The Redeemer #2
Pat Mills, Debbie Gallagher, Wayne Reynolds
The Black Library 2002
$3.50
28 pages including 5 of ads
Necromunda is a planet covered by a multilevel city sprawl called the Hive which is periodically torn apart by warring gangs. Klovis the Redeemer and his band of witch-hunting zealots, the Redemptionists, descend into the lowest levels of the Underhive to purge it of mutants, rebels, heretics, and the unclean in general. Opposed to Klovis is a rat-eating lunatic named the Caller who commands a variety of gangers, tribal yahoos, and zombies. There is much bloodshed and one-liners.
The Redeemer scores points with me early on for knowing the original meaning of the word 'decimation'.
This is the second issue of the four-part series, still caught up with introducing the characters but also beginning to build up towards the inevitable confrontation between the Caller and the Redeemer. Like most of the Games Workshop comics it's set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. What does the fantasy universe get? Some godawful Elric wannabe called Darkblade.
Anyway, it's based on the game Necromunda. Necromunda was a fun game, but it degenerated all too easily into a series of long-range gunfights. The 40K universe is dark science-fantasy where swords are carried as often as guns (admittedly those swords may be electrified, chainsaw edged, daemon possessed, psychically charged, or all of the above, but they're swords nonetheless), however, the rules of the games often don't encourage hand-to-hand over shooting from a distance. In one scene this issue Klovis swings towards a mutant with his chainsword buzzing while bullets whistle past then bzzzt! -- the bad guy is purged. In a game of good old Necromunda Klovis the Redeemer would be as dead as Advanced Heroquest if he tried a stunt like that.
Wayne Reynold's colour art is well suited to the subject matter, gorey with cartoonish elements just like the story. There are rough edges, places where narration and thought balloons are used intrusively where the pictures could be relied on to tell the story, but it's all very slick and gloriously over the top; the zealots sing "Glory, glory, the Redeemer," as they do battle while he swings overhead on a crane dropping grenades and wisecracks among the foe.
The script is by Pat Mills, who wrote Nemesis the Warlock in 2000 AD. In some ways The Redeemer is an antidote to that earlier work, in Nemesis the deviants were the heroes and the villainous Torquemada was the one doing the purging, and The Redeemer is consistently funny in a juvenile way whereas Nemesis missed the mark more often than not.
The Redeemer's sense of humour may be juvenile, but it's black and sick enough to put a smile on my jaded lips. Klovis wears a burning brazier for a hat which his snivelling overbiting manservant Malakev keeps well-stocked with coal as Klovis slaughters his way through the issue uttering such catchphrases as "It's cleansing time!" The intended audience is obviously Games Workshop's core market nowadays: bloodthirsty 13 year old boys. I remember being a bloodthirsty 13 year old boy, and The Redeemer's just the kind of trash I enjoyed -- I still have issues of Spawn hidden away in various hidey-holes.
It's a slight little piece of disposable entertainment which succeeds because it doesn't take itself seriously, in direct contrast to Inquisitor Ascendant.
Inquisitor Ascendant Book One: The Taint Of Nicodemus
Dan Abnett, Simon Coleby
The Black Library 2001
$10.95
80 pages, 3 of ads
This is the first volume of Inquisitor Ascendant, collecting stories published in Warhammer Monthly. The setup is similar to The Redeemer, telling the tale of a mighty Imperial Inquisitor from the point of view of his servant and scribe, but where The Redeemer is played for laughs, Inquisitor Ascendant is deadly serious. Inquisitor Defay is a grim and close-lipped investigator, where Klovis is a ranting rabble-rouser. Defay's offsider Gravier is an excellent marksmen and warrior, Klovis's sidekick Malakev is a bumbling fool.
The story concerns Defay's investigation of the world of Nicodemus, an apparently peaceful place where an outbreak of 'chaotic matter' has created havoc. Defay and Gravier wander around interrogating people who are related to the sole survivor of the initial outbreak until they reveal themselves as minions of Chaos, then defeat them with some of the most phallic gunplay I've ever seen. Next chapter, repeat. In Inquisitor Ascendant Chaos is treated as a strange family trait; the ability to grow huge muscles and spiky bits when the heroes arrive. Elsewhere the depradations of Chaos are portrayed as a subtle taint of corruption gnawing at the heart of society, but I guess things work differently on Nicodemus where you just have to shout at people for a few hours to reveal their inner demons.
And on it goes, with a few obvious twists thrown in, and out of nowhere at the end it becomes Return of the Jedi -- or maybe it's more like the climax of Dungeons & Dragons: the Movie. The villain rants to Defay: "Let the rage speak in your mind! Turning an inquisitor to the paths of Chaos will be a crowning glory to my apotheosis!" He comes this close to saying "Join the dark side, Luke!"
Simon Coleby's art is reminiscent of Ian Gibson's work in 2000 AD (especially The Ballad of Halo Jones), only where Gibson had a quality of elegant simplicity, Coleby's work frequently becomes a cluttered jumble that's difficult to follow. Chapters are broken up with excerpts from Gravier's journal, smudged and faded so that you get eyestrain trying to read them only to discover they add nothing to the flimsy story. The action scenes on which the story rests are frequently undermined by overstated sound effects. Booommtchh? Please.
I cannot think of a single good thing to say about this comic. Wait -- the pages smell nice. That's it. Avoid it like the plague.
I'm giving the Redeemer a four for style and a three for substance. Inquisitor Ascendant rates a one for each.
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