This week's cover is for Kingdom, and quite right too. I turned to this story first, which is something I almost never do because I usually start with Dredd, but after last week's cliffhanger I had to see what happened next. This week's episode didn't disappoint! This is a brilliant series, and might be the best thing Dan Abnett has ever done. Looking forward to seeing how it all ends (not just the current book but Kingdom generally).
Going back to the proper reading order, the Judge Dredd story ended well. I thought this was a good, old-fashioned romp. I like that Dredd is a bit of an arsehole in this story, like he is in the Daily Dredds of the '80s.
There's a one-off Sinister Dexter story exploring the aftermath of that whole Moses storyline, which might not be altogether clear to new readers, but otherwise works quite well.
Kingmaker was mostly predictable, but was redeemed by one excellent panel where something important and tragic happened and yet wasn't highlighted or spoon-fed to us, the writer trusting the reader to figure it out for him/herself. I really liked it.
The Order has one of those clichéd scenes in which somebody delivers a long monologue to his enemy instead of actually fighting. Maybe he'll do something next week.
A very good prog this week, and Scarlet Traces will be back in prog 2023.
(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r182/Caliban_photos/2021_zpslub5j3jr.jpg)
Patrick Goddard and Gary Caldwell
The Progs still excellent.
Dredd finishes off quite satisfactorially. Its not a particularly great story but a perfectly effective 2 parter done well.
Sinister Dexter is superb this week. A strangely haunting and sad tale of the consequences of Ray and Finny starting afresh. They blightly return to Bar None, former home from home and Rocky is there to greet them, from his perspective for the first time... and the shift in relationship is fantastic and I hope foreshadows things to come. All wonderfully crafted in both script and art. Top, top stuff BUT only Dan Adnett's second best strip this week!
Kingmaker continues to be fantastic with a powerful moment Richard mentions and a smacking final panel. Brilliant series.
The Order likewise continues on its path to greatness with a completely blistering episode with a well timed beginning, middle and end (loved the cut away panel) setting up what I can only imagine will be a fantastic final part to this story. Very please to see the up coming trade of the series has a 1 on the spine, implying more to come. Can't wait as its top, top stuff.
All of which fantastic comicbookery falls by the wayside when compared to Kingdom which is just incredible this week. At the moment with this and Lawless Dabnett is really making a claim to be Tharg's best writer at the moment and that's against some astonishing competition. Some great reveals, some great questions and man and ending leaving me hankering for next week. Absolutely first class.
On a side note I save a picture of Richard Elson on Faciedabook today, he looks just like a Richard Elson drawing... which I found curious... not in a bad way ... but ... well there you go, anyway.
Yeah while its a shame that this line up will be finishing next week, its been an absolute delight with Scarlet Traces and Brink (another fine bit of evidence for elevating Dabnett) following this up I reckon we'll be okay, don't you!
That's true about Dan Abnett. Can we have him do a Dredd story please? Is like to see what he does with that.
Bah, no Saturday prog AGAIN for me - last week's prog came on Tuesday.
My sub is up in August and after many many many years subbing I'm sorry to say I will be done with it if things can't get back to "normal".
I hope you will still buy the Prog (?), albeit not as a subscriber.
Quote from: user2000 on 04 March, 2017, 11:46:04 PM
My sub is up in August and after many many many years subbing I'm sorry to say I will be done with it if things can't get back to "normal".
As I've said elsewhere, the dramatic drop-off in service maps fairly directly to the part-privatisation of Royal Mail, at least in my experience. Don't expect any change in that without a change of government, which is beyond even the Mighty One's vast powers, I suspect.
Have you considered a digital sub? Not ideal if you prefer print, obviously, or you could go old school — most newsagents will still reserve a title for you if you ask.
I'ver actually found that my prog arrives on a Staurday more often now than it used to in the past - as Jim says, the progs leave the warehouse and go into the post at exactly the same time they used to - the rest is down to the postal service.
I hadn't realised just how ubiquitous Dan Abnett is at the moment - 2 in the priog and one in the Meg - I can't remember anyone having so many stories running together since the eraly days when Wagner, Mills & Grant wrote evrything (albeit under several pseudonyms). Normally this would worry me (I get antsy if Pat has more than one strip on the go at once) but as Sin/Dex, Kimngdom and Lawless are just so drokking awesome, I'm happy.
