Prog 2265: Worlds at War

[IndigoPrime]

A rarity this week: a prog without Dan Abnett—well, unless boy count the Feral & Foe III trailer in the Nerve Centre. So how does it all shake out?

Dredd is the prize for me this week, Niemand crafting an excellent, tense, exciting tale that feels very Wagner in its execution. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the protagonist – will she get away and perhaps becoming a recurring thorn in Dredd’s side, or will we next week discover how shit it is to be a single-parent MC-1 courier with a kid?

Proteux Vex further ramps up the world building. Lots of great design work too. I think I’m heading towards “might need a re-read” territory, but deft storytelling has enabled me to keep up so far. Not so much with The Order, which I’m increasingly baffled by. (And I see there’s another not to 2000 AD’s past here. Ho-hum. Not keen on the mining, TBH.

Kingmaker offers an interesting mix of styles and genres, with some great visuals, and Saphir looks like it should be fun. Roach’s art is, as ever, lovely.

There’s a natural downturn for me, in my favourite 2000 AD strip in the modern era having gone away, but the Prog remains strong – as does its anthology nature. Something for everyone, hopefully.

Dredd > Proteus Vex > Kingmaker > Saphir > The Order

[broodblik]

Cover by David Roach and Dylan Teague:

[broodblik]

Cover and Logo:

[Colin YNWA]

I mean it was never going to match last weeks was it. How could anything replace The Out BUT it gives it a good old go and that's to be admired.

Dredd gets us off to a blistering start its thrilling and heart breaking in equal measure as Mina starts to fully understand the cost of trying to make a quick buck in the toughest City on Earth and that end is a horrible cliffhanger.

Proteus Vex keeps up the excellent work as action leads to surrender, but one with a plan. One that builds more intrigue.

The Order a few wurm zobies aside this is a quieter episode that does a decent job of recapping how a few folks have got where and tales Armoured Gideon to almost completely unrecognisable place. If it wasn't for those sky whakes that is...

Kingmaker again a quieter episode as Crixus reflects, or would do if an alien horde isn't dropping on top of him for next time!

So Saphir is the only real issue. Its not bad and its beautifully drawn, it just doesn't really go anyway until on the final page they throw in a seemingly random threat that feels utterly tacked on. Which is a shame as it feels like it could be something but its timing is just shot.

Overall though this is a very good Prog. Just after the last couple its not quite up to that standard so feels a little weaker than it actually is.

[IndigoPrime]

tales Armoured Gideon to almost completely unrecognisable place

This is a Kek-W quirk I’m not a fan of. It feels like he undermines his own writing with callbacks. Deadworld was much stronger before it was tied specifically to events within actual Dredd continuity (like the Sovs), which just felt a bit naff and like the ideas well had run dry (which wasn’t the case when you read the one-offs, say). Revere rocking up in Indigo Prime was one of the most unnecessary cameos I’ve seen in comics. And Gideon in The Order… well, I get that it’s at least thematically reasonably sound, but given the terrible rendering (sorry, John—I love the rest of your art) and the frankly bizarre scripting, I just don’t see the point. Why not have any other automaton? Why not have entire new creatures flying through the sky?

I’d be really happy to see a new series of Armoured Gideon. Alternatively, I’m perfectly OK with letting the series lie. These little hints/callbacks aren’t exciting for me—they’re just frustrating and distracting. Oh well.

[Colin YNWA]

tales Armoured Gideon to almost completely unrecognisable place

This is a Kek-W quirk I’m not a fan of. It feels like he undermines his own writing with callbacks. Deadworld was much stronger before it was tied specifically to events within actual Dredd continuity (like the Sovs), ...

I think its about doing it right and for me the Sovs in Deadworld is a good example of just that. We know we are dealing with a world simialr to 'our' Dredd's and therefore its safe to assume there are other countries out there with Justice Systems just like in Dredd's. It's therefore relevent to the story to see how they react to the collapse of America and the most exciting extreme way to do that is attach it to the idea that the Sovs, always looking to undermine Mega City One would see this as a perfect opportunity. For me that one makes perfect sense.

Others Kek-W has used less so. So Revere in Indigo Prime just never felt validated. Armoured Gideon started off kinda being interesting,as you say it thematically makes sense. However his use of Gideon as a vessel for Clara's disembodied spirit means its just got nothing left to do with Armoured Gideon and so why have done it. The idea itself is fine, but if you are going to use Armoured Gideon use Armoured Gideon and if not don't use him as just a random inclusion.

That said let's see were the whole thing goes as it might pull things back and justify why we are in Armoured Gideon's world and therefore justify his use to establish that. I'll hold judgement for now.

[IndigoPrime]

the Sovs, always looking to undermine Mega City One would see this as a perfect opportunity. For me that one makes perfect sense

Perhaps it’s the execution. Deadworld of course gives us a different view of Death’s origins from what went before—it’s a soft reboot. Even so, it felt like a very different (and less—or at least very different) tech-oriented world from the MC-1 era we know. So dropping in Strato-Vs was a bit WUH? It just pulled me right out of the narrative and obliterated the atmosphere and reality that had been built up. (Revere did much the same thing for me in Indigo Prime.)

As for Gideon, I must find it sad. He’s now, what a helmet on a golem? I suspect he gets away with it because Gideon the character was mostly one-note and is also from a C-list series. It just feels so throwaway.

That said let's see were the whole thing goes as it might pull things back and justify why we are in Armoured Gideon's world and therefore justify his use to establish that. I'll hold judgement for now.

If that’s the case, and especially if it backdoors new Armoured Gideon, fair enough. But I suspect The Order is an awful lot of lobbing things at walls. That’s certainly how it reads.

[Barrington Boots]

I'm enjoying The Order overall, but got to agree on Armoured Gideon. The character was not exactly deep but now is so unrecognisable it should have been an original creation. It doesn't help that it looks nothing like the original character either.

I've seen loads of people saying how the Order is unreadably confusing (not necessarily on this forum) - and I was scratching my head at a few bits in the first episode of this run, but a quick re-read and it all made perfect sense. The problem I think it's pretty easy to follow*if you do that, but because the story zips around a lot and has had such a big cast it can be pretty impenetrable if you don't. For a new reader I think it'd be a nightmare. I think it's definitely one of those strips where once you decide it doesn't make sense to you it would become more and more unfathomable until you're just looking at JMB's lovely pictures and moving on.

I felt a lot more 'with' the story this week especially with Ergo / Browne showing up again which feels like a tie to the previous stuff rather than another new direction but it seems to me the strip is becoming more and more divisive amongst the readership. I know we could have had a League of Extraordinary Gentleman style strip with a rotating cast of wacky characters fighting worms in different time periods (I did like Athos's version of The Order) and what we got was much more ambitious and interesting, but sometimes it does feel like the story is just lobbing ideas at walls and personally I'd like to see it showing that it's at least moving towards a resolution.


* not entirely, as I just re-read it and there's still a bunch of questions over the time-travel stuff

[Colin YNWA]

... personally I'd like to see it showing that it's at least moving towards a resolution.

There's quite a few modern thrills like that. Much as I like many of them you wonder where there are going and is there a sense of were resolution will come from.

I'd moan and miss them when they are gone in many case but it would also be nice to see them complete. Red Seas and Dante are missed but all the better for finishing.

[IndigoPrime]

Or: you finish that bit. Kingdom is done, but could continue. Brink finished, but continued. Abnett is really good at providing satisfying pay-offs and having series run over the long term. By contrast, series by other writers are so often left in limbo, or have a feeling of not going anywhere. (This is really frustrating when it comes to strips like Brass Sun, which clearly did have an ongoing narrative, and yet just stopped dead. And although there are promises it will return, well, so too was there for Dan Dare.)

[Colin YNWA]

Or: you finish that bit.

That's an excellent point in say Stickleback the reveal of him being S.H. could have been an end point, which opened doors, but wrapped things up for now, if used differently than it was.

GRennie is also very good at giving a series a sense of direction and ending, even if we don't know how long it will take to get there. Well forgiving him that dangling plot thread in Callballisitics Inc!

We know where Aquila is going, we have a sense of what the end point while be and its getting close, but has been building to this point form the off.

We know were Jaegir is going and that actually feels pretty close too.

We had a real sense of where Absalom was headed all the way through that.

He presents a central idea that drive the protagonist through the story. Its often open enough that he's not tieing himself to a specific path and can meander and explore as the muse takes him. Heck I guess he can spin the wheel and take us down an surprise track if he choose But his stories feel like they are progressing to a point.

Brass Sun feels like it should have that as well, with its central quest, but much as I adore the series, never really feels like its driving towards that ending with any conviction. I'm sure it will get there just as Red Seas did in the end.

[broodblik]

A good solid prog again. The Out will be difficult to replace but we will have to life with less sugar in our coffee.


Dredd – The first Dredd series of the year and so far, it has been proven to be great. This feels and read like any classic by Wagner and yes, it is great. Awesome work from Niemand on script duty and Goddard bring the big Meg to life. What a last panel cannot wait for the grand finale. Thrill of the week

Proteus Vex – Carroll keeps adding layer of layer of intrigue as he very much does world building. This episode is all but the setup for what Vex is about the reveal. We should not forget about Lynch has he continues to do the full alien of our visual sensors.

The Order – As the story has now fully shift to another time and space we go back to Armored Gideon (and yes, I agree Burns Gideon just do not do the job). Let’s see where this runaway train is taking is. Ooh, I am still enjoying it although me little head might have to reboot a few more times.

Kingmaker – The story shifts to what is happening ground side and our heroes has a quiet moment before all hell is unleashed upon them. Interesting story so far but this round the art is the highlight.

Saphir – Another 3riller morphing into its own series. Enjoyed the original and this episode starts with some interest ideas and ends with a good cliff-hanger.  A good start with some great art.

[broodblik]

B/W Cover:

[Barrington Boots]

That cover is a stunner in B&W.

[broodblik]

That cover is a stunner in B&W.

I know it is early days but I am sure it most be in contention for cover of the year