The Weekly 2000 AD Prog #2362: It’ssssss Christmasssss!!!

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.

Yes, it’s the annual Christmas Prog, packed with 100 pages of 2000 AD thrill power for the end of the year.

This year, it’s a Prog of two parts, with ongoing strips Helium, The Devil’s Railroad, Enemy Earth, and Feral & Foe all keeping on keeping on in the latter half of the Prog.

 

But before that, we get six one-off strips for the festive period – something to keep you going through Christmas. Judge Dredd has a festive moment as he’s visited by ghosts of his past, and there’s new adventures for Rogue Trooper, Anderson Psi-Division, Strontium Dog, Fiends of the Eastern Front, and the return of the very impressive Azimuth, where there’s a cliffhanger that will have us all eagerly awaiting where this one goes. Yep, that’s plenty of seasonal reading going on.

Prog #2362 is out on 13th December in the UK. As always, North American readers should get to their local comic shops and demand they get the four-weekly Prog bundles in – you really are missing out on a treat! As I write this, late of course, we’re actually heading off to the family for the holidays. Cold, snow, cold, rain, rain, rain, rain, more bloody rain in the forecast. Deep joy!

First of all though, Cat Sullivan’s Droid Life has extra space to play with to great effect…

 

JUDGE DREDD: A MATTER OF LIFE & DREDD – by Ken Niemand and Tom Foster, colours by Gary Caldwell, letters by Annie Parkhouse

Well, starting things off we have Rico taking what could be a fatal wound on the very first page of this Dreddless Dredd for the season.

Hardly the spirit of Christmas there, although there is the whole spirits thing going on as he sits there and bleeds out, hallucinating his family history – Eartha Fargo, The Dead Man, the other Rico, they’re all here offering advice in their own ways, not all of it helpful.

A simple done-in-one Dredd (albeit without Dredd) here, but one where Eartha gets to do the foreboding warning thing about something coming…

 

Hmmm. Later on we find out from Fargo that it’s something called the Oubliette that Rico’s going to have to find, ‘to save him and the city.’

Figure we may be hearing more about that in the new year. Could this be the year Rico really does come into his own?

But as it is, the Niemand and Foster team, whose ‘Penitent Man’ saga was a highlight of recent years, deliver a fine old Dredd for the season as Rico has to try to rescue a juve, kill the bad guys, and try not to die while he’s doing it all.

 

AZIMUTH: SNOW ZONE – by Dan Abnett and Tazio Bettin, colours by Matt Soffe, letters by Jim Campbell

When Azimuth began this year, we had little idea that this saga of a strange city and its inhabitants would twist and turn this way and that before suddenly switching over and bringing Sinister Dexter into it. Well, Dexter at least. And it’s given the gunsharks tale a real shot in the air. There’s a real sense that Abnett has a real overview of where he’s taking the series and that Azimuth is a big part of that.

And of course, speaking of big parts in Azimuth, it was made all the better by Tazio Bettin being able to really let loose. All that gorgeous design work, the perfect choreography of it all, the lush alien landscapes of what we later found out was all part of the Downlode Rogue AI’s manipulations, it all gave Azimuth the sense of something new and yet familiar.

And speaking of something new and familiar… well, there’s a big reveal here on the final page when Dexter comes fast to face with someone we all know. And it’s a real moment. I just wish I could let you in on it. But trust me, this is really going to set the tongues wagging.

 

Anyway, at the start of ‘Snow Zone’, we catch up with Dexter, alone and in trouble now that Lilith has gone and the Downlode rogue AI can track him. So he’s off in the Snow Zones, the unrendered bits of Aximuth that come outside the AI coverage. That comes with its own problems though, which is why he’s on the run, blasting away at the outliers that live here in the Snow Zones.

Sanctuary comes in the shape of Andi, the psi-active leader of a group of unmodified people refusing to live under sophtware rule. Andi’s not from Azimuth either… “I’m like you. I came from outside too.” She’s here for revenge, as the AI and Anicca ‘annihilated’ her home.

But will you guess who she is and where she might come from before the end? Oh, it’s a real twist in the tale and one that I cannot wait for Abnett and Bettin to continue when Azimuth returns with the mystery of ‘Andi’, an attempt to resurrect Lilith, the return of Suzi Nine Millimetre, and so much more. It’s going to be so good.

