What week of comics would be complete without 2000AD? If you’re looking for Judge Dredd, Ulysses Sweet, Maniac For Hire, ABC Warriors, Grey Area or Strontium Dog, it’s all in this week’s 2000AD #1866. Let’s take a closer look at each.

First up, as always, is Judge Dredd. This continue’s Rob William’s thrilling Titan arc, written with an excellent narration that crosses over into various themes. As a major bonus, we get to see more of Titan – something of longstanding important for Mega City One – thanks to the beautiful yet grizzly artwork of Henry Flint.

Next is Ulysses Sweet, Maniac For Hire. As usual, Guy Adams offers a beautifully pyschotic yet humorous story and script, as made evident less than a page in. Through in the artwork of Paul Marshall alongside Chris Blythe’s grey tones and you get a comic that shouldn’t be as fun as it is, given the violent nature involved.

After this comes some ABC Warriors. This is a slow, yet tense, issue that follows on from last week smoothly. However, Pat Mills does refer to older issues and background knowledge here. On the plus side, Clint Langley’s beautiful artwork comes in color this week, adding more depth and charm to the visual appeal ABC Warriors already has.

This is followed by Grey Area, with the start of a new arc written by Dan Abnett. This starts off slow, with what looks to be a larger theme or issue running underneath the later action, but it’s showing plenty of promise. Grey Area often deals with regular storylines, adapted to fit its own settings and themes, many of which have proven well in the past. This should be no exception and, with Patrick Goddard’s pencils and Abigail Ryder’s colors, it certainly looks the part.

Finally, we have more Strontium Dog. After a couple of slow, quiet issues, this week things kick off with plenty of explosions and bloodshed.  John Wagner doesn’t hold back and fans of the series will have plenty to look into and enjoy. As usual, Carlos Ezquerra continues to make his mark on the series as well, providing the classic look that makes Strontium Dog so recognizable.

3.5/5