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Spoilers => Megazine => Topic started by: Tjm86 on 14 April, 2018, 07:59:34 PM

Title: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: Tjm86 on 14 April, 2018, 07:59:34 PM
I think that it is fair to say that the new cover prints initiative really comes into it's own this month with McCarthy's work.  His psychedelic worldview is perfectly suited to Baillie's script and starts us off nicely. 

Krong wraps itself up in what is possibly the weakest part of the meg.  Nice to see Heston getting his just rewards and the Court of Owls ending does seem a little contrived but I'm willing to be converted in the future.

The Returners continues to confuse nicely.  A team of complete misfits put together for who knows what purpose?  A lot of cliched posturing but it's starting to show a bit more promise so here's to what comes next.

I guess for those complaining about Ezquerra 'phoning it in' for Stront, Koburn is probably the strongest argument in their favour since the maestro shows his true flair.

Then we wrap up with 2012movieworld Dredd, with Flint once again delivering in spades.  These Dark Judges show how disturbing they really are, Dredd struggles with the full force of their might and it looks like Anderson is really struggling with these guys.  Wyatt and DiCampi have definitely succeeded in making the DJ's fearsome again (okay, so has Kendall and co but that's another story).

Razorjack though really does read like something half way through the story.  Higgins' artwork is outstanding and the story works but I'm minded of one of the earliest editions of Sandman that has a text introduction talking about walking into a film part way through.  Yet it is touted as a prologue tale.  Maybe it's me then.  Thinking that this is something I should be familiar with off the back of ComiX.  It works well and does leave me wanting more which is surely a good thing.

This month's floppy though is probably the icing on the cake.  The Nemesis monologue makes for a pleasant change and is probably the best forum for such a dissertation.  Granted there is a lot already written about the genesis and gestation of the character but it is still nice to have it as a complete text.  This is speaking as an owner of both editions of TPO.  It would be nice to see more of this sort of thing.  Granted Dredd has been done to death but Halo Jones would be a prime candidate for this treatment.  It would be a real treat to hear from the likes of Beeby, Moore et al how they viewed the character, commentary on the new colorised version, even a new analysis from Mr Moore himself.  I'm sure Mr Mills could be persuaded to write a monologue on Slaine and ABC to help those of us confused as hell about where we are at (let's face it, ABC continuity baffles most Chaos theory experts).  If push comes to shove, no before then, commission Hibernia to do some of their outstanding work on Tooth related stuff.  It's been nice to have a supplement that hasn't been flicked through then shoved in a box until someone starts searching it out.
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: Geoff on 16 April, 2018, 08:02:08 PM
Agree with all of the above really... but call me an old dinosaur, I just can't help wondering how much better McCarthy's wonderful art would look if the painting had been done with real, as opposed to digital paint...
(means I'm not tempted to try and buy it though...so should be glad I suppose).
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: IndigoPrime on 16 April, 2018, 09:53:25 PM
My print didn't survive the journey. I wish they were printed a bit smaller than A4 so they'd get more protection in transit.

As for the Meg, I liked pretty much all of it. Heston is great. As for movie Dredd, I read it that Anderson is now [spoiler]an ex-Judge – as in, ex-parrot, and wonder whether the world is being destroyed[/spoiler].
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 17 April, 2018, 12:02:30 AM
Not got mine yet, but the movie-Dredd Dark Judge stuff is a real treat for me.

I think the Dark Judges have been used really well in the last few years, and that's fine by me.
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 17 April, 2018, 12:53:22 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/m5UiGn7.jpg)
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: broodblik on 18 April, 2018, 12:50:32 PM
The Meg continues its great form.

The Returners - this is really intriguing

Chopper - Great art by McCarthy
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: Colin YNWA on 18 April, 2018, 09:04:34 PM
Well seriously what a bumper treat the Meg is again this month. I mean seriously a bounty of utter delight and all that in the context of a comic that lost one of the great strips in Tharg's time with us last month AND still this month finds a way to get better.

Regular Dredd is just such fun and Jake Lynch is rapidly becoming one of my fav artists. His work is such a delight, kinda Flint mets Baikie to my eyes. Movie Dredd is almost as good and of course just plain Flint is an absolute delight, really enjoying this as the story rattles towards what you suspect will be a very final finale.

Cursed Earth Koburn is the only none out and out winner to me, the story feels strangely flat and disjointed... which is weird when you consider the stella characters and creators involved. Oh and the text piece is really short, made up by the fact that we get the Nemesis Monograph instead of a reprint, and its immense, if a little familiar.

Of the shortness of text bits is also worth it for a Razarjack bonus strip, which is a great appetitiser for the series starting next month.

The two highlights are a fantastic opener for the Brendan McCarthey David Bailie Chopper story, which I suspect might work its way to becoming a classic and the glorious Returners, which I thought was an absolute enjoy again, I mean it did rattle along bit is both fun, action filled and immensely intriguing all wrapped in glorious out which to its absolute credit isn't out of place along side Flint, McCarthy, Higgins, Lynch and Carlos... I mean lets just say that again when we consider what a treat we have in our hands.

The art in Returners stands up amongst... Lynch... Higgins... Flint.... McCarthy and Carlos... all in one issue....

Bloody hell this is good stuff isn't it!
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: sheridan on 19 April, 2018, 12:43:59 AM
Great stuff!

