The Prog wobbles a little on its road to recovery. Dredd however holds its ground, while showing its hand and its a great reveal at the end. This story has been a beaut and more and more I'm convinced I know who will be offed and I for one will miss her (or am I being led down that path deliberately?)
Survival Geeks continues to be this series at its best, which while that's not saying much is at least saying something.
Both Slaine and Brink are a little info dump in. Pat Mills uses Slaine in the same way he has before and uses a common trick in the strip of having his preaching delievered while trying to entertain us with some lovely visuals of a big fight. Its getting quite tired and dull BUT at least it has an actual turn of events at the end. Abnett does his info dumping with some nice dialogue, cute character interaction and back and forth. Its therefore much, much much more entertaining and allows Culbard to do some lovely character work both in the foreground and the background. Its also nice they way they weave in some set up, well I assume. Wonderfully 'dull' stuff.
Tainted try to give us some star turns, but I'm no more impressed alas.
So with the down turn in Slaine the Prog takes dip, but its slight and nothing to worry about.
Gah! The first time in ages I've had the opportunity and beaten to the punch by a Colin.
Cover: Langley. Dark Judges. Interesting that his Mortis seems to be based on the Tales of Deadworld version.
Dredd: Arf!
Geeks: Larf!
Slaine: Dwarf?
Brink: Not arf!
Tainted: Barf!
Dredd and Brink growing on me, everything else alright.
(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r182/Caliban_photos/B6092183-29DC-4DA7-9A23-10E8DF7A9636_zpsxbap0oaw.jpg)
Cover posted at the Southern Contingent invasion of free comic book day at Orbital comics. Well the pub actually.
Is it just me that finds it impossible to tell what's going on in the artwork on Slaine?
Just read Dredd.
Oh.
My.
Goodness.
[spoiler]Well I knew someone had Dredd, just didn't expect it to be Brit Cit.[/spoiler]
The Prog's a bit of a slog after Dredd and the very entertaining Geeks.
Slaine is a whole lot of waffle, Brink is even wafflier with Tainted dull as heck for such a subject.
Terrific cover, although Death's visor hits my if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it button.
Dredd provoked a sigh of relief/delight/disappointment - I'm not sure which, probably all three. Like Colin, I'm starting to worry about [spoiler]Hershey[/spoiler]...
New thrll Brnk continues to impress. How many sci-fi police procedurals would devote two and a half pages to a discussion of organic food? Not sure how this will go down with other readers but I thought it was a lot of fun. I was pleased to note that the printing errors of the last two episodes (where the tails of the little info-boxes were all but invisible)have been fixed.
(http://i66.tinypic.com/2008mx3.jpg)
Still enjoying Survival Geeks and Tainted - loved Kendall's designs for the not-quite-fully-corrupted Dark Judges.
Meanwhile Slaine and Gort punch each other for six pages while the baddies say Obey as a dead body obeys over and over again. Eventually Gort decides to stop punching. Would have been over a lot quicker if Slaine had remembered to say Klaatu Barada Nikto (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NZXmq-E2tM). Lovely art though.
Best line of the week: "I have never knowingly eaten a radish."
Quote from: Echidna on 07 May, 2016, 05:01:10 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 07 May, 2016, 11:37:31 AM
I'm convinced I know who will be offed and I for one will miss [spoiler]her[/spoiler] (or am I being led down that path deliberately?)
Like Colin, I'm starting to worry about [spoiler]Hershey[/spoiler] ... Best line of the week: "I have never knowingly eaten a radish."
Haha! I'm not sure Mike Carroll has ever said he was going to kill a character. He warned that people were going to hate him when they read what he'd done; it now seems clear he meant the Dredd [spoiler]fakeout[/spoiler] (
24 min 15s, here (http://2000adthrillcast.podomatic.com/entry/2016-05-03T21_00_00-07_00)).
COMMANDO FORCES (https://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=43020.0)' excited thread title and John Wagner's unequivocal declaration that he's going to kill off a major character seem to have become entangled in our tiny minds like the limbs of guests at David Furnish's parties.
