The Weekly 2000 AD Prog #2401: Jump On To The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic For Four New Series

Taking a look inside the UK’s greatest sci-fi comic, the Galaxy’s Greatest… it’s the Weekly 2000 AD.

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So, having had the big Prog/Megazine crossover last week means that we’re in jumping on point territory as four new series start right here. And I’m going to do my best to share the 2000 AD love and explain why it’s one comic you need in your lives.

It’s especially good as you’re getting one of my all-time faves hitting Book 4, as we return to the word of galactic explorer/journalist/tourist Cyd in Dan Abnett and Mark Harrison’s The Out. Plus, another of my all-time faves hits episode 23 of Book 6 in Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard’s Brink.

Then there’s a new Judge Dredd, where Rob Williams, Arthur Wyatt, and Jake Lynch giving us Silence, following up events of ‘The Red Queen Saga’ and ‘A Better World’ in the aftermath of Judge Maitland’s death. And an old favourite character returns with new Rogue Trooper from Garth Ennis and Patrick Goddard.

Which, I realise, isn’t exactly pushing the whole jumping on point very well – a Dredd referencing two major storylines gone by, the start of Book 4 of one series, episode 23 of Book 6 of another, and a new adventure for a long-running character. In fact, the only ‘new’ new series in here is Nightmare New York by Kek-W and the much-missed John Burns.

But hold on –  want to tell you a little story about why it doesn’t matter where you join the 2000 AD party.

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The very idea of 2000 AD, a huge sci-fi anthology that’s been going nigh on 50 years, can be off-putting, but trust me on this as I was once just like you. I jumped on mid-series many years ago now and, week in and week out, I’ve never regretted it. Sure, you might feel a little lost at first, but that will very quickly pass – the handy intros on the contents page will be your friends in this. You’ll soon find your your feet, getting your own faves, and before you know it, you’ll be looking forward to that weekly hit of Thrill Power.

So, why not jump on right here – trust me – you won’t regret it. And in this rather longer than usual Weekly 2000 AD preview, taken with the idea of introducing it all over again, I’ve gone long. I’m one of those converted zealots you’ve all been warned against.

2000 AD Prog #2401 is out now the UK. If you’re in the Americas, it’s way more complicated. Just ask your local comic shop to order it in.

 

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JUDGE DREDD: SILENCE – PART 1 – by Rob Williams, Arthur Wyatt, and Jake Lynch. Colours by Jim Boswell, letters by Annie Parkhouse.

Yes, this one runs on from two particularly great recent Dredd epics, ‘The Red Queen Saga’ and ‘A Better World’, but really all you need to get right into it is the line from the contents page intro…

“Now, notorious criminal fixer and assassin Major Domo is wanted for the murder of Judge Maitland.”

And that’s it, you’re off and running. If you don’t already know of Judge Dredd, lawman of the future in a dystopian world where the Judges rule over Mega-City One with an authoritarian boot, it’s an easy concept to grasp. Dredd’s the anti-hero, the experienced street Judge, enforcing the frankly fascistic regime.

Right now, he’s onboard a Justice Department ship headed back to Earth, after he took Major Domo into custody in his own friendly way…

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The backstory of course is brilliant. After breaking up The Red Queen’s crime syndicate, accounts Judge Maitland not only found herself with a price on her head but had a perfect idea to transform MC-1, a radical and controversial plan that so nearly worked. But it failed, and she paid the price. Major Domo, and the Judge teased on the final page played a big role in that, although Dredd only knows of Major Domo’s part in it right now.

Anyway, this is six pages of perfect Dredd – brilliant pages of Dredd interrogation, absolutely fantastic art from Lynch, and Williams and Wyatt showing how they have a handle on the tense and tight tone that immediately makes this one feel important, especially as Domo seems to have way more secrets to spill, secrets that could go high up into the Justice Department.

Yep, although you may feel you’re jumping into a bigger story, it’s a great opener that will immediately hook you in and want to know more.