 

ANDERSON, PSI-DIVISION: THE GAME WITHIN – by Torunn Gronbekk and Kieran McKeown, colours by Pippa Bowland, letters by Rob Steen

Anderson’s on the case of a couple of kids who’ve been on a murder spree and it’s Cass’s job to get to the bottom of why.

Those first few pages of Anderson going deeper and deeper in her interrogation, playing it out, grabbing psychic threads is played really well by Gronbekk and McKeown, although there is that thing McKeown does where every Psi-Judge appears to be 20 and throwing modelling poses every panel they’re in. But that’s a problem so often seen with Anderson and one that’s not going away any time soon.

 

On the other hand, despite my reservations of how he’s drawing Anderson and the other Psis, all of it’s done really well, with the very best of it having something of the Arthur Ranson about it in Anderson’s face.

After getting the info she needs, Anderson’s away to a nasty part of town and to confront the powerful psi behind it all, not before a few pages of really well choreographed action from McKeown. A damn fine Anderson one-off.

 

FIENDS OF THE EASTERN FRONT: SILENT KNIGHT – by Ian Edginton and Tiernen Trevallion, letters by Jim Campbell

Well, hands up who figured that Edginton and Trevallion, who’ve done a grand job of extending the adventures of the vampire Constanta over the last few years, would be able to get a Christmas tale out of this one?

Although, it’s not out of the question, as they’re leaning into the wintery theme and the tradition of ghost tales and the legend of Krampus in this one, and it works absolutely perfectly, with Constanta being drawn into the troubles of a village where Krampus visits for the twelve nights before Christmas, snatching away children….

 

As usual, this is just gorgeous to look at, with Trevallion’s style continuing to evolve. Shades of Mignola and more in there now, to great effect.

So, as you’d expect, Constanta does the deed, Krampus is dispatched, and there’s a chance for Edginton and Trevallion to rein in any spirit of Christmas generosity and kindness that may have been creeping in on a final couple of pages where the blood runs.

 

STRONTIUM DOG: ALPHA – by Rufus Hound and Dan Cornwell, colours by Dylan Teague, letters by Simon Bowland

Rufus Hound’s a comedian and presenter here in the UK. He’s also a big fan of 2000 AD and has done some voice work on the audio adventures, but this is his first venture into the Prog itself. And it’s not half bad.

It’s a back in the day Strontium Dog tale with Johnny and Wulf en route to a job, five days out from Earth, two days since rations ran out (best bounty hunter in the Galaxy check, trip planner… not so much), so it’s a couple of rather enjoyable pages of eye spy and other gags, followed by Johnny having a wander and not being able to ignore domestic violence down in another cabin, all in Cornwell’s great black and white.

 

Trouble is, that nice gift of a bit of chocolate turns out to be a super-powerful alien psychedelic, which is when Dylan Teague’s colours kick in, as Johnny has an elevator ride straight down into his nightmares.

Wulf’s got a plan though – singing the Norse myths to him. Well, it’s one way to do it I suppose. Once they’re out the other side, after a nightmare journey for Johnny and just as much a nightmare for the cleaning and laundry crew, there’s just the chance to stop an alien leader moaning about ‘the great male erasure’ and usual men first bollocks.

You know what, it’s a really good Stront tale, a pleasure to read and Cornwell’s art is always a treat.

 

ROGUE TROOPER: RUNAWAY – by Geoffrey D. Wessel and Simon Coleby, colours by F. Segala & S. Del Grosso, letters by Rob Steen

Finally for the one-off tales, back to the ravaged wasteland of Nu-Earth. Simon Coleby’s getting a reputation for Nord-Souther artwork, what with Jaegir and Mayflies, and it’s damn good seeing him on Rogue. His art lends a heaviness to things, there’s grit and grime in there as well as, of course, damn fine storytelling.

There’s a Nord kid running off to join the army only to find himself picked up by Rogue on a mission to off a Nord gene-altered cyborg in a mek suit.

 

Wessel tells a good tale here, playing off the wartime trope war is hell thing with a hardened kid who believes he wants to get involved having his eyes opened to the horrors of war, you know exactly the sort of thing.

