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Prog 2086 - Bet on Red!

Started by Colin YNWA, 16 June, 2018, 03:10:53 PM

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Colin YNWA

Well betting on Red here is another safe bet, as is 2000ad at the moment, the story's qualities are pretty predictable, not that the stories themselves, but there's little here to change my opinion about whats good and what's not and even why.

The two endings give their stories conclusions on a parr with what's gone before. Dredd is excellent, wraps things up really well while still feeling like its opening more doors. This has been a great story by Mike Carroll (sorry Michael) and Jake Lynch is rapidly becoming, well has become, one of my absolute favourite current Dredd artists, well 2000ad artists generally. He's the perfect mix of Flint, Baikie and most importantly Lynch, so comfortable yet unique. Survival Geeks looked great too, but telegraphed its easy ending which in keeping with the series as a whole felt twee. As did the developments in ... two folks who have that might, they might they not relation thing going on... can't remember their names, which says it all really!

The other problem is I still don't care about fella me laddio in Skip Tracer, so however exciting it might be, it fails to be.

However I'm fully engaged with both Deadworld and Durham Red. DR in particular has a really effective episode, quietly and closely developing story and tension, really well. The change in artist to Lee Carter works absolutely fine and all in all this is a joy.

So 3 for 5 and a good Prog with an advery for the return of The Order next week just being the icing on the cake!


TordelBack

Wow, that is a fantastic cover! Plays with just about everything, negative space, perspective, colour, character iconography... terrific stuff.  Only bit that doesn't work for me is Too Much Text.  "Bet on Red", or just "Bloodbath", would have been fine.  That's an an image that needs to be seen!


Geoff

Dredd was an interesting one, enjoyable story and art. Generally like Jake Lynch's loose McM like style...but, a small thing, I really don't like the way he draws the Lawmaster...

Durham Red is a joy and Deadworld is completely nuts.

I had some hopes for Skip Tracer but based on this episode they're fading. Although it started well, with the 4 armed kebab seller we were back to cliched, annoying hard ass, black ops etc...etc..

Goosegash

We're quite a few episodes into Skip Tracer and I can't honestly remember the main character's name without looking it up. Not a good sign really, is it?

glassstanley

What's happening on the cover? Is she lying in a bath of blood? And if she's meant to be topless, where's her nipple?

TordelBack

Quote from: glassstanley on 17 June, 2018, 12:23:22 AM
What's happening on the cover? Is she lying in a bath of blood? And if she's meant to be topless, where's her nipple?

She's not topless, that's armour, as seen in the strip these past weeks.  And yes, emerging from a coffin-shape full of (heavily diluted) blood.  Fantastic image.

IndigoPrime

Why on earth would Red be topless on the cover of 2000 AD? It's not the bloody Sun. Anyway...

Cover: fab.
Dredd: great but too short. I was really getting into this tale, and those tantalising flashbacks of the early days of the Judge system. I want more. Again, get Michael Carroll to pen an extended series for the Magazine.
Deadworld: increasingly nuts. I'm still not sold on the references, but otherwise this is properly creepy, oddball horror.
Durham Red: a bit of a bridging episode, but still solid. The art shift was a bit jarring, although I do like both artists who work on the strip (and great to see that neither depicts Red as a stick insect in her undies). I'm assuming we've three more parts of this and it's done. If so, I do hope the strip becomes a semi-regular, with the same creative team.
Survival Geeks: again, I'm happy it's here for the variety, but you'd need to have not been paying any attention to spot the ending coming. The magic memory remover was a bit hmm. Still, as a semi-regular humour strip with some great art, I'm not going to complain if it comes back for these odd bursts of brightness. (Also: smart scheduling against the grimness of Deadworld.)
Skip Tracer: I'll give it a read through when it's done, and I hope it'll grab me a bit more. Right now, it's fine, and it's readable, but I'm hoping it ramps up a bit somehow.

Link Prime

Quote from: glassstanley on 17 June, 2018, 12:23:22 AM
where's her nipple?

Being dutifully filled in with a red Bic biro by the 4% of readership in their teens.

BPP

Conversely I think it's a not great cover

1) the parts of her body seem incoherently exposed if emerging from a (flat lying) liquid.
2) the huge white areas just seem a waste of cover space, like the artist wasn't bothered.
3) the face is weirdly expressionless and the skin colouring dead-like - zombie-red?
4) why are there no drips of liquid on the emerged parts - most notable the right hand gun?
5) what physical position would you be in to expose forehead, hands, breasts and thighs? Great core work out but most people emerge from liquid torso up first.

It sort of works if she's coming thru a vertical plasma doorway / teleport but not at all from a horizontal liquid.
If I'd known it was harmless I would have killed it myself.

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Steve Green

Dredd's not 300 feet tall, but I still think this is a great cover.


Frank




Who pours a ton of concrete into individually moulded letterforms then arranges them in a featureless wilderness?

And, if Dredd is supposed to have riddled said Roman alphabet monoliths with bullets, how come he's seated atop these suspect orthographic menhirs?

And why did Dredd choose the Lawrod for this task, when his Lawgiver sidearm would be much more readily to hand, giving him vital seconds in which to shoot the Readymix miscreants before they get the drop on him? Violation of standard procedure when encountering violent Alphabetti Spaghetti- Dredd would have reported himself for failing to follow guidelines.

And don't get me started on those feet ... boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder.


* Best discussion ever!

TordelBack

Well, obviously it's not meant to be taken literally; it refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.

She's a vampire mutant haemovore, coffins and baths of blood are relevant iconography, she could well be metaphorically emerging from  past perceptions of her nature into unconstrained possibilities etc etc. Rather than literally doing a stomach-crunch in a tub of low-viscosity ribena.

Taryn Tailz

Quote from: Goosegash on 17 June, 2018, 12:17:23 AM
We're quite a few episodes into Skip Tracer and I can't honestly remember the main character's name without looking it up. Not a good sign really, is it?

Now you come to mention it, neither can I. Definitely not a good sign.