Thrill-Coma 2010

[Funt Solo]

You're a bit hard on Defoe, Funt!

After I wrote that review, I read the first two episodes of Defoe: The Damned (progs 1836-1837) and it does present him in a far more sympathetic light, with a troubled past of regrets at wrongs committed and a tragic end to a happy family life.

[Funt Solo]

Summer of 2013, in order of publication...

Cadet Anderson: One In Ten (progs 1833-1839)
Script: Alan Grant
Art: Carlos Ezquerra
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
A disturbing procedural in which Anderson and her fellow cadets investigate a criminal organization that is using human meat (some harvested from orphaned babies) to satisfy a rich clientele's appetite.  The secondary theme is the pressure that Judging has on psi cadets.  Ultimately it all falls a bit flat with too many difficult to distinguish (character-wise) cadets doing too much talking heads in Psi-Div dormitory hallways. 

Ezquerra's shot of the cadets reflected in the Roll of Honour is impressive:




Sinister Dexter: Witless Protection - In Plain Shite (progs 1836-1840)
Script: Dan Abnett
Art: John Burns
Letters: Ellie De Ville
Sinister enters into a contract with Frontal Loebe so that he can get help smuggling himself closer to Dexter (to warn him about something dangerous to do with constant bugbear Moses Tanenbaum).  There's a running gag about why Sinister spends the entire time breaking the fourth wall (as it's clearly noticed by all the other characters as well).

The morality's all over the place, as usual.  Sinister assassinates a huge long list of targets purely on the say so of his chosen employer with no questions asked just so that he can get something he needs and then balks when asked to execute an attractive young woman.  A heartless assassin ... with a heart of gold?!




Judge Dredd: Wastelands (progs 1837-1841)
Script: John Wagner
Art: Dave Taylor
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
A compelling procedural in which a property developer hires a gang to scare off investors so that he can buy in at a lower price.  Things don't go according to plan and it becomes a race against time as a couple of assassins (Waldo and Mutch, who I think we've met before) try to eliminate loose ends before Dredd can follow the threads back to the puppet master.

We're treated to a Chris Weston cover to kick things off, and Dave Taylor does a great job of presenting the (post Chaos Day) wounded Mega-City One.  The now rare treat of a Wagner Dredd makes me wish he was writing all of them.




Sinister Dexter: Witless Protection - Last Rights (progs 1841-1843)
Script: Dan Abnett
Art: Simon Davis
Letters: Ellie De Ville
Dexter and Weld are living happily ever after as a vanilla suburban couple under witness protection, but the arrival of Marshal Art (cue running joke) foreshadows their collective past rapidly catching up with them.  I do love the work of John Burns (who did the art for the previous two sections of Witless Protection), but Simon Davis's work here is a real treat.

Ultimately, this is just a set up for the next series, so it doesn't do much except reunite Ray and Finny (although it does so with aplomb).  Check out the wonderful framing:




Judge Dredd: Scavengers (progs 1842-1844)
Script: Rob Williams
Art: Carl Critchlow
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Someone has taken over Luna-2 (now on the sea floor of the Black Atlantic) and is threatening to nuke MC-1, so Dredd and a small team go in to sort things out.  There's some great art from Carl "Thrud" Critchlow, and the welcome return of Rear Admiral Sensitive Klegg.

It's a little frustrating that the writer feels the need to break the narrative fourth wall so much.  Can't we just have a story (to immerse ourselves in) without the author popping his head up and waving at us and shouting.  We could find the thematic metaphors without being told explicitly to "Please note the thematic metaphor".  Perhaps this is the other side of the coin that gives us Rear Admiral Sensitive Klegg.

[Colin YNWA]

A compelling procedural in which a property developer hires a gang to scare off investors so that he can buy in at a lower price.

I remember enjoying this but now it sounds like Scooby Doo!

