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!
I. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1979
NOW ARRIVING
Sláine: Psychpomp, Part 1
Credits: Pat Mills (script), Simon Davis (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)
Adrian Johnson: Let me get this out of the way first: Sláine is one of my all-time favorite 2000 AD characters. From the scripting of Pat Mills to the incredible artistry of Mike McMahon, Glenn Fabry and Simon Bisley; I’ve always enjoyed the strip. However, I had become a more-than-lapsed reader of Sláine with the recent offerings of the last decade or so. I think I’ve snapped out of that lapse with this story by Mills and artist Simon Davis.
This installment continues the ‘Brutania Chronicles’ storyline as Sláine continues his battle against the demons of the Cyth. Mills’ scripting has evolved Sláine into an older warrior forced to deal with the trauma of losing his mother in his dysfunctional childhood. We’ve seen this theme before in other barbarian fiction such as the 1982 Conan movie and various characters. However, I think Mills brings a genuine pathos to this story with Sláine by introducing this as part of his characterization rather than the fulcrum to drive him.
This story also marks my first experience with the art of Simon Davis. I must remark that Davis’ work is incredible and upon first glance, you would not be remiss to evoke the previous artists who had also rendered Sláine with a painterly style; most notably the previous aforementioned Simon Bisley. But whereas Bisley delivered full-on barbarian mode, Davis is a bit more subtle in terms of giving you the same thing with a wider range. His paintings are kinetic chunks of color with fantastic facial expressions and a palette that perfectly evokes the mood of the scene. And the Warp Spasm in Davis’ hands is a gruesome and amazing sight to behold. I’m now a huge Simon Davis fan to say the least.
Judge Dredd: The Lion’s Den, Part 2
Credits: Michael Carroll (script), PJ Holden (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Mike Romeo: Wait, what terms?
There’s a lot going on this week, so let’s start with getting caught up. Joyce has been extradited to stand trial in a Brit-Cit court. This is spinning out Carroll’s “Blood of Emeralds” story from last summer. It was a tale of assassinations, conspiracies, and high-level Judicial corruption. You can read our coverage of it here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.
Dredd and Joyce’s jaunt through the latter’s hometown of Murphyville ended with a number of dead Brit-Cit Judges in a spaceport. Our Mega-City boys were the ones who did the dirty deed, but it was not without justification. Those Judges were crooked and out for blood, but there are apparently some powerful people who have worked to keep that bit of the story covered up.
Now, with Chief Judge Hershey’s back to the wall, Judge Joyce has been shipped out to Brit-Cit. It looks as if he may not ever see trial, though, as there is a third party interested in getting their hands on Joyce. And after an explosion and several more dead Brit-Cit Judges, that’s exactly what happened.
Now, if we cast our eyes back towards Mega-City One, we’ll find Hershey having to make yet another desperate bargain. This time it’s with Texas City, as Hershey requests to borrow a massive number of Texan Judges. This all goes back to what we saw in this month’s “Judge Dredd Megazine”.
Now, what these ‘terms’ are is yet to be seen, but I can almost guarantee that Hershey does not like them. I mean, the first sign is how Holden drew her in the panel. She’s cast in deep shadow with the expression of someone who has just done something terrible. And then there’s the way Texas City’s Chief Judge Oswin says it’s a good thing. No one ever says that when a mutually beneficial deal has been struck. No, I think Hershey’s done something desperate.
Continued below
Survival Geeks: Lord of the Ringers, Part 2
Credits: Emma Beeby & Gordon Rennie (script), Neil Googe (art), (colors), Ellie de Ville (letters)
Greg Matiasevich: Not to worry, he says. Sure it’s three against an entire zombie dimension, but one of those three is Kevin. And Kevin is just the absolute bestest of the besty best, so there’s nothing to worry about, right? Wrong!
As we saw last week, there’s a new Geek in town (the aforementioned Kevin). What I’m sure sharp-eyed Earthlet’s picked up on, and I only realized very recently, is that Kevin wasn’t a character that just popped into the cast out of thin air a la Dawn in season five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer; he dates back to the Geeks’s first appearance as one of Tharg’s 3rillers in Progs 1824-1826. Kevin, it turns out, was a game designer whose medieval fantasy adventure Overlords of Gnath had been turned down by every game company as “too derivative”. So in an effort to make his magic system more realistic, Kevin tracked down actual magic grimoires to crib from. But in studying them he amassed actual magic knowledge and power, leading him to build his own dimension where the Geeks cross his path.
So that scary, Sauron-looking dude we saw last week (as well as back in the “2000 AD 2015 Summer Special”) was Kevin’s avatar. But interestingly enough, there didn’t seem to be any indication prior to Prog 1978 that said overlord-disguise had a separate identity like the one bullying Kevin. Did I miss something? (Or rather, did I miss something else?) If not, I wouldn’t put it down as an error on the part of Beeby & Rennie. There is a certain amount of parsing out information that takes place over the course of any story. I think it plays into the charm of this strip in particular that what many readers wrote off as a fun but one-note idea is slowly building an ongoing arc underneath the several layers of geek nods (both textual and visual — for example, the zombie world with distinct sections for Romero zombies, Boyle zombies, and Wright ‘zed-words’).
Brink, Part 2
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), INJ Culbard (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
AJ: Investigators Brinkmann and Kurtis interrogate one of the ‘perps’ from the initial installment last Prog as they continue their investigation of a murder aboard an orbiting habitat. However, the highlight of this installment is their interaction with the habitat’s director, Elane. Writer Dan Abnett scripts their conversation in the mode of the detectives going to speak with their caustic captain or superior as in many police procedurals. But instead of being by rote, Abnett’s dialogue here is excellent and makes for a dense read in addition to the interrogation itself. The story is definitely distinguishing itself more than a ‘cops in space’ tale and is rather shaping into an intriguing mystery.
INJ Culbard’s art is perfect with a mention to his color palette; which shines particularly in the interrogation scene with the investigators and the ‘perp’. Culbard’s assured and open linework leaves plenty of room for the smooth temperature of colors; with his cyan ambiance playing against the warm oranges of the glowing interrogation table. As I remarked in my review of the initial installment, I love how ‘European’ the strip feels as a whole, evoking the clear linework with slow-burn pacing of crime comics from French and Belgian creators in recent years.
Tainted: The Fall of Deadworld, Part 7
Credits: Kek-W (script), Dave Kendall (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
MR: So it seems that, in this world where life has become a punishable offense, the corrupting influence of ‘dead fluids’ is something that has to be accepted. This week’s strip opens with a first hand accounting of what it is like to have these fluids introduced to your system, and how easy it is to let them envelop you. But redemption can be had, if only you remember that the new world order is real!
This week’s strip ends with what will hopefully be a pivot point for this story. I think we can use a bit of a change of scenery, since things have gotten a bit more zombie-flick than I think it needs to be.
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style=”text-align; center;”>II. FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2016
That’s right, Earthlets! The first weekend in May is upon us, and that means Tharg is going to bestow upon us a zarjaz slab of Thrill-Power absolutely free! (Plus some other publishers are going to give you free comics as well, which is cool as well…)
We’ll be back to dive into this bad boy in more detail next week, after everyone has had a chance to snag one at their LCS of choice.
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 1979 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, and
- Finer comic shops everywhere
So as Tharg the Mighty himself would say, “Splundig vur thrigg!”
