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 6
Credits: Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt (script), Jake Lynch (art), Jim Boswell (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Matthew Blair: “Judge Dredd the Hard Way: Part 6” is the end. We don’t get to see all the assassins that the creators lined up go up against Maitland and Dredd, we don’t get to see the other Judges really step in and try to help, and the whole thing barrels towards a violent and explosive finish where a lot of people die.
Oh yes, the story gets to go out with a literal bang.
It feels a bit regrettable to say this, but “Judge Dredd the Hard Way: Part 6” feels like the weakest part of the entire series. There is a very real sense that writers Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt are rushing things and that there was a lot of plot and some very cool ideas that were left on the table. Who knows if this was editorial meddling or some other factors at play, the sad truth of the matter is that this fantastic story is over. Still, the writers manage a pulse pounding finish and close out on a nice character moment where Maitland promises revenge for all the people killed while Dredd winds up being the nicest he’s been in a while.
Jake Lynch’s artwork really drives home the destruction caused by this assassination attempt in “Judge Dredd The Hard Way: Part 6”, and the underwater carnage and Dredd’s wounds look equal parts brutal and nasty. Like the writing, there are parts where the artwork feels rushed, mostly because there are places in the story that feel like they could have benefited from a few more action panels to set up the story’s flow of movement, but it got the job done and continued to be the cherry on top of this awesome story sundae.
“Judge Dredd The Hard Way: Part 6” is the end of a story that was a showcase of everything that makes Judge Dredd, the universe he lives in, and the people who write and draw him great. It was a great story with great action, great callbacks to Dredd’s past, and really understood the character. When the only real critique is that it should have been longer, you know you’ve done something right.
The Diaboliks: Arrivederci Roma Part Six
Credits: Gordon Rennie (Script), Antonio Fuso (Art), Jim Campbell (Letters)
Christopher Egan: This week brings the current Diaboliks arc to a close. While the entire chapter correctly feels like it is closing the book on their current mission, Rennie keeps the tension high, making each conversation and panel feel like something terrible could happen at any moment. There is a quiet, inward sense of this for the most part, but he and Fuso give us external problems to contend with that leave a bloody mess for this series to contend with when it returns.
This chapter leans more into the religious and political intrigue style of writing as it has little room to add a lot of action or major supernatural moments. It’s does a fine job of closing out the arc, but aside from its final moments, it gives us a lot of maybes and unclear ideas as to how it will move forward with future arcs. At times it feels like this story is done, but by the final page, actions are taken that make it feel like the main characters will be stuck in Rome for at least a little while longer.
Overall part six is a decent chapter end, but has an odd sense of push and pull as it tries to figure out how much we should be left with before the strip returns.
Pandora Perfect: Mystery Moon Part Six
Credits: Rodger Langridge (script), Brett Parson (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Greg Lincoln: The creative team delivered an end to “Pandora Perfect Mystery Moon” that was nearly picture perfect, with Spugg getting a clever and fitting comeuppance at Pandora and Gort’s hands for the gross hell he put them through. Even Spugg’s much abused robot sidekick Sparky from part one makes a reappearance and gets a reward for their service. The story does get a bit bogged down by Spugg monologging about the sausage asteroid, his reasons for stealing, and mass producing Gort for fun and profit. It nicely sums up the tale as he gets captured by the very angry Pandora. Roger Langridge does kind of let our heroine win out big in the end but after duped, arrested, jailed, and nearly rated by a living sausage asteroid, she kind of deserves a win. Gort and Pandora deliver the kind of payback that feels cathartic and pretty just. Here’s hoping we have not seen the last of this mirror mirror Mary Poppins whatever her alias is.
From beginning to end, Brett Parson and Simon Bowland have kept a consistent excellent quality to their art. If anything, they pulled out more of the storytelling stops this time around with more dynamic use of perspective and integrating the special effects into the artwork. It’s a testament to their talents that even Sparky communicates his feelings wordlessly, despite being a fairly simple looking robot. Everyone gets time to be a star, even the living sausage asteroid when Spugg is droppped off for their reunion. This is solid animated, fun even if it’s not animated.
Scarlet Traces: Storm Front – Part Six
Credits Ian Edginton (script), D’Israeli (art), Simon Bowland(letters)
Michael Mazzacane: When we last left off things were not looking too good with Shakespeare and Arohn out gunned as they tried to burrow deep into a Martian ship. It’s not going much better in this strip. The extreme and odd luminance of the battles psychedelic palette is at once “a lot” to look at and yet balanced enough by the page design that it all fits together. Take the second page for example, it is filled with contrasting horizontal and vertical lines of varying colors (mostly green and red). These aren’t speed lines, they’re lasers all going in and out of focus, in a display of technical skill. The page design helps to contain this energy by splitting it into a 2×3 column, with its own jagged edge as the panels butt against one another as if they strain to contain the action. And then everything suddenly goes boom and shuts down!
Once all the fighting stops D’Israeli’s page design takes on a more controlled, contained, approach as everyone begins to work out their differences. Despite the lack of action in the foreground, D’Israeli uses it as a point of contrast with a raucous background with smoke billowing forth and fire everywhere. His backgrounds take on the tonal texture of plain solid color backgrounds, but those backgrounds are the actual environmental texture giving the moment a bit of meta realism.
This strip is a chance to catch your breath after about three week’s worth of hard charging action. Which is spectacular but not what “Scarlet Traces” is really about.
The Out: Book Two, Part 6
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Mark Harrison (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Brian Salvatore: After last week’s hunt for Cyd’s bag, we are back to her mission of seeking out humans. Much like an earlier chapter in this year’s ‘Book,’ we see Cyd travel to three different planets to meet her fellow expats. Each of the three are quite different, and allow Dan Abnett to flex his humor writing skills in different ways.
First up, Cyd encounters a man who is less horny than simply procreatively minded. Abnett is able to resurrect an ancient joke, where someone asks what appears to be a lewd question, only for it to be an innocent inquiry. Picture Dieter asking, “would you like to touch my monkey?”
The second stop is at the home of a chatterbox professor who is so happy to talk that she doesn’t even notice when Cyd slips away. Finally, Cyd encounters a recluse who won’t leave his house to speak with her. While all of these are enjoyable stopovers, unfortunately, this gives Mark Harrison a bit of a light week, although his giant chicken and reclusive domicile are designed really well. While the first book of “The Out” was about the worlds explored, it appears that book two is more centered on its inhabitants. This isn’t a bad thing, but let’s hope, for Harrison’s sake, that the next few chapters allow him more room to spread his wings.
