2000ADHD – A Prog a Day – Prog 538

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Welcome to my personal Prog slog through 2000AD. Here, I post daily about my favourite story from each Prog. I started doing this as a means of focusing my attention on something. A hobby, if you will. Something that will bring joy and fond memories for fans as well as draw attention to and hopefully bring in new readers to The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic. I have never read these Progs before. I recall reading some of Flesh at some point in my childhood, knew of Judge Dredd from a PlayStation One game and then the 1995 Movie, Rogue Trooper from the PlayStation 2 Game and had heard of other stories and seen other characters from seeing posts online. So I’m pretty much experiencing most of these stories as an intergalactic virgin. Or something. So if you are an established reader whose loyalty to Tharg has been unwavering, or if you’ve dropped off reading 2000AD, lie somewhere in between or if you are a newcomer to The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic then please let me know via the comments or hit me up on my socials!

I’ve recently started working on a Letterboxd list, compiling movies that have/may have influenced strips within 2000 AD and adjacent titles such as Misty and Scream! Feel free to check it out here, drop me a follow and let me know of any other titles I should add.

Without further ado…

Welcome to Prog 538 featuring ‘Zenith‘, ‘Tharg’s Future-Shocks‘, ‘Universal Soldier‘, ‘Mean Team‘,  and ‘Judge Dredd‘, published on 5 September 1987.

Cover Art Robot: Liam McCormack-Sharp

Dredd looks out on Mega-City One, ever vigilant on this weeks cover.

My pick of the Prog is: Zenith

Script Robot: Grant Morrison

Art Robot: Steve Yeowell

Lettering Robot: Mark King

I think Zenith is my new favourite – not so much the character, but the world. This episode reminds me a lot of Watchmen. The “home invasion” of The Comedian – I wonder if there was any influence and ultimately part of the reason Morrison and Moore don’t get along. Anyway, combining Lovecraftian cosmic horror with alternate history involving Nazis is kinda my bag – the Wolfenstein series is a favourite of mine. I realise saying Nazis and “my bag” in the same sentence may confuse some so, just to be clear, fuck Nazis. Fuck fascism and bigotry. I like alt-history not alt-right.

Prog 538 gets shocked! Join me on the next one to see who/what grabs the pick of Prog 539.

Florix Grabundae!

Have you read this Prog? If so, what was your favourite strip? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!