The Weekly 2000 AD Prog #2438: Rogue GIs? Just Another Day On Nu Earth

Taking a look inside the UK’s greatest sci-fi comic, the Galaxy’s Greatest, now 48 years young —it’s the Weekly 2000 AD.

Yes, 48 years young and consistently the finest sci-fi anthology you could wish to read. There’s so much in store for you inside the pages of the weekly Prog, it’s about time you dived in!

This week, it’s back to the standard five strips following last weeks’ bumper Prog. We’ve got the conclusion of a quick two-part Dredd, the finale of the rather fabulous Ghosted, the start of a Tharg’s 3Riller three-parter, and more Nu Earth War Tales and Scarlet Traces to tempt you inside.

All of it takes place under a wonderfully stylish Lee Carter cover…

2000 AD Prog 2438 is out in the UK on 25th June. As always, you’ll have a harder time finding it if you’re in the Americas – might I suggest popping into your local comic shop and asking them very nicely if they can order it for you? As for other stuff – well, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. And I’m not talking about my ongoing issue with Apple who seem determined to lock me out of my bloody account – despite many hours of chatting to the incredibly unhelpful support online. No, I’m talking about the man in the White House and his seeming desire to throw us headlong into another war. I said it last week, I’ll say it again, Judge Dredd’s just looking more and more prescient, isn’t it?

But anyway, time for a quick spin through this weeks big Prog…

JUDGE DREDD: CONFESSIONS OF A WINDOW CLEANING DROID – PART 2 – FINAL PART – BY KEN NIEMAND AND NICOLO ASSIRELLI, COLOURS BY QUINTON WINTER, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

Well, an unexpectedly short two-parter here, with Niemand doing his thing of bringing back secondary characters who he finds much more interesting than Dredd himself. Nothing wrong with that at all when it’s all so well written as this. And after all, Dredd’s always been so much more than the big man himself, and there’s so many stories to be told of those living in the shadow of the Law.

So, this one’s all about Roz and her Universal Robots, the tech wizard who Dredd uses to get the impossible-to-find data that his own Tek-Div can’t find. Here, it’s evidence of a mob hit witnessed by a poor window cleaning droid. And that’s why there’s mob hitmen outside Roz’s Universal Robots, and they’re not coming here for a nice chat.

But of course, it’s about more than that, it’s Niemand, with some really nice art from Assirelli, doing a morality tale all about the value of a life, in particular just how much humanity these droids can have in a world where most of the humans are far less noble and true than these robo cast offs .

Two and done, but it won’t be the last we see of Roz and her robo pals, I’m sure of that. And that won’t be a bad thing at all. It’s Niemand writing those classic little Dredds, the sort that have been in the strip from the start, the sort that show us more of the world than any mega epic can hope to.

NU EARTH WAR TALES: THE MAJOR – PART 2 – BY GORDON RENNIE AND JAKE LYNCH, COLOURS BY DYLAN TEAGUE, LETTERS BY JIM CAMPBELL

These Nu Earth War Tales are a chance to explore the rich storytelling landscape of the world of Rogue Trooper. Over the years, Rogue’s been a pretty one-dimensional thing, constrained by the tightness of the original saga of a lone Genetic Infantryman hunting down the Traitor General responsible for the deaths of his comrades. And the (admittedly brilliant and so readable) tightness of that first and best Rogue Trooper tale has meant that everything after that always seemed like a postscript.

But the setup for Rogue Trooper, the never-ending war between the Norts and the Southers, is such a delicious prospect that you wonder why it hasn’t been explored much more than it has. Sure, we’ve had the occasional series like Venus Bluegenes and Jaegir that use other characters to explore the rich potential in the Nort-Souther war, but there’s never been a concerted effort to flesh out the myriad tales that come out of the whole sci-fi war setting.

Well, that’s where Nu Earth War Tales comes in, a series of stories, some one-offs, some short series, maybe some longer series in time, all set around the Nort/Souther war, some of them featuring Rogue Trooper, many of them not. So far, it’s all been Gordon Rennie writing, but I’d imagine there are plenty of writers out there who’ve had their own Nu Earth War Tales percolating away in their heads for many years, just waiting for this opportunity.

Anyway, here in The Major, we’re in the time pre-Rogue Trooper, where the higher-ups in the Souther leadership are trialling their new Genetic Infantrymen. A troop of prototype GIs has been deliberately dropped into a hot zone, just for those Souther higher-ups to test out their latest science project. If you’re imagining that the Souther higher-ups in this one are portrayed as heartless, power-mad, manipulative bastards, you’d be right. These GIs are just playthings to them, pawns in their war.

