Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 1904

Welcome, citizens, 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-powerful 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.

There’s a new Prog and a new graphic novel to talk about this week, so let’s get right to it!

This week’s cover is by Alex Ronald.

I. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1904

Judge Dredd: Block Judge, Part 5

I think it becomes clear this week that the problems at the heart of Gramercy Heights may be a little more than three Judges can sort out. There’s a murder that Dredd’s sniffing at, but once day breaks and the block comes to life, more pressing matters begin to pop up. This whole strip has had a fairly break-neck pace to it from the start, but today’s installment seems to be moving particularly fast. It’s almost the comics equivalent of getting caught in an undertow: lots of panic, second-by-second reassessments of the situation, the overwhelming fear of not surviving, immense exhaustion, and the whole thing happens really quickly. And once you feel like you can finally get in control of things, you realize just how far away the shore is.

Woven into this week’s narrative, between Dredd and Corrigan’s attempts at keeping order, are scenes from Gramercy’s Block Court. Overseen by Judge Beeny, Block Court is where citizens go to bring suits against one another. It’s part Judge Judy and part Jerry Springer, with Wagner and Ezquerra each doing all they can to ratchet up the humor. This is the kind of satire and black humor that ‘Judge Dredd’ is known for, so it’s no surprise that the character’s creators do it so well.

Credits: John Wagner (script), Carlos Ezquerra (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Stickleback: The Thru’Penny Opera, Part 5

One of the benefits of publishing stories in “2000 AD” is that each installment is only 5 to 6 pages. And since every installment should have, if not a cliffhanger, but at least point of revelation every week, then that means the readers get new story shocks in fairly rapid succession. And for readers trained to expect a certain pace to their stories, this can be even more disorienting. And exciting, because you’re left to wonder what they are going to fill the rest of the time with.

I’ve been primed for Stickleback playing a cat-and-mouse game with The Cutter. Near-misses, narrow escapes, that type of thing for another couple of weeks before the final showdown. Wasn’t expecting Stickleback to get some off-panel intel from his snitches, roll up on The Cutter’s hideout, and sick his cronies on the man. But Edginton apparently said “Nuts” to waiting around and cut to the chase conclusion because The Cutter isn’t the issue here. Or rather, The Cutter isn’t the real problem. What could possibly be more dangerous than a serial killer?

I’ll give you three guesses. Or rather, one guess with three names.

Credits: Ian Edginton (script), D’Israeli (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Greysuit: Prince of Darkness, Part 4

“He was warned what happens to whistle–blowers, wasn’t he?”

Oh man, this week’s Greysuit gets right down to the heart of things. Not only do we learn more about the nature of John’s mission to kill former Detective Chief Inspector Marsdon, but we get a glimpse into what the buildup to it has been. What have John’s bosses considered already? What forms of persuasion has Marsden been subjected to? And finally, how will his life be ended? This story is drinking deeply from what I’ll call ‘conspiracy theories’, if only for lack of a better term. You see, it’s not unheard of for people who can or do cause problems for those in power to be ‘suicided’. Deborah Palfrey, Danny Casolaro, David Kelly, and Vince Foster are just a few high-profile troublemakers who’ve suddenly decided to kill themselves. Is it possible that the immense pressure and hardship each of them faced caused their decisions to end their own lives? Of course. Is it quite convenient for many prominent American politicians that The DC Madam was found dead from apparent suicide? Absolutely. Are a great many of you currently giving me the side-eye? I’m pretty sure of it.

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However you lean when it comes to this stuff, conspiracy theory is quickly becoming the western world’s favorite form of fiction. “The X-Files”, “Enemy of the State”, “The Da Vinci Code”, “V for Vendetta”; these all have their roots in conspiracy, and were all pretty popular in their day. It seems that Pat Mills dove into this world face-first for ‘Greyshirt’, and we’re all the better for it. Each new strip sees Mills cranking up the pressure, expertly building out a world in just a few pages each week.

Credits: 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 4

The Hunter has come to Atonement. Deputy Crowe has come to his senses. The General has come to a realization that his second wife would move heaven and earth to see him dead. And Ichabod Azrael has left with his talking horse still dripping with sarcasm. Oh, and the silent lady on the hill is one hell of a markswoman with that bow.

