Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2005

I don’t know about you, but things have gotten pretty dang autumnal around my parts. The leaves are changing and we actually put the heat on for a little bit. So it’s fitting, I think, that Henry Flint pulled art duty for the current “Judge Dredd” strip. The color palette he’s taken to using feels like cool weather to me, like Mega-City One is settling in for their own impending winter. Though their weather-controlled clime is probably a little more habitable than it is here on the land that will one day be The Big Meg, now that I think about it.

Elsewhere in the mag we’ve got impending dino-doom, murder in Berlin, a fistful of biochips, and a trip to a futuristic quarantine. There’s lots on our plate, so let’s dig in!

I. THIS WEEK IN 2000 AD

Cover by Clint Langley

Judge Dredd: Act of Grud, Part 2
Credits: Rob Williams (script), Henry Flint (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Oh, I do love a good conspiracy!

I’m gonna get all spoilery in a bit, but can we talk a little about Henry Flint? If you follow this column with any regularity, then you probably already know how much I love this guy’s art. I’ve been arguing for a while that he’s on of the best artists working in comics today, and this week’s strip is clear proof of that. His line work has been distinctive and instantly recognizable for a little while, but now he’s found a way to make his color choices as recognizable as his ink work. I love the way he picks these soft tones that almost juxtapose the bold, toothy quality of his line work. At times I’d say he’s working in pastels, but I don’t want to give anyone the idea he approaches his art like it’s Easter. His colors are soft in tone but also highly saturated, which my schooling would say fits the definition of pastel. There’s something more there, though, as he gives his pages a gritty texture in the coloring process. There’s a sandiness to it, which makes his muted hues more of a piece with his rugged line work.

Speaking of like work, Flint’s been honing his to perfection. He’s at a place right now that shows obvious reverence to Carlos Ezquerra, but also owes a debt of gratitude to Katsuhiro Otomo. There are a lot of comics artists out there right now doing an East-meets-West blending in their work, but no one is approaching it quite like this. Flint is able to combine Ezquerra’s bluntness with Otmo’s staging and sense of space. The result is page after page of chunky gold eagles and boxy Lawmasters set in a seemingly endless, well lived in cityscape. He’s not lifting from the artists I mentioned, instead it’s more of a sense of inspiration. Flint doesn’t do it like Otomo and Ezquerra do, he does it as they would.

So let’s move into spoilers now, shall we?

Williams is getting the gang back together as a number of key players from the Titan saga converge on Dredd’s locked room mystery. After last week’s strip, when recent transfer Judge Sam witnessed a man seemingly break his own neck, Dredd seemed a little less surprised than he should have. Plus, almost on cue SJS Judge Gerhart and Wally Squader Dirty Frank appeared on the scene. Why are Wally Squad and the SJS involved? How’d they know to be there? Why’d Dredd even give Sam this assignment? These seem to be the big questions Williams lays out this week.

So what does this all mean for Judge Sam? Well, first it means that he’s gotta do his homework. He’s an architect, after all, a natural at seeing the structure where others only perceive an empty space. Though, it seems that empty spaces are exactly what Sam found. On top of that, we’ve got Dredd talking about ‘ghost Judges,’ which is interesting. Could it be that whatever it was that the creatures on Enceladus took from those incarcerated Judges and transferred into new, alien bodies still exists? Souls or spirits that’ve been disembodied? Did those monsters actually die? What do Dredd Gerhart and Frank already know? Readers, I am thoroughly intrigued!

Continued below

While this strip is a continuation of years of Williams’ Dredd writing, it feels very much like a new beginning. The introduction of Judge Sam as a real player in The Meg is not unlike what he’s done before for Aimee Nixon and Dirty Frank. Build up a new character, plop them in the middle of the shit, and carry on like they’ve always been there. These characters become permanent because Williams treats them like they already are, and it’s us that’s new to the party. It’s not only a clever way of writing, but it’s also a good way to make the most out of these short, eight page chapters.

Savage: The Märze Murder, Part 5
Credits: Pat Mills (script), Patrick Goddard (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

I love how ‘to type’ Mills writes the characters in this story. The grizzled mercenary, the tough-as-nails detective, the smug club owner, it’s all fantastic. This is the sort of thing that I’d usually have less patience for, but from Mills I find it charming. Coupled with Goddard’s stark, black-or-white artwork, this strip is always a good read.

That said, every time I think I get a handle on what’s going on in the story something comes along to yank the thread away from me. Whether it’s robotic attack dogs or a revolutionary who may or may not be a serial killer, there’s always some twist lurking in the shadows. Maybe that’s what playing to type affords Mills, because we understand immediately what roles these characters play, he’s got the space to spread out and do the less expected.

