Blimey! Up to ol' bovine chops to start the thread again? This must be my lucky fortnight.
Cover: Mark Harrison channelling Jim Baikie!
Dredd: Exposition a go-go. All becoming clearer now. Good stuff. Although you'd think former judges would know better than [spoiler]to just line up in an easy-to-shoot group[/spoiler].
Bikelok: Please make it stop!
Slaine: The Brutannia Chronicles, Book Two: Primordial (part Five): Erm ... did anything actually happen this week?
Grey Area: Entertaining.
Strontium Dog: Woah, there! [spoiler]Steamy Alpha action????[/spoiler] Where did that come from?
Inside back cover ad: That's a nice figure. Took me a while to work out that the mysterious hole-in-his-face is a cigar. Liking the cloth.
Love that cover!
Well, I think Dredd takes the crown for me this week. Not sure if [spoiler]Aimee and Sinfield are dead[/spoiler]; part of me hopes they are, part of me hopes otherwise. Surprised to see it end so soon, but the New Life subtitle suddenly makes sense if we're going to get another Enceladus story sometime soon. God, I hope we don't have to wait long!
I've tried, I really have, but whoever thought Orlok, of all characters, needed ressurecting in order to star in a wacky comedy strip a-la Ulysess Sweet wants their head examined. It has its moments and I'm glad others are enjoying it but a big ol' miss for me.
I've enjoyed Slaine's adventures on Mondah thus far, but the promise of some actual events next week, as opposed to more chat, really got me excited. The idea of a Trojan manhunt is very cool indeed. Hope Pat delivers (we know by now that Simon will.)
Grey Area continues to be jolly good fun in a way that Orlok is attempting but not quite managing. Surprised by how much I'm enjoying this one week-on-week.
Stront is a class act. Dispels all my reservations about the return of the Stixes, sets up a new mystery, points the way forward to future adventures and deepens the twists and turns of the ongoing Jing Jong job. All that plus three pages of blood n' violence and some 3-boob cheesecake. This is how you do comics, people!
Cover: Loads going on in the BG, nice draw to the FG with the colour splash.
Dredd: Kinda rushed to the finish there.....thought it was gonna go a bit longer, but still good. Interesting to see what will happen in the next installment.
Orlok: Getting sillier. I'm not sure, is it a comedy thread or not?
Slaine: Quote from: A.Cow on 25 April, 2015, 02:59:01 PMErm ... did anything actually happen this week?
Yeah, there was....erm.....like...ah.......you know the bit where....ummm.......Panthers with dragon breath! There you go.
Grey Area: Starting to become a bit 'Tango 7 Cash', but in a good way! Light and nicely presented, it's hard not to like it.
Strontium Dog: Finally he's cheered up! Lovely panels of action to get outta Stixville, and some ahem....different action later on. ;)
Good Saturday fare!
While I really enjoyed last weeks Prog I thought this weeks was absolutely fantastic.With a really good line-up like this its the little things that make the difference. This week the main difference is that Orlok has a real up week. Really enjoyed it this week, in fact the only real problem with the thrill as a whole is its timing. The 'gag' at the end of last week makes perfect sense this week, it made none last. The first series had this problem throughout with only the last episode making everything really fit together.Even this week had one of those moments [spoiler]Black Widowers return[/spoiler] just felt a bit jarring. Not as bad as last week as you can kinda brush that sort of thing off but I bet next week it makes more sense. So yeah its like Arthur Wyatt isn't really writing this well for the episodic nature of a thrill, but when read as a whole he's clearly writing good thrills. Anyway this week it really works so for all my mindless woffle, good episode.
Everything else is on blinding form. Grey Area is a bit of a down turn this week and things get a little more actiony, but its still really really good. Slaine continues its real upturn that began last week and has a fantastic episode with a real promise of things charging forward next week too. Strontium Dog is quite brilliant, a bit of action romp, a bit of the other romp, plot building, story going really, really nicely. Top stuff...
... and yet not top thrill, that is Dredd.Arh Mr Williams and Mr Flint are nothing but big teases. The 'To be continued...' this week implies that that's that for now (I might be wrong) and if that is right its an almighty tease of the best kind. Oh sure we get a very satisfying end to this part of the story, a really good end on so many levels BUT oh my I can't wait for this to be back, even if it is next week as it sets up so much. Just top rate thrilling this.
Brilliant brilliant Prog.
No image file from me this week but Pete Wells block is yer man.
http://2000adcovers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/mark-harrison-spotting-greys.html
Another strong Prog.
Wasn't that keen on the cover at first, but it's grown on me. There's lots of detail in the background to enjoy and that little beastie on the girls leg is a nice touch.
Dredd, to be continued....argh!! Was really enjoying that. I agree with our bovine friend that judges, even weakened ex-judges wouldn't be quite so amenable to the murderous Sovs.
Orlok, always a bit touch and go and I can't get the image, put there by a fellow boarder, of it being done by Brendan McCarthy out of my head.
I think the story in Slaine will only really have the necessary pace when it's collected so I'm just going to relax with it and enjoy the art. Love the Belardinelli style warp-spasm on the first page!
Grey Area, ok this week.
Stronty Dog goes from strength to strength! It's good to see Johnny having some fun and keeping abreast of developments in Freedonia.
Good show Tharg.
A mixed bag.
Dredd: Well, that was weird. It just stopped. Or does it continue next week? And wouldn't the [spoiler]attack of the Sovs be seen as an act of war?[/spoiler]
Still this is great work.
Orlok: No, this doesn't work for me at all. Neither the story nor the art.
Slaine: I gave up on this – again.
Grey Area: Still not convinced this is the best material for Harrison's strength. And this episode feels a bit like treading water.
Strontium Dog: This was fun. The story is unpredictable, the balance of action and introspective is much better then in the last SD tales. The shootout was very well drawn, and Johnny getting some action was also nice to see. After all the endless grimness and depression it made Mr. Alpha much more relatable as a character.
Quote from: GermanAndy on 26 April, 2015, 01:22:40 PM
Dredd: Well, that was weird. It just stopped. Or does it continue next week? And wouldn't the [spoiler]attack of the Sovs be seen as an act of war?[/spoiler]
Don't think so, as it was on the breakaway cons at an abandoned base. Mind you, the carpet bombing from MC-1 could be seen that way I'd say! ;)
Quote from: GermanAndy on 26 April, 2015, 01:22:40 PM
Strontium Dog: This was fun.
FREEDONIA'S A FUN PLACE (https://youtu.be/qSabiG8q8-k?list=PL514B7D4578D5BD6D)
Quote from: Geoff on 26 April, 2015, 01:12:24 PM
I agree with our bovine friend that judges, even weakened ex-judges wouldn't be quite so amenable to the murderous Sovs.
I don't really see why they would follow Sinfield, either. If the Judges are genuinely bad-news types like Manners and Bender, who spent their careers embezzling, murdering and intimidating, why would they give a fig for his former authority? And if they were generally good Judges who were loyal to Justice Department but got caught having an unjudicial liason or the like, wouldn't they despise him for bringing their beloved Department so low?
One way or another, it made more sense for him to be the very lowest in the pecking order.
From the role Sinfield has played in both stories to date, I'd guess he was only included because readers would be expecting him to be there. Try imagining the story without him and it doesn't make a great deal of difference.
If he hadn't featured at all we would have been asking where he was and why a former Chief Judge was letting a bent undercover cop take the lead in a situation where he was the most obvious figure of authority. A one panel dismissal * probably wouldn't cut it, and nobody can kill Sinfield in case Wagner wants him to use him again.
It would have been more plausible if Sinfield had been the sole antagonist of these stories, but Nixon is Williams's character and he has more freedom to use her in a way which serves the purpose of his narrative than he would have done with Sinfield as the instigator and leader of the revolt. I've enjoyed the stories, so I'm not carping.
* showing a furious Sinfield locked in an iso-cube by Nixon, so he can't challenge her authority. Or something.
Well, yeah, it was an in-universe gripe really. I certainly get why Rob Williams used him in the strip - he's the only notable Titan resident apart from Nixon, and we'd all have been whining about him not appearing if he hadn't.
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 26 April, 2015, 05:18:57 PM
Well, yeah, it was an in-universe gripe really
I've thought a bit more about it and I think you're right that Sinfield doesn't make sense as some kind of Spartacus figure. He was a nearly man bureaucrat who gathered the support of enough fellow bureaucratic nearly men to end up in the big chair by default.
Nobody would ever have
followed him; he makes much more sense as the whispering side man, insinuating himself into a position of power, than as a rage filled Grice figure actively taking power for himself by force or even by force of personality.
Despite his protestations, maybe that was the long game he was playing in acting first as Nixon's intermediary with Justice Department then as her consigliere. He's the polar opposite of the titular Titan, which Williams said referred as much to Dredd as to the prison.
That's about right: He is essentially a Machiavellian politico type. It wouldn't matter where or what situation he was in, he would still be found near to the leadership. Unless of course he had an epiphany on Titan; but this wouldn't really sit well with his essentially manipulative nature.Z
Loving the prog at the moment - Stront pips best strip, but loving Dredd, even if it has been a tease. Grey Area is the big surprise for me... It's great, more fun than ever. Really like the art on Orlok but it's just silliness - which is odd considering the (future) history of the character. Slaine has amazing art but I wish it had a more accessible storyline. But what a great mix of thrills!
Great cover, busy but bold and impactful.
Dredd: The 'To Be Continued' threw me a bit considering how much things were building to something terrible, but in a way it's great because it's planted the seed of something sinister to come for the city. Have loved this story, looks incredible and the writing has done a great job of building the tension and uneasiness. It's the sign of a really great Dredd tale when you're totally absorbed and hanging on every episode but pages and pages can go by without the big man himself making an appearance. Really thought this was going to be a Dredd-less episode and didn't care. Brilliant.
Orlok: Unfortunately I still haven't clicked with this, the tone just hasn't landed for me or something. It's spoofing Tank Girl and Neighbours and I dunno, some other stuff. It just feels quite messy to me and isn't really generating any laughs or excitement for me.
Slaine: Looks great, the page of Slaine's dad in the afterlife was particularly grim. Haven't been invested in the storyline for Slaine in many years so mainly just in it for the artwork and the battles, and the combination of those in this series is getting my interest again.
Grey Area: Felt for the wee fella when he riled up the big beasty, so was really enjoyable to see Grey Area man (I can't do names good) step in and stick up for him. Always nice to see a bully get what's coming to them, hopefully the fight swings in their favour.
Strontium Dog: Lovely artwork as always, great action too. I've forgotten why anything is happening but that's my problem and I'm totally fine with that. Was a bit surprised by Alpha having some rumpy, just because I can't remember him ever being too bothered about that sort of thing before, too pre-occupied with his tasks at hand I guess. Makes perfect sense though once I'd gotten over the initial surprise, nice to see him have a nice day for once!
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 April, 2015, 01:55:02 PM
Was a bit surprised by Alpha having some rumpy, just because I can't remember him ever being too bothered about that sort of thing before, too pre-occupied with his tasks at hand I guess. Makes perfect sense though once I'd gotten over the initial surprise, nice to see him have a nice day for once!
He was indulging in a bit of the other during The Mork Whisperer, too.
Anyone picked this up from a branch of WH Smiths? The one in Huntingdon didn't have any this morning...only the second time that has happened in the last two years (the other being when the Summer Special was released as they seemed to have that instead).
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 29 April, 2015, 02:00:47 PM
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 April, 2015, 01:55:02 PM
Was a bit surprised by Alpha having some rumpy, just because I can't remember him ever being too bothered about that sort of thing before, too pre-occupied with his tasks at hand I guess. Makes perfect sense though once I'd gotten over the initial surprise, nice to see him have a nice day for once!
He was indulging in a bit of the other during The Mork Whisperer, too.
Johnny's always had his earthy side. Plenty of women, mutant and otherwise, have found him attractive - and vice versa. Even during 'Rage', his darkest hour, he still manages to get a snog. True, he's not Nikolai Dante but he's no Joe Dredd either.
Still reading this week's Dredd and back referencing it....I knew it was going to be good; but never this good. I am in twists and twines of sheer delight over this strip. Brilliant! Z
Wagners going to kill Dredd off next week Z so you'll never get to see the outcome mwaahahaha!!!
I wouldn't worry he killed J Alpha off and look at the years of shite.....sorry fun we've had with the resurrection of that. :-) Z
I loved life and death and the only dud part was the killing off of whatever possessed him.i was waiting for a big reveal.the Stix fix is great.
It was Alan Grant who killed off Alpha wasn't it? Not John Wagner
Quote from: Zenith 666 on 29 April, 2015, 11:08:13 PM
I loved life and death and the only dud part was the killing off of whatever possessed him.i was waiting for a big reveal.
Aye, that was a bit odd. It was a fascinating sub-plot that never really came to anything. We weren't even told what the little critter
was before it had been written out and never mentioned again.
Quote from: James Stacey on 30 April, 2015, 12:12:41 PM
It was Alan Grant who killed off Alpha wasn't it? Not John Wagner
Alan Grant wrote
The Final Solution but Wagner had been wanting to kill off Alpha for years. When asked about his role in Alpha's death, Wagner says he must have approved it but can't remember.
I don't think theres any evidence to suggest Wagner wanted to kill off Alpha - it appears that at the time the story was written killing him off he had become detached from the strip, but I suspect he was a bit disillusioned with a lot of the comics industry at that point in general, having just broken up the writing partnership / becoming increasingly annoyed at the lack of reward for the exploitation of Dredd and the rest of his strips.
Everyone here should be made to memorise and recite these incredible interviews at special Madrasas set up by Tharg in the tribal regions of Betelgeuse:
QuoteJohn, more than me, was tiring of Strontium Dog. He really wanted to kill Johnny off, but not in a rush. So killing Wulf came first, which led to one of our best Stront stories, "Rage". I think it inspired Carlos, too, because his art was superb on the series.
When we split our partnership, I took Strontium Dog. Knowing John wanted him dead, so nobody could ever write the character again (ha, some hopes!), I finished him off.
http://web.archive.org/web/20140103172011/http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/features/interviews/2005/grant/grant5.shtml (http://web.archive.org/web/20140103172011/http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/features/interviews/2005/grant/grant5.shtml)
QuoteLOGAN: Carlos Ezquerra never accepted Johnny's death as part of Strontium Dog continuity, How did you feel about him being killed off?
WAGNER: I can't remember if I co-wrote Johnny's last story; I think Alan may have done that one on his own. I could check the red book, I suppose - no matter, I must have agreed to it happening.
http://web.archive.org/web/20130615191107/http://www.2000ad.nu/classof79/jw_interview.htm (http://web.archive.org/web/20130615191107/http://www.2000ad.nu/classof79/jw_interview.htm)
Alan Grant has given multiple reasons for killing off Alpha, from needing to cut down his work load after a health scare to stopping others getting their hands on the character. That's not to say Alan is misremembering, but that is a comparatively recent interview compared to others where he had a range of reasons - of course, maybe the further from the act the more honest he feels he can be about it, so fairs fair. I always remember reading (though cant ever find it - thought it was a Titan book intro?) that Ezquerra only signed on to do stront if he could be guaranteed 10 years as the main artist on it? That ties in with the death, bbyut doesnt explain why he didnt draw it (other than the lure of Crisis of course).
Wagner has always remained pretty quiet on the issue, citing a lack of recall whenever he has been asked ( as that quote suggests)
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 30 April, 2015, 12:21:40 PM
Quote from: Zenith 666 on 29 April, 2015, 11:08:13 PM
I loved life and death and the only dud part was the killing off of whatever possessed him.i was waiting for a big reveal.
Aye, that was a bit odd. It was a fascinating sub-plot that never really came to anything. We weren't even told what the little critter was before it had been written out and never mentioned again.
I was just re-reading 'The Moses Incident' (which, by coincidence, is about resurrection and shows a nasty side of Johnny Alpha) and wondered if the mysterious critter might have had something to do with [spoiler]Malak Brood, last seen crumbling to dust[/spoiler]...
I always thought it was connected to the Xen thing which possessed Middenface in an earlier story. I can't remember which story, but I do remember the classic Next Prog line "Xen and the art of Middenface maintenance. "
Quote from: Timothyjacobs on 01 May, 2015, 08:32:53 AM
I always thought it was connected to the Xen thing which possessed Middenface in an earlier story. I can't remember which story, but I do remember the classic Next Prog line "Xen and the art of Middenface maintenance. "
The Big Bust, IIRC.
Cracking prog all round....
