At least I think that's what the tagline says - the font ain't all that clear.
Anyhoo inside we have 3 winners and 2 losers, can you guess which is which?
Well to be fair one winner is just a solid intriging start, nice and exposing plenty of potential but Scarlet Traces is scene setting. Mind having read the previous stuff I'm confident we have exciting things to look forward to.
Lets get the losers out the way. Black Shuck is just unfolding, or rather unravelling in front of me now. I've completely lost it, the strip means nowt to me. Here's hoping re-read serves it better than episode as i have the feeling once you get past the beards there's something to enjoy here.
Slaine's up and down run ends with a solid downer. I mean jez after a great episode last week which crushed Slaine and left him a broken and shattered man ready to be mauled what we get this week essentially boiled down to (and I do hate using spoiler tags in a spoiler section but... We [spoiler]won[/spoiler], it [spoiler]ran fast.[/spoiler] Oh [spoiler]brill[/spoiler] I feel better and can [spoiler]go back[/spoiler] to my [spoiler]miracle bowing shooting.[/spoiler].. elsewhere... oh [spoiler]poo we lost [/spoiler]BUT I have [spoiler]another army to throw at[/spoiler] Slaine. Isn't that exciting... well to be honest if it was for the promise of more glorious Simon Davis art no it wouldn't be at all.
Still we have two winners. I loved Tordelback's observation of we're at the cliche Dredd put the gang together phase of the mega epic. But cliche or not its working a treat.
Brink continues to be an absolute master class, all be it with a sci-fi cliche of its own with the shot the gravity off trick. Again don't care I ADORE this brilliant strip and I'm really intrigued about the 'good guys' plot and where that might take things.
So 3 winner 2 losers a middling Prog then.
Oh and I'll warn you now I mis-fired on me spoiler tags - bolding one and completely missing another about Brink. So if you haven't read the Prog avoid my post...
... many would say avoid it anyway!
Cover: Like Colin_YNWA says, the font isn't easy to read. Thought it said "Front Forward Enemy" at first.
Dredd: What isn't there to like? And ... POW! Carroll hits another blast from the past with [spoiler]secret judge dot-and-line codes[/spoiler]. Loving it.
Brink: Still not getting this.
Slaine: The Boretania Chronicles, Book Three: Psychopomp (part ten), paragraph 5 subsection 3(ii): Week 7 of "Slaine fires some arrows". Simon Davis is a fascinating artist but it's like someone leant on the photocopy button for a month. And then threw in a pointless double-page spread. Please somebody make it stop.
Black Suck: Don't know; don't care.
Scarlet Traces: Great stuff, especially the Gerry Anderson UFO-style moonbase. And the mug. And [spoiler]David Bowie[/spoiler] turning up at the end.
(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r182/Caliban_photos/a524b818e6da1c5be685e99ed0b51097_zpsaercrq2y.jpg)
Call that a hard to read font?
Pah! Today's generation clearly aren't reading enough 17th century manuscripts!
Here's my input:
Dredd: Coming along well, with both sides moving their plans forward. Question though, Where is Judge Anderson in all this? Has Dredd contacted her or has she been gotten at by the Texans?
Slaine: Old Slaine has seemed to be treading water for a while now for me. Not been a great fan since the anniversary series. This latest outing hasn't been much for me. Each to their own though.
Black Shuck: I find this an interesting story set in a time and place not normally covered by such stories. As a Scot, I am naturally drawn to Celtic myths and legends, but I find that this is a nice change to hear about other stories from the British Isles past. My only concern is that this story will be used to depict Christianity in a poor light, like other 2000AD stories.
Scarlet Traces: I must admit, I have read every Megazine since the start and I do remember the original story set in Victorian Britain but for the life of me I cannot remember the follow up series Tharg mentions in his Nerve centre explanation. That being said, I did enjoy the feel of this opening episode. It is very reminiscent of Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet (He had problems with Martians too).
Blink: I just can't get into the story or the art of this strip. This week, the art was dominated by two colours. It just didn't do anything for me. But I do acknowledge that it has its fans, and I respect this. As I said, each to their own.
I'm loving this current Dredd epic, because it's fast moving and exciting, but I'm surprised about just how weak MC1 seems to be. I was a bit confused about these psi "screamers" - is this something we've seen before? (rings a bell, but I have a terrible memory). Can't wait for the Texans to get their comeuppance, and I hope Hershey survives as I love the dynamic between her and Dredd.
