Prog 1863: Mutant Massacre

[Goaty]

I can't remember if Henry Flint did SJS before but drawing of SJS helmet and shoulder on this prog looks great!

[BPP]

Consider this 'plus 1' for turning Titan into a six monther. Williams, Flint and Giannis Milongiannis on fills.

[NapalmKev]

Top Prog!

I'm really enjoying Ulysses Sweet. Nice art and absolutely hilarious.

Cheers

[Mabs]

Top Prog!

I'm really enjoying Ulysses Sweet. Nice art and absolutely hilarious.

Cheers

I agree! Ulysses may be batshit insane, but he's one funny Dolphin munching madman!

[Mabs]

Consider this 'plus 1' for turning Titan into a six monther. Williams, Flint and Giannis Milongiannis on fills.

+2 from me aswell. And Giannis Milonogiannis? Wow. What a team up that would be (if we can acquire his services that is). If Titan were to turn into an epic I would love to have Colin MacNeil on board aswell.

[Pop Culture Bandit]

Dredd - I have to echo the positive statements about Titan - I really could see this as a potential sequel to the movie, and that's without seeing the other six installments! Dredd vs a prison of ex-Judges on a moon - that's box office gold, surely?!

Ulysses Sweet - Not bad, but considering his penchant for mania, Sweet seems to be acting relatively stable. Surely, he should be causing slightly more havoc than cutting off a dolphin's head.

ABC Warriors - Love the change in art style and the development of the story-arc. Unlike others on the board, I'm not familiar with some of the recent retrospective-focused stories, so I'm not overly put off with this nostalgic indulgence.

Grey Area - Great example of recapping previous events naturally in dialogue, whilst setting up the next chapter. Looking forward to more of this.

Strontium Dog - Stakes are high, Tensions are rising - Where will this go? Love the artwork and the epic feel to the storyline.

For a more detailed review, check out my blog post here > http://www.popculturebandit.co.uk/2014/01/2000ad-prog-1863.html

[LorcanQ]

Good fun little prog.

DREDD: Really enjoying this and the suspense of waiting for the crew to actually land on titan and find out what happened is really intriguing. As with the troll king story i really like the premise given across in the first few story parts BUT, with that particular story i found it wound down far too quickly and was a bit of an anti-climax. I'm worried this could also happen with the titan story if it is only an 8-parter. I feel it would work better as a 12 or more parter..

ABC: Still have the problem with mills that the characters are paper thin and very little happens in each  episode. Still, i prefer this to slaine and defoe.

ULYSSES: Dunno about this, ill let it play out a bit more before making a decision. its fun enough i suppose but didnt find it that funny. Actually the gay joke was pretty good..

GREY AREA: Loved this. Simple, fun premise with a great little twist, probs the highlight of the prog for me.

STRONTIUM: I dont mind this but it seems to be getting a bit repetitive. I mean its just been constant fighting since the start. not bad tho

[judgerufian]

I was also surprised to receive this prog seemingly early in the week, not complaining at all though!

Strontium Dog: As much a fan as I was of the old Johnny Alpha tracking down bad guys and the epic scope of Portrait of a Mutant, the whole resurrection and the crazy way it was handled left me cold. Unfortunately this second Mutant was is doing the same, Ezquerras work seems a bit lack-lustre and apart from some big battle scenes which have been very impressive, it seems very talking heads for a strip that used to ooze action from every pore. Its the usual thing with characters that come back from the dead, because its happened once, you care less because it can just happen again. Oh and the drone not killing Johnny and Middenface...come on!! Also have to say the baddies are very one dimensional, rich english aristocrats and redneck americans.

Grey Area: I do like this but think it has suffered from not having the right artist on it, Dylan Teague (more on him later) always seemed an odd fit, I do like Patrick Goddards work on this though (and it suits him better than Blackha....Aquila). Wish the characters were a bit more defined and different though, not helped by them all wearing the same suit!

ABC Warriors: Oh no, its yet another flashback, this time lasting another 'book' when it could condensed into an episode or two. I would maybe forgive this if it was about another character but Happy Shrapnel (apart from the great name) has always been a nearly man in the Warriors line up. Clint Langley's art is a nice change from the photoshoots but is it done to show he can draw as well as produce good computer art? It does seem a bit too scuzzy though making everyone look like extras from Heavy Metal Dredd. Sure it will plod along for another couple of issues.

Ulysses Sweet: Do I like this or dont I? Its difficult to know if this is just an expanded Future Shock with added un-PC violence (something I am not against before you ask!) being stretched to add new blood to the prog? Hope it doesnt outstay its welcome ie only lasts another prog or so.

Judge Dredd: At last some meat on the bones, a great opening last week followed up well, Dredd sounding world weary but still dont mess with him, political goings on with Hershey (never saw the Jessie J look-a-like-ness until now ha ha), the welcome return of the SJS and a very promising build up to a story that has potential to go far. Does Henry Flint ever do a bad job on any character, extra oil for that droid! As has been mentioned so far, I really hope they dont wrap this up too fast (I'm looking at you Rob Williams and Scavengers, great idea then whaaat, its a boring shoot out).

Cover - Sorry Mr Teague this doesnt grab me at all, the poses and colours are all staid and blank areas down both sides make it seem like a missed opportunity to jazz this cover up! Will await the next one!

Would I buy it still - yep
Would I recommend this one - yep but then I'm a fan and 2000ad on a bad day is still far better than most comics!

[MercZ]

I don't have much to say that hasn't been already said. I liked the prog overall, good storylines in place for now.

I did have to go back and re-download some earlier progs to remember who the SJS judge was though. 

[The Cheat]

Dredd - Finding the time jumps a bit clunky, but at least we get a caption box this week to avoid confusion. Still not sure why they would appoint Dredd to lead the mission though, he's clearly not as experienced in this kind of op? Guessed this arc was going to be about using the Titan judges to reinforce Justice Department on Earth in exchange for pardons, so bit disappointed that they've all been seemingly offed.

Ulysses Sweet - Getting a bit sick of this already. The Deadpool thing is good in small chunks, but starts grating fairly quickly.

ABC Warriors - A Pat Mills strip I haven't given up on after 3 progs, first time in a while. Not great, but readable. Bit confused how long the zombie thing had been going on. Assumed it had just started but then we get the guy in the cafe, who's obviously been there a while or else "rumours" is an odd noun to use. Nice Ultron splash.

Grey Area - Nice start, appreciated the exposition recapping the Bulliet events from the last story. Bit disappointed the aliens look to be malevolent. Also, yay, Mindless One butlers 

Strontium Dog - Enjoyable, as Wagner/Ezquerra always is, but having trouble buying in to the 'epic' scope that's trying to be portrayed. I thought it was a little uprising near Birmingham, yet it's being treated a full scale war, a.l.a. Savage. Maybe I'm misremembering what happened last year.

[TordelBack]

Cover:  Something seems a little off with the composition maybe, but it's always good to see Batboy again.

Droid Life:  Sad thing is I'd prefer a run of Courgette Anderson to what it's lampooning

Dredd: Titan:  Snappy dialogue, clever structure, sublime art, top thrill.  Am I imagining it, or is McIntosh actually serving his sentence in a vacuum while still in MC-1?  I can't figure the combination of surgery and environment suit any other way.  If so, it's a bloody brilliant idea.  I also liked the attention to detail in having the judges using their jetpacks to accelerate towards the moon, which made hitting the floating bodies at speed more plausible than if everyone had just been free-falling.  Good to see Flint colour his own art on this, makes it distinct from the usual Dredd.

Ulysses Sweet:  Ah, here's where Chris Blythe is hiding these days!  It's dense, it's got lovely art, Guy Adams certainly seems like he can write.  I just don't like it very much. As the story goes on I do feel that my concerns re: the first part were largely unfounded - which just makes that one seem like even more of a misstep.

ABC Warriors:  Yeah, I'll have some more of that Langley B&W please, very tasty.  The story is pretty interesting, starting as it does to recap the current Mars cycle, but boy the dialogue is woegous.   

Slaine Star Scan:  See Clint, when you actually draw things I actually like them! Keep it up.

Grey Area:  Half a Future Shock. 

Strontium Dog:  After Bender & Lock battled the Norm Front last year, I didn't necessarily expect to see the Norm Brotherhood this year.  'Dad Nabbett' is a pretty good joke, but this does seem like a bit of a distraction from the plot. Still, it has a pleasant old-school feel and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Something something Duck Dynasty.

[The Cheat]

Am I imagining it, or is McIntosh actually serving his sentence in a vacuum while still in MC-1?  I can't figure the combination of surgery and environment suit any other way.  If so, it's a bloody brilliant idea.

Great spot! I did notice the surgery and thought it odd, but didn't give it much thought after that.

Actually, thinking it through, I've now gone from:

mistake -> lol, great touch -> actually, that doesn't make any sense why the Judges would do that (other than spite) 

[TordelBack]

...actually, that doesn't make any sense why the Judges would do that (other than spite) 

Granted, but consider:
- McIntosh was sent as a Warden to rebuild the Titan colony after the events of Purgatory/Inferno.
- Therefore there's no reason he'd have had the near-vacuum adaptation surgery, or even if there was a reason it was useful, no reason it wouldn't have been reversed at the end of his tenure.
- It follows that he must have had the surgery after he was convicted of unlawful killing, but we're told that he wasn't sent to Titan as an inmate but was serving his sentence as a bent judge in MC-1.
- He's wearing some form of heavy environment suit when none of the other judges at the briefing are.
- He's serving the usual Titan sentence while on Earth.

That's not spite, it's the Law.

[HOO-HAA]

That's not spite, it's the Law.

TESTIFY!

[Frank]

Good to see Flint colour his own art on this, makes it distinct from the usual Dredd.

It's easy to imagine how a dedicated colourist would have emphasised the shiny technology and lens flare angle, which makes it all the more fantastic to see Flint play everything so muted and relatively flat. That means the eye's free to appreciate the sure way he deploys different thicknesses of line and his mastery of form in the service of narrative, portraying chaos and confusion while keeping everything just on the right side of abstraction.

The limited palette really focuses the eye on the regular forms and repeating patterns; the way the rectilinear visual language of the suits and their eagle symbols are echoed by the use of the same patterns in the construction of the ship and its interior, and how we see those same patterns rotated by 45, 90, and 180 degrees as the characters overlap and combine as they tumble through those well chosen elongated vertical panels, which impose meaning and direction.

Everything, from the ruled shading on Dredd's helmet on the first page to the gorgeous splatter as he passes through an inert corpse, is about conveying that downward motion, meaning the contrast with the horizontal frames depicting the meeting in Hershey's office serves as a great visual cue of the change in both time and dramatic impetus. Flint's hitting the sweet spot between communicating form and narrative, and the abstraction which is at the heart of all strip art here.