The Forbidden Planet International Blog

Until February 2012, I’d never read 2000AD weekly for anything more than a few weeks.

Then I made the pledge. I will read the comic for a year, and tell you what I reckoned each and every week. That was at the end of February 2012. So now I’m into Year 2 of the 2000AD experience and by now it’s a feature, a touchstone for the week. Wednesday afternoon – pop to the newsagent, get the latest issue, week’s halfway through. So although the pledge may be over, the reading isn’t. I’m officially a 2000AD convert. And the weekly 2000AD is where I still tell you all about it….

Next week there’s another jumping on point. Amney Crucis finished last week, Strontium Dog the week before. Savage finishes this week, and there’s a double length series finale to Red Seas. All of which leaves the comic awaiting a new set of stories in Prog 1823. Just like they did a few months back. Too much? Or merely aggressively chasing the new market worldwide opened up by going digital?

Anyway, it does imbue this issue with something of a sense of clearing the decks, which is a little unfortunate. Although I have to say, this latest round of stories, although not all bad, certainly haven’t really done all that much for me.

Judge Dredd by TG Eglington and Karl Richardson

Okay, so it’s a sort of nothing Dredd strip, one of the in-between things that I know are all part of building up the Dredd legend and all that, but this was a rather well done sort of nothing Dredd strip. The central idea of MC-1 being a bit stretched in the Judge department you see above all wrapped up in a little tale of interesting tattoo technology. Great ending as well.

Savage by Pat Mills and Patrick Goddard

Oh, this has been a frustrating series, starting really well but being rather derailed by Mills’ determination to slam the reader over the head with his political points, a comic writer version of a young Ben Elton. And it frustrates at the end as well, not because this final chapter is bad, but for precisely the opposite. Mills manages to draw everything together, coming back to the simple truth of war being crap, life or death often coming down to plain dumb luck. The final twist is rather brilliantly done, and simply puts what went before into harsher light. 

And as usual, Goddard’s black and white solid work shines through on every page. Very, very strong. Shame about the sixth form politics.

Past Imperfect: Rocket De La Revolucion by Montynero and Simon Fraser

Oh, this really is a nicely done in one little future shocky sort of thing, although we’re now calling them “Past Imperfect” for some reason. Plus Simon Fraser’s art looks damn fine. Making this modern day Cuba look wonderful, all modern, gleaming, high tech…. except that’s not the way it’s meant to be.

Yep, Rocket Del La Revolucion has all the twisty-turny stuff it needs, and the concept is good enough to make you as the reader actually think hard about what’s gone on here.

The Red Seas by Ian Edginton and Steve Yeowell

And here we are, the double length finale to The Red Seas. I was so very tempted, once I’d seen that panel above to simply let that stand as the actual review.

But that wouldn’t be fair. Yes, it diid very little for me, and yes, I’m glad to see the back of the series now. But actually having a longer episode than usual here meant Yeowell’s big panels didn’t seem quite so wasteful, and the open and fast storytelling worked just that little bit better.

So much so that I figured the least I could do would be to cut back on the snark and run a different picture to say farewell with….