2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2021

[broodblik]

My big problem is that it didn't quite click until part way through that the special was going for a single story told in multiple 'chapters'.  So in some respects the first 'chapter' didn't really do the job of establishing the narrative that clearly.

I think that was the idea or rather how I read it that the first episode was more there for us to ask questions rather the establish what everything is about. For me the narrative was only revealed in the Anderson story which flowed into the finale.

[Leigh S]

Narratively, it still made each individual story somewhat unsatisfying - a kind of  "Meanwhile in Brit/Hondo Cit", which made reading it as a whole a little chewy. 


The grand reveal of Nature incarnate was very Alan Grant and we've seen it quite a few ties - not sure how it all fits in with a post that Rob Williams story with the 4 horsemen, which was the Earth reaching a breaking point wasnt it?

The art is pretty variable - Googes is the stand out, while James Newell's art (pretty decent in Space Warp) but doesnt really work here - looks rushed, perhaps?  Robin Smith's art doent suit Devlin either, and gives that section a quite static feeling.

Writing wise, I;m not a fan of Anderson and the PSIs being portrayed as "super powered", if that makes sense - I prefer it when these powers are generally lower level and situational

Overall a good idea, but the individual pieces are hampered by being part of the whole, and the whole is hampered by being a bit "off".

My big problem is that it didn't quite click until part way through that the special was going for a single story told in multiple 'chapters'.  So in some respects the first 'chapter' didn't really do the job of establishing the narrative that clearly.

I think that was the idea or rather how I read it that the first episode was more there for us to ask questions rather the establish what everything is about. For me the narrative was only revealed in the Anderson story which flowed into the finale.

[Tjm86]

For me the narrative was only revealed in the Anderson story which flowed into the finale.

Hmmm, given that this is the last few parts of the special ... plus, the editorial suggests that this is all a single "grand narrative" (which admittedly I only read after the special!) ...

I'd also have to agree with Leigh on the grand reveal front.  Bad timing possibly?

[Richard]

Specials of yesteryear were a bit like the annual in that they had all sorts of other bits and pieces in them.

Nope. I don't want all that guff, when I can have 48 pages of stories instead.

[broodblik]

The last few specials start focusing more on longer stories rather than quantity of stories appearing in the specials.

[M.I.K.]

Anyone else still waiting on this? My copy has yet to turn up.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Anyone else still waiting on this? My copy has yet to turn up.

Me. I don't know why it takes ages for 2K stuff to reach me, but it does. I get a Saturday prog; but it's normally from the previous Saturday!

[Fenscape]

I got this last week. Its basically the same concept as Trifecta but executed badly. It didn't fuse together properly, im very disappointed.

[Batman's Superior Cousin]

I got this last week. Its basically the same concept as Trifecta but executed badly. It didn't fuse together properly, im very disappointed.

Exactly how I would describe it as well

[Tjm86]

Anyone else still waiting on this?

TBH I make a habit of picking up the specials on the high street.  Our local Smiths is pretty good at stocking them and it might be a futile gesture but showing that there is at least some interest hopefully keeps them on the shelves. 

As for the prog, well our post around here hasn't so much moved to a 5 day service as to a "we'll get to it when we get to it" service so there is literally no rhyme or reason to when it turns up.

[rogue69]

I've noticed online that there's a lot of comments saying this is 2000AD trying to copy Spacewarp by have all the stories loosely intertwined

[broodblik]

I've noticed online that there's a lot of comments saying this is 2000AD trying to copy Spacewarp by have all the stories loosely intertwined

Two different methods because Spacewarp is a lot of losing standing stories that I could never get the connection between them whereas the special focus on a big story arc. Both have a shared universe

[Barrington Boots]

Having now read it I don't think this was anything like Spacewarp in structure. The Trifecta comparison Fenscape made above is more accurate.

Anyway - this was a cool and ambitious idea, but overall I think it didn't quite work: the story just wan't good enough. After my previous gripe about aging I did like the way Chopper and Armitage were portrayed but I'd still rather not see them anymore in any Dredd strips as I feel their stories are played out. I'm starting to feel the same about Anderson tbh. Highlight for me was Googe's art.

[JimmyNailz]

I like the idea of one story continuing through multiple strips and have no issue with the enviromental message....

...HOWEVER....

I thought having the same "I//We" possession thing happen in all the strips made for a boring read. It was the same story told several times, just with a different cast. I cottoned on to the "Mother Earth taking revenge on humanity" plot from the first Dredd strip, so the rest of the Prog//Meg lacked any kind of mystery or intrigue.  I think it would have worked better if each strip had a seemingly unconnected event occuring that Anderson then discovered were all linked.

THEN the final Dredd chapter felt very unDredd to me. No one got any come-uppance, Anderson wasn't even given a slap on the wrist for attacking Joe and potentially almost wiping out humanity, the Evil-MegaCorp lady's "yes we've done wrong, but humanity can do better" speech was seemingly out-of-character and so cheesy I wanted to have it on a cracker, AND they then allowed the aforementioned MegaCorp lady, now a potentially dangerous demi-god, to just get on with things with nothing more than a "best keep an eye on her"
The whole thing felt like a clumsy attempt at an all-ages Judge Dredd Megazine to me.

I also agree, its a waste not to have Anderson ageing. I feel like there is a great story to be told in her coming to terms with losing her youthful good looks.

I really enjoyed this weeks prog though, so that eased my disappointment with the Summer Special.

[IndigoPrime]

I've noticed online that there's a lot of comments saying this is 2000AD trying to copy Spacewarp by have all the stories loosely intertwined

And I suppose that’s because Pat “literally God” Mills was the first person to ever try that concept in Spacewarp, and it’s never been done in any other comic publication before. Some commenters will do anything to suck up to that guy and slam 2000 AD.

I also agree, its a waste not to have Anderson ageing. I feel like there is a great story to be told in her coming to terms with losing her youthful good looks.

I would hope if they ever do fully address Anderson’s age and actually make her look her age, they’d move beyond the hackneyed and played out angle of a woman losing her looks. I don’t recall Anderson as ever having been especially bothered about that anyway.