Comic Book Review - 2000 AD Prog 2293

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Rob reviews 2000 AD Prog 2293...

Paul Marshall Cover


As the countdown to Prog 2300 continues, Tharg is back with another rollercoaster ride through the 'Galaxy's Greatest. Paul Marshall and Dylan Teague adorn the cover this week with a lone Nolan Blake seemingly about to meet his end - but could this be a red herring in the greater Skip Tracer plan? 

Anyway, inside and it's the usual suspects from the last few weeks. Mega-City One and Brit-Cit are still locking horns in 'Special Relationship', Maz heads into Sect territory in 'Brink', Blake is against the odd in 'Skip Tracer', and there's more gang warfare in the latest chapter of 'Sinister Dexter', and finally, there's a rumble in the jungle in 'Jaegir'.

Judge Dredd: Special Relationship - Part 5

The relationship between Mega-City One and Brit-Cit is at an all-time low this week. Not only have Dredd and his counterpart Judge Charles reached a stalemate on the Black Atlantic colony - neither is looking to give up. With Dredd's team down to their last rounds, and Judge Charles having access to the colony's armoury, Dredd is at a disadvantage. 

Meanwhile, Williams utilises the various time-jumps to take us back a few days. Here we get to see more of the backstreet dealings between Bernard and Modric, while the mysterious Domino makes her presence known. 

'Special Relationship' is turning into a great spy thriller. Williams is giving us the slow-burning intrigue with his jumps into the past, to then hit us with gratuitous action as Dredd and Charles play tug-of-war in the present.  Goddard and Winter compliment each other (and Williams script) with a fine display of linework and colours. 

Brink: Mercury Retrograde - Part 22

After 22 parts it now feels that Dan Abnett's sci-first thriller is reaching its boiling point. Mas is also heading into the boiler as the mysterious Evan Leeden takes him into the Habs ducts. What's Leeden's game? Is he the Interhab Intelligence Agent as he claims? Or is he part of the Union Sect that's infiltrated the high echelons of HabSec? 

While there are still a lot of answered questions, Abnett does continue to tighten the screw. With Mas seemingly heading into a trap, there's another sting coming our way. Culbard also continues to create some truly wonderful work, with picturesque moments and plenty of emotion.

Skip Tracer: Valhalla - Part 7

Nolan Blake is back on the Cube and it's not the homecoming that the ex-skip tracer had in mind. With the residents of the Cube falling under the influence of the mysterious Blackstar, Nolan finds himself against some seemingly impossible odds. 

With his team succumbing to "Valhalla" it's hard to see this one having any semblance of "happy" in its ending. 

As mentioned before, 'Valhalla' is THE final Skip Tracer chapter. While James Peaty's tale has an endpoint it's still up for interpretation. Could we see Blake end up in Valhalla, and his daughter taking up the mantle? We will have to wait and see...

Dexter: Bulletopia Chapter Ten: Malice In Plunderland - Part 5 

It's the penultimate entry to this chapter in the Sinister Dexter story, and things are still going wrong for Dexter and Carrie. 

In playing the two gangs off against each other, Dex and Carrie had forgotten one thing - what happens if they unite? With both gangs now under new leadership, things don't look good for the duo. And as for those bar scenes - who's asking the questions? 

'Malice In Plunderland' has been a pretty enjoyable chapter of the saga. Not only has it seen Abnett move away from that pesky A.I., but it's also seen plenty of gratuitous action from Tazio Bettin. Naturally, we will head back into the sci-fi setting, but for now, it's great to see a slice of Sinister Dexter's past. 


Jaegir: Ferox - Part 3

I'm currently in the middle of a Rogue Trooper, re-read and as such this new series of Jaegir couldn't have come at a better time. 

Kapiten-Inspector Atalia Jaegir of the Nordland State Security Police is in the thick of it as she's attempting to track down a war criminal on her side. Now finding herself deep in the toxic region of Nu-Earth called Miasma, Jaegir needs to recover her team while searching for General Kurga. 

So far, 'Ferox' reminds me a lot of 'Apocalypse Now' with a Vietnam-style setting, and war criminal plot. Rennie's dark script doesn't show much light for his cast, which makes it an ever more gripping read. The interrogation of the Southern GI is particularly brutal and shows just how far from that moral line that the Norts are. It's wonderfully dark, yet full of superb psychedelic imagery from Colby and O'Grady. 

Now it's back to the monochrome of Rogue Trooper: Volume 2...

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



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