1429: Swarming Ground

[ukdane]

Tiger Sun, Swinging Titties!

So, there's going to be a Sin/Dex "Event" later in the year- Hope it lives up to Eurocrash.

Not sure I like the new artdroid on Sin/Dex Although I've yet to read itm so this comment is only based on first glance. It has the pointy-chin-ness of Siku, wrapped up in a cartoony style. Still, might be better when I read it.

Quite like Jim Murray's cover take on Dante.

More...

[Tiplodocus]

This week, I shall be considering how much effort the art droids put into the backgrounds.

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Cover was good stuff - I don't suppose there'd be a chance of getting more of Murray.

DREDD was an interesting start to the tale.  It must be said, I was expecting more from the actual location of Planet Gary but this'll do.  Gibson's art was nice - not as lean as it has been recently - looks like he spent a bit more time on it then, say, some of recent Robohunter.  I particularly liked the simple eagle at the top of the last page to indicate we were in the halls of justice.

SECOND CITY BLUES - still not working for me. The "it's medication" was a bit of a cop out imho but hey, it is a seventies kids strip.  Alien Invasions next - who'd have thought.  Still think the art is a bit thin and weedy but look at the backgrounds - Pleece obviously takes a bit of time on some of them.

DANTE - I thought this was pretty dreadful.  The script is pretty poor and full of things that make you go "That's stupid" - such as taking the King along with them (maybe it's a plot point). Unlike the breasts, the backgrounds are pretty much non-existent - the whole of the first three pages could have been taking place anywhere.

TIGER SUN/DRAGON MOON
Still enjoying this tale - it seems to be packing in the cliches and I still can't see why it's a Dredd world tale.  I love the art and though there isn't a lot of background detail, there is enough to let you suggest that some of the scenes are not just taking place in white space.  Glad that the chick didn't continue screaming for help and started swinging swords.

SIN/DEX
I have long since given up trying to explain how much I dislike Sin/Dex.  Some of the puns still work but some of the "jokes" are lazy (BARSTUCKS - how long did we take thinking that one up?).  Background detail is criminally non-existent in most panels - makes the art look rushed I think. And my eye keeps getting drawn to some of the HUGE empty blocks of colour - that can't be right.

[Dan Kelly]

2000ad takes a back seat to the Meg this month, but continues with some themes.  Especially with the Dredd referencing an older story.  Hope that Total War has something to do with this, otherwise we are onto the new stuff...

SCB continues to have some decent moments and for me some poor artwork.  I think that I would have prefered to see it edited down to an 8 parter before the art was commissioned, and give Pleece some more time...

Something about the colouring of Tiger Sun... is wrong for me, otherwise quite enjoyable.  Although the girl seems to lose more clothing through the strip than we see explanation for.  Why it's Dredd world though I am yet to see...

Sin/Dex - passable for them. No problems with the artwork.  Wonder if Art had anything to do with the story?

And Dante is picking up a bit, even if the last 2 pages are rather derivative...

Thats me out of ellipse, so on to someone else...

Dan

[shazhughes]

Enjoyed this weeks Prog but have to say that I thought the art on Sinister Dexter was some of the worst I can remember.

[McNulty]

And now my comments...

Judge Dredd: Gibson's art and the humanity of the story make this the best strip for me this week. A good opening making me want to read more.

Second City Blues: I have to admit that this episode has been better for me than the previous ones. I thought I had a handle on this story up to now, but I was genuinely surprised that Minger wasn't taking performance-enhancing drugs. Guess I shouldn't be quite as cynical as I was.

Tiger Sun/Dragon Moon: Got to say I didn't much care for the gore or the gratuitous nudity in this episode.

Sin/Dex: It's been a while since this story has been in the prog. I don't have much against this story; it's the simple "small business that gets crushed by the faceless corporation" type story. Good enough if your not looking for pathos in every strip.

Dante: Still an enjoyable strip, merging the characters of the older stories with the more recent. It still was pretty perverted at the end though...

All in all, a good prog this week.  

[The Amstor Computer]

Tired & grumpy, so:

Dredd - Better work from Gibson, entertaining enough script.

SCB - still bobbins. Why did this get such a long run? I'd hoped the approach taken with something like Cabs - a number of shorter tales to build interest & develop the strip - would be applied to more series in future, but obviously not. Counting the days until this ends.

Tiger Sun/Dragon Moon - lovely art, interesting story, shame about the shoehorning into the Dreddverse. I don't particularly care who came up with that idea - it was a bad decision & it's has the effect of dragging me out of an otherwise enjoyable story.

Sin/Dex - Oh, Christ. This is piss-awful on every level & I've nothing good to say about it. I just hope this future Sin/Dex tale doesn't run at the same time as Atavar & The VCs, or we might see some kind of DAbnett Thrillsucker Wormhole emerge & bore us all to death.

Dante - an improvement on the rubbish that's been in the prog for the past couple of months. John Burns' art is looking better - perhaps this is more his thing? - and Robbie Morrison seems to have harnessed some of the spark that made Dante enjoyable. Still have my doubts about the future of the strip, but this story is tipping the balance.

Not much else to say, except:

YAY! Some kind of official word on the future of a collected Caballistics.

NAY! The Tharg heads are still pish. Get rid of them, please.

[philt]

Haven't posted a review of the progs over the past while. I was getting as bored complaining about it as the rest of you were reading my moaning. Well I take it all back. The current prog is the worst single issue of 2000AD I've read since the bad old days of the late 90's

Dredd features an interesting story but has inexcusably lazy art by Ian Gibson. The comparison I'd make is between the sublime artwork Jose Ortiz drew in the late 1960's and the rubbish he produced for Rogue Trooper. Gibson is a supremely talented artist. It is disappointing when he produces stuff like this because we all know that he is capable of better.

SCB - It's like all the worst parts of Mean Team / Spinball / Billy's Boots all rolled into one in digestible lump.

TS/DM. Not warming to this yet.

Dante - Is there a point to this? Or has it become so wrapped up in its own continunity and back story that it no-longer makes any sense?

But the worst thing in the prog is Sinister Dexter. The slight story isn't the problem it's the art. IMHO it is the worst artwork that has ever featured in the weekly.

To sum up? A prog bordering on the unreadable. If you were someone who'd never read 2000ad before would the contents encourage to pick up the next issue?

[Steamboy]

Wow that Sin/Dex art must be pretty shite, any Sin/Dex FANS care to comment?

CU Krestel

[Funtwangle]

im sorry i really dont understand whats happening in sun dragon tiger moon
what the hell is going on

dredd was ok... not great... dante was really good kept me reading... 2cb is can take or leave but took this time... sindex was awesome as always

did dexter look like he was thirty years younger or a i getting old lol

best thing about this was the cover... the best ive seen in years

[Martin Jameson]

cover - great
dredd - ok
tsdm - excellent
not read the rest yet

[GermanAndy]

Cover: Wow this was good.

Tharg?s Nerve Centre: It is really nice that you at least can read it for some time. You know, us older fan-boys have trouble with the eyes.

Dorid Life: Missing? :-((

Dredd: I am not a big fan of Gibson?s Dredd. But I thought Gordons beginning funny as hell. All this fireworks and the Judges doing it like this is a dinner-conversation.

SCB: Isn?t this over yet?

TSDM: Nice action, but I don?t get the Dredd-world angle. Hondo City will fall? I mean, drinking goat-milk or whatever will rot your brain, but isn?t this Xena reject taking this a bit too far?

Sin/Dex: Okay, Atmosphere Actress was funny, the you will buy this or we will kill you also. But the art isn?t suited for this kind of tale. sorry.

Dante: this had some of the spark. I am still intrigued what this has to do with the pirate thingie, but kidnapping Jena? Come on ... :-)

[WoD]

Not fully read the prog yet, but why, oh why did her clothes have to fall off in TSDM?  Pathetic.

[petesbeats]

Cover:-  Quality.

Dredd:-  Gibsons art improved since Samantha Slade.  Story nicely paced.

SCB:- Liking this.  Not as bad as everyone is making out at all.

Sin/Dex:- Never really liked to be honest.  This hasn't changed my mind.

TSDM:-  Enjoyin this strip.  Nudity well done i thought.  At the end of the day she took on about seven guys in what looked like a curtain.  Bound to get ripped. :)

Dante;-  Better than last arc. Burns improved also.


Overall 7.5.

Good prog

[Trout]

This week, the mighty mutant king of the deep will be having mood swings!

In ecstatic delight... at that cover! Gorgeous! I like Burns, but this is the sort of detail we've been missing on Dante, I'd suggest. Give him a go!

Still thrilled... by an excellent Dredd.
A tight, intruiging storyline with better-than-recently Gibbo art.

Oh, no. Now I'm feeling a little down... reading Second City Blues. This could have been far better than it's turned out to be. I don't hate it, but can't shake the disappointment - especially after seeing, the other night, the film Dodgeball, which is a brilliant take on bizarre sport!

Not a problem, coming up... thanks to the gratuitously tittified TSDM! Fnarr, fnarr.
I'm kidding. I'm never keen on nudity in a comic I'd like to see people giving to their kids, but I really like this story overall.
It's still early days, but I like the atmosphere and the action. Also, I approve in principle of drivel about magic swords!

Nooooooooo... SinDex... has me back in the doldrums again.
This strip depresses the shit out of me. It's unoriginal and lazy.
When did they get so young? I'd like the art, but it seems wrongly used, somehow. The story is throwaway rubbish.
Unimpressed.

Hooray for Dante! I'm happy and joyful at the silliness and fluffiness of my favourite swashbuckling comic strip.

Overall: not a bad prog.

- Trout

[Oddboy]

I liked it all.