The Weekly 2000 AD Prog #2244: There’s Hell To Pay In Aquila
by Richard Bruton
Time to head out to the land of 2000 AD, the UK’s greatest sci-fi weekly comic for four decades and counting… it’s the Weekly 2000 AD
So, as Aquila has words with Nero down in hell in ‘The Rivers Of Hades’, we get more from Judge Dredd in ‘Now That’s What I Call Justice‘, more parental problems from Skip Tracer, and it’s a gun-shark on the run in Dexter. Rounding things out this week is a Tharg’s Terror Tale, as John Tomlinson and Smudge tell us of ‘The Way Of The World’.
All right then, 2000 AD Prog 2244 is out from all those great purveyors of comic goodness on 11 August – go, go, go…
Ready for a look inside?
JUDGE DREDD: NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL JUSTICE – PART 5 – John Wagner, John Higgins, colours by Sally Hurst, letters by Annie Parkhouse
Dredd’s investigation into Justice Watch is reaching a conclusion, but there’s still the matter of the copycat, as the man behind the Judge killings seeks confession from his brother and reveals the hows and why of his killing spree.
And meanwhile, the TV countdown of the best Judge busts in MC-1 history continues, down to three this time, with Dredd in the frame…
This one’s probably going to end next week with part 6 – too soon! too soon!
But damn, having Wagner doing these kinds of everyday Dredd procedurals is a great thing. And with Higgins and Hurst delivering some luscious artwork on page after page, this is going to be one that we’ll be remembering for a long time.
SKIP TRACER – EDEN – PART 8 – James Peaty, Paul Marshall, colours by Dylan Teague, letters by Jim Campbell
Nolan Blake (who I continue to want to keep calling Nathan… I have no idea why) is an ex-soldier turned psi-tracker and skip tracer. Recently, he’s had a bit of a shock, discovering he has an infant daughter.
The Consociation, along with the mysterious Nimrod have come to get both Blake and his daughter Eden, who possesses all of his powers, magnified many-fold.
DEXTER: BULLETOPIA CHAPTER 6: SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE SEA – PART 2 – Dan Abnett, Tazio Bettin, colours by John Charles, letters by Simon Bowland
The saga of Sinister Dexter continues and there’s a Hell of a lot that’s gone on in the past. But all you really need to know is that Finnigan Sinister and Ramone Dexter were the best hitmen (gun-sharks) in the city of Downlode, but one job saw them resetting the entire continuum, meaning no one (or nearly no one) knew they existed.
In Bulletopia, Finn and Dexter discovered that the Downlode AI has taken control of the city, taking control of Finn, forcing Dexter to kill him. But Finn was resurrected by the AI, his mind controlled to send him in pursuit of Dexter… who’s now on the run through the Understreet, trying to get a warning to Mangapore about the AI’s plans for global domination.
Except he doesn’t get anything like a warm welcome, and Finn is right on his tail – in his shark-fin Edsel…
Plenty to enjoy in this latest Sinister Dexter, with Abnett and artist Bettin delivering a straight-out action thriller, with that touch of Abnett comedy thrown in for good measure.
THARG’S TERROR TALES: THE WAY OF THE WORLD – John Tomlinson, Smudge, letters by Simon Bowland
Most workers in London thought the lycanthropy pandemic was bad… but there’s even worse waiting.
A pandemic tale with a difference – more the sort of pandemic that we were expecting. Instead, we’re in with a bunch of office workers, where management are hungry.
Neat little Terror Tale all in all, nice to see Smudge’s name back in the Prog again.
AQUILA: THE RIVER OF HADES – BOOK 1 – PART 7 – Gordon Rennie, Patrick Goddard, colours by Dylan Teague, letters by Annie Parkhouse
Aquila, former gladiator made immortal by Ammit the Devourer in return for sending the souls of evil men her way. But now Aquila wants out of the deal and has headed into Hades to seek out the spirit of the Emporer Nero, who knows Ammmit’s location.
But there’s the pursuing Lady Cruciata that he’ll need to deal with at some point. But first, find Nero, get him out of Hades. Simple right?
Well, there’s always going to be some more hack ‘n’ slash action going on – it wouldn’t be Aquila without it!
