50-Word (comic) review: 2000AD-PROG 1959- Reflections on a world gone wrong

Writers and artists: Numerous
Publisher: Rebellion
Released: 2nd December 2015



2000AD, you really are spoiling me. What can I complain about when your stories are about Police brutality, political corruption, false justifications for war, resistance to tyrants and the ‘highest’ being questioned by the ‘lowest?’ This is how you get with the times. This is how you actually say something.


Rating: 10/10

Check out the following quotation from ‘Defoe//London Hanged’ by Pat Mills- 

‘By what authority are the highest in the land to be questioned by the lowest?’ 

Look at the front cover on this issue of 2000AD (by Cliff Robinson) where an unrepentant Judge Dredd is caught on a camera phone beating a civilian to death for the crime of talking back to him. 

Read ‘Bad Company//First Casualties’ a story where ex-soldiers find out that the war they risked their lived for was based on fear propaganda and lies. 

Something happened to 2000AD recently. I don’t know how or why, but something clicked, and rather than being lost in the silliness of identity politics (like US comic books) they started to reflect real world concerns within their narratives. 

When I read a typical DC, Marvel (and most of the 'indie' US books as well) I read nostalgia, style over substance, identity politics and the worship of collectivism and state authority. 

When I read 2000AD I read about individuality, resistance and the desire to be free from those that wish to enslave and control. PROG 1959 of 2000AD has three excellent stories: Dredd, Bad Company and Defoe. These three stories are UK stories. You will only get them in 2000AD. 

When people ask me- ‘Why should I bother reading 2000AD in 2015?’ I will point them to these three stories. If you care about the world around you, about what is happening now, then you will get a heck of a lot more insight from these stories than anything that you will read coming out of the almost completely worthless US comic book industry. 

For a story to excel, it has to reflect the times in which it is being written. We don’t live in the 1990’s anymore. The cold war is over. Things happened. They continue to happen all around us as I type these words. Comic books need to reflect these realities. We are not children, and we don’t need a ‘safe-space’ to protect us from harmful reality. 

When we get with reality, things change. Politicians cannot fob us off, as they always try to do, and they have to actually engage with the people that they are supposed to represent. 

That’s us, we are the people that are supposed to be in charge, not corporations, not banks, and not arms dealers. We get with reality and things start to change, so when I read 2000AD reflecting the real world of 2015 back into their narratives, that makes me very happy indeed.

50-Word (Comic) Review- 2000AD- PROG 1958: You always mistook fists, for flowers

Writers and artists: Various
Publisher: Rebellion
Released: 25th November 2015


The overarching theme is of resistance to unaccountable, authoritarianism control systems, fighting against enforcers. The best story though is ‘The Crow Gifts.’ It encapsulates the ‘progressive’ desire for martyrdom, for pointless death to further their cause of suicidal, masochistic, nihilistic emptiness. This is how the left feeds it’s own executioners.

Rating: 9/10



What am I on about here? Two things: First off, most of the stories in 2000AD feature little people against the power of the state. Judge Dredd acts like a US Policeman in one of those videos that keeps getting released online (#JudgeDreddMatters), and the other narratives feature resistance fighters (as the heroes) against top down control systems and state agents. That says a lot to me, it says that there’s a growing sense of anxiety in the western world today and there’s a growing understand that our supposed leaders are not quite as benevolent as they make out on our tell-lie-visions. That’s good. It’s a start at least, and it shows that the writers in 2000AD are not being bogged down with 1990’s nostalgia or cultural Marxist identity politics, as is happening in the US comic book industry right now. The best thing about PROG 1959 of 2000AD though is ‘The Crow Gifts’ by David Baillie. The story is about a young girl. She lives with her Grandfather, feels trapped, and rebels against his pragmatic advice about safeguarding her own future. Rather than do as he advises (living a life as a wife and mother with a prosperous husband) she chooses to embrace her own destruction, feeding birds that will eventually peck her to death. You could over analyse this story, and talk about multiculturalism, feminism, liberalism and immigration, but I’ll keep my analysis simple. To me, the story is the perfect synthesis of the suicidal progressive movement, a death cult political ideology that always embraces fists, for flowers (see song at end of review). I read ‘The Crow Gifts’ and see the progressive left, independent, feminine, nurturing, loving, and walking straight off of a cliff. 2000AD is pretty good this week, but Crow Tales by David Baillie is a lot better than pretty good. It’s easy to rail against an authoritarian control system as you can see the tyranny right in front of your face. But to recognise the weakness that comes from within, that’s the key to fighting back and reclaiming humanity from all that has been lost, not just by force, but by indoctrination into progressive politics and an ideology of martyrdom and self-destructive, masochistic nihilism. 

