Prog 1706 - sibling rivalry

[zombemybabynow]

Karl Richardson is f'kin brilliant

[Pete Wells]

Gotta agree with the above post there.

Here we goes:

Cover: a nice mean and moody cover from Simon Davis. Beautifully composed and very cool. Nice...

Dredd: Really, really enjoyed this. As Zombie says, Karl Richardson's work is outstanding! That page with the crazies piling out of the stairwell is amazing! Welcome back to John Tomlinson who has written a great script (the only jarring bit being that Dredd might be a little too wisecracking for my liking.) I enjoyed the fallible cadet though and look forward to seeing where this goes.

Again, I want to sing Richardson's praises, beautiful work here.

Defoe: Continues to impress with Leigh's stunning art and Mills' twisty-turny script. I don't trust anyone in this story! I bloody love Gallowgrass too, he cracks me up...

Age of the Wolf: Strike three for amazing art. Davis-Hunt's dream sequences are absolutely beautiful and his character designs this week are superb. I'm enjoying this story a lot - it's been completely unpredictable and I genuinely can't see a way out for lovely Rowen. It'll be great to read this in one go.

Low Life - Income Taxis? Muncies? I thought I was reading Sinister Dexter for a minute with all those terrible puns! More and more and more intrigue from Rob Williams, this is another strip where I can't begin to guess what's coming next (despite seeing the end in the first episode!)

As for D'Israeli's artwork. Go on, just choose any panel at random and study it. I can guarantee there'll be something in it that'll impress you...

Dante: Aaaaah, so that's who the girl was! For those with limited Dante knowledge, during the Tsar Wars Saga, the Rudenstein Irregulars were captured by an horrible Vampire family to be hunted in some twisted game. Dante enlisted the help of vampire hunter (and vampire herself,) Emmanuelle Checkhov to save his comrades. Hopefully Dante and Elena can return the favour...

For me, another great prog with lots of highlights. All hail the mighty Tharg!

[Batman's Superior Cousin]

My (possible) predictions for Low Life & Dante:

Low Life: [spoiler]Thora is the Big (Wo)Man and wants Dirty Frank to join her in the criminal organisation.[/spoiler]

Nikolai Dante: [spoiler]Konstantin kills (or seriously wounds) Emmanuelle Checkhov and is himself killed.[/spoiler]

[Martin Howe]

Low Life: [spoiler]Thora is the Big (Wo)Man and wants Dirty Frank to join her in the criminal organisation.[/spoiler]

Does make one think... if so, then who's the [spoiler]sniper that kills her at the beginning[/spoiler]? Surely not the SJS - they'd rather make an arrest? Can't see DSF authorising an "oh dear the [spoiler]sniper[/spoiler] got away" for political reasons. Can't see Buell having any of that either...

[House of Usher]

Does make one think...

Lowlife has never made me think, and I don't propose to start letting it now!

Judge Dredd was alright I suppose. Can't see why Dredd faulted the kid for shooting first, asking questions later. Procedure seems to vary widely depending on who's doing the writing. "Wonder if the creep was another Schein-Lifton tenant?" - well, seeing as we're still in the Schein-Lifton block, I'd say the odds are pretty good on that one. Then a med-judge asks Dredd "What is it, Dredd? [spoiler]Circuitry or organic[/spoiler]?" Is he asking Dredd's medical opinion on that one? I'm not convinced by this story generally. Hey Joe.

Defoe was just superb, and maybe not even as barmy as usual. The [spoiler]Druid fellow dead[/spoiler] - that's no bad thing in my book. A good start. Some nice apocalyptic hysteria on page 2. But my favourite sequence overall was the two pages with [spoiler]Aphra Behn and John Milton in the alchemical laboratory[/spoiler] - pretty exciting stuff. Final page, it's that mint again, and still the treadmill doesn't seem to be connected to anything at all. Humm.

[vzzbux]

Karl Richardson is fast becoming my top (recent) artist on Dredd.
Keep up the good work.





V

[Colin YNWA]

Steady Prog for me. A disappointing Dredd. House of Usher got a couple of the bits that pulled me out the story and alas I for one am not a massive fan of Karl Richardson. Clearly in the minority though!

Defoe does what Defoe does and Age of the Wolf is pretty good but still not entirely sucking me in. This one will fare better I suspect when its all in and re-read. For the first time in an age Dante didn't blow me away. There was nowt wrong with it by any other strips standards but felt pedestrian compared to Dante of late.

Leaving Low Life a worthy highlight of the prog. Once again it looks amazing and is wonderfully good fun. Shame it stands out quite so much this week.

Ok prog.

[Stuzzle]

For the last 3 weeks my prog has, much to my heartbreak, Not been delivered on a Saturday but I have had to wait alllll the way until Monday  , so I eagerly await this lunch time to that good ol' A4 envelope on my doormat

[Aaron A Aardvark]

Prog breaks even this week.

Low Life's the only strip giving me the "wow" factor at the moment and Defoe almost always gives fans (me) what they want.

Dante is entertaining but haven't we been here before?

I get that that "no... that's not right" feeling about Dredd.

Wolfie - I've become indifferent to this one. Once magic is introduced you can pretty much make up the rules as you go along.

[John Caliber]

Age Of The Wolf ... hmm. I groaned when I saw the full page advert (the full moon, London subway entrance... it must have deliberately been designed to evoke memories of American Werewolf In London, otherwise it suggested a remarkably deriative story).

The premise of the first couple of episodes was interesting in an urban horror vein. Once the mythology/magic entered the mix, I thought it was trying to shove too many unbelievable ideas at the readers (the 'everything but the kitchen sink' tactic to paper over a weak script. I recently watched one of the Star Trek TV series blu-rays and recalled a writer who stated that readers should not have to entertain more than one fantastic premise per story; the reactions of the cast to that premise drive the plot and keep it tightly-focused. The werewolf infestation alone was enough to drive the story and the 'rabbits in headlights' fear of their many potential victims. It could have been a ferocious, claustrophobic nightmare, bleak and bloody. Now, I'm waiting for Mighty Thor to land, and cyborg werewolves to explode from the subway leading a horde of Ninja zombies...

Dredd. I really got a kick out of this story. Nothing original about it, but it was simple and direct, a lively read with a strong retro 'mad scientist' vibe. I didn't think Dredd and his Rookies' behaviour was out of character. No protracted investigations, no character introspection, just Judges doing their job. It refreshed my palate after emerging bemused and Meh-ed by the crash bang wallop of well-mined satire featured in this month's Megazine Dredd.

[House of Usher]

I recently watched one of the Star Trek TV series blu-rays and recalled a writer who stated that readers should not have to entertain more than one fantastic premise per story

That's a very good rule of thumb. I've said before that it's something Defoe falls foul of almost on a weekly basis. However, I've come to the conclusion that Defoe gets away with with it because that's pretty much all Defoe does. Age of the Wolf is pushing that rule of thumb a bit though.

[Proudhuff]

A fine Prog, the odd clunking bit of basil, but hey it lets the action start quicker! 

[radiator]

It really feels as if Low Life is going to end with this series, with [spoiler]two of the main supporting cast already having been killed off...[/spoiler]

Really enjoying this series!

[I, Cosh]

John Tomlinson, eh? Pretty weak Dredd story but a couple of good jokes raise it to an acceptable level.

Probably should've recognised that chick's haircut in Dante, but my historical parallel buzzers were ringing. Unfortunately, I can't figure out which side is meant to be which so I concentrated instead on how Wikipedia entries on battles have a specific result section: "Draw after extra time. Bolsheviks win on away goals."

I recently watched one of the Star Trek TV series blu-rays and recalled a writer who stated that readers should not have to entertain more than one fantastic premise per story; the reactions of the cast to that premise drive the plot and keep it tightly-focused.

I recall Bob Shaw saying something very similar and it's certainly one way of approaching the fantastic, but certainly not the only one. In this case, I think something as potentially dreary and old as werewolves needs to take a different approach even if it's just in how you explain them.

Anyway everything in Age of the Wolf proceeds entirely logically if you proceed from the assumption that it has a basis in Norse mythology. We're in the endless winter that precedes Ragnorak, when the wolf Fenris and his children eat the Sun. He also has previous form in biting off heroes hands, incidentally. The divination of the true names of things and focusing the will to control them through the use of runes also fits the theme (and is what I ludicrously consider "proper" mythical use of magic, like in Earthsea). If you want to go even further, the leaves in this week's episode look close enough to Ash for me, so that's Rowan (the mountain ash) confronting the evil that lurks under the roots of Yggdrasil, the world tree.

I'm sure you can interpret it differently if you want. I do think it's misfiring in both story (too much happening, episodes too disjointed, overwritten in places) and the art (nice work, but often hard to differentiate background from foreground) but there's enough good to outweigh that and make me want to see more from both droids.

[House of Usher]

The introduction of the [spoiler]witch[/spoiler] character this week seemed a bit too convenient, also that the boat took Rowan directly to her. It's as if the werewolf outbreak has wiped out all of humanity saving only people whose presence is necessary in terms of the story/prophecy.