Judge Dredd//Serial-Serial: Is it time to kill off the serial killer genre?

Judge Dredd//Serial Serial (2) is written by John Wagner and published in PROG 1951 of 2000AD.



A very, very long time ago I decided to write. I did so in an attempt to escape the apathetic emptiness in which I was existing. My writing was a desperate, hopeless and ultimately fruitless attempt to connect with the world around me, a world that felt empty and devoid of all meaning and hope.

I was a young guy, rudderless, with no mentor, and with very little experience of real human 'adult' interactions. So, with no practical experience of life, no insight into anything really, and with nothing to say about the world other than- ‘I’m hopelessly adrift here,’ what could I possibly write about?

I looked at the world around me, and saw apathy and people stuck in routines. I saw dull faces and dull lives. I could have written about that, and probably should have, but the last thing I wanted to do was to relive the disapointingly mundane world around me. So, making the first in a long list of bad life decisions, I decided to write scary stories about the easiest narrative protagonist that I could think about. That protagonist was the ‘serial killer’ a villain loudly lauded over all mainstream media, in films, books, television shows, and just about every other form of mass media entertainment.

Another creative death in a moribund genre.

The serial killer was cool, exciting, menacing, infamous and most importantly, very easy to write fictional stories about.

I would sweat all day in a soul-sucking job, and spend the evening writing ‘cool/sick’ stories about serial killers, in the misguided hope that the stories would offer me a connection to the world.

Everybody loved serial killers. How could I fail?

Guess what? I failed. The connection with the outside world never happened. I wrote my stories, they were ignored, and my isolation from the world around me continued. My stories were terrible, and I feel embarrassed now that I was so blinded by the apathy of the world around me that I used to write such meaningless tosh.

Now zoom forward to October 6th 2015 and imagine my reaction to a ‘new’ story arc in 2000AD that features a serial killer sending cryptic, taunting messages to Judge Dredd, as the big chinned cop looks out into the empty city sky-line asking:

‘Who is he? Where is he? How do we identify him? How do we stop him?’

That short example of dialogue in ‘Serial-Serial’ by John Wagner is the kind of nonsense that I was coming out with twenty years ago, the kind of generic serial killer cliché crap that says nothing about the world, because it’s not even trying to. It is the kind of dialogue that you would expect to come from a lonely, isolated young man, not a professional writer working for a long time established comic book like 2000AD.

When I read stories like ‘Serial-Serial’ I get this horribly despairing feeling that twenty years have flown by, and nothing has changed, that humanity is just as purposefully blind and dumb today as it always has been.

I got over ‘cool’ serial killer stories a long, long time ago. Today, when I read them I am taken back to the lonely lost kid that I was, and I don’t particularly want to go back to those empty, useless times.

I do however understand why John Wagner is writing a story about a Serial Killer.

Serial killer stories offer thrills, twists and ‘cool’ whilst safely avoiding all of the important issues of our time. They are easy to write, uncontroversial, and simple. They are stories for children. A heroic cop chases a crazy villain. Spin it out for a bit, throw in some bodies, have a twist at the end, wrap it up, then onto the next villain. They are stories wearing reality blinkers, refusing to look at the world around them, refusing to reflect the reality in which they are being produced, and if that’s what 2000AD wants, that’s what they’ll get.

A veteran writer like John Wagner will find it ridiculously easy to write these generic bad guy stories, and if 2000AD publishes them, who’s to blame, the writer or the publisher?

A celebration of sickness and authority in uniforms

I blame the publisher. They should demand more, and reject this kind of story. They should have higher standards. They should want their stories to say something, to reflect something, and not just settle for mediocre 90’s thrills to pay their 2015 bills.

The last thing I want is reality obsessed stories featuring stony-faced crowds staring like zombies into their I-phones, but I would prefer blank pages over the tired, lazy, useless, anachronistic, dull, sad and pathetically childish nonsense that is the ‘serial killer’ genre.

