The Weekly 2000 AD Prog #2446: It’s Dredd’s Law And You Better Not Break It

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.

This week, a slight glitch in things… we were expecting the final part of Judge Dredd: Tunnels, the rather excellent action thriller that’s been running for the last seven weeks. But no, that’s not in here, delayed by a week due to those unforeseen circumstances. Instead, we get a one-off filler of ‘The Double’ by Karl Stock and John McCrea – although it’s still a damn fine Dredd, so filler is rather underselling it.

As for the rest of this Prog, we’ve got the continuing thrills of gangsters getting their demonic comeuppance in The Ravilious Pact, Victorian steampunk wonders in Scarlet Traces: Empire of Blood, and more of the mystery of the techno kingdom of Azimuth in Abandoned by God. Rounding out this week’s Prog, we have a very special Future Shock: Emmett’s Girl, by the 2024 winners of the 2000 AD/Thought Bubble script and art contests – Evie Roebuck and Lucas McCoy, both getting this, their first professional work, in the pages of the Prog as their prize.

All that underneath another rather stunning cover from Jake Lynch, one of the great new crop of Dredd artists….

2000 AD Prog 2446 is out now in the UK. Or rather, was out on 20th August. You’ll have to forgive the lateness of this one, it’s been one of those weeks! If you happen to be a 2000 AD fan in the Americas, things are slightly difficult, as the Progs get bundled up into four-week packs and sold that way. Which means they’re a little harder to come by. Best thing to do, because, as you know, it’s well worth you seeking it out, is to have a word at your local comic shop, and they should be able to order it for you. Here at Bruton Mansions Nevada, we’re putting the ant wars behind us. The anteater problem is gone, Mabel saw that one off- chihuahuas really do have no fear. Now, we’re just waiting for the first Cthulhu rabbits to make an appearance – then we know we’re in the end times – seriously, Cthulhu rabbits are a thing – if you want to be truly freaked out, go look at this.

Okay, enough for your nightmares there. So, let’s take a look-see at this week’s Prog…

JUDGE DREDD: THE DOUBLE – BY KARL STOCK, JOHN MCCREA, COLOURS BY MIKE SPICER, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

Like I said, the expected episode of Tunnels has been delayed – hey, stuff happens. So, you’ll be getting that Tunnels episode in a week or so. In the meantime, there’s time to fit in a one-off Dredd by Karl Stock and John McCrea.

And what do you know, it’s rather a good little done in six pages Dredd.

Stock’s tale is a good, solid, done-in-one Dredd investigating a citizen who, according to the records and the vid footage, is dead. But Dredd gets to the bottom of things, in the usual Dredd fashion. Like I say, a decent, simple little Dredd, but it’s McCrea and Spicer on art, and that automatically elevates things to something great. Seriously, it’s been wonderful seeing how McCrea’s art has just gotten better and better over the last few years. I mean, you may well have known his work through The Demon and Hitman, but he’s really taken it up so many notches in recent years here in 2000 AD. There’s a free-flowing looseness that’s always been there, but it feels like McCrea’s just leaned into it so well here on his Dredds, letting the line go looser and looser, but never losing sight of the storytelling. Every time I see McCrea’s art, I’m just more and more impressed with what he does and how he does it. It’s a joy to behold, it really is.

THE RAVILIOUS PACT – PART 7 – BY TC EGLINGTON AND STEVEN AUSTIN, COLOURS BY JOHN CHARLES, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

Oh, it’s not good to be Jason Ravilious right now. Once, he was the trusted right-hand man to the head of the Boucher family, a crime family ruling London thanks to their dealings with demonic forces. But that was then. Now, he’s in trouble, big trouble. He’s really pissed off the new head of the Boucher family, the frankly psychotic Todd. How bad is it? Well, here’s the end to the last episode…

Yep, Jason Ravilious, dead man walking. It’s that bad. Although it’s going to get a hell of a lot worse. For starters, there’s Morvern Duncan from a Scottish family who has plans for him, all to do with ‘The Pact’ – because we had to get to the Pact sometime. That’s not to mention the threat of the demonic possessions causing cancer amongst the hosts, the shadow demon talking of mirror realities and incursions, and his brother-in-law Lee just the latest to fall foul of a possession. Even worse, he has to head home to family life and a none-too-happy Jess.

Meanwhile, Todd’s moving on the other London gangs, seemingly desperate to start a war. And Jason gets a meet with Morvern, who talks of ‘the other side’ and how the demons are playing Todd, planning something new. Anyway, that’s for the future. Because, by the end of this one, he’s got something really horrific to deal with.

