2000AD #2214 Review

Writers: Mike Carroll; Alec Worley; Pat Mills; Mike Carroll; Rob Williams
Artists: William Simpson; Ben Willsher; Leonardo Manco; Jake Lynch; Simon Fraser
Colours: Jim Boswell
Letters: Annie Parkhouse; Jim Campbell; Simon Bowland
Publisher: Rebellion

In a future South America, Judge Dredd leads a team investigating a suspicious death and a rogue Judge. This episode, the team’s ship has crashed and they infiltrate a settlement construction upon massive rocks that, due to some dodgy gravity science, float high above the plains.

At least, that’s what the ongoing narration explains. The artwork is so muddy that it’s almost impossible to distinguish what’s going on. Historically, Will Simpson’s art for 2000AD has been frequently great – his painted close ups can be moody and visceral, but this story needs dreamlike landscapes and clear, moment to moment storytelling.

The result is a story that is really disappointing. Without the character’s continual narration of what they’re looking at, Judge Dredd: Desperadlands would be impossible to follow.

Hershey: The Brutal is slowly building. Half of this episode goes towards developing the villain, whilst the other half follows former Judges Hershey and Frank as they attempt to get closer to their foe through the underground boxing circuit. This is a story that I have concerns about, given that it resurrects two characters who had important deaths, but despite my concerns this is starting to look promising.  Frank returns to referring to himself in the third person, whilst Hershey takes painkillers and names a dog Joe. It’s a nice character piece.

A muscular barbarian clubs a dragon to death with a rock and kills a whole bunch of pseudo Romans in Slaine: Dragontamer.  The dialogue is as clunky as always, with slow paced monologues placed instead fast moving action...but that’s how Slaine works.  Leonardo Manco’s artwork is absolutely gorgeous, every panel packed with brutal, bloodthirtsy action.

There’s a big alien punch up in Proteus Vex. The Silent are attacking an Imperial outpost...can Proteus get there in time to save the day? It’s fast moving action, and includes a nice nod to Vex’s role as an alien space opera James Bond.

The big, dumb action continues in Durham Red: Served Cold. The bad guys are surrounding the small town prison, where Durham must team up with the local sheriff. This is popcorn-movie-thrills with explosion and firefights, and obvious villains and last minute twists just waiting in the wings.

In all, an action-packed prog with some lovely details, but with some disappointments in key areas.