What an extraordinarily good prog this week!
A very good Dredd one-off by Arthur Wyatt and new artist Simon Roy (his style reminds me of the art on The Vort and Wastelands). I really liked this story, a strong plot, some good characters, good jokes.
But the real stand-out this week is episode four of Indigo Prime. Extremely disgusting, imaginative, top action, and it actually reads as if John Smith wrote it himself. I think that Kek-W has really found Smith's voice. Looking forward very much to see where all this is going.
Something actually happened in Slaine.
Absalom is back with a strong start.
Grey Area concludes with an action-packed finale, and sets up next year's story in a way that makes me wish we didn't have to wait that long -- and I normally don't even like this series.
Very good issue.
Interesting style Simon Roy has on that enjoyable (if predictable) Dredd story.
One thing that was far from predictable though, was the CSI type Judge smoking a fag!! What's going on there..!?
Quote from: Geoff on 14 October, 2017, 01:47:02 PM
Interesting style Simon Roy has on that enjoyable (if predictable) Dredd story.
Simon Roy is a
phenomenal artist, I'm a huge fan of his work on the reimagined Prophet series (itself something that would appeal to pretty much every 2000AD reader).
Hopefully this isn't just a once-off appearance in 2000AD for him.
Incidentally, does anyone know if the Scream and Misty special is out today or do we have to wait til Wednesday? There's an advert for it in this prog, but of course subscribers get it early. But the special might not be published on the usual weekly schedule.
Quote from: Geoff on 14 October, 2017, 01:47:02 PM
Interesting style Simon Roy has on that enjoyable (if predictable) Dredd story.
That's a very diplomatic way of putting it.
Don't get me wrong: always keen to see up-and-coming talent and the Roy droid clearly has potential.
Much of it was OK ... but a few panels looked more like what I'd expect in a free fanzine rather than a commercial publication (especially one with 2000 AD's reputation). Particular low-points are page 7's 'Skazz', page 8's final panel grimace and page 6's "might need extra those helmets".
Having taken a look at some of his other work online, Simon Roy has talent. However, something -- presumably time & deadlines -- has gone wrong here IHMO.
One thing that was far from predictable though, was the CSI type Judge smoking a fag!! What's going on there..!?
Synthi-stick containing attention boosting nanites.
Quote from: Art on 14 October, 2017, 03:26:50 PM
One thing that was far from predictable though, was the CSI type Judge smoking a fag!! What's going on there..!?
Synthi-stick containing attention boosting nanites.
Knew there must be some explanation ...
(https://i.imgur.com/ycL0ZsR.jpg)
Well have to say I agree with Richard that was a cracking Prog which sees this line-up at the standard I was hoping... even if its a slighty changed line-up... and one of the series finishes... damnit.
First though what the heck is going on with the cover? Nowt wrong with the central image, nice one as I'm sure we'll see when it reaches Pete Wells Uncovered Blog no doubt and well timed for Halloween. No my beef, and with apologies to those involved, is the design its bloomin' awful! The text seems slapped on and takes too much attention from the image. That bar across the bottom is horrible and the shadowly thing across the top of it makes it even worse. The fact the bar is there looks really weird when the logo is obsured (I'll set aside my normal beef with this being the case and be specific here) making the design look really unbalanced. Sorry but not a fan at all!
Anyway inside as I say things are much better. As soon as I saw Simon Roy on Dredd I knew he'd be a marmite artist and the early reviews here stand as evidence of that. For me, a few too many open mouths with bared teeth aside, I love it. A fresh exciting take on Dredd in a fun and exciting story. Absolutely top stuff all round.
Again I'm with Richard in Slaine, this is a great episode, I'm just a little at a loss as to how its taken 4 episodes to get here?
Remember when John Session would improve a talk in the style of say Graham Green on Whose Line is it Anyway? It could be funny, charming, sharp and capture the essence of the person he was caricaturing , yet you still knew it was a caricature. That's Kek W on Indigo Prime that is. Still really good fun, but I want the writer to find a way to do this in his own voice some time soon.
Absalom has an American Werewolf in London style internal monlogue this issue. Its fantastic (Yes I know its not an internal monologue in American Werewolf but I think the comparison works... doesn't it?)
Grey Area finishes... what, yes, huh wasn't expecting that. Yet Dan Abnett uses five pages with almost Wagnian craft and skill so nothing feels rushed and so much is in here (see that Mr Pat 4 Episodes Mills, that's how its done and you used to do it). Its astonishing well done and sets up what's comigng next as well. Just brilliant.
So yeah the Prog is at last the absolute trimuph I've been waiting for and expecting since 2050. Just wonderful comics.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 14 October, 2017, 06:33:03 PM
First though what the heck is going on with the cover? ... That bar across the bottom is horrible and the shadowly thing across the top of it makes it even worse. The fact the bar is there looks really weird when the logo is obsured (I'll set aside my normal beef with this being the case and be specific here) making the design look really unbalanced. Sorry but not a fan at all!
I think the return of Absalom is a big deal, given how popular it is, how long it has been since the last series, and how long the kidnapping of his grand children has been going on. Therefore would it not have made sense to have it as the cover image?
Quote from: Magnetica on 14 October, 2017, 06:51:11 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 14 October, 2017, 06:33:03 PM
First though what the heck is going on with the cover? ... That bar across the bottom is horrible and the shadowly thing across the top of it makes it even worse. The fact the bar is there looks really weird when the logo is obsured (I'll set aside my normal beef with this being the case and be specific here) making the design look really unbalanced. Sorry but not a fan at all!
I think the return of Absalom is a big deal, given how popular it is, how long it has been since the last series, and how long the kidnapping of his grand children has been going on. Therefore would it not have made sense to have it as the cover image?
I, for one, was fully expecting this weeks cover to be an 'Absalom' cover. Usually, it seems, when a popular strip commences its latest run in isolation (i.e. no other major strips are also starting in the same prog) it will get the cover.
That's a stinker of a cover and the postscript on the bottom looks even worse, doing no justice to the return of one of the progs greatest strips.
I'm a huge fan of Tiernan Trevallion and his idiosyncratic style which complements Rennie's script beautifully. This strip and the art on Indigo Prime are examples of styles that I enjoy whilst reading the interesting stories that they tell.
I can't say the same for this weeks Dredd however. It's not the worse I've seen Dredd being represented, but it's almost there. It's harsh I know, bit when we've seen such great artists on this strip, this looks rushed and without care from Roy, but I'm glad that other people like it, although I do think Dredd deserves better.
That's what you get with 2000AD a bit of everything that suits different tastes and which continues to give divided opinion on styles and that's why it's still going as well as it is.
Which brings me to Slaine... good lord this is painful stuff... do we get 12 more episodes of this nonsense before the next book of the same?
...please bring back Stronty Dog... and that Rogue Trooper... that was good! :)
Quote from: A.Cow on 14 October, 2017, 02:42:58 PMDon't get me wrong: always keen to see up-and-coming talent and the Roy droid clearly has potential.
Up-and-coming? He did Prophet, which started in 2012, and was superb. It's not like he's a new that's just been dropped into Dredd. In terms of his style on Dredd, it reminded me a little of Guy Davis's take on the character. Regardless, it's great to see Tharg managing to get such people illustrating for the Prog. As for the strip itself, it was for me a decent one-and-done.
As for the rest:
Cover: Not keen. The design doesn't really work for me, mostly because of the lettering, bar and drop shadow.
Sláine: To quote Willow, "bored now". Several episodes of people having a chat while fighting, one of them BELLOWING IN ALL CAPS. Feels like it needs an injection of rocket fuel, to recall Diggle. Or perhaps just let it breathe with less dialogue. The same art, but knock out 75 per cent of the ANGRY ARCHON STUFF and it might have some pace, rather than feeling stodgy.
Indigo Prime: If nothing else, Kek-W knows how to script some properly grim pages. As ever with Indigo Prime, it's probably going to need a reread to fully take it in; but I'm enjoying it, if enjoying is the right word. (It's certainly compelling, weird, and messed up – everything the strip was when John Smith was scribe. I've no idea if Smith will return – I hope he does. But for this series at least, it seems like IP's in good hands.)
Absalom: For a while now, I've got the feeling this is a finite tale, and Gordon Rennie does have a tendency to get bored with his own strips. So in a sense, I hope he wraps this up, and gives Absalom a proper ending, even though I'd be happy to see this regularly in the Prog for years to come. It's horrible, caustic, funny, and has superb art.
Grey Area: As others have said, Abnett is a deeply important mainstay of the Prog. Grey Area's also an interesting one for me, in that what was originally a perfectly good 'filler' strip of sorts has become something of a front-runner. It works in smart single-parters but also in longer arcs. I'm also very much a fan of Harrison's current style, which mixes the best of his earlier work with his more photographic period. His work now has an energy and character about it that's on an upward trajectory.
Great Prog!
Covers growing on me, but like others I'm surprised it wasn't an Absalom cover.
Never seen the work of Simon Roy before - I like it, has a certain Dave Taylor/McCarthy vibe to it. Really nice colouring.
Story's good too.
Slaine [spoiler]wins by bleeding[/spoiler]. Quite sporting of the Archon to [spoiler]give him a day to get his shit together and leave, more like a cheated spouse than a Dark God![/spoiler]
Indigo Prime continues to be Indigo Prime, which is a very good thing. Kek-W seems a perfect fit so far.
Absalom returns and is as wonderful as ever.
QuoteFor a while now, I've got the feeling this is a finite tale, and Gordon Rennie does have a tendency to get bored with his own strips. So in a sense, I hope he wraps this up, and gives Absalom a proper ending, even though I'd be happy to see this regularly in the Prog for years to come. It's horrible, caustic, funny, and has superb art.
Yup, ^this^
Grey Area ain't my thing, but looks great when I flick through it.
And my 2000AD pin badges turned up in the post! Cheers Tharg :thumbsup:
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 15 October, 2017, 11:35:16 AM
Quote from: A.Cow on 14 October, 2017, 02:42:58 PMDon't get me wrong: always keen to see up-and-coming talent and the Roy droid clearly has potential.
Up-and-coming? He did Prophet, which started in 2012, and was superb. It's not like he's a new that's just been dropped into Dredd.
Prophet is possibly the best comic of the last ten years, so the guy clearly has more than "potential". I was very excited to open the prog and see his name. It's a great thing that Tharg is getting some of the most exciting people working in comics today in the prog. As you'd expect, the alien war opening sequence steals the show.
Long time Member .. occassional poster
it looks like i may have recieved a dodgy copy of the 2000ad because the art i saw in dredd is probably the worst i have ever seen in the the Galaxys Greatest, it looks like he has used Beavis and Butthead as reference material and someone has described to him what Dredd looks like over the phone (he's an Orange with a helmet on) its terrible its thrown into such a stark contrast because the rest of the issue is incredible looking.
disappears back to lurking
I'd have been disappointed to see that Dredd art in Zarjaz.
Specifically, I think it lacked depth - it was very flat - and was taken aback at a swoosh line being used to show motion.
What an extraordinarily meh Prog this week! That cover could have been wading through blood FFS!
Dredd: Not keen on the artwork I'm sorry to say, a lot of it makes me think of that horrid IDW Dredd, and Dredd kind of looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp. on the positive side there is a fine collection of VP, so often the downfall of new artists on Dredd.
Indigo Prime is so beyond me, I despair at my lack of empathy.
Slaine finally does something... but I'm well past caring
Absalom is the highlight of the prog and so wonderful to have the cheery auld fecker back in the Prog. ;)
Grey Area ties everything up with a nice bow, but I can't help but feel this has outstayed its original premise and is now a Dirty Dozen with aliens.
The first real dip in Prog production for me in years, but that's cause the normal service is skyhigh!
Quote from: Proudhuff on 17 October, 2017, 04:19:36 PM
... on the positive side there is a fine collection of VP, so often the downfall of new artists on Dredd
Visible panty line? Only David Roach draws the uniform so tight you see camel toe.
Rob Williams and Trevor Hairsine gave us
Where Shoulder Eagles Dare this time last year*, so
Dirty Doxenomorphs is overdue
(and sounds like fun, honestly).
Let's hope this is the end of such hybridity, though. There's no room for derivative material in the comic that brought us
Dirty Harry In The 22nd Century, Moll Flanders And Her Robot Dog, Toby, and Grant Morrison's
What If Marvelman Met Stock, Aitken, and Waterman?* Get Sin, 2001 - 2003
Damn! Should have gone for 'Stock, Aitken, and Marvelman'.
Quote(Grey Area) has outstayed its original premise and is now a Dirty Dozen with aliens.
I don't think it's always a bad thing when a series moves on from its roots and does something new. Sometimes it works well, and breathes new life into a series which would otherwise have either ended or overstayed its welcome.
Imagine if Nikolai Dante without Tsar Wars. Would it still have been as good?
Imagine if Dredd had never left the streets -- we'd never have had The Cursed Earth, the Judge Child, or Tour of Duty. Imagine if every Dredd story had to be a police procedural story.
So I'm quite happy to see Grey Area tread new ground. And it's not as if it's for the first time.
I think that is a good point. When you look at 200OAD's history, it is often the strips that have the most flexibility to tell different stories that endure. Prime examples being Dredd and Strontium Dog.
Look at Dredd. You can do police procedural, crazy future society, political thriller, mystery, horror, war, social commentary and probably more.
With Strontium Dog you can do: straight bounty hunt, rescue, war, social commentary, heists / capers and more.
Strips that can only do one thing eventually run out of steam and then get dropped.
Some might say there are other strips that can't do anything else than the original premise but carry on regardless with ever diminishing returns and really should either evolve or end.
Really quite shocked at the vitriol levelled at the Dredd art! :o
In my 40 years plus of reading the comic I've seen better and I've certainly seen worse.
Can't see what the big deal is. :-\
Quote from: Proudhuff on 17 October, 2017, 04:19:36 PM
Dredd: Not keen on the artwork I'm sorry to say, a lot of it makes me think of that horrid IDW Dredd, and Dredd kind of looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp. on the positive side there is a fine collection of VP, so often the downfall of new artists on Dredd.
Vive President? Visible Panties? Virtual Processor? Verb Phrase? Variegate Porphyria?
View Point :crazy: :think:
Quote from: dweezil2 on 18 October, 2017, 06:29:25 PM
Really quite shocked at the vitriol levelled at the Dredd art! :o
In my 40 years plus of reading the comic I've seen better and I've certainly seen worse.
Can't see what the big deal is. :-\
I feel the same - didn't really jump out at me, but there's been worse published in the GG. Quite like the Rogue Cephalopods on the first page...
Quote from: dweezil2 on 18 October, 2017, 06:29:25 PM
Really quite shocked at the vitriol levelled at the Dredd art! ... In my 40 years plus of reading the comic I've seen better and I've certainly seen worse.
The reaction on social media is an interesting way to gauge the age of readers. When you see someone claim this is the worst art the strip's ever seen, you can tell they stopped reading before 1990.
The names of
Russell Fox, Ilya, and
Manuel Benet must be foreign to them. Like Simon Roy, none of them are
awful artists, but they didn't demonstrate a great understanding of what makes the strip or the character work.
They're in good company. John Burns is a
fantastic artist, who has drawn some of the most important Dredd stories of all time. I like
everything about his Dredd work except his Dredd and his Megacity One.
Same goes for Roy; his alien designs are fun, but his Dredd and his city (buildings, tech, citizens) do nothing worthwhile. I'd give any debut Dredd artist a break, though. Ron Smith and Chris Weston are
masters, but their first strips get better the more you forget they exist.
I think it's more a case of middle-aged men suffering from memory loss then acting like middle-aged men still reading comics.
Remember when Brian Bolland drew Dredd every week? Those were the days; white dog shit everywhere, and you didn't have to watch what you say.
Possibly they just didn't like it? In the sense it was off "model" (which given how flexible Dredd is, is some feat), scrappily and seemingly hurriedly drawn and at times weirdly framed - that last panel....
In don't need to compare it to the best or worse to judge it on its own merits, which are for my eye, some nice colouring, some nice aliens and a sense of fun in the populating of the crowd scenes, but failing for the already mentioned reasons
"I don't like the art" I can understand, "It's the worst art evah!!!!" Not so much.
Quote from: Frank on 18 October, 2017, 08:34:22 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 18 October, 2017, 06:29:25 PM
Really quite shocked at the vitriol levelled at the Dredd art! ... In my 40 years plus of reading the comic I've seen better and I've certainly seen worse.
The reaction on social media is an interesting way to gauge the age of readers. When you see someone claim this is the worst art the strip's ever seen, you can tell they stopped reading before 1990.
The names of Russell Fox, Ilya, and Manuel Benet must be foreign to them. Like Simon Roy, none of them are awful artists, but they didn't demonstrate a great understanding of what makes the strip or the character work.
I'm guessing this Frank.
Art is of course subjective but I'm always a little surprised by how conservative fans of 2000ad can be when it comes to comic art. One of the things I love most about the comic is it exposes me to stuff I might otherwise not see and art like this feels fresh and different. While I might not have read Prophet or know Simon Roys work I love seeing these different takes on a character who we've seen drawn so many times in so many ways.
That doesn't invalidate anyone not liking the art, arts like that, its just that sometimes you can spot an artist and draw breathe cos you can predict the reaction... and of course sometimes I'll agree with it. Its just sometimes people get so excited, like art they don't get on with on Dredd feels like its an insult or some such. Rather than a gentle shrug of the shoulder, a quiet ho hum, not for me and move on...
... that cover design though this week IS AWFUL AND HAS DESTROYED MY LIFE!!!!
I read a lot of negative comments about it on social media before I read it and I was concerned to say the least. But actually I think Frank has a point about it being the depiction of Dredd, or more specifically for me the uniform that is a bit off. The rest of it is perfectly fine. And again as Frank says even some of the greats took a while to get their Dredd look right. As well as Ron Smith, the one I remember is Ian Gibson (but I actually only read his earliest Dredds in recent years so they were viewed with the benefit of hindsight) - the helmet just looked all wrong. And then he developed his way of drawing it and it became one of the classic depictions.
I liked Russell Fox! Especially on that Armitage special about the haunted house.
After hearing all the negativity I was surprised to find myself enjoy the strip more than I expected; I think the presence of the aliens gave MC-1 a sense of a cosmopolitan-galactic city which I haven't felt in recent times.
But the plot was just a bit 'meh' as they are these days overall, and I reckon that is what has annoyed the Squaxx, the standard of Dredd stories has really slipped and now the standard of the art looks like it could be in freefall too and that would be the last straw for a lot of readers.
As a fan of Slaine I already feel taken for granted the way the plot is stretched to catwalk levels of unhealthy thinness, but Absalom and Indigo Prime show that the more mature and sophisticated strips work best nowadays, after all we are a more mature and sophisticated audience these days!!! :)
Quote from: Frank on 18 October, 2017, 08:34:22 PMThe reaction on social media is an interesting way to gauge the age of readers. When you see someone claim this is the worst art the strip's ever seen, you can tell they stopped reading before 1990.
I saw the strip before seeing any online comment and my immediate reaction was "this looks like something that would have been in a Sci-Fi Special c.1992/3" (just as an observation rather than a criticism).
Personally I thought it was a good match for the alien material, perhaps not so well for the MC-1 stuff, but very, very far from the worst that Tooth has ever seen.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 18 October, 2017, 09:51:21 PM
Art is of course subjective but I'm always a little surprised by how conservative fans of 2000ad can be when it comes to comic art.
Many readers (and commenters) are not actually readers of comics, just readers of 2000AD. Hence when something doesn't fit their narrow definition of what 2000AD is, they get upset c.f. John Hicklenton.
I'm afraid I also thought the art on the Dredd strip, er, "not to my liking". I could say more but for some reason feel like that would be unwelcome. I hope we never see the like in the prog again, unless he tries a completely different style.
Cover also stuck out for me as being absolutely appalling. Not sure if the subject matter (sheets) or the cluttered straplines, but I've not seen a prog cover that would have forced my money back in my pocket so hard as that in a very long time.
Slaine was okay (will read better in the collection), Grey Area was a decent end to a game changing story and I look forward to more, Indigo Prime still seems to be telling a story in the most obtuse way possible, and the highlight was the return of Harry.
Usually when the prog is middling, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, but with that cover, that Dredd art, Indigo Prime and that font in Slaine... this gets a double raspberry from me.
SBT
Lots to pick up on this week, as the longer than usual thread testifies.
Cover: Like most I love the illustration itself (although, yeah, it could have been a bit more blood-soaked), but it's all downhill from there in terms of font choice, layout etc.
Dredd: This is the first time I've encountered Simon Roy's work. Having read this thread and seen that he's an artist of some renown, I've Googled his other work and really liked what I've seen. Pretty much everything he does in this strip is great, with the exception of the Judges, but... let's remember that plenty of legendary 2000 AD artists have taken a few goes to find the right balance between their style and the strip's 'house' style. From his work here I reckon Simon would be great on a Cursed Earth story.
Plot-wise it was OK but I didn't get the thing about the alien's hands? They looked exactly the same as the suckery hands of the other faction and the gun laying on the floor was the same as the ones they were all using on the first page, no?
Slaine: If I read this in one go in a TPB I think I'd be happy. In weekly installments, it's not especially satisfying.
Indigo Prime: Lovely stuff, especially the panel where the blood gushes from the mirrors. The panel where Jerry is sitting very casually with his muscle structure on display is great too.
Absalom: First time for me with this strip. Reminds me a bit of Ben Aaronovitch's 'Rivers of London' stories. Hooked already.
Grey Area: Oh. A couple of weeks ago I was expecting this to be a 12-part mega-story. Never mind... it was wrapped up pretty adroitly, pity we didn't get to see more of the AGS, unfortunately they just ended up as villainous cyphers. Early 2018 for more, please.
In all the high standard kicked off by prog 2050 has been well maintained over the subsequent weeks, loving the progs right now.
Quote...the gun laying on the floor was the same as the ones they were all using on the first page, no?
No, it was one of the robots' guns. Look again and only three of the four robots are armed.
How odd to come here specifinlcally to praise the Dredd this week only to see it being described as 'the last straw'! Thought the art was delightful, packed with fun details, and the story solid and well told. There's no accounting for taste!
Quote from: Frank on 17 October, 2017, 06:16:48 PM
(Zenith is) 'Stock, Aitken, and Marvelman'.
There it is, Homer; the smartest thing you'll ever say, and there's no one around to hear it.None of the stories grab me, so I'll echo
Richard and
Magnetica's thoughts on
Grey Area's genre hopping. It's worth remembering this was nobody's favourite strip until Abnett ditched the initial premise with the God Star/
Holiday On The Buses storylines.
Abnett and Harrison give good BANG-BANG, but why the former felt Bitch Face's technical acumen needed mansplaining is a mystery. It joins
Absalom's
'in a relationship' status update and discussion of police employment policy in belt and braces corner.
No unnecessary detail in Tiernen Trevallion's wonderful art; the esoteric filigree on everything from soft furnishings to capstones is evidence of an artist fully engaged with his material. This art was the highlight of the issue, for me, and the dog with the robot arse made me laugh out loud.
His character design is
incredible, although the recurrence of the
Batman 1966 trope of genteel villain with two freaky henchmen so soon after Praetorious and his Hollow Men in
The Alienist invites comparisons. It's not a competition, but dog-skulled robot huntsmen win.
Also,
MY STONES HAVE DROPPED and
I CANNOT COME NIGH TO MYSELF, FOR I AM LACKING IN SANCTITY are comedy gold.
Quote from: CalHab on 19 October, 2017, 07:40:42 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 18 October, 2017, 09:51:21 PM
Art is of course subjective but I'm always a little surprised by how conservative fans of 2000ad can be when it comes to comic art.
Many readers (and commenters) are not actually readers of comics, just readers of 2000AD. Hence when something doesn't fit their narrow definition of what 2000AD is, they get upset c.f. John Hicklenton.
Oh yeah I get that, but that makes it all the more surprising to me. I read a LOT of comics and have pretty diverse tastes in our old four colour delights. I place a lot of that at the door of 2000ad. One of the things I love most about the title is it exposes me to many stories, writers and artists I might otherise drift past. It really diversifies my appreciation of the medium as a whole and the diverse potential in it.
For while there's a core tone to much of 2000ad its always been a pretty broad church and never had an artistic style that's dominated in a way you'd get a house style in many mainstream (US that is) comics.
Quote from: Frank on 19 October, 2017, 08:26:46 PM
Quote from: Frank on 17 October, 2017, 06:16:48 PM
(Zenith is) 'Stock, Aitken, and Marvelman'.
There it is, Homer; the smartest thing you'll ever say, and there's no one around to hear it.
Also, MY STONES HAVE DROPPED and I CANNOT COME NIGH TO MYSELF, FOR I AM LACKING IN SANCTITY are comedy gold.
I think Yaldaboath is hilarious and a brilliant Millsian villaian, masking his lack of omnipotence in ludicrous self aggrandizing bollocks - if people don't see the humour in it, then I can see why it might fall horribly flat, but I'm loving it - I thnk it will read much better as a collection, and I don't think Simon Davis is really seeling it to me (much of my confusion as to what Slaine is up to/fighting and where Slaine is I feel is due to the art rather than the script), but Yaldaboath is as you say, comedy gold
As is to be expected of a retiree living it up on the Costa at the honest British tax payer's expense*, Mills seems in it mainly for the LOLs, nowadays**
* © Big Dave, 1993.
** He always was. Mills cites David Icke's insane posts in a way that makes clear he genuinely believes that bullshit, yet the man and his conception of the world are played for laughs in Accident Man and Finn, respectively.
Just caught up on about 10 progs worth and, while I'm not suffering from Thrill Power Overload, these have been a lot of fun and packed full of variety in art, script and plot.
There is the odd mis-step bit it never turns into a full fledged fall.
Surely this is what anthology titles are all about?
I rarely post reviews here now but wanted to pop in and say how much I enjoyed this week's Dredd story. Good, solid writing and creative, idiosyncratic art. I mean the drawings, not Art Wyatt. He could be idiosyncratic, too, if you like.
I also enjoyed Absalom and Indigo Prime. I'm afraid Slaine and Grey Area don't tickle my tastebuds but, as the dinosaur suggests, it's a buffet, not a set meal.
Cheers
- Trout
It never ceases to be interesting, this anthology lark.
In contrast to m'learned fish, I thought the Slaine was terrific, Mills finally dropping all the dancing about with religion and just tackling Yaweh Himself head-on, and as a comedy character too! And SBD's art, oh there are panels in that episode that take my breath away.
I also loved the crisp and efficient way Dabnett wrapped up what could have been a tiring and dragged-out 'Book' in other hands, using action, character development and exposition in carefully judged quantities, and gave us a whole new layer to Grey Area at the same time.
Indigo Prime I'm keeping my own counsel on, for now. We do agree about Dredd and Absolom, however!
Ooops, double post! I do have one puzzled observation on an otherwise joyous episode of Slaine. The Archons are the jailers of the Dark Gods, right? There to keep an eye on them, and the doings of their agents, the Cythrons and the Drunes, and by extension their herds of cattle, aka Humanity. So how does this work, if they are vulnerable to weirdstones, the Drunes' main tool, and Dilluvial horns, one of the Cythrons' patented weapons?
I suppose if nothing else, Simon Roy can in this thread now be described as divisive, rather than everyone getting on board the hate train. But I think what surprises me more is how few people have experienced Prophet, which is a superb comic. The first volume, Remission, is seven quid on Wordery (https://wordery.com/prophet-volume-1-remission-tp-simon-roy-9781607066118?currency=GBP). Grab a copy.
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 October, 2017, 09:12:31 AM
Ooops, double post! I do have one puzzled observation on an otherwise joyous episode of Slaine. The Archons are the jailers of the Dark Gods, right? There to keep an eye on them, and the doings of their agents, the Cythrons and the Drunes, and by extension their herds of cattle, aka Humanity. So how does this work, if they are vulnerable to weirdstones, the Drunes' main tool, and Dilluvial horns, one of the Cythrons' patented weapons?
Human prisoner wardens are vulnerable to pool cues. If I'm trying for a bit more historical heft, the British empire issued Lee Enfield rifles to Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, who outnumbered occupying colonial forces by factors of thousands.
I suppose human psychology was once such that when you had won a victory over an entire people, the subservience The Guvnor rails against every week kicked in, and a misplaced sense of shame and humiliation made the population reluctant to take even obvious opportunities for insurrection.*
* Obviously in our new age of individualism, where there's no such thing as society and everyone's the architect of their own conspiracy theory, psychological dominance is no longer enforced in the same way. See the continuing resistance to our two recent referenda
Quite liked the Dredd art, despite Dredd being a little off-model, though the smoking Judge is a bit of a silly error. Things like that tend to niggle me, but not a big deal in my eyes. :lol:
Thank Grud for old Harry...!
At this stage think I may be skipping Slaine & Indigo Prime from here in. From paper-thin to gobbledygook with nothing in between :( And that cover, hard to like). Been a slog since 2050.
The Dredd art was amateurish by Tharg's standards but as a one-off it's a curio, so fine.
I want to love the prog. When Absalom appears it's a ray of miserable sunshine. Trevallion is masterly and Rennie - especially when writing solo, in my opinion - knows how to entertain. Top Thrill!
Quote from: Fungus on 25 October, 2017, 11:03:22 AM
The Dredd art was amateurish by Tharg's standards...
Seriously, no.
Look, you can say you dislike the art, you can say it's not a style that you appreciate, or that you don't feel it suits the strip or the story, or that it doesn't succeed in what it sets out to do* but
amateurish? That's an utterly ridiculous statement - this is plainly professional work, both literally and in the extended meaning of the word, by anyone's standards. I really like it, you don't, fair enough - no need to imply that the artist doesn't measure up to some notional standard of worthiness.
*I'd say none of those things - I'd be glad to see Simon Roy in the prog any day, although if he's any sense he'll leave us to our own devices find a more appreciative audience.
Quote from: TordelBack on 25 October, 2017, 11:59:05 AM
no need to imply that the artist doesn't measure up to some notional standard of worthiness.
Yeah, it's one of those things we casually trot out as fans that we should really try to stop doing, rather like "phoning it in", which implies we're party to an artist's motivation and process, when we're really not. In much the same way, fans often react negatively when an artist tries to simplify their style, perceiving 'laziness' when it's incredibly hard to do. Kev Walker, for example, quite honestly stated that Mignola-fying his style was an effort to save time on inking* but quickly found that time saved inking was eaten up in extra time spent getting stuff right in the pencils that he'd previously have fudged with a bit of cross-hatching...
*Interview in Meg whatever-issue-it-was ages ago.
Quote from: TordelBack on 25 October, 2017, 11:59:05 AM
I'd say none of those things - I'd be glad to see Simon Roy in the prog any day, although if he's any sense he'll leave us to our own devices find a more appreciative audience.
I doubt we'll see him back, unfortunately. Thankfully he seemed to take the comments well on social media, but he doesn't need to deal with that kind of crap. My faith in my fellow Squaxx has taken a knock. I thought we were better than this.
I really like Simon Roy's work on Dredd in general. I certainly have more positive than negative things to say about it (love the alien designs, the storytelling is great, the sense of space works very well, good use of facial expressions and body language).
I find it hard to get my head around a couple of the panels though. I'd say the final page is let down by the third panel in particular but the Grand Hall isn't given much sense of scale either.
As for the cover - the layout and captions let it down a bit but I really like the picture of the sheet-ghosts.
Dredd Well this has become a bit of a minefield....hey ho...I thought it was terrible, awful story, really dreadful artwork, which, yes did come across without question as amateurish in parts (complete with glaring error of a smoking judge!) . The briefest bit of research, (or simply asking) would have kept that out -(should have been spotted regardless).
This is called opinion -I won't chastise those who liked it that's their opinion.
Grey Area Enjoyed it, glad to see it return. Impressive artwork.
Slaine Time to wrap this up entirely -seems a long way past its sell by date (so too Sinister Dexter)