(http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/anaconda888/001_zpslz4jvvqj.jpg)
So is it just me who's got their prog so far?
Intriguing opener for Dredd as he tracks a perp to Texas City, but there's bound to be more to it than that. Rumblings of discontent in the TC justice dept at the current status quo, but it's fairly clear that the rank and file have no idea what Oswin was actually up to. Fabulous artwork by Tiernen Trevallion.
Kingmaker hasn't really grabbed me yet, but the mix of high fantasy and hard SF is an interesting idea. I'll reserve judgement for a while, but I'm not hating it.
The Order was never really a favourite of mine, but again, it's eminently readable.
I'm really enjoying Hope for the Future - I'm not familiar with Guy Adams or Jimmy Broxton but they're making a good fist of this noir-magic thriller.
Kingdom is just sublime - It's Gene and Leezee vs the world. The great doggy names keep coming - "Seizer" made me smile, and I've only just got "Major Canis"
All in all, Tharg steers us into 2017 with a solid collection of thrills. Happy New Year!
I was struck by how good Tiernen Trevalllion's art looks in colour.
Got mine as well. Bit surprised - didn't think it was due till next week.
An unexpected treat! And arrived at just the right time, allowing for a leisurely read - the calm before the storm that is Christmas day.
The new Dredd tale looks very promising and I'm really warming to TT on Dredd. I know some don't, but I do enjoy the caricature aspects of the foreign judges and characters (the guy in white suit and the girl driving the herd remind me of Boss-Hogg and Daisy Duke)
I'm enjoying Kingmaker, action and humour I think..
Hope for the Future reminds me of the Brubaker and Phillips stuff, which is great.
I don't really expect the Order to make sense so I just sit back and enjoy the art. It's these Wyrms I think, I don't find them to be a particularly engaging long-term foe.
It's hard not to warm to Gene and all the other characters after a while, I haven't read it from the start of the series, and it's always action packed.
Overall a very enjoyable prog.
Not the first year this has happened (I think it is more common than not over the past few years), but always comes as a nice surprise! Now I have to read 2011!
I really like Hope. It's well written, and reminds me of The Simping Detective, but a less over-the-top version. I'm curious to see more of the alternate history which is promised for next week. And I love the art style. Have we seen Jimmy Broxton before?
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 December, 2016, 12:03:34 PM
(http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/anaconda888/001_zpslz4jvvqj.jpg)
So is it just me who's got their prog so far?
Intriguing opener for Dredd as he tracks a perp to Texas City, but there's bound to be more to it than that. Rumblings of discontent in the TC justice dept at the current status quo, but it's fairly clear that the rank and file have no idea what Oswin was actually up to. Fabulous artwork by Tiernen Trevallion.
Kingmaker hasn't really grabbed me yet, but the mix of high fantasy and hard SF is an interesting idea. I'll reserve judgement for a while, but I'm not hating it.
The Order was never really a favourite of mine, but again, it's eminently readable.
I'm really enjoying Hope for the Future - I'm not familiar with Guy Adams or Jimmy Broxton but they're making a good fist of this noir-magic thriller.
Kingdom is just sublime - It's Gene and Leezee vs the world. The great doggy names keep coming - "Seizer" made me smile, and I've only just got "Major Canis"
All in all, Tharg steers us into 2017 with a solid collection of thrills. Happy New Year!
This ^^^
so six of us have got this so far, its a collector's item !! :lol:
I got mine, but have been avoiding this thread, as I've not read it yet. Probably goes for other folks too. ;-)
I have it AND read it
<Sigh> Posties just been and no prog today. </sigh. :'(
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Because it came last week! Yay! :P
Sorry, couldn't resist. Sad I know. :-[
Got this over a week ago now, but been saving it so we start the new year on the right track and didn't have a prolonged wait for my next Prog.
So anyway how does the year start, not too shabby I have to say. First we get a great little Dredd, stands up nicely on its own and starts what is already shaping up to be an interesting story. Looked fantastic as well.
Adored that opening box in Kingmaker, the rest didn't live up to last prog's fantastic opener, not bad at all, but setting things up and shaping what I figure will be our key relationship.
Hope for the Future is so firmly in noir, with a tired magic twisted that it feels cliche. Looks stunning though and its not beyond hope yet.
