Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 1978

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!

Cover by INJ Culbard

I. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1978

NOW DEPARTING

Aquila: Charon’s Mercy, Part 6
Credits: Gordon Rennie (script), Paul Davidson (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

Adrian Johnson: This final installment of ‘Charon’s Mercy’ sees Aquila and Felix finally confront Tortrix the Necromancer for a way to enter Hades and find Ammit The Devourer, the source of Aquila’s immortality and keeper of his eternal soul. Gordon Rennie has crafted a quick but very satisfying arc; supplying pithy chuckles in his dialogue and some great cliffhangers in the plotting, including the one that ends this installment. I definitely am curious to see if Rennie continues this humorous angle moving forward, or return to his M.O. of heavy-duty history for the next arc.

The team of Paul Davidson and Len O’Grady on the art and colors, respectively, has really grown on me over the course of this story. While I definitely do not want to discount the original art team of Leigh Gallagher and Dylan Teague, I think Davidson and O’Grady were a better fit for ‘Charon’s Mercy’ since it skewed more towards all-out fantasy than the historical verisimilitude of previous stories. Davidson’s art excels at delivering the latent humor in Rennie’s script with wicked action, character design and facial expressions. That combination made this strip a ball to read. O’Grady’s coloring contribution to the mood of Davidson’s linework can’t be praised enough.

‘Aquila’ is perhaps my favorite strip currently in “2000 AD”, so of course this is a sad day for me as it comes to a (thankfully impermanent) conclusion. I have to thank my fellow reviewer Greg Matiasevich for turning me on to it in particular and letting me gush over it every week.

NOW ARRIVING

Brink, Part 1
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), INJ Culbard (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

AJ: A pair of investigators, Brinkmann and Curtis, discover a homicide aboard an orbiting galactic habitat in the first installment of the new sci-fi feature. I’m definitely a sucker for the mash-up of noir and sci-fi as delivered here. In fact, it’s very much akin to Outland, the 1981 movie starring Sean Connery that also revolved around a murder on a space station. There’s something to be said for setting a crime story within confined environs against the backdrop of infinite space.

Culbard’s art and colors make a fantastic pairing. The linework is very reminiscent of European comics or the stylings of artists Marcos Martin and Javier Pulido; two European artists who have become well known for integrating those sensibilities into their American comics work. And yet for its sparseness, Culbard’s linework never feels like it skimps on details germane to the story itself or the setting; such as with a half-page shot of the orbiting habitat awash in a rich cyan punctuated by the warm oranges and yellows from the portholes. Abnett’s scripting has plenty of the elements that I really love with this genre such as the ‘future-speak’ and jargon. I also appreciate that no exposition is given after these elements are presented; but rather immerse you in this setting and context.

Judge Dredd: The Lion’s Den, Part 1
Credits: Michael Carroll (script), PJ Holden (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Mike Romeo: Artist PJ Holden returns to the strip as the fallout from last week’s shocker begins!

I’m a huge fan of Holden’s work, from his reoccurring 2000 AD work to “Dept. of Monsterology” and back. He’s got a style with a bit of chunk to it and a whole slathering of flat-black shadows, so it feels natural for him to follow someone like Colin MacNeil, who wrapped up his story last week. Additionally, colorist Adam Brown’s contribution makes this strip sing, adding equal parts grit and shine to Holden’s cartooning.

Continued below

When writer Michael Carroll kicked off ‘Grindstone Cowboys’ a month ago, he did so with an extradition request from Brit-Cit for Judges Dredd and Joyce. That request goes back to what’s being referred to as the Murphyville Spaceport Massacre, when Dredd and Joyce killed a number of Emerald Island Judges making an attempt on their lives. We saw how Dredd’s reaction to Brit-Cit’s request, and now we’re seeing Joyce’s.

And here come some spoilers!

After being told of his extradition for trial by Chief Judge Hershey, Joyce asks what Judge Dredd’s opinion on the matter was. This is when we discover that the news of Dredd’s death is being suppressed, pending the outcome of an investigation. Interesting.

This makes me feel even more certain that Joe Dredd’s death is one that’ll stick. If the Justice department keeps a lid on it, then Rico would only need a new badge in order to step into the old lawman’s two-sizes-too-small boots. Then, like Dredd’s square eyes and paper lungs, Rico’s assumption of the role could just become one of those background facts readers don’t really need to know about. All of which can serve to add some more time to the viability of a character who ages in real time.

But on the other hand, Joyce’s Brit-Cit transport unexpectedly exploding gives me pause. It’d be a hell of a stretch to think that both Judges with an extradition order over their heads would just explode, isn’t it?

Survival Geeks: Lord of the Ringers, Part 1
Credits: Emma Beeby & Gordon Rennie (script), Neil Googe (art), (colors), Ellie de Ville (letters)

Greg Matiasevich: Man, what would the other geeks do without Kevin? On top of his impeccable music tastes, perchance for breaking the “Mint in Box” stranglehold on tons of action figure aficionados, and constantly getting them out of the trouble that always comes from dimension-hopping, he single-handedly rescued everyone from the Napoleonic Mouse Cavalry of Doom last issue! Remember that? The giant steamroller? No????? That’s funny. Neither do I…

While we all know there was something about Mary, this Prog lets us know there’s DEFINITELY something not right about Kevin. Beeby & Rennie seem to be pulling from a couple of different but specific tropes & sources when it comes to the Geek everyone wants to please. A dab of “Remember The New Guy, a dollop of Twilight Zone and/or The Outer Limits, maybe a side of “Charlie X”. I can’t seem to think of a single ur-source they pulled from, so kudos to the cherry-picked selection.

They also do a nice job (aided & abetted by Googe & Caldwell) of cluing in even first-time readers that Kevin and his control is not status quo. We’ve seen Googe’s facility with caricature cartooning, but just to focus from the neck up for this week, being able to draw terror on faces in a real way that’s also funny? Not easy to do. Plus, did I mention the mice v. steamroller bit? Killer.

We know that the Kevin party doesn’t last forever. which of the Geeks bursts the bubble? Will it be Clive the brain? Rufus the slacker? Simon the general-purpose nerd? Or Sam, the muggle with the unfortunate luck of winding up in the wrong house at the wrong time?

Tainted: The Fall of Deadworld, Part 6
Credits: Kek-W (script), Dave Kendall (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

MR: So ‘Tainted’ has sort of just become a zombie story, huh? I mean, that’s neat and all, but things are starting to feel a little stale. A handful of survivors, infrastructure is crumbling, danger in a hospital, these things are a little well-worn when it comes to an outbreak story. The first series of ‘Deadworld’ strips were so imaginative and unexpected, so I had high hopes for this. But now, I’m honestly feeling a little tired of it. Hopefully, as things race towards a conclusion, we can start to move away from reliance on outbreak tropes.

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?

Continued below

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 1978 is on sale today and available from: