We’re almost caught up with the comics I’ve read once when I was going to cover them a hundred issues at a time. That was proving untenable as I’ve been needing to keep notes to remember what happened 52 or so issues at a time.

This time we’ve got Alan Moore having his first ongoing 2000 AD story in Skizz, some more Nemesis and a dramatic end to Harry Twenty on the High Rock.

The issues covered here are: 2000 AD issues 297-349, 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 1983, 2000 AD Annual 1984, Judge Dredd Annual 1984.

JUDGE DREDD

Issues Covered: 2000 AD issues 297-349, 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 1983, 2000 AD Annual 1984, Judge Dredd Annual 1984

There’s no one massive story here, but a few multi-parters.

Night of the Rad Beast has a person that’s 90% machine and highly radioactive on a rampage. The Last Invader has a remnant of East-Meg One who thinks the war’s still on. Given there was a recent story about weaponising a kid who thought he was related to an East-Meg soldier, I’m guessing it’s not over yet.

Shanty Town shows an uprising outside of Mega-City One which ends with even the innocents in the town getting driven away. It’s always impressive seeing the kind of dystopia of the city happened early on, rather than being something which grew with re-examinations over time.

The Starborn Thing shows more weird horrors as a UFO crash ends up with the deaths of several judges and the possession of Dredd by a weird monster. It moves on, but Dredd nearly dies just because of this little thing.

Block Out at the Crater Bowl in the Sci-Fi Special has art by John Byrne of all people. It’s weird seeing Dredd drawn with the signature Byrne chin and his bug-eyed supporting characters are allowed to look even weirder.

Condo shoots Dredd up into space to solve a spate of sabotage on wealthy space condos. Then there’s some supernatural influence with Cry of the Werewolf, which starts as just one werewolf, but gets bigger and more horrifying as it goes.

The Weather Man has a musician conducting an ‘orchestra’ of weather to a hostage audience. The Judges finally figure out who’s doing this, but not before the audience all die.

Requiem for a Heavyweight brings back the Fatties who were mostly imprisoned in rehab, but that doesn’t stop an underground eating contest from leading to the deaths of several people.

Graveyard Shift is a longer story, covering a single night on the job with all sorts of crimes going on. There’s a biting-based fighting ring and a man with a disintegrator who’s trying to break a record.

A Rumble in the Jungle has a three way gang war in a building site get trashed by the Judge’s new “Manta Prowl Tank” which feels like something I’d have expected to see in a kid’s toy range.

Bob and Carol and Ted and Ringo features a quartet of dinosaurs which are paraded around town and broken loose by a janitorial robot. Bob is the main mischief maker out of the dinosaurs, eating people on his way to the border of Mega City One and eventually getting decapitated. He still runs around for a bit, and the others make it out of the city safely. A happy ending for dinosaur lovers.

Collected in: Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 06, Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 07

ROBO-HUNTER

Issues Covered: 2000 AD 297-307, 312-334, 2000 AD Annual 1984

This year sees the end of Robo-Hunter (as far as I’m aware).

Play It Again Sam continues from last year and is still just as interminable. The songs written out on the page as Kidd’s anti-robot “Human League” get sent ‘on holiday’ to a concentration camp. Hoagy guards them and eventually manages to rescue Sam once some sense is shaken into him. It turns out Sir Oswald Modroid did all of this and Iron Aggie is brought back. This wasn’t a good story and has only been made worse over time.

Slaying of Slade is bizarre. Sam’s killed by some tiny meks and he has an out of body experience. Apparently there’s another Sam out there and the bureaucracy of the afterlife needs Sam to figure it out. There’s a clone body raised as Sam Scumm, who’s a lot more down on his luck. He enters Sam Scumm’s body and shares it with him, pretty much picking up where he left off but with a second Sam in his head. Eventually the pair manage to stay alive, avenge themselves and retire to Tahiti.

51 years later… we get Sam Slade’s Last Case, where Hoagy and Stogie try to break him out of his lazy retirement. They drug and kidnap Sam, who doesn’t really appreciate it. What looks like a villainous robot doctor turns out to be a wellness retreat, so they’ve not really got anything for him to save. Eventually they decide to simply drug him and send him to rehab.

Collected in: Robo-Hunter The Droid Files: Volume 2, 2000 AD Ultimate Collection Issue 30

RO-BUSTERS

Issues Covered: 2000 AD Annual 1984 

There’s only a little bit of the lads this time, as they face off against some people who are similar to but legally distinct from the Thunderbirds, who have been manufacturing disasters.

Collected in: Ro-Busters Vol 2

STRONTIUM DOG

Issues Covered: 2000 AD 335-345

There’s only one story this year, but it’s a long one. The Moses Incident kicks off when a kid called Moses follows Johnny on a mission and is killed. After seeing the impact on Moses’ family, Johnny heads to the Isle of the Dead, a castle on a lonely planet, serving as the prison for Malak Brood. The man’s a necromancer and a real creep, having reanimated his brothers into a pair of heads attached to the same box.

Malak asks for Johnny’s life, then pivots to asking for his freedom. Johnny tricks him and while Malak’s a man of his word, that word is, ‘betrayal’. Moses is brought back wrong, leading to the town wanting to lynch Johnny & Wulf until Moses’ mum shoots their ropes. She gets what happened and there’s been enough killing. That said, there’s a little more killing to do, as Johnny returns to Malak, stabs the ball and chain he’s attached to and the necromancer dies. The guild melts him and all his zombies.

Collected in: Strontium Dog: Search and Destroy 4

NEMESIS: THE WARLOCK BOOK THREE “WORLD OF NEMESIS”

Issues Covered: 2000 AD Annual 1984, 2000 AD 335-349

This book starts with a fight between centaur knights for the hand of Nemesis. Chira wins and the pair are married. Unfortunately Magna, the rejected party, calls on Torquemada.

Nemesis and Chira have a hatchling and call it Thoth. They also see Great Uncle Baal who’s brought some dancing skeletons. What hijinks!

Torquemada sends an invasion force after Nemesis, including Mek Quake! It’s fun to see him again, even if he’s evil here. He’s joined by a mech called Torque-Armada and Nemesis’ trickery had the two fight. He also torments a human knight called Sir Evric, offering him wishes in return for fleeing. He takes it, and is turned into a monster with a giant face. While I’ve not read much Nemesis prior to this readthrough, I’m sure I’ve read this part before at either my dad’s girlfriend’s or a friend’s I was crashing at.

Unfortunately all is not well, as Chira’s attacked and killed. She’s forseen this and bestows her powers to Thoth, then hides him before she’s killed. Thoth hypnotises an assassin into thinking he’s a human baby and can scheme from there.

Collected in: Nemesis The Warlock – The Definitive Edition, Volume 2

ROGUE TROOPER

Issues Covered: 2000 AD 297-349, 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 1983, 2000 AD Annual 1984

Fort Neuro continues with the siege of a group of odd larpers, such as the ‘disco greeks’ and the ‘scavs’ who are based mainly around Abba. Rogue manages to unite them against the Norts and eventually the people there are driven sane.

We meet a fun antagonist in Major Magnam, a GI whose chip is living in a gun and is a massive arsehole (despite not having one). He pulls rank and is a jerk, eventually given to a Souther salvage squad.

The Sci-Fi Special introduces some literal warheads who make for a fun one-shot antagonist.

Milli-Com Memories actually gives us more insight to the game as a delirious Rogue accidentally reveals things he’s been keeping from his comrades. He overheard that Gunnar’s not all that stable, he confesses that a female GI, Venus Bluegenes, fancies him instead of Helm and then that Bagman caused the deaths of some clone rejects.

Despite all of this, they still manage to help him and pretend not to have heard anything.

Eye of the General passes  the perspective back and forth between Rogue and The Traitor General, who he’s closing in on. We meet Bland and Brass, a pair of mercenary scavengers who seem to have a fun time with everything. Despite that, Brass gets killed by the Traitor General who gets away. 

From Hell to Eternity reunites Rogue (and Helm) with Venus, who’s been stranded on an island for a while. She’s grateful to see Rogue (not Helm) all seems well until we find out that she killed the other people stranded with her for being ‘weak’. Rogue abandons her on the island which is blown up. I’m aware Venus returns and we don’t see a body, so I’m guessing she’ll make it off one day.

Gasbah has an alien (or ‘ali’) bar which Rogue rocks up to. Of course, those tricksy Norts have also made it to Kyro and the Gasbah. Rogue’s helped by a weird ceiling fungus which gives its life to help him blow them up.

Finally in Timeslip, Rogue gets into some bio-acid wires and goes through a dome into what looks like an old Earth museum. He panics and everything goes nuts, only it turns out that he was hallucinating and thrown out the the inhabitants.

Collected in: Rogue Trooper: The Complete Collection – Book 1, Rogue Trooper: The Complete Collection – Book 2

ABELARD SNAZZ

Issues Covered: 2000 AD 299

Genius is Pain sees Snazz abducted from his latest near-death experience by The Manager of the Universe. He thinks he’s being tried and runs away before finding out that it’s his six millionth birthday. His present? Edwin, his obsequious robot, is returned to him.

Collected in: Complete Future Shocks Vol 2

HARRY TWENTY ON THE HIGH ROCK

Issues Covered: 2000 AD 297-307

The back half of this story realises the same problem that Lost had. After a while trapped in a place, you need to get off of it. Not before Magnifico 7 realises what happens if you pretend to snap; getting put on a horrific moon asylum.

Harry gets into an escape pod with Genghis and Old Ben, having made a parachute unlike the last batch of escapees. They fight a squark (half-squid, half-shark) and get tracked down. It turns out that Old Ben’s been an android traitor all this time, letting Harry think he had a way out before springing the trap. Genghis burns to death and Harry’s taken back for a quick sham trial with Warden Worldwise.

