Original fiction: Ms Morality in ‘The Tunnels of Intolerance’- Part One.

Written by: Mark. A. Pritchard
Released on: The Rorshach Rant- 27th February 2015


A thundering on the door was the signal of a new beginning, the start of a day that would change everything for young Ms Eva Truth (real name Elizabeth Ponsolby Holdings). Armed only with her mobile phone she bravely walked down the stairs to investigate just what the jolly hell was going on. By the time she had made the twenty-yard walk the Police were already on the scene. Her speed dialling bravery had saved the day once again.

She opened the door with caution, can of mace in hand, to find three Police cars, numerous Police officers and her handcuffed and embarrassed looking brother Rufus.

‘Oh hi Rufus, what’s up?’ said an empowered and confident Ms Truth.

‘Hi Liz, any chance you can explain to these gentlemen that I’m not the serial rapist you described on the telephone?’ replied a clearly annoyed and exasperated Rufus.

After a quick explanation, some on the spot counselling from a concerned WPC the brave feminist warrior Ms Truth finally allowed her brother to come into her house for a cup of tea, biscuits and a quick chat.

‘Now Rufus, before we begin I have to make things very clear here.’ Started a still shaking (but bravely) Ms Truth as she put the kettle on and made for the chocolate bourbons.

‘You have to understand that you can’t just knock on my door at 10am in the morning and expect me not to be concerned. You have to…..’

‘Wait a second,’ interrupted Rufus. I come around here every Wednesday morning to baby-sit for baby Sojourner and it hasn’t been a problem so far.’

‘Yes, but today is Thursday Rufus, today is Thursday.’

There was a stunned silence in the room, as Rufus came to the awful realisation that an entire day had gone misssing.

‘Oh my word,’ he cried. ‘Whatever could have happened? I feel a bit queazy. I thought it was Wednesday, but it’s actually Thursday??? Oh my mother earth goddess, I think I’m going to faint.’

‘You stay right here bruv, don’t do a thing, don’t even move a muscle,’ replied Ms Truth, now taking charge in a confident female manner. ‘This is a mystery for a super heroine to investigate, and I know just the woman for the job. You stay here. I need to make a call. ’

‘But what about baby Sojourner?’ replied Rufus. ‘Where is she? Is she at her Dad’s, is she….’

But before he could finish the sentence his fiercely determined sister was off, out of the room. There was no time to waste. Patriarchy was a menace that had to be snuffed out immediately, and every second spent talking about babies, children or families was a precious second wasted.

An hour later, and after the upstairs sounds of a shower, hairdryer and Pussy Riot CD, the living-room door flew open, and there she was, the heroine of the masses, the saviour of the offended, the amazingly empowered MS MORALITY.

What a sight it was to behold. Trouser suited, Pink Doctor Martin boots a cute orange balaclava and a little briefcase to show that this was a businesswoman, and not somebody that you should be messing with.

‘Greetings comrade. I hear you have been threatened/slightly offended by a mysterious event that was out of your control, and as a young homosexual gender neutral comrade of the politically correct nation of togetherness I am here to right all wrongs that were done to you.’

Her voice was booming, empowered and impressive, but not in an aggressive way. Young Rufus sat back in awe, quietly clapping his hands like a Dolphin at a theme park.

‘Ohhhh Ms Morality, I can’t believe that you have taken time-out from your duties at the politically correct nation of togetherness to help somebody like me.’

‘Of course comrade, that’s what we are here for. Whenever one of our comrades has suffered we are here to help. So what is the problem? Your sister told me that it was urgent, that you had lost something because of the evil system of white heterosexual patriarchy. Please tell me, calmly, in your own time, what have the evil b******s done to you? ’

After five minutes of explanation our quick-witted heroic detective/investigator/super-heroine determined that a conspiracy was afoot. It couldn’t be the fault of Rufus that he had managed to lose an entire day. He was after all just a single young gay man living all alone in the cold, harsh city. No, something else had to be happening, something bigger that needed to be investigated.

‘This is a most intriguing and complex mystery comrade Rufus. Your sister did the right thing to call me rather than letting you doing anything for your poor, innocent victim self.’ boomed the confident, and attractive (but not in a sexual way) feminist heroine.

‘I detect the intolerant and probably secretly gay workings of master criminal Doctor Homophobial behind what has happened to you. If anybody would have the motivation to cause the unpleasant scene with the Police that so victimised you this morning then it would have to be him.’

‘Oh, how do you know about the Police?’ replied Rufus. ‘I forgot to mention them. I just said that I’d lost a day and thought it was a bit strange.’

‘Ha ha ha, my young friend,’ replied the resplendent superheroine. ‘We are always listening, we are always watching, but just for your own protection of course.’

‘But now, I must be gone. It appears that Doctor Homophobial is up to his old tricks again, and it’s up to the nation of togetherness to stop him. That is our duty. That is our curse. Oh, and you don’t mind if I have a quick look around your flat for clues do you?’

‘Of course not Ms Morality, do you need a key?’ replied a now visibly shaking with excitement Rufus.

‘Ah no, that won’t be necessary. Just thought I’d ask. I’d hate to intrude on your privacy without asking.’

‘But didn’t you just say that you were listening and watching me for my own protection? And where’s my sister gone?’

‘No time for that comrade,’ interrupted a heavily in thought Ms Morality. ‘No time to waste, I must get to the bottom of this intriguing mystery.’

And with a quick nibble on a custard cream, the brave, heroic, towering, empowering superheroine was off into the dangerous mid afternoon traffic to investigate this now deepening mystery.

Meanwhile….deep in the bowels of their mancave of intolerance the evil gang of villains known as the ‘Politically Incorrect Scoundrels’ planned their next move. The leader of the Scoundrels, a particularly evil, devilish and devious character known only as ‘The Dissenter’ spoke up:

‘Stage one of the operation has now been completed my politically incorrect brethren of rogues. The trap has been sprung, and Ms Morality is walking straight into it. Now we move on to stage two of the plan. Operation Disempower is going exactly as planned, and it’s time we turned up the heat on little Ms Morality. Ha ha ha ha.’

The evil, intolerant laugh of the menace to society known as ‘The Dissenter’ echoed menacingly in the mancave of the rogues, and all the while Ms Morality was walking straight into their trap, a trap that could spell the end of her intolerance busting days, forever.


END OF PART ONE


Miss Morality will return next week (Friday 6th March) in ‘The Tunnels of Intolerance’- Part 2. What do the brethren of rogues have planned for her? What exactly is ‘Operation Disempower?’  All will be revealed next week. DON’T MISS IT.


