1362

[Trout]

Submitted without reading anyone else's comments first:

I liked Dredd. It was a departure from the usual stuff, and a weird tale. Also, I was never much keen on Dean Ormiston, but I thought his style worked quite well this week.

Synammon has a nice arse, but I don't want to see the top of her butt cleavage.
But it seemed a decent SF story, if a bit Rose O'Rion. Let's see it develop.

Dead Men Walking was fine fun.
I love Boo Cook's art. Hasn't his style developed nicely?
Also, a prison tale is a good idea. We haven't had one in a while, and I'm looking forward to seeing characters die in horrible ways.
It's just a shame it coincides with the recent Harry Twenty reprint in the Meg.
Anyway, I like this - it's the best bit of the prog this week.

Well done Bish and Boo!

Finally, Durham Red's dull and I'll have to re-read it by natural light today (a 60W lamp bulb just isn't enough) to see half of what's going on with that art.
Why does he use all that brown stuff? Is it symbolic of something? :-)

If no new episodes of Durham Red ever appeared - including no conclusion to the current tale - I would not care one jot.

It leaves me cold.

Oh, and the cover wasn't great this week, either.

Overall: a half-decent prog, a little better than last week's.

- Trout

[Capt.Zeep]

"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."

OK my first post was a little hurried.
While the United States of Earth sounds like the antithesis of Banks' Culture, I felt much of this first episode borrows imagery from the novels.  Not that I've read anything like all of them.

For a start, she's got a weapons drone.  That's what's talking to her throughout.  You see her face reflected in it just before she jumps on the ship. It offers to take out the Dandyish henchmen later on, but Synnamon opts for the karate kicks, the big showoff.  As for culture agents not using violence(as such), well some do, witness the male lead whose name escapes me in Use of Weapons - the Culture employ him because (to grossly oversimplify) he's a violent cunning sort whose means suit their ends.

However I don't think Synnamon will match Banks for sheer inventiveness, it's more like they're borrowing the imagery and surface details.  While it's early days, I do agree
"Synnamon appears to be just another stock sci-fi heroine".  Let's hope the Banks resonances are more than just skin-deep.  Or would that be even more annoying?  I dunno.  Let's wait and see.

All in my own humble opinion , of course.

[GermanAndy]

hmm, odd prog this week.

DREDD: strangely atmospheric. And frankly I didn?t got the ending. Were there two clubs? One in MC-1 and one in hell? Or what?

DEAD MEN WALKING: Hate it. Was there a stupid cliche which was missing? Aside that this whole prison-planet concept is dumb - and why do they always have to work in the mines *groan, it makes no sense - there wasn?t one redeeming idea imho.

SYNNAMON: well, at least this had some nice little twists in the storytelling, but overall it was just another version of the female SciFi-superagent. Not exactley attention-grabber stuff. And how dumb has the villian to be that he didn?t register he had the damn sphere in his trousers all the time?

DURHAM RED: I liked the last one. Let?s see how it goes.

Next week CABALLISTICS. Yeah!!!

[claytonhobbes]

The sphere was hidden in the folds of flab....someone suggested it should have been up his arse but I don't think we'd have got away with that :)

[Adrian Bamforth]

I liked the Dredd story though I think it could have been done better, perhaps if it had made it clear the club at the end was a fantasy in the driver's dying brain.

One problem I had with Dead Man Walking: Since the governor was so casual about killing the political prisoner it makes you wonder why they go to all the trouble of having a prison at all and not just executing them all. Hope to see a bit more background on the prison later.

ADE  

[Marbles]

Dredd - liked the art, story was fun. Best thing in the Prog. This is not the big compliment it might normally be however...

Dead Man Walking - ok early days, but it didnt exactly grab me, very pedestrian. I like Boo Cooks art, hope he gets to do more stuff after this.

Synammon - again, this is just dull dull dull. Cliched dull at that. Art is jank. But I'll give it a few more weeks in the hope of an upswing in quality. (Bison however is the *only* story in the past 3 years since coming back on board that I physically stopped reading before the end, so the odds seem to be against it. Which is a shame 'cos I honestly wanted the creators to  bounce back after the slating they got last time out).

