Prog 1496 - Go Machine!

[paulvonscott]

Hey there, hopefully I'll have got to start tis prog thread.

Haven't read it all, but...

Very nice cover.

Enjoyed Al's future shock, lots of good stuff in it, but a bit confused by the end.  Reality changed for him because of the alien who... er...

Go-Machine was great though!  Loved the 60% law.  Hopefully this will last till 1500 at least.

[DavidXBrunt]

What a belting prog. Not so keen on the cover, but then it's a jokey one and I've seen it before. Otherwise I'm in the mood to rave about how much I enjoyed it.

A particularly strong prog without Wagner, Rennie, Mills, Grant, Smith, Morrison, or Abnett writing so much as page? Speaks wonders for the talent pool at the moment.

It also felt like a longer read than usual this week, with nary a hint of decompression in the first three stories and a welcome dose of backstory in the fourth.

Dred - I really enjoyed this, feels like the sort of silly but dark stories that went out of fashion in the 90's and is all the more welcome for proving they can be done well. Macabre and daft at the same time.

Future Shock - An ending that was baffling at first but a great read and best of all great art form Adrian Bamforth. It's been too long since the last time he drew for Tharg I'm hoping it won't be too long till the next time.

Go-Robot - And suddenly Als hot two stories in one prog. A nice opening with plenty to explore, brutal fights, and potentially engaging characters. Richard Elsons artwork is very good here with the attention to detail in the characters helping to sell the story and a welcome touch of humour in the bowlered beaurocrat.

Red Seas - Steve Yeowell may be my favourite artdroid but I wasn't too impressed with Erebus leaping into action. A hard scene to render but he could usually be expected to do better. Otherwise the story moves on, picks up on earlier hints, and sets things up for the last few episodes.

I really, REALLY enjoyed this prog. It's been said before but the comic shouldn't be this good in the lead up to a big number issue.

[Rob Spalding]

Having re-read Al's Future Shock, paying more attention to the pretty pictures this time, I get it.  Humans don't look like us for the most part, except the dude who pushed the button, thus locking us into that genetic profile.

Interesting start to Go-Machine, which quickly got past my "Oh no, another ring fighting story" disappointment to get me intrigued.

Dredd- That Spurrier eh?  He's crazy and mad.

Red Seas -  A great romp still.

Damage Report - now it's out there for all to see, a big Congratulations to Jon 0101+1 and his lovely lady wife.  

[Matt Timson]

Yep- loved the 60% rule in Go Machine.  Very enjoyable prog all round really.  Nice to see that Bamforth bum getting some work as well...

;)

[Art]

Obviously I've not sene the prog yet, but I'm very pleased to hear that Ade Bamforth is back. Also it sounds like Al might have something with potential as a returning character there?

[ukdane]

I feel cheated by the cover, I thought it was a specially created advert- which was quite cool. But to now use it as a cover- well, I'm left feeling that an artist didn't meet his deadline.

Haven't read the contents yet, but my initial thought is "filler-prog", I hope it's good filler.

[The Amstor Computer]

The Future Shock and Go-Machine are both what would normally be considered filler material, but Al Ewing has done a sterling job with both. It helps that he's paired with a couple of great artists - Richard Elson and Ade Bamforth - but I don't think it does them a disservice to say that it's Al's scripting that makes these stories special.

BTW, Ade - was that a sneaky Fat Slags cameo in the Future Shock? :-)

Spurrier's Dredd is great fun, and the reappearance of Citizen Snork was an unexpected delight. Some really groansome plays on well-known names aside, it's a dense, intriguing opening and suggests again that Spurrier has a firm grasp on what makes Mega-City One work, even if his Dredd isn't quite right yet.

[thrillpowerseeker]

An ok prog..some minor niggles in each story but ok..best news is the upcoming Savage story Double Yellow..

[Dark Jimbo]

Lovely to see the Mega-citizens acting like idiotic, fad-obsessed crazies again, like they used to all the time in the early days.

Also nice to finally get the Isabella backstory in Red Seas - this is a gap that's needed filling since the start of the second book, when we first learned that she'd buggered off for no clear reason, and it's nice to have closure at last on that score. It was a bit chilling to see what had happened to her dad, although I laughed too - I never did like him in the first book.

Go Machine has the potential to either be absolutely great, or very average - it could still go either way.

Massively looking forward to Dante in 1500 now that Tharg's said it'll be the climax of his oceangoing adventures - I'd love a big 15-episode story where Dante leads the pirate fleet of Escondida on all-out war against Pacifica, that finally resolves the Akira/Katarina stuff, ready for him, Lauren, Flinty and Spatch to head to pastures new...

Oops, I'm rambling. I'll leave now - congrats Jon-0101!

[test 4 echo]

I liked Thargs response to "Blast from the past" in Dreddlines...

"What other old-school artists would Squaxx like to see back in these pages?"

Amongst others, Massimo.

[Grant Goggans]

Only four thrills this week?  Which one is double-length?

[The Amstor Computer]

The Red Seas is a 10-page episode.

[Artificial Idiot]

Couldn't quite get into Spurrier's Dredd tale (will re-read later) and the cover was a bit of a disappointment (though, inevitable after the last ad cover...) this is the best the prog has been in ages! Hands down! Both Al's tales and the Red Seas are just superb, to the point where I didn't even realise there were only four tales!

[Trout]

Fantastic prog, despite there being a Future Shock. Usually they're filler, but this one was great.

I fully believe Al Ewing is insane.

Go Machine was also great. In fact, the whole comic was.

Yay Dante!

- Trout

[Proudhuff]

Was there a guest ed-driod appearance by PAT-M1?

advertising Savage loverly juvorly!!

Dredd: Slagging Grermaine Geer(Sp?)Tracy Emeene(sp)Carol Volerman ?

FS: no wimmin except a appearance by the fat slags Hmmmm?

Go Machine: nagging wife???

Red seas: scheming wimmin??  

just like having Slaine back ;p