Best Tale to Date
The ABC Warriors have gone through Hell an back (both figuratively and literally for some members), but their stories have always been cheesy and exciting. This holds especially true for the saga The Black Hole.
Set in between volumes 2 and 3 of Nemesis the Warlock, the warriors, lead by hardened soldier robot Hammerstein, and followed by the Frankenstein 'bot Mongrol, the deceitful Blackblood, too cool for school Joe Pineapples, dumber than a piston Mek-Quake , the mystical and nefarious deadlock and the awkward, yet too awesome to hate Ro-Jaws, go through the Time Wastes, a series of tunnels built into an artificial black hole that keep it from sucking up everything in its path, as well as powering a galactic highway and tachyon generators used to delay aging for the elite upper class. But while trying to find the damaged control room, broken thanks too Nemesis' infant son Thoth, the team runs into the Mekaniks, androids whose function is to keep foreign invaders out of the machine (anti-bodies basically). What ensues from there can only be best described as Pat Mills at what he does best; future horror, scifi, pseudo-politics, romance and pure 'bot-tastic frenzy.
When I first read the story, was confused as all heck. But once I read it multiple times, it started to fester and grow into an obsessive need to read more and more about these unique characters. Plus the artwork by Simon Bisley is literally out of this world; the warriors look almost organic, the places look like real architecture designs and the designs of the villains and heroes make for a truly decayed and realistic world that only 2000AD can imagine. Plus new information about Hammerstein is shown in the flashback with Jodie, of whom only once is she mentioned in the Meknificent Seven. While for those who want action it might be a bit slow, but to build a backstory for the hero Hammerstein, it is necessary as to see what drives him on a daily basis and how much he wants his current relationship to Terri 1 to work, regardless of the events that transpire at the end of the arc.
For anyone starting out, I'd suggest reading the Mekniicent 7 and the Nemesis the Warlock books to truly understand who these characters are. But for established readers, buying this is a must. Sadly though, the next few stories never reach the uniqueness of The Black Hole, but it's never a bad thing to look into the past to read about these awesome robots called the ABC Warriors.
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