* If any artist would be willing to illustrate this story, then please let me know.

Of triumphant isolation- A short story

Original story by: Mark .A. Pritchard
Composed and published: 26th February 2015


He sits upon the floor, a cushion, a blanket, fidgets around trying to make himself comfortable whilst the candle flickers, casting a shadow of interest upon his dull, now magical bedroom wall.

There is no plan, there never is a plan, for plans go wrong, and what’s the point in planning something that will only go wrong?

A book, a pad, writing down the important sentences that he quotes over and over again in his head.

‘You don’t like me, but I don’t like you either.’ 

Yes, that was a good one. She really managed to say something there.

Caught the essence, like a wasp in a jam jar.

Library just a hop, scrape and crawl down the road, past the shop, past the pub, past the old theatre.

Row after row of Heaven in dust.

It could be Hell.

Though the taste is of purgatory’s never ending circle.

Feminism, Marxism, Post-modernism.

Read, repeat, pass.

Read, repeat, pass.

Pat on the head for jumping through hoops.

The lonely, creaky old books hover over regimented lanes of blank faced students, headphones on, ignoring those around them, talking to a bucktoothed girl in Luxembourg, or however that old Smith’s song lyric went.

Typing, how do you do that frowny face again?

Back to the shadows that flicker.

Now that quiet, incessant rumble of traffic, crack, a snowball through the window, plops softly on the bed, rock laden, heavy to break, to cause damage as they run away laughing into the night.

Colder now, traffic louder, candle almost out, dawn breaking, business outside, sleep overcoming.

He waits for office hours, calls for repair, hangs up, settles down, book read, candle out, don’t forget a library visit at teatime, a book, a book, a book.



The snowy library picture used at the head of this poem/story/thing can be found here: http://moonlightrose44.deviantart.com/art/Winter-Library-193895942


*Quote is from a Jean Rhys book. Which one? I forget. 

Comic review: Conan the Avenger #11- Developing a passion for knowledge, and desire for truth

Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Brian Ching
Colourist: Michael Atiyeh
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 25th February 2015


Reading a good Conan book always cheers me up, and this was an excellent one, with a devious wizard, a beautiful girl, treachery, bravery, cunning and revenge.

All of this is beautifully portrayed with large (I have to put that one on my wall) panels of excellent artwork from artist Brian Ching. The art, from the pencilling, to the colouring, to the panel layout and size is uniformly excellent, and it puts a fruity, ripe scrumptious cherry on top of what is already an extremely delicious comic book cake.

Am I not a hypocrite though for railing against ‘Dominators’ as I did in my previous review of Sinestro #10, and then heaping praise on this Conan book? Surely Conan himself is just another dominator? No, he is not. Conan has never been about domination. To me, and when he is written as he should be, he is a moral man, brave, cocky, adventure seeking, but also (as Robert E. Howard himself describes) deeply melancholic.

At the end of his adventures Conan becomes a reluctant King. It is something that he never wanted to be, but in the twilight of his life all of the battles have been won, and so almost by default the crown goes to him, and unhappy is the man who wears it.

That Conan, that melancholic Conan, is not on display in Conan the Avenger #11. In this book Conan is the young, happy, adventure seeking Conan. He is arrogant, funny, brave, sharp as a blade and full of enthusiasm for life. This is the Conan before the victory, doing what he lives for, fighting, conniving, struggling and spitting in the faces of those who would rule over him. He is carefree, bleeding, in pain, but having the time of his life. That is the true essence of Conan. That is who he is supposed to be.

Conan isn’t the only character in this book that is fighting against those who would dominate, there is a girl as well, and it is her story that is the backbone to this issue. She fights for revenge, for the memory of her husband who fought not for gold, for power, but for knowledge.

Imagine what the world would be like today if everybody had the same mindset, where money was not as important as the search for truth? We can have that world, but it has to start on an individual level. It’s up to each and every one of us personally to learn to fall in love with the search for knowledge, the search for truth.

Or we can keep living for money, and the world can continue as it does today. Our choice, we make it every day.

I’m in a fantastic mood now, my spirits have been lifted and I feel more optimistic about the human race than I did before. That’s quite an achievement for a comic book don’t you think? So that’s why I still read Conan comic books, because when they are average they are good, when they are good they are excellent, and when they are excellent, as Conan the Avenger #11 certainly is, they transcend superlatives, showing what it is to be a human being, what it is that we should be living for. To live with passion, with strength, with courage, with determination and a burning, burning, burning desire for knowledge and that elusive yet essential spiritual Holy Grail called TRUTH.

Ratinmg: 10/10

Comic review: Sinestro #10- All Dominators Must Die

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Brad Walker
Publisher: DC Comics
Released: 25th February 2015


This book doesn’t deserve a full and detailed review.

The narrative is centred on two individuals, but in terms of mindset they are the same person, a dominator, the kind of person who has made, and continues to make the world what it is today.

Hitler, Stalin, Bush, Blair, Clinton, Obama, Putin, Cameron.

Different personalities, but exactly the same poisonous mindset. It’s the mindset of the dominator, the man/woman who needs to be obeyed, an insane individual who is so deluded, so arrogant, and so detached from moral truth and spiritual reality that he has somehow convinced himself that he alone knows what is best for everybody else.

Nice smirk from Dominator #2

Little Hitler’s everywhere. In shops, schools, offices, politics, families, and we still continue to let them get away with their world burning insane arrogance. Wives, children, families support them, their work colleagues support them, their communities support them, their countries support them, and thus, we get the Hell that is planet Earth in 2015.

Sinestro #10 is about two dominators fighting each other for control. Is one a good guy, the other a villain? No, they are both villains, as they are both dominators, and their only goal is domination over others, to sit on a throne and give orders. Who wins and who loses is not important. It’s like voting between red and blue. The only loser is YOU.

That’s all you get in this book, and that’s why it’s not worth my time, or yours.

If you want to read about fictional dominators then buy the book. If you want a window into the kind of mindset that is shared by humanities ‘leaders’ in 2015 then buy the book.

Personally speaking, I’ve had my fill of dominators, and every time I see a new one, in real life or on the lying box, or in a comic, they just make me want to puke my guts out in violent rage.

I picked up this comic book because I wanted to give it one final chance before I stopped reading it forever. That chance has now come and gone. I didn’t hate it. It gave me a chance to talk about real world dominators and how they destroy the world in order to satisfy their psychopathic need for domination, for control, for order. That mindset needs to be chucked into the dustbin of human history alongside capitalism and statism, but that’s the challenge of our age. Recognise the poison. Stop ingesting it.

