Welcome, citizens, to this week’s installment of Multiver-City One! Every Wednesday we examine the latest offerings from Tharg and the droids over at 2000 AD, the galaxy’s leading producers of Thrill-Power entertainment! Between the weekly “2000 AD” itself, the monthly “Judge Dredd Megazine”, an extensive library of graphic novel collections, and new US-format one-shots and mini-series, they have decades of zarjaz comics for you to enjoy.
We’ve got a brand-new Prog this week, so we’ll jump right in after a quick public service announcement!
I. AN EARTHLET’S GUIDE TO 2000 AD
We understand that having such a large selection of comics to choose from can make knowing where to start with 2000 AD seem daunting. What do they publish? Where can I get it? What’s up with Judge Dredd? Can I still read “2000 AD” if I don’t like Judge Dredd?
So to help new & potential readers, we’ve put together An Earthlet’s Guide to 2000 AD. This FAQ collects everything you need to make your initial foray into the 2000 AD Thrill-verse as simple as possible.
II. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1940
Judge Dredd: Enceladus – Old Life, Part 1
Rob Williams and Henry Flint are back for the third installment of their horror-tinged Judge Dredd epic. We’ve raved about this ongoing strip since its launch as ‘Titan’, so if you missed the previous chapters, we’ve got plenty for you to read. When ‘Enceladus: New Life’ began, we summarized the story up to that point and provided links to all of our previous coverage.
When last we left Nixon, Sinfield, and the army of formerly incarcerated & currently excommunicated Judges, things were not going well. Or, hadn’t gone well; everything involving them was sort of a flashback. Anyway, Nixon had found an immense energy source beneath the surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, and had contacted East-Meg One with the news in an effort to bargain the rescue of the stranded prisoners. This caught the Sovs’ attention, who sent a ship in response. They were not the saviors Nixon had hoped for, though, as the Sovs swiftly executed all of her fellow former-Judges, save for Sinfield. It seemed as if he had some perceived value to the Sovs and was taken prisoner.
Meanwhile, Nixon found the blue, glowing hole in the ground emanating the mass amounts of energy that lured the Sovs to Enceladus. Throughout ‘New Life,’ Nixon had been hinting at what she thought was below the surface of Enceladus. An energy for sure, but with a seeming sentience that had been calling to her, telling her to let go. All of this brings us closer to an explanation as to what the apparently empty ship that traveled from Enceladus to Mega-City One was actually carrying, but leaves us still with a chunk of missing time. We’ve seen the ship, we’ve seen Nixon and the energy, and as we now start seeing the terror unleashed on The Big Meg, it’s up to Williams and Flint to give us that last bit of narrative syncing the flashbacks up with the current timeline.
We are both incredibly excited to see this strip return; partly due of the cliffhanger Flint & Williams left us with a couple of months back, but more to do with the fact they are both at the top of their creative game. These are two creators with already impressive track records, but there’s something special happening with this story. Williams has woven an intricate storyline out of Dredd lore and characters he helped create years ago while maintaining a clean and concise narrative rewarding for both long-time readers and the uninitiated alike. That may sound like a simple task, but taking into consideration the sheer number of characters, settings, and the complicated histories at play, it’d be pretty easy to write something considered by most to be impenetrable. Don’t get me wrong; Williams isn’t doing any hand-holding, but he gives you just what you need to climb aboard.
Add to that what Flint’s doing and you’ve got a story people are going to remember for a long time. His art continues to improve, even from his ‘Titan’ pages earlier in this storyline, with this latest body of work marking some of the best pages of his career so far. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: Henry Flint is undoubtedly one of the best artists in the business right now.
Continued belowCredits: Rob Williams (script), Henry Flint (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)
Outlier: Dark Symmetries, Part 6
Eglington could very easily have this strip renamed as ‘OutlierS‘ because he’s got each other three main characters qualifying as someone apart from the other two. For a story that I originally didn’t think would have the legs to keep me interested in its initial run, let alone a second chapter, he and Richardson have done a good job in giving me twists and wrinkles to retain my interest.
