2000AD, PROG 2053

Writers: Arthur Wyatt; Pat Mills; Kek-W; Gordon Rennie; Dan Abnett; Ben Willsher

Artists: Simon Roy; Simon Davis; Lee Carter; Tiernen Trevallion; Mark Harrison

Letterers: Annie Parkhouse; Ellie De Ville; Simon Bowland

Publisher: Rebellion

There’s something a little bit...alien about Judge Dredd: Adaptive Optics. It might be a judge of Dredd’s experience missing such a glaring clue to the identity of a murderer, or it might be the art by Simon Roy, his first work for 2000AD. Roy perfectly creates the organic, alien world and lifeforms of distant planet of Xelith Prime, where a war has raged for decades until an Earth based arms dealer sell weapons to both sides. His Mega City One however, with its rigid uniforms and architecture, seems a little unusual. At one point, a judge appears smoking a cigarette (a crime in Mega City One), whilst in others the art is uneven and rough edged. On the whole, it’s a disappointing one-shot.

A big fight continues in (deep breath) Slaine: The Brutanian Chronicles: Book Four: Archeon: Part Four. The celtic warrior gives one of his speeches whilst hacking at things with an axe. The dialogue is as heavy and cumbersome as the evil Yaldaboath and his army of stone people, but at least the art picks up again this issue, with some lovely panels amid the dank dialogue and shouty lettering. After several weeks of not very much actually happening, it’s just a relief that something actually happens, but this is dragging on for too long.

Whilst Slaine might have spent quite some time ploughing the same furrow, the dimension hopping agents of Indigo Prime always have something new to say. Every episode is a wild adventure which could go anywhere. Beat author William Burroughs and wife murderer Dr Crippen battle their way through a haunted dreamscape, whilst Doc Cotton removes a weaponized infant-universe skin from Jerry Foundation. It’s just a normal day at the Indigo Prime office. New writer Kek-W has ably stepped into the large shoes of long term writer John Smith. As brimming with delicate character moments as it is with indecipherable, future science jargon, Indigo Prime: A Dying Art, is a joy to behold.

Ageing London copper Harry Absalom makes a welcome return to 2000AD by punching a Nazi and calling him a pillock. Harry’s no-nonsense, politically incorrect, old-school policing method is immediately endearing. Despite hallucinations caused by rapidly failing health, the detective is the most straightforward aspect of Absalom: Terminal Diagnosis. In a world where there is a long standing agreement between the British authorities and Hell, Harry is tasked with enforcing The Accord, making sure neither side steps over the line. Harry, however, also has his own problems to contend with and is secretly putting a plan together to save his family. It’s a London of petty thugs and crimelords, but also of monsters of demons, and Tiernen Trevallion’s greyscale art is full of intricate detail and interesting design. Absalom is definitely one to watch.

Grey Area: Homeland Security rushes to a conclusion after taking a while to get this far. The border control force are up against Chinese super-soldiers in the Kuwait desert, in a race to prevent the use of illegal alien technology. It’s well handled, with a flashback structure and pages packed with action and panels. On the whole, although extremely well told Homeland Security has been a little flat, with a great deal of exposition, introductions to new characters and set up. It’s just another step in a longer tale which won’t come to a conclusion for a long time yet.