Columns 

Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 1878

By and | April 25th, 2014
Posted in Columns | % Comments

MVC1 TItle

Welcome, citizens, to this week’s installment of Multiver-City One! Each and every Wednesday we will be examining the latest Prog from Tharg and the droids over at 2000 AD, and giving you all the pertinent information you’ll need headed into this week’s Thrill-Zine! So let’s get right to it!

This week’s cover is by Simon Coleby and Len O’Grady.

I. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1878

Judge Dredd: Mega-City Confidential, Part 5

**SPOILERS! FOR REAL! SKIP THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ YET!**

They see you. They hear you. They smell you. While you sleep, they listen to your dreams. There is no time or place in your life that you are not being monitored and evaluated. Mega-City One has become a total surveillance state. And now everyone knows it.

In times of great disaster it is human nature to rebuild, to become better than you were before. We stand together in defiance of our aggressor, be it man or nature, to undo damages and return to our normal lives. In this the Mega-City Judges saw an opportunity. Following the events of Chaos Day there was a lot of building and restructuring to be done. Whole blocks were leveled, infrastructure was terribly damaged, and so The Meg stepped in to help. But this help was not without a cost. In all the reconstruction some improvements were added, unbeknownst to nearly all citizens and Judges alike. Cameras, microphones, and olfactory sensors were placed in every room of every unit in every block. Everything any citizen had done, however benign, was captured and analyzed. Vast streams of information was fed into the computers at Section 7. When something suspicious came up it was passed to human analysts like Erika Easterhouse for assessment. Erika leaked all this to journalist Max Blixen, who in turn told the world.

Wagner is a master storyteller, and the conclusion to this strip is sure evidence of that.  He brings it all home, neatly and concisely punctuating each character’s storyline while leaving the wider plot points open to further fallout down the line. I want to focus on where Dredd and Blixen are at the end of all this.

Last week we speculated on whether or not Judge Dredd had been dragging his feet in his investigation into the Section 7 leak, allowing Blixen to escape The Meg with sensitive information. As it turns out, that was exactly the case, and Wagner’s explanation speaks volumes of Dredd. As Judges go, Dredd is as perfect as anyone could hope for. To him, the law is a crisp black and white and is never open to interpretation or leniency. This may lead readers to believe that he’s nothing more than a brainwashed human-machine, blindly following orders and never asking questions. But he does. He’s a human being, after all, and is subject to the same thoughts and emotions as anyone. The difference with him is that he is in complete control over these thought and emotions. They’re there, just pushed deep down to a place where no one will ever see them. A very private place he would never want another person to ever know. He values this privacy above all else. Dredd considers this an overreach, and in a way probably sees this as a threat to his own privacy. I can’t help but wonder if he truly believes that the surveillance has ended?

As awful as what’s become of Erika Easterhouse is, the truly tragic character in this story is Max Blixen. He’s a guy who started out as a journalist of integrity but wound up as a reporter for a late night gossip show. Sure, his show Mega-City Confidential seemed to have some teeth. He’d expose mayoral scandals and the such, but in reality would never dare to attack the true seat of power in The Meg. So when a Judicial scandal of this magnitude fell in his lap, Max was a a real crossroads. He ultimately chose the road of righteousness and redemption, which earned him his own self-respect as well as exile from Mega-City One. But that was okay with Max. He was safe in the South American Meg of Ciudad Barranquilla, which had no extradition treaty with Mega-City One. Dredd attempted to convince him to return, but in the end there really was no chance for Max Blixen. They got their claws into his partner Zin, who found himself in a cube for the long haul. Then, to tidy things up, a seemingly random act of violence ended Max’s life on a Ciudad Barranquilla street. He’d go on to be eulogized on his own show, which now has a new host who is probably more willing to play ball, and be posthumously nominated for the Grix Prize.

Continued below

As much as has been said this week, we’re barely scratching the surface of this week’s strip. We haven’t even touched on the riots, the people defending the surveillance, Justice’s stance on the revelations, or the SJS’s involvement in Max Blixen’s death. It’s difficult to believe that this was only a six-page chapter!

Next week Wagner starts in on another new Dredd strip, so chances are good that there’re some big things looming on the horizon.

Credits: John Wagner (script), Colin MacNeil (art), Chris Blythe (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

 

Outlier, Part 5

Which is worse – fiery hatred or cool dispassion?

As we start finding out more about Caul and what happened with his captivity at the hands of the Hurde, we start getting more and more layers to this revenge-story-wrapped-in-a-scifi-detective-jacket. We go from knowing something bad happened to knowing it was more than just torture and imprisonment to knowing that the Hurde weren’t doing it out of revenge or conquest so much as curiosity. Because, and this is something that a lot of science fiction fails to account for, they are alien. They aren’t us with different skin color of an extra eye on their foreheads. They don’t understand us. And everything that happens to Caul is based on not a hatred but an ultimate lack of empathy. Caul is the fly the Hurde is pulling the wings off of.

