Prog 1486 - Lock and Load

[The Amstor Computer]

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CONTENTS

Judge Dredd: House of Pain - part 2
Lobster Random: The Agony & The Ecstasy - part 5
The V.C.s: Mail Call - part 1
Low Life: Con Artist - part 3

Droid Life
Input

Thought I'd try something a little different as this is the first prog I've reviewed first in a wee while.

The cover is an Anthony Williams piece heralding the return of the VCs, and as ever with his work I just can't find anything that interests me about this piece.

Dredd rattles on. The story itself seems less like it's treading old ground (underground torture vi-zines etc.) than in the initial episode, though the House of Pain has echoes of a vigilante club in an old Dredd tale (perhaps something during The Pit epic?). The art is nice & clean, if a little ridiculous during the scene with Dredd & Hollister (did those pieces of glass get glued to her nipples when she leapt through the window? ;-) )

Lob is on great form with a couple of standout scenes - "We're gonna need an adaptor" and the reveal of Rex Ferris being particularly good.

The return of the VCs didn't really have my thrill-circuits buzzing, and this 10-page opening episode doesn't change that in the slightest. It (deliberately?) echoes the original VCs, with Hoff the new worm aboard ship, but all that does is remind me how much more fun the original was. It also doesn't help that in the long gap between "books" I've completely lost track of where the story is, but I don't think I can be fussed digging out the back issues to catch up. Not a promising start.

Low Life hits a slight slow patch this week with a couple of pages taken up in resolving last week's cliffhanger (and another running through a showreel of best kills). I'm still not entirely convinced by this series. After a great opening tale and a decent follow-up, it doesn't seem to have lived up to its promise & I'm finding the characterisation of Aimee a little off - a hardened undercover Judge freaking out on a job? Still, there are some good moments here & some lovely art from Coleby.

Tharg's hints of stories to come are interesting - The Red Seas we knew about (in fact, it should be back in a few weeks) but Dredd: The Connection is a new one, and if it is an epic, how does Origins fit in around it?

[jabish]

"It also doesn't help that in the long gap between "books" I've completely lost track of where the story is, but I don't think I can be fussed digging out the back issues to catch up."


I know exactly what you mean and I still think its a huge problem with the comic. I do believe when a series returns there should be a recap page giving details of what has gone before. The recent ABC Warriors is a good example too I think, and I can't imagine what new readers will make of Dante when he returns.

I mean even a good synopsis of each story on this site would be a help and then they could print the link in the prog. I think its badly needed.

JB

[The Monarch]

Dante is back next week isn't he?

[The Amstor Computer]

Yup. If an extra page could have been found to print a recap of the VCs story to date, it would have helped me tremendously.

As for Dante... I'm so disappointed in how this strip has ended up. It's been over a year since his last appearance, and before that there'd been almost a two year break between major stories. Any momentum the strip had has been lost, and that's such a shame for a series that refired my enthusiasm for the comic during the late 90s & that promised so much after the conclusion of the Tsar Wars saga.

[Dark Jimbo]

The last page of Lobster Random was worth the cover price alone. :)

[The Adventurer]

THE V.C.S!!!!

WOOOO!!!!!!!!

Awesome cover.

[GermanAndy]

Dredd: I like it. It?s not a groundbraking story, sure, all the cliches firm in place, but the Bruce Wayne riff was funny - "I?ve always wanted to give somethig back", *g

I just love Hollister. Nice continuity - living dolls in the window, didn?t wrote Rennie this stand-alone Dredd with the guy who fell in love with a puppet? - and what?s not to love about the nippelbarrage :-) So silly. Frankly I would love a Hollister solo tale.

Lobster: I am not a big fan of the character, but the art is like always good.

V.Cs: the old VCs were before my time, so I never could connect. And I don?t care for the artstyle. Not for this kind of military-sf.

Low Life: I also thougt Nixon?s reaction kind of off. This is the same Judge who killed her perp in cold blood and lied herself through her court? I think it is interesting that Aimee is such a conflicted person, but somehow this seem to be a bit off. Who also thinks that sleazy reporerguy is the killer namend Blackbird?

Droid Life: Great as mostly of the time. This doesn?t get as much credit as it deserves.

[nick-is-at-home]

The V.C.'s.. errr... they just seem to be there for the point of having them there. Maybe some people cant stand the sight of change of stories and new ideas.

Random stole the show. Dredd runner up. Low-Life and V.C.'s only low points. Though LL does have parts of greatness, e.g. last issue

[The Adventurer]

Why do people not enjoy The V.C.s? I mean, man, it's good space opera, pure and simple. The one thing 2000AD lacks on a regular bases.

It's not "wacky" like Lobster Random, or "dark comedy" like Low Life, but shoot, it does what it does well.

NOTE: I've yet to read the original V.C.s, I've been hoping for a TP or an EE for a while.

[Dudley]

Um... isn't it just possible that the mysterious killer who nobody ever remembers seeing (and who's probably sitting next to Aimee as we speak) has some kind of psychic power?  And thus might be able to instill terror in the mind of the hardest undercover judge?

[DavidXBrunt]

I took that to be the case, or at least assumed the bloke she confronted was somehow affecting her.

[Trout]

I really enjoyed the VCs this week, mainly for its mood. It was oppressive and atmospheric. I hope it lives up to the first episode.

Dredd and Lobster remained good, and I'm still having problems paying full attention to Low Life. It's just not doing much for me.

Nice cover, too.

- Trout

[Keef Monkey]

I kind of figured something about the convention is maybe stirring up some kind of childhood trauma in her, it still hasn't been explained why she's freaking out but it does mention she's trying to remember something.

Droid Life- always a chuckle.
Dredd- intriguing, looks like a good detective tale, and Hollister rocks.
Random- as always the laugh out loud moment of the prog, last frame was a peach.
VCs- I was glad to see it back, stirs up memories of Space:Above And Beyond, which was my favourite show when it was on.
Low Life- by far my favourite artwork in the prog and Nixon still kicks ass, and if there's something even she's scared of then I can't wait to see it.

[Radbacker]

I'm gonna stick up for V.C's as well, I'm glad to hear its coming back but sad to hear this is the last book.  Its a shame there is such large gaps between books but its the price we seem to pay for wanting one consistent artist for the whole thing, I bet you Books of Invasion would of been finished in a year as one huge Epic if they used different artists but then we just get back to the old days everyone complains about when a series had 3 or 4 artists over 12  or 20 parts.  It makes for better collections though.
Everyone wants 4 Cabalistics books a year but not at the cost of the art, it just wouldn't seem like the same strip.

CU Radbacker

[Matt Timson]

Possible  Dredd spoilers (or more likely not)...













...Along with a suicidal Guthrie, I wouldn't be completely surprised to find that the bad guy is actually one of these robot doubles we've heard about.  Either way, I'm liking the Bruce Wayne riff.