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Prog 2314: Out of the past

Started by IndigoPrime, 07 January, 2023, 11:38:35 AM

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Magnetica

Quote from: broodblik on 11 January, 2023, 03:48:58 AM

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.

Yes agree with that. Except I'm not sure how much excitement I have left at the prospect of a Mills script any more. On previous threads a few years ago, I defended his right to have stories printed in the Prog and he he written some of my all time favourite thrills, but really they were 30 or 40 plus years ago.

It's got to the point, sadly, that I'm happy not to see any further work from him in the Prog. Which is probably academic anyway.

As for Clint's art - yes it's an improvement but it could probably have been even better if there wasn't a need to do it in the same sort of style as the first two episodes.

broodblik

I feel like Mills-fatigue currently and it is sad to say I do not think I will miss him in the prog
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

nxylas

Quote from: Magnetica on 11 January, 2023, 11:58:00 AM
It's got to the point, sadly, that I'm happy not to see any further work from him in the Prog. Which is probably academic anyway.
I dunno, there's a part of me that would like to read his final Flesh 10-parter and to see Savage wrapped up, though that's more due to the fact that I hate seeing things left unfinished than anything.
AIEEEEEE! It's the...THING from the HELL PLANET!

broodblik

Accordingly to uncle Pat Savage is all done and dusted
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: broodblik on 11 January, 2023, 01:00:42 PM
Accordingly to uncle Pat Savage is all done and dusted

He says exactly the same about Slaine, even though it was clearly Book One of a brand-new arc, and about ABC Warriors, which ended with very little resolved. 'It's done and dusted' is just Mills-speak for 'Can't be bothered with it any more.'
@jamesfeistdraws

nxylas

Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 11 January, 2023, 01:08:18 PM
He says exactly the same about Slaine, even though it was clearly Book One of a brand-new arc, and about ABC Warriors, which ended with very little resolved. 'It's done and dusted' is just Mills-speak for 'Can't be bothered with it any more.'
Well, in this case, he says that it's because his future story arcs would avoid a take on the Russian invasion of Ukraine that he fears would be too controversial. Make of that what you will.
AIEEEEEE! It's the...THING from the HELL PLANET!

JudgeJudi

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 11 January, 2023, 09:35:11 AM


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.

Funny enough I had logged on to say the same thing - It looks like it's happening today.

The Enigmatic Dr X

Och, this is okay.

DREDD - Assirelli obviously watched the Dredd movie but hasn't read Dredd. The art here is a lift from the film. The first page made me do a double check I wasn't reading an adaption; the Dredd uniform feels very filmy. More to the point, everyone other than the judges, is in contemporary dress and the big Meg looks more like any real world city. Fun though.

HOPE - file this with the Order in the "no drokking idea what's going on, ignore" drawer.

JOE PINEAPPLES - this should never have been in the prog. It's trading off the names of Bisley and Mills. The Langley art looks like he cars, unlike the flat Biz art, but in both cases it's polishing the turd of the writing. This has all the hallmarks of post-progocalypse Mills, by which I mean it is lazy in the extreme. Key tropes are: exposition in the dialogue ("that's why you commit every crim imaginable - because you want to feel alive"); introducing a character with a splash page and a name, and jarring out of character moments (just how does Ro-Jaws know the bad guys are ghosts? He's a sewer bot, but let's not stress as we need to resolve the cliffhanger. Since when did Joe have a thing for girls? Let's not stress, Sue Bananas is a cool name and  a sexy female Joe splash page works).

OUT and VEX work are brill.
Lock up your spoons!

broodblik

Mark's original illustration to go along with the series pitch:



When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

Jacqusie

Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 January, 2023, 04:49:15 PM

JOE PINEAPPLES - this should never have been in the prog.


My thoughts too, it's dire. Would a new writer who delivered this godawful script get a run like this I wonder? Sue Banana's Tharg?

Why did the artist change after only 2 weeks and the big roll out with the return of the Biz? Did he get taken off it?

I know this is a tad strong, but the editor has made a mistake (you win some you lose some) and it's a bit of an insult to serve this up to the readership.

If this is the last Pat Mills wants to write for 2000AD it certainly shows and it's all a bit sad really




Dark Jimbo

Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 January, 2023, 04:49:15 PMSince when did Joe have a thing for girls?

Since Day One, in fairness! He got booted out of his elite assassin unit over an affair with a human officer's wife before he met Hammerstein.
@jamesfeistdraws

IndigoPrime

Quote from: broodblik on 11 January, 2023, 06:24:55 PMMark's original illustration to go along with the series pitch:
Blimey. Another The Out pic that would make a great print (although I still want that one where Cyd is thumbing a lift from the gold brick-like spaceship). Mind you, almost every one of the big pics would. Such a great showcase for his art, while simultaneously being a superb strip in itself.

The Enigmatic Dr X

Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 11 January, 2023, 07:54:21 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 11 January, 2023, 04:49:15 PMSince when did Joe have a thing for girls?

Since Day One, in fairness! He got booted out of his elite assassin unit over an affair with a human officer's wife before he met Hammerstein.

Really? I could swear he liked boys.
Lock up your spoons!

nxylas

Quote from: Jacqusie on 11 January, 2023, 06:55:05 PM
Why did the artist change after only 2 weeks and the big roll out with the return of the Biz? Did he get taken off it?
Yes, because he took 6 years to deliver those two episodes. Tharg really had no choice but to replace him.
AIEEEEEE! It's the...THING from the HELL PLANET!

norton canes

Second digital prog, and that cover looks absolutely resplendent. What I've lost in the comfort of holding the GGC in my hands I've more than made up with the fact that everything pops out regardless of printing issues. And I can zoom in! I can actually read Damage Report! What a revelation!

(Yes, I understand that I'm probably contributing to an uncertain future for the physical prog, but TBH costs were also a factor and I'm glad I haven't had to give it up entirely)

Anyway, 'The Night Shifter' continues in fine form script-wise - but yes, though he's putting in some sterling character work, the Assirelli droid probably does need its futuristic metropolis depiction circuits tweaking. It's not easy leveling any kind of criticism at Ken Niemand when he's in this form and I'd certainly never accuse his tersely-phrasing Dredd of being verbose ("Me neither") - I think that last line's intentionally loquacious for comic effect.

Head's telling me to dislike Joe Pineapples but heart's having a soft moment, which means I can't be too scathing. Langley's art makes it more bearable and enough of the Mills one-liners land to stop me kicking the whole thing into touch. 'Sue Bananas', though... I guess the reason that full-pager looks so amiss is that going by the opening page credit, Langley's basically had to fill over a Bisley sketch. How many episodes is this..?

The Out's cold, bright hues almost seem to serve as a palate-cleanser (and a palette-cleanser, heh) after the garish excesses of the previous strip, and the story remains as captivating as ever - I don't mind the odd bit of Big War stuff and I'm sure we'll be exploring the curious recesses of Cyd's psyche again before long. 'Do-nots'... lovely.

Who's run that javelin through Lou in Hope? Have I missed something? Nice weirdness and the end. With twenty-plus instalments the overall plot of '...in the Shadows' may have eluded me in places but there hasn't been a single episode I haven't savoured.

Finally, Proteus Vex opens with his ship landing inside a giant Playstation then goes on to feature a one-eyed talking insect with a star on his holster, a spaceship attacking another spaceship by unleashing huge square rocks, an assault from orbit on metallic wings, what the Vervoids should have looked like in Doctor Who and a pair of cosmic courtiers who seem more interested in courting each other than watching the drama unfolding in front of them. This is proper Prophet-level stuff and I love it.

I want to do some Proteus Vex cosplay. Hey Rebellion, when's the suit coming out?