Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2029 – Fear Me!

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 Dave Kendall

Judge Dredd: Harvey, Part 6
Credits: John Wagner (script), John McCrea (art), Mike Spicer (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Greg Matiasevich: The Mark 8 Mechanismo robot Judges now patrol the streets of Mega-City One with full Judicial authority, over the objections of Judge Dredd. One of them, Judge Jerry, has gone haywire while responding to a hostage crisis. Can Dredd reboot this situation before Jerry gives everyone involved a terminal error? We’re going to go SPOILERS for this last installment of ‘Harvey’, so skip on down to the sweet Colin MacNeil art for ‘Diehards’ if you want to avoid all that.

We all knew SOME kind of catastrophe was in the works with the Mark 8 implementation, and my gut told me it would drop before ‘Harvey’ wrapped up. But this story avoids being just a ‘Mechanismo’ retread by Wagner zagging where he zigged with that story 25 years ago. All through Dredd’s street assessment of Judge Harvey, two things made him uneasy: the threat of robot logic failure followed by Lawgiver-induced civilian casualties…and Harvey’s tendency towards leniency with perps. Which isn’t to say Harvey wouldn’t crack skulls as (even slightly) necessary, but the response unit that made him more empathetic to the human condition than, say, ROBOCOP‘s ED-209 also steered him away from Dredd’s comfort zone of enforcing the law and towards actually serving the public.

Having Judge Jerry’s malfunction make him TOO empathetic (for Dredd’s taste, at least) makes him dangerous in a way that avoids the ‘robo-kill-spree’ expectation AND reminds us that while Dredd may always be the series protagonist, he’s certainly never always the hero. When you’re up against death-obsessed alternate dimensional law enforcers, Sov war criminals, or off-world vengence-seeking ex-Wally Squaders, Dredd’s iron will and singular focus makes him the man you want in your corner. But making sure the word of law doesn’t choke the spirit of law? Being a servant as well as protector? Dredd is not the man for that, and Wagner makes that absolutely clear this week. ‘Harvey’ spends five weeks making us hope that Dredd gives Judge Harvey his endorsement, and then spends five pages this week making that endorsement a thing to…well, dread. His support comes as Harvey happily squashes in his takedown of Judge Jerry the one thing in these new RV units that makes Dredd more afraid than rebellion: heart.

Defoe: Diehards, Part 4
Credits: Pat Mills (script), Colin MacNeil (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)

Ryan Perry: I really didn’t expect this book to become the one that preaches at me. At least, I think it’s trying to preach, and honestly if the reader can’t tell if you’re talking about an issue or not, that’s probably a problem. Pat Mills delivers a little information as to why our protagonist, whose name is actually Titus, is here within the story, which is good. What isn’t good is that amount of extra information given with it. There was also maybe a hint as to where the reeks come from, but it was hard to tell if Mills was giving a clue about the story or giving his opinion on a political issue. There’s also the curious decision to continue the pattern from earlier issues of introducing a new character and neglecting the ones we already have. This is saved by the fact that our new character is fairly interesting. It’s just hard to see this story getting to a fun conclusion that will make everything up to this point seems worth it.

Colin MacNeil is given several chances to draw the reeks here and refresh the audience as to why his art seemed really exciting in the first issue. Thankfully, this is exactly what happens. His reeks are appropriately scary and interesting throughout. They don’t ever really come off as corny either, when they so easily could. MacNeil also seems to have toned down his usually super cartoony character depictions to just be cartoony for this issue. The only problem artistically here isn’t really even MacNeil’s fault. Most of the story takes place during the day and in the sunlight, which really isn’t the ideal setting for his art. The first two issues really showed us how he can shine in the shades of grey night brings, so in some ways this time around can feel like a let down.

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Brink: Skeleton Life, Part 7
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), INJ Culbard (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

Alice W. Castle: This is a strange chapter and after the way last week’s chapter ended, I wasn’t expecting Abnett and Culbard to go this route. Part of this chapter feels much like the previous chapters that I’ve noted felt like they were going around in circles, reiterating the same information. That’s very much on display in the opening pages of this chapter where we briefly see Kurtis accompanying Ms Junot on the tour of the Galina habitat. We introduced to yet another character, the construction manager, before Kurtis examines the worker tags on the walls once more.