Top prog - this current fine run of quality shows no signs of abating. Adverts include new trades for The Order and KIngdom, plus a teaser for a new MC1 table-top game
Oh no, I will still buy the prog of course :D
Just the entire draw of the sub is to get it early - one day early will not do it for me.
And to get it early I put up with bent progs, progs with torn pages at the bottom etc - it's all a far cry from the nice thick white envelopes the prog used to arrive in, always pristine.
OK maybe it will cost a bit more and no freebie t-shirt or such, but at least there will be 99% certainty of having the prog, digital or print, on the Wednesday and I can look forward to that.
I've moaned to the Royal Mail before and as I said somewhere else, they say it is for the sender to take up any delivery timing issues. I've mentioned it in passing to the new subs droid before when I emailed about missing progs last year, perhaps I will make it more official to see if there is anything that can be chased up at Rebellions end/FP or whoever handles the sub distribution these days.
There is apparently a problem either in the Glasgow main sorting, or the Kilmarnock sub sorting office (from what I gather having fished around myself) before it reaches our local DO.
I took a gift sub out to Viz for my mate who lives a bit closer to Kilmarnock, but only a few miles from me in another town/village (without wanting to exactly divulge my location on a public forum).
Every 5 weekly issue he will get it 2 days before me without fail. And I have checked with Dennis Publishing - all sub issues leave the warehouse at the same time as in the progs case.
It's a shame as I like the convenience of subbing, plus of course Rebellion get more of the pie for themselves (not to mention the convenience of basically triple dipping sometimes so I can let my boys read entire stories with ease).
I just feel a bit sad about it really, I've been subbing for a lot of years.
Great to hear you will still buy the Prog.
I only subscribed because the Smith's I used to buy it in closed down to make way for cross rail. The first few subscriber Progs I got where bent so I was not too happy, but lately it has been better, so guess my postie had been taking more care with them. Having said that this week's was a bit bent. :'(
We'll not get me started on mY postie's treatment of the Prog...
(Bent over and left in the letterbox, half sticking out. Every week. Without fail.)
Cannot fault my postie, brings it into the house and puts it in my hand most weeks (and often on a Friday).
Quote from: Trent on 05 March, 2017, 11:15:59 PM
Cannot fault my postie, brings it into the house and puts it in my hand most weeks (and often on a Friday).
You're having an affair with the postie aren't you? ;)
And JaHawkDroid is having an affair with the postman's wife. That explains everything.
My postal delivery is the worst , some weeks my prog can arrive from a tuesday to a Friday when it used to be the Saturday previous. Its the same with the Megazine. they never seem to arrive on time together now. I'm in Ayrshire and have contacted the royal mail with no success.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 05 March, 2017, 11:59:06 AMI hadn't realised just how ubiquitous Dan Abnett is at the moment - 2 in the priog and one in the Meg
(Don'tmakeaShockerjoke, don'tmakeaShockerjoke)
Quote from: sheridan on 06 March, 2017, 08:40:36 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 05 March, 2017, 11:59:06 AMI hadn't realised just how ubiquitous Dan Abnett is at the moment - 2 in the priog and one in the Meg
(Don'tmakeaShockerjoke, don'tmakeaShockerjoke)
FutureShocker, surely? :lol:
Having subbed for at least 4 years after the fanastic stateside comics in central london closed, ive always had the prog on a saturday while living in london. I moved to the isle of wight in july last year and the great service continues with a saturday delivery 95% of the time. Have to say its a better service than Amazon who cant seem to get prime deliveries to me next day anymore since i moved!
Great prog this week though i do have a niggle, namely Sinister Dexter. The reboot/rebirth/retcon is doing nothing for me, the strip is just a little tired after what, 23years?(!) yep, first published in 1995! Blimey youd have thought their shooting at goons, diving through hails of gunfire without a scratch and dull personalties would be wearing thin by now. Especially when Kingdom and Lawless is so good by comparison, kill em off and concentrate on the new stuff, because Mr Abnett, its what youre doing so damn well!