Down on Nu Earth though, it’s all very real for the GIs, including the one known as ‘Switch’, so christened because he’s got a split personality, one a simple trooper, the other ‘The Major’, the more aggressive and dominant character. And now, as the GIs find they’re facing down the elite Kashan Nort forces, he’s the personality that’s in control.

So, big fights, nasty leaders, the troubles of war, a damaged GI leading the troops, and that whiff of betrayal in the air. It’s all done rather well, and all of it with all that gorgeously just this side of pushing it too far in the anatomy art of Jake Lynch. He’s shown us, again and again, whether it’s as one of the great Dredd artists of this era, or through his stellar work on Proteus Vex, or this work right here, that he’s one of the most exciting visual artists working in 2000 AD, or anywhere really, right now. It’s all in the angular figure work, the unusual designs, the clever use of the panels, the sheer range of what he does. So good to look at.

GHOSTED: BOOK ONE: PART 12 – FINAL PART – BY GUY ADAMS AND MEGAN HUANG. LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

Well, we knew we were getting to the end of this one, tellingly entitled Book One, meaning we always knew this was going to be back for a Book Two. And damn, it’s good that it is.

Ghosted’s been one of those series that, and I’m sure you’re tired of me saying this, is equal parts frustrating and intriguing, the sort of series where you keep reading it to figure out if it makes any more sense to you with this latest episode. And with that in mind, don’t expect this finale of Book One to give you any more answers than all the other parts have done. Well, okay, maybe there’s a little bit of an answer there on the final page, a glorious cliffhanger that leads into Book Two.

And, I’ve got to say, I can’t wait to sink my teeth into Book Two. Because, as frustrating as Ghosted’s been, it’s always been one that I turn to first each Prog, wanting to uncover the secrets of the mystery of it all. You see, these kind of difficult strips can go two ways. They can be so obtuse and complex that they come off as deliberately too clever for their own good, or they can be difficult and challenging in the best of ways, the sort of fiction that pulls you in, makes you read and read and read, the writer and artist so in control of things that they pull you in to the complexity, make you willing co-conspirators in the mystery of the thing. And the latter is just where Ghosted sits.

It’s been a wonderful debut series, Adams’s writing so strong, really walking that fine line between incomprehensible and fascinating so well, Huang’s art a modern, eye-poppingly bright and simple (in the best way) accompaniment to the difficult story. And together, they’ve spun us a tale that keeps me guessing, keeps me reading, week in and week out.

So, here we are at the end of this first Book. We’ve seen the world of the future African kingdom of Kinshahsa. Superficially, it’s a utopia, where the privileged get to play, kept away from the reality of the world, blissfully ignorant of what’s really going on. And what’s really going on is that those in control, The Trust, are culling the vulnerable and poor of this society for a war against an alien race, ripping them from the streets, surgically implanting new tech to make them throwaway warriors, and dropping them into a war that the beautiful people have no idea is even going on.

We’ve met and followed one of those rich, ignorant to it all kids, Benu, and we’ve seen her haunted by visions of one of those unwilling warriors fighting the aliens. But this time, the warrior has reached back to Kinshahsa, a ghost influencing things, pulling Benu into the secrets of the world. And we’ve followed them both, as we learn, step by painstakingly difficult step, of the truth behind the lie here.

Now, we have the small band of resistance fighters determined to reveal the truth to Kinshahsa’s blinded population, we’ve got the Trust’s psycho killer on a killing mission, to stop the truth getting out – whatever that may be – we’re really still not 100% sure what the truth is, such is the way Adams is writing this one.

The truth gets out, the populace see what’s really happening, but they’re so innured to life as it is that they still refuse to see it for what it is, just as the Trust expected….

And then we get to the final page of this first Book of Ghosted, the cliffhanger that sets up the second series. And, oh boy, is it a damn good cliffhanger. I was torn whether to show you it or not, but, in the end, I decided that, no, you’re going to have to trust me on this one, Ghosted Book One has been a brilliantly done thing, and the end of this first Book is every bit as tantalising and absorbing as everything that’s gone before.

I cannot wait to get into Book Two. Congratulations to both Adams and Huang for giving us something that’s compelling and engaging, something that’s made me clamour for more, made me look twice at everything. It’s been difficult, but damn, it’s been difficult in all the best ways. Bring on Book Two.

