Prog 1909 : WHERE EAGLES DARE

[Hawkmumbler]

Thats a damn nice cover. Can't wait until tomorrow!

But I'm surprised to see Block Judge end so soon, was hoping it would last till the christmas prog. Then again, Kingdom hasn't done anything in this story so i'm not too sad to see it go.

[Dandontdare]

Dredd: A great finale but spoiled by the [spoiler]shock spread page not being on a turn-over[/spoiler], my eye was drawn [spoiler]to that Block exploding as i turn the previous page [/spoiler] Nice to see Dredd getting the city back on its feet and [spoiler]the Citz then doing what they do best[/spoiler]

Was that really a spoiler though? [spoiler]We've seen him building his bomb on and off throughout the story. Actually, as soon as he showed up again I was unable flicking ahead to see the bog boom.[/spoiler] I have loved Block judge - just good old fashioned judging procedural by the masters.

Icahbod is getting just a little bit too far up it'sown fundament, but I'm still enjoying it immensely. Greysuit has never been a favourite and the singing sergeant was a bit odd, but I'm liking this run better than previous outings. Kingdom finishes on a blast, and I'm looking forward to seeing what will await gene & Co in The Kingdom. Stickleback brought a lump to my throat - just magnificent art and storytelling.

Add a superb cover and a good droid life, and this is a top-notch prog

[IronGraham]

Block Judgr has bit of my favorite classic Dredd tale The Graveyard Shift we're Dredds just doing his buisness and these smalls tales that are happening around him. More of these tales please Thargy Bay.

[Dark Jimbo]

Good stuff all round, although I finished my prog in record time what with Stickleback and Kingdom being so dialogue-lite, which made it all feel a bit lightweight.

Dredd ends solidly, albeit with no real surprises. Block Judge may not have told us anything new or turned Mega-City One on its head, but procedural/thriller stories like these are crucial from time to time, to re-investigate how the city works and bring home what it would be like to actually live there. Aliens and monsters every week would soon wear thin.

Stickleback's double page spread was lovely. The death scene was handled excellently, but I'm glad to see the back of the Empress. Since her introduction as a deus ex machina to tie everything up at the end of the convoluted second book, it's been hard to see her as much else; no matter how desperate things got for Stickleback, there was always the feeling that Edginton could choose to wheel on the Empress and her brood again to provide an ending if he wrote himself into a corner. The strip should feel much less safe in future.

Having reinvented itself recently as a slick, weighty real-world thriller, Greysuit is starting the slide into weirdness again with that singing Sergeant(!). No idea how to even feel about that. It's not quite 'sheep's eyes' or 'ginger ninja', but it's dangerously close. Cant help but think he should have gone after Prince a lot sooner than this, too, given he's the 'big bad' of this series. The dispatch of the other greysuits was fun but felt a bit like navel-gazing (particularly as we've seen Blake do much the same in previous series). Enjoying this strip overall but starting to wish it would get to the point.

Ichabod was probably the best of the bunch, as it has been for so many of the previous weeks. Sad to see [spoiler]the end of Zebulon Crow[/spoiler], a loveable supporting character who brought a lot of heart to the strip. I can't decide if [spoiler]his off-panel death[/spoiler] was callous and wasteful, or a bravura show of restraint. Still have a few reservations about the meta-narrative stuff, mainly just that's it's all appeared so late in the day. I'll miss this strip a lot when it finishes next week, though. It's been a damn fun trilogy that's been different and distinct to anything else that it ran alongside.

Much like Dredd, Kingdom was a solid end with no surprises. Hard to 'review' five pages like that in isolation, as it's so very much the concluding part of the last few weeks of action. Loved this thrill as per usual, but can't help feeling (as per usual) it's going to read better as a trade. I'd like a bit more plot or world-building next time out.

[judgerufian]

how explosive was that little bomb spear in Kingdom? Wow!

[Frank]

I have a big spoilery question: [spoiler]At the end of Kingdom does anyone else thnk that city is the OZ Sydney Melbourne Conurb?[/spoiler]

Me. That was my first reaction. Then I thought the chances of it were slim. But, still...