Sinister Dexter is a thrill I'm always happy to extol and this period seemed to help folks getting feedup back on board. It moved to wrap up many of the Multiple Moses storylines. For me the only problem S&D has its as time has gone on we seem to be seeing less and less of it. Given how exceptionally good Dabnett's output has been of late I just wish he was tackling this, his archtypal strip, with a same gusto as he did in the past - though having a regular artist like Steve Yeowell seems to be helping these days?

This period is also blessed with some glorious art. I'm glad you mentioned John Burns' art on the strip as he always seemed like such a perfect fit for the series, though it was nice to see Simon Davis get another swan song on the series.

[Funt Solo]

In 2013, the lead up to prog 1850 brought some impressive long-form thrills:

Defoe: The Damned
(Progs 1836-1847; last seen in 2010)
Script: Pat Mills
Art: Leigh Gallagher
Letters: Ellie De Ville
I've not been much of a fan of Defoe: all that driving around in a car when cars didn't exist reminds me too much of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie. And the previous outing (A Murder of Angels) consisted of a collection of complete and utter bastards (the Dirty Dozenne) peering over battlements and blethering about the author's research findings.

But I really liked this series.  First of all, the art is amazing.  This opening shot of the zombie horde lurching forward for another assault on the Tower is stupendous (even in this cropped and shrunk version):



Additionally, the story has more movement in it.  We go back in time to get some historical perspective on Defoe's state of mind, and then we also have some of the characters leaving the Tower for the first time in a series and a half.  In this flashback shot, we have the terrible foreshadowing and disturbing off-kilter perspective that suggests an awful answer to Defoe's question:



The story is rounded off with some amazing inventions (a zombie-powered paddle boat), some egotistical upper crust superheroes, and a quiet scene in Mrs Miggins Pie Shop.  And if all that's not enough to entertain you, there's always Gallowgrass's astounding couture:




The Ten-Seconders: Godsend
(Progs 1836-1849; last seen in 2008)
Script: Rob Williams
Art: Edmund Bagwell, Ben Willsher (9 & 10)
Letters: Simon Bowland
With the five year gap, the review in the first episode was very welcome.  Everything gets quickly turned up to 11 with a Jupiter-sized spaceship enveloping Earth and casually destroying the Moon (so casually, in fact, that it never gets mentioned - only shown):



Gentleness, such as that displayed by the brutish Damage, is not rewarded and the story focusses more on stripping each character down to expose their weakness.  It's not really clear, as we reach the climax, if humanity has any hope in this universe.

I enjoyed this third series a lot as it provokes thought, has a crazy pace, bizarre characters, a quiet sense of humour and it looks amazing:




Age of the Wolf III: Wolfworld
(Progs 1840-1849; last seen in 2012)
Script: Alec Worley
Art: Jon Davis-Hunt
Colours: Gary Caldwell
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Series #1 was "28 Werewolves Later", Series #2 was Wolfenders and this is Planet of the Werewolves.  That's quite a jump, which visually is quite shocking as the more standard giant wolf beasts of the first two series are replaced with a more anthropomorphic species. 

As it leaps forward in time, a sort of magically accelerated evolution has taken place and we witness a world filled with new beasts and a harnessing of new moon-powered tech (used by the wolf species in a bid to finally exterminate the human race):



Rowan has aged and become a notorious dervish: a grey witch that powers her way across the land and through any obstacle (herself as much a beast as any of the wolves) in her bid to defeat the curse that has taken over the planet:



Ultimately, it all sews itself up in a tricky third act: my assumption is that this ends the story.  If you're doing a re-read you could safely skip the second series as the weakest of the three and you'd be doing just fine. 

All in all, a great time to be reading the prog, and I haven't even reviewed the best bit...

[Fungus]

This was my introduction to Defoe and The Ten-Seconders, amazing Thrills. Thanks for the reminder of that jaw-dropping Defoe spread, it speaks for itself. Yet, my top Thrill at the time was Ten-Seconders. It was wildly over-the-top entertaining and Bagwell's art was glorious. Yum.

[Funt Solo]

The Book of Scars: 30 Years of Slaughter
Progs 1844-1849
Script: Pat Mills
Art: Simon Bisley, Glenn Fabry, Clint Langley, Mick McMahon (with Star Scans by Dave Kendall & Nick Percival)
Letters: Ellie De Ville

A six-part celebration of the 30th anniversary of Slaine and a major event in the comic, accompanied by three covers (or five if you count the variants), two Star Scans and a Megazine article.

The premise is beautifully constructed: Slaine is sent back in time by the Guledig to fight battles he's already won, except that now they know he's coming and are ready for him.  The first episode does a transition from full color art by Langley into the black and white world of The Bride of Crom.  With no Belardinelli to call upon, Langley provides his best impersonation.

After that, the original artists from Sky Chariots (McMahon), Time Killer (Fabry) and The Horned God (Bisley) redraw the (re-imagined) major conflict from those tales before Langley returns to round out the book with his own reinterpretation of Moloch.

It was amazing to see those old tales revisited and to compare the artists original work with their newer renditions (or, in the case of The Bride of Crom, to see Langley do Belardinelli). 

The Bride of Crom:

Belardinelli, 1983	Langley, 2013

Sky Chariots by Mick McMahon:

1984	2013

Time Killer by Glenn Fabry:

1985	2013

The Horned God by Simon Bisley:

1990	2013

Moloch by Clint Langley:

2002	2013

[Magnetica]

I bought the book....but I have to say I prefer the art in the original stories in every case.

[TordelBack]

I bought the book....but I have to say I prefer the art in the original stories in every case.

Yep. The art is a curiosity,  although the McMahon and Bailey pages are so different as to be intriguing in their own right,  but some of the story ideas are actually pretty good: it's just a shame Pat seems to have largely dropped them. For example, what's Slough Gododdin's beef with Slaine if he and Pops kissed and made up in the end?

[TordelBack]

Bailey = Bisley + autocorrect

[Funt Solo]

I assume it was a really interesting task for the artists - perhaps bitter sweet?  I enjoyed it as a celebration: like a best of but with a new narrative.

I think Langley does a good job providing a homage to Belardinelli.  McMahon's style has utterly changed over time.  Glenn Fabry is the first to provide a different layout.  In all those cases, I can't help but prefer the originals, but I love that they've given the new rendering a try out.

In the case of Bisley, the two styles are different but I love both versions: I can't really pick a favorite.  As I was looking over Book 3 of The Horned God, I was finding it a bit slow.  I don't think I've ever re-read it start to finish.

[IndigoPrime]

Bisley's old stuff seemed more fitting and filmic for this particular strip. (His new style could work nicely with Dredd though.) McMahon, though, can do no wrong in my eyes. I wish he'd get more strip work in 2000 AD – his work just has so much energy and dynamism.

[Colin YNWA]

Its interesting to hear the different views on the changing styles of the artists and I disagree with some, agree with others, for example don't get on with Da Biz's new stuff at all (mind I've lost a lot of love for his old stuff, through no fault of his own its so of his time, though in his case its cos he did so much to define the art of the time at least!), but find McMahon's styles over the years equally enthralling.

If nothing else it makes revisiting these stories an interesting experiment into the subjective views we hold on art.

[Magnetica]

McMahon is a strange one for me. At the time, on Judge Dredd I preferred Bolland and Ron Smith, but have now come to love his Dredd, in the era around the mid to late 100s up to Block Mania.

On Slaine I know the majority view seems to be that Sky Chariots is the best thing ever but I prefer stuff like Night of the Shoggy Beast.

But I can’t get on with his “newer” stuff at all...and I include Howler, the 3rd Element and the very recent Dredd in that.

[broodblik]

I never really liked McMahon take on Dredd but I just loved his work on Slaine.

