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!
2000 AD Prog 2363
Judge Dredd: Vox Populi
Credits: Mike Carroll (script), Silvia Califano (art), F. Segala & S Del Grosso (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln: ’Vox Populi’ presents a very different look at the Justice department and the world of Judge Dredd through the eyes of Jinty Pink. Mike Carroll tells a tale that could well be taking place today with its cynical look at media, influencer culture, and the laws ultimate response.
Silvia Califino’s art grabs the reader right away with a charismatic reporter, Jinty, brightly standing out a very Burning Man inspired crowd. She’s stylish and well designed; she fits in as a modern or future influencer. She sees a threat to a Judge and saves the famous lawman Dredd himself from an extremists gun. Califino’s art is all that tells us about the passage of time for Jinty as she gains followers and fame. The cast of character she encounters all are unique and engagingly designed, Califino took care to make them interesting. It’s never stated how much time passes beginning to end but the art makes it clear it’s been a minute before she and Dredd cross paths again.
‘Vox Populi’ clearly tells the tale of of a media figure doing their best to do positive things with their celebrity. Jinty just happens to take the side that looked askance at the Justice department and had the temerity to protest against them publicly. The final few panels in this story really show Justice and law for what it really is in Dredd’s world. Jinty’s influence was starting to have an affect and her “death” and relocation is a “kindness” provided by Justice, when they could have actually killed her. It’s cynical and pretty damn believable.
Helium: Scorched Earth Part 12
Credits: Ian Edington (script), D’Israeli (art) Simon Bowland (letters)
Matthew Blair: The group has been rescued by the forces of an organization called The Commonwealth, a society that has made its home above the clouds of poison gas and seems to be wealthier, better off, and more democratic than the city of Ris. Now, it’s time for the group to unwind, celebrate their escape, and debrief to the people in charge.
Sadly, it looks like this is a case of “out of the frying pan and into the fire” since the Commonwealth has a job for them, and it’s not a very nice or comfortable one.
“Helium: Scorched Earth Part 12” is the end of the latest “book” in the series and author Ian Edigton chooses this moment to give the readers enough detail and backstory to give us all a clear picture of what is going on. There is some classic political and environmental intrigue happening here that is coupled with a very understandable and well written crisis of faith and duty on the part of the lead scientist of the group.Also, while Edington makes it clear that being with the Commonwealth does seem to be more pleasant, he does a great job of avoiding the traditional dichotomy of good side vs. bad side by making the leaders of the Commonwealth just as slimy and opportunistic as the leaders of Ris. They may not be facing immediate execution, but the group is still in a difficult spot.
With the arrival of a new faction comes a chance for D’Israeli to show off a new art style in “Helium: Scorched Earth Part 12” and D’Israeli has decided to go with late Victorian Era Britain for the Commonwealth. It’s a good fit, especially for the early 20th century Cold War vibes the book puts out, but personally it’s not as interesting or as pretty to look at as the City of Ris was. Couple that with the fact that most of the panels are character close ups and force D’Israeli to focus on emotions and facial features and it’s not the prettiest artwork he’s drawn, but it’s still very well done and does its job. Of special note is the Commonwealth official who is debriefing the group, who is equal parts slimy and calculating at the same time.
Continued below“Helium: Scorched Earth Part 12” is a great cliffhanger for the story. The group may have gone through hell and back to escape from under the poison cloud, but it has thrust them into a much bigger world with larger stakes and even more intrigue and danger.
The Devil’s Railroad, Part 11
Credits: Peter Milligan (script), Rufus Dayglo (art), Jose Villarrubia (colors), Jim Campbell (letters)
Brian Salvatore: The stop and start nature of “The Devil’s Railroad” continues unabated in ‘Part 11,’ but we get the first legitimate piece of character growth for Palamon. It is very much appreciated, even though it is more regression than growth. The sale of 10% of his soul apparently results in a lessened sense of empathy, which would explain his trigger happy status in the prior few installments and also the lack of feeling he has at the death of his friend/savior.
As always, Rufus Dayglo takes a ‘more is more’ approach to his art for the story, and with Jose Villarrubia’s garish colors, the visuals attempt to give the reader something new to enjoy instead of the same old same old that Peter Milligan’s script keeps providing. Even the ‘twist’ at the end of this installment is predictable and staid. It is hard to write about this strip each week because so much of the criticism and praise is the same week to week, but there just isn’t that much to say.
Enemy Earth – Book Three: Part Four
Credits: Cavan Scott (script), Luke Horsman (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Chris Egan: As this story delves into more ludicrous action, artist Luke Horsman is really allowing for a more fluid and out of control style as he makes the illustrations really become a whirlwind of violence and raw emotion. Gross mutant goop, gnashing teeth, and horrible lab results fill these six pages and Horsman having fun. Things are just gross enough and violent enough to appease mature readers, but the art style continues to capture the zany and fun from top to bottom.
