2000 AD Prog 2152 Featured Columns 

Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2152 – Watch the World Burn!

By , , , and | October 9th, 2019
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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!

Cover by Cliff Robinson

THIS WEEK IN 2000AD

Judge Dredd: Guatamala Part 3
John Wagner(script), Colin McNeil(art), Chis Blythe(colors), Annie Parkhouse(letters)

Greg Lincoln: Creating tension when the major action is waiting and negotiation is a tricky thing that seems effortless for a season writer line John Wagner. The meeting with El Presidente could not have been more tense. Between the initial snubbing that the Mega City One delegation received and their final meeting while he is literally gilt with gold while they talked seemed a double slap in the face to a practical and every-mans law person like Joseph Dredd. Dredd’s human partner Beeny gets to express all the various frustrations thatboth he and Dredd and their Mechanismo must feel or experience in this situation. Wagner effectively presents the pompous nature of the President robot and the general hatred that his army and assistants hold for the weakness. All the little elements added up to a very tense meeting despite letter of anything happening.

Colin McNeil crafted some very clever scenes for this week’s mostly talking heads story. The close up tight shots add emphasis to the overall tension of the scene and draws attention to the pomp of the ruling robot and the ever present military elements in this story. Chris Blythe knows well how to color McNeil’s art to excellent effect too, the embellishments he added made the various metals and textures stand out from one another. Anne Parkhouse ,for the second week in a row, handled the mass or text for these negotiations quite well to preserve the feeling in the panels.

Defoe: The Divisor Part 3
Credits Pat Mills(script) S.K. Moore(art) Ellie De Ville(letters)

Michael Mazzacane: Cliffhangers are an interesting trope in “2000 A.D.” strips, the best ones feel natural and their quick negation making perfect sense. The one in the previous strip wasn’t that elegant but worked well enough, how Mills got out of it was a bit too deus ex machina for my taste. The Brethren just happen to show up on the hopes of some overtime. The page itself is nicely composed by S.K. Moore as he uses the lowered platform our heroes hang from to make a spotlight in the center of a page filled with action an movement. Black and white art is all about controlling the light source, and how that source makes the art legible. The last strip didn’t have much of that control. This page showed very good control and made for an overall excellent page.

The strip as a whole though is a bit awkward, Mills hits those nationalist notes and some working class humor in spots. It isn’t spectacular but adds a nice texture to the strip and shows the reader what the world is like. How it transitions into its final three pages is a bit rough, as Defoe leaves for a meeting. It starts in the final panels of the third page and isn’t very elegant considering just saving it for the next page would’ve made a cleaner break between scene locations.

It’s interesting to see S.K. Moore draw something more restrained. There just ins’t much really to draw in the next few pages, it is a man and his very large telescope complaining about the darn lights of London ruining his chance to commune with the heavens. This lack of movement and action gets across the tranquil spiritual feeling that comes across in his letter, which is nicely lettered by Ellie De Ville. Of course things go bad when the zombies show up and do what they do. Once again Moore shows better use of contrasting black and white to make readable images as the zombies appear in ghastly white against the pure blackness of the telescope lab. Nothing about the pages are super stylish, but there is a easy-to-read quality to them that makes the massacre seem more visceral.

Continued below

Brink: Hate Box, Part Three
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Inj Culbard (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

Rowan Grover: Part Three is a little more interesting than the last, with Bridget being walked around the precinct by Lisa and getting the rundown of what’s going on with their world and the work they do. Abnett gives Bridget a good voice as the second generation cynic who’s questioning the ethics of everything happening in the precinct and does a good job of keeping her so even when Lisa seems to be able to duck and weave around all her questions. The meeting with her father’s old friend is also great character building, as it shows that not only is Bridget living in the shadow of her father’s death but also actively trying to move away from the comparisons between his career and her own. I love her unwinding scene on the final page too, as it gives her a really human tone whilst establishing more about the world.