Oh and in this weeks Dredd is best 2000ad line this year so far - outta the way fats, youre obstructing the law! :lol: :lol:
Quote from: JUDGE BURNS on 06 March, 2017, 07:31:34 PM
My postal delivery is the worst , some weeks my prog can arrive from a tuesday to a Friday when it used to be the Saturday previous. Its the same with the Megazine. they never seem to arrive on time together now. I'm in Ayrshire and have contacted the royal mail with no success.
Yep, as I'm sure you've realised I am also Ayrshire, and as we have discussed on other threads the problem is the Kilmarnock sub sorting office by the looks of it.
It is strange, the only thing that comes like clockwork now (magazine wise) is my boys "The Week Junior" - should be here on a Friday, is always here on the Friday, 1st class.
Also The Phoenix, used to be here on the Friday, now it comes on the Monday, 1st class (although maybe they are cost cutting a bit more as I have noticed some of their pre paid printed envelopes carry the 2nd class "stamp").
All these are "proper" Royal Mail as well, not TNT or whatever that is handled by another company first and then passed to the Royal Mail - it's been made clear to me by a couple of postie pals that the RM stuff is handled first then all the other feeder couriers are second fiddle.
But it would appear that when passing through either Glasgow, or more likely Kilmarnock, if you are not an ordinary letter then you are put to the bottom of the heap anyway.
Wish I had bought a share or two at the time and I would make more of a song and dance about it.
Anyway, the prog arrived today, Tuesday again, and I am working from home so I'll be able to fit in a quick look. Unlike when I used to look forward to it coming on the Saturday as I didn't have much on and could enjoy it that little bit more over the weekend.
Quote from: JaHawkDroid on 05 March, 2017, 10:49:54 PM
Bent over and left in the letterbox, half sticking out. Every week. Without fail.
You're having an affair with the postie aren't you? ;)
What can I say? The first time ages I've skippity skipped most of the prog, sigh.
Dredd and kingdom still ticking all my boxes but everything inbetween just leaves me cold and I CBA following the endless worm/robot wars, Sindex has left me cold years ago, and the Avatar/Lord of the Rings thing rubs me up the wrong way...
roll on Scarlet Traces :D
Quote from: Proudhuff on 07 March, 2017, 01:45:50 PM
What can I say? The first time ages I've skippity skipped most of the prog, sigh.
Dredd and kingdom still ticking all my boxes but everything inbetween just leaves me cold and I CBA following the endless worm/robot wars, Sindex has left me cold years ago, and the Avatar/Lord of the Rings thing rubs me up the wrong way...
roll on Scarlet Traces :D
And to think I used to respect you!
Sinister Dexter has been ho-hum for me for much of the last ten year's worth (really not interested in the continuing adventures of Moses) but I did like this episode (and the two-parter previously). I'm hoping it will continue with the making-themselves-at-home without continuity shenanigans.
Sinister Dexter is always at it's best with one- or two-episode stories instead of massive epics.
(http://i.imgur.com/OmJVkH6.png?3)
1159 featured variant covers. According to Barney (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=prog&page=profiles&choice=1159): "Not enough (Homeworld) CD-ROMs were produced, so an alternative edition featuring a Mazeworld cover by Arthur Ranson but without the free gift was also printed"
Thanks to Mark Everton.
Sorry. Posted on the wrong thread.
Quote from: Frank on 07 March, 2017, 11:21:24 PM
Sorry. Posted on the wrong thread.
I did wonder - first I'd heard of that though (I got the Homeworld disc, though didn't have a computer to play it at the time). Not Arthur's usual style there.
Close inspection of the, um, splash page reveals Albert Mipps has been feeding in southern waters, probably came up with the Gulf Stream...
Loved the Dredd, a neat and tidy two-parter that perfectly evokes the street-level crazy I enjoy (and miss).
And as for the rest WHAT A PROG, not a page that isn't vibrating with high-energy thrills. Colin is dead right, Dan Abnett just owns this whole week: a meticulously crafted Sinister Dexter that encapsulates everything that makes that strip special - extracting real pathos from what should be just a throwaway action/gag story built around oblivious and unchanging idiots; and in Kingdom a towering masterpiece of plot convergence exploding in a shower of re-severed limbs and this reader's non-metaphorical air-punching.