And yes, it’s standard stuff for sure, but stuff that does work in the context of Rogue Trooper and stuff that Wessel and Coleby do a good job on.

 

HELIUM: SCORCHED EARTH – PART 11 – Ian Edginton and D’Israeli, letters by Simon Bowland

And here we are in the latter half of the Xmas Prog where it’s continuations of four rather good tales, all beginning here with Edginton and D’Israeli’s pulp adventure that’s now taking to the skies once more. Or at least they were until they had their wings clipped…

 

Another ship indeed… and a bloody big one to boot. It’s all part of the great pulp origins of Helium that Edginton does delight in following a pattern of heroes in peril, all looks grim, only to find salvation just in the nick of time – and it works an absolute treat time and again here.

The big ship… well, that’s the Commonwealth Cruiser Golden Hind and it’s laying down the law to the Ris carrier in no uncertain terms. Hodge is back on home ground it seems, or at least she would be if only there wasn’t a particular bit of bad news about her adopted home town of New Castle.

Week after week, Helium just impresses so much. It’s just full of adventure and life, beautifully drawn in an ever-changing palette, a true bit of absolute fun.

 

ENEMY EARTH: BOOK THREE – PART 3 – by Cavan Scott and Luke Horsman, letters by Simon Bowland

The third and final series of Enemy Earth takes us to India, where there’s meant to be a cure for the mutations that have turned all the Earth’s flora and fauna into violent, people-chomping nightmares.

But Zoe, a mutating Jules, and Jule’s dad, Prime Minister of Britain, have hardly walked into a warm welcome. At least Jules’ robo-protector Nanni has got themselves an upgrade, but Nanni’s not all that friendly anymore for some reason.

 

That’s General Huang, formerly of the People’s Liberation Army of China now another displaced victim of the nightmares. And right now, he’s the one in control of things, including the Indian research base. And he certainly has some big news about just where those mutation-causing spores came from.

Again, Enemy Earth is fair racing along, each episode pushing us further, dropping another big moment in. And it’s all good. But it’s Horsman’s art that’s really the thing I’m enjoying most here, something that’s evolved so much since first seeing it. Each page is a great balancing act of flowing storytelling and a very expressive style. But he’s holding it all togteher in some style.

THE DEVIL’S RAILROAD – PART 10 – by Peter Milligan and Rufus Dayglo, colours by Jose Villarrubia, letters by Jim Cambell

After all that time apart, including the extra six months on the improbability physics-driven trampoline transport, Palamon and Constance are finally reunited.

Trouble is, Constance has just walked in on Palamon beating her cousin to death…

 

And then there’s the little problem of Sister White knowing it’s Palamon who killed her favourite son, not to mention her other, not all that bright but very nasty, son promising to catch up with Constance on Earth.

Oh, and the little problem of Constance’s pregnancy now being six months or so further along, plus the tensions between them of what Constance had to do to get safe passage. Well, let’s just say it’s not all hearts and roses between the lovers right now.

And that’s without Milligan and Dayglo really touching on the fact that Earth is nothing like the welcoming place they were thinking it would be… just like this on page 1…

 

So far, it’s just been little signs and background details, but the nastiness of xenophobia and immigration issues have always been at the heart of Devil’s Railroad and you just know it’s going to feature heavily before this excellent series ends.

 

 

FERAL & FOE: BAD GODESBERG – PART 11 – Dan Abnett and Richard Elson, letters by Jim Campbell

Well, all hell’s broken loose in Godesberg and our little band of adventurers are right in the thick of things, up to their necks in malignkind blood and guts as Godesberg succumbs to a longstanding curse that they’re all about to uncover in the depths of the library.

 

Yes, Godesberg’s sat on the remains of Sloke’s undead skull that’s been cursing the place ever since. Explains why it’s such a big magical centre and why all the Lords of Godesberg end up dying in horrible ways.

And then of course there’s the trouble with the Steel man brought into Godesberg back at the start. Big trouble.

Just as with the other four ongoing strips, Feral & Foe fair races along, but there’s always the sense that Abnett’s in tight control of it all, easing back on the gags recently and bringing the fantasy action to the fore. Personally, I miss the gags, it gave the strip an extra dimension that was refreshing. But the fantasy adventuring is still rather well done.