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Messages - geronimo

#1
 
Quote from: Funt Solo on 06 January, 2022, 07:15:02 PM
QuoteDon't know if its me or what but I used to love the prog for its social commentary hidden in witty action-packed sci-fi stories. Now I think it is high-blown space opera for the sake of being space-opera, but with no relation to our times or lives.

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I thought this online comment was ironic (not deliberately, but from my perspective) given the actual contents of this prog.

Working Girl (co-starring Dredd) features Mona Plankhurst - a single mother trying her best to make ends meet, but employed by a hegemonistic corporate edifice that doesn't care for her needs. So, I mean, if you're looking for social commentary and you're not actually seeing it here ... is the blindness wilful? Because it's also witty, and also action-packed and also sci-fi. It checks all the boxes that the writer seeks, and yet they're not seeing it.

Proteus Vex and his female co-protagonist are battling against a galactic hegemony who are trying to wipe out a sentient species in order to maintain control and hide their past crimes of genocide. More social commentary, action, wit and sci-fi. Another home run that's somehow not seen by our blinkered friend.

The Order
... uhm. Okay. Well - maybe the exception that proves the rule? But wait: a multi-racial crew led by two women that are battling a robotic inter-dimensional hegemony. Bingo!

Kingmaker - an Orc and a Dryad fight together against - wait for it - a galactic hegemony! Fuck me - if you had a complaint, wouldn't it be that too many of the stories feature social commentary, action, sci-fi & wit? They're all bloody well at it.

Okay, last chance - The Out. Lone female protagonist. Actually, that's three out of five stories with female lead protagonists - see how we've moved on from the 80s? Can I call this meta-social commentary? Is the particular issue at stake in this prog a reflection of how we feel when our governments go to war against the will of the people?

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Great prog, scoring 4 : 1 against the Thrill-Suckers and in the pipe, five-by-five for "social commentary hidden in witty action-packed sci-fi stories".

5 x Women fighting the Hegemony = Just following the recent trends really.
#2
Prog / Re: Prog 2162 : The gift of Thrill Power!
19 December, 2019, 12:00:33 AM
Just gotta say that the standard of art in this special is out-standing all the way through, really great work here, Tharg is maintaining a solid stable of talent indeed.
Looking forward to 2020.
#3
Prog / Re: Prog 2148 - Fear of the Machine!
11 September, 2019, 05:26:25 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 11 September, 2019, 05:05:55 PM
Quote from: geronimo on 11 September, 2019, 04:20:07 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 11 September, 2019, 04:11:10 PM
Quote from: McNulty on 10 September, 2019, 10:50:36 AMThis might be the writers and artists reflecting what is going on in the real world and I can understand this, but can we not have at least a few stories that reflect a better world, one that we might strive for?
Cherrypicking here, but I'd love to know which classic 2000AD stories you think reflect a better world? There's
the odd character here and there who thinks they're doing something the right thing - Johnny Alpha or Torquemada, for example - but it's invariably against the backdrop of a fairly unpleasant setting.

Personally I gotta agree with McNulty here, the prog is a downer now compared with the old days. It is so lacking in the irony and wit that made it so much more entertaining then.

Is that a reflection on the Prog itself or on popular culture as a whole and the acknowledgement of an aging audience.

That's not to say someone can't find it too grimdark (is that still a word?) for their tastes of course, but certainly don't think it's the Prog alone that has developed that way.

Nah! it's the prog now I think. Recently I reread The Taxidermist and just loved its tongue-in-cheek, self-mocking humour. no one in it was being taken seriously and that as much came from Dillons art as the writing. Absalom had a touch of it, taking the p*** out of it's own genre with over the top silly violence and ridicelous characters in silly situations.
I really cant be arsed to pick up this weeks prog, its 4 grim stories and SinDex; the filler of fillers.
#4
Prog / Re: Prog 2148 - Fear of the Machine!
11 September, 2019, 04:20:07 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 11 September, 2019, 04:11:10 PM
Quote from: McNulty on 10 September, 2019, 10:50:36 AMThis might be the writers and artists reflecting what is going on in the real world and I can understand this, but can we not have at least a few stories that reflect a better world, one that we might strive for?
Cherrypicking here, but I'd love to know which classic 2000AD stories you think reflect a better world? There's
the odd character here and there who thinks they're doing something the right thing - Johnny Alpha or Torquemada, for example - but it's invariably against the backdrop of a fairly unpleasant setting.

Personally I gotta agree with McNulty here, the prog is a downer now compared with the old days. It is so lacking in the irony and wit that made it so much more entertaining then.
#5
Prog / Re: Prog 2143 - The End
09 August, 2019, 07:27:42 PM
Quote from: Jacqusie on 09 August, 2019, 07:01:47 PM
*Sob* ... g'bye Harry... a wonderful series which has enthralled and delighted in equal measure, a true all time great of 2000AD. Too many good ideas in Harry's (Cabalistics?) world over the years to leave them in finality surely?  :think:

Would THE P.C. BRIGADE be a good idea for a spin-off? Jen and Daniel could still be pursuing the last of the Rathborne's, in fact there are still a few plot holes to be filled.
#6
Prog / Re: Prog 2143 - The End
04 August, 2019, 09:22:29 AM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 04 August, 2019, 09:00:29 AM
On Brexit, in a serious sense, many graphic novels are printed in Malta and Spain. At the very least, expect prices to shoot up as sterling continues to tank.

Maybe Boris should do a trade deal with Amazon! ::)
#7
Prog / Re: Prog 2143 - The End
04 August, 2019, 08:24:17 AM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 03 August, 2019, 11:17:03 PM
Quote from: geronimo on 03 August, 2019, 10:33:53 PMWhat of the horror that is Brexit!!! :o
Has the mighty Tharg planned for this? how will we in neighbouring countries be able to receive our paper proggage if the harbours are closed, the trucks are trapped and the ships are stalled? For 42 years we have never had a crisis of thrillpower supply like this one! :crazy:

Shipped to the north of Ireland and from there smuggled by drone across the porous border, then shipped to the rest of the planet.

My mate has a drone so that's taken care of. So we just need to connect with Pat Mills in Spain and with his contacts in the French comic scene we could cover a lot of Europe.
#8
Prog / Re: Prog 2143 - The End
03 August, 2019, 10:33:53 PM
Quote from: Leigh S on 03 August, 2019, 10:07:13 PM
Good prog, but interested in what people thought of Tharg's comment that 2000AD is an antidote to grim reality - I suppose an antidote isnt an escape, but does 2000AD innoculate you from the horror, or should it stir up the horror?

What of the horror that is Brexit!!! :o
Has the mighty Tharg planned for this? how will we in neighbouring countries be able to receive our paper proggage if the harbours are closed, the trucks are trapped and the ships are stalled? For 42 years we have never had a crisis of thrillpower supply like this one! :crazy:
#9
Prog / Re: Prog 2142 - Major Malfunction
02 August, 2019, 10:57:26 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 02 August, 2019, 06:51:23 PM
Nope, it's been confirmed this is the end of Absalom.
As for Absolam? Well, I guess he could make a comeback... 😉🤔

That's a pity, I can think of 2 other current strips I'd rather see the back of than Absalam! :-\
#10
Prog / Re: Prog 2142 - Major Malfunction
02 August, 2019, 06:15:38 PM
Are ye all sure to be sure that there is not another series after Terminal Diagnosis? Surely the next episode ends on a 'to be continued' cliff hanger!
#11
I am living in south east Ireland and recently decided to order these from a newsagent, but after a few weeks of nothing turning up I was finally told that they can't get them though they could earlier on in the series.
They only seem to turn up sporadically  in other book shops so I am wondering if the print numbers are dropping. I really get the impression that this collection hasn't really taken off.
Last year I was collecting the  deAgnostini Art Gallery series which promised to be 60 issues but it stopped at 40, so these companies do cut their losses when they have to.
#12
Prog / Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
07 June, 2019, 09:38:32 AM
Do Terror Tales require a twist?

I thought this should have ended with a 'To Be Continued', as it seems like a set-up for more rather than a complete tale in itself.
#13
Sure, it just needs bundling with something else (like the DR&Qunich/Skizz book).

what about the rest of Stickleback?
#14
News / Re: RIP Ron Smith
11 January, 2019, 10:32:51 PM
His work was so distinctive, no-one else like him and he must have been a real work horse considering how much he has turned out in his career.
I remember his King Cobra, in Victor, I think. He always had a great sense of space and motion in his panels, just the right man to balance McMahon and Bolland, he had a touch of each of their styles.
#15
Thanks guys. :D