Rating: 3/10 (For the artwork. I enjoyed the smirk on Dominator #2’s face)

Comic review: The Superannuated Man #6- And you thought there were no consequences?

Created, written and illustrated by: Ted McKeever
Publisher: Image Comics
Released: 25th February 2015


So what was it all about?

Mankind not caring, eating whatever came along. Oh, so it doesn’t really matter because I can do it, so I will do it. There are no consequences, yum, yum.

Oh, the animals can talk now. They have hunger in their eyes, and I am on the menu. That’s not fair, but it is, isn’t it?

And the world we build on selfishness on doing what we can because we are bigger, because there are no consequences is built on wobbly moral foundations. A house built on a tar pit, and eventually it will sink.

Look in the mirror, do you see your past?

I see it, and it has become today.

Consequences are real. We get what we deserve.

It may take some time, but eventually.

Eventually, there is a slippage.

Wasn’t there a flood in the Bible?

Wiped away, and you think that we are better now?

Do you think that we have progressed?

Do you think that it doesn’t matter because there are no consequences in this Darwinian jungle of screw or be screwed?

I think that it matters.

I think that consequences are real, and that the past is never far behind the future. You store up the deliberate ignorance, the pretending that moral truth does not exist, that you can do whatever you like, but all of a sudden…….

Bang.

It’s time to pay the price.

That is what this book was all about.

Well, to me anyway. I went to work, sweated, made money, and exchanged it for this book, so I get to write my own meaning, my own response to the text. Whether I’m right or wrong it doesn’t really matter. I loved the book, it resonated with truth, it made me think, it made me write daft reviews here on my blog.

That’s it for the Superannuated Man. I’ll miss him, but Ted moves on, and his next book is something called POODWADDLE. We’ll have to wait until the fall of 2015 for that one, so something to look forward to, and now back to the predictable world of me moaning about statism and neo liberal PC moral crusading in left leaning Marxist/Feminist comic books. Oh Ted, I’m missing you already.

Rating: 10/10

Comic review: Mister X Razed- Xmas In Somnopolis #1- Great, well done, clever boy, have a biscuit.

Writer: Dean Motter
Artist: Dean Motter
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 25th February 2015

After the first ten pages of this book it was annoying me so much that I could barely muster up the energy to keep on reading it.

Fighting against the urge to chuck the book in the bin and read something less irritating I continued to read on and was pleasantly surprised by a clever plot twit mid-way through the book.

This twist kept me reading until the end, and I have to acknowledge that it was a very well thought out, cleverly written and expertly drawn comic book.

My problem with it is that it’s an exercise in cleverness that doesn’t really say anything.

Well, perhaps the twist might say something? Don’t jump to conclusions, perhaps? Read a story through to the end, and it might be cleverer than you think? It certainly says that, but that’s just about all I could get out of it.

If you want your comic books to engage with the world outside of your bedroom window then this isn’t going to be a book for you. There is nothing in the book that couldn’t have been written in 1985, 1995 or 2005.

The narrative is set in a dystopic future, but it’s a big generic US city future and the characters both look and act like they are in a 1940’s Humphrey Bogart movie. Is that cool? Some people might think so, but to me it just looks old, really, really old.

The plot twist surprised me, but that was just because I assumed that the book was awful, and not because I hadn’t seen the twist done before in a similar detective/crime book.

The script had the usual coincidences that help move it along, and the eponymous Mister X appeared oddly supernatural as he just popped up whenever needed, and then disappeared when his narrative role was completed. That’s a manipulative writing technique, and some people accept it because they just want a good story. I dislike it because it feels contrived and fake.

That’s it. I cannot think of anything else to say about the book other than it’s clever and that it doesn’t resonate with contemporary socio-economic-political concerns. If you want a clever book with a lovely use of the colour red in the artwork then get the book. That’s what’s on offer here: Cool, clever and red. Great, well done, clever boy, have a biscuit.

Rating: 7/10 (Well written book with lovely colouring, but there is no connection to the world that I am living in)

Comic Review: 2000AD PROG 1919- Feeding on the souls of the alienated, television entranced masses.

Writers and artists: Various
Publisher: Rebellion
Released: 25th February 2015


Last week I reviewed PROG 1918 of 2000AD to discover whether or not it’s narrative content resonated with a 2014 UK that has been hit by a cross party consensus of neo-liberal austerity policies. The review was a little longer than I would have liked, but I feel like I managed to make at least a few interesting points along the way.

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Because I enjoyed writing that review, and also because I feel that it’s worthwhile me doing so, I’ll now be reviewing 2000AD on a weekly basis.  My goal is to monitor whether or not the writers are dealing with issues that resonate with what is happening in the UK today. That is the only reason for the review, and I’ll leave discussion of narrative and artwork to others. So with that intention in mind here’s what I made of PROG No 1919 of 2000AD.

Judge Dredd ‘Dark Justice’ is a narrative with zero complexity. The state (as represented by the Judges) is protecting defenceless civilians from villains. The Judges are the law, the court, the jury and executioner. Villains talk about the unfairness of this, but are attacked with violence and eventually subdued. The message of the piece is that you must obey those in positions of authority. You will obey, the Judges are the law, and if you disagree then that makes you the villain. It’s always been this way with Judge Dredd, and that’s probably why I instinctually disliked him as a twelve year old boy reading this comic. To love Judge Dredd is to love the state, and to love the state is to love slavery. That’s why I dislike him, and even when the artwork is as beautiful as it is here, I still feel great unease when reading a tale in which he and his order following, uniform wearing authoritarian gang members are portrayed as the heroes. Cops are not heroes like the television would have you believe. That is why whenever a country goes into tyranny it’s referred to as a ‘Police’ state. Don’t let the programming fool you. The Police are there to protect and serve, but it’s not you or your family who they are protecting or serving, it’s the state. It is their job to maintain the status quo and to protect the rich and powerful. That is their role, always has been and always will be.

‘Survival Geeks- ‘SteamPunk’d’ is the comedy relief strip in 2000AD. The characters are dorks, and girls are not interested in them, but you know that eventually they’ll get the girl, and unlike real life (girls are repelled by men who lack confidence and hide in geek culture) they’ll prove that being a geek is cool (it’s not) after all. This issue had a geek being rejected by a girl who very understandably (and real life convincingly) decided to procreate with a self-confident male instead. It didn’t make me crack a smile, but perhaps that’s just me.