Kingmaker, long battering at the dyke of my misgivings, finally breaks through and inundates the fertile polders of my affections. Who'd have thought it would be imagining elves as ants that did it. Lovely stuff.
And The Order, I suppose Jaeger v. Kaiju action was the one thing I didn't realise this strip was lacking. No longer! More! MORE! MORE!
Very much this. Dredd, Kingdom, Kingmaker, Sin-Dex all great stuff. Oh and I love that cover - really gives you a sense of what a brute Gene is. You can understand why THEM wouldn't stand a chance when he gets whetter and whet.
I've taken a bit more time on The Order recently - I can understand the criticism of it not being immediately clear - and I find that the extra investment pays off in spades. It still reads (and looks*) like a strip from forty years ago - but a good one!
* Marvellous as Burns' art is, I've never been a fan of his creature and tech design work. Some things in Dante that should have been epic, looked a bit "Meh!"
Dredd was functional but nothing that will linger in the memory.
Sinister Dexter was great and hopefully we will get a full exploration of the impact no-one remembering them has over the next few weeks. Loving Yeowell's art on this.
Kingmaker - yes very good. On its way to joining the ranks of classic thrills already.
Kingdom - yet more Dan Abnett goodness.
The Order - a surprise compared to least week. It manages to be even more impenetrable.
Quote from: Magnetica on 08 March, 2017, 02:19:09 PM
The Order - a surprise compared to least week. It manages to be even more impenetrable.
I know there's an element of diff'rent strokes here, but how is this week's episode impenetrable?
It's just steampunk Pacific Rim: robot-becoming-human and cunning 16th C torturer-turned-defender-of-reality take the fight to the Wyrms home dimension in a giant axe-wielding Gundam* to destroy their time-hopping maguffin. Robot and Jaeger are destroyed by a giant golem, it's up to aspergers-sufferer smarty-pants Browne to save the day. It's high-concept and marmitey, sure, but impenetrable?
*Did I do good? Am I down with da yoof now?
I apologise for the term 'aspergers-sufferer', I was trying for a proper phrasing to describe Browne's cognitive state and failed, but then couldn't edit. Genuinely did not intend offense.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 07 March, 2017, 07:30:22 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 07 March, 2017, 01:45:50 PM
What can I say? The first time ages I've skippity skipped most of the prog, sigh.
Dredd and kingdom still ticking all my boxes but everything inbetween just leaves me cold and I CBA following the endless worm/robot wars, Sindex has left me cold years ago, and the Avatar/Lord of the Rings thing rubs me up the wrong way...
roll on Scarlet Traces :D
And to think I used to respect you!
Look what I did at the 40th stays at the 40th :o
Top prog once again
Dredd concludes very nicely, plus love the non reaction from the man himself at the end. Would like to see Boo Cook doing more Dredd in the future as well
Kingmaker not the strongest it has been but it's obviously setting up something toppermost of the poppermost next issue so it's all good
Sin Dex I enjoyed, thought it was good fun
The Order was brilliant, when a robot chops something in half lengthwise you know it's all good
Kingdom was superb as always
All in all top stuff and can't wait to see how The Order, Kingmaker and Kingdom conclude next week
Quote from: TordelBack on 08 March, 2017, 03:20:34 PM
I apologise for the term 'aspergers-sufferer', I was trying for a proper phrasing to describe Browne's cognitive state and failed, but then couldn't edit. Genuinely did not intend offense.
Too late, offense has already been taken!!
So here is the thing about The Order.
And in saying all this, I freely admit it might just be me and I need to pay attention more.
For a story to be engaging, I think it needs to have well formed characters that are a) recognisable and b) act in accordance with a set of values or motivations that drives their actions in a way that is consistent. That doesn't mean their true underlying motivation or allegiance has to revealed to the reader (at least not until the denouement)or they can't suddenly do something different, so long as that is based on their true motivation. A good example is Snape in Harry Potter. It is not clear where his allegiance is until the end and it turns out to be different to what had been implied.
With The Order I have simply lost track of who is who, what side they are on / when they swapped side (prime example being Browne). Throw in all the Rittershals plus characters who appear for a few panels and then don't appear again for weeks. Then add back in characters from the previous series and I am having real trouble understanding what is going on and I don't find it to be a good read.
