Prog 2361 - Drokk Solid! Jo Stands His Ground

[Le Fink]

Have there been any announcements about giving digital copies to subscribers whose progs are still in the post? I'm two issues behind now, and only got Prog 2359 last week.

I just email the subscribers help and they've been happy to do this for me in this circumstance (only happened a handful of times).
subshelp@2000ad.com

[broodblik]

To add what Funt already said: I will call it the numbered prog that ran in September was used to be a jump-on point has now been shifted to an event prog. So, from September until the xmas prog you normally had 12 weeks (enough to have a full series run in this period). Now it has shifted the last few years adding the regen prog to the mix. Even this year we never had a clear jump-on point with prog 2351 containing a filler story that should have been in the xmas prog. A few stories started in 2351 and 3252 changing the year's dynamic and scheduling. So yes, we are now at the point that the xmas prog is no longer a starting point.

[Barrington Boots]

I like the tone in F&F but I can see how it could grate.

That's really interesting about Regened throwing the jumping on prog schedule out: another reason to moan about it! I wonder if the jumping on concept wasn't providing the readership boost that was hoped for? It's a great idea but I do remember giving one to a guy at work a few years back who was a lapsed reader and he still couldn't make head nor tail of continuity heavy stuff like Proteus Vex.

[IndigoPrime]

It's a shame Enemy Earth didn't continue in regened, it has much improved and I'd enjoy reading 21 page chunks of this.  While I'm also happy to read it in the prog it feels to me like a closer fit to regened (this is not a dig) - aren't kids missing out as they're not reading the main prog? Or is EE going to be collected for them soon?

It's an interesting point and one I'd not considered. It might have impacted the strip's pace to have allowed it 21-page chunks, but if the writer was told to continue writing as if it was for the Prog, that could have been pretty exciting. It'd certainly have been better than endless Not Quite Harry Potter.

As for EE ending up in the Prog, I imagine the idea with some strips is to use the Prog's frequency to get through things more rapidly so they can then be collected. I'll be surprised if an Enemy Earth paperback doesn't rock up at some point next year.

Also: Progless here too. Bah. God knows what's going on with the Royal Mail. Seems to have it in for Rebellion every year now. (Mini-IP's comics were also late, TBF – but not this late.)

[broodblik]

I also think EE will be collected next year. I also think that Lowborn had 21-pages in each of this years regen prog so that it can be collected.

[IndigoPrime]

Yes. It was clearly an attempt to get through it at speed. But the pace of the strip itself was often sluggish. That we appear to be getting more fills me with whatever the opposite of joy is.

[norton canes]

This week's cover is phenomenal. I'd be straight onto ordering a poster print if it wasn't for the blurry background image which just makes for too much clash - the McCrea droid's hatching is really dense and his Dredd figure would look so much better on a plain white field, ironically like his earlier effort for prog 2328. Sterling stuff, though, and a late contender for cover of the year (which reminds me, it's nearly poll time!)

What odds for a fourth instalment in the Grinder/Flusher/Clanker series? I'd have thought the humour is kind of mined out by now but you never know, it's set up... difference this time is, garbage bins, toilets and antiquated Mechanismo units are one thing, but surely the Justice Department would know the instant an active Manta tank is compromised?

I get the concerns about the meta-humour in Feral & Foe and I'm in two minds - the 'porcelain' thing made me laugh with its reference to Dan Abnett's wider works but the 'all-but-forgotten plot point' caption did seem actually clumsy, rather than pointedly so. Still, the strip has always contained meta elements and as long as they don't leak into Brink, The Out etc. then I'm happy.

Elsewhere Helium is as delightful and effortless a read as The Devil's Railroad is disagreeable and laboured. Agreed Enemy Earth would have been better in Regened but the protagonist does get their arm blown off (eaten?) so perhaps that was a sticky point.

Re. the strips in next week's Christmas prog - to be honest, I've never though 'jumping-on' progs have been particularly good for new readers, anyway - half the strips in the invariably seem to involve some continuity reference, especially the Dredds.

