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 5
Credits: Mike Carroll (script), Paul Marshall (art), Dylan Teague (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln: With a few exceptions, this weeks chapter nails it story wise all around. Paul Marshall’s art gels well with the narration, and there was no confusing story beats, or extended info dump to get in the way of telling the tale. There is clarity in Marshall’s lines and action flow that was just missing last week. He hit the ground running with the scene between Dredd and his Doctor and quietly sold the joking exposition about Dredd clearly not following Gregory’s advice. If there was an art hiccup, it was the one disembodies talking head of the Kindred that stands out as odd and out of place with all the other artwork. The art clearly spelled out that something was being done to the stadium around the set up; it wasn’t in the narration, but the implication was there for the set up.
Mike Carroll wrote a much clearer script this week as well, with all the disparate elements competing for story time. The mob boss desperate and on the run, Dredd’s off the books group, the Kindred, and the psycker tracking Dredd were more deftly handled than in ‘Part 4.’ He let the reader put together the pieces and let us feel more a part of the telling. It redeems this complex tale and brings us deeper into it.
Void Runners: Part 3
Credits: David Hine (script), Boo Cook (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Brian Salvatore: In this third installment, we finally get a sense for what exactly a Void Runner does, and we get some semblance of an understanding of who Shikari is, though they still read a bit like Principal Scudworth from Clone High, all impossible bluster and silly smiles. Even if his outward persona is absurd and obnoxious, the fact that they are not only protected in his ship, but even after one of his companions doesn’t treat the Pleroma very nicely, shows that their stature and reputation precede them, and that they must either be very, very good at what they do, or good enough at greasing the wheels of void running that they get away with whatever they want.
Boo Cooks artwork adds a degree of body horror and interstellar weirdness hand in hand here, with the Pleroma looking like some sort of sea monster floating in the void of space. The designs in this story are surprisingly unique, and make each character require pause to really inspect the design and marvel at how there aren’t a lot of ‘easy’ or standard designs to account for here. Cook has managed to give this story, in just three chapters, a relatively defined visual sense. That’s a tall order, and Cook delivered.
The only complain at this point is that David Hine’s script is taking its sweet time giving us anything other than little glimpses at an overarching plot. Each chapter reveals a little more, and I certainly feel better about the overall shape of the story after this week than I have after the first two, but it still hasn’t exactly coalesced into something that feels like something yet. There needs to be a focusing so that, at very least, the readers can get a better sense of wha the overarching story beats are.
Durham Red: Mad Dogs 10
Credits: Alec Worley (script) Ben Willsher (art) Simon Bowland (letters)
Michael Mazzacane: After the cliffhanger from the last strip, where Kanaka made a deal, the follow up strip does pretty much exactly what you would expect. An enraged Red goes on a violent rampage after Kanaka, imperiling her own deal in the process. Alec Worley’s script draws out the tension in Red’s feelings toward Kanaka. On one hand he is an individual who is responsible for the suffering of thousands of people. “Monsters like HIM don’t deserve a second chance” she grumbles as she storms off. Then at the end of the strip Kanaka pulls a similar tack asking who will protect the galaxy if she’s on death row and by extension how many people will suffer because of that? Who is the real monster here?
Continued belowThe simplest way to break through this false equivalency is to unfortunately evoke Harry Potter, which despite its many shortcomings and TERF of an author, encapsulates a lesson in ethics rather well. What we choose to do is what matters – in an idealized setting obviously. Red’s whole upbringing and ostracization is a byproduct of systemic abuse and neglect by a fascist state. And despite all that Red is still operating within an ethical code and trying to put the skills that alienate her to the of society and within herself for some kind of greater good. She has done monstrous things, but she is trying to make amends for them. Kanaka on the other hand continually plays both sides for the best deal possible, the epitome of a cynical opportunist without an ethical code.
Ben Willsher’s art goes in a more graphic mode in this strip both in terms of content and general framing. The second panel on the second page showing the phone call between Kanaka and Fink features this nice flattening of space that also makes this sort of panel with a panel. Bowland’s onomatopoeia lettering on the fourth page gives an appropriate graphic element. Also, whoever on the creative team thought giving Kanaka a flame thrower ring was a good idea, was right. The ripping off Kanaka’s hand is the most brutal moment in this series and lands perfectly.
These graphic and hyper violent elements all build to the final panel the bifurcated snarling image of Red ready to kill Kanaka with the question of who is she? The core question of this series. Guess we’ll find out next week.
Azimuth: A Job for Suzie Nine Part 1
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Tazio Bettin (art), Matt Soffe (colors) Jim Campbell (letters)
Matthew Blair: Welcome to Azimuth, a city of wonders ruled by the Lords of New Flesh. It’s a city where data is the only currency that matters and bodies can be changed on a whim. It’s in this world that we meet Suzie Ninemillimetere, a cadavatar that needs work to exist. Fortunately for her, a pair of the Lords of New Flesh named the Cray Cray Twins have a job for her.
They say it’s not that dangerous, but if it wasn’t dangerous they wouldn’t be hiring her.
“Azimuth: A Job for Suzie Nine Part 1” is written by a well known name at 2000AD and comics in general: Dan Abnett. This is an original story in a new and original setting, so Abnett spends most of the story providing exposition and introducing the world to readers. Abnett writes the story like a classic pulp detective novel with gritty exposition and a character who lives on the margins of society but is known and feared for being absolutely lethal. There are times when the exposition can be a little dense since Abnett presents words and terms that everyone in the story knows but the reader doesn’t, but it’s still a fun world to play around with and it has a lot of potential.
The new and exciting world of “Azimuth: A Job for Suzie Nine Part 1” is brought to life with art from Tazio Bettin and colors by Matt Sofie. Bettin and Sofie are a great combination with Sofie’s rich and bold color scheme complimenting Bettin’s realistic narrow line style. This is a world that is so technologically advanced that traditional ideas of body structure and appearance are blurred, and Bettin gets to show off a lot of imagination when it comes to character design and the setting. There are a few moments where the character’s appearances change from panel to panel, but it’s usually minor details that are easily overlooked.
“Azimuth: A Job for Suzie Nine Part 1” is the introduction to a new and exciting world that promises danger, violence, and some really cool characters and settings.
Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley, Part Eleven
Credits: Garth Ennis (script), Patrick Goddard (art), Rob Steen (letters)
Chris Egan: As Rogue and the boys make their way to the black hole, and with any luck, back home, the Germans are on the offensive. Bullets fly, structures and ships explode. Death and carnage are back on the menu. Along with the typical war material that’s been explored in nearly every issue, Cosmic wonder and horror are also back. This is a series that continues to make the path clear. Sometimes it’s impossible to tell if things are as straight forward as they seem or is it all an insane metaphysical fever dream?
Though there are plenty of things I like about this series, every new entry is starting to feel like a reset. Rather than adding to what might by a cyclical trap for our heroes, it’s making it seem more like a cheap way to extend this plot across too many chapters.
