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: Sentientoid’s Big Idea Part 3
Credits: Rob Williams (script), Jake Lynch (art), Jim Boswell (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln: So the Sentientoid fell in love The Godfather, or some version or remake of it, and so wants to become a made man. The meeting of the Five Families goes about as well as you might expect. They deny making the Sentientoid a made man or made-whatever and bring out the truth of the big idea. Rob Williams really hits dead on in this story on what makes conscious beings “conscious:” it’s the desire to be cool. Violence ensues, as was inevitable. The smart and surprising thing about the melee is that the mob families brought a mobile EMP. It didn’t work because the the Sov bot was sentient, which is really interesting, but at least they came prepared. The only let down is just how abruptly the story ends. The arrival of Dredd and his secret weapon, the back door code spoken by Buratino, bring all this to a halt. Maybe Williams is setting pieces in play for another story, but there was some good stuff here and it’s kind of sad it’s over so fast.
All the art is pretty solidly done, Jake Lynch is no slouch as a visual storyteller and packs in detail and feeling throughout, but there is a bit of a disconnect this week. It feels like the disparate elements are disconnected. The panels of the Sentientoid have the most intimate and textured detail. The mobsters, for the most part, feel kind of sketchy, while Dredd and Buratino feel detailed but a little cartoonish. It’s like there are several genres of comic art all coming together in this story. It still works, but it does distract from the storytelling just a little. Jim Boswell’s colors really match up well with they art, and even when the style seems to stray, he strays along with it, keeping true to the work on the page.
Tharg’s 3rillers: The Crawly Man
Credits: David Barnett (script), Lee Milmore (art), Quinton Winter (colors), Simon Bowland (leters)
Brian Salvatore: Like the best of the “Tharg’s 3rillers” series, ‘The Crawly Man makes use of its structure to tell a well-paced story that doesn’t overstay its welcome, hints at a potential future, and delivers one last twist. Each issue has done a good job of playing with expectation and format, allowing the reader to experience Caris’s revelations one at a time, along with her. The reader is never really ahead of her experience, which allows both empathy for her and a better, more engaged reading for us.
As mentioned last time, it turn out that Keith and Maureen were truly trying to help Caris, and not in a twisted “greater good” sort of way; they were literally saving her life. Her calling forth of the Crawly Man was a natural defense against evil, but they didn’t know that when they snatched her. Aside from her parents and the townsfolk of Cudd, everyone else in this story is acting for Caris’s protection. Keith and Maureen don’t make it, though that can be attributed to them handling the situation in a less than ideal way, as well. Once Caris hears what her parents’ plans were, she turns on a dime; the same might’ve happened if they were honest with her.
The only knock against this issue is the same as the first two: the rigidity and posed nature of the art. The Crawly Man, by his name and nature, should be a slithering, uncomfortable presence. But the static imagery neuters the impact of the movement; imagine if the crabwalk scene from The Exorcist was done in still photography instead of motion; that’s how this felt throughout.
But even with the less than fluid art, the story itself and the character work in David Barnett’s script made this a compelling three-parter. May the citizens of Cudd burn in hell.
Continued below
Skip Tracer: Valhalla Part Twelve
Credits James Peaty (script), Paul Marshall (art), Dylan Teague (Colours), Simon Bowland(letters)
Michael Mazzacane: ‘Valhalla’ comes to a close in mostly poetic fashion that makes good use of the medium, even if that technical efficiency highlights some of the narrative leaps necessary to get to the conclusion on page five.
Peaty writes this strip as an elliptical narrative: it begins at the beginning, the end is the beginning, it’s all running around in a circle. There is some poetic quality to how that structure reframes the opening question “So how did it feel …”. It helps to give a rhyming, structured, quality to a life. But that attempt at structure highlights a truncated middle section that exposes (or in less charitable terms yadda yaddas) that life in order to fit the five page format. Maybe if the first page was more focused on Eden and less the destructive space opera of the series it would’ve felt better.
