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Messages - norton canes

#631
Music / Re: Forktail (Si Davis and Boo Cook)
25 June, 2019, 09:17:05 AM
A second album 'We Are The Ghosts' released today

#632
Prog / Re: Prog 2136 - Last Chance To Shine!
20 June, 2019, 09:49:28 AM
About as perfect as a prog gets. 'The Samaritan' nails exactly why I read Dredd. Scarlet Traces has blossomed into something glorious. Absalom is ab-solutely sublime, as ever. And I know I was a bit harsh on Thistlebone last week; well, I reckon this instalment would've made a much better introduction, since it hints at the evil at work rather than going straight in with a big reveal.

All this and a double whammy of good news: a full series of Full Tilt Boogie, and a new series from Abnett and Elson, doubtlessly to keep them ticking over until the next chapter of Kingdom. 
#633
Prog / Re: Prog 2135 - Beware the woods...
13 June, 2019, 11:08:25 AM
A muddled and unsatisfying Dredd that really only looked like it was trying to piggyback on the impact of Machine Law. Scarlet Traces layering on more intrigue - it's been the unexpected hit of recent weeks for me. A bit of a damp squid of an ending for Kingmaker, despite the final-page twist.

And Thistlebone...

Looks gorgeous. You can't fault the sort of work that the Davis droid has put in here. But - and maybe the excitement over its arrival has unrealistically raised my expectations - I thought story-wise it was a little underwhelming, a touch straightforward. Too much revealed, for an opening installment. I don't always like making comparisons but I've just finished reading Cradlegrave for the first time and there, the tension is ratcheted up for several weeks until the first reveal of anything non-natural. Got a feeling that Thistlebone needed a bit of that sort of suspense. Still, looking forward to seeing how it goes.

Finally... bring on Absalom
#634
General / Re: 2000 AD ART STARS - STRONTIUM DOG
13 June, 2019, 10:04:05 AM
Congrats Chris, an atmospheric and very technically accomplished piece of artwork.


Since my entry never did even make it to the Instagram page, I'll post it here for posterity...

#635
Prog / Re: Prog 2134 - Bow Before Quilli!
06 June, 2019, 11:52:59 AM
All good in the prog this week. I thought the Dredd actually worked so well as a one-shot action story that the subtext was kind of overwhelmed. What to make of that penultimate line, though? There was a broadcast - at a frequency that couldn't he heard...

Scarlet Traces great, though I presume that in this alternate universe the Pebble Mill Studios weren't demolished in 2005. Kingmaker also good - nice to see an alien villain whose first concern is to get their eye make-up sorted. Max Normal wrapped well, how fabulous were those Dredd shuggy panels?!

Finally, a sequel we didn't even know we needed. Is Quilli set to be the new Abelard Snazz? Things have certainly escalated since the first installment.

#636
Just a quick thing to add, Frank - comics site downthetubes.net today published a piece on celebrities that have inspired the look of some 2000 AD characters, mentioning Debbie Harry and even Marianne Faithful as possible models for Judge Anderson. I've added a comment linking back to your recent post mentioning Deidre Vine, if that's OK.
#637
Prog / Re: Prog 2133 - School of Hard Knocks
31 May, 2019, 04:29:54 PM
One thing I did mean to mention was the frequent use of digital blurring by Leigh Gallagher in Kingmaker. I know he's trying to convey motion or depth of field but I just want to see the quality of the line work, damn it! 
#638
Prog / Re: Prog 2133 - School of Hard Knocks
30 May, 2019, 10:03:39 AM
Interesting that Tharg claims the Regened prog was met with 'universal' acclaim (quoting from memory, I don't have the prog in front of me) - it was very much a mixed reaction in the prog 2130 thread here.
#639
Prog / Re: Prog 2133 - School of Hard Knocks
30 May, 2019, 10:01:38 AM
Interesting cover. Great work by Neil Roberts but I wonder why they didn't give the whole thing to Siku? He should at least share the credit! The story itself has been a jewel of a two-parter. I'm a sucker for 'passage of time' type stories, this one pushed all the right buttons and was magnificently enhanced by Siku's spectacular art.

Very much 'as you were' with the remaining stories - Max Normal continues to be a blast (the mop and bucket stuff was hilarious), while the Edgington droid further enhances his claim to be the new Abnett by delivering on two fronts. The 3riller left me a bit cold, I'm afraid. Just realised it was by James 'Skip Tracer' Peaty, and like his Cube-based strip it suffered from a lack of memorable characterization.
#640
Prog / Re: Prog 2132 - Bringer of War
23 May, 2019, 10:02:04 AM
Quote from: Magnetica on 20 May, 2019, 11:20:45 PM
Dredd was interesting for two things. I never expected to see Siku back in the Prog. He art style has changed significantly.

I can see what he is trying to do on page 4 but it doesn't really work. Ok have Dredd's head/ helmet as a back drop and divide up the panels but how come the panels don't line up? The top of the helmet is especially jarring. The close up on the top two panels also doesn't work nor does the way the top panel of page 4 lines up with the top panel of page 5. Not that I think that was intentional

I think what's happening is, the top two panels close in on Dredd, then panels 3 and 6 are from the same frame (i.e. they're aligned) with 4 and 5 atop them, both slightly askew.

