Prog 1732: Infernal Affairs

ming · 30 April, 2011, 01:13:41 PM

Hah - based outside the UK, I get to bag the Prog thread for a change while you're all lounging around on a bank holiday weekend.

Not quite finished the Prog yet, but so far, so good - recent high standards maintained.

Cover: Nice Tiernen Trevallion Harry Absolom job.

Dredd: lovely continuation of Calif. Babylon; one of the best Dredds for a while for me, I think. Nice to see a multi-parter, and the change of scene from the Meg is welcome.

Flesh: This has been steadily improving, for me at least, and this episode shouldn't contain much to upset Dino-purists (no sonic bombs or poisonous hadrosaurs). Plenty of nice action with Vegas Cleavage, er I mean Carver / Carter.

Dante: still to read, but it opens with another bloody wedding! Hah!

Red Seas: ditto (no wedding though)

Absolom: not read, but looks nice (title on the last page, a la Insurrection).

Nice to take my time over the read; sitting in the sun and sipping a nice cup of tea.

Will come back with more later.

Great Prog, Tharg!

blixab · 30 April, 2011, 01:54:35 PM

No prog today - had post but not the item I really wanted...

How will I cope as not going to get it now until at least Tuesday...

Methinks I need to re-read my copies of Zenith Books 1-5 to avoid the reduction in Thrill Power that this will bring.

Grant Goggans · 30 April, 2011, 02:32:09 PM

Oh, dear heaven. The character was originally called Absolam and Tharg's been promoting him as Absalom and now Ming's reviewing him as Absolom. Will the madness never end?

ming · 30 April, 2011, 02:51:55 PM

My bad. Absalom is it. I'd blame the bright sunshine and my inability to focus, but I'd be lying.

Great opening episode, by the way.

ming · 30 April, 2011, 06:41:59 PM

Finished my lazy-day Prog, and a great read it was too...

Dante is awesomely great stuff and I'm missing it already. Wedding bells are in the air but I don't predict a Happily Ever After ending for this particular couple. Elsewhere, I really loved the scene of Dante [spoiler] appearing through the desert haze with the rebel army in tow[/spoiler]. Very classy storytelling, this. And the art's faultless.

Red Seas plods on and I like the cut of it's jib. The attempted cliff-hanger ending is somewhat lessened by the fact that [spoiler] we know that the members of Jack's crew that we care about (and Jack himself, of course) aren't going to be too bothered by a little thing like a hanging, unless I got the whole apples of Idun thing misremembered?[/spoiler] Anyway, good stuff all round.

Absalom (note correct spelling this time). Feels like Cabs never went away, I'm glad to say. Weird beasties and foul deeds, homunculi, corridors of power and mysterious goings on make for a very satisfying opener. Bring on the Rathborne Brood!

JUDGE BURNS · 30 April, 2011, 09:31:31 PM

No prog for me today...I expected that as it NEVER EVER arrives on a bank holiday weekend. Lazy bunch of feckers at the royal mail !

I need my thrill power ! Will just have to annoy the wife all weekend now to pass the time!

COMMANDO FORCES · 30 April, 2011, 09:38:13 PM

You lot are weak, with your wanting your crumpled, wet progs on a Saturday. I bet you don't even wear white, cotton gloves when you read them. You need to learn discipline and get them all pristine on a Wednesday!

James Stacey · 30 April, 2011, 09:46:15 PM

Finished my Prog. Dredd was aces. Don't read flesh while pissed though it merely highlights how poor it is. Dante on the other hand was sublime. The art, the dialogue, top notch. Red seas continues to appear in the Prog and the new story however you choose to spell it has nice art and a good set up.

House of Usher · 01 May, 2011, 04:36:08 PM

Another really good Prog. No slack, no passengers. 9/10.

Mikey · 03 May, 2011, 09:16:23 AM

Now back up to date with the prog, so my first contribution here for a few weeks...

Dredd - great stuff! Nice to see MC2 get a look in for a change with a great set up and plenty of bang bang, shooty shooty. Loving Willsher's ink and Blythes always superb colouring.

*WARNING! BORED EARTH SCIENTIST RAMBLE!*
Now, Flesh has got this treatment so it's only fair this does...I'm just trying to wind you all up, especially you Mike!
[spoiler]The quakes opening up lava filled fissures that confuse the heatseekers - MC2 is on the west coast of North America, right? Unless the tectonic setting has drastically changed since our time, this would still be a subduction zone where quakes are associated with compressional forces. Tensional plate boundaries,along with locations of 'hot spot' intraplate volcanism, such as Hawaii, are where you might get lava filled fissures associated with quakes. Unless it's saying the Yellowstone 'hot spot' has migrated to MC2? If so, I can live with that but THE WORLD MUST KNOW!

[/spoiler]

FLESH - was ok this week. For me it seems to be hitting a slow point before it races to it's conclusion.

DANTE - no offence whatsoever to the superbly talented John Burns, but I only enjoy Dante when Fraser's on art duties. I'm still not the biggest fan, but this is a good read and like Ming said, the panels showing Dante appearing through the desert was pure class. Also loved the touch that it was a mechanical camel rather than a horse!

RED SEAS - isn't shivering me timbers too much. Like Dante, it has never really fully clicked with me although I like it OK.

ABSEILUM'S LOT - Top spot for me this week. Fantastic opener, deftly set up without a word or panel wasted, this is Good Stuff. It has me wanting more, like now! And I also like it when the strip artist gets the cover too.

Decent proggage Tharg.

M.

ming · 03 May, 2011, 10:11:25 AM

Mikey, I had the same minor niggle about the lava-filled fissures as you but concluded it could all be explained by the [spoiler]Death Belt[/spoiler]. Hah! (Besides, I never really take heatseekers that seriously.)

SmallBlueThing · 03 May, 2011, 12:37:15 PM

Facebook tells me that, thanks to the bank holidays, this wont be in the shops til Thursday. Which, if last week is anything to go by, means Friday or Saturday. I wonder if, in retrospect, it would have been better to release a fortnightly edition, like that 'british' themed one from around 1998?
SBT

Mikey · 03 May, 2011, 01:30:34 PM

Tough break SBT!

Quote from: ming on 03 May, 2011, 10:11:25 AM
(Besides, I never really take heatseekers that seriously.)

WHAT?! They're dead good! You can (usually) shoot round corners with them and stuff! You'd take them seriously if they were fired at you, young fella me lad, I can tell ye.

M.

mygrimmbrother · 03 May, 2011, 01:40:14 PM

No prog for me yet, although I'm hoping it's been delivered today and is waiting on the mat. The good thing is this means (fingers crossed) I get the first 2 parts of Absalom only four days apart. Can't BLOODY WAIT!

Matt Timson · 03 May, 2011, 03:23:01 PM

I don't know if I missed something last week, but if this Macguffin that they're after is so important, [spoiler]why has Dredd gone after it alone? Wouldn't it make much more sense to send in a team? Or an army?[/spoiler]