It's Sydney, but not [spoiler]Dredd's[/spoiler] Sydney. If you can listen to that Pidgin narration of a female tribal leader describing how they would never have reached the city without the mysterious stranger who saved their skins, and see the ruined city with its ragged vertical and lateral lines, and not think of this ... As well as Nic Roeg's cameo, Abnett should have featured a character called George who lives in a windmill.

[Timothy]

On the index of the iPad edition it lists Stickleback as episode 10 of 10, but that episode did not seem very conclusive. I assume it's actually an 11 episode run.

[Dark Jimbo]

On the index of the iPad edition it lists Stickleback as episode 10 of 10, but that episode did not seem very conclusive. I assume it's actually an 11 episode run.

Probably twelve episodes, as prog 1911 is the last regular prog of the year, and yet Ichabod is the only thrill that Tharg mentions as ending next week.

[Goaty]

Great prog but Ichabod pages is blank! Only speeches in white background, it is PDF from Clickwheel, wonder if anyone got simple problem?

[Frank]

Great prog but Ichabod pages is blank! Only speeches in white background, it is PDF from Clickwheel, wonder if anyone got simple problem?

Mines is fine, in PDF or CBZ format. Try downloading it again; you can do so as many times as you like without it costing any more.  Everyone grumbling about perceived similarities between Ichabod and the saint of Killers are either going to be confused or delighted by next week's Glenn Fabry cover, which is presumably destined to be the cover of the US mini-series and the collected edition.

I know what Dark Jimbo means about the centrality of the self-reflexive narrative of Ichabod making this series feel markedly different to previous instalments, but that's mainly a difference in tone, rather than subject matter or theme. The central relationship of the strip has always been one between one character and another created for the sole purpose of altering his narrative, after all.

Dowling's art keeps getting better, with the barely there scratchy black ink marks and acres of empty space which characterised early, ethereal episodes giving way to more definite and bold blacks as the story finally makes clear exactly what is happening. Great as Dowling is, D'Israeli wears the yellow jersey for the tenth week in a row. It's remarkable how much information he manages to communicate about the geography of the scenes and the tender emotion he imparts to Sticky's features when he's essentially building everything up through the use of negative space and collocation of congruent shapes.

[ZenArcade]

Bummer, stuck down in the wilds of south Tyrone, won't get prog till Friday....can't wait to read the last of the current Dredd. Z

[TordelBack]

Nifty cover from Cliff, and a solidly 'splodey ending from Kingdom with a promise of a rapid return.

Loved the ending to Block Judge, just perfect: you might lock up the crims, but you'll never keep a lid on the crazies. 

Ichabod is so much fun to read, the earlier runs are becoming better in my memory simply by association.   

[Magnetica]

A comment on Block Judge as a whole: I really like this type of "procedural" story. The fun is in seeing the new crimes that the cits get accused of e.g removing cushion safety labels. Indeed I would have been happy for this to run for a few more weeks  (I think there are two more weeks before Dark Justice starts).

[ZenArcade]

Not one copy in Belfast....c'mon Rebellion, dangerously low thrill power levels here!! Z

[Fungus]

Fine prog 

Low points first, I read but don't engage with Greysuit or Kingdom (in the latter, the bomb goes off, they leave. I'd be sorry for the artist & colourist, but jeez it's popular all the same).

Cover was original and brilliant, great detail & colour.
Dredd was trailed as a ten-parter so was always going to end here, I love how the finale is both downbeat & explosive at the same time - fantastic. Carlos' art has never been better, a Strontium Dog run should be grand.
Stickleback has no peers. This time we get a stunning double-page splash and to contrast with some wordy episodes we get a simple & moving deathbed scene. Stickleback's grumpy mask slips, with the Empress'(es?!).
Icklebod keeps up the tricksiness, will be glad to see it wrap up and watch the dust settle. Been a rich and satisfying run, mind.