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Since 2000 AD is a weekly anthology, I will keep my review brief as possible and break it down into short sections based on the respective thrills (stories) and other content. Speaking of thrills, prog 1650 kicks off three brand new ones!
Cover: Chris Weston treats us to a most zarjaz and kick-ass cover featuring 2000 AD editor-in-chief, the Mighty Tharg. This may be the best Tharg cover yet! Top marks for droid Weston.
Judge Dredd, “Tour of Duty” (part one): And so Dredd and Judge Beeny start their exile working the new mutant re-location cities built in less crappy parts of the Cursed Earth. An excellent beginning, if a bit inauspicious for Beeny and Dredd! I have a feeling it’s only going to get crazy from here. Scribe-droid Wagner delivers the good, as per usual fare and Colin MacNeil’s art is drokking awesome. Major points also awarded for naming the mutie city designer “Mason Dixon”. It looks like another Dredd classic may be in order.
Shakara, “Destroyer” (part one): It’s good to see Death Incarnate return to 2000 AD. It should come as no surprise to say Robbie Morrison delivers a gripping tale of impressive carnage and vengeance that should have you wailing for more once this first chapter ends. Henry Flint shows us yet again why he’s a master of gorgeous, epic star-borne violence. Seriously, folks, his art had me drooling! It keeps getting better and better and better. Warlord Skulka, an incredible and hideous looking alien khan of the worst kind, certainly gets his. Oh, my, does he ever! But anyone who’s read Shakara before knows this… And if you’ve never read Shakara before, you’re in for a treat. As with the Dredd thrill before this one, my only disappointment is having to wait for the next issue. Well done, Morrison, Flint and de Ville (letters).
Kingdom, “Call of the Wild” (part one): Finally, we are given some of what I call “The Abnetting”. Be warned: I am a mammoth Dan Abnett fan (457 ft. tall!) and pretty much worship his writing prowess. So, needless to say, this thrill of Kingdom is a most excellent offering. Gene the Hackman, my favorite mutant man-dog, travels to dangerous Auxtralia in the Them (evolved insects) devastated Earth of the near future where he fights Them, who attack him and his human companion Leezee. They are being watched by someone… And then a public phone rings. This thrill is already as a Kingdom comic should be: hard action, weird-but-fun quips (e.g. “Get whet!”), frenetic pacing and Elson’s terrific, vibrant art. Like with the two thrills previous: can’t wait for more.
All in all, yet another fine issue of the galaxy’s greatest comic. This one is lighter on variety, having only three extra-length thrills—but what heavy, pulse-pounding thrills they are! With Kingdom, Dredd and especially Shakara in ace form, it would be a crime to rate this prog as anything less than “perfect”.
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