Quote from: Frank on 22 May, 2019, 05:17:51 PM
Siku's horizontal panels were probably less a philosophical conceit... and more a concession to comics being read on handheld devices

Interesting. Is that a thing with comics these days? Are layouts increasingly becoming a series of horizontal layers? Is it eventually leading to 'responsive' layouts where panels are shuffled around according to screen ratios? 


#641
General / Re: What happened to Myra Hancock?
21 May, 2019, 09:28:32 AM
Nice one, thanks!
#642
Prog / Re: Prog 2131 - The Ape of Good Hope
17 May, 2019, 09:52:24 AM
A pretty good prog, Dredd being the standout - a lovely comic conceit expertly exploited. Anyone else think the holo-Judge on the first page look a bit early-prog old-school? Scarlet Traces seems a very different beast to the previous chapter, which I seem to recall was dominated by nondescript spindly bald men of various planetary origins. Much prefer this iteration. Max Normal has been a delight. It would be even more fantastic if the Adams droid had reigned in the rhyming language a bit. The 3riller looked good but I have to say the plot seemed a bit cliched, still, two episodes to go, so anything could happen. Kingmaker remains a great read and fortunately the presence of a character from episodes of a strip I hadn't read didn't make it any less enjoyable.

<Concludes with amusing pun>
#643
Prog / Re: Prog 2130 - 2000ad Regened
10 May, 2019, 10:49:28 AM
First of all, that cover is just the business. Neil Googe showing there's more to him than the high-jinks of Survival Geeks. Love Rogue's little straight-line frown. Not sure about the 'classic' style logo though - why have they removed all the bevels, edges and shadow-lines? It looks like it's not finished.

The Dredd story was great - I'm not a huge fan of the humorous single-episode Dredds that are slotted in now and again but this one takes a solid idea and runs with it really well. The prog's other big positive is Full Tilt Boogie, which I thought was excellent, it had a real sense of continental strangeness about it, even shades of Brandon Graham's 'Prophet'. The tentacled spacecraft, the explosive-eating cat, Grandma in her spacesuit and coat, the Borrower Bears, all fantastic touches, and the script was intriguingly oblique without being too opaque. It didn't feel in any way like an exclusively 'young readers' strip. Definitely up for more of this.

The Future Shock was pretty nice. Liked the way it built gradually to its twist rather than relying on a final 'shock reveal' panel.

Elsewhere, the strips were less impressive. The Anderson story suffered, I thought, from comparisons with the inspired lunacy of the recent D&D-themed Survival Geeks story. Also the denouement was too on the nose, though, perhaps it would resound with younger readers, who knows? Not me, I'm the wrong side of fifty. Finder & Keeper had none of the engaging inventiveness of Full Tilt Boogie and came across as the story most squarely aimed at younger readers. The Rogue strip was equally ponderous - to be honest, an all-out war story seemed out of place in a comic aimed at today's kids.


As to the question of whether this should have been a regular prog I'm afraid I'm very much in the 'no thanks' camp, though if it turns out Full Tilt Boogie is commissioned for a full series then it hasn't been a wasted experiment. I don't quite get what kids who did enjoy the strips are supposed to do next, except wait a few months for the possibility of the launch of a regular Regened.
#644
Prog / Re: Prog 2129 - Once Upon A Crime...
08 May, 2019, 11:28:39 AM
Quote from: norton canes on 02 May, 2019, 10:31:14 AM
Cover: Looks like a 90's throwback... in a good way! The colouring is a bit muddy but I like that the white glare prides a crisp contrast

Well it sure looks muddy now because I spilled coffee all over it this morning.
#645
Prog / Re: Prog 2129 - Once Upon A Crime...
02 May, 2019, 10:31:14 AM
Cover: Looks like a 90's throwback... in a good way! The colouring is a bit muddy but I like that the white glare prides a crisp contrast.

Dredd: I've really enjoyed Michael Carroll's story. It's been great that though Dredd is rarely there in person he feels like a constant presence and remains germane to the plot. We're clearly destined to hear more from The Kindred and The Parliament. Agree that keeping Dredd alive if you know where he is is a better option than wasting him.

Scarlet Traces: See, this is the problem I have with ST - it's a decently exciting episode but the drama and tension is undermined by the fact that the tone is all over the place. One minute we've got a horrifically burned soldier performing a last heroic deed; the next, the characters are using language like 'Spit-spot!' to hurry each other along. OK, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with mixing the approach but for me, this is too broad.

Max: This has been brilliant, but with a couple of caveats... as mentioned upthread, the anachronistic stylings of the hipsters in future MC-1 is a bit annoying, as is the continual use of rhymes in their hip talk - I know it's what Maxie baby does, but especially in the full-page panel it gets too much!

Future Shock: Promising work from a new brace of script and art droids

Kingmaker: Must admit I haven't read this yet as I was too tired alst night after watching the World Shuggy Championships too late, but I inadvertently skipped to the last page and saw... Donald Sutherland's character from Invasion Of The Body Snatchers..? Oh, it's Kurt Vonnegut. Haven't read the chapters of Brass in which he appears.