2000 AD Prog 2227 Featured Columns 

Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2227 – Skeleton Crew

By , , and | April 14th, 2021
Posted in Columns | % Comments

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 Richard Elson

THIS WEEK IN 2000AD

Judge Dredd: A Penitent Man Part 3
Credits: Ken Niemand (Script), Tom Foster (Art), Chris Blythe (Colors), Annie Parkhouse (Letters)

Christopher Egan: The third chapter of this “Judge Dredd” strip continues to keep things at a nice even pace. Dredd heads over to a training facility/shooting range to bounce some theories off another Judge while they take out holographic culprits. This is also the first chapter so far to drop Asher’s narration for the majority of it and we get mostly Judge Dredd’s thoughts and ideas about the case and Asher as a person. It’s a really interesting look at Dredd’s detective work. He’s hitting the street asking for opinions and digging for facts and clues to get a better idea of who Asher really is as a person.

With how cold he was in the beginning of this story it seemed like he was going to really be his usual stickler self with the reader having to really empathize with Asher because there would be no help coming for him. But Dredd really shows a different side here. He is still skeptical, but it’s clear that he is starting to believe that Asher could truly be reformed; something that rarely happens with criminals who have been sent to Titan. I wish this week’s chapter would have really just dug into the detective angle for the entire thing, but we do get some decent action in the last couple of pages.

Asher defends himself against more assailants who are looking to do more damage than just spraypaint his apartment and mess things up. During the scuffle a Judge shows up and fires at Asher. Most of the last few panels are left pretty ambiguous, but it looks like Asher has been shot. We also don’t know who the Judge is. It most likely isn’t Dredd, but we can’t be sure. His badge never comes into focus.

Tom Foster does a fantastic job putting Dredd in various locations. The balance between the slightly slowed down storytelling from Ken Niemand, with the location change put on display through the artwork, this team really makes for a truly satisfying pace. It allows to us take a breath, watch some crime-solving at work, but still feel like the story is moving along without ever dragging.

All in all, A Penitent Man part 3 is a really solid continuation of the story. I have been a fan of the story really centering on Asher’s point of view, but the shift to Dredd was an unexpected surprise. His digging for clues montage was a highlight this week. And the final moments of action leave us with quite a cliffhanger for next week.

Thistlebone: Poison Roots, Part 7
Credits: T.C. Eglington (script), Simon Davis (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

Brian Salvatore: Avril, the beleaguered former child cult member who was the co-lead of the first volume of “Thistlebone,” returns in Part 7, both as a physical presence in Seema’s life, but also (seemingly) as a dream presence. While the last page or so of the story is open to interpretation, the message is clear from everything aside from Avril’s words: despite her insisting on the opposite, there is nothing about Avril that is fine after her re-introduction to the Thistlebone cult.

Davis’s coloring of Avril sets her apart instantly, a floating blue ghost in a sea of more conventionally colored figures. Her glassy appearance adds to the medicated, controlled existence in the medical facility she calls home. While she is saying all the right things to Seema – I’m fine, don’t worry about me – her appearance in Seema’s dream at the end of he issue calls all of that into question.

To be fair, it’s a presumption that this is a dream and not reality, but there are some visual clues that make that more or less clear. Eglington crafts the script in such a way, however, that the reality or lack thereof isn’t really the point. Seema is getting the information she needs, regardless of what plane of existence it is gleaned from.

Continued below

On the other side of the coin is the multiple people who now think that Malcolm Kinniburgh is responsible for, at the very least, theft, and at most a more sinister role in the cult. While Malcolm was a side character in the first volume, he seems to be the antagonist of this volume while not having any true motivation to hurt anyone. He seems more absorbed in the cult, and allows that to control his life in bad ways, as opposed to necessarily wanting to bother anyone.

Visions of Deadworld: Leigh
Credits Kek-W (script) Dave Kendall(art) Simon Bowland(letters)

Michael Mazzacane: This ‘Vision of Deadworld’ has a good story that could have been one of my favorite ones and done strips I read all year in “2000 AD,” unfortunately there is just enough friction from minor technical errors and one line that reads poorly in my context that stops the good from being something great.

“Leigh” centers around a pair of female judicial partners, Judges Eastwood and Leigh. Unlike previous strips, it takes place before the world falls. Things are clearly on the downslope. Besides working on a case related to Martinez Kartel money and buying off Judges, just as strange “accidents” are starting to occur around them. Eastwood and Leigh are also romantic partners which ups the tension. This might be the first queer coupling I’ve read in a “2000 AD” series period.

With them being Judges they look pretty much same in uniform, which makes the opening page where they are shown without helmets very important. Eastwood has blonde hair. Leigh has black hair. Or at least, they should, because artist Dave Kendall renders them both with black hair as the story goes on, this coloring mistake makes both characters, skinny on the verge of gaunt, look for all practical purposes the same. This makes distinguishing who is “Ava” troublesome, I have read the strip five times now and have yet to conclude who that is. This confusion makes pages 2-4 filled with unnecessary friction that gets in the way of what should be a darn effective story beat where they walk into a trap. After things really go downhill and they call out to one another by name telling them apart is easy enough.

This sort of confusion as to who is who makes the actions on page 4 even more mind boggling. From a macro design perspective, it flows well and as Dave Kendall often does is mirrored later on. The storytelling panel to panel is where it falls apart as a Dirty Judge turns on one of them. Eastwood (I think) has a moment of realization and recognizes the Judge from somewhere else, which we see in flashback. That flashback panel is ineffective, as the reader has never seen them before or ever gets a good look at them. It is there to create space for them to smash the remaining Judge with their batton. This would have been an effective moment if it made any sort of spatial sense given the relationships Kendall had drawn previously.

There is also a line from one of the dirty Judges instructing one of them to “take the knee, bitch!” “2000 AD” is always taking things from real world events, but if this is a reference to the murder of George Floyd, it and the following panel read as weak exploitation. That is also a reading totally derived from my own American context.

‘Leigh’ is an excellent example of how a few minor art mistakes can snowball into pages of confusion and ruin what is overall a good story. Structurally Kek-W tells a story of a corrupt system and dirty Judges in 6 pages as effectively as you can. A lot of friction just got in the way.

Tharg’s 3rillers: Chorus and the Ring Part 2
Credits: James Peaty (script), Mike Collins (art), Dylan Teague (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Greg Lincoln: ‘Chorus and the Ring’ Part 2 brings all the Gothic Space Opera that was promised to life. James Peaty’s story gives us the one two punch of both the tale of how Evangelista lost her faith in her violent past and how she may just lose her life in the ever dangerous present. Her reminiscences about her mission on Athos, where her faith was first tested, hints at a past rich in alien life exterminated by the “Battle Sister” and her order. The best bits of this familiar feeling story are the hints of the deeper tale in the finer details of story. We are told about the rise of the “War Pontiff Eternal” before seeing what he has done to those around him. It is so very Warhammer 40k, but ‘Choir and the Ring’ still keeps its own personality.

Continued below

Talking about personality, the art in this certainly has set its own tone and personality. The very bright red on soft green for the flashback though occasionally hard to look at certainly really sets the memory aside from the rest of the story. It’s interesting how Dylan Teague played with the intensity of the green and red in this chapter as red became the bright accent of the present day as Evangelista meets the Eternal Pontiff as the chapter closes. Mike Collins puts a lot of detail into his pages, so much so that at times it’s a bit overwhelming and hard to tell what is what. That may be due to the vibrancy of the color choices or down to the denseness of the images but it’s the only downside to the tale.

Feral and Foe II: Part 4
Credits: Dan Abnett (script) Richard Elson (art) Jim Campbell (lettering)

Matthew Blair: “Feral or Foe II: Part 4” has the gang finally reach the necromancer’s castle and meet the magic user who will solve all their problems…right before they run into the wizard’s home security system, which is made up of crawling skulls, skeletons, and zombies.

Home security companies wish their plans were this effective.

While there is something to be said for “Feral and Foe II: Part 4” having a little bit of disconnect between parts of the larger story, it’s still a really good and funny bite sized story. Writer Dan Abnett has a knack for taking the tropes and expectations of the fantasy genre and finding a lot of comedy in subverting them. In this case he does it by introducing the necromancer as one of the most calm, sane, and rational people in the story so far, despite all the pools of green goo and armies of undead corpses.

Richard Elson’s artwork continues to impress and in “Feral and Foe II: Part 4” he gets to show off his monster and character design skills. The action compliments the zany script by being frenetic and a little bit scary and the armies of zombies are enhanced by crawling skulls and an undead snake skeleton that feel like they were a lot of fun to draw. Of course, any feelings of dread and terror the reader might have is quickly dispelled when it’s revealed that the necromancer just put them there to act as a highly advanced home security system, so it’s even funnier.

“Feral or Foe II: Part 4” adds another twist to more traditional fantasy tropes by showing us a so called evil wizard who just wants to live alone in peace, and has a terrible fate in store for anyone who tresspasses on their property.


//TAGS | Multiver-City One

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

EMAIL | ARTICLES

Michael Mazzacane

Your Friendly Neighborhood Media & Cultural Studies-Man Twitter

EMAIL | ARTICLES

Christopher Egan

Chris lives in New Jersey with his wife, daughter, two cats, and ever-growing comic book and film collection. He is an occasional guest on various podcasts, writes movie reviews on his own time, and enjoys trying new foods. He can be found on Instagram. if you want to see pictures of all that and more!

EMAIL | ARTICLES

Greg Lincoln

EMAIL | ARTICLES


  • Columns
    Multiver-City One: Judge Dredd Megazine 466 – Shoot ‘Em Up!

    By , , , and | Mar 27, 2024 | Columns

    Welcome, Earthlets, to Multiver-City One, our monthly look at the “Judge Dredd Megazine!” Let’s get right to it.Judge Dredd: Ravenous Part 3Credits: Mike Carroll (script) Anthony Williams (art) Annie Parkhouse (letters)Matthew Blair: All seems lost for the heroes of Mega City One. They’re facing off against the perfect predator and nothing they have can stop […]

    MORE »
    Columns
    Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2375 – Bumper Issue!

    By , , , and | Mar 27, 2024 | Columns

    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 2000 AD Judge Dredd: Next Man Up Credits: Rob Williams (script), RM Guera (art), […]

    MORE »
    2000 AD Prog 2374 Featured Columns
    Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2374 – A World of His Making!

    By , , , and | Mar 20, 2024 | Columns

    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 2000 ADJudge Dredd: A Dimensional Travelers Guide to Mega City One Credits: Ken Neimand […]

    MORE »

    -->