Is ‘Serial-Serial’ a bad story? No, it’s not bad. It’s something worse than that. It’s a competently structured story that is pushing suspicion of strangers and dependency on authority figures. That pushing of suspicion makes the world less friendly, people less approachable, and reinforces the sense of isolation that I myself felt as a young man. It’s a story that tells you that the world is scary, and that you are probably safer keeping yourself to yourself, doing what you are told, and relying on the ‘authorities’ to keep you safe from all of the imaginary evils that exist in the world.

That’s not a good message. It keeps people afraid, isolated and dependent upon authority figures. It’s a message that benefits the state, and damages social interaction and overall human happiness.

Today I look at this kind of story and it makes me feel sad, sad because the fear porn lies are the same, and sad that 2000AD is still prepared to publish them.

I’ve lived a little, and learnt a lot in the past twenty years, but when I read stories like ‘Judge Dredd//Serial Serial’ it’s like the world has stood still. Serial killer stories are silly and lazy, they always have been, and all they do is reinforce social isolation and dependency on uniformed authority. I have no time for them anymore. I used to write them, but that was a very long time ago. I changed. I grew up. I stopped wasting my time. I moved on. I started to live, and to write about life. Is it asking too much of 2000AD to do the same?

2000AD-PROG 1950: Jump on board, the ship is sinking

Artists and writers: Various.
Publisher: Rebellion
Released: 29th September 2015


I’m writing this in a public library and it’s quite the experience. I have a morbidly obese lady sat two seats away from me, mumbling to herself as she surfs the Internet, and two jobs seeking teens behind me, talking loudly about the NFL whilst working on their job applications. The large lady cannot appear to breathe without making a noise much like a sweating/rutting Walrus, and the two teens probably need to look for jobs as NFL analysts, as that appears to be all they are really interested in. As for me, I’m typing away on a computer console in the corner, trying to keep my composure, and trying not to let the immense irritation that is building inside of me to spill into this review of PROG 1950 of 2000 AD.

Every now and then 2000AD offers a jumping on point for new and lapsed readers, an opportunity to sample their wares and to see if 2000AD has more to offer than the Marxist inspired identity politics that is polluting the US comic book industry at the moment. PROG 1950 is one of those jumping on points, offering four brand new story arcs for new and old readers alike.

The problem with 2000AD is that it is wildly inconsistent. When it’s good it’s very good, but when it’s bad, it’s bloody awful.

I don’t enjoy saying this, but PROG 1950 is very much on the side of ‘bloody awful’ and no, it’s not just because the rotund lady is still mumbling to herself and the students are now talking loudly about their Mum’s and driving licences.

PROG 1950 gets off to a horrible start with a Judge Dredd story (by John Wagner) that uses two of the biggest clichés in contemporary writing, that being the serial killer and the sawing in half magic trick. Seriously, what is going on here? Does writer John Wagner have nothing better to offer than this? If so, he needs to find a new line of work, because this is terrible. Who hasn’t read a story about a magician being murdered when one of his tricks is tampered with? Who hasn’t read a story about a serial killer sending taunting letters to the cops? When you are reduced to using tired old tropes like this, you have run out of ideas. You need a break, you need to live a bit, read a lot, and come back to your writing career when you have new ideas and something interesting to say about the world in which you are living.

Oh great, here come more job-seeking NFL analysts. The library sounds like a busy pub now, and yes, the walrus is still here, and just as noisy as ever. Crap, oh well, onto the second story in PROG 1950 of 2000AD.

Defoe//The London Hanged is from the pen of Pat Mills, the man who produced the excellent Slaine, the best thing about 2000AD since I started to re-read it over a year ago. This new story has excellent black and white ink and pencils from artist Leigh Gallagher, and the narrative follows what amounts to a zombie hunter in mythological Olde-England. This opening is short, it introduces the main protagonist, sets the scene, and introduces a threat. That’s about it for the opening, and it’s hard to tell whether or not it’s going to be as essential as Slaine. All I can say at the moment is that it looks great, and I’m eager to see where Mills takes it after this introductory phase is over.