Carcer is on his last legs; Caul’s infection of Hurde technology from the previous series is in its closing stages, giving Carcer the new abilities he’s been using the last few weeks at the eventual cost of his life. Caul has a plan for Carcer on how he should spend those last days, Colonel Luthra has her own pitch for Carcer’s service. Which one is the investigator going to go with?
Again, Eglington moves these characters into different orbits around each other but this moves are fueled by plot points set up in the first chapter of this series, so instead of coming off as desperation ex machina, they feel more like picking up on threads you thought had been tied off. Serial fiction asks storytellers to do that an awful lot; give the readers enough to feel closure but not enough to close off that thread to further use. This being comics, there’s an understood ‘get out of plot jail free’ card that CAN be used if you push it hard enough, but resorting to it burns the audience. They may still stick with you, but they’ll resent it and you for pulling it. Eglington keeps that card hidden, hopefully forever behind the glass to be broken in case of emergency he’s smart enough to avoid all-together.
Credits: T.C. Eglington (script), Karl Richarson (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Absalom: Under A False Flag, Part 7
The visuals in this strip get better with each passing week! In this latest installment, readers are treated to an old-timey pugilist, a guy with prosthetic hands and fingers made of knives, and a couple of guys with good mustaches and bowler hats. All of these characters are what are referred to as ‘Tic Toc Men,’ and are each filled with screws, cogs, and other clockwork innards.
Things seem to be falling into place for ol’ Harry Absalom and his crew, right up to the twist at the end of this installment. What’s he got up his sleeve, and what sort of unforeseen roadblocks will present themselves in the weeks to come?
Credits: Gordon Rennie (script), Tiernen Trevallion (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Helium, Part 7
The hounds have been released!
Hodge & Bloom start this week’s installment on the fly with an armada of air pirates on their tail. But just in case you think this makes Part 7 of “Helium” a downer, that is certainly not the case. For one, reports of Sol’s demise were greatly exaggerated. And for two, our heroes are not without an ace up their sleeve. To keep themselves alive against the sinister squadron screaming after them, they have…a pregnant lady? Seriously?
Yes. And no. (What, like I’m going to spoil that here? Surely you jest!)
I’m also not spoiling anything by saying this strip is one of my favorite of 2015. D’Israeli continues to absolutely kill on the visual storytelling; his combining thick, bold black linework with color-held lines and shapes helps give an aesthetic both realistic and abstract at the same time. It also helps bring dimensionality to the visuals because different objects have different line weights, which separates them into multiple planes (no pun intended) automatically.
Edginton also keeps things buoyant. This strip certainly hasn’t been a laugh riot, but Edginton’s handling of Hodge and her relationship with Sol helps this story hold on to its altitude and stay above the poison cloud of grimness and despair. ‘Helium’ is a clear reminder you can have drama without dourness, comedy with consequence, and pop without gaudiness.
Credits: Ian Edginton (script), D’Israeli (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)
Continued below
Jaegir: Tartarus, Part 4
This week’s strip zeroes in on Kapiten-Inspector Jaegir’s attempts at human connection while on the Kashan Legion Motherbase. First with Storm-Commander Kansezky, then with some of the Southers she’s been tasked to check in on. At one point, Reesa plays advocate to Jaegir’s Brutal side, coyly lobbying for information gathering that is as efficient and expedient as possible, even going so far as to suggest exploiting her relationship with Kansezky. “Not yet, Reesa…” she’s told. This exchange has left me wondering about Jaegir’s ability to form bonds that haven’t been forged in the heat of battle. She seems to put faith and trust in her team, while keeping all others at a distance. But here we’re shown a Jaegir not only willing to empathize with those oppressed by her people, but to go so far as to consider herself safe amongst them by simply declaring her intention to aid them.
