2000 AD Online Forum

Spoilers => Prog => Topic started by: Colin YNWA on 01 June, 2019, 02:13:04 PM

Title: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Colin YNWA on 01 June, 2019, 02:13:04 PM
Some times I just love the Prog. Sometimes I settle down after a morning doing chores, a cup of tea ready and reading the Prog just feels like the perfect thing, the exact thing to match your mood, needs and expectations. Today was such a day. Okay there's ironing still to be done but I face it with renewed vigour imbued with Thrillpower as I now am.

Dredd was just superb. Rob Williams and Henry Flint delivering pitch perfect story. Its billed as an epilogue to Small House, but its more than that. Its actually as if The Small House - magnificent as it was - was a prologue to this wonderous 6 page character study. Its stories like this that most make mockery of folks that say of its not Wagner it doesn't count. If you don't embrace this with glee you don't get Dredd, not my Dredd at least.

Scarlet Traces. Is D'Israeli's colouring here some of the best colouring in comics right now or what. Just so fantastic. The story is a quiet delight and quietly moves thing sone before a shift in tone (and of course palette) on the final page gives you a fist pumping finale.

So we get to the Terror Tale. Now I do wonder if I'd not been so buoyed by two nigh-perfect thrill by this point, was not in such a spot on Thrillzone, I do wonder if these stars hadn't aligned I'd have been a bit unstuck with this one. Its a weird little tale, as a Terror Tale its not so dependant on the twist and so this is just a quirky, wonderfully realised nasty piece of work. Nasty in the way Terror Tales are meant to and I disliked it in all the ways I was meant to.

Kingmaker does one of its view from the villians episodes and is pretty effective as that... if not much else and probably the weakest in a very strong Prog.

Last week I asked this of Max Normal

QuoteMax is on a roll
So don't be slipping out at a scroll
Flip ya trip and make that landing
If you stick it my joy will be expanding

And you did it Max, like you namesake Whitlock you absolutely nailed that landing. And how. Just perfect. Perfectly judged action, humour by the bucket load, a nice rounding off of character archs and all wrapped up with a Joe shaped cameo. Just magnificent. I'm not sure there's anywhere else for this to go and this should stand alone... but then of course I didn't know how much I needed this Max Normal origin story. So I really hope this team comes back to show me what else I don't know I need to know about Max. Just a brilliant thrill, ended with a warm hug of joy.

Still Max Normal being that good and still probably not being the best thing in the Prog... God I love the Prog sometimes...
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: glassstanley on 01 June, 2019, 02:42:16 PM
A good prog indeed. Agree with your comments on Dredd. It's going to be interesting watching the Case Files over the next couple of years as we've hit the point where Rennie et al are beginning to make an appearance.

The only thing I'd change about this week's prog would be to actually say which issue the first Quili story appeared. If you're going to use the editorial to say it's a follow up, why not add Prog 2091 to clarify? I can see there might be a case for not adding a Thargnote in the strip itself (off putting for new readers?) but not when you're pointing out a previous strip existed. Might even flog a couple of back progs.

It would be great if Dredd could do the same (Small Houses - see progs x to x) but there's a danger that the Thargnotes might outnumber the dialogue. (In a positive, this is a word-building series kind of way).
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Leigh S on 01 June, 2019, 02:43:49 PM
/i thought the Dredd, beautiful art aside was off to be honest - Giant whines because Dredd hasnt sent him a text? I could see a story where Giant and Dredd meet up and there's an unspoken "first time we've talked since the "dunking digestive incident"... " (as it is now recorded as in Justice Dept annals), but having a tizzy fit about it?
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 01 June, 2019, 03:32:27 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/2lk9VY1.jpg)

Cover by David Hitchcock
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Colin YNWA on 01 June, 2019, 03:47:01 PM
Quote from: Leigh S on 01 June, 2019, 02:43:49 PM
/i thought the Dredd, beautiful art aside was off to be honest - Giant whines because Dredd hasnt sent him a text? I could see a story where Giant and Dredd meet up and there's an unspoken "first time we've talked since the "dunking digestive incident"... " (as it is now recorded as in Justice Dept annals), but having a tizzy fit about it?