The Order speaking of cliche the idea of throwing together a given era's character super group has become just that, yet when it comes to The Order who the fuck cares. This strip rocks and yep looks bloody glorious too. ... which leads nicely to
Kingdom which my loving is utter cliche but cliche are often there for a reason man this strip rocks.
Keep this up Tharg and 2017 will be a great year.
Cover - A comic style Dredd with a movie style lawgiver. Nice. I like that style of art. Look at the way the artist draws smoke... love it.
Dredd - A nice start. [spoiler]I thought it was the young lady narrating. Probably because the letter was addressed to the person's father. Then it turned out to be the old fella. Of course he might be a 50 year old with grey hair, but even if he is older there's no reason why his father couldn't still be alive with future longevity, etc, but it was an interesting bit of misdirection. That bin full of letters near the end brings home just what life is like for judges. A touching ending to the first episode.[/spoiler]
Kingmaker- I was a tad confused after all that stuff about the Lich king in the first episode, since the main enemy here are aliens. Just shows my mind is a real sieve, forgetting the ending, etc. Shame on me. Anyway looking back, at episode one, it makes sense. I like it so far. An interesting mash up of genres.
Hope for the Future - An interesting macabre world. I'm enjoying this so far.
The Order - This is the only tale I'm not keen on. I find it confusing and disjointed. Lovely art though.
Kingdom - Good, and lovely art as usual.
I meant to add, concerning the Dredd tale: [spoiler]I wonder if the judge's father is alive, or if it's just a habit he doesn't want to give up, from his early years. A mental enema or self therapy if you like. Just how some people might use a diary. Pour your fears, worries and anger into words... then get on with the job the next day with your mind focused.[/spoiler]
If we never find out, it doesn't really matter. It's doesn't really relate to the story, and it's a nice character moment regardless.
The opening script font in Dredd confused me for a second. Did anyone else find it odd that Dredd was asking for help with a cafe? Really strong prog with a good mix of art styles. Trevallion's Dredd looks great!
Looks like 'case' to me. I did hope they had reverted to Ye Old English fpelling (xon't know if it has a name) but I see not :)
Quick look at TT's first page and it is very fine.
Anyway, WH Smiths are charging 4.99 for this prog again. You have been warned.
Well thats was a tight pack of thrills, Dredd kicks off nicely, Kingdom and The Order kick all kinds of behind, Kingmaker is suitably amazing and Hope is actualy a lot better this week.
Quote from: Mardroid on 04 January, 2017, 02:35:38 AM
Dredd - I thought it was the young lady narrating ... turned out to be the old fella ... even if he is older there's no reason why his father couldn't still be alive ... but it was an interesting bit of misdirection ... I wonder if the judge's father is alive, or if it's just a habit he doesn't want to give up, from his early years ... it doesn't really matter ... it's a nice character moment
Two clever, original ideas, pulled off with aplomb. It's difficult to believe this and the equally assured
In Denial (prog 2010) are from the same pen as the meandering Oswinvasion storyline.
Duke says he only graduated 22 years ago, so maybe there was a little miscommunication between script droid and art droid regarding the character's appearance. The script may have referenced eighties Sam Elliott (https://www.amazon.com/Gone-Texas-Sam-Elliott/dp/B00005O0SL), rather than nineties Sam Elliott:
(http://i.imgur.com/wwBUve8.png)
T.C Eliot: From The Dude to the Duke
Judge Dredd,Kingmaker,Hope and Kingdom are off to pretty good starts.Never cared much for The Order,but all things considered,the year started pretty strong. :)
Damn good issue and Hope is my fav for now.
I wonder how long it will be before East Meg 2 starts something in Texas City
A top prog for me to start the new year with
Dredd was excellent, with brilliant art, and an interesting story going forward I feel.
Kingmaker I enjoyed, not sure if this is a new strip or it has been in the prog in the past but I liked it
The Order I struggled with this the last time it was included but for whatever reason this story has clicked with me and the art is
Hope is a stand out for me, love the look and feel of it
Kingdom is another one that I first read about last time it was in the prog and really enjoyed it then and enjoying it just as much now
All in all some pretty top stuff
That was a really entertaining prog.
The Dredd story was so well paced and constructed it was just a pleasure to read.
Kingmaker is like The Lord of the Rings and Krull got together and tag-teamed Game of Thrones but I'm having fun with it. It looks like the writer and artist are really out to enjoy themselves and the joy really shines through.
Hope is looking great. The setting reminds me a bit of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' The Fadeout but this is going in a completely different direction. Love the narrators' hard-boiled asides. His reaction to the question "you the dick?" Had me in stitches.
The Order is just as crazed and breathlessly paced as it's always been... Which is good.
This installment of The Kingdom is looking intriguing. It's going all shades of grey now, with the masters coming across as a bunch of snobbish assholes and Gene coming across as an accident waiting to happen.
Looks like it's going to be a great run of stories.
Is 2012 this week's Prog, or was it last weeks, in terms of on-sale dates? (I got mine on Christmas Eve, I think.)
2012 is this week's, cover date 4 Jan. It reached me as a subscriber a week earlier than I would have expected. I'm expecting 2013 to drop through the letterbox today, to put us back on track.
Post's been, no 2013 in Bonnybridge today :(
filippo
I got prog 2013 waaay back in December 2012, it was alright I suppose... ::)
Dredd is neat opener, TT looking remarkably like CC in colour. Assuming Kirby graduated at 18, he's 40: plenty of us were grey at 40, ahem!
Kingmaker doing nothing for me so far, I'm afraid, but it is early days. Leigh's art, which I normally love, seems a bit dark under the colouring job, and I'm not sold on the character designs. I normally do get Edginton's eager mining of pop-culture, and I can see that Game-of-Warcraft-of-the-Rings is ripe for a tongue-in-cheek 2000AD spin, but some of the lifts here are just too direct and too extensive to allow me to actually buy into the premise. And if this turns out to be taking place inside a computer...
Hope on the other and ticks all the boxes, especially the one labelled 'I wish there'd been more of Family'. It's great to see this team cracking on with their own creation in the Prog, they're both big talents on the way up.
Kingdom is as always beyond my ability to praise. I've always loved it, I love it still.
And you can take my feelings about The Order to be much the same. This series looks to be opening up the story very nicely, even if I do miss the simplicity of the first run. Good to see Cyrano in action!
Really surprised to hear that people aren't enjoying The Order and Kingmaker. I'm absolutely loving both of them! Brilliant art and character designs on both of them I think.
Dredd is solid but so far unremarkable.
Hope for the Future is enjoyable but I'm a little uncomfortable with how reminiscent it is of Hellblazer. I'm sure it will become more distinct as the story progresses.
Kingdom is great as always.
Quote from: JamesC on 08 January, 2017, 09:46:02 AM
Really surprised to hear that people aren't enjoying The Order and ...
The Order does seem to polarise opinion. There are many folk who don't just like it, but love it. I certainly count myself amongst those. Then there are other who just don't get on with it at all.
Now someone will come along to prove me wrong no doubt but doesn't seem too much inbetween. Not many people think it's okay or just pretty good. Whichever side you sit on normally a good sign that it's interesting if nowt else!
Quote from: JamesC on 08 January, 2017, 09:46:02 AM
Hope for the Future is enjoyable but I'm a little uncomfortable with how reminiscent it is of Hellblazer
The trenchcoat goes with the period and the gumshoe genre, but if you're going to publish a comic about a magic detective with a sardonic wit and spirits who follow him around, maybe you don't give him
blonde hair? Even Carver Hale (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CdC5PTUWAAAuBVz.jpg) had that thing over his eye*.
Like much of Dan Abnett's work,
Hope is a mixture of genres and cliches that aren't really my kind of thing, but the quality of execution and interesting subsidiary elements -
in this case, the alternative history of US politics and Hollywood's golden age - keep me entertained.
Broxton's unshowy artwork is fantastic; his clever use of repeating pattern and texture is more subtle than the overt symbology that overlays Hopey's derivative ruminations on the price exerted by magic, and suggests -
in a less overt manner than the narration - that there's more going on beneath the surface.
I'm almost certainly reading too much into gestural tics of the inking style, but the way patterns and textures repeat across characters' clothing, furniture, iron work, and landscape reminds me of the Great Beast of Northampton (https://youtu.be/__vRJvPP3cU?t=1m)'s belief that Ditko was encoding every panel of
Dr Strange with his personal arcana.
* Tharg thinks he's earning brownie points with Alan Moore by not letting other creators mess with Halo Jones, but when Moore walks into town to pick up the latest prog - his every step cheered by socially conscious market traders; adoring, ethnically diverse street urchins, thrusting copies of Promethea under his nose to be autographed; and old grannies congratulating him for sticking one to the Tory government and Northampton Town Council (for are they not one and the same?) with the latest issue of The League Of Extraordinary gentlemen - he must wonder why the Galaxy's Greatest keeps giving British creators a chance to show DC what a great job they could do writing the adventures of John Constantine.
Then he thrusts a £20 note into the hand of a tramp, buys a veggie ready meal from Marks and Spencer, and walks home to build a ten-skinner while he waits for the microwave to go >ping<
Interesting question,is Alan still following the prog? :)
I got a bit of a The Big Sleep vibe from Hope.
Ok you asked, so..... For me The Order is ok. Not great, but not poor either.
For me what holds it back is the large number of characters, some of whom seemed to look very similar in the last run, which leads to "who is that again?". Aka "Black Shuck" syndrome. :lol:
Quote from: Smith on 08 January, 2017, 01:45:38 PM
Interesting question,is Alan still following the prog? :) I got a bit of a The Big Sleep vibe from Hope.
Little Buster Ritz is screwing his way around Los Angeles, filming porno while whacked out his gourd on heroin?
Controversial. Broxton's characterisation seems more Sterling Hayden (https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/find-a-grave-prod/photos/2002/298/6599390_1035651257.jpg) than Bogart or Mitchum.
Laughing Al Moore kids us fans that he no longer has any interest in comics. Thankfully, he seems to have adopted the same approach to quitting writing comics as alcoholics and smokers take to kicking the habit -
just this last one ...He certainly doesn't appear to read comics published by his former employers. Maybe he'll make an exeption for daughter Leah's
Black Shuck if Tharg comps him a copy of the trade paperback.
I said,a bit of a vibe,I didnt say they copied the film. :|
Quote from: Magnetica on 08 January, 2017, 02:16:32 PM
Ok you asked, so..... For me The Order is ok. Not great, but not poor either.
For me what holds it back is the large number of characters, some of whom seemed to look very similar in the last run, which leads to "who is that again?". Aka "Black Shuck" syndrome. :lol:
Damnit I knew someone would do that!
Quote from: Frank on 08 January, 2017, 01:14:48 PM
The trenchcoat goes with the period and the gumshoe genre, but if you're going to publish a comic about a magic detective with a sardonic wit and spirits who follow him around, maybe you don't give him blonde hair? Even Carver Hale (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CdC5PTUWAAAuBVz.jpg) had that thing over his eye*.
Except that JC of Latter Day Milligans had that too (http://static3.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/1/14542/2473560-293.jpeg)...
Not sure if I'm missing some humorous transposition thing, but
Hope is Gadams, not Dabnett - although if a genuine mistake, I doubt that Adams would be insulted! I think Adams and Broxton have that got Edginton and Brooker thang goin' on, and long matpy it continue.
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 January, 2017, 06:18:56 PM
Hope is Gadams, not Dabnett
I realised it read awkwardly, but decided that didn't matter. I meant that my experience of
Hope has been similar to my response to Don't Call Me Anette's recent work - apathy toward the general premise; won over by a secondary element of the strip.
From the stock premise and characters, I really didn't expect much of
Brink. The dialogue in Fanny Lightbox's debut scene and the expertly sold dummy of the strip's title/apparent title character won me over to the extent that I forgave the
Empire Strikes Back non-ending.
Same with
Hope*. The hackneyed narration about the NWO and the terrible toll magic takes on its practitioners is so ripe it deserves a yellow price-mark-down sticker, and
2000ad already has a weary cynic (http://comicvine.gamespot.com/harry-absalom/4005-78528/) in a trenchcoat whose kid's been taken by demons.
Despite all that, it has a sense of humour and enough original ideas to make it the strip I enjoyed most this week. I'm interested to see whether Wallace (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_A._Wallace) succeeding Roosevelt as POTUS, rather than Truman, is more than an incidental detail of the alternate history.
* Still hate the title/subtitle ...
Nitpick: the boss of the trison drive has a right-hand drive car. I suppose it's not unheard of but I wonder if it's intentional (better flow for the dialogue/layout) or just a slip.
Anyway, good to see Brit-Cit's exporting cars again post Brexit.