2000 AD Prog 2249 Featured Columns 

Multiver-City One: 2000 AD Prog 2249 – Her Father’s Psis

By , , and | September 15th, 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 Paul Marshall and Dylan Teague

THIS WEEK IN 2000AD

Judge Dredd: The House on Bleaker Street – Part 3
Credits: Ken Niemand (Script), Nick Percival (Art), Annie Parkhouse (Letters)

Christopher Egan: As this latest “Judge Dredd” strip comes to a close Niemand’s writing focuses more on exposition wrapping the Necropolis era, and allowing for Dredd to deal with both the horrific events unfolding around him, and give him a more action-oriented chapter with a lot of shoot-em-up moments. While Dredd continues to be his typical shoot first, ask later self, and in this situation, rightly so. Knowing the story era that this takes place, and how bad a state Mega City One is currently in this allows Niemand and Percival to paint the character in a more heroic light rather than leaning in to the fascist satire that is usually the main point of this comic. There’s a little bit of dialogue that makes it look like we are nearing the end of Necropolis, but that really has no bearing on this singular story, so it seems to be included just as a sort of light at the end of the tunnel for this prequel tale.

As with the previous two chapters, Nick Percival pulls double duty on artwork and color. Just like the artists that covered the Necropolis, and many Dark Judges stories in the past, he makes everything a swirling nightmare of sensory destroying scenery with Dredd at the center. It’s so perfectly beautiful and terrifying on each and every page and it suits this story so well. Long time readers will fully understand and be on board with the visual language on display. It may be confusing or even unappealing to some newcomers, but if they can overcome the hurdle of unknowing, the art talent here can only be appreciated. The colorwork alone is a truly masterful.

The story is a mix of pure horror and gun-running action, and it works as a light-on-story closing chapter. It’s a bit of nasty fun amongst all the doom and gloom. Overall, this miniseries is a real success, even if it is tied to deeply embedded, and praised, canon from years past.

Tharg’s 3rillers: The Mask of Laverna, Part 3
Credits: Robert Murphy (script), Steve Austin (art), Matt Soffe (colors), Simon Bowland (letters)

Brian Salvatore: For the third week in a row, ‘The Mask of Laverna’ has felt like a different book each time we’ve caught up with it. This installment deals with gods and pantheons, and seems to hint at a larger story that may or may not be fleshed out at some point. While there are some interesting ideas across these three chapters, the disparate tones don’t make for a very easy or coherent reading experience.

That could be forgiven if the art was more memorable. Steve Austin’s art is perfectly cromulent, but isn’t given space to shine or become something greater than the sum of its arts. It’s a workman-like strip in almost every way. That said, it’s not exactly a surprise that, with unmemorable art, a scattered script, an the lack of a final resolution, the third part of this story is not exactly a super memorable comic.

Skip Tracer Eden: Part 12
Credits: James Peaty (script) Paul Marshall (art) Dylan Teague (colors) Jim Campbell (lettering)

Matthew Blair: Skip Tracer has been through hell over the last eleven story segments, and now everything comes to a head. He’s learned that he’s a father, traveled to meet his new family, been kidnapped, lost the mother of his child, had his mind fried in an attempt to have his daughter taken from him, and now that the mental battle is over he has to deal with the physical threat of a gun being pointed at him and a decaying space station.

While the story ends the way you’d expect a story like this to end, It’s a hell of a finale to process.

Continued below

Writer James Peaty nails the series finale in “Skip Tracer Eden: Part 12” with a proper blend of action and heart. Over the last couple of story segments, Skip has been dealing with forces far beyond his abilities, which has made him appear a bit weak. That isn’t the case here as Skip is now in a situation that he can firmly control, and he nails it. Peaty does a very good job of showing how much the previous stories have impacted Skip by showing just how determined he is to protect his daughter and how much he cares. It’s a great piece of writing with a lot of heart.

Paul Marshall’s artwork has been solid throughout the story, and in “Skip Tracer Eden: Part 12” it really helps the story pop and go out on a high note. Marshall brings his best work to the finale, blending an eye for frantic action and a bit of gore with slower paced quiet moments where the reader just gets to enjoy the love between father and daughter.

“Skip Tracer Eden: Part 12” is a sweet and satisfying ending that goes out with a great bang and gives the main character the best happily ever after ending it can muster. It’s been a wild journey from start to finish, and I for one am glad I got to read it.

Tharg’s Terror Tales: The Thing in Cell 4
Credits: John Tomlinson (script), Silvia Califano (art), Simon Bowland (letters)

Brian Salvatore: “Terror Tales” tend to be the most Twilight Zone of all the 2000 AD stories, with twist endings expected in every installment. ‘The Thing in Cell 4’ is exactly that type of story, and one that has a title that has almost no connection to the story whatsoever.

The art, by Silvia Califano, is the star of the show. Califano is able to go from bizarre and somewhat grisly horror scapes to mundane office spaces, from tentacle monsters to decrepit city ruins. The breadth of Califano’s work helps the story land.

That’s not to say that John Tomlinson’s script is poorly executed or not well though out. But when the structure of these stories is so similar, by the end of page 1, your brain is already running through the ways that the presented scenario can be ‘true.’ These stories are predictable, and somewhat by the numbers, despite their quality. And so, while this was an enjoyable way to spend 5 pages, it will likely not get thought about again after finishing this write up.

Jaegir: The Path of Kali Part 3
Credits: Gordon Rennie (script), Simon Coleby (art), Len O’Grady (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)

Greg Lincoln: Though Atalia Jaegir is the main character or the title character of the tale, she is in no way a hero. We are treated to her cruel nature as ‘The Path of Kali Part 3’ opens. San demands the prisoner be tortured more before she accents his information. It is an act of needless cruelty and it unambiguously defines the character of the Norts. It’s one page of this week’s war story horror show, and it’s a moment that sticks in the mind. The rest of the tale is not for the squeamish, as we are also witness to what Rosario and her handler dig up about the Kali project.

The visuals detailing the horrors of the Kali virus stand out from the hands of Len O’Grady and Simon Coleby. The skulls in the foreground and gore that frame the scene of Rosario and the Southern soldiers are affective. It’s a great lead in to the way they illustrated video of the gruesome deaths that Kali caused. The grainy effects they created added to the horror of the closeup moments of death and pain their art captured.

If that was not enough to make you hate war and dislike Norts, and the Jaegirs in particular, the fact that Atalia is not only searching for Kali but doing so to make use of it cements a real dislike for her and her people.


//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

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

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

EMAIL | ARTICLES


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