But the question now is how Caul gets from what we see above, where he is completely at the mercy of the Hurde, to where we’ve been seeing him over the course of this strip, with Hurde technology loaded to bear. Does he somehow pull something out from inside himself to escape the Hurde? Or does he make first contact with them on some level to make them identify with his pain and give him the tools to go after whom he ultimately holds responsible. The ones who should have known better.

And the ones who’ve been turning up dead by his hands.

Credits: T.C. Eglington (script), Karl Richardson (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

 

Slaine: A Simple Killing, Part 5

A party? But there be monsters in need of pummeling! And by pummeling, I mean cleaving in twain with thy mighty axe!

As it turns out, the party Slaine is considering going to is nod where he plans to pay tribute to his deceased wife and true love, so it’s not like he’s shirking duty to go off on a kegger. Although, in truth, there would be massive amounts of mead on hand. But as with the rest of the parts of A Simple Killing so far, Slaine gets deeper and deeper into things as more revelations make it clear that he’s going to be going across that causeway, axe in hand, whether he likes it or not.

Which is something that 2000 AD does well with its long-running strips, like Slaine and Dredd. Continuity isn’t necessary for following the stories on a case-by-case basis, but the weight of that continuity is felt and commented upon by the characters, which gives it credence and power that younger characters/titles lack. Mills gives Slaine a few lines here about the futility of fighting monsters and evil because it never ends; there’s always another threat, another monster, another cost. He knows longtime readers will feel those words like Slaine does, and makes continuity work FOR him without making it work AGAINST him. And he also knows that Slaine ultimately has to keep taking up axe against those monsters.

Huzzah!

Credits: Pat Mills (script), Simon Davis (art), Ellie De Ville (letters)

 

Sinister Dexter: Gun Shy, Part 5

As Sam Jackson says in Pulp Fiction (one of the clear inspirations for Sinister Dexter), “Personality goes a long way.” Something else that goes a long way, in fiction at least, is competency. We like reading or watching stories about people who are good at something plying their trade, and we’ll put up with a lot of character defects and such along the way if they turn out to be REALLY good. Think about Richard Stark’s Parker. That guy is a stone-cold bastard of the highest order, but he’s also a master thief and a professional, and watching him methodically do his work is immensely entertaining, even though you’d never want to meet that guy in real life.

Continued below

Which brings us to Sinister & Dexter. This is the Prog where they finally get some guns in their hands. D-Fibb turned a bad situation into a worse one, and the boys need to shoot their way out of things to stay alive. Fortunately, those two are “funting good” at their jobs as hitmen, so walking out and shooting anything at moves is not only a viable option, but one pretty much guaranteed success. Abnett makes sure to show his title characters’ grace under pressure by throwing in a quip or two that might not be funny to the guy getting shot, but was pretty hysterical to me. He also ups the ante at strip’s end, so that maybe it won’t be all chuckles next week.

Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Smudge (art), Ellie De Ville (letters)

 

Jaegir: Strigoi, Part 5

Home court advantage doesn’t necessarily guarantee a win. Jaegir has moved Grigoru’s wife and children to her family’s vacation estate in the hopes that it will bring him out of hiding where he can be dealt with. The estate has a top-notch security system that should let her team track him with ease. But Grigoru isn’t human, so when those highly touted sensors start blacking out one-by-one, Jaegir knows she’s got a fight on her hands as her old classmate comes in for the kill.

This strip has been one of my favorites since the last jump-on point in Prog 1874. I’ e already sung the praises of the art team, but Rennie lifts just as much of the heavy weight as the rest of them in not only keeping things moving at a good pace while making each Prog feel important, but also fleshing out the Rogue Trooper-set world in a way that needs no previous knowledge to be entertaining or engrossing.

Credits: Gordon Rennie (script), Simon Coleby (art), Len O’Grady (colors), Simon Bowland (letters)

II. OF INTEREST

IDW announces Anderson, Psi-Division at WonderCon!

American publisher of 2000 AD licenses IDW had a ton of announcements to make at last weekend’s WonderCon in Anaheim. Of special note is the new Anderson, Psi-Division series that’ll be launching in August. Keen-eyed readers will remember us mentioning this in our Megazine 346 review. This 5-issue mini-series will be a follow-up to last year’s Judge Dredd: Year One. Written by 2000 AD editor-in-chief Matt Smith (who also wrote JD:YO) and drawn by the incredible Carl Critchlow (Thrud The Barbarian), this story takes place twenty-four years after the events of Year One. Smith has overseen a chunk of amazing Alan Grant-written Judge Anderson stories over at 2000 AD, so it’ll be interesting to see his take on the character. Hopefully this is a hit so we could see more of Grant’s Anderson stuff get some reprints on this side of the Black Atlantic. I mean, we’re getting an IDW Apocalypse War hardcover, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility.

Like IDW’s other Dredd 2000 AD titles, expect a slew of incentive and subscriber covers, each better than the last.

III. 2000 AD FOR DUMMIES

A recent conversation at a local comic shop found me excitedly recommending great places for an eager but intimidated young comics fan to start reading Dredd. At first I told him anywhere, since nearly everything that’s happened in Dredd’s 37-year publication history is considered in-continuity, but that didn’t seem to make the title any less impenetrable to him. Then I remembered the digest editions!

