Prog 2312 - Xmas with the Devil!

[nxylas]

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!

[Swerty]

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.

[Mike Carroll]

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!

[Beaker]

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.

[IndigoPrime]

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

[McNulty]

Merry Christmas everyone.

[Hawkmumbler]

Words can not describe how much I continue to adore Proteus Vex. Best strip in quite some many years.

[Darren Stephens]

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.

[Colin YNWA]

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.

[Swerty]

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.

[The Monarch]

ALEC TRENCH YA WEE BEAUTY

[norton canes]

'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.

[Dominic O'Rourke]

I see the counting of the Plague Year has stopped.

[A.Cow]

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.

[Magnetica]

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 😉 )