Euan Darroch Comic Reviews

Everything you need to introduce you to the galaxies greatest comic or to entice lapsed readers back to the fold.

One of the best progs of recent times which sets up several very promising storylines.

The prog continues its recent run of top-quality thrills!

The prog keeps the run of quality going with a solid display of what it does well.

The A's have it! Atalia, Alpha and Anderson elevate an otherwise unremarkable prog.

The whole is strangely less than the sum of it's parts in an unfortunately unbalanced issue of the galaxy's greatest comic.

All told it's a prog that gives us a lot of old favourites to savour along with a modern twist. 2000ad is still on strong form.

A new thrill with promise, a welcome return to Deadworld, a happy ending for Team Alpha, the completion of a too-long joke and a quality Dredd one-off. The prog is on form, bring on 2082!

It's too early to be sure but the new-look Red feels like she's very much on the right track after years of misuse. With Dredd and Skip Tracer treading new ground and Deadworld excelling as usual, the prog is on song.

A great prog all in all. Skip Tracer may have missed the mark but everything else hits it perfectly!

A Prog that plays in all the right grey areas. Nothing is simple. It's a rich and compelling mixture.

A zarjaz prog for squaxx of all colours. It's shaping up to a very satisfying run, even Survival Geeks adds to the quality.

All stories are on song this week. The quality output of the prog continues with impressive consistency.

Another great prog. Developing stories bear fruit and new Dredd looks as good as vintage.

Another excellent edition; Dredd and Red reach high notes with their respective conclusions. Next week, get your Resting Bitch Face ready and spray on your Compelling Male Musk Odour for the return of Grey Area.

Art and writing of the highest quality with the perfect blend of new and old, epics and one-offs. Roll on next week!

The prog continues its fine run, all the creative talents are firing on all cylinders.

Another strong showing from the prog. As Deadworld concludes, let's hope the replacement next week will match up to the standard set here.

Harrison's art is a treat. The panels of plot are piled on top of an indistinct shanty town that could be any refugee camp on earth.

An excellent conclusion to Dredd keeps the quality high in an overall strong prog.

It's a prog that shines more artistically than in writing. Abnett's grasp on immigration issues in Grey Area is meaty food for thought.

A solid prog elevated by some excellent human touches in Grey Area and The Order.

A great prog, with all the stories hitting their stride perfectly.

A prog front loaded with excellence which risks running out of steam towards the end.

Sublime stuff in Brink and Dredd, but falls on its face with Skip Tracer.

It's a strong set of stories in total, Brink in particular, but let down by a stale-feeling Skip Tracer.

A great prog with every story developing well.

The prog continues in its stride of excellent stories. Not a beat missed.

The prog makes a fine mix of styles this week but not sacrificing quality for a moment.

Another excellent prog. Infestinauts may be a bit lightweight for some but the rest are all hitting heavily.

An excellent prog with Dredd and Brink as good as anything out there in comics.

A very enjoyable prog. Fun in general with Brink showing how good it can get.

Played with just about the right amount of realism, it has just enough Constantine to feel like a modern-day horror. That said, the character design for Mercury as Cockney wanker in pork pie hat jerks the reader out of the story with its cringe factor. Despite that, Austin makes a solid job of everything else, particularly the pig-man who is far more horrifying than he has any right to be.

There's a brutality to proceedings that makes it look like a miracle that anyone survives. Even after victory there's an atmosphere breach which inflicts further casualties. O'Grady annihilates those poor souls in a caustic miasma. He fills the remaining panels with poison before Rennie poisons the victory with words and the reality of the Nu Earth conflict. Take a breath. It's all over until next time.

A strong showing all round, even without Brink, the Prog has strength in depth.

Solid and compelling, the Prog has developed some excellent storylines.

All in all, it's a wee bit of a patchy prog. Edginton's stories certainly rise above the rest but there's nothing weak here. Editorially it plays a blinder with 3 tales going into the fortnight break on cliffhangers. Nicely played Tharg.

2000AD Prog 2131 is strong in all areas with something for everyone, it's a clever and satisfying entry this week.

A cracking prog; quality on almost every page.

Good job by everyone this week. A solid anthology.

It's an episode that shows the changing relationship between the characters. Not least as Crixus' leadership grows to command the company, not to everyone's liking. Ablard seems unhappy with the shift in the power dynamic. Edginton appears to be hinting at one resolution to this before drop-kicking us in a completely new direction and leaving us hanging.

Despite Dredd missing the target this week, the prog continues its impressive recent run. Next week The Order replaces Survival Geeks.

All in all it's a special that falls slightly short of being special. Maybe it was overhyped due to the groundbreaking all-female lineup or maybe the sniping from the 2000ad "community" poisoned the well somewhat. There are certainly some zarjaz moments to enjoy but overall it feels less than the sum of its parts.

Villains takeover is a huge success. Every story is a winner and the Weston Ezquerra tribute would bring a tear to a glass eye. Add an extra point to the rating for only costing you 99p if you want.

[The Corrosion is] a well crafted first episode. The greater length of the Megazine allows the scene to be set in a way that the Prog wouldn't have managed anywhere near as effectively. It introduces the protagonists, establishes the rules of the game and sets the goals. It may not even be a bad thing if we never get more than a glimpse of the Queen herself.

All in all, it's been a high standard of quality in the Meg this month. Next month, everything concludes ahead of the promised bumper crop of Meg #400.

The Meg ties everything together nicely in preparation for #400. A pretty special Alan Grant supplement is the cherry on top.