Welcome, Earthlets, 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.
This week brings us an all-new Prog, so let’s dive right in, shall we?
I. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1969
Judge Dredd: Undercover Klegg, Part 1
Credits: Rob Williams (script), D’Israeli (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Rob Williams, D’Israeli, and Kleggs. Before even getting past the cover, I was sold.
If you’re like me, you’ve often marveled at the caliber of artists Williams gets to work with. He’s pulled in people like RM Guera, Guy Davis, and James Harren to help tell Dredd stories. He’s also formed relationships with more regular collaborators like Henry Flint and — in the case of this strip — D’Israeli, who just so happen to be two of my favorite artists in all of comics at the moment. After coming off of a healthy and dramatic run with the aforementioned Flint, it’s refreshing to see Williams paired with D’Israeli again. When these two work together, they’re able to drum up some of the most melancholy comedy in comics. As an example, see any Dirty Frank story they’ve done together.
‘Undercover Klegg’ sees writer and artist reunited to tell a new tale about a character of their own creation: Sensitive Klegg. If he had ever managed to find a friend in Mega-City One, he’d have probably liked it if they called him SK for short, so that’s what we will do from here on out. For those interested, we went into a bit of SK’s back story when he last appeared in “The Heart is a Lonely Klegg Hunter.”
In addition to my eagerness for Klegg-based humor like, “Kleggy want in!” or, “That Klegg is waving at you… enthusiastically,” I am excited to read a story where I get to see D’Israeli’s version of Judge Dredd. Maybe it’s been a while, but I don’t quite remember the artist interpreting him in quite this way. This version looks really old. Like, losing bone density and body mass old. This is probably because of how exaggerated his eagle shoulder pad and badge are, and I’m liking it very much! I wonder if this isn’t the artist’s way of having a little fun by exaggerating the weight that Williams has previously placed on the lawman’s age?
In terms of narrative, “Undercover Klegg” focuses on Mega-City One’s relationship with the Klegg home world, as well as the idea of futuristic, intergalactic diplomacy. It’s no secret that Dredd hates Kleggs, and in his pursuit of never having to deal with them again, he’ll have to do a number of things he does not like. Let the comedy begin!
Kingdom: Beast of Eden, Part 9
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Richard Elson (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)
Now that the Aux and the Masters are face-to-face, it’s time to get… chatty.
This week’s strip was a bit exposition heavy, as we’re caught up on who these humans are and why they’ve come here. The arbitrary fight before the team-up has happened, so now we can focus on getting everyone to the hive. Once we’re there? That’s when we can get whet!
An interesting bit from this week’s installment was the way the humans seemed to dance around information. I don’t think it was because they’re trying to hide anything, but rather that there seems to be the assumption that Gene and his ilk just won’t understand. I don’t know that this is consistent with what we’ve seen so far, as Gene and Mike Mike have both proven to be nimble, thoughtful leaders. So my thinking is that Abnett is showing us the biases that exist between these two races. It’ll be interesting to watch this aspect of the story play out.
Continued below
The Order: In The Court Of The Wyrmqueen, Part 9
Credits: Kek-W (script), John M. Burns (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)
The ninth installment of ‘In The Court of the Wyrmqueen’ has The Order (and the readers) gearing up for the big third-act push. Inquisitor Browne connects a few dots for us in terms of the wyrms gaining a foothold (tailhold?) here in our dimension by way of royal libidos. Who said the Spanish and English were enemies?
With the Wyrmqueen’s existence now confirmed, we get to spend a few pages watching the team get ready, allowing Kek-W and Burns to drop in some more anachronistic tech and character bits. Ritterstahl may have been an iron knight in the last strip, but Burns ups the ante this time with Ritterstahl two-pointe-oh and has the most badass operating system ever housed in a mainframe-sized suit of armor. Between that and the Schmidt & Bacon, how can they lose?
Did I mention the wyrms use mind-controlling illusions to enthrall their opponents? We’ll see if somebody manages to science up a way to deal with that!
A.B.C. Warriors: Return to Ro-Busters, Part 9
Credits: Pat Mills (script), Clint Langley (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
‘Return’ continues to thread new continuity in between the raindrops of the older ‘Rise & Fall of Ro-Jaws & Hammerstein’ epic, this time syncing up with May 12, 1979’s Prog 112. I don’t know of this is exactly the most accessible strip to pick up & dive right into given its reliance on old material, but since I’d put the ratio of new:old material as roughly 3:1, the continuation of the modern retcon inserts throughout this run is something newer readers can hang on to for this ride.
And a ride it is! We not only get some Led Belly as Apex confirmation, but also the return of The Satan Dart escape vehicle and some robot-to-human maglev combat. The original version of this fight had art by the madcap Kevin O’Neill (with Mick McMahon coming in for the last few Progs) and it’s interesting to play compare & contrast with his work and Langley’s. Langley has all manner of moody black modeling and texture to his work, but there’s something to be said for O’Neill’s razor-sharp linework. It almost feels like Langley’s pages are white art on a black under layer, while O’Neill is working from the traditional black lines on white background. Almost night-and-day difference between the two!
And as for Mr. Howard Quartz, it seems his continued freedom is based on the sufferance of Sir James and Scotland Yard. And if Hammerstein & Ro-Jaws manage to, oh, escape in The Satan Dart (and I’d put money on that were I a betting man), then it remains to be seen how long Quartz will be avoiding jail for ‘aiding and abetting’…
Strontium Dog: Repo Men, Part 9
Credits: John Wagner (script), Carlos Ezquerra (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Being fast with a gun is a prerequisite for success as a Strontium Dog, no question. But being fast with your brain might be even more important. And while that brainslinging speed has served Johnny Alpha pretty well over the years, this may be one of his best mental bullseyes yet.
The plan he came up with for ‘Repo Men’ is definitely a work-smarter-not-harder masterpiece: steal a prized artifact from a powerful alien race (without them knowing you did it), then convince said race that the thieves are hiding in an impenetrable hideout, let them penetrate it, then once the dust settles, hand said hideout over to the hideout’s original owners, who put this whole mess in motion by hiring you to reclaim it in the first place. Simple, brilliant, easier said than done.
Wagner & Ezquerra have the Galanthans (the aliens) showing up at The Rock (the hideout) this week, and they aren’t leaving without their artifact: The Brain. A fleet of warships defending your asteroid? No match for the Galanthans. If you stand between them and what they want, you won’t be standing for long. So now all Johnny and company have to do is get The Brain from the Twister Sisters by the time the Galanthans finish wiping out everybody else. Simple, right?
Continued belowWhen has ANYTHING happened simply for the Strontium Dogs? Yeah, I can’t think of a time either…
II. 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 1969 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,
- Finer comic shops everywhere
So as Tharg the Mighty himself would say, “Splundig vur thrigg!”
