Prog 1693 - Aces High

[JayzusB.Christ]

If Alpha pops up alive - which looks a bit more certain than before - it'll make 2000ad more like the likes of Marvel or DC who as we all know kill of & bring back characters on a very regular basis.

Couldn't agree more.   I enjoyed the prog on the whole - Dredd was freaking awesome - but I don't really like the way the Dog is headed.

[Richmond Clements]

If Alpha pops up alive - which looks a bit more certain than before - it'll make 2000ad more like the likes of Marvel or DC who as we all know kill of & bring back characters on a very regular basis.

Couldn't agree more.   I enjoyed the prog on the whole - Dredd was freaking awesome - but I don't really like the way the Dog is headed.

Going by the name of the story, he does appear to be dead.

[Mikey]

Point. Hadn't considered that, but even though I hope he's still dead, if he's coming back Wagner'll do it justice.

And surely you'd say you don't like the way the Dog's being *walked*? :-D

M

[radiator]

Regarding Stront, I do get a slight feeling that we're all being led on a wild goose chase - nothing will have changed at the end of it and we go back to vaguely-defined 'flashback' stories.

The other alternative is Johnny actually returns and we get a reboot of sorts - a changed world with an older Johnny, a new Doghouse, a new supporting cast, new villains, but Wulf et al still remain dead.

I've got to say the latter is far more appealing to me - I'd like to see things shaken up - it would be great to move things forward so things can actually change and stories have real consequences again. Would be nice to have a proper story arc rather than the 'filling in the blanks' tales we've been getting these last ten years.

[TordelBack]

Regarding Stront, I do get a slight feeling that we're all being led on a wild goose chase - nothing will have changed at the end of it and we go back to vaguely-defined 'flashback' stories.

I'm hoping this is the case.  I'm hoping Feral took Johnny's body to try and revive him, and failed.  I'm hoping he lied because he knew Johnny had had enough of solving the world's problems, and wanted to give him the option of getting out.  I'm hoping there's time travel involved.  But I have a bad feeling that I'm wrong about this, and Johnny's body is stashed in a stasis chamber somewhere just waiting to be revived. 

[James Stacey]

I'm not that comfortable with the story, but I keep my faith in Wagner. Whatever the pay-off is, he won't have done it unless it's a good un.

[Will I. Cooling]

If Alpha pops up alive - which looks a bit more certain than before - it'll make 2000ad more like the likes of Marvel or DC who as we all know kill of & bring back characters on a very regular basis.

Annoyed of Leatherhead!

What you mean like when they resurrected The Dark Judges, Mean Machine Angle, Rogue Trooper, the rest of the Angle Family etc etc

[TordelBack]

[What you mean like when they resurrected The Dark Judges,

You cannot resssurrect what did not truly live.  And the whole point of Rogue Trooper was that he could be resurrected/re-gened.

But aside from that, a good point.  The resurrections of Chopper and the Angels were nothing but regrettable, IMHO, not leats because having done it Wagner dropped them like a hot potato.  

[Paul faplad Finch]

What you mean like when they resurrected The Dark Judges, Mean Machine Angle, Rogue Trooper, the rest of the Angle Family etc etc

To be fair though, thats 4 examples you've named there, in 3 decades of comics, and I can't really think of many etc's. Plus, theyw ere probably not the most popular of decisions where they? Except perhaps the Dark Judges.

I'd agree that this is a slippery slope and don't really want to see 2000ad go any further down it.  I'd been giving this story the benefit of the doubt until now but I have to say that the Ho Gan line did seem a little bit off. A one line dismissal of an awful lot of work, some of it very good.

I may be on thin ice here but I'm gonna say that if this was anyone other than John Wagner I don't think it would be getting cut quite so much slack.  Even if he had intended to use the Dogs characters but couldn't, did he really need to then dismiss it quite so totally?

I'm afraid that this story is starting to leave a little bit of a sour taste.

I'll be back later with a review of the rest of the prog. Just had to jump into this little debate before it moved on.

[James Stacey]

Chopper was never actually dead though. It was heavily implied and unlikely he'd survive but was he ever actually pronounced dead ?

Wagner has spoken a number of times about his regrets with the Angel Gang et al. I'm sure if Alpha is back from the dead the reasons will be good.

[IndigoPrime]

What you mean like when they resurrected The Dark Judges, Mean Machine Angle, Rogue Trooper, the rest of the Angle Family etc etc

"You got Mean on 90 degrees!"

(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

[TordelBack]

Chopper was never actually dead though. It was heavily implied and unlikely he'd survive but was he ever actually pronounced dead ?

He was in my house.

"You got Mean on 90 degrees!"

(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

Heh heh heh.  "That there's ma brother's boy Acute, he's a sharp one, and that awkward looking fatty in the corner is my nephew Obtuse.  He looks funny on account of the radian poisonin'.  That other fella in the brown shirt, he's a regular fascist....".

[House of Usher]

Chopper was never actually dead though. It was heavily implied and unlikely he'd survive but was he ever actually pronounced dead ?

I think it counts as a resurrection because he had big lumps blasted off him. When he returns he seems as good as new and doesn't report even the odd painful twinge when doing surfing manouvres (does he?).

[JayzusB.Christ]

Chopper was never actually dead though. It was heavily implied and unlikely he'd survive but was he ever actually pronounced dead ?

I think Tharg actually meant for him to be resurrected - i remember a letter very soon after Chopper's death with Tharg replying 'Who says Chopper's dead?'

Which is not to say that he SHOULDN'T have died - it would have been the greatest death scene in the history of the comic.

If Johnny does return from the dead, and I still hope he doesn't, he's still got two big holes where his eyes should be.  Thus leaving him without his defining feature.

[James Stacey]

just to clarify, I'm firmly in the 'Chopper should have died' camp. I just see it as a bad decision to continue the story, not a resurrection.