Judge Dredd: Climate Crisis
- Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)
- Rob Williams (Writer)
- P.J. Holden (Artist)
- Ned Hartley (Writer)
- Jack Davies (Colourer)
Dredd and Facechange face off. The burly action continues, with Dredd literally kicking the spine out of a guy this time. Like last time, it’s not presented as ‘OH COOL! THAT DUDE JUST EXPLODED!’ but as intensely dangerous, brutal close quarters combat. The fight with Facechange is much the same, and leads to a legitimately horrifying moment as well as a lovely call back to the fact we’ve never really seen Dredd’s face. It’s interesting too to see the other villain’s motivations, especially in light of some of the choices made in other stories. This has turned out to be a really fun, weighty story with a unique feel to it and some knockout work from the entire team, especially Holden who delivers a sound effect gag this time that’s officially an instant favourite.
Brink: The Call of the Void
- Dan Abnett (Writer)
- INJ Culbard (Artist)
- Simon Bowland (Letterer)
Bridget has a very grumpy sit down with Holly Cutwell, chief of Mission Security and Reggie meets Bowen Colter, mining infrastructure guy and probable sect member.
MAN this is fun! Dialogue and exposition heavy, this is a smartly handled pair of conversations, one getting real, one anything but. Bowen is an instantly odious hunk, and I love how his agenda seems to be reflecting Bridget’s concerns. I love how little Reggie’s buying in more. Culbard and Bowland do great work throughout here but the John Wickian dive bar lighting on this scene is a standout.
But the Bridget/Holly plot is what I really liked. It gives us some context, especially for newcomers to the series and also sets us down insde two clashing but not antagonistic world views. Bridget is a force of nature who has been at the core of multiple bad events. Holly is a Security Chief who wants to work with her but also sees exactly how dangerous everything and everyone is, including Bridget. The way the niceness gradually falls away is fantastic, as are the reasons why Bridget is there. The mission to Mercury we glimpsed in the first part is the key but even that is built on humanity’s desperate need to get out of its own way. A need the sects oppose and these three gifted women want to help. Big ideas, big characters and a unique tone. Love it.
Tharg’s 3rillers: Who is Adrian Apollo?
- John Charles (Colourer)
- Steven Austin (Artist)
- Rob Steen (Letterer)
- Liam Johnson (Writer)
Adrian explains how he got to Melt-Zar’s station, and what happened to him and his actual plans.
This is the good stuff! Steven Austin’s art is crammed full of detail and action and John Charles’ colours do a great job of putting us both in space and in Adrian’s well tailored shoes. There’s some nice physical acting too, especially from Adrian’s holographic boss.
But the twists here are where the fun is. Melt-Zar’s real plan is orbital disaster capitalism, planning a war to hike fuel prices. Surge pricing with a body count, essentially. It’s intensely plausible and that means the vast scale and SF trappings land all the harder. As does Adrian’s elegant, if apparently accidental solution. But did it really go that way? And if so, why is Adrian lying? There’s still every chance this could go south in the final part but so far it’s been big, surprising fun.
Tharg’s Future Shocks: Strictly Business.
- Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)
- James Peaty (Writer)
- Mike Walters (Artist)
An assassin and his snarky computer chase their way down an accumulator bet of murders. But the odds aren’t in everyone’s favour…
Walters’ art s great, sketchy and nervous and slightly strung out. Bernstein, the lead, is a fun character, dapper and panicked and unable to quite figue out why. This is a story that lives in the character design, including some wonderfully lumpy aliens and soem surprisingly vicious and played straight violence. Parkhouse’s letters give the script the bounce it needs and Peaty finds some fun things to say and dow ith the format. This is a fun one.
The Discarded
- Peter Milligan (Writer)
- Simon Bowland (Letterer)
- Jim Boswell (Colourer)
- Kieran McKeown (Artist)
Veera and Aaxon fight the chip for control of their lives and the world. After a slightly confusing, but quickly explained opening action beat this is pretty solid. Veera and Aaxon being complimentarily bad at emotions is both oddly endearing and darkly funny even if the chip continuing to rampage feels a little unearned. McKeown and Boswell and Bowland are great in the final half especially, with the environment and the emotion both rising to meet one another. Milligan hits us with three beats at once that impress too and with a likely final part next week I’m honestly quite invested in how this ends.