The Weekly 2000 AD – Prog 2340 – Monster Appetite? Trust Devouroo To Deliver In A New Thril, Portals & Black Goo

Since 1977 2000 AD has been the UK’s greatest sci-fi weekly comic, and every week we give you a glimpse inside the new Prog… it’s The Weekly 2000 AD.

It’s really a great time for new strips here in 2000 AD – we already have Void Runners and Azimuth, two bits of out-there epic sci-fi, and now there’s a third completely new strip, Portals & Black Goo, a comedy horror of a world where the old monsters live amongst us. And more than that, if there were vampires, werewolves, and the rest living amongst us, how do they get their tasty treats if they’re not snacking on the population? Well, that’s where Devouroo, the delivery company that provides blood and plasma for the vampires or fresh entrails for the werewolves, comes in. John Tomlinson and Eoin Coveney provide all the answers in a third new strip that proves, yet again, that 2000 AD is the world’s leading anthology and is always willing to serve up a variety of great comics.

Alongside those three new strips, there’s the finale of the Judge Dredd versus the mob tale of ‘In The Event Of My Untimely Demise‘ and a fresh, and very good looking, Future Shock to impress.

Prog #2340 is out in the UK and on digital now. In the USA things are, of course, different, and you’d be best to insist your local comic shop orders you the regular monthly bundle of Progs through the distributor. This week’s been all about funerals. A good job was done, the send-off was the best it could be. Now we just have to work out how to cope with a huge hole left in everyone’s lives.

Okay, enough… let’s have a look inside, beginning with this thing of absolute beauty from Book Cook in the Void Runners strip…

 

JUDGE DREDD: IN THE EVENT OF MY UNTIMELY DEMISE – PART 8 – by Mike Caroll and Jake Lynch, colours by Dylan Teague, letters by Annie Parkhouse

Eight parts of a Mike Carroll Dredd thriller, that’s always a good thing, plenty of time to spin a damn good tale, something Carroll always does so well given the space.

We’re dealing with Judge Hart here, seeing how he started off down the path that’s led to him being here with Dredd onboard the medical transport where Hart’s job is to make sure the patient doesn’t make it to interrogation alive.

 

It’s a thrilling end to what’s been a thrilling series, full of great art, whether from Paul Marshall or Jake Lynch – and make no mistake about it, Lynch is one of THE current great Dredd artists. And with the ending, you know it’s not the last we’ll see of Dredd’s struggle with The Parliament, meaning more of Carroll’s always excellent slow-burning Dredd tales to come.

 

PORTALS & BLACK GOO: NIGHT SHIFT – PART 1 – by John Tomlinson and Eoin Coveney, colours by Jim Boswell, letters by Simon Bowland

In a version of modern London, the monsters of myth and legend live amongst us. But just like every other marginalised society, the vampires, the werewolves, the demons, and all the other strange creatures of the night are living with prejudice and discrimination. But on a more specific note, they also have their own dietary needs, something catered for by the moped riding, portal-using, zero-hours contracted delivery force of Devouroo.

‘Because the Undead must be fed – top scoffin’, biked to your coffin.’

‘Monster appetite? We deliver… you devour.’

That’s just two of the taglines John Tomlinson came up with in thinking about the series. And it gives you the insight into just how this one runs – and it runs really well.

 

Basically, we’re with our everyman Devouroo rider, Kroy Plemons, the innocent human delivering all this weirdness to the monster and delivering the tale to us. Zapping through the Devouroo portals on his moped, Kroy’s delivering to grumpy werewolves and their kids wanting steaming viscera, having to deal with rival drivers from Dahunga trying to steal his gigs, and all the while trying not to screw things up so that he falls foul of Devouroo’s tough rules. On top of that, there’s the friendly vamp with a weirdo stalker following her around.

Six pages of a great start to a series, making it three in a row for new series really impressing right now. Portals & Black Goo has a fascinating premise and Tomlinson and Coveney really do deliver on that. It’s a comedy horror that plays hard with satire of modern society, having things to say about immigration and discrimination as well as the modern curse of zero-hours working for companies that work their employees into the ground.

