Cover by Tiernen Trevallion:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnNOGhiWEAIT-55?format=jpg&name=large)
Cover plus logo:
(https://i2.wp.com/www.comicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2000-ad-2209-1.jpg?resize=768%2C988&ssl=1)
A good prog with two thrills coming to an end replaced next week by talking heads and some people from the world off the dead. We must not forget the great cover by the man himself Tiernen
Dredd – Dredd is infested to get behind what is going on in the institution. While he is running down some perps, he is busy unfolding what is going on as well. A good Dredd story with some nice humorous touches.
Skip Tracer – The boss-battle ends in a slightly different way in how I saw it end. A not too bad story maybe little bit generic but enjoyable. Do not fear all the new gained fans there will be more soon.
Stickelback – The action heats up as mister Holmes gets involved. Ian's script is lurking in the background for the art to shine. D'Isreali knows how to alter huis style depending on the series.
Hook Jaw – This is my surprise story of the year. I did not except this and I was pleasantly surprised. What I did like about it is how it build suspense and did not reveal the truth but rather gave us snippets of what is going on. The finale did not disappoint. Alec told a wonderful-gory story with some great art by Leigh.
Fiends – A more action heavy episode but we have now reached the crescendo point of Constanta's turn into mortality. Tiernen's art as always is lovely to behold.
Wait.... have people actually got this prog? Is this on digital only?
I have a digital subscription
Weirdly the DIGITAL edition is saying 'out of stock' for me on the website...
Quote from: Arkady on 25 November, 2020, 09:53:49 AM
Weirdly the DIGITAL edition is saying 'out of stock' for me on the website...
Damn all those flippers for buying the digital copies and stickin' them on eBay at inflated prices.... oh hold on... that is very weird and you've gotta think a glitch?
Excellent prog, excellent cover.
A little surprised to see that Dredd was running past 3 episodes on a fairly thin premise, but then we got to the comedy stylings of Call-Me-Patsy and I was content to see more. I like how Niemand merges the Rennie strategy of infodump conversations during unconnected action scenes with the Carroll approach of having supporting 'house' characters doing the legwork: it works for me because Wrexler & Patsy are genuinely charming additions in the tradition of Buell & Garcia, and don't actually require interaction with Dredd to validate their presence.
Hootin' heck but Austin is going all-out on these nutty crowd scenes, positively Googean! Was that eyepatch a visual pun on 'Dirty' Frank? For a first Dredd story, this is amazingly confident work.
I'm pondering the nature of Simps in this story a bit. I had always thought they were ordinary people that had completely committed to a lifestyle of looking and acting stupid in order to stand out and be noticed in the faceless millions, rather than being actual morons (like the Branch Moronian) or jaded hipsters with an agenda. Transitioning into a religion via Bishop Desmond Snodgrass' "outing" seemed to grant them tax breaks, but I don't recall of there was more to it than that.
If I'm remembering a-right their most recent significant appearance was mayoral candidate Ribena Hardly-Lucidberry* in Day of Chaos, who only ever said "clump", and who certainly fits that picture: despite representing the Simp Party, she had no policies and nothing to say.
So given that Simping is a lifestyle/belief system that one adopts specifically to get attention, rather than an expression of something innate like sexuality or stupidly, I'm a bit lost as to where Colin and his Radical Simps fits in: Simps aren't actually incompetent, so why can't they shoot straight? They seem pretty good at making costumes and silly gadgets. If they now have a cause beyond being noticed, why wouldn't they pursue it in a competent way?
Anyways, it's a fun story, but I hope it doesn't outstay its welcome.
Skip Tracer ended in a fairly predictable way (especially if you took heed of Bolt-1), and maybe it was a bit stretched at 9 parts and I'm a little unclear on where the werewolf splices from last week got to, but I enjoyed this run. I'm pleased to say that I knew who and what both Hastings and Balbuena were, and I was glad to see the Stripmonger made it to pastures new, so we're definitely getting there.
Stickleback was a pure visual joy, and It was good to see the plot jog along so briskly. Initially I thought the 'others' that were incinerated might be Black Bob & Co, in some misjudged 'pare the cast back to Holmes & Dr Scarlet' move and I was distinctly unimpressed, until I flicked back and realised that it was the evil minions that we saw scurrying around in the foreground at the start of the previous episode's gigantibrawl.
Fiends was as gorgeous and engaging as ever, and I was quite sorry to see the key moment finally arrive, and in a fairly conventional manner. I could have happily followed the adventures of Skade & Cub for a good while longer. Bloody good stuff, though.
Finally, the Hookjaw finale. This story has exceeded expectations start to finish, and everyone involved deserves a hearty pat on the back. Yes, many people predicted that [spoiler]Shako[/spoiler] would make an appearance, it is 2020 after all, but did anyone predict [spoiler]Bonjo[/spoiler]? Warner Bros' MonsterVerse take note, this is how it's done.
*Although I suppose technically it was Jack Point in Trifecta.
Quote from: TordelBack on 25 November, 2020, 10:06:22 AM
A little surprised to see that Dredd was running past 3 episodes on a fairly thin premise.....
I think it is a 5 episodes
Quote from: broodblik on 25 November, 2020, 10:13:11 AM
I think it is a 5 episodes
Hmmm, not far off the combined length of Dredd Simp stories thus far. Ah well, we'll see if does more than obey Parkinson's Law.
Never mind 2209, which I'll be lucky to get this year at this rate, I'm still waiting on 2208!
Having a Discussion elsewhere about the end of the marvelous Hookjaw. The [spoiler]toy polar bear is obviously Shako[/spoiler], but surely the dinosaur has to be [spoiler]Bonjo from Beyond the Stars[/spoiler]. Who else could it be? Not [spoiler]Satanus[/spoiler], that's for sure! Am I missing any other candidates?
Said discussion also touched on why [spoiler]all the ghosts suddenly appear to help Esme[/spoiler] - but this one I'm sure about, so I thought I'd share. Unsurprisingly it's [spoiler]one of the spirit lures Jack got from Morwenna. You can see one poking out of his manbag, looking like something you might get free in Scotland, but the twist is Jack takes the spell ribbon off the candle and wraps it around a flare instead[/spoiler]. Clever lad.
Bloody missing Edit button. Continued...
The[spoiler] lures are what Duke used to capture Esme in the bottle[/spoiler], Jack's breaking of which released her a few episodes back.
I'm not kidding when I say this vies for my favourite story of the year, and in my opinion Worley's best work for the original to date. And it's a bloody Hookjaw reboot. Who's have thought it?
I can see that Hook Jaw can continue with a lot of potential. This is for me how you do a re-image. The whole thing is so much better than the original one. Can not wait to see where the team takes this next. Kudos for Tharg to dare to be different.
Some good comedy moments in Dredd, I have to say... I'm looking at you, Patsy.... :)
Quote from: Arkady on 25 November, 2020, 09:53:49 AM
Weirdly the DIGITAL edition is saying 'out of stock' for me on the website...
It is back in stock again
Yeah I'd say Bonjo if anything, the spines are the giveaway even if the trunk is absent. Either that, or it's the subtlest attempt yet to infringe on Millsverse copyright.
Up till now I'd thought Hookjaw definitely had to be a 'one and done' story because it depended so much on the shock value of bringing back an old character in an unexpected form. Now that it's clearly gearing up for further chapters I've revised that opinion - it'll be interesting to see what twist they put on the next returnee (or indeed what they'll call the story).
Simply Normal completely flourishes this week. The first couple of instalments were good but perhaps a bit short of the Niemand droid's phenomenal standards; here, everything just pops in a succession of fantastic sequences. Likewise, bostin' Steve Austin moves into overdrive with some incredible panels.
I'll tell you what - the forthcoming chapter of Slaine has got a lot to live up to now that this chapter of Fiends has comprehensively stolen its thunder. One of the best covers of the year this week, too.
But I'm sorry, nothing else in this prog lives up to the shock value of that extraordinary frame at the climax of Skip Tracer. Just what are those robots doing to the poor guy? Is there even a name for it?
QuoteIs there even a name for it?
[spoiler]Fist spit-roasting[/spoiler]?
This week's Dredd has moved up a notch in quality and Niemand is true to form. I had thought that a simp story would outstay its welcome after one or two episodes, but now I don't mind if it will go in for five. If Wagner has stopped doing 20-episode Dredd epics then let Niemand do one! (Not about simps though!)
Enjoyed the little dig from Cyber-Matt, presumably aimed at certain verbose nostalgics with questionable interpretations of the past.