But I think its more to do with the consequence of what Small House meant, its significence and where that 'team' Dredd essembled goes from there in the context of the Justice Department and what happens here. Thence the higher frequency stuff, its happening we don't need to hear it all for it to have impact.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Leigh S on 01 June, 2019, 04:10:03 PM
Don't disagree, Colin, just feel that the conversation would have been more repressed - an undercurrent of "It's so funnnny, why we don't taaaalk anymore"  rather than this more Emo outburst
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 01 June, 2019, 10:18:32 PM
Quilli first appeared in prog 2091
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 June, 2019, 09:43:48 AM
There better be another follow-up to that Terror Tale called "The Quilli Memorandum" or all this will have been for nothing.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Blue Cactus on 02 June, 2019, 12:09:48 PM
A wee Quilli 3riller might be nice to wrap things up while allowing a little expansion? [spoiler]Is the puppet the vessel for the full size Quilli thing the protagonist saw at the window? [/spoiler]If Rebellion ever did an ongoing Scream!-type comic again this would fit right in, the atmosphere and nasty puppet reminds me a little of that old 80s UK strip The Doll if anyone remembers it, used to be a back up strip in The Supernaturals or M.A.S.K. comic, which was mighty disturbing at the time!

Dredd - A little conversation with an action scenario as backdrop, worked nicely because the action scenario had enough meat to it as an idea that it didn't feel just throwaway. Not sure what Giant really expects from Dredd though, I would have thought the two would have exchanged a grim nod of understanding now and then in the corridors of justice in the past few months without needing to have a hug and a weep together. Flint adds some fine entries to the 2000ad hall of robotic dog fame.

Scarlett Traces - did someone already mention that D'Israeli's colours reminded them of Dark Empire-era Cam Kennedy? It looks marvelous, and I feel a lot more engaged with the series than I did last time round for some reason. Can't remember what happened to the venusian dude from the last series, can someone remind me?

Kingmaker - the last series of this also had a cutaway episode to the baddies having a chat, and I've enjoyed these less than the rest of the series. I think because baddies talking about their plans isn't as interesting as the three main characters wandering about and learning about each other and getting into scrapes. My favourite thing about this story have been the character moments, particularly between Crixus and the winged girl whose name I've forgotten. Leigh Gallagher is pretty incredible in black and white and when colouring his own stuff, one of Tharg's best regular artists at the moment for me.

Max... That page where he's shooting all the shuggy balls. Is he just thinking all that text in his head or is he somehow saying it all out loud? I've had mixed feelings about this strip but I have really liked the warmth between the two lead characters (though I am a bit fed up of ape characters at the moment, there have been loads of them recently to the point that the ape thing isn't a novelty anymore - maybe give us a nice mutant or alien sidekick for a change!), the protagonists who have had decent motivations and were very had solid motivations and a convincing back story which meant you could be sympathetic to them, and the fact that they were 'defeated' without getting killed, which was quite refreshing. It's been a well-constructed series, I think just having so much rhyming dialogue irritated me! Lovely art.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Trout on 05 June, 2019, 02:30:51 AM
Five out of five from me. Best prog for months, with the highlights:

A great Dredd story
Superbly cool fun with Max
Perfection and excitement in Scarlet Traces

Lurve it.

- Trout
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: broodblik on 05 June, 2019, 03:47:11 AM
Great prog (again).

Max Normal is not my favorite Dredd-verse character but this series was a very enjoyable. Even the art from Cornwell was great in this series (again not my favorite artist)

The epilogue of Dredd was interesting with Flint doing what he do best - draw an awesome Dredd.

Both Kingmaker and Scarlet Traces do not disappoint. With great art in both strips and good scripting from Edginton.

The Terror Tales might lead to some more later on. Who says The End is really the end ?
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: CalHab on 05 June, 2019, 09:35:49 AM
Quote from: broodblik on 05 June, 2019, 03:47:11 AM
The Terror Tales might lead to some more later on. Who says The End is really the end ?

Laura Bailey seems keen to continue Quilli, Tharg willing, judging by comments on Twitter.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: MacabreMagpie on 05 June, 2019, 11:07:37 AM
For those not following on social media, chance to win something from David and Laura if you get this prog...

(https://imgur.com/X3iwVs3.jpg)

(I don't think David is on Twitter but you can find him on Facebook)
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Frank on 05 June, 2019, 01:54:20 PM

(https://i.imgur.com/iPyVjgJ.png?2)(https://i.imgur.com/dvZf7Ob.png?2)


Code MCGRUDER-G08T activates the Lawgiver's beard-trimmer attachment.

My interest in this strip without the involvement of its remaining creator is limited, but any new work by Bob Williams and Hank Flint has to be cherished. Beyond the drollery of naming the Tek in charge of CJ Logan's Aibo collection Judge Noakes, Williams expands on his arch use of the inverted comma at the end of this quote concerning The Small House:


Dredd's a simple animal in many ways. A crime is a crime. So Smiley needs bringing down. Whatever the consequences. But there's always several levels of subtext with Dredd, even if he's not entirely fully aware of his motives, I think. That's what I find interesting about writing him. He's angry. He's going to rip this down no matter the cost. And he knows there will be a cost — either to the system he's served so long, or to his "friends."

Williams, speaking to Doom Rocket (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=43932.msg996088#msg996088)

The relationship between pet and master is an interesting figuration of how Dredd sees the rotating membership of the Scooby Gang that's been at the centre of the strip for more than two decades. You may hold them in esteem, but you're still prepared to let them die when the cost becomes too great.

While I think Al Ewing and Kenneth Niemand write better stories, Williams has probably done more than anyone in the history of the strip to fill in the corners and outside edges of the jigsaw puzzle that is Dredd's internal life*. Along with the central metaphor of Titan - a giant with a dead surface occasionally convulsed by ruinous eruptions from the seething turmoil that rages at its core - this characterisation will probably be Williams' lasting contribution to the strip.

Far more than Judge Smiley or an unannounced crossover event.



* Wagner being content to leave the lid tightly shut on that particular box: https://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/3852089.html
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Proudhuff on 05 June, 2019, 02:34:01 PM
Returning from doing a small wet job for Mrs May on the continent, I found three, count em three Progs prostrate on my door mat,
Reading three progs in one sitting maybe dangerous but this week's Dredd is a total cracker, thios along with three episodes of STraces was mind blowing.
Wonderful story art and link up with all the previous story lines, Tharg, you spoil us!

Reginald Molehusband's school of motoring?  :lol: :lol: And Moonbase's Ed Straker top stuff.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Frank on 05 June, 2019, 02:42:17 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 05 June, 2019, 02:34:01 PM
Reginald Molehusband's school of motoring?  :lol: :lol: And Moonbase's Ed Straker top stuff.

Yeah, yeah, but even more entertainingly, Pebble Mill is about to save the world - presumably, at One.

If Donny MacLeod doesn't play a central role in blowing up the Death Star, it will be an opportunity missed.


Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Proudhuff on 05 June, 2019, 02:59:23 PM
its going to be great seeing Pebble Mill again... haven't seen it since skipping school in the seventies :o
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Link Prime on 05 June, 2019, 04:31:00 PM
Quote from: Frank on 05 June, 2019, 01:54:20 PM



Code MCGRUDER-G08T activates the Lawgiver's beard-trimmer attachment.


And I'm pretty sure Code DEMARCO-80085 unbuckles the utility belt.

Nice cover by the Hitchcock Droid this week.


Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Frank on 05 June, 2019, 04:42:30 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 05 June, 2019, 04:31:00 PM
Quote from: Frank on 05 June, 2019, 01:54:20 PM
Code MCGRUDER-G08T activates the Lawgiver's beard-trimmer attachment.

And I'm pretty sure Code DEMARCO-80085 unbuckles the utility belt.


(https://i.imgur.com/RECI6Ux.png?2)


Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: TordelBack on 05 June, 2019, 05:24:13 PM
Hot damn Scarlet Traces is good. Really delivering on the promises of its long history now, this is going to be one of the great comics when the whole thing is done. Sign me up for a monster HB omnibus. OTOH I will personally boot Ian in the bum if there's a crossover with Brass Kingmaker in the offing.

Max Normal sticks the landing! I confess I was worried it would trail off, but this big twisty mess has been a triumph start to finish. Straight into the top ranks of Dreddworld spinoffs.

By now it's clear that Williams's Dredd isn't really my thing, but it's very, very good comics all the same.

Terror Tale was spot-on, a return of oddball freakiness from Bailey and so great to see Hitchcock's beautiful art. And such a great cover image too!

Kingmaker does some wider-plot stuff, it was fine.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Leigh S on 05 June, 2019, 06:26:03 PM
Ahyes, after knocking Dredd, I should at least have the courtesy of praising Max Normal - there were issues - at least 2 parts too long, the dialogue didn't always flow and [spoiler]they should have paid off the brats with half the loot - I don't buy the "too embarassed to come back and kill us in our sleep" line[/spoiler] but it felt fresh and different yet curiously old school, like the annual tales that Max tended to be confined to - Fox will go crazy for it when (not if!) Space Spinner 2000 catches up with this!
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Geoff on 05 June, 2019, 11:28:52 PM
Mmn oh dear, there's always one I suppose...

I really didn't like the cover or the Terror Tale.  I don't find this Quilli creature or the set up very engaging and I'm afraid I don't really like the art...I find it rather rough round the edges and the cover especially so.  It's clear many do though, and the Hitchcock droid is clearly a good egg, but there it is..

A treat to see Flint on Dredd and the story itself, as part of a wider context, with some action and word-play thrown in, works.

Scarlett Traces and Kingmaker are jogging along nicely, with some lovely artwork.

Speaking or artwork, Max Normal's visuals are getting better all the time. It's been an odd series but a sucessful one overall i think.   
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: norton canes on 06 June, 2019, 11:52:59 AM
All good in the prog this week. I thought the Dredd actually worked so well as a one-shot action story that the subtext was kind of overwhelmed. What to make of that penultimate line, though? There was a broadcast - at a frequency that couldn't he heard...

Scarlet Traces great, though I presume that in this alternate universe the Pebble Mill Studios weren't demolished in 2005. Kingmaker also good - nice to see an alien villain whose first concern is to get their eye make-up sorted. Max Normal wrapped well, how fabulous were those Dredd shuggy panels?!

Finally, a sequel we didn't even know we needed. Is Quilli set to be the new Abelard Snazz? Things have certainly escalated since the first installment.

Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Magnetica on 06 June, 2019, 01:38:18 PM
Quote from: Geoff on 05 June, 2019, 11:28:52 PM
Mmn oh dear, there's always one I suppose...

I really didn't like the cover or the Terror Tale.  I don't find this Quilli creature or the set up very engaging and I'm afraid I don't really like the art...I find it rather rough round the edges and the cover especially so.  It's clear many do though, and the Hitchcock droid is clearly a good egg, but there it is..

The Terror Tale didn't do much for me. Wasn't enough of a twist.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Frank on 06 June, 2019, 01:46:17 PM
Quote from: norton canes on 06 June, 2019, 11:52:59 AM
Scarlet Traces great, though I presume that in this alternate universe the Pebble Mill Studios weren't demolished in 2005

Can't blame anyone for not remembering the first part of this story, which feels like it happened in another age, but this series takes place in the Sgt Pepper Cinematic Universe:


(https://i.imgur.com/xk9rBUd.png?2)


A signal was sent - in a story where Giant berates Dredd for his emotional inarticulacy - but not on a frequency that can be heard. Almost seems like some kind of metaphor ... no, stumped me. One for the limp-wristers in the Arts lab.


Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: TordelBack on 06 June, 2019, 06:05:21 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 06 June, 2019, 01:38:18 PM
The Terror Tale didn't do much for me. Wasn't enough of a twist.

Do Terror Tales require a twist?  Future Shocks and Time Twisters do, certainly, it's in the name, but by extension I imagine Terror Tales aim to be tales of terror... creating something unsettling and/or horrific, which for my money this one does quite admirably.  Quili himheritself might be a bit silly on a superficial level, but the circumstances of the family, the cultists and the reporter, they're pretty darn grim.  I liked it!

Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: geronimo on 07 June, 2019, 09:38:32 AM
Do Terror Tales require a twist?

I thought this should have ended with a 'To Be Continued', as it seems like a set-up for more rather than a complete tale in itself.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: TordelBack on 07 June, 2019, 06:55:18 PM
You're not wrong.  I assume there's at least a third part in the offing. Nice to have the one-off slot shaken up a bit like that, shades of Abelard Snazz.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Magnetica on 08 June, 2019, 08:34:10 AM
Re "do Terror Tales require a twist?".

For me, they require something more than just something nasty happens. Maybe I just don't like them, and find them fairly unsatisfying.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Greg M. on 08 June, 2019, 09:04:09 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 01 June, 2019, 02:13:04 PMIf you don't embrace this with glee you don't get Dredd, not my Dredd at least.

Objectively, this is a well-written story by an intelligent and skilful writer, and I admire the fact that he's taken Giant under his wing and is making use of him. Subjectively though, I couldn't get on with it. It's a great idea for a story, but the characterisation of Dredd and Giant just didn't ring true. It did help me figure out why I struggle to get into the writer's work in general though - when I see it discussed, I can appreciate the thematic underpinnings and the obvious intelligence and craft that go into it. When I read it, it all feels oddly flat and unsatisfying. Maybe I've just become a lazy reader, and Williams demands more active involvement than I'm prepared to give.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Frank on 08 June, 2019, 09:35:05 AM
Quote from: Greg M. on 08 June, 2019, 09:04:09 AM
It did help me figure out why I struggle to get into the writer's work in general though - when I see it discussed, I can appreciate the thematic underpinnings and the obvious intelligence and craft that go into it. When I read it, it all feels oddly flat and unsatisfying.

I like the individual aspects of Williams' Dredd game but - to use a metaphor he'd appreciate, if not the critique - he falls just short of the end zone.

I'd rather read Williams' Dredd than other members of the chasing pack, but I'm 100% more interested in his original work. Ordinary (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TO9ZSZA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1) remains the best combination of story and art Tharg's produced in the last decade.


Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: TordelBack on 08 June, 2019, 10:00:54 AM
Quote from: Greg M. on 08 June, 2019, 09:04:09 AMIt did help me figure out why I struggle to get into the writer's work in general though - when I see it discussed, I can appreciate the thematic underpinnings and the obvious intelligence and craft that go into it. When I read it, it all feels oddly flat and unsatisfying.

My problem too. I mean, Williams's Dredd is obviously good, thoughtful, respectful, carefully crafted, challenging, exciting, frequently original... and it doesn't hurt that Flint and Weston both clearly revel in drawing the ever-living stomm out of the scripts. But for me it feels like there's a sort of silence at the heart of it, a space around which Williams is writing but never seems to enter. Low Life is a bit like that for me too, but the humour vested squarely in the characters usually distracts (meaning of course that I prefer Frank stories to Nixon ones). 

It may, as Greg says, be a failure on my part to use my noggin to fill that void.  Whatever the reason, it means is that I appreciate Williams's Dredds, I usually enjoy reading them at the time, love the imagery on the page and take an interest in the stories he's telling, but ultimately I don't really like them.  Sorry Rob! 
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Frank on 08 June, 2019, 10:48:40 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 June, 2019, 10:00:54 AM
... it feels like there's a sort of silence at the heart of it, a space around which Williams is writing but never seems to enter

That's a very good way of putting it.

I accept I'm coming at this from a very different angle from most others here, who see creating comics as shift work, but isn't that the problem with all house characters (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=44818.0)?

If they've been successful at all, everyone who follows the original creators is performing a RuPaul lip-sync of the hits fans remember, rather than singing their own song. Covers and Karaoke are fun, but not much else.


Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: TordelBack on 08 June, 2019, 11:25:16 AM
It's a strong argument, I'm all about the creators me, but things like Moore's Swamp Thing, Miller's Batman Y1/TDK, Morrison's All-Star Superman, or even Delano's Hellblazer, suggest it isn't universal: all of those seem to get to the heart of things at least as well as the original creators did, sometimes better.

Incidentally, I do take pleasure in seeing how well Williams works for many other Dredd fans - the enthusiasm and excitement is genuine, and it's great to see. I just wish I could share it a bit more.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: sheridan on 08 June, 2019, 11:57:22 AM
Quote from: Blue Cactus on 02 June, 2019, 12:09:48 PM
(though I am a bit fed up of ape characters at the moment, there have been loads of them recently to the point that the ape thing isn't a novelty anymore - maybe give us a nice mutant or alien sidekick for a change!)


Don't forget the wobo*  er, I mean robots...



Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Frank on 15 June, 2019, 09:32:49 AM
Quote from: Greg M. on 08 June, 2019, 09:04:09 AM
Quote from: Leigh S on 01 June, 2019, 02:43:49 PM
I thought the Dredd, beautiful art aside was off to be honest - Giant whines because Dredd hasnt sent him a text? I could see a story where Giant and Dredd meet up and there's an unspoken "first time we've talked since the "dunking digestive incident"... " (as it is now recorded as in Justice Dept annals), but having a tizzy fit about it?

Objectively, this is a well-written story by an intelligent and skilful writer, and I admire the fact that he's taken Giant under his wing and is making use of him. Subjectively though, I couldn't get on with it. It's a great idea for a story, but the characterisation of Dredd and Giant just didn't ring true.

Discussion on those evil groups on social media - the ones that are so much less harmonious than here - reminded me of Giant's origins and relationship to Dredd.

Young Giant (651-655) revealed ... Young Giant* to be a feral street kid whose defining characteristic is his inability to control his emotions (https://i.imgur.com/A024uqR.jpg). Dredd talks him into foregoing (https://i.imgur.com/UljW7Lz.jpg) the immediate emotional catharsis of revenge upon his mother's killer and dedicating his life to becoming a judge (https://i.imgur.com/8Wq5fEV.jpg).

[SPECULATION] Dredd is probably the closest thing Giant has to the father he never knew [/SPECULATION]


* I know he grew up on the streets, but I'm pretty sure Giant's mum gave him a name before she succumbed to Queen Amidala disease. Given the way Williams blesses Giant with the speech patterns of a blaxploitation movie, Isaac or Curtis seem appropriate. Dolemite, at a push.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 June, 2019, 09:49:23 AM
Quote from: Frank on 15 June, 2019, 09:32:49 AM
* I know he grew up on the streets, but I'm pretty sure Giant's mum gave him a name before she succumbed to Queen Amidala disease. Given the way Williams blesses Giant with the speech patterns of a blaxploitation movie, Isaac or Curtis seem appropriate. Dolemite, at a push.

It's Josiah or Josssy - as he's known to his peeps in the rec-room.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: JOE SOAP on 15 June, 2019, 09:50:15 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 15 June, 2019, 09:49:23 AM
Quote from: Frank on 15 June, 2019, 09:32:49 AM
* I know he grew up on the streets, but I'm pretty sure Giant's mum gave him a name before she succumbed to Queen Amidala disease. Given the way Williams blesses Giant with the speech patterns of a blaxploitation movie, Isaac or Curtis seem appropriate. Dolemite, at a push.

It's Josiah or Jossy - as he's known to his peeps in the rec-room.
Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Frank on 15 June, 2019, 09:57:35 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 15 June, 2019, 09:49:23 AM
Quote from: Frank on 15 June, 2019, 09:32:49 AM
* I know he grew up on the streets, but I'm pretty sure Giant's mum gave him a name before she succumbed to Queen Amidala disease. Given the way Williams blesses Giant with the speech patterns of a blaxploitation movie, Isaac or Curtis seem appropriate. Dolemite, at a push.

It's Josiah or Josssy - as he's known to his peeps in the rec-room.

Tek-Division's just a branch of science.


Title: Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
Post by: Professor Bear on 16 June, 2019, 07:42:32 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 05 June, 2019, 05:24:13 PMBy now it's clear that Williams's Dredd isn't really my thing, but it's very, very good comics all the same.

I find myself in the same boat here, though it's offset by the current rotating gaggle of Dredd writers and their offerings being pretty strong, IMO, even when doing plots we've seen a million times before ("it's a figure from your past that we've never seen before, Dredd - and he'll only speak to you!").  Williams' characterisation of Dredd reminds me a lot of the Millar years, and Frank's observation about Giant's original personality as an angry yoot is probably the only interesting thing I got out of this, even if Wagner and the other Dredd writers moved Giant past that characterisation long ago.

Scarlet Traces - ace stuff.  I could take or leave the previous stories, tbh, but this is cracking along, and I'm loving seeing Dizzy spread his wings a bit, especially the use of graded tones in place of solid blacks, which has been noted by others as being reminiscent of Cam Kennedy's colour work.

Kingmaker - well, I liked the basic idea of a base D&D party fighting aliens, but I think this is too much of a pastiche for me now and often feels like box-ticking.  Callbacks to other Edgy works don't help, but it's not actually bad or anything, just... by the numbers.

Terror Tale - didn't work for me.  Intriguing setup and some of the way it played out was interesting, but it's not the lack of a sting that sinks it, it's that nothing of the interesting stuff gets to pay off.

Max Normal - I don't think I can recall a single "wacky" recurring character from Dredd that I ever actually liked and that most certainly includes Max, so this was always going to be a tough sell with me and I didn't think I'd enjoy it at all, but here we are.  A lot of writers make the mistake of assuming being mean-spirited is the same as being funny - and boy oh boy do I have years of blog posts to prove it - but this, I think, hit a sweet spot between performative misanthropy and character comedy that a lot of comics writers these days seem to find elusive.  I do hope we see some more.