2000AD #2204 REVIEW

Writer: Rob Williams; Ian Edginton; James Peaty; Alec Worley
Artists: Dan Cornwell; D’Israeli; Paul Marshall; Tiernen Trevallion;Leigh Gallagher
Colours: Jim Boswell; Dylan Teague
Letters: Annie Parkhouse; Jim Campbell; Simon Bowland
Publisher: Rebellion

Judge Dredd: They Shoot Talking Horse, Don’t They? is another epilogue to Rob William’s mini-epic End of Days, with Dredd, Anderson and a talking horse searching the Cursed Earth for leftover demons.

“Time being circular, no coincidences”, Anderson comments early on. End of Days spend much of its time rifing on 2000AD history, with twisted re-imagining of characters and events. The meta-textuality continues in They Shoot Talking Horses: Dredd has a history with talking equines, and the situation he finds himself in by the end of this story has a link to the original taking horse sidekick, Henry Ford, way back in Prog 140.

Much of the dialogue will be hugely confusing to new reader, with Dredd and Anderson discussing their roles in End of Days, both of which made little sense even at the time. Still, it quickly gets up speed, with nice details of Cursed Earth life.

Stickleback: New Jerusalem is another story that will leave newer readers confounded.

It’s unbounded fun, but continues a battle that we last saw six years ago. Stickleback and his friends are back in the “real” world”, and this Prog builds towards a conflict whilst reminding us what is at stake with a menacing monologue.

Nolan has to deal with his past actions in Skiptracer: Hyperballad. Having inexplicably teleported himself into the toxic gangland he helped create, he becomes the comic’s most recognisable embodiment of 2020 by wearing a facemask to defend himself and others from impending societal collapse.

Skiptracer is mostly generic sci-fi, but is clearly working to build a world with impact and consequence. It’s just unfortunate that it does this through a bland character whose only real development over the last few years was to grow a beard.

India’s horrific backstory is told, but its raises more questions than it answers about the world in which Skiptracer is set.

Fiends of the Eastern Front: Constanta delves in legends and fairytales, with a young Constanta consulting a wise dragon on his future. Tiernan Trevallion’s lovely, angular art is perfectly suited to a retelling of myth. Fiends is certainly taking its time and I fear that things will end suddenly with a twist on where the tale is being told. For now, though, Fiends continues to entertain.

Hookjaw also continues in its weirdness, with Jack turning to a local witch to seek help against the magic shark. There’s more magic, explosions of gory violence, and hints conspiracy, but Hookjaw keeps pulling back from full-on demonic shark-fest it must surely become. Placing ancient magical mysteries solidly in the real world, there’s plenty of humour as a small Cornish town uses brutal slaughter as a tourist attraction.