The Weekly 2000 AD Prog #2351: Sam Vs Joe? Robo-Hunter Comes To Mega-City One

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.

Inside, after the Battle Action shenanigans of last Prog, we have four brand-new strips in a jumping-on Prog, and it really is rather a damn fine jumping-on Prog.

 

We have Dredd off in a new and rather important mission to uncover why Hershey was infected and who might have done it in Poison by Rob Williams and PJ Holden. We have a double-sized opener for the new season of Feral and Foe by Dan Abnett and Richard Elson, and a way overdue second series of Helium by Ian Edginton and D’Israeli. And if you don’t remember the series from eight years ago – fear not, the good people at 2000 AD have included a QR code in the pages of this Prog to allow you to download the complete series 1 from the website. And trust me, you really, really should – fab strip.

And finally, a rather special, you’ve already seen it on the cover, one-off Dredd from Garth Ennis and Henry Flint. It’s Dredd Vs Robo-Hunter and it’s an absolute blast.

So, time to get into the latest 2000 AD Prog #2351 is out now in the UK. As always, North American readers should get to their local comic shops and demand they get the 4-weekly Prog bundles in – you really are missing out on a treat! Every jumping-on point is that perfect moment to take the plunge into a comic that’s consistently great, and has been for a long, long time now.

Okay then… shall we?

 

JUDGE DREDD: POISON – PART 1 – Rob Williams and PJ Holden, colours by Peter Doherty, letters by Annie Parkhouse

“The citizens don’t even look up. Just another Chief Judge. Just another Judge. They don’t even look up.'”

Those are the opening lines in this one, alongside a glorious bit of PJ Holden’s artwork showing Hershey’s new statue outside the Hall of Justice.

It’s a suitably stoic opener for this one, as Williams continues his association with Hershey. He’s chronicled her death just a couple of Progs ago with the end of ‘The Cold In The Bones‘ and now he has Dredd off to the planet where Hershey got infected with the alien pathogen that eventually killed her.

And he begins by asking the important question that I didn’t think of till this moment – why the hell didn’t Hershey ever investigate it herself? Did she simply think it was all just a terrible accident? Or is there something else behind it all?

Well, I guess that’s what Williams and Holden are going to be telling us in the next however many episodes of Dredd we have here.

 

All I can say right now is that I’m really looking forward to where this one goes. Williams always writes a crisp, tight Dredd, the sort of Dredd that always has that just right tone, the sense that this is another important chapter.

And Holden? Well, I’ve long enjoyed what he does, an underrated artist in my eyes, one whose MC-1 and Dredd is always a highlight.

And then, of course, there’s this on the first page… sure the wow of the Hershey statue is great, but take a look round the scene, get the details, and don’t miss out on the gag of the pizza boxes… that’s just a lovely little touch, don’t you think?

 

FERAL & FOE: BAD GODESBERG – PART 1 – Dan Abnett and Richard Elson, letters by Jim Campbell

Now, Feral & Foe is a fun thing, sword and sorcery with Abnett taking it over the top and having a load of fun, with Elson drawing all the weirdness so well.

For a quick recap, it’s Lord of the Rings after it all goes quiet, and the minions of the big bad find themselves in a boatload of trouble for what they did. Necromancer Bode and warrior Wrath are two of those poor saps, trying to get by after the Malign Lord they served was destroyed. But instead of jail time, or something far worse, they’ve been offered a deal – hunt and kill their own kind or be declared feral and foe.

See, that’s the sort of simple yet perfectly done thing that Abnett excels at, take a very simple, one-line elevator pitch of a thing and turn it on it’s head.

So, across the series so far, we’ve had Bode and Wrath doing their thing, full of fantasy action but also peppered with laughs thanks to the characterisation and the sheer fun of watching Abnett and Elson ham it up…

 

And that’s just what you’ll be diving into here, as Bode and Wrath stumble their idiotic way into another adventure, turning up something very strange on their latest takedown of their former colleagues.

Off to the Wretchfinder General they go, weird steel man in tow, and he sends them off to Godesberg to get an opinion on it from the High War Priest.

And that’s it, with that we’re on another Feral & Foe adventure. It’s going to be a blast, again.

 

HELIUM: SCORCHED EARTH – PART 1 – Ian Edginton and D’Israeli, letters by Simon Bowland

300 years after the Great War ended and now 85% of Earth lies under the toxic cocktail of biological weapons unleashed – the Poison Belt. What’s left of humanity lives on the high ground and gets about in all manner of (gorgeously designed, beautifully retro-sci-fi looking) airships.

But there’s a Professor Bloom who’s insistent that he’s come from below the Belt with the claim that he can dial it all back and get the planet habitable again. Young constable Hodge, with a suspiciously similar green-hued pallor and hair as Bloom, along with her loyal assistant, the possibly somewhat undead (revenant anyone?) Sol, are the ones trying to keep him alive now that everyone, above and below, seems to be out to get them.

There you go, that’s the premise of Helium, another perfectly done piece of Edginton and D’Israeli wonder.

Thing is, you may have missed it. After all, it only had one short series back in 2015 and then was gone, dangling a great cliff-hanger worthy of the pulp feel of this one in front of us – Hodge and Sol and Prof Bloom plunging to what looked like certain death into the toxic fog of the belt.

Well, now it’s back. Like I said earlier, there’s a QR code in this Prog with a download of the whole first series – it’s definitely worth your while grabbing hold of that.

But you can still dive right in with just the quick recap I’ve just given you.

Except, well, how can I put this? Don’t be expecting any resolution quite yet to that huge bloody great cliff-hanger. Yep, after all this time, they’re still making us wait a little longer.

Instead, what we get is a lot of the back story to the world beneath the Belt. If series 1 was all about the bright blue skies and intense colours of life above the Belt, could it be that series two will be more about the existence below? Either way, we still get all that technicolour D’Israeli colouring, just more in the browns, reds, and purples this time round.

 

So, back in time, to a world below, still after the wars, where the green-skinned, green-haired humans live in giant terraria cities to escape the poison surrounding them.

And we’re straight into a revolution, with the ruling family and their protector Solomon, as the Zar is murdered in the uprising. Where it all fits in… well, that one’s the easy bit I guess, but you’ll need to read to the final couple panels to find out.

It’s all rather excellent, a great bit of storytelling, something that will not only have you waiting for the next episode but will also make you want to read the first series just to get all the details that you’re missing.

 

JUDGE DREDD Vs ROBO-HUNTER – Garth Ennis and Henry Flint, letters by Rob Steen

Sam Slade, Robo-Hunter, Brit-Cit’s finest PI hired to hunt down missing or malfunctioning meks. Judge Dredd, lawman of Mega-City One, absolute bastard and zero tolerance for anyone breaking the law.

Here, we have Ennis pondering a little what-it moment. What might go down if Sam needs a few creds and has to take a case that means a trip to MC-1? What if he burst into Dredd’s old apartment and blasted Walter the Wobot (who, it is true, had led a robo-revolt a while back).

Just how would Dredd deal with that?

 

And I’ll leave the rest of this titanic tussle of two titans of 2000 AD to you to find out. After all, Walter’s been shot in the head and, to use his own words: “Wun, you weptile! Wun and hide berowe you face the wath of Dwedd!'”

Suffice it to say, it’s a great little thing, exactly right, and I can see both Garth and Henry giggling along to themselves as they were putting it together. Oh, and be sure to keep on Hoagy watch as well – another great little moment thanks to Henry.