Another week, another issue of 2000AD. Whilst there is some undoubtedly British science fiction within these pages, the results this week are somewhat of a mixed bag.

First up, the usual segment of Judge Dredd. This week’s release follows on from the last, showing the aftermath of the recent events. With judges injured or dead, and a huge number of meg-ones population dead, tough times are being had. However, this is staple Judge Dredd; whilst this scale isn’t something it does often, it has been done before. Still, with an inclusion of the mutants, there are lots of interesting points to take this in following issues, so its worth a watch.

Next, there is the continuation of Durham Red carries on the plot. With its combination of science-fiction and fantasy design, the imagery here is much better than the narrative. The plot seems sluggish at times, and at other times doesn’t seem to give the reader enough information. It may be suspense, but its could be simpler.

Tharg’s 3rillers offers something interesting. Set in the aftermath of World War 2, it follows an alternative universe where Britain won the war thanks to the ‘Allies’, a more advanced alien race. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even tell this was the case; the allies are referred to as the ‘allies’ but never seen – without the introduction on the contents page, this can mistaken for the actual allies during World War 2. Still, with a more than interesting cliffhanger, it certainly looks hopeful.

Following on from this is The Grievous Journey of Ichabod Azrael. This jumps between periods, noteably world war 1 and the times of Al Capone, but is unique none the less. Not the most straight forward, this might need future issues to clarify more, but its got a intriguing concept.

Finally, it wouldn’t be 2000AD with out finishing off with some Nikolai Dante. Following on from the previous issue, I’m happy to see a more engaging issue. The two characters of Jenna and Dante are contrasted well on their final moments before the wedding and, with an interesting cliffhanger to leave the next installment on, its a much better return to form, with much more of the suspense and political intrigue that makes up the Nikolai Dante Universe.

In short, there is a fairly good issue of 2000AD. Then again, its hard to judge the issue as a whole when its combined elements are so uniquely different from each other.

4/5