Review by Ian Keogh

Best known for being the founding father of 2000AD, Pat Mills has innovated throughout his career, dabbling in assorted genres, and always messianic about the potential of comics. As role-playing games began taking off in a big way during the 1980s, Mills conceived Dice Man, where readers were taken through stories playing the part of one of several 2000AD mainstays. The decisions made as the story hits a turning point ensured whether the leading character made it through to the end of the adventure alive.

Mills really went the extra mile for Dice Man, not just coming up with the formula and sticking to it, but constantly redefining the possibilities. Despite the title, dice aren’t necessary for all games, as some rely on making a decision and heading to the numbered panel showing the consequences of that decision, but there are complications also. A Nemesis game requires noting the Blitzspear’s speed, and dice are required for games featuring the ABC Warriors and Rogue Trooper, adding to or subtracting from capabilities. In the case of the ABC Warriors it’s probably worth copying the Speedo Sheet if you intend playing the game more than once.

However, Mills doesn’t just rely on familiar characters. A new creation takes their name from the title, Rick Fortune, a down at heel 1930s noir detective able to call on arcane forces for his unpleasant encounters with gangsters, Nazis and hillbillies, his appearances naturally enough requiring dice. Toward the end Mills delivers his most incredible new creation, an addled old guy named Ronald Reagan who’s become the US President. Can he somehow prevent nuclear armageddon? It’s the most complex, and funniest of the games, outrageously drawn by Hunt Emerson, although for some reason includes a text pages of options. Was the art lost in the post?

Mills was able to call on first rate selection of artists, with some surprising results. For instance, who’d have thought David Lloyd’s mastery of light and shade would be so effective on Slaine? Kevin O’Neill and Bryan Talbot reprising on Nemesis is great, and so is John Ridgway’s Rick Fortune strip.

It should also be noted that the game doesn’t overwhelm the stories either. Mills first worked out the overall plot, then set about breaking it down into effective gameplay, but were these to be reconstructed as straightforward plots all would entertain. A highlight is Mills scripting John Wagner’s imaginative meeting between Judge Dredd and the Dark Judges when investigating a haunted house. It’s moodily illustrated by Talbot, but as an earlier game it’s simpler than some that follow.

Everything here still stands up really well, whether as comics or games, and the years have rendered it somewhat the forgotten masterpiece. It’s a gem, done proud by a hardcover collection, and Mills deserves far more credit that he was ever given at the time for the effort he put in.