Cover by Philip Bond

EB: This cover has come in for a bit of stick on the relentlessly wacky world of the interweb, but I’ll nail my colours to the mast right from the off; I like it, so yah boo to you, hive mind! Of course, I’m a fan of Phillip Bond, so I guess that flavours my opinion somewhat.

Thing is, most of these anniversary covers can prove to be something of a disappointment in reality – often a character montage which proves to be a bit of something and all of nothing. Okay, so it’s not as iconic an image as that of prog 1280 which marked 2000AD’s 25th. Nor is it the “AIIIIEEE!! KILL ME NOW -- before the alien HyperBees LIQUIDISE MY BRAIN and subject me to SCREAMING ELECTRIC DEATH in order to power the ULTIMATE DOOMSDAY WEAPON OF ULTRA OMNI-DOOM!” type of lunacy to be found within the comic’s early covers. Instead it’s an enjoyably original, forward-looking cover that sits well on a newsagent’s shelf, but still has the grace for the odd glance backwards, not least towards the publication’s loyal legion of fans. 

AC: So, here we are; 30 years of 2000AD. There are, ehh, more than a few among the message boards’ numbers who have decried this cover. Well, I say something to ‘em synonomous with “nuts”, “balls” and “my 80 pound mandarins”! Think about it; how many times over the years have we seen an “assembly shot”, a cramped jamming-in of every available hero who can fit into that blank space in the bottom left corner, just between Nemesis and Judge Anderson (‘ello ‘ello)?

What we have here is tenderness, affection, dispensing with the sort of hyperbole that makes every prog intro worth only a skim reading. To hold it in your hands, with that glossy, high quality paper giving it a particular sheen, you can focus on the peaceful hues of the lamp posts and the gentle-yet-substantial colouring of the night sky.

Phillip Bond has something of Jamie Hewlett’s anarchic spirit, and to see it here used in such a sensitive manner creates an incredibly striking effect. It may be overstating the influence of the Galaxy’s Greatest somewhat to depict a young girl buying “Dredd Sings the Hits”, but the message is clear enough! The real kicker though is the Mighty One himself; away from the procrastination of thirty years’ worth of garbled nonsense, we see him here rendered large and looming, a glowing nebula just hovering around his temple, with juuuust the hint of a smile playing at his lips.

There’s just a little bit of magic to be found here, and I for one love it. 

CE: I’m not sure how well this works – it’s a very well drawn and fun image, but it’s not as eye-catching as you’d except for an anniversary celebration. Compare this to the brilliant “15 Years Creep!” one for the Megazine, with the Judges burning old Megs.

Judgement - Part 4 Script: Gordon Rennie Art: Ian Gibson Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Manipulated Judgement....

Synopsis: As Dredd recuperates from his run in with Judgement, he fills SJS Ishmael on his hunches that Judgement is the ghost of Kenner, who he believes was killed by Rico. But Anderson says it's a revenant, probably Kenner called back by something to turn him into a spirit of vengeance. It turns out that the judge killed by Judgement was crooked - so the spirit must be able to tell if its victims are guilty or not. Dress decides to investigate the Greenhaven Cartel - all affected by Judgement's hits - while Anderson gives him some special Psi division lawgiver rounds.

Elsewhere, Judgement is clearly being manipulated by something and is sent out on another task while Anderson discovers that a Psi Judge that was investigating the Greenhaven Cartel was fatally injured and kept in suspended animation - she must be leading the attacks.

Joey Raveen, head of the Greenhaven Cartel has surrounded himself by Psis in an effort to protect himself - but one of the Psis detects that Judgement has been attacking the Greenhaven Cartel to get Raveen to panic and gather all his Psis together. Raveen has fallen for the trap...

EB: It's always hard to judge a story partway through its run, but it’s a testament to Rennie’s improving grasp of Dredd and his world. I can honestly say that this is one of the writer’s Dredd stories I’ve most enjoyed since he began writing for the character back in 2000.