50-Word (Comic) Review: Dark Knight III- The Master Race- Book One: The New Batman book by Frank Miller- Don’t worry, it’s bloody awesome

Writer: Frank Miller & Brian Azzarello
Art: Andy Kubert & Klaus Janson
Publisher: DC Comics
Released: 25th November 2015


Female protagonists dominate the comic book industry. How to make them resonate? Portray dead masculinity in decaying west. Cops prey on citizens. Vigilantes are villains, not heroes. The enemy of western governments is not ISIS. The enemy is masculine individualism, and those that refuse to be collectivised. Frank gets it.



Rating: 10/10

A short review for a fantastic comic book. There will be no spoilers here. Read the book for yourself. I loved it.

50-Word (Comic) Review: 2000AD-PROG 1957- Bad Company is pretty ace, mate

Writers & Artists: Various
Publisher: Rebellion
Released: 18th November 2015



Bad Company/First Casualties is everything that a 2000AD story should be in 2015. Retro, yet relevant, ridiculous, yet intelligent and with the irreverent tone of a 1980’s anarchist student comic book, but updated for our newly dumbed down, metrosexual, genderless, anaesthetised by political correctness, tuned in, but turned off igeneration.


Rating: 7/10

My review is a bit late this week, so sorry about that, I was a bit preoccupied with writing my webcomic about Hitler and his dog (available on this blog, if you want a look/laugh). PROG 1957 has a front cover that looks like a rushed pencil sketch, a Judge Dredd story that takes the p*** out of runners (nothing wrong with that, as I am one myself and we deserve a bit of mockery), a Defoe story that (sadly) is starting to get a bit ill-disciplined and wobbly, a daft horror story with a joke ending, a funnier than usual episode of Brass Sun, and a flippin awesome closing story in Bad Company//First Casualties. BC has a great little joke about Angela Merkel, the German globalist who is killing off Germany at the moment with her obsequious obedience to multi-cultural political correctness, and it’s that little joke that really puts it over the top into the category of ‘excellent.’ That’s what 2000AD should be doing in 2015, mocking the little twerps who are screwing up the world for all of us, but hiding the goodies like Easter eggs within a meadow of ridiculousness. You can get away with a lot when you are being silly. Anyway, let’s finish this ‘review’ before PROG 1957 is released tomorrow. Bad Company is the star, and it continues to be ace, mate. Get 2000AD for that story alone. Does anybody say ‘ace’ anymore? Probably not, let’s bring it back, shall we? Out with the new, and in with the old. Let’s get old again. Old was good, it’s the new that is screwing things up at the moment.

50-Word (Comic) Review- Starlord #1: Pretty much what you would expect

Writer: Sam Humphries
Art: Javier Garron
Publisher: Marvel (Disney)
Released: 18th November 2015


I’m like totally a rebel, and I like want to impress my dead Mum. Dad? What is a Dad? Anyway, this like female boss is like totally on my side, and I’m going to steal this spaceship to show how special I am. Wooooooshhhhh, off I go. Oh, I’m lost.


