Welcome, citizens, to this week’s installment of Multiver-City One! Each and every Wednesday we examine the latest Prog from Tharg and the droids over at 2000 AD, and giving you all the pertinent information you’ll need headed into this week’s Thrill-Zine! This week is a little different: the over-sized Prog 2014 is still tiding you Earthlets over until January 2, 2014, so Tharg is only putting out the Megazine this week. But we’ve set our sights on that this week, so you still have your slice of Thrill-Power commentary for the week!
I. THIS WEEK IN MEGAZINE 343
Judge Dredd: Donner & Blitzin’
Dredd takes some Cadets out to spread a little holiday cheer, by which I mean he’s showing them how to muscle a little old lady out of her home! Judge Dredd, ever the tool of The Meg, has been tasked with seeing that some dirt is found on Citizen Florence Donner. Anything will do, really, all they need is evidence of a crime so that The Meg can seize her apartment. You see, she’s the last resident of this particular block and there are some big plans in the works for what to do with it once demolished.
I really enjoyed this strip. Not just for that classic portrayal of Dredd as a fascist lawman who deserves none of your sympathies, mind you. This one-off story ties into the Dredd strip from last week’s Prog 2014! Remember those scavengers who found the bags of money? This week we get to see who it was that left it there in the first place. The folks at 2000 AD are really good at this sort of thing: creating tie-ins with stories that don’t have to lean on each other to make sense. Each of these stories could be enjoyed independently, but if you read them both you’ll get even more out of them. And it’s a surprise! No banners, no press releases demanding you get both, just subtle and powerful storytelling.
In terms of script, Carroll is on point with this one. He pushes and pulls on the reader, blending humor into what should be an enraging act of Judges trampling a citizen’s rights. But I gotta say, the star here is Duane Leslie. His approach to art in this story is wonderful. I really enjoy his take on the Judges’ uniforms and Dredd himself. If the contents page hadn’t outed him as a newcomer to 2000 AD, I’d have never guessed. I hope we get to see lots more from him!
Credits: Michael Carroll (script), Duane Leslie (art), Eva De La Cruz (colors), Annie Parkhouse (letters)
Demarco, P.I.: The Whisper, Part 1
From that feel-good tale we jump coasts to Mega-City Two (or what’s left of it) and SovSec, the lone settlement in the city that houses one hundred and thirty thousand Sov transplants and less than two hundred Judges to police them. It turns out they’re short one man, and ex-Judge/current private investigator Galen DeMarco is on the scene to find him.
Originally a Wagner/Ezquerra creation, DeMarco has been handled by Robbie Morrison and Frazer Irving before now. Carroll pulls double-duty this issue as the writer of this strip and Steve Yeowell shows off chops honed from over twenty years in the business on both sides of the Atlantic as he balances detail after detail but never loses focus on characters or setting.
As a DeMarco newbie, I got everything I needed to know about the character in this episode. Carroll does a good job with her internal monologue at not only setting her voice as one in line with Dredd or Anderson, a weariness that comes from the constant exposure to all of humanity’s flaws that being a Judge or PI shows you, but also her difference from them. I want to read the next chapter. And to tide me over until then, this issue’s mini-trade includes early DeMarco stories.
Credits: Michael Carroll (script), Steve Yeowell (art), Ellie De Ville (letters)
Anderson, PSI Division: Dead End, Part 1
The Dredd-verse ages in real time. Long-running characters like DeMarco, Dredd, or this strip’s protagonist Judge Anderson, have seen a LOT of the absolute worst of any world. And one of the 2000 AD/Megazine specialties is not shying away from that, but rather embracing it in strips like this, but using it as a touchstone/indentifier for the character and a way to bring new readers up to speed.
The Anderson we see here, courtesy of long-time scribe Alan Grant, is tired. Not ready to give up the badge and go Long Walkin’, but definitely worn down by the never-ending senselessness. This comes through loud and clear in the script, accentuated by the use of Dredd as unstoppable career cop. Asking Dredd if things are getting to him and expecting anything other than a stone jaw is foolish. But seeing Anderson wrestle with these issues doesn’t mean we see her give in.
What we also don’t see is a Mega-City too gloomy or desperate. Michael Dowling, in an effort to mirror visually the undercurrent of Anderson that keeps her from getting too close to Dredd’s pitch-black world view, shows a surprisingly colorful and cleanly delineated city while still muting things enough to not clash with the script. One Dredd is enough; it’s good to see Anderson not becoming another version of him…yet.
Credits: Alan Grant (script), Michael Dowling (art), Simon Bowland (letters)
II. AN ORAL HISTORY OF JUDGE DREDD
The tale of Judge Dredd has been continually published since 1977, and has been brought to us by some of the most creative minds to ever work in comics. As a result, there have been some out-of-this-world story beats woven into the fabric of the character. We thought it would be interesting to talk with the writers and artists behind Mega-City One and see what their favorite bits of Dredd’s history are. This week Guy Adams joins us to talk about some of his favorite aspects of Judge Dredd’s world.
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/robotsfromtomorrow/guy_adams_history_1.mp3]
III. FUTURE PERP FILES
ATTN: ALL CITIZENS OF THE MEG! Be aware that there is always a Judge watching you. Each sector is equipped with millions of HD-CCTV and bioID units. They are there for your protection. If your intent is upright citizenry, then you have no qualm with our surveillance. And remember: if you see something, you are now an accessory to a crime. That’s six months in an Iso-Cube, creep! Random CPU algorithms has selected this citizen for immediate surveillance and assessment…
IV. IN TWO WEEKS: PROG 1862
2000 AD Prog 1862 hits digital newsstands on January 1st and is available tangibly on the 2nd. We’ll see you in the New Year!
That’s gonna do it for us this week! Megazine 343 is on sale today and is available from finer comic shops everywhere, from 2000ADonline.com, and via the 2000 AD Newsstand app for iPad and iPhone.
We are taking a week off, so there will be no new Multiver-City One next week, but we’ll be back the following week with a look at Prog 1862. So until the, as Tharg the Mighty himself would say, “Splundig vur thrigg!”
