Comic Review 79 // Insurrection Liberty

Welcome back to the first comic review of the isolation period. I hope everyone is do well, feel free to chat to me in the comments and say hi! In a rare turn of events I was actually able to read the two volumes of Insurrection comics, back to back which is quite nice. If you haven't read the first review please follow this LINK.

We left the team sparking rebellion in the outer rim and causing so much aggro for the SJS. Now we are to find out how it all concludes. I was pretty excited heading into this.

Insurrection: Liberty

Page Count: 96
Written By: Dan Abnett
Artist: Colin MacNeil
Commercial Fluff: MEGA-CITY COLONIAL SPACE, 2135 AD. Mining colony K Alpha 61 renamed itself Libertyafter cutting loose from the Big Meg. Furious at this dissent, and in a bid to stop the revolt spreading to other colonies, the SJS launched a blistering attack on Colonial Marshal Karel Luther’s forces. Now, the alien Zhind have stepped up their attacks on the colony worlds causing an uneasy alliance to form between the SJS and the insurrectionists...

This thrilling conclusion to Insurrection was written by Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy) with art by Colin MacNeil (Judge Dredd).

Review

We are introduced to Gateway a beautiful well protected colony world in the outer rim. Here we meet Colonel Judge Gallows, who is welcoming his family to the planet. Unfortunately the Zhind lead a surprise attack on the planet. Normally the stationed fleet would deal with the problem but due to Luther's uprising the fleet has been called away, leaving the planet open to attack. Gallow along with a large core of the fleet fail to follow commands and stay back in a failed attempt to save Gateway, in doing so they too become rebels.

After locating Luther's forces on an ice moon, Gallows reports the location to the SJS. Of course the SJS come with overwhelming fleet strength and it looks like the end for the Insurrectionist. That is until the Zhind once again invade Mega City Space, leading to a sixteen week long campaign. During this time the Insurrectionists join forces with the SJS and actually lead the last assault again the Zhind command bunker. Here I will leave the review as I hate to many spoilers the ending is pretty epic and heart breaking, so go read it yourselves.

Amazing tale, amazing art and left ultimately sad at the thought of no more. Great work by the entire team on this. 5 Star comic for sure.

Comic Review 78 // Insurrection 2000 AD

Welcome back to another comic review. This graphic novel I first read about three or four years ago and had completely forgotten to review it, so I now I am finally reading it again and correcting my errors with this review.

Let us dive into Insurrection.

Insurrection

Page Count: 131
Written By: Dan Abnett
Artist: Colin MacNeil
Commercial Fluff: Mega-City One mining colony K-Alpha 61 has declared independence from the ‘Big Meg’ and renamed itself Liberty. This act of defiance has angered the Justice Department’s Special Judicial Squad and in a bid to stop further colonies from rebelling, war is inevitable...

Set in the Judge Dredd universe, this high-octane space adventure is written by best-selling Warhammer author, Dan Abnett (Horus Rising, Legion, Prospero Burns) with art by 2000 AD stalwart Colin MacNeil (Chopper, Strontium Dog, Fiends of the Eastern Front).

Review

This comic is split into two parts the first is Insurrection, which is where we will start. Originally published in the Judge Dredd Megazines 279-284, this story lasted five issues. Our main character is one Karel Luther a Colonial Marshal on K-Alpha 61. For the last two years Luther and forces on K-Alpha 61 have been fighting an alien force called the Zhind, in order to defeat the alien forces Luther granted the mutant, droids and uplifts a citizenship status (ie. equal now in rights to humans). Once the threat of the Zhind had been dealt with MC-1 attempts to regain control of the world ordering Luther to revoke the offer of citizenship. This Luther can not do and instead claims Independence from MC-1 and names the world Liberty.

Of course MC-1 doesn't take it lightly and sends the SJS space fleet to deal with the issue and bring Liberty to heel. Soon Liberty is back on a war footing and fighting for their lives. It sadly becomes apparent they can't win and the hard choice is made to flee and continue to build a rebellion in the outer colonies.

Highlight

The C.A.T mounts. C.A.T stands for Combat All-Terrain Transport a four legged mount with built in anti tank weapons. Now these are bad ass and I seriously hope Warlord Games create one of these for their game.

This is an amazing opening story. With plenty of characters to enjoy and a classic underdog story arc. I am excited to see where it goes and for how long the group can survive the wrath of MC-1.

Insurrection II

Insurrection II orginally written and published in Megs 305 -310 we once again have a five part story. Unsurprisingly it follows on from the first tale with the leaders of the new formed Rebellion on the run. But before they can continue the good fight they have to save Freely from the hands of the SJS. A daring rescue is completed Simeon and his gang of Uplifts, but unknown to them they are assisted by the Sinister Judge Syren who hopes they will lead him straight to Luther.

Turns out Judge Syren was right and is lead straight to Luther! In the ensuring fire fight Luther is thrown out of a high rise factory window, horrifically burned and believed dead. In the lower factory levels the rebellion leaders retrain the droid populous to become a fighting force to strike back against the SJS. During this period of conflict the droid Handcog discovers a way to strike a blow to MC-1, if they do it they will set mankind back by ten years, if they don't it will disenfranchise the non-human elements of the rebellion.

Here ends part two, with Luther's finger resting on the button!


Highlight

Judge Syren - A SJS Psi Judge/ Psi Hunter. A completely eerie character, who doesn't verbally talk, has unknown powers and is always accompanied by a cyber dog that can fire flames from it mouth! I really hope this character is seen more in the follow up tales, there is something so sinister and evil about this character.

Final Thoughts

Great opening two stories. The idea of a disenchanted colony uprising is a great theme. I also like that it is set after Judge Dredd, into the future of MC-1. Meaning the writers and artists had some freedom and the ability to play with things like technology.

The characters are likeable, especially the villains. Who end up caring for all them but I feel Simeon could well be my favourite.

Have you read this comic? What are your thoughts on it all? Let me know in the comments below.