2000 ad prog 1938 feature Columns 

Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 1938

By and | July 9th, 2015
Posted in Columns | % Comments

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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 1938

Cover by Paul Marshall

 

Judge Dredd: Blood of Emeralds, Part 5

A couple of weeks ago there was in-story speculation over who or what ‘Douglas’ is. Well, this week’s strip gives us a glimpse of the man on page one, but the question still lingers over who he is. Obviously a man of means, he’s set his sights on Joyce and Dredd for reasons that have yet to come to light. Meanwhile, in the pub that saw the end of Joyce’s father, a now-booted Dredd makes it quite clear he is in no mood for anyone to be buying him drinks. There’s only one thing that can come close to quenching his mighty thirst: answers!

(Sorry, that last line was really ham-handed. I couldn’t resist!)

The further we get into this one, the more tangled and complicated everything becomes. Carroll is doing a great job of stacking layer upon layer of mystery, all while keeping the thing that connects them obscured. Something big is at play, no doubt, as even more players reveal themselves this week. There’s a mighty cliffhanger at the end of this one, so expect next week to play out like a circus fire!

Credits: Michael Carroll (script), Colin MacNeil (art), Chris Blythe (colors), Ellie de Ville (letters)

 

Outlier: Dark Symmetries, Part 4

So Carcer, despite being isolated and restrained after accidentally(?) starting to commune with the Hurde ship that he was brought on board to investigate, has apparently been chosed by the ship to receive a systems upgrade. He already has Hurde-tech eyes from a previous encounter with the alien race. But now that things are up and running on the damaged ship, that’s apparently not enough for the Hurde. Or is it Carcer acting through the guise of the Hurde? Or maybe someone else entirely? Weren’t there really TWO protagonists to the strip?

Yep.

We’re seeing the Carcer storyline and the Caul storyline start to intersect in this week’s strip. Carcer’s acting very Caul-like here, and for those who weren’t around for the earlier storyline for ‘Outlier’, that means he’s being a complete and unstoppable badass. It’s a good thing the lights are going out because seeing the amount of ass Carcer is about to kick while in “Caul Mode” could cause the reader to pass out from Thrill overload. Does Colonel Luthra have a cheat code of her own to use? She’d better!

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

 

Absalom: Under A False Flag, Part 5

I’m thoroughly enjoying last week’s addition to the cast. This brickhouse of a fellow, who’s so far only been referred to as “Guv” and “Guv’nor”, has shown that he’s willing to eat the ashen remains of a demon and stick his fingers in mystery blood. All the while wearing a dress shirt, buttoned to the top, and jacket. This is my kinda guy!

Trevallion really gets to go to town this week. When Reverend Grimalkin puts in a call to what he calls ‘The Opposition,’ a character who refers to himself as Mister Critch, things become very interesting to look at. In weeks past we’ve expressed how good the art is on this strip, but what Trevallion did for these pages really made it look like he’s having a ball. There are all sorts of jars and loose papers with arcane artifacts lining the shelves in the background. Index drawers containing unknown and presumably forbidden information are stacked high with book spines and dangling swing tags. As interesting and consuming as all of this is, it’s all backdrop to the fantastically designed inhabitant of this space: Mister Critch. This bizarre-looking man is sure to make the coming weeks all the more interesting.

Continued below

Credits: Gordon Rennie (script), Tiernen Trevallion (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

 

Helium, Part 5

Oh man, that sucks. That really really sucks. But you know what doesn’t suck? The art for this strip!

(OK, that was a pretty awful segue, but I thought I’d throw in one of my own to let my co-columnist know he’s not alone when it comes to not being able to avoid the low-hanging fruit of bad punnery.)

Professor Bloom is a nice man. A decent man. A conscientious man. But that doesn’t stop Edginton from giving him this dark secret and making this whole ugly conflict very personal to him and the reader. But being nice, kind, decent, all that good stuff…does it save Bloom from the tank squad that rolled into town looking for his head? It’s not like this town has any kind of real defense that can stand up to the rolling thunder about to start knocking on the jailhouse door with their cannons. If Hodge isn’t going to give him up, what’s she going to do?

Credits: Ian Edginton (script), D’Israeli (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)

 

Jaegir: Tartarus, Part 2

There have been many atrocities committed in the seemingly endless war the Nordland forces have been fighting. No small number of which haunt Atalia Jaegir, for reasons relating to her bloodline as well as her actions. It’s easy to assume she feels a great deal of regret, and that this retreat has set her upon the course she is on.

This week Klaur gets to remind everyone what a total hard-ass he is. The chem-mask and fatigues would be imposing enough, but add his plus-size stature to the mix and you’ve got a guy you do not want to cross. That is, unless you’re a member of the Nordland’s most feared and lauded: The Seventh Kashan Legion! These solders, with their maroon and grey uniforms and battle hardened faces, do not seem to take kindly to interlopers, particularly when they are from the Office of Public Truth. You see, the Seventh is unafraid to embrace the ugliest elements of war in order to achieve victory, and it is this viciousness in battle that they’d like to keep out of the public eye!

The last two weeks of ‘Jaegir’ strips have started with flashbacks that, as of this moment, seem unrelated to one another. Are these disparate memories that haunt Atalia’s dreams? Are they flashbacks that will inform the story as the weeks press on? It’s maybe a little too soon to tell, so for now we wonder.

Credits: Gordon Rennie (script), Simon Coleby (art), Len O’Grady (color), Ellie De Ville (letters)

 

III. THRILLS OF THE FUTURE

Kinda of a light week this week, what with San Diego Comicon rumbling along and all. But since a picture is worth a thousand words, I figured I could throw a couple more at you and bump up the word count at the same time. That’s how that works, right? But these aren’t just any old pictures. These are glimpses into what’s coming down the pipeline for “2000 AD” in the days and months ahead. These are Tharg-approved…THRILLS OF THE FUTURE!

We start with a strip which debuted in last year’s Winter Special. Horror and weirdness with a female lead set in early 20th Century London? Yes please!

Then comes something we’ve had much more time to explore and get to know, so much so that the wait for more strips from this story has been killing me. Just as a rule I’d venture to say that any story called ‘Motor Head’ had a zero percent chance of having Lemmy turn up in it, but if you’ve been following our coverage of this strip so far, you’ll know that ANYBODY can show up. And I do mean ANYBODY!

And then there’s this bad boy:

I knew after the last ‘Enceladus’ installment ended that we’d be getting more, but I didn’t think it’d be this soon! With the cold theme, I figured Tharg would push this back to at least the September jump-on Prog. But no! He is a benevolent Betelgeusean, that Tharg. Here we are, sweltering under record heat waves, and he sends us chilling refreshment and Thrill-Power in just two weeks! It’s probably going to suck for Judge Dredd, but it’s going to be a real treat for the rest of us!

Continued below

 

That’s gonna do it for us this week! “2000 AD” Prog 1938 is on sale today and available from:

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


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