The mashed-up tone of space pirates, military exploits, and horrid mutations continues to carry this strip for all its worth. It’s a wild, fun ride and it’s brisk nature really makes it an easy and worthwhile strip to return to each week.
Feral & Foe: Bad Godesberg, Part 12
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Richard Elson (art), Jim Campbell (letters)
Michael Mazzacane: The comedy in this strip just hits me better than previous dialogue heavy strips and sequences from the past few weeks. It’s not like Abnett has been practicing some ultra dry humor with their prose and scripting or that Richard Elson’s art isn’t one to give into moments of excessive glee. In this twelfth entry though, it just all comes together between art and dialogue to make something that works. It isn’t a mile a minute or filled with anything absolutely gut busting, but just a consistent pace of “that was funny”. All of this funny also isn’t at the expense of the current drama, if anything it underlines the absurdity of the task before our heroes and the slim chances they have at succeeding.
Tussk and Barberry Ann become something of a chorus for the reader in this strip. Page one Panel 1, Elson draws them looking through the safely cracked double doors at the mayhem going on out there. Their sage commentary: it doesn’t look so good out there. It’s a comedic beat that would be repeated at the bottom of that first page as Mrs. Oftlack opens a passageway down to the cellar only to quickly slam it shut in the second. An emphatic declaration that there isn’t a path down to the cellars at the present moment. Which is an issue since the necromancer’s skull is down there.
If down is foreclosed on them the only way to go is up! The revelation that a hot air balloon exists is kind of absurdist, of course it does, staging that this strip hasn’t leaned into more and because of that, I’m inclined to go with it. Getting a birds eye view of the situation also allows Elson to give readers an excellent visual gag that captures the enormity of the situation. The taint of the skull has warped reality such that Godesberg is becoming the lich’s skull on a massive skale. Elson’s image takes the term: Castle Grey Skull very literally.
Continued belowWhat that enormous skull and its giant mouth provide though is a quick and efficient way down to the cellars through the throat … assuming they survive the landing. The Wretchfinder General shooting a hole in their balloon is comedic genius. It demonstrates that she is both kind of dim but also has the sort of magical thinking the people under her command use everyday trying to enforce her orders.
2000 AD Prog 2364
Judge Dredd: A Better World Part 1
Credits: Ron Williams and Arthur Wyatt (script), Henry Flint (art), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Greg Lincoln: It’s been a while since the new societal project Judge Maitland pitched got the green light and finally Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt are getting back around to it. Proposing a change in the way that Justice worked made her no friends in the upper echelons of the Judges, but she did win Dredd’s support. Maitland chose a secluded, violent sector to run her project in and it seems that decision is bearing some interesting fruit. The narration relies on heavy exposition to explain the plot and the way that Williams and Wyatt wrote it was surprisingly engaging. As it comes time for Maitland to report on her findings, Dredd conveniently gets a follow up to a case that he can’t let go of. It’s just a bit too much of a coincidence, particularly when the suspects get together in command positions in Mega-City One.
The story would be engrossing with just about any art team, but it’s great to see Henry Flint’s unique storytelling art style. His use of pretty fine linework, a muted limited color palette, and his eye for design create a sense of emotion, drama, and action. Little happens in this introduction to what feels like a big story, and that feeling is mainly created by Henry’s art. The is motion and flow between panels that carry the tale alone even when the majority of the text boxes are telling rather than showing. The faces of the Chief Judge and his immediate subordinates that close the story hint at something just a bit sinister. It’s the skill in the pen and colors that Henry chose as much if not more than the words that leave the feeling lingering after finishing the chapter.
Thistlebone The Dule Tree: Part 1
Credits: T.C Eglington (script), Simon Davis (art) Simon Bowland (letters)
Matthew Blair: There’s been a death in the quaint little village of Harrowvale and the small town police department is finding themselves in a situation far bigger than anything they’ve ever had to deal with. A local man named Malcolm Kinniburgh is dead and he left some truly creepy mementoes behind when he passed. One of the clues leads to an old movie from the 1970s that was filmed out in the forests of Harrowvale about a local legend of some poor women who were hanged for witchcraft in the 1600s and did not die well.
“Thistlebone The Dule Tree: Part 1” is written by the series creator T.C Eglington, who does a great job of establishing a classic mystery set in a small town and centered around some creepy cult stuff that is very reminiscent of classic cult films like the original Wickerman. Since this is the first part of the story, it’s for establishing the plot, the characters, and the mystery, all of which Eglington does very well. There’s a real sense that the police are not used to dealing with this sort of violence, and it’s even more prevalent that there is something deeper going on and that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. It’s a great set up to a solid mystery and Eglington does a great job of planting the first seeds of dread in the reader’s mind.
