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. And if you’re new to the Thrill-verse, make sure to check out our helpful “Earthlet’s Guide to 2000 AD” at the end of the column to help you get up to speed!
I. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1966
Judge Dredd: Ghosts, Part 4
Ok, lots going on in this week’s strip. The Justice Department is engaged with an unknown group who are not only kidnapping Academy washouts, but also have the capacity and know-how to impersonate a Judge for years! This story is teetering on the edge of opening up a whole slew of conspiracy theories and adding the possibility of secret operatives within the Judicial ranks. Well, a new, non-Sov secret operative, that is.
Writer Michael Carroll had a lot of ground to cover this week, and he’s introducing some ideas that I’m really into. But, that said, this installment of “Ghosts” felt a little truncated. At the open we see that Graydon, or Cheyenne, or whoever she is has successfully led a rescue of her sister. But we only ever saw the beginning of that rescue in the last issue, so this felt like a sizable leap in the story. Not so sizable that one couldn’t put the pieces together, but just enough to stumble. Then just a few pages later, when Hershey had her meeting with Dredd, the exposition got a little clunky. Between Dredd’s remark about citizens keeping themselves occupied and Hershey’s revelations I once again felt like there was a little something missing. Neither instance was enough to detract from the story overall, but they did leave me feeling that, after three superb chapters, this installment was a bit of a fumble.
Narrative critique aside, there was a lot to latch on to here. Sexton’s art continues to wow me, there’s a long simmering conspiracy theory being brought to a boil, and there was even a surprise cameo. My hope is that after having to dump a lot of info into a few short pages, it will be smooth sailing from here in out.
Credits: Michael Carroll (script), Mark Sexton (art), Len O’Grady (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Kingdom: Beast of Eden, Part 6
Batten down the hatches, ’cause this could be it!
After a harrowing race back to The Kingdom, which came on the heels of world-defining discoveries and revelations, the time has come for war. Gene the Hackman has conferred with Lord Twenty Mike-Mike, with just enough time to raise arms and fortify their hold. Will it be enough? Gene seems a bit unsure about that, as he made certain to tell Clara that she may need to escape through the sewers with their pups.
After a couple of weeks with a Gene that is a little more introspective than we’ve come to expect, Dan Abnett seems poised to snap back to the norm. Gene and company are set to do battle with more bugs than they’ve ever seen in their lives!
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Richard Elson (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)
The Order: In The Court Of The Wyrmqueen, Part 6
The focus is shifted from hunted to hunter this week as we spend some time with Intuitor Browne, the agent of Sir Walsingham tasked to find out more about the mysterious individuals we know as The Order. It bears repeating that Kek-W is really taking his time, as much as he can in the weekly format, to building this version of The Order up before our eyes. Last time around, the group was already essentially formed (albeit in retirement when we meet them) and Anna Kohl was simply dropped into the middle of them. Here though, there’s a much smaller nucleus of a group that’s starting to surround itself with orbiting vessels like David the blindingly ginger redhead and today’s lastest acquisition (Browne? The incredibly moustache’d Cossack-looking individual? A greedy harbormaster?).
Continued belowIf one was putting together an artistic Order, John Burns would HAVE to be considered for membership. Week in and week out this man kills lesser artists with his effortless-appearing skills. Or they might in fact BE effortless at this point; the man has enough years under his belt that the brilliance could be on auto-pilot at this point. His art certainly LOOKS like nothing else in the Progs. Even when its on hiatus, Matt Smith doesn’t program anything else in the comic that occupies the same artistic corner that Burns’ work does, so when ‘The Order’ does show up, it has its own place to shine.
Credits: Kek-W (script), John M. Burns (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)
A.B.C. Warriors: Return to Ro-Busters, Part 6
The pressure from Nameless continues to link Howard Quartz with the growing number of ‘terrorist’ incidents that his rescue company profits from time and time again. It even looks like Quartz is forced to have his day before an inquiry panel about his involvement. Maybe justice will be served?
Only if you forgot who’s writing this comic.
Since it’s Pat Mills, there’s going to be a heavy dose of cynicism mixes & stirred in with the humor. The “investigators” are about as interested in finding out the truth about Quartz as Quartz is interested in giving it to them: not at all. The mere appearance of some legal proceedings stirred up by Nameless’ communications is enough to placate any public opinion and keep them from thinking about that message too much & connecting any of the dots. Stop thinking and start believing, to flip a phrase coined in this week’s strip on its ear. And speaking about characters believing & not thinking for themselves, Mills gives Mek-Quake a line as he’s testifying before the inquiry that is straight out of John Frankenheimer’s The Manchurian Candidate:
Er, yeah. Mr. Quartz is the kindest, most generous, most peaceful, most wonderful boss a robot could have. He really cares about humanity.
Here’s the Manchurian version that US soldiers brainwashed by Communists parrot back to anyone who asks about their squadleader and secret Communist mole Raymond Shaw:
Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.
Not exactly subtle, there, Pat. But we get the point.
Credits: Pat Mills (script), Clint Langley (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Strontium Dog: Repo Men, Part 6
Uh-oh. Looks like SOMEone’s in trouble!