Black Shuck _ not read this yet as I have the last few to catch up with from when I was on holiday. I never skip strips, but this one really feels like a chore. C'mon Leah- your dad gave us an entire series about two girls going shopping and managed to make it exciting - you've got werewolves, vikings and all kinds of cool folklore stuff but it's just not engaging at all.
Brink - didn't like this at first but it's won me over - I really don't know where it's going, which is a good (and rare) thing. Culbard's art suits this strip more than Brass Sun, whose big concepts I think deserve something grander.
Scarlet Traces - I'm in heaven. Love the nods to UFO, and can't wait for the rest of this. Yum!
Slaine - as always, looks pretty, makes bollock sense
Quote from: McNulty on 02 July, 2016, 11:06:38 PM
Blink: I just can't get into the story or the art of this strip. This week, the art was dominated by two colours
What a rip off. Say what you like about
Black Shuck, but at least it uses
all the colours.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 02 July, 2016, 11:22:08 PM
I was a bit confused about these psi "screamers" - is this something we've seen before? (rings a bell, but I have a terrible memory).
I was thinking that Screamers previously were PSI's that worked for gangs, implanting images etc in their victims mind IIRC. Double checking it turns out I was wrong, it was Psykers. I'm the same though as you, the name / practice rings a bell.
Quote from: McNulty on 02 July, 2016, 11:06:38 PM
Scarlet Traces: I must admit, I have read every Megazine since the start and I do remember the original story set in Victorian Britain but for the life of me I cannot remember the follow up series Tharg mentions in his Nerve centre explanation. That being said, I did enjoy the feel of this opening episode. It is very reminiscent of Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet (He had problems with Martians too).
That threw me as well, I didn't think the Great Game got an outing, or the War of the Worlds for that matter. Dark Horse did them (and some very nice hardback graphic novels to boot). I thought it was only Scarlet Traces that got the Meg treatment.
The nod to UFO (as DandontDare points out) raised a chuckle. What I did love was the typically British run down look of the control room. Patched up panels and rusty edges everywhere! Is it just me though or is the art work a little scratchy compared to the earlier outings?
Great to see scarlet traces but slaine please put this out of its misery it's just awful now, nice art though
Quote from: eamonn1961 on 02 July, 2016, 07:53:46 PM
(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r182/Caliban_photos/a524b818e6da1c5be685e99ed0b51097_zpsaercrq2y.jpg)
I was confused for a while what 'Front Joward Enemy' meant.
Arrived back home on Saturday night for the Glasgow comic con, NO PROG grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Monday , arrive home late on from my house calls and NO PROG AGAIN....WTF (sorry) is going on with the Royal Mail???? Me not happy as I'm now 3 days overdue for my thrill power charge up..
Think I will go and knock some heads at the local sorting office...
I can see Donald Dewar's sneaky fag in that photo!
Dredd is great right now, love the way things are brewing. Lost the thread of the Slaine story yonks and yonks ago, but at least these big battles are very nicely painted (even if I don't really know or care what's going on). Not really been able to follow Black Shuck either, again the art looks really nice but I'm not sure what's going on in the story. Possibly I'm not giving it enough attention because it's just not my cup of tea mind you.
Great to see Scarlet Traces back, always really, really liked that back in the Meg (to the point my band had a song called Scarlet Traces at the time).
But really I'm posted to say...how bloody good did Brink go and get?! It was always good, but it went from 'intriguing new thrill' to 'best thing in the prog' for me pretty fast. Loving it.
.
(http://i.imgur.com/tWWBABy.jpg?1)
In our timeline, page 3 girls first appeared in 1969. Who could have guessed that one of the consequences of the Martian invasion of Victorian England would be that Rupert Murdoch booked his passage a year sooner.
David Bowie seems to have arrived on Earth a little early too, judging by the survivor's pallour, bad teeth, hair and cheekbones quip. Seems like fun, and Disraeli's improved UFO interceptor (http://www.gerryanderson.co.uk/science-ufo-interceptor/) manages to be B-wingcredible and Slave-1derful too.
I thought Lion's Den felt like a two and a half month long holding pattern, so I'm glad Reclamation is inching towards some significant action. Time to sit back and enjoy MacNeil's wonderful art and Carroll's caper on their own terms [1].
Simon Davis's double page spread of terracotta warriors is fantastic; presumably Book Four will be 8 weeks of Sláine unsuccessfully blunting his scissors on the Archons' stone army, before Sinéad suggests wrapping them in paper.
Blink looks like an Altern-8 video (https://youtu.be/2_bL0hFyslg?t=51s), and Black Shuck can be enlivened by singing its subtitle - Sins Of The Father (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjhKMgjnvhQ).
