Hmm...
Cover - Nice to see them paying tribute to the original Bad Company, but the result only seems to reinforce just how far the current instance has strayed from its roots.
Dredd - Am I the only one not feeling the love for Dave Taylor's artwork? Leaves me cold, I'm afraid. Here's hoping the story develops into something truly interesting.
Savage - I love Savage. And I love Patrick Goddard's art for it. But the scene with the truck seemed to make little sense. [spoiler]It wasn't clear that the truck was braking, and Bill's dramatic exit jarred with his sudden re-appearance back inside the cab.[/spoiler] Yes, we can fill in the gaps but it felt a bit sloppy.
Brass Sun - Don't have a clue what's going on and not sure if I care.
ABC Warriors - Like Greysuit, I'm not sure whether this has descended into self-parody or not. Regardless, highlight of the week for me is Deadlock's response on page 4. Genius.
Bad Company - TL;DR.
The Dredd story has already developed into something interesting. This was a great episode. I'd like to see the same team do another Lamia story.
Brass Sun has been good lately. This episode was okay, although [spoiler]it was a shame that the new bad guys got wiped out so easily so soon after they were introduced as a major new threat.[/spoiler]
Not sure if it's my imagination , but three of the episodes remind of references from other works.
In Brass Sun we have tree creatures which reminds me of Ents in LoTR. Really not sure about the depiction on page 3 though.
In ABC Warriors the Marsokhods have their " I am Spartacus" moment and then it is explained Blackblood has gone all Horcrux (sort of).
Langley's art is just great this week, and in a "I didn't think it possible " sort of way, Uncle Pat ups the word count, over the top of the action, which gives it a slightly disconnected sort feeling.
And is that the White Walkers in Bad Company?
Elswhere Savage wraps up with a hint of romance. Like A Cow I found the truck scene a bit confusing i.e. how come Nika didn't get splatted by it. Also she seemed to be able to remove the belt very easily.
As for Dredd - there are a couple of interesting ideas thrown in here.
Overall though, I am getting a bit tired of the "I stopped reading the Prog years ago" and its "rubbish now" sort of comments being made (largely elsewhere). Given the former, how does anyone know the latter is true?
(https://i.imgur.com/H84KEk6.jpg)
Well every long running comic does it in the end I guess, but have to say I was a little surprised to see Tharg do a Giant Sized X-men 1 cover - shouldn't be they did the others (Amazing Fantasy 15 (or was that a cover on a cover) Amazing Spidey 50 and X-Men 141) and have to say it makes for a great cover.
Inside its much as you where. To be honest ABC Warriors improves, its been an up and down run and that's encapsulated in this episode. I love bits whinced at bits. Dredd is equally enjoyable and Bad Company is raised by to higher levels by some glorious art... well the colouring I think it is, really, really enjoying Terrorists now. Savage jolted me at first with the scene shift, but it really worked in the end and loved the ending and the addition Nika being added to the cast outside the context of the last couple of books and adding a romantic interest for Bill which can really add new things to the series. Lets see where we go.
Brass Sun still rules the roost however christ this series is GREAT.
Really can't wait for next weeks Prog as we'll get another of those lessons in how well Tharg's thrills make their landing. Then 48 pages the week after - good times.
Bit of a homage to the first Bad Company cover apparently: https://twitter.com/RUFUS_DAYGLO/status/969566093374382080
I hadn't noticed that about Prog 501, but it's totally an X-Men pose: http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=prog&page=profiles&choice=501
http://marvel.com/comics/issue/20563/classic_x-men_1986_1
Love the cover.its 1987 all over again.wonderful.
Must compliment Rufus on a very cool cover
Pat slips a reference to the NRA in there - a bit prescient, considering current headlines.
Still haven't got my subs prog yet :(
Damn you Snowmageddon!!
Cover: Fab. Dayglo can do no wrong.
Dredd: I'm enjoying this. Bit different. Dredd actually not defaulting to SHOOT THE THING I DON'T UNDERSTAND was nice, too. Letting the expert take the lead = smart policing.
Savage: End of book 11. I'm not sure what to make of this one. Mr Ten Per Cent being in the comic twice was a problem, and I'm not convinced about the overt ABC Warriors crossovers. At the very least, you know TPC was going to be fine, because later in the Prog he's still alive in the future. All the lyrics stuff is a bit hmmm too, but the strip itself worked reasonably well as a standalone tale. That said, I do wonder whether we're now down for a dozen books of Bill vs the military-industrial complex. If so, I hope there's some action, not many episodes that are a bunch of lyrics plastered on the page, and a minimum of preaching.
Brass Sun: Still very solid. Some nice surprises. I feel sorry for the protagonist.
ABC Warriors: I'd say this has descended into self-parody now. I'd happily see ABC Warriors rested for a couple of years after this. Pat apparently ran out of ideas for a strip some time ago, and we're just seeing recycling now. It feels like the series needs some kind of reboot, and to get off of Mars. If not, just stop with having the same endless cycle of facing off against their evil mirror images – it's just really boring, which is something this strip shouldn't be.
