Welcome, citizens, to this week’s installment of Multiver-City One! Each and every Wednesday we will be examining the latest Prog from Tharg and the droids over at 2000 AD, and giving you all the pertinent information you’ll need headed into this week’s Thrill-Zine!
This week’s cover is by Richard Elson.
I. AND THE THRILL-POWER GOES TO…
The numbers have been crunched by the appropriate droids, and the prizes in our first anniversary giveaway have been awarded! We are pleased as punch to be sending out the Pat Mills-signed copy of “Flesh” to Dodsy, the “Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death” collection to Jake, and the Judge Dredd original drawing to David Whittam! Thanks to everyone who participated, and I’m almost positive it won’t be a whole year before we have another one of these giveaways.
II. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1902
Judge Dredd: Block Judge, Part 3
Now that Dredd and his team have settled into their roles at Gramercy Heights, it seems they can start sussing out the bigger picture. What gangs control what turf? What’s their stock and trade? Where’s the money coming from? All of this goes to reinforce the idea that these large blocks really do become their own cities-within-a-city, as the troubles facing a hyper-sized apartment building are essentially those that face any large metropolis.
Both Ezquerra and Wagner continue telling a top-notch story this week, and I get the impression that next week will see Dredd venturing up to some of the block’s penthouses as his mission to bring Gramercy to heel continues.
Credits: John Wagner (script), Carlos Ezquerra (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Stickleback: The Thru’Penny Opera, Part 3
I’m pretty sure you can’t say anything written in blood has something to do with living. As it turns out, that transitions to another scene where a collection of wealthy Londoners listen to a wealthy socialite roll out her plans for building a better city. An urban renewal to bring Londoners the city they deserve, not the city the government has stuck them with. Which actually sounds pretty good, but as with everything else about this strip, even the loftiest of goals doesn’t come without menace. But back to Stickleback…
It looks like Miss Scarlet’s entreaties last week to look into the activities of the serial killer known as The Cutter have moved Stickleback a little closer to the realm of crime fighting than crime perpetrating, but Edginton makes it clear right up front that this in no way means he’s gone soft. Mr. Bullish almost found that out the hard way, when his casual manner and innuendo nearly lead the Pope of Crime set him on fire with his own whiskey in that office. You’d think a newspaperman like Bullish would be observant enough to see that Stickleback has more than enough backbone to qualify as someone you do NOT want to antagonize.
Credits: Ian Edginton (script), D’Israeli (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greysuit: Prince of Darkness, Part 2
OK, time to put all the cards on the table: after last week’s strip, I wasn’t too excited about John Higgins’ art.
It felt difficult to get a sense of setting and environment from the lack of backgrounds. I couldn’t tell if we were outside in alleys or the winding halls of some building interior. After my first read of this week’s installment I thought that my feelings hadn’t changed. But in looking it over just before writing this review, my feelings on the art began to change, and it started with the panels above.
I got the impression that the look of the strip is supposed to feel almost like a stage play, with two-dimensional set pieces sliding into place at all the right times. The lighting sets the mood and changes on cue, smoke machines quietly produce atmosphere, all while the surreal events of tonight’s performance play out for the audience. Even the way Higgins makes his characters ‘act’ is more akin to stage performing, where movements and reactions are ever so slightly exaggerated so the folks in the back are sure to make it all out. Now, I can’t say for sure that any of this is actually how Higgins intends the work to be read, but that’s how it struck me. And it turns out that I really like the art after all.
Continued belowCredits: Pat Mills (script), John Higgins (art), Sally Hurst (colors), Ellie de Ville (letters)
The Grievous Journey of Ichabod Azrael (And The Dead Left In His Wake): One Last Bullet, Part 2
That horse says he’s a horse, of course, but that horse is really an ass. Why? Because how many horses have YOU had a back-&-forth conversation with? I’m going to bet on that answer being none. So clearly, he’s got more going on upstairs than your average thoroughbred. But when Ichabod is looking for a straight answer? “How would I know? I am a horse.”
Given Ichabod’s perchance for plugging people just as easily as looking at them, you’d think Mister Ed here would be a little more forthcoming. Ichabod keeps the firearms in the holsters, but does call him on that, for all the good it does him.
The horse has lead Ichabod to the town of Atonement, where he is looking for God in order to introduce the Supreme Being to one, if not both, of his six-shooters. But the horse cannot point out which of the townspeople God is. So Ichabod has to dismount and go a’searchin’. But the undead gunslinger did not enter the town unnoticed, nor does his search last long before running up against some difficulty in the form of the sheriff, some deputies, and a typewriter.
Yep, a typewriter. The pen might be mightier than the sword, but is the keyboard mightier than the pistol? This is the week we find out!
Credits: Rob Williams (script), Michael Dowling (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Kingdom: Aux Drift, Part 3
That’s what I like about Gene The Hackman: he will take the center.
Gene has found himself in a place he’s never been, witnessing something he’d never known to happen. Here in the mining town of Aux Drift, Gene has seen Aux and Human fighting together, side-by-side against a common enemy. And this sight inspired him, along with his band of warriors, to join the fray. He is the Alpha! Tougher and tough! Get whet!
Abnett and Elson spin quite the yarn here. It’s fun to read a story where Abnett can cut loose and tell an action-packed battle story. He’s certainly planting plenty of seeds and hinting to readers about what the larger world is like. I mean, he’s Dan Abnett; I don’t think he can not do that stuff. But he seems really content to let all of that world building hang back while Gene hacks the heads off some monsters. Speaking of which: Elson is doing a hell of a job making this strip come to life with all this death and decapitation. Between the monsters, severed limbs, and speed lines, this is exactly my type of party.
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Richard Elson (art), Abigail Ryder (color), Ellie DeVille (letters)
III. THE BRITISH ARE COMING! THE BRITISH ARE COMING!
Actually, they are already here!
Tharg’s droid delegation, lead by PR droid Molch-R himself, has already landed in Manhattan in preparation for this week’s New York Comic Con. Located at Booth 2242, they will be stocked with all manner of zarzaj swag that you can’t get anywhere else on this side of the Atlantic, so save yourself some shipping costs and pick your fill of the Thrill-Power in person. And not only that, the annual 2000 AD panel is The Judge Dredd Justice Hour with 2000 AD on Thursday, October 9th from 2:00 to 2:45pm. Just take a look at what’s in store!
We are the law, creeps! Join superstar Creators at the The Judge Dredd Justice Hour as the legendary British comic book 2000 AD kicks off New York Comic Con with all the talk and games you can handle! Moderated by 2000 AD’s Michael Molcher and definitely not for perps or Thrill-suckers! Speakers: Al Ewing, Ian Edgington, and Gary Erskine.
IV. FUTURE PERP FILES
ATTN: ALL CITIZENS OF THE MEG! Be aware that there is always a Judge watching you. Each sector is equipped with millions of HD-CCTV and bioID units. They are there for your protection. If your intent is upright citizenry, then you have no qualm with our surveillance. And remember: if you see something, you are now an accessory to a crime. That’s six months in an Iso-Cube, creep! Random CPU algorithms has selected this citizen for immediate surveillance and assessment…
Continued below
That’s gonna do it for us this week! “2000 AD” Prog 1902 is on sale today and available from finer comic shops everywhere, from the 2000 AD Newsstand app for iPad and iPhone, and from 2000ADonline.com in print or DRM-free PDF and CBZ formats. So as Tharg the Mighty himself would say, “Splundig vur thrigg!”
