2000AD’s latest Judge Dredd adventure has fans astir

By John Freeman on February 7, 2024

This week’s 2000AD, Prog 2368, with a “Thistlebone” cover from Simon Davis, continues Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt’s much-talked about “Judge Dredd” story, “A Better World”.

2000AD Prog 2368 - cover by Simon Davis (Rebellion, 2024)

The adventure, born in part from a desire to push against the idea of “copaganda”, as have many Judge Dredd stories down the years, has attracted plenty of attention. The story sees the hard-nosed Judge come up against something that he genuinely might not be able to overcome: proof gathered by a fellow officer, Maitland, that brutal policing is less effective in combatting crime than well-funded social programs.

According to the Williams and Wyatt, who talked to Popverse last month about the storyline, they were aware that this kind of “Defund the Police” story would get a lot of attention, but was never likely to escape criticism from readers.

“Some people are just going to be upset at something no matter what, and if we spent all our time second guessing them we’d never get anything done,” Wyatt argued. “Any time I’ve been writing Dredd and something like Ferguson or some other horrible thing has come on the news I’ve felt bad about not dealing with the real world enough and letting Dredd be a sort of copaganda fantasy, so if anything I’m pushing a bit harder so I’m not disappointed in myself.”

Of Dredd himself , Wyatt notes “is the law… but he’s not lacking in pragmatism. If someone he trusts and who has demonstrated competence in the past is pushing a way of changing things that seems to work, he’s going to consider it, at least. He’s not a theorist or a deep thinker but if something works he’s not going to crush that out of hand. And Maitland herself is somewhat Dredd-like and pragmatic – she works in a different field, but if she sees something that works she’s going to push forwards with it.”

The story and art certainly has fans excited.

“It’s next level stuff,” one thrill seeker enthused of the strip on X. “I want every strip to be paced like this in future, keep it up best strip in years.”

“I think Henry could draw a 28 parter of Dredd just getting from one part of the City, incident free, to another and I’d be there for it,” said AV Whistler. “Amazing work.”

In 2000AD Prog 2368:

JUDGE DREDD // A BETTER WORLD by Rob Williams & Arthur Wyatt (Writers) Henry Flint (Artist) Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)

Mega-City One, 2146 AD. Home to over 200 million citizens, this urban hell is situated along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America. Crime is rampant, and only future cops the Judges — empowered to dispense instant justice — can stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law! Now, Accounts Judge Maitland has been conducting an experiment in Sector 304 in a bid to reduce crime…

THISTLEBONE // THE DULE TREE by T.C. Eglington (Writer) Simon Davis (Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)

Britain, 2020. It’s been over a year since journalist Seema Chaudry accompanied cult survivor Avril Easton back to the village of Harrowvale, where she suffered at the hands of THISTLEBONE worshippers, a crazed occult group that believed in an ancient woodland deity. One man in the village, Malcolm Kinniburgh, was keeping the Thistlebone legend alive — but it seems to be connected with an old ‘70s horror film…

THE ENGLISH ASTRONAUT by Paul Cornell (Writer) Laura Helsby (Artist) Matt Soffe (Colourist) Jim Campbell (Letterer)

Three episodes, one complete, self-contained story — a condensed hit of super-charged Thrill-power beamed to you directly from the Nerve Centre! Earth, November 1963, and Major Thomas Anderson became the subject of a British Experimental Space Programme project. Locked into the Injection Seat, he took a cocktail of drugs that plunged him into 2023, but he’s affecting reality around him…

ENEMY EARTH // BOOK THREE by Cavan Scott (Writer) Luke Horsman (Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)

The near future. Mother Nature has turned against the people that live upon the Earth’s surface, and the planet’s flora and fauna have mutated and are viciously attacking humanity. As society crumbles, and survivors seek safety, young Zoe, who has lost her own family, has rescued Jules, who’s the prime minister’s son. Now, he’s being used by the military as a way to control the creatures — and aliens have arrived…

FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK TWO by Alex de Campi (Writer) Eduardo Ocana (Artist) Eva De La Cruz (Colourist) Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)

Out in the deep reaches of the cosmos, teenager Tee — together with her grandmother and cat — is a bounty hunter/hired help, operating from her spaceship the FULL TILT BOOGIE. Tee was paid to rescue the Luxine Prince Ifan from his debtors’ prison. In the process, she encountered a resurrected Anubite warrior, a member of the enemy race with whom the Luxine Empire was at war. Now, they’ve sought refuge on Tanzagar…

• 2000AD Prog 2368 is available in print from: newsagents and comic book stores via Diamond | Available in digital from: 2000AD webshop, 2000AD apps for Apple and Android

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.