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THE OUT – BOOK FOUR – PART 1 – by Dan Abnett and Mark Harrison. Letters by Simon Bowland

Okay, so we’re on Book Four here but please, please don’t let that stop you jumping in on this one, as it’s the finest new strip in the Prog since Brink. In fact, all you need to jump into the wonder of The Out is the contents page intro…

‘The furthest edge of the universe. Cyd Finlea was a photo-journalist working for the publishers Global Neographic, travelling deep into outer space — otherwise known as THE OUT — and cataloguing the alien societies that she encounters. She left Earth ten years ago and has been seeking other ex-pat humans — but now, having lost her old pal Cheerio and said goodbye to her daughter Joey, she’s going further…’

That gives you a little hint of the expansive nature of The Out, a little bit of Halo Jones in that it’s a fully realised female lead but so much more besides, a truly galaxy-spanning thing where Cyd’s the observer, our eyes on the incredible things she’s seen and been involved in.

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Right now though, if you are coming to it fresh, Abnett does plenty in this first episode to introduce you to Cyd. It’s now a year on and she’s working as an inter-planetary Uber with the spaceship of a dead friend, whose computer is teaching her to fly the thing as she goes.

So, it’s Cyd, her travelling companion sentient bag, handily bigger on the inside, and a spaceship. In just five pages Abnett and Harrison show and tell you so much, give you the whole irreverent tone of the series, and launch us into the next adventure.

Now obviously, given how good The Out is, I’d implore you to pick up the first volume containing books 1 & 2. But even without any previous reading, there’s still no reason not to immediately fall in love with the series right now.

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NIGHTMARE NEW YORK – PART 1 – by Kek-W and John Burns. Letters by Annie Parkhouse

Now this is one we’re all coming to fresh, a completely new series from the creators who brought you The Order. It’s also, sadly, the last new John Burns artwork we’ll ever see after his passing in December last year. Which is such a loss to comics. After all, this was an artist capable of such incredible beauty on the comics page. I mean, just look at this on the second page, the totally different, yet both absolutely gorgeous styles in just two panels…

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Stunning. Simply stunning, an example of just how Burns can switch up his usual gorgeous and expressive artwork into something so textured and detailed in a moment.

Again, all you need to get into this is there on the contents page…

‘Lower Manhattan, 1845. Paradise Square is at the centre of Five Points in Old New York, where five street corners meet. The early days of the North American metropolis are marked by a mix of poverty, organised crime and hardscrabble lives, where ragpickers rub shoulders with Christian missionaries. Young Lil, living rough on these dank streets, has just turned eighteen…’

And what starts as a strange fit for 2000 AD, a historical piece of an 18-year-old street urchin struggling to get by, turns into something distinctly strange and intriguing – a blind man with more abilities and knowledge than seems normal, and part of that knowledge ties into the unusual tattoo Lil has.

All shaping up nicely indeed, giving us characters and mystery and plants of questions. And of course, it’s one last fabulous look at all that incredible Burns artwork.

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BRINK: CONSUMED – PART 23 – by Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard. Letters by Simon Bowland

So, as I mentioned, a jumping-on point with part 23 of Book Six of a series hardly seems fair to a new reader. But Brink is, as I continually say, something very different indeed. For a start, 2000 AD series are usually in the region of six to 12 episodes long. Not Brink. Brink goes for however long it needs, and that’s all to the good.

The sci-fi police procedural twists and turns, shocks and surprises, builds dramatic tension like nothing else you’ll read in comics. It’s just an exceptional series and one that, even if you’re coming to it anew, you’ll find absolutely enthralling.

