4 out of 5

Congrats to Arthur Wyatt and Tom Foster for the best pun-based Dredd thrill of the year with Prog 2040’s The Wrap-Up.  Fowler is like a modern-day Bolland; his sequential work is phenomenal.  Prior to this, Rory McConville finishes out his humorous censorship two-parter, which has a great few last panels, then gives us another one-shot with his usual we’re-spoiled-by-your-creativity high standards, concerning criminal cloning dealings.  In the last of this month’s progs, recent superstar duo Michael Carroll and Paul Marshall start up Ouroboros: drug busts and the return of a Michael Carroll character from, I think, 2016?  (The Carroll-verse!)

Defoe builds up to a bloody fun penultimate slaughter, though its final thrill felt like pointless page-filler, getting in a final couple yuks regarding print media.  Still, as I’ve previously praised, this was peak Mills: his smartest snark lain atop a plot with momentum and sprinkled with action.

…Not so much with Greysuit, which starts up in Prog 2040.  The winding narrative of GS is such that it requires a text summary page, and its indicative of a Mills format I don’t prefer: Endless plot churn via ass-backwards twists that just feel like justifications for an agenda.  The whole endless backstabbing if the strip is amusing, and a superpowered underdog is a good lead, but John Higgins’ stiff art and all the masculine posturing make it hard for me to build up much interest for this.

Thankfully, the rest of the progs fill up my thrill-quotient: Abnett does double (awesome) duty on the conclusion of Brink’s second arc – which packs some killer twists all the way to the end – and the chummy Grey Area, which has ookily wormed its way into my heart as a fave (like a lot of Abnett strips…), taking the classic SinDex route of very short storylines.  Dan keeps things evolving with the racist and brusque squad seven’s Captain Grell surely stirring up problems.

Lastly, Rennie’s Rogue Trooper-world manhunt Hunted continues, just thriving off that awesome PJ Holden art, tying together some of its wandering plot threads as it heads toward its middle.  Still not as much fun as Jaegir – it really lacks a central character – but Rennie keeps the sense of momentum strong, making it a compelling read.