Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 1913

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-Power 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.

We’ve got a brand-new Prog this week, so we’ll jump right in after this quick public service announcement!

I. AN EARTHLET’S GUIDE TO 2000 AD

We understand that having such a large selection of comics to choose from can make knowing where to start with 2000 AD seem 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?

So to help new & potential readers, we’ve put together An Earthlet’s Guide to 2000 AD. A regularly updated FAQ, The Guide will collect everything you need to make your initial foray into the 2000 AD Thrill-verse as simple as possible.

II. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1913

Cover by Neil Roberts

Judge Dredd: Dark Justice, Part 3

MILD SPOILERS FOR THIS WEEK’S STRIP! And I really do mean mild, but there’s the warning so no one can get mad.

Let’s take stock of where we are and what we know. Back during the Day of Chaos madness, PJ Maybe (with a brand-new face and going by the name Roberto Smith) settled down with wealthy eldster Allegra Strepsil in her giant mansion. It was in this mansion that he tricked the three non-Death Dark Judges and trapped them in a bottle. Fast-forward a few months and we learn that Judge Death himself came knocking at Allegra’s door looking for his imprisoned comrades. This week we learn that poor old Allegra can no longer count herself amongst the living, and that the Death/Maybe scene we saw in this story’s first chapter had actually happened ‘weeks ago’. If you read last week, then you know that last bit of information clears up a question about the timeline I raised. Now Maybe’s in the wind, and Judge Death is aboard the pioneer ship The Mayflower with the ethereal forms of his ghastly compatriots.

The big question mark for me in all of this is why Death wants to be aboard The Mayflower in the first place. I can’t piece together what exactly he could be working towards. It’s seem to me that if his goal was to punish people for the crime of life, then he’d have many more opportunities to cast his judgment back on Earth. Maybe it has something to do with the wealthy who’ve left on this pilgrimage somehow being more guilty than those left behind? But then I think that idea falls apart, because if the crime is life and death is the punishment, I don’t think there’s a whole lot of room for singling out any one person to be more guilty than the next. Of it could be he sees them as ‘on the lam’?

Credits: John Wagner (script), Greg Staples (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Savage (Book 9): Grinders, Part 3

When the Volgans occupied their country, the British looked for any help they could find to send the former Russians back to their own country. This included accepting American aid. But the British might look back on that deal as something closer to inviting a vampire into their home, an act that leaves you powerless against it. Instead of getting things back to the days of queen and country (or King in their case, as King Charles and Queen Diana were on the throne when the Volgans invaded) (and yes, she would be the former Princess Diana we all knew so well), the British are finding the aid they so desperately needed won’t stop, even as they now start wanting it to. The drones now police Brits instead of targeting Volgs; the Hammersteins are rebuilding England instead of the Brits themselves. Tensions are escalating. And resistance hero Bill Savage? He’s watching it all from the pub, having a pint.

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Mills is working on a few different levels, like he does in almost all of his stories. As we’ve mentioned before, he is very much a realistic writer in that he doesn’t sugarcoat things or shy away from taking situations to their logical conclusion. If you give foreign corporate interests a playground for their products on your soil, of course they aren’t going to willingly pull them back. Your war was opportunity knocking on their door and they are going to keep that door open as long as possible. Dramatically this extends the story into areas a little less black & white (ironic for a monochrome strip like ‘Savage’). The comforting reassurance of everything being fine once the ‘enemy’ is defeated, despite how dangerous and costly that action might ultimately be, is replaced by a big ol’ “now what?” and the tension that comes with it.

The story title, ‘Grinders’, can refer as much to post-Volgan Britain as it can to the Volgan-funded biopunks that have taken technological implants into their flesh as a way of bettering themselves. With robots on the streets and in the skies, in a way the flesh and veins of the nation itself, how different is that in any real way to the surgical scenes we saw back in Prog 1911, only on a much larger scale?

Credits: Pat Mills (script), Patrick Goddard (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)

The Order, Part 3

Just a flesh wound indeed. At least Ritterstahl has the excuse of being a robot head on a dead body; I’m still not sure what was up with the Black Knight in “Holy Grail”.

But we get to see a lot more medieval technology this week, including some of the robot’s other suits. Good to know he can operate without having to have a fresh supply of decapitated corpses, as that might be a slight black mark on his otherwise spotless record of community service. We also get to see a “twin-tube shoot-gunne”, hydroelectric power grids, and a discussion of Emil Blazen’s Theory of Convergent Harmonics. And if in case that sounds a little too dry, I direct your attention to “Baphomet” as an example of what this strip can throw in at a moment’s notice to keep things from getting too boring.

Credits: Kek-W (script), John Burns (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Ulysses Sweet, Maniac For Hire: Psycho Therapist, Part 3

Yes! Paul Marshall has, for the second time, slipped a Do-It-Yourself Doodler into Ulysses Sweet! Bravo, sir, bravo.

