3 crampons out of 5

2000 A.D. stuff all has a fairly consistent, Judge Dredd feel to it.  If Heavy Metal could be relied upon for mostly fantasy babes and Conan warriors (which, maybe it could’nt have been.  I never read Heavy Metal, I’m just going by the movie here), then 2000 A.D. could (and still can be..?) relied upon for sardonic sci-fi in a future dystopic world.

Had enough parenthetical asides yet?  Me neither.  Can’t get enough of ’em.  Num num.  But let’s not talk about parenthetical asides, let’s talk about comics.

If you’re a Watchmen fan of Alan Moore and you haven’t branched out too far beyond that, then you probably haven’t walked into a comic shop except with your boyfriend or, perhaps, to buy Watchmen as a gift for someone else (… except, now that the movie came out, is it “cool” anymore to have read Watchmen?  Hm.  I wonder what the kids have moved on to.  Tiny Titans, I imagine.), so ‘2000 A.D.’ is undoubtedly going to sound like a mystery to you, unless I describe it as Heavy Metal written by Brits, and then you’ll nod all noddy-like.  That’s insulting because 2000 AD has a much deeper sense of universe and richer cache of ongoing characters than HM, but for all intents and purposes that description works.  And it works to suggest: if you’re a casual Moore fan, this book will seem silly.

A ton of well-knowns circulated through 2000 AD.  Sometimes there are serious ongoing stories, sometimes there are gag strips.  “Future Shocks” is mostly a collection of gag strips.  If you’re down with the Bojeffries saga, or get into the 2000 AD ethic at all, then you’ll be fine with these 1 or 2 page Twilight-Zone-twist send-ups.  But the beginning 2/3rds of the book, being full of such jokes, will seem primarily faceless, even to Moore fans.  You see his name on the cover, so you sense his sarcasm, but you’ve definitely heard / seen these jokes before.

Better is the last 3rd, featuring some expanded ideas that were serialized over several issues: Time Twisters and Abelard Snax.  Time Twisters still flirt with the gags initially, but the introduction of some darker material at this point helps to weigh down the weighty first portion of the book.  Abelard Snax is the best part, though, and so it’ great that it’s saved for last.  These strips are about a “genius” who inadvertently ruins the life of anyone he runs into.  It’s a difficult balance to make an unlikeable character readable, but Moore does it very well here.

So if you’re new to this world, you probably passed by this one on the shelf anyway in favor of Walking Dead trades.  Or however else I can malign you.  But if you’ve ever picked up any Dredd material before, or you’re just exploring Moore’s back catalogue (as I am), this collection is satisfying enough at its 20 dollar price tag.

buy me