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 2000 AD
Judge Dredd: The Haggar They Are Part 3
Credits: Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt (script), Paul Marshall (art), Dylan Teague (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln: ‘The Haggar They Fall’ fell flat in its finale. The art was aptly done and pretty good for standard western science fiction fare. Though Paul Marshall implied lots of action, some panels were too static and had too many awkward closeups and body poses to convey that action well. The panels that landed solidly were the ones featuring Sneeches and a single long distance shot of the Judge trying to catch the teleporting Haggar. There was nothing wrong with how anything was drawn or colored; perhaps it is just that little stood out.
Story wise, the stakes for Dredd and the Judges never feel solid enough and their success never seemed at risk either. The image of Haggar’s capture was a confusing panel which is really only clear when examined. It broke the flow of the story, forcing you to scrutinize the art. Haggar losing her head due to a Judge’s miscalculation should be funny at least, but the decapitation lands with no laughs or shock. Though the story seems connected to bigger events both past and likely future, it ends up feeling like a bit of story filler. The standout character is Sneeches, the bad cat side player, even if he’s not the central part of the tale. Perhaps the only events that matter were in the several panel afterward with its successful assassination scene. It’s was not a standout three parter but as it a Rob Williams tale it’s sure to come back to bit Dredd somehow.
The Out: Book Three, Part Eight
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Mark Harrison (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Brian Salvatore: After a few chapters of slower, less bombastic storytelling, this chapter of “The Out” allows Mark Harrison to let loose all the pent-up action an chaos that has been on the shelf and spilled it all over the pages here, creating a truly disarming and charged-up installment. When two different factions are trying to kill Cyd, the only way she can escape is by maneuvering through the hail of bullets and hoping that the violence acts as a screen. It works, and Cyd is free, roaming the planet until a butterfly that she reads as a sign leads her, somehow to an old friend with a way off-planet.
This chapter feels very much like Cyd has lucked into a solution that continues her fated journey. Dan Abnett’s script has made it clear over time how Cyd is lucky, yes, but the universe isn’t built on luck, and her luck can only get her so far. Of course, it always comes back, so even when she’s assimilated into a war machine, she lucks her way out. But then she’s confined to a solitary life…from which she escapes. She gets off-planet, but gets in the snares of creatures that want to destroy her. And then she gets out of that too.
For now, her luck still hasn’t run out. But one thing “The Out” does very well is to give you the impression that it might, truly at any point.
Joe Pineapples Tin Man 08
Credits: Pat Mills (script), Simon Beasley (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Matthew Blair: To the robots of the ABC squad, killing people and other robots is literally ingrained in their programming. The problem is that when these robots were programmed, they were programmed using human emotions and human templates, which means sooner or later feelings and complicated moral questions are going to crop up.
This is a fancy way of saying that the tension between Joe Pineapples and the newly emotionally awakened Sue Bananas is about to explode into conflict.
While the surface of a story like “Joe Pineapples Tin Man 08” can be easily dismissed as hoaky and over the top, writer Pat Mills injects a surprising amount of emotional nuance into the script. While previous sections of the story were borderline silly and kind of simplistic, this section of story gets a lot more complicated with Pineapples and Bananas having a falling out and Pineapples making the choice to kill a human who is abusing his authority over robots. It’s a hell of an emotional journey and very well written.
Continued belowSimon Beasley’s artwork continues to be fantastic in “Joe Pineapples Tin Man 08” and here we see a continual reworking of previous themes and storytelling mechanics. The story makes brilliant use of panel layouts and color, continuing to show the audience black and white flashbacks with accentuated moments of color to draw the audience’s eye towards certain bits that hit hard and enhance the emotion of the scene. Coupled with a blend of standard and creative panel layouts and you have a comic that shows how the medium can be used to tell a story better than anything else out there at the current moment.
“Joe Pineapples Tin Man 08” shows the spark that ignites the emotions conflict of the entire story, and it is told with a great amount of nuance and thought to the emotional journey of these robots who have known nothing but death and destruction, and told with gorgeous art that continues to be excellent.
The Order: Heart of Darkness Part Three
Credits: Kek-W (script), John Burns (art), Jim Campbell (letters)
Chris Egan: Picking right up where part two left off, we are once again at the bottom of the ocean. And everything is green. The dark, bleak story is matched only by the gloomy and nightmarish art of John Burns. Kek-W gives us his most detailed and darkest script yet. Human nature, the need to be seen and recognized, being saved versus being rescued. All of these thoughts, ideas, and feelings make their way to the page. The chapter doesn’t shy away from some truly haunting and dark imagery.
As this story and this world continue to open up, it is clear that there may be even more at play than we could have realized until now. As big and as open as this series as been since the first issue, it is clear now that there is so much more going on than we could have been privy to from issue one. There is a sense of drowning on every page, whether it be from being trapped under water, under pressure from others, or overwhelmed by everything around me. This series continues to be exciting and horrifying with every turn of the page and it continues to be a true pleasure to read. Typically after three issues or chapter, these strips can beging to wander as they lose steam and attempt to flesh out enough of these weekly chapters to keep things going, but they rarely keep up the quality and strengh of the writing and art, this could end up being one of the best horror series to grace the pages of 2000 AD.
Proteus Vex: Crawl Space Part 8
Credits: Mike Carroll (script), Jake Lynch (art), Jim Boswell(Colours), Simon Bowland(letters)
Michael Mazzacane: After the action-heavy nature of the previous strip I was expecting ‘Crawl Space’ to slow down and catch its breath. And for the first three pages, it seemed like that was going to be the case. We have a page recapping the Scorchers reaction to their massive losses. If you expected it to be a thoughtful reaction to their incalculable losses you would be wrong. The King instead recommits to scorched earth tactics and declares anyone who stands with the Imperium. would be treated with the same scorched earth tactics: civilians are valid targets, no prisoners, no mercy. We transition to some narration using the titular archive for some dramatic irony. And then Midnight Indicating Shame literally bursts onto the page and eviscerates their Scorcher captors in a display of violence that this strip hasn’t given before.
Jake Lynch’s art carries the conflicting tones in these final pages. The second to last page is viscera filled violence drawn with a sort of spontaneity that it leaps forward in that first panel. But on further review, the moment plays as comedic because of the character designs involved. That comedy helps with the final page as Midnight’s true purpose is revealed in a chilling response. She didn’t know how to pilot the Scorcher ship, but she knew how to pilot her new “friends”.
Mike Carroll plays with expectations just enough in this strip. It isn’t a major departure, so it is still effective at pushing the story forward, but the sudden inclusion of violence adds a bit of spice to things. The violence plays on your expectations of the previous pages, only to suddenly burst forward.
