It's a funny old cover this one. Not sure I love it but I do love having Simpson back.
Really enjoyed the Dredd. Loved his dialogue with O'Reilly, Dredd making a little conversation rather than just being an indifferent hardcase. I always like seeing this side of Dredd. It's only a couple of lines but it makes me love old Joe. Other writers might have just had him grunting acknowledgement or having him snap at her about getting on with the case. Liked the storyline here as well, Balzari is fun and D'Israeli is just incredible these days. What a style! Everything clear, cleanly rendered, beautiful colours and totally distinctive. Hope this runs for a good few weeks.
AQUILA! Nice to have him back. A grim start from the team. Lovely opening landscape from Goddard and Bowland, who work really nicely together. We get a we summary to get us up to date and then things start to get weird. Looking forward to it.
Sindex - I thought this story was pretty weak to be honest. A somewhat cliched haunted house fight scene as a backdrop for the two sharks to discuss the overall situation. Looks great though and I am definitely looking forward to the full length story that's on the way.
Skip Tracer. Would Nolan say 'Nor why you're both here...' - I mean really, would he say 'nor'? I suppose he would, because he did. We get some background and a set up for a bit of detective work. Have to agree with Colin about the mid-'s feel of this strip and particularly the protagonist. Hoping that Blake and his pal whose name I've just forgotten play off each other in an interesting way. As someone else said it's a story that might suit a Regened issue if it was told in a more upbeat and fun style. Tharg is certainly backing this horse as a regular feature.
Feral and Foe - Hmmm. I like that orange guy! I like this world too, I think, and would happily see more of it. I'd also be happy
if the protagonists are actually dead and we got some new main characters. Wrath seems more interesting to me that Bode. I'm surprised at how much the 'tank' idea kept cropping up in this series - it felt like a one-off joke that kept coming back to lesser and lesser effect. Enjoyed the use of 'tossers' this week although I'm not sure why the baddie had a bmx helmet. Nice art though.
Some amazing colourists in the prog at the moment. Elson, Teague, Charles, Bowland and D'Israeli all doing fantastic and distinctively different work. I always like some black and white or the odd fully painted strip in there but really, the prog looks very classy right now in no small part down to these five wizards.
Sorry if there's some negativity in this review - I'm enjoying the prog as always and particularly in these uncertain times it's an absolute boost to the system to have it arriving every week.
