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Prog 2075 - In the Field of Battle

Started by Andy B, 04 April, 2018, 03:02:48 AM

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Andy B

Saw the thread was unbagged, and couldn't resist it...

This new run of stories makes me feel like a bit of a dick for complaining about the state of the Prog over on that other thread: it's amazing what a difference good Dredd and a bit of John Wagner make.

So it was disappointing that we only got two weeks of Judge Pin: but I was pleasantly surprised by Dredd this week. A good old-fashioned Mega-City slice-of-life one-off, where [spoiler]Dredd turns up and cubes everybody at the end[/spoiler]*. Nice! I'm not a huge fan of Paul Marshall's cartoony style (is this really the same guy who drew Firekind?), but for this kind of story it works pretty well.

Jaegir is always quality stuff, and this week is no different: wonderfully moody art, nice pacing. The sheer age of 2000AD enables Nu Earth to have the same legendary, historic feel for us, as it does for the characters, and gives this series real depth.

Sinister Dexter takes top spot for me, getting back to the ongoing story after a couple of fun one-offs. It's amazing how fresh this series still feels: Dan Abnett just keeps delivering! It's bringing out the best in Steve Yeowell too: his art seems re-energized to me after a period of being a bit bland.

"What's going on?" asks a character in Anderson this week. Good question: I have no idea, and not really interested enough to put more effort into figuring it out. But it's always nice to see David Roach in the Prog, although I think his stuff works better in black & white: on my iPad anyway, this is a bit too garish.

Great to have Strontium Dog back as a going concern, and I'm excited to see where this is going. This week, Johnny is in a Daily Mail readers' dream come true (where everything was perfect until the AU made them take in a bunch of immigrants), and we get some interestingly weird new villains. Seems like sacrilege to even say this: but does King Carlos seem to be phoning it in a bit here? Second rate Carlos still pretty good, though.

All in all, 4 out of 5. Good Prog.

* this is the least spoilery spoiler ever


Dark Jimbo

Quote from: Andy B on 04 April, 2018, 03:02:48 AM
Seems like sacrilege to even say this: but does King Carlos seem to be phoning it in a bit here? Second rate Carlos still pretty good, though.

I don't know about phoning it in, but I genuiney wonder (worry) if he's having trouble with his eyesight or something? It's all drawn using some incredibly thick, heavy linework and without the usual confidence or detail...
@jamesfeistdraws

Tjm86

Looks nice.  With luck my subscription prog will turn up today.  Bank holiday weekend has really thrown things for a loop.   :(

wedgeski

Quote from: Tjm86 on 04 April, 2018, 10:21:42 AM
Looks nice.  With luck my subscription prog will turn up today.  Bank holiday weekend has really thrown things for a loop.   :(
Ditto. :(

broodblik

Cover - So far the cover of the year for me

Dredd - really enjoyably once-off, reads like a classic Dredd tale of the 80s

Jaegir - I like the way the flashback is incorporated in the story. My favorite strip of the current run

Strontium Dog - The story is going great, the only gripe is that Johnny does not act like he does not care. But lets wait  and see where this is going.





When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

Tjm86

... and it did turn up.  Hmmm.  Have to agree on Dredd.  Amusing after a fashion.  Nice little filler.  Marshall on art ...  Aye, okay stuff.

Jaegir is far and away the stand out strip for me though.  Coleby's art goes from strength to strength and this captures the dark insanity of Nu-Earth perfectly.  Of all the attempts to find a quality strip to explore the full scope of that war, this one is it for me.

I can see the point with regards to Anderson.  There were times when I really couldn't track who was saying what to who.  Got a bit confused.  If Ezquerra is 'phoning it in' then I can think of a lot of other professional artists that should just give up then.  Even on Wilderlands, when he was playing about with computers, he shows more talent than a lot of the current crop of American 'big talent' artists out there.  I'm not going to comment again on his age though since it got me into a world of trouble last time!

SinDex does seem to be another strip that is reinvigorated by its new direction.  Humour, pathos, Yeowell ...

... overall I'd have to say, well worth the wait.  Plus, not long (hopefully) until the next prog.

The Enigmatic Dr X

Can someone tell me what's going on in Anderson? Is Karyn possessed by a demon or a vampire? Is the King thing a vampire? The same one or a different one?

This would be a better novel.
Lock up your spoons!

Colin YNWA

Well from cover on that was I call Progage. While its all be excellent issues from the relaunch, there's always been a niggle here, a one waiting to get going there. This Prog, none of it. 5 for 5 brilliant stories.

Dredd is a neat, sharp, funny and pathetic (in the good way) one of Dredd and Geez Louise isn't Paul Marshal just getting better and better. Funnily enough I'm at the point in my re-read when he's a fresh young thing starting out and while its still recognisibly the same artist the difference in quality is quite something. He's a stunning artist.

Speaking of stunning artists, that Simon Coleby on Jaegir huh, fantastic episode all rounds are either put in place, or at least hinted at with a heady mix of first world war style violence.

And speaking of stunning artists a dark and gloomy bar has pushed the always brilliant Mighty Yeowell up another notch, Stunning work on a fun, funny and at the end tense opening to Sinister Dexter

The two I was waiting to get really in my head, well both are at the top of their game. Anderson having put its pieces in place has the chance to play with things in a little more room and is all the better for it, unlike others for me this cleared up the 'Huh?' moments and swapped them for some great little moments.

As does Strontium Dog, gets past its flat start with some great character stuff, developing Kenton and re-enforcing nuJohnny. Of and if Carlos is phoning those villians designs in it just goes to show how much you can do other a phone these days. Supreme design, gloriously realised.

Top rate Prog.

Tjm86

Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 April, 2018, 08:24:12 PM
Can someone tell me what's going on in Anderson? Is Karyn possessed by a demon or a vampire? Is the King thing a vampire? The same one or a different one?

It took us a while to dig out the original storyline for Karyn since it happened a few years ago now, all the way back in Descent: 1432-1436, previously encountered in Asylum in the Meg (4.05).  Goes by the name of the Shadow King, originally introduced as Wurdolak.  Some sort of 'psionic vampire'.

Blue Cactus

Nice one-off Dredd although I found the ending pretty grim. I know Dredd often ends with a bit of dark humour and over-the-top sentences being given out for minor crimes, but [spoiler]'your major organs are riddled with inoperable tumours', you're family probably have them too, and now you're going to jail for the rest of your life for a crime you weren't aware of committing??[/spoiler] Geez that was depressing.

Jaegir and SinDex are ticking all the boxes for me. Loving this SinDex set up. I'm glad they addressed the issue of Ray and Tracy the other week too, seeing as their romantic relationship, which has lasted probably about 15-20 years, hadn't been mentioned at all since the sharks arrived in this reality!

I'm having a bit of trouble following Anderson too. Not so much the Karyn thing, though that could use a little explanation, and I thought the different coloured telepathy speech balloons worked well. I just need to go back and read the start of the story as I'm not sure what's actually happening! [spoiler]Also why is the doctor judge grinning while Anderson tells him he's under arrest? And how is Flowers able to catch a flying knife by the blade? That Justice Academy training is really thorough![/spoiler]

Stront is great, I though Carlos was on good form and the alien designs are ace. Love [spoiler]the thoughtful Johnny looking out the window at the violence and not going to sort it out. What's going on his mind?[/spoiler] Great subtle stuff.

This is my first post using spoilers so I hope I do it right and don't ruin the prog for hundreds of Squaxx!

Blue Cactus

Success! Although now I see I used an apostrophe wrong.  :-[

sheridan

Quote from: Blue Cactus on 05 April, 2018, 12:57:47 PM
Success! Although now I see I used an apostrophe wrong.  :-[
Congratulations!  Also, there was a stray 'e' in the same word :-P

TordelBack

Quote from: Blue Cactus on 05 April, 2018, 12:55:49 PM
I'm having a bit of trouble following Anderson too.... [spoiler]And how is Flowers able to catch a flying knife by the blade?[/spoiler]

That's essentially his psi-ability in action: he can foresee threats to himself, allowing him to know when/where the blade will be: and it is one hell of a big boot knife!  And I think the med-judge's leer is because he's perving on the dressing Karyn, rather than a result of his sentencing: possibly the panel would work better with Anderson and her dialogue on the right. Elswhere Roach fights a bit of a losing battle against the always-tricky positioning of shoulder pads, but I love how he depicts Echo's 'sight'.  As usual, I find Beeby's dense Anderson tales more inventive and engaging than Grant's later work.     

Agree that the Dredd was a bit too dark - [spoiler]sentencing a dying for deaths caused be not heeding a product recall was quite Dredd enough without adding the likely deaths of his neglected family[/spoiler].  Great little story though, and perfect choice of artist.

Loving the classic feel of Strontium Dog, and in particular Carlos' seemingly effortless art.  For a guy who used to densely render every surface, it's fascinating to see him convey all those same cracked and knobbly textures with loose energetic lines.  Quality.   

Same word could be applied to the whole comic this week.   


TordelBack

ADDENDUM: Quick shout-out for John Charles' colouring on SinDex.  I know I go on about this a lot, but no-one handles the challenging open nature of Yeowell's work quite as well as this guy - something about his choice of alternately strong and muted colours compliments Yeowell's signature sense of light and space perfectly. I'd like to see him try colouring Willsher too, another artist who sometimes seems to suffer from incompatible colouring, as long as it doesn't take him away from Sinister Dexter!