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Prog 1999 : Streets of age!

Started by Darren Stephens, 17 September, 2016, 12:47:32 PM

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Frank

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I am, as usual, issuing a deliberate and calculated insult to all 2000ad artists, Colin.

Depends on the artist and their aesthetic. Painted, naturalistic art by face acting specialist Simon Davis or Fay Dalton can convey every worry line or gently sagging facial muscle.

Line art by stylists like the excellent Willsher or the peerless Colin MacNeil is going to rely much more on overt signifiers to convey information about the character's age. 

Making Anderson a bit jowelly, thick around the middle, or balding isn't really an option, and neither are wrinkles for an artist like Willsher, who deals in idealised forms like nobody since Plato.



* MacNeil's characters' faces in particular aren't much more than half a dozen lines these days, expertly arranged to convey emotion and character with maximum economy

PsychoGoatee

Quote from: Trent on 21 September, 2016, 07:45:22 PM
Dowling's take on Anderson has been the only one I have liked since Ranson packed it in.

Boo Cook is my man, personally speaking.

Magnetica

What's up with the double eagle shoulder pads for Hershey? I don't recall seeing this before. It's normally two of the other shoulder pads for the Chief Judge.

Jacqusie

I too thought that they missed a trick with that cover - being 1999 and all that - maybe a return from the Tyranny Rex / Prince type thang could have worked - but after all 2000AD doesn't do convention & a big pink Triceratops it was... with a bit of a limp JD story to see us over the line so to speak...

I'm loving Jaegir as usual and am heartend to hear in the 2000AD Rennie's pod cast thingy, that he has plans for another character to make a come back in the Nu-Earth cannon fodder. Colby's art is brilliant as always, but I do find myself getting a bit irked with the colouring. I know in this world it's all dark greys/browns/greens - I get that bit, but does everything in the one panel have to be the same colour?

The clothes are the same colour as the sky, which is the same colour as everyones hair/boots/chairs/guns/floors/walls... maybe just a hint of difference would - ahem - make all the difference to the story - some subtle changes of shades would lift Simon Colby's great art from the muddiness. I do think this story would be great in black and white too - which is not the way forward I know these days.

An average prog - looking forward to Nemesis next... maybe in good old B&W hopefully!

:)

Fungus

Not feeling it in recent weeks, notable exceptional highlights being the stunning PJ caper and joys of more Edginton/d'Israeli inventiveness. Neither quite nailed the finish, and in the latter case it's very probably my fault, after some lovely early episodes. I really need to get into that habit of re-reading strips when they complete. At 5 pages a week (often longer) Edginton's creations deserve a closer reading than my addled brain can manage.

Should mention Jaegir too, it's a classy strip and always a dark and enjoyable read.

So, need some New Thrills and next week is welcome. Stupidly happy at the prospect of some Bolland...

TordelBack

So, fair play to Willsher in the Steve Dillon role, he clearly had to lash that Anderson out in jig time and yet he paid close attention to everything Dyer had done with the uniforms and characters and rendered it perfectly consistent, albeit in his own style.  Very impressed, if still disappointed that Nick didn't get to finish out the story: this was the next best thing. 

An oddly paced-conclusion, essentially dropping Flowers at the last minute and not really successful in explaining 'why Hershey?'.  However, this story took Anderson in new directions, and I loved it: the uniform tweaks, the punky haircut, the new powers (I see this as building on the astral projection that Grant was developing in the last few stories)... a lovely fresh take.  As to Dyer's Anderson being 'ugly', well even allowing that you thought she was (and I don't think she was), is a pretty face so essential to the character? I was just glad to see a confident take-charge psychically-and-physically powerful Anderson replace all the moping and angst.  If Beeby could incorporate the early quippy side of Anderson into this mature pragmatist, I'd be a very happy squaxx.  And bring back Dyer for another run, he's just ace.

More strange pacing in Outlier, which abruptly jettisons all its characters and subplots for an instant wrap-up worthy of an 'exciting news for all our readers!' issue.  Not really sure why a gamma burst propagating at lightspeed would necessitate such a snap decision on the part of an interstellar human civilsation (must be several years at least until it would affect even the closest systems to Creaggan), but I really liked the central idea of the Hurde as a means of survival.  More time to explore this endgame in terms of the competing factions within both species (maybe this run should have started with the extinction event problem rather than saving it for the climax?), and less time spent in interrogation rooms with broken characters who will never get the chance to change or really do much of anything, would have suited me better - but then getting 3 series of this enjoyable 'proper' SF tale was a pleasant surprise anyway, so asking for more from it may be churlish.

Scarlet Traces... I dunno, it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, but this 'book' needed to cover twice as much ground to be as satisfying as it should be.  And it does seem to be settling into an overly familiar Edginton pattern.  But it's fun, and did I mention looking at it is likely having my eyeballs bathed in luminous joy?  Also: an uncircumcised willie in the prog, whatever next?  It only took a Jewish artist to deliver.

Dredd was a perfectly fine one parter, with lovely bouncy art from Marshall, although why Steve Jobs was there I've no clue.  My son suggested Yu-Gi-Oh references in the art, but sadly I've no idea what that might look like.  Hawkmumbler?

Jaigir is just the usual top quality work from all concerned, but I'd definitely like to see a longer run as well as these rather short choppy chunks.

Boo's Cover was gorgeous, and I liked Tharg's gloss on its theme.

sheridan

Quote from: Frank on 19 September, 2016, 07:45:40 PM
, but we haven't seen that before. Obviously it's all silly made up stuff and it doesn't really matter.
If memory serves, we've seen something like that in the Undercity story that ran in the Daily Star (which will be reprinted later this year).

Starkers

Jaegir was the best thing in this prog by far, though I wish the artist didn't give every character facial scarring, at times--not so much this story--it's hard to tell who's who. I do really like the way it looks so that's a minor quibble.

Outlier ends with a fantastic idea, just a shame we got a handful of panels to explore it, it felt rushed, like a TV series that's been cancelled but gets a final episode to wrap everything up. As others have said its surely going to take that radiation wave years/decades/maybe even centuries to wipe out humanity? I've never quite got into the series, it doesn't help that we have Carcer and Caul which I thought was a poor decision from the start. The finale shows there was more to this story than it seemed, shame we never really got to see it until this final part.

Scarlet Traces looks good, not always sure what's going on however, and as for Anderson, I think I need to read it again because I'm not entirely sure wtf happened here? Were the other judges stopping her taking the shot herself so she had to use Hershey? Just how many hands had senator woman shaken?

sheridan

Quote from: Starkers on 22 September, 2016, 11:21:09 AM
Jaegir was the best thing in this prog by far, though I wish the artist didn't give every character facial scarring, at times--not so much this story--it's hard to tell who's who. I do really like the way it looks so that's a minor quibble.

Probably not an art decision, makes me suspect they're supposed to be Mensur scars, tying in with general Germanic styling.

sheridan

Quote from: Proudhuff on 21 September, 2016, 11:50:23 AM
I've bored the breeks off everyone with this but I think Anderson as a mature woman is one of the most interesting things that could be in 2000ad, Tharg should give her to Denise Mina to write...
I agree that the most interesting thing that can be done with Cass nowadays is to show her maturing.  Looks like the other Judge in that preview is Corey, so I wonder if next prog's story will be a flashback...

Starkers

Quote from: sheridan on 22 September, 2016, 11:35:20 AM
Quote from: Starkers on 22 September, 2016, 11:21:09 AM
Jaegir was the best thing in this prog by far, though I wish the artist didn't give every character facial scarring, at times--not so much this story--it's hard to tell who's who. I do really like the way it looks so that's a minor quibble.

Probably not an art decision, makes me suspect they're supposed to be Mensur scars, tying in with general Germanic styling.

Ah interesting, I hadn't thought of that but it would seem like a very Nort thing to do!

Leigh S

Quote from: Starkers on 22 September, 2016, 03:56:08 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 22 September, 2016, 11:35:20 AM
Quote from: Starkers on 22 September, 2016, 11:21:09 AM
Jaegir was the best thing in this prog by far, though I wish the artist didn't give every character facial scarring, at times--not so much this story--it's hard to tell who's who. I do really like the way it looks so that's a minor quibble.

Probably not an art decision, makes me suspect they're supposed to be Mensur scars, tying in with general Germanic styling.

Ah interesting, I hadn't thought of that but it would seem like a very Nort thing to do!

And I seem to recall Gordon Rennie saying somewhere that one of the underpinning ideas for Jaegir was sparked by the thought "why do all the Norts have scars", leading to the whole dodgy genetics angle that Jaegir is steeped

Frank

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Vearing facial scars and lounging in ving back chairs is just vhat wery, wery, ewil willains do:



Proudhuff

Quote from: Snivelling Earthquake on 22 September, 2016, 10:00:07 AM
However, this story took Anderson in new directions, and I loved it: the uniform tweaks, the punky haircut, the new powers (I see this as building on the astral projection that Grant was developing in the last few stories)... a lovely fresh take.  As to Dyer's Anderson being 'ugly', well even allowing that you thought she was (and I don't think she was), is a pretty face so essential to the character? I was just glad to see a confident take-charge psychically-and-physically powerful Anderson replace all the moping and angst.  If Beeby could incorporate the early quippy side of Anderson into this mature pragmatist, I'd be a very happy squaxx.  And bring back Dyer for another run, he's just ace.

This ^^^



with a bit of Menopause chucked in  :D
DDT did a job on me

Mardroid

I believe the digital version of this prog that's downloadable from the Rebellion site* is corrupted.

I have had issues with my internet lately, so I thought it might be that. But after downloading it several times over wifi and over my phones 4g, and the same thing happening, it would seem to be the file. Both CBZ and PDF files seem to be affected.

Is anyone else having this issue? Apologies if it's been brought up earlier, I haven't read through the entire thread.

*Where those of us who digitally subscribe but don't use the app download our comics as opposed to the program shop.