He teams up with Big Red just long enough to cause a riot, then gets betrayed by him of course. Harry’s riot ends up with the High Rock being taken over and after Worldwise starts fighting them from the vents, eventually he’s taken down. A bomb blast knocks the high rock out of orbit, where it’ll eventually get them to somewhere less awful than Earth. Hopefully it won’t go all Space: 1999.

This was a fun story and a complete one. It could have lasted longer, but I’m pleased it went out on a high note.

Collected in: 45 Years of 2000 AD – The Best of Gerry Finley-Day

SKIZZ

Issues Covered: 2000 AD 308-330

Originally created by Alan Moore and Jim Baikie

Why yes, E.T. had only recently been released before this comic started. 

An alien ship goes off course and crash lands, dropping off rat-like creature who finds his way to Birmingham and the bedroom of a teenager called Roxy. She’s got fairly inexplicable hair and a rebellious streak. She also has some friends in Loz and Cornelius, a biker and a van driver who’s been through some things. Roxy helps an ailing Skizz get better and teaches him English before the bad guys show up.

Van Owen’s the villain of the piece, a very Gestapo-coded guy who believes Skizz is here with malicious intent. He abducts Skizz and Roxy gets arrested, but Loz, Cornelius and some bikers manage to hold a protest. As everyone faces off against each other and Cornelius gets shot, a UFO appears! Cornelius flings Van Owen away and Skizz tells his family that the humans are okay. Skizz says goodbye and leaves, and we’ve got a rare 2000 AD story where the protagonists haven’t died at the end.

Collected in: The Complete Skizz

RPG Ideas: Kids on Bikes has more of a Stranger Things direction, but it would work perfectly with the youths in this series and Skizz itself filling the ‘powered character’ role.

TIME TWISTERS: D.R. & QUINCH

Issues Covered: 2000 AD 317

Originally created by Alan Moore & Alan Davis

I don’t normally cover the Time Twisters or Future Shocks, but this time we’ve got the introduction of D.R. and Quinch, who’ll get their own stories in 1983. “Diminished Responsibility” aka D.R. and the mute Ernie Quinch are suspended from their college and end up on Earth, messing with it throughout time. They cause a number of mysteries in order to offend their dean. Alan Davis’ art is evolving and he’s so good at drawing weird guys. He’ll really put this to use in Captain Britain and Excalibur.

Collected in: The Complete D.R. & Quinch

RPG Ideas: I’ve not got much to go on. For this story specifically, there’s Timewatch which has some time travel shenanigans, or some of the weirder Fiasco scenarios. I’ll probably revisit this next time.

ANDERSON, PSI-JUDGE

Issues Covered: 2000 AD Annual 1984

There’s only one story for Judge Anderson, but she’ll be back in the future. Anderson’s got another possession case to deal with and goes on a journey of the mind. 

Collected in: Judge Anderson: The Psi-Files Volume 01

RPG Ideas: It’s not out yet, but Hollows is a game about entering people’s inner demons, made into literal fights in their mindscapes.

SLÁINE

Issues Covered: 2000 AD 330-349

Originally created by Pat Mills and Angela Kincaid

Sláine is a Celtic barbarian comic and originally I wasn’t sure how Conan-ish this was going to be. I’ve read some Conan both in prose and comic form, and I’m ambivalent towards it. Sláine’s been good fun so far, with roguish protagonists and weird Celtic lore being explored.

The Time Monster introduces us to Sláine, his axe ‘Brain Biter’, his conniving dwarf mate Ukko and his ability to ‘warp spasm’, mutating his body and turning him into a monster of muscle and murder. 

The Beast in the Broch has Sláine fancying a king’s bridge, Niamh. He runs away, buys a jail with a monster in it who turns out to be an old cutpurse friend. Only no, she’s died and been replaced by a snake woman. 

In The Bride of Crom, Sláine is sent to rescue the daughter, Medb, of a tribal leader from kidnappers. Sláine and Ukko get put in a wicker man and manage to fight their way out, but Medb is a Druness, working for the evil Slough Feg. She dances with a bull to demonstrate to her Lord Weird that she’s good to go forth, marry into a Celtic tribe and spread chaos.

McMahon’s art in the last arcs are a bit sketchy and the gaps in the inking make it look like rain. Still, this has been an interesting story, especially as I’ve not got a lot of knowledge of Celtic lore, myself.

Collected in: Sláine – The Definitive Edition, Volume 1

RPG Ideas: Ironsworn might work well for the kind of solo action that Sláine gets up to. There are a few specifically Celtic RPGs and a Sláine RPG, but I’ve no real experience of them. Swords Without Master is a bit Conan-themed, but would easily work for this sort of story with its ability to shift between grim and jovial styles.

CONCLUSION

I’m still loving the expanded look at the worlds of Dredd and Rogue Trooper, as we zoom out from just looking at them. Graveyard Shift was a nice idea but went on a bit long, but other than that, the Dredd stories were good. I loved The Moses Incident, even if the plot beats were a bit predictable.

I think my favourites of this era were Harry 20 on the High Rock and Skizz. I’m curious to see what one-off stories happen in the next year’s reading and how Thoth’s journey goes in Nemesis Book IV.