Thrill-Seeker (Prog 1995)
Reading time: 3 minutes
Hello! Are you a fan of the Universe's greatest comic? A loyal follower of Tharg from the early days or a new-comer, brought to 2000 AD by Karl Urban in leather? Either way, I bet you've wanted a detailed a review of each Prog as it comes out. Well, your quest is at an end. I'll be seeking the most zarjaz Thrills each Prog offers up. I may even wander off to talk about other things. But let's begin with Prog 1995!
Fans of 2000 AD comics find themselves in tense times. It won’t be long before prog 2000 comes out with all the excitement that number can create. I hear it’s going to be awesome.
Until then the build-up continues with Prog 1995. No new story lines begin here, presumably waiting for an auspicious start in five Progs time, but the tales are as thrill-packed as ever. Judge Dredd continues the hunt for PJ Maybe in Ladykiller. The stakes are raised in this fifth installment, although the action is not very frenetic. The story lines in this prog being midway through their arc, do not lend themselves to full-on action. The exception being Scarlet Traces which does add some real punch. Ladykillers is still a piece of classic Dredd, for all my moaning.
Esquerra’s artwork is something I often struggle with. It captures the vivid-grotesque of Mega-City One and is very appropriate for the opening of this part of Ladykillers. However, I find the boldness of his lines slightly over-powering, an impression not helped by the wide chain-link used to separate the panels.
Scarlet Traces, part eight, continues the story of the Venusian Ahron and his struggle against the Martians. I am really enjoying this series and this episode’s actions allows for some great, explosive panels. This Prog sees the conclusion of Mind Mine, one of the Tharg’s 3rillers. I think the three-episode versions of the traditionally self-contained Future Shock is an improvement on the format. The twist is all the more satisfying for the longer build-up. Rory McConville’s mind mine, or psychic explosive, conceit is a great plot device and one that got me pondering on its implications in the way good sci-fi should.
Outlier is working a good space-opera, while maintaining a character driven narrative that doesn’t get too full of itself. I do enjoy seeing spaceships of all designs. Perhaps due to the nature of the subject matter, I felt sometimes that the text was crowding out a panel and struggling to fit into its own space. It is a shame to distract from Karl Richardson’s art.
Finally, we have Anderson, Psi, the cover star of Prog 1995. I am not overly keen on the pleading eyes of Jon Davis-Hunt’s cover. It smacks of the damsel in distress that is not really Anderson. However the story does away with any such impression. Nick Dyer’s version of Anderson is the tough Judge we see in Emma Beeby’s script. Anderson sometimes gets let down by gratuitous art and character design that focuses on the fact that she is woman, not the fact that she is a Judge. Not so here. Beeby’s script is a great example of a story line with relevant totalitarian comedic touches that is 2000 AD at its best.
1995 is maybe not a prog to jump into new, but it paves the way for greater things very well. If you can, go back to 1993 for the beginning of the Anderson story line as it is shaping up to be a good outing for the psi-judge.
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