2000AD #2233 Review

Writers: Liam Johnson; Colin Harvey; Cavan Scott; Roger Langridge; Rory Mcconville
Artists: Jake Lynch; Tom Newell; Paul Davidson; Brett Parson; PJ Holden
Colours: Jim Boswell; John Charles; Matt Soffe; Len O’Grady
Letters: Annie Parkhouse; Simon Bowland; Jim Campbell
Publisher: Rebellion

2000AD Regened: like regular 2000AD, but for younger humans. It’s a semi-regular event destined to delight readers with children, and possibly the children themselves, whilst providing hate-fodder for older internet commentators who like to grumble that things were better in the old days.

Back in the '70s, they’ll declare, before political correctness went mad, you could market a comic to children filled with images of people being bitten in half by polar bears, or heroic Brits punching foreigners to death. It didn’t do us any harm. I mean, it made us afraid of polar bears and foreigners, but other than that, no harm at all.

What sort of world can we foresee for a generator of younger readers whose first foray into comic books is through 2000AD Regened? Quite a nice one.

In Cadet Dredd: Lawbreaker, Cadet Judges Joe and Rico Dredd deal with a riot and accidentally break the rules. Whilst the outcome of Cadet Dredd stories is never really in doubt – both brothers will survive, Rico will break the rules – it’s been a great way to give longstanding characters more layers. Rico Dredd’s destiny was laidout way back in 1977, but these stories add humanity. He’s not just a good guy gone bad, he’s a guy who cares for his brother very much and is willing to break rules.  It makes his later decline all the more heartbreaking.

Dealing with impossible rules, and being smart enough to Kobayashi Maru yourself out of the situation, and the moral implications of that, are bound to appeal to younger readers. There’s also some lovely pop-culture humour along the way.

In Future Shocks: Space Expectations, a Wall-E type droid is sent off to explore the solar system. A simple tale, it has some lovely world building with the droid appearing on talk shows and maintaining a social media account that gradually loses followers as the humans back home grow bored of the empty cosmos. The big twist isn’t much of a surprise, but it’s very well done and based on the falling away of a social naivety that I’m sure will appeal to kids.

Pandora Perfect asks the question “what if Mary Poppins was a con-artist and burglar, amid a world of clunky robots and eccentric humans”. In Night of the Guffwarbler, Pandora and her robo-friend Gort set out to steal a priceless collection of taxidermy. It’s a fun romp, with non-stop jokes and knowing references to PL Traver’s (under copyright) nanny.

The dimension hoping agents of the Department K find themselves in trouble in Stranded. Continuing the adventure form the last Regened prog, the group’s ship has run out of power and the find themselves prisoners before “Crellic the Devine”, sort of a Jabba-the-Hutt-in-drag.

A very simple story that focuses on action and re-introducing characters, possibly in preparation for Department K story due to appear next week. There’s some lovely design in PJ Holden’s action packed art.

If the comics of the '70s were character building, then at least part of the character they built brought us Brexit, a subconscious desire to wipe out polar bears, and an unwillingness to be on the receiving end of mocking satire. What future then, for a generation weaned on 2000AD Regened? Well, an appreciation of others and the importance of friendship. An understanding that people are flawed, rules sometimes don’t make sense, and no-one is perfect. That fame is ephemeral, and that many problems can be solved without having to punch people.

I genuinely like Regened progs of 2000AD, even though I’m not the target audience.