Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2014

Welcome, citizens, to a very special installment of Multiver-City One! This week we dive face first into the massively over-sized, 100-page Prog 2014. It’s the last Prog of the year, so suit up and get ready for the thrills!

I. THIS WEEK

What a HUGE week! We’ve got nine strips to cover, so quit dilly-dallying! Let’s get to it…

Judge Dredd:
The Right Thing

It’s New Year’s Eve 2136 and, while everyone is distracted by festivities, a band of thieves, er, scavengers are combing The Meg to see what they can find and scrap. While hauling some scrap, bags of cash literally fall into the scavengers’ laps. This creates a bit of an issue when the group is unevenly split over what to do with this newly found fortune. The art in this one is awesome, especially through the chase scene. And there is plenty of that Dredd humor to go around, as well. Especially once the nuns come on the scene.

Credits: Michael Carroll (script), Leigh Gallagher (art),
Chris Blythe (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Ulysses Sweet, Maniac For Hire: Centered, Part 1

If that image doesn’t set the tone of this strip for you, well, I’m not sure what more I can do. Ulysses Sweet is an out-of-control mercenary that was originally created by Grant Morrison in the late 80’s. Again, I’m trying to set the tone here. The original strips were brief and insane (read them here), with Morrison using the stories to poke fun at his own roots in activism and vegetarianism. Lasting only three issues, Sweet silently slipped into the back catalog of 2000 AD characters to never be heard from again. Well, until Guy Adams came along anyways. The strip, I’m glad to report, is still out of it’s mind. Sweet commits mass murder, carries his face in a plastic baggie, has a cocktail, and goes snorkeling all in only ten pages. But don’t worry! Sweet will be back in Prog 1862!

If you missed it, we got to talk to Guy Adams about all things Ulysses Sweet a little earlier this week. Go hear it!

Credits: Guy Adams (script), Paul Marshall (art), Chris Blythe (greytones), Ellie De Ville (letters)

The Ten-Seconders: Harris’ Quest for the Perfect X-Mas Pint

Harris wants to go home. He can see home, sort of, but there’s an entire vacuum of space keeping him where he is. And where he is isn’t the most hospitable. The monsters in this strip are top-notch; they’re ugly, terrifying, and fit perfectly into the world this strip inhabits. This is a nice little one-off to bridge the last Ten-Seconders story with the next.

Credits: Rob Williams (script), Edmund Bagwell (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

ABC Warriors: Return to Mars, Part 1

Today’s the anniversary of H-Day, so that seems like as good a time as any to provide a little exposition. This strip paints a nice little vignette of the ABC Warriors and gets readers new and old prepared for their ongoing adventures to resume in January’s Prog 1862. The art in this strip is incredible. If you were digging the visuals of the recently wrapped Damnation Station, then this strip is right up your alley.

Credits: Pat Mills (script), Clint Langley (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Sinister Dexter, The Generican Dream: Room Only

Sinister Dexter is back! It’s been a few months since Sinister’s adventures in Generica have been serialized, and this week he returns with a one-off strip and a new direction in art. The last stretch of Sinister Dexter stories featured the art of John Burns. It was all very painterly and beautiful. This time around, friend-of-the-column PJ Holden steps in to bring his cartoonist influence to the strip. I’m really enjoying the shift in art, with PJ bringing more of a chunky line and comical action into play. This is one of my favorite things about comics: getting to see two immensely talented artists bringing two very different voices to one character. Sinister Dexter returns Spring 2014.

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Credits: Dan Abnett (script), PJ Holden (art), Dylan Teague (colors), Ellie De Ville (letters)

Absalom: Old Pals’ Act

I love the art in this one. I mean, the whole issue is top notch, but there’s something about this strip in particular that’s really doing it for me. Between the character design, action, and amount of little detail presented on each page of this story, I’m sold. Absalom opens with a brutish-looking man referred to as The Governor (Guv for short) meeting a much-smaller Harry Absalom. From there, the two take a stroll down memory lane, recounting the various horrors they’ve faced together. Guv is now in a place he doesn’t want to be, and Harry is continuing the adventures with a new partner. A turn of events has brought Harry to Guv, hat in hand, in need of a favor. The next Absalom story, Under a False Flag, is noted to be ‘coming soon.’ Between this and Dept of Monsterology, Gordon Rennie is quickly becoming a writer to keep an eye on.

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

Grey Area: Something to Declare

This is Dan Abnett’s second comic in this issue, and it’s an interesting one. The strip uses first-person visuals to tell the story, something I think the team working on it are using to great effect. The story is about an alien (I’m assuming it’s an alien, all we see are hands) who is passing through customs so as to visit Earth. It seems that customs have improved very little between now and whatever point in the future this is, with each step in the process taking more and more of a toll on our protagonist. I think this is an intriguing start to a new story from Abnett, and I’m quite curious as to where it is all going. Grey Area returns in January’s Prog 1863.

Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Patrick Goddard (art), Abigail Ryder (colors), Ellie De Ville (letters)

Tharg The Mighty: Building a Better Comic

How do these magnificent comics get made? How can Tharg be so mighty? Find out here!

If you love comics jokes that are a little ‘inside baseball’ and not at all on the mark, then this is the strip for you.

Credits: T.M.D. (script), Anthony Williams (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Strontium Dog, The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha: Chapter 4, Dogs of War part 1

Wagner and Ezquerra pick up where they last left of with with a bang. Johnny Alpha is leading the New Mutant Army in a full-out assault on ‘Norms’, massacring solders and civilians alike. The cause of all this is rooted in food aid that was provided to the mutants. The much-needed aid, once consumed, would sterilize whoever ate it, effectively assuring that this would be the last generation of mutants. This is Wagner at his best, using comics to address social and political issues. While this is a chapter in a much-larger story, it has been expertly crafted to give any reader the information needed to hop right on board.

Credits: John Wagner (script), Carlos Ezquerra (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

II. AN OBSERVATION

As we reach not only the end of 2013 but the first major turnover of strips since we started Multiver-City One, I think it’s only fitting to take a second and reflect on what we’ve seen so far. With any luck, at least some of you have had your first exposure to 2000 AD and the mindset of mainstream British comics through this column. While there are other comics published in Britain, such as The Phoenix and The Beano, 2000 AD is basically the pipeline by which most British comics fans (and future creators) get their comics fix. And while most of the stories here have a predominately science-fiction slant to them, that isn’t always the case. But what is the case, and is especially on display this week, is diversity. Diversity and renewal.

In CAPTURED GHOSTS, the documentary about his career, Warren Ellis (who ironically did very little writing for 2000 AD) had this to say about the difference between American and British comics:

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See, this is the big difference between British comics and American comics: American comics writers grow up reading Superman, Spider-Man, and Batman. And so they think the job is that you grow up and then you get to write Superman, Spider-Man, and Batman. British comics writers grow up with anthologies. The tradition here is weekly anthology comics that constantly turn over new stories and new serials. So British comics writers grow up thinking the job of a comics writer is to invent new stuff all the time.

2000 AD is an idea devourer; a new Prog has to come out next week and pages have to be filled, For all the strips you’ve seen so far these last 12 weeks, there are hundreds more that have come and gone over the last 35 years. Some successful enough to be brought back, some beloved enough to get a proper ending, and others thrown on the scrap pile to make space for the new thing. But from the time they become aware of it, British comics fans are trained to expect the new. On demand. In short, accessible chunks. Every week, by Grud. The British Invasion of the US comics scene in the early 80s/late 80s/early 90s (and still to this day) was possible because 2000 AD and its sister publications (like The Megazine) gave British creators a platform for creativity, a willingness to try new things, and a frequency that made everything after it seem glacial. After a boot camp like that, they were ready to take on the most rabid group of single-minded zealots anyone could have imagined: American super-hero fans (hey, we recognize our own…). And they won.

But the Thrill-Zine never stops; there’s always more stories to tell, more creativity to mine, more niches to explore. Aquila is nothing like Sinister Dexter. Flesh is nothing like Absalom. Dredd is like nothing else anywhere. With this column, we’ve hopefully shown (and will continue to show) you that with 2000 AD, unlike most American mainstream comics, you CAN’T see what’s coming down the road because the characters can only do certain things and by this point in their history they’ve done everything five times already. You CAN’T hide behind the security blanket of familiarity. You HAVE to be open to a story/character/creator coming out of nowhere and knocking you on your ass.

Isn’t that why you got into comics in the first place?

III. AN ORAL HISTORY OF JUDGE DREDD

The tale of Judge Dredd has been continually published since 1977, and has been brought to us by some of the most creative minds to ever work in comics. As a result, there have been some out-of-this-world story beats woven into the fabric of the character. We thought it would be interesting to talk with the writers and artists behind Mega-City One and see what their favorite bits of Dredd’s history are. This week, Douglas “I’m writing Mega-City Two drawn by Multiversity-Comics-Class-of-2013-Breakout-Artist Ulises Farinas” Wolk breaks down exactly how the IDW titles fit in with the 2000 AD continuity, and vice versa. Which one works where, and what works on either side of the pond?

[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/robotsfromtomorrow/mvc1wolkdreddcont2000adidw.mp3]

(Here’s the direct download)

IV. FUTURE PERP FILES

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…

V. NEXT WEEK IN THE MEGAZINE

Even though this is the last Prog of the year, that doesn’t mean that you’ll be without thrills next week! Judge Dredd Megazine will be on sale December 18!

VI. IN PROG 1862

The weekly thrills resume again January 2 with Prog 1862. In that issue: DREDD ON THE MOON!

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VII. FREE COMICS

This just came down the wire, courtesy of the 2000 AD Twitter feed!

Download some free comics to celebrate the holidays, there’s a US and UK version, get them both!

That’s gonna do it for us this week! Prog 2014 is on sale today and is 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!”