Luke Graham reviews 2000AD’s Prog #1887…
Greetings sci-fi fans! This week’s issue of 2000AD only has four rather than the usual five strips in order to provide us loyal readers with a double-sized conclusion to the mad cap Indigo Prime.
Indigo Prime’s not the only story concluding this week, as Judge Dredd reaches its climax. In part five of Trauma Town, Dredd finds the cause of the manifestations beneath the ruins of a sector destroyed during the Chaos War, and puts a stop to the manifestations wreaking havoc around the Meg. Nick Percival’s artwork is as nightmarish as usual, but Michael Carroll’s writing is top-notch: the final decision that needs to be made is well-handled and difficult, yet Dredd makes the brutal, authoritarian choice that is totally in keeping with his character.
Tharg’s Time Twisters delivers an irreverent little tale about time-travel and the Third Reich. Time-machines have been invented in World War 2, and Hitler has to go back in time to protect himself from Allied time-assassins. The image of a gun-toting baby Hitler is hilarious, and is reminiscent of Stewie from Family Guy. Simon Curr’s stark black-and-white artwork creates a dark tone, which becomes amusing incongruous as the tale become sillier. The writing is very funny; the brilliant Rob Williams characterises Adolf Hitler as being timid and dense, which is terrifically satirical. Hitler’s response to hearing about the assassins is “Oh… Am I not very popular then?”
I’m tempted to criticise part four of Grey Area for being another piece of filler before next week’s conclusion; plot-wise, the only thing that happens is the team approaching and arriving at the God-Star. Yet the writing is so strong that I enjoyed it immensely. Dan Abnett provides a series of engaging character moments, such as Adam Bulliett’s glib dialogue and Kymn’s theory about what the God-Star is and how it might work. These moments give the team some depth, while building tension for the next strip. Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of Mark Harrison’s art; I find it messy and not always clear which character is speaking.
Scrotnig Tale of the Week
It’s a close call this week: the conclusion to Trauma Town is great (I could talk for ages about where the story might lead), while Dan Abnett’s writing on Grey Area is terrific, but the 12-page climax to Indigo Prime takes the biscuit.
Lee Carter’s art is simply gorgeous. His clean, clear and detailed lines are a joy to look at, and he gets to work his magic on two (two!) double-page spreads. Meanwhile, writer John Smith joyfully hurls weirder and more twisted ideas at the reader with every page. This dark tale, in which Viktor’s plan for reinventing Christianity with a new, more-tentacle God reaches fruition, is filled with literary references and smart ideas, and I kept looking up the concepts and historical people mentioned. It’s always a pleasure when a story is educating as well as entertaining. There’s even a final quotation from obscure playwright, dramatist and total odd-ball Antonin Artaud. The world of Indigo Prime has drastically changed, and I’m excited to see what happens next.
Luke Graham is a writer and works in newspaper production. If you enjoyed this review, follow him @LukeWGraham and check out his blog here.
