Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 1918

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.

There’s both a brand-new Prog and Megazine hitting shelves this week, but we did not receive our review copies of the Megazine in time for this week’s column, so we’ll tackle it and Prog 1919 next week. Also, we’re forgoing the usual Earthlet’s Guide plug this week to give more space to an important announcement.

I. BRETT EWINS (1955-2015)

Photo by Steve Cook

We were sad to hear about the passing of artist Brett Ewins yesterday. In lieu of trying to properly encapsulate Ewin’s contribution to comics ourselves, here is the official 2000 AD statement:

It is with great sadness that we received the news of the tragic death of one of UK comics’ most important creators and artists, Brett Ewins.
Best known for his work on Judge Dredd, Anderson Psi-Division, ABC Warriors, Rogue Trooper, and his own co-creation, Bad Company, art droid, Brett had been an integral part of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, virtually from it’s inception.
The mid-late eighties were an especially busy time for the Ewins art droid, creating projects outside his spiritual home at 2000AD with long-time collaborator, script droid, Peter Milligan, starting on Strange Days anthology comic, in 1984-85, following up in ‘85-86, with Johnny Nemo: a noir-ish future private investigator, with an eye for the ladies, and a knack for snappy one-liners, both for Eclipse Comics.
Ewins, together with friend and fellow 2000AD art droid, Steve Dillon, went on to found ’90s pop culture phenomenon, Deadline, home to iconic female rebel, Tank Girl, in 1989, where his massive workload, and constant deadline demands eventually took their toll (perhaps reflected in the title of the new magazine…).
Something had to give – as well as drawing Bad Company II, for the weekly Prog, and publishing a monthly magazine, Brett had drawn one-off Hellblazer & Swamp Thing stories, then embarked on a six-issue mini-series, Skreemer, with Milligan and Dillon, for DC Comics.
So, in 1991, an overworked, exhausted Brett had what was referred to as a ‘nervous breakdown’, Deadline’s popularity had soared and the stress of completing his numerous projects had finally caught up with him. He withdrew from the comics’ industry entirely, apart from a brief Bad Company spin-off, Kano, for 2000AD in 1993.
Out of the public eye, Brett planned to recover with an anthology title based on work from friends in the industry like Peter Milligan, Alan Grant and Alan McKenzie, as well as friends like musician Michael White.
This volume was finished with the story, “Machine”, drawing on first-hand experiences involving his breakdown. He worked on the stories from 1995 to 2003 and were eventually published in 2004 by Cyberosia.
Brett has also had his painted work displayed in exhibitions, inspiring and collaborating with, street artists, particularly the Mutoid Waste Company and The IFC Crew.

There is also a wonderful post on the Forbidden Planet blog about Ewins. That’s where the photo of Brett came from.

It’s easy to look back and see that, as one of the early “2000 AD” mainstay artists, Brett was part of that unique mix of quirky punk energy that made the comic what it is today. As someone who didn’t grow up reading “2000 AD”, I don’t have a whole lot of firsthand memories of the strips he worked on, but his work with Peter Milligan on “Skreemer” was something that caught my eye and wouldn’t let go. But even as recently as this month I was still buying his work. Titan Comics released a collection of his “Johnny Nemo” comics (again with Milligan” that are just insane.

If you wanted to get technical and reductionary, you could say his stuff was one-part Shaky Kane, one-part Brendan McCarthy, one-part Steve Dillon…but that would be missing the point. His style was his style, his art fired the imaginations of his readers and collaborators in ways that gave us things we’d never seen before. We are better for his contributions and poorer for his loss.

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Do yourself a favor: stop reading this column and check out some of his work right now. We’ll be here when you get back.

II. THIS WEEK IN PROG 1918

This week's cover by Rufus Dayglo

NOW ARRIVING

Survival Geeks: Steampunk’d, Part 1

Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby are both great writers whose comics I’ve enjoyed. Neil Googe and Gary Caldwell did an awesome job on this strip’s art. But, that said, I don’t think this comic is for me. The story focuses on a bunch of hapless boy-nerds and the pretty girl-nerd who’s trapped with them on a time-traveling misadventure. They argue about Dr. Who in the face of danger, debate stuff no one else cares about, and wear ‘geek culture’ t-shirts. If I’m being honest, I found the story and characterization in this strip cringeworthy. I’m sick to death of the ‘comics geek’ trope and wish that, as a civilization, we could just get past it. No more ‘Big Bang Theory.’ No more bazinga. Please.

On the plus side of things, Googe and Caldwell are in top form here. The linework is slick and expressive, and the colors are lush and vibrant. And those tiny Cthulhus that show up are absolutely adorable. Also, shout out to Rufus Dayglo for that cover!

Credits: Gordon Rennie & Emmy Beeby (script), Neil Googe (art), Gary Caldwell (colors), Simon Bowland (letters)

Tharg’s 3rillers: Station to Station, Part 1

Darren Douglas seems to have become a 2000 AD regular and I, for one, could not be happier for that! We’ve sang his praises a number of times already, and this strip is right up there with the work he’s produced before. He’s appeared in some special issues and a Megazine, so it’s nice to see him finally make it to the pages of ‘2000 AD’ proper!

The story focuses on a down-on-her-luck woman on the subway (or for her it’d be the tube, I guess). Anyways, a stranger pulls a coin out of his mouth and gives it to her, and that’s not nearly the strangest thing to happen in the story! Things get weirdly psychedelic, and once it seems like we’re about to find out what the hell is happening to everyone… a rejection. But is it for the greater good? Is it from a lack of understanding? And what will become of the woman we met at the very beginning of the story? All will be revealed with haste, as this will be a short little three-parter!

Credits: Eddie Robson (script), Darren Douglas (art), Ellie de Ville (letters)

Judge Dredd: Dark Justice, Part 8

The very first panels of this strip have Judge Dredd dropkicking Mortis immediately before headbutting Death in the face. This Prog could be the last comic ever made and that’d be OK in my book.

The conflict between Judges Dredd and Death seems to have devolved into a war of attrition. Both sides have had losses and the fight seems to get more intense with each passing page. Plus seeing Death with all those busted-up teeth makes him seem more sinister than ever.

This week’s installment really just extends last week’s, as punches are thrown, proclamations are made, and Anderson continues to try and protect as many survivors as she can. The pace of this story feels a little different than previous Dredd tales in that it doesn’t seem to have a crescendo every eight pages like the usual Progs. I could guess that Wagner is trying to tease out plot points in an effort to make the strip read more fluidly in the upcoming the upcoming “Dark Justice” collection, which raises some interesting questions. Not about how Wagner has chosen to tell this story; his making the final product as standalone as possible is a smart move. What I find curious is how quickly the publisher plans to bring the collection to market. What does that say about the conclusion of this story? Will it set up the next big movement in the ongoing Dredd saga? Or maybe this has nothing to do with story, and is instead about economics. “Dark Justice” began much later than was originally planned, so maybe that somehow has cost 2000 AD money that they’d like to recoup as quickly as possible?

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None of this has any bearing on the fantastic story Wagner and Staples are telling. It’s just fun to try and peek behind the curtain sometimes.

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

Savage (Book 9): Grinders, Part 8

More like Henry Hill.

Jack Savage, recently back in Bill’s life after being presumed nuked in the opening stages of the Volgan invasion, wanted to give Bill and their sister tickets to Disneyland. A kind of makeup gift for making them think he was dead for all those years. Bill, whose sense of survival is probably just as honed as the Goodfellas protagonist, knew that if he took those tickets to Florida, he’d never make it back home alive. That’s how they get you, with a friendly face. And no face was friendlier to Bill than Jack’s, who he wanted so much to believe if his instincts weren’t screaming louder not to trust him.

We also get to see the VV-Day parade this week. British and American dignitaries walking the streets of London, kept safe by Hammersteins and drones. No way THAT could end up badly. Actually, there isn’t, because their both being controlled by US forces based in Nevada. The ‘Cubicle Warriors’, as they’ve been dubbed. Totally 100% foolproof. Nothing to worry about. Just a boring parade for next week’s Prog.

And the chances Mills & Goddard are going to let THAT happen?

