2000 A.D. Prog 1957
Released by: Rebellion/2000 A.D.
Released on: November 18th, 2015.
Written by: Various
Illustrated by: Various
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2000 A.D. carries on, as it should, with this latest installment being sold to you with a completely bad ass painted wraparound cover of Dredd busting heads courtesy of Jake Lynch - suitable for framing!
Judge Dredd - That Extra Mile by Alec Worley and Karl Richardson: This one starts out at the Mega-Marathon. Dredd shows up and tells everyone to go home, the run is cancelled because the computer accidently routed it through a restricted zone. It turns out that the guys Dredd just warned weren't the front runners, there are plenty of people ahead of them and they're headed straight into an area full of 'criminals and crazies.' Dredd has no choice but to head in after them…
This self contained story is a good one, a great mix of humor, danger, action and suspense. The way that Worley writes the exercise junkies is hysterically spot on and at that same time, given the situations that he puts them in, completely twisted leaving Dredd, as always, to play the straight man. Richardson's art suits the story perfectly. It's nicely detailed and features some great line work and panel layout. He also makes Dredd look sufficiently big, tough and fierce - just as he should.
Defoe - The London Hanged by Pat Mills and Leigh Gallagher: Mills and Gallagher continue their politically charged take on zombies with this latest installment that obviously picks up where the last one left off. The walking corpses have got the Judge Jeffreys, the man that sentenced the poor to death, cornered. His friends back away as quickly as they can to save their own skins, and it doesn't end well for the judge, not at all. Back ad Defoe's cottage, Titus arrives and seems quite pleased with Jeffreys having been put to death - and is thusly informed that Jeffreys is not dead at all…
This one is twisted! Mills sets the judge's death to poetry and Gallagher's illustrations force us to watch it play out with an unveiling style that's almost musical in its execution. Gallagher's art continues to be as deliciously detailed as it has been since the first installment while Mills' script, with this installment, adds an additional layer of complexity to the conspiracy fast unfolding within this storyline's pages. Great stuff.
Terror Tales: Night Shifts by John Smith and Peter Doherty: A man sits in his apartment toying around on his laptop. He hears a noise, heads downstairs and is promptly attacked by a 'thing,' some sort of giant Lovecraftian insect monster. He fights back and it gives chase, running up the stairs after him… and then we see both combatants for who they really are.
This is a quick and fast little short story done with what at first appears to be a nod towards classic monster movies and 'things that should not be' style horror fiction but which, as it works towards its final page, reveals a twisted sense of humor. Smith's short story is a fun read and Doherty's black and white art is nicely detailed and easy on the eyes. The guy draws monsters really well, but doesn't skimp out on the backgrounds or little details that make well drawn comics more fun to look at than poorly drawn comics!
Brass Sun - Motor Head by Ian Eddington and Inj Culbard: Our heroine cleans up, has a bath, feels more human afterwards, which leads to a discussion with the no longer human Benedict as to exactly what that means. Even when you gain weight you hold onto your skinny clothes. Outside, walking death incarnate has appeared - the automaton - with Septiums' life in peril.
This one would appear to working towards its conclusion at this point, characters are starting to gel and correlate in interesting ways and the pace of the plot has picked up considerately since the (deliberately?) slow start that kicked off this serial. It's still weird, heady and complex stuff but as Eddington's story does unfold as it does here, it proves very worthwhile reading indeed. Culbard's colorful artwork always looks great, there's a fantastic sense of design and sci-fi style grandiose scale to much of the serial's look.
Bad Company - First Casualties by Peter Milligan, R. Dayglo and J. McCarthy: It's not over yet! Danny might want the body of the technician who killed Kano to be treated with respect but nobody is listening. He and the rest of BC are headed to another battle with the Krool. Kano has snapped… maybe. While the powers that be don't want Bad Company to leave the planet's atmosphere and will take them down if they need to, innocent lives be damned. Meanwhile, Thrax, off his meds like the rest of them, seems to be losing it which leads to conflict within Bad Company itself.
Anarchy? Maybe, but in the best way possible. It's all hitting the fan in a big way at this point, Bad Company's plan to essentially take back their 'self' from the government only too happy to medicate and make them forget is not going as well as the boys no doubt wanted it to but Milligan's chaotic script makes you think. Not just about the horrors of war, though that's part of it, but also about the way that veterans are treated when they come home. It's all wrapped up in an action packed sci-fi comic book style, gorgeously illustrated in typically great over the top style by Dayglo and McCarthy, but there's a lot more to this than just what you'll see on the surface.