Reviewer: Chris Delloiacono
Editor: Matt Smith
Publisher: Rebellion
Here we go again. This is my second review of 2000AD. I must say I’m becoming more comfortable with the book each week now. I’m used to the stories and the characters and the format. Two more stories wind down this issue. We’re heading full bore into five new stories, known as the Summer Assault, which hit in the Anniversary Prog #1400. It’ll be nice to get on five stories right from the start, but joining most of these tales midway didn’t hurt my enjoyment any.
Judge Dredd
Title: Terror: Pt. 5
Written by: John Wagner
Art by: Colin MacNeil
Lettered by: Tom Frame
“Terror†has brought us deep into the workings of the terrorist group Total War. More specifically we’re focusing on the life of Sonny (known as Mitch by Total War), who is a lower level operative in the group that hopes to destroy the government of Mega-City One, and most especially the Judges themselves. Sonny made a big mistake back in the first part of the story when he led a professor named Zondra out of a bar prior to its bombing. Since then things have been getting more and more tense as Sonny is involved from three sides (The Judges, Zondra, and Total War) that want Sonny to have nothing to do with any of the other “interested†parties.
This week, Sonny wake up in a hospital room after the Judges have implanted a camera unit inside of him. Of course he has no clue what happened, and he’s given the excuse that he was bitten by a Scorpion Fly. The Judges use the camera to follow Sonny and uncover whether he’s a dupe of Total War or a willing accomplice. All along Sonny’s love for Zondra is growing thus getting him deeper into trouble.
Wagner has crafted a truly compelling story about a terrorist. Wagner turns Sonny into a living breathing person. Wagner lends him realistic emotions and raises him far above the level of caricature or just being a raving lunatic. Time and effort was taken to create a realistic villain for Dredd to pursue. One that is made far more interesting by being a multi-faceted menace that believes in his cause, feels he is doing right, and wants a better world. He’s a villain and evil for sure, but he’s not the normal mustache stroking menace that appears in comic stories too often. A great villain often is the reason for a classic story and that’s exactly what we have unfolding here.
I have gone quite long in my description of this wonderful story, but I would be remiss if I did not mention the magnificent work of artist Colin MacNeil. Wagner and MacNeil certainly make for a fantastic story!
Savage
Title: Book 1 ~ Taking Liberties: Pt. 10
Written by: Pat Mills
Art by: Charlie Adlard
Lettered by: Ellie De Ville
As I surmised, the idea that the Volgan’s were about to pull out from their occupation of England was just a ruse. The Volgan forces are actually planning to tighten their grip on the besieged nation even more. Bill Savage finds out the “Freedom Day†celebration is a ruse, but not in enough time. Book 1 of Savage comes to a close with a big cliffhanger. One that is made far tougher considering Savage will not be returning to these pages until sometime next year!
Pat Mills turns in a strong final act to Book 1. While the links to the Coalition occupation of Iraq are so blatant that they just beat you over the head, they are well thought out opinions and thoughts that will make you think about the world we live in. 2000AD is well known for its strong political satire, and this story is a wonderful example of telling a stirring fictional tale, while still making a worthwhile comment on our world.
I’ll close out by mentioning the incredible artwork of Charlie Adlard. Mr. Adlard’s becoming one of my favorites in the biz. He pulls off the gritty contemporary setting perfectly. It’s got to be tough to take a story that has little to no fantastical elements and make it stand up next to a collection of stories that all contain grand sci-fi settings and backdrops.
Mills and Adlard succeed magnificently—I can’t wait for the return of Savage next year!
Tyranny Rex: Redux
Title: The Comeback: Pt. 2
Written by: John Smith
Art by: Steve Yeowell
Colored by: Len O’Grady
Lettered by: Tom Frame
Tyranny Rex is a character that hasn’t appeared in the pages of 2000AD since the early ‘90s, which explains why I haven’t been exposed to her yet. I found the Editor’s letter on the inside cover, which gave the rundown of Tyranny’s origins and her demise ten years ago to be a wee bit more interesting than the tale last time out. This week, the story gets a bit more interesting, but I’m still finding this to be a little mundane.
Tyranny Rex had her consciousness, which was roaming the cosmos, united with a new clone body last week in a tale that was a touch confusing. This week we find out that she’s been enlivened to hunt down a satellite that crash landed on the desert/ice planet of Tzoltzin. Rex is walking into a trap on the planet, and quite probably a trap when she returns with the goods.
Smith and Yeowell aren’t doing a bad job with the story, but there’s nothing fresh to speak of and as a whole the entire story seems to be telegraphed from the start. Yeowell does decent work bringing the sci-fi aspects of the story and Tyranny to life, but like the story by Smith, Yeowell’s work seems very generic and looks a bit lacking next to the other stories offered within Prog #1396.
Future Shocks
Title: The Mainstream: Pt. 1
Written by: Colin Clayton & Chris Dows
Art by: Andy Clarke
Colored by: Gary Caldwell
Lettered by: Annie Parkhouse
I have read about Future Shocks in past reviews of 2000AD, but this is my first chance to read one. The basic idea behind Future Shocks is to tell a story with a twist ending. This is the first of a multi-prog tale, so we get the beginnings of a twist here, and one that I’m quite intrigued by.
Michael Anderson is the author of a successful series of novels following the heroic Marshal Anders as he battles against the evil Borg-like menace of the Clench. Clayton and Dows script moves back and forth between the novel world and the real as Anderson is giving the rundown of the latest epic story to his editor. What Anderson has planned for the next novel is an ending that will effectively destroy the franchise that the editor and Anderson have worked on for nearly a decade.
The story’s only five pages long, but it captures my attention totally. Clayton and Dows throw a nice little twist in at the end, and the story leading up to the twist is interesting and believable. Clayton and Dows get across Anderson’s dismay at having to write the same character constantly and is at his wits end. The editor makes perfect sense as she does not want to lose her cash cow. Andy Clarke pulls everything together giving us equally strong artwork in the “real†and “book†worlds.
A great beginning; I can’t wait to see where this is all leading!
Low Life
Title: Paranoia: Pt. 8
Written by: Rob Williams
Art by: Henry Flint
Lettered by: Ellie De Ville
Aimee Nixon’s battle to clear her name and take down the guy that set her up comes to a thrilling conclusion this month. “Paranoia†has had tons of exciting twists and turns and a whole lot of double-crosses interspersed with some thrills. Rob Williams pulls the entire tale together in this conclusion and leaves me wanting for more of Aimee. Thankfully, unlike Savage: Book 2 which won’t be out until next year, Aimme’s back in a new story next week!
Especially interesting in this week’s story was William’s ability to connect Aimee’s past with who she is today and why. Aimee’s been faced with a complex challenge of her own inner-belief that she must resolve or this story will never resolve. Aimee’s reasoning behind her actions ring true to character and because of the nice work by Williams the story comes to a fitting conclusion.
Henry Flint inky style captures the dark world of the “Low Life†section of Mega-City One. His style lends the world the noir/punk amalgamated feeling that is apparent in Williams’ story and breaths magnificent life into a place that for all intents and purposes is in its death throes.
Outstanding work all around!
As a whole this Prog maintains the level of recent issues. My biggest complaint right now is Tyranny Rex. The story isn’t up to the standards of the other tales, and the overall score would see a bit of a dip if the other stories hadn’t all featured near perfect stories.
