Multiver-City One: Jump Onboard With 2000 AD Prog 1973

Welcome, Earthlets, to 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 British sci-fi comic “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 worth of zarjaz comics waiting for you to discover and enjoy.

This week gives us another of Tharg’s quarterly ‘jump-on’ Progs, where every story inside is either brand-new or starting over fresh. But unlike American comics, these restarts are neither rebirth nor reboot, but simply arranged to be PERFECT starting points for new or lapsed readers.

And here at Multiver-City One this week, we have our own exciting ‘jump-on’ point, as we welcome columnist Adrian Johnson to the team! Adrian is the host of the “Artist Proof” podcast, as well as the man behind Inazuma Studios and one-third of the fantastic “SiDEBAR” crew. We’re thrilled to have him onboard and look forward to adding his perspective to the mix.

Now on to the Thrills!

Cover by Mark Sexton

I. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1973

NOW ARRIVING – EVERYTHING!

Judge Dredd: The Grindstone Cowboys, Part 1
Credits: Michael Carroll (script), Colin MacNeil (art), Len O’Grady (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Mike Romeo: Ho-ly SMOKES there is a LOT going on in this strip. This being a ‘jump-on’ Prog, I’m going to try and break it all down, but first let’s talk about art.

‘The Grindstone Cowboys’ sees long-time Dredd artist (and Multiversity favorite with one of the best beards in comics) Colin MacNeil climbing back into the ring. His art, and its metamorphosis over the preceding years, is one of the best things about present-day Judge Dredd stories. And that’s saying a lot when you consider some of the other regular Dredd artists include Henry Flint and D’Israeli.

If I can get lofty for a moment, I think the way MacNeil’s art communicates with the reader is what makes it so impressive. Look at how he shows a building is filthy, or a Judge’s shoulder pads have taken a beating, He keeps looking for the simplest, most direct way to convey that, which gives his comics a cartoonist’s economy of line most readers wouldn’t expect from this type of series. And this approach helps set a mood for the comic itself. While Judge Dredd’s world is complicated, the man himself always seems to see things as starkly as possible: you’re either breaking the law, or you’re not. That clean-cut distinction creates a crispness out of everything before him, freeing up brainpower for everything complicated beyond that. So maybe MacNeil’s clean style is a way to help readers get inside the head of our stone-jawed man of the law. Or maybe he just loves cartooning and I’m really reaching here. Who knows? That said, on on to the narrative.

Writer Michael Carroll, along with John Wagner and Rob Williams, is one of the lead writers on “Judge Dredd” at the moment. Like his counterparts, Carroll has a cast of characters he enjoys returning to, and has laid out a series of events over the strips he’s written that directly informs what comes next. While I usually enjoy them, his strips have a tendency to be packed with a lot of material. Sometimes that creates a fast-paced story that works really well, other times it can make a strip feel jumpy and disconnected. I think the opening of ‘The Grindstone Cowboys’ is an example of the latter. Stack on top of that the layers of continuity and Dredd history, and I can’t help but feel that this may not be the best choice of “Judge Dredd” story for a jumping-on issue.

There are going to be some spoilers now. Scroll on down to our “Repossession Orders” review if you don’t wanna see them!

I mentioned the little continuities that each writer likes to create for themselves, and Carroll’s got his bit of them in here. It looks as if Judge Dredd, along with Judge Joyce, are to be extradited for what is referred to as the ‘Murphyville Spaceport Massacre.’ If you’re unfamiliar, you can take a peek at our coverage of the “Blood of Emeralds” storyline (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 6.) Dredd lets it be known that he will have no part in the politics of a Judicial extradition, to which he is told there is no choice. Another point that Carroll hammers on in the first couple of pages here is that Mega-City One is hurting. Chaos Day did a real number on the city, and the Judges have yet to get a handle on the situation nearly four years later. The population of the city was decimated, which means that there are now far fewer Judges than ever and huge swaths of the city left vacant and abandoned. Couple that with the impossible amount of money needed for reconstruction of infrastructure and, well, things are bad.

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So what does that have to do with Dredd and Joyce’s extradition? A lot. You see, as Mega-City One’s power has wained, Brit-Cit seems to have benefited. I’d imagine that Mega-City One has been forced into a position of having to borrow lots of money, and it’s possible that Brit-Cit is their only ally capable of floating that kind of capital. Now they want something for that help: those who are responsible for killing their Judges held accountable.

Smash cut to The Cursed Earth and… Judge Dredd? Wait, how’d he get out here? Isn’t he supposed to be on a transatlantic transport? What’s going on here?

Glad you asked, because I had those same questions. For answers we turn to the youngest of Judge Dredd’s clone family: Judge Rico. If memory serves, Rico was sent out into the Cursed Earth to oversee the resettlement of Mega-City One’s mutant population, and later rolled back into town during Chaos Day. Anyways, I’m pretty sure that’s Rico, even though he’s referred to as ‘Dredd’ at one point. You see, our Judge Dredd, Joseph Dredd, had a brother named Rico. So, two Dredds, both cloned from the first Chief Judge, one Joe one Rico. But that Rico isn’t this Rico. Still with me? This Rico isn’t a Fargo clone, he’s a Dredd clone. A copy of a copy, if you will.

