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: Sentientoids Big Idea Part 1
Credits: Rob Williams (script), Jake Lynch (art), Jim Boswell (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln: Rob Williams tells another tale apparently connected to the Black Atlantis events. ‘Sentientoid’ follows, of all things, the path that brings a Sov robot from the bottom of the Atlantic to Mega-City One. It’s an unconventional route that brings it there, in the belly of a mutant whale, one that leads to an abattoir containing more than whale meat. The narration feels a little over written and overwrought, but you can cut the Sentientoid some slack, as it has just recently gained consciousness. Its got an idea, but we have no idea what that idea is, except that it called it towards Mega-City One. It had a rude awakening as saw blades opened the whale that had poorly chosen to swallow it. Dredd eventually came into this story, but he’s an after thought. The important thing here is the Sentientoid and the fact it has an idea.
Jake Lynch did an excellent job of making you care and feel for this sort of bipedal oval robot and its trek toward destiny. Their use of color and shadow gave the impression of the weight of water pressing on it as it walked. The mutant whale, the poor (soon to be chum) dock workers, Judge Chase – the one with the great sense of humor – and even Dredd are all rendered to within an inch of their lives. The whole strip looks richly illustrated with some impressive layers of texture and details that covey feeling and expressions so well the narration can focus on the sentient robot who is the star.
Tharg’s 3rillers: The Crawly Man
Credits: David Barnett (script), Lee Milmore (art), Quinton Winter (colors), Simon Bowland (leters)
Brian Salvatore: There’s something instantly both creepy and very British about “The Crawly Man.” Some of 2000 AD‘s strips perfectly line up in the pantheon of great UK horror, from Hammer Films to The Wicker Man. A town of mysterious creatures that aren’t quite human getting ready for their annual ‘festival’ of Samhain are rocked by a little girl being kidnapped. They go to the local tracker/supernatural fella for help. It’s boilerplate British horror, but it works.
The art by Lee Milmore is a little stiff and posed for this sort of story, as it loses a little bit of its naturalism. That’s too bad, because Milmore’s work on the supernatural side is quite good. But the humans have a little uncanny valley look going on at times, and the stiffness detracts from what is, otherwise, an engaging first chapter.
These ‘3rillers’ tend to be paced predictably due to knowing they are three-parters, but David Barnett’s script took some liberties with the traditional approach, and it paid off. Overall, this is fine introduction to the new story; let’s hope that next week’s installment is a little looser.
Skip Tracer: Valhalla Part Ten
Credits James Peaty (script) Paul Marshall(art) Dylan Teague(Colours) Simon Bowland(letters)
Michael Mazzacane: With the tenth entry in ‘Valhalla’ the strip enters a new phase and it is time to put some new pieces on the board, mainly Eden. As such this strip is mostly about getting her in place to enter the fray which should be an enjoyable experience given the work the creative team have done with the relationship between Father and Daughter. This potential for what is to come, however, presently remains unfulfilled. Which makes this strip not bad just kind of perfunctory in a lot of ways. Structurally it all makes sense with the first and last pages coming together but nothing about it is spectacular.
The minor flashback and surreal confusion on which parent is dead (or only mostly dead) at the time is a solid tease and effective way to start the strip. It’s utterly disorientating. I’m curious what that feeling would’ve been like had there not been a two week break, with that gap it forces the reader to remember what did happen in the last strip.
Continued belowDjinndorah’s design continues to be pretty cool. The way Dylan Teague contrasts the encroaching sickly green against their red skin and pulsing eyes is effective. Paul Marshall also makes a noticeable shift in their line inking by going heavy on the spot blacks and rendering everything in a “Sin City”-esque negative and positive space. This has the effect of collapsing any sort of three-dimensional representation for just cold effective thudding images as Nolan is thrown about.
Djinndorah’s monologue about everything is kind of generic, he’s seen the light yadda yadda. The twist on Valhalla being a lament for a place people will never reach is interesting and a bit of devilish dramatic irony with what the reader has seen already.
There is stuff to appreciate in this strip but it lacks the narrative power to stand outside of technical execution.
Dexter Bulletopia Chapter Eleven: The End of the Pier Show Part 1
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Tazio Bettin (art), Matt Soffe (colors) Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Matthew Blair: After going through hell and back to get to the coast of the Black Sea, Dexter and his friends have finally reached a destination where they can charter a boat and get out of Europe in order to flee the rogue AI that is taking over everything and wants them dead.
Now, all they have to do is pray that they can organize a boat quickly before the AI catches up to them, which is unfortunately easier said than done,
“Dexter Bulletopia Chapter 11 Part 1” doesn’t do anything flashy or bombastic, but it does allow writer Dan Abnett to lay the foundation for future violence and character development. While Abnett does keep things relatively calm and quiet, there are plenty of problems to keep the characters on edge and the readers engaged. For starters, the group’s expected underworld contact is not as powerful or as capable as they hoped, which means they are stuck in port until transportation can arrive. Second, the agents of the rogue A.I are closing in and know where they are and finally, Ramone is starting to hear voices in his head. The issue isn’t that special, but it does promise to get better in the future.
The artwork for “Dexter Bulletopia Chapter 11 Part 1” is provided by a new artist named Steve Yeowell. Yeowell’s style is a lot simpler and plainer than previous styles which makes it easy to read and to figure out what’s going on. The story almost looks and feels like something out of a Herge story with its simple and clean lines, which do a great job of making the book feel like an adventure comic from the 60’s/70’s. It does have a few problems, the clean lines and minimal environments make the setting look a lot classier and richer than the script makes it out to be, but it’s not really that big of a deal.
“Dexter Bulletopia Chapter 11 Part 1” is a slow, but solid start to a new set of problems for Dexter and his gang, and while it doesn’t do a whole lot to grab the reader’s attention, it does lay the foundation for future violence.
Jaegir: Ferox Part Six
Credits: Gordon Rennie (Script), Simon Coleby (Art), Len O’Grady (Colors), Jim Campbell (Letters)
Christopher Egan: Just things seem to be taking a generally different direction with this strip, we get more of the same. Opening as if to give us a quieter, dialogue light story of escape, the same amount of hand-to-hand and weapon-based combat comes right back into play.
I can’t be the only one who has become bored by this story. It doesn’t reflect the talents of those behind it, especially Coleby and O’Grady. Rennie is known for his action stories but they tend to at least be more interesting. The repetition of following along with Jaegir: Ferox has been downright draining. It had so much more promise than what’s been doled out each week. Sincerity in stories like this is great, and becoming increasingly hard to come by, but the script here is far too dry for its own good.
