The Weekly 2000 AD Extra – Revealing The Surprise Strip In This Weeks Prog – Who’s Watching Dredd? [SPOILERS!]
by Richard Bruton
2000 AD Prog 2426 came out on 2 April, complete with a surprise strip that we were asked to keep under wraps until now… but here we get to reveal all in a special Weekly 2000 AD Extra…
Yes, I put up the new Weekly 2000 AD this week with only four out of the five strips covered in the weekly preview. And the reason for that was simple, because 2000 AD asked us to embargo the second strip in this weeks Prog. They’ve done it sparingly in the past and I’m always happy to do it. After all, embargoes are there for a reason – and there’s a real joy in not spoiling everything, a joy in letting the reader get it first. And that’s the case here.
After all, where would the fun have been in already knowing how that great moment in Judge Dredd: Trifecta was to play out, that page turn where you realise that all the seemingly distinct strips for the last few weeks have been one storyline played out from different perspectives? Or if the surprise reveal that, despite all evidence to the contrary, Chief Judge Hershey wasn’t dead, at least not yet?
However, the embargo passed with release day, so we’re okay to let the cat out of the bag right here. having said that, because I’d much rather you all read it first and got the great surprise strip and how it’s led into, I’ve even left it a few extra days, just so you all get to read it first.
WARNING: SPOILERS INCOMING!
We had a new Dredd series start this week – The Truth Bomber, someone or something causing the Cits, even the Judges, to start telling the truth, Simone or something that seriously pissed off Dredd.
Here’s part of the final page of that Dredd…
And here’s the rest of it… as we focus past Dredd, onto the mystery figure in an adjacent Block…
Oh yes, it’s the return of Ken Niemand and PJ Holden’s CHIMPSKY!!
And here’s that first page of ‘Chimsky’s Law’, carrying right on from Judge Dredd…
CHIMPSKY’S LAW: THE TRUTH CONUNDRUM – PART 1 – BY KEN NIEMAND AND PJ HOLDEN. COLOURS BY JACK DAVIES, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE
Oh yes, I love it when they do this, one strip moving straight on to another, carrying on the storyline like this. That’s why it’s worth keeping those embargoes embargoed. Any site that blew the surprise, shame on you for spoiling everyone’s fun like that. No, always best to leave the surprise to play out like this, way more fun that way.
So, Chimpsky, the ape with the 240 IQ and a passion for doing the right thing, for making things better here in MC-1. Although, like he’ll tell you, he’s not always appreciated…
Right now, you’ve got Dredd going after the Truth Bomber to just shut him/it down. But you’ve got Chimpsky going after the Truth Bomber because he can sympathise with his motives.
That’s the thing about Chimpsky, he’s brilliant and he’s principled, wanting the very best for his city, and willing to do whatever’s necessary to do that. In a way, Niemand and Holden have created a true hero for MC-1 in. A brilliantly unlikely hero for sure, but an absolutely great one.
As things play out, Chimpsky’s way out in front of Dredd for this one, as he worked out who the Truth Bomber was a while ago…
It’s all to do with the quote the Truth Bomber uses at the scenes of the crime…
And of course, there’s all those wonderful little Chimpsky things going on, the inner dialoguing, the little asides, the explanations of what’s going on, all of it just adding to the fun of it all.
But as things stand, Chimpsky’s likely only a couple of steps ahead of the whole of the Justice Department. And it’s not going to be that long before they work out what Chimpsky’s long figured out.
Now, I have no idea how Niemand and Holden are going to play this one out. They might decide to do it as just a Chimpsky strip, or they might, which would be so much more fun, play it out in both the Judge Dredd lead strip AND the Chimpsky strip, taking the case from the two angles. All I know is that it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun.
This is precisely the reason why spoiling things like this is no fun at all. Reading it in the Prog for the first time, getting the thrill of seeing two strips connect so well, that’s an absolute blast.
Again, well played 2000 AD, well played.
Chimpsky’s Law: The Truth Conundrum is in 2000 AD Prog 2426, out right now, and continues next week!
