3 out of 5

A great concept, following on the successful alternate world specials / crossovers we’ve had over the past years, but executed in mostly a mundane fashion; the dad joke version of this pitch.

The special posits Tharg finding pages from a multiversal remixed 2000 AD, that swaps out and mashes up characters, like Dredd and Johnny Alpha as “Judge Alpha.” The pitches initially seem wild, with a mix of in-universe love – like letting Edginton mush his own Red Seas and Stickleback together – but then you notice that Strontium Dogs are reused in two stories, and it feels, moderately, like a red flag. But: the hilarious damage report that posits the alterna-2000 AD office as a home of positivity is laugh out loud. (…Okay, this also counts as in-universe love.)

For the most part, the opening Judge Alpha from Karl Stock and Ben Willsher and Dan Abnett’s SinDex / Sam Slade (Anthony Williams on art) are just kinda fan wank: puns; character name drops; lore references. They don’t feel like stories from actual ongoings, which was what made these other multiverse-style specials work; instead, these are too clearly one-offs, just made for gags. James Peaty, whose writing normally stalls on me as way too predictable, applies that well on his Rogue/Dog strip, though – because it is kinda just a normal “Alpha gets double-crossed” tale – the double-cross picks up on the Rogue traitor general stuff – it works as a beginning/middle/end story; straight-forward, but refreshing after the average chuckles that proceeded it. (And with Nicolo Assirelli on art, hard to go wrong.)

The aforementioned Edginton bit is also solid, probably working best if you’ve got some history with ‘Back (I imagine he’s hard to parse without any foreknowledge), but proves to be an enjoyably mean-spirited sci-fi / swashbuckling mix, with fantastically colorful, fluid art from Paul McCaffrey. (Bonus for a surprise cameo…)

I was super excited for Al Ewing’s / Boo Cook’s Zombo and Harlem Heroes combo, because that’s super weird, but then I remembered I find Ewing’s humor a bit tiresome. If you dig his puns and juvenalia, though, this is surely good stuff, and I’ll give points for the total lampshaded ending.