Cover: Nick Percival
Publisher: Rebellion
Judge Dredd
Script: Ken Niemand
Art: Nick Percival
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Dredd interrogates the dying servant of The Fathers and finds that he will be confined to The Oubliette when the meg needs him most. A strange statement comes from the rapidly rotting perp:
Dredd: I serve the city and the law.
Perp: Yes…Their city. Their law.
If Dredd already serves The Fathers, why will he be kept away from his territory? Is there a secret force in play from which the meg needs defending?
Rico and Giant incinerate Kovaks. It makes me wonder why all these supernatural fellows are so forthcoming and ominous about what comes next. Are they trying to intimidate Mega City One or manipulate its agents into a particular action?
After one of Iron Teeth’s companions is devoured in a stunning full-page spread, Iron Teeth gets taken by the fathers and his origin is revealed.
This episode is another exposition-heavy part. It’s clear that forces are gathering, but I’m still not sure about what the objectives are with any of the characters. I hope we get to some active pursuit of those soon.
Future Shocks: The Happiness Meme
Script: James Lovegrove
Art: Toby Willsmer
Letters: Simon Bowland
Kevin Jorkins works security at Wormwood Mead, a military research centre, where a hostile meme jumps to his phone and spreads to the rest of the world. The meme appears as a photo of an old lady. It makes people lethargic.
Jeremy Zhou, researcher at the base, reveals that the woman is Margaret Empson, a neighbour of his mother. The military gets hold of her and uses her to fix the world.
This wasn’t for me. In a Future Shock, I like to have a clear protagonist who pursues a goal and then suffers an ironic fate, but The Happiness Meme has no consistent protagonist. Jorkins was named, so I thought he would be driving the story. But then we meet Jeremy Zhou, who seems more active. And then Margaret Empson. Whose story is this? It’s a sequence of events, rather than a story. There was also no twist. Whenever a reader comes to a Future Shock, they immediately anticipate a twist, so it’s frustrating to wonder for a few pages where it’s all going, and then reach the end and find the answer: nowhere.
Despite my lack of interest in the story, I love Toby Willsmer’s art. There’s such a range of textures and colours and distinctive characters that it pulled me through the strip. Willsmer has a delightfully bonkers over-the-top style that perfectly suited the scale of the story.
Deadtown
Script: David Barnett
Art: Luke Horsman
Letters: Simon Bowland
Darren is being interrogated and has the worst lawyer ever. The lawyer lets Darren sing like a canary, and Rook and Gayle hear all about his graverobbing for Jimmy Pills, his assault of a vicar, who turns out to be Jimmy Pills’ brother.
They follow the investigation all the way to the end, and it’s a lot of fun.
I actually can’t believe this is the end of the series. I didn’t love the interrogation in each third of the story, but I was drawn into the world of Deadtown, of the social questions that resurrection implies, and the mystery of the brain trade. I can totally see a black market arising out of zombies’ desire for brains and a new division of the police being formed to combat it. It’s such a shame to leave Gayle hanging with her newfound knowledge of how she can help her mother to feel again.
Tharg, if you’re reading this, please make more Deadtown!
Rogue Trooper
Script: Alex De Campi
Art: Neil Edwards
Colours: Matt Soffe
Letters: Rob Steen
This week, Rogue gets 12 pages, plenty of room for plenty of action, with a sprinkling of twists and turns.
The squad dock at FOB Azure, take a look around, and find Rogue’s genetic father, Hurley, who Jock has been looking for since chapter one.
If only they had time for a chat and a game of catch to bond over, but alas, the Steel Sisters, a Nort-controlled squad of fembots, attack, dashing any hopes of paternal bonding.
In the following battle, Rogue shows why the Norts want the GI blueprint so badly: the Steel Sisters fail to score a hit on him, only managing to grab his throat before Bagman slices off her grabber.
Despite the utter smashing that Rogue doles out, the weak link is Jock, who is captured as he discovers a betrayal.
Next week, Ghost Patrol ends with another extra-long chapter, where hopefully the artists can stick the landing.
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/