With all the heaviness to go around in the rest of the Prog, it’s nice to know there’s still good ol’ ‘Strontium Dog’ there to give up some straight-forward fun. It really does feel like this strip could have come (computer color gradiations notwithstanding) from the earlier days of Johnny Alpha’s appearances. Ezquerra still embodies that 70’s-era aesthetic something fierce, but there’s also a internal momentum to the storytelling that knows if things slow down or get too self-reflective or caught up in details, it will lose some spark vital to the ‘Strontium’ magic. And this week that magic is summed up, for me at least, in Middenface McNulty’s left arm.
It’s been a stump at the elbow up until this week, and to be honest it’s a stump at the elbow for most of this week as well. But for one glorious wideshot of a panel, Ezquerra draws him as having two gloriously functional arms and hands. There could be a bunch of reasons this happened; the panel in question has McNulty using the phantom limb to brace himself as he lounges on the beach with the rest of the Dogs just moments the scene above. Ezquerra could have roughed that panel out with someone else in that spot, then changed it to Middenface in the pencil or inking stage and then just kept it. A tighter focus, either by Ezquerra or Matt Smith, could have made the artist either redraw the panel or (more likely) whip up a patch for that section to cover the continuity error. But just like the grindhouse spirit of the 70’s that this series taps into in the best of times, they just let it go. And I love it. It’s the ‘Stronitum’ equivalent of Luke calling Leia “Carrie!” as he jumps down from his X-wing at the end of Star Wars; a spontaneous unforced error woven into the fabric of story so effortlessly that even if you notice it, you’re having so much fun you just go, “Eh, whatever.”
Continued belowThe Galanthan’s, however, don’t look like they’re going to be nearly as laissez faire with Johnny when it comes to getting some answers about their missing Brain…
Credits: John Wagner (script), Carlos Ezquerra (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
II. LEARN ABOUT THE MIGHTY ONE!
There has never been a better time to be catching up on your 2000 AD history!
Later this week we will be posting a review of the Future Shock: The Story of 2000 AD documentary, but just as a teaser I can feel safe saying that it completely lives up to it’s billing as a fantastic look at what makes The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic live up to that title. But as awesome as it is, it can only do so much in its 105-minute running time. For deeper dives into Prog history, one would have to look at something like “Thrill-Power Overload”, a written history by former “2000 AD” editor (and Future Shock interviewee) David Bishop. “TPO” is a very well-researched, warts & all look at over 30 years in the life of “2000 AD” and comes with our highest recommendation. But us comics history junkies always want (or need) more.
Now we’re getting it.
2000 AD/Rebellion has announced it is going to publish the memoirs of Steve MacManus, who edited “2000 AD” from 1978 to 1987 in what is widely regarded as its most creatively fertile and influential period. MacManus was noticeably absent from the Future Shock documentary, so getting to not only hear from him but in such an in-depth format is a huge treat. The book, “The Mighty One”, will be available from 2000 AD in September.
From The Nerve Centre regarding the upcoming book:
Continued below2000 AD is to publish the memories of arguably its most definitive editor – Steve MacManus.
In 1973, a twenty-year-old Steve MacManus joined Fleetway Publications in London as a sub-editor on one of the UK’s top adventure titles, Valiant. Within six years, he would rise to become editor of the company’s most celebrated weekly, 2000 AD, shepherding it through its first ‘Golden Age’ as he commissioned numerous hit series such as The Ballad of Halo Jones, Sláine, Bad Company, Rogue Trooper, and Nemesis the Warlock, ensuring its place as the most influential comic Britain has ever produced. While 2000 AD’s creator, Pat Mills, set the tone and direction for the legendary title, for many MacManus remains the multi-award-winning SF anthology’s definitive editor.
Now, in the warm and witty memoir, The Mighty One: My Life Inside The Nerve Centre, MacManus lifts the lid on the fiercely creative environment that was British comics in the 1970s and ‘80s.
From the hugely successful launch of Battle to the controversial censoring of Action, from the brief life of Starlord to the stellar rise of 2000 AD and Judge Dredd, he details the personalities at play and the corporate politics and deadline battles he and others engaged in on a daily basis. With keen insight, MacManus reveals how against all odds 2000 AD defined comics for a generation and became a global phenomenon – one that would spearhead a revolution in the graphic arts that is still felt today.On 8th September 2016, 2000 AD is publishing both a special signed hardback edition (limited to 200 copies) for £20 – available only from its online shop – or a standard paperback edition for £9.99, available from all good book shops and Amazon. You can pre-order either edition direct from shop.2000ADonline.com from Wednesday 27th January.
MacManus said: “It was when I began to come across people on the Internet warmly remembering their weekly comics of the 1970s. I realised I had had a ringside seat at the creation and development of many of those pioneering titles, so I sat down to see if I could turn my memories into something equally enjoyable. I also hoped my recollections would enhance the general appreciation of British comics publishing at the time. It was fantastic to be reminded of all the inimitable creators whose combined talents made 2000 AD the galaxy’s greatest comic – week in week out. I reread every Prog from 1 up to 500 and that was a cathartic experience for sure. But I made it, Marg! Top of the Progs! “
Ben Smith, head of books and comic books at Rebellion Publishing, said: “When Steve MacManus got in touch to say he had written a memoir I practically bit his hand off to get hold of it, such is the respect he is held in by myself and everyone at 2000 AD. That he was capable of writing such an engaging and funny autobiography did not surprise me. What did was his fresh insight into a definitive time in British comics history and the enthralling inside story of the era that marked the foundation of modern comics.”
III. 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.
That’s gonna do it for us this week! “2000 AD” Prog 1966 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!”