Judging by what PJ Holden says here (http://2000adthrillcast.podomatic.com/entry/2016-05-03T21_00_00-07_00) (
24min 50s), what Carroll has planned for [spoiler]Hershey[/spoiler] and the story is more clever and interesting than just killing [spoiler]her[/spoiler]. Alternative cover line for this week's prog -
GWAR: what is it good for? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p20PijYVgG4)
Love that cover! Just moved so going to miss this one from my sub, so waiting until Wednesday for once!
Quote from: Butch on 07 May, 2016, 06:12:27 PM
Quote from: Echidna on 07 May, 2016, 05:01:10 PM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 07 May, 2016, 11:37:31 AM
I'm convinced I know who will be offed and I for one will miss [spoiler]her[/spoiler] (or am I being led down that path deliberately?)
Like Colin, I'm starting to worry about [spoiler]Hershey[/spoiler] ... Best line of the week: "I have never knowingly eaten a radish."
Haha! I'm not sure Mike Carroll has ever said he was going to kill a character. He warned that people were going to hate him when they read what he'd done; it now seems clear he meant the Dredd [spoiler]fakeout[/spoiler] (24 min 15s, here (http://2000adthrillcast.podomatic.com/entry/2016-05-03T21_00_00-07_00)).
COMMANDO FORCES (https://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=43020.0)' excited thread title and John Wagner's unequivocal declaration that he's going to kill off a major character seem to have become entangled in our tiny minds like the limbs of guests at David Furnish's parties.
He better bloomin' well kill someone AND someone to make us all miserable or there's going to be hell to pay. I mean after all this fuss if some muthafo don't die I'm going to be mad... and for reasons other than being mad cos some muthafo died.
I'M DEMAND DEATH BASED MISERY!
I finally get to read both this weeks and last weeks Prog tonight. Not sure if I will order the paper-copies yet though.
Tainted is the best thing in the Prog and has been for some time. Dredd's a bit meh until we move onto the bigger plot. And Slaine manages the pardoxical combination of being all action, but terribly dull.
No prog here in cal had sector , Ayrshire...GAIN !!!
whoops spellcheck is bad today. No prog here in Cal-Hab sector Ayrshire , AGAIN !!!!
Ditto here in South Wales ..... Razzlefrazzingdagnabbit! (take that spell check!)
Postie got through in N London and that cover packs a real punch, it's not really my taste in art but it works very well.
Dredd, have to say, that took me by surprise, what on earth are the Brits up to!? Looking forward to finding out where this is all going. Given the situation though, it will be a while before we can have a few of the more humorous one-shot Dredds that will re-connect us with MC1 and the cits and would be a welcome change from the doom and gloom.
It's always a pleasure to see Simon Davis in the prog but his amazing work is rather wasted on Slaine in my opinion. It certainly suits a Slaine type story but what is the story being told here..? A fight and some shouting this week. I'm afraid I totally lost interest in this strip some time ago.
Would be great to see SD do, say, the next outing of 'The Order'.
Tainted is well done and holds my attention, although I wish the dark judges would have a break (a long break) from the prog after this.
Brink looks like an interesting tale. I can't seem to remember what happened the previous week in this one though, so I'm saving them all up to read in one go. This will be the first time I've ever done this with the prog...must be my age...sure it says more about me and my (failing) memory than the strip.
Nothing stellar, but enough in the prog to keep me interested
Prog finally turns up. Finish Dredd ..... Sound of thudding jaw ... AGAIN! Sight of feet and it looked like it was coming. Next page....
Probably the most infuriating thing about this is it's likely to be over way too soon. Carroll is learning how to weave a more complex and interesting story. If he can get the pacing more even then he is going to be a cracking writer when the lamentably inevitable happens. (Come on, Mr Wagner is getting on a bit).
Now on to the rest of the prog.
Did no-one else receive the special subscriber's variant cover showing the planet being literally torn apart by the Dark Judges?
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/923/moSqXj.jpg)
Oh, the humanity! :D
[spoiler]Denise has already promised to sort me out with a copy the regular subs cover, naturally.[/spoiler]
Quote from: demos99 on 10 May, 2016, 12:11:18 PM
Did no-one else receive the special subscriber's variant cover showing the planet being literally torn apart by the Dark Judges?
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/923/moSqXj.jpg)
Oh, the humanity! :D
[spoiler]Denise has already promised to sort me out with a copy the regular subs cover, naturally.[/spoiler]
Same tear, but on back page. Decided to let it slip... this time...
Great prog though, with Dredd and Deadworld scoring top thrills for me.
Quote from: Woolly on 10 May, 2016, 12:23:37 PM
Same tear, but on back page. Decided to let it slip...
Likewise... :-/
Cheers
Jim
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 10 May, 2016, 12:55:09 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 10 May, 2016, 12:23:37 PM
Same tear, but on back page. Decided to let it slip...
Likewise... :-/
Hmm. Mine was ripped to buggery but I assumed I was the unlucky one.
Love that cover!
A rare misfire for Droid Life - the punchline doesn't quite work, but it's no biggie, I still love these little metal fellas.
My question about Dredd: [spoiler]WTF's going on with his arms? :o[/spoiler]. Enjoying this story, and Joyce Jr makes a great sidekick for Dredd. I'm sure Texas are up to something too, that chief judge is a mite too freindly, but not sure what.
Tainted is quite superb, grim but beautiful, best thing in the prog since it's predecessor, Dreams of Deadworld.
The Brink isn't really doing much for me yet, the set-up seems a bit cliched, and I find those little explanatory panels annoying in the same way that Marvel have started labelling all the heroes and villains in group shots. Does nobody have an attention span any more?
Slaine looks fab as you'd expect from Mr Davies but this fight feels like it's been going on for ever - Get on with it Pat, one fight with added commentary does not make a whole series, especially if it's a fight that kicked off in the last instalment!
I didn't think Survival Geeks would have much staying power when it started, but I find I'm enjoying it far more than I expected, there's always at least one good chuckle per episode. Great art too.
Quote from: The Cosh on 10 May, 2016, 01:13:28 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 10 May, 2016, 12:55:09 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 10 May, 2016, 12:23:37 PM
Same tear, but on back page. Decided to let it slip...
Likewise... :-/
Hmm. Mine was ripped to buggery but I assumed I was the unlucky one.
Mine as well. The plot thickens.
Yeah somethings gone amiss as mine had a small (2cm by 1/2cm) crinkled cut on the back cover. Just figured mine had been top of a pile and caught whatever bound them together. Seems it might be something more?
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 10 May, 2016, 03:35:56 PM
Yeah somethings gone amiss as mine had a small (2cm by 1/2cm) crinkled cut on the back cover. Just figured mine had been top of a pile and caught whatever bound them together. Seems it might be something more?
A small price to pay for early Thrill privileges, and easily replaced by the D-Nise droid if required. No biggie :)
Mine's torn at the top - the address sheet's fine though, so it definitely happened before it was posted. Some kind of incident at the printers, maybe?
Well I always said paying to get a prog earl's a rip off. Z ;)
Just finished Dredd and i'll join the chorus of cheers for this splendid run, both masters of the mdeium are killing it right now! Bloody fantastic stuff.
Cover not my thing but certainly eye-catching.
Dredd is fantastic, Carroll's politicking threads come together in a believable way. Does this mean Brit-Cit is behind the Grindstone Cowboys too? Holy hell, could Thorn actually be [spoiler]the Brit-Cit Brute[/spoiler]?
Survival Geeks is very enjoyable, a neighbour kid had that Buck Rogers Thunderfighter, the Corgi one with the pop-up wings - man, I loved that thing. Loved that nitpicking letter too, proper order.
Brink was intriguing, not sure why DVT would be more of an issue on shuttle than a space station, mind. Lovely dialogue, designs and character work. Feels almost like a near-future Halo Jones.
Tainted slumped a bit this week as the despair was replaced by plot - but I did like the designs for the proto-Dark Judges. The Judge Child parallel was inspired.
Slaine, for all that it looks lovely, was nonsense this week. Hell of a volte face, given what we know of Gort.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 10 May, 2016, 01:35:23 PM
My question about Dredd: [spoiler]WTF's going on with his arms? :o[/spoiler]. Enjoying this story, and Joyce Jr makes a great sidekick for Dredd. I'm sure Texas are up to something too, that chief judge is a mite too friendly, but not sure what.
Some sort of power grab definitely... maybe the next mega-epic will be a war between MC-1 and Texas City. I'm thinking the Brit-Cit Judges who are holding Dredd are a rogue element within Brit-Cit Justice Department who think Mega-City One's era is over and it's a better idea to ally with Texas City.
BTW is it just me who thinks the robot driver of the bus that nearly ran over Joyce looks like Blakey from On The Buses?
Quote from: Verence on 11 May, 2016, 11:26:50 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 10 May, 2016, 01:35:23 PM
My question about Dredd: WTF's going on with his arms?
Some sort of power grab
That
would explain his arms, but he must have been overdoing the power grabs to get them in such a state.
Mike Carroll was nice enough to mention how close we were * with our guesses concerning what happened to Dredd, let's push our Cassandra credentials and speculate that whatever cure for being dead the Brits are giving Dredd also leaves Rebellion with a little wriggle room on the question of his aging.
Talking of age, Carroll gives Mayhew and Corden some dialogue explaining that although Hershey's fifty four she's as fit as a thirty year old, but I'm sure that was just small talk and won't turn out to be an important plot point in later episodes. [spoiler]
HERSHEY'S GOING TO HAVE A BIG ACTION SCENE![/spoiler]
Round of applause for the name Pamelina
(Oswin); a name that's half Wagner, half Roald Dahl. The way the TC CJ towers over Hershey makes me wonder if Dredd's about to get its first transgender villain - going toe to toe with Pamelina will be Hershey's greatest catfight since Joan Chen tried her luck.
What's with the colour(s) of her/his hair? I conducted my own extensive research (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Flags_with_three_horizontal_stripes_of_red,_white_and_yellow_color_combination), but I've no more clue about that than whether McCluskey's plastic paddies are Brits or Texans. Interesting to see what Brit-Cit stand to gain from a plan to unite the 3 US megacities and for helping by keeping Dredd in limbo.
Do you think Dredd's Brett Ewins VR helmet means we'll get a holodeck episode of
Next Generation, where Dredd figures out what's going on? Maybe Dredd's in The World (http://comicvine.gamespot.com/judge-dredd-2-judge-dredd-2/4000-113733/) from DC Dredd, or an old West fantasy where he's a homesteader married to Hershey and teaching little Rico and Kraken how to herd steer.
*
Well, me and Dandontdare, anyway
Quote from: CalHab on 07 May, 2016, 03:55:10 PM
Is it just me that finds it impossible to tell what's going on in the artwork on Slaine?
No I haven't got a clue either. I might be less bothered if the script wasn't so turgid. How many times has the line "Obey like a dead body obeys" been used now. Frankly I'm enjoying this like a dead body would...
Dredd was excellent. I like Joyce a lot, and though I was 99% sure Joe was still in the land of the living I'm glad they haven't drawn it out too long. Is Texas City the villain of the piece, is it Brit-Cit? Are they working together? Pamelina is so obviously up to no good that I'm hoping its a feint and TC are actually the good guys.
Tainted is really growing on me (like some kind of fungus obviously) and I liked the Judge Child nod as well. Guess since they've namechecked all the Dark Judges Fairfax is either going to die, become one of the lesser Dark Judges or somehow escape? (Not sure how that can work though)
Brink is just annoying. Too much exposition. I normally really like Abnett's stuff as well and the artwork is clear and nice, I just can't connect with it.
Survival Geeks was ok, I've found it less annoying of late which is something I guess!
Is it strange I like Judge Fairfax and his Lawmaster?
I must admit it took me quite a while to warm to Mike Carroll's Dredd - I think I was blown away by Al Ewing's magnificence on the strip and very disappointed when he left; and thought at the time that other non-Wagner writers had a lot to live up to.
But I'm on board now. Mike does a fine Dredd; and Joyce is a great supporting character. (Once again thanks, Mike, for doing as I suggested years ago and rescuing the Emerald Isle from Garth Ennis's silliness. Not saying it was my suggestion that spurred him to do it, or anything.) Really looking forward to seeing how this develops.
Tainted is great; especially now we can see the four big boys in mid-transformation. I've said it before, but as far as Dark Judge back stories go, I'd take this over Young Death any day.
I haven't really got into the Abnett strip, and Survival Geeks is a fun, throwaway strip.
Which brings me to Sláine. Sorry, but I just think it's time he hung up his hero-harness. I liked it when he was developing from a violent teenage hooligan to a violent noble king, and I think he jumped the shark long ago. It's just very dull these days. No direction, no dwarven comic relief, lots of silly chat over pointless fights. Sláine was once a brilliant strip, but these days I just don't see the point.
Quote from: Starkers on 13 May, 2016, 10:56:57 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 11 May, 2016, 11:06:46 AM
Brink ...Lovely dialogue, designs and character work. Feels almost like a near-future Halo Jones.
Brink is just annoying. Too much exposition. I normally really like Abnett's stuff as well and the artwork is clear and nice, I just can't connect with it.
Normally I'd agree, but Tordelback correctly identifies why I found this week's episode entertaining. The naturalistic dialogue and INJ Culbard's easy way with characterisation was more
Love And Rockets than
Space Precinct.
I suppose Abnett felt he'd earned some time with the characters after the
Dredd (2012) opening episodes, but I'd prefer another six weeks of Carol Vorderman detox chat to the shootouts and crotchety old police captains I'll go back to being indifferent about next week.
They're
persona non grata on this board, but the most perceptive and funny commentary on prog 1980 comes from the bad boys of
2000ad fandom, the
ECBT2K crowd. Your intrigue concerning the clever observations on PJ Holden's metaphorical framing of characters and the name of Fire's cadet will outweigh your outrage at the
terrible slurs against the Welsh:
https://2000ad.wordpress.com/2016/05/13/prog-1980-review-orlok/
Enjoying most of prof but unsure about Slaine and just not getting Tainted at all. (Struggling to know who is who and when it jumps location. Obviously I am not paying attention so will attempt to re-read it in one go)
Cover: Niiiice
Dredd: Oh look, he's not dead! He got better! Although I don't get quite why they blow him up.... make him better, and hide him. Surely if you want to put him on trial Hershey will find out.... so why the dire warning about what'll happen if Hershey finds out??
Survival Geeks: Nowt new to report...still liking it!
Slaine 'The Bore-tania Chronicles': Didn't bother throwing my tuppence in on it's return.... but more talking heads and stretched scenes.....wake me up if something worth reading occurs.
Brink: Great.....just suffered Slaine, and now this. Dull, dull, dull. Again, I should say it's most likely the disconnect I feel with the art.... get someone else drawing it, maybe I could find an 'in', but Culbard's art does nothing for me at all.
Tainted: And the big lads have turned up! Yay!
After I got my refund from Steam......
As you all know...I only get the Prog for Slaine & I just flick through the digital pages until find that tell tale explosion of colour that herald the work of Simon Davis. Kind of like going to a nudie bar just for that glimpse of a certain something and nothing else.
Even if it's getting worse as most of you say. I found it's to follow and read properly these days, and even I though there was too much dialoge during the battle. I kept flipping back to another internet page and then almost forgetting I was still in the process of reading Slaine. Even with my own penchant for long sprawling essays. I think this needed less of words. Even as it turns out that now most of them were coming from Slough Junior.
