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2000 A.D. Prog 1974

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    Ian Jane
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  • 2000 A.D. Prog 1974



    2000 A.D. Prog 1974
    Released by: 2000 A.D./Rebellion
    Released on: April 5th, 2016.
    Written by: Various
    Illustrated by: Various
    Purchase From Amazon

    2000 A.D. Prog 1974 is here, all wrapped up with a Survival Geeks cover from Dylan Teague. What does this week's issue have in store? Read on!

    Judge Dredd - The Grindstone Cowboys by Michael Carroll and Colin MacNeil: Dredd, along with a few accomplices, is fending off the Raiders in the Cursed Earth town of Hickory. Single shots only, gotta save ammo and reduce the risk of collateral damage! After the firefight Dredd interrogates the Raiders but out here, Raiders and townsfolk alike have no use for Judges and don't recognize their authority. One Raider spills it, however, and gives Dredd a name - Thorn. Menawhile, in Judge HQ, there's talk that Dredd is being used as a scapegoat but in his absence, crime is up in Mega-City One. Dredd's informant tells them that Thorn is holed up in a nearby wind farm, and so off Dredd goes with Koto, Rico and Lorezno to see what they can do about stopping all of this insanity.

    This second chapter builds nicely off of the impressive first chapter, delivering some action in pretty healthy doses but also elaborating a bit on the potential conspiracy theory surrounding the very reason Dredd has been sent out into the wasteland in the first place. Carroll writes the characters well and has a knack for bringing the Cursed Earth mutants to life, while MacNeil's art is as impressive as it always is. Great use of color here too by Len O'Grady.

    Tharg's 3Rillers - Repossession Orders by Eddie Robson and Jake Lynch: The guy with the pipe is taking out as many of the squatters as he can, showing no mercy, but then something… not quite human gives him a taste of his own medicine. Meanwhile the real estate agent and potential buyer poking around the lower floors are wondering what all of the noise is. When they run into what they think is plastic sheeting, they quickly learn that's not the case and the buyer is sucked up by it and killed. Back on the higher floors, Lisa and the other tenants, or what's left of them, try to figure out who or what is causing all of this - and then they meet Mary.

    The themes that made the first installment interesting continue to keep this second chapter a smart, spooky read. The politics are obvious here - the rich real estate agent is paying the guy with the pipe to kill the poor - but the horror elements are where the real creativity comes into the storyline. And they're handled well. Some of the concepts and the imagery courtesy of Lynch's illustrations are genuinely messed up and likely to stick with you long after you flip the page.

    Survival Geeks - Geek Fatales by Gordon Remmie, Emma Beeby and Neil Googe: The geeks have taken shelter from the war outside in a home where the owner has confronted them at gun point. It's then that they notice the gender reversals in the pop culture decor - Luke in a slave outfit, a female Doctor, stuff like that - the guns go down and both parties start talking and realize they've found alternate gender reversed versions of themselves. As they discuss how to get the visiting group home, the rodents outside plan their next assault.

    This one is still overly complicated but it is nicely drawn and the humor is more effective in this issue than it was in the last. Some of the pop culture references are clever and subtle, some are a little much. The verdict is still out on this serial.

    Tainted: The Fall Of Deadworld by Kek-W and Dave Kendal: Judge Fairfax saves Judge Collins in a gory but daring rescue/assault - it's a flashback. Back in the 'present' Fairfax wakes up and finds Luke checking out his weapon. He overreacts, not really caring much about the fact that they took him in and gave him shelter. The grandfather, the one that was railing against the government in the last chapter, goes off on Fairfax but it's no use. He requisitions the entire family and tells them they're all heading west. As to the drone that's been flying around? It's looking for Fairfax.

    Dark, messed up post apocalyptic horror and action done right! This is great stuff, if not for the faint of heart, and the more we see of the world outside the family home where this story began the darker and more messed up it seems to be getting. Intertwining Fairfax's back story with the present day does a good job of developing his character and making sense out of his fairly extreme actions, while the dialogue is well written, believable and natural. Kendal's art is gory but beautiful in a macabre sort of way, very detailed but with a classical, sort of European flair to it that suits things perfectly.

    Aquila: Charon's Mercy by Gordon Rennie and Paul Davidson: Four months before the events in the first chapter, The Sin Punisher and his target, fearing for his life, lets slip that he knows a man who can talk to the dead, a man who can help him - Tortrix The Sorcerer in Hispana Citerior. He is known to often hang out among the gladiators, which explains why the first chapter ended the way it did. Cut back to the present and the two are finishing up their messy work, while not too far away Tortrix prepares for his next tinkering job.

    Mixing up action and fantasy and horror with some healthy doses of pitch black humor, this twisted tale is pretty entertaining stuff. It's tough to say where it's going to go from here, but that's a good thing - predictability is dull. The back and forth that Rennie writes for our two 'heroes' is typically clever and amusing while Davidson's nicely detailed artwork does a fine job of bringing all of the chaos inherent in the storyline to vibrant full color life.










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