What started as a simple mob tale with demonic overtones gets more and more complex as it goes on, something that’s added to the enjoyment.

SCARLET TRACES: EMPIRE OF BLOOD – PART 15 – BY IAN EDGINTON AND D’ISRAELI, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

Things have come together, rather violently, as the trio of threads came together so well in the last episode. We had Inspector Bey and his merry little band investigating, we had the German spies doing their damndest to make off with the Martian tech left behind once the invasion failed, and we had a call to arms for the Martians still holed up under London. All of which left Bey et al no choice but to make a desperate leap – a literal out of the frying pan and into the fire…

As we know, all of this is taking place in the earliest days post the failed War of the Worlds Martian invasion, something we’ve already seen Edginton and D’Israeli play out so well in the volumes of Scarlet Traces. But here, we’re back to basics, in an England recovering, decades off the ascent to a new Empire, a smaller scale perhaps, although one that’s hardly lacking in scale.

Across the episodes, we’ve had all that fabulous D’Israeli artwork, as he and Edginton spin a tale that’s been slow in all the best ways. There’s a glory in something put together this well that takes its own time getting to where it wants to go. And right now, things have rather reached a crescendo, you’d think, as Bey and Stranks find themselves in the veritable belly of the beast, watching the Martian war machines underground and piecing things together.

It’s, as you’d expect if you’ve read any Scarlet Traces (and if you haven’t, why not?) quite the tale. Perfectly put together by two creators who just fit so well, a wonderful synergy.

FUTURE SHOCKS: EMMETT’S GIRL – BY EVIE ROEBUCK AND LUCAS MCCOY, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

A rather special Future Shock now, with Evie Roebuck and Lucs McCoy getting the gig after winning the script and art talent search run jointly by 2000 AD and the Thought Bubble comics festival. It’s a one-of-a-kind thing. Every year, many hopefuls enter, a select few ending up before a live panel for judging, with the prize being a paid-for, professional gig in 2000 AD. And there’s a rather impressive roster of talent that’s been discovered this way – Honor Vincent, Adam Milmore, Rory McConville, Laura Bailey, Mike Walters, James Newell, Robin Henley, Paul Williams, Tom Foster, Daniel Dwyer, Will Morris, Tilen Javornik – all of them have gone on to get more work, either in 2000 AD or elsewhere.

And now we have the latest winners – Evie Roebuck and Lucas McCoy. Although this year, we actually had two winners of the art prize. You’ve already seen the joint winner, Adam Stone, with his first strip in Prog 2439, previewed here.

Four pages to create a strip with beginning, middle, and end, plus a twist in the tale – surely the Future Shock is the hardest gig in comics? But Roebuck and McCoy do a great job here in ‘Emmett’s Girl’, where a boy fails to get the girl again and again, so turns to mail-order robo-love, only to find that his nearest and dearest, Mommy dearest in fact, have their own plans for Emmett.

It’s another great little Future Shock. Sure, you can see where it’s going, but that doesn’t lessen the enjoyment or impact of this one. To make it work in just the four pages is no mean feat, but Roebuck and McCoy do make it work, giving us another great Future Shock.

AZIMUTH: ABANDONED BY GOD – PART 7 – BY DAN ABNETT AND TAZIO BETTIN, COLOURS BY MATT SOFFE, LETTERS BY JIM CAMPBELL

And ending this Prog, another visit to the strange land of Azimuth, where everything is coming together. Dexter and Andi have their audience with the Lords of the New Flesh, the former delivering the news that the latter’s god, Annica, may well just be the rogue AI that took over Downlode. Page 1, a wonderful moment as one of the Lords, Taylor Moon of the Lost Angeles Domian exclaims, ‘That would mean that we were all… generative product.’ Oh yes, the threat of AI made real.

There’s an interesting little moment on page 1 as well, where Andi, who may or may not be the Judge Anserson we know, but probably isn’t, maybe just an approximation of the most famous of Dreddworld Psi-Judges, as she points out that the AI might be reaching across the dimensions onto parallel Earths. Again, is this just Abnett playing with us, or is there something in it? Who knows? All I know is I’ll just keep on reading this magnificent slice of bizarre sci-fi until everything plays out.

Anyway, as we get Dexter spilling the dirt and gathering up forces to take down God, which would surely mean the end of Azimuth as the Lords know it, we’ve also got the continuing threads of Suzi Nine and Tracy Weld playing out. It’s all quite gloriously confusing, but confusing in a way that drags me in, waiting to see the next little tantalising morsel Abnett throws my way.