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: In the Event of my Untimely Demise: Part 1
Credits: Mike Carroll (script), Paul Marshall (art), Dylan Teague (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln: There is a whole hell of a lot going on in these scant few pages. Mike Carroll hits us with a mob war story in progress, one that involves planned hits on specific Judges. He introduces us to a young thug on the rise cut short by a firefight, some conspiring mob women talking about a conspiracy, and an apparent Psycker in the employ of the mob that is tracking the Judges. Carroll invites us into a load of secrets in this tale, even a covert operation being run by Dredd himself. It feels like there is a lot more to come, too, as a boss apparently got killed and he posthumously is dropping the dime on his killers to the Judges.
Paul Marshall’s very clean, sold art nails so much of this complex tale. There is nothing flashy about his style; it’s doesn’t stand out or call attention to itself and its designs. It does a stellar job of drawing you into the this complex twisting tale. His faces aren’t complicated but the simple line work lets then say a lot. The colors by Dylan Teague are reminiscent of a simpler time in comics before digital colors. Seeing a robot dog companion eating a nut, as in nut and bolt, from its owner is a particularly funny side moment.
Durham Red: Mad Dogs 07
Credits: Alec Worley (script) Ben Willsher (art) Simon Bowland (letters)
Michael Mazzacane: The seventh entry in ‘Mad Dogs’ provides readers with a good reminder of that violent nature of the series and the costs associated with it. Did I expect Burt to make it out of this mission in one piece? No, not really. But did I expect them to be so unceremoniously offed, caught with a stray through the shoulder and down a flight of stairs into the darkness? No, not at all. Just to underline the point Ben Willsher opens the final page with a near half page single panel capturing her broken and smashed body in a grotesque pinup. Violence isn’t cool, it is brutal and uncaring who it interacts with. Now watch Burt come out of things ok because it was all a hologram, or they’ve got magic cyborg powers or something. I hope not, but I haven’t seen something this “mean” for lack of a better term in “2000 AD” in ages.
The funny thing about this strip is before she fell down, Burt was correct in her read. They are getting played, suckered into a position for Kanka and the cartel. Now Burt is dead and Red is captured. On one hand this does move Red further to her goal of killing Kanka, but it was at a steep cost.
With audiences being so well versed in narrative flow at this point, the only thing creative teams can do is change ‘when’ those beats occur. This episode of ‘Mad Dog’ is a good example of playing with the ‘when’. Burt doesn’t get a heroic sacrifice or something of the sort. Just dead down a flight of stairs with nothing to show for it.
Enemy Earth Book 2: Part 7
Credits: Cavan Scott (script), Luke Horsman (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Matthew Blair: One of the things that makes post apocalyptic stories so engaging and fun to read and write is the idea that established morals and social responsibilities get to be thrown out the window, and we get to see what humanity is really like when there are few rules and even fewer consequences for breaking them.
Now, the group really gets to set off for India, provided they don’t kill each other first.
“Enemy Earth Book 2: Part 7” isn’t necessarily a subversion of post-apocalyptic tropes, but does show writer Cavan Scott switching tacks and keeping the group together and alive…for now. This allows for some good character moments and allows the creators and readers to do some soul searching within the story and within themselves. It doesn’t necessarily break any new gound or blow the reader away with some new insight into the human condition, but it’s still well written and gives you plenty of things to think about.
Continued belowSince the writing in “Enemy Earth Book 2: Part 7” reverts back to focusing on the characters instead of the action artist Luke Horseman reverts back to close up shots of the character’s faces and gets to showcase his skill at drawing emotions and quieter moments. Once again, his cartoon inspired style lends itself very well towards the emotional moments, allowing the characters to be incredibly expressive and exaggerated. It would almost be kid friendly if it wasn’t for all of the very explicit blood and gore strewn around the book.
“Enemy Earth Book 2: Part 7” doesn’t necessarily provide any new insight into the human condition or break a whole lot of new ground in the well trodden post-apocalyptic sub genre, but it is still a well written, well drawn, and thoroughly enjoyable bit of character work.
The Out: Book Three, Chapter 15
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Mark Harrison (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Brian Salvatore: There are stories that feel inevitable, but don’t skimp on the emotion when the thing you knew must be coming actually arrives. The betrayal of the Out by the Zoto seemed to be the only plausible explanation, but their caginess and supposed care for the universe seemed to betray that concept. And yet, here we are: the Zoto are exactly who we feared they are, and their own technological malfeasance may be not just destroy what they want destroyed, but destroy it all.
In this issue, Mark Harrison gets to draw technology that is hundreds of thousands of years old, and does so with aplomb, but the most affecting visuals are the surprisingly resigned and saddened faces of the Zoto. Harrison doesn’t tweak them beyond recognition, but with subtle adjustments, makes them look sad, hell, even depressed, without breaking the stoic look created for them. It’s subtle work in a book that doesn’t always do visual subtlety.
This is all leading up to next week’s finale, which feels strange. The first two books of “The Out” were propulsive; Dan Abnett’s script was constantly pushing the story forward into new planets and new adventures, as Cyd was grappling with her past. However, ‘Book Three’ has been looking back, while Cyd tries to grapple with her future. It’s a brilliant refocusing of the story, but it feels a little slighter than what we’ve grown accustomed to in the series thus far. We’ll see if Abnett and Harrison can stick the landing next week.
Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley, Part Six
Credits: Garth Ennis (script), Patrick Goddard (art), Rob Steen (letters)
Chris Egan: This week Ennis slows things down just a bit to give us the recon and regroup portion of the platoon relationship. We see the soldiers focused on the task at hand, and more importantly scoping out an enemy staging area as they plan the next move. While this is occurring the soldiers are talking, asking questions about one another, learning a little bit more than what they may have previously known about their brothers in arms.
As these conversations begin to dwindle, we know what’s next, a fight. Rogue knows he can do more damage on his own than the typical soldier so he goes in like a battering ram. I like this turn as someone who usually seems so cold and calculating uses that quality as a way of protecting the men around him. This strip is both full of war story tropes with just enough of a twist on them to keep things chugging along. It’s all familiar to the point of enjoyment and strange enough to the point of intrigue.
Goddard’s art continues to be a strength in the same way as Ennis’s script. Familiar like a classic war film, yet adds the bizarre to remind us we’re in a 2000AD strip. Love the detailing and the black and white movie vibes. It’s a winning combination.
