Prog 1473 - Oi, twat.

[chris_askham]

That is, without a doubt, one of my favourite covers in a long long time. Nice one, Dylan Teague.

Although not too keen on David Roach's work on the actual strip.

Starting to get a bit tired of  Clint Langley's Slaine stuff now too. Quite liked it in the past, but he seems to be reusing his background images with alarming regularity in carnival, I'm noticing. A bit like watching a bad Hanna Barbara cartoon.

[SamuelAWilkinson]

I tell you one thing. This prog has been the first I've finished it and then loudly said "Holy fucking shit!" while on a packed bus.

[JIMMY DREDD]

Porco from Slaine was wearing Obelix's trousers and then Asterix got a mention on the letters page. Would you Adam and Eve it?

[Tiplodocus]

Enjoyed the Prog.

Cabals - top thrill - of course nobody is dead until you can see the body and you don't actually see Rupert Bear going under the train (though a bird I once lived with saw someone top themselves in such a fashion).

"Ah, so the villains are clone babies from the German hit parade who are genetically predisposed to murder people and eat their hearts."  How can you not love a story that gives you the opportunity to type a sentence like that.  Some of the art was a bit crap this week though - definitely a couple of "rushed" panels. I thought the same last week, actually.  And there are a couple of panels with loads of empty space that just seem to be composed all wrong (same with a big splash of Judges entering room last week).

Slaine - I'm really not enjoying script or art.  Even in Tharg's little box on the Nerve Centre it sounds crap. "Slaine saves his people from Formorian invaders, does works for the goddess throughout the ages and now plays cluedo at a circus..."

Synnamonanan - I'd suggest (in reply to PVS) that
the "where we are or why about" Synammon is simply:
"Guys, can we do a sexy secret agent strip?"  
"But what's her back story?"
"She's a sexy secret agent"
"Who does she work for?"
"Sexy Secret Agents Undercover Incorporated"
"Why?"
"She's sexy and likes to uncover secrets"
Given that, it's still readable if a little unbelievable at points (her ship is first to intercept and penetrate the ragtag fleet thing?).

Trying to enjoy the Ten Seconders but having trouble with some messy art and clunky pop (ten year old or is Noel trendy again?) references.

The Cover - I might be alone in thinking this but, despite it being of a sexy, secret agent, I didn't like the cover.  I know the sexy secret agent is squeezing into a tight little hole but some of the anatomy looks plain wrong and deformed.

Sort of like she's disconnected. Almost as if we drew a sexy bum and legs and then drew some pendulous breasts and then drew a pretty face and then stuck them together hoping for the best.

Nice letters and I loike the bit in the Input about the small press community and upcoming Megazine article.  Did anybody here get interviewed for it?

[Bolt-01]

I know a few folks were asked, but I've no idea about the final article.

Bolt-01

[LARF]

"Synnamonanan - I'd suggest (in reply to PVS) that
the "where we are or why about" Synammon is simply:
"Guys, can we do a sexy secret agent strip?"
"But what's her back story?"
"She's a sexy secret agent"
"Who does she work for?"
"Sexy Secret Agents Undercover Incorporated"
"Why?"
"She's sexy and likes to uncover secrets"
Given that, it's still readable if a little unbelievable at points (her ship is first to intercept and penetrate the ragtag fleet thing?). "

Tip - you forgot about the - "because we're 2000ad and have Judge Dredd most of our artists are very good at drawing light leather outfits - so let's give her a tight leather outfit, or maybe not leather PVC you know that type of thing. Maybe it could be an alien material, but it must be black and tight, like a bin liner pulled over your arm..."

Love the cover though, one of the best.

[Roger Godpleton]

Cover: Eyecatching Teague Goodness, very detailed but with a strong central image. Very Good Stuff.

Dredd: An okay procedural blossoms into a wonderfully dark tale about clones. I love the artwork here, it really brings out the grim nature of the tale whilst avoiding the grand guignol excesses that could of easily occurred. More Goddard please. This is a really intriuguing tale, and I hope we see more like this in '06. Very Good Stuff.

Slaine: I enjoyed this to begin with, but it's just too crowded now, and Slaine as the rational detective type fails to convince. Langley's had a good run lately, but whilst this wasn't the flame-effectoplypse I was dreading, it seems he's gone back to staticness. Kai's girlfriend is generic, and I don't care about any of these characters. And why is Ukko so underutilized? It makes no sense, considering it's his meal tickets who are being offed. Bad Stuff.

Second Tenors: These "celebrity" jokes are so lame that it hurts. Our heroine's pleas for mercy were the only good bit in this. As with Slaine, I'm having difficulty keeping up with the names of bland characters that I don't care about, and how did they get that giant robot thingy? And why would you try and take on a GOD head on, as opposed to sneaking up on him? Considering most of your other pals die within 10 seconds of meeting them, this makes no sense. The art is nice, but nothing could make this fun for Jim. Bad Stuff.

Synnamon. Love Roach's art here, really drew me in, and kept me interested. Some depth is added to the 'mon universe here, but it's too early to tell if this will be a top-notch tale yet. Promising though. Good Stuff.

Caballistics Inc. My only gripe with this tale has been the sidelining of the fairies to the Life and Times of Ethan Kostabi & Jr. That's only a minor gripe though. The script is enthralling, and the art really brings out the best from the world of Cab. Plus that cliffhanger is great. Great Stuff.

[Oddboy]

I don't quite get the "Sl?ine playing Cluedo" idea... he's not exactly going about like a detective: he's going about hacking things up until there's only one suspect left.

[Thursday]

Wait, that's not how you're supposed to play?

[House of Usher]

Another enjoyable Prog.

SPOILER...?







*So* - Ness pushed that other guy under the train, then?






Is that what happened...?

[The Amstor Computer]

Looks like it. Although you never see Ness in full frame giving poor old Brand the heave-ho, it's pretty strongly implied that he was the one doing it.

BTW - anyone got a guess as to the identity of the person who Vesper Nox thought Magister was going to kill? In the context - begging for his life, trying to persuade Ness to release him, aware of Kostabi's link to Ness - it would seem that it's most likely to be either Ness or Kostabi. Any other hypotheses?

[Trout]

Enjoyed the prog!

Slaine's flawed but readable and Synnamon's good enough so far. I liked the cover.

It was a terrific twist in Dredd, and the Ten Seconders is motoring along well.

Highlight of the prog was the utterly exciting Caballistics Inc.

Cheeeeeeeeers

- Trout

[Funt Solo]

:: "Any other hypotheses?"

Magister still has a bone to pick with Sir Alex Nestor - and possibly any other surviving members of Department Q.  It was killing three of them that got him locked up in the first place.

It's possible that, since (it's implied) he once worked with Emmanuel Konterman, that he's aware of who Ethan Kostabi is.  

Plus, he battled against Ravne (or specifically Sonderkommando Thule) during WWII, so he may quite fancy the idea of nullifying him, as well.

My huge guess is that the Magister-strand will be left dangling - although possibly with him on the loose.