With SJS Judge Ishmael making the move from fan-fic to stand alongside series regulars like Anderson, there’s a feeling of a sure hand at the tiller, aided in no small part by some of Ian Gibson’s old school stylings and lush artwork (if there was ever an artist born to draw female psi judges, it would be he). Though, like most stories, this will live and die on its finale, you’ve got to love a story that harks back to the early days of the Dredd strip, mixing ye olde judge uniforms, psykers, Rico Dredd and even Sus-An. All they need to do is chuck in a psi-amplifier next week and it’ll be perfect. 

AC: Well, with everything else kicking off anew this prog, Judge Dredd threatens to feel like a bit of a party pooper by carrying on regardless. Not to worry though, because Judgement is a solid story that’s had a lot thought expended on it by our young Master Rennie, and indeed by that esteemed old gentlemen of 2000AD Ian Gibson. The art’s insistence on pink and white sometimes threaten to derail what is an admirably resolute supernatural story, but all in all nothing detracts from the increasingly intricate story that has its roots in Dredd’s earliest days.

CE: Ah, the answers! Despite being six pages of exposition, Judgement keeps up the interest. That moment on page six where the bad guys find out they’ve put themselves in a trap is brilliant. Rennie and Gibson know how to pace strips for maximum impact. That page-width small silent panel, coming just after larger ones with mass dialogue – simple effect but it works (and the look on the psyker’s faces is bloody funny).  

Hand of Glory Script: Pat Mills Art: Ramon Sola Letters: Simon Bowland Greytones: Rufus Dayglo

Garver gets a helping hand ...

Synopsis: (A prequel to the original series) Carver is being taken into custody by the Marshall for killing a Time Controller. Their convoy crosses the Prehistoric lands, running into Satan's Herd - a herd and its riders caught in a time loop, unable to escape. The conductor arrives and demands their tickets. A fellow traveller kicks up a fuss, saying that she doesn't have tickets. But it's a distraction and it turns out she, Janie B Good and her friend Stain was there to rescue Carver, supplying him with a gun. Carver knocks the Marshall out and they jump off the convoy.

Carver tells his friends how he killed the Time Controller for scarring his mother, as they speed away in a car that they have waiting. As they escape, they see a hole in the rift that causes Satan's herd. Realising that rescuing the herd would lead to a pardon, they head for the hole. They round up the herd, but as they do Carver's hand is bitten off, so he kills the raptor that did is and takes its claw to replace his lost hand. With the herd safe and with their reprieve, Carver builds his own city...

EB: An interesting oddity, this. Effectively a prequel to Flesh book 1, what we have here is a sort of origin of the villain of the original piece, Claw Carver (who, let’s face it, was always more interesting than starchy old cowpoke Earl Regan). Full of the usual Mills Marmite, featuring anti-heroes, black humour and flying dinosaurs trapped between dimensions, either you like it or you don’t – and I do.

This could believably have been published back during the early days of 2000AD, and is notably different to the writer’s modern style to be found in strips like Savage. There’s a lovely feeling of the pioneering frontier West which made the strip so popular initially in the prog, no doubt greatly aided by Rufus Dayglo’s excellent work providing the tones.

Ramon Sola, apparently drawing his first stripwork in twenty years, produces art that is a mixture of highs and lows. Sometimes it is fairly obvious that the artist has grown somewhat unaccustomed to sequential work, particularly the big epic dino-panels, and it tends to be in the closer, more intimate settings of the train carriage that he really comes into his own. Sola’s period style might seem somewhat out of place amongst the more modern styles on display in the prog today; character interaction are clearly more his thing, and he still clearly has a great feeling for the future-Western vibe of the strip, though my favourite moment still has to remain Carver’s climactic confrontation with the saursucker that got his fragging hand.

Not to everyone’s tastes, for sure, but it’s a nice addition to this 30th anniversary celebration, reminding us of both the comic’s roots, and how far it’s travelled since. 

AC: A return for one of the series that kicked off the very first prog all those years ago for a double length performance (steady), with both the original writer and artist at the helm; so does it still measure up?