Bad Company: Lovely and energetic art, but I'm still not convinced about the script. Yes, fine, everything in war is a lie, so don't believe anything you've read, but this feels like it's just fired a volley of bullets through the strip's history. So I'm on the fence with this one.
Looking forwards to the jumping-on Prog.
Solid Prog but Savage feels like it missed a few dozen pages. The ending feels rushed and incomplete.
Quote from: broodblik on 07 March, 2018, 01:37:25 PM
Solid Prog but Savage feels like it missed a few dozen pages. The ending feels rushed and incomplete.
Really? It follows on from last week where Voldina was captured by the Volga with the anticipation that Savage would attempt to rescue her, which he duly did and then left room for a wrap up scene a bit like you used to get on Star Trek TNG Or DS9 where they reflect on what happened. In this case the hint of a bit of romance for Bill and Nika.
Sorry I missed that from the previous Prog and clearly as daylight the last two panels she was captured.
round of appaluse
for partick goddard
makes impossible
look easy & i have
mancrush on beardy bill
Quote from: Big_Dave on 07 March, 2018, 10:07:58 PM
round of appaluse
for partick goddard
makes impossible
look easy & i have
mancrush on beardy bill
Beardy Bill looks quite young though. I suspect he uses Just For Men.
Quartz knows [spoiler]Bill will strike on this particular day, or has maybe just been sitting in traffic for days[/spoiler]
Volodina [spoiler]has allowed herself to be used as a weapon, but not to the extent of actually being effective[/spoiler]
Meanwhile, Bill[spoiler]has somehow managed to steal an Autobot, and discover the Quartz's secret plan, and discover a way to counter it. Rather than just maybe nipping round Volodina's flat. [/spoiler]
All because of a stalemate [spoiler]caused by the Pirates, who we last saw being defeated by half a dozen conscripts, threatening to begin working on their own Stare, which the secret organization which runs the world decided was a big enough threat as to immediately abandon their key weapon. Its a bit like a bunch of physics students threatening to come up with their own nuclear bomb, so every country in the world disarms straight away[/spoiler]
And the pirates are [spoiler]willing to help Bill and avoid killing any scientists, despite their whole thing being about how you should never trust people like Bill, and those scientists being responsible for countless deaths, because they sold out and put a system above innocent lives[/spoiler]
Aaarrrggghhh!
And all for Bill [spoiler]to not even bother checking Quartz was dead, and to fall in love with a woman whose only trait so far has been to betray absolutely everyone at some stage[/spoiler]
Dredd steals the show again, a bit exposition-heavy this week but intriguingly so. I love the ever-changing patterns on Lamia's scalp. I get the idea they're a supernatural phenomenon that can't actually be seen... like psychic isobars or something.
Elsewhere Brass Sun provides most of the enjoyment with a nicely cinematic installment.
Just a thought... when was the last time Pat Mills actually created a new character for 2000 AD? With their own strip, I mean? Defoe was the last one, wasn't it? Perhaps the best answer to this endless cycling through his repertoire would be for him to come up with something completely new.
Quote from: norton canes on 08 March, 2018, 12:08:51 PM
Defoe was the last one, wasn't it? Perhaps the best answer to this endless cycling through his repertoire would be for him to come up with something completely new.
Aye, because the vague political allusions and a lead character with a grudge against the system is something that Mills has never written before.
Dredd and Brass Sun again for me this week but an enjoyable Prog overall.
Quite an interesting bit of world building in Dredd actually and gorgeously realised. Interested to see this taken further. An exorcist team strip would be very nice, possibly with a BritCit link...
Brass Sun is going to be AMAZING collected. Message ends.
Ps. #PraiseBeToTharg
Could anybody give me a very brief run down of what happened in Prog 2070 before I read this weeks prog? I picked up 2071 from my newsagent today, but last weeks edition failed to make it through the snow, so now I'm missing one part of each of the stories.
2070 spoilers...
Dredd...[spoiler]more set up, as Lamia gets back into action. Lamia and Dredd are called to an emergency at the mystery ship, where a judge is attacked by a walking dead crew member, but kills it with fire.
[/spoiler]
ABC Warriors...[spoiler]the gang spend 3 pages explaining to blackblood why they're about to shoot him. Then they shoot him[/spoiler]
BrassSun...[spoiler]Wren recaps on her time away. Its been years. She had a kid, who died, then her monk boyfriend left to go back to monkdom. [/spoiler]
Bad Company...[spoiler]war is bad. Danny is sad. Mac dies again[/spoiler]
Savage...[spoiler]everyone decides to not fight for reasons that make so little sense it actually makes me angry, but to allow the good guys to fly away. Quartz uses mad scientists as a human shield, and the Pirates and Bill decide to respect that, rather than just shoot Quartz and the asshole scientists who built the killing machines to satisfy their own shitty curiosity. Quartz shoots at them with his massive phallic cannon. Volodina falls out of flying thing. savage decides to go back for her, despite her being a terrible person he has no reason to care for.[/spoiler]
Massive thanks for that Modern Panther, particularly regarding Brass Sun, as I feel that would probably have been a fairly important character beat to have missed. (Though ABC Warriors kind of turned out how I expected it would. :lol: )
Dredd and Brass Sun win it for me because I don't have to completely change my mindset to enjoy them. But with my "OTT parody" hat on, I enjoyed ABC, with my "stoned student who thinks they are the first person to notice this"on hat on, I enjoyed Bad Company and I'm still trying to figure out that hat I have to wear to make Savage work now it's an ABC crossover.
But overall an enjoyable prog.
Cover: Ace, colourful and clever.
Dredd: Good, interesting and lovely. Although the curse of Passive Dredd strikes again.
Brass Sun: Oh my, what a treat. So much stuff going on here, and all I want is more.
Savage: Maggie shot Mr. Burns? What a cop-out. At least I think that's what went on here. Oh look, I'll be honest, I did enjoy seeing Bill driving a Transformer Lorry from 3000AD that was also a Martian Tripod. Nothing else. I found the wrap-up trite and ludicrous, and have zero interest in more Bill Vs. Howard. But if there's one thing we know about Savage, the next book is unlikely to resemble the current one, so onward.
ABC Warriors, on the other hand, we can be fairly sure that the next book wiil be just like this one, and the next and the next. Could we just pay Langley to draw ABC Warriors posters instead? I'd probably buy them, his wrasslin' robots are ace, and I wouldn't have to read utterly predictable Blackblood escapades, and more "you're the terrorists, no you're the real terrorists" over and over again. Gah!
Bad Company, on the other hand, we can be fairly sure that the next book wiil be just like this one, and the next and the next. Could we just pay Rufus to draw Bad Company posters instead? I'd probably buy them, his wrasslin' veterans are ace, and I wouldn't have to read about yet-another spurious obstacle of half-dead half-insane experimental rejects, and more "you're the terrorists, no you're the real terrorists" over and over again. Gah!
Quote from: norton canes on 08 March, 2018, 12:08:51 PM
Just a thought... when was the last time Pat Mills actually created a new character for 2000 AD? With their own strip, I mean? Defoe was the last one, wasn't it? Perhaps the best answer to this endless cycling through his repertoire would be for him to come up with something completely new.
As I recall, the last strip Unki Pat and Clint Langley brought to
'The house of Tharg' was American Reaper which was panned by most, although I enjoyed it and would have happily seen it return. Maybe treading water in established strips
is what the majority wants. The Prog seems to be selling well as I understand it, and the Forum only represents a tiny minority of the overall fandom.
Veering wildly back on topic - I love the original run of Bad Company and feel it should have been left as a standalone classic. I'm waiting for the big reveal that [spoiler]Danny Franks is in a Hospital ward/cell and it's all happening inside his head.[/spoiler]
Brass Sun, Savage , and A.B.C's all doing the job, for me.
Cheers
i liked madness
of savage & abc
warriors too
The Big reveal I'd like in Bad Co is that[spoiler] Danny Franks is still the Krool Heart and this is going somewhere, [/spoiler] but I think that ship has sailed. The really annoying thing is I really liked Milliglo's Counterfeit Girl, and given we could have had more of that instead, it riles me a bit extra than it possibly should.
Surely with this week's repetitive page-count-extending tactic of the absurd Dead White Males (who in no way resemble the old War Zombies, who were just dead soldiers reanimated by gas and controlled by a rhythmic beat) and the line 'most modern humans can't handle poetry of this intensity', there can be no other explanation than that this is a shaggy dog story happening entirely in Danny's head.
Otherwise it is simply appalling drivel, dressed in vibrant art that it doesn't deserve.
I have been wondering what's been bugging me about Brass Sun lately, and I think I've finally twigged: how does the toilet work in that tortoise house? Either
1 Wren poos through a regular hole in the floor of her house onto the tortoise shell and just lets it run down to build up in the edge of the shell where there's a kind of natural guttering and now there's a whole moat of human poo surrounding the shell, or
2 she's drilled a hole through the shell into the tortoise's own bowels and all her poo is dumped - so to speak - if/when the tortoise does its own business.
the turtles head
Quote from: Professor Bear on 10 March, 2018, 05:43:07 PM
I have been wondering what's been bugging me about Brass Sun lately, and I think I've finally twigged: how does the toilet work in that tortoise house? Either
1 Wren poos through a regular hole in the floor of her house onto the tortoise shell and just lets it run down to build up in the edge of the shell where there's a kind of natural guttering and now there's a whole moat of human poo surrounding the shell, or
2 she's drilled a hole through the shell into the tortoise's own bowels and all her poo is dumped - so to speak - if/when the tortoise does its own business.
Maybe she just gets off it and goes elsewhere?
If you have to go outside to go to the toilet, why bother building a house at all?
It's far from indoor toilets Wren was reared.
Quick re-emphasis of just how much I'm loving the current book of Brass Sun. The Ians should be kept working on this continually, and only let out to do more Brink and Kingmaker respectively.