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!
THIS WEEK IN 2000AD
Judge Dredd: The Paradigm Shift Part 1
Credits: Michael Carroll (script), Jake Lynch (art), John Charles (colors). Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln: A simple robbery at a pawn/junk shop attracts Dredd’s personal attention in the framing sequence of ‘The Paradigm Shift.’ Michael Carroll, with the visual storytelling aid of Jake Lynch, John Charles, and Annie Parkhouse, bring his vision on the early days of the Judges to the “Judge Dredd” strip this week. Released the same week as his novella, “Judges: Avalanche,” ‘The Paradigm Shift’ does a marvelous job dropping us into the era 106 years before The current Dredd story. Judge Francesco Deacon and the cast it introduces feel fully realized, so much so that I thought this was not the first appearance of this era and the characters it sets up. The story from the past alludes to a military coverup, an exposure to toxic nerve agents and the power struggle between the traditional political military and the newly established Judges department. Carroll sets up some compelling mysteries in the initial story.
The early era Judges from the pens brushes and colors of Lynch and Charles are evocative of the future Justice Department uniforms. They hint at the eagle designs, the exaggerated shoulder, elbow and knee pads, while the motorcycles are pretty much Lawmasters already. Their art reminiscent of the classic Dredd artist Colin McNeil with a bit of Carlos Ezquerra thrown in. Lynch’s style choices lean more then just a little into caricature and though Dredd’s chin does get a bit distortedly big enough once or twice to be distracting, the art is pretty characterful. The action scenes and continuity come across clearly. Their characters depictions may not very flattering but it’s refreshing that Lynch and Charles don’t take efforts to make people overly attractive. Much like British TV, people are allowed to be just average or plain. Given the amount of dialogue in the script, Annie Parkhouse was very skillful in her balloon placement. None distract from the story itself or cover any artistic detail.
Skip Tracer: Heavy Is The Head, Part Two
Credits: James Peaty (script), Paul Marshall (art), Dylan Teague (Colours), Simon Bowland (letters)
Kent Falkenberg: “Heavy Is the Head, Part Two” takes a confident and restrained stride forward this week. James Peaty and Paul Marshall march in lock step to create a strip that’s steeped in intrigue in terms of character and conspiracy, all while building a great, wide world in tight, confined space.
What works best in Peaty’s script is that nothing is over-explained. There’s some logical blow back from Nolan Blake’s mark having the back of his skull blown as things closed out last week. And while the narrative pays out this thread, the forward progress builds in-roads towards Blake’s military past – and “powers” – and the existence of some clandestine organization at the heart of the Cube’s power structure. It all comes across naturalistic, as if it’s truly a world that’s been turning long before we as readers poked our heads in to watch.
Marshall’s art is fantastic. It’s grounded with effective facial expression, to the extent that we can tell Blake’s got tons of wheel’s turning in his head, even though he says little. And Blake’s brief recall of his tour on Mutesh 9, gives Marshall the opportunity for flash and flourish as his company is blasted with laser fire. At the same time, the scene is grounded back by a look of terror in an extreme close-up of Blake’s eyes as he surveys the carnage.
But what actually happened on Mutesh 9? Who killed his mark, and who’s trying to pay him off? What are these powers, really? Blake and Marshall seed these questions and more in the slick-looking, sleek-reading “Heavy Is The Head, Part Two.”
Survival Geeks – Geek-Con, Part One
Continued below
Credits Gordon Rennie & Emma Beeby(script) Neil Googe(art) Gary Caldwell(colors) Annie Parkhouse(letters)
Michael Mazzacane: The “Survival Geeks” return with their greatest and most deadly test yet: interdimensional comic-con! Just imagine what the con crud must be like. While this is the high concept spine of the strip, Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby take until half way through the strip to get there. That isn’t what is of most immediate interest, that is the interpersonal relationships between Sam and Simon. ‘Geek-Con’ opening page making a mockery of romcom conventions while also showing both characters inability to properly communicate was delightful. Visually Googe shows Sam and Simon up as opposed at all moments, before finally showing them in unison having enough of this car wreck of failed courtship. I’m sure things will get darker going forward, but it’s nice to see “2000 A.D.” expand it’s satire beyond the grimdark.
It’s that kind of craft that makes the pages where things threaten to turn into something of a mindless zombie affair, entertaining. The off kilter panel revealing a horde of zombies, plastered over a larger panel further showing off the anonymous horde, mixed with Googe’s expressive character work was intriguing. There’s a sense of cathartic glee at just smashing your way through a horde of zombies. That sense of glee makes the denial stronger and funnier. Googe plays with the typical wide shot reveal of a horde of zombies but uses that wide view to show all of them designated as cosplayers. That scale mixed with a pithy one liner is good craft.
The strip begins to setup its overall adventure as a whole in the latter pages. I’m curious to see how and where the creative team pokes fun at conventions.
Durham Red: Born Bad, Part 1
Credits: Elec Worley (script), Ben Willsher (art), Ellie De Ville (letters)
Tom Shapira: My knowledge of Durham Red is limited to her sporadic appearances in the original run of “Strontium Dog” in which she was not much of a well-defined character – more of a fiery counterpart to the cool and controlled Johnny Alpha (and being an eye candy for the boy readers). I gather her solo series under Dan Abnett was fairly well-received, though I have yet to read it. So I come into this pretty cold.
The first part of the new serial doesn’t do much to endure her to me as leading protagonists: it’s a professionally performed story, following all the right introductory bits, giving us a power demonstration scene (the power in question being really good at shooting people) and setting up the continuing narrative; though if the final image was meant to be meaningful beyond the revelation that Durham Red is obviously tough it went right over my head. But there’s a certain lack of depth to her, at least in this part. She’s a “strong female protagonist” which too often translates into being physically strong, rather than being strongly defined.
The art’s side is a bit stronger: Ellie De Ville is one of these letterers who are so regularly good one almost struggles to find compliments for her work, it’s such a solid continuing piece of comics-craft. Ben Willsher was responsible to some really strong “Judge Dredd” showings over the last decade, and while his straightforward style translates well to the world of Dredd I would have preferred to see him going a bit more hog-wild with a strip like “Durham Red.” As is this story features well drawn action, and bit less well drawn fanservice shots, but nothing in it reflects the animalistic nature of the character, simmering and barley controlling herself, that the words suggest.
