ABC Warriors #4 "Hellbringer"

A.B.C. Warriors #4

by Pat Mills & Tony Skinner

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

Paperback

First published February 15, 2008

Reviews

[Sérgio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was happy to read this comic book because of its similarities with Judgment On Gotham, a comic that I enjoyed very much because of its amazing art and its enormous amount of over-the-top violence.

It uses the same 2000 AD formula, but within a different context. While Judgment was basically about insane bad guys vs. insane good guys, this book has a different angle, being mainly about the hilarious interactions within this odd team of robots, the ABC Warriors.

Their common ground as a team seems to be solely an allegiance to a anarchist movement but this doesn't mean we're dealing with heroic fighters of freedom willing to become martyrs at any chance for their cause. On the contrary, they perform acts of cowardice, treachery or pure sadism in a regular basis for our entertainment (anti-heroism is fun!). This works especially well in contrast to the only real good guy of the team, Hammerstein, who ends up being the ugly-duckling of the team because of his heroic tendencies.

The painted artwork is really good, conjuring nicely the grimness and subversion that seems to be the heart of the story. My only complaint is that most of the time there's not a concern about the reader getting a visual sense of location, the panels having usually just enough space for the characters. It can feel claustrophobic sometimes.

This is a really entertaining book but it doesn't feel as strong as Judgment which seemed to transcend genre formula just by sheer dementia. Maybe I need to read the previous volumes to get a better sense of the back-stories and reevaluate this comic then.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half was witty and funny, the second half tried to be the same but dragged on and on.
But the art was really nice painted one all the way through.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the years since the ABC warriors disbanded, Hammerstein has spent the last five being tortured on Blackblood's work bench, while Joe Pineapples became a mercenary sniper for the Terran Empire, while Mek-quake is on the planet Zallino, playing sergeant 'Tree-hugger' by exterminating all the non-sentient bots, Morrigun & Mongrol are now on the planet Hekate after spending the last ten years in the Maras Temple. Under the guidance of Deadlock, the ABC warriors regroup again at the Kollege of Khaos to thwart a 'Hellbringer' threat to the Magellan Empire.

What is the nature of this threat?

I'll start from the beginning, Ziggurat is the Terran Empire's power center on the Planet Lo- Braseel, but Lo-Braseel rebelled and joined the Khaos. The Empire struck back. It's imperial star galleon Hellbringer sent an 'event beam' at the heart of Ziggurat's holy of holies, thereby warping the fabric of space & wrenching Lo-Braseel from sidereal time & superimposing a demon-filled counter-reality on the planet. As the two competing bio-systems struggle for supremacy, the ABC warriors have to stop Lo-Braseel from becoming a a hell world.
The team splits into two, Hammerstein, Mek-quake, Morrigun & Mongrol head for Ziggurat to stop something called 'the perpetuator'. while Deadlock, Blackblood & Pineapples dock on the star galleon Hellbringer to destroy the event beam mechanism.

VERDICT: Snappy dialogue, great action, epic comic. Loved it.

[Hollis Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Call me a comic-book nerd (if that is a bad thing) but ABC Warriors is one of my favourites: definitely one of the best comics out of the 2000 AD clan. I didn't think the plot of this particular episode was particularly good but the artwork was amazing.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Alex Sarll]

The point where the ABC Warriors settled firmly into self-parody.