Culbard’s art is still solid here, handling a lot of Bridget and the officers moving through the precinct. I love their take on Lisa Onofre, as she balances a boss who’s been there and seen it all, yet still manages to get a crack out of taking Bridget on the tour because of her wit. Culbard can be a little wonky on these faces at times but manages to cycle between pouty, dismissive and cynical pleasure with ease for Lisa and I’m all for it. Outside of this, everything else in the comic is pretty safe: everyone has the same uniform, the environments are clean-lined and simple, and Bridget looks generally annoyed most of the time. However, I love the environmental design on the last page: the graffiti and the descending page structure make it feel perfectly derelict and condescending.

“Brink” is still finding its footing with “Hate Box”, but continues to present more fun character studies in this prog. Let’s hope the story breaks away from the visual monotony of the precinct soon.

Hope, Under Fire Part 3
Credits: Guy Adams (script), Jimmy Broxton (art), Ellie De Ville (letters)

Gustavo S. Lodi: Taking a bit of a backseat to the first two chapters on this story, part three of “Hope, Under Fire” remains still as strong in terms of how it portrays the post-war, crime noir feeling perfectly, as it continues to develop its main character.

This time around, “Hope, Under Fire” focusses mostly on a particular part of the detective’s work, that of the stalking and pursuit of evidence. It is a deliberate choice, one that puts readers in the same shoes as the detective waiting for clues, and one that fits the narrative wisely. That said, for the structure the 2000 AD pros offer, with a smaller page count, it might leave the audience wanting for more before the next week hits.

Despite of that, the story remains a joy to behold, largely due to Broxton’s art. He chooses to have a higher panel count for this chapter, showing more situations and events, and having each panel fade into the next as the thick smoke effect (from cigarettes, pipes, and car fumes) blend them together.

The very ending of the story hints at a very experimental issue for chapter four, with the promise of some truly unique visuals that will unlock even more from the stellar visuals seen so far. “Hope, Under Fire” remains a strong narrative, having now further develop it’s main character and clarifying the mission at hand.

The Fall of Deadworld: Doomed Part 3
Credits: Kek-W (script), Dave Kendall(art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Matthew Blair: Now that we’ve been introduced to the hopeless battle that is taking place on Deadworld, we get to see the rag tag resistance that is desperately trying to hold on and save their world. Meanwhile, the Sovs continue to advance.

While a small group of Judges and mutants have managed to hide themselves and fight back, they’re slowly losing the battle. In response to the Judges that have failed to fall in line to the Dark Judges’ twisted agenda their version of a boss, a woman named Chief Casey, sends Judge Fire after them to burn them out. The writing takes more of a central role in this part of the story and while writer Kek-W does a great job of showing the desperation and hopelessness of the situation, the plot is a little difficult to follow if you’re not caught up with the rest of the story.

However, once again the artwork is the star of the show. Artist Dave Kendall continues to showcase his talents in showing the putrid and disgusting rot and decay that the Dark Judges leave behind in their wake, but the highlight of the issue is Judge Fire himself. The bright and aggressive flames stand out and provide a beautiful contrast to the grey and putrid color palate the dominates the landscape. It’s very beautiful, in a disturbing and putrid kind of way.

While “The Fall of Deadworld: Doomed Part 3” may be a little difficult to follow at times, and can feel a little pointless since we all know how this story ends, it’s still a beautiful story to look at and a highly engaging story to read. It delivers pulse pounding action, wonderful character moments, and awe inspiring displays of brutal power that promise to only get better in the future.


//TAGS | Multiver-City One

Greg Lincoln

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Gustavo S Lodi

Gustavo comes all the way down from Brazil, reading and writing about comics for decades now. While Marvel and DC started the habit, he will read anything he can get his hands on! Big Nintendo enthusiast as well.

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Michael Mazzacane

Your Friendly Neighborhood Media & Cultural Studies-Man Twitter

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Rowan Grover

Rowan is from Sydney, Australia! Rowan writes about comics and reads the heck out of them, too. Talk to them on Twitter at @rowan_grover. You might just spur an insightful rant on what they're currently reading, but most likely, you'll just be interrupting a heated and intimate eating session.

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Matthew Blair

Matthew Blair hails from Portland, Oregon by way of Attleboro, Massachusetts. He loves everything comic related, and will talk about it for hours if asked. He also writes a web comic about a family of super villains which can be found here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Secret-Lives-of-Villains

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