Cover: Greg Staples
Publisher: Rebellion
Judge Dredd
Script: Ken Niemand
Art: Stref
Colours: Fin Cramb
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
In Mikmak’s Big Mega-City Adventure, the eponymous Mikmak, a Tintin analogue, visits Mega City One. Mikmak searches for the wisest of gurus, which turns out to be Dredd.
It’s a fun romp through the meg, best summarised in a double spread of mock Tintin covers, in which Mikmak makes his way through the undercity, Deadworld, and the Cursed Earth.
Any one of these stories could be their own one-off, and I hope we see Mikmak again. His blythe optimism against the backdrop of MC1 is endearing, and it highlights how everyone who finds themselves in the meg, whether characters or creators, has their own unique experience.
Herne & Shuck
Script: David Barnett
Art: Lee Milmore
Colours: Gary Caldwell
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
As Herne gets to grips with demigodhood, he also has to contend with fatherhood, as Caris accidentally summons demons when she loses her temper.
In this exposition-heavy episode, Herne resurrects his old pal Beth and attracts the quest giver: the Lady of the Woods, who tells him that he must prove himself to the council before his powers are returned to him.
Elsewhere, Gremory, a duke of Hell, possesses a servant of the religious organisation who (I think) was trying to sacrifice Caris in a previous story.
The stage is set for a fun folklorey time, and I hope future episodes have a bit more action.
Azimuth
Script: Dan Abnett
Art: Tazio Bettin
Colours: Matt Soffe
Letters: Jim Campbell
In the last second before being incinerated by Anicca’s basilisk, Cassandra Anderson thinks about Satan, and in doing so, calls him into her mind. Longtime readers will remember Alan Grant and Arthur Ranson’s Shamballa, and it’s that version of Satan that we see.
Anderson and Satan wander through a wasteland of temples from all over the world while she refuses to make a deal with him, recalling the last deal they cut. On her world, Anderson bargained to save four hundred million lives from death, but consigned them to hundreds of years of torture.
She won’t do it again, so she dooms herself, Suzi Nine, and Ramone Dexter.
I won’t spoil the ending, but it sets the scene perfectly for next year’s story. I’ve been a big fan of Azimuth since it started last year, despite having never read Sinister Dexter, so I’m over the moon that it’s coming back.
The Discarded
Script: Peter Milligan
Art: Kieran McKeown
Colours: Jim Boswell
Letters: Simon Bowland
Calling it now that The Discarded is going to be one of the best thrills of 2026. Thank god this debuted in the extra-size Christmas prog and had the time to build up its cast and its world.
The Discarded straddles two narratives: a group of prisoners heading to the island of Junkfall, and a chip which seems to influence reality in order to make its way to Junkfall.
Throughout the course of episode 1, we get an impression of each of the principal players, including the rebel Aaxon “Red” Banksy, who was arrested by his own daughter and convicted of sedition. There’s also a religious zealot and a con artist, all of whom scatter when they’re dropped onto the island.
Junkfall prisoners live horrific lives, enslaved by robots to forage for valuables, but after three months, Aaxon finds the chip, and they join forces.
In the recent 2000AD art contest, one of the judges was Jock, and when he complimented a contestant, he said that they were “up to something.” The Discarded is indeed up to something. We haven’t yet seen a true antagonist, the environment notwithstanding, but we’ve got an impression of the main characters, the world and the pickle they find themselves in.
Young Death
Script: Kek-W
Art: Clint Langley
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Judge Sidney De’Ath finds his old partner, Judge Howard, dead. Being a normal individual, Sidney’s first thought is to taste his blood. But there is a reason: he has a hyper-acute palate, which reveals that the blood is actually that of a dog’s.
Sidney follows the trail and finds that the scent guides him to a corrupt judge’s stash of bodies, at which point, a demonic dog bites off the judge’s head.
It turns out that the dog, called Woofie, is an emissary of higher veil beings, and they want Sidney to prove himself to them.
It’s a fine setup for 2026’s series, and it’s finely drawn by Clint Langley. Shadows prickle with ink, and the characters are wonderfully grotesque, so I eagerly await the new year for this series.
Hawk the Slayer
Script: Alec Worley
Art: Staz Johnson
Colours: John Charles
Letters: Rob Steen
Looters descend on the dead village of Greyheath. They strike gold, only to be struck themselves, Crow! The elfin archer!
Crow ruminates on the death of the elves, but his ponderings are interrupted by a grave-crawler, “a hulk of soil and dead matter, bound by roots of living grave-rot!”
An elfin spirit guides him to victory, and he toddles off into the forest.
The strip serves as a nice primer on what Crow’s about, despite not mentioning his name once, and for readers like me, who’ve hardly read any Hawk, it’s a great introduction to the ten-tonne vibe that weighs Crow down.
Rogue Trooper
Script: Alex de Campi
Art: Neil Edwards
Colours: Matt Soffe
Letters: Rob Steen
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The Traitor General’s son, Nygaard, monologues about how hard-done-by he is, despite betraying a squad that he’s dragged across the galaxy.
Nygaard tries to act out his genius-villain role, setting a self-destruct sequence for FOB Azure, but Rogue is having none of it and snaps his neck.
They escape the base and blow up a Nort sub on the way out and end up having a nice little gathering with the rescued scientists.
Nice, action-packed ending that doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Strontium Dog
Script: Karl Stock
Art: Colin Macneil
Colours: Dylan Teague
Letters: Rob Steen
Johnny Alpha hunts down three rogue Strontium Dogs who have set up their own dictatorship on a planet of excruciatingly cute aliens. They’re these roley-poley bird-people with wee red hats and dungarees. The Bunderanians are an easy target.
Johnny blows the rogue stronts away and saves the little fellows.
It’s a solid action strip to close out the collection, and the thrill power contained within is enough to last us a few weeks, which is lucky, considering that 2000AD returns on the 7th of January.
On a personal note, thank you to anyone reading this. I’ve never kept up a weekly column, and doing this has given me an opportunity to air out my opinions on 2000AD and stories in general.
Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
Overall: 9/10
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/
