Brass Sun comes back next week!  Ok, fine, I'll talk about this week... I tried to convey last week how "Ghost Town," the newest arc of Dredd, is tonally perfect for the series, especially in the aftermath of "Enceladus."  The final chapter pulled no punches, and explored the Judge's approach to the world with a critical eye not dissimilar from how someone from the modern day would realistically approach such a world.  The result is a somber end that leaves me excited for where Dredd will go from here.

This week's Future Shock, "Re-Incarn-8" from writer David Baillie and artist Nick Brokenshire is the best Future Shock I have read since I started reading the Progs regularly last year.  Holy crap is it good.

As someone with two philosophy degrees, I can tell you that one of the most difficult and most interesting philosophical problems is the problem of personal identity. In just four pages, Baillie and Brokenshire build a world that asks uncomfortable questions about reincarnation, personal identity, and moral responsibility, and then they jam them all together and step away from their creation.

What I loved about this Future Shock was that it simultaneously left me wanting more and satisfied me.  The world in which "Re-Incarn-8" occurs is interesting enough that I want to see a protagonist prevail over the status quo.  But when I learn what it takes to change the status quo, much like the protagonist, I am thrown head-over-heels into an impossible philosophical quandary.  

And all of this has an especially heavy impact with Brokenshire's art.  The second page of this story is intricate, poignant, and gorgeous.

Deadworld's final chapter drew some eerie parallels between the Judge system on earth and Death's "Judge" system in Deadworld, and The Alienist's final chapter was probably its strongest one: I just wish I had warmed up to it sooner (it was just so damn talky!)  Next week is a massive jumping on week, but between "Ghost Town" and  "Re-Incarn-8," Prog 1949 wasn't hard to enjoy for first time readers either.

Score: 4/5

2000 AD - Prog 1949 Writers: Various Artists: Various Publisher: 2000 AD Price: £1.99 (Digital) £2.49 Release Date: 9/23/15 Format: Weekly; Print/Digital