And those high velocity thrills do indeed keep coming.
Dredd Mike Carroll accompanied by Simon Fraser with some frankly glorious art open a Dredd with full effect. Its a wonderful opener about a daughter inheriting a fortune from parents who ... well they didn't tell her were their money came from. Dredd only appears on the final page but with enough information to see how he will impact on this story. Its a blinder I have to say.
Thistlebone crashes into its final act and truths are told and we are left to wonder just what Thistlebone is and its dark impact on those that visit the woods... I think we will be left wondering as the horror snaps up a notch.
Intestinauts is beautifully rendered and has some sharp fun ideas and moments its building a nice head of steam.
Future Shocks - well the art is lovely. The story... its trying a little too hard with the snappy future talk if you ask me and it just obsures what I think is a decent story, but one that will need a re-read which this doesn't quite do enough to justify.
Feral and Foe is curiously calmer with reflections and revelations - I enjoyed it all the more for the change of pace.
Good Prog.
Cover by Cliff Robinson and Dylan Teague :
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E0sdj6IWYAEenuR?format=jpg&name=large)
Cover and Logo:
(https://dyn.media.forbiddenplanet.com/Hz17CJ-yL8A8Vcc0s8nR7Q9Wgk8=/trim/fit-in/779x1024/filters:format(webp)/https://media.forbiddenplanet.com/products/2f/ec/166348abacae37d91db1c7754de7d180c139.jpeg)
That's a great cover, and I fully expect to see it re-used on a graphic novel one day.
This episode of Dredd is Michael Carroll's best storytelling. A promising first part.
After the comedy in Feral and Foe last week, it's interesting to see a more serious scene where the characters reflect on a tragic event in their lives. A sudden change of tone, to good effect.
Saturday prog again and it was a good one.
Dredd Really great opener here. Great storytelling and Simon Fraser puts in some absolutely glorious art, some of the expressions on Aldalisa are so evocative. There's a lot packed into the setup and it's an interesting idea with no out-and-out villain: the main character is a bit hapless, flipping out at those beneath her and then feeling bad about it after, and very much out of her depth. Very much looking forward to what comes next. There is a lack of Dredd himself but that doesn't matter.
Thistlebone There's a literal twist in the tale! Didn't see any of this coming at all. The art again here is just so good - that page with the overhead shot and the cars - superlative.
Intestinauts Loving this. It's quick moving, lots of visual jokes and quirks, the world is bright and cheerful whilst everything is scummy and horrible at the same time.
Future Shocks - I thought this was almost great but both the script and the art looked to pack in so much that the story got lost a little and it needed a re-read to fully grasp what was happening.
Feral and Foe Change of pace after all the breakneck Carry On action of the other week. Shifting things up a bit like this is good, it pulls us back to the characters plight and their past with a little worldbuilding thrown in. Golgone the necromancer totally rules.
Dredd's a great start, although Dredd's lawgiver needs toning down somewhat, since it's apparently now so powerful it can switch someone's shoulder pads when they're shot! ;)
Elsewhere, Thistlebone is horrible, in a good way, Intestinauts is a lot of fun, and Feral and Foe has shifted from being one of my "oh, OK" Abnett strips to a favourite.
The Future Shock? Quite nice to see Tomlinson back. The story felt a bit muddled, but made more sense on a re-read. Oddly enough, I think it would have worked much better as a three-parter, building to a fairly obvious twist, but one that would have had more impact had we known the protagonist for longer.
Yeah, lovely art, but thats got to be a new record for Shoulder Pad hopping!
Page 4: Right, Right
Page 5: Right, Right, Wrong,Wrong
Page 6: Right, Right, Wrong, Wrong
Have we had a Future Shock this year that didn't feature some sort of mind swap or brain upload?
I always finding this cycle of the prog interesting especially when new stories are around the corner. Some cases it feels like the prog is lingering and other cases it is like a speeding bullet, this time it feels exactly right with some good balanced stories.
Dredd – A good start to the Dredd story and I am looking forward to what is next. It is always great to see Simon Frasers work in the prog. As Leigh points out the only blemish is the placement of the shoulder pads.
Thistlebone – This was a great episode with some great twists, well told and now for the finale. This round my vote for the top thrill.
Intestinauts – This is a good entertaining story and what is nice about it is that it is quite different from the previous stories. Maybe this one can also involved into a full-blown series.
Shock – Not a bad one-shot but the story strangely felt a little bit dragging. Still some good art at display.
Feral & Foe – Some world building some interesting reveals at the end so what is not to like? I am really enjoying this run and hopefully when this one is done, we will get more. Thumbs of team Abnett/Elson.
That is some cover. The inking on Dredd's left glove is masterclass level stuff.
Downright excellent prog, cover to cover. 4.8/5, I reckon.
Superb Robinson & Teague cover, movement, perspective and colour lift a generic Dredd subject.
Dredd itself is an absolute treat, Carroll finally getting a chance to return to his excellent Kindred/Parliament storyline, with another perspective distinct from Barbarbara Grimm or Sage. This is one ongoing scenario I don't want to see resolved any time soon, backgrounded Dredd and bent judges bedamned, and I hope Mike gives us many future instalments this good.
The Fraser/Caldwell chimera is just magnificent on this: that shot of the city's architecture through the windowed office, the ornate desk, the procession of well-designed and outfitted characters, the subtle shift in tone for the colours through glass (or glasseen polypropylene), the mauve floor, is as perfect a calling card for this partnership as you could wish for.
The amazing reversible shoulder pads are just plain amusing - IIRC Simon had a pencil rough of the big panel up last year with Dredd's shoulder pads switched too, so he's actually gone back and fixed this but left the other! At this point I'm taking this teensy repeating quirk as an endearing Persian Flaw in the otherwise perfect work of a modern master.
Thistlebone throws us a genuinely unexpected (by me) twist - we all knew Roger was a wrong'un as soon as we saw those cages, but this..! Satisfying to see that the pedestrian ending to Malcolm's flashback adventure was pure misdirection. Incredible that Davis can keep to this quality of painted detail week after week: those cartoony segments must have helped, even if only as a change. This is Eglinton's masterpiece, so may it too run and run.
And then we come to Intestinauts. Wyatt is building a great world here, and gently reminds us of its parameters and players as the story goes along, but Pye Parr takes these seeds and goes into absolute beast-mode. Those spaceport backgrounds, sound-effects, colours, kinetic blobs... purest of pure 2000AD.
Is that Sonny Steelgrave I spy in the middle, with his first prog work in more than a decade? And it's a prettt good 'un! An old chestnut to be sure, but twisty and sufficently flavoured to satisfy. Is this Anna Morozova's second or third outing on the one-offs? Either way her art feels very polished here, and she dances through a dense story keeping appearance-changing characters well-defined, and the backgrounds rich and well-shaded. Good stuff all round.
(Obviously Tharg is working through a backlog of classic FS themes here, with last week's VR prison tale followed by a double-crossing mind-swap, I confidently expect a complicated spin on "And I shall call you... Eve" next week, or possibly someone trying to kill/save Hitler/Kennedy).
Ewing and Elson recapture that sense of despair in defeat that provides the backbone to Feral & Foe's FRPG tomfoolery, and for me makes it such a strong strip. Campbell's lettering here goes a long way to establishing the physical identities of the characters, when the words they use clearly belong to someone else.
Keep this up, Thargy.
Bah, a vigilant correspondent points out that in my gathering senility I have unconsciously swapped Abnett for Ewing. Either man should take it as the highest of unintentional praise.
It's another good prog. New Dredd gets rolling nice and quick will be interesting to see where this goes. Have enjoyed Carrol's previous Kindred stories so have high hopes for this one. Thistlebone switches things up with a great twist going into the finale. Also really loving Feral and Foe... that necromancers eyebrows are amazing.
Quote from: sintec on 12 May, 2021, 04:21:13 PM
Also really loving Feral and Foe... that necromancers eyebrows are amazing.
The Elson droid's eye for character design is just amazing. From the great, big [spoiler]REDACTED[/spoiler] that you haven't seen yet, to random NPC-types who are in two panels, there's so much care and attention lavished on making them distinctive. It's a pleasure to work on these pages.
Pye Parr has waltzed on to my list, alongside Ian Gibson and Rian Hughes of "artists who draw droids so in such a gorgeously fun way that they look like stills from an animation".
That's a pretty good list to be on.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 12 May, 2021, 07:36:13 PM
The Elson droid's eye for character design is just amazing [....] there's so much care and attention lavished on making them distinctive. It's a pleasure to work on these pages.
It's not that often I look at a new supporting character design and instantly want to know all about them - Midnight indicating Shame being the most recent prior example - but the Necromancer grabbed me from the first panel. And in our post-scarcity era of magical fantasy 'baddies', that's no mean feat.
This is a strong prog, but I want to say that Thistlebone has me gripped like nothing has for many years.
It's a complete masterpiece in every way, story and art alike. I almost have no words.
Anyone else having an issue to download this weeks Prog in the app. The normal two restarts and a logout aren't working.
NB I know there are other ways to get it. I'd just like app to work.
Conversely I had no problems for the first time in ages - normally I have to restore purchases and/or logout before the current prog even appears. There was an update for me yesterday (Android), which I was putting it down to.
Quote from: I, Cosh on 13 May, 2021, 12:36:14 PM
Anyone else having an issue to download this weeks Prog in the app. The normal two restarts and a logout aren't working.
NB I know there are other ways to get it. I'd just like app to work.
I once had to re-install the app. I am running on iOS but so far no new problems except the usual (log in and out or restart the app).
A major update went through on the app yesterday, so please check your devices to see if it has installed.
If you continue to have problems, please email our support team so that they can inform the developers.
A good start and glorious art on DREDD but I do prefer it when stories focus in citizens I can root for rather than crime lords or their heirs. But as Tordels points out, she does seem conflicted so glad to see where this goes.
My Top 3 for Prog 2231 :)
Found the future shock way too busy so the remaining 4 thrills are duking it out for my top 3 this week
1st - Thistlebone - more than one baddie now out in the open, last two issues twists galore (sorry lol) excellent short form writing that will also read great in a collection
2nd - Dredd - Easy Money indeed, rich girl realises now how the family got loaded
3rd - Feral and Foe - more of a reflective story this week
Quote from: TordelBack on 12 May, 2021, 11:03:02 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 12 May, 2021, 07:36:13 PM
The Elson droid's eye for character design is just amazing [....] there's so much care and attention lavished on making them distinctive. It's a pleasure to work on these pages.
It's not that often I look at a new supporting character design and instantly want to know all about them - Midnight indicating Shame being the most recent prior example - but the Necromancer grabbed me from the first panel. And in our post-scarcity era of magical fantasy 'baddies', that's no mean feat.
Design of the characters in Feral and Foe is great for sure
Almost forgot to post!
Er... all good, really! Lovely prog - magnificent art and script on Dredd (+cover), Thistlebone as engrossing as ever, laffs in Infesties, a well-written (if slightly overcomplicated) Future Shock and the QC on Feral & Foe is not, I think it's fair to say, lacking.
Nice!
Stunning cover art by the Robinson droid and I foresee a fantastic career ahead for Anna Morozova. Hopefully Tharg can keep hold of her skills for a while as I can think of many US titles she'd be a great fit for!