[Funt Solo]

The last of 2013, in order of maximum thrillocity:

Aquila: Where All Roads Lead (1851-1855)
Script: Gordon Rennie
Art: Patrick Goddard
Colours: Gary Caldwell
Letters: Ellie De Ville
A smaller five part chunk of bloody mystical mayhem set (if you didn't guess by the title) in Imperial Rome.  This is fascinating stuff, with my only complaint being that I didn't want it to end so soon.  It transpires that the titular immortal killer is being hired to do a sort of "Seven Heads for Hekate" style quest, neatly setting things up for future installments.




Brass Sun: The Diamond Age (1850-1861)
Script: Ian Edginton
Art: INJ Culbard
Letters: Ellie De Ville
This is quite episodic, in that the narrative brings a particular part of the wheel of worlds to crisis point before our heroes decant to some other world. It's wildly creative, though, and each new world suggests a scope of history and scale of conflict that we're only touching upon.  The art reminds me of Steve Yeowell's work, which of course means it's glorious.




Judge Dredd: Ferals (1858-1861)
Script: Emma Beeby
Art: John Burns
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
This is interestingly barmy: sort of Lord of the Flies meets Being John Malkovich.  A gang of street juves are being stalked by something, and Dredd helps to solve the mystery whilst also acting as a father figure.  There's the usual "we can't send any help, we're stretched thin" stuff we've been getting since Chaos Day that allows the writer to leave Dredd to face various threats without being able to magic in vast support.


Damnation Station [2nd arc] (1850-1861)
Script: Emma Beeby
Art: John Burns
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
The first arc of this series (progs 1677-1692) ran back in 2010 and was episodic in nature, with various artists.  This time around we still get episodic titling, but the narrative thread is stronger and we're treated to a single artist.  The structure in the original is built upon until it seems clear who the threats are and how to defeat them.  Ultimately, we get a satisfying (but incredibly dark) conclusion and some pretty exciting, galaxy-spanning pulp sci-fi.

The Space Invaders metaphor at one point becomes a bit too literal:




Judge Dredd: New Tricks (1850-1854)
Script: Michael Carroll
Art: Paul Davidson
Colours: Chris Blythe
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Michael Carroll continues character and world-building with a jaunt into the Undercity.  It's a bit of a juggling act as Dredd is supervising two new Judges of foreign stock: Caterina Tanechka Pax (former Sov) and Fintan Joyce (formerly of Murphyville) and we get introduced to Judge Kilgore (an Undercity long walker).

It sets itself up as a major threat, with Manta tanks and Sov nukes in the hands of an Undercity army, but soon damp squibs into the climax of literally a weak pun taking a dump.  The art is entertaining and dynamic but not served well by the the large prose sections.  (Hint: it's supposed to be a comic, not a book.)

Comic	Not Comic

Judge Dredd: Prey (1855-1857)
Script: T.C. Eglington
Art: Karl Richardson
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
Mysterious disappearances are occurring near to an enigmatically grumpy yet clearly domineering doctor from off planet. Could there be a link?  Watch as highly trained scientific personnel wander into darkened ruins alone armed only with a flashlight when they know there's a killer on the loose. It's quite good fun to watch, but dumb as a bag of hammers.


Flesh: Badlanders (1850-1861)
Script: Pat Mills
Art: James McKay & Lee Townsend
Letters: Annie Parkhouse
I kinda resent this being in the prog.  It's like I ended up stuck at a bar being ranted at by a simmeringly aggressive mysoginistic drunk conspiracy theorist. Adding well drawn dinosaurs just doesn't help alleviate that enough. I've been trying to figure out whose side we're supposed to be on, and I think it's Vegas Carver, who successfully enacts a plan to have a bunch of children eaten by a Tyrannosaur.  To it's merit it does win the 2013 prize for most unlikely line of dialog:



In the final episode it has the out and out bat-shit crazy balls to claim that it's based on actual factual logic by listing a "science consultant".  Well, I've just got to pop to the loo, Pat ... *sneaks out emergency exit*