Earlier this year at Broken Frontier we looked at the Zarjaz Special that acted as prelude to the third volume of the long-running small press anthology series based on characters from the pages of 2000 AD (with full permission of publishers Rebellion). Since then two issues of the new Zarjaz have been published giving names from the UK self-publishing and indie scene a chance to work on their favourite UK comics characters. As ever, with projects of this nature, the work ranges from rougher but enthusiastic to solid and more polished, and all the way through to material that could slot into the pages of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic itself.
Cover by Alba Ceide
There are a lot of creators involved in these two bumper collections so I am going to concentrate on just a handful of stories that stood out for me over these two issues. Firstly, and unsurprisingly given one of the creators is a Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ artist, is the cover story from Zarjaz Vol.3 #1 – the Strontium Dog serial ‘Winterkill’ (more art in final image in this review). Written by Dr. Bob with art by Alba Ceide it’s the standout of the first two issues, taking us back to the childhood of the bounty hunter Johnny Alpha as the mutant army struggles against persecution. Ceide’s art has echoes of Ian Gibson and she’s a perfect fit for a tale that requires kinetic action sequences, expressive visual characterisation, and moments of quieter introspection.
Cover by Ed Traquino
One of the advantages of a project that is essentially an exercise on fan fiction is that it allows for a playfulness with characters who will likely never be revisited in the pages of 2000 AD. If you fondly remember The Mind of Wolfie Smith – the adventures of a runaway teen with psychic powers that originally ran in Tornado – then no doubt you will find the Invasion! strip (part 2 ‘The Rise of Wolfie Smith’) a fun sequel. Writer Craig Dawson takes the original character from what was a contemporary 1970s/’80s setting and revisits him after the events of the 1999 Volgan invasion of Britain in original 2000 AD strip Invasion! (below). It’s a neat piece of teasing continuity manipulation as we are reintroduced to a Wolfie who has been broken by the horrors of a brutal occupation, and Bonin’s art is suitably dark and moody.
Similarly ‘Bill Savage: Armageddon 1980’ (below) sees the 2000 AD character who would fight the Volgans in 1999 in Invasion!, and survive the ecological disaster of a flooded UK in Disaster 1990 be revealed to have also become involved in thwarting a private army’s attempt to stage a coup in Britain in 1980 when he was just 18. An eventful life. Writer Daniel Whiston gives us a story with more than a hint of a topical edge though the wildly differing art styles of Bobby Brice on part 1 and Patrick Brown on part 2 make for a jarring visual transition.
On the non-serial front there are two Future Shock-style complete-in-one ‘The Cosmic Claw Presents’ strips. These are darkly funny shorts that capture the spirit of some of the truly bleak humour of the early years of 2000 AD that are almost impossible to describe without giving away too much information. But the one in #2 (by writer Andrew Lewis and artist Brett Burbridge) see the creative team combine to build up to a perhaps telegraphed but still memorable punchline.
There’s plenty of other early years characters featured in these issues too so fans of Judge Dredd, Anderson Psi Division, ABC Warriors, Rogue Trooper and company will find their exploits included in these collections. Zarjaz has a long established position on the UK small press circuit. It’s good to see that continuing and giving new names an opportunity to work on these properties and bring their visions to them.
Dr. Bob, Craig Dawson, Pete Howard, Pete Hobson, Jonno, Tom Davies, Daniel Whiston, David Court, Matthew Ellis, Dan Pollard, Adrian Bamforth, Troy Martin (W), Alba Ceide, Tom Bonin, Brett Burbridge, Tim Burnell, Paul Malone, Bobby Brice, Chris Geary, Wayne Hughes, Adrian Bamforth, Ed Traquino, Patrick Brown (A), Paul Malone (C), Patrick Brown, Paul Malon, Brett Burbridge, Chris Geary, Adrian Bamforth (L) • Self-published, £6.49
Review by Andy Oliver