When we first met this Rico, he went by the name ‘Dredd,’ but went on to adopt the moniker ‘Rico’ because, well, we can’t very well have two identical characters running around with the same name, can we? I mean, we can, but we probably shouldn’t. After that he was sent out to the Cursed Earth, where I presumed he’d wait until the day when they killed off Judge Dredd. Which may still be the ultimate plan, I suppose.

Anyways, I experienced a bit of confusion this week, and it wasn’t because of Dredd’s absurd family tree. It was because this big-chinned lawman out in the Cursed Earth was called both ‘Dredd’ and ‘Rico’ by a cadet he’s training. Firstly, because I was pretty sure he didn’t go by ‘Dredd’ any more (maybe I’m wrong on that?). Second, if his full name is in fact Rico Dredd, why would this Cadet refer to him by his first name? Field training is supposed to be rigorous and by the book, so that type of informality would be a little surprising.

All in all, an intriguing set-up hampered by a bit of jumbled storytelling. Looking forward to next week!

Tharg’s 3rillers: Repossession Orders, Part 1
Credits: Eddie Robson (script), Jake Lynch (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

Adrian Johnson: Tharg serves up a new mystery this week in this first installment of ‘Repossession Orders.’ A hired tough accosts squatters in a council estate still under construction to get out. Unfortunately, when one of the squatters is found dead, it’s apparent that someone or something wants in.

My money is on ’something’ if the story title itself is an indicator. Also, I get the feeling of the familiar trope of the ‘Poltergeist’ movies in terms of housing being built on grounds that possess spirits none too happy with the development (pun intended). However, this tale is topical as squatting and ‘squatters’ rights’ have been prominent in Britain since post-WWII after the conflict left many homeless; as well the housing shortage during the Thatcher era. It would be interesting to see if perhaps any of that history is parlayed into the story.

Survival Geeks: Geeks Fatales, Part 1
Credits: Gordon Rennie & Emma Beeby (script), Neil Googe (art), Gary Caldwell (colors), Ellie de Ville (letters)

Greg Matiasevich: ‘Survival Geeks’, the little 3riller that could, is back for another round of interdimensional hijinx this Prog. Think Doctor Who, but with a two-up, two-down flat instead of policeman’s box, three young male sci-fi geeks and a lady housemate instead of an immortal Time Lord & companion, and a pet Cthulu named Howard rather than a robot dog named K-9. Weirdness, humor, and unreality as only the multiverse on acid can provide, however, seems to run constant in both series.

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But I said three guys and a girl, didn’t I? And even just a glance at that preview image will make you think I misspoke (or mistyped, in this case). But trust me, humes, I did no such thing. ‘Geeks Fatales’ looks like it’s going to be dealing with one of the most basic rules of this or any other universe: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Or to put it into even geek-friendlier terms: Rule 63. Rule 63 states that for every male character, there is or can be an equal and equivalent female version of that character. I’m going to take their word for it with Howard, the aforementioned pint-sized Cthulu, but the rest of the cast we see in the opening looks like a 1-for-1 gender swap. And it works! So much so that I didn’t immediately think to myself “Weren’t these a bunch of dudes before?”, although that might have a bit to do with the time since I last visited this series. Still tho, Rennie and Googe keep things full-tilt from panel one, and I can’t see why this strip (and installment in particular) wouldn’t grab you as a reader. Did you see the Napoleonic mice army??? I can almost hear the militaristic squeaking of orders…

Speaking of movement, Googe really handles that feeling of breakneck escape well this week. From panel layouts to character posture, his static images still evoke motion in a way that isn’t as common as it should be. Plus the color palette continues to pop for this strip. In a comic that by its very nature has multiple artstyles and moods going on at once every week, Gary Caldwell pushes things bright & poppy here and really sets this strip in a dimension of its own among the other stories.

Get ready for some math next week, when we add up the Rule 63 geeks with their Rule 63 counterparts!

Tainted: The Fall of Deadworld, Part 1
Credits: Kek-W (script), Dave Kendall (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

MR: From a dream, to portraits, to a four part series, artist Dave Kendall’s vision of The Dark Judges takes yet another form with the launch of “Tainted.”

Billed in this issue’s editor’s notes as a, ‘flashback to the last days of Deadworld,’ this series aims to explore the events that lead to Kendall and writer Kek-W’s recent “Deadworld” series. Now, that set some expectations. “Deadworld” was a melancholic horror story, with dead characters inhabiting a long dead world. Reading it, I felt that a crush of terror had happened well before page one, that there was some terrible thing that had changed the world. That gave the narrative a sense of danger; this is a new world, and we don’t quite know how it works. Now, I guess from that reading I sort of assumed that Deadworld was always horrible. That there was never a time without monsters or unimaginable terror. Then I read this strip.

