Prog 1440 - Close Encounter

[Oddboy]

Y'all seem to be having a go at American Gothic - I really have to disagree. I read the whole thing in one go yesterday, and it has plenty of the good stuff - and I'm really looking forward to its return.

[ukdane]

What happened then? (and who was who?)

[philt]

It took me 5 minutes to read this weeks prog. Or rather the strip I still bother with - Dredd. Old cliche though spoils it - the hitman just polishes of the last of his previous victims when his phone rings "we have a job for you"

When's the reboot issue? Are we getting one?

[Rio De Fideldo]

Can anyone explain to me what the last panel was supposed to be and what significance it had?

I feel like I'm missing something important.

[Oddboy]

S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S

The last panel shows three graves, the first two are members of the caravan group, the last one is the villians.

[Keef Monkey]

Is it just me or was the hitman Vin Diesel?

[Rio De Fideldo]

Ah. I get it.

[MIKE COLLINS]

...and the marker is the axle he was swinging about intending to kill Phillipe with.

[Rio De Fideldo]

Ah, I get it even more. Was it deliberate that when it comes down to it the 'freaks' are given what appears to be a christian burial despite the church earlier being described as a 'wolf in lamb's clothes'?

[Bad Andy]

"Is it just me or was the hitman Vin Diesel?"

Nope - I commented on it at the top of the thread! No shiny eyes though, so it must be rubbish Vin Diesel.

[MIKE COLLINS]

..well, the ogres are Amish, so not all share Phillipe's distain of the church...

[MIKE COLLINS]

...by which I mean Christianity generally, not 'the church' as Catholicism or High Anglican...

[DavidXBrunt]

I like Ron Smiths art.
I like Ron Smiths art.
I like Ron Smiths art.
I like Ron Smiths art.
I like Ron Smiths art.
I like Ron Smiths art.
I like Ron Smiths art.
I like Ron Smiths art.
I like Ron Smiths art.
I like Ron Smiths art.

[Carlsborg Expert]

One of the fine examples of a cover this one.
I am liking the lettreset.
It took me a bit of time to understand which story it led to.
Inside...
There was a time when scifi was outdoing fantasy for the way forward in scriptwriting.
For me,this week,the fantasy pipped scifi to the post.
American Gothic has proved me right about its scriptwriter.
Ian Edgington is superb in his ability to stretch our imaginations in an unpretentious and solid story .Manouvring the positions of the charactors and displaying scenes in a clever grouping to tell an unlikely tale.
Slaines,Pat Mills has his cold,icy finger on the pulse with him dictating his story of Slaine into this stupifying and crushing cliffhanger.The best hes done in ages.
Although the art is spectacular,I cannot see it saving the trade of the "books".Nice recovery from Mills.(As if he cares)
Those stories I would say were more fantasy edged.
Maybe Im overly impressed with what the small presses have been capable of this year,its just that the scifi element is really dragging its heels.
Still the boys club,Dredd opened up with a an unimpressive start,I dont care what anybody says thats XXX Vin Diesel.
I have to say Im glad of the artist and Rennies put the final panls together (in script)very slickly.
VCs goes chugging into the final huddle on this strange new frontier of wars for entertainment?
Apart from realising last weeks ended with too much information and could have dropped the story at a frozen bunch of VCs,it does have one nice ship design (the uglies) but the tales Ive seen in the small presses are chomping on the heels of this type of story-telling.
And I hate to say it but Si Spurrier is the best of the Scifi boys this week.Good on him.I met him at Bristol and the fellas not the paranoid neurotic I thought he was.
I will read Bec and Kawl again.He certainly saved the best laughs for last.Oh did I chuckle.In a nice way too.
One last thing.
With Shakara advert,there is only three more stories going with it.
Whats happening with the fourth?
Shakara
Dredd
VCs
Slaine
And can anyone explain where the fifth story is?

[Lord Running Clam]

Im guessing there isn't a fifth story next week,but Shakara will have a 10 page starting.