Prog 1772 : Red in tooth and claw!

[TordelBack]

Where's Mr Campbell when you need him?

He's been uncontactable since he saw this:

[IndigoPrime]

It's probably worth noting that—unless I'm having a massive senior moment—my understanding is many SFX are down to production and not letterers. In other words, at least some of them are added in-house, and due to the nature in which 2000 AD is put together these days, they can easily be removed. I guess that's why SFX aren't rendered directly into the artwork in the inking stage, but it also means things like the YYAAAAAGGGHH! vomit are an editorial decision.

Anyway, I'll stop banging on about this now, or the thread will become negative, despite this otherwise being a really strong issue of the magazine. If anyone's interested in this discussion, it'd be great to read your thoughts over on the thread Sound effects in 2000 AD.

[Kehaar]

What a cover - liked the I am legend nod on top of the red riding hood vibe - murder for a print

Droid life - actual strip ok however I want to see Ampney Crucis in pesto crepes

Dredd - solid strip speeding along w lovely art. Often a bit reticent about Megadeath Dredd stories (I blame the Dark Judges) but there's enough depth in this that I'm engaged.

Age of the Wolf - left me bit cold but now we're getting more post apocalypse in getting more interested. The apparent white supremacist baddies (going of Tats & misuse of the Union flag) might be a touch lazy but hopefully they're just the fall guys for a richer story. Art has lept up several levels.

Nikolai Dante - beautiful & rich  love the captain Birdseye tsar coming back into it - since I got an early trade & the recap this has become my first thrill to read. LOVE IT! Top thrill

Grey Area - well boobs are nice aren't they? This does seem to take an awful lot of space to move the story very far. So far like the concept not sold on execution.

What if? - beautiful, cracking story but gaps in my stront knowledge mean I should be taking more from it.

[I, Cosh]

I thought this was a very good Prog, thanks very much.

A lovely, vibrant cover from Mr J Davis-Hunt to start us off. Very similar in conception to his recent Meg cover but none the worse for that. Extra points for taking a bite out of The Gherkin.

Temperature's rising week by week in Dredd with things sure to come to the boil soon. Things I particularly liked this week were the axe in the back of the head and the use of the board as a panel boundary.

I have developed a new theory for why Day of Chaos has taken so long to get going and really grab the attention. Previously, the epic stories have had a lot of groundwork carefully laid in the months and years before but this has tended to be within other, self-contained stories. Something like Doomsday starts building up in Beyond the Call of Duty almost a year earlier (well, it really starts way back in Bad Frendz, but I digress) then elements are dropped in to the Prog and the Meg over the next few months before it finally kicks off. By explicitly sticking the Day of Chaos banner on everything that's run for the last six months you make the individual stories subordinate to the overarching narrative rather than allowing them to be enjoyed for themselves and retrospectively appreciated as part of something larger.

Nadia, for example, would've been a perfectly good story in its own right left, as many stories have been before, with the real villain of the piece getting away. We would know that something would come of this down the road but not exactly what or when.

I assume that one of the reasons for doing this is because it did work for Tour of Duty but I feel that was different because the banner was flagging the complete change of circumstances for Dredd and it was deliberately used to encompass both stories in the longer arc and standard short one offs about day-to-day adventures in the new environment.

What's that? This is the Prog review thread? Sorry.

So, Age of the Wolf II. I didn't mind the first one but it didn't really seem to be crying out for a sequel. I absolutely loved this opening episode. JD-H's art is another step up in quality again. Really lovely stuff. The story displays a similar step up too. Mr A Worley seems to have deliberately dialed down the wordiness of his panels. The first page works perfectly as a recap of the first series and a scene-setter for the new. I think the reason it works so well is that, crucially for a story looking for mythic resonance, it makes no attempt to explain but merely describes: "This is how it was. Deal with it."

A couple of pages introducing the opposing sides in the new story with just the right amount of action and ambiguity. Are this lot slave traders? People traffickers? Who to? Why? Who's who in the van? Where are they going? Then, boom! A big slavering splash page reveal.

Assuming the grounding in Norse mythology from the first series isn't being abandoned then the chick who's coming after Rowan is clearly Hel and, if she's got a wolf for a brother, then some big snaky dude can't be far away.

Dante is Dante. Which is another word for awesome. Some more top class bastardry from Vladimir the Conqueror this week. I really can't get worked up about sound effects in a  comic and don't see what's so wrong with it anyway. I suppose this allows me to display my ignorance. I would've assumed that something like this would be in the script and, if not stated, it would be the choice of the artist/letterer whether to add it as a normal speech bubble or something more dramatic.

As the panel in question is obviously an echo of Dante's classic backstabbing from Battleship Potemkin I consulted my archives and that one also has a nasty old AAAAAAAGGGGHHHK! effect plastered over it. It's more jarring in my view too.

After praising Mr L Carter's artistic improvement last week I felt Grey Area showed a bit of a step back this week. It would take a better man than me to pass up the opportunity to make a convoluted joke about naked ladies and stiffness. I like the way Mr D Abnett is trying to build up the relationships between the characters here but it still isn't gelling overall for me.

Finally, a perfect illustration of why Roadhouse is by far the best looking of the new era of Strontium Dog. The monochrome suits the mood of Johnny Alpha far better than colour. Mr A Grant also turns a solid, touching story too. I'm always a sucker for a Viking funeral too. As a visual idea, it's impossible for it not to look cool and it always reminds me of my favourite Arab Strap song. The Night Before the Funeral.

It's either that or sky burial for me.

[John Caliber]

Yeah, ROADHOUSE is one of my favourite S/D stories and my favourite of the 'new' series. Love anything that has Alpha and Wulf dimension-hopping. Reminds me a little of Brian Lumley's THE HOUSE OF DOORS novel.

I can't get enough of SFX, that's what makes comics fun for me. BTOOOOM! WANNKKKK! FDOWWW! Check out John Workman's stuff in Walt Simonson's THE MIGHTY THOR, and the aforementioned AMERICAN FLAGG. I've got plenty of SFX in the first issue of my new comic book, and loads more to come!

I believe that capitals used in comic book balloon was because they were more legible than lower-case, in the days of crappy comic book printing technologies. They're dominated ever since, although I remember that Marvel Comics went through a phase of lower-casing in the 2000s.

[DrJomster]

Very strong prog for me. Much more so in fact than last week's anniversary special. I think it's because this prog's What If is so good. The art is wonderful. Interestingly Johnny has less of the occasionally cartoonish look he has in Life & Death.

Dredd, Dante & Age of the Wolf all very strong as well. Cracking line up in fact. Totally agree with the good words about JDH above. The lad's doing well!

Roll on next prog!

[Proudhuff]

The Golden age continues, Cosh covers most of the main points above,I'd only add in the  Its the Wolf-if, I did like how the big guy with the nazi tats wants to talk, while the wee grannie wants to rip em up for *rse paper.

[Spaceghost]

I really enjoyed every story this week.

Cover - Fantastic, action packed wrap-around cover. I bloody love werewolves, me, and JDH draws a great bulked up, shaggy beast.

Judge Dredd - The term 'slow burn' has been used by others to describe this current arc and I think that's fair to say. I love the very Wagner-esque way that the [spoiler]hover-boarding Sov agent gets bumped off by a gang of juves the minute he sets foot in the city.[/spoiler] Classic Dredd.

Age of the Wolf - I liked the first series up to a point. Specifically, the point where it went all 'mysical'. This first episode of the new series hints at a more action oriented tale. I like the mirroring of the Little Red Riding Hood story, right down to Grandma appearing as a character.

Jonathan Davis Hunt is a fantastic artist, especially when drawing machinery, robots and vehicles. I'd love to see him have a crack at the ABC Warriors.

Grey Area - The story is really intriguing and I can't see where it will go which is a good thing. I usually love Lee Carter's art but there's something a bit 'off' about this episode. I think it's the faces. They're really inconsistent and a bit too heavily outlined or something. I'm not sure what it is but it's not up to his usual high standard.

Can't fault his naked lady skillz though.

Nikolai Dante - Really enjoying this and don't want it to end even though I know it must. I've always postulated that it will be [spoiler]Vladimir who redeems himself and sacrifices himself to kill Dimitri and save Dante and Jena and I still reckon we'll see something along those lines.[/spoiler] It's definitely going out with a bang anyway.

I must say, I never noticed the sound effects until they were mentioned in this thread. Now I can't help but think they look a bit jarring.

What if?... A lovely, heart warming story. I've always liked Wulf and it's nice to see him here but it makes me realise that his character had to die. Not only for the drama his death provided but also for the effect it had on shaping Johnny's character. The last page was quite moving.

And yes, I prefer Carlos's art in black and white too.

All in all a fantastic prog.

[Proudhuff]

I know I'm an old pedant, but that guy who gets his right hand taken off in The aged Wolf, how does he work the throttle of the quad? only say... 

[Old Tankie]

Haven't you heard of the Motability Scheme, it's obviously an adapted vehicle!!  I think Age of the Wolf is brilliant.

[Batman's Superior Cousin]

My Prog still hasn't arrived!!!

[Proudhuff]

Haven't you heard of the Motability Scheme, it's obviously an adapted vehicle!!  I think Age of the Wolf is brilliant.

It did cross my mind that it could be one of those kids electric ones with the pedal accelorator, therefore address issues of petrol shortages post apoc, but then I thought that's too much thunking about it

[SimonBowland]

It's probably worth noting that—unless I'm having a massive senior moment—my understanding is many SFX are down to production and not letterers. In other words, at least some of them are added in-house, and due to the nature in which 2000 AD is put together these days, they can easily be removed. I guess that's why SFX aren't rendered directly into the artwork in the inking stage, but it also means things like the YYAAAAAGGGHH! vomit are an editorial decision.

I can't speak for Annie or Ellie, but all of the SFX on the strips that I've lettered for 2000AD are created by myself. Same goes for all the Marvel and Dynamite books that I work on for the States.

[the shutdown man]

Gah, Wednesday and my prog still hasn't arrived. What's going on here then?

[Jared Katooie]

COVER: Great art, but... the...

?/10


AGE OF THE WOLF: WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

^%&^/10

NIKOLAI DANTE: I can't be bothered to write anything about this. It is what it is.

3/10


GREY AREA: Sigh.... I suppose I should write something. Here goes - If Birdy's character was a well-developed, and as well-drawn as her tits were in this issue, then I might have been able to accept this scene. But it's not, and I can't.

2/10


MARVEL'S "WHAT IF...?" PRESENTS - WHAT IF.... SPIDER-MAN WAS A MURDERER?

I'm kind of confused as to why this was here instead of the regular SD tale. Not disappointed though. It was a potentially interesting idea, but a fairly basic story. I enjoyed it regardles, and I like the idea behind this new series. Hopefully there'll be some stuff with more complexity later on.

I feel like I sound a bit too negative here - like I said, I enjoyed this story and it speaks volumes that I didn't mind it appearing in the middle of the ongoing SD tale. And, to be clear, this is heads and shoulders above the "thrills" I've already mentioned.

6/10


JUDGE DREDD

Ah, a Wagner Dredd. To get the only negative out of the way - I don't like Ben Willshers art. I (myself, and in my opinion) find it too be fairly crude and bland. Chris Blythe also has a rare misstep this issue when he coloured the sov agents munous and tears red, as if they were blood. I think that might have attracted a bit more attention from those bouncers.

But who cares about all that? A great story, with lots of action and suspense. Classic Wagner.

7/10