2000AD, PROG 2054

Writers: Rory McConville; Kek-W; Pat Mills; Dan Abnett; Gordon Rennie

Artists: Mick McMahon; Lee Carter; Simon Davis: Steven Yeowell; Tiernan Trevallion

Colourists: Chris Blythe; John Charles

Letterers: Annie Parkhouse; Simon Bowland; Ellie De Ville

Publisher: Rebellion

Mick McMahon makes an unheralded return to 2000AD after many years away, contributing the art for Rory McConville’s Judge Dredd: Lord of the Fyreflies. McMahon is somewhat of a 2000AD legend, responsible not only for the very first published Judge Dredd story back in 1977, but much of the early feel of the comic. His style has changed hugely over the years and the current angular art is not going to be to everyone’s liking. However, it’s a solid tale satirising the Fyre Festival debacle which left hundreds of thrill-seekers spending their money to be left hungry and alone on an island in the Bahamas. It’s also a Dredd tale which, interestingly, barely features the title character, reducing him to appearing on a couple of panels on page four.

The unpredictable is normal in Indigo Prime, but this week goes all in. New writer Kek-W plays an unpredictable bait and switch, dipping into the back catalogue of previous writer John Smith to deliver a plot twist quite possibly more than two decades in the making. The agents come face to face with the evil Nihilist, who has been hiding in the psyche of one of their own. Indigo Prime: A Dying Art is complex and demanding. It is unforgiving to new readers, but it is also breathtaking and beautiful, continually surprising and inventive. Each week, it raises the bar for the whole prog.

After several weeks of chopping at enemies with an axe whilst monologuing about how authority figures are awful, the Celtic warrior goes for a bit of a walk along the seafront in Slaine: The Brutania Chronicles: Book Four: Archeon (or STBCB4, as the cool kids should be calling it). Six pages of wonderfully painted art by Simon Davis, with enormous skies, seascapes and terrifying monsters, which are unfortunately burden with a ponderous plot about Slaine trying to learn about his parentage. Ignore the bizarre character motivations and the dull dialogue and wonder at how pretty it all is.

Killers for hire are fighting the good fight to protect the small businessman in Sinister Dexter: Aztec Cameraderie. An aggressive competitor is trying to put the pair’s favorite curry house out of business, so violence and gunfire is the only solution. Its a light hearted tale, filled with action and the comedy gem of an Aztec themed senior business meeting.

Harry Absalom is also having some trouble with competitors in Absalom: Terminal Diagnosis. The ageing copper must walk a careful line in enforcing an ancient accord between the British authorities and the demons of Hell. Not everyone, however, is willing to play by the rules and this episode sees a street fight break out. It’s a solid episode, with consistently impressive art by Teirnen Trevallion, where the human side shows its own brutality and new foes are suggested.