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: An Honest Man, Part 2
Credits: Ken Neimand (script), Tom Foster (art), Chris Blythe (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln: ‘An Honest Man’ is pretty blunt with the brutality of justice in Mega-City One. What is refreshing is the fact that, when a Judge oversteps the law, they are in fact punished by the same brutal system in which that they are employed. Ken Neimand shows us this week what Kyle Asher did to earn his twenty years in the slab. Taking violence to the extreme at least seems to garner punishment. In the second story, he also treats us to a punishment detail Dredd imposes on Judge Purcell who left the scene of the accident prematurely last week. For our possible ‘honest’ man, Asher appears to be looking to reverse some of the mods done to him in the slab outside the bounds of the law. It makes us see him in a different light, as does his use of the self same mods to threaten one of the other patron of the bar he is in. It’s interesting, and makes one really wonder where the character arc may take him.
Tom Foster and Chris Blythe’s art is rock solid and intentionally off putting can be a little confusing between scene changes. The consistency of the art through the bar scene and the flashback for Asher blends a bit too well with the following sequence that is not about Asher. It takes a moment to realize that the bragging leering Judge in the scene is not Asher but Purcell. I suspect there is a parallel story being told between the two, but we shall have to see.
Hope: In The Shadows – Reel One, Part Six
Credits: Guy Davis (Script), Jimmy Broxton (Art), Jim Campbell (Letters)
Christopher Egan: Some good spookery is to be had this week, along with blood spattered death, inky black humor, and some more true Hollywood crime story plotting.
Moving along quickly this week, Adams uses various narrative styles and tricks to push things along without drawing out dialogue to fill the pages. It’s more about genre bending than creating a bigger story at this point.
Broxton also gets to play with the space a bit more; something that hasn’t been at the forefront since the beginning of the strip. The horror in this is finally feeling like it’s going back to pre-code Hollywood. It treats the tone like the old Universal movies, but with some extra violence. Like William Castle with gore. It’s a bit more playful than the last few entries, but it still isn’t ending up as great as I hoped.
Brink: Mercury Retrograde Part 12
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), INJ Culbard (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Brian Salvatore: After a series of installments that have felt very propulsive, “Mercury Retrograde Part 12” takes a step back and lets us stew in Maz’s mind for a little bit. We see his home situation going through a (temporary) change, but will leave him more isolated and without a tether for a few weeks. In normal times, this wouldn’t be such a big deal, but with Maz being picked up by the police, the riots, and (unbeknownst to him) Bardot’s beating, pulling Maz’s support system seems like a bad move.
Most of the strip is a conversation between Maz and Lauren, catching both of them up on what is going on, professionally. Lauren just got a huge interview and, maybe this is just the paranoia baked into “Brink,” it seems often coincidental that she is being put into this great opportunity at the same time that Maz is under observation from the police and the unions. Is this a set up?
We get to see INJ Culbard really stretch a bit here and do some surreal work in the form of Maz’s dream. Here, he sees Bardot’s beat, possibly dead body (which, again, he doesn’t know about) along with the internal affairs cops who interrogated him last week. These are unrelated events, but Maz’s dream puts them together. Dan Abnett writes this dream sequence in a really interesting way, where there’s truth, assumptions, and your general dream weirdness all mixed together. Sometimes, dream sequences are 100% symbolism; Abnett does a nice job of using symbolism and foreshadowing, but also making it a dream, and therefore a little nonsensical.
Continued below
Dexter: Bulletopia Chapter Nine The Thing in the Thing Part 2
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Tazio Bettin (art), Matt Sofie (colors), Simon Bowland (letters)
Matthew Blair A general rule of thumb for these types of stories is this: if you see a locked room/building/barn that the locals clearly warn you to never enter, don’t enter because there’s probably some sort of horrifying or life changing secret that will either kill you or force the locals to kill you in some sort of twisted religious ceremony.
When it comes to this part of the story, I really hate to say this, but when you’re right you’re right.
“Bulletopia Chapter Nine Part 2” is a very mechanical piece of storytelling, which means that writer Dan Abnett doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for emotional moments or action, but uses a lot of effective exposition to get the characters to where they need to be for the next part of the story. Fortunately, Abnett is still a very good writer and the exposition is incredibly quick and effective, it even allows for a few moments where Abnett gets to show the audience a glimpse into the culture of the town and their beliefs. However, it’s all teeing up the big reveal that happens at the end, and while it may be a bit cliche, it’s still extremely effective.
The checklist nature of “Bulletopia Chapter Nine Part 2” doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for cool artwork, but artist Tazio Bettin does a great job with what he is given. Everything is clear, there’s a great sense of geography and place, and it’s easy for the reader to see what the characters are all thinking. The real highlight of the story comes with the big reveal at the end, and while the artwork cannot make up for the standard writing, it can unleash one of the most creatively designed and terrifying monsters I’ve seen in a while.
“Bulletopia Chapter Nine Part 2” is a quick and effective set up for the big reveal and while it won’t amaze anyone with clever writing or distinct artwork, it does leave the reader desperately wanting more and curious to see what happens next.
Fiends of the Eastern Front: 1963, Part 9
Credits: Ian Edginton (script), Tiernen Trevallion (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Michael Mazzacane: “Fiends of the Eastern Front” really surprised me this week. I had noticed that we were on part 9 in this latest series and the thought of the endgame entered my mind. By page 3 I thought we had achieved that finale, for now as Constanta’s body is returned to him by Balaur with promises to return and vagaries about Constanta’s big fate in this great game. Rasputin had been swiftly taken out in cosmic fire. Those three pages had all the qualities of a typical 2000 AD sudden need for an ending. But then we get to the cliffhanger on page 5 and this ending is just the new beginning! Rasputin as he is often the case, is harder to kill than you think.
Tiernen Trevallion gets to flex some surreal and outlandish art muscles in this strip by showing Constant being a vessel for Balaur? Is this a Pharaoh – Yugi or just the supreme weight of a cosmic entity that was ancient before the stars shined coming to bear in the material world? Either way the half page splash on the second page is awesome to look at. It’s also worth noting this is probably a comic with the most frontal male nudity not of an explicitly erotic adult kind I’ve seen in a very long time. You just don’t see male nudity much in general.
While Tiernen’s art is awesome in grand scales the first page is still a bit of a mess. Constanta breaks free off panel … somehow. Rasputin reacts to this in the third panel but there’s nothing to visually indicate what exactly had changed. The macro design is great but how those tell the story is muddled.
I was expecting the end and instead think this arc could last for another three weeks. Awkward storytelling moments aside, “Fiends” continues to be an engaging read.
