2000AD, PROG 2099 REVIEW

Writers:y TC Eglington; Gordon Rennie; Lawrence Rennie; Emma Beeby; Mark McCann; Kek-W
Artists: Staz Johnson; Neil Googe; Karl Richardson; Adam Brown; John Burns
Colourists: Abigail Bulmer; Gary Caldwell
Letterers: Annie Parkhouse; Ellie De Ville; Simon Bowland
Publisher: Rebellion




The decks are cleared this Prog in preparation for a big jumping-on issue next week. Four stories come to an end, with a single one-off Future Shock filling the gap.

The politics of the Boothers are brought to a bone crunching end in Judge Dredd: The Booth Conspiracy. With the Judges luring the terrorists into the Cursed earth with faked footage, the stage has been set for a final showdown. Within the first few panels, the group’s entire plan is brought crashing down, in bone splintering fashion.

With a brutal denouement that looks like it could bring an end to the entire Sons of Booth arc, The Booth Conspiracy is a little bit of an anti-climax. Previously introduced elements are little more that a Chekhov’s (stupid) gun, whilst other twists come out of nowhere. After some fast and brutal action, the finale is heavy on exposition as Dredd decides to provide the perp with a full explanation of how he got here

Still, it all seems to work. Even amid the sci-fi madness it functions as a satire on modern day populist politics. Linus may as well be screaming “Fake News!” as his plan falls to pieces.

There are more crunchy endings in Survival Geeks: Hack ‘n Slash. The gang found themselves in a universe where a world-wide Slasher-apocalypse was underway. Luckily, a life devoted to the minutia of popular culture has set them in good stead. They know the rules, and they know when they change.

Survival Geeks is always huge fun – like The Big Bank Theory (but with jokes), and where the room mates journey through the multiverse, having adventures (rather than sitting around, mocking their metrosexual Indian friend). The adventure is always about loving nerd-dom, rather than disparaging it. The art is bright and breezy, even when the characters are being decapitated with chainsaws. Hack ‘n Slash seamlessly ends one adventure, whilst edging the door open for the next.

The last known human city falls to demons in the all-action finale of Mechastopheles: True Faith. Despite the rush to bring everyone back together we’re back to fast moving action rather than exposition, all based around a nice call back.

A steampunk kaiju in a post-apocalypse Renaissance, Mechastopheles feels like it never really hit it’s stride. There was some early episode monster fights, some quarrelling between characters who were never really explored, and a glimpse of the wider world. All the correct elements are here. But there are still some ongoing characters who have barely appeared, and whose motivations haven’t been mentioned. If you like big monster fights, you’ll have been a little let down by the politicking., and if you like complex worlds you may have been left cold by the stompy battle scenes.

Okay, I’ll admit it. I have no idea what’s going on in The Order: The New World. I mean, I understand the plot - a disparate bunch battle weird aliens – but the whole world and it’s logic is a complete mystery.

There’s time travel, robots, demons, characters lifted from other stories, historical personalties, frequent forays into pseudo-science babble...And it all looks lovely  But this strange soup of ideas, shifting constantly and never explaining itself, takes work to follow.  Now we've reached the end and again, it feels like this was just another set up for a bigger adventure.

This Prog is rounded of with the Future Shock: Talk’s Cheap, in which an eco-terrorist is interrogated using some controversial new methods. This marks the first appearance in the Prog of writer Mark McCann and artist Adam Brown. Its an interesting idea, and delves quickly into thoroughly brutal and nasty waters. However, it might spend too long on set up, giving the details of the terrorist’s crimes before splurging a dialogue heavy explanation.