It starts off impressively with an effective reintroduction to the “cowboys of the cretaceous” angle. I’ve got something of a weakness for western-themed sci-fi (not as fringey as you might think) so I was always going to be favourably disposed, no matter how unlikely the setting (I suppose bagging a few pigs and bringing them back to breed is out of the question?). So we have the flavoursome surrounds, and a bit of neat conceptology from one of the comic’s biggest Ideas Men in the form of Satan’s Herd.

It all starts going a bit Pat Mills three pages in when our heroic Marshall-type suddenly decides the fact that a woman NOT looking at him is cause to get his gun out. Incredibly, this irrational instinct comes good when the tables are turned on him and this swiftly transforms from a prisoner transportation story to a herd russlin’ story, with the convict at its heart.

Cue a fraggin’ overpopulation of fraggin’ imaginary swears and muchos scene chewing (the scene where Carver claims the fallen saur’s hand is pure Mills), plus a “happy ending” that sees our hero settling down and opening a whorehouse (!), and you’ve got a muddled if entertaining little piece. With Ramon Sola’s HB Pencil renderings (which sit better on the page than you might think), this reminds me of nothing so much as a small press piece from the Megazine given room to breathe; decent basic ideas, with a sloppy but enthusiastic approach.

CE: I’ve always liked reading the reprints of the first two Flesh books – completely unrepentant gorefests with the dinosaurs as the anti-heroes against human bastards. It’s nice to see it back for the anniversary, but it doesn’t quite feel like a Flesh; there’s no strong dinosaur lead and it’s really weird seeing Claw Carver as a roguish protagonist rather than a money-hungry immoral git. But it works well, doing what it set out to do and giving us the utterly bonkers idea of dinosaur-herding Ghost Riders in the Sky (and that lovely line about taking photos of the screaming damned). I wouldn’t mind seeing more. 

Hellfire - Part 1 Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Simon Fraser Letters: Annie Parkhouse Colours: Gary Caldwell

Dante goes to confession...

Synopsis: The Lord Protector, is in Kronstadt Castle, being visited by a prostitute. He reveals himself to her as Konstantin and tells her that only she and the Tsar know that he's still alive. He tells her that the Raven Corps pulled him out of the Potemkin (after he was badly wounded by Dante) and the Tsar's men healed him. He says that his loyalty remains with the Tsar who should have been his father instead of Dmitri Romanov. He says he can't let the woman live, however, and uses his powers to incinerate her.

Meanwhile, Dante meets with Jocasta Romanov in the convent and tells her he finds it difficult to believe that she is without influence. He warns her that he and the Lord Protector have been sent to bring in Lulu dead or alive...

EB: Dante’s return to form continues apace. Though I love John Burns’s work more than is justifiably healthy, it was a real shot in the arm for this strip when the crisp artwork of co-creator Simon Fraser returned last year. This also signalled a more committed return for the character too, as he has now become an almost semi-permanent fixture in the comic, and all the better for it.

This is the first part of the latest instalment, but all the pieces are falling into place in the long-developed backstory, possibly to culminate in a showdown between Romanovs Dante, Lulu and Konstantin. Indeed, we’re reminded of the latter’s aristocratic vileness in a revealing scene that intercuts Dante’s reunion with Romanov matriarch Jocasta and Konstantin’s casual murder of an imperial seductress. With the promise of the strip nearing its conclusion within the next couple of years, and Morrison and Fraser both on top form, it’s looking to be a wild ride. 

AC: Top notch stuff here. My enjoyment of the Russian Rogue is destined to have a correlational relationship with Simon Fraser’s involvement it seems; it just doesn’t look like definitive Dante without this art droid on visuals. The cleanliness of his linework and the smoothness of the colouring sits in marked counterpoint to the dynamism of the “angles” (pardon the phrase) and the unabashed sluttiness of the events depicted.

It gives credence to all the times you hear comics writers talking about learning to play to the strengths and weaknesses of artists they’re more familiar with when you see how competent Robbie Morrison’s scripting becomes when paired with Fraser. He constructs solid enough tales the Burns-era Dante, and his irreverence always shines through, but he’s completely on another level as one half of this partnership.