‘Station to Station’ had a great panel where contemporary city dwellers were referred to as ‘Alienated, disconnected people.’ It suggested that a people so alone, so controlled by mass media disinformation and so isolated from humanity would be easy to control and manipulate by an external alien threat. Indeed they are, and that is why the UK is in the mess it is today with the alienated masses busy watching football, soaps and celebrities rather than getting together to do something about the austerity policies that are destroying the lives of them all. It’s an excellent script, and it’s worth purchasing PROG 1919 of 2000AD just to read this one story alone.

‘The Order’ features a moment where Christians are telling the truth and trying to help people who are being deceived by a manipulative alien threat. What? Christians as the good guys in a contemporary comic book? Yes, and even though I’m not a Christian myself that’s such a refreshing thing to read, especially when I’m used to reading Christianity bashing on a weekly basis coming from my US comic books. I’ve read enough crazy Christian bigot and cult leader story lines to last ten lifetimes, so it’s nice to see Christianity portrayed in a heroic light for a change.

‘Savage-Grinders’ features a panel with a character stating that he is going to get revenge for all of the children abused in the UK ‘care’ system. That sounds very familiar to me, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about just spend five minutes on the Internet and read about the dozens of recent cases involving establishment level paedophile rings and cover-ups involving children in UK care homes. This is one of the biggest scandals of our times, and I’m very heartened to see it obliquely referenced to in this excellent comic strip.  By referencing it writer Pat Mills has shown that he is in touch with the growing wave of unease in the UK as the public wakes up to discover that their political ‘masters’ are nothing more than a criminal gang of psychopathic, immoral, perverts, thieves and murderers.

That’s another great week from 2000AD then, and out of the five stories there were positive messages in four of them. Police state indoctrination, male ‘geek’ culture emasculation, city alienation, Christian truth and care home abuse, that’s quite a bag of goodies for anybody to get their teeth into.

2000AD is celebrating ’38 Thrill-Powered Years’ this week, so get yourself a copy of this Thargtastic title and let’s keep them going for at least another 38 years, and long into what will hopefully be an austerity and neo-liberal free future. 


Best story: Station to Station- 9/10 (Alien parasites feed on the alienated, television watching masses)
Worst story: Judge Dredd- 3/10 (I always find myself cheering for the ‘villains’ in Dredd stories)
Special mention: Grinders 8/10 (Our hero is starting to question the morality of the state) 
Overall rating: 9/10 (You need to get this one)


* Tharg is the fictional (or not?) editor of 2000AD, and it’s his voice that introduces each week’s collection of stories. Thargtastic is (probably) not even a word, but I feel that it fits here.

Book review: Parecomic- Who wants an alternative to exploitation and immorality?

Writer: Sean Michael Wilson
Artist: Carl Thompson
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Released: May 14th 2013
Website:
http://catalog.sevenstories.com/products/parecomic-michael-albert-and-the-story-of-participatory-economics


When you are born into a system it can feel that things have always been that way, that the system is organic, natural, and just the way that things are. Going against it can seem absolutely absurd, a bit like complaining that when you go swimming you tend to get a bit wet.

That’s the feeling you get when you complain about something called ‘Capitalism.’ A system where everybody is competing, everybody is stabbing each other in the back, everybody is exploiting, everybody is devious, nobody is to be trusted. It’s an economic system that encourages selfishness. Get what you can before somebody else gets it first. Morality is irrelevant in capitalism. It is Darwinian. Eat or be eaten. But is that really natural, is that what we are as human beings?

Some would argue that human beings are selfish, immoral animals, and that Capitalism is therefore perfectly in tune with the nature of humanity. Capitalism is selfish, harsh, immoral and violent because that is what humanity is. I disagree with that analysis, but I’ve always been a bit ‘weird,’ a bit different to everybody else. Call me a hopelessly deluded romantic, but I hold humanity in a higher regard than that. I see people as eminently mouldable, and if you place us in an immoral system and tell us that immorality is the norm from a very young age I see it as perfectly natural for us to act with no regards to anyone other than ourselves.

But what would happen to our species as a whole if we were born into a system structured around moral fairness and human happiness rather than exploitation and immorality? Would humanity, being the nasty brute that it is, reject it? Or would it flourish and ostracise anybody still clinging to the old capitalist model of selfish exploitation? I still have hope for humanity, so I’m going for the later, but even if you disagree with my assessment wouldn’t you like to give humanity a chance before consigning it to the dustbin of history? I want to give us a chance, and that’s what this comic book is all about.

Parecomic offers a moral alternative to Capitalism. The narrative follows the life story of Michael Albert, and explores his idea of a ‘Participatory economics.’ In this system, which is explored through conversations between Albert and various individuals, people are rewarded for the duration, intensity and onerous (does it benefit society, or not?) of their work. This is very different to our current system where 20% of the working population exist as a ‘co-ordinator.’ This class of managers and decision-makers monopolise empowering work, and rewards itself way out of proportion to the actual good that they do in the world. They exist as a new privileged class above the 80% of workers who spend their lives doing routine, powerless work with no say, no power, no control over their lives other than doing what the 20% order them to do.

There are two aspects of the ‘Participatory Economics’ model that particularly appeal to me, coming from an anarchist mindset as I do. The first was that there are no centralised governing bodies. All of the decision making in this model is done on the local level through democratic committees arguing through their problems, and then voting on it. There is no central committee telling them what they must, or must not do. It is democratic and empowering, as opposed to the current top down control system that we are currently living under.

The second aspect that stood out to me was the idea (that I introduced above) of a ‘co-ordinator’ class monopolising decision making, and therefore power in the current capitalist model. Albert’s new model dissipates this disparity in power by making work more varied, allocating a mix of empowering and routine jobs to everybody. No longer would there be only 20% of people doing all of the fulfilling work, with 80% doing the routine dis-empowering work. In a participatory economic society people would not monopolise empowering work, they would have to do some of the hard, socially beneficial work as well. Does this mean that a surgeon would have to spend some of his time answering the phone and cleaning the toilets then? Yes, it does. It also means that the person who spent 100% of their work life cleaning toilets or answering the phone will have increased opportunities to reach their full potential rather than wasting away their lives doing a job that sees them as a resource rather than as a human being.

I like this model. I like how it empowers people. I like how it is based on social good, on morality over greed and selfishness. I like how it sees the best in humanity and wants to help people reach the fullest of their potentialities rather than fit them into a disempowering system that exists to keep a tiny number of the population rich beyond belief whilst the rest have to struggle in a dehumanising system just to survive. I like how it takes the classic Marxist model of class conflict (Bourgeoisie versus the Proletariat) and adds a third class, that being the new 20% ‘co-ordinator’ class, a class that currently monopolises empowering work, and subjugates the majority through their increased levels of self confidence and access to decision making. But what I like best about this model is that it offers solutions to our current predicament that are non-centralised, democratic and based on morality and trying to make the world a better place for everybody.

