Prog 1840: Even legends die!

[Minkyboy]

Early doors today.

Cover: Initial reaction, "Oh no, more Age of the Wolf". This opinion is now changed.

Dredd: Bringing Joe up to speed with all that we already knew but gloriously. Waldorf & Mutch were great characters, reminded me a bit of Brand and Brass and also of Mr Neat and Mr Tidy from that seminal classic "Mr Messy" of the Mr Men stable. I love the detail of the street defenestration scene (especially the medwagon's retros) and the energy and atmosphere of the fight and flight. Top stuff.

Defoe: I didn't see that coming, you got me wrong footed there Pat with that confession, nice one. Further sparks of (conflicted) love interest and finally some movement away from the Tower bring some much needed fresh air to the strip. The old stumble and moan routine is a bit of a cliche now, but I don't care. Best Defoe for ages.

Sinister: This episode should have been called "The Scream". Great transformation from bimbling, loony half-wit back into lethal gun-shark. A very tight 45 seconds. Sharp.

Wolf: Well now. I was not in the slightest bit interested to see this come back. But this episode was fab and has rekindled the interest I had in the first few apocalyptic London scenes. Not sure about "Werewolves of the world unite!" cry though. It sounds a bit left-wing protest movement rather than feral battle cry. I hope this stays good.

Tharg's Future Shop: Had a jolt of thrillpower as those covers jump off the page at you. Makes me want to buy them all over again!

Ten-Seconders: Standout winner in the prog for me this week. "Your entire planet is being taken inside the Father's ship!" Crunch goes the moon. Now THAT is some awesome science fiction right there. Love Harris keeping it real and grounded as the planet writhes and adjusts. Malloy comes apart. Hope Jen will be alright and they just strip her powers away. Funny ending with great big stony toddler. Love it, worth the cover price alone.

Thanks Tharg, see you next week!

[Tjm86]

Waldorf & Mutch were great characters, reminded me a bit of Brand and Brass and also of Mr Neat and Mr Tidy from that seminal classic "Mr Messy" of the Mr Men stable.

Maybe I'm showing my age a bit here but they put me very much in mind of the two killers from Diamonds are Forever (Wint and Kidd) although I can also see the Brand and Brass analogy (which of course would also be a sign of the same issue).

Loved the cover tagline this week, very fitting tribute to the recent passing of a true 'legend'. 

[Proudhuff]

A cracking prog, every story fired up and doing what it should, even Sin dex, nice to have citizen Smith Wolfie back starting on a bloody high.


Is that Prof Bear in the Trills of the future? and Marg does a number on Zenith in Damage Report 

[Mattofthespurs]

Didn't turn up 

[Hawkmumbler]

Someone remind me, why has The Scientist Alien been captured in ten-Seconders again? When and how?

[hippynumber1]

I seem to remember him just turning up and saying "I'm here to help."  Something like that, I'm sure...

[Tjm86]

nice to have citizen Smith Wolfie back starting on a bloody high.

Nice one Centurion!

[vzzbux]

JDH gives good Wolf but he is no Steve Dillon.
Glad this is back.





V

[Colin YNWA]

Well that was a pleasant surprise, well after a wait anyway. Mind the Prog being 3 days late is soften somewhat by the fact I was away this weekend so wouldn't have got it anyway. So yeah a nice surprise, see with three thrills I'm not a big fan of I wasn't convinced this Prog would be an out and out win, but you know what it wasn't half bad.

This book of Defoe continues to be the most readable one to date for me. Still never going to be my favourite thrill but I'm enjoying it enough to continue reading, which I've not managed in the past. I thought Age of the Wolf was a blindin' opening. This onehas flattered to deceive in the past, but you can't ask for more than a great opening so I'll allow my naive optimism to continue.

The Ten-Seconders continues to be the best its ever been too. How much of that is down to Edmund Bagwell simply breath-taking art is hard to say. On another note another great example of introducing characters in this part, back to the discussion elsewhere about returning progs needing a 'seperate' introduction. See this, shows you can do it all perfectly well in story - again.

Dredd and Sinister Dext... well just Sinister then are as good as you'd expect, which is of course bloody great. With art from Taylor, Burns and Bagwell its hard to imagine a better looking Prog (well you could have Flint on Yeowell on the other strips, but that'd just be being greedy!)

Good things come to those who wait (however impatiently!)

Elsewhere everything was as good as you'd expect

[Minkyboy]

On another note another great example of introducing characters in this part, back to the discussion elsewhere about returning progs needing a 'seperate' introduction. See this, shows you can do it all perfectly well in story - again.

Totally agree

[Pop Culture Bandit]

Dredd - Waldo & Mutch end their partnership at the hands of Dredd. Really liked the movement of the art in this installment. Dave Taylor manages to convey the action across the panels really well. It looks like we've got another link in the chain before Dredd catches up with the real mastermind though.

Sinister/Dexter - Glad that Sinister has got someone to talk to now, and I really like the 'Not LOL' reaction in the final panel. I have the feeling that we won't be seeing Dexter anytime soon, but I'd happily be proved wrong!

Defoe - Brilliant. Completely defused what I expected to be a long-running plot thread in the opening panel. I love that this isn't going where I expect. Also, looking forward to seeing the story move outside of the Tower from now on.

The Ten Seconders - Love the scale of the Fathers against the human, and their ship against the Earth. It really helps convey the sense of 'what have we done' that the humans must be feeling, upon summoning them. The artwork is top notch, as are the designs of both the Fathers and the odd creature at the end.

Age of the Wolf - A nice recap by Tharg in the input centre helps lapsed readers like me catch up with events, and the opening chapter was fairly light on references to the past, focusing on establishing the hierarchy within the Wolf culture over the past twenty years. I like the wolf artwork, and the imaginative (and gory) death sequence!

For a more detailed review, check out my blog > http://popculturebandit.blogspot.com/2013/07/2000ad-prog-1840.html

[IndigoPrime]

and their ship against the Earth

Assuming the Earth survives, that lack of a moon's going to play havoc anyway. It's not looking promising. Lovely slice of sci-fi, though, with the massive ship sucking in the planet.

[Hawkmumbler]

I concur, surprisingly refreshing and utterly wonderful slice of sci-fi.

[James Stacey]

Enjoyed this week but was it just me who felt wolf society evolved a bit far in 20 years and seemed to have too much history ?

[Alien Goodness]

*thrill circuits explode*