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Prog 2043 - Signs of the Times

Started by Colin YNWA, 05 August, 2017, 01:49:33 PM

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Colin YNWA

Man that cover, while I LOVE Jake Lynch's Dredd that cover is WAY too busy and all the signs (which are clearly the point) are a bit much for this old man's etes. Still Jake Lynch draws the heck out of Dredd...

Speaking of loving Dredd man this story is fantastic. The interaction between Vega and Dredd reminds me of his early exchanges with Anderson. Vega is such a fun character "Can I come in and warm myself on the glow of your righteous fury?" one of my favourite lines for a while! On top of that the chase is fun, the action compelling. Seriously whats not to love about this. Top Dreddage.

Speaking of top thrills Grey Area is blindin' this Prog. The satire is pretty Millians is so on the nose but the delivery is fresh and exciting and I wonder whether the Grell story will come to a head here. Superb stuff.

Speaking of superb stuff I'm enjoying this new Alienist story more than its predecessors. Its immense fun and has a nice ending to boot.

Speaking of ending to boot in Grey Suits Blake delivers his attack and Uncle Pat deliever his typical on the nose commentry. Its a little in your face without the unabashed violence to hide behind but the punchline, after a family murder, makes it all worth it.

Speaking of family murder Hunted ends this week and as an episode its pretty good, if a little cackling made man shows us quite how evil he is by... well I'll let you read it. Pretty weak thrill over all but feels set up for more so lets see what happens next time hey.

Speaking if next time hey, yes I have been listening to way too many Space Spinner 2000 episodes laterly and the quality of this Prog reminds me that good as it was back in the day 2000ad still provides a sign of the times and I can't wait for next week.


Richard

That's a brilliant cover. I think all the signs work just fine, and I like the 1977/40 one.

A pretty good end to Hunted I thought.

Woolly

My only issue with the cover is the colour of the '2000AD' logo.
It looks a bit empty and lost.

The Lynch droid is fast becoming one of my favorite Dredd artists. I'm loving seeing his artwork evolve as it goes on, getting better all the time.
A long Mega-Epic with Lynch and Rufus sharing art duties would probably make my eyes explode - get on it, Tharg!  ;)

CalHab

The cover works better in that image than it does on paper, but I like it. A bit of colour is always welcome.

Hunted ends well but Grey Area remains the highlight. This looks like the confrontation that the series has been building up to.

Greysuit isn't for me.

James Stacey

I'm really glad how good Grey Area has been, which more than makes up for Greysuits. I try giving it a go every time it comes back but everytime it works hard to remind me how bad it is (imo). Alienist is actually doing a good job of keeping it interesting. I still think the concept is oversubscribed in 2000ad but its engaging and the art is fab. I was more than ready for Hunted to end, it just feels all a bit unnecessary and the Rogue character cameos (other than the TG) feel forced. Dredd meanwhile ticks on at a fair pace. I'm really pleased with the way Carroll is handling it and the confidence he has in owning the character. So one total clunker, some alright stuff, a good Dredd and Grey Area shining above the rest.

dweezil2

Only read Dredd so far, but what a rollicking good adventure it's turning out to be!
Great stuff from the Caroll droid!  :thumbsup:

Great to hear that Hope is back next Prog!  :)
Savalas Seed Bandcamp: https://savalasseed1.bandcamp.com/releases

"He's The Law 45th anniversary music video"
https://youtu.be/qllbagBOIAo

Frank

QuoteI AM FEAR AND AGONY. I AM ANTAGONIST DEFINED ... I AM THE WRITER OF YOUR CONCLUSION, 'PROTAGONIST'. I AM THE MASTER OF YOUR NARRATIVE!

The Hunter, The Grievous Journey Of Ichabod Azrael, prog 1905

No doubt who the villain is in Greysuit. As Lee and Herring remind us, it's the business man, in his suit and tie*. And Bowler hat.

