2000AD, PROG 2113 REVIEW
Artists: Jeff Anderson; INJ Culbard; Paul Marshall, Nick Brokenshire; Tiernen Trevallion
Colourists: Dyan Teague; Gary Caldwell
Letterers: Annie Parkhouse; Simon Bowland; Ellie De Ville
Publisher: Rebellion
The mysterious Kenneth Neimand makes his Dredd debut with Judge Dredd: Block Buds...or does he? It’s probably a pseudonym, since it can be translated as “know no one”, and is a little too close to the fictional comic creator “Kenny Who”. Regardless of who’s responsible, Block Buds takes the well worn maguffin of mega city technology gone mad. Cityblock AI has been is given holographic form, and massive toddlers roam the city, helping out residents and interupting criminals. It might just be the after effects of New Year revelry, but the mega-city babble dialogue feels a little too spiky. Art from Jeff Anderson is a strange, but understandable mix of grimy but shiny, and cartoonish.
Brink: High Society is an utterly fearless piece of writing from Dan Abnett. It’s a story that trusts is readers to follow a winding plot where every character a bundle of complexity. It’s a story that simply refuses to follow any formula, or expectations of genre. There’s a moment in this week’s Brink that you wouldn’t get in other detective procedurals. A small moment of genuine emotion that most comics simply lack. If you’re not reading Brink, you should be.
Skip Tracer: Louder Than Bombs, unfortunately, follows a more worn path. Again, Nolan is pushed to use his unexplained powers to assist the unexplained Consociation, this time in fighting terrorist suicide bombers against his will. This week he visits the bar from Total Recall, speaks to a monkey bouncer, and uses a laser knife to fight with the devil. It’s a shame, but it’s all a little tired.
Things get a bit batty in Fiends of the Western Front. Last week was exposition time, with Black Max revealing his not-crazy plan to use bits of dead vampires to turn people into giant bats, and conquer the world. Having explained his brilliant plan, its time for a big fight between two fanged gentlemen. Teirnan Trevallion makes an impressive job of a limited scene.
Some people who have never encountered zombies before come face to face with zombies in...well in almost every piece of fiction involving zombies, but also in Tharg’s 3-riller: The Scorched Zone. This might be a victim of the threeriller format, with an overlong explanation of backstory, but still without any differentiation between characters.
In all, a disappointing Prog which is hopefully a blip in this long period of quality Thrills.
A Look Inside