This isn’t the first time Jaegir has boldly strode into a lion’s den, although in this instance she seems to have worked herself into a pocket of hostility nestled deep within another. No one seems to want her there, be they the oppressed or the oppressor. What is she on the cusp of uncovering?
Credits: Gordon Rennie (script), Simon Coleby (art), Len O’Grady (color), Ellie De Ville (letters)
III. CALIFORNIA THRILLIN’: 2000 AD @ SDCC 2015 Photo Gallery
Even though the San Diego Comic-Con is the center of the North American comics industry, that doesn’t stop Tharg from sending his army of droids to the surprisingly livable Mega-City Two to spread the word of Thrill-Power in person. Thanks to cutting-edge technology and the special relationship shared by our two nations, we can now share images and audio from 2000 AD’s slice of that 5-day comics extravaganza.
First off, the “Before” picture of 2000 AD’s home base on the convention floor!
But there weren’t just Thrill-slabs to promote and sell! Announcements were made and prototypes were shown of figures so gorgeous only the threat of Iso-Cube sentences kept the citizens from rioting at the mere sight of them!
For all the in’s, out’s, what-have-you’s about all the upcoming 2000 AD merchandise, you can catch this episode of the 2000 AD Thrill-Cast on your podcatcher of choice and hear Dan Carey-George from Planet Replicas, Gregory Prout from 3A, and Dan Willett from Unbox Industries spill the beans!
But what about the guests, you ask? The star attractions? Well, humes, it doesn’t get much better than having Judge Dredd/Strontium Dog co-creator and 2000 AD mainstay artist Carlos Ezquerra on hand. Ezquerra not only had a spotlight panel at this year’s show, but also received a well-deserved Inkpot Award for accomplishments made during his career in comics.
Bummed you couldn’t make the Ezquerra panel? Tharg planned ahead! You can hear the panel in its entirety, as well as the 2000 AD spotlight panel with Ezquerra, Jock, and Andy Diggle on this week’s Thrill-Cast by clicking on the image below!
For publishers, a successful con outing leaves you with nothing to show for it. And it looks like this was a VERY good show for Tharg and the droids!
If you missed them in San Diego, this crew will be touching back down in the US at NYCC, only 78 days from now. Start saving the pennies now for all that swag you’re going to picking up at their booth, and remember to stop by early and often!
IV. RECOGNIZE THE LAW
It’s no secret that there are a great many flavors of Judges from a great deal of Mega-Cities, so we’re aiming to use this space as a way of exploring as many types of Judges as we can. Did you know that in Mega-City One there are Accounting Judges? And Exorcist Judges?
Continued belowOf course, every Judge needs to start somewhere. If you’re looking to dispense justice on the streets of Mega-City One, that ‘somewhere’ is the Academy of Law! Most of the Judges you see patrolling The Big Meg were recruited at a young age and spent the majority of their lives as cadets, studying The Law while enduring grueling physical training. Throughout the publishing history of Judge Dredd, the cadet’s uniform has gone through a number of changes, so this week we’re going to examine one of that uniform’s early iterations.
Elements of a Mega-City One Cadet’s uniform (circa 1985):
- Round, white motorcycle-style helmet with eagle, no visor
- High-collar synthi-leather Judge’s jumper
- Half-size shoulder pads, two
- Elbow pads w/ rigid plastic shell
- Cadet-issued chest shield
- Gloves w/ pockets and knuckle reenforcement
- Utility belt with daystick
- High-impact knee pads
- Heavy-duty boots with holster for Lawgiver (right) and sheath for utility knife (left)
Cadets are only issued a Lawgiver and utility knife when engaging in weapons training and on supervised patrol.
That’s gonna do it for us this week! “2000 AD” Prog 1940 is on sale today and available from:
- The 2000 AD Newsstand app for iPad and iPhone,
- The 2000 AD app for Android devices,
- 2000ADonline.com in print or DRM-free PDF and CBZ formats,
- Select US newsstands, and
- Finer comic shops everywhere
So as Tharg the Mighty himself would say, “Splundig vur thrigg!”
