[COMIC REVIEW] SPLASHES OF DARKNESS: JUDGE ANDERSON: SATAN

7/9/2021

Any hormone-driven fantasies I’d previously entertained were cast aside through raw appreciation of the heart and soul Grant gave this extraordinary character and the philosophical narrative he wove around her.

Comic-books are a medium, not a genre; they can tell any story and suit any palate. You want horror? I've got bottles of the stuff. Welcome to 'Splashes of Darkness.'

SPLASHES OF DARKNESS: Judge Anderson: Satan
(COMIC REVIEW BY DION WINTON-POLAK)

Judge Anderson’s a long, cool, meditative drink, cwtched up in a shady spot on the hottest, most wretched day of the year. The city may be stinking, noisy, fractious and intense, but there’s refuge to be had here. Satan is a surprising but well-balanced addition to the mix. Dangerous, tantalising, intoxicating. He’s the stranger who catches your eye at the bar, the off-hand comment that snags your interest and – were it not for watchful friends – the nightmare you’d be praying to wake from.

The Hamlyn edition of Satan that I own pairs the main story with an earlier short called The Jesus Syndrome. It’s a slender tale with a lot of heft, in which the Chief Judge outlaws Christianity – a minority religion in this world of the future. The writer (Alan Grant) uses this as a lens through which to examine the morality of the Judges system, pitting Anderson against the thuggish Judge Goon, bringing her inner conflicts to a head, and sending her off on her own path. Satan, set several years later, brings Anderson back to Megacity One to be assessed for fitness by Judge Dredd. During this time, an asteroid crashes to Earth, unleashing the long-imprisoned Lucifer. Only one woman has the skills, insight and experience to confront the devil.

Of all the characters I’ve come across in 2000AD, Cassandra Anderson undergoes the biggest internal journey. She is the pure soul trying to stay sane, moral and whole in a dystopian state run by fascists, trying to change the system from within. Anderson sunk her nails in deep when I was at an impressionable *age, for all the wrong reasons. Halo Jones was mine, but Judge Anderson belonged to my brother so, naturally, I grew jealous. Where Halo was an ingénue, trying to find her place in her world, Judge Anderson came fully-formed. She was a psychic cop, dealing with supernatural threats – tough as nails when she had to be, but sensitive and kind when it mattered. And in the brutal world of 2000AD, it mattered a lot. Back then, I wanted her (ahem… her book) more than anything else in the world.

Satan came along **much later. In terms of narrative and sheer artistry, it displayed a maturity that far outstripped its contemporaries at DC and Marvel, and gave me a whole new appreciation of what the medium could do. I’m not religious now, nor was I then, but the questions raised in this book surpassed theology to plumb the depths of humanity. It’s a thoughtful read, carefully paced to give the reader time to ponder the imponderables. They get to the heart of what it means to be righteous and flawed, what it means to make a choice and take responsibility for your actions.

Any hormone-driven fantasies I’d previously entertained were cast aside through raw appreciation of the heart and soul Grant gave this extraordinary character and the philosophical narrative he wove around her.

Arthur Ranson’s artwork plays a huge part of that too, bringing subtlety of expression, cultural diversity, and a full emotional range to the inhabitants of Megacity One. The story may be relatively low on action but it remains an apocalyptic event – both literally and figuratively. As such, he draws it big, wielding his fine-liners fearlessly to create some truly epic and astonishing imagery, crammed with sumptuous detail. I have never been more taken in by the sketched sense of ‘multitudes’ – whether in the revivalist crowds of John Baptiste, the rotting bodies littering Lucifer’s history, or the extraordinary page of reaction portraits Ranson uses as Icarus comes crashing to Earth.

This style, melded with Grant’s deeply introspective script, creates a deeply familiar world – for all its SF trappings – full of downtrodden masses and callous bullies, fear and love, honour and hypocrisy, etched on the faces of those around us.

Satan himself must have been quite the challenge to both Grant and Ranson. Encapsulating the ultimate religious evil as a credible being, a vast supernatural threat, and yet still something that can be ultimately defeated (spoilers be damned) is a tough act to pull off. I mean, if nukes don’t cut it, does Cass really stand a snowball’s chance? I was blown away by it. This is Milton’s Satan in many ways – beautiful, charming, innocent and defiant – but taken to the far edge of his existence and beginning to crack. The character design is deliberately statuesque, marble made flesh, standing 120 feet tall; overwhelming in every way.

It shouldn’t work, conceptually or narratively, and yet for me, the creators nail it, thematically, spiritually, and emotionally.

The dénouement did feel a little precipitous first time round – having had all that build-up – and we get precious little sense of the effect Satan has on Anderson, the Judges, or the world at large. (In the timeframe of this story, at least.) However, subsequent readings have given me more appreciation of the inner tale, told from Satan’s perspective: his rambling reminiscences, all his insecurities and uncertainties layered in from the start. It’s good stuff: unexpected and powerful. I don’t know if mankind’s origins and destiny are delved into any ***further by the team at 2000AD or whether this is something of an aberration in their universe, but I’d certainly be interested to find out.

Like many of these long-running series, there are various jumping-on points which crop up for newbies and, checking the online stores, I see there are currently 5 chunky collected editions of Anderson stories available, both digitally and in paperback.

Hmmm. I might…just…add some to my basket and… oops.

Written by Alan Grant
Illustrated by Arthur Ranson
Lettered by Annie Parkhouse/Steve Potter
Published by 2000AD
Available now!
Reading experience: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Dion Winton-Polak

* I was 9, maybe 10 years old. One Christmas my foster-brother’s dad dropped by with some presents for us. Judge Anderson Bk2 for Patrick, and The Ballad of Halo Jones Bk2 for me. Neither one of us had been comic readers up to that point, but they blew our tiny minds.

** Christ, I was in university when it was published!

*** I’m talking rot. Just remembered that an earlier Anderson story is referenced in Satan where we learn about an alien race that created humanity. Lucifer talks as though there is a God though, so who knows how they untangle it all. Or if…