Review by Luke Williams
Tharg’s annual themed one shot is here again. As has been the case for a few years now, the special has a unifying subject. This year it’s holidays.
Behind a suitably themed and, quite frankly, gorgeous easter egg laden cover by Chris Weston we are presented with 5 holiday themed or linked stories.
Typically, Judge Dredd kicks off the special, with Al Ewing and Dan Cornwell’s follow up to the classic Wagner / Grant/Ezquerra “Costa Del Blood”, the lead strip from the Judge Dredd Annual 1989 which saw Dredd face off against Dracula.
Despite 37 years passing in between, you don’t need to be familiar with that strip to enjoy this one; though frankly, it’s great and you should check it out anyway. This sequel revisits the Costa Del Meg, MC1s Blackpool alike seaside tourist destination on the Black Atlantic.
Costa Del Meg has seen better days, it’s days of notoriety and the growth in tourists following the visit by that most famous of vampires have long since passed, but following a suspected vampire attack, Dredd is on the case. This is lighthearted, witty and in places just downright silly. Ewing does farce Dredd very well and puns and one liners abound. Ewing is aided and abetted by Dan Cornwell who has quickly become one of the great regulars on the character and carries off both action and comedy easily.
“The Out : The War Of Art” sees our universe journeying heroine Cyd take a visit to an art gallery with companion Cheerio, and see an unusual response to the debate over the spoils of colonial expansion, which is more interesting than it sounds. As you’d expect, there is plenty of wordplay and crackling dialogue from Dan Abnett. Mark Harrison’s work is sometimes obscured by the sheer quantity of dialogue, and while Harrison is a considerable talent, occasionally his art can be overly effects laden and storytelling suffers. Apart from that relatively minor gripe, this a lovely interlude and introduction to what is a great late period 2000AD thrill and acting as a prologue to book 5, coming on 2026.
Future Shock “G.A.R.I” riffs on the Dark Judges idiom of “the crime is life, the sentence is death” and the works of Terry Pratchett. The overworked Grim Reaper takes a break for a few days leaving his assistant in charge. The assistant puts into place his plan to make their job far more efficient, with unintended (though perhaps foreseeable) consequences. It’s hardly shocking, but it’s rare for “Future Shocks” to have a convincing twist these days. Andi Ewington and Nick Dyer 5 pages are not unmissable but are amusing enough.
Next is the unexpected return of “Ampney Crucis in “Evil Under the Sun”. Crucis accepts an invitation to a cruise on the Nile from his old university tutor, not realising that it is intended to be a one way trip. A mash up of Agatha Christie with Lovecraft is an interesting idea, elder gods mixing with inter war British upper middle class. Usual Crucis artist SB Davis is missing from this strip, but Edgington’s other regular collaborator D’israeli steps in admirably, adopting a far softer line and palette than his work on “Scarlet Traces”. The Edgington / D’israeli combo is always worth a read.
Finally, we have Strontium Dog “The Holliday Job”. Johnny, Wulf, Gronk and Middenface head to the vacation planet “Holliday 7” on the hunt for their latest bounty. Distractions abound as Wulf settles in rather too quickly and shows off rather too much, Gronk is the Gronk, Middenface takes a dive and Johnny comes up with the goods. Jake Lynch has become one of the mainstays of 2000AD and delivers the goods on art again. Karl Stock delivers a fun script that is consistent with the characters. There is an argument that “Strontium Dog” is one of the 2000AD stories that really should be left to rest, let sleeping dogs lie as it were, but this one off doesn’t harm the legacy of the strip.
This is a great sampler for the Prog’. After a few shaky Sci F Specials, the quality has picked up.
ComicScene magazine 
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