by John Wagner (story) and Colin McNeil (art)
Fleetway / 2000 AD, 1990
'Chopper: Song of the Surfer' (96 pp) was published by Fleetway / 2000 AD in August, 1990. It's a large trade paperback, sized 9 x 11 1/2 inches.
Marlon 'Chopper' Shakespeare first appeared in 2000 AD comics in Prog #206 (April 1981) as a juvenile delinquent who specialized in scrawling graffiti on the most inaccessible places in Mega City One. Inevitably, Chopper wound up being jailed by Judge Dredd, but the latter retained a soft spot for the rebellious 'artist'. Since then, Chopper has appeared sporadically in various 2000 AD comics, most often as a 'skysurfer' who rides an anti-grav board and defies Authority Figures.
'Song of the Surfer' opens with our hero living in the Australian outback, receiving tutelage in the Songlines, and the Aborigine way of life, from a cantankerous elderly man named Smokie. When Chopper gets word that the Supersurf 11 contest is to be held in Los Angeles (aka Mega City Two), he decides it's time to come out of exile and re-establish himself as the greatest skysurfer of all.
Welcomed in L.A. by friends and fellow competitors, Chopper prepares for the contest by invoking Aboriginal mysticism...and carefully surveying the course. But one thing the Supersurf 11 competitors haven't counted on is the greed of the event's sponsor, the amoral businessman Stig.
To drive viewership and bulk up ad revenue, Stig wants to turn Supersurf 11 into the equivalent of Death Race 2000. Snipers and gun turrets helmed by expert marksmen are to be stationed throughout the course, with orders to fire freely on the hapless skysurfers as they zoom past.
And at the end of the race, looms the Tunnel of Death: a narrow pipeline of metal........lined with spikes.......
Despite the suicidal nature of Supersurf 11, the competitors' outsized egos (and fear of being labeled cowards) won't let them back down.
Chopper dons his racing outfit - designed to mimic a Judge's uniform - and joins the other 40 racers at the start line.
Who will survive Supersurf 11.........and what will be left of them.........?!
'Chopper', like many 2000 AD comics, is leavened with lots of sarcastic humor and it makes for a fun read; some panels had me laughing out loud. Writer Wagner misses no opportunity to satirize consumer culture and what we in the U.S. call 'Sports Media'. At the same time, 'Chopper' has sufficient pathos and gore to keep it from becoming a purely comedic excursion.
Colin MacNeil's artwork isn't the book's strong suit; it's very 'Nineties' in style, and relies over-much on airbrushing and a color palette that isn't up to the task. At times, it's difficult to clearly make out what's happening in some panels.
Summing up, while I can't say that 'Chopper' is a must-have graphic novel from 2000 AD from the late 80s / early 90s, copies in good condition have reasonable asking prices, so if you see it lying around on a used bookstore shelf, it's worth picking up.
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