These pocket-sized trade paperbacks are probably one of the smartest reprint ideas 2000 AD have had, particularly for the American market. They’re concise, a convenient size, and when you put all the volumes end-to-end you get a pretty thorough education about Judge Dredd and the world he lives in. The first two volumes, The Cursed Earth and The Day the Law Died, end up telling one huge arc in the ongoing Dredd saga. In those two stories, you’ll see Dredd travel across a destroyed America and battle the corruption of Mega-City One’s Judicial Department. The stories get really out there at points, which it seems most people don’t expect. Between the Cursed Earth Mutants and a goldfish being made Chief Judge, these volumes give readers a heavy dose of the black humor and satire that makes Dredd such an enduring and beloved title.

Continued below

The next two titles in the series take a decidedly darker turn, introducing readers to another aspect of this world. You see, Dredd is a pretty flexible character when it come to storytelling. He’s a good foil for dark humor, and it’s great to see him squirm in irreverent situations. But he’s also so stoic and rock-like it makes it interesting to see him stand firm in the face of true horror. In The Dark Judges, Dredd has to fight against his most enduring enemy, Judge Death. Death is almost a pastiche of Dredd; a judge so entrenched in upholding the law, Judge Death comes to the conclusion that all life is a crime and is therefore punishable. In addition, we meet another long-time Judge Dredd regular: Cassandra Anderson. In the fourth volume in this series of books, The Judge Child readers are further familiarized with the Psi-Division as the city’s oldest pre-cognitive psychic has a vision of an apocalyptic future. In this story yet another major Mega-City Judge is introduced: future two-time Chief Judge Barbara Hershey.

There is a lot of Dredd history, no doubt about it. But these four books contain stories that are crucial to the history of the character. There are a few more that I’d like to see published in the future, but for now, to a new reader, these are an excellent starting point.

IV. FUTURE PERP FILES

dredd cpu

ATTN: ALL CITIZENS OF THE MEG! Be aware that there is always a Judge watching you. Each sector is equipped with millions of HD-CCTV and bioID units. They are there for your protection. If your intent is upright citizenry, then you have no qualm with our surveillance. And remember: if you see something, you are now an accessory to a crime. That’s six months in an Iso-Cube, creep! Random CPU algorithms has selected this citizen for immediate surveillance and assessment…

 

That’s gonna do it for us this week! Prog 1878 is on sale today and available from finer comic shops everywhere, from 2000ADonline.com, and via the 2000 AD Newsstand app for iPad and iPhone. So as Tharg the Mighty himself would say, “Splundig vur thrigg!”


//TAGS | Multiver-City One

Greg Matiasevich

Greg Matiasevich has read enough author bios that he should be better at coming up with one for himself, yet surprisingly isn't. However, the years of comic reading his parents said would never pay off obviously have, so we'll cut him some slack on that. He lives in Baltimore, co-hosts (with Mike Romeo) the Robots From Tomorrow podcast, writes Multiversity's monthly Shelf Bound column dedicated to comics binding, and can be followed on Twitter at @GregMatiasevich.

EMAIL | ARTICLES

Mike Romeo

Mike Romeo started reading comics when splash pages were king and the proper proportions of a human being meant nothing. Part of him will always feel that way. Now he is one of the voices on Robots From Tomorrow. He lives in Philadelphia with two cats. Follow him on Instagram at @YeahMikeRomeo!

EMAIL | ARTICLES


  • Columns
    Multiver-City One: Judge Dredd Megazine 466 – Shoot ‘Em Up!

    By , , , and | Mar 27, 2024 | Columns

    Welcome, Earthlets, to Multiver-City One, our monthly look at the “Judge Dredd Megazine!” Let’s get right to it.Judge Dredd: Ravenous Part 3Credits: Mike Carroll (script) Anthony Williams (art) Annie Parkhouse (letters)Matthew Blair: All seems lost for the heroes of Mega City One. They’re facing off against the perfect predator and nothing they have can stop […]

    MORE »
    Columns
    Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2375 – Bumper Issue!

    By , , , and | Mar 27, 2024 | Columns

    Welcome, Earthlets, to Multiver-City One, our “2000 AD” weekly review column! Every Wednesday we examine the latest offerings from Tharg and the droids over at Rebellion/2000 AD, the galaxy’s leading producers of Thrill-Power entertainment. Let’s get right to it!This Week in 2000 AD Judge Dredd: Next Man Up Credits: Rob Williams (script), RM Guera (art), […]

    MORE »
    2000 AD Prog 2374 Featured Columns
    Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2374 – A World of His Making!

    By , , , and | Mar 20, 2024 | Columns

    Welcome, Earthlets, to Multiver-City One, our “2000 AD” weekly review column! Every Wednesday we examine the latest offerings from Tharg and the droids over at Rebellion/2000 AD, the galaxy’s leading producers of Thrill-Power entertainment. Let’s get right to it!This Week in 2000 ADJudge Dredd: A Dimensional Travelers Guide to Mega City One Credits: Ken Neimand […]

    MORE »

    -->