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

The Order, Part 8

The Order make their final stand. And you would think being in medieval times would let them not gave to worry about things like computer worms, but you’d be wrong. Given the fact they they’re about to be overrun by these man-sized wurmgolems, plus two of their rans already incapacitated, plus the number of effective escape routes available before the larger wurms enter our dimension and cause all kinds of havoc is absolutely zero…things are not looking good.

Well, actually, that’s not true. Things look gorgeous because John Burns is turning impending Armageddon into a visual feast. I’m thinking his approach has to be some combination of lineart & watercolor. I’ve said it before but Burns’ work draws a pretty straight line all the way back to pieces like Roger McGinnis’ paperback covers from the 60’s, but without the stiffness that would come from just straight-up copying that approach. The Order might not be appreciating what Kek-W is making him draw, but I’m getting to see new work from Burns that feels like pieces from a bygone era, so that’s all right with me.

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

III. COMING TO BOOKSHELVES THIS YEAR FROM 2000 AD

The droids over at 2000 AD laid out their 2015 UK graphic novel publishing plans yesterday, and even a quick glance makes it clear they are building on last year’s success and moving into new territory! It’s also important to note that while these are UK releases, they will still be available at North American LCSs through Diamond.

Kicking things off is a new edition of ‘Zenith: Phase One’ in July guaranteed to be the pinnacle presentation of that story: the Apex Edition! Marking 2000 AD’s entrance into the ‘artist edition’ field pioneered by Scott Dunbier’s artbooks, the Apex Edition will “reproduce at full size the original artwork from Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell’s seminal superhero story from the late 1980s.” Made up of full-color scans of the original art boards, these books let you see every faded paste-up balloon, margin note, coffee stain, white-out streak, and more. We’re both huge fans of these types of releases, and cannot wait to see Yeowell’s art au natural.

(Rumor control: we confirmed with PR droid Molch-R that the Apex Editions are NOT a line of books from 2000 AD, but rather a specific re-presenting of the Zenith books. Apex is a pun on the Zenith title, just as Absolute was a pun title for the first of those books, The Authority. Dunbier’s never intended for those editions to be called ‘Absolutes’ by default; he was just having a laugh with the title.)

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Also in July is the hardcover collection of the ‘Dark Judges’ storyline currently running in the Progs. If you’re not following all the pulse-pounding action on a weekly basis, you can save yourself a trip to the IsoCubes by picking up this collection instead.

The Dave Gibbons/Massimo Bellardinelli ‘Dan Dare’ collection that we mentioned a while back is finally on the schedule for November 2015. In hardcover and remastered from original film elements, these stories were from the beginnings of the Progs and have never been reprinted…until now!

Here’s the UK release schedule for 2015 as it stands now:

March

April
Zenith: Phase Three
Judge Dredd: Luna-1 (digest format)

May
ABC Warriors: Return to Mars

June
Devlin Waugh: Red Tide
The VCs: Hell in the Heavens (digest format)

July
Judge Dredd: Dark Justice
Zenith Phase 4
Zenith: Apex Edition

August
Judge Dredd: Case Files 01: 10th Anniversary Edition

September
Judge Dredd: Day of Chaos: Fourth Faction
Jaegir

October
The Complete Ro-Busters: Nuts and Bolts Vol. I

November
Dan Dare: Vol. 1
Judge Dredd: Trifecta (paperback)

December
The Grievous Journey of Ichabod Azrael (And The Dead Left In His Wake)
ABC Warriors: Mek Files 03

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 dust off our Cold War hostilities and take a look at East-Meg One!

Elements of an East-Meg One Judge’s uniform:

Judge’s helmet with rounded visor, sickle and hammer insignia, green with red trim
Dark green high-collar Judge’s jumper
Center-mounted badge with Judge’s surname, doubles as cape brooch
Calf-length dark green cape, formal
Red shoulder pads adorned with sickle and hammer (left) and star (right)
Gloves w/ pockets and knuckle reenforcement, sickle and hammer insignias
Utility belt with sickle and hammer belt buckle
Knee pads with stars
Calf-high duty boots with holster (right) and sheath (left)

That’s gonna do it for us this week! “2000 AD” Prog 1918 and “Judge Dredd Megazine” 357 are on sale today and available from: