Prog 2314: Out of the past

[IndigoPrime]

Another Saturday Prog here, albeit one where Tharg forgot to change the black ink cartridge. Alas. Fortunately, the cover has its full gamut of contrast, and Mark Harrison’s artwork looks fantastic.

Inside, we get a new Droid Life and then Dredd. This second part of The Night Shifter ramps up the action and intrigue alike. The dialogue in the final panel was a wonderful slice of understatement and black humour, in a pretty dark Niemand script. I’m sure some folks here would argue otherwise, but the whole thing feels like Wagner being channelled. This is Dredd that feels like Dredd, and is superb.

Next up, we get Pat Mills that feels like Pat Mills in Joe Pineapples. Bisley’s out for Langley, and so it all looks good enough. I imagine fans of his ABC Warriors run will be thrilled to see this last hurrah for the characters. But… it still feels like a re-run of all the things I didn’t like in that dark period of 1990s 2000 AD. Sorry, but I’ll be happy when this is done.

The Out, though, is a strip I’d be happy to see take up semi-permanent residence in the Prog. While this episode is heavy on bridging and dialogue, and has less of Harrison’s imaginative art, it’s still great comics. And you need a change of pace when the thing’s collected. Also: despite being talky, it still deftly moves the story on in key ways.

Hope should in theory evoke the same sentiments. Objectively, it looks great (and different from usual 2000 AD fare). A lot happens. There’s weirdness and a twist at the end. But this lost me some time back and I’m not 100% sure what’s going on.

There are similar issues with Proteus Vex, but to a lesser degree. This strip’s storytelling remains dense. Miss a detail and you can come unstuck. I’m just glad the gaps aren’t monthly. However, Vex continues to intrigue, and it feels like the kind of strip we might look back on in a decade with the same fondness as a Nikolai Dante – assuming the creative team gets the chance to fulfil its vision.

Similar, then, to last issue for me, with three hits and two duds, but nothing here is objectively bad.

Dredd > The Out > Proteus Vex > Hope > Joe Pineapples

[Colin YNWA]

Dee dee na na na
Saturday Prog, I feel the air is getting Zarjaz
Thank you Thargy
It reads just fine, you know, it'll take you to the top
Thrillpower drives you crazy

The good in this Prog is SOOOOOOoooooo good. And the rough is better.

From bottom to top then for a change.

Joe Pineapples - well the art is a LOT better and the story feels elevated for it... not by too much this is well trodden ground.

Hope still needs a re-read - teases with how good I think it is

The Out - now this is brilliant BUT. See I love this, Cyd remains compelling as a character the way she self-consiously masks parts of her body just says so much and so little about her, her situation and where she's at. The rest of this 'short review' might get longwinded.

The issue I have is, while I fully except the story needs to move on from Cyd exploring world's, meeting people for deeply personal reasons, slowly and perfectly revealed to us, the dominance of the war these current episodes robs the thrill - a little - of what made it so wonderfully unique. Proteus Vex does this so brilliantly in this very issue. 2000ad has done big war so well before. Now telling big war through the lens of Cyd offers it a unique angle, retains some of its originality, anchors it in the person details that made the thrill so chuffin' wonderful BUT its still moving it away from that a bit.

I know war has always been the dark shadow Cyd has danced through, its been there all the time and it will move on, it will develop in ways I'm not expecting I'm sure. Just at this moment, brilliant though it is, it feels a little less significent in its bigness.

I doubt any of that makes much sense to anyone else, so should I have just said its bloody magnificent.

Dredd is superb everything that Niemand brings to the strip. Dredd captured perfectly. Characters we've been made to care about in no time at all placed in situations that creep you out and pull you in. And rememberign we want a good ol' dosh of high octane action. Dredd done to perfection.

Speaking of perfection Proteus Vex is just that. They have a plan and its revealed with absolute perection in this episode.

So much to love in this great Saturday Prog.

[Magnetica]

Another Saturday Prog here, albeit one where Tharg forgot to change the black ink cartridge. Alas.

My copy also seems affected. The colours in Dredd, Proteus Vex and the ad on the inside back cover seem washed out and the text is grey not black in those strips. Is that how yours is? Does anyone else have similar issues with their copies?

[IndigoPrime]

Yep. That’s how mine is.

[Leigh S]

Mine is fine (and turned up before the shops got em!  back to sort of normal) - no inky problems

Dredd is a good tale, but man, Dredd remains verbose.  Niemand ticks many of the Wagner boxes to the degree I do sometimes wonder if this is how Greta Van Fleet fans feel, but the dialogue...

It's a common error to give Dredd too much to say (I know I found it a problem with Gordon's Dredd back in the day, which means I;m still not 100% convinced KN is his own person, just 90%  -same with his dick move on page 1)

It might have been Judge Bramm (?) who famously replied "Grim.", but that "exciting telegrams(?)" description of Wagner scripts should apply to the dialogue as well.  That final panel is as good an example as any -

"Citizen Aguerra, I'm recommending your accusation against the Night-shift cook at Petey's Hottie-2-Go is worth further investigation"

or

"Seems like you were right, Citizen" (or something better if Wagner wrote it!)

Elsewhere, I've lost a bit of enthusiam for The Out since the Tankinar arc kicked in, but still welcome

I lost Proteus Vex despite a reread before the last run, so I'm taking this run on its own merits, as any good story "should" work that way right?

[gogilesgo]

Judge Prager. The definition of laconic.

[Link Prime]

Judge Prager.

Here's a fact to chill your ageing bones:

It's now been longer since Prager's last appearance in 'Out of the Undercity', 2002 (21 years) that it was from his first appearance in 'Cry of the Werewolf', 1983 to his improbable return all those years later (19 years).

[gogilesgo]

and he's still down there, poor bloke.

Like the man said, GRIM.

[broodblik]

Cover by Mark Harrison:

[broodblik]

Cover and Logo:

[broodblik]

The prog continues its great start to the year. Lovely cover as well.

Dredd – Mister Mean is back, and he is not taking any nonsense. This is by sure Niemand’s darkest Dredd story so far and I am fully vested into the story.

The Out – A lot of talking this episode as we see Cyd’s state of mind. The last part focus on what our friendly neighborhood invasion fleet is doing. Really enjoying this as usual.

Joe Pineapples – Three episodes in and suddenly I released all the excitement off having the last Mills strip in the prog is gone.  I was hoping to enjoy this more, but the story is not working for me. I also was surprised that I found Clint’s artwork is just so much better than the previous two parts, sorry Simon but that is just the truth of things.

Hope – Well it took a long time and a lot of diversions to get to this point but with this long trek it is difficult to see how the story wraps up next week.

Proteus Vex – Awesome story and this just gets better and my favorite thing in the current prog. I am putting in a request to Mike if he ever thinks of a spin-off give us Midnight.

[The Corinthian]

But… it still feels like a re-run of all the things I didn’t like in that dark period of 1990s 2000 AD.

In a way I quite like the "someone hid this down the back of the planning chest two years ago and we've paid for it we've got to run it" aesthetic of it all. It feels authentically Millsian in a way that Slaine suddenly stopping at random didn't. So at least he departs 2000AD sounding like himself, albeit in a mid-1990s-wanging-on-about-Khaos tone of voice.

[IndigoPrime]

I suppose. I mean, I don’t begrudge its inclusion, and I know it’s making some people very happy, so that’s good for them. It just to me feels… I dunno… redundant? (I like your thinking on the planning chest vibe. It does feel very much like that.)

[Barrington Boots]

Tuesday Prog is the new Saturday Prog, great to find it waiting when I got back in from work.
Cover is superb.

Really enjoying this Dredd and a big fan of Niemand’s ability to skip from lighthearted craziness to grim procedural and everything in between with his various Dredd tales. Only nitpick is how contemporary the vehicles look this week in the art. The Out remains great - I agree with Leigh in that I felt it was better pre-Tankinar, but I also found the bag irritating, so it's swings and roundabouts. Regardless, still digging prettyy much everything about it.
Joe Pineapples is not very good but at least we have some better art this week! Nice to see the story moving forward in Hope and in fairness the last couple of episodes have been better, but I still long for it to finish. Finally Proteus Vex is the best thing in the Prog this week for me and everything about it rules.

[JWare]

Only nitpick is how contemporary the vehicles look this week in the art

Too true. Dredd's uniform is the only thing that looks futuristic in this story, and because of that it looks incongruous, if not downright silly.


And I love that cover to bits.