Another year has passed, and we have the xmas prog to see out the year. This was a great prog with a lot of surprises and two great series returning for the new year. What makes this prog slightly different is that in many sense this is also a tribute too two of the greatest talents which graced the pages of 2000AD. This might also be the last time we might see certain creators.
Dredd – A xmas tale in the just the way that Niemand can tells it. A modern retelling of the Ghost of Christmas Past featuring the man from downstairs himself and some classic characters from bygone years. Lee Carter brings us some great visuals. Good start to the xmas prog.
Rogue – Here we go as we have another classic character returning. The story plays off right after the events of Cinnabar as the Norts yet again try their hands at creating a GI off them all. As per normal we always know how this one ends up. [spoiler]What was music too my ears are to see a Rogue story from Ennis and Goddard coming soon.[/spoiler]
2000AD Credit Card – A very good tribute to Kevin O'Neill.
Bonjo – The final strip by the great Kevin O'Neill. This is one off those strips that does not take itself too seriously. It is a stupid but yet fun strip. As Garth even takes a swipe at one of his own creations. The last page was just awesome.
The Out – This episode continues from the end of book 2 as Cyd is interrogate as she explains her side of the story. Good start to the new arc.
Joe Pineapples – This might be a watershed for the prog since this is most likely that this will be the last appearance in theory for two of the most prolific people in the industry: The Biz on pictures and Mills on words. The first episode is more about setup I am quite intriguing to see where this will be going. A good start.
Hope – Another grim and dark twist of events. It is difficult to see away out of this predicament. Looks like scored earth tactic will cause more harm than good hopefully Mallroy will have a "solution".
Ace – Well not a very big fan of Ace and the story ended in more off a tribute to Alan Grant.
Standing on the Shoulders of a Giant – Also a good tribute to the great Alan Grant.
Dredd (Troublemaker) – This is another tribute to Alan. Alan Grant (or rather Alvin Gaunt) has a go at old Stoney-face just to make some trouble.
Proteus Vex –The galaxy in turmoil as all war breaks out. A lot of setup going on and it looks like it is each species for themselves. This has been one of my favorite new series and I just love the sci-fi space opera, great to have this back.
Cover by Andy Clarke:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/6FINAL-784x1024.jpg)
Cover and Logo:
(https://i0.wp.com/downthetubes.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/img_5210-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1009&ssl=1)
Greytone Cover:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/4GREYTONE-784x1024.jpg)
i am sure looking forward to reading this in january going by the constant royal mail bs
Bonjo Jones for the win.
Quote from: The Corinthian on 14 December, 2022, 07:03:13 PM
Bonjo Jones for the win.
No Strontium Bonj will take the bounty
I hope the Dredd tale is about the Devil, and I hope it rhymes. I loved the Devil story in the annual ('84?).
Well, so far my copy has accompanied me to work- where it has sat in a WHS bag for nearly 24 hours now. Later it will go home with me and, with luck, with sit underneath my coffee table until joined by next week's Meg, and I can find some time to enjoy both consecutively. I've not had a day off for sixteen days now, so am hoping for such an oasis of calm *at some point* between Wednesday next week and Xmas.
I've not been able to put aside time to read the Xmas prog and Meg together for some years, and this year the idea really appeals. So I've not even opened it yet. But the cover looks great!
SBT
Well, I haven't read it yet, but that's a lovely little play on words on the cover.
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 December, 2022, 08:23:16 AM
I hope the Dredd tale is about the Devil, and I hope it rhymes. I loved the Devil story in the annual ('84?).
Don't you mean "Beat The Devil"?
Was that what it was called? Sound familiar.
Anyway, yes! I am just going by the cover of this Prog and wondering if it harks back to that old tale. Wasn't it an annual? I am sure I read the rhyming Devil story one happy Christmas, reading through an annual?
Gangaman in the prog. What a time to be alive.
There must be thousands of these things sitting in a yard somewhere waiting to go out sometime next year. I must have 6 issues waiting out there somewhere now. It's not great for companies that rely on this, surely many of us will give up in the end.
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 15 December, 2022, 08:37:14 AM
Well, so far my copy has accompanied me to work- where it has sat in a WHS bag for nearly 24 hours now. Later it will go home with me and, with luck, with sit underneath my coffee table until joined by next week's Meg, and I can find some time to enjoy both consecutively. I've not had a day off for sixteen days now, so am hoping for such an oasis of calm *at some point* between Wednesday next week and Xmas.
I've not been able to put aside time to read the Xmas prog and Meg together for some years, and this year the idea really appeals. So I've not even opened it yet. But the cover looks great!
SBT
if i lived near a town with a WHS i'd definitely revert to that. as it is i think i will have to go digital. I'm hoping they give subs a copy seeing as yet another prog has failed to arrive and it's the big one. not sure what i will do now post sub, possibly just grab it digitally, or possibly call time on it. surely have to at least keep the annual prog tradition alive, it's a nice little winter warmer.
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 December, 2022, 10:32:56 PM
Was that what it was called? Sound familiar.
Anyway, yes! I am just going by the cover of this Prog and wondering if it harks back to that old tale. Wasn't it an annual? I am sure I read the rhyming Devil story one happy Christmas, reading through an annual?
It does indeed, though we do get a "this is an imaginary story" disclaimer - several of them, in fact!
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 15 December, 2022, 10:32:56 PM
Was that what it was called? Sound familiar.
Anyway, yes! I am just going by the cover of this Prog and wondering if it harks back to that old tale. Wasn't it an annual? I am sure I read the rhyming Devil story one happy Christmas, reading through an annual?
Yes Carlos Esquerra drew it.Dont remember exactly which annual it was but it must be early 80's if I can remember it.Great news in that spolered tag.Well if you're an old school dude like me.
Quote from: Swerty on 16 December, 2022, 01:01:42 PM
Yes Carlos Esquerra drew it.Dont remember exactly which annual it was but it must be early 80's if I can remember it.Great news in that spolered tag.Well if you're an old school dude like me.
It was in the
Judge Dredd Annual 1984, as far as I recall. A classic strip!
Still no sign here in Brum....not had 2310, 2311 or 2312 yet....gots the downloads of 2310 and 2311 but this has to be the longest I've gone without a weekly prog for decades.
I read mine last night and would echo the sentiment that this was a quite strange end-of-year Prog, but an objectively good one, and a worthy tribute to two great creators.
Dredd was excellent, with its knowing script and some excellent Lee Carter art. I hope Niemand gets to use his real name one day, because for me he's become the definitive Dredd writer – at least for this kind of thing, which could so easily have come from Wagner's pen. Next up, Kek-W channels half a John Smith for a solid Rogue Trooper one-off, followed but the print announcement of the Ennis/Goddard run.
Bonjo was suitably demented. I'm usually not keen on these self-referential scripts with droids and such, especially when one runs to 13(!) pages. But this one was a joy. Smart scripting. Great art. Very silly last page. Top stuff.
Before The Out, we get a teaser for another seemingly female-led Abnett thrill: Azimuth. (How many clones is the guy running now?) And then the opener for Book Three of my favourite 2000 AD strip in recent years. Quite heavy on the recap/prologue vibe, it packs a lot into five pages. Unsurprisingly, it's wonderful.
Tin Man is the Pat Mills swansong. I've no idea where this is going, but I enjoyed this opener. Then we got Hope, which was a bit more coherent and exciting than I've found previous episodes, but I'm still not feeling this one.
Ace Trucking was a nice enough tribute, but I'll be honest that for me this strip was all about Belardinelli. I'm a big fan of Nick Dyer, but, well, the stamp was so strong that it doesn't entirely work for me. I preferred Rennie's Dredd-based tribute, which gave us the welcome return of Robin Smith. The last two pages were gems.
Then, after a swift single-pager Grant tribute, there's the intro to Proteus Vex. I'm a big fan of this strip, but I honestly feel like I need a reread to remind myself where things lie. Lovely art, mind.
In all, a rare gigantic Prog where I enjoyed everything (yes, even Hope), and where the vast majority of strips ranged from pretty good to fantastic. Next issue, things are refined to Dredd/Pineapples/The Out/Proteus Vex/Hope, which seems pretty good to me – not least because three of these strips are relatively new. Over 45 years on, the Prog still has the capacity to surprise and try new things.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Dredd (Niemand) > The Out > Bonjo > Dredd (Rennie) > Joe Pineapples > Proteus Vex > Rogue > Ace Trucking > Hope
Merry Christmas everyone.
Words can not describe how much I continue to adore Proteus Vex. Best strip in quite some many years.
This and the previous Prog turned up today. Have yet to get stuck in, but hopefully a sign more folks will be getting theirs, too.
A Christmas Prog cut through with glorious melancholy. The tributes to both Alan Grant and Kev O'Neill are fantastic and tragic in equal measure. The mood of the whole comic is playful in part, woolly in others and that sadness and the sense of time moving on consistant.
Niemand and Carter's return of The Devil in Dredd is such fun, Niemand at his best.
Rogue Trooper is one of Kek-W's looser stories to me, not quite getting to grips in a tight clear way that typically benefits Rogue.
The Tharg /Bonjo story, Kev O'Neill's last strip just sums up the mood of the Prog, fun, harking on time passed and cut with sadness. Ultimately a great read.
The Out and the final strip Proteus Vex are both welcome returns of fantastic strips that rev up to speed quickly, particularly The Out. A healthy reminder in a reflective Prog that the future is always the Prog's greatest strength.
Joe Pineapples on both strip and art front feels like it forgets that.
Hope - well I've not got to that re-read I've mentioned before.
Ace Trucking leds the Alan Grant tributes and it just like Bonjo - its great, as is the cheeky second Dredd strip playing with Grant himself and Stewart K Moore's very direct tribute to the man.
Laced through it all are some great thrills of the future. The prospect of a new Dabnett strip - Azimuth with Tazio Bettin is even more exciting than the Rogue by Ennis and Goddard.
I like the way they dig up Rogue Trooper and Ace Garp every now and then.Would love to see both a bit more often.Looks like a may get my wish with Rogue.Would also like a booklet of those Brimful of thrills collected together.
ALEC TRENCH YA WEE BEAUTY
'The Last Temptation of Joe' was phenomenal stuff, Niemand and Carter absolutely at the top of their game. Rogue Trooper was gory fun, Bonjo was a riot and The Out continued to hit stratospheric levels. A fantastic opening foursome, as the bishop doubtlessly said to... er, someone. Sadly Joe Pineapples looks like it might be a typically torpid farewell from Pat Mills; and Hope..., though conceptually astounding, is really running on too long. Ace Trucking and 'Troublemaker' were really difficult to judge on their own merits as they basically formed the core of an 18-page, self contained and thoroughly heart-warming tribute to Alan Grant. Proteus Vex continues its laudable aim to shoot for the spectacular but I think just needs a little more lightness of prose in order to nail that off-beat space epic vibe.
Hopefully next year's Christmas special won't need to dedicate any of its pages to fallen heroes.
I see the counting of the Plague Year has stopped.
Must admit I wasn't a fan of the artwork for this Rogue Trooper, particularly the in-yer-face palette. To me, Rogue always seems to work better in black-and-white.
Dumb question. If Joe Pineapples has been stranded on that asteroid for a million years (or possibly ten), how come anyone has heard of him, let alone still consider him a major scalp?
Ignoring that his power call should have run down ages ago, metal fatigue set in, parts worn out etc.
(I know...it's only a comic 😉 )
A Deadlock Wizard did it.