THARG’S 3RILLERS: FAR BELOW EDEN – PART 1 – BY ALAN KERR AND IAN RICHARDSON, COLOURS BY PIPPA BOWLAND, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

Another three-part 3Riller – the clue’s in the name – brings us to the planet Eden in the far future. In a familiar refrain, Earth is dying thanks to years of pollution and greed, and mankind are out in space looking for somewhere they can call home.

Eden’s looking like it’s got potential, but, wouldn’t you know it, there’s a catch, as Eden’s already got a native species, one that needs removing before humanity can take up residence.

Alan Kerr’s the writer on this one, having previously won a 2000 AD Art Stars contest in 2023, leading to a Future Shock where he provided both art and script in Prog 2396. He’s a new bod at the Prog, and what he’s done thus far promises great things. But, like I say, he’s only doing the script for this one, with art going to veteran Ian Richardson, whose art you’ve seen on plenty in both the Prog and the Megazine over the years. And that art gives this a solidity and heft to this one, all starting with action as the colour-coded besuited humans doing a bit of a bug hunt on Eden, hunting down that native species and, being human and needing a place to call their own, wiping them out so they can start terraforming the crap out of this place.

In the small team, there’s one little voice of dissent, biologist Kimura, whose warnings of the ‘bugs’ showing both coordination and intelligence are swiftly swept under the metaphorical carpet, after all, as one of her fellow team members barks out at her…

‘We’re not risking the whole goddamn Human Race just because you got a hunch about goddam smart-bugs!’

So yes, Kimura’s wondering what the hell she’s doing here. Her life’s all about studying the biology she finds, not wiping it all out, including the city-sized magaflora plant they’re walking along to get to its roots and kill it.

So, it’s a three-parter, and this is all just set-up. That’s the way of these 3Rillers. The best of them can lead to something more, a way of soft-introducing a series. But this one, well, it’s all just a bit too familiar, isn’t it. There’s bits of so many other things floating around in the DNA of this one, and right now it feels just a little cobbled together from its influences. Of course, it could surprise me and turn into something different from the way I imagine the next couple of episodes are going to go. I hope it does. But right now? Well, it’s a very attractively drawn bit of familiar space stuff.

SCARLET TRACES: EMPIRE OF BLOOD – PART 7 – BY IAN EDGINTON AND D’ISRAELI, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

Okay then, onwards to a strip that could never have been called predictable throughout all its past series. And, with this new prequel series, taking place right after the failed Martian invasion of Earth in this Victorian Britain, as the country recovers from the devastation and plans are set in place to exploit the alien tech, an exploitation that we know, having read all of Scarlet Traces, will bring a greatness, although not without a cost, to the new British Empire. (Oh, and if you haven’t read all of Scarlet Traces thus far, seriously, what are you waiting for?)

Anyway, like I say, right now, we’re back at the start of it all. Britain is beginning the process of recovery and setting about cannibalising the Martians and their tech. Meanwhile, there’s a German spy team looking to do just the same on British soil, intent on infiltrating the base that the Brits are taking the Martian corpses and their tech to. Plus, there’s that lone Martian straggler/survivor, underground, doing we know not what quite yet. And, seemingly unrelated to it all – but let’s face it, it will be connected, somehow – we have the investigations of Detective Sergeant Bey, looking into a robbery one of his own might have his grubby little Victorian copper’s mitts on.

Anyway, after spending time last episode following the Germans and their mission and getting another glimpse at the Martian underground, it’s back to DS Bey, struggling to find anything in the markets of London. It’s not somewhere that’s happy to see a couple of coppers asking questions, something Bey and Constable Stranks are about to find out. But not before they get the tantalising lead that there’s been a series of murders in the marketplace, victims snatched off the streets, leaving no bodies, just the ground beneath them churned up, and a connection might be presenting itself, thinks Bey, to something to do with precious metals.

So yes, this one’s being slowly but surely drawn together. Edginton’s teasing us with the final reveal, making us dive back into previous series and consult our Wells’s knowledge, but more on that next week perhaps. In the meantime, let’s take a moment to talk D’Israeli’s art on this one. It is, as you’d expect if you’ve been either following Scarlet Traces or any of his other work, quite wonderful. This episode all he’s drawing is crowd scenes in the market, but he gives it all such life and drama, spinning the artist’s viewpoint around like crazy, giving us such fabulous scenes to view in an episode that is, essentially, just one long conversation and confrontation. There’s a joy in seeing things done so well.