As Dr Green explains, Greysuit 'sees things in black and white', although the Johnny Sahib sequence is painted in lurid primary colours and brush strokes broad enough to placate Tharg's legal dept. Mike Carroll's credit on the forthcoming Indigo Prime probably involved going through John Smith's script, changing the names to Porpoise Square and Harvey Doctor.

No greater subtlety in Hunted, The Alienist, or Grey Area. Grell's a dramatised Trump tweet, and Weatherall and Kestra strive for the grandiloquence of Lecter or Blofeld. As is by now customary, the latter falls hilariously short, signing off with 'THE KEY TO ENDING THIS WAR IS ELSEWHERE OUT THERE ...' It's tautologically awesome, man.

This week's episode of Paradox Vega does away with tired notions of heroes and villains completely, in order to better explain how crazy awesome Paradox Vega is. There's some guy called Tom; I suppose he's a sort of villain, because he tried to explain his motivation to Paradox Vega's sidekick (some guy called Dredd).

As usual, her sidekick just stood around, listening, so it was up to Paradox Vega to save the day by talking a lot and being awesome. This is the second time Paradox has saved Dredd, who's so old and useless he wears a seatbelt in the H-wagon (Vega doesn't!). I don't think she even had to steal that surfboard - the kid probably gave it to her, for being awesome!

It's a thematic sequel to Titan, another story about a girl with a mohawk annoying Dredd while he stands still, falls over, or does nothing. Every Empire Falls was also about Dredd doing very little, although that was about Dredd dying, waking up, then pushing a button, whereas Titan was about Dredd falling over, getting beat up, then not pushing a button.

In the eighties, Tharg's droids brought us strips with heroes who behaved like villains. Now they innovate again, bringing us a strip without heroes or villains - just characters being awesome! **


* A flaming faggot ends his marriage, but I'm not touching that one, so simply ponder whether the slightly impractical use of a burning log as a murder weapon is a variation on Roald Dahl's frozen joint of meat - which was then consumed by dinner guests, rather than by flames. As noted previously, this feels very like Accident Man.

** Like Poochie. She even has a surfboard, and her eyes are like shades.

dweezil2

Savalas Seed Bandcamp: https://savalasseed1.bandcamp.com/releases

"He's The Law 45th anniversary music video"
https://youtu.be/qllbagBOIAo

Frank

Quote from: dweezil2 on 09 August, 2017, 10:19:54 PM
Someone get Frank a hug!  :lol:

It's not really criticism; just a bunch of stuff I noticed.

Speaking of which, has the Traitor General been given a name? Or is Captain Kestra just his pirate name?

I mean, that would be a big deal, wouldn't it? Finding out a significant character's name, after 30 years?



Magnetica

Pretty sure it's not his name but the name of someone he usurped. I seem to recall that was stated in the first episode. Unless I read that wrong.

Richard

The clue is that he's a general but he goes around calling himself a colonel.

TordelBack

Quote from: Frank on 09 August, 2017, 10:48:36 PM
It's not really criticism; just a bunch of stuff I noticed.

Yeah, seriously lads - Frank has obviously gone so far as to read this stuff, so it can't be criticism as it is currently understood.

TordelBack

Double post apologies.

So, Chopper shot the 'Fox backwards carrying a wounded surfer, and won Skysurf 7 for MC-1. Dredd locked him up.
Then Chop crossed the Cursed Earth and the Pacific Ocean on a flying plank, and won a creditable 2nd in Supersurf 10. Dredd hesitated briefly about shooting him in the back.

Paradox Vega, a known criminal, ignores umpteen direct orders and warnings, escapes her restraints, and Dredd tells Control to do what she asks. And this is before she out-Choppers Chopper.

I suppose it's nice to see a return to the era of Odd Couple Dredds, but you have to wonder if that rejuvenation was more than bone-deep.

Mardroid

I sort of wondered about that too, but I see it as Dredd having bigger fish to fry, and she has proven herself.

In normal circumstances he'd have her locked up, I'm sure (or at least he'd try). And when it's finished, I think he may still attempt to do so.