Last week I was excited to see The Hendersons return to the strip. But this week? Now I’m wishing they had just stayed home! Poor Mr. and Mrs. Henderson. But on a happier note, Sweet did not have to burrow into an old lady’s head to remove the chip he’s after. Because she was blown up. Also, there were hamburgers!

Credits: Guy Adams (script), Paul Marshall (art), Chris Blythe (tones), Ellie de Ville (letters)

Orlok, Agent of East-Meg One: Eurozoned, Part 2

Last week’s strip was a great introduction to the character of Orlok and the way he conducts his deadly business. This week we’re shown a bit about the world he operates in and what the Judges of East-Meg One know about his movements and resources. Wyatt and Lynch have now set the board, so the game can really begin.

Something that caught my interest this week was the different types of East-Meg Judges we saw. One of which was the high-ranking Zuhkov mentioned in last week’s strip. He’s got the word ‘OMOH’ on his left shoulder pad, which indicates that he is the head of the Omon division, which oversees anti-dissident activities. I tried translating OMOH, but to no avail. The closest I came is that ‘Omon’ is the Uzbek word for ‘survive,’ which could make some sense, I guess. East-Meg One’s survival would be threatened by dissent in its Judicial system, and since the city itself is a future version of the USSR, it can be argued that parts of the Uzbeki language could have made it into their vernacular. Or, maybe there’s a better reason that I’m not aware of. Let me know if that’s the case! Also of note is the appearance of War Marshall Kazan.

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Credits: Arthur Wyatt (script), Jake Lynch (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

III. OF INTEREST

The reach of Tharg the Mighty is long, and his fingers are in many pies when it comes to spreading Thrill-Power. His primary interest is in comics, true, but he has much love for other forms of Earthlet entertainment, such as films or figures. And it’s that last one that we would like to draw your attention to. Apologies to your wallets and bank accounts.

Starting off with the bad news first: ThreeA is producing a Judge Death figure. As if seeing him in his Greg Staples-rendered gory wasn’t enough, now you can have a slice of Brian Bolland-imagined Death on your shelf at all times. Retailing for $60 with free shipping, Judge Death is 6-1/2″ tall, meticulously detailed, fully posable, and available in standard and B&W comic book variant versions. You can order either right now at this link.

ThreeA is also planning on releasing other 2000 AD characters, in presumably the same format and detail level. As fantastic a bit of news as that is, I still have one question: Who will save us from Judge Death in the meantime?

Coming from Mezco and the One:12 Collective, this Judge Dredd figure is $65, is in the same scale as Death, and comes with a truly impressive array of accessories and hand variants. You can order Judge Dredd at this link, and bring the Dredd vs Death battle right to your own city block.

My other question: when are they going to release that Lawmaster we see in the background?

IV. RECOGNIZE THE LAW

It’s no secret that there are a great many flavors of Judges from a great deal of Mega-Cities, so we’re aiming to use this space as a way of exploring as many types of Judges as we can. Did you know that in Mega-City One there are Accounting Judges? And Exorcist Judges?

This week we turn our gaze towards the stars! Mega-City One is actively colonizing off-world in a bid to secure the massive, and increasingly rare, resources needed to keep the city running. In order to maintain control over these new and often volatile colonies, The Meg has had to send Judges to the farthest reaches of space. Many of these Colonial Judges may never return to Earth, and some weren’t even born here to begin with.

SJS Psi-Judge (Colonial)

After Colonial Judges lead a revolt against Mega-City One, SJS Judges were dispatched to squash the insurrection. Among them was SJS Psi-Judge Syren, who is probably the most Abnett-esque character I’ve ever seen in 2000 AD.

Elements of SJS Psi-Judge (Colonial) uniform:

Hooded cloak
High collar w/ helmet attachment
Judge badge directly below lip of collar
SJS Psi-Div diamond eye insignia
Matching shoulder pads (no eagle)
Space-issue utility belt with vacuum-resistant pouches
Laz-pistol
Standard-issue elbow pads
Standard-issue knee pads
All-environment colonial-issue boots

Identifying elements unique to Judge Syren (pictured above)

Three bio-eye implants (two standard, one all-seeing)
Dual laz-pistols
Psi-linked Hunter Droid
Larger than Earth human

Judge Syren’s first appearance was in “Judge Dredd Megazine” 305, written by Dan Abnett with art by Colin MacNeil, and is collected in Insurrection vol. 1.

I find Abnett’s work with Colonial Judges to not only be particularly interesting, but also one of his greatest contributions to the world of Judge Dredd. We’ll be sure to explore this division of the Judicial System sooner rather than later.

That’s gonna do it for us this week! “2000 AD” Prog 1913 is on sale today and available from: