Yeesh, it only took four issues for Danny to go full-on hardened vet.

Also, I'm reading these out of order, so it's like picking up an issue of Sgt. Rock and instead of Bulldozer, Little Sure Shot, and Ice Cream Soldier; Rock was leading Hotfoot, Lefty, and Alamo Pete. Somewhere along the line, something bad had happened...From 1988, Bad Company #4, reprinting the titular serial from 1987 progs 2000 AD #509-510, written by Peter Milligan, pencils by Brett Ewins, inks by Jim McCarthy.  

On the planet Ararat, Bad Company was getting it on all sides, as the Krool's "zombie beat" was re-animating dead earth soldiers against them. (I'm sure it's just 90's techno; Grant Morrison established that ages ago!) Robot medic Wallbanger thinks it can block the frequency, but they needed equipment, so the rogue unit was forced to head for the remaining earth soldiers at Sector 8; which involves fighting through the insane Marshal Bonehead and the Skull Possee. (The extra 'e' is for...insane? That's how crazy they are!)

After a battle, their commandeered Krool transport breaks down again, near where Danny had buried his friend Malcolm, but he finds the grave empty. Mac tries to play it off as animals got the body, but Danny's pretty sure Malcolm was now a war zombie. Pointed-eared Thrax asks, why not just decapitate all the bodies before the zombie beat brings them back; but Wallbanger says that'd take about three months to get all the earther corpses...Arriving at Sector 8, the remaining regular forces are disorganized and leaderless; but also afraid of the "wild animals" of Bad Company, which Danny remembers had been his first impression of them as well, and now he was one of them.

While the Krool could have just rolled over Sector 8 now if they had known how bad off it was; reinforcements were coming: earth elite Lord Ireland, who would almost certainly try to kill Bad Company, since they knew the truth, that earth was dying. Sector 8 finds itself under siege by the Skull Possee, as the zombie beat starts; and Danny is as cool as the other side of your pillow, since all he sees is "a lot of soft skin to be burst or scorched or torn..." Damn, son.

Darn, I thought I had all of Bad Company on digital...I'm pretty sure Milligan is building up Danny as hard when in some ways he's still all marshmallow: he has far more human feelings than Kano or Thrax, who are more like robots than Wallbanger. Also this issue: more Peter Milligan, with the first two progs of "Freaks", then more street football in "The Mean Arena." "Freaks" has art by John Higgins, but the protagonist is an unlikeable, looks-obsessed cad, who gets sucked into another world of hideously ugly inhabitants--or, they're ugly to him, anyway. "The Mean Arena" starts to get rolling, as the Slayers lose another player, but per the rulebook they can ask for a volunteer from the crowd, and dear Grudd I wish the NFL would institute that immediately. (In the pre-season, that'd get viewership up!) The Slayers get a ringer, though: fabled American player Matt Tallon, long believed dead, steps in; but he has reasons of his own...(Written by Tom Tully, art by John Richardson.) Warning: if you dig up the next few issues of Bad Company, you might get to read all of "Freaks," but after this title ended, "The Mean Arena" continued in 2000 AD Showcase until that series ended, so you'd have to look overseas for the conclusion!

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Pretty sure I've ggnmornf'd on a first date, but I don't have self-respect...

60% sure I've bought this issue three times--not just because of the cover! Well, maybe. From 1989, Time Twisters #19, featuring more sci-fi shorts from the pages of 2000 AD, including two--no, three!--from that specific issue! Cover by John Workman.

"It's the Thought that Counts!" is a Peter Milligan/Steve Dillon number--the blond spaceman's chin is immediately recognizable as one of Dillon's! Two spacemen are on a secret mission for the ultimate weapon, although one plots to kill the other as soon as he can grab it. Also, I don't know if trial-and-error is the best way to try their grab-bag of weapons out...

"The Contract" is the first from 1984's 2000 AD #374, as a businessman misses his train, but a meek salesman then sells him a watch that can turn back time! A steal at five pounds...and his soul. Can the businessman get out of the deal? Or, judging by his actions cooking the stock market, did he deserve hell? (Written by Chris Lowder (credited as J. Adrian) and art by Massimo Belardinelli.)