I'd never heard of that Owl Court thing, but am happy to see Orlok Junior revealed (in the same month as young Sternhammer too).  Have we met 'mother' before?  Can't remember how much we saw of Orlok's SOs in his flashback stories a few years back.

Liking the exploration of Ciudad Barranquila.

Koburn continues as before - still waiting to see hot it all turns out before forming a complete opinion...  I still reckon that King Carlos' artwork is up to standard on SD, though it just looks like it's been drawn at lower resolution - as if Koburn is drawn on A3 board while SD is on A4 - curious.

Chopper is great - this seems the most like Midnight Surfer / Oz / Song of the Surfer Shakespeare than we've had for many years (well, nearly three decades).  Can't figure out if the judicial hallucination is a Dark Judge, a Judda Judge or something else.

Speaking of DJs, not a lot I can say about The Dead World other than how great it all is!

On to Razorjack - must confess I haven't read Higgin's originals (it will happen, but I have a pile of comics and books I need to go through before splashing out on any new stuff).  To me this reads mostly as a recap and introduction to the character / situations than purely a prologue.  The third page especially ("The demon moved east. Always east...") looked like it was recounting previously published stories - could somebody who's familiar confirm this?  Looking forward to next month already, and I haven't even read this month's text feature and monograph yet.

Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: James Stacey on 19 April, 2018, 09:11:04 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 19 April, 2018, 12:43:59 AM
Can't figure out if the judicial hallucination is a Dark Judge, a Judda Judge or something else.
It looked very Judda to me
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: The Enigmatic Dr X on 20 April, 2018, 09:30:46 PM
Am I the only sub still missing this?
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: WhizzBang on 21 April, 2018, 11:22:00 AM
In the Krong story, Heston performed a citzens arrest. It has been practically an ongoing joke the Dredd always arrests people who do this but it didn't happen here. Did I miss something?
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: IndigoPrime on 21 April, 2018, 01:48:51 PM
I always thought the running joke was that the law keeps changing, and no-one has the slightest chance of keeping up with it. We've seen people arrested in the past for NOT stopping crims getting away, too. DeMarco's gone down the citizen's arrest route, too. So I guess the reality is it depends on the writer, but in the reality of Dredd, the citizens are kept on their toes by a regularly shifting legal arena. Heston, I imagine, is up to date on it, though.
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: TordelBack on 22 April, 2018, 09:40:11 AM
From the second Dolman story, it seems that the legality or otherwise of citizen's arrest stems from the appropriate use of force - Dolman is encubed for hitting a perpetual too hard, not for intervening.
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: I, Cosh on 22 April, 2018, 10:14:16 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 22 April, 2018, 09:40:11 AM
From the second Dolman story, it seems that the legality or otherwise of citizen's arrest stems from the appropriate use of force - Dolman is encubed for hitting a perpetual too hard, not for intervening.
Breaking the law of conservation of energy?
Title: Re: 395 - Surfing the Songlines
Post by: Mardroid on 22 April, 2018, 10:15:58 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 19 April, 2018, 12:43:59 AM
Great stuff!

I'd never heard of that Owl Court thing, but am happy to see Orlok Junior revealed (in the same month as young Sternhammer too).  Have we met 'mother' before?  Can't remember how much we saw of Orlok's SOs in his flashback stories a few years back.

Liking the exploration of Ciudad Barranquila.

Koburn continues as before - still waiting to see hot it all turns out before forming a complete opinion...  I still reckon that King Carlos' artwork is up to standard on SD, though it just looks like it's been drawn at lower resolution - as if Koburn is drawn on A3 board while SD is on A4 - curious.

Chopper is great - this seems the most like Midnight Surfer / Oz / Song of the Surfer Shakespeare than we've had for many years (well, nearly three decades).  Can't figure out if the judicial hallucination is a Dark Judge, a Judda Judge or something else.

Speaking of DJs, not a lot I can say about The Dead World other than how great it all is!

On to Razorjack - must confess I haven't read Higgin's originals (it will happen, but I have a pile of comics and books I need to go through before splashing out on any new stuff).  To me this reads mostly as a recap and introduction to the character / situations than purely a prologue.  The third page especially ("The demon moved east. Always east...") looked like it was recounting previously published stories - could somebody who's familiar confirm this?  Looking forward to next month already, and I haven't even read this month's text feature and monograph yet.

I haven't read the original Razorjack comics stories, but I have read one of the text stories. This was set on present day Earth but featured a similar premise of a female warrior* sent to the core world (essentially our dimension.) to asssasinate someone for the queen leaving a lot of bodies in her wake. It does go to an interesting place though and the warrior is a lot more nuanced than the version in this comic strip. And it's set in the USA and the twisted loop world. The POV jumps between her, her quarry and Razorjack herself.

This strip does a good job of introducing the concept of Razorjack's 'twisted bitches' though.

*All Razorjack's warriors are super strong female warriors referred to as 'twisted bitches**'. [spoiler]The character in the story I read was an especially powerful version than usual. Twisted bitch ** plus, I guess with a more independent mind.[/spoiler]

** I'm uncomfortable with the use of the word 'bitch' for a woman but the term is used for these female warrior creatures. It's not just something that the Japanese of this strip use for them.