Prog 1860 - Battle Stations

Recrewt · 30 November, 2013, 09:02:20 PM

Well, I am really enjoying the current prog line up and I thought everything was executed well this week.

Dredd continued with a nice little twist about the kid. My one slight complaint would be that first panel - what was supposed to be going on there? Brass Sun is a cracking tale and loved that last page. I even found Flesh to be a good one and best of all, we got Double Damnation station. Really love this and it benefitted from the extra page count. Also, did anyone else think it looked like an alien (as from the Ridley Scott movie) getting sucked out the airlock on the first page?

Pop Culture Bandit · 01 December, 2013, 03:01:25 PM

Dredd - Really liking this story and the nods to Dredd history with Stookie and Eldsters. Shame about [spoiler]Brian dying though[/spoiler].

Brass Sun - I like the new status quo that's been developing with the new world and the Sky Pirates, and now Skyshark. Great story and art, as always!

Flesh - Didn't expect that. However, I'm such a cynic - [spoiler]we didn't see bodies so they could still return[/spoiler].

Damnation Station - Yeah, this does feel a bit like the Joe Nowhere show, and it feels like this series has just been written to tie up the loose ends, like The Ten Seconders before it, and close the book on it.

For a more detailed review - check out my blog post here > http://popculturebandit.blogspot.com/2013/11/2000ad-prog-1860.html

House of Usher · 01 December, 2013, 11:27:06 PM

I hate to be 'that guy' (but, yeah, I am him): but in Brass Sun, what exactly did our heroes smell of that would have attracted sky sharks? I don't remember seeing them wash during their journey. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, I wasn't counting. However, whatever they washed with must be strong perfume if they haven't sweated it off with all the running and fighting. Also, why did they need to be drenched in stale piss? If there's a bucket of stale piss right where they're sitting, wouldn't it be enough to mask their odour? And how come this shark can't locate potential prey by the strong smell of piss coming off it? While I'm at it, if the captives are so much 'dead weight,' why did their captors bother picking them up in the first place instead of robbing them and leaving them where they found them?

TordelBack · 01 December, 2013, 11:50:22 PM

The issue is that they didn't smell - everyone else is masking their natural human sky-shark-attractin' smell with some form of added stench, but Our Heroes haven't disguised their scent. But yeah, quite why human piss would mask human scent is unclear... if it was stale/concentrated then high levels of ammonia, maybe?

As to the value of prisoners, they were found on the spindle of the world, maybe that makes them potentially valuable to someone as-yet unseen?

MercZ · 02 December, 2013, 03:58:37 AM

I got around to reading the prog today. It was good to me- nothing particularly made me go "WOW!" but it was a fun read. Eagerly waiting for the next one to become available on my tablet.

Devons Daddy · 02 December, 2013, 01:32:48 PM

I liked it not a moment I shall forever recall they only happen what every other month or so

But when your outstanding and regularly truly incredible how to be more.

A decent prog. I like the balance, for me another great read

Recrewt · 02 December, 2013, 02:11:10 PM

Quote from: House of Usher on 01 December, 2013, 11:27:06 PM
I hate to be 'that guy' (but, yeah, I am him): but in Brass Sun, what exactly did our heroes smell of that would have attracted sky sharks? I don't remember seeing them wash during their journey. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, I wasn't counting. However, whatever they washed with must be strong perfume if they haven't sweated it off with all the running and fighting. Also, why did they need to be drenched in stale piss? If there's a bucket of stale piss right where they're sitting, wouldn't it be enough to mask their odour? And how come this shark can't locate potential prey by the strong smell of piss coming off it? While I'm at it, if the captives are so much 'dead weight,' why did their captors bother picking them up in the first place instead of robbing them and leaving them where they found them?

Hmmmm, like TB I read this as them not smelling of something. The suggestion was that everyone on that world has to mask their scent with something else. The sky sharks seem to have quite a keen sense of smell so drenching them in the p*ss makes sense to me - being in a bucket nearby would not be good enough.

rogue69 · 02 December, 2013, 02:47:48 PM

You will please to know that FLESH will not be back for sometime as Pat Mills & James McKay have part ways on this story
This is due to James' commitments to his job & family along with Pat's demands on the story & disagreements on how this should look the quality of the artwork started to go down hill as it got closer to the publishing date & a lot of the pages still needed to be inked they agreed to call it a day.
So FLESH will not be back for sometime until Pat can find a artist he can work well with & who can draw great dinosaurs

Mabs · 02 December, 2013, 03:12:49 PM

Quote from: rogue69 on 02 December, 2013, 02:47:48 PM
You will please to know that FLESH will not be back for sometime as Pat Mills & James McKay have part ways on this story
This is due to James' commitments to his job & family along with Pat's demands on the story & disagreements on how this should look the quality of the artwork started to go down hill as it got closer to the publishing date & a lot of the pages still needed to be inked they agreed to call it a day.
So FLESH will not be back for sometime until Pat can find a artist he can work well with & who can draw great dinosaurs

Where did you get all this rogue69?

While it is sad to hear they've parted their own ways, maybe it might be for the best. You could see James Mackay's artwork going down the pan (so to speak) right in front of your eyes, which is a shame considering I really enjoyed his work on the first couple of episodes. I wonder who Pat will get on board as replacement? I would love to see Carl Critchlow back again!

rogue69 · 02 December, 2013, 03:16:39 PM

I was speaking to Pat the other week when he told me this

Mabs · 02 December, 2013, 03:31:38 PM

Quote from: rogue69 on 02 December, 2013, 03:16:39 PM
I was speaking to Pat the other week when he told me this

Cool!

By the way, I just noticed your avatar - Requiem rocks! I finished book 2 and I had to pick my jaws off the ground because Ledroit's artwork just blew me away! It's a fantastic series, I can't wait to pick up the rest of volumes.

Colin YNWA · 02 December, 2013, 03:56:03 PM

Quote from: rogue69 on 02 December, 2013, 02:47:48 PM
You will please to know that FLESH will not be back for sometime as Pat Mills & James McKay have part ways on this story
This is due to James' commitments to his job & family along with Pat's demands on the story & disagreements on how this should look the quality of the artwork started to go down hill as it got closer to the publishing date & a lot of the pages still needed to be inked they agreed to call it a day.
So FLESH will not be back for sometime until Pat can find a artist he can work well with & who can draw great dinosaurs

That's rubbish news. I'm a big fan of the strip and while I'm sure everyone has very good reasons for the split its such a shame that a solution couldn't be found.

While some may cheer I for one shed a little dino tear.

rogue69 · 02 December, 2013, 04:08:30 PM

Mabs OlivierLedroit is one of my favourite artists there's a great art of Oliver Ledroit book out if you can find it.
Volume 6of the UK editon will not be out until atleast the end of2012 they've only recently started on the French book12it takes about ayear for Olivier to creat the artwork.
If you are able to read French there's a Claudia spinoff aswell.

TordelBack · 02 December, 2013, 04:14:33 PM

Very sorry to hear this. McKay's dinosaurs have been an absolute treat, magnificently animated and with real mass and character, and the recent McGurk flashback showed he had a talent for more conventional SF too. I thought he was a perfect fit for the series. The deadline issue was painfully obvious in recent months, but I'm really sorry that some compromise couldn't have been worked out: he's hardly the first artist in 2000AD's history to run late, and the pencil is a cruel mistress. I don't envy any artist drawing 60 pages of mass dino-action at a stretch. I'm also naturally reminded of Grant Goggan's thoughts about a different scheduling model for strips.

I'd love to see more McKay Flesh, but more to the point I really hope to see him on other 2000AD strips soon.

Mabs · 02 December, 2013, 04:14:59 PM

Thanks for that rogue69, I'll definitely keep an eye out for 'em. Olivier Ledroit is......an enigma.