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Winter Special 2005
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20th
November 05 |
2000AD
Winter Special 2005
What to Expect:
A host of new writers and artists take their first steps into 2000AD, and
a few of the old guard step in to lend a hand. Plus information on how to make
a submission to 2000AD.
Review by Adam
Crabtree
Cover by Boo Cook: The twisted gleam in the eyes of an emerald
green alien; it sparks curiosity and leaves no illusions as to the genre. It's
also very pretty to look at: the bright colours are pleasing on a basic aesthetic
level.
Any potential customers should be intrigued enough to open the special, see
that it stands on its own… maybe pursue their curiosity as a nice way to
ring in the new year!
Legends
of the Rogue Trooper by Gordon Rennie and Richard Elson
This would make
a nice introduction to the world of Nu-Earth: exposition on the Nort/Souther war
and on Rogue himself make an ideal jumping on point. The thing is, in my limited
experience of the strip, it rarely goes beyond this level of depth. The action:story
ratio is consistently one-sided. The story currently running in the weekly is
a little better at this, offering a more diverse range of characters and situations.
But, for now, we
have a solid action strip to open the special.
Richard Elson of
Avatar fame (and also Sonic the Comic - ah, memories) handles the art. A heady
palate of reds and yellows causes our GI hero to stand out amongst the action,
limiting the confusion that can sometimes occur when viewing illustrated violence.
It's pretty traditional stuff and won't scare people away.
Gordon Rennie's
script is also playing it safe, not really challenging current ideas of warfare
in the creative media: Gunnar denouncing Gibbons (Gibbons, see?) as a coward for
deserting his post, Rogue bemoaning innocence as the first casualty of war a la
Charlie Sheen etc.
Like I say, it's
a solid opener. The Rogue game preview looks pretty cool as well, but just how
long has this game been in development?
Road Warrior
by Arthur Wyatt, Inaki Miranda and Eva De La Cruz
And so, we come
to the first of the new bloods, and it looks rather like something the Clamp comics
company of Japan (Cardcaptor Sakura et al) might produce, which is by no means
a bad thing.
I confess to a
little initial confusion about what the shiny black shapes were (as it turns out
they're nanobots) and the setting of the climax (sandy hill type things with Zelda-esque
diamonds on top of them) is a bit lacklustre, but with those two niggles aside,
its got a very distinct mix of animé surrealism such as Karanga's size
and conventional photo-realism in the settings. Kudos
to Inaki Miranda and Eva De La Cruz.
As a starter for
a series, it works very well; action, fantastical action, gun battles and car
chases excite, while Arthur Wyatt builds quite an intricate and refreshingly off
the wall future vision. The foundations of a post-Collapse world are laid with
great relish as we meet roving road gangs, Iugami war chiefs, warriors with "road
sense" as well as some intelligent concepts (though maybe I'm just impressed
by the word "algorithms").
When I think of the five new stories here, it is this one that tends to come to
my mind first.
Bones of Eden
by Al Ewing, Russell Hossain and Lee Townsend
This is quite a professional effort. The first page plays out a clever rug pull
with the tribal strife, and manages a striking bit of imagery by revealing Washington
as the backdrop to this new stone age. From there there's a little bit of confusion
- Al Ewing's script is clearly eager to get the set up explained and out of the
way as soon as possible so we can get down to exploring this new world.
The way in which
this is done is a bit inadequate - angular frames for present day narrative, rounded
off frames for flashbacks. That's the only distinction, and the strip switches
between the two without warning, meaning a few re-reads are necessary. Add to
that the fact that we're thrown straight into the plot of three characters in
a secure facility going stir crazy.
It's unclear just
what is going on with these three. The relationships are established quickly and
efficiently, but you're not sure what their connection is. We have Meier's daughter
Kristin, some anonymous scientist blerk Brook and Mike… who is… well,
he has a fetching chain, I guess.
The black and
white art plays it safe in the main but we see invention in the "angles"
of the frames, the askew picture of the ruined city on the top of page three being
one example. Its also quite unflinching and courageous; nothing is hidden as Dog
savages Brook.
Ewing shows again
he knows what he is doing with this, utilising a clever bluff with the cigarette
lighter and ending on a pleasing twist (Kristen's father is actually Sean Connery
:o ). I think this is one of the frontrunners for an extended audience with Squaxx.
Altogether now… Wiiiilllllmaaaa!
Judge Dredd-
Sugar Daddy by John Wagner and James Joyce
Competition winner
James Joyce takes the Chin Himself for a spin with new villain Sugar Daddy. I
actually really like the art; it's divided opinion but I love it. It's got real
character; when I look at the safe and largely blank art in Bones of Eden then
look at this, with its borderline-but-not-quite-caricature figures, good use of
black shading and scratchy little details, I know which one I prefer.
Wagner's script
is a simple affair with Dredd showing typical resolve evening the face of mind
control, and Sugar Daddy himself is a fun villain with some good dialogue to chew
on ("…now you, the most powerful judge in the city, will serve as my
right hand man! Just my little joke!").
This story and
the one after it are probably the best examples in the Special of how to provide
a conflict and tell a story with a beginning, a middle and an end.
Judge Dredd-
Out of the Blackstuff by John Wagner and Sean McNaughton
Again, this has
some lovely art, apparently from another unknown. Sean McNaughton's Dredd art
reminds me of some of the older, classic Dredd I've seen, with the myriad subtle
and detailed shadings on every surface.
Another master
class script of Dreddman Wagner's puts Tharg's tips for writers in the special
into practice.
This is another
fun, funny, breezy little vignette of life in Mega City One. The initial build
up is very ominous, and I for one was convinced this was going to be an altogether
more sombre affair than Sugar Daddy. I actually feared for the well-being of the
Kharapacean as early as page two as we get an insight into its childish mindset
and discover that it doesn't act with malice. This is confirmed by the revelation
that it is only a child of its species. The strip becomes lighter after that,
and it's endearing to see the ruthless fascists of MC-1 entertaining a small child.