The artwork for “Thistlebone The Dule Tree: Part 1” is provided by Simon Davis and it is gorgeous. The photorealistic style, coupled with the bright colors makes the whole book look like it’s a mix between Sean Phillips and Norman Rockwell, but with a personal touch and more of an emphasis on blood and horror. Davis does an amazing job of combining the tranquil looking English countryside with genuinely creepy looking pagan imagery and it all comes to a head with a gruesome and bloody looking hanging scene that looks and feels unsettling. While at first glance it may be easy to dismiss Davis’ art as not very horror friendly, he quickly proves the reader wrong.
Continued below“Thistlebone The Dule Tree: Part 1” is a great opening to great horror story and while it has plenty of blood and supernatural mystery, it’s a horror that understands how to settle and build over time.
The Devil’s Railroad, Part 12
Credits: Peter Milligan (script), Rufus Dayglo (art), Jose Villarrubia (colors), Jim Campbell (letters)
Brian Salvatore: The ‘death chair’ – a device that kills and revives its subjects over and over again – is a fun idea for this story, and it gives ‘Part 12’ something to do other than the flashing between Palamon and Constance. While there’s still a little of that, this issue gives Rufus Dayglo a chance to get even more over the top than he typically does. The various deaths that Palamon experiences, especially the final one, really stretch his artistic muscles and provide some ghastly images that the Palamon half of the story some depth.
Unfortunately, the Constance piece is same as it ever was, with her lamenting Palamon’s absence, the ticking time bomb of her pregnancy, and the boorish alien who has decided to make her and her baby his. That all comes to a head in this chapter, but this story has been pretty clearly telegraphed, and so there’s almost no question that, eventually, Palamon will either be reunited with Constance, or at the very least, get her and her baby to safety. The stakes don’t feel very high due to the obvious nature of the ending, and so the story still feels like it is nothing more than a dragged out 4-parter that is going to go ten chapters too long.
Enemy Earth – Book Three: Part Five
Credits: Cavan Scott (script), Luke Horsman (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
Chris Egan: I thought Part Four was getting abstract in its artistic style, but Horsman has really gone overboard with this entry. Things are coming to a head as the culminating actions of this story are expanding and colliding head on with new threats, like aliens! Scott has fun and charm running all through his script, but the material is always taken seriously.
It’s a great contrast to the absolute insanity that Horsman brings to each page. Obviously, he takes his work seriously, but the bonkers style, reminiscent of late 90s Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. There is so much to enjoy here, I’ll keep recommending the series for as long as it runs.
Feral & Foe: Bad Godesberg, Part 13
Credits: Dan Abnett (script), Richard Elson (art), Jim Campbell (letters)
Michael Mazzacane: Richard Elson’s page design for the first page of this thirteenth episode of “Fearl & Foe” captures both the comedy and the sheer feeling of danger as our party plummets to the bottom of Godesberg. The rate the hot air balloon is plummeting to the ground seems to have broken and shattered the orderly panel structure. Figures and panel geometry both seem to be out of whack as rectangles bend and figures threaten to fall out of panels. Abnett provides some solid dialogue in this sequence with a couple of new pun names for spells like “Poltnork’s Unfeasible Inflation”. which only works on people, supposedly. Bode’s attempt to use it on the balloon goes about how’d you expect, but it provides the page the momentary lift needed for the comedy of the page as a whole to work and land. Even if everyone else’s landing is the opposite of smooth.
That sense of chaos in the first page is what makes the remaining pages of orderly panel layouts work. There isn’t time to bicker or give the Wretch finder General more of a concussion because everything down there wants to kill them and there are a LOT of them. On the fourth page Richard Elson pulls off his best pure fantasy art page of the entire series. Now that the party is down in the dungeon they just have to find the skull, thankfully due to his toxic nature it has created a giant temple pyramid like structure for the party to race up (imagine the one at the end of Mortal Kombat 1 or from MK Armagedon.) Elson’s composition is fantastic with the two wretches in the foreground, our party in the mid ground, but in the background dominating everything like the Eye of Sauron is the skull. With only a second panel on that page to show Bode and the General’s awestruck realization of where they now must go. This is the kind of image that makes splash images work.
This is a subtle table setting strip. While normally this sort of plotting would be handled through dialogue and a decent amount of exposition because the point is that everyone is on the same page, the thirteenth strip of “Fearl & Foe” shows us and gives us the spatial lay of the land so that we visually know what is that must be done. They just gotta slaughter their way up a giant temple and destroy a magic skull. Or die trying.
