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A nice enough cover if a little trad and lacking the originaity of some over the last few months. Still don't understand the logic of a cover announcing the last part of a story but I'm not Tharg and neither is my Wife.

Dredd - Rennie and Holden. So it was always going to be good, and it is. Another story that looks like it's laying groundwork. It's about now that I'm starting to want to see some of these potentially recurring characters to start recurring before it gets too much.

Red Seas - So much fun, this series. Nice character moments, lovely dialogue, well paced action, and an ending that pulls the rug out from under the heroes and had me laughing out loud. I'm enjoying this story and this series and with things like this and Cabals still ongoing it's proof of how creatively good 2k still is.

The V.C.'s - This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. I'd happily have this series as an annual feature so stopping now, and at this point in the story, is an interesting decision. This is a series that when collected might win over some of the doubters. Volume 1 - the G.F.D. series. Volume 2 - Books 1-3 of V2. Volume 3 - Books 4 and 5. Get these out without a long wait between books and there's a chance for strong sales.

London Falling - I liked The Scrap, I liked From Grace. I liked this. These mini-series make a nice change from epics and ongoings, and are generally more satisfying than 5 one offs. Tharg promises more, and soon and I'm glad. Plus, as far as I know, we knew nothing about this and the next story and it's nice to be surprised. As tantalising as Stickleback and Stone Island sound something out of left field can be just as welcome.

London Falling - I liked The Scrap, I liked From Grace. I liked this. These mini-series make a nice change from epics and ongoings, and are generally more satisfying than 5 one offs.

I'd love a Rebellion tpb of Spurrier's shorter offerings - The Scrap, From Grace, London Falling, possibly some Kipling depending on how much there is. It'd make a great little package.

And yeah, I'd love to read the original VCs, never having done so. EE, perhaps?

Dredd story was interesting - are these sanctuary stations a new thing?

Red Seas - are those little lizard things wearing red vests or what? Not bad but should pick up next week.

The VCs - It's over. Good. The first double length episode of this book was good, the rest has been rubbish. I don'tthink the artwork has helped.

London Falling - Very satisfying conclusion.

Oh yes - Droid Life. WTF is that about?

That's the first serious miss this strip has had. Unfortunately it was always going to have a short shelf life. A shame because I really enjoy it. It brings a lot of character to the publication.

:: Oh yes - Droid Life. WTF is that about?

I saw it as "if Porkies had a robot cast"; if there was a shower scene, all the "girl" robots would get frazzled.

I saw it as "if Porkies had a robot cast"; if there was a shower scene, all the "girl" robots would get frazzled.

Hmmmmm. 2am strip this one methinks.

Dredd: So....the beast is Chesterton, right?

Red Seas: Still fun

VCs: I thought more people would die. I liked Smith's tough guy dialogue, but it wasn't much of an ending.

London Falling: Last page was great.

And now my comments if I may...

Judge Dredd: A very good start to a story so far. Was I the only person who thought TARDIS when I first saw the Justice Dept Sanctuary? :)
The fight with the beast was great aand teh last couple of frames sets up next week's episode nicely.

The Red Seas: I'm enjoying this latest adventure with Jack Dancer and co! I'm begining to think that his dino allies should be wearing red shirts, because they seem to be getting killed off one by one.

The V.C.s: This was a good ending to this part of the story. I don't think a lot of the readers actually believed that it was Gaek'rr that was killed in last week's episode but it was still sad to hear that Keeg was dead. Hoff could have gone either way, but if he is destined to be Smith mk II, then this was a good mission to get him on the way. Let the soldiers get on with their soldiering and leave the politicians to talk.

London's Falling: It's all about belief. That's why Shuck wanted people to be afraid of the unknown things that lurk in the darkness. They gave him power. I was on to Jackie's mistake a few episodes ago. When Tommy Rawhead warned him to watch his kids, he wasn't saying that he was going to hurt them, but Shuck was. But Jackie got the wrong end of the stick. I have to applaud the ending though. Very apt with the message of this week's episode! It's all to do with belief.

Droid Life: Fun as always.

So all in all, a very good prog. Very enjoyable.

Cover: good stuff should hook a few old hands
DLife: Okay
Damage report: Who's off for an early oilbath?

Dredd: The End? I think not, can't we have a whole story, you know week one: start, Week 2: middle, week 3: end? There does seem to be more hanging chads in the Big Meg that in the whole of a Bush election.

Red seas: maybe they don't eat humans? just those dinos in the red shirts? Just a quick question, who's the dame? Jack's wife, sister, mother S/O?

VC: I thought that was their geek, is that the VCs finally buried then?

London Falling: Great finish, like drinking varnish ;p  Its good to have some english folk memories after years of Jockdom in the Meg etc

and a 'Dear Mr Newsagent' coupon Hurrah!!
Five issues to the big one...

Huffster
 

The dame is Jacks ex-girlfriend, who he spent most of the first story trying to rescue. I suspect her dinos are under orders to spare the Pirates.

And the dogs omens of death hang over their heads still...

