Comic Book Review - 2000 AD Prog 2223

Rob Lake reviews 2000 AD Prog 2223...

There's more thrills and spills coming our way this week as Prog 2223 rolls into town. 

With both Durham Red and Proteus Vex ending this weeks, there's an opening for two more strips within next weeks Prog 2224.  

It's also worth noting that it's Judge Dredd Megazine week too (please check out our review for Meg 430 here). 

So let's crack on shall we? Good! 

Judge Dredd: Who Killed Captain Cookies - Part 3

We're back in the dungarees of Noam Chimpsky as he continues to investigate the murder of Captain Cookies. We get to see the fan favourite do all the leg work for the Justice Department as the crime is deemed too low for their immediate action. 

Dredd on the other hand is off dealing with some killer mannequins...never a dull day in the Meg! 

It's always nice to see Noam make a return to the Progs. The chimp always brings with him a band of misfits and oddballs that show the more light-side to Mega-City 1 life. Both Niemand and Holden are giving us a great tale here.

Tharg's 3Rillers: Nakka of the S.T.A.R.S - Part 2

Brendan McCarthy continues to dive into the sci-fi relms of Heartbeat as Detective Nakrosky and his Robot assistant, Penny Z8E/489 investigate a murder in a tearoom. 

Throw in a killer Vicar and a manic Nun - both Robots I'll add. And you've got a pretty weird and interesting tale.

Thistlebone: Poisoned Roots - Part 3

Seema is thrown back into the fold of the Thistlebone Cult, as Harrovale continues to deal with the discovery of those skeletons in the roots of the tree. 

Thistlebone is moving at a snails pace which is giving TC Eglinton a lot of time to really build the horror and tension. Whether or not this works with the serialised nature of the Progs is yet to be seen, but I'm enjoying it regardless. 

There's an interlude as such as a report of a scouting party gets Simon Davis to go a bit wacky with Thistlebone's usual art. 

Proteus Vex: The Shadow Chancellor - Part 11

Mike Carroll and Jake Lynch's sci-fi tale of political intrigue and genocide reaches its conclusion this week. 

It's been a fun 11-weeks as Vex had tangled with The Silence as well as dealing with the Empire and the Citheronian's. With the Alliance's actions now in the open Carroll uses this final part to deal with the fallout. 

I'm hoping we see another outing of Proteus Vex. The universe that Carroll has built has really captured me. It's a great price of sci-fi that has a bit of everything; Science and Fiction - with a sprinkling of action. 

Jake Lynch has done a wonderful job with art duties throughout The Shadow Chancellor and I cant wait to see what he's up to next. 

Durham Red: Served Cold - Part 11

As we say goodbye to Vex, we're then straight onto the next goodbye. 

It's Durham, the Sherrif and Warren against everyone as Served Cold comes to an end. 

While it may not be the ending that we expected it does lay the foundations for the next story. 

Much like Shadow Chancellor, Served Cold has been a blast. The series has really gone from strength to strength as its gone on. From the slow opening, to an all out prison assault that's seen Ben Willsher give us some fantastic action sequences, while Alec Worley gives us all the makings of a typical Western revenge play. 

Rating 7/10

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev