Well that rariest of treats a Friday Prog landing. Which will of course leave me feeling slightly out of sorts tomorrow BUT hey enjoy it while I can and well timed as I'm at home with the kids... who have for the last 20 minutes been told to do some drawing quietly in their rooms!
Anyway how are we doing, well okay, not too bad. Dredd sets up what might, might be the final showdown with PJ Maybe. After John Wagner's recent comments is it PJ he's offing? Maybe (see what I did there). Either way nice exciting recap and set up by JD's creative duo.
Brink continues to be by far the best thing anywhere right now (well outside of Lawless in the Meg! My Tharg's highs are highs at the moment) and this is a lovely action number, all atmosphere and timing.
As in the Meg the real high is acompanied by a low. Though to be fair Black Shuck looks like it might have been mightly fun this week. Just I've been left long behind with this one and no longer care. Re-read needed here.
Outlier continues to build nicely as the humans take the next step in what will no doubt be an ugly arms race.
Scarlet Traces is exposition done well and entertainly. With strong hints its going to offer up much soon. Very enjoyable.
With a nice advert for what looks like it could be a fun thrill 'Hope' coming soon its a fine Prog if not outstanding. All this and the weekend isn't even here!
(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r182/Caliban_photos/1991_zpsp4vb397k.jpg)
Looking forward to Pete Wells' blog on this one. Neil Roberts tends to use pictures of himself as reference and I'm wondering if he borrowed a motorbike.
Marvelous issue. Really enjoyed it.
Cover: The old 'buncha lawmasters charging toward you through the city' may be done to death over the years, but I still love it just about every time!
Dredd: Don't remember PJ stealing Johnny Alpha's identity, but ok! Still really want the dark judges and PJ episodes to be explained fully, maybe (I did it too!) we'll get that in this? Hope so, although it looks like we may be going down the 'Hannibal' route as a framework for the tale.
Brink: Still not my thing.
Black Shlep: Nah, just don't care at all, Nice art though.
Outlier: Ticking along nice, but was unsure if her surprise at the end was due to the sacrifice made of the crew on the human ship, or the fact the Amourigami things ripped up a Hurde ship? No doubt it'll become clear in future episodes.
Scarlet Traces: Also not my thing.
Hope Advert: Hope it ain't another bloody photo strip run through the computer......
Hope looks great. And it's a bit of a dis to the artist to assume he can't draw people.
No problems with loads of Lawmasters out on the streets. They have 10's of thousands of MC3 Judges now, so I expect to see lots of boots and tyres out there people. Z
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 22 July, 2016, 02:27:59 PM
Dredd sets up what might, might be the final showdown with PJ Maybe. After John Wagner's recent comments is it PJ he's offing? Maybe (see what I did there).
I think you might be right there...
Brnk: After last week's ending I half expected an ectoplasmic Brink to manifest and clobber Bob, but the stand-off is resolved in rather more mundane fashion. As I said last week, we're firmly in Hollywood cliché territory here, but I'm invested enough in the characters not to mind. Can't wait to see how it ends. Where are all those feathers (leaves?) coming from, though?
Scarlet Traces: The allegory is a little heavy-handed, but in light of recent events the line "There were always bigots amongst them but now you've made them monsters" really hits home.
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 23 July, 2016, 06:43:55 PM
Hope Advert: Hope it ain't another bloody photo strip run through the computer......
What makes you say that? Nothing about it looks like photography to me. Quite possibly Broxton used photo
reference, but who among us can honestly say we've never Googled "sexy lady on car"? For artistic purposes, of course. Anyway, I loved the Goldtiger excerpt which appeared in the Meg (been meaning to get the book, actually) so I'm (pun incoming...) optimistic about Hope.
Cover: Cracking, lovely colours, brilliantly framed. Most of all makes you eant to read Dredd ASAP!...
Dredd: The funal confrontation with PJ Maybe, Perhapse. Let us see, until then it's a solid opening from Wagner and Super Squirrel.
Black Shuck: Has officialy still lost me. Too much same face, but Yeowell is still doing some real nice beasty's.
Brink: A superb tense actuon sequence. Really nicely done!
Outlier: Som interesting developments, looks like this Origami bots might actually be effective!
Scarlet Traces: Bloody good stuff as well! Looovely art!
Preview: Hope look's like a City of Fire comic. Thats a good thing!
Cover: The old 'buncha lawmasters charging through the city', but I still love it just about every time!
Dredd: Don't really want the dark judges and PJ episodes to be explained fully, as in my megacity they are still in Bong! or off in space, but NOT in the Prog!
Brink: Will look out for the collection, I've never tradewaited on a 2k tale but the lurve for this means I will...
Black Shlep: Nah, just don't care at all, all seems a bit....silly.
Outlier: Also not my thing.
Scarlet Traces: Great thrills and spills and so on topic for our times, light on the easter eggs this time.
Hope Advert: Hope it ain't another bloody photo strip run through the computer......
(http://i.imgur.com/2S7rPtE.jpg?2)(http://i.imgur.com/Qn4R3sU.jpg?3)
So is Judge Exposition (left), who collates the responses to Dredd's Nick Ross turn and accompanies him on the raid of Rowl Thomasson's apartment, a recuperated Judge Logan? Or has Corrigan (right), from Block Judge (1901-1909), joined the Scooby gang?
Also, look at all the huge areas of greenbelt/parkland on that map of modern day New York (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@40.828909,-73.8884294,12z) the Big Meg (above)! Sinfield probably instituted a major regreening programme at the same time he had the anti-grav chute installed in the Grand Hall.
I always assumed the Hudson River was buried in the Undercity, as the Ohio River was shown to be during Necropolis, but there it is on the map, bisecting Megacity One ... I know, I'm a dick and it doesn't matter.
Is Ladykiller [spoiler]a pun? The suggestion that Maybe's been boinking Budley fits well with his being a variation on Patricia Highsmith's sexually versatile Tom Ripley, but rather than it being a straightforward homosexual relationship it would be interesting if Maybe had more than his face changed this time. It would finally make his middle name, Janet, more than whimsy[/spoiler] (see here (http://dreddreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-complete-pj-maybe.html)).
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 23 July, 2016, 06:43:55 PM
...we may be going down the 'Hannibal' route as a framework for the tale.
Ah yes, not had chance to read it yet, but I did flick through to the last page...
Intrigued as to how this story will play out. But grand to see Carlos and John on a PJ Dredd tale. :thumbsup:
Only read the Dredd tale so far - I'm wondering if we'll see an appearance by Walter (due to the reference to Lebowski's Nite Mart).
Quote from: Butch on 27 July, 2016, 01:26:32 PM
Also, look at all the huge areas of greenbelt/parkland on that map of modern day New York (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@40.828909,-73.8884294,12z) the Big Meg (above)! Sinfield probably instituted a major regreening programme at the same time he had the anti-grav chute installed in the Grand Hall.
I always assumed the Hudson River was buried in the Undercity, as the Ohio River was shown to be during Necropolis, but there it is on the map, bisecting Megacity One ... I know, I'm a dick and it doesn't matter.
Green bits are rad zones/chem pits, blue bits are firebreak lines of demolished blocks from Day of Chaos or Enceladus, take your pick.
I'd like to say Corrigan, but Logan is part of Dredd's not-very-productive Maybe-busting team, so I'd go for him.
How long is Brink supposed to be anyway, is it going to run straight until 1999?
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 July, 2016, 08:27:26 AM
How long is Brink supposed to be anyway, is it going to run straight until 1999?
Brink ends next Prog, according to Tharg's editorial.
Oooff! Must read the editorial more! But this is good news because it means I can expect a return!
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 July, 2016, 09:28:12 AM
Oooff! Must read the editorial more! But this is good news because it means I can expect a return!
Brink's been one of my favourite of the recent new thrills too-hope it's back soon!
Dredd, Brink and Scarlet Traces are all rocking my world.
I love a good PJ story so if this is gonna be his last I hope he gets cubed (again) and not killed.
Quote from: Satanist on 28 July, 2016, 12:44:08 PM
Dredd, Brink and Scarlet Traces are all rocking my world.
I love a good PJ story so if this is gonna be his last I hope he gets cubed (again) and not killed.
If he just gets cubed it won't be the last PJ story. Comics characters are only finished when they're dead, and often not even then.
If he gets cubed and no-one writes another PJ story then it would be his last :)
There are plenty of (minor) characters in Dredd history get sent to the cubes and you never see them again. I'd just rather him not get killed as he is by far and away my favourite Dredd side character.
PJ is Dredds arch nemesis, none of this Judge Dredd bollocks. He's been handled well over the years and not yo-yo'd in and out of prison (Arkham Asylums revolving door policy springs to mind). A satisfying conclusion to the story would be good but PJ is such a slippery customer you could never be sure he didn't set up some patsy.
Shockingly I have only had time to read Dredd so far! But what an absolutely cracking episode. Great script and great art.
I usually find the episode after an epic to be a bit flat, but this was a belter.
Well aren't we currently left with two possible ID's for Maybe?
1) He's still on the run, and changed his face again.
2) The serial, serial killer arrested at the end of 'Serial, Serial'.
Nice bit of open ended story writing going on here from the mighty Wagner.
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 28 July, 2016, 02:47:11 PM
Well aren't we currently left with two possible ID's for Maybe?
1) He's still on the run, and changed his face again.
2) The serial, serial killer arrested at the end of 'Serial, Serial'.
My money is on 1) with the added speculation that he's become a new dark judge (similar to Kraken). We still don't know how he escaped and, aside from a CCTV shot of a heavily-disguised figure, we haven't actually
seen PJ Maybe post-Chaos -- I find that suspicious.