Prog 1787 – A medical review

Special guest reviewer- Eamonn Clarke

Spoiler alert! Mild spoilers for 2000AD prog 1787 follow. You have been warned.

There are some more medical details about the chaos bug in the latest 2000AD. Chaos Day has arrived and the deadly micro-organism is sweeping through Mega-City one. According to the caption in the second panel there are now millions of victims which suggests we are on the third day of Professor Wyant’s projections.

Dredd is working with a small team of Judges and members of the Citi-Def citizens’ militia as they try to regain control of a single city block. After Dredd deals with an infected victim in characteristic, uncompromising  fashion we get another snippet of information about the infectious nature of the Chaos organism. Respirators are apparently essential to prevent airborne transmission, but the Judges have also covered their exposed skin with a barrier gel. This suggests that either the organism can penetrate human skin, or more likely the airborne organism can settle on human skin and then be transferred internally later by the usual hand to mouth touching that we all do throughout the day. This is how we normally pick up the common cold virus and manage to infect ourselves. It would be nice if we had a barrier gel that we could wear during flu and cold season.

Having established that the chaos illness can be caught through breathing or skin contact we then get a standard scene for any Zombie type infection story – a human bite. Clearly the bite of a Chaos victim will transmit the bug to the unfortunate Citi-Def member and Dredd prepares to take drastic action with a laser. But this is a bit strange because it seems fairly clear that the Citi-Def are not wearing any form of masks. Having established that respirators are mandatory it would appear that the militia members are already at risk of airborne infection. Could the Judges have made a deliberate decision to sacrifice the Citi-Def members? And if so why does Dredd bother with the laser surgery he is planning at the end of this page. It does seem like a strange omission, unless their lack of respirators has been explained somewhere else? Please email me if I have missed this.

Having said all that the story of Chaos Day is completely engrossing and this minor detail does not detract from John Wagner’s masterpiece. The full scale of the disaster is becoming clear and strangely Dredd seems to be on the periphery of the action as the Mega-City falls. Presumably his moment is coming but it is difficult to see how the Judges are going to save the day.

My nit-picking point about the respirators means this issue only gets 3 out of 5 medic-droids for medical accuracy, but it gets a full 10 points on the Zarjaz scale. Watch this space for more soon.

Prog 1786 – The Beginning Of The End…

Cover:

John Burns may have finished his work on Dante inside the prog, but its fitting that he gets to provide a cover for Dante’s final adventure. Its a very nice cover too, reminding me of a movie poster, which I presume is the point. Burn’s painted art hasn’t always been a favourite of mine for a strip, but theres no doubting that the man is an incredibly talented artist. I can just see this cover image being sold as a poster or even framed on someones wall. Just like Ezquerra’s effort last week, this is likely to pull in lapsed readers and for me thats one of the hallmarks of a great cover.

Judge Dredd – Day of Chaos: Wot I Did During The Worst Dissaster In Mega-City History:

In case you hadn’t realised from that grammatically incorrect title, P.J. Maybe makes his return this week. (And as an English teacher in training I really did not enjoy writing that title I can tell you.) It’s not just Maybe who’s back though, as the Dark Judges aren’t far behind. It’s something of a comedic interlude for Dredd this week, which suprised me considering Wagner’s intention was to remove the more silly aspects from the Dark Judges. They appear to be hopelessly inept since their escape a few weeks ago, being recaptured fairly easily by Maybe. I’m still confident that Wagner knows full well what he’s doing so I won’t criticise this turn of events. This weeks installment is another fantastic interlude, and next week…Chaos Day!

Durham Red – The “Nobody Wants This Job” Job – Part 2:

It’s very much a point A to point B installment for Durham Red this week, as she makes her way to the planet Rann on her very first bounty mission. There’s not a tremendous amount of dialogue this week, though fortunatly the mutant called Jones has tagged along to at least give Red someone to talk too. Everythings still ticking along nicely here and I’m really enjoying this flashback to Durham Red’s past. More of the same next week please.

Grey Area – One of Our Own – Part 2:

One of the criticisms I had with Grey Area’s previous run in the prog was the lack of a really meaningful story. The short stories we got seemed very inconsequential with little real substance to them. Only two parts into Grey Area’s return and it seems like we are at last getting a story which will have an impact on the characters in the future. I don’t have a lot more to say than that this week, but Grey Area is certainly heading in the right direction with this latest story.

Future Shocks – A Guide For Prisoners Arriving From The Year 2149:

These four page one off strips can all to often feel like little more than filler material, but this latest offering crams an impressive amount of story into such a short amount of space. Theres an incredibly clever and complex idea behind this story, involving time travel and a very big paradox. I actually had to reread this one to fully understand it, but once I did I was able to fully appreciate what a great piece of work this was.

Nikolai Dante – Sympathy For The Devil – Part 1:

And so it begins, the very last Nikolai Dante story. It’s a rather quiet and poignant start to this story with a final goodbye between Nikolai and Viktor. It’s a really nice way to start this final adventure, a calm character moment which I presume will precede the carnage which I’m sure is on its way. Far too early to form an opinion on the Russian Rogue’s swansong yet, but I’m confident that this will turn out to be a spectacular send off. He deserves no less.

Overall:

A much stronger prog than we’ve had in quite a while. All five strips were very good this week, and have given me far more confidence in the line up than I’ve had since Flesh began its twelve week run. A prog firing on all cylinders.

Quote of the Week: “Too many ghosts here, Viktor.” – Nikolai Dante

Thrill of the Week: Judge Dredd

Prog 1785 – Red Star

Cover:

This cover really does what it says on the tin, announcing the return of Durham Red to the prog. It’s by Carlos Ezquerra so it goes without saying that this is an excellent effort. It’s a bit cheesy perhaps, but Durham Red is a cheesy character anyway so thats unavoidable really. The starscape in the background is a nice touch, making the cover a bit more eyecatching than it would have been otherwise (although you could never accuse Durham Red of being anything less than eyecatching.) This is exactly the sort of cover which will pull in any lapsed readers, and so can only be viewed as a success.

Judge Dredd – Day of Chaos: Tea for Two:

The Day of Chaos takes an interlude this week as Dredd goes to pay his niece Vienna a vist. Any long term Dredd reader can’t help to have wondered what had happpened to Dredd’s “family” during the current story arc, so it was good that Wagner chose to address this. Edmund Bagwell isn’t perhaps an automatic choice for Dredd artist, but he does a fantastic job here. That subtle image on the first page of a citizen having hanged himself in the street effectively gets across just how desperate a situation Mega City One finds itself in. Judge Dredd continues to be nothing short of perfection.

Flesh – Midnight Cowboys – Part 12 (Final Part):

Finally, finally, this dire strip comes to an end. For that reason alone this is the single best installment of Flesh yet. That final page however seems to be setting up yet another series which is the worst 2000AD news I’ve heard for a long time. Claw Carver’s returning? I really couldn’t care less.

Durham Red – The “Nobody Wants This Job” Job – Part 1:

Its a Strontium Dog Universe strip with art by Carlos Ezquerra…of course I’m going to love this. Unlike the Cadet Anderson strip this actually seems to have a point in revisiting the characters past, as we get to see Durham Red’s very first day as a Search/Destroy agent. I could probably read pages and pages of strips set entirely aboard the Doghouse, as Ezquerra always draws brilliant and varied mutants. Whatever direction this strip goes in I’m sure i’m going to thoroughly enjoy it and after just a single installment I’m allready hoping that we’ll get more Durham Red strips in the future.

Grey Area – One of  Our Own – Part 1:

Grey Area returns this week after a couple of months absence from the Prog. I’m still not quite 100% behind this strip yet, but I’m still willing to give it a chance. The setup is certainly an interesting one, and I can tell each character apart now which is vital in an ensemble piece such as this. I think Lee Carter has to be the artist of choice for Grey Area now as he continues to show just how good his art can look when in colour. Despite my uncertainty towards the strip there is still plenty to enjoy here, and I’m confident that Grey Area will win me over soon.

Cadet Anderson – Algol – Part 6 (Final Part):

Thus ends a fairly disapointing story. Its not really done anything particularly wrong but the whole story has felt pretty insignificant, with no real reason for being set during Anderson’s cadet days. As I’ve said previously this strip has screamed of filler, and if we see another Cadet Anderson story I hope we get some sort of character development for what is undoubtedly one of 2000AD’s most important characters.

Overall:

The addition of Durham Red and Grey Area to the line up this week give the Prog a much needed boost, after what had been a few weeks of being fairly stale. Flesh coming to an end can only be a good thing, as it means the overall quality of the prog will continue to improve next week, particularly with Nikolai Dante beginning his final story. With many promising strips in the near future its a good time to be reading 2000AD.

Quote of the Week: “How sudden that fall had been. Not over centuries, or years – but in a matter of days.” – Judge Dredd

Thrill of the Week: Durham Red

Prog 1784 – Rex On Fire!

Cover:

Its not great is it? Technically its not a bad cover as there is nothing wrong with the art, but its just to static and not particularly interesting to look at. This sort of cover isn’t likely to pull in any new readers, and it took me a while to find it on the shelves of WHSmiths. Not terrible then, but a pretty uninspired effort.

Judge Dredd – Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction – Part 20:

Wow…when was the last time we saw a Part 20 in the Prog? Needless to say Dredd continues to be a masterclass in comics, as we draw to within just a few hours of the Day of Chaos. This week we get to see two elements of the DoC come together, as Dredd has to battle both rioting Cits, as well as trying to prevent further outbreak of the Chaos Virus. I was pleased to see the virus return to the strip, as I feel it was getting overlooked when the Dark Judges were around. Still this is as good as its possible for a comic strip to be. Perfection in six pages!

Flesh – Midnight Cowboys – Part 11:

In total contrast to Dredd, Flesh is perhaps as bad as its possible for a comic strip to be. I really can’t be bothered with this utter rubbish anymore, in fact I’m so fed up with it that I’m even finding it difficult to muster up the will to hate it now. I still feel six blank pages would be more interesting than this has been. The end can’t come soon enough.

The Zaucer of Zilk – Part 10 (Final Part):

Now this has been an absolute joy to read from start to finish. Zaucer of Zilk has proven to be something of a suprise hit during its ten week run, and I’m happy to say that it gets an appropriatly happy ending. I hate to use the word cosy when referring to anything in 2000AD, but the ending to ZoZ was cosy, with those final two pages being sure to raise a smile from any reader. The ending does leave it open for a possible return, and while I think Zaucer of Zilk would perhaps be better served by being a one off, I would be only too glad to see it return to the Prog in the future. Well done to all involved.

Terror Tales – Kitsuneland:

Terror Tales are my personal favourite of the various types of one off strips, so I’m always pleased to see one appear in the Prog. This one was a pretty complicated story with the reader really needing to know something of Japanese folklore in order to fully appreciate it. Still I really enjoyed it, and felt that the atmosphere it managed to achieve was admirable given the strips four page limitation. Mark Harrison’s art looks absolutly stunning throughout, meaning this is three one off strips in a row which have benefited from great artwork. I can see why some people wouldn’t enjoy this, but it gets a thumbs up from me.

Cadet Anderson – Algol – Part 5:

The current Cadet Anderson strip is ok, but unfortunatly it just screams of filler material. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for this to be a young Anderson story, as we’re not learning anything new about the characters early days. Instead thus far its been a pretty bog standard run around as the two young Judges and their mentor track down the rogue Psi. Its not bad by any means, but there isn’t really a lot to get excited about either.

Overall:

The overall standard of the Prog remains very good, but the current line up is starting to look a little over tired. Fortunaly new series of Durham Red and Grey Area begin next week, which i’m hopeful will give the Prog the shot in the arm which it needs right now. Its not a bad prog this week though, with Dredd and Zaucer of Zilk towering over the rest.

Quote of the Week: “No more eternal youth, I’m Mister Grow-Old now.” – Zaucer of Zilk

Thrill of the Week: Zaucer of Zilk

Prog 1783 – A medical review

Special guest reviewer- Eamonn Clarke

Spoiler alert! Mild spoilers for the Judge Dredd story from Prog 1783 ahead. You have been warned!

The Day of Chaos – Eve of Destruction story by John Wagner continues and the situation in Mega-City One just gets worse. The Council of Five meet to try and plan a way out of the approaching catastrophe and they have summoned my favourite Mega-City Microbiologist, Professor Lucas Wyant.

 

Wyant lays out the difficulties they face in trying to control the spread of the deadly Chaos Bug. His calculations of the numbers of people likely to be infected are based on an exponential growth rate with each newly infected victim going on to infect a number of people and so on, and so on. Plugging Wyant’s figures into excel and using an exponential growth trend suggests that the number of Chaos infected citizens on day four will be 147 million. After the Apocalypse war the Mega-City One population is about 400 million so Wyant is correct when he says that Dredd’s suggestion of a quarter of the city is likely to be an underestimate. However Dredd is not far off and this just reinforces the impression that Dredd instinctively knows his city and the challenges facing it. Likewise John Wagner’s attention to detail in this storyline continues to impress me. He certainly seems to have a grasp of public health issues and exponential growth rates.

Turning back a page Judges in bio-hazard suits examine the body of one of the infected agents who brought the Chaos bug into the city. They note that he bled to death and that transfusions just seemed to make the situation worse.

It would seem that along with all the others symptoms the infection also causes a condition called Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, or DIC for short, which is an extremely serious blood clotting disorder. In DIC multiple tiny clots form within blood vessels and these clots quickly use up all the proteins known as clotting factors. Without these clotting factors there is nothing to stop bleeding and the result is uncontrolled haemorrhage. Giving patients blood or infusing clotting factors may buy some time but can actually make things worse and the only effective treatment is to find what has caused the DIC in the first place, and to reverse that. As Professor Wyant points out, for the victims of the incurable Chaos bug this is impossible. DIC also explains why the infected bleed from every orifice as discussed in Prog 1765.

 

I would be fascinated to know where Wagner gets his medical knowledge. He is certainly on the money again here, even in a single throw-away remark by a Med-Judge that reveals more about the deadly plague which is sweeping the Mega-City. This issue gets a full 5 out of 5 medic-droids for medical accuracy. The new Golden Age of 2000AD continues. If you want to get caught up on what you have been missing then there is a useful recap of the Day of Chaos storyline on the 2000AD site here.

Prog 1782 – Release The Hounds!

Cover:

Its certainly not a bad cover, but something about it just doesn’t seem to work for me. The robot dog looks good, Anderson also looks good, and the background is nice as it gives a real sense of motion to the piece. I think my problem with it is that its just too soon since the last Anderson cover (Prog 1780) and so lacks any real impact. This is the second Anderson cover in three weeks, where as Zaucer of Zilk for example has had only one cover in eight weeks, so I’m not sure what happened with the cover schedule this time around. So a perfectly good cover, but one which doesn’t do much for me.

Judge Dredd – Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction – Part 18:

Well this is as action packed a six pages as its possible to get. Once again its amazing how Wagner manages to cram so much story into such a short amount of space. The Dark Judges are dispatched this week, but I imagine that was allways the intention. It is still only the Eve of Destruction so it’s right to leave the Dark Judges off stage as it were, and give them a chance to plan and scheme for the Day of Chaos itself. Colin Macneil’s art is (literally) on fire right now, with this being perhaps the best ever interpretation I’ve seen of Judge Fire. I’m kind of hoping that with the Dark Judges departing for a while we can get back to the Sov virus plot, as I feel that plot thread has been somewhat overlooked in the last couple of weeks.

Flesh – Midnight Cowboys – Part 9:

You know something? The first page of Flesh this week was actually pretty good. The two archaeologists looking over the fossilised remains of their rat like ancestors showed that this strip could actually have some potential. But oh dear…we then return to the cret period and the atrociously depicted characters and plot. I still think this is the worst thing I’ve ever seen printed in 2000AD and can’t believe it ever got commisioned. Hopefully the return of the A.B.C. Warriors in Prog 1800 will coincide with the return of the real Pat Mills and we can put this horrible mess behind us.

The Zaucer of Zilk – Part 8:

Once again Zaucer is Zaucer, meaning its bright, garish, and a lot of fun (and yes I’m aware I seem to use the word fun when reviewing this strip every week). It’s clear this hasn’t got too long left to run now but its still pretty good stuff and benefits from coming immediatly after Flesh, although to be honest six blank pages would be better than Flesh. The Zaucer himself actually seems to be becoming a more likeable character as the story progresses, as he was a bit of an unlikeable lead character when this all began.

Tharg’s Time Twisters – Contractions:

Well I was wrong about Grey Area returning this week, as we get a four page Time Twister instead, but what a great little story this is. The idea of a character being taken back through their major life experiences isn’t a new one, but this story gives it a new twist with every other character also seemingly aware that he’s travelling back through his own time stream. The pacy story is coupled with some rather brilliant artwork by Lee Carter. While I love his work in black and white, this just goes to show how good an artist he is when working in colour as well, with those first three panels set in the woods looking particularly great. These one offs can sometimes feel like little more than filler material, but when they’re this good they become just as important a feature as the rest of the strips in the line up.

Cadet Anderson – Algol – Part 3:

Anderson continues to be a neat little bookend to the Prog. It’s not a strip which is particularly great or memorable in either art or story, but its perfectly acceptable and is a reasonably enjoyable read still. I felt the art did slip a little this week, with the colouring seeming a lot more bland than in the last couple of parts, and Steve Yeowell’s art doesn’t really lend any sort of sense of scale to Mega City One. Still this isn’t at all bad stuff.

Overall:

The prog is still looking very strong with the one obvious exception. A couple of new strips would help freshen things up a little though, and with the rapidly approaching returns of both Grey Area and Durham Red I’m sure the current run of fine form is set to continue.

Quote of the Week: “Heavens,Montgomery – Raine was right all along! The wands are eager to join together – and become one!” – Zaucer of Zilk

Thrill of the Week: Judge Dredd (again, although the Time Twister is a very close second this week)

Prog 1781 – Weee Haaave Reeturrned!

Cover:

Well I think that there can be little doubt that this will become one of the most well remembered covers in 2000AD history. Henry Flint has turned in a fantastic effort for this cover, with all three Dark Judges looking nothing short of amazing. None of the Dark Judges dominate in this cover, so the readers eyes are drawn over all three of them with each of their badges being clear to read. This is pretty much guaranteed to entice any lapsed readers into picking up the prog again. If I was being picky I could argue that the grey background is a little uninspired, but really this is a bonafide classic cover.

Judge Dredd – Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction – Part 17:

You won’t be suprised to hear that theres one thing dominating this weeks installment of Dredd, and thats the much anticipated return of the Dark Judges. Wagner manages to cram more into six pages than you would think is possible without the story feeling rushed in anyway. Colin Macneil takes over on art duties his week and his art is absolutly stunning, just check out the bottom panel of page five with Judge Fear trying to hide his face. I couldn’t believe the panel which said we’re still two days away from the Day of Chaos…How much worse can things possibly get for Mega City One? John Wagner continues to surpass himself with what is turning out to be his Magnum Opus.

Flesh – Midnight Cowboys – Part 8:

Well I’ll admit that this weeks installment of Flesh didn’t insult me as much as usual, but I think thats more to do with my total lack of interest in this strip. The plot continues to be paper thin, as are all of the characters. I can’t help but feel that if anyone other than Pat Mills had pitched Flesh to Tharg then it would have been rejected immediatly. Sadly it looks like we’re stuck with this for another couple of weeks at least.

The Zaucer of Zilk – Part 7:

I don’t really have too much to say about this, other than that it continues to be a lot of fun to read. I’m hoping that it manages to wrap things up at ten parts in length, as any longer may mean it outstays its welcome, which would be a shame considering how good its been thus far. Needless to say the art continues to look nothing short of glorious throughout, particularly the technicolour backgrounds. I imagine life inside a pack of Refreshers would look something like The Zaucer of Zilk…and yes that is the strangest thing I’ve ever said on this blog. But hey, its probably the strangest strip I’ve ever had to review.

Age of the Wolf II – She is Legend – Part 10:

Age of the Wolf’s second run come to an end this week and I’m really disapointed with how this strip ended. The first two thirds were excellent, telling a compelling story with great artwork. Unfortunatly both the writing and art have been incredibly inconsistent in the final third, and have sadly ruined the middle installment of the Age of the Wolf trilogy. For example there’s a very strange panel on the third page of this installment, in which Rowan appears to stand on thin air when rescuing the baby. The baby seems to be falling down towards a werewolf, and then in the next panel Rowan has caught the baby without any sign of the Werewolf. This sort of thing has been all too frequent in recent installments of Age of the Wolf and has ultimatly let down what was looking to be a pretty good strip.

Cadet Anderson – Algol – Part 2:

Seems this is going to be the second Cadet Anderson story in a row in which the young Anderson does battle with a rogue psi. Thats ok though as this is looking to be an entirely different affair to Teenage Kyx. The story is still showing signs of promise, and Steve Yeowell’s art still looks better than I’ve ever seen it before. There was some mention over on the 2000AD forum about a continuity error this week regarding Chief Shenker, but I can overlook it if the rest of the story is good, which it is. I look forward to reading more

Overall:

Pretty good Prog this week, with three out of five strips looking very impressive. I’m gonna have to pick Dredd as my strip of the week yet again this week. Its the third week in a row i’ve picked it, but it really is streets ahead of the competition. Looking forward to something new coming into the Prog next week to replace Age of the Wolf, presumably the return of Grey Area.

Quote of the Week: “The Dark Judges are loose!” – Judge Dredd

Thrill of the Week: Judge Dredd

Prog 1780 – PSI: Mega-City One

Cover:

I love this cover. Mega-City One is shown here to be a shiny, new, futuristic city, which it was at the time the strip is set. This makes for a nice  contrast with the current Dredd strip, and the state the city now finds itself in. Both Anderson, and in particular the Lawmaster look great, and if I was a lapsed reader this is exactly the sort of cover image which would make me pick up a copy of the prog. A great effort.

Judge Dredd – Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction – Part 16:

Each week i’m looking more and more forward to reading Dredd. Not suprisingly this week Haldane is revealed to be a mole in the justice system, quickly eliminating all the other Judges at the containment facility. Meanwhile the riots in the city appear to be getting worse, as the judges find themselves walking targets out on the streets. The final line in this weeks strip has to be one of the best cliffhangers I’ve ever seen in the prog, with Haldane preparing to set the Dark Judges free. I’m finding it increasingly dificult to review Dredd just now, as I’m running out of superlatives to describe the current story. Suffice it to say that this is perhaps the best Dredd has ever been.

Flesh – Midnight Cowboys – Part 7:

Well we go from a truly brilliant strip to a truly awful one, with Flesh following Dredd in the line up this week. The story continues to go absolutly nowhere fast, while the only female character in the strip continues to act like something out of a teenage male virgins fantasy. This weeks installment has really divided opinion over on the 2000AD forum, and I find myself agreeing with those who are beginning to find this strip to actually be pretty sexist. I sincerely hope that when this story ends, we never have to suffer through another series of this rubbish.

