is a great character, a total opposite to Dredd. A kind of supernatural investigator for the vatican, he likes fine wine and art and is camp as they come.
It's a muscle bound character that i could picture David Walliams portraying if they did Little Britain again. Even having some witty one-liners and puns to throw in some humor.
January 2, 2010
Wonderful jaunt through the world of Judge Dredd, with the gay, irreverent, violent, cultured and eloquent supernatural operative for the vatican.
A reminder of why 2000 ad is such an amazing magazine.
A reminder of why 2000 ad is such an amazing magazine.
February 13, 2013
Nice art, interesting main character but vampires are just so stupid.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews