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Topics - IndigoPrime

#21
Prog / Prog 2329: Fruiting bodies!
24 April, 2023, 04:38:28 PM
First thought: good cover, but grim for Regened. Second thigh nice to see Herne and Shuck will be returning.

In terms of strips, Dredd is already done, in what was a fun little two-parter, but it appears to be a set-up for more Dark Judge shenanigans. I just hope Niemand doesn't do the obvious and plays up the hapless nature of the protagonists. As good a writer as he is, I'd happily not see the Dark Judges for another decade.

The Order ends, with a 1980s-style wrap-up. Well, sort of. It's left open, to say the least – to the degree it feels like a comma rather than a full-stop. Honestly, it feels like this would have been left on a fuller conclusion, with a spin-off coming to life later on, if Tharg felt it would work.

Durham Red continues to work really well for me, and I especially liked the meta talking point on the penultimate page. Yes, all the 'legends' were about a foxy badadd vamp chick, scaring bad guys and bagging bounties. And, yes, the reality is so much creepier. I get why people are annoyed about this, but I'm really enjoying this reinvention. For me, it overtakes Rogue this issue.

Enemy Earth is pretty good, if still tonally awkwardly sitting between Regened and 2000 AD. Really, it's slowly shifting towards the latter. I'm not convinced this belongs in the same comic as, well, basically everything else from Regened.

And then Rogue, which for me this week feels like a bit of a lull. Still good (although I'm unsure it needs the swearing, but whatever). But it doesn't quite keep the momentum going for me. Nice to see Tharg commission a Will Simpson pic for the inside cover, which I imagine will end up on the collected edition's cover.

So: nothing bad this week and an awful lot of good. Only Red hits great though.

Red > Rogue > Earth = Dredd > Order
#22
Megazine / Meg 455: Fear the Future
17 April, 2023, 02:53:27 PM


Dreadnoughts on the cover, but the mag leads with One-Eyed Jacks, which I'm still enjoying as it blazes along with its dual timelines. Niemand is clearly having lots of fun, not least with the Fargo twist.

Spector makes me feel a bit sad, because it's so... final. But it's also good to see Ezquerra's final 2000 AD work hasn't been abandoned. As ever, the art is fab, and I don't envy Dan Cornwell in having to take over. As for the story, it feels in some ways a bit of a throwback to a classic era of 2000 AD thrills, but it's solid and fun. The way the lead is trying to figure things out raised a smile several times.

Death Metal Planet continues to exist. It looks OK, but I'm dragging myself through it every month. Unlike Devlin, which had some fantastic moments, especially with Kafka. Although I'm also apparently too dim to fully clock what the last speech balloons are talking about.

It's been a long time since I've read Matt Smith's Anderson, but the opener is thoroughly enjoyable, and the Critchlow art is fab. It's a pity Tharg isn't able to clone himself and do a few more of these. Also from across the pond, Mega-City Two is over. Thank heavens. Some nice art, plenty of ideas, and a few good moments; but, my word, this needed an editor's hand (or pen).

UK reprint is effectively an advert for Jane Bond. It's a solid glimpse of the strip, if not really any kind of standalone.

Then we get Dreadnoughts. I kind of wish the Meg wouldn't add original strip at the back, after the reprints, but there you go. As for this opener, it's brutal. I just hope some of the possible foreshadowing here doesn't end up like I think it might. That could be a bit... obvious? Not least given that we have a female lead.

Anyway, a good Meg, on the whole. I'm sorry to see Devlin end, but Lawless replaces it next month, so that's something to look forward to.

Dreadnoughts > Waugh > One-Eyed Jacks = Spector = Anderson > Jane Bond >>>>>(!) Mega-City Two > Death Metal Planet
#23
Prog / Prog 2328: Mega-City Death Trip!
15 April, 2023, 11:21:42 AM


Lovely John McCrea cover and a fun Droid Life, before we're into Dredd, which has two intertwined narratives around an immigrant couple of the criminal kind. Niemand throws some shade regarding recent Judge Death strips. Judge Wrexlex probably needs to be written up for unprofessionalism and not arresting a perp for lewd depictions of a Judge (or something).

Durham Red continues to be great. Terrifying attack pigeons. (Although I wish the 'four way mouth' thing would go away. So many monster designs use that now.) Anyway, it was all very nicely choreographed.

Then The Order barrels towards a conclusion, seemingly in fast forward. Where it's left feels like the start of another long book. Anyone know when this ends?

Enemy Earth is still fine. Still comes across to me like an awkward fit – a bit too tonally grim for Regened and yet a bit young for 2000 AD. Not bad. And the reveal at the end shows a PM that, frankly, I'd still take over the current one and his four predecessors.

Then Rogue Trooper continues to have a lot of fun with its premise. Some really great dialogue from Ennis here, notably "Rogue?" "Busy." and "We've got incoming atmocraft. Sort of."

Another solid Prog for me, with two standouts, a good start to a Dredd, and a couple of strips that haven't really clicked with me but that I'm still happy reading.

Rogue > Red > Dredd > Enemy > Order

Rogue my favourite again. That's quite something...
#24
Prog / Prog 2325: Head games!
27 March, 2023, 08:58:46 PM
Another Regened Prog. Brace yourselves.

A nice Dredd cover, which for me felt a lot like "Steve Roberts does D'Israeli". Then the Dredd strip itself, by the guy who usually writes Bananaman, unless I'm mistaken. Anyway, this was... pretty good. One of the very, very few Cadet Dredd strips I've actually enjoyed. I did chuckle at "The statue of judgement is on the rampage".

Next, you'd best hope you like Lowborn High because there are 20 pages of it. I don't. And, no, that's not a typo. Perhaps this is a target audience thing, but the strip feels too bland for me. There were some nice moments (and the evil panda was amusing), but... 20 pages? Come on.

Then we get a two-page Robo-Hunter text story. And we all know how much kids love prose stories in their comics. (Clue: they don't. Even The Phoenix hasn't cracked that.) And this... I don't get it. At all. I mean, it's not the worst story ever or anything. It just feels like it fell out of a 1983 annual and landed in a comic the readers of which won't have the context needed to understand bits of it. Reversing the pic of the robots was a particularly bizarre design decision.

OK, next up: a Future Shock. Not very shocking, but pretty funny. That said, the bloke fooling around with half-naked women seemed like a really weird editorial decision for Regened. (My 8yo quite often calls out sexism. She would not be thrilled at this in her comic.) I wonder whether this was meant for the standard Prog?

Then we get Mayflies, which I honestly wish would just get a transfer and then end up in a Regened trade, because it's very good but keeps getting robbed of all momentum. My kid's annoyed enough waiting a week between episodes of ongoing strips in The Phoenix. "Mayflies might return in a year or two" doesn't really cut it. (And, no, that's not what the Prog says. But it's presumably what's on the cards. I wish we got 20 pages of this...)

Mayflies > Dredd > Future Shock > Lowborn Potter > Robo-Text
#25
Look like Usborne's Book of the Future will be back in print soon. Such a fab book.
#26
Megazine / Meg 454: Final Flight
13 March, 2023, 09:06:52 AM
A transition period for the Meg, with a couple of strips bowing out this issue. A nice Bolland/Robinson-esque cover by Tom Foster, before we get into the strips.

Dredd continues to weave an interesting narrative with all its timey-wimey shenanigans. Will Dredd/Jack meet? How will the twist play out? All interesting so far. Less so for me with Storm Warning, which never clicked with me. Sorry.

Metal Planet isn't doing a thing for me either. It's more tiresome than horrific now, and I do hope the Dark Judges are rested for a while after this. Devlin Waugh, though, manages to seemingly effortlessly combine nightmare fuel, thoughtfulness and bucketfuls of weird. Again, if there's one good thing that's come out of the whole John Smith saga, it's Not on Waugh.

Then we're into reprint. Year One wraps up nicely. I was glad to get another read of this. City of Courts... continues. The Wolk interview elsewhere in the Meg is enlightening. I better get what he was going for, and it does at times nearly come off. But it's interesting that this was his first comics jobs. Really, I think he needed a better editor. (Also, while the art in general is solid, the depiction of Dredd is just weird.) Leopard from Lime St is a smartly chosen chunk of story that works well as a standalone and as a trailer for the third book.

Then we get Surfer, which ends well. It's not up there with Song of the Surfer or America, but it's hard to go wrong with this pairing of creators. Next issue, Spector kicks off (with Ezquerra art, with Dan Cornwell later taking over). But the highlight for me is going to be the next chunk of Dreadnoughts. Nom.

So a mixed bag in all. I suspect a lot of this iteration of the Meg is going to depend on what ends up in those reprint slots. I fear we might get years and years of beardy not-Dredd, but I do hope not.

Devlin > Year One > One-Eyed Jacks > Surfer > Mega-City Two > Storm Warning > Dark Judges
#27
Prog / Prog 2323: The Out
13 March, 2023, 08:56:53 AM
Let's first take a moment to breathe in that cover. Wow. And then another moment to look at a contents page that doesn't include Joe Pineapples. Phew. But how does everything else stack up?

Dredd barrels along and suggests explanations are coming. The Out again lacks space for a Harrison megapic, but wallops you a couple of times in the feels. The Future Shock was quite obvious, but worked really well in terms of structure, with that DPS and a single page either side.

The Order has for me veered back towards baffling. This must be incomprehensible to newcomers. But it will at least conclude. And Proteus Vex is another masterclass that for me this week pips The Out. In all, nothing bad, and an awful lot of good.

Vex > The Out > Dredd > Future Shock > The Order
#28
Rebellion/2000 AD has a third Humble Bundle out. For 15 quid (and 2p), you get all of Nikolai Dante, Sláine, Brink, Cabs/Absalom and Devlin Waugh, along with the three Day of Chaos books. If you have previous Humble Bundles, new books (from what I can tell) are Dante, all but a couple of Sláine volumes, Brink 4–5, and Cabs.
#29
Announcements / 2000 AD and Megazine cover prints launch
18 February, 2023, 02:03:32 PM
Cover your walls in Thrill-power: get prints of the latest 2000 AD & Judge Dredd Megazine covers.

Available now from the Rebellion  store, these 12×16" & 18×24" print-on-demand prints are the perfect adornment for any habitation unit, with new designs every week! (As in, new designs will be added every week. The previous designs will remain available.)

#30
Prog / Prog 2317: Escape Route
28 January, 2023, 01:36:43 PM
First up, that cover. I've loved that image since I first saw it. If ever Tharg (or Harrison) fancy turning that into a print, I'll be first in line to buy one.

Overleaf, Dredd goes on a jaunt into outer space, seemingly setting up a scrap with a load of d-list foes. (Or relatives of d-list foes he's killed.) It's just the set-up so far, but a nice change of pace after Niemand's short series that punched everyone's heart out.

The Out moves things on nicely, with Cyd travelling again, but layers on additional intrigue. It feels like the bests of 2000 AD. And then you turn the page and end up with Joe Pineapples. The art is quite good, in a sort of 1990s Heavy Metal vibe kind of way. The scripting isn't the worst episode so far, but, well. (And after following one of the more modern strips featuring a female character, it's a bit depressing to have this one going WIMMIN, EH? BUNNY BOILERS! UNGRATEFUL BRATS THAT DON'T LIVE ME! Bleh. It feels like it's beamed in from the 1970s.)

The Order kicks off its final run. Unsurprisingly, horrible Armoured Gideon aside, Burns supplies lush painted art. And Kek-W wisely spends half the episode provided a potted history of what's been going on to date. Whether the strip will remain comprehensible is another matter. Proteus Vex then ramps things up in the ongoing conflict.

In all, while the Dredd isn't hitting the same highs and the other quality strips aren't providing key moments, it's another 4:1 issue for me. Good stuff. Here's hoping that continues.

The Out > The Order > Proteus Vex > Dredd >>>>>>>> Joe Pineapples
#31
Prog / Prog 2314: Out of the past
07 January, 2023, 11:38:35 AM
Another Saturday Prog here, albeit one where Tharg forgot to change the black ink cartridge. Alas. Fortunately, the cover has its full gamut of contrast, and Mark Harrison's artwork looks fantastic.

Inside, we get a new Droid Life and then Dredd. This second part of The Night Shifter ramps up the action and intrigue alike. The dialogue in the final panel was a wonderful slice of understatement and black humour, in a pretty dark Niemand script. I'm sure some folks here would argue otherwise, but the whole thing feels like Wagner being channelled. This is Dredd that feels like Dredd, and is superb.

Next up, we get Pat Mills that feels like Pat Mills in Joe Pineapples. Bisley's out for Langley, and so it all looks good enough. I imagine fans of his ABC Warriors run will be thrilled to see this last hurrah for the characters. But... it still feels like a re-run of all the things I didn't like in that dark period of 1990s 2000 AD. Sorry, but I'll be happy when this is done.

The Out, though, is a strip I'd be happy to see take up semi-permanent residence in the Prog. While this episode is heavy on bridging and dialogue, and has less of Harrison's imaginative art, it's still great comics. And you need a change of pace when the thing's collected. Also: despite being talky, it still deftly moves the story on in key ways.

Hope should in theory evoke the same sentiments. Objectively, it looks great (and different from usual 2000 AD fare). A lot happens. There's weirdness and a twist at the end. But this lost me some time back and I'm not 100% sure what's going on.

There are similar issues with Proteus Vex, but to a lesser degree. This strip's storytelling remains dense. Miss a detail and you can come unstuck. I'm just glad the gaps aren't monthly. However, Vex continues to intrigue, and it feels like the kind of strip we might look back on in a decade with the same fondness as a Nikolai Dante – assuming the creative team gets the chance to fulfil its vision.

Similar, then, to last issue for me, with three hits and two duds, but nothing here is objectively bad.

Dredd > The Out > Proteus Vex > Hope > Joe Pineapples
#32
Prog / Prog 2313: Dead Cool
31 December, 2022, 02:37:16 PM
A surprising arrival today, given recent Royal Mail shenanigans. The first Biz cover in yonks is quite nice, and then inside we get a single panel preview of an upcoming Hine/Cook strip that looks suitably weird.

Strips-wise, Niemand kicks off another Dredd in fine style. This one looks much darker than his usual fare. The Out is, predictably, superb – following the Unanima investigation into Cyd – and Tin Man is predictably predictable. It's not bad in an old-school way, but feels like you've opened a time warp to 1993. Hope picked up a notch, primarily because I could figure out what was going on. And then Proteus Vex continued fizzing with its own brand of awesome.

So: three crackers and two not-bads. A solid start to 2023 for the Prog (even if I got mine a little early)!

Dredd = The Out = Proteus Vex > Tin Man = Hope
#33
Announcements / Subscriptions and Royal Mail strikes
03 October, 2022, 03:55:13 PM
From the Nerve Centre:

Recently the Communication Workers Union, or CWU, have announced a series of strikes by Royal Mail workers over the period of October – November, and as I'm sure you can appreciate the anticipation is that this will lead to a great number of postal delays which'll undoubtedly have an impact on the arrival of your subscription issues.

While this does not directly affect deliveries outside of the UK, it is possible that an increased load on other couriers will cause delays for our international subscribers too.

While we will always do everything we can to ensure that you receive every issue of your subscription, please do bear in mind that severe delays are expected and we request patience while Royal Mail deal with any backlog resulting from strike action.

If you would like a digital version of any issue that is late to arrive, drop our customer support team a message here https://shop.2000ad.com/contact-us

Many thanks for your patience and understanding during this challenging period.

(More information available here: https://www.royalmail.com/latest-news)
#34
Megazine / Meg 448: Graveyard Shift
20 September, 2022, 10:06:35 PM
Well, that was fun. I enjoyed the 2000 AD zompocalypse and this Meg stuck the landing. It is perhaps more serious in nature. It's certainly more coherent as the random strips give way to a story thread. But I thought as a one-off it was rather good.

Also, the floppy was really something special: a book of Robin Smith cover roughs, with various notes, printed alongside the final art. The only down side was my cover appeared to be on back to front (which confused me for a bit). I'm very tempted to take the mag apart and carefully thread it back through the staples.

Anyway, good work, everyone. This breezy silliness was just what I needed this evening.
#35
Prog / Prog 2294: East Wired
06 August, 2022, 11:38:56 AM
A suitably grim cover by Alex Ronald and the promise of more Dept. X and we hit the Dredd finale. It all feels a bit muddled to me, to be honest. The final page is a bit of blunt commentary on the present day. Fine.

An Alan Grant obit wisely sits in the Prog rather than the Meg, before Brink ramps up considerably. (Also: part 23? Wow. Nice to see Tharg agreeing to play the long game with this. It's going to be a chunky collection when reprinted!) Twisty McTwisterson, too.

Skip Tracer is... quite good this week, when taken on its own merits. Sure, it's cliched, but it's at least barrelling forward, looks good, and has some solid plotting. My guess, though, is it's heading towards Blake's great escape and he ends up going off with his kid. If not, fair enough, but enough with the parent killings, yeah?

Dexter ends well, although AI-Sinister looks deeply weird in the final frame. And then there's Jaegir, which is also really good, with an interesting last page in all sorts of ways.

Brink > Jaegir > Dexter > Dredd = Skip Tracer
#36
Off Topic / Eaglemoss liquidation
12 July, 2022, 10:44:05 PM
#37
Prog / Prog 2287: Grinders Keepers!
19 June, 2022, 11:23:54 PM
The Prog kicks off with a fun Dredd one-and-done by Niemand/Dyer. Hope feels like an expansion episode and is a bit clunky. Things go wrong in Skip Tracer and I realise in the final frame there's a big reveal, but I've no idea who these people are.

Terror Tales is good and grim. Notably, it's Kek-W, so that shouldn't be a surprise. Part 24 of Brimful is next, which I only mention because it's the episode where a certain J Kingsley and M Smith enter the fold. Then we finish with Brink, which feels like it really wants to be a movie. Solid, at least.

Next week, we're back to Regened, so it's two weeks until the ongoing thrills continue. In all honestly, I'm fine with the break this time.

Dredd > Terror Tales > Brink > Skip Tracer > Hope
#38
Prog / Prog 2284: Inter*sect*ions
31 May, 2022, 11:14:41 AM
Right, then. After a brief Nerve Centre OOOH moment (more Devlin incoming), we're on to Dredd, which remains top-notch. Again, it's like a Wagner/Bolland strip that's fallen through a wormhole. Literally the only gripe I have is my usual one, in MC1 being basically full of white men, bar a very few background characters. Anyway, I suspect this'll wrap up soon, and it's going to be one of my top Dredds for a long time.

The Future Shock didn't really do anything for me. Bullying's a bit of a trigger point anyway, but even beyond that the story didn't feel that shocking. I'm not sure what the resolution was trying to say, nor if there was anything more meant by that single panel of the bloke with the teeth. So: meh. (Also: is no-one else submitting Future Shocks? It feels like Tomlinson is getting an awful lot of them into the Prog of late.)

Hope has a nice twist, if an arguably fairly obvious one. I think in hindsight that while the atmosphere of this run has been good, I'm starting to align with folks who have said the storytelling isn't up there with the previous two volumes (which I grabbed as trades—I doubt I would with this run).

Brink is a between beats run, bar the end—a kind of info dump. Something that'll read better when collected than standalone this issue. And then there's Fiends, which has two powerful beings kicking the crap out of each other. I'm enjoying it, but I do wonder where the strip has to go after this point if the lead is now so insanely powerful he can survive basically anything.

So, weirdly, I'm missing... Dexter. That trips levity and spark combined with the nature of what was in this Prog made it feel a bit flat for me compared to last week. Dredd is clearly the standout and Fiends is very, very good. Brink is great as a whole, but this particular episode didn't really grab me. The other two strips were a bit hmmm.

Dredd > Fiends > Brink > Hope > Future Shock
#39
Megazine / Meg 442: Hate Campaign!
15 March, 2022, 12:59:55 PM
An ominous blood-soaked cover for this Meg, which leads on a quickly improving Dredd story with some intrigue. Death Cap is next, and I just don't care about this story at all. The protagonist is awful. I quite like the art and the sales guy though. Diamond Dogs has pretty much lost me at this point. It also so often feels more "30 seconds into the future" than what you'd expect from the comic.

A brief break for 'The droids you've been looking for', which explores some of the creators who only briefly graced the comic. Some interesting bits and bobs in there, and an answer of sorts as to why Tao De Moto just stopped no-one knows where Myra Hancock went or is). I also kind of want to re-read Dead Meat now, just to see how it is with the benefit of hindsight. Then, an Ian Kennedy obit. Good to see three pages dedicated to this. Sad to think this will be a semi-regular event now, given how creators age.

A one-pager on Lowborn High then sits across from Lawless. I'm not sure where this strip is going nor whether Abnett will hit something of a reset switch at some point (with Meta returning to her original position). Either way, it's great and continues to be a real high point for the comic. Then, Surfer perhaps inevitably goes bad, with a twist we all saw coming but that ramps up the tension significantly.

A bit 60/40 for me this month, but the highs very much eclipse the lows.

Lawless > Surfer > Dredd > Diamond Dogs > Death Cap
#40
Lots for sale below. Collect from near M3 J4a or I can ship at cost. Feel free to make offers, especially if you want a bunch of stuff. Everything's in good condition, unless otherwise stated. I can supply photos of items if anyone wants them prior to making an offer.

Diceman
Diceman 1-5 - £40

Usagi Yojimbo (Dark Horse)
Usagi Yojimbo vols 1-33 (complete run) + Senso/Space Usagi/Yokai - £350

Al Ewing
Immortal Hulk 1 Deluxe HC (OOP) - £30
We Only Find Them When They're Dead vol 1 - £4

Humanoids
First Degree: A Crime Anthology - £8

2000 AD trades
Brink 2000 AD Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol 1 - £8
Button Man: Killer Killer - £5
Hershey: Disease limited hardcover - £15
Lobster Random No Gain, No Pain Rebellion OS HC - £3

2000 AD Progs
720, 721, 722, 724, 726, 727, 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733, 734, 736, 738, 746, 747, 748, 749 - £5
Or the above for postage costs alone if you want anything else in this list.

Swimini Purpose by Brendan McCarthy (extremely rare) - £100

Doctor Who
Aliens and Enemies - £4
Monsters and Villains - £4

Mignolaverse (Dark Horse)
Hellboy and the BPRD: 1952, 1953, 1954 - £7 each or £20 set

Mirror group
A Man Called Horace, books 1 and 2 - £5 for both

Oni
Jay and Silent Bob: Chasing Dogma - £4