ABC Warriors: Return To Ro-Busters
Released by: 2000 A.D./Rebellion
Released on: July 14th, 2016.
Written: Pat Mills
Art by: Clint Langley
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“The trouble with the Ro-Jaws began with the Superbowl Disaster!†So says the opening splash page, and from there a Fux News report catches us up to speed on the latest traffic news. A sexy young woman named Catharine and her older male driving instructor are driving through that traffic when she hits a robot. Not to worry, she had the right of way. But it was a War Robot, and it's coming after them - and that's not good, but hey…. Ro-Busters to the rescue!
We learn that Ro-Jaws had to be sacrificed to keep the identity of the War Robot who put an end to war a secret. From there, we learn who Fux News reported on the crash of the Superbowl a good twenty minutes before it actually happened but it doesn't matter, Quartz Construction will rebuild it all - and of course, the Robot Liberation Movement is entirely responsible for all of this. And then we see how Hammerstein, obeying Quartz's orders, tried to toss Ro-Jaws into the generator.
Ro-Jaws lays dying but before he can pass Mek-Quake attacks and finds out that it's sometimes easier to fish it out than it is to take it, thanks to Hammerstein's counter attack. It's pretty much a slaughter, but what they don't realize is that they're being observed and for a very specific reason at that - they're overriding their violence limiters and are possibly the subjects of some unorthodox experiments involving defiance code! Their observers absolutely cannot let that defiance code spread… even if that's exactly what Apex seems to want.
Are the Ro-Busters overriding their violence limiters? The train hub in Liverpool explodes, a robot extremist group called Nameless is accused but their leader, Apex, denies responsibility. He says it's a cover up, that it was actually fracking that caused the explosion. The Ro-Busters, however, are on the scene and looking for survivors. As they go about their business, Ro-Jaws explains his plan… a plan that will prove to the flesh-bags that robo-terrorism is a lie!
s Quartz losing it? Is he going to law waste to Ro-Jaws and the rest? All signs point to yes! Mek-Quake tries to get the 'bad robot' to raise his hand, admit guilt, but that's not going to be easy for him. Meanwhile, further conspiracy theories about various disasters and the Ro-Busters' involvement in them unfold, leading some to believe that Howard Quartz is really and truly responsible for a massive amount of death and destruction over the years. Let the inquiry begin!
Howard Quartz and his family have left the Court Of Justice, the robot boss has been found innocent of any crimes. But profits are falling, there hasn't been a good disaster in what seems like an eternity and without disasters to deal with, they don't profit. To come up with some quick cash, the robot boss decides to have a few of his robots destroyed to he can con the insurance company out of some money. And of course, the robots he wants destroyed are the Ro-Busters… they figure this out pretty quickly and given that they don't want to be destroyed, they come up with a plan.
Ro-Jaws is ready for the plan set forth in which Gottlieb and Led Belly are ready to unleash…. The Satan Dart! A piano player gets in the way but not for long. The PD Troopers have left Ro-Jaws as the last man (robot) standing, the defiance code runs strong in this one, but soon the humans find that the robots have jammed their signals.
If you fail to see what's remarkable about two robots dancing, this isn't' the series for you but if social stature, political commentary, dark and twisted comedy and robot mashing action sounds like your idea of a good time you're a fool not to be keeping up with Pat Mills' latest ABC Warriors story. The fact that the aforementioned artistic genius, Clint Langley, illustrates it all in (almost) black and white makes a good thing even better. Thing are going to, thankfully, get much, much worse for these characters before it gets any better! Of course, doors are left open for future stories, it would be silly not to do that, but Mills' tale of robots raging against the machine is as entertaining as it is smart and thought provoking. Lots of spot on social commentary here. It hits the right balance of humor, action and intrigue while Langley's art, in full color for the opening and final chapters while basically black and white in between, really just deserves all of the accolades and praise that have been heaped upon it since this serial was first published. Top notch stuff, well worth reading and then re-reading.
In addition to reprinting every chapter of the serial from 2000 A.D., we also get a new introduction from Mills, an ABC Warriors/Ro-Busters timeline of sorts, a cover gallery and talent bios for Mills and Langley.