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: Buratino Must Die, Part 2
Credits: Rob Williams (script), Flint Henry (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln: This week, Rob Williams brings us closer to the moment of Dredd pointing his gun at Buratino’s back. Dredd visits Buratino’s private lab and is treated to several conversations we can be sure don’t please him. He exacted unpleasantries with the talking horse and encounters Izaaks and the Sentientoid of all things while looking for Buratino in the suspiciously pop art, Kirby-esque laboratory. The whole strip is pretty atmospheric until a meeting with Judge Anderson turns it into a joke at Dredd’s expense. Honestly, the best moments in the story are Anderson’s reaction to Dredd being told it’s classified to his face and when she refers to Dredd as her boyfriend. Sure there is the mysterious person who arrives at the gate to the city and is let in despite its strangeness, but the mirth caused by Judge Anderson steals the show.
Even visually, Henry Flint gives a lot of space to those panels featuring Anderson. He does a lovely job of creating mysterious looking Kirby-tech and hunting at nefarious things in the background of the lab scene. Flint communicates the strangeness of the new visitor to the Mega-City with the quality of the blacks he colored it/them with. Neither the art nor the story made anything clearer as to what is happening, but it was for sure laugh worthy entertainment that is building to something.
Chimpskey’s Law: A Terrifically Disturbing Adventure, Part 4
Credits: Ken Niemand (script), PJ Holden (art), Chris Blythe (colors), Simon Bowland (letters)
Matthew Blair: The twins continue their quest to make Chimpsky’s life a living hell, and while Chimpsky is starting to realize what kind of trouble he and the inhabitants of his block are in, the twins are hard at work moving things around and forcing others to do their bidding and they are utterly terrifying. They can control anyone to do anything, and Chimpksy is in for the fight of his life.
They’ve even infiltrated the title of the comic and changed it to reflect their twisted sense of fun and humor.
“Chimpksy’s Law Part 4” shows just how smart and capable the twins are and writer Ken Niemand shows it off very well. Niemand does allow Chimpsky a brief moment of clarity as he realizes what he’s up against, but the majority of the issue is taken up by the twins covering their tracks and creating all sorts of terrifying chaos.
The biggest critique of PJ Holden’s artwork was that his characters looked a little bit off, but in “Chimpsky’s Law Part 4” the issue has been fixed, even if there is a page of artwork that appears to be missing. Now that Holden’s commitment to the look and feel of the comic has been established, he uses this part of the story to showcase his action chops. The story is clearly laid out, everything is easy to understand, and the whole thing flows nicely and is expertly paced.
“Chimpsky’s Law Part 4” puts our hero though the ringer and up against a threat that is both terrifying and capable. Nobody is safe, nobody is friendly, and Chimpsky is left up in the air with a set of rapidly deteriorating options and no idea what to do before time runs out.
Hope: In the Shadows Reel Two, Part Three
Credits: Guy Adams (script), Jimmy Broxton (art), Jim Campbell (letters)
Christopher Egan: Picking up from last week, this chapter keeps the Lynchian metaphysical aspects going strong. There’s no hiding the horror or magic this time around. Nearly every panel has something supernatural and horrifying happening. Like the magical assassination of President Truman. Broxton is bringing his A game with every single chapter, the likenesses are always stunning and the gore and violence are top notch.
Continued belowAdams keeps the script pretty conversational, even when parts of it are longer and get more in depth. It allows for the story to continue to progress at a nice speed without feeling rushed.
This week the violence and shocks come quickly and don’t let up until the very last moment. This should definitely be keeping readers on their toes, with no expectations for next week.
Enemy Earth: Book One: Part Four
Credits: Cavan Scott (script), Luke Horsman (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Michael Mazzacane: “Enemy Earth” shifts gears into a more familiar pattern as Zoe and Jules try to escape the killer plants. Cavan Scott pepers this strip with plainly effective banter. It isn’t anything groundbreaking or that you wouldn’t expect but Scott and artist Luke Horsman, along with letterer Annie Parkhouse, setup a nice call and response rhythm between the characters that it carries the strip as they try to survive and escape.
Characters like Jules are a real tough needle to thread. Their character type has been sheltered nearly their entire life, in this case literally, so they can’t really do much. At the same time they can’t be absolutely useless otherwise the reader will get justifiably perturbed that Zoe doesn’t just leave the kid to the plants. So far Cavan and Horsman do a good job of balancing the thread between sufficient and still in need of help. That idea of needing help appears to be central to that balancing act, everyone needs help from time to time. It’s human. Jules is able to jump up to the pipes on the second and third page, but isn’t as quick or strong as need be. Which leads to Zoe needing to come in and go berserk with an axe. It’s not his fault, it’s the kind of scenario that happens when one travels in a group.
The reveal of the truck, and means to turn this into a trip through the “Enemy Earth” was effective. The fourth and fifth page though are mildly confusing from a geographic standpoint, which stands out after Horsman has delivered a series of readable chaos. The moment itself, the truck barreling through to save the Nanni bot, just as it was about to be crushed and send one last message of hope to Jules was effective. How that truck got through the wall too that space is beyond me. The moment is set up with a “who said we were going that way?” tease, but the final page begs the question well now where do they go. Quibbles aside “Enemy Earth” continues to be what could be an engaging YA read when it’s all collected.
Hershey: The Cold in the Bones: Book One, Part Four
Credits: Rob Williams (script), Simon Fraser (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Brian Salvatore: Part four of “The Cold in the Bones: Book One” continues to paint a picture of the type of place that Antarctic-City and, specifically, the people who would move there. There’s a Werner Herzog documentary called Encounters at the End of the World, and there are times that Rob Williams is clearly cribbing from either Herzog, or has uncovered the same things about Antarctica that Herzog has. It is a place for people without other options, or for folks that have a very specific reason for going there. This isn’t a casual visitation center; if you’re there, you’ve got a damn good reason.
There is sense of both individualism and claustrophobia in most of these panels. Simon Fraser’s art manages to take wide open spaces and hovels and make them feel somewhat on par with each other, in terms of dread. In this chapter, we spend a lot of time with Dirty Frank, who is the avatar of the duality of the place. He is trying to buy some Joy as part of the investigation, but is forced to take the drug in front of the dealer, just like Jenko and Schmidt have to do in 21 Jump Street. It remains to be seen if Dirty Frank makes someone else stick their finger down his throat or not, but the tension in an already uptight situation goes through the roof when Frank must agree to doing the Joy then and there.
While this series has been a little bit of a slow burn thus far, Williams and Fraser are doing a fantastic job of building up this corner of the world. The story, as a whole, will benefit from the work being done here. However, a little push towards more action may not be a bad thing for week to week enjoyment.
