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 The Hard Way: Part 2
Credits: Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt (script), Jake Lynch (art), Jim Boswell (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Matthew Blair: The players are all introduced and the stakes are set. Now it’s up to the incredibly capable Judge Dredd and extremely intelligent Judge Maitland to survive the gauntlet of insane assassins in a deadly chess match of wits and violence. First up, the sadistic sniper Peeter Jensen aka “Vektor”.
Writers Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt get to show off their talent and understanding of the Dredd universe in “Judge Dredd The Hard Way: Part 2”. First of all, there is a lot of weird and cool tech stuff on display when it is revealed that Vektor is an augmented human who had his heart and lungs removed to make himself a better sniper. But the best aspect of the story is how none of the main characters are stupid and make smart and interesting decisions. Dredd and Maitland are calm and collected under pressure and find a cool way to take out Vektor, while the man hunting them knows how to use the assassins at his disposal and is able to react to the loss of an asset with composure and swift action.
Artist Jake Lynch gets to show off how well he can draw blood, gore, and action in “Judge Dredd The Hard Way: Part 2” and he doesn’t disappoint. Since this story is essentially a very quick sniper’s duel it’s imperative that the reader has a very clear sense of scene geography and where each character is pointing their gun. Lynch does this very well and couples his sense of place with a keen sense for motion and action. The story feels quick and frantic, with a very real sense that the characters are barely able to avoid being killed. The whole thing feels pulse pounding and very exciting, and it’s just a joy to read.
“Judge Dredd The Hard Way: Part 2” is a wonderful opening salvo in what is sure to be a very long and hard day for Judge Dredd, and while our heroes are able to survive the first attempt on their lives, this battle is far from over.
The Diaboliks: Arrivederci Roma Part Two
Credits: Gordon Rennie (Script), Antonio Fuso (Art), Jim Campbell (Letters)
Christopher Egan: Gordon Rennie continues this arc of “The Diaboliks” as a character and discussion focused romp through the Vatican. The script is beefier as the characters make their way through this secret auction of supernatural and religious artifacts. Seeing our ‘heroes’ interact with the upper echelon of the church and spooky demonic figures is a good amount of fun. It doesn’t shy away from movie tropes involving things like bidding on a special item or a quiet heist. It’s a solid, but light bit of fun within the writing. Especially for a series that juggles humor and dark subject matters.
Antonio Fuso’s artwork moves into a more ink-y sketchbook look. He doesn’t completely move away from his talent of finer details, but the scenes and the actions of the characters, both main and background, call for a quicker hand. We aren’t focusing fully on every panel and the artwork reflects that. The one page in which it doesn’t work is the page that focuses on the items at the auction. While not all of them are crucial to the story, it would have been a fun bit to get a good look at what these people are trying so hard to get their hands on.
More of a bridging point to get us to the next phase of the arc, chapter two is good, but doesn’t stand too strongly on its own without the support of what is behind and ahead of it.
Scarlet Traces: Storm Front – Part Two
Continued below
Credits Ian Edginton (script) D’Israeli(art) Simon Bowland(letters)
Michael Mazzacane: Ian Edginton does some smart narrative sleight of hand that effectively turns what could have been two strips into one. With our intrepid explorers now in contact with the residence of Jupiter and her surrounding areas, the immediate question is: will they help Earth fight the Martians? That is a dramatic question capable of holding 5 pages in tension with one another, it also would’ve provided a natural point of exposition to recap the previous two books. Edginton doesn’t go down this route, he instead answers that question by the second page, their response is no. This summary judgement pushes the strip into more interesting questions like why not? And the longer history of Martian imperialism. These latter ideas are both more interesting to consider and represent with D’Israeli’s art. While extended strips inside “2000 AD” can get somewhat cumbersome at points, the way this one is structured shows real understanding of what and how to make them work.
D’Israeli gets to go even more wild as they represent the flashback to the head of the Convocation of Nine (now three). It isn’t so much the design itself, although the natural earthen looking space ships the Martians originally appeared on are interesting. It is the way D’Israeli uses macro color choices to contrast panels off one another, a color theory that hinges on the heavy amount of purple from the councilmember-narrators design. Later on this narrator states they are of a warrior caste, it is worth noting that in this strip the color purple is the dominant color used in panels with action and violence occurring.
By giving readers this history lesson Edginton is able to easily shift into a solid speech that ends with an effective rhetorical cliffhanger that restates the question at the top of the strip: will you help us? Everything just folds together wonderfully.
“Scarlet Traces” has its moments of humor, but man the first two panels as Akron Shakespeare describes his ever present state of being is “funny” in that too real sort of way. I couldn’t help but chuckle and get those side eyes glances from people who think I must be a little bit mad.
Pandora Perfect: Mystery Moon Part Two
Credits: Rodger Langridge (script), Brett Parson (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Greg Lincoln: Roger Langridge drops us right into the thick of the party as ‘Mystery Moon’ Part Two opens. We are treated to the images of the upper crust from Brett Parson, who quite clearly enjoyed taking shots at stereotypical British aristocracy. In fact, the heist itself is motivated by feeling of classism; Bartleby Spugg gives the obligatory description of the planned caper and explains to Pandora the reason behind it. The money is a plus that he’s happy to get, but it’s punishment for the lack of respect he feels. As ever, old money only ever respects old money, so really the wealthy freaks assembled pretty much deserve what is coming this evening. The caper relies on multiple devices and MacGuffins and, though well planned, is almost doomed to go awry as things proceed.
Parson uses a thick line, focused on character, to set the cartoonish tone for “Pandora Perfect.” He well defines the flashback by using a more muted, a bit greyed out color palette when Spugg explains he plan. His design work for the technologies are very impractical and archaic seeming, and really a lot of fun. Bowland’s choice of style in both the sound effects and the text add to the overall feeling perfectly. The changes are subtle, but affect the impact that the dialogue has, and make you wonder just how things are going to go awry.
The Out: Book Two, Part 2
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Mark Harrison (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Brian Salvatore: Even in a more subdued installment, “The Out” always finds a way to introduce a new idea or shock the reader’s system in some way or another. Cyd is at a funeral, minding her own business, and winds up drinking the reconstituted moisture from the deceased. Despite the shades of Dune, this was a very unexpected element of today’s mournful installment.
It is interesting to see Cyd mourn Denzel, a man she never met, in her own way. He was a human, like her, and therefore she feels a certain kinship towards him, but Cyd is so removed from ‘regular’ humanity that her feelings come out jumbled in sarcasm. A lot of this is buttressed by Mark Harrison’s art, which never allows Cyd a chance to look around and see anything even remotely funereal, at least by Earth standards. Cyd isn’t greeted by a casket or a memory board, but rather a floral representation of Denzel and his wife having sex. Cyd’s tone may come off as a little brusk or insincere, but given the situation she finds herself in, we can hardly blame her.
But Dan Abnett’s script never lets her, or us, forget why she’s here, and so despite the madness around her, she is still mourning in her own way. With the revelation at the end of the strip promising more encounters with humans, “The Out” will have more opportunities at genuine human connection, or at least ones without drinking human remains.
