Review: 2000 AD Prog 2414

It’s the first 2000 AD outing of 2025 as Tharg brings Prog 2414 across the Thrillverse…

No faff, let’s dive straight into it shall we? 

There’s a new Dredd thriller in town as Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt continue to explore the ramifications of Account Judge Mainland’s assassination, Alec Worley continues to expand the Hawk the Slayer universe in ‘The Last of Her Kind’, tensions rise in ‘Portals & Black Goo’, Constanta heads West in ‘Fiends of the Western Front’, and Cyd finds an arachnophobes worst nightmare in ‘The Out’ 

Judge Dredd: Soft - Part 1 (Rob Williams, Arthur Wyatt, Jake Lynch, Jim Boswell, Annie Parkhouse)

With the release of Judge Dredd: A Better World just around the corner (29th January) it’s the perfect time to continue to build the story of the late Accounts Judge; Maitland. Avid readers will already know that Maitland was behind quite a controversial decision in Mega-City One - fund education to reduce crime rates. While Chief Judge Logan was behind the experiment, there were those within the Justice Department who didn’t want to see a world without the Judges, and so a hit was placed on Maitland. 

Fast forward a few Progs later and Dredd discovers who pulled the trigger and disobeyed the orders of council member Judge Hernandez - the person who ordered the assassination of Maitland. Now as Dredd returns to Sector 304 for the first time since the riots, Hernandez faces Chief Judge Logan with questions of his own. 

I do like a political Dredd, and Williams and Wyatt are playing into it with this opening episode of “Soft”. Naturally, Hernandez wants a response from Logan for Dredd’s disregard of orders, if Logan fails to discipline Dredd, then his position as Chief Judge is in doubt, but if he does then Hernandez can run damage control and distance himself away from Dredd’s investigation. Williams has proven himself a master of the long game over the years and is no stranger to the more slow-burning Judge Dredd strip. Wyatt on the other hand has collaborated with Williams over the majority of the Maitland story since End of Days and it’s safe to say that we’re in for quite a treat with this one. 

Likewise, Jake Lynch and Jim Boswell team up for art on this one, and you don’t need me to tell you how much of a good thing that is! 

Hawk The Slayer: The Last of Her Kind - Part 2 (Alec Worley, Simon Coleby, Gary Caldwell, Annie Parkhouse) 

I’m going to be particularly vague about this one as I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. While I’ve watched the classic film that is Hawk The Slayer, I didn’t read Garth Ennis’ sequel when it was serialised within the older format Judge Dredd Megazine a few years back. However, I have ordered the website-exclusive hardback of ‘Watch For Me In The Night’ and will hopefully have more to say on this one next week. 

Portals & Black Goo: A Quorum of Fiends - Part 2 (John Tomlinson, Edin Coveney, Jim Boswell, Simon Bowland) 

There’s trouble in the capital as a protest over the city's non-human community turns violent. Leading the riot is the hard-right MP, Tommy Willard. While Willard stokes the flames of hate on live television, Troy lets slip that Willard may just be non-human himself. Elsewhere Nate discovers that he’s not quite immortal as a diet of drug addicts and medical waste takes its toll. 

I wasn’t a big fan of the first series of Portals & Black Goo, and while I’m confused as to what’s currently going on, I have dug out the older Progs to revisit that first outing. The fantasy x real-world connection does make for some interesting satire of our society. The anti-human riots and an MP who’s a bit of a tosser capitalising on the hate is something that would certainly happen in our world and Tomlinson satires it with quite a big hint of truth. 

Edin Coveney and Jim Boswell work together well. Coveney captures quite a lot of emotion across this episode with some great character work, while Boswell’s colours set each scene with their distinct feel. 

Fiends Of The Western Front: Wilde West - Part 2 (Ian Edginton, Tiernen Trevallion, Jim Campbell) 

Who would have thought that teaming up the poet Oscar Wilde with the vampire Constanta and throwing them into 19th-century America would make for a great story? Well, it’s exactly what we’ve got here with the next instalment to Constanta’s tale of revenge. 

We catch up with the mismatched duo as Constanta fills Wilde in on why he’s after Count Kamarovsky. Turns out that the Count happens to be something of a monster hunter, and he once got a little too close to ending Constanta. Meanwhile, Oscar’s problems with the Earl of Hatfield threaten to catch up with him as the Earl - who happens to be a fallen angel - heads stateside to silence Wilde before he can tell anyone about his secret. 

It’s all very much “Strangers on a Train” as Edginton starts to show that the duo of poet and vampire need each other to solve their problems. It’s perfectly presented with Edginton highlighting the differences between the duo within his dialogue, while Trevallion captures the horror essence with yet more striking artwork. 

The Out: Book Four - Part 14 (Dan Abnett, Mark Harrison, Simon Bowland) 

I’ve fallen a little out of love with The Out over recent weeks. While I still think Dan Abnett’s saga of Cyd Finlea and her sentient bag is still a very good read, the happenings of Book Four have started to drag on a little. 

By pretending to be something she’s not Cyd has been thrown well into the deep end as she’s tasked with investigating the disappearance of Ms Billiphent Grobb. The trouble is that Ms Grobb happened to vanish onboard a giant luxury space cruiser, and Cyd isn’t Han Solo as she made out to the Routelegger boos who forced her into taking the job on. 

In this episode, Cyd finds herself m the murky darkness of the cruiser's lower decks. It’s a dank and dark place where danger fills every nook and cranny. With the threat of something picking off the crew that could well be lurking down in this dark paradise, you would have thought that Cyd had a torch. Funny enough as Bag laments Cyd for this oversight, a beacon shines out in the distance. But is more trouble on the horizon? 

If like me you’ve thought that Harrison’s art can be a little cluttered with The Out here the less is more approach makes all the difference. The opening two pages focus solely on Cyd and the bag as Abnett starts to raise the tension. This tension then crescendos into terror as Harrison blows up his art with some delightful sci-fi horror. 

Rating: 8/10

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