[1] Just kidding. Taking Hershey for a shower seems a bit contrived, and has Dolman been established as a whizz at Sniper Elite in previous stories?
Yes Dredd has been a little odd through this arc. Loved all the Cursed Earth stuff in the Prog and Meg but Lion's Den, while well drawn felt padded at 8 parts. Based on Tharg's comments we have only a few parts left of Reclamation which conversely feels like a 20 part epic condensed unsatisfactorily into 6 to 8 parts.
I think part of the plan was to give a little time during Joyce's jaunt to BritCit to show the Texicans asserting control of Mega City One but the result was a meandering pointless trip to England and all too brief cutaways to Hershey and co.
Shame as the TexasCity plot is a good one and deserves a longer outing. Reminds me a bit of the Judda plot during Oz which needed at least half a dozen more episodes to do it justice.
Quote from: Trent on 06 July, 2016, 07:08:43 PM
(T)he TexasCity plot ... (r)eminds me a bit of the Judda plot during Oz which needed at least half a dozen more episodes to do it justice.
Those are great points. If
Supersurf 10 and
The Judda had been scheduled as separate stories, they'd be numbered among the classics, whereas as
Oz is nobody's favourite story
[1].
If a mistake at the printers meant the
Every Empire Falls (https://www.amazon.com/Judge-Dredd-Every-Empire-Falls/dp/1781085315) trade paperback shipped with all the pages between Dredd's ambulance exploding and Rico being surprised by Dredd in Rowdy Yates Conapts
[2] missing, the story wouldn't lose anything important.
Carroll told the Thrillcast that Tharg specifically commissioned this as a Dredd story without Dredd in the lead role, which explains why
Fintan's London Adventure doesn't take the story forward - just takes Dredd off the board for the required length of time.
Involving Brit-Cit in a conspiracy they don't benefit from in any significant way feels like it was retroactively determined by the opportunity that afforded to include
Blood Of Emeralds in the trade collection - like finding out Gideon Dallas was a Sector Zero agent.
I'm moaning, but I enjoyed every point blank execution and Western trope of
Grindstone Cowboys, and there was a lot of fun stuff in
Lion's Den. It just feels like the mechanics of publishing have led to the odd pacing decisions
Trent identifies above.
[1] I like Oz; it was my first epic
[2] Everybody else was confused by the sign at the entrance abbreviating the name to RYB too ... right?
Cover: Clunky looking ships against an unimpressive planet.
Dredd: Excellent stuff.
Brink: No. Still nothing.
Slaine: Thank fuck it's over for a while.
Black Shuck: Still reading it, but it's kinda.... meh.
Scarlet Traces: D'Israeli's style and Culbard's in the same issue.... it's like half the art in the prog has been done by lino print.
Other than Dredd, absolutely bugger all worth getting excited about. :(
I disagree with the last three posts.
Brink is awesome.
And The Lion's Den was good. I really enjoyed Armitage's scenes. I have no problems with the pacing.
I wouldn't want this story arc to last for another 20 episodes, and I'm looking forward to seeing that bitch Oswin get her comeuppance. Fuck her.
Harsh Ghost but increasingly I find Dredd and Strontium Dog are the only stories I automatically read.
I suspect it says more about me than the stories but I struggle with most other stories and then find after not following the first run, when stories reappear (Black Shuck is a good example) I just skip them. Sadly this is becoming more the rule than the exception and with most decent Dredd and all Stront being collected later I ponder my subscription.
Of course I won't stop the Prog as without weekly buyers there would be nothing to collect later.
Based on board comments Brink I will read once completed.
Stand by my comments on Dredd. I love Dredd and read new stories avidly and felt the hand of editorial interference in the latest run keenly.
I miss the long epics of 26 or so parts telling a single tale. The need for jumping on issues every dozen or so progs seems to have influenced story pacing in recent years with only John Wagner seemingly given licence to lay down tales as he wants (Day of Chaos most recently).
Quote from: Richard on 06 July, 2016, 10:31:51 PM
I disagree with the last three posts.
Brink is awesome.
And The Lion's Den was good.
I like lots of
Lion's Den, and yes,
Brink is awesome. That Frida Kahlo (http://www.collageyourworld.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Blog-Frida-Painting-her-Portrait-Jan-2013.jpg) brow does it for me.
Quote from: Trent on 06 July, 2016, 10:36:11 PM
Harsh Ghost but increasingly I find Dredd and Strontium Dog are the only stories I automatically read.
I still read 'em all. I never expect to like 'em all.... but I do read 'em. The only thing I've ever skipped was sexy ostriches. ;)
As for folk disagreeing, that's all cool, not everyone is gonna like the same stuff. But I must disagree with your disagreement, and fully expect you'll disagree with my disagreeing! :D
Agreed
Cover: Great UFO inspired ships against an well rendered planet. text Script a bit strange.
Dredd: Excellent stuff.
Brink: No. Still nothing, will reread when complete possibly.
Slaine: Thank f*ck it's over for a while, make it end Tharg! Artwork wonderful but really end it now.
Black Shuck: Still reading it, but it's kinda.... beardy meh so far, like a slow episode of Vikings.
Scarlet Traces: D'Israeli's style is stunning and gives me that warm tummy good art should :D Loved all the previous outings so have high hopes for this, I hope 'someone' is collecting the easter eggs already...
Other than a great Dredd and the wonderful Scarlet Traces and the end of Slaine , absolutely bugger all worth getting excited about. ;)
Glad things back to normal Ghost ;)
I didn't notice the boobs in Scarlet Traces, but I did see the reference to Smash potato mash!
Quote from: Proudhuff on 07 July, 2016, 09:59:32 AM
Glad things back to normal Ghost ;)
Normal is such a subjective term Huffster. ;)
Totally lost in this week's Dredd. What was going on with the SJS Waldron woman? If it was the 'screamer', how did she affect so many psi judges when Lewis had to read her to be affected? Was it to do with Lewis' empathic powers? When did we learn Waldron was a psi? Do the Texans really have no psis of their own? Why did Hershey need a shower?
And why shower got camera?!
Quote from: Goaty on 07 July, 2016, 09:04:06 PM
And why (Hershey's) shower got camera?!
Judge Smiley spends a lot of time alone.
'Like' Button for Butch... lol
I'd guess it wasn't just one screamer.... a targeted attack on the Psi division would likely need more than one assailant. I just took it as a montage of various Psi judges getting attacked by various assailants.
Quote from: Tordelback on 07 July, 2016, 09:02:28 PM
Totally lost in this week's Dredd. What was going on with the SJS Waldron woman? If it was the 'screamer', how did she affect so many psi judges when Lewis had to read her to be affected? Was it to do with Lewis' empathic powers? When did we learn Waldron was a psi? Do the Texans really have no psis of their own? Why did Hershey need a shower?
Yeah, Oswin tells Tower to
'get (her) cleaned up', but Hershey's only been in a minor tussle. Maybe she hasn't been home for days, but there's nothing on the page to indicate that passage of time.
I like the idea the SJS have psis*, but I can't remember anyone saying Waldron could guess how many fingers you're holding behind your back. Psi powers don't obey logic, so I don't have a problem with inconsistencies in their use.
Lewis says screamers are
'one in a billion', so TCJD would be lucky to have even one on the payroll. On a completely superficial note, I really like MacNeil's more chiseled, Blue Oyster Bar version of Dolman.
* It's genius, actually
Quote from: Butch on 07 July, 2016, 10:09:45 PM
Lewis says screamers are 'one in a billion', so TCJD would be lucky to have even one on the payroll.
But they are doing those clone Psi's aren't they? Like the one that was controlling Thorn. I see no reason that they couldn't have changed the game a bit.... ok screamers are
naturally one in a billion, but maybe the numbers can be boosted artificially? But to be fair, it didn't necessarily have to be screamers that attacked them
all, after all, a bullet to the head will work just as effectively, and the montage only shows the Psi's down, not how they went down. ;)
Quote from: McNulty on 02 July, 2016, 11:06:38 PM
Here's my input:
Dredd: Question though, Where is Judge Anderson in all this? Has Dredd contacted her or has she been gotten at by the Texans?
Scarlet Traces: I must admit, I have read every Megazine since the start and I do remember the original story set in Victorian Britain but for the life of me I cannot remember the follow up series Tharg mentions in his Nerve centre explanation. That being said, I did enjoy the feel of this opening episode. It is very reminiscent of Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet (He had problems with Martians too).
Re Anderson - I guess Mike Carroll likes to use his own supporting cast where he can so we get Lewis rather than Anderson ( I assume she was the PSI Judge from the Carroll Dredd draw by Nick Perceival a few months ago).
Nice to See Dolman back in Dredd too.
Re Scarlet Traces - I remember reading the first series in JDM Megazine but have no memory of the follow up. According to Wikipedia the 2006 series was published by Dark Horse but not in JDM. Don't know if that is definitive though.