The Zaucer of Zilk – Part 6:

Judging by events in this weeks installment we could be heading towards the end of The Zaucer of Zilk. This would suprise me as I thought it would be at least ten parts long. I’m still finding it to be hugely enjoyable and McCarthy’s art remains as glorious as ever. Zaucer of Zilk continues to be something of a suprise hit.

Age of the Wolf II – She is Legend – Part 9:

As Age of the Wolf II nears its conclusion, I’m beginning to find I’m enjoying it a lot less than I have previously done. Last weeks installment was a bit of a let down, and this weeks really isn’t very good either. There’s very little story this week, and even Jon Davis Hunt’s usually reliable art work seems to be a little bit off, looking genuinly dull in places. I’m hoping this improves before the end, as it would be a shame for a strip which had such a good start to end so poorly.

Cadet Anderson – Algol – Part 1:

The biggest suprise on reading the start of a new Cadet Anderson story was just how good Steve Yeowell’s art looks. I’m normally not a fan of his art at all, but the colouring by Eva De La Cruz has made the art look actually pretty nice. Its too early to judge the story just yet, but its a good start and I enjoyed the last Cadet Anderson story so I have high hopes for this one. As I mentioned earlier in the review the contrast between the Mega-City One seen in this strip, and the present day city seen in the current Dredd strip is brilliant, as here we see the Judges in full control and Mega-City One seeming a far nicer place. Well…apart from all the crime of course.

Overall:

The start of a new Cadet Anderson strip gives this weeks line up a boost. Dredd continues to be worth the cover price alone, while Zaucer of Zilk is still enormous fun. Flesh is still dreadful and unfortunatly Age of the Wolf is currently proving to be a bit of a let down. Fortunatly though, this weeks prog has more hits than it does misses.

Quote of the Week: “Fear, Fire, and Mortis loose in the city – absolute mayhem.” – Judge Dredd

Thrill of the Week: Judge Dredd

Prog 1779 – Ride of the Reptoids!

WARNING – REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS

Cover:

Its advertising Flesh, so thats not a good start in my books. While the cover is technically good, the muted colours used makes the image look rather dull. As a result the cover doesn’t stand out on the shelf, and is unlikely too pull in any potential new readers. Its not a bad cover, but it isn’t really a very good one either.

Judge Dredd – Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction – Part 15:

The virus continues too take its toll on the population, while the Judges are stretched to breaking point battling against mass riots. What else could possibley go wrong for Mega City One? How about a suspicious looking Judge gaining access to the Dark Judges? Its been a long time since we last saw the Dark Judges, and I must admit to being overwhelmingly excited about the prospect of their escape. Its hard to believe we’re still not actually at the Day of Chaos itself, but if the prelude to it is this exciting, I literally can’t wait for the main story to start. This mega epic is shaping up to be the best Dredd story arc of all time.

The Zaucer of Zilk – Part 5:

I’m not sure there’s actually a coherent plot to this strip, as we seem to go from one random mad setting to another each week. Having said that I’m still finding this very enjoyable. Its a bit of fun, in total contrast with the current Dredd story, and the art is absolutly stunning.

Flesh – Midnight Cowboys – Part 6:

Sigh…is this still here? This week sees the eponymous Midnight Cowboys finally put in an appearance, and they’re very much a typical Mills trope, being a group of seven individuals who are unlikely to get anything as extravagant as characters. To be honest though I don’t really mind that, as I’m long past caring about this terrible strip.

Age of the Wolf II – She is Legend – Part 8:

I didn’t really find this weeks installment too be quite as good as usual. Harry gets revenge on his grandmother, while Rowan manages to escape the wolf hole pretty quickly. Other than that, not a lot happening this week. Its not bad by any means, and I’m still enjoying reading it, so don’t think this is in any way a negative review.

