2000AD, PROG 2108 REVIEW

Writers: Rob Williams; James Peaty; Dan Abnett; Arthur Wyatt
Artists: Henry Flint, Colin MacNeil; INJ Culbard; Pye Parr; Richard Elson
Colourists: Chris Blythe; Dylan Teague; Abigail Bulmer
Letterers: Annie Parkhouse; Ellie De Ville; Simon Bowland; Pye Parr 
Publisher: Rebellion


How far would those who hold power go to retain control?  Dredd has uncovered Smiley’s terrible secret – that he knew of the Sov plan to launch the Apocalypse War, and let it happened. But can Dredd get the secret out...and will anyone care?

Judge Dredd: The Small House continues to systematically demolish the foundations of Dredd’s world. Stories about alien invasions, or zombie wars, or super-viruses are all very well...but The Small House shows that, through masterful writing, Dredd’s stoney visage can be shaken with a well-placed word. For years, Dredd stories have been undercut with his concerns about the system and how it will change without him. Smiley, the most original and understated villain he has faced off against, reminds Dredd that he was bred for a purpose, a tool of the state, and as such is entirely replaceable.  Rob Williams writes Dredd as a boiling ocean of rage, concealed beneath a stern grimace, struggling to do the right thing in a world that probably doesn't care.

And Frank...poor, broken Frank. From cracking rubbish jokes, to the distraught man he’s become, used to enact a plot so fundamentally opposed to everything he stands for. With just a few lines of dialogue and the wonderfully emotive art of Henry Flint, a man’s soul is laid bare. Poor Frank.

Skip Tracer: Legion comes to an underwhelming close this Prog. The unstoppable and ancient demonic Legion, who hid in Keenan’s head and was unleashed upon a high-tech military facility was, it turns out, really easy to stop. All it took was the power of love. And a gun.

Skip Tracer’s initial outing failed to break new ground, relying too heavily on sci-fi tropes. Legion does the same, only occasionally showing flashes of originality as its characters fleetingly questioned the predictability of it all. Solidly delivered, but a mish-mash of ideas familiar to anyone with a love of science fiction movies.

Brink: High Society; a story where nothing happens, twice. Kurtis continues a discussion with her colleagues, before returning to work. Brink is considered, patient, and beautiful. At times, it’s glacial. Reading it five pages at a time might feel like a chore if you’re more used to all action adventures. If so, read it in a single sitting and delight in its small and realistic interactions between characters, its technical and intelligent police procedural story, and the tiny details that make this world.

Not enough stories climax with the heroes leaping from the sweaty buttocks of a trucker into an awaiting toilet.. Tharg’s 3riller: Infectonauts Are Go! ends with a bonkers battle as the nanobots race to escape the body of Dave Dwayneski. It’s a gross-out adventure, which takes open sores and rashes and turns them into a ravaged landscape where tiny robots battle against parasites.

Infectonauts Are Go! has managed to escape the 3riller curse: it’s made full use of each of its three parts, without hanging around for too long or providing unnecessary detail. Bright and breezy, filled with action, and with some great design work from Pye Parr, Infestonauts could easily hold an ongoing series, which would allow the further development of its quite lightweight characters. It’s so good I’ve not even had a chance to overuse my ongoing joke about how you pronounce “3riller”.

The humans do what they do to retain control in Kingdom: Alpha And Omega. A nuclear bomb, off target and early thanks to the work of Pause, pushes Gene back into what he does best: shouting and killing things with a big knife. All this philosophising has gone on for a bit long, so it’s a relief to see Kingdom get back to having big, chunky characters beat each other up. Long may it continue.