3 out of 5

Following on his IDW Year One series, 2000 AD editor Matt Smith again dips into the writing pool with an Anderson-focused story: The King of the Six Sectors. Paired this time with Carl Critchlow, Cass is tasked with tracking down the cause behind “psi bombs” – folks unknowingly rigged to “blow” with blasts that mentally blank those in the surrounding area, allowing for heists and other crimes. This novel concept is pitched with appropriate weight; Smith tends to seemingly prefer writing his take on the Dreddverse with a more sober tone, and so Cass is low on quips and there’s a nice sense of escalation to the crimes.

But this is also one of those stories where the escalations Go All The Way To The Top!, and it ends up feeling a bit much for a four issue series so early in Cass’ timeline (accepting that back in the 2000 AD world, she took down Judge Death multiple times early on, but that’s a different feel than a monthly book, and at a different point in Anderson’s career, if published earlier). As the story gets bigger and bigger, it kind of feels like it loses its initial sense of mystery in order to throttle towards a conclusion, and, in a similar fashion, the setting does a lot of Cit-hopping that confuses the focus.

Issue by issue, though, it all works tightly. Smith knows his world and the tone he wants for his characters, and while I tend to find his stories imperfect, I’d say his editing senses help out in keeping momentum going. Critchlow’s art tends to have a superficial look to me, which makes it a little oddly suited when the story needs more emotional hooks, but early on, when it’s more of a globe-trotting adventure, the art has great energy, and the layouts remain solid.

A quality miniseries. For a 2000 AD reader, it falls a little flat, but I think those coming into the Dreddverse new, or from the 2012 movie, can get a good, well-rounded taste of the world.