Prog 2216 - High Noon!

[Colin YNWA]

Well that rarest of treats these days a Saturday Prog - A SATURDAY PROG. i am blessed!

Its a good un too. Or maybe I'm just in a good mood cos got a Saturday Prog?

Dredd - Well the art continues to frustrate. There are panels that are great. But there are panels that are loose and ill defined. The very last panel for example, nothing looks connected, all the individual elemetna feel separate and in different spaces. Shame as storywise this is actually a good end to an otherwise middling at best story.

Durham Red stops pretending and turns up Assault of Precinct 13 but does it very well. For a well trodden tale this one is done very well.

Proteus Vex has another blinder. The art is superb as Jake Lynch makes things seems awkward, alien yet real. The story develops really well and then throws in some lovely action. Near perfect thrill this one.

Slaine - well its decent isn't it. No more, no less. I know (think?) Uncle Pat didn't originally plan this to be the final Slaine but fair to say it does kinda emphasis the strip has had its day and really doesn't have much to say anymore.

Unlike Hershey and a appreciate that there are folks who will disagree with this but this one shows there is still much to be said with both Hershey and Dirty Frank. Between this a Slaine we see the challenge of ongoing stories, they only really have value if there's something to say and here the one that has kicked up a fuss does, but some folks don't want it anyway. The one that is tired and old and needs to go will be lamented when it does so. As it is I'm very pleased we have Hershey as its good comics.

Letters page too.

The improvement in Dredd and other stories stepping up a notch move this one to the Very Good category.

[broodblik]

Hershey is one of those strip where a group of folk has decided irrespective how good or bad the strip is they will not like it. It is a pity because it is a really interesting revenge story so far.

[Barrington Boots]

Hershey is one of those strip where a group of folk has decided irrespective how good or bad the strip is they will not like it. It is a pity because it is a really interesting revenge story so far.

I don't think that's entirely fair... I dont like this strip, and a big part of that is that the reason for that is that the setup is so rotten that it eclipses any quality in the storytelling. I've tried to get over that, I want to enjoy everything in my prog and I suspect other naysayers feel the same, but as far as I'm concerned it sucks.

I doubt there's many here who have written the strip off completey regardless of content.

[Leigh S]

But is is a revenge story that doesnt make a lick of sense in the context of who is enacting revenge.  I would think that as head of Justice Dept, Hershey woould be better palced to get revenge than relying on becoming a blue energy powered boxing promoter....

Hershey is one of those strip where a group of folk has decided irrespective how good or bad the strip is they will not like it. It is a pity because it is a really interesting revenge story so far.

Th Dredd is utterly inpenetrable, and its not just the art -who, what, where? I have no real clue - I did try to decipher the first part on those scores and just failed to make out who was doing what , for what reason, to whom.  I had a bit of the same sense with Proteus Vex's first episode, but that has mostly moved past that and I'm sort of along for the ride.  comics shouldn't be this hard though.  Id argue a strong reason Niemand has made such a splash is that he has that knack of engagimg efficient set up, characters and pay off.

Slaine continues to dazzle art wise... it made me put my finger on what I find wrong with the worst of Pat's output from Finn onwards; the main characters are now *shudder* superheroes.  Slaine is as much a wish fulfilment fantasy as Superman at this point. I prefer it when he was barely getting out of scrapes with his smelly dwarf sidekick.

Durham Red is much more readable - I'm still not sure I can fix this one in the same universe, let alone timeline as "The Son", but its as I say, readable, which is too a rare quality these days

I just had to run upstairs to grab the prog after racking my brains as to what the fifth strip was, only to find it was Hershey, which started I started this post with... hmmm

[broodblik]

Cover by William Simpson:

[broodblik]

Cover and logo:

[Tjm86]

Saturday Prog too, wayhey!

TBH though I have to go with the general consensus.  I honestly felt like I'd missed something with Dredd.  There are some really interesting ideas in this story but they don't really seem to cohere effectively.

I'd agree on the artwork front too.  It does make me feel like I'm struggling to make sense of what is going on.  One for a re-read methinks.

Slaine on the other hand is an outstanding example of how much the artwork matters.  For the first time in years I find myself actually enjoying Slaine.  Mind you, it does help that Mills has rained in his polemic a bit.  The odd over dig but otherwise it is much more subtle.

I'm reserving judgement on Hershey while I wait to see how it pans out.  I wouldn't quite say I was 'enjoying' it but certainly it is maintaining my interest.

Still early days for the year as a whole but certainly a decent start.

[A.Cow]

Th Dredd is utterly inpenetrable, and its not just the art -who, what, where? I have no real clue - I did try to decipher the first part on those scores and just failed to make out who was doing what , for what reason, to whom.

Agreed.  A name and brief backstory are not proper characterisation, and we had half a dozen of these to wade through.  And, much as I normally like Will Simpson's art, it started to get too hard to tell who was who.

For me, though, the ultimate crime was a writer of Carroll's calibre throwing in trite Hollywood crap dialogue like the "You've read my file" line.

[moly]

Will Simpson art has beat me, first time in 40 plus years that I’ve skipped this weeks judge dread strip, the cover is lovely but think he should stick to doing covers

[IndigoPrime]

Bit of a weird issue/run for me, because I’m just not feeling it compared to the pre-Christmas period. From best to worst, then:

The Durham Red reboot continues to grab me. She feels more rounded in this incarnation. She’s dangerous rather than a cartoon character (Wagner/Grant) or a Barbie vamp in her pants (Abnett). You feel she could snap you in half — and would, given half a chance. But also, the storytelling is zippy and coherent. The art is great. Far and away thing in the Prog for me right now.

Hershey remains divisive, but I like it enough. The set-up is a bit shonky, but the art is great (flipped shoulder pad moments aside) and the script keeps things rattling along nicely.

Proteus Vex sits at the tipping point for me. I enjoyed being baffled by the first run, but am not quite feeling it this time. It warrants a re-read. The art is a bit too ‘normal’ this time around as well, lacking the bonkers spark of the first series. (That’s not to say the art isn’t good — the storytelling is great and it’s technically proficient; it’s just the strip’s character has changed so much now.)

Sláine is, I’m afraid, just there. It feels like a story doing little more than going through the motions. The art is technically impressive but doesn’t really wow me from a stylistic standpoint. I had the same issue with Fabry, which didn’t click with me to nearly the same extent as McMahon or Bisley. (Langley’s lush storytelling was closer to Bisley’s cinematics, despite all the overt photo reference; Davis’s work was more my thing.) But the bigger problem for me here is it’s all just a bit dull. From a writer who wants to be giving comics a shot of rocket fuel, like in the 1970s, and given the fighting and dragons, it’s odd that it’s kind of a chore to read.

Dredd brings up the rear for me this week, on the basis that it’s just so messy. I couldn’t tell everything that was going on by the end, and that’s a combination of muddy art (as much as I’m a long-time fan of Simpson) and messy storytelling. I like the basic premise, but this one feels like a misfire, despite the nice ending.

[JimmyNailz]

Not much to say that hasn't already been said.

Dredd - I couldn't quite remember which mom which was which coming into this, and it took a few rereads of the opening pages to work it out. But I quite enjoyed it overall as a final chapter. I think the story could have been told quicker. Thankfully, the Meg provided a good one-and-done Dredd this month so that kept my Justice Dept thrill-circuits satisfied.

Durham Red is my top thrill. Simple premise done well. The cleaness of the art really pops after the muddier pallette of Dredd.

I'm very much #TeamHershey but understand why people can't get onboard with the premise.

Vex is fun. Love the art. Think I know what's going on generally. If not, I don't mind.

I was starting to think Slaine was being a bit TOO overpowered across these first chapters until that lovely last page added a bit of peril to the mix so looking forward to where it goes.

The letters page suggests a year of returning favourites ahead.

[JimmyNailz]

...it’s just the strip’s character has changed so much now.)

Re: Proteus Vex

I get what you mean. I think I preferred the simplicity of "adventures of enigmatic galactic super spy who happened to really be a little guy controlling a flesh suit" as a premise. Now he's got the memories of the general popping into his head, its adding a layer of complication to the set-up and making the character come across as a bit "moodier". I'm hoping once this series plays out, he gets rid of the memories and it resets to a simpler set-up.

[Barrington Boots]

Prog arrived today, my thoughts:

Dredd - So bad. I feel like plot and art have declined episode on episode. Didn't enjoy it on any level, suprising given the creators involved.

Durham Red - Now I've got the concept I'm enjoying this a lot. Siege setup, badass Red, faceless goons dying in droves and a floating brain lady villain being bossed by a nasty bloke in a suit. Feels cinematic and cool. I think I said on a previous review thread I like Ben Willsher's designs and I keep noticing that in the guns and ships as well as the characters. Top thrill for me this week.

Proteus Vex I agree with IP where he says the strips character has changed from it's first run... it does feel a bit different, not just with the memories but the tone itself seems to have shifted somewhat, but it hasn't lost me and I'm enagaged and enjoying it. I'm happy with Vex himself remaining a bit of an enigma as the supporting cast to the character work.

Slaine - Better this week without all the Durban nonsense which seems to be Slaine's latest thing, moving on from being an awesome archer that he suddenly was revealed to be a couple of series back. Anyway, this is a much better epsiode about a bloke fighting dragons. Although the dialogue is often stilted and bad I am a fan of the way it moves from the archaic, which does give the strip a great and distinctive voice ("Give Slaine vigirous battle!") to the normal ("Aaahh! Get them off me!) at times. Lovely, lovely artwork.

Hershey Also much better this week - the dialogue is good and I prefer old school silly Frank to the stoic one we had in the last series, plus a nice explanation as to why a one-eyed guy could actually win anything in boxing. I still think there's too much about the concept of this strip however that makes it fundamentally not for me but I've nothing new to say here so I'll just leave it here, and unless anything changes I probably won't bother commenting on it going forward.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I wonder if we are in the midst of some pandemic induced barrel scraping? Tooth, ahead of its time as always, is leading the 90s nostalgia.

Dredd - first time in decades I have skipped it. This is the worst Dredd in years. I am going to say it: This is a Helter-Skelter, Book of the Dead level mis-fire.

Hershey - as mentioned above, if I was asked how the ex-Chief Judge of MC1 would exact revenge then my answer would not be by making her a boxing trainer. This idea is bonkers, and not in a Dredd-verse bonkers means good kind of way.

Red - s'okay but it's filler.

Vex - yay! This is objectively great, but (like the odd 90s strip) it suffers for the prog it is in. I didn't enjoy it because I was grumpy with the rest of the prog.

Slaine - sorry, but when something has gone stale and inedible, then you don't serve it up.

Vex - I liked it. But my enjoyment was soured by the

[broodblik]

Overall, the prog was enjoyable with at least one of my favourite series of all time (Slaine) starting to feel more like it should.

Dredd – Lets concentrate here on the story, which at least did some interesting twists at the end with a storyline that has played out quite a few times. I always like Carroll’s darker toned stories and it is great to have a balanced line-up of Dredd stories.

Red – As with the Dredd story it is not a unique premise but again if is well told does it really matter. We still need to find out the why of the story. Willsher delivers a much more detailed and brighter colour story than the Dredd story.

Vex – My favourite thing in the prog. This is just a wonderful outlandish alien sci-fi story. I like the way that we get pieces of Vex’s history and reveals about whom he is.

Slaine – The action continues from the previous prog but now story wise we are getting somewhere. We now know that another Lord Weird is behind it all.

Hershey – It start with some feedback on how Frank ended up with Hershey. It is almost like magic trick look at the left hand while the right hand is doing the sleight of hands.  While we are looking at Frank Hershey is scheming in the background. Yes, I know this series are getting a lot of flak, but I am enjoying it for what it is. I also prefer characters that are dead to stay dead, the returnee’s revival or return must be done in such away that it is believable and not another “shower scene” return.

Cover – I actually liked the cover and here Will’s art worked for me not the messy stuff in the story itself.

PS - The letter page mentioned that we will get a Brink this year.