Rating: 4/10

Here’s a book about the bloke that everybody liked in that movie. He’s a loveable loser type. I find it very telling that one of the most popular new comic book heroes is a loser, telling because it’s the comic book industry reflecting readers back onto themselves. They see their readers as losers, so the heroes are losers as well, with the obvious difference being that in the real world comic book fans will always be losers, but in comics, they win, hence the appeal. So, is this book any good? If you want a personality based narrative about a loveable loser getting to win, get it. I couldn’t get anything out of it, but that’s because I am a comic book reader who wants to win for himself, not just read about winners, and that’s why I’ve started to do my own webcomics. Please check out the latest one here on my blog. It’s about BigFoot and Isis. The art isn’t as good as you will be used to, but I’m trying to say something about reality, about the real world, and you are not going to get that in Marvel/Disney comic books about loveable losers that get to win.

50-Word (Comic) review- 2000AD- PROG 1956: My mind is on other things

Writers & Artists: Various
Publisher: Rebellion (time to live up to the name folks)
Released: 11th November 2015



Reading comic at work, memories of 1980’s flooding back. Dredd story is silly. Defoe is rich v poor. Brass Sun so convoluted will read better as a whole. Dexter inconsequential. Bad Company all nostalgia. How to think about a comic when Islam is showing it’s true face of intolerance again?

Rating: 7/10



I read this comic book last night, and I enjoyed it. Dredd made me laugh, and there was a nostalgia factor to the book as a whole, but how much longer can we bury our heads in nostalgia whilst ignoring the reality of the world around us? Knock, knock, here’s a reality check. Western civilisation, look at what has happened to us. We are under attack, and most of us are too scared to even defend ourselves. Cowered by political correctness into shutting our mouths and living in a delusional non-reality world, or the dead world of the past, our heads are in the sand and our asses are up in the air. No more enforced ‘respect.’ It’s truth time. We need to start getting with reality. We need to start defending ourselves. Radical Islam is a real threat that seeks to kill us all. This threat needs to be recognised EVERYWHERE, and comic books need to do their part as well. Have a good weekend. Speak truth now. We have been building our own graveyard, labelled with the cultural Marxist epithets of 'diversity’ and ‘tolerance.’ Stop building the graveyard. It’s time to smash it down, and to rebuild what we have been programmed to destroy. Start speaking truth. Stop living life as a politically correct coward. Start defending yourselves. If you don’t, you know what’s going to happen next.

50-Word (Comic) Review- The Goddamned #1: Violently naked, foul-mouthed and very, very good.

Writer: Jason Aaron
Art: R.M. Guera
Colours: Giulia Brusco
Publisher: Image Comics
Released: 11th November 2015



Progressive PC infiltration destroyed my comic-book pull list, whittling it down to almost nothing. Just tell me a story, please, make it good, don’t rely on quips, and leave statism, feminism and collectivism out of it. That’s all that I want. Does this one do it? Surprisingly, yes, it does.



Rating: 9/10

I was in two minds about buying ‘The Goddamned #1’. Writer Jason Aaron, during his Marvel Thor run, wrote Thor as a soldier flying around the world (representing America) and fighting evil dictators. By doing so his Thor came to represent US imperialism, and gave credence to the lie that has justified the US setting the Middle East on fire and ‘accidentally’ creating ISIS. You know the lie, that wars happen because the ‘good guys’ (the US) want to make the world a better place, and to get rid of evil dictators. It’s a ridiculous lie, mainly because the US supports all sorts of crazy dictators (Saudi Arabia) all over the world and is more than happy to do business with them, and I don’t want to see it again in my comic books. We need to get beyond that very basic, dumbed down version of reality that is pushed on the mainstream media, and when I see mainstream idiot lies parroted in my comic books it instantly turns me off the books. There was also the fact that he turned the ultimate symbol of Norse masculinity (Thor) into a woman, thus bowing to the femiNazi’s who are doing a very good job of destroying mainstream comic books right now. Plus, I read the previews of this book, and because it’s a story about our pre-flood civilisation I figured that Aaron is bound to be a trendy liberal atheist and take the opportunity to cr*p all over the Bible. But now that I’ve read it, I’m glad that I took a risk and gave it a chance. The story, to sum it up very succinctly, reads like a Bible story with naked, violent, sweary blokes in it. There are no moments of social justice, no moments of PC pandering, and no moments of atheist having a go at God stuff. The main protagonist is Cain (the first murderer), the story is linear, easy to follow and interesting, and the art has great colouring and an edge to it that’s perfect for a brutal story about the moral decline of early man. The Goddamned #1 is about a time when things on Earth were so bad that God decided that he’d had enough of it all, and had to wipe the slate clean and start all over again. Look at the world today, and ask yourself this question: What must he think of us today? Anyway, it’s a top book, very good, and I enjoyed it very much. If you haven’t got it, get it. That’s it, end of review, thank you Mr. Aaron.