Parecomic details this model in much more detail than I do here, so if you are in any way intrigued with what I have just discussed, then please buy the book. It’s part biography and part dissertation on the new economic model of participatory economics as outlined by Michael Albert. It’s a surprisingly entertaining, page-turner of a book, so don’t get hung up on the idea that you are going to be reading a dry academic book about economics. It’s clear, concise, enlightening, world expanding, entertaining and it will have you thinking about solutions to the current capitalist model of exploitation of the masses on behalf of the most ruthless, most privileged, most inhumane, most immoral, most selfish, most satanic of this planet’s population.

If you want solutions rather than complaints then this is a must purchase book. It fascinated me, and I read it as I would read any Stephen King page-turner. That says two things. Firstly, that writer Sean Michael Wilson and artist Carl Thompson did a fantastic job, and secondly, that Michael Albert has a model of change that resonates with truth.  Real change has to be economic change, not political rhetoric, and that is what is offered here. The ideas expressed within are world changing. If you have time for Batman then you certainly have time for this.

Rating: 10/10

A Life through Comic Books: From mainstream disinformation into a world of reality

By: Mark. A Pritchard

Produced: Friday Evening- 20th February 2015



Comic books were always a part of my life. As a young boy I read the Beano, then graduated to reading the more ‘adult’ 2000AD. I read them for the same reason that any young boy reads comics, as a means of exploring the wider world outside of his little town, little hopes, little dreams. They told me that the world was bigger, that there were possibilities for me outside of my familiar surroundings.

My first love

As I grew into my teens I became obsessed (like most UK boys growing up in the 1980’s) with all things American. American culture was cool, exotic, their heroes had big muscles and their girls were very, very pretty. Along with American football and the A-team there was Marvel comic books. Spiderman was my favourite, but then again, of course he would be. He was a teen who looked a little bit like me, but he had spider powers, and a hot girlfriend for some inexplicable reason. If he had a chance, then surely I did as well, right?

After my dalliance with Spiderman came to its natural conclusion I moved into young adulthood with Alan Moore’s Constantine and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. I was a young, lost adult and these books offered me something that was lacking in my own life. They offered magic, and a sense that there was beauty in the mundane, and let me tell you, I was more than familiar with mundane during this time of my life. As I continued into adulthood, moving from unfulfilling job, to pointless college course, back to another depressing job my comics (and other ‘proper’ books) became even more essential to me. The great big world had shrugged its shoulders and apathetically passed me by, so back to the comics, where there was still life, still possibilities.

I began to read again as a disappointed, depressed and lost adult and I could pretend that I was still a child again. I wasted years reading the same kind of Marvel and DC comic books that dominate the market today. I got up to date with the Avengers, with Iron Man and was excited when they made movies about the books that had a bit of money behind them and actually looked pretty good. But then I woke up to life, and my relationship with comic books would never be the same again.

I loved this book, it helped me get through my twenties

My university education hadn’t helped me at all. My Marxist text books, my keen interest in feminist studies, it all lead me to nowhere, just feelings of guilt for things that I hadn’t even thought about, let alone done. I was confused. I was a good person, and yet here was my life, empty, with nothing to show for it but years of sitting on the sidelines, of reading comics, of reading books, of passing college courses, of being nice, of being kind and considerate. So why the empty feeling?

The comics weren’t giving anything to me anymore, nor were the books, so I put them all down and decided to look at something new. To my immense surprise I found it, and continue to find it each and every day. So what did I find? Don’t worry, it wasn’t religion, it was truth or the search for truth at least.

I found people who had broken out of the restrictive left wing educational paradigm, people who rejected Marxism, Feminism, Liberalism and wanted to carve their own path, rather than follow an old ‘progressive’ route that led to Russia, China and every other totalitarian ‘left’ leaning state. I discovered ‘alternative’ names like David Icke, Michael Tsarion, Mark Passio, Alex Jones, James Corbett, Jordan Maxwell and countless others. I put away my preconceptions, listened, read and learned and then wondered (very loudly) why I hadn’t heard about any of this information during all of my years at school, college and university and all of the countless hours I had spent reading two or three newspapers every day. It was an eye-opener, my world-view 180-degree changed, and I started to see things as they really are. Then I went back to my comics and I read them with completely different eyes.

David Icke, a truly great man.

Why were they not talking about important issues? Why were they so obsessed with race, gender and sexuality when these issues only serve to separate us from each other? Why were they not talking about the US invading Iraq based on an obvious lie? Why were they not talking about Saudi Arabia and their role in 9/11? Why were the superheroes acting like US soldiers? Why were all the heroes acting like cops? Why was anarchy (which just means freedom from state control) always portrayed as a great evil? Why were villains still robbing banks? Surely it was the banks robbing the people, not the other way round? What was happening here? This wasn’t right, and yet whenever I read comic book reviews on the Internet they wouldn’t even bring up all of the contradictions that I was reading in my comic books. So, I did what had to be done. If nobody else were prepared to speak uncomfortable truths about mainstream comic books then I would have to do it for myself.

So I set up my blog, and started to review comics from the perspective of freedom, of saying whatever I wanted to say. I began to use my comic book reviews as a platform to discuss issues and ideas that interested me even more than the comics themselves. The point of the review became not the comic book itself, but the ideas that were being expressed within that comic book. My analysis of artwork, panel layout and narrative structure became secondary to an ideological analysis of the text. Many of my reviews ceased to be reviews at all, instead they were opportunities for me to discuss what I was learning as I broadened my horizons and learnt more and more about how the world actually works. I began to question everything, and that is what I continue to do today.

My blog here also contains my own original fiction writing and as I continue to expand my intellectual horizons I can envision it beginning to take on a lot more subjects other than comic book reviews. The blog has given me a platform to rail against what is lacking in contemporary comic books, but also to celebrate the rare book that does attempt to deal with some of the issues of our post 9/11 world. I am now rapidly reaching the stage where I need to concentrate on my own original fiction work. I have read and reviewed a lot of books, so perhaps it’s time I stopped criticising and started to put out some substantial product of my own.

Comic review: Wynter #2- Inside the mind of a state sanctioned serial killer

Writer: Guy Hasson
Artist: Aron Elekes
Publisher: New Worlds Comics
Released: 30th April 2014


Wynter #2 focuses its attention on a government assassin as he tracks down, and murders ‘subversives’ in order to maintain the control system of centralised government. The book uses a first person narration to explore the character motivations of this assassin, and it is this decision to follow events from the point of view of the villain that makes it an excellent, must-read book.

The book portrays the assassin as a man who has good reasons for doing what he is doing. It’s not because he’s a comic-book villain, and not because he needs the money either. The book is cleverer than that. Writer Guy Hasson demonstrates a deep understanding of real-life human motivations, as opposed to ‘I just want to see the world burn’ comic-book clichés.

Simply put, the assassin is perfectly happy with murdering people because he feels that there is nothing wrong with what he is doing. His justifications will be chillingly familiar to most ordinary people. His mindset is not uncommon in the real world. It’s a mindset shared by government murderers of the past, present, and future.

Firstly, he sees his actions as benefiting the collective. He is simply helping to maintain ‘order,’ to stop chaos taking over the world. That is one thing that all statists passionate believe in. Cowards at heart they believe that government exists to help people, to stop people (who are all horrible brutes anyway) from falling into a chaotic lawlessness that will see them murdering each other in the streets.

By murdering a few ‘subversives’ he is simply helping to restore peace and order for everybody. Humans are nasty, selfish and not worthy of freedom, and they need to be enslaved to save them from themselves. That is how statists view humanity. They hate themselves, and they hate humanity, and they truly believe that people cannot be trusted with their own freedom. It’s a horribly depressive, scared, paranoid, misanthropic world-view, but it’s the world-view held by the majority of people in the world today. If you doubt me, just ask around, and you might be surprised at the answers that you get.

The second reason this government assassin uses to justify himself is that his immoral, murderous, cowardly actions honour his victim. It is okay to murder them, because the world is a horrible, indifferent place, and well, at least somebody is honouring this person, and it’s better than the apathy that normally surrounds their life, and eventually pointless death.  That sounds like the twisted justifications of a serial killer, right? I agree, it does, but that is what a state sanctioned murderer actually is, nothing more than a serial killer with delusions that help him hide from the true moral consequences of his actions.

The last justification given by the assassin ties into the typical atheist statist delusion that life is a Darwinian struggle, a battle, a war, survival of the fittest, where the weak get trampled and the strong prosper, so why not be one of the strong ones, right? Writer Guy Hasson cleverly and insightfully explores this poisonous worldview as he details the relationship between the government assassin and his son. It is a relationship based on behavioural science, the trust in the new priest class of technology.

The assassin holds a horrifyingly Darwinian world-view that is very prevalent in the west today. It’s a world-view based on survival of the fittest/Nazi ideology. It’s a belief that life is a struggle between the weak and the strong, that you are either the one doing the stomping, or the one being stomped.  He wants his son to be the best stomper possible, and will use every deceptive technique possible to ensure that his kid enjoys a life spent stomping on the weak, just like his good old Dad. Hey, it’s the only way to bring up kids, right?

Thematically speaking, this book is now starting to remind me of V for Vendetta, and that’s a very good thing. However, it’s a lot better than just a simple update of Alan Moore’s classic with the addition of apps and itechnology. The book is posing a very important question:

What happens when the technology that we use today is used to collect personal information on every single thing that we do in our lives, when we willingly give up every single facet of our lives to corporate/state authority?

What happens is what always happens when the state is in control of people’s lives. Freedom is crushed, individualism becomes impossible and humanity is homogenised into an easily controllable collectivised/communist centralised prison system. That is why Edward Snowden is so important, and the pathetic response of the public is a terrifying indictment of their current state of collective ignorance, apathy and childlike trust in the murderous gang of thugs, criminals and control freaks that is government.

I often say that statism is slavery. I say it so much that people get fed up of me saying it, but it needs to be repeated until people accept it as the truth that it is. This book is showing what happens when the state know absolutely everything about you, even to the point where whatever you think, and whatever you plan to do in the future has already been predicted, and (in case of sedition) prepared for. It’s a nightmare future, but a future not far removed from the present where every day of our lives we voluntarily give away far too much information about ourselves on corporate/government online database systems disguised as ‘social media’ platforms.

Issue #2 of Wynter concludes with a good old-fashioned tense and exciting cliff-hanger, so as a pure adrenaline driven, sci-fi story it works on that level as well. This issue was far superior to the first, mainly because of the decision to structure it around the first-person perspective of the villain. His voice helped to clarify the world enormously, and his attitude and general world-view was so chillingly realistic that it should give us all great cause for concern. Not because it is the attitude of a psychopath, but because it’s the attitude of the common voter, of the average man or woman in the street.

How many ordinary people want order, want state control, want safety, and strive every day with a Darwinian mindset to climb further up the greasy pole of corporate success? Now contrast that to the number of people who want truth, individualism and freedom from centralised state control. The former is by far and away the majority, whilst the later are the protesting, complaining troublesome minority.

We want slavery, so slavery is what we get.

The Hellish world of technological slavery in Wynter #2 shouldn’t surprise anybody. That is the world that we are currently building. Don’t blame the New World Order, don’t blame the corporate executives, and don’t blame the criminal bankers. Blame yourself.

We are consciously building a nightmare world through our own immoral actions and poisonous, cowardly, ignorant, apathetic, selfish mindsets. When we wake up to find ourselves living in a technological prison camp we cannot complain that we didn’t know what was happening. We knew. The problem was that we didn’t care.

Rating: 10/10

Comic review: Wynter #1- The Girl with the Punky Haircut

Writer: Guy Hasson
Artist: Aron Elekes
Publisher: New Worlds Comics
Released: 26th February 2014
Get a FREE PDF of Wynter #1 by sending an email to:
NewWorldComics@gmail.com


Wynter #1 immediately reminded me of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, but in place of a disaffected male protagonist there is a pierced, leather jacket wearing punky young girl. The girl (Wynter) feels very familiar to me. She’s one of those girls that you want to meet, but outside of fiction they seem to be a bit thin on the ground, at least in my own personal experience.

Our protagonist, Liz Wynter.

Physically, at least, Wynter is pretty much identical to the Lisbeth Salander character in Stieg Larrson’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.’ She’s young, has a crazy haircut, is full of attitude, pierced, leathered up, and a bit of a male fantasy figure. She’s basically Lara Croft with face piercings.

It would be great if these rebellious girls actually existed, but in 41 years of life I’ve yet to meet one of them. I have however met lots of girls who are interested in money, status, television and empty consumerism. I guess that’s the appeal of these fantasy girls? Men want girls with a sense of rebellion about them, but as they don’t appear to exist in any great numbers in the real world then they have to find them in their fictional material instead? What do you think? Do I have a point here, or perhaps I just need to get out more?

I also get the feeling that these rebellious (fictional) girls do a disservice to real life rebels, as they make rebellion appear to be about a youthful longing for individuality and identity, when rebellion isn’t really about that at all. Rebellion is not about youth, it’s about pointing out what is wrong with the world and then doing something to change it. It’s not about looking ‘cool,’ it’s not about fashion, it’s not about nose piercings. It’s about understanding that the current neo-liberal political consensus in the west is completely corrupt and that if we care at all about the human race then we better do something to change it.

Having said all of that, there are a few things in this book that DO resonate strongly with what is going on in the world today. It deals with the horrifying consequences of collectivism merged with technology, and presents a future where the entire human race is imprisoned within a hive mind high tech Police surveillance system. Protest is not possible, because individualism is not possible. The book is essentially looking at a communist collective and asking how protest within the collective is even possible if everybody is the same.

The book has some good gimmick ideas as well, especially when it comes to the futures of apps, and how they will inevitably be used to control, rather than free the human race. I like their story-line idea that corporate/state surveillance technology can be used by hackers as well, as that is exactly what is happening now, with groups like Anonymous fighting back against the government/corporate slave masters. The book also mentions forced pharmaceutical drugging of populations in order to pacify rebellion, and it has a moment of law breaking activity where the cops are using DNA behavioural models to correctly identify how to arrest anybody daring to break from the societal norms. That is good sci-fi, dystopic material. It’s well thought out, and very well used within the narrative structure of this comic book.

I know I said a lot of negative things about the main character, but she is very well written. The book develops her naturally as a flesh and blood human being, exploring her sense of wanting to become an individual in a society of clones. The narrative, as I envision it, is going to follow her as she develops spiritually and morally as a person, eventually culminating in a crystallising moment where she will stop being driven by selfish egoism and begin to care about what is happening around her, not just what is happening to her. The girl is on a journey, and that is exactly how you should be writing fully formed characters in any work of fiction.

One thing I didn’t like about the book, and I have to mention this because it’s very important, was how the rebellious protagonist’s father was portrayed within the narrative. He was a cowardly, grovelling useless lump who wanted his daughter to comply with authority, and that’s not the role that a good father should be taken in a contemporary narrative that is in touch with what is happening in the world today. There is a political agenda at work right now with the neo-liberal controllers trying to get rid of father’s in the lives of their children. This is because a strong father is a threat to the state. A strong father figure in a child’s life is essential, as without one they are easy prey to the state and all of their control systems. The vital role of father’s in the lives of their children needs to be reinforced in contemporary anti new-world order narratives, and that was not the case here in this comic book.

I liked the artwork, even though at times it felt a bit too dark, a bit too confusing and not as easy to follow as I would have liked. It was stylised, made to look ‘cool,’ and it looked and felt like a comic book that I would have read in the late 1990’s. Together with the look of the main protagonist that did give the book a somewhat dated feel that was a bit odd, especially when the characters were talking about apps and other things that have only existed in the past few years. That’s not a big criticism though. It’s just the feeling I had when reading the book, that it has a LOT of things in it, that it’s taking ideas from the past, but putting in apps, italk and hacker references to make it seem more original than it actually is.

So, was it a fun read? It was okay. I get a bit fed up of the ubiquitous punky female protagonists, so that wasn’t doing it for me, but the story was clever, it reminded me of Brave New World and even though I wasn’t a fan of the protagonist she was very well written, and future issues of the comic should offer a lot of scope for her character to mature and develop into a fully rounded adult, rather than just another teen who wants to be special.

It could be my age that’s holding me back from really enjoying the book, because if you take away all of the background dystopic future stuff the heart of the story is about a teenager trying to find her individual identity in a conformist world. I can empathise with that, but as a forty-one year old man I don’t really want to read about teenagers anymore. I’d recommend the book for teens and young adults, as it’s a much better version of the irrelevant stuff they get in Marvel and DC, and it might just get them to think about bigger issues like state surveillance, and the dangers of collectivism as well.

Wynter #1 is a good book, it looks very cool, and it has a bucket load of good ideas in it, but for me personally it’s another one of those teens finding themselves books. I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if it had a boring middle-aged protagonist, somebody like the Bernard Marx character in Brave New World, or Neo in The Matrix would have worked better for me. I can see how the book would appeal to a young comic book reading male, but I’m not that bloke any more. The twenty year old version of myself would have loved it, but the older me, whilst recognising the book’s qualities, has to admit that it’s probably just a bit too young for him.

Rating: 7/10 (I would have loved it in the 90’s)

Comic book analysis- 2000 AD PROG 1918- The State of 2000 AD in 2015 AD

Writers and artists: Various
Publisher: Rebellion
Released: 18th February 2015


2000AD is a weekly UK comic book that exists in a 2015 context of neo-liberal consensus politics where the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and the middle-classes are being deliberately destroyed by ‘austerity’ policies that are coming straight from central bankers down to their puppet politicians and regurgitated by largely unquestioning mainstream journalists.

The official narrative is weird, and consists of Orwellian doublethink, that makes no sense whatsoever. It's a well known, and over-told tale, but I think it needs to be told again, so here goes:

The banks lost a lot of money due to their own dodgy activities. To keep them afloat our governments gave them billions in free cash. That money came from the public, from our taxes. Now the banks are back to making lots of money (for themselves), all subsidised by tax-payer money, and in order to help them continue to make lots of money (for themselves) everybody living in the UK has to suffer ‘austerity’ cuts.

That means cutting funding on vital things like health and education. What do the public get out of this? Nothing, that’s what they get, whilst the banks get to carry on business as usual, and if we don’t like it, well tough luck because ALL of the democratic parties in the UK have the same policies of supporting the banks and supporting austerity cuts.

That is the context of life in 2015 for the people living in the tax net known as the UK, so should 2000AD be reflecting it, or ignoring it? The later would happily please a lot of comic book fans, who would passionately argue that comic books are about ‘escapism’ and that they offer a brief respite from the harsh realities that they have to contend with in their every day lives.

My response to that kind of mindset is SOD OFF. How can anything change if cultural texts don’t even engage with the reality that surrounds them? Do comic book readers not want anything to change? Are they happy with their families living in poverty whilst they read books that tell them that political correctness is the most pressing concern of our times, rather than dealing with the actual things that impact their lives? Do you know what that kind of mindset is called? It’s called IGNORANCE. Deliberately ignoring the world around you because it’s painful and you’d rather not look at it.

Well keep on ignoring reality comic book fans. Keep ignoring the march of state enabled corporate fascism and you’ll wake up one morning either in a ditch or in a government camp. That’s not alarmist thinking, that’s historical thinking. If you keep on ignoring reality then one day reality will kick down your front door and smash your teeth down your throat, that’s what reality does, so stop ignoring it before it’s too late.