Dredd: Sinfield definitely made it out alive. Probably on the Sov-ship. Aimee....OK, i'm putting my theory hat on here. [spoiler]Enceladus BECAME Aimee Nixon. It absorbed her conscious and now that icey substance that covered the shuttle is going to play havoc to MC1. Aaaand....does anyone remember the Low Life Christmas story from prog 2015? Dirty Frank pointed out the weather was dropping, claiming something was wrong, and even had a vision of Aimee among the snow, apologizing for what happened to her on Titan and Enceladus. So that story was set AFTER this weeks Dredd.....Rob Williams, you clever bastard.[/spoiler]
Orlok: Skim reading it, tis' OK. Just not that engaging.
Slaine: Damn. Them pages look nice. Simon Davis is a bit good isn't he? Meanwhile Slaine and Sinhead do some drugs while Slough Feg jr. goes all Sith Emperor and musters his (pathetically small) army.
Grey Area: A nice action filled episode but the lady garden joke came a little out of left field. Could have done with a quicker wrap up but still, not a bad episode all told.
Strontium Dog: Cracking stuff and if it hadn't been for Dredd, thrill-of-the-week. I didn't think the Alpha rompy pompy was at all out of character, as he's enjoyed a little of the other before now. Of course, Alpha prefers his naughty time with [spoiler]A bearded viking, wielding a happy stick and a cucumber fetish[/spoiler] but three tiddies is nothing to scoff at...
Oh, and the Stix where in this episode as well, weren't they? Guess that's important.
Quote from: Butch on 30 April, 2015, 05:40:12 PM
Everyone here should be made to memorise and recite these incredible interviews at special Madrasas set up by Tharg in the tribal regions of Betelgeuse:
You're a lunatic mate!
(In a good way, of course.. :))
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 01 May, 2015, 09:12:03 AM
Dredd: OK, i'm putting my theory hat on here ... [spoiler]does anyone remember the Low Life Christmas story from prog 2015? Dirty Frank pointed out the weather was dropping, claiming something was wrong, and even had a vision of Aimee among the snow, apologizing for what happened to her on Titan and Enceladus. So that story was set AFTER this weeks Dredd.....Rob Williams, you clever bastard.[/spoiler]
Well done, son. The gestalt organism that is the Hivemind has responded to the (temporary) loss of TordelBack like a brain damaged in a road accident, reassigning his functions of remembering stuff and being clever to the parts of the cerebrum normally tasked with basic toilet functions and which day of the week the bins go out.
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 29 April, 2015, 01:55:02 PM
Slaine: Looks great, the page of Slaine's dad in the afterlife was particularly grim. Haven't been invested in the storyline for Slaine in many years so mainly just in it for the artwork and the battles, and the combination of those in this series is getting my interest again.
I prefer just that
L world where the dead go. Does the name Ifurin have any.....
Yes it does (http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/brewers/ifurin.html)
Still I prefer the hidden worlds that were introduced originally...like Cythrawl or is this new place part of Hel. I think they may all be the same or close to one another.
It is a bit dark, but this is Slaine after all.
Quote from: HawkmongerSlaine: Damn. Them pages look nice. Simon Davis is a bit good isn't he? Meanwhile Slaine and Sinhead do some drugs while Slough Feg jr. goes all Sith Emperor and musters his (pathetically small) army.
Yeah, it almost looks like one of those recreational battles from that
Vikings series where you almost except some body to produce a ball after referee blows his whistle.
Quote from: ButchWell done, son. The gestalt organism that is the Hivemind has responded to the (temporary) loss of TordelBack like a brain damaged in a road accident, reassigning his functions of remembering stuff and being clever to the parts of the cerebrum normally tasked with basic toilet functions and which day of the week the bins go out.
Yeah what happened to
Tordal?
Did he announce his departure?
On that subject, I have also noted the long absences of.....
The House of Usher,
GodpletonPeter Wolf.
I know there are others , but those are the ones I know of......
Catching up on my prog backlog... This one in particular is a bit of a corker. Top thrill for me is Strontium Dog, with Alpha rediscovering his mojo. New Life was great but I can't help feeling a bit disappointed that it was all basically foreplay. I always look forward to Grey Area - even in a fairly uneventful installment you get a killer line like "put him down now or they'll be extracting my boot from your rectal cavity with a speculum and a team of huskies."