Cover: Lee Milmore
Publisher: Rebellion
Judge Dredd
Script: Rob Williams & Arthur Wyatt
Art: Henry Flint
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Oswald Roth’s mouse hovers over “publish.” Meanwhile, Dredd keeps a lid on a riot where Cits for Justice and the Daughters of Maitland clash. Hernandez witnesses the chaos. Roth tries to publish, but the SJS block him.
Showing us a riot is a clever way of externalising Roth’s inner turmoil by taking a cross-section of Mega City One and pitting each layer against each other. At the street level, we have the Cits versus the Daughters, interrupted by Judges, overseen by Hernandez, all of whom are monitored by the Special Judicial Squad, lurking just under the surface. Roth’s attempt to upset this fragile heap is blocked by them.
Henry Flint’s deceptively simple approach to the story shows the stratification of MC1’s classes. It makes me wonder if there’s a reason why the only panels which take up half the width of the page are those featuring Glenn and the SJS. Are they on equal footing? Are they allies? Or am I just thinking too hard about it?
Either way, I’m hooked, and I want more.
Ghosted
Script: Guy Adams
Art: Megan Huang
Letters: Simon Bowland
Humanity fires hundreds of rockets at the alien ship, and none make a dent. A Swedish agent strolls the blasted plains of Amerika and treads on nothing living. Scouts surround the alien dropships, die, and the city of Kinshasa hears not one cry.
I’m torn on Ghosted. Normally I gravitate towards stories where the protagonist, objective and obstacle are clear, but I feel compelled to give Ghosted, a gradually unfolding apocalypse, a chance. As the artist Jock says, this comic is up to something. I have faith in the bizarre character Chant, who seems more than capable of dealing with the alien threat, but who does nothing and gets high instead. I have faith in the boldness of colour palette and character designs. And I have faith in the strange style of the narration, which to me sounds like the stranger speculative fiction from the ‘60s.
The aliens, Kinshasa and Acksley’s predicament are so disparate that I must see how everything comes together.
Durham Red
Script: Alec Worley
Art: Ben Willsher
Letters: Simon Bowland
At the door, there’s a spider-themed assassin who can shoot webs out of her belly button. Durham Red escapes.
Despite this part’s action, I found it quite dull. Sure, there’s a variety of camera angles, crazy foreshortening and easy-to-follow combat, but what’s in the captions matches the action perfectly. With no gap between what we read and what we see, there’s no crack for the reader’s imagination to creep into.
Azimuth
Script: Dan Abnett
Art: Tazio Bettin
Colours: Matt Soffe
Letters: Rob Steen
It’s a standoff. Old Al is really Al-Hazrad, a fugitive from Anicca, who holds Suzi hostage and forces Dexter and Anderson to drop their guns and take a deep dive to the Lost Relay below. Alongside the events of the above, we find out about Al’s hostility towards Anicca and how he veils their presence.
The events of the episode are simple, but it’s jam-packed with drama. Dexter and Anderson want to save Suzi, but they can’t; Al is too strong, so they’re forced to prove that they aren’t spies by passing a trial. The stakes are concrete, the action is clear and the visuals thrill, so I can’t fault it whatsoever. Azimuth makes a habit of having absolutely dynamite cliffhangers too. If I had time, I’d review the next episode right now, but I don’t, so I won’t. But I would!
Herne & Shuck
Script: David Barnett
Art: Lee Milmore
Colours: Quinton Winter
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Director Bord, head of St Michael, finds out about Herne’s attempts to break into their HQ, shortly before Alex Ramsey-Hall boils him in his jar. Alex sends his assistant to kill Herne and the gang.
Alex’s actions fall flat for me this episode, as it doesn’t change the threat to Caris. Caris remains imprisoned, and Herne remains as threatened as he would be by Bord, so it feels like a lateral move.
On the art front, photo-referenced figures mix poorly with the backgrounds, which is exemplified on the last page. The perspective makes it look like the troops only stand as tall as Trevalyon’s hips, which robs the scene of its danger and gives it an absurd edge. Characters lack a consistent look. I do like the colours from Winter, though, whose muted palette serves the realistic setting well and who amps up the saturation to sell the threat at the end.
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/
