A very good issue this week.
There's a particularly good Droid Life.
Judge Dredd: War Buds features some nice art by Dan Cornwall, especially the bit with someone's brains being blown out on page 1. He's a good fit in the prog, and I'd welcome seeing more of his work in the future. (Having said that, given what this story is about I do wish they'd got Carlos to do this one, but there we go.) The action gets under way.
The Alienist is moving along nicely, and Greysuit is building up to its conclusion.
Mechastopheles is on this prog's cover, and inside we see [spoiler]a lovely big monster.[/spoiler]
But by far the best thing in the prog this week (and every week since it came back) is Hope. I don't know if this story will have a sequel (it's certainly not going to have a happy ending), but if it doesn't then these creators definitely need to have a go on something else. Looking forward to seeing how it all pans out.
Hope and the alienist are the highlight for me this week, for some reason the judge dredd strip isn't doing it for me with this story
I like the variety of settings in this prog - past, future and present.
I would have liked to have seen the Dredd flashbacks re-use Ezquerra's panels. Thus would have avoided a direct comparison between the 2 artists. It's the only thing I'd change. There's a real sense of the time that has passed since the War.
Alienist is ticking along nicely. I hope we get to explore more of this world in future stories.
The short feels a little slight at the moment. I find these harder to get into than Future Shocks. Not always sure if I'm waiting for the plot to lead to a twist or get a feel for the characters. Not sure why I feel this way but it's an either/or in the way I don't get with longer or shorter strips.
Grey Suit remains a favourite - some masterful storytelling from the Mills droid. It's a shame that there at no more stories to be told in this world. I'd be up for more.
Despite the strong competition from Dredd and Grey Suit, Hope is my favourite this prog for so many reasons. It's a strip that's made me do some of the work. Often this doesn't bode well. In the case of Hope,however, it's drawn me into the world. Gold tiger was an entertaining read, missing out for me on their being no reason to tell the tale on the way that they did. Hope shows it was worth investing in this team.
Quote from: Richard on 26 August, 2017, 02:48:08 PM
Judge Dredd: War Buds... given what this story is about I do wish they'd got Carlos to do this one
Good point, although I'd say the same about
all Dredd stories. It would certainly be possible for Ezquerra to draw every Dredd story written by Wagner*.
* 10-15 episodes per year, at present.
I've finally caught up to date with my back Progslog!!
This loverly beau should be awaiting my return home, pages akimbo!
You might even get my usual halfersed one line review if you're really lucky
A Prog of mixed blessing really.
Dredd continues to be a delight both on the eye and in story. Really enjoying this and seeing where its going. In just 2 short progs Wagner has really engaged me with characters we've not seen for years and even though only briefly. They feel real and I care about their fates. Done with such deft skill.
Both Alienist and Greysuit continues in fine, it not astonishing form. Alienist is certainly better than its been before and I'm intrigued to see the final reveals as to where the villainy truly lies. Greysuit while not holding on to its early promise moved things ahead well this episode and is building well to its showdown.
3riller is the weakest thing in the Prog. This episode felt as though it padded out a 2 part story to justify the 3 in riller.
Hope looks astonishing and once again did an effective job but I need to put this all together, but I'm increasingly looking forward to doing so, however much at times it seems built on cliched foundations.
So not a bad Prog by any stretch but not blowing me away.
I think there's a fault with my Prog supplier, as my weekly Prog comes not with the 'masterful storytelling' version of Grey Suit, but with a version which is brick-to-the-face subtle and possibly the single worst strip to appear in the Prog this decade. :P
(https://i.imgur.com/q1LqXr1.jpg)
Quote from: Taryn Tailz on 26 August, 2017, 09:09:43 PM
I think there's a fault with my Prog supplier, as my weekly Prog comes not with the 'masterful storytelling' version of Grey Suit, but with a version which is brick-to-the-face subtle and possibly the single worst strip to appear in the Prog this decade. :P
Printing error. 2000AD is printed using CMYKT. Clearly the Thrill-power plate was under-inked in your copy.
Quote from: glassstanley on 26 August, 2017, 03:21:46 PM
I like the variety of settings in this prog - past, future and present.
I would have liked to have seen the Dredd flashbacks re-use Ezquerra's panels. Thus would have avoided a direct comparison between the 2 artists. It's the only thing I'd change. There's a real sense of the time that has passed since the War.
