Judge Dread “How to get out of debt” by: Alan Grant (writer), Karl Richardson (art) & Annie Parkhouse (letters)
The Red Seas, Gods & Monsters, pt. 8 by: Ian Edginton (writer), Steve Yeowell (art) & Ellie De Ville (letters)
Cadet Anderson, Teenage Kxy by: Alan Grant (writer), Carlos & Hector Ezquerra (art) & De Ville (letters)
Absalom, Noblesse Oblige, pt. 4 by: Gordon Rennie (writer), Tiernen Trevallion (art) & Simon Bowland (letters)
Nikolai Dante, Bad Blood pt. 4 by: Robbie Morrison (writer), Simon Fraser (art), Gary Caldwell (colors) & Parkhouse (letters)
Review: A few months ago as I was filling out my pre-order materials, my eyes got caught on the 2000 AD “June Pack”. Now, I’d never read 2000 AD and was intrigued by this pack of 4 comics from “across the pond”. Of course, pre-ordering comics means that you’re waiting 2-3 months for them to actually show up and with 2000 AD, it is actually worse because “they” have to ship the comics across from England.
I was a combination of nervous and excited when I read this issue. I like some British things, but am not a huge fan of many of their TV shows. Maybe their comics wouldn’t connect with me at all? Maybe I would find jumping on at issue #1735 to be a little challenging?
Turns out it was a great experience and I really kinda wish that American comics would take some lessons from our friends on the island of Britain. What you get with 2000 AD is a weekly collection of 5 short stories. Each story is 5-6 pages long and the issue is printed at magazine size rather than our traditional American comic size.
The stories are just a great collection. There are two great little Judge Dread stories in this Prog (they call them “Progs” instead of “issues” for some reason), but we also get a tale of swashbuckling sailors battling another ship crewed by the Devil and his minions, a story of ~500 year old policeman charged with keeping a kind of Hellboy-esque cast of characters in line and a futuristic tale of a Russian revolutionary. So, the subject matter is all over the place, but I found all of the stories to be enjoyable and accessible and all tell satisfying bits of story. In all, it seems like this is epitome of serialized entertainment and 2000 AD might be a nice place to turn if you’ve gotten tired of the semi-obligatory 6-issue stories that pervade American comics these days.
The art was mostly great too. I didn’t love the coloring on the Cadet Anderson story, but otherwise I found all of the linework to be very professional and high quality. Bonus points also for having two of the stories (Red Seas & Absalom) in black and white.
An interesting tidbit is that 2000 AD is coming to America in a proper way such that we can get these comics weekly instead of in packs of four a month after they were read in the UK. I’ll probably be reviewing at least some of them, but I’ll have to figure out a decent format.
Conclusion: A great issue (oops….I mean “Prog”) and a really fun series in my first exposure. If you’re sick of decompressed storytelling and the lack of variety in mainstream U.S. comics, this might be a thing to try.
Grade: B
– Dean Stell
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