What I think is most frustrating about this is that it goes beyond slow burn into glacial storytelling territory. While Abnett and Culbard have done a great job introducing interesting and dynamic characters over the seven chapters so far, the actual mystery at the core of the story has had very few developments. Sure, we get to see another death caused by whatever is haunting the Galina Habitat, but that just leads to another ‘To Be Continued’ on the next page.

There feels to be very little development of the actual mystery at the heart of the story. Seven chapters in and I still have no idea what’s going on inside the Galina Habitat because just as things get interesting, the chapter is over. I remarked that I was impressed with just how much Abnett and Culbard could squeeze into just five pages at a time, but now I’m wondering if the scope of their storytelling is overreaching their limits.

Still, this was a fantastic showcase of INJ Culbard’s artwork, especially the last two pages. The wide, cascading panels and the switch from cold blues and greens to pastel pinks mark a weird, distancing feel to the colours. I just wish I could connect to what’s going on more.

Scarlet Traces: Cold War – Book Two, Part 7
Credits: Ian Edginton (script), D’Israeli (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Rowan Grover: This chapter presents a good balance of high-paced action and character moments. We get a good insight on the Earth forces and their motivations – my personal favourite being the subtle panels depicting the innocent Martians caught in the fire. The chapter ends on a pretty dark note that’s one of the most effective in the series yet – the juxtaposition of the Earth forces saying ‘WE’VE MADE A DENT…THERE’S NO MAJOR DAMAGE DONE’ to the imagery of a singed Martian skeleton pulling a loved one from the ground is incredible gripping.

Visually, D’Israeli’s art might be the most affecting and moving stuff that he’s delivered in the series. Space battles are high paced and speedy, right from the second page. I love his partial use of speed lines on a page instead of covering the whole panel – you get a much better sense of movement, especially on the second panel of the second page. D’Isreali’s camera work is great, too – the second to last page has a panel looking up from the Martian’s POV to the fighters, and lets the readers feel the same fear that they do. I love Annie Parkhouse’s lettering effects on the first page too – the ‘THUNN THUNN THUNN’ is very stylish and works well with the aesthetic.

Honestly, this chapter might very well be one of my favourite in the series thus far – it has a great blend of visual, frenetic storytelling and dramatic irony. Edginton, D’Isreali, and Parkhouse deliver a masterclass of short storytelling here.

Cursed: The Fall of Deadworld, Part 7
Credits: Kek-W (script), Dave Kendall (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Greg Lincoln: From the shadowy crispness of the pages last week, we head back into the light as we go on a bad trip into ex-Judge Fairfax’s past. This week, I think we may just be getting to the heart of his story. Agatha Proudwater, the seer, sees the darkness and death that surrounds Fairfax and follows him, asking whether he’s part of it or not. It’s the question we maybe should have been asking all along. All the flashbacks have given us a character that was abused, manipulated, violent, and detached. Kek-W and Dave Kendall give us more uncertainty as they tell another story where his role is as a pawn of Tutor Sidney Death and he’s rewarded for his role. The question now as I see it is what kind of man he’ll be if he’s actually really free of those influences. The horror of that question is the uncertainty they have left us with.

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Jess on the other hand, we are sure of; she’s proven her morals throughout the story through her actions and words. She proves again this issue just how capable she is again. Dave Kendall and Kek-W throw in a scene where they clearly satirize Trump, which Jess takes advantage of even if off panel. Satire and snark creep back into “Cursed” again this week, just a little. Horror stories work better when you get a break from the threat of what is foreshadowed down the road. That helped the impact of the final pages of this week.

The art for the most part leaned toward Mr. Kendall’s looser style in early pages, unlike last week. Like last week, these pages really shine in the panels that lean into the darkness as this chapter closed. Psiren, sensing that events are getting ahead of her, asks for senior Judges back-up and it arrives in spades. Dave Kendall gets to play with all those lovely dark tones again, spicing them up with some fluorescent spots as someone appears that chills even the witch. It portends ill for next week and the 51st irregular army, Agatha, Jess and Fairfax, if not life in general.

That’s gonna do it for us this week! “2000 AD” Prog 2029 is on sale this week and available from: