4 out of 5

Not necessarily all my favorites, but a very strong run of thrills.

The Dredd spot bounces around in tone during these weeks, mostly centered around Niemand, who handles serious and silly equally well. While a lot of these shorter (and one-shot) thrills feel like poke and prod world-building – reappearing characters from other short strips – that’s always been the game of writers that cycle through Dredd, and Niemand has a way of doing it that doesn’t make me feel like I’m left out by not remembering details from previous stories.

Another writer who does this intra-world building is Michael Carroll. Michael goes deep with it, and can do what I just mentioned – make it feel sort of exclusionary – but his stories and characterization are generally so strong, I’m happy to play catch up. ‘In the Event of my Untimely Demise’ starts up, following some crime finally interworkings Carroll has been plotting, and taking advantage of a seer of sorts who’s linked to Joe. Paul Marshall on art proves to be a perfect match – Marshall’s action sometimes feels off, timing-wise, but Carroll’s terse style syncs with Paul’s strengths. This is weighty stuff, and I always like Carroll’s Dredd – notes of tough cop badassness, but always a few steps away from the scarier side of the Judge system, reminding us that this is not meant to be “cool.”

Durham Red’s ‘Mad Dogs’ has Alec Worley and Ben Willsher sending the vamp assassin on a mad scientist kill op. Red is another character who’s tricky to balance, but Worley and Willsher have been building her up well, not playing the guilt card too much, not playing the vixen thing too much – turning her into more of a dimensioned character. The op, of course, goes wrong, and Willsher draws an amazing grody bad guy and some fittingly bloody action.

The Out’s arc returns and concludes. I’ve soured on this a little, as Mark Harrison’s art has gone too far overboard to the extent that I can sometimes hardly tell what’s going on, and with massively inconsistent character models, both of these things affecting however much I can sink into the story. Abnett definitely exploded this thing into unexpected directions, but this arc feels like his attempt to find a path back to something a bit more streamlined, and some of it comes across as a bit forced as a result. I’m still happy it’s continuing, as I have a lot of faith in Dan (and Mark, when the duo are vibing with a little more “control” on the visuals), but also glad some storylines have been drawn to something of a close.

Enemy Earth concludes. I don’t like this strip, and opinions seem to slant negative in the forums. But to be clear – I think Cavan Scott’s script is a good idea (mutant plants taking over the world) and solid, if a little soap opera-y, and I also like Luke Horsman’s stylized, graffiti-esque art style. …But it’s not a good match for this story. Horsman’s work does not have much visual depth – it’s all on one plane – and the humans are just as distorted as the creatures, making the distinction between the two non-existent. While you can tell what’s happening, it just doesn’t have enough impact to sell the thrill’s darkness. However: I love that this style of story has gotten a ride in the progs. Maybe I won’t love it if it goes on forever, but supposedly it will end after the next arc, and I appreciate giving it a full run. We need experiments like this – tonally, visually – because who knows what might actually create a new fan of the creatives if we don’t give ’em a shot?

(The Order also ended ended, pretty well, but I talked about that mostly last review.)

Rogue Trooper – Blighty Valley. This was a dang surprise to me. Garth Ennis’ writing has been iffy to me in later years, often way over-written, and though Patrick Goddard’s black and white art was a perfect match for Rogue, that Ennis used a black hole to send the character back to WWI – a shtick he’s done multiple times in other comics, finding a reason to drop a character into WWI / II / Vietnam – I was kind of rolling my eyes that we’d just be getting another Garth war comic. However – wow. The dialogue is tight, and Ennis’ commentary on war doesn’t come across as old man glorification / rants, but rather a very tempered, wizened bit of observation, massaged into legit characterization and pretty tense storytelling, as Rogue tries to get some soldiers he meets to safety.

So while not everything was maybe the best of all time, this was a collection of thrills that really represented what 2000 AD does better than any other mag, offering up some reliable characters who are flexed in all different ways depending on their creative teams, plus some wild card, can’t-see-this-anywhere-else strips.