Brass Sun-Motorhead- is one of those set in the future stories where you have a pretty young female protagonist fighting against the evil powers that be. These stories are a dime a dozen in 2015, but is this one any good? First off, the young girl heroine is incredibly annoying. Mouthy and bossy she bravely puts up with her own physical discomforts, doing what is best for us all, and telling people to shut up whilst she does it. What can I say? It’s another narrative seemingly designed to make young girls feel good about themselves. That’s very laudable, but it’s also very, very, very common in comic books today. Plus, here’s a revelation, there aren’t exactly thousands of young girls reading these comic books, so who exactly is getting anything out of this? It’s not middle aged blokes like me, that’s for sure.

Let’s see if the last story in this jump-on issue of 2000AD has anything to offer this old, grumpy and increasingly fed-up bloke.

In short, no, the story doesn’t have much to offer me at all. The art in Bad Company//First Casualties looks great, very old school 2000AD, but this new arc begins and ends in a very predictable manner. The story is all about the end of a war. A cool sounding warrior (Kano) is missing, and his group of warrior comrades are chilling out in a veteran’s compound, drugged up, and fed-up now that the war is over. The story follows one of these men as he’s released on a special mission, and guess who he bumps into on the final panel of the book? Yep, it’s exactly who you would expect him to bump into, it’s Kano. Is this predictable narrative excusable because what happens next is going to be so much fun? I hope so, but as a stand-alone opening, it’s very mild, not very exciting, and as predictable as a walk in the park with my headphones on. Is that what I want from my 2000AD? Not really. I want a bit more than that.

That’s it. The jumping on point is over, so let’s recap what we have here. A formulaic detective Dredd story, a cool looking zombie tale, a bossy heroine narrative and a retired soldiers going back to war against/with their old boss story. I want to get excited, but there’s not a lot going on here, and as a new jumping-on point, I was hoping for a bit more. If 2000AD want to stand out from the politically correct social justice warrior wave of dross coming from the states them they need to do a lot better than this.

I want to be a huge fanboy. I want to scream about 2000AD from the roof-tops, but they are not giving me a lot to work with here. Introductions to new arcs can be difficult, but they are also an excellent opportunity to make a killer impact, and from what I’ve read in PROG 1950 of 2000AD, the impact is going to be minimal at best. 2000AD is usually a lot better than this, so this book is a huge disappointment. It’s tame, very tame, and I can’t see this book winning over any new converts at all.

Okay then, review over, the walrus is still grumbling, the class is still chatting like it’s Friday night in a pub, and it’s time for this disappointed, frustrated and not too happy comic book reviewer to get out of here. Urggh, the guy in the booth next to me just exhaled all over me, and his breath smells like vomit. I need to get out of here. Oh dear, who’d be me?


Rating: 3/10 (As a jump on point for new readers, this is very disappointing.)

Comic review: John Flood #1- Edward Cullen + John Constantine + Dr Who = John Flood

Writer: Justin Jordan
Art: Jorge Coelho
Colours: Tamra Bonvillain
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Released: 5th August 2015



If you like John Constantine and tales about supernatural serial killers, then you’ll probably enjoy John Flood #1.

However, for anybody looking for something original, subversive, creative or contemporary, there’s not a lot going on in this book that will appeal to you.

This debut issue concentrates on establishing the world, the characters, the villain and the plot.

The world is a comic book anytime. The characters use computers and iphones, but they could easily be replaced with libraries and payphones, and it wouldn’t have made any difference to the direction and flow of the narrative.

The characters themselves are not very memorable. John Flood looks like Edward Cullen and acts like a quirky Doctor Who. He is generically eccentric, but not real, and not interesting to me.

His sidekicks are more straight-laced, as you would expect them to be, and the villain is a generic movie serial killer type, an evil genius who just wants to see the world burn.

The plot is entirely unremarkable. It’s disappointingly dull, routine and lacking in a big central idea, or hook. Here it is: A serial killer is doing what (movie) serial killers do, and it’s up to John Flood to use his wacky supernatural powers to stop him. He can’t do it all by himself though, so he has a chirpy young girl and an ex cop to help him out.

This first issue establishes the help, and ends with the serial killer being all evil and coming to get John and his buddies, or something. That’s not a lot of plot, but that’s all you are going to get if you pick up John Flood #1

The art is actually pretty good. The backgrounds in particular stood out to me, with otherworldly whirls and hints of far off galaxies and realities. Some of the characters are a bit too square jawed and muscular to be real people, but that’s a minor point. I enjoyed the art. It’s the rest of the book that lets it down.