Durham Red - the last few story arcs have been pretty daft but redeemed by some really great art. This strip doesnt even have that. I'd prefer more SinDex from the Abnett droid to this.

Overall I sadly have to agree that this is a nose-dive in quality.

The Caballistics ad was really good - best photo-real type image I've see in 2K. I think a photo-real Cabs story could actually work you know
!!?
 
Anyway, read all the strips twice, scanned the Dredd and am going to release my Prog onto the Picadilly line of the Underground tmrw, as part of my house clearing/2K viral marketing campaign, altho on the strengh of this it may well scare people off...

[DavidXBrunt]

Heh. Cabals the photo story. I'd love that. Can I be Kostabi?

[gem]

o.k, i am kind of posting in response to Spurriers post about female AD fans.  Since this is a'chick prog' i thought it might be an appropriate place to start posting.

you all seem to have reviewed the stories in order so i will follow your lead there:

Dredd:  it was one of those stories that the 5 page format is guilty of producing- a story built around a punchline- and to be honest not a very good one.  However, I have been a fan of Ormstons painterly violence for a good few years, always a pleasure to see.

Synnamon:
i wasn't sure from the tone of this whether i would like it, I just kept reading it as King Pin and Black Widow in space.  But, i did find myself liking the lead character.  when designing a new hero it must be hellishly hard, 2000Ad  has run so many stories that for someone to make me like their character right off the mark is good going.  Or maybe I just share the same interests in gadgets and clothes.   i would say the negativity towards this  character maybe because she is a womans woman.  but Synnamon gets my thumbs up.  She is cheeky and fun.

Durham Red;
I wish i could like this, i have always liked the character and i have no problem with charcters coming back form the dead.  hell, i have read comics for years, its a staple- yet  this is just too goth for me.

and now Dead men Walking.
well, i kind of have a vested interest here.
cheers to everyone who said nice things about Boo's art.  He has worked his socks off on this.  If any of you are NME readers you will have seen the bizarre drawings of death and destruction that children drew when made to listen to Radiohead.  DMW is what Thom and co does to Boo.
I agree with the nay sayers on one point and that is I dont like the pretend swearing.  it makes you jump out of the story and disrupts the narrative.
And 'James' is Jude named after the biblical character who features in the Apocrypha? If so did you know there is a feminist book called 'Judith- Women as Sexual Warriors' which is a rather fascinating look at the fear Jude figures provoke.

I must confess to being something of a booksnob and to see Archer getting done over was disturbingly satisfying.

so does being a woman make me read AD in a different way?  Can't say really.  I think it was Bou who said she was drawn to the visuals and I think i am the same.  i read so much that for me comics are a real treat, the perfect hybrid, but if the arts not up to scracth then i cant read it.    But To suggest that 2 womens opinions form a model of female readership is daft.  Our opinions and reasons for reading will be as varied as you guys, theres just less of us.
but cheers Tharg, I thought this was going to be a 'token' prog, one for the laydeeeezzz but on the whole I enjoyed it.

Blimey,
i was only going to say a few words.
i will shut up now.  my dinners ready.

[petemaskreplica]

"The sphere was hidden in the folds of flab....someone suggested it should have been up his arse but I don't think we'd have got away with that :) "

What, after Asylum's shitting vicar? Not to mention the anal probe in Dead men Walking... nah, you'd have got away with it easy, mate. Have the corage of your convictions. I tell you, up the arse was the way to go (so to speak).

I'll get me coat...

[Tex Hex]

Well I thought that his sparkley gold cloaky thing had magically turned into the sphere. There one minute. Bare chested tits-oot action the next. Of course it turned up again once he had been shot putting to rest any turny-to-spherey action I had concieved of.

Why do these things go unoticed?

[Devons Daddy]

i am divided on this prog.
whilst i enjoyed each story and the art work i felt as a whole it did not blend well.

the jump on prog concept failed it felt. due to the mix of styles. the last offensive was awesome with the balance correct. this time i felt each story would have fitted better into a differnt line up.

[Oddboy]

DD's summed it up pretty well here.
I concur.

I liked all the stories, but it was missing something *extra* class to make it shine.
Good job Caballistics, Inc. is back next week.