It always seems this way with The Order. I hang on for 3 or 4 episodes each series and then it starts to lose me. I guess this week's isn't, of itself, any less understandable than last week's or the week's before, it is more that it is a cumulative effect - with each passing week less and less makes sense until the point is reached when I no longer know why any one is doing what they are doing.
Now there are series in 2000AD with large casts that aren't difficult to follow, some of which have on going stories that last years or refer back to characters from years before. For example Nikolai Dante, Sinister Dexter, Dredd, Strontium Dog.
Others I struggle with. As well as The Order, prime example are Fall of Deadworld (hmmm any pattern there?) and Indigo Prime.
Anyway, that's how it feels to me.
The Order reminds me of my love for the TV series "The Shield." Love it. Don't really know what is going on but love it.
That's just the way I roll.
Had a quick read-through last night, will pore over it at greater length but first impressions:
Cover - excellently drawn, great pose, perhaps a little lacking in background detail - humans, ticks, even just some blood? Also, it maybe would have been nice to have it drawn by Richard Elson.
Dredd - What can you say? Sick, it more than one sense.
Sin Dex - As I've said previously I've not read any Sin Dex apart from the last couple of weeks so it's taking a lot of getting used to. I think I could enjoy this week's sort of thing much more than the knockabout tone of Electric Landlady.
Kingmaker - Another largely action-oriented episode, which doesn't leave much scope for a resolution next week, so presumably it'll end on a massive clilff-hanger. Must admit I slightly preferred the more talkative earlier episodes of this run.
The Order - Magnificent again. I love the cheesy 'action reports' throughout this - "Hydraulics on full! Weapons hot!". A great callback to the action strips of the 70's.
Kingdom - Now that's how you do a twist. Incredible.
It's been interesting seeing these new
Sin/Dex strips appear after having unwittingly flicked through the original art on Steve Yeowell's table at the 40th. I've enjoyed these back to basics tales. Look forward to more please.
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 March, 2017, 01:00:34 PM
I've taken a bit more time on The Order recently - I can understand the criticism of it not being immediately clear - and I find that the extra investment pays off in spades. It still reads (and looks*) like a strip from forty years ago - but a good one!
Very much this. I was pretty dismissive of the story and very much in the "confusing" camp. When I went back and reread the first two series I saw the error of my ways. What had seemed disconnected and nonsensical was revealed to be (as others had rightly identified at the time) a stripping away of all unnecessary connecting tissue between actions, incidents and revelations. Almost the very essence of thrillpower, in fact.
I was even more impressed when I went back and checked that the precursor to the Charles Bridge really was destroyed in a flood around that time.
To be fair, I wouldn't get 100% in any pop quiz on the current series but the general idea is clear, I always like strips which are able to highlight different characters than you expect and I'm confident a reread in a couple of weeks will improve things.
Some, er, interesting block architecture this week. From the Cook droid :lol:
Kingdom is amazing. Go Gene!
I also love The Order, which is weird as hell, and I enjoyed everything else in the prog. Five out of five, with extra points for Dabnett puns!
- Trout
Quote from: Richard on 04 March, 2017, 01:30:33 PM
This week's cover is for Kingdom, and quite right too.
I'm pleased that Kingdom has got it's cover finally, but it's a little dated the image of Gene, he's gained some clothes and lost the blades in the story... maybe it was a stock image lying in the panel & fished out after realising they had no cover!
Quote from: Jacqusie on 11 March, 2017, 01:31:57 AM
Quote from: Richard on 04 March, 2017, 01:30:33 PM
This week's cover is for Kingdom, and quite right too.
I'm pleased that Kingdom has got it's cover finally, but it's a little dated the image of Gene, he's gained some clothes and lost the blades in the story... maybe it was a stock image lying in the panel & fished out after realising they had no cover!
Kingdom has had covers in the past, or did you mean just for this story, rather than the series as a whole?
Quote from: Trout on 10 March, 2017, 08:50:50 PM
Kingdom is amazing. Go Gene!
I also love The Order, which is weird as hell, and I enjoyed everything else in the prog. Five out of five, with extra points for Dabnett puns!
- Trout
your mouth is full of wrong
Quote from: sheridan on 11 March, 2017, 12:00:47 PM
Quote from: Jacqusie on 11 March, 2017, 01:31:57 AM
Quote from: Richard on 04 March, 2017, 01:30:33 PM
This week's cover is for Kingdom, and quite right too.
I'm pleased that Kingdom has got it's cover finally, but it's a little dated the image of Gene, he's gained some clothes and lost the blades in the story... maybe it was a stock image lying in the panel & fished out after realising they had no cover!
Kingdom has had covers in the past, or did you mean just for this story, rather than the series as a whole?
This story arc/2017 - there has been a few people scratching heads as to why on this run it's not had a cover - until now. I'm still wondering why we didn't get a current Gene/story cover though, rather than hisself as was a few stories back.
...if that makes sense :P
Quote from: Jacqusie on 11 March, 2017, 08:01:06 PM
This story arc/2017 - there has been a few people scratching heads as to why on this run it's not had a cover - until now. I'm still wondering why we didn't get a current Gene/story cover though, rather than hisself as was a few stories back.
...if that makes sense :P
It does. When I looked at the cover, I thought, "Great cover, but he isn't using those blades in this story!" Actually, he didn't use them last time, either, did he? I seem to remember him swiping around a great big sword, in that one.
I guess if you're gonna draw an archetypal image of Gene, those would be the blades he's use, though as they were the ones he started with and used the most. I guess that's what they were going for, although I'd have preferred something relating to the current story as well.
Speaking of Kingdom, I'm a bit puzzled by the giant tick Leezee. Early on she says:
"The masters brought me here. They could not detach me from the tick in my flesh."
This suggests, this is the original. But if that's the case, why isn't she just a grown woman, with a tick? Why the hybridisation?
It would make more sense if she were an earlier clone who came out wrong due to mixing the human and tick DNA, who turned out to be an accidental asset due to her connection with the ticks. Or alternatively she was genetically engineered that way with the intention of breeding the weaponised ticks and influencing the other human clone, in the first place.
Later on she does say: "They made me too. Me and my kind."
That would support my theory, but it contradicts her earlier statement. Of course she likely inherited the memories of the original, so she still thinks of herself as her, (in which case, is she still around) or she was lying to get Gene on her side. It's interesting that she sees the ticks as 'her kind'.
Anyway, the story isn't quite over yet, so hopefully there will be a bit more explanation later. I'm enjoying this a lot. I am enjoying the whole Prog. I find The Order a bit confusing, but it's okay.
Quote from: Mardroid on 12 March, 2017, 01:11:41 PM
Speaking of Kingdom, I'm a bit puzzled by the giant tick Leezee. Early on she says:
"The masters brought me here. They could not detach me from the tick in my flesh."
This suggests, this is the original. But if that's the case, why isn't she just a grown woman, with a tick? Why the hybridisation?
It would make more sense if she were an earlier clone who came out wrong due to mixing the human and tick DNA, who turned out to be an accidental asset due to her connection with the ticks. Or alternatively she was genetically engineered that way with the intention of breeding the weaponised ticks and influencing the other human clone, in the first place.
Later on she does say: "They made me too. Me and my kind."
That would support my theory, but it contradicts her earlier statement. Of course she likely inherited the memories of the original, so she still thinks of herself as her, (in which case, is she still around) or she was lying to get Gene on her side. It's interesting that she sees the ticks as 'her kind'.
"They made me too. Me and my kind."I took this to be the tick speaking through her, as it were.
On reflection though, it is a bit odd that Leezee would have mutated in this way. It suggests the influence of the tick is more than just a mental one.
And if the 'current' Leezee is a clone of tick-infested Leezee, shouldn't she retain something of the tick itself also? Like in Alien Resurrection?
Or were the genetic samples taken before she was infected?
Apologies, I'm rambling. And as you say, the story ain't done yet...
Quotewhy isn't she just a grown woman, with a tick? Why the hybridisation?