"What's Up, Dock? is a bit of fun, with a shout-out for 2000 AD's editorial frontman Tharg the Mighty: the massive new supertanker Juggernaut was speeding to New York City, with only one crewmember. With all the computers, the captain was all that was needed, and even he was checking out for a nap...as a seagull gets in, and hopping on the keyboard, makes a few course adjustments, like full speed ahead! (Written by Alan Hebden, art by Jose Casanovas.) This and "Uncommon Sense" were from 1984's 2000 AD #372, the editor of this issue must've had an easy time of it! "Uncommon Sense" was by Hebden again, with Mike Collins on art, for a Twilight Zone-like short where an alien scientist attempts to help earthlings with their meager, paltry senses; by increasing them immensely. Results are mixed, as in, three deaths right off. Back to the drawing board there.

Hebden and Casanovas again, for "Working on a Chain Gang..." as three convicts think their luck has turned, when aliens abduct them...because there's a market for experienced slaves. (Sad trombone noise.) And another double-cross in "The Ghost Outside the Machine" from Milligan and Casanovas: a space miner shoots, then spaces his partner, but is haunted by his partner seemingly haunting him every time he looks out the window. Or, there might be a (slighty un)reasonable explanation. "The Art of Advertising" finds an ad agent scrambling after blowing his budget on a big sci-fi campaign, only to be told nostalgia was in now. But, when he hears about a mad scientist who claims to have invented a time machine, an idea is formed...that of course goes awry, that's just the style of these stories, sorry. (Written by Kelvin Gosnell, art by Massimo Belardinelli.)

Finally, "You Win Some, You Lose Some..." is Hebden with classic 2000 AD mainstay Ian Gibson: with earth under siege by the alien Grodge, a desperate back-up plan is put into place, to move the entire planet for safety! And for security reasons, only one man should be trusted with where...yeah, that's gonna go well. 

 For some reason, I seem to find this issue fairly regularly, but I'm not sure I've ever seen Time Twisters #18.

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Say what you will, Elvis there doesn't get trapped by painting double lines around it, or fooled by a Wile E. Coyote painting.

You might have seen this online last week, but Tesla's self-driving feature only uses cameras--as opposed to radar, lidar, ultrasonic, anything--and can be fooled by a Wile E. Coyote style painting on a wall. I don't know if Teslas are particularly vulnerable to this or if it's been patched, but previously you could trap an autonomous vehicle almost by painting it into a corner: if it won't cross double-lines, you can herd it. That wouldn't work on Elvis here, which both leads to a lot of deaths but is way more entertaining. From 1986, Judge Dredd: the Early Cases #6, featuring "Elvis" Written by John Wagner, art by Ian Gibson.

This was a four-part storyline, beginning in 1978's 2000 AD #53; and was set during the relatively brief tenure of Judge-Marshal Dredd, head lawman of Luna-City One! It feels apocryphal, like something that would be retconned out; but no, I think it's still in continuity! Computerized-car Elvis was like a son to its owner, until an accident damages its personality, turning it into a psychotic, murdering brat. When the Judges have him cornered in a parking garage, Elvis was also clever enough to reprogram a bunch of other cars, making them maniacs like him and giving him the chance to escape. He then rampages through a department store and helps himself to a bunch of toys, so it can't be all bad--okay, yeah, it can.

Elvis hides out in a poor couple's apartment, then is incensed when Dredd calls him out on the news. Like, really calls him out; like a wrestling promo, he lays it pretty thick. Dredd may have outsmarted himself there, as Elvis uses tunnels to remain unseen, and surprises him in his own apartment! Walter the Wobot is tied-up, and instead of just killing him, Elvis takes Dredd as a hostage, figuring nobody would stop him if it meant killing Dredd!

Also this issue: "22nd Century Futsie" When his dad goes insane with "future-shock" on New Year's Eve, little Arthur Goodworthy Jr. goes to Dredd, to see if maybe, just maybe, his dad could be brought in alive for a change? Please? I don't think it was even future-shock that got Arthur Sr. as much as a hostile work environment and lousy co-workers, but sure. Dredd tells the kid dad'll be okay; but inwardly thinks he's never going to really recover from that; like a porcelain figure glued back together, scarred and fragile. 