Nikolai Dante – The Dante Gambit – Part 6:

This is a very important installment for two reasons. Firstly in that Dante manages to kill of Konstantin at last, but perhaps more importantly its the very last time Jonh Burns will provide the art for Nikolai Dante. I’ve always been somewhat on the fence in regards to Burn’s work, but I can’t deny that he’s a very good artist and has been an important figure in the success of the strip. Story wise I can’t help but feel that some of the momentum has been lost during this story, but I’ll still be looking forward to the beginning of the very last Dante strip in seven weeks time.

Overall:

When Dredd is as good as it is right now, then its worth the cover price alone. The fact that Zaucer of Zilk and Dante are also very good is a bonus. Age of the Wolf is still enjoyable enough, but Flesh continues to be absolutly dreadfull. Still, you can’t have everything can you?

Quote of the Week: “Judges Fear, Fire and Mortis.Real creepy how they move around in there…” – Judge Dredd

Thrill of the Week: Judge Dredd

The Chaos Bug – A medical review

Special guest reviewer- Eamonn Clarke

This week’s 2000AD is Prog 1779 and there is no medicine to review other than to say that the prognosis for Mega-City One looks to be very poor indeed. Instead I’m going to turn back to Prog 1775 and consider something that the Chief Judge said.

Spoiler alert. This review includes mild spoilers for 2000AD Prog 1775 and the current Eve of Destruction story. You have been warned!

 

Judge Dan Francisco was the subject of a reality television series called The Streets of Dan Francisco. The Dredd stories have always been peppered with puns and in-jokes so having a show that is similarly named to a 1970s police drama is just par for the course for 2000AD. The Judge Francisco series was a big public relations hit for the Justice department and subsequently he was elected Chief Judge by his fellow Judges. His reign has not been straight-forward to say the least. He seems to be a decent Judge who tries to do the right things but events conspire against him, and now he is struggling to contain the escalating crisis that threatens to destroy Mega-City One. As so often in the past, Judge Dredd may be their only chance for salvation.

In Prog 1775 the Chief Judge and Dredd interview the widow of the scientist who engineered the chaos bug for the rogue Sov-Judges. She reveals that her husband ensured that the bug had an inbuilt weakness.

To recap what we have learned about the chaos bug from previous progs – Dr Yurges created an organism that is based on a protozoa called Toxoplasma Gondii but is much more infectious and deadly. The infection has already been released in Mega-City One and is spreading quickly. There has been some confusion about whether the bug is a protozoa or a virus. In the first panel Dredd plays it safe and refers to it as “the organism”. Then Mrs Yurges drops her bombshell – the bug is unstable and will become weaker as it passes from person to person until it reverts to its previous, almost harmless form. “Like the common cold?” asks the Chief Judge but no-one answers him.

The common cold is caused by any one of several hundred different viruses. None of these viruses reduce in virulence as they pass from one person to another. What tends to happen is that people who are more susceptible to infection at any one time tend to pick up the infection first and often develop more symptoms than “fitter” people who get the infection later on. So people whose immune system is weakened by age, medications or another illness will tend to be infected earlier and be more unwell then their family, friends or work and school colleagues who catch the cold from them. Likewise children who have not come into contact with a particular virus before will often have more severe symptoms than their older siblings and parents who have probably developed some immunity already. This is probably where the idea that the Cold virus “burns itself out” comes from.

The Chief Judge may also be confused by something called the Trade-Off Hypothesis which suggested that evolution may have slowly selected infectious organisms that were less virulent because the bugs spread best when their hosts (i.e. us) were still able to be up and about and meeting other possible hosts. As you can read on the above Wikipedia page this doesn’t altogether explain what is going on in the complex relationship between micro-organisms and their hosts, which is influenced by several other factors.

Chief Judge Franscisco stumbles slightly on the science stuff but, as always, Dredd is the Law and gets it right. This prog gets a cautiously optimistic 3 out of 5 medic-droids. However, if you are up to date with the current progs you will know that the Chaos bug may be the least of their worries. Writer John Wagner is turning the screws on Mega-City One in what seems set to be his Magnum opus.