Review: 2000AD PROG 1923- Less yapping, more slapping

Writers and authors: Numerous
Publisher: Rebellion
Released: 25th March 2015


Sometimes the best thing about 2000AD is the front cover, and such is the case this week with a gloriously mad offering from Nick Percival.

Add caption

That cover is great, but the rest of the book offers little, so without wasting too much time, here’s a quick run-down of what’s inside 2000AD this week.

Judge Dredd- ‘Perps, Crimes & Videotape’ (movie reference from 1989) features giant walking sharks, mutant piranhas and a hipster geek nerd bloke. The story is a joke, but not a very funny one.

Tharg’s 3Rillers- ‘1%’ (the final part of the story) ends up being about a corrupt rich guy and his planet sized brain. It was an okay ending to the arc, but I didn’t like the art and the whole thing felt a bit inconsequential.

Survival Geeks- ‘SteamPunk’d’ had one decent joke about a future UK coalition government being an ‘end of world scenario’ but the rest of it washed over me. I won’t miss this one. It was there, that’s all.

Bob Bryne’s ‘Twisted Tales’ is a revenge story where the oppressed masses finally gang up to get rid of their pig-like over-lords. I liked it, and just wish we’d do the same in the real world with our own pig-like over-lords. The noticeable thing about the story was the total absence of dialogue. There could be a message there. Perhaps the message is that we need to do less talking and more acting, less yapping, and more slapping? If that’s the message in Twisted Tales, then I wholeheartedly agree with it.

Savage- Grinders, follows our tool of the state ‘hero’ as he places his trust in another leader, making the same mistake that every statist always makes come election time. Oh Bill, will you ever learn? If you keep voting for a master you’ll keep on being a slave, that’s how it works Bill.  I did enjoy the villain in this one though. He’s the same bloke who is featured on the front cover, a ridiculously angry brain in a fat suit. Good stuff, now that’s my idea of fun. Who says that I don’t have a sense of humour?

That’s it for this week in 2000AD. There’s not much going on, well apart from that mute story about pig slapping and an angry brain in a fat suit. Next week sees the start of some new stories for spring 2015, so although 2000AD was a bit lightweight this week, I remain ever optimistic for the future.


Rating: 5/10


Best story: Twisted Tales: 7/10 (No dialogue, and it works very well)

Worst story: Judge Dredd: 3/10 (I was never a fan of the Judge, even as a youngster, so this isn't just an 'anarchist' thing. It's an in-built anti-authoritarian thing. Judge Dredd is a bully with a badge. An unpleasant piece of c**p. The only good Judge Dredd story is a story that shows him for what he actually is. He is not big, not clever, not cool. He is a tool in a uniform, just like all of the other tools in uniform who prop up government/slavery systems in the past, present, and if we don't start doing something about it, in the future as well.