And then those last three words issuing in unison from the mouths of both Slaine and now Gort as well! You'd think this is return to one of the things that made him cool. Yet, it doesn't work on paper.
Is Pat Mills off his game again?
Is there a Pat Mills?
I sometimes think that he might have been hired as acting author used as a façade while somebody else ghost writes behind the scenes. For awhile it's doesn't seem like the same writer. I've been nursing that assumption for along time now and only because lacks the thrills that it used to have.
Not that I want to accuse Pat Mills of taking the credit for somebody else, but if I didn't. It might be that he's now taking the blame.
Oddly I thought this week's episode was pretty good - Slough Goddodin is a great design, and was beautifully painted in all his glory this week. Like everyone else I wish Pat would stop hitting the 'paste' button for 'obey like a dead body obeys', and the script instruction 'BOTTOM RIGHT PANEL: Slaine is bloodied and on his knees, about to be beheaded. Leave room for Next Prog box', but aside from that I'm enjoying proceedings.
I forgot to add that line....
HUMANS
ARE AFTER ALL
A BASTARD RACE.
NEITHER APE NOR
CYTH
Now I always thought that Apes & being descended from them was Darwinism (https://www.bing.com/search?q=darwinism&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=94f5d28a19bb4339a509d690985279c3&pq=darwinism).
Sure the author might not agree. Given that I couldn't immediately find anything (From that link above!) to support my belief that we are descended from Apes (https://www.bing.com/search?q=apes&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=d587706f3a4f447daaab18c0d7a4b238&pq=apes). Not that it has to be that way & especially in this universe.
Nothing wrong with that really....anything is possible in here!
This begs a question about that Dark Gods (http://www.amazon.com/dark-gods-Anthony-Roberts/dp/0091387701) book that P. Mills once referenced was a partial source for Time-Killer & all that stuff about the Root-Races (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_race).
Where did humans come from?
(Of course, the answer might found if you follow the last link.)
I don't actually believe this it true, but like Slaine. I like a good fantasy fiction!
Quote from: Tordelback on 19 May, 2016, 11:33:56 PM
Oddly I thought this week's episode was pretty good - Slough Goddodin is a great design, and was beautifully painted in all his glory this week. Like everyone else I wish Pat would stop hitting the 'paste' button for 'obey like a dead body obeys', and the script instruction 'BOTTOM RIGHT PANEL: Slaine is bloodied and on his knees, about to be beheaded. Leave room for Next Prog box', but aside from that I'm enjoying proceedings.
Bah, this was meant to be in the 1981 thread.
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 20 May, 2016, 03:33:23 AM
I forgot to add that line....
HUMANS
ARE AFTER ALL
A BASTARD RACE.
NEITHER APE NOR
CYTH
Now I always thought that Apes & being descended from them was Darwinism (https://www.bing.com/search?q=darwinism&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=94f5d28a19bb4339a509d690985279c3&pq=darwinism).
Sure the author might not agree. Given that I couldn't immediately find anything (From that link above!) to support my belief that we are descended from Apes (https://www.bing.com/search?q=apes&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=d587706f3a4f447daaab18c0d7a4b238&pq=apes). Not that it has to be that way & especially in this universe.
Nothing wrong with that really....anything is possible in here!
This begs a question about that Dark Gods (http://www.amazon.com/dark-gods-Anthony-Roberts/dp/0091387701) book that P. Mills once referenced was a partial source for Time-Killer & all that stuff about the Root-Races (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_race).
Where did humans come from?
(Of course, the answer might found if you follow the last link.)
I don't actually believe this it true, but like Slaine. I like a good fantasy fiction!
A few corrections....
I also thought being descended from apes was something to do with
Darwinism (Even though I can't find evidence to support that from following that link!)
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah....
Where did humans come from....in the
Slaine-verse?