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« on: 27 April, 2022, 10:36:42 AM »
Three progs arrived all at once yesterday so I've had a bit of catching up. I'm not sure if it's the frustration from the delay and the inevitable minor spoilers I've had, or just reading them all at once, but I'm less high on this current run than some. It's all good, but also all a little flawed.
Dredd – Have to agree with others that this was extremely climatic in the context of the hype: nothing changed and Dredd's actions were nowhere near as shocking as loads of the other stuff he did during the war. Out of the context of that, this was a a fast moving, brutal little story with absolutely fantastic artwork. Just not the gamechanger it was made out to be.
I stick by the concept of the unreliable narrator at play - both Winterton and Chopra could be spinning the tale their own way, even though Winterton's behaviour points to him being legit nuts - but Dredd's actions aren't really that shocking in context, so it's not really a big deal.
One thing that did confuse / misdirect me is that in the first episode there's an attack on the iso-block which I assumed was connected to Winterton in some way - guys trying to bust him out or silence him or whatever - that turned out to have no further relevance. I'm assuming now that this was the plot reason to have the priest alone with Winterton but it also felt like a bit of an anticlimax there.
It's hard to view the story outside of the big hype it got. Some of Dan Cornwell's best stuff yet, but the story itself seems a bit throwaway really.
Hope – I've struggled to engage with this so far. The pace seems very slow, not helped by some of the page layouts, and the characters don't yet feel all that realised, unlike..
Brink – where the glacial pace isn't an issue because the dialogue is building layer upon layer of menace of tension. Sinister elements of the tale are dismissed as mundane, except we know they aren't, and Broodblik's chess analogy is a good one as it feels like things are lining up for something awful to strike. The return of previous characters, now we have some foreknowledge of who they are, is ominous.
Intestinauts – Loved this although the finale seemed a but abrupt with everything suddenly wrapping up: feels like we could have had another episode of this. I hope this tale keeps coming back. Pye Parr's bright, kinetic artwork is perfect here.
Future Shock – Really liked this too. Superb artwork, neat little tale.
Fiends – Another one that's not quite hitting the mark for me when compared to previous runs of Fiends. Awesome old haircuts aside, the cold war setting has faded into the background and whilst I was delighted to see Baba Yaga's house, I guess I was expecting more than a fight and escape (and subsequent villain reveal). Conscious this may have more to come however. I did like the speech about having multiple vampires working on the espionage payroll and as ever, the art is brilliant - digging the grotesque, inhuman smiles and snarls from Costanza especially - he's a monster!
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