Thrill Hunter: 2000AD Prog 2004
Reading time: 3 minutes
Borag Thungg Fellow Earthlets,
Opening with a new story this week JUDGE DREDD: ACT OF GRUD opens as a follow on from the Titan and Enceladus plot-lines, catching up firstly with Brit-Cit Judge Sam. The opening panels cover preceding events and allow some breathing space and allow a few subtle hints at events to come, before Judge Sam is bought back down to Mega-City One and Henry Flint's gaunt looking Dredd intervenes. Dredd himself is somewhat sidelined in this opening part while Sam is hit with the culture-shock of a Judge's role in the big Meg. A fairly standard opening part with several nods to earlier continuity, it is only really the final page where we get an idea as to how this strip will set its stall out, but it marks this as one to watch.
SAVAGE: THE MARZE MURDERER shifts up a gear this week, and first up I need to offer something of a retraction, having been reticent towards Savage previously. My initial concerns were that the opening weeks had lacked a little direction and purpose, these concerns were unfounded it seems as this week things shift up a gear, pun firmly intended. In this prog, a lot of the fuzziness of character and motive is cleared, though as previously stated 'Wilder'/Savage is very much an anti-hero, the scales start to tip towards the hero aspect. These action packed parts tend often to be exposition light, but Pat Mills manages to keep the scripting tight and purposeful even while the bullets fly. As an aside also, the 'Straw Dogs look pretty cool on the page and there is one particular splash page this strip in which Patrick Goddard manages to infer more than several pages of dialogue (I'll let you guess which). Savage has performed something of a U-turn in one prog, having fully regained my attention, from it's so-so opening instalments.
Back with more tales of Nu-earth with HUNTED: PART 4, firmly hitting its stride this week, the strip opens with a brief flicker of backstory for the Traitor General. These are a nice touch, especially for us newer Squaxx that don't know the full ins-and-outs of Nu-Earth. They also serve the purpose of giving the Traitor an injection of credibility, making for a more reasoned antagonist, every bit the survivor. This part is generally dialogue and exposition heavy, but at this point in the strip where several narratives are running simultaneously, this is to be expected. As events reach a frenetic pace this strip has been a standout Nu-Earth tale that may well have you questioning, Has Rogue met his match?
FLESH: GOREHEAD continues this week, very much at its own pace. The heavy concepts and complex characters, plus the weight of years of story-telling have been laid out with careful deliberation by Mills (again). We shift perspective this week to the terrorists/freedom fighters of the piece, the oft-mentioned Vegas and her band of Saurian warriors and we shift tone also, though the strip is largely shades of grey generally, Vegas is shrouded for the most part, in blocks of black. Whether this is a purposeful move in Clint Langley's work to give Vegas an air of ambiguity, or simply an aesthetic choice is unclear, but it works in many regards. I am hoping for a greater insight into Hank, Bozeman and the other dino-humans as these seem fascinating but largely muted. The thematic overtures are obvious throughout, the strip riffs on the impact of man on his environment, the meat industry and the ever ludicrous lengths they are prepared to go to and more besides, but these are played on evenly throughout.
Lastly we round off with COUNTERFEIT GIRL, with the situation looking increasingly desperate for our eponymous heroine, we finally start to peel back the layers of her identity. There is a certain strength in the ambiguity with which Milligan paints his protagonist, even when she delivers her life story, the reader is constantly off balance, never really knowing whether the identity presented to us is merely another assumed guise. That said, it seems like this prog gives us kernels of truth to reflect on as the plot moves onwards and leaves enough movement for Milligan and Dayglo to throw in several surprises yet.
That about wraps it up for this prog, I hope to also add in a review of this months Judge Dredd Megazine too so keep your eyes peeled for that. Till next time.
Splundig Vur Thrigg.
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