So I'm continuing with the free digital downloads from 2000AD. This time it's the turn of 2000AD Modern. A Zarjaz selection of recent stories from the pages of 2000AD.
Stories by: Multiple Writers
Art by: Multiple Artists
Page Count: 81
Commercial Statement:
A Zarjaz selection of recent stories from the pages of 2000AD. Absalom, Defoe, Age of the Wolf, Lawless, Zombo and Jaegir.
My Thoughts:
Cover wise nothing too special. We have the logo of Tharg's forehead in the background with a copy and paste image of a Judge from Lawless. It's fine as it is a free magazine but a bit disappointing as I love a good cover! Moving on we have two pages of standard info and a single page advert for the app. Then finally we are into the first story.
Story: Absalom-Noblesse Oblige Parts 1 & 2.
Script: Gordon Rennie
Art: Tiernen Trevallion
The story being only the first two parts, introduces us to Inspector Harry Absalom. A grizzled old policemen, suffering from cancer and living in a futuristic London. The story seems to involve vampires and a family who seem to have a past with Absalom. The artwork is great and the characters seem interesting, but sadly the tale finishes too early and I'm Left wanting more.
Story: Defoe 1666 Parts 1 & 2
Script: Pat Mills
Art: Leigh Gallagher
Full disclosure I don't like Defoe, so I am bias sorry. Titus Crow is a living dead hunter, from the Church of England. He is an angry, aggressive man and this story is set in Whitechapel London. That's all I want to write, I just don't like this character or the artwork. I find the whole zombie appeal dull and boring so lets move on.
Story: Age of the Wolf Parts 1 & 2
Script: Alec Worley
Art: Jon Davis-Hunt
These tales all seem to have a theme so far; London. The tale begins in a museum, with a tape player revealing the back story leading to this point. It seems that London is under the effect of a Full Moon for the last few days, which has seen a rise in religious cults and mass suicides. Also if that wasn't enough, there seems to be werewolves killing people in the streets and on the tube. The stories main character seems to a woman called Rowan and her attempts to escape London. This story has me intrigued to findout more. I also love seeing modern day iconic London locations with Werewolves running around them.
Story: Lawless: Welcome to Badrock Parts 1 & 2
Script: Dan Abnett
Art: Ellie De Ville
Finally we move away from London and into the timeline of Dredd. The script is written by one of my favourite authors Dan Abnett. I'm a big fan of the Gaunt Ghosts series and Sinister Dexter so I have high expectations. The art work is classic black and white line drawing which I am a big fan, so far so good. The story is set on 43 Rega a mega city colony out on the outer rim. Think sci-fi western and your not far off. The only law out here is brought by the Colonial Marshals, a pretty lonely and thankless task. Story begins with the town folk waiting on a shuttle carrying their new Marshal by the name Lawson. As she steps off the shuttle you can she isn't a people person. The story then follows her as she makes her on her new township. I really like this tale, first off it was a self contained tale and left no questions, but it has also made me want to read more of this tale, I believe it to be set after Insurrection another great tale by Dan Abnett and I'm interested to see if the two will cross.
Script: Al Ewing
Art: Henry Flint
First up it's a Zombie story and if you've actually read above you know I have a dislike for Zombies. Plus side the art is by Henry Flint so I have some hope for this story. Artwork was definitely a plus, the story it self read like a cheesy B-Movie which I feel is the point. We meet a rag tag group of humans, travelling on the same space flight as two government officials with a mysterious coffin shaped boxed. During the routine flight the ship is hit by asteroids and forced to crash on a Death World. We need get to watch the survivors get killed off by the planet, whilst the box slowly opens. The story ends with the main character Zombo, leaning out of the box asking "Can I eat you?". This isn't a story I need to come back too. Looks fun but just doesn't appeal to me.
Story: Jaegir Strigoi Part 1 & 2
Script: Gordon Rennie
Art: Simon Bowland
I'm not going to talk about this one as I have already done a full post on this story. So if your interested then follow this link.
Verdict:
So with Jaegir we've reached the end of this free comic. Just a couple more adverts for the 2000ad app. So overall I'm glad it is a free comic as most stories were incomplete and didn't really showcase the tale. I would have preferred to have seen full single episode stories instead. But hey great showcase of artwork and has made me want to find out more about Lawless and catch up with the Judge Dredd Megazine.
2.5 out of 5