While in the early years of 2000 AD there was little in the way of direct crossovers between the anthology’s strips, there were plenty of tangential links that pointed to a wider shared universe. In Judge Dredd’s case at that point those connections could be followed to the original Harlem Heroes, Flesh, ABC Warriors, Ro-Busters, Invasion and others. That sense of a larger fictional reality would expand as time went on; as would the number of strips coming out directly from Dredd’s world, including early spin-off The Helltrekkers.
Written by John Wagner and Alan Grant, with art from Jose Ortiz and Horacio Lalia The Helltrekkers takes us into the Cursed Earth, the radiation-ravaged hell outside of the Mega-Cities of Judge Dredd’s future America. In a bid to escape the fascist dystopia of Mega-City One a group of Helltrekkers – mobile convoys of frontierspeople – seek to travel across the radlands to new settlements and new lives. But along the way they will encounter some of the very worst the environment can throw at them; mutant marauders, dinosaurs, disease, and literal acid rain…
Somewhat unfairly maligned on its original release it’s intriguing to look back on this story some decades on. Presumably taking its inspiration from early Judge Dredd mega-epic ‘The Cursed Earth’, The Helltrekkers does admittedly capture the same grim horrors of the harsh nuclear-ridden landscape the characters travel through but with little of the wit, imagination of invention of its predecessor. This is a bleak survivalist story that focusses on the harshness of the terrain rather than its fantastical inhabitants.
In doing so it becomes a character piece. But a totally fatalistic one. As each episode begins we see a new journal entry from Trekmaster Lucas Rudd, usually counting down how many lives, and sometimes vehicles, the trek has lost so far. No one is safe, and to some degree the story becomes more about waiting to see who dies next and how, rather than an observation of the triumph of human spirit. The inter-trek relationships become as important and, in some cases, as potentially destructive as the forces that engulf the trekkers. There are Bish and Futura Glemp and their mutant, crab-like daughter Crustacia; the troublesome, thuggish Nebbs family; the likeable but foolhardy Rollo Peterson in his ill-equipped Mo-Pad; and many others struggling to make it to their unlikely destination.
Ortiz and Lalia’s art creates a suitably claustrophobic and imposing atmosphere, and the moments of dark comedy that are scattered throughout are given a human touch by their visual characterisation. While The Helltrekkers is a collection that needs the context a wider appreciation of 2000 AD to fully enjoy it’s a far better piece of human drama than its reputation suggests. And it concludes with one of the bleakest final scenes in 2000 AD history…
Alan Grant & John Wagner (W), Horacio Lala & Jose Ortiz (A) • Rebellion, £17.99
Review by Andy Oliver