Hunted, Part 5
Credits: Gordon Rennie (script), PJ Holden (art), Len O’Grady (color), Simon Bowland (letters)

This week’s “Hunted” features the heart warming tale of how a wayward General came to befriend a lost prototype infantryman. Monsters helping monsters, it’s nice.

Five weeks in and I’m loving this strip more than ever. For all of the nigh-Rogue Trooper stories Rennie’s told, this is the one that’s getting me to go back and read the source material. I know, shame on me, I’ve never actually read Gibbon’s Rogue strips. But, on the bright side, I get to experience a classic for the first time, right?

And, as I’ve beens saying for the last five weeks, Holden and O’Grady make a spectacular duo. This week I went back and looked at some Guy Davis/Dave Stewart “BPRD” issues and I feel like this stir has got a lot of that same spirit in it. I love how O’Grady changes the value of Holden’s linework for the flashback sequences, it’s this sort of thing that blurs the lines between collaborators, creating a sort of third voice in the room. Their work together is really spectacular.

We’re edging closer and closer to contact with the Rogue Trooper, though it seems like there are some other parties looking to get themselves involved in the festivities. While that’s sure to complicate things on the ground, it’ll surely serve the story well!

Flesh: Gorehead, part 5
Credits: Pat Mills (script), Clint Langley (art), Ellie De Ville (letters)

Unlike the first Mills strip in the mag, I can’t even pretend like I have a clue what’s going on in “Flesh.” I mean, I get the gist; time traveling cowboys harvest dinosaur meat in the prehistoric era for future consumption and also something about the government. The series is far more bat-shit looney than I’ve made it sound, and that’s what sells it, I think. Sometimes you don’t need to know the entire backstory to enjoy a comic book. Sure, “Flesh” has decades of published history, but right now all we need to know is that there are dinosaurs, cowboys and future capitalists at play.

The icing on the cake this week was the looming threat of ‘the big one.’ you know which one, right? The big one? As in the humongous piece of space debris that whipped out the dinos, paving the way for mankind to wriggle up out of the water? As you can imagine, this is a point of concern for the more human players in this kooky drama. Though, for the ancient avian monsters roaming the Earth, it’s business as usual.

Continued below

By the way, you ever see a T-Rex in underwater battle against an enormous crocodile? If not, you’re in luck! Looks like that’s what’s on next week’s menu.

Counterfeit Girl, Part 6
Credits: Peter Milligan (script), Rufus Dayglo (art), Dom Regan (color), Ellie De Ville (letters)

It’s out of the frying pan and into the fire as Libra (formerly Lulu, amongst others) avoids quarantine but faces something much, much worse. Plus, she’s still got this nagging illness that is literally nagging her. It taunts, too. Real nasty business.

If you notice, the excerpt above features nothing in the way of characters. No cool future fashion, no titular heroines, not even a crowd scene. So why’s it there? Simply put, I’m head over heels for the way Rufus Dayglo renders out this future city. Looking at that panel I realized that I don’t know if we’ve seen open sky in this strip yet. There’s always some smog or series of buildings blotting out any and all indication that there could be any naturally occurring element in this world. It’s like everyone in this city lives in a tight, mechanical knot with structure built upon structure until a sort of manmade canopy occurred. It’s just endless, seemingly mechanized structures in every direction all of which are the product of Dayglo’s seemingly endless imagination. The scene is also a nice example of what Dom Regan is able to accomplish with color. So much of this series has seen him lay down the most bombastic, psychedelic tones he could, but seeing this panel is a great reminder of the quieter world building he’s a part of. While Daygle draws out some puffy clouds of smog, it’s Regan who makes the scene feel hazy and polluted. His colors communicate the sooty, filthy reality of this world, and he does it in spectacular fashion.

“Counterfeit Girl” is quickly becoming a real favorite for me. Milligan is able to construct different tiers of narrative that each best communicate the various threads in the story. When it comes to questions of identity and self, things feel looser as Milligan leaves lots of room for Dayglo and Regan to run. But then there are the more linear passages that feels tighter in the art department, but also a little more verbose. Of course, there’s also the unspoken satire at work, sort of living as the background hum you eventually become accustomed to.

All in all, a really fantastic new series for the magazine, and one I hope we get to see a lot of going forward.

II. AN EARTHLET’S GUIDE TO 2000 AD

At Multiver-City One, 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.

That’s gonna do it for us this week! “2000 AD” Prog 2000 and Judge Dredd Megazine 376 are both on sale today and available digitally worldwide on: