1368 - Seeing Red.

[Trout]

The current Dredd is definitely getting worse.
What's the point of Starborn Things and Kleggs when we can't make them out?
Also, is it my imagination, or did Dredd stand idly by while someone ate human flesh this week?
Story-wise, it's going nowhere. He's creeping quietly around indistinct, unrecognisable corridors. It's like watching Dr Who with really bad TV reception.
What a shocking mess.

Dead Men Walking is still good fun. I thought the nudity was maybe a bit unnecessary, but I'm not really a puritan and - since it's getting across the fact she's a ghost of some kind, it's not too gratuitous - I'll let it go.
This is a just-above-average and reasonably entertaining story, and it's just wrong, wrong, wrong that such a strip is better than Dredd.

Caballistics wasn't as gripping this week as it's been recently, but it's still the best thing in the prog.
Lovely, atmospheric stuff.

Synammon continues to move on. I wasn't too fascinated with it again, but I don't hate it.
Nice final panel, too. Yet another strong cliffhanger.

Finally, I'm glad to see the end, for now, of the pathetic travesty that is Durham Red.
That G-string's threatening to disappear sooner or later and that really is gratuitous.
Story-wise, I'm deeply disinterested in it and I'm not impressed with her standard-issue irreverent maverick attitude. What a pile of shite.

Are we supposed to be shocked that Johnny Alpha's turned up in a dream sequence? Who bloody cares?
However, I will say this: if Dabnett's about to work his "touch of shit" routine on Johnny Alpha I will personally start a campaign to have him chucked off 2000AD.
He should be sticking to earning big money with that iCandy garbage he's doing for the States. I bought an issue of that and, well, let's just say he's consistent.
Barf.

Overall, with another average cover, this prog is the latest in a long line of vaguely disappointing comics.

I can't wait for Prog 2004.
BRING BACK DANTE!

- Trout

[Tiplodocus]

Anyone know who's writing the Metro Dredd or did I miss it?

And who are these two new droids? I recall a while back there was a 3d rendered Dredd image stuck up for some top secret project? Was this it? Or was it something else?

Metro has had a Monkey In a Hat in it's pages before. Yay!

Dredd: Slightly confused but enjoying it still. Are the Starborn things parasites on the alien meatmonger ship?

DMW:  I recall a bad Company story about a planet bringing people back to life (or was that just ghosts?) Enjoyable enough even if I'm not entirelt sure that the behaviour of different zombified peoiple is consistent.  This might be the planet changing it's tactics so might make sense but I never got a clear picture of it in this issue.

CABALS: As with many people, my favourite thrill of recent weeks. Sorry it has to take a break but I'm looking forward to the threads all tying up shortly.

STAR ANISE: This has been an up and down for me. One week I enjoy it, next week I think it just treads water.  At the end of this weeks episode we were pretty much at the smae place we started the epiosode (GWIS at the mercy of her AI in an abandoned ship) and then the virus kicked in.  Nothing really moved the plot or characters forward so I felt a little short changed.  OK, it probably did but I just missed it.

DURHAM RED: Not for me thanks.  Taking a major dislike to this now.  But at least it looks like it may answer all of the "Why does this need to be a Stronty Dog tale rather than a genmeric space opera". I personally don't think I'll agree with the answer but there you go.  Red's face changing gene is active again.

[Art]

What? What? Striker style 3D Dredd? Aiiiieee!

[JamieB]

The METRO Dredd strip is written by The Mighty One, drawn by Inaki Miranda and coloured by Eva De La Cruz (the art team for SEE ZAMMY RUN).

J-Bo-1

[Capt.Zeep]

Cover: OK,
Dredd: Shite, I'm afraid.  Do we have to have every spacemonster that's ever appeared in Dredd popping up in this tale.  Did I say I thought it was shite?

DMW;  Wow, good twist!  I suppose the cover should have given it away but I didn't "get" it till after reading the strip.  And Doctor Proctor bears a striking resemblance to "No.5" out of Short Circuit.  Knowing Mr. Cook's predilection for all things referential, no doubt this was intentional.  Took me this long to spot it tho' (and "Short Circuit 2" being on TV the other day).  Hey lazerlips! Your mama was a vucking shivwipe ;-)

Cabals, what can I add?  This really is very good, in a dark nasty twisted way.  Go droids!

Root Ginger:  Well, the story is growing on me but the art is decidedly patchy I reckon.  Very flat in places, specia;;y the external shots of the ship.  And whoever said it's "weirdly mirroring DMW" this ish was spot on, but that must be down to coincidence.  I like it, with minor reaervations.

Durham: Soon as I saw the last panel of this I thought it would ruffle a few feathers, to say the least.  IMO Johnny is not the Outcast, and the "crucible of pain..." was surely the mutant wars and aftermath I reckon... I dunno I quite like this, perhaps SD is not such a sacred cow for me.

Nuff said,
Zeep Out.

[Bony Fella]

Why, oh why, oh WHY do I feel the need to read this thread every Monday when I don't get my prog till Thursday at the earliest??

Shame Dredd hasn't picked up, can't wait for all the rest. Bit fan of all! Cept maybe Cinnamon. But it's ok.

[The Amstor Computer]

"We get the Metro here in Edinburgh."

Really? I know it's supposed to be available in Scotland, but I've never seen it. I've got relatives near Edinburgh, so I'll ask them to pick up a copy when the new Dredd strip launches.

Anyway, I like the idea - it's nice to see Rebellion pushing Dredd & 2000AD more aggressively - but I'm a little unsure about the choice of forum & the team producing the strip. That said, I've got my fingers crossed for this - I've got fond memories of Daily Star Dredd, and I'd love to see that kind of strip return.

[Waddie]

And so it came to pass, in the Prog of our Tharg thirteen-hundred and sixty-eight, that four crappy stories came good.  Or less bad anyway.  And the other one carried on being ace.

Spoilers








Cover: Is she looking round the corner of something, or what?  And if so, what's it supposed to be?  Oh, hang on, it's probably the chainsaw.  Boo Cook's choice of colours baffled temporarily.  It's certainly eye-catching.

Dredd: Have Judges ever referred to each other as "helmets" before?  I would have thought I'd remember.  Anyway, I like Siku's art, but not when he's doing action sequences because it gets too confusing.  So more dialogue and stuff was a welcome relief.

Dead Men Walking: Murhhhhh..brains...and, erm, so on.  Comic strip heroes being zombies is awesome.  The seemingly horrendous and kludgy plot device from last episode still niggles, but it's made for a better story, so I can live with it.

Caballistics, Inc.: Lovely, lovely, lovely.  So face-punchingly obviously great that I won't waste any more time explaining why.  Also, I'm lazy.

Synnamon: What were the floating egg things supposed to be?  Never mind.  It's even twistier and turnier than before yet easier to follow now I'm used to it, and now that all the horrible unoriginality has been firmly established, it's easier to pay attention to the story that they're telling (via the medium of horrible unoriginality).  Anyway, I've started to enjoy this now, and might even re-read the whole story when it's done.  Although I probably wouldn't care very much if everyone gets turned into robots and they all live happily ever after so there's no need for it to ever come back.

Durham Red: Groovy double page spread to start with, which ably demonstrates that all that gloom is quite unnecessary and reminds me of a bit in Gaiman's Sandman that I don't quite recall fully.  Then a couple of pages of Red being sexy with big guns and dodgy plot devices (that I'm happily ignoring because THEY DON'T MATTER) which are a bit dull, then some zappy possession stuff which had plot in.  Yay!  Oh, speaking of Sandman, anyone notice the Offspring talks like Morpheous?  And Alpha obviously isn't the Offspring, because on the second page he's got a floppy side-parting, not a perm.  No, wait, you're all talking about something called an Outcast.  Maybe I don't understand this story after all.  Ho hum.

