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: A Penitent Man Part 2
Ken Niemand (Script), Tom Foster (Art), Chris Blythe (Colors), Annie Parkhouse (Letters)
Christopher Egan: This week’s chapter is a look at both a crime committed against Asher, and moments during his prison term. ‘A Penitent Man’ Part 2 gives us a link between the two time periods. The story itself has a unique look at Judge Dredd and how he handles this particular crime and situation. Asher becomes the victim of a violent upheaval and defacement of his home. Typically, it feels like he is going to attack each crime to the fullest extent of the law, by the book; the one thing he actually holds dear. However due to the fact that Asher is a former Judge who fell from grace, Dredd doesn’t look to be all that interested in solving this, or at the very least is untrusting of Asher. Dredd is actually surprised that Asher would call in the crime, even though failure to report a crime holds its own sentencing.
The story so far is a nice side-step from the usual ‘Dredd hunts down a criminal’ strip. Though that will probably come into play in the near future, the set up to that is really nicely paced and gives us time to live in the world and see why these events are coming to fruition. Even with his past, it is incredibly difficult to not sympathize with or simply understand his motivations or his outlook on life. He did something terrible, he served his sentenced time, and he is just trying to make his way in Mega City One to the best of his ability.
This sympathy makes it easy to side with him and to see Judge Dredd, the titular character, as an outsider, as someone who simply can’t be trusted to help, simply because his views don’t fully align with Asher’s, and through way of storytelling, our own. It’s a theme that really holds water within the comic and in our own lives. One thing is certain, is that a lot of people, especially those in power simply will not help you, no matter how much of a good person you are, simply because you don’t see eye to eye. Dredd is incredibly imposing from start to finish, with Asher, who is still physically powerful, shrinks into the shadows.
Tom Foster’s artwork is deliciously gritty. He brings the dirt and grime of Asher’s present days in the sludge factory, the slum apartments, and the off-world prison in flashbacks. His sense of motion, tone, and mood are on display with his illustrations. It is all gorgeous, and harsh to live in. Chris Blythe’s colors do equal lifting to bring full life into this world. His work is full of the same grit and emotional weight.
“Judge Dredd: A Penitent Man” Part 2 continues to let the story breathe as it fleshes out this sad story of a disgraced Judge. It is an excellent second chapter and only stands to serve the greater plot.
Thistlebone: Poison Roots, Part 6
Credits: T.C. Eglington (script), Simon Davis (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Brian Salvatore: This “Thistlebone” installment features almost do Seema at all, relegating her to a little bit of narration and just a few panels of her investigating Malcolm. Malcolm, who is the focus of this strip, gets the spotlight in both timelines, continuing Eglington and Davis’s slow, metered out flashback tale as well as his emergence as the principle antagonist of ‘Poison Roots.’ The character was, in the first “Thistlebone” volume, sort of a side character, someone who was definitely involved and strange, but not the primary focus. Here, he has stepped into that role, even though his motivations are still largely unknown.
Davis continues to masterfully compose the strip with two totally different tones and color palettes, allowing the flashback to really stand apart from the main story. Malcolm’s story appears to be different than anticipated; the stereotype of the abusive scoutmaster may be pervasive, but it appears that Eglington has decided to go elsewhere with the story, at least for now. But Malcolm’s past is absolutely informing his present, where he is resorting to theft for reasons that are still somewhat unclear.
Continued belowMalcolm seems to be both a true believer and an opportunist, and so it is unclear which direction his story is going to take going forward. It appears that he may be willing to part with the mask and other remnants of the cult, but it is unclear if that is in an attempt to exorcise his demons, make a few bucks, or both.
Visions of Deadworld: The Man Who Killed Mortis
Credits Kek-W (script) Dave Kendall(art) Simon Bowland(letters)
Michael Mazzacane: ‘The Man Who Killed Mortis’ is the fastest strip Kek-W and Dave Kendall have done in “Visions of Deadworld.” It starts with action, one final assault on Judge Mortis’ garden, but ends in serene stillness. The entire creative team do an excellent job of making pages that fit the tempo of the moment. They go fast so that when the narrative slows to a crawl the reader feels the differences.
They also introduce a potential elemental weakness for Mortis that I was previously unfamiliar with: gold. Gold is the one thing they are unable to corrupt or corrode with their entropic powers. A single bullet buys them enough time to try and encase the dark Judge in gold. Imagine what happens to Viserys Targaryen and you aren’t far off.
As the gold disrupts Mortis’ entropic abilities the narrative slows down and turns inward. Kek-W’s narration turns surprisingly poetic, previous entries had been more functional. Their poetic prose works in tandem with Kendall’s three panel spread of Mortis slowly dying and the ironic inner peace they achieve. But it is short lived, except it isn’t. Dave Kendall’s work on the layout for page 3 set the rhythm for Kek-W’s prose and Bowland’s lettering wonderfully.
That page is then mirrored affectively if not technically in the final page which sens this strip out on a earned moment of quasi-dark humor, it’s not explicitly funny but there is an irony to it.
“Tharg’s 3rillers: Chorus and the Ring Part 2”
Credit: James Peaty (script), Mike Collins (art), Dylan Teague (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln The cover image with the tag line “Enter the Nunja” pretty much summed up the feeling of the new “Tharg’s 3riller: Chorus and the Ring.” This initial chapter does an apt job of setting the scene for the Battle Sister Evangelista in her suspiciously familiar gothic far future. The creative team pulled off something quite clever with these five pages. Sure ‘Chorus and the Ring’ feels a little like play on the classic comic “Magnus Robot Fighter” by way of Warhammer 40000, but they manage to make it feel a homage to both rather the just a reference. Though a lot of the narration implies the theme of violence as religion and I’m sure we’ll get a lot of grim, somehow the story does not dwell in the grimdark. This is a lot of set up for the two following chapters but it is a bit of fun and interesting setup.
Much of what makes this strip really work comes from the pages from the hands of Mike Collins, Dylan Teague and Annie Parkhouse. They visually evoke the the inspirational roots mentioned above, while also making something that is all its own thing. Though undeniably gothic in inspiration, there is a lot that is bright and hopeful in the designs and the colors. Battle Sister Evangelista, clearly inspired by the iconic Sisters of Battle from Warhammer 40000, is so clearly visually distinct from the inspiration as to only evoke a homage. There is a brightness and almost video game or Japanese superhero look to her final design that lifts her from the obvious gothic roots of the setting.
Feral and Foe II: Part 3
Credits: Dan Abnett (script) Richard Elson (art) Jim Campbell (lettering)
Matthew Blair: “Feral or Foe II: Part 3” shows the party facing their first real challenge after either having their bodies swapped or turned into zombies. All they have to do is go up against a band of brigands, which shouldn’t be too much of a problem for experienced warriors such as these.
Long story short, a beginner DnD party made up of eight year olds with the worst dice luck in the world could do better than them.
Continued belowWriter Dan Abnett is flexing his skills at writing banter and wacky scenarios in “Feral and Foe II: Part 3”, and like almost everything he writes it’s awesome. You really get a sense that these characters are the worst suited people for this particular job. They’re tired, they’re angry and snippy at each other, they have no idea how to work together, and anytime they try to do something awesome it backfires in often hilarious fashion. It’s a classic act 1 sitcom scenario that will hopefully allow us to see them come together and triumph in the end.
Comedy is mostly about timing and miscued action and Richard Elson’s artwork gets to show how to create motion and action in a very static medium in “Feral and Foe: Part 3”. There’s a great sense of energy in the fight scenes and action showcases that make great use of motion lines and direct interaction with the camera and the reader. Also, Elson does a great job of making the most of the limited page count with lots of close ups, allowing the action to be cut up into lots of little panels that keep the pace frenetic and quick.
“Feral or Foe II: Part 3” is a great little action beat with some very fast pacing and wonderful humor and action.