I hate it when I read #1’s and they are not very good, especially when they come from publishers like Boom! Studios, a publisher I want to support, just because they are not Marvel or DC. But what can I do?

John Flood #1 isn’t going to set the world on fire, so I have to be honest about it. The book is very generic, reads like Constantine, and I can’t really see it doing a lot, or getting anybody out there in the comic book world particularly excited. Sorry, but it’s blah. I don’t want it to be blah, but blah is what it is.


Rating: 5/10 (Blah book, nice art)

Comic Review: ‘68 Bad Sign (One Shot)- This is like totally the coolest, sickest serial killer book ever man

Art: Richard Bonk
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Mark Kidwell
Released: 15th April 2015


Serial killers are like really cool, and they have mommy issues, and they are all sick and twisted like, and like that Zodiac killer dude probably threw sexy girls into his cellar whilst wearing like a cool Halloween mask, yeah man, and it’s so cooool, and he like probably had to wear a dress coz of his mom, and like I bet he lived in a house like with foetuses in a jar and like we can do a comic about him and we can put zombies in it man, yeah man, it can be like a zombie apocalypse or something, and like the Zodiac can send the police letters that say they’ll never catch him and that he’s God, and he can like be a sick artist like the joker or something and do a crucifix thing with corpses man, that would be like totally sick man, yeah, so sick man.

Yeah man, and the cop can like have a big moustache and like have sex with girls all of the time coz zombies are everywhere and like the girls don’t care anymore, they just want to have sex with like the heroes with a moustache, yeah man and like the hero moustache cop dude has to stop the Zodiac, and like I hope they totally catch the weirdo coz he’s like tortures sexy girls and stuff, and like then they can chase him and it will be really cool, and like he can be all crazy and like get shot and fall out of a window or something like and then the moustache cop man can say something really cool and like then go and drink whisky and have sex with a hot Police chick or something, like yeah man, cool.

Oh, oh, oh, and don’t forget about the zombies in it as well man, they can like get the Zodiac at the end man, yeah man, like he can be eaten by the zombies like, and that shows that he gets what he deserves or something like, yeah, cool man, cool, this is going to be the best comic book like EVER.


Rating: 1000000/10 (This is like the sickest, coolest comic book that I’ve ever read, and I strongly advise everybody reading this review to buy at least 1000 copies of it immediately)

Comic review: Wynter #2- Inside the mind of a state sanctioned serial killer

Writer: Guy Hasson
Artist: Aron Elekes
Publisher: New Worlds Comics
Released: 30th April 2014


Wynter #2 focuses its attention on a government assassin as he tracks down, and murders ‘subversives’ in order to maintain the control system of centralised government. The book uses a first person narration to explore the character motivations of this assassin, and it is this decision to follow events from the point of view of the villain that makes it an excellent, must-read book.

The book portrays the assassin as a man who has good reasons for doing what he is doing. It’s not because he’s a comic-book villain, and not because he needs the money either. The book is cleverer than that. Writer Guy Hasson demonstrates a deep understanding of real-life human motivations, as opposed to ‘I just want to see the world burn’ comic-book clichés.

Simply put, the assassin is perfectly happy with murdering people because he feels that there is nothing wrong with what he is doing. His justifications will be chillingly familiar to most ordinary people. His mindset is not uncommon in the real world. It’s a mindset shared by government murderers of the past, present, and future.

Firstly, he sees his actions as benefiting the collective. He is simply helping to maintain ‘order,’ to stop chaos taking over the world. That is one thing that all statists passionate believe in. Cowards at heart they believe that government exists to help people, to stop people (who are all horrible brutes anyway) from falling into a chaotic lawlessness that will see them murdering each other in the streets.

By murdering a few ‘subversives’ he is simply helping to restore peace and order for everybody. Humans are nasty, selfish and not worthy of freedom, and they need to be enslaved to save them from themselves. That is how statists view humanity. They hate themselves, and they hate humanity, and they truly believe that people cannot be trusted with their own freedom. It’s a horribly depressive, scared, paranoid, misanthropic world-view, but it’s the world-view held by the majority of people in the world today. If you doubt me, just ask around, and you might be surprised at the answers that you get.

The second reason this government assassin uses to justify himself is that his immoral, murderous, cowardly actions honour his victim. It is okay to murder them, because the world is a horrible, indifferent place, and well, at least somebody is honouring this person, and it’s better than the apathy that normally surrounds their life, and eventually pointless death.  That sounds like the twisted justifications of a serial killer, right? I agree, it does, but that is what a state sanctioned murderer actually is, nothing more than a serial killer with delusions that help him hide from the true moral consequences of his actions.

The last justification given by the assassin ties into the typical atheist statist delusion that life is a Darwinian struggle, a battle, a war, survival of the fittest, where the weak get trampled and the strong prosper, so why not be one of the strong ones, right? Writer Guy Hasson cleverly and insightfully explores this poisonous worldview as he details the relationship between the government assassin and his son. It is a relationship based on behavioural science, the trust in the new priest class of technology.

The assassin holds a horrifyingly Darwinian world-view that is very prevalent in the west today. It’s a world-view based on survival of the fittest/Nazi ideology. It’s a belief that life is a struggle between the weak and the strong, that you are either the one doing the stomping, or the one being stomped.  He wants his son to be the best stomper possible, and will use every deceptive technique possible to ensure that his kid enjoys a life spent stomping on the weak, just like his good old Dad. Hey, it’s the only way to bring up kids, right?

Thematically speaking, this book is now starting to remind me of V for Vendetta, and that’s a very good thing. However, it’s a lot better than just a simple update of Alan Moore’s classic with the addition of apps and itechnology. The book is posing a very important question:

What happens when the technology that we use today is used to collect personal information on every single thing that we do in our lives, when we willingly give up every single facet of our lives to corporate/state authority?

What happens is what always happens when the state is in control of people’s lives. Freedom is crushed, individualism becomes impossible and humanity is homogenised into an easily controllable collectivised/communist centralised prison system. That is why Edward Snowden is so important, and the pathetic response of the public is a terrifying indictment of their current state of collective ignorance, apathy and childlike trust in the murderous gang of thugs, criminals and control freaks that is government.

I often say that statism is slavery. I say it so much that people get fed up of me saying it, but it needs to be repeated until people accept it as the truth that it is. This book is showing what happens when the state know absolutely everything about you, even to the point where whatever you think, and whatever you plan to do in the future has already been predicted, and (in case of sedition) prepared for. It’s a nightmare future, but a future not far removed from the present where every day of our lives we voluntarily give away far too much information about ourselves on corporate/government online database systems disguised as ‘social media’ platforms.

Issue #2 of Wynter concludes with a good old-fashioned tense and exciting cliff-hanger, so as a pure adrenaline driven, sci-fi story it works on that level as well. This issue was far superior to the first, mainly because of the decision to structure it around the first-person perspective of the villain. His voice helped to clarify the world enormously, and his attitude and general world-view was so chillingly realistic that it should give us all great cause for concern. Not because it is the attitude of a psychopath, but because it’s the attitude of the common voter, of the average man or woman in the street.

How many ordinary people want order, want state control, want safety, and strive every day with a Darwinian mindset to climb further up the greasy pole of corporate success? Now contrast that to the number of people who want truth, individualism and freedom from centralised state control. The former is by far and away the majority, whilst the later are the protesting, complaining troublesome minority.

We want slavery, so slavery is what we get.

The Hellish world of technological slavery in Wynter #2 shouldn’t surprise anybody. That is the world that we are currently building. Don’t blame the New World Order, don’t blame the corporate executives, and don’t blame the criminal bankers. Blame yourself.

We are consciously building a nightmare world through our own immoral actions and poisonous, cowardly, ignorant, apathetic, selfish mindsets. When we wake up to find ourselves living in a technological prison camp we cannot complain that we didn’t know what was happening. We knew. The problem was that we didn’t care.

Rating: 10/10