[Link Prime]

The Christmas Prog was always a jumping on point with an all new line up. I've noticed in recent years there's been the odd story that runs into it, now it's all of them except Dredd. Is it just me or does this....diminish it a bit?

Nuthin says "Christmas" like a random episode of Enemy Earth.

[Le Fink]

...That we appear to be getting more...

Oh. Has this been stated somewhere? Blimey someone must like it!

[Colin YNWA]

Well an end of year Prog without any endings still feels odd, even if its been common for a while now. The last Prog of the year is decent, nothing more.

Dredd kinda just ends and doesn't. Not Neimand's best as all we really seem to have done is set up the next story in a bigger machine. Not terrible, love the art, but Neimand is normally much better than this one.

Helium now the highlight of the Prog and excting and fun as it flies forward and the art is sublime.

Devil's Railroad yep I'm actually still enjoying this. It remains farce. Who ever said protagonists have to be decent and now hopefully its never been clearer that Palamon isn't. Especially now he's down 10% a soul. The ending really throws things in the end.

Enemy Earth sorry the art is really getting in the way of the story still and it all just seems like a lot of stuff just happening.

Feral and Foe okay so its still Dabnett's weakest current thrill, but Dabnett's weakest is still very good fun.

So these stories are going to roll into next years opening line-up meaning it'll be fine but not as exciting as it might be if we had some sort of new thrill.

[Richard]

Is what Palamon did really that bad? Someone sells him out to someone who wants to kill him, so he beats him up... Is that something Johnny Alpha wouldn't have done?

[Funt Solo]

I was thinking I should look at my data, because what else is there in life?

And I found this:




I only count 100% jump-ons, so there are some progs labeled as "four new thrills" (for example) that don't make the cut. Those are jump-ish, not jump-on. I suppose you could do a color-coded chart where the data gets a hotter color the more new thrills it has, which would give a better idea of how easy it is for a noob to get on board. Then again, a totally new story (rather than a second book) is probably easier and should score higher. Then, you'd want to rationalize for number of stories in that issue, and ... HOOK! HOOK! TOOT! TOOT!

[IndigoPrime]

Just as a note to anyone else who's been Progress, my copy just showed up, after the Christmas issue arrived on Saturday. So it's possible others are still slowly working their way through the system. (It also seems quite random. Judging by other post that's arriving, my local sorting office is not sitting on piles of mail at the moment.)

[Bad City Blue]

I now people like the cover but I think it's ugly.

Niemand has been showing signs of having run out of steam for a while now, and DREDD continues his/her/their trend of dragging shit out as long as you can. Ultimately it didn't matter, I didn't care, and I really didn't gasp in excitement at the 'end'.

Devil's Railroad is bonkers but it looks and reads great.

Feral and Foe continues to be a lot of fun and the art is absolutely brilliant.

[IndigoPrime]

Finally got to read this last night, after its epic journey to my door.

I like McCrea and this cover words for me. Striking. Loads of energy. That font, though: oof.

Dredd was a bit of a clanker in all – by far the weakest of this trilogy, and a possessed Manta is going to have a very different vibe if the series continues.

Helium continues to pull away from everything else in the Prog. Wonderful. Devil's Railroad... Well, I'm still reading it. As for Palamon, he clearly has issues. But I still don't feel like anything is earned in this strip. It comes cross like stuff just happens and character traits just kinda show up. Maybe it'll be better in a re-read, but honestly it's way, way back in the queue for that.

Enemy Earth really should have stayed in Regened. Not because I dislike it here, but because it has a spark and fizz that an awful lot of Regened currently lacks. A strong entry this week, with a nice twist.

Feral... Yeah, it's flirting with being annoying with the jokiness, but I'm still enjoying it. And that last panel was ace.

Overall, a solid Prog for me rather than an outstanding one, with three hits and two so-so strips.

Helium > Enemy Earth > Feral & Foe > Dredd > Railroad