Messages

Flint is definitely on form with the current storyline.  I'm also loving the muted / faded colouring.  I'm assuming that it was deliberate mind.  This is quickly wrapped with the obvious teaser of more (The End? yeah, right)  That said, I'm with those who are growing a little weary of the old conspiracy theory storylines.  I know Justice Dept is a very pale shadow of its former glory but all the same, it is a becoming a bit of a worn thread now.

I agree, especially when it isn't that long ago they did the Sector Zero (was that what it was called?) tale of the secret Justice dept. within the Justice dept. Unless this, that and Trifecta are all linked, but the "You aren't willing to do the tough stuff to save the City, Dredd" shtick is a little tiring now, especially given all the hard core things Dredd has done to protect the City over the year.

I've still enjoyed this story though, and I really like Judge Sam.

Rest of the Prog was decent enough. I am enjoying Counterfeit Girl, and that was an intriguing twist, but now someone else mentioned it it is painfully obvious that they explain what's going on at the start of every episode!

Rogue Trooper is good, but does suffer from that curse of prequels in that we know who's likely to die (bounty hunter guy, Dron, the doctor, any other Nort with Atalia) and who'll definitely survive (Rogue, Atalia, TG). always nice to have Rogue back though.

Flesh is ok. Savage too, though not more flipping song lyrics!   

A good solid prog, enjoying Dredd but always do. Flesh I've kinda lost track of what's happening, same as with Savage. So Bill's now impersonating a German barman but still killing Volgs on the side? Unsure about Hunted, more classic era Nu Earth is always welcome, but not sure I want, or in fact need, the Traitor General fleshing out. What next, Sister Sledge the Early Years? (actually I'd read that). Counterfeit Girl continues well, seems a slight editorial oversight that just a few weeks after PJ Maybe's black bubble inner voice we have another one, but at least this one is explained. 

Jaegir was the best thing in this prog by far, though I wish the artist didn't give every character facial scarring, at times--not so much this story--it's hard to tell who's who. I do really like the way it looks so that's a minor quibble.

Probably not an art decision, makes me suspect they're supposed to be Mensur scars, tying in with general Germanic styling.

Ah interesting, I hadn't thought of that but it would seem like a very Nort thing to do!

Jaegir was the best thing in this prog by far, though I wish the artist didn't give every character facial scarring, at times--not so much this story--it's hard to tell who's who. I do really like the way it looks so that's a minor quibble.

Outlier ends with a fantastic idea, just a shame we got a handful of panels to explore it, it felt rushed, like a TV series that's been cancelled but gets a final episode to wrap everything up. As others have said its surely going to take that radiation wave years/decades/maybe even centuries to wipe out humanity? I've never quite got into the series, it doesn't help that we have Carcer and Caul which I thought was a poor decision from the start. The finale shows there was more to this story than it seemed, shame we never really got to see it until this final part.

Scarlet Traces looks good, not always sure what's going on however, and as for Anderson, I think I need to read it again because I'm not entirely sure wtf happened here? Were the other judges stopping her taking the shot herself so she had to use Hershey? Just how many hands had senator woman shaken?

Mine are always single spaced, and whilst I've never had a shock accepted I've had enough feedback on occasion to suggest a single spaced synopsis hasn't put them off looking at the script itself.

happy to know that they give feedback. I have submitted prose short fiction and know to expect usually nothing accept the notice of rejection and sometimes a request to send something else. but nothing in the way of suggestions for improvement.

Most of my rejections are the same, and Matt Smith doesn't always provide feedback, I've had some fairly generic 2000AD rejections, but clearly where he's seen something good in a story, just not good enough, he's been kind enough to at least explain why he isn't accepting, which is always really appreciated because form rejections can be dispiriting. It's especially heartening when you realise just how mammoth their slush pile must be.

I remember that Terror Tale! 

Thanks Alec, that reassures me that I'm not doing anything too out there with my synopsises! 

Well Dredd was a bit of a damp squib. I'm not so bothered about how the death itself was handled, its just the unanswered questions.

1. What was the black voice? I know people are suggesting that it'd always been there, or that it was a manifestation of PJ's increasingly unhinged state, but if there wasn't some deeper meaning to it then coming off the back of PJs interaction with the DJs then it was an odd choice.

2. Why did Morgan's Vienna audition involve her dressing like a slab walker and talking like a character from a B-Movie? I can maybe accept that she's Wally Squad and was dressed like a hooker because of her previous assignment, but why the low budget script? Or am I forgetting something about Vienna? Is she an actress?

3. Was it actually PJ who snagged Mrs G? It read like it was supposed to be happening contemporaneously with PJ waiting outside Vienna's block, or did I misread this and it was supposed to be some time later giving PJ time to do both? 

Mine are always single spaced, and whilst I've never had a shock accepted I've had enough feedback on occasion to suggest a single spaced synopsis hasn't put them off looking at the script itself.

Is it just me that finds it impossible to tell what's going on in the artwork on Slaine?

No I haven't got a clue either. I might be less bothered if the script wasn't so turgid. How many times has the line "Obey like a dead body obeys" been used now. Frankly I'm enjoying this like a dead body would...

Dredd was excellent. I like Joyce a lot, and though I was 99% sure Joe was still in the land of the living I'm glad they haven't drawn it out too long. Is Texas City the villain of the piece, is it Brit-Cit? Are they working together? Pamelina is so obviously up to no good that I'm hoping its a feint and TC are actually the good guys.

Tainted is really growing on me (like some kind of fungus obviously) and I liked the Judge Child nod as well. Guess since they've namechecked all the Dark Judges Fairfax is either going to die, become one of the lesser Dark Judges or somehow escape? (Not sure how that can work though)

Brink is just annoying. Too much exposition. I normally really like Abnett's stuff as well and the artwork is clear and nice, I just can't connect with it.

Survival Geeks was ok, I've found it less annoying of late which is something I guess!

Cool will have a go at that if I can come up with an idea!

The Dredd is a bit annoying because I know he's not dead, and so already feel that we are treading water for the big reveal that he is, in fact, alive and the Cursed Earth and Brit-Cit stuff is an over-arching plot by [Sino-Cit/ the Kleggs/ the LawLords/ Max Normal] (delete as appropriate)

East-Meg Two would my guess as they are still holding ex-Chief Judge Sinfield and surely they wouldn't do that if they didn't have a plan that somehow involved him

I wonder if Sinfield will end up doing for East Meg 2 what Anatoli Kazan did for MC1? An adviser in how the Mega City 1 judges think etc? My money's still on a less obvious villain, either Brit Cit or Texas City.

It's clear Dredd isn't dead, I guess the mystery is why he isn't dead/who has him and whether its a Mega City 1 sting operation or an external threat.

I am getting a little tired of the someone gets shot/something explodes cliff hangers.

Rest of the Prog was ok, it says something about how into Survival Geeks I am that I didn't even realise there was a new character last week until it was spelled out this week! Brink seems fairly generic at the moment and whilst I initially really liked Aquilla when it started it seems to be drifting a bit lately. Deadworld is interesting but, and I don't know if its down to the artwork or the script, I'm not 100% sure who everyone is or quite what's occurring sometimes! Also we know no one's going to survive so the problem of prequels is in play too.

I'm kinda glad the Dredd story is done. I normally like D'Israeli's work but don't think it suited Dredd, and whilst I love Sensitive Klegg and had no problem with humour in Dredd's world this one did feel a trifle off. Shame we didn't get more of a feel for Sino Cit 2.

ABC/RoBusters keeps trundling on. I have no idea what's going on anymore or who half the Warriors are. Same with The Order, I kinda get the overarching idea but too many characters to get a handle on what's going on for me. I am intrigued to see where (or rather when) the story goes next.

I thought the Future Shock was quite good, hardly earth shattering but one of the better things in the prog. One slight problem with the art was having the central character dress exactly the same no matter how old he was, lazy and not needed given he had distinctive features and the Judge identifies who it is anyway if you didn't get it. Just a pet peeve of mine!

Kingdom was the best thing in this, though how the hell is Gene gonna get back to Earth!?

 

So they lost half their pop in the Apocalypse War, another sixty million in Necropolis (as far as I recall), and I'm guessing another 300million+ in Chaos? I don't recall any numbers from the post-Enceladus ice judges attack but that did seem quite a devastating assault.

On the plus side I guess MC1 is still doing better than MC2 and East Meg 1!

I entered a story told from the perspective of a Judge during Necropolis. It only really featured Death although all the other DJs, the Sisters and Dredd were name checked. Originally I'd planned a coda featuring a still crispy Dredd but just didn't have the word count left for it.

It was a lot of fun to write!

As is so often the case Dredd was the pick of the bunch for me. It still feels a little like a Judda retread but it was nicely done, although it would have been nice to know just what the Sector Zero folks had been up to all these years? It's all very well for Badger to cite Necropolis, Chaos etc. but what did he and his cohorts do during (and between) all those calamities? If they were waiting for 'the right time' then surely that would have been post Chaos?

It definitely does increasingly feel like Mega City 1 is reaching some kind of turning point, I certainly don't see how they can keep having huge disasters that keep whittling the city down to almost nothing. If anything it'd be nice if the next Mega epic ended up with MC1 better off and stronger as a result (an influx of new citizens maybe? Mutants or from an off world colony). They can't keep going the way they're going or pretty soon Dredd's going to be policing a village!

The rest of the prog was ok. Kingdom is always fun and Strontium Dog may be a tad old school but so what, loving it. Don't really care about Ro-Busters anymore and just can't seem to get into The Order.