Not much else to say for this week, except props to Dowling for the last panel of the strip creeping me all the way out. Without spoiling, it shows a person’s face looking directly at the reader, their eyes both simultaneously in and not in shadow. As your brain tries to decide which of those it is, it has the effect of repeatedly re-engaging you with that character’s stare, which makes it even more creepier. Ugggghhhhhh…

Credits: Rob Williams (script), Michael Dowling (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Kingdom: Aux Drift, Part 5

Aux Drift, in the heart of Auxtralia. Where Humans, Aux, and Wild-Breeds all live side-by-side. Tonight, now that the celebration of Gene the Hackman’s arrival has been cut short, they will fight side-by-side. As a Pure Breed, Gene was built for this. He was made for war. He is the Alpha. He is in charge!

Regular readers know how much we here at Multiver-City One adore Dan Abnett’s writing. He’s no stranger to galaxy-spanning epics, and often chooses to tell these tales through seemingly average protagonists. I mean, he wrote a riveting story about an intergalactic customs office! I can’t think of any other writer in comics that could pull that off. But ‘Kingdom’ feels different.

Whereas many of Abnett’s stories are about ordinary people living in extraordinary times and places, ‘Kingdom’ features a cast of mutant warriors traveling across an inhospitable land. This story gives readers the sense that there is something huge out there, just over the horizon, but it’s going to be a hell of a slog to get there. This gives Abnett the room to cut loose and get down to some sci-fi barbarian battle action. Elson and Ryder do a fantastic job bringing this wonderful slugfest to life with their art. Their pages are appropriately kinetic, allowing readers to ‘get whet’ right along with Gene and the gang.

Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Richard Elson (art), Abigail Ryder (color), Ellie DeVille (letters)

II. THE RETURN OF ZENITH

That’s right, humes! Zenith’s back! And this time, he’s affordable!

While today’s release isn’t actually the first 2000 AD publication of the character since his last appearance in December 2000, for all but a select few of us it might as well be. Last December’s limited-to-1,000-copies direct-sale-only “The Complete Zenith” hardcover omnibus was priced (£100/$161) out of the wallets of everybody except the die-hard ‘Zenith’ fans, which considering the story had been out of print for almost 20 years meant 99% of comics readers. Even so, its reputation and that of its writer Grant Morrison meant that finding 1,000 people willing to plunk down the dollars or pounds was pretty easy, and the book sold out within hours.

But “Zenith: Phase 1”, collecting the strip’s first arc, is now available in the UK and North America, with Phase 2 already solicited for a December release. The hardcover collects the original Phase 1 installments as well as the two Interludes that followed, all in their original black & white. It also includes a full-color cover gallery of the Zenith-sporting Prog covers and a gallery of Brendan McCarthy’s original design sketches. (For those of you holding on to the Titan reprints of the early 1990’s, the Interludes were included at the beginning of Book 2 of those reprints instead of Book 1. So 2000 AD is sticking closer to the original intent with these releases, as those Interlude stories came out much closer to, and read better with, the end of Phase 1 than the beginning of Phase 2.)

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“Zenith: Phase 1” is available in print through your local comic shop (via Diamond after 11/5), and both in print and digitally (in DRM-free PDF or CBZ) through 2000ADonline.com or the 2000 AD Newsstand app.

We will be offering our take on the material in the near future, but having seen a copy of the book at New York Comic-Con a few weeks ago, I can already say that it looks gorgeous. Steve Yeowell’s linework really pops in black & white. And to whoever bought that last copy I forced myself not to buy on the spot because I had a preordered one coming? You’re welcome.

In the meantime, those interested about the twists and turns keeping ‘Zenith’ out of readers hands for so long can read more about the strip’s history (along with the rest of 2000 AD) in David Bishop’s excellent history “Thrill-Power Overload”, as well as find Laura Sneddon’s comprehensive look into the subject here.

III. DAVE GIBBONS: UK COMICS LAUREATE

Congratulations to 2000 AD alumnus Dave Gibbons! He was appointed UK Comics Laureate by the charity organization Comics Literacy Awareness (CLAw) at last week’s Lakes International Comics Art Festival in Kendal, UK. Gibbons’ tenure will begin in February 2015 and run for two years, after which time CLAw will appoint another Laureate. The mission he chose to accept is to “act as an ambassador for comics and their potential to improve literacy.”

There wasn’t enough time to finish the piece I had planned for this week’s column explaining all the reasons why we think Dave is an excellent choice because there were just so many of them! But rest assured, that piece will be up soon. In the meantime, congrats again, Dave!

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…