The Weekly 2000 AD Prog #2259: Sov-Dinos, A Dredd Musical, And One Of THOSE Moments In The OUT

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…

Tazio Bettin brings the dino-action to Dexter

This Prog itsthe start of what looks like being one of the most fun Dredds in a long time, as Rob Williams and Chris Weston bring you Sensitive Klegg in ‘Judge Dredd: The Musical‘. And alongside that musical extravaganza, there’s the latest from The Diaboliks, Dexter, Scarlet Traces, and The OUT.

Okay then, you can grab 2000 AD Prog 2259 on Wednesday 24th November. So, time for a preview…

JUDGE DREDD: THE MUSICAL – PART 1 – Rob Williams, Chris Weston, letters by Annie Parkhouse.

Williams and Weston return to the Prog with something very different from their usual tone. Yep, you couldn’t get much further from Control and the psychopathic Judge Pin than the out-and-out ridiculousness of Sensitive Klegg putting on a musical for his muse… Judge Dredd.

Klegg’s ‘sojourn’ in Sino-Cit with a weirdly successful hip-hop career (something perhaps down to him looking like a big singing dragon) is over and he’s back, shell-suit and all, in the big Meg.

But his manager’s taking a sudden trip to South-Am. Well, if the Judges don’t catch up to him first that is and he’s feeling all burnt out, needing a muse…

Oh yes. Of course. Although weirdly, no one seems all that keen on a hip-hop musical retelling of the life of Judge Dredd. Until, suspiciously, someone not only agrees to put it on but wants Sensitive Klegg to star.

This one’s going to be SO much fun!

THE DIABOLIKS – LONDON CALLING – PART 3 – Gordon Rennie, Dom Reardon, letters by Jim Campbell.

Well, we’ve gone from modern-day London to 1945 Berlin in the blink of an eye here, with Solomon zapped there by someone he doesn’t remember, someone from his past, into a time he definitely does remember, well, some of it at least.

Yes, it seems Solomon’s been keeping a fair few secrets from everyone. Why? How? No idea. But we’ll no doubt eventually find out. In the meantime, back in the present day, Jake’s having a bit of a barney.

All bouncing along nicely in this new series of The Diaboliks, but the true highlight is all that delicate and beautifully raw Readon artwork.

DEXTER- BULLETOPIA CHAPTER 7: LORDY JORDY, KING OF EVERYTHING – PART 2 – Dan Abnett, Tazio Bettin, colours by Matt Soffe, letters by Simon Bowland

Sinister’s somewhere out there still, or at least the AI re-animated, re-created version of Sinister, hunting down his old mate and partner, Dexter.

But this one’s following along with Dexter and his group making a run for it, trying to get word out about the AI controlling Downlode with plans to control this world.

This time, it’s time to meet and greet the Russian bio-weapons – there’s never a place where dinosaurs like this don’t work. (Well, I suppose there was all those later series of Flesh… but I digress.)

And then on to meet Lordy Jordy, hacker in hiding from the AI and controlling this island base. Spoilt little kid with a private army of Sov made dinosaurs… not a good thing for Dexter but all part of the continuing fun of seeing where Sinister Dexter is going.

SCARLET TRACES – STORM FRONT – PART 9 – Ian Edginton, D’Israeli, letters by Simon Bowland.

Last Prog, in the middle of the action of the Jovian attacking the Martians, Ahron organises to go for a mind dive into the captive Martian’s head… and consequently this Prog he gets to meet and greet with the Martians in this form, their true form, long forgotten…

Against the harsh white backdrop, D’Israeli does an incredible job of establishing character and pace, as Ahron tries to do the impossible and convince the Martians that it’s time to make a change and go for peace instead of war.

So, decision time for the Martians and the beginning of the end for this main Scarlet Traces tale, a true epic of fascinating sci-fi.

THE OUT – BOOK TWO – PART 9 – Dan Abnett, Mark Harrison, letters by Annie Parkhouse.

As we draw to the close of the second, incredible series of The OUT, I was still wondering quite where Abnett and Harrison were going to take things. And no, as I’ve said before, I’ve absolutely no issue with the OUT going anywhere they want to take it, it could just be Cyd meandering through the galaxy for many more series and I’d be so happy.

But then, as Cyd was getting the idea of the UP into her head, Abnett and Harrison dropping this bombshell at the end of Prog 2257…

Oh hell. That blows it all up.

And now, we get the explanation of it all, with the UP involved, as Cyd talks to her child. And we’re back in the emotional heart of the storyline again – and it’s every bit as good as you’d expect if you’ve been reading the OUT – and if you haven’t, dear lord, you have a treat in store.