Review by Frank Plowright
Discounting the single page of unfortunate advice supplied by D.R. and Quinch, this fourth Best of 2000AD only includes four features, two of them Judge Dredd strips, but nonetheless effectively showcases the variety 2000AD has supplied over the years. One of the Dredd stories is a mystery, with the other the action of a werewolf loose in Mega-City One, and they mix with SF, period supernatural drama and the surreal lunacy of Hewligan’s Haircut.
Let’s start there, with a strip that even for 2000AD’s groundbreaking and genre-hopping standards is completely unique. Hewligan’s in a psychiatric unit for his constant hallucinations, which it turns out are due to his being attuned to other dimensions. Under Peter Milligan and Jamie Hewlett we’re taken on a wonderland tour, with glorious throwaway lines and Hewlett’s art channelling the anarchy of Leo Baxendale in his pomp. It’s self-indulgent, so don’t expect much in the way of a plot, but wallow in the journey.
‘The Order’ is unusual just for being set in 13th century Germany. Anna Koch has long been searching for her missing father, and learns he was once part of a group fighting supernatural threats, but eventually defeated by a scoundrel. The robotic head she finds in John Burns’ sample art can attach itself to a corpse and reanimate it, and she learns about her father’s trade just as an old enemy activates. Kek-W is more influenced by old adventure strips than SF, and unusually this reads better alone than when coupled with the sequel in The Order, the continuation being very similar. A story starring a bunch of old men is unusual, the surprises work and Burns is a superlative artist who keeps the adventure going.
Over thirty years separates John Wagner writing the opening ‘Mega-City Confidential’ from 1983’s classic ‘Night of the Werewolf’. In both cases the artists are extremely well matched, Colin MacNeil creating a dark and shadowy world occupied by a civilian working for the Justice Department and becoming increasingly unsettled about what she’s doing. Told from her viewpoint and that of Dredd tracking her down, it’s bleak, and what’s eventually revealed is a clever addition to the way Judges operate again reinforcing the total bastards they are.
By contrast Dillon has to supply the feral power of a werewolf, which he does with relish as the curse transfers from person to person. Wagner escalates the threat with every one of the seven chapters, and while it’s little more than chase and action, it’s thrilling chase and savage action.
However, while this is another great sample package at a great price, and without denying the quality of Hewligan’s Haircut and The Order, they’d both be a fair distance from any fan’s selection of 2000AD’s best. Four volumes in and numerous features that have run for years and generated multiple collections still haven’t been seen. Where’s ABC Warriors, Nikolai Dante, Rogue Trooper, Sinister Dexter or Slaine?
