2000 AD #2501: Prog 2501

I am The Mighty Tharg, all-powerful alien editor at the helm of this brain-frazzling SF anthology! Welcome back to Thrill-central, Terrans, where I take it as a personal challenge to rewire your realities. I trust you’ve recovered from the ghafflebette Prog 2500, and while we’re back to the regular thirty-two pages this issue there’s no decrease in the zarjazness as we launch into the second instalments of Dredd, Azimuth, Durham Red, Herne & Shuck and Ghosted!JUDGE DREDD // THE NEW FUTURE, Part OneMega-City One, 2148 AD. Home to over 300 million citizens, this urban hell is situated along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America. Crime is rampant and only the Judges — empowered to dispense instant justice — can stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law! Accounts Judge Maitland attempted to lower crime through social programmes, and was shockingly assassinated…AZIMUTH // HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DAGON, Part TwoWelcome to the city of AZIMUTH, a data-driven metropolis, where anything is possible. Ruled by an aristocracy of the New Flesh, such concepts of life, death, and body-forms are fluid. Anyone can take any shape, if it can be conceived by the imagination. A stranger has ridden into town — none other than Ramone Dexter — and revealed that Azimuth is in fact Downlode recrafted by a rogue Artificial Intelligence…DURHAM RED // HUNGRY CITY, Part TwoLate 22nd century. Of all the mutants that have operated as Search/Destroy agents, perhaps the most feared is vampire DURHAM RED, who requires blood to survive. Mistrusted by both the criminals she hunts and her fellow Strontium Dogs, Red has a formidable reputation that precedes her, and she often takes on jobs outside of the Galactic Crime Commission…GHOSTED // BOOK TWO, PART TWOKinshasa, capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the far future. One of the fastest-growing mega-cities in the world, the metropolis is now a walled cityworld, so vast and divorced from the rest of the planet that it’s virtually its own realm. Young citizen Benu found herself neurally connected to a soldier fighting an alien war — but upon fleeing the city, she’s discovered that war is taking place outside the wall…HERNE & SHUCK // STORMING THE STONE, Part TwoThe UK. Herne is a troubleshooter and hired help for many different magical factions. Accompanied by Shuck, a demon in dog form, he travels the country picking up work where he can, whether it be an exorcism or a rescue. Recently, he was tasked with saving young Carys from ritual sacrifice, and has made an enemy of the organisation known as St Michael. Now, they have her again, and Herne must lead a rescue…