Cover: Mike Perkins
Publisher: Rebellion
Judge Dredd
Script: John Wagner
Art: Mike Perkins
Colours: Chris Blythe
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Ronald, the mechanismo Judge, holds up the crushing weight of an entire building, his joints creaking and bursting, as Dredd escapes. He finds Arvy Buckle celebrating the death of a Judge when Dredd emerges and guns him down.
Dredd doesn’t even remember Arvy. Arvy spent half his life recovering from his childhood trauma, the rest hunting down the man who caused it, and to Dredd, it means nothing.
Dredd does care about a fellow Judge, though. Ronald’s remains get pulled out of the debris and carelessly cast into a truck. Perkins draws the dumper and the driver in a long shot with Dredd in the foreground, then Dredd in close-up nose-to-nose with the driver. Dredd clears the distance in the time between two panels, and the effect is perfect for Dredd’s ire towards the man.
I am sad to report that John Wagner has no more plans for Dredd, but after nearly fifty years of writing, he must have said all he wanted to say. That being said, he still has Rok the World coming out in the Megazine, so fans of his need not go hungry.
Herne & Shuck
Script: David Barnett
Art: Lee Milmore
Colours: Gary Caldwell
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
The King-without-a-castle sends Herne to Scotland for the next demigod, and Herne’s mother waves him off.
Last week, I was way off-base with my observation that Craig, the Lore Explore presenter, looks like Ceris’ kidnapper. Anyway, Jordy quizzes Craig, who tells them about Alex Ramsey-Hall, the MP whose progress we’ve been following, and how he fed the podcasters information.
In London, Alex talks to someone we thought dead.
This part left me cold. It feels like pieces are being manoeuvred on a board without a game being played. Jordy and Herne are both in Scotland now, so I suppose they’ll team up to storm St Michael HQ, but where does that leave Herne’s quest to appease the demigods? It’s all quite diffuse and unfocused, to me.
Judge Dee
Script: Ben Wheatley
Art: Simon Coleby
Colours: Jack Davies
Letters: Simon Bowland
Dee awakens to find herself in Geller’s office, having been piloted to her dead superior’s office while she was asleep by the demon. He says he needs to act fast and can’t afford to guide Dee to answers. He needs them now. On Geller’s computer, she sees that Geller has security footage of himself visiting Bleeke mansion, but before she can see more, the terminal transforms into a giant mouth which attacks her.
Backup arrives, and a Psi Judge dies in the skirmish.
I’m left to wonder why Klato (the demon finally named in this chapter) is in such a rush. In showing that he has some sense of urgency, in contrast to his casual charisma, I need to know what his true purpose is.
Tharg’s 3rillers: Money Shot: High Stakes Part 3
Script: Kek-W
Art: Rob Richardson
Letters: Rob Steen
Brigand Doom disappears as quickly as he appeared.
I only learned of Brigand Doom since writing the last review, thanks to ComicScene’s newsletter. Some people may cheer at his return, but for an unseasoned reader like me, it felt like a wrench was thrown into this story. When I read a 3riller, I expect a self-contained story in three parts, but this story is more interested in setting up the return of Vector 13.
Regardless, Carla returns to her own dimension and has to deal with the men in black from part 1, who offer her a deal.
Money Shot wasn’t for me. It may be exciting as an announcement for a returning strip, but on its own, Money Shot was disappointing. Sure, there was plenty of action, but Carla spent a lot of time being led around by the nose and being rescued. Apart from her idiosyncratic inner monologue, what about this character is there for me to get excited about?
The Discarded
Script: Peter Milligan
Art: Kieran McKeown
Colours: Jim Boswell
Letters: Simon Bowland
Veera awakens in the hangar of The Ark, a vessel that her rescuers have been hard at work making for the past few years. Each builder was arrested for little to no reason at all. Each chapter, we are introduced to these distinct characters with their own background and axe to grind, so every chapter feels novel.
But of course, before we can get too invested, mechanical trash hounds raid the base and kill everyone but Veera.
Everything Veera learned as a cop is wrong. How effective is the internal propaganda that Veera never noticed the frivolous arrests? I hope this strip has a long life. Starting in the battleground of Junkfall is marvellous, and I’m loving it, but I hope that The Discarded is allowed to continue and to birth the large-scale drama that this series is pregnant with.
Overall: 6/10
Tony Holdsworth is a comics writer based in Dundee, Scotland, who reviews 2000AD each week.
His comics can be found here: https://tonyholdsworth2.wordpress.com/category/portfolio/