Here’s my question, my reason for doing this piece of textual analysis- Does 2000AD engage with the reality of austerity UK in 2015?

Here are my conclusions-

I’ve read this week’s issue of 2000AD (PROG 1918) and found it to be a combination of ignoring reality, statism, political correctness, feminism and (tentative) real world analysis. The magazine contains five stories, and I’ll review them here for signs of contemporary real world relevance.

Judge Dredd was pure statism and fear of freedom (anarchy). The Judges are there to protect poor innocent civilians from nasty villains who just want to see the world burn. It really was that simplistic, and in that sense it’s a perfect synthesis of the real world dynamic where people will happily give up their freedoms for the illusion of safety that is offered by government. This script reminded me that a lot of people live their lives based on fear, and will happily live in a cage, just as long as they have their iphones and television shows about serial-killers and zombies. That’s the mindset that every totalitarian state wants to keep it’s people in, the mindset of fear and paranoia, and it’s on perfect display here in this excellently drawn but horribly statist and cowardly comic book strip.

Survival Geeks is a new series in 2000AD and features a bunch of supposedly loveable loser geek types in a dimensional travelling house. The tone is light, the characters are silly, and I guess the reader is supposed to identify with the assorted loser protagonists of the tale. To me it read like fan fiction, or pandering to readers, and it had no relevance whatsoever with ANYTHING that is actually happening in the UK today. Pointless, weak, fluffy and silly, it’s a tale for the ignorant, a tale for those who want to close the curtains and hide from encroaching reality. Having said that, I recognise why it was included in this magazine. It’s comedy relief, and even though I disliked it, I can recognise that many other readers will see it as quick giggle in-between all of the other more serious minded stories, and thus will justify it’s conclusion. I’m not a fan of the emasculated ‘Geek’ culture, so I was never going to be a fan of something like this, and in that respect it’s a personal thing related to my own preferences, and not an indictment of the actual story itself.

The next tale was much better. ‘Station to Station’ was actively trying to engage with the issue of Syrian refugees begging on the streets of the UK in a contemporary context, so massive props to writer Eddie Robson for going there. It came from a predictably left wing perspective with all of their overblown fears of racism and sexism, but I can live with that, and the inclusion of a story that actually acknowledged reality in the UK was a (cliché alert) refreshing breath of fresh air in the comic. This particular story has a bucket load of potential, and I can’t wait to see where writer Eddie Robson goes with it. I particularly enjoyed the teasers that are given in the book that humanity is joined by a collective consciousness, as that is something that I have been looking into myself personally, and I feel that there is a great truth there that needs to be further examined.

The third story (The Order) also came from a feminist liberal perspective, but this time the heroic young girl protagonist (it’s always a heroic young girl in left-wing comics) was fighting worm villains in some kind of strange medieval/futuristic setting. She had your predictably statist Daddy issues to deal with, was taking on the masculine role (of course) but at least she appeared to acknowledge that she was messed up because of these issues, and it really shocked me to hear her admit that she would have liked to have children of her own. That’s quite a statement to make by any feminist hero, as that entire movement is so anti-man and anti-family that any talk about having a normal family life is quite a break from the norm. The story itself was in colour, and that’s quite a good way of describing the themes, as its not all black and white here, it was a lot cleverer than that. The feminist liberal stuff is looking weak, and there’s a hint that perhaps having all of the young women acting like young men isn’t really such a good thing after all.

The last story was the best, and that’s probably why it was kept to the end, giving the reader a good impression of the magazine as a whole as s/he concludes his/her weekly read. ‘Savage’ by Pat Mills, is about political deception and how not everything is as it appears to be. It’s set in an alternative parallel time to our own, a time where the UK has been invaded, taken over by an alien race, and now newly ‘liberated’ by the US and their drone technologies. The main protagonist is that rarity of rarities in these politically correct, neo-liberal, feminist times, a strong, independent, morally upright man who tries to do what is right rather than unquestioningly following government/corporate orders. Amazing, hey? I was starting to think that such a man didn’t exist in comic books anymore.  Deception is everywhere in this tale, and mercenaries controlled by US intelligence agencies (Hello ISIS) are carrying out assassinations, and corporate powers operate just behind the scenes, manipulating their political puppets to further their own agendas. It’s the UK in a parallel reality, but things there are not so different to how they actually operate here, outside of the mainstream media Decepticon narrative, obviously.

The first story was pure, unadulterated statism. The second was geek culture (comedy relief) irrelevance. The third used a real world scenario with a sympathetic feminist liberal character. The fourth had the same kind of empowered female protagonist but in a futuristic setting, and the final story dealt with political/corporate deception through the lens of a positive male protagonist.

That’s five stories, with four of them coming from a traditional Marxist/Feminist/ Neo-liberal view-point, and the fourth having a bit of testosterone about it by using a freedom loving bloke as the main protagonist. So, going back to my original question- Does 2000AD engage with the reality of austerity UK in 2015?

No, it doesn’t do that, but there are signs that reality is forcing its way into the narratives. A mention of Syria, a mention of drones, a mention of corporate complicity in staged ‘terrorist’ events. It’s there, lurking in the background, banging on the door, yet the geeks still have their headphones on. They are still happily asleep, convinced that reality won’t harm them, and all the time the corporate controllers thank them for their apathetic help in building a fascist, totalitarian, corporate new world order.

2000AD is still a bit sleepy, and the influence of cultural Marxist/Feminist indoctrination is all-too apparent, but we are coming close to a time where the writers will be hurt so much by reality that they will have to write it into their stories. Just like the readers, they can’t hide inside themselves forever. The day will come when they are forced to acknowledge what is going on in the world around them, and the only question is whether or not it will be too late when they finally do wake up.

I will keep on buying 2000AD, because I can sense that it is changing. Two stories out of five had contemporary relevance, and that’s a lot better than most of the US comic books that I read on a weekly basis. I understand that it’s trying to strike a balance between seriousness and humour, so I can skip over the ‘Geek Loser’ irrelevance, and enjoy the stories that are starting to get real and deal with the issues that have contemporary socio-economic- political relevance. There’s no austerity yet in 2000AD, but I see signs of reality lurking, so I’ll keep on checking it out for the near future at least.


Best story: Savage/Grinders- 8/10 (Looking at the dehumanisation caused by drone warfare)
Worst story: Judge Dredd- 4/10 (Gloriously graphic and brutal art, terrible story)
Special mention: Station to Station- 8/10 (More stories like this are needed in contemporary comics)
Overall rating: 8/10 (Worth buying)