Prog 1483: Full Metal Makeover!

[DavidXBrunt]

Trouty, don't cross the road carrying any vases.

[House of Usher]

Hooray! Prog 1483 is the best Prog since... oh I don't know... Prog 1481. For some reason, Harry Kipling (deceased) aside, I really didn't take to Prog 1482. Never mind. I liked the stories in Prog 1483 in this order:

1. ABC Warriors. Leaving aside Hammerstein's "with one bound, he was free" escape, the Rev/Blackblood showdown was great entertainment, even with all the rubbish in it about robots having 'organs', and still being able to 'send out electronic signals'. That'll be robot telekinesis, then? Oh well...

2. Harry Kipling (deceased). A very nice line in quirky dialogue: "That's a long story" (x 3). At least one good joke on every page, and Kipling having a mission that never results in payment was a smashing touch.

3. Judge Dredd. Not at all a bad Judge Dredd one-off, that gets right to the heart of the humour in Dredd's world. No daring crooks trying to pull off a robbery in broad daylight despite fantastically long odds this time, just a crooked developer on the make. Superb.

4. Lobster Random. An awful lot going on here, and probably more happening at once than really needs to be, but at least it's back on track and resembles the familiar form of Lobster Random's typically disastrous misadventures. The smiley-faced torturer looks like an adversary with potential, and Si Spurrier's good at setting several actors in motion and drawing them all together in the same place for an almighty throwdown.

5. The 86ers. Nope, I don't like part 4 nearly as much as I liked part 2, and I didn't like part 2 all that much. I don't much care what's going on, and after reading page 1 several times I decided it wasn't very important to the story, and it was time to move on. So she gets rescued from the Nort zombies by Gabe activating a force field, and then she gets got by aliens. The Varr? OK. So long as they keep printing it, I'll keep reading it.

7/10

[Tweak72]

Dredd: I actually thought it was a John Wagner story till I looked so yeah, ol' Rennie really is getting there inne?
Art: its Gibson nuff said

Lobster Random: Amusing? Yes, but just. The story only got my attention in the last frame this character may get my full attention yet
Art: is as always v good

Harry Kipling: I was unmoved as far as this one went until the bit "THE EVIL ONE IS DEAD..." which made me laugh out loud but its now ep3 so im not that hopeful.
Art: Boo is a god but he needs a really good story to show his stuff off

ABC Warriors: the only thing I can say that?s positive about this whole run is the "Waste outlet" thing a new way to say @$$ hole. And the only original thing from mills in ages. I really really think the mills-bot needs taking out to the back of the nerve centre and given a real good defragging as the only good thing has done in YEARS is savage
Art: Mr Flint needs his own colouring to make his work really shine

86'ers: Meh! Alien artefact, Psis and being trapped in space with every one going mental. Really boring by numbers we have been here before Mr Rennie I think you should stick to Dredd
Art: a waste of Blyths colouring skills

to be honest I don?t think TMO is riding his writers hard enough (oo-er) with previous aspects of Tharg I think would of let the current standard of scripts reach the art bots in the state they have been. Rigelian Hot Shots would have shot from his fingers with the words "DO IT AGAIN YOU SLACKING GREXNIX!!" when the scripts ARE good it?s because of natural talent not the fear of a fire ball scolded butt infact?
(Takes a deep breath)
?. I think Tharg needs a regeneration a new aspect with more vim I think his current incarnation is running on low thrill power revs.


There I said it    

[Carlsborg Expert]

New here so take me on the lighter side of carniverous.*

Heh,
....that complicated cover and YELLOW 2000ad patch is a cracking draw. Its funny, because the makeover bit is about all those tasteless programmes on t.v. that tell us " What to wear. What to watch what we eat and how to buy and live." Blackbloods expression says it all. I couldn't have tasted any more irony if I had dipped my head into the ABC dimension and licked BB's face.
(I have been thinking what a great piraty name Blackblood was too.)

INSIDE!
My favourite story this week was the centre spreading Harry Kipling. I may not go for the story so much but this is the nicest set ups for a spread like this and Cook's possibley a culprit for his centre spreads, I never witnessed Boo in stripform before. He does do an exceedingly goood spread.

 My mate was with me and he is a big Alan Moore fan. I miss my mate as we went to school together and he is so quiet and we get along like really well.
 We bought the tooth and opened the organ to be met by the Kipling bit. Just what we wanted to see. Excellent. The story is not bad I like how it is being set up one a 1,then 2, episode gracing. All of it reminded me of classic 2000ad setting up. (Or perhaps it was more obviously put than other new charactors.) Those who've read anything I put up on the Reviews site concerning this and other stories should happily note that this setting up is of interest and not of scrutiny.

I like Holdens work too on 86ers. I was a bit interupted reading it but out of Rennis two I prefer this one. (Possibly because she could have been sitting on his face to make it more graphic in the office scene in Dredd.)Liking the dig. Digging the like. Mr Holden gets bonus prawn cocktail flavoured crisps for having to draw Gabes meticulously designed legs.

Yeah so I read Dredd, and again I am rudely interupted by Dredd whilst reading 2000ad and getting some head off my erectile nippled secretary, anyway....
Its a Dredd campaign piece but the politics stink. Gibson is a fine artist. He suffers from a lack of imagination sometimes, but again an arty mate in the pub joined me in a brief recollection of his work for Halo Jones.

Then came the ABCs.
I loosened its grip on the madness a little and started pointing at its aim to where its direction was heading.
 " I'm in agony," must have been the best line in it because Its the one the drowns out the rest (Unless I think about it.). And Flints mastery of explaining a bizarre experience is so there.I'm grinning at it already. :)

Finally Lob is great. People are talking about this development and its is deserving it. This is my first Lobster Random and it has pale ghosts of Stainless Steel Rat. Looks like this guys always up pooh pooh ravine without an oar and this is the collective term of his araldite existence.

I felt this was a good strong prog. One that, when time comes round again, it wil be looked at fondly as perhaps its classic 300+ predecessors.

Ooh, Ooh from Floyd

Pooh,pooh from Askham and;

Boom, boom from Watson.

Go on Tharg. Spank them with your shiny turgified organ.



* (Not really.)

[scutfink]

 Aaaargh, just when I'm getting in to Kipling, the shiny bright centre of what have, to me, been fairly mediocre (sp?) Progs of late, its over?

 I liked the Planet Gary story though, I'll take them crazy cits over a boring old Justice dept soap opera any day...

[Dudley]

86'ers is bloody awful.  I haven't been this unthrilled by a strip since Valkyries.

Dredd is superb.  I love the way in which Rennie has set himself the task of showing a more humane side to Dredd without breaking the established understanding of the character.

Kipling goes off into the sunset and... I dunno.  I like the short strips concept but maybe this wasn't the best story to do it with?  Feels like a little bit too much is going on.

Lobster Random was as fun as ever.  Critchlow=GOD.

Abc Warriors tootle f'twangle burruppupp ruppuppupp horse trintong.

[Tweak72]

My Point is though, does Tharg need regenerating?

[Carlsborg Expert]

Dredds story is indeed well scored. the " not breaking down " of Judge Dredd but making another face to him is acceptable. As textbook a story to 86ers visionary end of the galaxy malarky.

 I could be wrong but I doubt even that!