Quote from: Magnetica on 01 January, 2023, 07:10:39 PM
Dumb question. If Joe Pineapples has been stranded on that asteroid for a million years (or possibly ten), how come anyone has heard of him, let alone still consider him a major scalp?
Isn't that bit in flashback?
As others have said, a cool prog but also one that left me feeling downcast. Two tribute sections, a pair of Alan Grant tribute strip and Kevin O'Neill's last work... just brings it home how much we have lost in 2022.
Really enjoyed both
Dredd strips. Daft fun in the first one with some really lovely work from Lee Carter. Second strip was, as Colin so neatly outs it, cheeky. Great stuff.
In comparison
Rogue Trooper had that lightweight feel of an old annual strip - somewhat divorced from continuity and of no real relevance. The nighmarish clone rogue looked good, but like most Rogue after it finished, not really interesting. I wouldn't have thought Rogue was a character worth reviving, but tbh I can't think of a better team to try than Ennis and Goddard so lets see!
Loved
Bonjo although a little surprised / disappointed about the choice of phrase 'Tardzilla'.. Otherwise, excellent.
The Out rules, as ever. As often with The Out, no idea where this is going next.
Joe Pineapples starts off with some awkward dialogue. The setup doesn't look great so far, but I'm hoping it'll start firing.
Hope - No thanks.
Ace Trucking is another one I don't feel is worth revisiting, but a nice tribute strip and an upbeat little tale - perfect for this sort of Prog.
Proteus Vex warranted an immediate re-read of the previous Proteus Vex. Felt like a particulary dense opening episode, and so hard to 'review' as such. I really like Proteus Vex and I'm glad it's back.
Plus the teaser of a new Abnett strip & Bettin is very exciting indeed!
Took a long time to arrive but well worth the wait. Cheers Tharg!
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 02 January, 2023, 09:25:08 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 01 January, 2023, 07:10:39 PM
Dumb question. If Joe Pineapples has been stranded on that asteroid for a million years (or possibly ten), how come anyone has heard of him, let alone still consider him a major scalp?
Isn't that bit in flashback?
Is it? I'm just going off the dialogue, where Ro-Jaws asks how long they have been there and Joe says, "what does your atomic clock say?" To which the answer was "a million years? Ten million years?"
Quote from: Magnetica on 03 January, 2023, 11:14:15 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 02 January, 2023, 09:25:08 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 01 January, 2023, 07:10:39 PM
Dumb question. If Joe Pineapples has been stranded on that asteroid for a million years (or possibly ten), how come anyone has heard of him, let alone still consider him a major scalp?
Isn't that bit in flashback?
Is it? I'm just going off the dialogue, where Ro-Jaws asks how long they have been there and Joe says, "what does your atomic clock say?" To which the answer was "a million years? Ten million years?"
"Long enough to see the birth and death of a Star." Which suggests to me billions of years at the very least.
Cheers
I had to double check but I'm pretty sure the story is 'we've been on this asteroid for billions of years, how did we end up here and what's the deal with this mysterious plate?'
After the first few pages Joe starts narrating how he left Mars for an as-yet-unexplained sniping problem: they go through the Heavens Gate and the bad guys are on the other side. I'm guessing it will eventually lead to them being stuck on the asteroid for ever...
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 04 January, 2023, 09:15:51 AM
I had to double check but I'm pretty sure the story is 'we've been on this asteroid for billions of years, how did we end up here and what's the deal with this mysterious plate?'
After the first few pages Joe starts narrating how he left Mars for an as-yet-unexplained sniping problem: they go through the Heavens Gate and the bad guys are on the other side. I'm guessing it will eventually lead to them being stuck on the asteroid for ever...
That's the set-up alright Barrington.
Great having the Mills & Bisley Droid's back, but not yet sold on the ludicrous plot.
Otherwise a really great end-of-year Prog, more memorable than several of the prior Christmas specials.
Rogue Trooper and Bonjo the highlights for me.