Prog 2054 - Me & My Shadow

[Colin YNWA]

Let's just see what happens in the next episodes and see where it goes. Kek-W isn't going to treat these characters in anything less than a totally respectful manner.

Yes to all of this.

My heart stopped for a second when the Mighty Mr Smith voiced his disapproval, but I can't help but enjoy it as a reader. and not only do I agree with the above, I'm also looking forward to finding out how this all works out... if it all goes wrong I'll beg forgiveness later.

[Taryn Tailz]

I'll add to the gentle trickle of positivity by saying that I'm loving Indigo Prime at the moment. It's very much my favourite thing in the Prog right now, which is quite a feat given how strong the current line-up is.
(I will add that although I'm well aware of Revere, I've never read any of the original strips, so perhaps I was never going to feel any sense of disappointment over his inclusion.)

[TordelBack]

The writer becoming a character in the strip when another writer takes over... has that ever been done?

Sort of. In the original Prog 2000, Alan Grant wrote a Judge Dredd episode in which John Wagner appears.

Hah, of course, the bath!  In my head it was Wagner who wrote that one, but there you go.

Look, I admire all the positivity here, and I wish I could share it: Indigo Prime has been one of my favourite things since the very first sort-of episode, and I've loved it all: yes even Almaranda.  I really hate to be the Nadia or Sc*j* of this topic, sitting in judgement on the writer and holding forth on what he should or should not have done.  However, from a purely personal perspective this crossover feels completely wrong to me, both within the strip and its real world context, and worse, it feels like the early stages of an unwelcome trend. 

But we've only had one panel of Revere, and if anyone can make a good story out of a dodgy premise, it's Kek-W, and when he does I'll be happy to recant and beg for Tharg's forgiveness.  Either way I'll shut up before I end up immortalised in tiny font in an imminent Damage Report.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

I seem to be out of sync with most this week, because the prog didn't put a foot wrong. And I jumped off my seat when Revere turned up. I bloody love Revere, and the original story is among my favouritest 2000AD things ever.  I'm not going to comment on John Smith's disapproval, because I really like him as both a person and a writer, but the return of this character made my week.
Everything else was wonderful- MickMack on Dredd, lovely Slaine, a fantastic SiniDex and another exceptional episode of Absalom. All wrapped up in the best cover this year.
Loved everything about it. Roll on next Wednesday.
SBT

[The Monarch]

David's just hoping Kek-W merges Canon Fodder in next, amirite?

you know me too well

seriously though i thought it was fantastic

[norton canes]

OFFS. Told today by the chap in Smiths that they have stopped stocking 2000 AD in this branch. They get four copies a week and usually sell two (so there's another 2000 AD reader on campus... hmm, I'll have to start watching people carefully...)

I told him that it was only because they started putting on the shelf a year or so ago that I started buying it again. He said he'd have a word with the divisional office and try to get it back on order.

He also said that although it's a campus branch, head office sent them a box load of kids' titles each week, none of which are ever sold.

Sorry, perhaps there should be a thread dedicated to W.H. Smith rants

[Proudhuff]

Well I'm glad I skip IP 
and Sin/Dex and just admire the art in Slaine without trying to follow any off them... LaLaLalalala!

Dredd was an absolute joy to the eye, mind and heart, as was Absalom, and no-one's even mentioned the letters page...fire up The Beast  Butt'man there work tae be done!

[Proudhuff]

off? FFS... 

[Frank]

[TordelBack]

Hardly comparable, Bats attended this Dream's predecessor's funeral. Unless i'm mistaken his mother was in the JSA.

I'm talking again. Must... stop...

[Frank]

Hardly comparable ...

I was thinking more in terms of the instinctive reaction to the image. Maybe some people thought 'oh great, this will be a fantastic story.

[Tiplodocus]

I'm didn't think I was a fan of McMahon's latest style but a load of commissions and this have totally won me over.

Indigo Prime crossover? I'm easy. The only thing I didn't like was the clunky basil introduction "Agents... reporting for duty!". That stuck out a bit.  But I can remember naff all about the strip in question and doubt I would have actually made the connection without the fuss.

I right enjoyed that Prog.

[Fungus]

3 crackers, 2 duds this time for me.

Slaine and IP still leave me cold, Simon Davis' beautiful art can't work magic with this script. Flipped the tablet to landscape to correctly read the double-page spread but... it seemed designed to slow things yet further? American Reaper springs to mind.

Meanwhile, the prog did work overall. Inspiring McMahon with wonderful colouring, knockabout S & D (best Yeowell art for a while, it comes and goes to my untutored eye) and pick of the prog, Absalom is fantastic -- best cover in ages to boot.

[norton canes]

Finally got the prog, ironically from another branch of W.H. Smiths.

Cover: It's funny - since I mentioned the other week that the best covers are those drawn by the story's regular artist, the best covers have been those drawn by the story's regular artist. And the sympathetic typeface helps immensely.

Dredd: I wonder... if Mick McMahon hadn't spent the first few years of his career drawing Dredd strips, and in fact had never drawn Dredd at all, instead making his name with a bunch of other characters... would he, with his highly distinctive and caricatured style, be subject to the same kind of derogatory comments aimed at Simon Roy last week?

I wonder.

Good to have you back, Mr McMahon.

IP: I wasn't around for 'Revere' so the controversy over his return kind of goes over my head. I suppose I can see why, if it was a complete series with a proper conclusion, bringing him back might look a bit awkward. And yeah, perhaps it's a bit presumptive to think that just because a character is conceived by the same writer, that character forms part of an interchangeable 'universe'. Still, it has to be a compliment to the quality of the character that the current writer considers it deserving of another outing, no?

Slaine: Fighty.

SinDex: Maybe just strays slightly too far into jokey territory but it's funny jokey territory and there's nothing wrong with a bit of knockabout fun so, you know, what's not to like?

Absalom: Just nicks Top Thrill this week, for the prog's best combination of quality script and art. 

[Richard]

Since Indigo Prime is about the entire multiverse, the interchangeable universe point falls away.

SinDex has always been a comedy strip. It occasionally strays into serious territory from time to time.