Because this is way, way
cooler. When I turned the page and saw the abomination she's become, it was quite shocking. It would have had much less impact if she'd just looked normal, with a tick she could conceal under clothing. This way is better story-telling; it's one of those stand-out moments I know I will always remember even after I've forgotten the rest of the story (if that ever happens). For me it was like finding out who The Dead Man really was, or Chopper [spoiler]losing the race to [/spoiler]Jug McKenzie, and it's been nice to find out that that can still happen to a jaded old squaxx like me, when I thought I'd seen it all by now.
If you need an in-story reason for it, then I'll float this idea and see if it withstands the withering scrutiny of the other boarders. Why shouldn't the tick grow bigger as it gets older, just as she did? When we first saw the ticks, they could all have been babies. The people who all had them just assumed that they wouldn't get bigger, but they'd only recently become infected, so they didn't know. If they hadn't all been wiped out, the whole lot of them could have ended up like her.
Quote from: Mardroid on 12 March, 2017, 01:11:41 PM
This story arc/2017 - there has been a few people scratching heads as to why on this run it's not had a cover - until now. I'm still wondering why we didn't get a current Gene/story cover though, rather than hisself as was a few stories back.
...if that makes sense :P
It does. When I looked at the cover, I thought, "Great cover, but he isn't using those blades in this story!" Actually, he didn't use them last time, either, did he? I seem to remember him swiping around a great big sword, in that one.
I guess if you're gonna draw an archetypal image of Gene, those would be the blades he's use, though as they were the ones he started with and used the most. I guess that's what they were going for, although I'd have preferred something relating to the current story as well.
[/quote]
Or if you get once chance to draw Anderson you'll want to draw her in the Judge Death / City of the Damned era, rather than somebody twice that age... ;)
Quote from: sheridan on 12 March, 2017, 10:51:35 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 12 March, 2017, 01:11:41 PM
This story arc/2017 - there has been a few people scratching heads as to why on this run it's not had a cover - until now. I'm still wondering why we didn't get a current Gene/story cover though, rather than hisself as was a few stories back.
...if that makes sense :P
It does. When I looked at the cover, I thought, "Great cover, but he isn't using those blades in this story!" Actually, he didn't use them last time, either, did he? I seem to remember him swiping around a great big sword, in that one.
I guess if you're gonna draw an archetypal image of Gene, those would be the blades he's use, though as they were the ones he started with and used the most. I guess that's what they were going for, although I'd have preferred something relating to the current story as well.
Or if you get once chance to draw Anderson you'll want to draw her in the Judge Death / City of the Damned era, rather than somebody twice that age... ;)
[/quote]
Didn't Gene use someone else's blades a few Progs back?
Quote from: Richard on 12 March, 2017, 04:34:37 PM
Quotewhy isn't she just a grown woman, with a tick? Why the hybridisation?
Because this is way, way cooler. When I turned the page and saw the abomination she's become, it was quite shocking. It would have had much less impact if she'd just looked normal, with a tick she could conceal under clothing.
Oh, there was shock factor, I agree. It particularly made me squirm a bit as I've a bit of a fear of bugs and inverterbrates in general. (I wouldn't call it a real phobia. Insects don't bother me much when they're around, but seeing them up close 'zoomed in' in those nature documentaries used to freak me out as a child. I can watch them now, even appreciate them in a way, but I'm not entirely comfortable.)
I wasn't criticising the story, just voicing my puzzlement and speculating. The answer may be forthcoming after all.
QuoteIf you need an in-story reason for it, then I'll float this idea and see if it withstands the withering scrutiny of the other boarders. Why shouldn't the tick grow bigger as it gets older, just as she did? When we first saw the ticks, they could all have been babies. The people who all had them just assumed that they wouldn't get bigger, but they'd only recently become infected, so they didn't know. If they hadn't all been wiped out, the whole lot of them could have ended up like her.
Interesting. I did wonder if they just merged into one being as the tick grew, but then I wondered why that hadn't happened to the older folk in her village when Gene visited. That was because I hadn't quite twigged, (or I forgot) that it was a recent infestation. Good theory.
Finally up to date (for me) on recent progs.
I, like everyone else, am loving Kingdom and Kingmaker.
I'm conflicted about The Order, I love the art work but I also find the story a tad confusing at times.
However I really enjoyed this prog. Maybe it's just one of those stories you need to go back and read in one go.
I felt the same way about Brink but when I read it in one sitting it blew me away. I eagerly await its return.