2000 AD Prog 2350 Credits
Judge Dredd: Juves Rule OK! by Ken Niemand (w) Simon Coleby (a) Matt Soffe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Death Game 2049 by Geoffrey D. Wessel (w) Nick Dyer (a) John Charles (c) Jim Campbell (l)
El Mestizo: Demon With A Six-Gun by Chris Weston (w+a) Simon Bowland (l)
Dredger: Time To Kill by Karl Stock (w) Paul Marshall (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Hellman of Hell Force: Fiends of Ungeistwelt Ost by Arthur Wyatt (w) Jake Lynch (a) Jim Boswell (a) Simon Bowland (l)
Major Eazy: The Treasure of Solomon by Gordon Rennie (a) Dan Cornwell (a) Dylan Teague (c) Jim Campbell (l)
Judge Dredd Megazine #460 credits
Judge Dredd: Return to Billy Carter by Kenneth Niemand (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Rad Pack by Karl Stock (w) Kieran McKeown (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Strato Squad: Convoy Strike! by Mike Carroll (w) Staz Johnson (a) Gary Caldwell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Anderson, Psi Division: The Wolf & The Dragon by Alec Worley (w) Patrick Goddard (a) Jim Boswell (c) Jim Campbell (l)
Spector: Incorruptible by John Wagner (w) Dan Cornwell (a) Dylan Teague (c) Jim Campbell (l)
Rogue Trooper by Brian Ruckley (w) Alberto Ponticelli (a) Stephen Downer (c) Tom B. Long (l)
Johnny Red by Garth Ennis (w) Keith Burns (a) Jason Wirdie (c) Rob Steen (l)
Lawless: Most Wanted by Dan Abnett (w) Phil Winslade (a) Simon Bowland (l)
Dreadnoughts: The March of Progress by Mike Carroll (w) John Higgins (a) Sally Hurst (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Publisher: Rebellion
Borag Thungg Earthlets! Your humble Review Droid here bringing you not just a single comic, but a double helping of Rebellion as 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine cross over for Battle Action. Praise Tharg!
The general concept of the crossover looks at two of 2000 AD’s biggest fellow comics during the 70’s and 80’s, the war-themed Battle Picture Weekly and the controversially violent Action. While these books eventually merged and folded, this crossover imagines what would have happened if they had been folded into 2000 AD instead, reworking several characters into its sci-fi mould.
Now, how interested you are in seeing the return of Battle Action’s characters is going to depend on how familiar you are with British comics from around 40-odd years ago, which I suspect won’t be very much at all for more casual readers. Chris Weston’s and Simon Bowland’s El Mestizo: Demon With A Six-Gun in particular puts a lot of the weight of the story on the assumption that readers will be familiar with a certain other 70’s comic, albeit one that certainly lacks the general recognition of Judge Dredd and co.
However, for those of us unfamiliar with Battle Action, the issue does provide a handy primer for the characters featured and the reinvented nature of them means that most of them work well as their own stories. In a lot of ways, the crossover even makes Prog 2350 an ideal starting point, as each story is a first instalment instead of the typical prog experience of jumping in partway through multiple storylines and trying to untangle what’s going on (not saying that isn’t fun in its own way though).
The sci-fi updates throw some of the Battle Action characters in interesting new lights. When he was first created by Gerry Finley-Day and Geoff Campion, no-nonsense spy Dredger was clearly capitalising on the popularity at the time of films like Dirty Harry. Dredger: Time To Kill by Karl Stock (w), Paul Marshall (a), Quinton Winter (c) and Annie Parkhouse (l) throws the character into the far future, highlighting his nature as a product of a by-gone era.
Similarly, Arthur Wyatt’s (w), Jake Lynch’s (a), Jim Boswell’s (a) and Simon Bowland’s (l) Hellman of Hell Force: Fiends of Ungeistwelt Ost sets up the conflicted German tank commander against both the SS and the demonic undead. A concept that is a Hell (pun intended) of a lot of fun that I hope is continued in future progs.
Other stories include Death Game 2049 by Geoffrey D. Wessel (w), Nick Dyer (a), John Charles (c) and Jim Campbell (l) and Major Eazy: The Treasure of Solomon by Gordon Rennie (w), Dan Cornwell (a), Dylan Teague (c) and Jim Campbell (l), a fun couple of tales that take a lot of inspiration from the film Rollerball and the Indiana Jones franchise respectively.
Of course, even with his own magazine, it wouldn’t be a prog without the big man himself, Judge Dredd. Judge Dredd: Juves Rule OK! by Ken Niemand (w), Simon Coleby (a), Matt Soffe (c) and Annie Parkhouse (l) reimagines Dredd’s early days and combines them with the controversial Action strip Kids Rule O.K. about gangs of violent teenage street thugs in a world where a virus has wiped out most the adult population. The reworked version still has a great sense of chaotic tension and, even if it didn’t, it would still get top marks from me for naming one gang “The Dave Cameron Oinkers”. Much like Juves Rule OK!, the rest of the crossover in Judge Dredd Megazine #460 folds Battle Action characters into the world of Judge Dredd. As a nice extra touch, all the stories take place around The
Apocalypse War, the Judge Dredd storyline that would have just wrapped up at the time of the fictional merger of Battle Action into 2000 AD.
Judge Dredd: Return to Billy Carter by Kenneth Niemand (w), Nick Percival (a) and Annie Parkhouse (l) is a fun continuation of the classic Dark Judges story, even if it does seem mainly to exist to set up a larger arc. This one is also an exception to the rule as it features the legally distinct from Doctor Strange Cursitor Doom, who originated in Power Comics rather than Battle Action Rad Pack by Karl Stock (w), Kieran McKeown (a), Quinto Winter (c) and Annie Parkhouse (l) transforms the Dirty Dozenesque WWII team into a group of mutants tasked with infiltrating an enemy group in the wasteland outside Mega City One. The story may be a little bit rushed, but I’m a sucker for anything along the lines of DC’s The Suicide Squad and this fits the bill nicely. Speaking of squads… Strato Squad: Convoy Strike! by Mike Carroll (w), Staz Johnson (a), Gary Caldwell (c) and Simon Bowland (l) combines two similar Battle Action characters, the Soviet allied Johnny Red and double agent pilot Lofty’s One-Man Luftwaffe and follows former Judge Dirk Tully as he infiltrates the East-Meg One airforce (The Russia-inspired villains from Apocalypse War). It’s a story that fits seemlessly into the Judge Dredd universe and offers a fresh take on the classic storyline.
Finally, Anderson, Psi Division: The Wolf & The Dragon by Alec Worley (w), Patrick Goddard (a), Jim Boswell (c) and Jim Campbell (l) rounds out the crossover. Unfortunately, it’s the weakest of the bunch. It revolves around Anderson meeting Jimmy Chang, a Battle Picture Weekly character who is a particularly uninspired collection of kung-fu movies tropes and vaguely uncomfortable mysticism. The second half of #460 features ongoing storylines from previous issues, including the robotic detective Spector: Incorruptible by Judge Dredd creator John Wagner (w), Dan Cornwell (a), Dylan Teague (c) and Jim Campbell (l), Western-inspired Lawless: Most Wanted by Dan Abnett (w), Phil Winslade (a) and Simon Bowland (l) and an interesting look at the origin of the judges in Dreadnoughts: The March of Progress by Mike Carroll (w), John Higgins (a), Sally Hurst (c) and Simon Bowland (l).
It also features reprinted issues from two previous runs, the short-lived Rogue Trooper relaunch by Brian Ruckley (w) Alberto Ponticelli (a) Stephen Downer (c) Tom B. Long (l) and, slightly confusingly, Johnny Red by Garth Ennis (w) Keith Burns (a) Jason Wirdie (c) Rob Steen (l), a different reboot of the character to Strato Squad. That aside though, the issue certainly delivers plenty for your Earth money!
- 2000 AD Prog 2350 and Judge Dredd Megazine #460 - September 20, 2023
- Chronophage - February 13, 2022
- Supernaut - November 16, 2020
