The Weekly 2000 AD: Prog 2455 — Folk Horror Madness Takes Root In Dredd

Taking a look inside the UK’s greatest sci-fi comic, the Galaxy’s Greatest, fast approaching 50 years of brilliance — it’s the Weekly 2000 AD.

As last week, and for the past however many weeks, it’s the same five strips inside the latest Prog. But again, given that all five are pretty darned great, that’s hardly a problem, is it? In fact, these five strips, encompassing, as they do, chilling folk horror, melancholic superhero memoir, psychedelic outrageousness, utterly epic sci-fi, and classic characters given a new twist, really do rather epitomise all that’s forever been so good with the premier British sci-fi weekly anthology for all these years.

So, inside, you’ll find more dark chills in Dredd: And To The Sea Return, more looking back to superhero moments of yesteryear in Red Dragon, more strange new worlds of alien weirdness in Void Runners, more incredible adventuring on an incredible scale in Brass Sun, and more tales of untold moments in the history of Rogue Trooper. Yes, I’ll keep on shouting it to you all until I’m blue in the face, 2000 AD is the comic you should be reading. Has been since it started, and shows no signs of letting up anytime soon.

Everything starts under the latest bit of cover brilliance from Cliff Robinson and Dylan Teague. As I’ve said so many times before, Robinson is a marvel on the covers, and he’s always to be relied upon to do something interesting, when it’s called for, with the logo….

2000 AD Prog #2455 is out out now. You folks in the strange world of the Americas, you need to get yourself down to your local comic shop and ask them very nicely to order the four-weekly packs in for you. Seriously, it’s a comic you won’t ever regret getting into. I started back in 2012 as a weekly reader, having dipped in and out all my life before then. But once you’re in, there’s no getting out. As for things in Bruton Mansions, NV, this week’s been all about the intricacies of the Medical system here in the US. For someone brought up on universal healthcare in the UK, needless to say, it’s a frustrating, ridiculous system that my obviously Marxist sensibilities (at least according to the Republicans) rails against. Seriously, if you’re in a country where universal healthcare is provided, cherish it, protect it, fight for it. The alternative, as I’m finding, is a nightmare.

But enough of me, time to head inside the latest Prog…

JUDGE DREDD: AND TO THE SEA RETURN – PART 6 – BY ROB WILLIAMS AND HENRY FLINT, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

Last time, Dredd and Anderson were out of action, the barge was steaming into land, and we’d met the big bad here, the strange entity known as Carver, one you’ve just seen there on the cover to this Prog.

We open with Carver and Anderson having a pleasant little chat. Well, okay, not so pleasant, as Carver, or the thing that’s calling itself Carver, spins a story of the Pilgrim fathers and things that have lain low, waiting to bring a new religion to the shores of what was America. Anderson, well, she’s not buying it.

Meanwhile, there’s the quite rather ridiculous imagery of Dredd rowing his way across the Black Atlantic towards the Barge with Judge Hurst shooting up in front of him, the only way she’s been able to keep the Black Atlantic worms at bay.

Yes, as Tan says, the whole idea of this rescue plan is off the charts wrong: “The three of us sneak onto a ship filled with ten thousand perps, who have been possessed by some kind of horror parasite to rescue Anderson. And we all do it while we’re high?” Yep, that’s the plan. It’s not the greatest of plans, but that’s the plan. And no, of course Dredd doesn’t need to get high here. He’s been seeing all the horrors of the Black Atlantic worms for a while now; he’s just strong enough, stubborn enough to keep them all at bay.

So, what started out as this creeping folk horror thing at he very edges of Mega-City One, where the land met the Black Atlantic, where things were a little forgotten and, as such, certain things were allowed to fester and grown, has now turned into something much more visceral and in your face, as Anderson comes up close and personal with Scolex and Dredd, onboard his rowboat, heads out to rescue her.

Again, as good as Williams’s script is here, and it’s very, very good, pulling in all the horrors so well, it’s Henry Flint’s art that takes this to another level. Damn, he’s the best modern Dredd artist there is right now, and that’s saying something, given we’re in a purple patch of some fine, fine Dredd artists.

RED DRAGON – PART 5 – BY ROB WILLIAMS, STEVE YEOWELL, PATRICK GODDARD, COLOURS BY DYLAN TEAGUE, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

As we get deeper and deeper into this one, I find myself more and more getting into Patrick Goddard’s bleak black and whites of the present-day investigations into the history of the Red Dragon, with journalist Martin Howe finding himself overwhelmed by the claustrophobia of the Welsh valleys. Goddard, and, of course, Williams, painting a picture of rural decay, perfect for all manner of strangeness, with that hint of menace uncutting it all.

Meanwhile, back in the technicolour ’60s, Siadwell Rhys is being schooled in the ways of Homo Novus, delivered by Dr Michael Payne, the creator of the world’s superheroes. It’s a quiet thing, just two special people chatting on a park bench, but the creepiness of what’s going on exists on so many levels, as the conspiratorial moves begin. Later on, to end this episode, Rhys is back in the Cloud 9 fold, still the uncomfortable and sad little Welsh kid looking for friends. Again, poor Siadwell, we just know it isn’t going to end well.

But the real mystery here is to figure out just how the two storylines will connect, as I’m sure they will at some point, in a way beyond the simple fact that they’re both focusing on Siadwell’s life. But the answer to that will be teased out as the parallel storylines continue. Meanwhile, we get to experience a really great strip, where the overall tone is one of isolation, sadness, and melancholy, all in the knowledge that Siadwell’s life spiralled into alcoholism and a retreat to Wales, a washed-up has-been, whose short reintroduction to the world of superheroics in Zenith led to a swift death at the hands of the Lloigor.

Oh, and as always, do yourselves a favour and track down those volumes of Zenith. Not only will they give you the background to Red Dragon, they’ll also give you a damn good read, as Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell‘s off-kilter superhero yarn sees both creators, early on in their comics careers, going over the top in fine style to give us something that’s still eminently readable today.

But as for Red Dragon, it’s shaping up to be so much more than I thought it would be. This is no slavish prequel, but something that’s resolutely downbeat, twin tales of a doomed hero, that pervading sense of inevitability and despair washing over the whole thing and making it a great read.

VOID RUNNERS: BOOK TWO – PART 6 – BY DAVID HINE AND BOOK COOK, LETTERS BY ANNIE PARKHOUSE

And speaking, as I just was, about how Red Dragon has switched things up from the tale I thought it would tell, the second series of Void Runners does something of the same. The first series was all high adventure, Hine and Cook’s creation of Captain Shikari a glorious thing, over the top, gloriously so, playing up the trippy nature of a universe where the tyranny of the Ankorites is achieved through the psychedelics of Kali’s Dust, and where Shikari is the prime example of just how over the top a character can be.

But this second series has gone so far beyond that initial set-up, taking us deeper into things, and finding, as is so often the case, that scratching under the surface brings forth the darkness. After all, this is a universe of one ruling race, brutal in their subjugation of others. And Shikari’s new mission to free those enslaved worlds isn’t going anywhere near as smoothly as they hoped.

And the Ankorites themselves are having a hard time of things – the essential ingredient to their continued dominance seemingly lost, supplies depleted, and the only hopes of any more far too many years away.

Of course, Shikari is in the dark of all that, concentrating on bringing cosmic enlightenment to the slave race down on Rigel-16. That’s been put on hold thanks to the Ankorites’ dirty deeds unleashing a plague on the planet in furtherance of their trade deal. Thankfully, Shikari’s got the vaccine that will save the slave race – although, much to Shikari’s frustration, they’re so bound up in their generational role that Shikari’s finding things oh so frustrating…

Again, the essence of Void Runners is there in those few panels. First, you’ve got all that gloriously lush artwork from Cook, the colours so vivid, the aliens so perfectly, well, alien. He’s the finest artist for this sort of thing. But on top of that, you’ve got the rich vein of comedy that fills Void Runners. Even where this second series has gone darker, there’s been plenty of chance for Hine to play with the comedy of the ridiculousness, again, perfectly brought to life by Cook’s art, always giving us the perfect punchline. I mean, looking again at that four-panel sequence, the set-up is there with the giving of the vaccine, but the punchline is perfect, as the Manjukak leader only sees it as a way to please his masters once more. And it’s in the final panel that the gag gets its perfect moment, all in Shakiri’s ‘Give me strength’ moment…

Timing’s everything in comedy, and Hine and Cook have it in spades.

Void Runners may have a simple premise. It is, after all, you’re very basic tale of an evil empire versus your typical plucky band of colourful rebels. But it’s quite how things are executed that brings the enjoyment to this one.

BRASS SUN: PAVANE – PART 6 – BY IAN EDGINTON AND INJ CULBARD, LETTERS BY SIMON BOWLAND

Well, this current run of 2000 AD sure is giving us so many wonderful artists doing their thing so well. I mean, Henry Flint on Dredd, surely the finest Dredd artist of these times. Then there’s Goddard and Yeowell, two completely different artists doing completely different things on Red Dragon, but both exceeding the brief. Boo Cook’s organic look, messy, grubby, alien as it can be, is just perfect. And then there’s INJ Culbard, whose work always fills me with joy, seeing an artist just get things so right, again and again. He does it on Brink so beautifully well, and he does it on Brass Sun here. Damn, it’s just a thing to behold.

This time round, it’s all tightly on Wren and Ariel O’Connor, looking for parts for their busted ship, on a planet with Inquisitors all round them. As they explore, Wren gets to see just how far those in charge will go in their search for the key to reigniting the Brass Sun. When the fate of the system is on the line, it appears morals and ethical concerns have been thrown out, the search for salvation leading to huge knowledge harvesting farms…

Edginton and Culbard have long been a writing/art team in such perfect synergy. Edginton’s lucky that he’s formed this sort of bond with both Culbard and D’Israeli. You can always tell when you get such a meeting of creative minds, where the whole thing flows just perfectly, just as it does here.

Brass Sun takes this core conceit of the series, that quest to restart the life-giving sun at the centre of the Orrery, and has spun it out in something approaching a pulp sci-fi tale. And you see that here, as Wren and O’Connor spend an episode exploring this world of fanciful sci-fi ideas, all seen before in so many ways, but rarely as wonderfully done as this.

ROGUE TROOPER: GHOST PATROL – PART 6 – BY ALEX DE CAMPI AND NEIL EDWARDS, COLOURS BY MATT SOFFE, LETTERS BY JIM CAMPBELL

Now, to end this Prog, a good old-fashioned Rogue Trooper tale, of the never-ending war between Norts and Southers, of a lone GI betrayed, and of another secret mission. De Campi and Edwards understand what makes a good Rogue Trooper tale work, and they’re spinning their own version of it very nicely here.

We’re down on Nu Earth now, 10 years post the betrayal of the Genetic Infantrymen by the Traitor General, Souther vet Gordon Macinrow brought into a mission to find and extract his old comrade in arms, both of them there for the Quartz massacre 10 years prior.

Here, though, we’re well into things, the secrecy of the mission put aside, as the Southers at Checkpoint Zulu find out there’s something very wrong with their new AI-targeting rifles, something that means there’s big trouble for all involved…

So, we’ve gone from a mysterious mission to something far simpler by the end of this episode, back to the essence of Rogue Trooper, where the Norts have pulled a fast one, and it’s done to the big blue GI to save the day.

Of all the strips in the Prog right now, this Rogue Trooper is the least showy, the least epic, but it works nonetheless, just as all the best Rogue tales do.