Of course. That makes sense now :)
Quote from: Arkady on 27 November, 2020, 02:57:18 PM
Enjoyed the little dig from Cyber-Matt, presumably aimed at certain verbose nostalgics with questionable interpretations of the past.
Thanks for that (since I never venture there) it was quite amusing
Anyone still missing their subs copy? I got 2008, but 2009 still hasn't arrived (although one of the specials did).
Another stonker.
Dredd though is feeling a bit stretched. I'm enjoying it but it seems to be reveling in its page count rather than using itntom maximum affect. in 2000ad that can make things feel flabby.
Skipperty on the other hand covers its pages with a lot of stuff. Effectively and satisfyingly wrapping up the main story. Giving us a neat little epilogue and stringing ideas for the next story. This is still just an effective story but its having more impact.
Stickleback is just brilliant, thrilling and as monsters clash and magic and bullets fly we don't lose sight of nice little character touches.
Hockjaw damn this has a punch in its ending and mean that's an exclaimation mark of an ending, Just what this series needed and deserved. Excellent stuff. Even better we get "...." right at the end and I for one would more than welcome the return... well as 'God in the Shape of Beasts' doesn't head north and come back as a great white bear. I think we've all had enough of that for a bit!
Fiends best of the bunch though. We get action, we get sadness and we get a vampire (though we're doing the 'y' spelling with a thirst for revenge as much as blood. Superb.
Royal Mail might be making us wait, but Tharg is making it worth it. ... oh but we're getting a chopped and changed Sinister Dexter back next Prog. I'm always happy to have Sinister Dexter but PLEASE Tharg can we have it back, not just as filler! Give us the run we were promised and fill the gaps with Future Shocks which are designed to work in small chunks.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 27 November, 2020, 03:33:07 PM
Anyone still missing their subs copy? I got 2008, but 2009 still hasn't arrived (although one of the specials did).
Yeah, still haven't had mine. 😔
Prog still MIA as of this morning. Sympathetic to Tharg, but I have had non-parcel post arrive that was posted midweek this week, so it's not just general Royal Mail slowdown. Perhaps the issue is with processing the bulk shipments?
Hard to know what the disruption is. The Prog, for whatever reason, seems particularly hard-hit. Mini-IP's Beano showed up today (although her Phoenix hasn't yet arrived). I guess it is what it is.
My copy of 2208 finally arrived this Wednesday along with the new Meg, but 2209 is nowhere to be seen. I'm going to chase up if there's no sign of it on Monday as it will then be nearly a week past the date it was on the shelves. No trace of prog 2210 either, but given how the last couple of months have gone I'm not expecting it until Tuesday or Wednesday next week at the earliest.
2209 just turned up but first comment is that its nice to see Tharg getting a little dig in via the Damage Report
Yep, I love the damage report- this is where Tharg gets to be the fun, smart arsed Tharg of old. Long may it continue.
Good prog, this one. I've been losing interest over the years and really wishing I loved 2000ad like in used to, but a good Dredd writer goes a long way, and the Niemand droid is one. Patsy's idea to clear the crowd was truly inspired, and a nice nod to ancient MC1 history.
Nah...not had mine yet, but have got 2210 delivered yesterday.
Going to have to e.mail them as they're not taking calls at the moment.
Niemand gets Dredd. Although his reference to Iceland was quite something. Clearly, the country changes a bit between now and then.
It's days of glory as multiple missing progs rocked up this morning! Quick thoughts on this one:
Dredd - whilst I agree with comments that the Simp story is feeling a bit stretched, I'm really enjoying it. There's enough background Megacity wackiness going on in the background to make it fun. I think Dredd works best when it tackles a serious subject with a big injection of farce and this really gets it.
Skip Tracer - neat ending, we all predicted the bit with the [spoiler]acoustic resonator[/spoiler] but none of us predicted [spoiler]violent death-fisting[/spoiler]. This has been the best Skip story so far imo, but it's still lagging behind the rest of the prog. Nolan himself is a bit of a nonentity but so was Nick Stone. As a knockabout thrill I'm not unhappy to see it return.
Stickleback - to quote the man himself, that was... unexpected. Has the rest of the cast just been wiped out (again)?
Hookjaw - mildy anticlimatic ending after the peak horror of last week but overall I thought this was great: effective storytelling with the slow build, incredible art and comedy accents. If it had run under a different title, would it have had less people moaning about it? I've no great affection for the original having only read it within the last 12 months but as already said, we didn't need a rerun of that and this really worked for me.
Fiends is the absolute best thing in this prog and I can't say anything that hasn't already been said about it really. Superb.
Cover is awesome too!
Are many people moaning about Hookjaw? In a year that's given us copious (almost unprecedented?) novelty in the shape of Feral & Foe, Proteus Rex, Megatropolis, Dreadnoughts, Full Tilt Boogie (the series), The Diaboliks, Pandora Perfect, Department K and the sublime The Out, it is a strong contender for my favourite new strip*. Just a clever, compact, unexpected, and all-round fun tale.
*I know it's a reboot, but not of a 2000AD story.
I'm not sure if people are moaning en masse, it may just be that I see a lot of this on Facebook.
When listed like that, that's a lot of quality new strips this year. I'd rank Hookjaw up with Feral & Foe as my favourite newcomers.
Most people aren't moaning. People who want the Prog to be identical to the one they enjoyed as children are moaning. As was Pat Mills, who on Twitter was seemingly arguing that because Hookjaw had a format that worked wonders in 1976, a strip called Hookjaw should be doing precisely the same thing 44 years later.
It's been a standout year, as far as I can see. The Out was the high point, but HookJaw, Fiends, Feral & Foe, Lawless, Dreadnaughts, Megatropolis... that's an embarrassment of riches, that is. The House of Tharg is in rude health- and that's not even touching on the Specials Rebellion have released.
What is also an embarrassment is the attitude of several people on social media, who take every opportunity to berate the comics for being "woke" and "not as good as (insert year they last read them)". My 'favourite' was the guy claiming to cancel his subscription because of Hookjaw. I say 'favourite', but in reality I just wince when I see that kind of stuff, and more often than not, just block them. Cant be arsed.
SBT
Nostalgia can be a cloud. I saw one person a while back ranting about 2000 AD, saying it wasn't as good as it was in the old days. For him, the 'old days' were the shitshow leading up to and after the Morrison/Millar mess. I can understand people who want the Prog to be like it was during the 300s or something, but pining for the summer offensive? That's just bonkers.
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 04 December, 2020, 02:13:20 PM
My 'favourite' was the guy claiming to cancel his subscription because of Hookjaw.
This guy was my favourite as well, came across as an absolute bellend.
And I didn't mean to start up this debate again (although i think we're all of one mind). I was more pondering, had it been called BLOODFIN or something, if said minority nostalgics would have had quite as much vitriol towards it.
I really liked it, anyway.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 04 December, 2020, 02:06:12 PM
As was Pat Mills, who on Twitter was seemingly arguing that because Hookjaw had a format that worked wonders in 1976, a strip called Hookjaw should be doing precisely the same thing 44 years later.
Heh, he didn't see it that way when Rennie wrote Satanus as a Hookjaw/Shako story!*
I do however agree with Pat on the general point that if something is going to be
so different in genre and style, just bite the
surfer bullet nd call it something else (one might cite Invasion/Savage and MACH-1/Greysuit as good examples), or make it something new. What gets modern Hookjaw off the proverbial fishing tackle is that the original strip is pivotal to the whole endeavour: Action's Hookjaw is cast as a part of the 'belief' in the Hookjaw 'myth' that is at the core of the current setup. It's less a tired reworking and more an expansion that incorporates the original as part of the 'truth' (much like Gaiman's Sandman and Moore's Swampie - although I may be stretching an analogy a
teensy bit too far there).
But yeah, let's not do this feudin' n' flatin' again, it's Christmas!
* Yes, I know that wasn't actually the issue there....
When any story is re-image, we will always get people who will pitch with their pitchforks and torches because somehow their childhood was utterly destroyed and ruined by this sacrilege. I loved this new take on Hook Jaw completely different than the original and 100 times better than the original. Yes, it is true in most cases the re-image does not always give justice to the original but here we have something that was quite unique for me and different.
Quote from: TordelBack on 04 December, 2020, 02:31:39 PM
What gets modern Hookjaw off the proverbial fishing tackle is that the original strip is pivotal to the whole endeavour: Action's Hookjaw is cast as a part of the 'belief' in the Hookjaw 'myth' that is at the core of the current setup. It's less a tired reworking and more an expansion that incorporates the original as part of the 'truth' (much like Gaiman's Sandman and Moore's Swampie - although I may be stretching an analogy a teensy bit too far there).
...which would be an argument again for Pat reading some of the stuff he's criticising instead of basing his opinions on a quick scan through the contents, the title or whatever one of his Twitter followers fires his way. I suspect he'd still be anti-Hookjaw, but perhaps he'd have a better understanding of what the team on it were aiming for (and perhaps even appreciate it, as I think it's one of the more intelligent and thoughtful attempts to revisit a classic strip in recent 2000AD history).
Quote from: The Amstor Computer on 04 December, 2020, 03:09:33 PM... I think it's one of the more intelligent and thoughtful attempts to revisit a classic strip in recent 2000AD history.
Soitantly. Not only does it play to the Worley & Gallagher droids' exquisitely gory horror-steeped strengths, but it's structured in such a way as to offer successive visual shocks using the same monster week after week, and simultaneously build the magical 'rules' of its world without the need for blocks of exposition. It's just a good well-constructed 2000AD strip that could happily stand on its own as a one-off, or become a template for related stories.
I actually suspect Pat
would like it if he gave it a try: it has a working-class outsider hero, social commentary, good episode structure, cliffhangers, eye-catching visuals, vernacular myths and female-dominated rural magicks.
Quote from: TordelBack on 04 December, 2020, 03:23:18 PM
I actually suspect Pat would like it if he gave it a try: it has a working-class outsider hero, social commentary, good episode structure, cliffhangers, eye-catching visuals, vernacular myths and female-dominated rural magicks.
So you're saying it's actually a double reboot? Hookjaw and ... Finn...?
Quote from: I, Cosh on 04 December, 2020, 03:29:01 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 04 December, 2020, 03:23:18 PM
I actually suspect Pat would like it if he gave it a try: it has a working-class outsider hero, social commentary, good episode structure, cliffhangers, eye-catching visuals, vernacular myths and female-dominated rural magicks.
So you're saying it's actually a double reboot? Hookjaw and ... Finn...?
Quadruple really, since Finn is a reboot of both Third World War and Sláine. It's what Pat would want. I imagine.
It's all about the fins.
I thought the "fin" at the end of the story was a very nice touch.
But yeah, three stories running at the same time with strong elements of folk horror and big freaky monsters... I can understand how that might not be some people's cup o' tea but I can't really complain.
Quote from: M.I.K. on 04 December, 2020, 03:57:16 PM
But yeah, three stories running at the same time with strong elements of folk horror and big freaky monsters... I can understand how that might not be some people's cup o' tea but I can't really complain.
Hadn't even noticed that (except where both Sticklelock and Fiends had a triple-goddess each) - probably because it's very much my bag too.
Still waiting for this issue royal mail is really taking the piss recently
I have no idea how many progs my subcription is behind.
Two, at least.
2209 is officially missing 2210 came today
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 04 December, 2020, 11:21:11 PM
I have no idea how many progs my subcription is behind.
Two, at least.
It's interesting that most of the royal mail I am recieving is coming through ok... but ou et le prog?
Merde...
2210 came on Saturday and 2211 today. Looks like 2209 got lost somewhere in the system then
Mine arrived on Monday with 2211!
Quote from: M.I.K. on 04 December, 2020, 03:57:16 PM
I thought the "fin" at the end of the story was a very nice touch.
Yeah that got a huge LOL from me. I can imagine Tharg accepting the pitch based solely on "It's Hookjaw, some people will get eaten and instead of THE END we'll use FIN".
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 12 December, 2020, 12:02:41 PM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 04 December, 2020, 03:57:16 PM
I thought the "fin" at the end of the story was a very nice touch.
Yeah that got a huge LOL from me. I can imagine Tharg accepting the pitch based solely on "It's Hookjaw, some people will get eaten and instead of THE END we'll use FIN".
/whisper. The movie The Meg, two years old now, ends with the exact same gag.
J'accuse.
Probably how that pitch got accepted too. Can't imagine it was the script.
Fashionably late as ever, but just wanted to note how entirely brilliant I thought Hook Jaw was from start to finish. Genuinely creepy, it even gave me disturbed sleep after the final episode.
M