2000AD Prog 2465 ADVANCED REVIEW
- Bobby Campbell
- Jan 13
- 3 min read
Publisher Rebellion Developments
Release date: January 14, 2026
Cover Artist: Toby Willsmer
This is perhaps a different kind of evaluation of 2000 AD, the towering institutional edifice at the center of British comics, than you might usually find, because this is the first issue, or prog, I've ever read!
I'm familiar enough with the basics of the weekly anthology series, just by way of cultural osmosis: Tharg the Mighty, Judge Dredd, Zenith, the short form Future Shock stories, and the endless procession of truly great talent it produces. (Something akin to a Saturday Night Live for comic creators.)
So the big question is can you just start on a random issue of a series that has been running for almost 50 years and make sense of it?
Emphatically, yes!
Not only can you, but I'd like to make the case why you absolutely should. Let's dive in :)))
JUDGE DREDD // DEATH OF A JUDGE - PART TWO
Writer: John Wagner
Artist: Mike Perkins
Colorist: Chris Blythe
Letterer: Annie Parkhouse
Mechanismo robot Judges are returning to the streets of Mega-City One, after a failed coup, and the ethical ramifications of allowing robots to make life or death decisions are duly considered.
A perfect, in medias res, introduction to the serialized adventures of Judge Dredd!
I wonder if the context of these stories have changed as our reality has shifted ever closer to this fictional world?
Mike Perkins’ cinematic art sets the stage perfectly for John Wagner to present the moral quandary of our age, how do we deal with the danger of machines overtaking humanity, especially if they are viewed as ruthlessly efficient saviors?
HERNE & SHUCK // POWER TRIP - PART THREE
Writer: David Barnett
Artist: Lee Milmore
Colorist: Gary Caldwell
Letterer: Annie Parkhouse
We're dropped in the middle of a street level magical/mythic drama, a new iteration of a familiar conceit, comics as British ethnography, but never mind being the third part of a developing story, this functions as a perfectly circular/modular short story, very satisfying to see that narrative tightrope walked so well! Looking forward to more.
YOUNG DEATH // FITTING IN
Writer: Kek-W
Artist: Tom Foster
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Another foray into the Judge Dredd mythos with a Training Day style initiation into an even darker side of the Judges' fascist world for a young psychopathic recruit named Sidney De’Ath.
Excellent self-contained short story with gorgeous art by Tom Foster! The art throughout the whole issue is top notch, but this one stood out for its timeless illustrative mastery.
AZIMUTH // CORNERED - PART TWO
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artist: Tazio Bettin
Colorist: Matt Soffe
Letterer: Rob Steen
A futuristic myth of a data-driven metropolis, AZIMUTH, under the transformative control of a rogue artificial intelligence. Our protagonists are in an informational hardware labyrinth being stalked by a basilisk "Monitaur." The premise is great! The art is terrific! I felt a little more lost with this one than I did with the others, though I suspect that may be by design, given our maze-like setting, and I expect clarity will emerge as the story progresses. (Or if I read part one!)
THE DISCARDED // PART THREE
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Kieran McKeown
Colorist: Jim Boswell
Letterer: Simon Bowland
It's always nice to read Peter Milligan! Impressively bleak world building here, I could almost feel the gravitational pool of the yawning abyss, and the inevitable triumph of entropy. Junkfall is a combination of prison and landfill, where all the toxic elements of society are discarded and isolated. Veera Banksy is our point-of-view character, through which we explore one of the most literal embodiments of the wasteland ever imagined. She is an undercover cop on a mission to kill her father, but the Garbage Gods may have other plans!
What can I say, I have been hooked, and am looking forward to the next prog!
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