2000 AD Prog 2024 Featured Columns 

Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2024 – The Future of Law Enforcement?

By , , , and | March 29th, 2017
Posted in Columns | % Comments

Welcome, Earthlets, to Multiver-City One, our “2000 AD” weekly review column! Every Wednesday we examine the latest offerings from Tharg and the droids over at Rebellion/2000 AD, the galaxy’s leading producers of Thrill-Power entertainment. Let’s get right to it!

Cover by John McCrea and Mike Spicer

Judge Dredd: Harvey, Part 1
Credits: John Wagner (script), John McCrea (art), Mike Spicer (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Greg Matiasevich: Judge Dredd has often been described, both in and outside the pages of “2000 AD”, as a robot in his job of upholding the law of Mega-City One; no gray areas, just rigid application of the law. With ‘Harvey’ kicking off this week, we see Dredd partnered up with an actual robo-Judge. Will this rookie robocop make the cut? Or is he destined for the scrap heap?

This week’s cover copy certainly plays up the idea of Dredd being replaced by a robot, but robo-Judges are, in fact, nothing new to this strip. The ‘Mechanismo’ arc famously introduced the concept of mechanical lawmen to the Dredd-verse back in 1992 as a way to supplement the dwindling street Judge population in the wake of earlier mega-catastrophes of the ‘Necropolis’ and ‘Day of Judgement’ storylines. The Mark 1 units were given basic programming modeled after Dredd’s own views of Mega-City One law (as detailed in his “Comportment” book) to go along with their full judicial authority. Surprisingly (he said sarcastically), their roll-out did not go as smoothly as originally intended by Chief Judge McGruder, and as the civilian body count rose from malfunctioning units going rogue, they were pulled from service. Or so it was thought. The seeds planted in those first ‘Mechanismo’ stories ended up bearing fruit with Dredd calling for the resignation of an increasingly irrational McGruder, who refused, and eventually breaking the very law he loves to see her get justice for her crimes.

Those ‘Mechanismo’ stories were written by ‘Harvey’ writer John Wagner, and this week’s strip is a prime example of just how good of a comics writer he can be in a very particular way. All of that continuity I just mentioned is referenced or alluded to in part one, but Wagner handles it in such a way as to not distract from the story’s basic set-up of older cop saddled with trying out a rookie partner. So new readers coming onboard, intrigued by that dynamic, are brought just as up-to-speed as longtime readers. And the longtime readers who are looking for callbacks and certain reactions from Dredd based on that history get what they are looking for as well. For instance, the story’s title comes from Judge Harvey, named from his model designation ‘RV’ (or Responsive Version), which adds programmed empathy specifically to counter earlier setbacks with the Mechanismo Judges. every “Yeah, but…” this story would raise among the longtime fans, Wagner slips in an answer either preemptively or before the last page.

All of that in six pages that also showcases some fine McCrea/Spicer artwork we’ll be talking about more next week!

Brink: Skeleton Life, Part 2
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), INJ Culbard (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

Alice W. Castle: While the first chapter of “Brink: Skeleton Life” introduced us to the Galina Habitat and the idea of a potential ghost story in space, in the second chapter Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard settle in with some characters to build interest beyond the concept.

There’s a lot of Alien going on here as we get a conversation between a transport driver and a private security consultant. It’s a fairly simple conversation (one that even passes the Bechdel Test), but it brings a lot of life to the world. We get a sense of what day to day life is like living and working on a space station, swapping transport lorries for Load Transfer Vehicles. However, the core concepts of the conversation is something intimately familiar.

Fil, a transport driver, was born on a Habitat and has likely never seen Earth. She loves the silence and isolation of space because it’s home to her. Kurtis, meanwhile, seems to have a past about her. From the way Culbard keeps her posture closed off, curled up in her seat, to her “I don’t want to talk about this” scowl as she stares off into literal space, she’s something of an enigma.

Continued below

Culbard’s storytelling really comes into focus here as we see him present the backdrop for this conversation. The style remains simple with crisp, clean lines keeping each panel clear and simple. The use of colours contrasts the warm skin tones and Fil’s khaki uniform with the cold metal of the craft, the deep blue of space and Kurtis’ clothes. The use of the nine panel grid in most pages allows for Culbard to explore the facial expressions of these characters and build their personality and their life beyond the dialogue. Fil is permanently grinning, but her aviators keep her ultimately closed of from the reader. There’s something hidden behind her outgoing nature. Kurtis, meanwhile, is an open book that wishes she wasn’t.

There’s a lot of craftsmanship in these five pages that illustrates just how effective comic book storytelling can be in short bursts. This is a very different kind of science fiction you might expect for “2000AD,” a bit of a slower burn, but there’s a lot of thought behind that, clearly.