Another winner.
Terror
Tale- Contagion by Al Ewing, Duane Redhead and Lee Townsend
Al Ewing again.
What's his status anyway? He's among the "new talent" featured in this
issue, but I've heard he has a few more Terror Tales to his name and I read a
hilarious article about him earlier this month on
this very site...
This is a perfect
example of how to manage a one prog story. Duane Redhead ("Duane Redhead"?)
provides clear, coherent support for the script, making the most of even the smallest
panels without becoming confusing. The level of little details is fascinating
to look upon as well.
Juxtaposing the
disturbing imagery of the sickly looking woman on the tube with the romantic tone
of the flashbacks, Ewing gradually ramps up the unease and merges the two threads
into a disquieting and affecting body shock tale. There's room for multiple interpretation
as well, which is unusual for the strand; is this real? Is it in her imagination?
Has she gone through bad relationship experiences and is taking it out on the
male population? There's a lot to be said for the notion that entering an intimate
relationship can be like losing some of your sense of self for some people, and
I think this strip plays on that fear effectively.
Blade Warrior
by Ben Counter and David Kendall
The obvious comparisons
to Slaine are hard to stave off; the art is quite similar to both the Simon Bisley
era of the Horned God sequence and also to the computer assisted art of more recent
efforts in the Book of Invasions. For this to be accomplished by hand (it could've
been done with a computer for all I know, but I'm not proficient in these matters)
would be quite a feat, and Dave Kendall gets Mad Propz for producing something
very pretty to look at anyway.
Ben Counter's
script is pretty standard high fantasy, sword and sorcery fare, with none of the
post ironic wit of the earlier mentioned Slaine. Its lofty proper English style
can be found in all manner of high fantasy books, as can the conventions for exotic
and difficult names for characters and locations, serene priestesses and barbarous
warriors. But why should it be that a fantasy by the name of Blade Warrior (pretty
much the crux of the slim criteria offered for the story's creation) has to be
set in a pseudo-medieval world with all the trappings? Despite the lack of originality
in some areas though, Counter manages to produce some invention in the bargain
and creates a thick atmosphere of foreboding.
This story is one
of the better in terms of standing on its own, with a clear chronology from start
to end, a nice twist to round it off (well, I liked it at the time I read it,
but it's come to my attention that it has apparently already been done in Spawn…)
and a good action sequence, in which Kendall proves he can keep up outside of
stasis shots.
The final panel
is a beaut as well.
Earth War
by Jaspre Bark and Rufus Dayglo
This is another
favourite of mine. The concepts are pretty simple (the enemy can create vessels
for themselves out of any organic matter, conscripts drafted into a biological
research program) but the execution is masterly. Integral to its appeal is the
dynamic between Starkman and the conscripts. They're men who've trespassed and
rebelled against authority, now brought to heel by this tyrannical colonel. This
could power a good many scripts, if… and this is a big "if"…
Jaspre Bark can avoid falling into the trap of comfortable repetition, and find
new things to do with the theme.
The body horror
aspect of the script is appealing as well; the concept of something being inside
your body beyond your control is a very primal fear, something faced by sufferers
of disease all the time. This could tie cleverly into the powerlessness the conscripts
feel, with a little initiative.
A few final notes
on Bark's script; Starkman could use with being a bit less clichéd in his
speech ("Nice of you to join me, ladies."), and he might want to think
about revising the central concept a little to be more edgy; as it is, the Earth
forces are fighting to stop the Skatch destroying the planet, but wouldn't it
be interesting if they were actually living there and Earth was trying to usurp
them?
Rufus Dayglo's
art is competent, if a little scratchy, very dark, and the layout is a bit difficult
to follow. The pages 2-3 spread is a bit difficult to follow, the black borders
make it hard to tell frames apart from each other, and they're a bit small. I
imagine though, that if Earth War is recommissioned there will be more space to
tell the story.
Unholy
Warriors by Stu Taylor, Kev Crossley, Jamie Grant and John Spelling
I made a game
about how many archetypes from popular fantasy games, RPGs and animé I
could identify. Brunner looks rather like a night elf from the Warcraft games,
Luger looks like an orc from the Lord of the Rings movies, and the summoned beastie
(as well as copying a concept from the Final Fantasy series) looks like the demon
from Princess Mononoke.
This tells us
two things: firstly that I'm rather more versed in such things than credibility
really allows, and secondly that this strip is short on fresh ideas. It doesn't
have a style of its own, mixing sci-fi elements with typical, sanitised medieval
fantasy and never straying far from the stereotypes of hulking, stupid trolls,
dark romantic heroes and spirited spunky heroines.
The dialogue is
also reminiscent of the English dubbing in many manga books and films; surfer
dialect mostly ("Chow down", "work out the kinks"). These
superficial concerns aside, the story suffers as well. The ending is a bit embarassing
- we suddenly see that the team has a pair of benefactors and that one of them
is apparently responsible for the bad doin's. Who are they? Why should we care?
We don't even know their names! We don't even have a name for the main character,
we can only refer to her as Robo-arm Girl.
On the bright
side, Kev Crossley's art is endearingly quirky; angular and scratchy but clarity
is still in place. I'd like to rate this strip higher; it's cheerful, amiable
stuff and the characters are likeable, but it's not very proficient technically.
Overall:
I thoroughly enjoyed this special and hope this is the start of many similar projects
to come. I'm split between the offbeat Road Warrior, the accomplished Bones of
Eden and the interesting Earth War as the best new talent piece. Hope to see at
least one, if not more, of them soon.
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