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Review: 2000 AD – Prog 1956

Sinister and Dexter are on the cover on this issue that caps off the latest Sinister Dexter run. 2000-AD-Prog-1956-1Another Dredd one-shot to love, "Sleeping Duty" will be predictable but totally satisfying.  As a few thieves pull off a heist, they realize they may have picked the wrong place to burgle.  Dyer (lines) and Ryder's (colors) art bring a tremendous amount of life to a comic with relatively little action that occurs in a dark room.  I love Ryder's work in particular because many colorists have trouble balancing vibrant colors with dreary settings.  Here, Ryder tows the line, and the pages are full of life, but clearly occur in a boring concrete room.  What I most enjoyed about the comic was that the setup of this comic's punchline really made the conundrum that the thieves were facing palpable.   I was generally wondering what the hell I would do if I were in their position.

The first bit of Defoe was clearly an excuse for Gallagher to draw fancy masks, but I really didn't mind because of how interesting the designs were.  This was another chapter of Defoe that was drawn and designed so well that I think it will pull in people who may have been overlooking the title previously (like myself!)

Brass Sun ticks and tocks along with another great chapter.  My favorite part was obviously where the fragment of... well, the fragment of God, essentially, said that "shit happens."  I thought it was a poignant assertion by Edginton that even in the world of Brass Sun in its current state as literally designed by a grand watchmaker to operate by precise parameters, shit happens.  Edginton is all about leveraging Culbard's great art to tell this story piece by piece, and constantly makes little dialog or general story decisions that keep the philosophical elements present in this series.  It never feels heavy-handed, and the deep aspects of this series don't drive it, but remain a constant part of the world.


Score: 4/5


2000 AD – Prog 1956 Writers: Various Artists: Various Publisher: Rebellion Price: £1.99 (Digital) £2.55 Release Date: 11/11/15 Format: Weekly; Print/Digital