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
Cadet Dredd: Lawbreaker
Credits: Liam Johnson (Script), Jake Lynch (Art), Jim Boswell (Colors), Annie Parkhouse (Letters)
Christopher Egan: As the fights and rioting between the Donnelly and Mcpartlin blocks rages on, one of the man block wars that Mega City One will see over the decades, Joe Dredd, one of the newest Judge cadets is on the scene with fellow recruit and brother, Rico, and his supervisor Judge Zand. It is the first block war Dredd has seen and he is ready to start blasting away. This day also holds a significant role in Dredd’s life as a Judge, it is the day he breaks the law.
Johnson’s story sets up a lot of action. Fast paced and dangerous. The entire situation is a really hard place for the two young cadets to get tossed into the mix. It makes for a fresh and fascinating look at young Dredd, and Rico for that matter. Rarely have we seen these characters so unsure about themselves and their abilities. They feel downright vulnerable in all the ways that matter in this strip. The front half of this story is heavy on the action and disorienting nature of an urban warzone. We see how the two brothers act and react to this scenario and how Zand handles them. Her presence and influence feel like they loom over Dredd for the rest of his days. The back end is a more inward look at the characters and their motivations. It puts them in quiet and lonely scenes. Dark and empty spaces in the Grand Hall of Justice, a sparsely populated code of conduct hearing, and so on.
Artist Jake Lynch illustrates this world with what feels like two minds on the subject. His take on the small portion of Mega City One that we see is very much a current representation. He keeps his character design somewhat more modern as well, but he doesn’t treat the young cadets or Zand like the big, beefy super Judges like some artists do. Their boots, badges, and shoulder gear are big and clunky, but these are trim, and downright scrawny people behind the helmets. He definitely takes inspiration from the lankier early days of “Judge Dredd.” It’s a fun throwback to the start of it all. Especially since this is set before those earliest stories.
Boswell’s color work is stunning as always. His work not only stays true to this universe, no matter what era you may be familiar with, it lives and breathes in every page, ever panel. He captures setting, emotions, and more through his work. If his name is on a Dredd story you know it’s going to feel right, and look great straight through.
‘Lawbreaker’ is a solid and somewhat shocking short story for the era of young Joe Dredd. It has a few unexpected moments that feel both fresh and familiar in a haunting way.
Future Shocks: Space Encounters
Credits: Colin Harvey (script), Tom Newell (art), John Charles (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Brian Salvatore: So much of sci-fi is predicated on the idea of alien cultures being violent, warring cultures that will threaten our way of life here on Earth. But what if they were, and hear me out, better than us? And not just smarter, but more compassionate too? That’s the hook at the end of ‘Space Encounters,’ and once you see the punchline, it’s hard to not have seen it coming.
This story involves a robot/rover named Expectation who has been sent out from Earth to find intelligent life. After 50 years, Expectation finds intelligent life. In fact, it is so intelligent, it teaches Expectation just how terrible humans are. The ways that humans are portrayed as terrible are somewhat clichéd, from a fool in a MAGA hat to internet clickbait, but the point is well taken. Of course, they also could’ve shown a painting by Van Gogh or a Queselupa from Taco Bell and highlighted the best of humanity, too, but that’s a less interesting comic.
Continued belowCredit is owed to Tom Newell, who could have gone the easy way and allowed the aliens to look friendly or peaceful, giving them an instant connection to the reader. Instead, he leans into some stereotypical alien looks: big eyes, cone heads, flapping Cthulu mouths. This helps land the punchline a little stronger and, mixed with a Mars Rover-esque design for Expectation, sets this squarely in your standard sci-fi story.
Anderson Psi Division: Deep Burn
Credits Cavan Scott (script) Paul Davidson(art) Matt Soffe(colours) Simon Bowland(letters)
Michael Mazzacane: For an All-Ages Takeover, the “Anderson Psi Division” strip ‘Deep Burn’ doesn’t quite meet the challenge. This isn’t a story of Cadet Anderson, but one of her traniess Cadet Hawkins. But is it really their story? Writer Cavan Scott centers the strip’s narration from their point of view, but that narrative tool helps to reinforce what Paul Davidson’s art shows us in the first page: Anderson in front and leading. Readers may not be inside Judge Anderson’s mind, but she is the one with the agency and ability to act. The reader is situated in a position similar to Cadet Hawkins, transforming the strip into something of hero worship as Judge Anderson saves the day with the help of Cadet Hawkins.
The narrative framing within the strip is a bit cumbersome, but Paul Davidson’s art is strong overall. Pages are clean and easy to read with a fair amount of mirroring going on between panels that help to make some pages become a bit more. They have a cartoony sense of line work that creates this interesting contrast between the relatively overworked alien designs and their geometric ship interiors.
It might feel a little out of place in a All-Ages special, but the strip itself is a well-executed oner that features a reference to a prog from the last All-Ages Takeover. The tonal distance might cause problems but it’s the kind of strip that might get people interested in reading more Judge Anderson stories.
Pandora Perfect: Night of the Guffwarbler
Credits: Roger Langridge (script), Brett Parson (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Greg Lincoln: The art and plot in this one shot caper hit all the right notes right from beginning to end. Even if you have never seen Mary Poppins, it is such a familiar touchstone you can’t help but hear the bad cockney accent sing song patter leaping off the page with the rhyming opening. The art style is lovingly cartoonish and the designs for Pandora Perez nearly scream Poppins with her devilishly mischievous expressions, the costume and the daisy displaying hat. Its odd how, even when we know Pandora is trying to rob a geriatric person, we really want her succeed. She and her robot partner Gort are written with such charisma and personality that you can forgive them their lies and larceny. Roger Langridge wrote an engaging and sometimes laugh out loud story that has that kind of universal appeal that an all ages story can achieve.
Brett Parson crafted some very animated pages for this tale. The richness in the designs and colors really do jump off the page and the action in the story flows so smoothly, you may just miss how lovely the pages actually are. The seeming simplicity of the designs and the limited color palette added up to way more the sum of its parts on the page. Pandora Perez and Gort in one little caper story have become a real favorite for me out of all the stories I’ve read in 2000 AD. This tale from beginning to end was a lot of twisted, familiar all ages fun and should not be the last we see of these hilarious thieves.
Department K: Stranded
Credits: Rory McConville (script) PJ Holden (art) Len O’Grady (colors) Jim Campbell (lettering)
Matthew Blair: In this Prog, we’re reintroduced to Division K, one of the many sub divisions within the Justice Department of Mega City One that are tasked with some of the more esoteric and fantastical jobs. Division K is a science division tasked with defending the city from inter-dimensional threats from across space and time. Currently, the entire department is stranded in an alternate dimension ruled over by an overbearing and angry alien queen.
Continued belowFortunately for the Department, they’re used to this sort of thing so of course they have a plan.
“Division K: Stranded” is written by Rory McConville, who demonstrates a keen understanding of rapid paced storytelling blended with the right amount of tension and humor. McConville does a great job of establishing the characters, their mission statement, and their history with each other very quickly and it’s a treat to read. Every team member has a skillset that allows them to contribute to the story and they all work together seamlessly to get the job done.
The artwork for “Division K: Stranded” comes from P.J Holden with colors by Len O’Grady. Holden has a very cartoonish, angular style of art that forgoes some of the more traditional anatomy for quick and frenetic character design that is great for action. The art is beautifully complemented by O’Grady’s colors, which make the whole story pop with bright, rich color that makes the story fun to look at.
“Division K: Stranded” is a solid re-introduction to a niche group of brave Judges keeping Mega City One safe from sci-fi inter dimensional threats. The team has a great sense of chemistry, the artwork is gorgeous, and it will be a lot of fun to see what other adventures are in store for them.