50-Word (Comic) Review- Klaus #1: A Wonderful Fairytale Book about the Origins of Santa Claus

Writer: Grant Morrison
Art: Dan Mora
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Released: 4th November 2015



Soldiers revel in cruelty, granted by a tyrant, his castle towers over homes of the poor. Spoilt child destroys, wants more, a solitary trader, appalled at what he sees, escapes, then by night, alien elves conjure presents for children, a red cape, a sprinkle of snow. Santa is that you?


Rating: 8/10

Klaus #1 is a lovely surprise gift to the comic book world, and it’s just in time for Christmas 2015. The story is about the origin of Santa Claus, and there’s something very fairytale about it, mixed with the dirty realism that you will find in an old brother’s Grimm story. Issue #1 follows a buffed up (bearded) young man as he visits a town gone to wrack and ruin due to a scumbag leader, and all of the top down corruption that inevitably follows when those in charge are a right bunch of bankers. It might as well be about David Cameron, and the town might as well be London in 2015. The rot starts from the top, and when everybody is aware of the corruption of those in power, the reasoning goes, why not be just as corrupt as them, after all corruption equals success, right? The only difference between this book and the UK in 2015 is that at least the men in this book have jobs. They might all be down a dirty old mine, but at least they are working, and that’s a lot more than you can say about a lot of people in the UK right now. Anyway, back to this book. It’s a happy bundle of Christmas joy, get it, it’s good, there’s a nice feel about it, and you’ll like it, probably, I did.

50 Word Review-Drax #1: CM Punk’s Pipe-Bomb Comic Book Fails to Ignite

Writers: CM Punk & Cullen Bunn
Artist: Scott Hepburn
Publisher: Marvel (Disney)
Released: 4th November 2015


Smart butt one-liners, quips, self-aware jokes, the book laughs at itself. Empty protagonist Drax runs on revenge/hatred. Punk commenting on his own life? CM railed against corporate WWE system of dull conformity, too legit, he quit. Here, he puts his name to just another corporate comic book. Fandom, or money?


Rating: 4/10

Drax #1 is ex-WWE wrestler CM Punk’s second attempt at (part) writing a comic book (the first was in the Feb 25th 2015 Thor annual). It’s co-written by established writer Cullen Bunn, and to me, the book reads like just another safe, corporate, Cullen Bunn narrative. It’s character based, daft, uncontroversial (not like Punk at all) and pretty much indistinguishable from any other Marvel comic book that you will find today. The story exists as mere background to the characters as they engage in witty banter, ‘cool’ dialogue, knowing asides and smart a*** comments. It’s going for that comic book ‘cool’ factor that made the last Avengers movie such an interminably bore to sit through, and I’m not impressed. CM Punk was all about anti-authority, rebellion and telling it like it is (or at least as he saw it), but I don’t detect ANY hint of that anti-corporate rebellion in this comic book. Pipe bomb? Nope, it’s not even a softly deflating balloon. It’s just another comic book, and as CM Punk was more than just another wrestler, this one has to go into my ever-increasing pile of comics bearing the scribbled legend, ‘Disappointing.’ I’m reading little of worth in contemporary comic books, and that’s why I’m starting to write my own webcomics on this blog. Please check them out. I know that the art is bad, but at least I’m trying to say something, and that’s a lot more than you can say about Drax #1.

50 Word Review- The Goon in Theatre Bizarre: Halloween break from despair

By: Eric Powell & John Dunivant
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 14th October 2015


Ephemeral, inconsequential, gorgeously illustrated and coloured, Halloween fun, made to make you smile, dialogue is jokes, butts, one-liners, asides, quips, spooky clown, ghost theatre, fog, olde no time, fun with the boys, no depths reached, read, enjoy art and jokes, Goon so depressed by recent events, takes Halloween holiday here.


