2000 AD: The Ultimate Collection #120. Originally serialised in 2000 AD progs 2001, 1223-1230, 1351-1360, 2005, 1432-1440, 1465-1466 & 1507-1517.

It’s July 2003. Thanks to the extensions, we’ve now been able to cover a fair bit of writer Ian Edginton’s oeuvre for 2000 AD. His literary steampunk mashups have been lots of fun, and now with Leviathan we get to go back to his earliest days for the Prog for a more horror-tinged series (along with some other one and dones with a macabre bent). All aboard!

As with most of Edginton’s other works, Leviathan (2003) has a stupendously excellent and visually brilliant central conceit: a ship the size of a city floating in some otherworldly sea for decades. Originally set in the 1920s, it lends an art deco and old world atmosphere that renders almost every panel a gem thanks to brilliant early work from D’Israeli. The series utilises the classic staple of murder mystery to explore existential horror amidst class stratification, with Detective Sergeant Lament (great name!) investigating the death of a first-class passenger and ending up journeying right into the dark heart of the ship. It’s easy to see why this is viewed as a classic.

But I have to admit – I was left at the end of this wanting more. Both in a good way, in terms of the series really sticking with me and wanting to spend more time in it. But at 10 episodes, it really only feels like we scratched the surface of what Leviathan could do. Yes, we get three one-shot Tales of the Leviathan follow-ups, but it’s not a whole lot else. I wish Edginton had had the confidence to run this over a few series and really spread everything out. The breakneck pace of 2000 AD and the inevitable focus on plot in the final few episodes mean we only get peeks at the nooks and crannies of this world. I really enjoyed Leviathan, but looking back on it now it feels like something that should have been a bit more like Brink and really taken its time exploring this fantastic world and ideas.

But that shouldn’t take away from this being excellent 2000 AD fare. Class commentary wrapped up in demonic deals and unsettling horror is a great mode for the Prog, even if it’s far rarer than space-based shenanigans. Big shout out to D’Israeli for bringing lashings of atmosphere – I actually like the limited grayscales used here, as his more colourful work is sometimes a bit too intense for me.

The 9-part American Gothic (2005) is a more straightforward horror-action adventure mashing up Western and American Frontier tropes with monsters and myth. It has plenty to say about the treatment of minorities and America’s failure to live up to its vision of being a home for those fleeing oppression, but Edginton and artist Mike Collins are mostly focused on telling a thrilling and tense story – always welcome in 2000 AD. It’s not a series that I think will stick with me, but it’s an engaging read that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Writer Gordon Rennie dials the macabre weirdness right back up with Necronauts (2000), which somehow manages to pack Arthur Conan Doyle, HP Lovecraft, Harry Houdini, ancient evils, astral travelling, and real history into its 9 episodes. It should be overstuffed but Rennie had a deft touch and most of it is very firmly tongue-in-cheek. Early work from the idiosyncratic Frazer Irving also helps, with stark black and white lines shot through with curves making everything very unique (although his stylistic choices occasionally obscure the storytelling of a specific scene).

The collection wraps up with Chiarascuro (2006), a very out-there take on snuff films and personal descents into madness. Writer Simon Spurrier has had some good left-of-field stories, and this one is right up there. Nominally about a film critic who grow up in showbusiness learning about a lost film from a recently deceased director, it swiftly takes several left turns into obsession, death imagery, the nature of reality, and voodoo. It’s easily the most unsettling of the four horror tales in this collection, but it’s also the most unfocused and determinedly resistent to analysis. I don’t know much of artist Smudge’s work, and while there are some excellent individual panels and moments, I’m not sure it’s a perfect fit for Spurrier’s storytelling.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m really enjoying that thanks to the multiple extensions to The Ultimate Collection we’re able to get “mix-tapes” of these shorter and possibly lesser-known series. It’s much easier for a latecomer to Tharg’s thrills like myself to get a sense of the breadth of the Prog when we’re not just looking at the biggest hits. I’m also never going to turn down a whole volume of atmospheric black-and-white artwork, so another big tick before we even start! This was an enjoyable volume with two absolute standouts (Leviathan and Necronauts) and two that were entertaining without quite reaching classic status for me.

Next time: Time of the War of the Moses in Sinister Dexter: Volume Six.