Comic Book Review - 2000 AD Prog 2278

Descend into the dark...

Another week has flown by, which means Tharg is back with another glorious trip into the thrillers. 

It's quite the Prog this week. Not only are we up to the penultimate episode of Judge Dredd: The Citadel, but we also say bon appetite to the Intestinauts. However... Fiends of the Eastern Front, Brink, and Hope In The Shadows are staying with us. 

So with that said and done, strap in, grab a cup of synthetic brew, and join me as I take a look at 2000 AD Prog 2278! 

Judge Dredd: The Citadel - Part 9 

Hands up who had another Dredd on their Citadel bingo card? Sadly I didn't see this one coming (I had a much darker plot in mind) and as such their reveal was quite a surprise. 

No spoilers, but is everything as it seems? With one episode left to go, could Wagner pull out another surprise? 

Regardless, The Citadel has been a fun read. It's not often we get a Judge Dredd strip that makes you itch to see what happens next. Thankfully we've got exactly that. Not only has John Wagner got the entire 'Megaverse' chatting with various theories, but The Citadel has also been quite a tight story. We've seen the best (and worse) of Dredd, and revisiting the Apocalypse War is always going to be a plus! 

Dan Cornwell and Dylan Teague have also worked well in bringing this mini-epic to life. Cornwell has come into his own with this strip, and his work here has been a real joy to stare at. Teague's colour style has also done a fabulous job in highlighting the backdrop of the muted urban setting of The Citadel, with plenty of bright explosions and gunfire. 

Hope In The Shadows: Reel One - Part 3

Mallory Hope finds himself in the cesspit that's his world's version of Hollywood. There's been a murder, and Hope's essentially been coerced into finding out whodunnit. With the location of his wife on the cards, he's not got a choice. 

Guy Adams takes Hope onto the film set as he meets the suspects...I mean cast. Hope comes away from this with more questions than answers - and not making any friends. 

Hope In The Shadows is quite an interesting strip. Not only does Adams give us a hard-boiled detective noir, but it's also that supernatural undertone that drives it forward. Jimmy Broxton's artwork is just as great as it always is. His use of various black & white tones builds the noir feel, whilst bathing it all within the supernatural. As for what's going on? Well, this one just getting started! 

Intestinauts: The Bowel Impactors - Part 4 (Final Part) 

The microscopic war of the fatberg reaches its conclusion this week as the Intestinauts defend the Tummy Pals from the sinister Bowel Impactors. 

Arthur Wyatt and Pye Parr's bite-sized tale has been a lot of fun. Wyatt not only gives small hints as to the wider Intestinauts world but he's also crammed his nanobots with plenty of personalities. Parr on the other hand has created a technicolour feast, which has given the far berg battlefield an alien feel to it. 

So, with the mission complete I'm hoping it's not long before we get the next adventure. Intestinauts is a great example of the wide range of strips that makes the Prog what it is. 

Now if only Tharg would give us a collected paperback!

Fiends Of The Eastern Front: 1963 - Part 6

The last couple of issue has seen Baba Yaga get Constanta where she wants him. Not only has the vampire had his head cut off, but he's also lost the support of his US compadre. Yet, even if it did seem that Constanta would meet his end, Edgington has another twist up his sleeve. 

Now teaming up with the Wraith that inhabited the US spy, Constanta is on the run. With still no idea as to who took down the spy plane, it all falls to that final page to give us the reveal. And it's not just the Russian Witch that the duo have to worry about. 

More gorgeous work from Tiernen Trevallion, but you knew that anyway! 

Brink: Mercury Retrograde - Part 9 

Maslow and ex-Union boss Eugene Bardot are heading into the bowels of the Boilerhouse. With Maslow still hunting for the answers to his questions, Bardot's about to give him an insight into the Unreach and what goes on in the Hab's ductwork. 

Abnett's giving us quite a slowly moving strip with Brink. While we're essentially re-treading old ground, the new viewpoint is making for quite a tense story. Having Maslow as our protagonist not only fleshes out the previous Curtis' narrative, but it builds on the mystery of the 'Brink' too. 

INJ Culbard captures the claustrophobic atmosphere of the ducts incredibly well in this issue. There's a great use of light that highlights the shadows that seem to be closing in all around. It gives everything an alien look, that's vastly different from the lights up above. 

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