Konstantin, it seems, is a new man, in some ways more than others. With vodka bottles and old cigarette butts tossed uselessly around his luxurious lodgings, any guesting seductress can expect to be treated with much the same excessive frivolity and callousness by this numb, cruel brute. This is a powerful example of “power-characterisation”, and Konstantin doesn’t even take up all the page space! Leave your coat lie, it’s gonna be a hot one…

CE: Bloody hell, Konstantin is a scary bastard isn’t he! Despite being little more than set-up for the story to come, the sheer nastiness and brutality of the Konstantin scenes grab your attention - and if that’s his weapon crest talking on page 1, then I am very scared.

A History of 2000AD in 5 pages Script & Art: Robin Smith

Tharg shows his poetic side...

Synopsis: Tharg runs through 30 years of history...

EB: Beginning with Kings Reach Tower landing in the 1970’s London of The Sweeney, we are faced with a history of 2000AD as detailed by Tharg and his ever-dutiful droids.

Rhyming stories often cut the readership like a knife, but I like ‘em and it perfectly suits this tale of retro-history. There really is no other droid for the job than former art-editor Robin Smith, and he really serves to remind us the scope of the title’s creativity over the past three decades. We get all the highlights, from the comic’s birth out of the ashes of Action, Dredd, ABC Warriors, McMahon’s Slaine, et al. Half the fun of the strip is to be had in picking out the multitude of droids who drop in for an appearance; a dapper-looking Brett Ewins lurking behind a portfolio, Tom Frame with his standard can of oil, and ALN-1 conversing with the spaghetti-twirling Belardinelli-bot.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a 2000AD anniversary if there wasn’t a bit of piss-takery, so we get Roy Race menaced by Archie Gruber, and Tharg enthusiastically greets every merger with a standard cry of “GREAT NEWS for all my readers!” (and poor old Dave Gibbons is reminded of his double life as The Big E once more). Wisely skipping over the 1990’s, which are largely assumed to have NEVER HAPPENED, the strip ends with Kings Reach Tower now settled amongst the spires of Morse’s Oxford, and the apposite end caption: “Next: thirty more years.” Here’s to it. 

AC: A pleasant and vibrantly realised trip down the fictional history of the Mighty One and his veritable army of semi-automatic literary droids. It’s written in a somewhat twee rhyming style, and it’s never going to be much more than chirpy doggerel in this context, but there are a few moments of cleverness and linguistic dexterity that make it a worthy format, plus the rhythm is a catchy one. A warm and nostalgic take on a remarkable milestone in publishing history. ‘Ere’s to ‘im, the big Greenard! 

CE: It’s fun, light, and it’s got a fun rhyme structure – a bit meaningless but it is fun enough. But why does it spend four pages on the first two years or so, then skip over most of the later decades?

Double Yellow - Part 1 Script: Pat Mills Art: Charlie Adlard Letters: Ellie De Ville

Savage doing what he does best...

Synopsis: Bill Savage's brother Tom allegedly fell by accident onto the flamefield outside his office. Savage knows that it's a cover story, but realises that the authorities would have just abducted him - so someone else was to blame, possibly killing him for being a Double Yellow - someone who reported for a Volg newspaper. He goes to the funeral, aware that someone could be watching him, but realises that there's little he can do about that now. The Volgs are still refusing to announce the President's death and are getting ready to say he died in hospital.

After the funeral, Savage tracks sown the people who raped his niece to a London pub and kills them all...

EB: I’ll be honest; this is the strip I was looking forward to the most out of the Thrills announced for this anniversary prog.

Not seen since 2005, Savage has proved to be Pat Mills’ most interesting strip in years. What often marks it out as different from the rest of the contents of the comic, is not only the political aspects that might be seen to mirror the current Iraq conflict, but also a more European style of storytelling. Mills and Adlard aren’t afraid to take the time to spend a page detailing a discarded body being literally swept off the street. Adlard provides an expert rendition of a rain-streaked funeral, whilst Mills swiftly deals with the fallout from the execution of Marshall Vashkov at the climax of the previous book.

We end with a vengeful Savage gunning down a group of Volgan squaddies, much in the way that the very first episode of Invasion ended, whilst all the pieces are beginning to fall into place for the strip’s finale, with Savage preparing to confront whichever of the rival terrorist groups murdered his brother, and the hint that it may only be a matter of time before the Volgan hammer falls. Though I still think the creators missed a trick by not setting one of the books in a Volg-controlled Ireland titled ‘Taking the Mick’.

AC: In my eyes, it couldn’t be more appropriate that this strip returns for the anniversary issue; not only does it tip a hat to Prog One’s classic “Invasion!”, it is also a strip that holds a particular place in my heart. Back in Summer of 2005 I was still a newcomer to the ways of the Tooth, and Prog 1450 remains my personal favourite for its eclectic mix, of which “Savage Book II: Out of Order” was a very big part. As more long term readers have cause to bask in nostalgia’s glow, now so do I.

I’m given to wonder why the hell the Only Thing Pat Mills Can Get Right These Days has been so long in returning to Tharg’s stable; The latter quarter of 2005 and all of 2005 passed without ol’ Bill, but with Out of Order still fresh as a daisy in my memory, it has no problems reclaiming its place in my heart.

What miraculous creative draught does Mills drink before setting to work on this? With increasingly more elaborate artists being drafted in to disguise the interesting, endearing but essentially shambolic ABC Warriors, Black Siddha etc. etc. something just seems to snap into place when Bill comes to town. He actually listened to fan concern over the excessive use of rubbish swears after Book One, he gives an extensive ensemble cast layered and very human personalities, and throughout it all, his flair for wild ideas never gives out.

Slick, dangerous and a little frightening… you’re advised to make way… 

CE: Book 3 at last! In six pages we get recap, violence, a little hint of what’s to come, and extra little details fleshing out the occupied Britain. Savage gunning down Volgan troops while the propaganda plays in the background – that’s just brilliant. The idea of Savage going up against other resistance groups over a vendetta is an interesting new twist – after all, killing a Double Yellow isn’t any different to what Savage does all the time (we knew Tom was a good guy but they wouldn’t). Adlard’s art is, as always, excellent. 

EB: This is honestly the most I’ve enjoyed reading a prog in some while, even including the annual progs we get at Chrimbo – and that’s certainly saying something, considering the recent unbroken run of grooviness that we’ve been enjoying. The extra time, effort and undoubted love poured into the comic by Matt Smith and the behind-the-scenes (and often unfairly neglected) editorial droids is evident in every page, and inspires me to offer a toast for all my fellow squaax. 30 years of Thrill-Power – here’s looking at the next thirty, kids. 

Best Story: Tharg the Mighty

AC: Three decades have elapsed since the day idle parents suddenly had to start dodging space spinners and wonder if utterance of the word “drokk” by their progeny was worthy of punishment. This birthday issue is a solid reminder of every special and uniquely flavoured ingredient that has caused faithful Squaxx Dek Thargo to have Dredd’s back, follow Nikolai Dante and bear with John Smith for so long.

What have we learned? Well, we’ve learned that:

• Krool worlds are bad news.
• Incendiary bullets do not constitute “reasonable force” for scrawlers.
• A Zombie Englishman can’t help his stiff upper lip.
• Going “Out” and doing “Everything” are so in right now.
• Stego meat is goooood eatin’, but yee-haa.
• Gay vampires can be valuable members of the community.
• In Mega City One, only one man is the Law.

So until we’re all here again, thirty years from now, reliving the debacle of Flesh Book 8, still reeling at the Fargo line’s inherent leather fetish, and eagerly awaiting Adam Crabtree’s new 48 part mega epic “Judge Dredd: Hondo or Bust!”, I’ll just wish 2000AD a happy anniversary, and raise a glass to another thirty… 

Best Story: Savage

CE: The individual strips and features are all great when taken separately. Overall though, it doesn’t seem quite like an anniversary celebration – it feels like it’s holding back slightly, possibly due to both Dredd and Dante doing exposition & set-up rather than outright action. If you ignore the whole Thirty Years thing though, it’s another great prog.  

Now give us more Flesh.  

Best Story: Savage