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Prog 2110 - Gremlins in the System!

Started by Richard, 01 December, 2018, 11:48:52 AM

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James Stacey

3/4 of the prog written by Dabnett makes for a great prog. More please Tharg.

Geoff

The prog has certainly powered through to the end of the year.

It's gone from being rather flat for some time to an absolute thrill-fest since the last jump-on prog.

An amazing cover, if only Chris Weston could have drawn the episode...

Brink continues to be brilliant and I even enjoyed Sin/Dex!

Kingdom could end well here, and maybe should, but...at the same time doesn't have to.

Looking forward to the Christmas prog. Hail Tharg!

broodblik

Let is start with Kingdom, when I was reading it I really tried to find the extra pages but no this is it. It feels to sudden too abrupt. I do not mind series ending and Kingdom was great the last few years but it just did not feel like a real ending.

Dredd nice one-off story.

Sin/Dex I enjoyed more than usual. I still struggle to really like the main characters.

Brink is its usual great.

Overall a solid prog with a great series coming down to a disappointing ending.
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

wedgeski

Kingdom feels like we have been left with a backdrop for potential one-off's. It feels to me like the main narrative is done, and done with style. With Brink I just... more, more, more, please more.

Proudhuff

Quote from: chrisjenkins on 02 December, 2018, 03:42:12 PM
Did anyone else notice the cheeky use of the Ideal Toy Zeroid robots in Sinister Dexter?



wow! I had that middle one as a sprog and loved it, had forgotten about it til I saw that pic...oh warm tummy retro glow as Dirty Frank might have said.
DDT did a job on me

Proudhuff

To the Prog...(via an eye watering visit to ebay)

Cover: No tackle?

nerve Centre: Football invades Tharg's pitch again in Damage Report.

Dredd: I know its a bit of light relief but this could have been such a dark piece, those Gremlins reminded me of the Jigsaw man for some reason.

Brink: Great stuff, liked the twists

SinDex; good fun

Kingdom: Has there been any hints this was going to be pulled off? I would have felt better if all the current players had been [spoiler]killed off by the New Breed Thang... having Gene ride off with the codes and leeslee[/spoiler] seems to be leaving a big old door open
DDT did a job on me

broodblik

[spoiler]I am person who always likes a feel good ending for long running stories (Future Shocks are there for their bleak and dark endings).  That is maybe why i feel let down with Kingdom's ending. It is almost like the whole story has been reset back to the beginning. The heroes walk of into the sunset but in this case more into a dark unknown forest. A ending can make or break a complete series for me.[/spoiler]
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

IndigoPrime

I think the hints in Kingdom were there for a long while, notably in the hubris of the humans, and attempts at dominance in an environment where there were no obvious winners. We'd multiple times seen [spoiler]rapid evolution[/spoiler] play a role, but also people were looking at the fight from a disassociated distance, making the assumption they could effectively just waltz back in and take control. To my mind, this ending – if it is an ending – is a pretty logical conclusion, albeit one that landed with a hammer blow when I was reading it.

Proudhuff

fair enough, the [spoiler]rapid evolving[/spoiler] is the trump card then...
DDT did a job on me

Dandontdare

I think it was the only ending that made sense - Gene ended up with the means to swing the war for the humans, the Them, or the ticks (weaponised or natural) but is not interested in letting any of them dominate - all he wants is his freedom. There is scope for more, but I don't think it's necessary, the story of Gene the Hackman has been told.

I still can't fathom why a talking-heads strip about corporate conspiracies with fairly simplistic art is so bloody gripping, but I'm loving every minute of Brink.

Nice fun one-off for Dredd.

Still enjoying Sin/Dex but that thought bubble thing needs to explained or ditched soon, it's getting a bit tiresome


IndigoPrime

Yeah, on reflection that's my take for Kingdom. It reached a natural conclusion. Strips... don't fare well when you push them on, unless you've a very compelling continuation.

Tiplodocus

Well the title of Kingdom is a bit of a clue that this is the end.[spoiler]or is it a beginning as well[/spoiler]
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

broodblik

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 05 December, 2018, 06:56:13 PM
Yeah, on reflection that's my take for Kingdom. It reached a natural conclusion. Strips... don't fare well when you push them on, unless you've a very compelling continuation.

But I felt the end was pushing it on. Their was hints of the impeding doom but never really any plot points going into depth  or detail with them. The end is a part of the story that was never covered real detail. It was like the writer got tired of the story and just ended it by choosing any easy way out. This was a strip that I really enjoyed over the years and I just did not like the end at all [spoiler](or maybe this might be a start of something completely different in the Kingdom)[/spoiler]
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

norton canes

It's not the end. It's not. At least, it doesn't feel like the end. For one thing, Read Tharg's summary in the  Nerve Centre: "...and in Kingdom Gene is rocked by a startling development that may just see Them take control of the planet once and for all!" That doesn't sound like he's trailing the end of the entire strip. I mean OK maybe he's just trying to preserve the denouement's shock value but I reckon if this really was it, he'd be all like "...and the Kingdom saga reaches it's final pulse-pounding conclusion!". Plus there is no way a character like Gene would fizzle out of the concluding installment of his own strip in the first panel. He needs a hero's exit! Also I honestly don't believe Dan Abnett would introduce a major new facet like the hyper-evolved Them in the final two pages of the strip. If he has (which he hasn't) then the whole chapter just plays out like an underwhelming future shock.

I get what people are saying about the saga completing a sort of cycle. And I hear the claims that Abnett has written everything he can. But to end like this seems to bear the hallmark of a lazy writer, which Abnett most evidently is not. I'm not saying that every conclusion should unequivocally tie up every plot strand but at this point in the narrative too many elements are left hanging.

And quite apart from everything above - if it ended here, then...


then...


Well then we wouldn't have any more Kingdom would we, and that's just not drokking right, is it! We can't have no more Kingdom! Where would we be without no more Kingdom?!! It can't end! It can't!! 

norton canes

Also

The claim that "Gene is rocked by a startling development" just ain't true, because he's not, is he. He's not around to see it. Ha! Slipped up there, Tharg! We know there's more to come!

And

I don't have progs or collections to hand, so can anyone tell me whether the other chapters have ended with 'THE END' below their final panel? I mean the SinDex story in this prog has 'THE END' on the final page doesn't it?

And

Silly question but has Dan Abnett actually said anything?