Either way I can't remember what actually happened in what I did read, but what I do remember was I didn't really like it. I think my thoughts at the time were that I didn't like steampunk and didn't like D'Israeli's art which was too "simple" for my tastes. Recent stuff like Helium has turned my opinion around a bit so let's see how this pans out. But what is it with the "constable Hodge" hair style?
Funny you mention Smiley, could this be a second coup he foils by shooting the unsuspecting ring leader?
Hmmm, from reading those various interpretations and going back to re-read the story so far, I think a narrative ball has been dropped somewhere between last week's and this week's Prog: the bit with Waldron, Hershey and the psis is incomprehensible, and requires a lot of hand waving to even pass for coherent. Always assuming an explanation doesn't materialise in due course. Or that it relates to a story in the Megazine. Or that there was a magic horse involved.
Quote from: Tordelback on 08 July, 2016, 04:10:20 PM
I think a narrative ball has been dropped somewhere between last week's and this week's Prog ... Always assuming an explanation doesn't materialise in due course.
It seems more a case of a writer being so close to what's going on that they forget to explain it to the reader. We already had that a few weeks ago with the Armitage-grabs-gun thing.
Both are things that an editor should spot and deal with. So it's really all Tharg's fault. Too busy crafting Prog 2000, no doubt.
I've only read it once, but my assumption was the Texans were routinely taking out the Psis, on account of them being a danger and able to pick up on what's going on.
As for the rest of the Prog, Brink is beginning to click, and I think it'll read really nicely as a series, like Brass Sun. And Scarlet Traces is back, which is, to my mind, TOTALLY AMAZING. I loved that series (both books, and also their take on WOTW), so it's properly exciting to see it return.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 08 July, 2016, 05:04:19 PM
my assumption was the Texans were routinely taking out the Psis, on account of them being a danger and able to pick up on what's going on
Correct, but what we're discussing is whether all the victims have been taken out by one particularly rare type of psi (a screamer), or whether regular Texan JD have given them the Jimmy The Greek montage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z6MJIjCJ20).
Just to make it extra fun, me and
TordelBack have got locked into a discussion of whether Waldron (we hardly knew ye) was a psi
as well as head of (?) SJS. The advantages of psi judges to the SJS are so obvious I can't believe it hasn't been done before*.
Whether TordelBack is right -
that Mike Carroll got so excited at all the cool things he thought of he forgot to communicate them properly to the reader - depends on whether Pamelina Oswin gets one of those speeches where she explains her plan to Dredd instead of just shooting him.
* It still may not have been!
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 08 July, 2016, 05:04:19 PM
I've only read it once, but my assumption was the Texans were routinely taking out the Psis, on account of them being a danger and able to pick up on what's going on.
their take on WOTW)...
Yeah didn't struggle with this one all seemed quite strange forward to me. Very different to the whole gun handover thing.
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 08 July, 2016, 06:20:11 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 08 July, 2016, 05:04:19 PM
I've only read it once, but my assumption was the Texans were routinely taking out the Psis, on account of them being a danger and able to pick up on what's going on.
their take on WOTW)...
Yeah didn't struggle with this one all seemed quite strange forward to me. Very different to the whole gun handover thing.
The implication being that Oswin just took out the head of the SjS-who-may-or-may-not-be-a-Psi in front of Hershey, splattering her with Waldron's blood to the extent that she has to take a shower? Cos that seems like quite a story development to happen between progs. And if they were going to be that blatantly brural, why the subterfuge with Lewis? Just shoot her already. No, I don't think there's enough there on the page for it to make sense. My guess is that Lewis's empathic abilities have caused her encounter with the 'screamer' to be broadcast to all the Psi's in the city, but that really isn't clear, particularly since we didn't know Waldron was a psi - if she was. And if she wasn't, what happened to her?
I am fully prepared to apologise when Mike clears all this up in a single expository panel next week, but for now it's clear as mud to me - much harder to read than the Armitage gun thing.
Quote from: Tordelback on 08 July, 2016, 07:49:01 PM
The implication being that Oswin just took out the head of the SjS-who-may-or-may-not-be-a-Psi in front of Hershey, splattering her with Waldron's blood to the extent that she has to take a shower? Cos that seems like quite a story development to happen between progs. And if they were going to be that blatantly brural, why the subterfuge with Lewis? Just shoot her already. No, I don't think there's enough there on the page for it to make sense. My guess is that Lewis's empathic abilities have caused her encounter with the 'screamer' to be broadcast to all the Psi's in the city, but that really isn't clear, particularly since we didn't know Waldron was a psi - if she was. And if she wasn't, what happened to her?
Waldron-splatter does explain the shower, but I agree it was too significant a development for a smash-cut to suffice as explanation.
I like putting stuff together for myself, and I don't always need (or want) to know absolutely everything that's going on at all points during a story, but the way things were handled doesn't suggest that narrative aporia was a deliberate, stylistic effect Carroll and MacNeil were going for.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 08 July, 2016, 05:04:19 PM
my assumption was the Texans were routinely taking out the Psis, on account of them being a danger and able to pick up on what's going on.
I read that totally differently. I thought it was because the Texans consider Psis to be mutants (as per the
Dredd movie). After all, the story cuts directly to Oswin talking about why mutants needs to be got rid of. And the anti-mutant stance has been hammered in recent weeks.
I think it's more likely that they are being taken out (by screamer or by bullet) as a threat removal as psis are most likely to suss it as a coup rather than cooperation, rather than due to anti-mutant feelings.
I don't think the Hershey shower needs any explanation =- they want her alive and hopefully cooperative, so they give her some leeway, a regular shower is when she takes her chance. No need for any blood-splatter rationale.
I just had to reread Dredd in the light of the above. I must admit I had no idea who Waldron was when Oswin mentioned her on page 3 - I didn't realise that she was the SJS judge (who may have been a psi) who bought it on the previous page. Has she been a frequent recurring character? I do like Mike Carroll's stories, but the supporting cast never seem to imprint themselves on me and I'm always left wondering who these vaguely familiar characters are.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 08 July, 2016, 09:14:15 PM
I don't think the Hershey shower needs any explanation =- they want her alive and hopefully cooperative, so they give her some leeway, a regular shower is when she takes her chance. No need for any blood-splatter rationale.
"...take you to your quarters to get you cleaned up" doesn't sound like leeway to me. Plus someone is almost cradling Waldron's head during the 'psychic nosebleed' montage, before she's carted off. It's still not remotely clear to me what's going on in this episode, or why. And I'm someone who has greatly enjoyed this story this far.
Also, Hershey having a pop at Oswin over 'pure breeds' seems a bit much- she had to be strongarmed by Dredd into supporting mutant reforms only a few years back. Reforms to a law that saw forced abortions and deportations of citizens because of genetic 'impurity'.
Okay, one non-Proud huff, a night off nights and a jog later, and I realise I'm being an argumentative pillock. Mike knows how to tell a story, and this has been an especially engaging one, structured across two titles in a fresh and unconventional manner. Me carping on about some things not being spelled out in excruciating detail is just stupid, particularly as we're far from done yet.
I'll turn my ire onto Black Shuck instead. I recently read all of Storm Warning thanks to the 50p sale, and I thought it was excellent: story, setting, characters, art, design, the works. It too deals with double-edged curses and English folklore albeit in a more pop-culture milieu, and it proves Moore and Reppion can really deliver for the House of Tharg. So why is Black Shuck cozying up to Dry Run in my mental filing system? Dull, confusing, leaden dialogue, endless exposition that never goes anywhere... is it the 6-page format that's throwing them off? He's a cursed Viking werewolf with a pregnant Queen in 10th C Mercia FFS - the thrills should write themselves!
I'm thoroughly bemused that people are finding this episode of Dredd confusing. Psi comes under attack. Asks control if it's an isolated incident. Control says yes; cut to montage of other psis being attacked to make the point that control is lying.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2016, 10:07:08 AM
I'm thoroughly bemused that people are finding this episode of Dredd confusing. Psi comes under attack. Asks control if it's an isolated incident. Control says yes; cut to montage of other psis being attacked to make the point that control is lying.
This^^^
also the gun hand over was totally clear to me, we're at a level of storytelling where we don't need Archers style intros everytime some one speaks, I thought the accent comment cleared up who it was immediately.
TB don't take my name in vain! ;) and jog more...
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2016, 10:07:08 AM
I'm thoroughly bemused that people are finding this episode of Dredd confusing. Psi comes under attack. Asks control if it's an isolated incident. Control says yes; cut to montage of other psis being attacked to make the point that control is lying.
And is Waldron a psi? And if the 'screamer' is one in a billion, who's targeting the other psis? And why does Hershey need to be 'cleaned up'? Like I said, I'm now happy enough to be confused, in expectation of everything making sense eventually, and acknowledging that we don't need to be spoon-fed very detail... but I'm still confused!
At the very real risk of turning into S**j*, I'm going to argue with myself again... Re-reading the previous episodes AGAIN I see why Hershey might have needed that shower: she has a tussle with some Texans, leading to Oswin telling Tower to 'take her down to Med'. Now the art doesn't show her taking any damage, but then the fight is only a few panels, so there could have been off-panel blows. Next we see her, she's back with Oswin and the Council, presumably fixed up but still sweaty/bloody. Hence the shower. In terms of the story, her being escorted to Med Div and her quarters emphasises the degree to which she is being controlled and monitored.
Quote from: Tordelback on 09 July, 2016, 11:02:23 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2016, 10:07:08 AM
And is Waldron a psi? And if the 'screamer' is one in a billion, who's targeting the other psis?
I didn't infer that all that the psis were being targetted by screamers. They might have been, they might not have been. There are some rather ominous-looking Tex-judges lurking behind Lewis at the end of her scene that suggest a fairly broad approach might be in operation. I assumed Waldron was a psi, but I don't see any significance in this, other than to have someone affected in the same room as Hershey.
I can't remember any other judge in any other department being a psi. Psis all seem to end up in Psi Division.
Like I said above, I think it's a really interesting idea to have Psi judges in the SJS, but introducing that idea probably deserves more than one (ambiguous) panel.
Finding out Waldron was/may have been a psi only after she died felt a bit cursory. Apart from anything else, it would have worked better on a narrative level if Waldron's psi status had already been established.
Waldron isn't dead. Oswin 'hopes' she will recover.
Further, SJS is one division that people do seem to transfer in and out of. Buell and Garcia, for example: both street judges,chit they ended up running the SJS. So why not a Psi, especially when that dept is already largely discredited? As Butch says, it seems like too interesting an idea to drop into a singlr panel in an already frothy mix, but maybe this kind of throwaway thread is what the strip needs more of.
Quote from: Tordelback on 09 July, 2016, 12:45:59 PM
So why not a Psi, especially when that dept is already largely discredited?
Makes perfect sense that SJS would need their own Psi(s) for dealing with Psi Division judges gone bad.
I like it when a writer puts more than one idea per story, it was the kinda thing that early 2k was great at and the whole edifice built on, as John Wagner says about the dummy/commentator in Mean Arena became The Ventriloquist during his turn on Batman.
I would suggest that the Car-Roll droid picks up loads of these loose threads and ties them up, which is great for fanboys.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 July, 2016, 10:07:08 AM
I'm thoroughly bemused that people are finding this episode of Dredd confusing. Psi comes under attack. Asks control if it's an isolated incident. Control says yes; cut to montage of other psis being attacked to make the point that control is lying.
And this after it was noted staff in control were being replaced by Texans.
This is turning into a weird, two-speed discussion. Kind hearted people keep patiently explaining that Oswin is a wrong un', and is eliminating psis as part of her plan to take over Megacity One. Thank you, but everyone understood that on their first read [1].
What's being discussed is whether Waldron was one of the psis being eliminated; whether she is a psi at all; whether that's been established previously; and whether there's any precedent for psis in SJS, or if that's new information Mike Carroll is dropping on us.
I'll be honest and admit I don't remember Waldron at all [2]. I'm sure I remember us having a discussion about what happened to Buell, which probably means someone wrote a story where his seat on the council had been taken by Waldron. Sector Zero?
[1] Pretentious toss follows: [spoiler]There's an Ernest Hemingway short story called Cat In The Rain, which can be summarised as follows: bored woman wants cat, gets cat. The whole critical debate about the story centres around whether the cat that's brought to the woman at the end of the tale is the same cat she saw from her window, and which provoked her longing. Basically, what well meaning people are doing here is explaining that the woman gets a cat, whereas what's being discussed is the identity of the cat and what difference that makes to our reading of the story[/spoiler].
[2] It doesn't help that Waldron is one of four senior level, female Justice department employees sporting a sleek, black, mid-length bob.
I love the idea of psis in the SJS. It makes perfect sense, doesn't retain anything, and it doesn't matter that we haven't seen it before because it could always be a new policy. I hope she survives and we see more of her, she has the potential to be a really interesting character.
We don't know what happened to Buell, and we don't know if Waldron is head of SJS. Just because she's on the Council doesn't automatically mean that she is head of her division. Tour of Duty had a Judge Benitez on the Council who was joint head of Forensics, which would be an arm of Tek-Div.
I'm enjoying this story. Let's wait for it to finish before we try to identify plot holes. It's a legitimate writing technique to withhold certain information from the reader until we need to know it.
Quote from: Butch on 09 July, 2016, 04:25:08 PM
[2] It doesn't help that Waldron is one of four senior level, female Justice department employees sporting a sleek, black, mid-length bob.
Don't diss the sleek, black, mid-length bobs. The more of them the better -- especially with a nice fringe.
My ideal Dredd story would have Hershey & Beeny working undercover in vice to investigate a Lulu Romanov lookalike.
Um ... I may have said too much.
I'll get m'coat.
Quote from: Richard on 09 July, 2016, 06:09:12 PM
I'm enjoying this story. Let's wait for it to finish before we try to identify plot holes. It's a legitimate writing technique to withhold certain information from the reader until we need to know it.
True, true - but at the same time speculatin', debatin' and possibly flatin' is what we do here.
Quote from: Tordelback on 10 July, 2016, 01:05:50 AM
Quote from: Richard on 09 July, 2016, 06:09:12 PM
I'm enjoying this story. Let's wait for it to finish before we try to identify plot holes. It's a legitimate writing technique to withhold certain information from the reader until we need to know it.
True, true - but at the same time speculatin', debatin' and possibly flatin' is what we do here.
Sometimes we (meaning I) can be far too cynical for out (as in my) well being!
Quote from: eamonn1961 on 02 July, 2016, 07:53:46 PM
(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r182/Caliban_photos/a524b818e6da1c5be685e99ed0b51097_zpsaercrq2y.jpg)
That's a belter of a cover and it's fabulous to see the wonderful d'israeli disgrace our pages again with the exciting Scarlet Traces follow up.
This is the 3rd amazing sequel to the War of the Worlds and I never thought would see another take place after the drama of the Great game.
The prog's been a bit pedestrian in the lead up to the 2kilo prog & I'm glad there is something to keep my interest over the summer as Slaine and Grey Area have gone way past their sell by date.
I live in hope that one day Slaine will be picked up by the same spaceship as Brian (as in 'The life of...') and give us something to raise an eyebrow to, maybe he could fall down a worm hole or out of it's bum...which is where it seems to have dissappeared to...
Quick thought / question - is Scarlet Traces the first Creator Owned thing in the prog? (My thinking is yes as the Creator Owned slot in the Meg is of recent vintage).
I'm assuming its creator owned given its heritage outside of the Meg...
Quote from: BPP on 01 August, 2016, 11:31:02 PM
Quick thought / question - is Scarlet Traces the first Creator Owned thing in the prog? (My thinking is yes as the Creator Owned slot in the Meg is of recent vintage).
I'm assuming its creator owned given its heritage outside of the Meg...
Wasn't Button Man, at least initially, creator owned in the prog? As I understand it, Scarlet Traces is now Rebeliion-owned...
Cheers Jim.
You're undoubtably right about Button Man, had forgotten that.
If thats right about Scarlet Traces its very interesting. Given the other options that are out there - the possibility of crowd-funding to the multiple of creator-rights US publishers atm to give away / sell the rights to Rebellion is something different.
Obv. I've no idea about the legal specifics of the thing so apologies to the creators or rebellion if I've said something out of place. Just one of those things as a lawyer I find interesting.
I know DC have the reprint rights and no doubt a convoluted contract, but with those restrictions wasn't Metalzoic owned by Mills and O'Neill?
Quote from: Tordelback on 02 August, 2016, 12:53:00 AM
I know DC have the reprint rights and no doubt a convoluted contract, but with those restrictions wasn't Metalzoic owned by Mills and O'Neill?
Copyright is DC comics, I believe.
Metalzoic is owned by DC, except AFAIK the material that was commissioned for 2000 AD, promotional material, covers etc the owners of 2000 AD are the proprietors.
Lots of other creator owned instances (Some unintentional) in the Prog, Medivac, Luck Kirby, Button Man is still Creator owned, Hadrosaurs by Dan Abnett & Kev Walker Terrameks was originally creator owned but I understand that its now Rebeellion. 7 Wonders of the Galaxy - The poster series by Kevin O'Neill, I'm pretty sure is creator owned. Dionsty too.
Dan Dare, Rick Random, Kellys Eye, Robot Archie and the cast of Zenith book ZZZ, halfway house?
Quote from: BPP on 01 August, 2016, 11:51:24 PM
I'm assuming its creator owned given its heritage outside of the Meg...
No, as detailed at the time in our press release http://www.2000adonline.com/post/289 Rebellion acquired the rights to Scarlet Traces, its sequel The Great Game, and the prequel adaptation of War of the Worlds from Edginton and Brooker – the first time the company has bought the rights to a previously published property from its creators.