Future Shocks: Family Time
Credits: Rory McConville (script), Nick Dyer (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)

Ryan Perry: “Future Shocks: Family Time” is a fairly clever story that gets drug down by a disconnected narrative. The story opens and it immediately grabs the reader’s attention, as they meet what could only be a satirical take on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. We then get a thoroughly engrossing story about time travel and child adoption, which is a sentence I never would’ve imagined I’d be writing. The dialogue throughout isn’t necessarily interesting and the narration is similarly one note, but that never takes away from the story that’s being told. The big problem is that it has two disjointed narratives. Our protagonists go off to do something that ends up having nothing to do with our main plot, and effectively remove themselves from the story. Out of all the “Future Shock” stories I’ve read, this one is the first one to really make me chuckle with its ending, which may just be that I’m a sucker for irony, but I’m going to say it’s because it is genuinely clever.

The art in this issue is really eye-catching. It’s not super unique, but it’s far from something you see all the time. It’s unoriginality is quite forgivable though, as Nick Dyer really commits and delivers a fun take on a caricatured style. Every character has a unique look, which gives the book overall a fresh vibe. This is one of the first stories that the black and white format has suited the story being told. My one complaint is that in the beginning of any piece, the art should help you identify your protagonist or narrator, but it was really hard to tell here. It was probably halfway through before I realized who was narrating, and that was only because of things happening in the story.

Scarlet Traces: Cold War – Book Two, Part 2
Credits: Ian Edginton (script), D’Israeli (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Rowan Grover: Edginton jumps right away from the cold sterile setting of Part 1 and into an alien desert to pick up story threads from the first book. The character work is fun here, playing on old femme fatale clichés but with high stakes involved. The tone of dialogue here amps up that campy factor, Perelandra especially saying things like ‘And does this pretty thing have a name… or voice?’ Like any good prog however, Edginton finishes on a genuinely puzzling twist, one that isn’t overblown but is intelligently executed.

D’Isreali goes for broke right from the start, establishing a strong setting to immerse the reader in the “Scarlet Traces” world. From here, however, he doesn’t have a lot of establishing shots to work with, mainly focusing on characters. But somehow D’Isreali still manages to smash it out of the park here, drawing slick action sequences like Iykarus breaking Lhynol’s arm and knocking him to the floor. His facial expressions also serve to compliment the campy spy aesthetic, as he draws Iykarus and Perelandra constantly exchanging suspicious looks.

Nonetheless, Part 2 continues to enhance and add to the expansive universe of Edginton and D’Israeli’s “Scarlet Traces”, and I’m excited for the story to continue.

Continued below

Cursed: The Fall of Deadworld, Part 2
Credits: Kek-W (script), Dave Kendall (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Greg Lincoln: Flashbacks and foreshadowing move “Cursed” forward, as Fairfax spends most of the issue in withdrawal delirium and Jess, along with Byke (who’s quickly becoming my favorite character), have to fend for themselves and protect the Judge too. Dave Kendall maintains the green grey undertones and the atmosphere of sickness and decay for Deadworld, as this history of the alternate world setting takes a deeper dive into the past through Fairfax’s dredged up painful memories. Jess, again, proves herself an apt survivor in this wasteland, having the grit to kill to protect herself and her supposed protector, as well as to cook what she killed and take care of someone she is not all that keen on. As for Fairfax, his collapse at the end of part one is revealed to be not from the drugs he took to mask himself, but from withdrawal from the combat drugs that the Judges take that he can no longer get. In that state, he flashes back to the brutal and manipulative training he went through to become a Judge at the hands of Sydney Death. These memories reveal his violent nature and attract the present attention of the witches serving the new Chief Judge.

What I am really drawn to are the iconic witches: Psiren, Phobia and Nausea, as written by Kek-W and Dave Kendall. It took me some thought to realize why: this triad create a mythic feel as they reference bigger Western European myths – Fates triad of Greeks and the witches that open the play Macbeth – that sneak into our stories when we need prophecy and magic. They are also the pop of interesting color that Dave puts onto the bleak sameness of the panels. For me, their purple skin draw me into page as much as the fire that makes a return in the final pages. Not much action happens, but some interesting psychological bits are revealed about both our heroes and villains here.

That’s gonna do it for us this week! “2000 AD” Prog 2024 is on sale this week and available from:

So as Tharg the Mighty himself would say, “Splundig vur thrigg!”

 


//TAGS | Multiver-City One

Alice W. Castle

Sworn to protect a world that hates and fears her, Alice W. Castle is a trans femme writing about comics. All things considered, it’s going surprisingly well. Ask her about the unproduced Superman films of 1990 - 2006. She can be found on various corners of the internet, but most frequently on Twitter: @alicewcastle

EMAIL | ARTICLES

Greg Lincoln

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Greg Matiasevich

Greg Matiasevich has read enough author bios that he should be better at coming up with one for himself, yet surprisingly isn't. However, the years of comic reading his parents said would never pay off obviously have, so we'll cut him some slack on that. He lives in Baltimore, co-hosts (with Mike Romeo) the Robots From Tomorrow podcast, writes Multiversity's monthly Shelf Bound column dedicated to comics binding, and can be followed on Twitter at @GregMatiasevich.

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Rowan Grover

Rowan is from Sydney, Australia! Rowan writes about comics and reads the heck out of them, too. Talk to them on Twitter at @rowan_grover. You might just spur an insightful rant on what they're currently reading, but most likely, you'll just be interrupting a heated and intimate eating session.

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Ryan Perry

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