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 Dead Chief Judges’ Society
Credits: Ken Niemand (script) Rob Richardson (art) Annie Parkhouse (lettering)
Matthew Blair: On the surface, “Judge Dredd: The Dead Chief Judges’ Society is a simple story about Dredd interrogating a small-time perp who spent the last couple of years committing a string of relatively small-time crimes; nothing world shattering and nothing that important in the grand scheme of things. However, in typical Judge Dredd fashion there’s a twist. It turns out that the perp has had the ghosts of several past Chief Judges of Mega City One floating around in his head and when they aren’t bickering, they’re helping him commit crimes.
Writer Ken Niemand pulls off a wonderful and charming tribute to Dredd’s history in “Judge Dredd: The Dead Chief Judges’ Society”. The idea that the spirits of all the Chief Judges in Mega City One’s history would randomly decide to haunt a single unassuming citizen is the kind of campy and out of the box idea that fits right into the setting’s trademark blend of zany camp and social commentary. On top of that, it’s very clear that Niemand knows his history, with each of the Chief Judges referencing all sorts of important events in the strip’s history such as the Apocalypse War and Necropolis to name a few. The only problem is that the story is a one shot and would benefit from being a lot longer. It would be fun to see why this happened and even better to see Judge Dredd face off against the literal ghosts of his past.
The artwork for “Judge Dredd: The Dead Chief Judges’ Society is provided by Rob Richarson and like the story it’s a great blend of old and new. Richardson has a realistic style that appears to blend elements of the Franco Belgian clean line art with highly realistic backgrounds and anatomy while using simple, thin lines and color dynamics to make the characters pop off the page. His take on Mega City One is claustrophobic and dingy, filled with all sorts of machinery while the characters have simple costumes that make them look relatable and familiar. It’s a great art style for this type of story and it would be great to see more.
“Judge Dredd: The Dead ChiefJudges’ Society” is a fun little callback to the long and storied history of a character and setting that has entertained readers for decades and is a reminder as to why the story has lasted so long. It’s just a shame that we don’t get to explore this story any further.
Proteus Vex: Desire Paths, Part 6
Credits: Mike Carroll (script), Jake Lynch (art), Jim Boswell (colors), Simon Bowland (letters)
Greg Lincoln: Proteus Vex and Andrum Ko may have had a plan his to deal with the Count and his likely treachery; they obviously knew it was likely that the artificial life form would call in the imperium. Last week and the well played flashback this week sell that out pretty clearly. As a matter of fact, it makes dropping back into this fight pretty seamless. They also reinforce the feeling that even though Vex may be the lead, Ko is a much more formable warrior. That truth about Ko makes it’s really clear and reminds what is missing in this story. The element lacking is Midnight; she was always the hear of the story and her absence is very noticeable. Melody Pen Naday, the imperium agent hunting Vex, also makes her entrance and she is apparently smart enough not to arrive alone. Mike Carroll set us a great lead in to next week and wets the appetite for what I hope is not the quick wrap up of this storyline, because it’s really only getting started.
Jake Lynch is still doing a bang up, solid job of drawing some great action and there would be no story without them. They did get a little overshadowed by the plotting this time around, and by the fact that I’m reminded by the arrival of Melody means that I’m really missing seeing their drawing Midnight and her unique antics and expressions.
Continued below
The Order: Fantastic Voyage, Part 6
Credits Kek-W (script) John Burns(art) Simon Bowland(letters)
Michael Mazzacane: The ‘Fantastic Voyage’ continues as we return to the mysterious island in this sixth part of “The Order”. Kek-W and John Burns return to the original crew and the mysterious island we last saw them coming upon. The island is a magnet for wrecks from every era past and present, a continent floating through time and space. Though we haven’t seen much of it yet as the crew of la victoire are busy making repairs and defensible space.
Despite the new surroundings this is yet another relatively chill strip. John Burns’ art lacks the kind of whimsical surrealism of the last strip but replaces it with a feeling of camaraderie by placing us momentarily in the perspective of Ben Franklin. This is situated on the third page with Burns’ page design a functional wheel and spoke as Franklin goes about a couple of days, or maybe just a single day. This technique is matched when a few pages later the reader delves into the mind of Anna for the most shocking and least shocking sequence in “The Order”: a comedy of flatulence. The scripting by Kek-W is sentimental in a way previous “Order” series haven’t been. It harkens back to the kind of fraternity adventure serials live on as you believe everyone generally likes and works with one another.
That sentimentality and sense of calm is all a cover for the reveal at the end that will inevitably propel this series into its next act as the island begins to come alive. Who knew this mysterious beautiful island could be so deadly? Oh right, all the wreckage shown in the first panel.
Kingmaker: Falls the Shadow, Part 6
Credits: Ian Edginton (script), Leigh Gallagher (art), Jim Campbell (letters)
Christopher Egan: When we last saw Crixus he was single-handedly taking on the Wraith King’s armies, and while it was difficult and brutal, he was doing quite well and chapter five ends with him taking a beat before taking down villains bearing down on him. In part six, Edginton takes away that moment for a short time, and throws readers elsewhere with Tycho (surprisingly) climbing from the wreckage and up to the feet of Ablard. Ablard is doing his best Gandalf the White and setting Tycho on his new path. Ablard and Tycho walk into a portal disappearing and then the story flashes back to Crixus and the insurmountable armies that lie ahead of him. It’s a very “Lord of the Rings” moment and really begins to nail the idea that this fight could all be for naught. And again, this chapter absolutely flies by.
The writing is only a bit more fleshed out than last week, but keeps interactions brief and to the point. We get no answers, only ideas and questions thrown into the mix. Edginton is doing his best to keep us guessing and begging for the next chapter, hoping it gives something for us, and Crixus, to hold on to. The art continues to really work for this type of story, keeping things cohesive while being outlandish in nearly every panel. We may want to know where this is going, but we will be waiting a few weeks however, as “Kingmaker” will be going on a brief hiatus.
Saphir 2: Liaisons Dangereuses, Part 3
Credits: Kek-W (script), David Roach (art), Peter Doherty (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Brian Salvatore: After a couple of chapters of setup, chapter 3 of ‘Liaisons Dangereuses’ is an almost unintelligible collection of pages. There’s a chase through space and time that is fun to look at, due to the work of David Roach, but it’s not all that fulfilling from a plotting perspective because there’s so little credence paid to traditional storytelling. Typically, it is a good sign when a story like this disposes of exposition and ‘telling, not showing,’ but this chapter could’ve used some telling to help make sense of things.
The broad strokes haven’t changed at all since last chapter, so it isn’t even like this installment moved the plot along. Kek-W’s script inspires Roach to do some interesting stuff, but there’s no character growth or plot development at all. This chapter seems almost entirely designed to showcase visuals, and that is totally a worthy exercise. But here, because the action is somewhat repetitive, at least in its purpose if not its actions, the action doesn’t pop the way it should. ‘Chapter 3’ just feels like a stretching for time move, and for a title only three chapters in, that’s likely not a good sign.