Nah - that'd increase comparisons, as it would be right there on the same page. The thing about where-are-they-now stories is comparing the character as they originally appeared with where they are now. That would be difficult enough if you have different artists showing the 'then' and 'now'. This way the only difference is the time passed, not the art style as well.
Quote from: Richard on 26 August, 2017, 02:48:08 PM
Judge Dredd: War Buds features some nice art by Dan Cornwall, especially the bit with someone's brains being blown out on page 1. He's a good fit in the prog, and I'd welcome seeing more of his work in the future. (Having said that, given what this story is about I do wish they'd got Carlos to do this one, but there we go.) The action gets under way.
This particular artist notwithstanding, most where-are-they-now stories tend to be done by different creative teams, partially because if the original creator really wanted to keep tabs on the character, they'd do it along the way, as we often get with supporting cast members in non-Wagnerian Judge Dredd strips. This story is actually quite different as it is actually Wagner returning to the characters.
Quote from: Taryn Tailz on 26 August, 2017, 09:09:43 PM
I think there's a fault with my Prog supplier, as my weekly Prog comes not with the 'masterful storytelling' version of Grey Suit, but with a version which is brick-to-the-face subtle and possibly the single worst strip to appear in the Prog this decade. :P
It really is so bad in so many ways. It's a relief to read that there are others feeling my pain. From the 6th form politics to the poor and unconvincing art, this whole strip is making me think that at the tender age of 50 my 2000AD days may be coming to an end.
A Prog of mixed blessing really.
Damage Report: TMO takes holidays?
Dredd continues to be a delight both on the eye and in story. Really enjoying this and seeing where its going. In just 2 short progs Wagner has really engaged me with characters we've not seen for years and even though only briefly. They feel real and I care about their fates. Done with such deft skill.
Alienist continues in fine form. Enjoying the art too.
Greysuit: not in my name!
3riller is fine, some nice background and a big robot/demon face off.
Hope keeps me wanting to see whats going on just off screen, Howard Chakyn should have done this one.
So a great Prog by any stretch! ( thanks Colin :wave:)
http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=GIDEON
Quote from: Frank on 30 August, 2017, 02:24:57 PM
http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=GIDEON
The '90s comeback continues.
"Hello Agent Cooper... I'll annihilate you again in 25 years."
I'm looking forward to the Dead Meat reboot. "Donald Trump is ba-aa-aa-aad".
Quote from: Frank on 31 August, 2017, 09:31:56 AM
I'm looking forward to the Dead Meat reboot. "Donald Trump is ba-aa-aa-aad".
Noooo! Anything but Inspector Raam! I'd even go for a reboot of the '90s reboot of Sam Slade above that :o
...although I feel the need to clarify that I remember really enjoying Armoured Gideon.
I wasn't keen when it went all meta with the old 2000 AD characters. (Those kinds of tales always feel like the writer's struggling for ideas – note when Ace Trucking briefly did the same.) Other than that, I really enjoyed the strip's weirdness, art, and the big stompy robot. I'd hoped it might be a 'curveball' book in the 2000 AD UC. At the very least, the run must surely be ripe for a Meg floppy or five?
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 31 August, 2017, 11:27:58 AM
I wasn't keen when it went all meta ... Those kinds of tales always feel like the writer's struggling for ideas
You hear that? That's the sound of Rob Williams and Ichabod Azrael sobbing quietly into their pillows.
Armoured Gideon was okay, but the basic concept of an enormous, grinning robot (with a pun name drawn from Judeo-Christian apocrypha) smushing demons doesn't strike me as so great it needs revisioning for a new generation*.
It's only a matter of time before someone reimagines
Chronos Carnival. **
* Actually the same generation, just older.
** Maybe they'll reimagine it as good, next time
Quote from: Frank on 31 August, 2017, 01:08:51 PM
Armoured Gideon was okay, but the basic concept of an enormous, grinning robot (with a pun name drawn from Judeo-Christian apocrypha) smushing demons doesn't strike me as so great it needs revisioning for a new generation*.
In my minds eye it was more of "Cain & Abel are demon-slaying Transformers" romp.
And you're forgetting your namesake,
Frank Weitz- hapless middle aged Peter Parker-esque photographer (and Michelle Pfeiffer fetishist).
Enjoyable character.
Quote from: Link Prime on 31 August, 2017, 01:29:11 PM
Quote from: Frank on 31 August, 2017, 01:08:51 PM
Armoured Gideon was okay, but the basic concept of an enormous, grinning robot (with a pun name drawn from Judeo-Christian apocrypha) smushing demons doesn't strike me as so great it needs revisioning for a new generation
... you're forgetting ... Frank Weitz- hapless middle aged Peter Parker-esque photographer (and Michelle Pfeiffer fetishist). Enjoyable character.
This version has a Robot Dad.
I can't decide whether the way Karl Richardson switches between his usual fine rendering on scenes involving the human characters and the bold inking style employed when the kaiju versus jaeger action kicks in is really clever or disconcerting.
Hopey and
The Analist are both taking a long time to go nowhere in particular, which - unusually for current Pat Mills - isn't an observation you could make regarding
Greysuit. Maybe it's just a function of being told to wind the strip up, but more happens in this episode than all 20 parts of
Brink.
The holding patterns and retracing of steps that characterise Mills's ongoing serials are dropped in favour of sometimes jarringly abbreviated storytelling, but the rush of just deserts delivered and ideas expressed is more like the super condensation of concepts in
Nemesis and
Marshal Law.Like the rest of
Greysuit, this episode walks a wobbly line between awful and entertainingly daft, but the disquisition on the ways we brainwash ourselves about the horrors of our schooldays struck a chord in a way not much has since
Zaucer Of Zilk's observations on ageing.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but
Greysuit was my favourite thing in the comic.
Quote from: moly on 26 August, 2017, 02:55:10 PM
Hope and the alienist are the highlight for me this week, for some reason the judge dredd strip isn't doing it for me with this story
I feel the same, especially about Hope - such a strong characterisation and a great story and world background. I'm really enjoying the Alienist too - it's just keeps on picking up pace. Like Moly I'm not sure why Dredd is not really clicking for me. It's kind of like a piece of music where teh timing's ever so slightly out.
The prog is an odd beast for me at the moment, things I should like I'm currently ambivalent about, things I shouldn't like, I'm ambivalent about too.
Cover: Stonking. Needs 100% more Kaiju, but what's there is well metal.
Droid Life: Ugh! Chortle!
Dredd: War Buds. I dunno, it's a classic Wagner tale and delightfully told with all the pathos and violence that entails, but for me there's something a bit off with still using the Apocalypse War as THE defining event... 7/8ths of the population (and 60% of Justice Dept) died after Chaos Day, yet all eight (alas, poor Ocks) surviving Apocalypse Squad members made it through. How did these five judges fare during Necropolis? Judgement Day? The Narcos takeover? Were they just sitting in a bar reminiscing for the last 35 years? I know it was their moment in the spotlight (Shanty Town and Gulag too, for a couple), but I'd argue that they've almost certainly been through worse since.
Cornwell's art is great, and I disagree that Carlos should have drawn this one*: we're seeing a lot of the same scenes from a different perspective, it'd be deathly dull to see the same artist render them.
The Alienist: Aside from wishing that ** could draw the continuing adventures of Luke Kirby, I'm really enjoying this. Lovely juxtapositions of times and realities, anchored in an engaging central relationship.
Hope: Lost my attention a little this week, but still a pretty classy read.
Mechastopheles: See this I like, and not just because GIANT ROBOTS FIGHTING KAIJU. If this is to Armoured Gideon what Aquila is to Blackhawk, count me in for more. Mechastopheles is way better than Detonator X, about the same as Big George, but not as good as TorqueArmada... but give him time.
And lastly Greysuit, which I just hate everything about all the time.
But no, wait a minute: I thought this week's (and last week's) episode were... fun? I mean it's still awful stuff, but it's certainly vibrating along so fast that I might be unable to see its ginger noggin anymore, and thus its flaws are rendered invisible. Or maybe I'm just feeling such relief that it's almost over that I'm confusing the sensation with pleasure. Must ask the wife about that.
*While accepting the position that Carlos should draw EVERYTHING as a basic tenet of existence.
Quote from: TordelBack on 04 September, 2017, 06:18:19 PM
The Alienist: Aside from wishing that ** could draw the continuing adventures of Luke Kirby...
That should read Coveney, obviously. Apologies.
Quick summary, only just managed to read this after being away for a week
Cover: Big demon-possessed robot, what's not to like?
Dredd: A fine read but a slow-burner. Will there be a sting in the tale?
Alienist: Gets more intriguing by the week. 'Sick-Changers' huh? Shades of Ramon Sola in the artwork.
Mechastopheles: Nice, given its three-episode limitations. Could see it being expanded to full-strip proportions.
Hope: Dark, dark, dark! Love it.
I think that's all the strips. Yep, sure that's all of them.