The fight with the beast was great aand teh last couple of frames sets up next week's episode nicely.

I thought it was going to be continued next week two, but it said 'the end' at the bottom.

Seemed to be a very quick read this week, but maybe that was just me reading quickly.

cover  Given some of the cracking covers we've had in recent weeks, this was a bit lacking (and I did read the tag as 'R.I.P. V.C.s?  Who lives?  Who dies?  Who cares?' when I first glanced at it).

Droid Life  Not the best gag ever, but the hit rate for Droid Life up to now has hardly been disappointing, has it?

Dredd  Liked this a lot and it's a shame that there's a big fat 'the end' at the end of a good beginning here. Ho hum.  I'm sure this will return just in time for me to have forgotten what was going on in the first place.

Red Seas  Best thing in the prog.  Can we have a film of this, please?  With Ray Harryhausen effects?  Please?

The V.C.s  Well, it's over.  Really over, apparently.  I liked the opening of this book, then it just coasted through with no surprises to a predictable conclusion.  The last episode wasn't bad, though.  I think my main problem with the return of the V.C.s is the fact I love the original so damn much, and this just feels like a poor imitation.

London Falling  A cracking little series which, if it had had more pirates and dinosaurs, would have been the best thing in the prog.  Cheers, Tharg!

Next prog:  Go-Machine!  Any clues?

One quick comment about the Dredd story this Week: Gordon/PJ which church was it?  St Bob's or St Jakes ?

Ooops

;-)

Other than that, Stonking good Prog.

Shame that VCs wasn't finished in a more definate way - the team are still around, the war is still going, just the Geeks and Humans are hopefully on the right side vs. the Polity.  Feels like there's another book in there to finish it off properly, but that Tharg's said "sorry guys"

Clue: Go-Machine written by me.

Congrats Al!

London Falling was absolutely frigging excellent.

Dredd followed up the previous story using the park beast very nicely - but it would have been nice to have a multi-parter out of the concept again.

VC's - who was it who was talking the other day about well-known writers spinning one-book concepts out into five-book epics?  At least Tharg too seems to be washing his hands of it.

Red Seas is going to be better read all i one, I think, but it's all great and at least Jack and his paramour are back together again.

Not wanting to be overly contrary, but I thought that the Droid Life was actually one of the better ones this year.  Then again, in my teens I seem to have memorised several scenes from Porky's.

I friggin' love Porky's and have the first two on DVD. I also love Droid Life (and thought the McCoy one hilarious even if no-one else did).

This one just didn't work for me. Looking forward to the Revenge of the Nerds themed one next week though ;>

Got to say,

V.C.s: hated it at first but these last few episodes have realy caught my attention.

GOOD WORK! shame it wasn't like this the whole time.

Really did not warm to the VC's at all. bad artwork, sloppy script, glad it's over.

Sad really because I loved the original version.

VC's.

I get the feeling that the main reason this isn't coming back could be because Dan Abnett has forgotten what he was going to be doing with it.

The first of the new books featured Smith looking like he was losing it and talking to the rest of the troopers from the first run. That was interesting, but it was dropped.

An alternative version of the last episode could have featured smith being roused from his beating by the mercenary by a vision of Jupe and the rest telling him he'd got more work to do before he blitzed the Alien frikker and avenged Keege.

The stuff with the Polity was a waste, as the war should just have been left to run, with smith and his crew kicking Geek ass. That way the series could have been left with big gaps between offensives and used as a jolt of adrenaline in the prog.

I understand that that approach would have reduced the chances of a collection, but it would have also allowed the strip to be used in a Sin/Dex kind of way for newer artists to try their hand at future war.

Could anyone else picture a VC's by D'Isreali?



Bolt-01

I actually enjoyed the VCs this time round.

I really would like to hear detailed crit of the art because I thought it was pretty good.  Antwill seems to be getting the backgrounds in (his major sin from earlier) and most of the colouring, especially the jungle planet was spot on. It was clear, unfussy and told the story without confusion or flipflammery.


Agree, when I think about it, that Dabnett did lose his way as described above but the gaps between books were such that I never noticed the change in tone.  My major gripe about Dabnett is his descent into action film cliche. Really, can any writer type "Hear endeth the lesson" in a script these days and not feel ashamed to collect the cheque?*  The simple repetition of "You're hit, you're dead" was more effective and in line with the simple message of the earlier stories.  



*I actually know the answer to this question but feel free to chip in and embarrass any other writers who frequent here and have used it.  I'm almost certain GRENNIE has.

Book 5 of this has been my first book. And i have to say. THE VC's RULE!!! So cool. But i can't believe they killed Keege! Jesus, why him? Frick! I shall never say that again. EVER!

Great stuff all round.

London Falling was the best thing in the prog.

The only story I didn't enjoy much was the VCs. That's despite having liked every other episode of it. I just felt the ending was a bit flat.

Also, the Red Seas is 10 times as much fun as it has any right to be. It's silly and trashy and I love every panel of it.

- Trout

Cover : Meh

DLife : Funnee.

Dredd : Good solid stuff but with Origins on its way its gonna be a while before Grennie gets a chance to return to any of his villains. If he wants to that is.

Red Seas : I saw Pirates of the Caribbean last night. Why cant it be more like this and less like a big long advert for a Disney ride? Grrrrrrrrrrrrreat.

VCs : How can one story take so long to deliver so little? Thats the end? Whatevah.

London Falling : Like a big fat future shock given room to grow and none the worse for it. Loved this.

Good prog with more surprises to come.

Cheers Tharg.

I thought the VCs was the epitome of what stereotypical 2000ad strips should be like - confusing space-war with grim setting and relentlessly savage deaths as the crew gets whittled down over various suicide missions decried by the anti-war narrator who gradually becomes a psychopathic officer and/or leader of the remaining troops.  This wasn't that story, though.
I have no problems with cliched rubbish as long as it entertains me (see Red Seas, Nikolai Dante, and at this point, Judge Dredd), and even though Dabnett should be well-versed in cliched guff with his tenure on American crapola, he failed to deliver the goods here - even though the elements of a decent story were present.
A poor epitaph for a fondly-remembered 2000ad classic.

I now renew my calls for a Dabnett-scripted Halo Jones Book 4.  The thought of it boggles my mind.

Hmm let's here:
Cover- Love it.
Dredd- The Sanctuary Booth is a great idea. Love it.
The Red Seas- Funner now with more dialogue. Love it.
The VC's- Very Cool. (What does it really stand for? Is it Vaccum Cleaners?)
London Falling- Heh heh. What an ending. Loved it.

Great prog.

9/10

Yeah, it's vacuum cleaners - I think Logan posted up a screenshot of it being explained in the original series - but I can't remember what thread that was and I fear search functions.

Something to do with they clean the vacuum of space, wasn't it? That would seem to explain it.

Damn your cold, hard, Vulcan logic!

Best thing in the prog was definitely London Falling. The ending was great, didn't see it coming at all. More please.

VCs was pretty good this week. I hope it's really not the end. I'd like to see it back again, perhaps after a break of a year or two and with a different art droid. Not saying the art is bad, just not perhaps the best style for a future war strip.

Red Seas has it's moments I guess, it's just not really my cup of tea. Perhaps a change of art droid would help? The style of the story seems especially suited to the art droid that usually draws Dante.

Dredd was good. I'd been wondering if we'd ever get a follow-up story about the beasty in the park.

Hope we get a new Strontium Dog story soon. I guess Ezquerra's been busy working on origins though.

HiEx

I'd been wondering if we'd ever get a follow-up story about the beasty in the park.

I've missed something here. Can someone direct me to the original beasty in the park story?

it's quite recent. Dredd is giving a bunch of cadets a tour of the park and answering their questions. The best crops up just as a rumour (to Dredd and the cadets, although we readers know it's real)

Cover: OK. 5/10

Droid Life: OK. 6/10

Dredd This was OK. 5/10

Red Seas: God's honest truth I thought this was OK. 5/10

The V.C.s: Ah! The cycle is broken! This was crap. A crap ending to a crap series. You could have removed all the other books and just had this one and not missed anything. Then you could have removed this one and all would be well. Pure. Crap. 2/10

London Falling: Great mini-series! I thought Si was going to blow the ending but the twist was really brilliant and elevated the whole thing well above "OK".

Tharg also reminded me of Roadkill and the Scrap. Two of my all-time favourite thrills. More one-offs Tharg! What? Next prog?

Ok.

Cover- I quite liked this cover.

Droid Life- Meh

Dredd- Not so keen on this- horrible monster turns up and butchers citizens then bounds off into the park. And? So?
Much more interesting things could be done with Chesterton- shoot the pointless monster and invent some sort of strange subculture for the park, like the Undercity or the Jungle. Better still- a mini-epic tour of the whole park with lots of weirdness, like the planets in Judge child. Each episode or so a self contained story within a greater plot. Or something.

Red Seas- Brilliant art, fantastic script- imaginitive and witty- reminds me somehow of old days spent playing AD&D. This and London's Calling have been the highlights since they began- far more original than any Hollywood nautical tomfoolery.

The VCs- Having been indifferent to the story earlier, and mildly interested later, I have to say- I don't want it to end for ever. A bit of a more action packed story would be good. The Polity is arse (are arse?). Have a civil war- once the apologist geeks seek to join the humans, an open revolt by Earth colonies not wanting to join forces with the enemy or something, with the VCs going in against there own kind. More opportunity for pathos. I find it hard to sympathise with bug-eyed alien scum!

London Falling- Really liked the ending. Top stuff. Glad it won't be back. You can't top it, I can't see any way to go with it now. Write another excellent one-off instead.

I thought Droid life was funny.

the cover was just okay.

London Falling was brilliant but I wanted it to go on longer. Felt like it was only getting started.  

>Yeah, it's vacuum cleaners - I think Logan posted up a screenshot of it being explained in the original series - but I can't remember what thread that was and I fear search functions.