Again, the background to it all is covered in the intro from the contents page…

‘The late 21st century, and through environmental catastrophe and industrial overload Earth has been reduced to a wasteland. Mankind finally evacuated the planet in 2072 and millions were housed in a number of deep-space Habitats. But life on these cramped, overcrowded stations is tense, often spilling over into madness. Sects are rife, and Bridget Kurtis of the Habitat Security Division is investigating their reach…’

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Right now, as we join the series, Kurtis and her team of Habitat Security Officers are on the Belleholme habitat, a stopover to their mission to join up with others on a special task force investigating just why Mercury went dark, something that’s loomed large over the entire series. The sects are involved somehow, although none of us know quite how. But across the five books thus far, we’ve been treated to work that plays on the nightmares of a society forced into close confines, where madness and sect activity go hand-in-hand with vast conspiracies that threaten everything.

We’re at a point where it’s accelerating to its conclusion, with Kurtis missing, abducted by the Red River Killer, and the rest of her team racing to find her. Her boss, Bonner, is on to something with his comms audit, whilst Lind’s made a discovery about the Red River Killer, that he’s hiding in plain sight. I’m not going to go into the exact how, that will take far too long here. But suffice it to say it’s one of those moments that only goes to prove how incredible what Abnett and Culbard are doing with Brink, how it’s all important, how the seeds of the story are laid so early.

Brink’s both huge and intimate, something where the big themes develop even as we’re watching character interaction on a very personal and close level. Just like this one, whole episodes pass by in one or two locations, with nothing but conversations to look at. But thanks to both Abnett’s skill at creating drama in those conversations and Culbard’s skill in manipulating our eyes around the stage he creates, it’s never pedestrian, always a special kind of thrilling.

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ROGUE TROOPER: WHEN A G.I. DIES – PART 1 – by Garth Ennis and Patrick Goddard. Letters by Rob Steen

We’re getting a hell of a lot of Rogue Trooper stories lately, due no doubt to the Duncan Jones-helmed animated movie due out in 2025. And whilst you may feel a bit daunted, again, at the prospect of picking up a series that first appeared in 1981, you really have no reason to fear. After all, the nature of the character is such that all you need to know is covered in the contents page intro…

‘Nu Earth, site of a galactic war between the Norts and the Southers, where the atmosphere has been rendered poisonous. So the Southers created the Genetic Infantrymen, bred to be immune to the pollutants — G.I.s like ROGUE TROOPER, the last of his kind. Together with biochip buddies Helm, Gunnar and Bagman, they’re searching for the traitor that sold them out…’

That’s really the essence of every single Rogue Trooper story, which is something that’s both good and bad. Bad in that, when not handled well, it’s rather one-dimensional. Good in that, when done right, as Ennis and Goddard do it, this is a sci-fi war/western that benefits hugely from being all about the simplicity of the concept, allowing great writers to hang whatever they want from the bare bones idea underpinning it all – a lone soldier/cowboy on a long journey to take revenge on one of his own who betrayed him. We know the beginning, the betrayal, and we know the end, Rogue’s revenge, and both played out many years ago. Ever since then, the best Rogue takes have happened between those two points.

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All of which brings us to Ennis and Goddard. This is their second Rogue tale. The first, ‘Blighty Valley’, used the black hole close to Nu-Earth as a way to transport a group of WWI soldiers into Rogue’s mission, and then to tell a story all about the horrors and futility of war, any war. That was the best Rogue Trooper story since the 80s. And now they’re back with ‘When A G.I. Dies‘.

First things first, Godard’s art is perfect for Rogue. He’s got that solidity and simple storytelling that all the best Rogue artists – Gibbons, Ewins, Dillon – had, together with a style all his own. And the stylistic choice of doing this in B&W is another master stroke.

‘When A G.I. Dies’ opens with the best splash page you’ll have seen for a long, long time, the epitome of how Godard’s art is perfect for the character. After that, we’re straight into things, as Ennis spins a tale of Rogue alone and hunted. There’s something teased about Milli-Com, the orbiting Souther command centre that will no doubt feed into where this one’s going.

But as it is, this opener’s all about setting a scene, giving you an intro and hooking you in – and it does that so well.