[Waddie]

Although I probably wouldn't care very much if everyone gets turned into robots and they all live happily ever after so there's no need for it to ever come back.

And in real life, too.

[Slippery PD]

For the first time in a long while I have my prog in advance.  Yay for the subs at last.

Cover - its interesting and not too much of a spoiler, but its kind of obvious.

Dredd - Well I dfont like Siku's art, but its less murky than his previous work.  Though Im not sure that much of a compliment.  I say give him somethig that isnt dredd and let him make it his own.  The scritp is interesting enough, but comes across as fanboy stuff.

DMW - is an enjoyable yarn, with great art.

Synnamon - Enjoyable yarn, every episode ends in a cliffhanger.  Nice art.  But theres something missing, its not terrible its not great, just something in between.  Its closer to good than awful.  Im damning it with indifference I think.

Newcastle Brown - lost of SD refs but on the whole its not very good and does little to answer the question.  Who is the Outkast?? But I have to say I actually dont really care.....

Caballistics - Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Really good!  The best thing in the prog by a country mile and then some.  

Yer Slips

[Leigh S]

Dredd:  Kleggs... Good God, more Fanboyish escapades - twice as good as Helter Skelter, but only because its half the length... not bad, just another school excercise book yarn - "Kleggs AND Starborn Things - yay"!  More RPG supplement or computer game scenario than actual strip

The art is still as dire as ever - For all the faults of the story, its exceptionally visual - at least it would be if you ever got a sense of what was going on - todays examples of missed opportunities are the helmet damage healing faster than Alphas tattoo, and a big page of Kleggs and Starborn Things that should have been
a hundred times more dramatic.  The One (and only) thing I do like about the art is the lettering, perhaps Siku could try a change of career?

DMW - the whole reveal of Jude being a Galactic Officer seems a bit by the by given what happens this week - and why is Judes last statement Good news for Karn? And another twist dampened by this week, this time by the spoilery cover....

Caballistics - Groooovy (Thoough Jimi doesnt quite look himself there)

Synnamon - so-so stuff.  Not bad, not great, a bit muddled this week, but OK

Durham Red - Huge interest in anything slightly Stront related - no interest in this - go figure.

So whats up next week to replace Red and Inc?  not.... double lengthers... *shudder*

[Leigh S]

forgot to add - I'm a huge fan of the Daily star Dredds, so the Metro news is something of a bonus... Though its a shame that such a showcase isnt going to use the likes of Flint or Irving - Not that Mirandas work was too bad for a first attempt, so we'll wait and see - just thought a more experienced Droid would get such an potentially important gig.  The idea of 15 panel strips being told over 5 days is intriguing - sort of halfway between the old one-offs and the ongoing "3 panel/6 weekers"... Always interested to see Dredd stories told in different ways though, and this could make them nicely different to anything we've seen in the past.

[Banners]

I don't get the cover at all. To me it lacks context and is abstract to the point that it simply doesn't communicate anything. As such, it neither works as a picture nor as a selling tool.
 
M@

[The Amstor Computer]

"Though its a shame that such a showcase isnt going to use the likes of Flint or Irving - Not that Mirandas work was too bad for a first attempt, so we'll wait and see - just thought a more experienced Droid would get such an potentially important gig."

Yeah - and it does seem a bit strange that an art team that's only worked on a single Dredd story should be dropped straight into a comparatively high-profile gig. Ho-hum.

Anyway, the more interesting question, IMO, is who will be writing these stories. I hope it'll be John Wagner, Alan Grant or Gordon Rennie - I can't think of anyone else from the current group of 2000AD writers who I'd want writing Dredd regularly - but I've been wondering whether Ian Edgington might be in line after his recent gig on Dredd.

[The Amstor Computer]

Oh, and one final whinge - another Caballistics series wrapped up & still no cover from Dom Reardon? Pull yer finger out Tharg! :-)

Link: http://www.redslap.co.uk/dr.html" target="_blank">Dom Reardon gallery...