Cover: Boo Cook
Publisher: Rebellion
Judge Dredd
Script: Rob Williams & Arthur Wyatt
Art: Henry Flint
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Amazingly, Logan survived. Elsewhere, the bionic-eyed fellow we saw in the cloning labs talks with a red-haired woman about Myron. Roth has a bag of evidence, but it gets stolen. A judge returns it. Hernandez uses Logan’s heart attack to take control as Chief Judge.
Excellent chapter as all viewpoint characters react to the New Future’s attack. It’s a slower chapter, but I don’t say that as a negative; it’s needed after the pace of the past few weeks. It’s a chance for the pieces to be reset before the game begins anew. Contributing to this feeling is the layout of each page feeling balanced and symmetrical. Mr Bionic Eye and Redhair have the most variety of camera angles and focal lengths (I know there’s no blur, but you get what I mean) out of all the viewpoint characters. It gave me the feeling that they are in the most secure position of any, especially compared to the Judges, whose panels are the least various, because they need time to find their feet. The transitions between panels are much more subtle, towards the end using the same shot with minor movements.
A new equilibrium is formed, with Hernandez at the top, so despite showing us four scenes, nothing is unclear. Without a doubt, pick of the prog.
Ghosted
Script: Guy Adams
Art: Megan Huang
Letters: Simon Bowland
How Acksley manages to say “effervescent” without any lips is beyond me. The Soldier convinces her newly-lobotomised comrades that there is a way out. Meanwhile, Benu carries Acksley onward, all the while talking about his past life serving the Trust and about how life is pointless.
I’m no nearer to understanding Ghosted, but I do think that the craft on show is impressive, this chapter. The transitions between the platoon and Benu are fluid, matching dialogue or general themes to ease the cut, and what results isn’t conflict per se, but it’s contrast. It feels like narrative collage. While the characters aren’t in overt conflict, the way they are approaching their problems are opposing. While I hope to see more direct conflict in Ghosted’s future, I’m interested to see if there’s more ideological contrast.
Durham Red
Script: Alec Worley
Art: Toby Willsmer
Letters: Simon Bowland
Widow and Red discuss the plot over breakfast: Donnie lured Red to the Peacock to kill his dad, but he’s a poor leader, so chaos washes through the street as the clans vie for power.
The story grinds to a halt after the previous episodes have been so fast-paced. Widow suddenly wants to help Red, but it looks like a trap to me, as Widow is motivated by money, so I believe a quicker path to that is to take Red to Donnie straight away. Though I didn’t enjoy the exposition, I did enjoy Coltt’s comic relief. This tale of Durham Red is not for me.
Azimuth: The Pack
Script: Dan Abnett
Art: Tazio Bettin
Colours: Matt Soffe
Letters: Rob Steen
Crazy Hate and Louija sit in a tent divining with tarot cards. They query the cards and find that they need to go to Funderland to find Dexter, but they also see characters they don’t recognise, like Al the Jargonaut and Venus. At the end, we see Crazy feed their pet scanwalkers.
I’m so sad to see that Azimuth won’t be back until next year, but it’s a nice teaser to keep me going, showing new characters and new conflicts. Did I spy Finnigan Sinister in the last panel too? I have little to no knowledge of Sinister Dexter, so I don’t know what to expect.
The approach to the art is so impressive. Knowing a thing or two about comics production, I suspect that this episode was set in a tent for practical reasons, principally that a tent doesn’t require the ludicrous, beautiful level of detail which we saw when Dexter and co. went to Funderland. Despite the limited scope, Bettin deploys detail like a masterful tactician would.
Herne & Shuck
Script: David Barnett
Art: Lee Milmore
Colours: Quinton Winter
Letters: Simon Bowland
Herne and the gang break into the inner sanctum, whereupon Moloch melts their weapons. Jordie either sees a scab of grass poking through the concrete or magically conjures the grass and gets the Lady to imbue Herne with God of the Hunt powers. Moloch is unharmed by Herne’s arrow. The Crawly Man pops out and distracts Moloch so he detonates Stonehenge.
I can’t see why Moloch sent waves of soldiers after Herne, only to blow his chance at the last second. I don’t see why Jordie left it to the last minute to consult the deities they know. Though the deus comes ex the machina, it’s the crawly man who seems to have the most effect, the one who has been out of the story since the last arc, I believe, so their efforts feel pointless and their success unearned.
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/