 

VOID RUNNERS – PART 6 – by David Hine and Boo Cook, letters by Annie Parkhouse

Okay, for some reason I had this one down as a six-part series. Thankfully, it’s not, as there’s so much story to be resolved in this brilliant bit of sci-fi psychedelia.

At the end of last episode we had Captain Shikari having her mind blown… literally…

 

Oh, that’s such a great image from Boo Cook, perfectly silly, made me laugh out loud on that final panel. As I keep saying, this is just the finest work of Cook’s career so far, a career that’s already full of high points.

And now, after having her mind blown, it’s time for enlightenment for Shikari, something Moondog’s already experienced – he’s a deep pool that one. Turns out that sharing your mind with the Pleroma means it’s secrets of the universe time… and the Ankorites don’t come out of it smelling of roses. And Shikari finds out that all of this has happened before…

So much fun, so out there, beautiful artwork, with Hine’s storytelling expansive but hands-off, letting the art do so much. Void Runners is just a load of psych sci-fi wonder.

 

FUTURE SHOCKS: A TEMP PROBLEM – by Geoffrey D. Wessel and Russell M. Olsen, letters by Simon Bowland

Five pages of done in one thrill, with a twist in the final panel, that’s the deal with a Future Shock. And A Temp Problem does pretty much that.

Like Portals & Black Goo, we’re in the realms of shitty companies acting in a shitty fashion. This time it’s a future tech company where one temp worker’s fallen foul of corporate policy – his work on the Aether tech might have made the company billions but he’s still getting laid off in cost-cutting measures, it’s just he didn’t read the fine print of the contract where it says he’s going to have to have his mind wiped before he leaves.

Okay, so it’s not the most original of Future Shocks, it’s certainly not one that you’ll have any trouble guessing where and how everything’s going to end up, but it’s well worth a look for the gorgeous clear lines of Olsen’s art – a very European style that just flows beautifully across the panels and pages here.

 

This is just his second piece for 2000 AD and it’s so packed with beautiful art. His first was with the Prog #2300 Darkest Judge Sinister Dexter story where a lot of the clean line was lost under his own colours it looks like. Here though, it’s full of intricate details and has a perfect flow to it. Definitely an artist who will be great to see more from.

 

AZIMUTH: A JOB FOR SUZI NINE – PART 4 – by Dan Abnett and Tazio Bettin, colours by Matt Soffe, letters by Jim Campbell

Suzi Nine is in trouble in Azimuth, big trouble. Very big trouble… as we saw at the end of the last episode…

 

Yep, that’s big trouble. The overnaut Marie Antonaut, way more powerful than even a full-powered Suzi Nine could handle. And she’s nowhere near full power here. So it’s time to negotiate.

And again, there’s that mention of a great danger that threatens Azimuth, a data kingdom using so much of its resources and power to deal with whatever’s coming at it. And it’s Suzi Nine’s job to get to the bottom of things on behalf of the Kray Kray twins, all she has is a phial of pure data, and halfway through this episode she doesn’t even have that anymore.

 

So, it’s on with the mission, into the next realm without a bargaining chip. Dangerous games are being played out by Suzi Nine as she wanders into the kingdom of the Wicked Glitch of the West, games that Abnett is really enjoying playing. How dangerous? Well, it’s going to cost her a life here and it’s unlikely that will be the last of them before this is all over.

There’s so much going on in Azimuth, the shifting landscapes that Abnett’s given himself with the world he’s imagining here really do lend themselves to such wonderful fantasies. And it’s down to Tazio Bettin’s artwork that Abnett’s imagination comes to the page looking every bit as gorgeous and real and lush as it does right here.

 

Oh, and one more thing (well, two, but you know what I mean) before I go, here’s the individual front and back covers from SK Moore – beautiful just doesn’t cover it…