The middle portio that follows the remainder of Eden’s life is a mixture of the strengths and shortcomings sequential art can have. The page composition by Paul Marshall is overall strong and produced easily readable well-structured pages. However, the ability to use panels and gutter space to skip time much in the way jump cuts can go from forward to flashback to present, is disorienting and not wholly satisfying. The destruction of the Consociation just sort of happens, it’s a big deal. Emphasis on big.
Then again this series has never been interested in the Big space opera of it all, this was a story about a Father and Daughter. The opening page as the cube crashes and burns is appropriately big but Marshall’s art highlights how removed our perspective is, the figures vainly running for their lives mere scribbles of ink. It’s so impersonal at that scale. Compared to Eden’s funeral which is dialogically a little exposition heavy, it is at least centered on the reader and casts personal relationships to her. Noteworthy that our POV for a certain pattern is that of mourners looking down at the casket.
Which sets up the final page reveal of what Valhalla is. It’s a heartwarming moment.
“Skip Tracer: Valhalla ” has been one of the better character focused strips I’ve read recently in 2000 AD but that also highlights how this format maybe isn’t the best for that kind of character driven genre storytelling at times.
Dexter Bulletopia Chapter Eleven: The End of the Pier Show Part 3
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Tazio Bettin (art), Matt Soffe (colors) Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Matthew Blair: And just like that, the story ends and Dexter’s quest to destroy the rogue AI that’s been hounding him across Europe is on hiatus until next year. It doesn’t go out with a bang, but there are some pretty interesting revelations and a fun and unique final confrontation with a couple of bad guys.
While writer Dan Abnett avoids the fireworks in the conclusion of “Dexter Bulletopia Chapter Eleven Part 3” he does show that he has mastered the art of ending a story in a satisfactory way while leaving the audience wanting more. It’s a delicate needle to thread, with various characters saying goodbye to each other while at the same time laying the groundwork for the next chapter of action, but Abnett manages it beautifully. The goodbyes are bittersweet and poignant and while there isn’t a lot of room for action, Abnett does reveal a fun little technical surprise that creates a fun little scene and reveals an important bit of technical knowledge that should be useful in the future.
Steve Yeowell’s artwork is solid, functional, and manages to fit a lot of stuff into the five page story that is “Dexter Bulletopia Chapter Eleven Part 3”. While the design of the cyborg assassins sent to hunt down Dexter and his friends is a bit bland, it is effective and the reveal of the technical twist that keeps Dexter safe is well done and fun to read. Yeowell does a fine job of lending weight and meaning to Dexter’s goodbyes and there is a great sense of anticipation and resignation as things move towards their violent conclusion.
Continued below“Dexter Bulletopia Chapter Eleven Part 3” is a short, bittersweet, and well written segment to this particular story arc that manages to be both a satisfying conclusion to the arc and a way to hype up and promote what comes next. It’s a shame that we have to wait a year to see what happens.
Jaegir: Ferox Part Eight
Credits: Gordon Rennie (Script), Simon Coleby (Art), Len O’Grady (Colors), Jim Campbell (Letters)
Christopher Egan: The finale of this “Jaegir” arc gives us some brutal and harrowing violence, but also gives us a look at character motivations. Along with these motivations, some major story ideas and hints at future plot threads are laid out with just enough detail that we have just a basic inkling of how things will pick up in the next strip.
The script is a bit beefier this week, with a lot more information getting thrown around and less regard for keeping things streamline. The writing isn’t over-done, nor is the script all over the place, but this chapter isn’t as tightly tied up as past entries have been. It actually works in this chapter’s favor. It’s a dark more interesting and engaging chapter than we’ve gotten in some time. The artwork is equally engaging. Varied character designs, action sequences, and gore lend to a nice change and get readers away from having to relive the same type of storytelling every week.
I can’t say I’m excited to get to “Jaegir,” whenever we get the next arc, but at the very least this cliffhanger had me considering reading it upon its return.
