2000AD, PROG 2070 REVIEW

Writers: Ian Edginton; Pat Mills; Peter Milligan
Artists: Dave Taylor; Clint Langley; INJ Culbard; Patrick Goddard; Rufis Dayglo
Colourists: Dominic Regan
Letterers: Annie Parkhouse; Elle De Ville; Simon Bowland
Publisher: Rebellion



Dredd has forced the exorcist Judge Lamia back into action to investigate the arrival of a mysterious spaceship in Judge Dredd: Live Evil. The art from Dave Taylor provides a muted, haunted vision of Mega City One, with overbearing architecture and a decaying, organic feel. It’s the perfect accompaniment to TC Edginton’s script, which places the emphasis on the disturbed Lamia as she struggles to cope with the overwhelming number of spirits that need her help and attention. Live evil is a locked room murder mystery, with the focus on characters. It also allows the reader to see Dredd from the point of view of another judge, emphasising his domineering and demanding persona, which is far removed from recent stories.

ABC Warriors: Fallout is coming to an end soon, so the gang are back together and ready for a big fight. ABC Warriors is essentially a showcase for Clint Langley’s art and Pat Mills anti-establishment ethos. Langley provides some beautiful splash pages of the metal heroes. Sadly, the style of art isn’t overly conducive to fast moving action, and the lecturing slows down the story. In this Prog, the Warriors spend three pages explaining to Blackblood just why they’re about to shoot him.

In Brass Sun; Engine Summer, Wren recaps on the last few years she has spent escaping her quest, and the grief that has followed her along the way. It’s sensitively written and shot through with understated emotion – as is the art from INJ Culbard, which uses almost simplistic line art and some beautifully subtle colouring that brings a real vibrancy to each page.

Last week saw the secret organisation that runs all governments meet an uneasy truce with some German hipsters, with the Pirates threatening to begin research on their own version of the mind altering drug that the evil Complex have already perfected and used to build an unstoppable army, with its users able to spend years quietly thinking about stuff whilst only minutes pass. That might not sound like much of a stalemate, but this is Savage: The Thousand Year Stare. Abandon all logic, yea who enter here. If only there was some way for the vastly powerful Complex to defeat a bunch of guys who we last saw being out gunned by half a dozen conscripts, and who’s secrets Bill discovered by asking some random teenager...someway the Complex could devote a huge amount of time into figuring out a plan...hmmmm...nope, can’t think of one. This week, Quartz is happy to use his greatest asset as a shield, the Pirates suddenly find themselves caring about people who are trying to figure out a way to kill millions of innocents, and Bill decides to risk it all to save the woman who got him into this mess in the first place, who is definitely alive after falling a couple of hundred feet. If you can put all this aside, then delight in the cackle of an evil robot billionaire as he fires his massive phallic cannon into the sky.

Danny Franks grieves for his dead friend again in Bad Company: Terrorists. Terrorists has flirted with going beyond the limitations expected of a story in which a bunch of soldiers seek revenge on a traitorous general, but the diversions have become increasingly oblique. This feels like a by the numbers story, with frequent tangents into weird battles and technology which ultimately don't go anywhere. Whilst it's been interesting to see other artists take on the iconic imagery of Bad Company, its going to take some work to wrap this up with a satisfying conclusion.