 I don't think I had read this one before! I wonder if I have the rest of this mini, though. 

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I was going to blog an actual horror comic, from a series we had seen a few times before, but looking it up the issue in-hand was the last issue; so that has to wait for the end of the year! So, we'll try another issue of this! From 1988, Time Twisters #5, cover by Bil Maher.

The credit box for "Bad Maxwell!" has "J. Roberts" on art, but it's obviously Brendan McCarthy, on the first of four shorts this issue from Peter Milligan. Maxwell Mills was experimenting with improving the teleporter--mainly, in keeping just any yahoo with a teleporter from popping into your house--by keying it to his own molecular structure. Instead, he goes to a post-apocalyptic alternate earth, where a lone band of survivors was surrounded by horrible "waste-mutants!" Maxwell swindles the survivors out of their gold and leaves, knowing they wouldn't be able to follow unless they matched his molecular pattern. Like a mutant Maxwell Mills! Who shouldn't be able to match that, but hey, we only had four pages.

"Extra! Extra!" features a future where the computer-generated newspaper the World doesn't report what happened yesterday, but what was going to happen today. Computer genius J.B. Ropey is one of the few people in the world that could maybe affect the World, which is why today's headline was about his upcoming death: can he avoid it? Maybe for four pages! (Written by Peter Milligan, art by Jose Casanovas.) "Slashman, Kolwalski, and Rat" follows a three-person hit squad: but the main hitter may not be who you would expect. (Written by Steve Moore, art by Mike White.)

Milligan again for "But is it Art?" wherein an art thief and his trainee figure the most well-protected painting in a gallery would be the most valuable, right? Unless there was another reason for it to be locked up...(Art by Eric Bradbury.) And one more Milligan, in "The Snikker Snack!" A murderous smuggler loses a shape-changing snikker on his ship, but figures he can seal it off and the client can find it later. Unless the snikker makes a bad choice to hide as...(Art by Jeff Anderson.)

"The Collector" is a brief air-fighter number set in the Vietnam War (written by Kelvin Gosnell, art by Ian Kennedy) then in "The Mousetrap" a lunatic with a shotgun claims to be stopping an alien invasion, aided and abetted by mice; and like many lunatics in Future-Shocks he might be right! (Written by Alan Hebden, art by Massimo Belardinelli; as was the final story.)

Finally, in "Bad Vibrations" a galactic survey vessel tries to figure out what killed the colonists on a distant world. The captain is a Native American, which is mildly noteworthy; also, this is like the second 2000 AD story I've seen with plot points bearing a passing resemblance to M.Night Shyamalan's the Happening. What a twist! Read more!

Hopefully, no twist endings today--aw, damnit!

I honestly thought I had posted more of these: from 1988, Time Twisters #8, cover by Richard Larson and Sam de la Rosa.

This of course was Quality's book reprinting mostly short "Tharg's Future Shocks" from 2000 AD, opening with Alan Moore and Mike White's "Eureka!" An exploration craft in search of aliens, maybe too late realizes, what if an alien is just an idea? And what if everyone has the same idea...Next, P.E.S.T. agent Joe Black risks life and limb on an alien planet, but comes out of it with replicator technology. It couldn't make heavy elements, and Joe sees the downside of counterfeiting, but he does find at least one good thing to use it for. ("Horn of Plenty!" Written by Kelvin Gosnell, pencils by John Higgins.)

I had guessed Peter Milligan at first glance, but it was Grant Morrison! In "the Invisible Etchings of Salvador Dali" a lunatic has come to terms with the insane nightmare he lives in, but he might be the hero the world needs after the detonation of a "reality bomb." (Art by John Hicklenton.) Then, some nice facial expression work doesn't quite sell "Now You See It..." followed by another Alan Moore story, with art by Mike White: a Flash Gordon spoof, "The Regrettable Ruse of Rocket Redglare!" (I feel like 2000 AD took the piss out of Flash more than once that I've seen, and I haven't read every prog, so they could've more than that!)