Rating: 7/10

The Goon has been having a hard time recently, suicide inducing hard. He's been down in the dumps, betrayed, lost and in fight/drink/fight despair mode. Is there any point in living (hard as it is) when there is no love in your life, and no possibility of finding it in the future? Probably not, and when there is no hope, it's all over. Goon was in desperate need of a break from despair. He gets it here in this Halloween special where he takes a trip to a spooky theatre. The story relies heavily on beautifully painted artwork and silly jokes based on female posteriors. I didn't like the ending, it fell flat, but the book looked great, and most of the jokes hit. It's a decent Halloween book, not scary, not really doing much, but as a break from the trauma and despair of recent Goon stories, it's a welcome break and a silly, inconsequential, throwaway bit of fun.

50 Word Review: The Covenant #4- Swords and Sorcery, Bible Style

Writer: Rob Liefeld
Art: Matt Horak
Publisher: Image Comics
Released: 14th October 2015



Philistines sacrifice virgins to beasts, an offering to snake god Dagon, the power of the arc, of Jehovah is unleashed, a plague strikes the Philistines, an earthquake causes chaos, true God Jehovah favours the Israelites, is this truth, or Israelite propaganda? We’ll never know, history is an agreed upon lie.



Rating: 8/10

There are lots of beasts, monsters and brutal death scenes in this Bible story, so much so that it reads like a very contemporary swords and sorcery text. There’s even a role for warrior women as well, the kind of role that you get in modern feminist texts like Gail Simone’s Red Sonja, with women fighting as warriors and going toe to toe against the men. It’s an exciting book, but for the first time it’s starting to read like propaganda that a religious group would put out after a victorious battle against their enemies, where they portray the real ‘God’ as being on there side, working with them, and helping them to destroy their enemies. It’s fascinating stuff, and well worth picking up, not just for the big battles, beasts and warrior heroes/heroines, but because it’s a Bible story, it’s teaching you something about world history, something of real importance (even if it is the propaganda of a victorious people), and that’s a lot more than can be said for most comic books.

Doctor Strange #1- 50 Word Review: Where did the grey bits go?

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Kevin Nowlan
Publisher: Marvel (Disney)
Release Date: 7th October 2015


Strange looks too young. Personality is Constantine/Tony Stark, playboy, generic, amalgamation of rebellious types. Narrative involves interdimensional beasties. Set in generic city. No connection to 2015 realities/issues/concerns. Quips, self-aware, knowing jokes. Cool is the game, style over substance, nothing to say, not trying to, up it’s own a*** basically, mate.


Rating: 5/10 

(Average Marvel comic book. Reminded me of the dull Age of Ultron movie with all it’s quips and cool moments. This is big budget nothingness where style is all, and substance is zero. If you have nothing to say, make sure that you say it very, very well. That’s the game here. The book features a young woman as a story-line catalyst, as you might expect, so Jason gets a special PC/Corporate/SJW Brownie point for that one. The book has nice art, and a clever opening, but it has nothing to say other than look at my cool. It’s a safe and uninteresting book, and I have zero interest in issue #2. Can you see how I’m getting around the fifty-word limit here? Sorry. I can’t help myself.) 

The Fifty-Word Review: 2000AD-PROG 1951- Serial killers and potential

Writers and artists: Various
Publisher: Rebellion
Released: 7th October 2015


Dredd opens with serial killer yawns, then Defoe versus zombies, could be saying something about class warfare, onto Brass Sun with a twist at the conclusion, to Sinister Dexter and a world of douche bags, then Bad Company Kano in a chaotic romp that recalls days of 2000AD glories past.

Best: Bad Company//First Casualties 8/10

Worst: Judge Dredd//Serial Serial 2/10 (See previous post on my blog for more details about that one)

Overall rating for PROG 1951 of 2000AD: 6/10 (Defoe has potential, Bad Company is old school fun)