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: The Exchange
Credits: James Peaty (script), Joe Currie (art & colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Chris Egan: When a young Joseph Dredd is assigned to look after an exchange cadet from Mega City Two, his tough exterior keeps Cadet Boniek from feeling at home, even temporarily. However, Cadet Boniek rubs Cadet Dredd the wrong way and Dredd’s usually overly critical and suspicious mind may actually be onto something. “The Exchange” is a really fun and small mystery with Dredd and this new cadet, Boniek, at the center. While small in scope in terms of location, characters, and the amount of time it takes place, it ends up being an interesting enough and layered mystery for a teen version of our favorite fascist to uncover. Because this is aimed at younger readers, the story has enough depth to be a more intelligent read than most mysteries for kids while keeping things simple enough that it would never be considered confusing or a head-scratcher. The twists and turns happen fast and the final reveal is mostly earned.
The concept of a cadet exchange program is a fun idea too, as Boniek comes into Mega City One to see how things are done there, Dredd’s brother Rico is already on assignment as part of the exchange in MC2. This story device also allows Dredd to call his brother to discuss his suspicions and for Rico to give him some much-needed information. It’s a fun little factor of detective work and plays to these characters’s strengths and personalities. It’s always fun to get something more than just a shoot ’em up story with “Cadet Dredd.” For being a fairly long story, for a Prog, it moves really fast as Peaty’s script is engaging and well-paced. Joe Currie’s artwork is referential while also having a fun almost zany style to it. Overall, it’s a really solid read that should make younger readers happy while still appealing to those who read “Judge Dredd” year-round.
Lowborn High: Wishing Well
Credits: David Barnett (script), Mike Walters (art), Pippa Bowland (colours), Jim Campbell (letters)
Michael Mazzacane: The machinations and drama of “Lowborn High” comes to a head just as the school for poor gifted youngsters is up for review and the summer ball! Oh the drama and angst. Writer David Barnett takes full advantage of the extended length of this strip to fully set the table before attempting to pull the tablecloth out from under it. It is a solid magic trick that got me to bite on an ending only for it to send me in a totally different direction.
There are a couple of pages that I’m sure if Barnett and artist Mike Walters didn’t have the page budget for, they would not be in. The first being Maisy’s 2-page flashback and development of her multiple sclerosis. If this were a strip of normal length, maybe the second page would be included. The second page provides a solid matching panel transition back into the present and puts the reader in her mind as she chooses to do something very stupid. The other segment is a one page scene about the coven and their own machinations around the ball, Andy and Maisy. These three pages help to just make the plot coherent and the kind of overwrought teen drama of the boarding school narrative to hit with a bit more earnestly and feel earned even as it lightly parodies certain tropes of the genre.
There is a bit of symmetry to the two pages of Maisy summoning the Djinn that probably makes them look better in physical form. AS it stands the first page at least feels a little perfunctory and panel light. It gets the job done it just isn’t very interesting to look at. The Djinn design though and Pippa Bowland coloring is fantastic. Walters didn’t go for a generic Orientalist design and went for something more freeform and wraith-like.
Continued belowEverything climaxes at the dance wherein we discover Maisy has bargained her soul for the ability to walk again, which feels like a steep price. But that is the price for learning to conform and perform to normative standards of mobility I guess. It’s here where things get a little melodramatic in a good way, mostly due to the tonality of the series; it lets some of the bigger Big Teen Drama moments work. If this strip didn’t do this I would be left wanting.
All of this seems to be pushing to a return to the status quo, the promise of change was made but ha this is comics after all. Instead the strip goes in another direction that is far more interesting and character base and leaves the crew in quite the literal cliffhanger which will be resolved in Prog 2356.
Future Shocks: Autocop
Credits: Karl Stock (script), Toby Willsmer (art), Matt Soffe (colors) Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Matthew Blair: In this particular story all jobs are automated and done by artificial intelligence. However, it seems that law enforcement has a need for humans to act as a consciousness for their army of A.I programmed tank bots so they don’t shoot everything in sight.
Don’t worry, this is still a work of science fiction and is set in the distant future…for now.
“Future Shocks: Autocop” is written by Karl Stock, who has some very interesting things to say about a world that is dominated by artificial intelligence and where police are given a blank check to knock as many heads as they want. Stock does a great job of making the whole thing over the top and satirical in classic 2000AD fashion while injecting the story with just enough believability and thought to provide some intriguing commentary. There’s a lot to unpack here about the nature of policing, the rise of A.I in the job market, and how humans fit into this whole mess and while Stock doesn’t have a whole lot of answers and doesn’t provide a very good twist ending, he does present some interesting questions.
The artwork for “Future Shocks: Autocop” is provided by Toby Willsmer and it is very unique and pretty. The art style feels like it would be right at home in a sort of 1980’s independent, underground comic with pretty high production values and a color palette that looks like it was drawn with either oil paints or pastels. It’s a unique style for a science fiction story and it’s nice to see comics utilizing different art styles to tell a story.
As a Future Shock “Autocop” misses out on key things like a surprise twist ending, but as a science fiction story it has a lot to say and raises some very interesting questions about the world we live in.
Renk: Twinkle Toes
Credits: Paul Starkey (script), Anna Readman (art), Gary Caldwell (colors), Simon Bowland (letters)
Greg Lincoln: “Renk: Twinkle Toes” presents a pretty low stakes fantasy take on a classic noir gumshoe story. One armed detective Renk is called in by friends to locate a stolen dance trophy. He travels all over a truly interesting fantasy city with a low reputation following his only lead, the magical security protecting the valuable item. The story is a fun set up of a lark and has some solid scripted moments, but what shines is the wildly creative art.
Gary Caldwell’s near garish color pallet truly stands out right away; the contrasting colors make the strains and characters really stand out, even if they are bit players. His use of nearly florescent greens are a real eye catching choice. Anne Readman is the star of the dance floor. Her chunky outlines and character concepts all surpass fantasy expectations and the feeling she gives the tale drifts from epic fantasy to fairy tale pretty freely. Every scene treats the reader to bizarre images like giant snails helping clean the dance hall to the swampy submerged floor of the Croc-o-dine restaurant. The line of odd fantasy dwellers outside Thaly’s magic shop is a rogues gallery of weird anthropomorphics. Even the friends (used loosely) that hire (also used loosely) Renk are equally weird and oddly cute as everything else around them. Renk may have had previous chapters, but there is enough depth of storytelling here to pick up the thread of the story without prior knowledge.