One more from Alan, this time with Dave Gibbons, as aliens from space invade in "Skirmish!" If you're old enough, you'll almost be able to hear that one. Close out the issue with some role-reversal in "Nigel Goes A-Hunting!" and a Judge Dredd one-pager. ("Nigel" written by Alan Grant, art by Jesús Redondo; "Tales from Mega-City One" written by John Wagner and Alan Grant, art by David Wyatt.)

It's once again my birthday, and we've made it through another horrible year of twist endings: we can make it through some more. See you then! Read more!

The Goths here are like any Republican that isn't lily-white; wondering why they're not considered part of the in-group.

I confess to not being super-organized, but look, sometimes it feels like these weren't reprinted in a coherent manner, either. From 1989, Nemesis the Warlock #6, written by Pat Mills, art by Kevin O'Neill. Cover by Sam Kieth!

We actually saw part of this before, reprinted in color in Quality's Spellbinders #1. The GCD didn't give reprint credits for this black-and-white one, but "The Gothic Empire" started in 2000 AD #387: the Goths were at war with the Terminators (not those ones--oh, never mind) but couldn't fathom why. The Goths were maybe just as xenophobic as the Terminators, and thought they were figuratively, on the same team; at war against 'aliens.' Unfortunately, the Goths didn't quite realize, they were aliens! They had received early earth radio broadcasts, and patterned themselves after early 20th century Britain; so they were kind of patronizing, colonizing bastards too. They also had a Jack the Ripper-type problem, in the person of serial killer "the Phantom," who is really series big-bad Torquemada! His various deaths and returns, had left him forced to suck the life-force out of aliens to maintain himself.

Nemesis wants to convince the Goths' ruling "Ion Duke" that Termight was a threat to them; but the Duke refuses to listen, instead taking potshots at Nemesis's messenger/familiar, Grobbendonk. Despite the fact that the Goths' space navy was outgunned and outclassed by Termight; the Duke refuses to even acknowledge that as a possibility: partially their faux-Brit superiority complex, the rest poison poured into his ears by his daughter and his aide, who were plotting against him. They wanted to upgrade Goth society from early 20th century Britain to late, and were willing to side with Torquemada to get their way; even if Torquemada is ridiculously untrustworthy. Kinda feels like they wanted to believe him, more than him convincing them in any way. Nemesis is accused of the "Phantom" murders, and telepathically discovers the plot to murder Queen Victoria; so under psychic disguise he takes a train with his new companion, Ro-Jaws--unaware that Torquemada, in a new body, is on the same train! (I do like how Nemesis seems to immediately take to this weird, smelly little robot.) There's also an aside to Ro-Jaws's old teammate from the ABC Warriors, Hammerstein; who was now fighting for Termight, until his conscience makes him question orders and refuse to massacre innocents.

Hammerstein has a surprisingly long bibliography; not quite to the length of Dredd or Anderson, but I wonder if he hasn't made more appearances than say Strontium Dog or Rogue Trooper? I think he's made more than Nemesis; if someone would sit down and count, that'd be swell. Read more!

It's another Quality 2000 A.D. reprint, so I'm pretty much obligated to blog it.

From the cross-sell ad on the back, I know I was reading Judge Dredd and the earlier reprint title the Law of Dredd at the time; but this was a series I didn't read until much, much later: from 1989, Bad Company #9, featuring stories from 1987's 2000 AD #519 and #548. Written by Peter Milligan, pencils by Brett Ewins, inks by Jim McCarthy.

These two stories were the end of the first main story arc, and the beginning of another; and the main viewpoint characters of the book (Mac, Danny, and "Mad" Tommy) find out the secret of the black box their missing commander, Kano, had left behind; which contained half of Kano's brain. Tommy knew most of this: in the war against the alien Krool--who were about as bad as they sound--they had captured and experimented on Kano; in an attempt to get past their "evolutionary limits." Kano had, in a complicated and painful series of operations, been given half a Krool brain, which explained why he looked like Cable with a Frankenstein square-head. Kano eventually escaped, but wasn't quite himself, or human: Tommy pretended to be insane, largely to keep Kano from murdering him to keep his secrets buried; although he was probably more than a bit insane by then as well. Tommy had actually given Kano the black box, telling him it was the human half of his brain: it totally wasn't; it was just some dead soldier's; but Kano needed to hear that so he could manage to go on. As they leave the planet, Danny leaves his diary behind; telling Mac if Kano didn't need the box, he could leave the diary as well.