What was most shocking to me was how plausible and familiar the setting is. We’ve got farmers who are afraid of the government and population control. There are drones in the sky watching everyone and superstorms are a real danger. Things are bad, but not Judge Death bad, you know? I guess what I mean is that this isn’t a science fiction pre-dystopia. It’s like Trump’s Presidency circa 2019 pre-dystopia. We can see the pathway here, where Judge Death is complete fiction.

So what happens when that complete fiction collides with a plausible, but so far fictitious future? Well, looks like we find out next week!

Aquila: Charon’s Mercy, Part 1
Credits: Gordon Rennie (script), Paul Davidson (art), Len O’Grady (colors), Ellie de Ville (letters)

AJ: Aquila and Felix enjoy a sunny day at the bloody gladiatorial arena. Personally, I’m a huge buff when it comes to historical martial combat, so seeing the former-gladiator-turned-instrument-of-divine-retribution Aquila size up a outcome of a combatant with his mortal and immortal expertise was a lot of fun. Perhaps not so much for Felix, who true to his luck throughout the series, wagered on the losing end of that same fight.

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Writer Gordon Rennie kicks things into gear immediately following this fight with the appearance of Mercury and Charon, a sanitation crew (of sorts) for the fallen and dying on the arena floor. The pair have an instant visual dynamic of light/dark and big/small going for them, in addition to the succinct explanation of their respective duties per the detail replete throughout the series from Rennie. But Aquila and Felix didn’t come to this arena by chance, but rather to have words with this duo, and Charon in particular. And for good reason as the last-panel reveal shows.

Rennie has me intrigued by the plot, and the Paul Davidson’s art crackles with great choreography and character expressions. I’m definitely looking forward to the next week’s installment after this Prog’s great start for a promising new arc.

II. AN EARTHLET’S GUIDE TO 2000 AD

GM: We understand trying to figure out to start with a selection of almost 40 years worth of comics can be 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?

To help all you new & potential readers, we’ve put together something we call 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 easy and simple as possible.

III. COMING UP!

GM: Remember that library of graphic novels we mentioned up at the top of the column? Well, that library was built book by book, and we have a peek at the next few volumes to make their way on to Tharg’s bookshelf…and hopefully yours as well!

April 7th

The British equivalent of Mega-City One, Brit-Cit is a crowded metropolis that sprawls across southern England. Even before the Atomic Wars, Britain had more ghosts and ghouls per square mile than anywhere in the world – and now Brit-Cit is the focal point for weird occurrences. Detective Inspector Jericho Strange heads up the Endangered Species Squad – a unit within Brit-Cit’s Justice Department charged with investigating arcane cases. His exposure to a supernatural artefact called the ‘Black Mirror’ has left him with a face his new partner, Becky Darke, will never forget. Meanwhile, Lillian Storm is a loner Judge who can talk to the dead – but what terrible secrets will she uncover in England’s haunted north? (Available UK/Digital)

Peter Milligan, Brendan McCarthy, and Jamie Hewlett at their anarchic best! It’s 1986 in Thatcher’s Britain. The financial ‘big bang’ saw the rich get richer. Riots errupt in prisons across the country. And Micky Swift is still on the dole! Disillusioned with his dour existence in dreary Camden, Micky’s life is suddenly turned inside out, when he is plucked from the present and dragged into the 30th century as the property of one Mr & Mrs Katsbreath – a case of mistaken identity. Unwanted, trapped in the future and still unemployable, If Micky wants to return home (time travel isn’t cheap you know!), sooner or later he will need to find a job! (Available UK/US/Digital)

May 19th

From the Judge Dredd/Predator crossover to eating competitions, sex-crazed robots to peek-a-boo pants – this is the strange, surreal, and violent world of Judge Dredd! The bestselling series of Judge Dredd stories from the past 39 years continues – written by John Wagner with artwork by Kev Walker, Henry Flint, Jason Brashill, Greg Staples, Ian Gibson, and many more! (Available UK/Digital)

June 16th

Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins, and Jim McCarthy’s classic series returns! It’s been a decade since the vicious war with the Krool on the planet Ararat. Ex-members of the legendary guerrilla unit known as Bad Company are preparing for a ten-year anniversary memorial service. But now their near-mythic leader, Kano, has resurfaced and Danny Franks, Thrax, Mad Tommy and Fly-Trap, have stopped taken their meds and travelled back to Ararat for answers… With Rufus Dayglo stepping in for his late friend, Ewins, this is a re-examination and< rejuvenation of one of 2000 AD’s most important series. (Available UK/US/Digital)

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Rob Williams and Henry Flint’s runaway hit story – collected together for the very first time! Justice Department has lost contact with its penal colony on the moon of Titan – a big problem considering that it houses over a thousand law-breaking ex-Judges, many of them with heavy grudges. Now Judge Dredd must team up with SJS Judge Gerhart – a man who holds him responsible for ‘Chaos Day’ – and battle a formidable army led by one of the most dangerous ex-undercover Judge’s ever. An extraordinarily powerful collection that pushes Dredd to his very limits.(Available UK/US/Digital)

That’s gonna do it for us this week! “2000 AD” Prog 1973 is on sale this week and available from: