Prog 2034 - Hot Rod Cop!

[Smith]

I don't mean to sound negative,but the past few progs have been kinda boring,tbh.
Hunted is back,so thats a reason to stick around.

[Richard]

That is a little bit negative...!

[Proudhuff]

I don't mean to sound negative,but the past few progs have been kinda boring,tbh.
Hunted is back,so thats a reason to stick around.

wow, how about Zombie vs repeater rifles? megadeath destruction from above and a space fleet consumed by Martian firepower not enough?

Tough crowd.

[Smith]

I know this will annoy a lot of you,but I dont care for Scarlet Traces and Brink.
Granted,Defoe has been okay for this run.But in general,Im looking forward for the next jumping on point.

[TordelBack]

Much to like this week, but unfortunately the old-school stylings of the Dredd don't quite convince.  The whole thing seemed like a contrivance to set up some McCarthy-drawn flying hot-rodding, which is a noble aim to be sure, but somewhere along the way it lost its way, distracting me with superfluous characters and an unlikely Dredd.  My compulsion to  compare with the equally-slight Riders on the Storm does it few favours.  But that's not to say I wouldn't like to see more from this team!

Yay, Hunted is back!  The perfect team of Rennie, Holden and O'Grady return to one of my favourite 'new' strips, with some nice misdirection in the back half.  Lady with the mohawk is the former tech-support for the Youngbloody bounty hunter Player (?) who copped it last time out.  IIRC her name is Wire? Wired?

Defoe is a sepia-tinted hoot, that last panel is Mills on top form: "The darkest secrets of the universe have fallen into the hands of a failed chapbook writer!".

Scarlet Traces spends rather a lot of its precious page allowance on a 'splosion, but it's a really good 'splosion, and the remaining panels offer a great set-up for next time. Which I hope is soon.

For the first time this run I find Brink a bit talky: I'm really keen to see what's going on, and how it fits into the bigger picture, and chatting about it while walking between/confronting suspects doesn't seem to be getting us there fast enough.  A slight niggle in an otherwise terrific series.

I'm suffering from dead fluidsss withdrawal, I suspect.  Going dead-turkey was a bad idea. 

[norton canes]

Cover: Nice work on Dredd and the cars but it's all a little too overwhelmingly psychedelic - the flag behind the logo is too much - and yes, that caption at the bottom is a one caption too many. It looks like the composition is a little off - the cars don't fill the bottom hale of the page.

Dredd: Far too slight, unfortunately, and I agree that Dredd acts completely out of character. No one writes Dredd quite like Wagner and Grant! There are many talented writers working on the strip and they've all produced classic episodes/stories but no-one nails Dredd's character and dialogue like Wagner and Grant.

Defoe: The best instalment of the current run, and no coincidence that it focuses mostly on one sequence rather than crow-barring in all the subplots. Beats Brink to strip of the prog, I think.

Scarlet Traces: This is the first run of Scarlet Traces I've read; I was luke-warm on it to begin with but I've grown to really appreciate its style. Looking forward to seeing how future chapters pan out.

Hunted: So... an ongoing series about the Traitor General from Rogue Trooper? Really? I had no idea this was a thing. Can't say I was instantly hooked. Not sure that this will appeal. Let's see.

Brink: Continues to impress *but* I must admit I preferred earlier instalments of this run where we were continually teased about the mysterious elements that might be causing the spate of suicides. Now it seems to be developing into a regular bad guy criminals type resolution, I'm not so sure. Fingers crossed.


Overall, I would say the prog is not quite at the heights of a few weeks ago when we had Kingdom, The Order and Deadworld all providing major levels of thrill-power. Any idea what the next new strip will be and when it's due?

[Link Prime]

I'd happily take 6 pages of Brendan McCarthy art without a script.

Glad Hunted is back, really enjoyed the first series.

[ZenArcade]

In fairness not the best of progs.  Haunted makes up for it. :-)  Z

[DrJomster]

Faves this week are Brink, Scarlet Traces and Hunted. Happy with my thrill power this week, as usual. 

Quite liked the old school Dredd approach for a change. Not the usual fair, I admit, but fun nostalgia.

Gorgeous art throughout the prog. Note to self. Learn to draw!

[sheridan]

sorry Double post, but is that  Mr X I see in the margin of STraces' London?

Could be, though I was more impressed by the appearance of the original Command Module on the next page...

[Robin Low]

Much to like this week, but unfortunately the old-school stylings of the Dredd don't quite convince.  The whole thing seemed like a contrivance to set up some McCarthy-drawn flying hot-rodding, which is a noble aim to be sure, but somewhere along the way it lost its way, distracting me with superfluous characters and an unlikely Dredd.  My compulsion to  compare with the equally-slight Riders on the Storm does it few favours.  But that's not to say I wouldn't like to see more from this team!

I liked it. Frankly, it made a pleasant change from all the procedurals, which in their own way are starting to become as old as Mega-City Craze of the Week.

I can see how the "This is mutie territory" line might have jarred for some, even many, but I can also see Dredd wanting to avoid stirring up trouble when he had other options. Also, he probably anticipated a race and just have wanted a go at driving the car.

Loved the cover, loved the colouring on the strip. I'd like to see McCarthy doing Dredd's like this a lot more often.

Regards,

Robin

[RaggedMan]

I'm probably being thick but I have found Hunted confusing. Mainly if that is the Traitor General then he looks completely different to how he did in the first series. Am I missing something or is it part of the story to come?

Also, has Mr Rennie said anything about why Jaegir is so delayed?
One of my favourite new thrills by a Nu-Earth mile and I'd have it in the Prog most weeks if I could.

[A.Cow]

Also, has Mr Rennie said anything about why Jaegir is so delayed?

Yeah, if anything, you'd think that the Norts would be the type to make sure the trains run on time.

[Proudhuff]

sorry Double post, but is that  Mr X I see in the margin of STraces' London?

Could be, though I was more impressed by the appearance of the original Command Module on the next page...

Doh! missed that and have now passed my copy on...

[Fungus]

Really mixed-bag recently, hoping for new Thrills soon...

The psychedelic Dredd was an oddity. McCarthy's dayglo art isn't for me, I skipped his Dream Gang in DHP since there really wasn't a tale if you squint and try to get past the art. Sorry...

Otherwise, Defoe has been a treat, Brink has shown how to make colour art shine (especially for digital readers) and glad to see Hunted return. More PJ !

Just-ended Deadworld didn't interest me and for some reason Scarlet Traces lost me early on. It may be that batch-reading progs has ruined my chances of following ST but I think it's more than that. Just not clicking. Unlike Helium, which was one of the great recent series. I'd have D'Israeli in every prog, mind. And get Stickleback sorted, I say.