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
Cadet Dredd: Animal Instincts
Liam Johnson (script), Neill Cameron (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Chris Egan: Joe and Rico Dredd are on an evening patrol, performing door-to-door stops at one of the blocks. While doing these stops, they debate their physical and mental attributes, how they handle their duties as Cadets and eventually will as Judges, and if they could arrest the other if they had to. They come across a resident who seems more than a bit suspicious and their debate immediately becomes part of the scenario as Rico looks to act on instinct, rushing in to make what is, for now, an unwarranted arrest, or at the very least interrogation. Joe wants to play things by the book, contacting their superiors before acting and it puts him and Rico at odds.
The story turns into a body horror adjacent scifi action piece that pits the Dredd brothers against each other in ways they will come to be in the future. It’s all a bit on the nose, but for younger readers coming into the overall “Judge Dredd” canon, it’s a good gateway story. It’s a fun action story that digs just enough into the rules of the Judges and Mega City One. The art and colors by Cameron are fun, flashy, with very neat and clean lines. Everything is precise, even things get a little wacky in the final act. The strip as a whole is nothing new, but it is successful in its reach and what it’s attempting.
Lowborn High: Buried Secrets
Credits: David Barnett (script), Mike Walters (art), Pippa Bowland (colors), Jim Campbell (letters)
Greg Lincoln: “Lowborn High,” on the whole, feels a little stereotypical going for most of the teen or YA story tropes. David Bennett gives a lot of tension right on the first page with Al’s exploration of self being interrupted by his father. The twist that it wasn’t the makeup that was the issue but his practicing witchcraft was a nice switch. It does feel a little after school special, but he does give us a main character in Andy Frost who is refreshingly unlikeable. Frost is willing to get the school shut down to get to the place he wants to be. True, he doesn’t want to hurt others directly to get it but he’s defiantly unconcerned by the full results of his actions. There are several plot lines built up in this extended story it’s just a shame that co-creator Anna Morozova wan not on art chores.
In truth, Mark Walters was pretty decent, his art told the tale aptly but it the stylish flair Morozova brought to the story was noticeably absent. His work really does shine in several panes towards the finale. The scenes with Maisy stand out, possibly because of the fantastic expressive faces he drew or the great colors by Pippa Bowland. Their art collaboration clicked for the revelations about the fate of Andy Frost’s family. ‘Buried Secrets’ hinted at a lot of stories, but at least it did reveal the big secret in the story.
Future Shocks: Tempus Fugitives
Credits: Geoffrey D. Wessel(script), Zander Cannon (art), Zander Cannon (letters)
Matthew Blair: “Tempus Fugitives” (great title by the way) is set in a world where time travel is a thing and follows a family fleeing their current awful time and living conditions across the time stream in an attempt to find a better life in the late 1980’s. Unfortunately, family drama has a nasty habit of rearing its ugly head at the worst possible time.
The script for “Tempusl Fugitives” is provided by writer Geoffrey D. Wessel, who does a very good job writing family issues that are both relatable and establish some pretty high stakes for the short story. Unfortunately, while the characters are well written and there are some solid family moments, the rest of the story does suffer a bit from lack of world building and proper exposition. There is little to no explanation as to why people are hiding out in different time periods and why this particular family is on the run. Also, while there is a pretty good twist near the ending of the story, there seems to be another twist at the end that seemingly comes out of nowhere. It’s a solid idea that deserves more space to explore the story, but at the moment it feels a bit incomplete.
Continued below“Tempus Fugitives” is drawn by Zander Cannon, an artist who is probably best known for his kaiju prison drama “KaijuMax”. Cannon has a very unique art style that is instantly recognizable, combining solid colors with simple linework into a style that feels like it would be at home in an all ages comic, but deals with some pretty serious subject matter and mature themes. While the small panels don’t really allow the reader to fully take in what’s happening, Cannon does a great job of making the narrative flow easy to see and understand, plus the futuristic tech looks interesting and is easy to comprehend.
“Tempus Fugitives” is a cool idea with a good creative team and a fun design that is easy to read and understand. It just feels like the idea could be developed a bit more and really could have used a longer run time and more pages.
Finder & Keeper: The Substitute
Credits: John Reppion(script) Davide Tinto(art) Gary Caldwell(colours) Simon Bowland(letters)
This latest strip of “Finder & Keeper” is the epitome of “fine.” I can’t really knock it for anything. Davide Tinto pulls off some excellent cartoon expressions in spots. Gary Caldwell’s pallet matches the line art and style well enough. John Reppion’s scripting does just about everything you could hope for in 10 pages. Nothing about it stands out, though, as exceptional. There isn’t any satire of “Cadet Dredd”, “Lowborn High”, or the genre hybridity of something like “Enemy Earth.” “Finder & Keeper” is just a really good, if generic, young adult-themed strip. There is some charm in the way the opening two panels tell you everything you need to know to set up the series. That is also the problem: the reader already knows everything.
This is only the second strip in the series, but I’m left wondering if the pages of a “2000 AD” prog are the best place for it. Maybe if it had double the page count, it could really get a bit more character to it. Reppion’s script maneuvers the plot around as best you can. Essentially our eponymous duo’s teacher is out sick for the term, and they have a new substitute, Mr. Parker. Mr. Parker, though, is a little mysterious and this wouldn’t be a paranormal strip of Mr. Parker was just a normal overworked debt-laden former grad student. It turns out he is possessed by the magical keepers of Woodhenge. The possession element is where Reppion really has to cut things a little too close to the bone, with the reveal and climax all wrapped up in a matter of a couple of pages. There isn’t really any space to deal with Parker as a character.
How the art team handled that clean up though, is overall well done. Davide Tinto’s art for Mr. Parker stands out on the third page as he begins to speak to those who haunt him. Tinto’s linework overall has this early 2000s vibe that oddly works for this kind of strip. The figures are all overly stylized but not too cartooned.
“Finder & Keeper” is a good strip and a solid premise to write episodic 10 pagers. It just seems like the premise could use more pages to really flesh things out and get me to care about these characters.
