A 2000 AD Comic Book Classic: Asylum By Rob Williams and Bob Cook

2000 AD is truly my favorite British publisher and maybe the best of those publishing comics across the seas. You think I like them because of:

Judge Dredd

Slaine

Judge Dredd Again

Action

Super heroes

Still, super heroes in tights was never what 2000 AD was about, and I see an appeal beyond Dredd and Slaine, as Rob Williams mentions in his intro to Asylum. "Gore, satire, and violence all in one package." Let me give you another list:

John Wagner.

Strontium Dog

Garth Ennis

Alan Moore

Is Strontium Dog better than Judge Dredd? it's all room for another conversation, but for now let's look at Rob William, Bob Cook, and Asylum, my favorite comic I've yet to read from 2000 AD.

We're in a dark world. On the cover, a black man with dreadlocks, who has a somewhat alien shaped head. There's talk of aliens. Aliens being processed, and illegal aliens pushing through Earth Empires. Marshall Holt is more far more than a black alien, and like Midnighter of The Authority he doesn't quite fit into this future world.

In a similar vein to both Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog, Holt is a law maker. Yet his career as an illegal alien hunter is more in tune with Johnny Alpha (of Strontium Dog) as an outcast, than as some rogue hero. Holt is black, because his mother was. But like all alien hunters, his father was an alien. This adds a dynamic dimension to the story. He's not some classic antihero, nor does he wear tights. He's a hunter like Johnny Alpha, but advanced enough for the 3^rd millennium.

The book is split into two volumes, chronicling a hunter becoming a hero and a future world rich with action. The first story offers a perfect beginning, full of action and story which doesn't take itself too seriously. Holt comes alive, you laugh, and sometimes you're spellbound.

Finally, while this is a classic, in the intro we get a different side to the story from Rob Williams himself, who made light of his writing flaws. But combined with Cook's unique art, it's a very appealing take on the future and the different kind of outcast heroes. If Rob Williams thinks this is second tier writing, I'll buy his best immediately.

For a title from the very beginning of Rob Williams' and Bob Cook's careers, Asylum is immediately appealing. It has a comic noir to the artwork, a simplistic route to storytelling but a complex and interesting look at good guys and bad guys.

Asylum is a must buy for British comics fans, and better than most US super hero comics. Williams and Cook are two talents to watch.