The 2000AD sci-fi special

The 2000AD SCI-Fi SPECIAL 2014
Available in the shops from 28th May
“It was one of the staples of hazy childhood
summers, an extra dose of Thrill-power for the
holidays. But now the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special
is back and with a new mission - to unveil a
new generation of comics creators!” So goes
the promotional hoo-haa that came with my
copy of this blast from my past, a bleedin’
Summer Special, no less.
I have great memories of being a wee man and
my mother buying a few Summer Special’s and
saving them for us to read in the car on the
way to some wretched caravan park or other.
As a kid, it was nice to have an oversize comic,
although as an adult you notice more the large
panels designed to pad out the likes of The
Beano and Dandy specials. 2000AD was,
predictably, different. Not necessarily in a
good way for, like the annuals of the time, the
Summer Special was stuffed with rejected
scripts, reprints and shoddy articles.
It’s 2014 now, and Tharg knows his readers
are mostly grown men and woman who will
not accept rejected scripts and reprints, so in
a bold move the Sci Fi Special has been
rejigged as a platform for new writers and
artists, handling classic 2000AD characters.
What a great idea… in theory.
A Summer Special, like any comic, is only as
good as it’s contents, and this is where the
2014 version falls down like Oscar Pistorius’
defence. First up we have a Judge Dredd tale,
“Jinxed”, which just happens to be from the
first female Dredd writer, namely Emma Beeby.
Let's be honest, though, this fact is pretty
immaterial. Emma has written the lovely
“Survival Geeks” 3riller with Gordon Rennie,
which I really enjoyed, but “Jinxed” is just not
very good. Basically it’s almost a carbon copy
of the old Strontium Dog story “A Sorry Case”,
but it’s Dredd having a ton of bad luck. The
saving grace is the very nice, clear art by Eion
Coveney.
Next up we have Alec Worley, best known for
“Age Of The Wolf” (which I thoroughly enjoyed)
with a Robo-Hunter tale illustrated by
newcomer to 2000AD Mark Simmons. Set in
Sam Slade’s earlier days it has a pop at the
likes of Ikea and design snobs to little effect.
Basically, it’s quite a dull story with a few
good lines and competent art. There’s really
not much else to say, except I wanted better
from Sam’s return.
It wouldn’t be a Sci Fi Special without a Future
Shock, this time by Jody LeHeup, better known
for his editing work with Marvel than as a
writer. Also from the Marvel stable is Artist
Jefte Palo, who has illustrated plenty of
superhero stuff. His unusual, modernist style
works very well with the story, which is a bit
of a tried and tested tale that blows it’s
“surprise” ending to anyone who has ever read
this sort of thing before. Nonetheless, it’s well
written and quirky enough to remain in the
mind after the reading, making it the best one
so far.
Fan favourite Durham Red (A vampiric bounty
hunter) returns next, with a cute one off tale
by relatively new scripter Robert Murphy. He’s
aided and abetted by another new boy Duane
Redhead, a very appropriate name for a
Durham Red artist. The story itself is basic and
pretty entertaining, with Red doing exactly
what regular readers would expect her to, and
Redhead’s art fits the story well, clear and
nicely laid out. It will certainly be interesting
to see what these two can contribute in the
future.
There’s a nice little treat up next as veteran
Future Shock scripter (amongst other things)
Arthur Wyatt gives us a blast from the past
with “Orlok, Agent Of East Meg 1”, which is set
during Dredd’s time as moon marshall for
those that like to know their continuity. Jake
Lynch provides rough but effective black and
white art that gives an appropriately gritty feel
to a tale of espionage and betrayal in Brit Cit.
A good, solid story as expected from Wyatt,
and a good introduction to a new artist.
Finally, it’s time for Rogue Trooper, currently
shining in his own U.S title from IDW. It’s
written by Guy Adams, who entertained
recently with the hilarious if overlong “Ulysses
Sweet”, and for his Rogue debut he’s settled
for a neat one off that provides plenty of
action and jumping about whilst ensuring new
readers aren’t too confused about who this
blue bloke is and why is he talking to his gun.
Art comes from newcomer Darren Douglas,
who has done cover work before but not, I
think, an internal story. In fairness he’s a great
find, and his style is similar to that of Boo
Cook, full of colour and action. Again, the
story is a simple one, but it works well as a
quick read.
Overall, then, this is an okay release. Although
it starts off pretty poorly it certainly gets
better, and if a few of the scripts are found
wanting there’s certainly a great deal of great
art to get your teeth into. Not quite a thrill
power overload.