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Prog 2132 - Bringer of War

Started by Tjm86, 18 May, 2019, 12:43:54 PM

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Tjm86

Jon Davis-Hunt's cover is quality for sure.  Setting out the stall for a quality read. 

McConville's Dredd casts our mind back a loooong way to an early Hot-dog run as he explores the implications of events on Justice Dept.  The surprise though is who is back on art duties, another blast from the past:  Siku.  A very welcome return and an interesting comparison with former work.

Scarlet Traces continues this theme of returns and ratchets up the action.  It rattles along at an incredible pace and packs a lot in.  As always, D'israeli's artwork is outstanding.

Max Normal may well change the pace but not the quality.  Secrets revealed and threats dispensed.  Holden's art suits the tale well.

3rillers starts to move the story into familiar territory.  Corcoran continues to do a quality job that stands well against the roster of artists he is up against.  Whether Peatty can land the story well remains to be seen but so far it has made for one of the better 3rillers.

Kingmaker rounds out the prog with a return to the hard core action.  After the revelations of recent weeks its boots to balls as Edginton and Gallagher crank things up.

Thrills of the Future touts the return of Indigo Prime with Carter on art duties again.  So all round lots to enjoy and to look forward to.

broodblik

Quote from: Tjm86 on 18 May, 2019, 12:43:54 PM

Max Normal may well change the pace but not the quality.  Secrets revealed and threats dispensed.  Holden's art suits the tale well.


Isn't Dan Cornwell on art duty, did they switch artist ?
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

Tjm86

did.  my bad.  Apologies to Mr Cornwell.   :-[

Colin YNWA

 Some issues this week behind a lovely cover.

Dredd is kinda... well... its set up, I get that ... but its what exactly. It just feels old and takes a long time (well six pages but that a long time in 2000ad land) to do what exactly. Let's see what happens when Dredd faces down our fella BUT Siku back on art and man I'm liking that.

Scarlet Traces remains high octane fun and I'm enjoying this.

Max Normal has a quieter episode as the tales transitions from the past to the present, while keeping the past very much front a centre. Its done well but didn't blow me away the way this strip has done to date.  But its still great.

3riller - mah, its just not gettin' me I'm afraid. Virtual escape from dysopian rebellian... feels ... well see Dredd.

My big issue is Kingmaker however. Now I've really enjoyed Kingmaker to date BUT this episode has openned some significent concerns. I have really enjoyed Crixus to date but he's come back from the dead and has super do what ya like ebora powers and we have a danger of having a too useful get out of jail free card that will remove jeopardy... I guess I shouldn't anticipate problems but they rooted in my noggin this episode so good lines and sharp action aside it kinda spoiled things for me.

So a slight down turn almost all round this Prog. As I've said before its always interesting how the little things can add up so the same series of stories can drop from GREAT Prog to Okay Prog...




Magnetica

Dredd was interesting for two things. I never expected to see Siku back in the Prog. He art style has changed significantly.

I can see what he is trying to do on page 4 but it doesn't really work. Ok have Dredd's head/ helmet as a back drop and divide up the panels but how come the panels don't line up? The top of the helmet is especially jarring. The close up on the top two panels also doesn't work nor does the way the top panel of page 4 lines up with the top panel of page 5. Not that I think that was intentional.

The other interesting thing is the evolution in Rory McConville's writing. I think he has had good ideas before which have been let down by the execution. At least here he moves away from exposition via a series of text boxes and we at have dialogue to explain what is going on. It all reads much better and is encouraging for the future.

@Tjm86 - have we seen Spode before? I don't remember him.

Judge Olde


Richard

Spode was in The Hotdog Run in progs 233-235.

Magnetica

I remember the free packet of Griddles more than the supporting cast on the Hot Dog Run. Oh and the marvellous Ron Smith art work.

Timothy

Quote from: Richard on 20 May, 2019, 11:46:11 PM
Spode was in The Hotdog Run in progs 233-235.
Shouldn't he be Sidcup by now?

Southstreeter

Still no prog in CalHab. Judging by the lack of reviews on here, I guess I'm not the only one. Maybe Tharg will knock another 50% off shop purchases  ;) ?

The Enigmatic Dr X

Man, those Griddles.

I want free edible free gifts! Where is my Hubba-Bubba?
Lock up your spoons!

broodblik

Again a solid prog but nothing spectacular. Everything just feels so middle to end of their respective stories


When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

Frank





Genuine pleasure to see Siku again. That flashback page where the huge image of Dredd is broken down into individual panels reminds me of Ezquerra's frequent use of the same technique, which is what I think Carlos meant when he said he could control the speed of a story.

Siku's horizontal panels were probably less a philosophical conceit, like Langley's aspiration to make American Reaper feel like widescreen cinema, and more a concession to comics being read on handheld devices, but even this consideration of form as part of the storytelling process reminded me of the boy Akinsiku's transition from double-page spreads to tall vertical panels to convey the physical space of the lift shaft Dredd's trapped in during When The El Breaks (1099).

These action-heavy episodes of Scarlet Traces feel like a completely different story to the previous book's Buddha Of Suburbia/Flash Gordon mash-up. That change of emphasis means the fantastic draughtsmanship steals the show, but the lads are onto something with the peculiarity of the sixties cultural references*, which give the strip the appeal of those SHARE IF YOU REMEMBER CREMOLA FOAM posts Britain F*** were using to get your mum into racial identity politics.

Kingmaker is a strip that could clap two bricks between my legs without grabbing my attention, but Goblin Guy's Final Fantasy VII box art styling hooked onto my eyeballs like Malcolm McDowell. Dan Cornwell's characterful Max Normal art's great, but this story needed ten pages, not ten weeks. I see what Peaty & Corcoran are doing, but I preferred Chimera when it was called Caliphate.


* I'm as sick as anyone else of films, telly and comics that think referencing stuff you remember from other stories is an adequate substitute for creating compelling characters and original stories, but the Co-op vans and Porridge supporting characters that populate Edginton's strips get a pass just because I can't think of anyone else (certainly in comics) who judges those specific British cultural reference points to be as worthy of milking as Buffy or Star-bloody-Wars.

Geoff

Quote from: Timothy on 21 May, 2019, 08:15:20 AM
Quote from: Richard on 20 May, 2019, 11:46:11 PM
Spode was in The Hotdog Run in progs 233-235.
Shouldn't he be Sidcup by now?


And on the hunt for Sir Watkyn's cow-creamer!