2000AD, PROG 2064

Writers: Michael Carroll; Pat Mills; Ian Edginton; Peter Milligan
Artists: Colin MacNeil; INJ Culbard; Patrick Godard; Rufus Dayglo; Clint Langley
Colourists: Chris Blythe; Dominic Regan
Letterers: Annie Parkhouse; Ellie De Ville; Simon Bowland
Publisher: Rebellion

Judge Dredd: Echoes rushes to a conclusion with its fourth part, as Dredd battles the ghosts of East Meg One. The concept here is a huge one, with Dredd being forced to face the victims of the nuclear apocalypse he unleashed against the Soviets back in 1982. Whist the story has had some interesting points in individual lines of dialogue, and lots of dark and moody Dredd images from the extremely capable Colin MacNeil, the whole thing has quickly become a battle against zombies which is resolved too quickly. Echoes looks to be just another step in an ongoing arc, with Dredd journeying through the Russian wastes.

Not rushing to a conclusion is Savage: The Thousand Year Stare. Bill has finally infiltrated the top secret, completely undefended, research base where the Volgan military’s best kept secrets can be found. First through, he has to see off the well armed Volgan hit squad who had him outnumbered and cornered in last weeks cliffhanger. Following the two panels that this takes, there’s plenty of time for a long awaited explanation of the varied conspiracies and plots which have brought us to this point over the course of the last year and a bit. Nine hundred and ninety nine to go.

Brass Sun: Engine Summer also isn’t in much of a hurry, but at least its not pretending. As our heroes find themselves trapped as the local population tear themselves apart in hunting them, time is taken to have a bit of a chat about motivation.

The great battle in the world of Brass Sun is against the slowing of a clockwork universe. Its akin to global warming rather than nuclear disaster, so more likely to inspire powerpoint presentations that gunfights and explosions. That might make it sound boring, and it will loose readers who are after more visceral thrills, but Brass Sun is for fans of the epic. As Wren reassesses her purpose, Septimus takes matters into his own hands.

The old soldiers meet up with another of their comrades in Bad Company: Terrorists, adding further confusion to which of the previous Bad Company stories are being completely ignored. The original strip was beloved by many fans, with a platoon of misfit soldiers battling against the alien world which had become part of their DNA. But with each new incarnation a little more is lost – old friends who died in battle are, one by one, returned to life with no explanation. The Company have stumbled across Mac, working as a pit fighter. Except Mac is dead. But then, most of these men are dead. Some of them have been dead more than once, and each loss is just forgotten as the story about how war is hell is retold one more time.

ABC Warriors: Fallout has been slowly introducing and incapacitating the team of robots by having them fight each other. This weeks pair are Steelhorn and Z. Fallout looks beautiful, with Clint Langley’s metallic and bloody landscapes and splashpages working perfectly for the industrialised Martian landscape, but the plot is very much by the numbers and the villainous authorities are little more that ciphers for unoriginal anti-social media satire.