Prog 937 - Ok, so it turns out my reading time far outweighs my posting time, especially against a tight schedule. That and some lengthy comments timing out mean this might well skip something I hoped to mention, but from what I remember wanting to talk about, at random and skipping across 93-95:
- The all new strips from the summer offensive were mostly misses, and herald a weak strain of concept-without-plot strips, with Mark Millar seeming particularly prone to this. Slaughterbowl was probably the most enjoyable but hardly revolutionary fitting into a pretty well established sports formula, but got good use of it's characters and had a satisfying finish - the revamped Mean Arena showed executed this formula on moment interest without an end in mind leaving itself wholly redundant, and Babe Race 2000 tried it without real characters to get to something I felt bad about giving time to reading.
Really & Truly seems to have existed for the amusement of it's creators without offering much else to recommend it, I found Rian Hughes' artwork cutesily lightweight, and find much to enjoy in it until his second run on Robo Hunter - his lettering on the first just compounded things for the worst.
Maniac 5 is another high concept, low content creation that seems happily to have drifted off from possible return. It's funny, Soul Gun Warrior/Assassin is similar in a way but seems to better inhabit it's flimsy nature - is it Shaky Kane? Is it because it owns it's excesses and points them to ridicule rather than trying to be adolescently 'dark'? What I will say for Maniac 5 is it feels like the idea could have been developed into something worthwhile, but wasn't given enough thought before it went into production - a nice idea, but not developed into a proper story. It's undemending and underwritten action is still preferable to the turgid litany of callsigns, military technobabble and macho posturing that Rogue Trooper has devolved into. I thought it was bad when there was no-one for Friday to talk to, turns out he's as interesting conversationally as a scrolling stock market readout.
Also in the bad books, Dinosty was just awful. All of Pat Mills' worst bits thrown together and reheated with artwork that crowded each frame too tightly, made all the shadows black and popped white highlights on anything lighter than dark grey. The 'Pray it's not True!' tag was baffling, but it seems Tharg saw sense because that was one hell of an abrupt ending.
Back to '93, I did fairly enjoy Big Dave. But should it have been in 2000 AD? It's interesting (ironic even) that simultaneously to this was debate about 2000 AD being placed on higher shelves at newsagents, and Tharg firmly stating it shouldn't be, incidentally pegging the target readership as 13-17. Could having a cartoon of Judge Mellie on the Input page a couple of weeks beforehand be considered fair warning?
So having complained a fair bit (I'll be praising some favoured thrills soon! Promise!) about mindlessly underwritten fare, I came firmly to the conclusion that the purple prose and tortured metaphysics of Tyranny Rex and Revere book 3 were definitely not for me. It's a shame, I've liked some of John Smith's work, but not reliably. UNLIKE The Journal of Luke Kirby, which has had another fantastic run. Luke is so consistently enjoyable, well paced, and with an unusual suffusing of melancholy, it's reaching all-time status for me. It makes me seriously want to hunt out whatever specials and annuals Kirby appeared in, and I haven't bothered considering them at all since around 1981. I love it.
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(continuing, now at Prog 949) I also thought Mambo started well, an interesting mystery hook, a developed concept,and interesting lead - everything a new thrill should have. (Having read the second run I hope it wasn't the concluding part, and that when it returns the annoying sidekick can be dropped). Strontium Dogs is pootling along without much conviction - it's nice enough but sorely misses Johnny Alpha, and really needs to find it's own identity again, which I don't think the Gronk can sufficiently anchor. Rogue Trooper goes from bad to worse, and dragging the original leads in and making them subordinate to the imitation doesn't help. It just needs to be left alone now. On the other hand, Armoured Gideon has had two much improved outings - the tongue in cheek roping in of lesser stars of the distant past and indulging in a bit of metatextual artwork was a lot of fun, and the body swap story that followed was interestingly different and had a punchy pace. While I found the original sequel flabby and dull, I'd be happy to read more like these two.
Also in surprise improvements, The Clown II was a lot more enjoyable than the first - I really wasn't looking forward to it, but was very pleasantly surprised. I also liked Canon Fodder, pretty much in every way possible. Timehouse was inoffensive, and the very clean art style made for a nice contrast with other offerings. Mother Earth was forgettably dreary, ABC Warriors was nicely realised but character skits in service of a recycled getting-the-gang-back-together shows it bereft of real ideas.
Button Man II surpassed the original and was properly brilliant. Same high standard for artwork, but the more personal plot had a bit more pull for me. I can't wait for more of this one. Skizz III was a gradual let down - it took me nearly to the end of the run to realise it wasn't going anywhere, at which point the earlier bits seemed like a bit of a waste, but they were fairly good as they came and while I was still hopeful. Dredd is still hit and miss, some bits being hived off into the Megazine mean that, especially around Wastelands, it feels like you're missing fairly essential plot (why is he being sent to Titan? What's happening with McGruder?), and Wastelands itself felt non-commital lest readers don't follow both. And if you're not reading both, it's a shame that this essential character is feeling more distant. The run of Red Razors didn't hit the way it clearly should have without reading the previous lot in the Meg either, it looked like if you did it'd have been of a perfectly good standard.
The Corps is a no from me, but Finn has been fine, if not in the first rank. Slaine continues to be excellent. The Boudica storyline looked fantastic, and the change of setting gave a hint of variety. I'm glad it's back again now, and looking forward to more. New Harlem Heroes was abysmal (the first run was not much, but a lot more than this), and I'm not convinced there's any more to the Grudge Father's 12 progs than there was to Tracer's 2. It's not enough. At least Trash hasn't come back. How to end on a positive?
You know, I thought that there was supposed to be a much more precipitous decline a lot earlier (prog 700 and something?) than this, and I haven't really felt it. But then, I've enjoyed being reaquainted with questionable mid 90s design layouts and mores, and in some ways there's been an overall improvement - no more IGroid wasting space for one thing - but then I'm reminded of the Mix column, so impenetrably far out of place it's unreal. WHY? Damn, this was supposed to be a positive finish. And another thing, the Next Prog box should be on the Input page where it can be read WITHOUT giving away developments only a few pages away..
Uh...maybe the positive is that it still seems reasonable to expect each Prog to live up to the high standards set in the past. I might have been wearied by some thrills, but there's always something worthwhile, often a majority. I haven't come close to throwing in the towel, or been tempted to. I even look forward to re-reading bits! And against all odds I've developed a curiosity to watch the Stallone film, if only to get maximum value from future Inputs. Will Tharg recant?
