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[Capt.Zeep]

Since no-one else has pointed it out, Synnamon is very Ian M. Banks.

I thought Durham was pretty good, though was confused by the last page.  Is DR the skanky old scrag at the head of th army?  Or the long haired slightly less skanky young, er, scrag on the last page?  Still pretty cool and I look forward to Harrison's more lush-looking art in future.

Space prison thing I'll give a chance.

Dredd OK, yeah I had to reread it to ascertain when they died.

Reasonable overall.  Bring on Cabs though!

[judge dreddd]

great prog and some new stories i like the look of TOP WORK THARG

[JTurner]

Synammon written as an Iaim M Banks novel?
I've read all of his books and I can't really see anything in Bison (sorry, Synnamon) that bore any resembleance to any of his sci-fi books.

Bank's culture agents for example rarely bothered with high kicking karate, they had drones and smart weapons for that sort of thing. As for his female characters, I can't see her as either Sma or Sharrow. Synnamon appears to be just another stock sci-fi heroine. Also the technology was all wrong. And as for the voice in the head, this might as well be a Dante ripoff.

[Tiplodocus]

DREDD: OK but if you got the "twist" early, as I'm sure most people did, it probably left you feeling a little "so what".
 
SYNAMMON: OK enough start to what looks like it will be a story that covers a lot of tried and trusted concepts.  I am so glad that she used her wits (and not an omnitron) to get the singularity through the defence grid. I'm assuming there's some nice reversal coming along to turn the familiarity on it's head. I like the art but a slight inconsistency in tone irks me(some of the elongated limbs make it look cartoony where other panels don't). I really hate throwaway pop culture references like the GET CARTER one - please have the decency to make up your own killzingers. (This gripe also applies to the otherwise excellent Ian Edgington)

DEAD MEN WALKING: I am reserving judgement on this because the opening episode did not grab me at all.  Which I guess is kind of judgement in itself. Actually, this applies a little bit to SYNAMMON above but I guess I just liked it a bit more.  I don't like VUCK and SHIVs.

DURHAM RED: More reserved Judgement. I think this art is a lot clearer than some of Harrison's painted stuff - a good thing.  For me, DAbnett can delight and frustrate in equal measures.  Not everything needs to be clear in the opening episode so long as you've got a nice hook and the mystery of why Red is seemingly alive has me interested.  Just watch out for those omnitron resurrection machines.

FRIDGE MAGNETS: Yay! I'm renewing my subscription!

So it's "OK" and I'm "reserving judgement".  That's not much kudos for an offensive is it.

And the cover sucked.

[DavidXBrunt]

Oh, and why is Micheal Jackson in the ad for Cabals? Is the identity of the rich pop star financer of the group about to be revealed.

[COLCLAYTON]

Iain M Banks was definitely an influence on Synn....also Peter Hamilton and Stephen Baxter.
Col

[Mr C]

Nah, he's their latest target.

[Mudcrab]

"also Peter Hamilton"

Oh yes, bring on the mercenaries! A full barrage of EE rounds should stop 'em in their tracks!

I did think of that while reading it, specifically the ship's interactions.

[claytonhobbes]

Ione Saldana...Assume the position :)

The Nights Dawn trilogy would make a great...if long...strip.
Col

[nick_coyle]

"Tell me that's not next week's cover - JUST SAY NO TO PHOTOCOVERS"

I am not sure it is as there is a Clint Langley signature in the bottom corner. It confused me at first but I think it might just be an incredibly lifelike drawing: unless he got some bird to pose for him and played around with the pic a bit on his computer.

[Mudcrab]

"Ione Saldana"

Wow, forgot about her. Must read again when I've got a few spare months :o)

"The Nights Dawn trilogy would make a great...if long...strip"

Reckon you could do it in 3 books, each running for 2 years :o)

[DavidXBrunt]

I think it's a photo-manipulated cover. Could be wrong. We're due another photo cover soon anyway. Remember the promises made in Meg 4.18?

[claytonhobbes]

"Synnamon - was okay...it was quite like the bit before the music in a Bond movie"

Thats exactly what we was aiming for - the ending of the previously unseen adventure before the naked girl dances to Sheena Easton!

[Oddboy]

Yeah...I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes next.

[paulvonscott]

Well, I'm a bit late to it all this really.

The cover was fine apart from the Tharg, which didn't really look like him or capture the spirit of the great betelguisian.  Tharg may not just suit that style of art.

Dredd, was okay, but a little odd.  I mean they had obviously both been killed at the start, which spoils the punchline, as I was thinking for ways for them to survive such horrific injuries like being robots, or vampires or something daft.  

If they had just been 'badly wounded' but we could believe they could still run about, then it would have been better.

The violence was generally over the top, and would have been better all round being reined in.  I didn't object to the kid being killed, cars are one of the major factors in child mortality, but the head coming off was just silly.

But, yeah, fine.

The rest... well they are all just generic SF stories.  Exactly what 2000AD isn't about in my view and not a single character I'm interested in between them.  Not my cup of tea, not awful, just strangely there, in my prog.

Worst prog ever?  Well, nothing annoyed me.  Most innocuous prog ever?  Could be.