What was left of humanity was scattered throughout the "ghetto" planets, at the start of the next storyline; with Danny the de facto leader of Bad Company. They're given a new member--an alien Protoid, who had his own secrets and motives, but a nicer ship--and a new mission: find and stop a mysterious killer, that had been slaughtering humans and Krools alike. (It's Kano; I don't think it's intended to be a surprise.) I was surprised to realize Milligan had written this: it feels a lot like a classic British war strip; just with sci-fi elements and the nihilism turned up to 11. 

Also this issue: the start of short-lived strip "Project Overkill," which featured a passenger pilot sucked into a conspiracy and on the run, Fugitive-style. Ian Gibson art, though! And another chapter of "Mean Arena; which was partly about the violent future sport of "street football" but also a quest for revenge. That one's slightly more remembered, and had a brief relaunch in 1993.

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"The End" Week: Scavengers #14!

No Shako in this issue, but I don't like to let the year wind down without flipping through one of the Quality last issues: from 1989, Scavengers #14.

Two serials from the pages of 2000 AD end here: "Ant Wars," written by Gerry Finley Day, art by Jose Luis Ferrer; and "the Helltrekkers," written by Alan Grant and John Wagner, art by Horacio Lalia and Jose Ortiz. The latter was a Judge Dredd tie-in, as homesteaders and survivalists leave the (relative) safety of Mega-City One to find a new home in the Cursed Earth. The convoy has a pretty low survival rate; worse, since Dredd has run so long, it wouldn't surprise me if the characters were revisited years after their (relative) happy ending here. It's only a happy ending, if you know where to stop reading...

"Ant Wars" featured, as you might guess, giant ants, mutated by an experimental pesticide. An army captain and a native boy go out fighting but win in the end...although, the pesticide was going back into service, so it was probably open to a sequel. Also this issue: short horror number "Spiders Can't Scream" from, um, Scream #2, which I hadn't heard of before. (Written by John Agee, art by Ron Smith.) Read more!

I know dinosaurs are usually a lock for comic covers, but c'mon, Shako!

It's like a hundred degrees out, but I still went for a little bike ride for a fair-sized fistful of comics, including another Quality reprint: from 1988, Scavengers #7, reprinting a good chunk of John Wagner and Pat Mills' Shako: the Only Bear on the C.I.A. Death List! (Art not credited here, but was probably Ramon Sola, Juan Arancio, Dodderio, and/or Lopez Vera.)

Mighty polar bear Shako had swallowed a top secret capsule, and while the CIA has been after it, today the KGB gets in on the action: they capture Shako, and don't want to kill him without contacting Moscow first, since they weren't sure why the Americans had seemingly declared war on a bear. However, there's always one guy, who thinks "I could totally take that bear," and vodka may be involved; so Shako gets out of his cage on the same page...look, 2000 AD progs don't have time or pages to dick about, try to keep up! Shako makes a rather leisurely escape from the Russians, since it was a whaling boat, and mmm, blubber! He gets knocked out by a bullet creasing his skull; just like a noir private detective or the Warlord; just in time for an American helicopter to grab him, but the Russians shoot the copter down, dumping Shako into the ocean.

Shako's Ahab, CIA chief Falmuth, is furious over losing the bear; he had already lost an arm and wasn't about to lose his job as well. When a massive walrus corpse is spotted, they figure Shako will be back for it later, and Falmuth orders one of his men to wait inside the walrus! That goes about as well as you'd figure; but Falmuth would get his shortly. Then, a final battle with ecologist Buck Dollar and the injured Shako, which ends...too tragically for me to go into. Man, I wish Shako had run for like 200 issues, getting his revenge on the world. His body count was like ten in just this issue; not counting the walrus. Read more!

I've had a copy of this one for years, and it's still a favorite, even though it maybe made me less of a fan of Dredd. From 1986, Quality Special #2--the Midnight Surfer Special, reprinting from 1985's 2000 AD #424-#429, written by John Wagner, art by Cam Kennedy. 

 

First, this is a great package, collecting the 6-prog storyline, but more than that, as the GCD explains: "The story has been substantially tinkered with for US publication. British comic size pages have been slightly stretched, or elongated via extra art to more closely resemble a standard US size page. Furthermore, panels have been re-sized or differently placed to ensure the story runs more smoothly in the US format. In the original printing only some splash pages were in color." I wonder if it wasn't cost-effective, though, since Quality/Fleetway usually stuck to straight reprints. 

The only thing it misses, I wouldn't read until years later: the lead here, Chopper, appeared in an earlier Judge Dredd story, putting him in the rarefied ranks of recurring perps. At that point, I think there would've been Judge Death, and Chopper, and that was it! (Maybe Mean Machine Angel.) Previously, Chopper had been a young offender, a graffiti artist in an escalating competition to be "King Scrawler." Years later, he had rehabilitated...to some extent. He had taken up power boarding, or sky-surfing; which wasn't illegal except at lower altitudes. Chopper was determined to not let Mega-City One break him down and make him just another nobody, so was set on making his name by winning the illegal cross-city race, Supersurf 7. Dredd questions Chopper about the race, and knows the score immediately, so he has him put under surveillance.   

Chopper gets the call with the meet location in code, and quickly realizes he's being tailed by drone cameras. He considers bagging out, to protect the other racers, but can't bring himself to quit, and cuts a dangerous path through the city to ditch the cameras. Then, a scene familiar to kung-fu movies: introducing a bunch of cool badasses ready to compete in the tournament, most if not all of whom would be dead before long. The Supersurf course wasn't exactly the scenic route, but it was supposed to be a challenge, culminating in taking the Manfred Fox tunnel, backwards, against traffic.

There were fatalities before the pack even gets there, but at Mega-City advertising landmark the Okeydokey Man we maybe see why Supersurf and low-altitude boarding was illegal, as a surfer "shooting the O" wipes out, taking a massive truck with him and causing a massive pile-up. Dredd orders the Judges to "shoot to kill," which hopefully was in the name of public safety and not because the surfers were thumbing their collective nose at the Law. 

While most of the racers are shot down, wiped-out, or arrested; it comes down to the previous world champion Yakamoto and Chopper: Yakamoto gets clipped by a truck's mirror and goes down, and Chopper goes back to save him, although Yakamoto still dies from his injuries. Dredd himself arrests Chopper, but he knows Mega-City One won't forget his name, and the Law will never break him...

And even this wasn't the last we would see of Chopper, although I was perfectly satisfied with this story. That entry notes Chopper's next appearance would break up the Alan Grant/John Wagner partnership, and how he was supposed to die in a later appearance but was brought back, which Wagner may have later felt was probably a mistake. And this issue was maybe the first where I saw Dredd not as the action-hero, but as an obstacle: it might've taken me a bit, but I was starting to notice he wasn't always the "good guy."

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A Fleetway/Quality reprint book I hadn't read? Better fix that!

From 1991(ish), M.A.C.H. 1 #8, written by Steve McManus, art by Ramon Sola.

This probably seemed a bit dated even in 1991, but it was (and is) of historical interest: British super-spy John Probe became the cyborg super-agent M.A.C.H. 1, in the first issue of 2000 AD in 1977! Although he received his power from "compu-puncture" like electric acupuncture, he also had an internal computer he often argued with, ala Deathlok. Both can probably directly trace their lineage back to the Six Million Dollar Man; although Probe's missions were allowed to stay more ethically murky than Steve Austin's, with usually a higher body count.

Case in point: this issue, Probe tries to defend the rampaging M.A.C.H. Zero, while his boss Sharpe wants Zero destroyed. After the usual fight, Probe manages to calm Zero down and get him into an ambulance for treatment...and Sharpe has the drivers bail out, then blows it up with a tank! Sharpe also leaves Probe a video message: he was going on vacation, and would be back after he calmed down. You never saw Oscar Goldman pull that crap. Probe has to be dragged out of a seedy bar next prog for his next assignment, and Sharpe reveals he couldn't just quit: without ongoing "compu-puncture" treatment, he would eventually weaken and die. Don't worry, Sharpe would eventually get his, but so would Probe: he would be killed off in 2000 AD #64. And M.A.C.H. Zero wasn't even done yet, he would get another serial--and die at the end of that one, too! I feel like that was kind of a problem for lower or mid-tier characters in 2000 AD: the possibility you could follow a character every week for more than long enough to get attached to them, only for it to suddenly end with "and everyone died!" OK, granted, Shako probably wasn't gonna end with the bear living peacefully on a farm, but still. It seems short-sighted, moreso than the usual "that's the next writer's problem!" Like if Marvel had killed off Shang-Chi or Moon Knight when their books were cancelled...actually, they killed Moon Knight pretty good in one of those, which probably puts him in the same boat as Johnny Alpha: mistakes were made, which later writers would have to dig out of. Read more!

Since I seem to spread my purchases around, I'm not sure where I got an almost-complete run of this series; but I wonder if it was the same store I found the first issue! From 1989, Psi-Judge Anderson #1, reprinting 1985's 2000 AD #416-421, "Four Dark Judges" Written by Alan Grant and "T.B. Grover" (John Wagner), art by Brett Ewins.

The fan-favorite psychic Judge is haunted by visions of Judge Death, until she finally takes a "dimension-jump" to his dead world to confirm he was gone. Nope! The spirits of the Dark Judges--Death, Fear, Fire, and Mortis--overpower Anderson's mind and force her to resurrect them in new bodies, then kill her and return to Mega-City One to pass sentence on those worst of lawbreakers, the living. Anderson managed to play possum and survive, but is kicking herself for a serious lapse in judgement: while she's not about to let the Dark Judges run wild, she also figures this will be her last hurrah, as she will doubtless be sent to the Judges' penal colony on Titan for her screwup.

Flippant and somewhat insubordinate for a Judge, Anderson is both a beloved character, but also one that sometimes has to be accounted for or sidelined to keep the plot going: I just re-read the Necropolis serial recently, and she's injured and comatose for a large chunk of that one. Still, events in Judge Dredd are roughly real time; so Anderson felt she was getting long in the tooth for a Judge, and Psi's couldn't take the same treatments other Judges could use to stay active. Also, most of her solo appearances were written by Alan Grant, and after his demise I'm not sure she's received as much page time. I did just get some more recent Dredd recently; I'll keep an eye out for her. Read more!

This won't fit in the scanner, but luckily we had a random issue too.

My local shop has been clearancing a bunch of stuff they don't want to move again...insuring that I'll be the one that has to move it. Hmm. From 2005, Robo-Hunter: Day of the Droids, reprinting from 1980's 2000 AD and Tornado #152-#174 and 2000 AD #259-#265, written by John Wagner (as T.B. Grover) and Alan Grant, art by Ian Gibson.

I've read most of this before, but it's nice to have in one place. It's a longer serial than I'd remembered, 23 progs! (We saw a piece of one, some time back!) This collection also features "The Beast of Blackheart Manor" in which Sam Slade moves to Brit-Cit, followed by his self-appointed "assistant" Hoagy; and solves a murder mystery that I'm positive includes cannibalism that gets glossed over in the end. I've never been one for meat "pies" but that'll put you right off them...

For good measure, we've got a Quality reprint: from 1987, Sam Slade, Robo-Hunter #4, "The Filby Case, parts 4-7" From 2000 AD #269-#272, written by Alan Grant, art by Ian Gibson and Dominic Regan. Despite a broken ankle, Slade's still on the case to find Ronald the Random Robot, who appears to have randomly developed psychic powers that everyone wants, but he's joined the Robo Goonie cult. As has the undercover Hoagy, who is too dumb to remember he did that because he was undercover.

Also this issue: an early Ro-Busters tale from 2000 AD and Starlord #100, "To the Death!" Written by Pat Mills, art by Dave Gibbons. Gentle giant Charlie savagely defends his city against the demolition robots the Terra-Meks. In a scene like a really dark Bob the Builder, the damaged Tyranno-Mek helps destroy himself as to not hold up his teammates Roadroller and Excavator from their work schedule. Since these robots dwarfed the bulldozer Mek-Quake, he wisely/cravenly ducks out, while the money-men plot to pin the blame for all this on Charlie...I seem to recall this one ends happier than most Ro-Busters stories, though. Read more!