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Prog 1661 - Download's Darkest Hour

Started by Batman's Superior Cousin, 05 November, 2009, 05:33:08 PM

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blixab

Great to have both the Meg & Prog today on a Friday - Posties must realise that they need immediate good PR for a change!

Liked the ending of Kingdom - can't wait for the next book to begin - loads of variables with the way it was left.

Dredd - this looks like this could have enough weekly stories to go on for years and enjoyable with it. Could this be a modern day epic similar in scale to The Dead Man & Necropolis?

Shakara - Again top ending but hope that this isn't it - although looked pretty final

Necrophim - is it me or is this starting to stand still?

Sinister/Dexter - be interesting to see if this story sorts out some of the holes that I thought appeared in the last couple of story arcs.

the shutdown man

I've been getting my prog on a Friday the last couple of weeks, which is kind of odd for me, usually it's Mondays. Still not complaining....


But Shakara: DAMMIT!!! That can't be the end of it! That actually kept me awake after reading it. I mean, [spoiler]having the whole thing end with the "hero" dead, and the bad guy takes the girl and goes to rule the universe just wouldn't be right.

My one desperate hope is that Eyeball Man mentions something about "the artifacts have been moved to the transporter" just before Brenneka does the deed, and I don't remember anything about artifacts coming up before, so I'm hoping that's some kind of thread to be picked up later. After all, messing around with Shakaran artifacts could easily bite anyone in the ass....[/spoiler]
You're at the precipice Tony, of an enormous crossroads.

Darren Stephens

Great prog. A bit sad to see Sin/Dex back, but that cover was tops and I even enjoyed the strip. Must be going soft.....Shakara ending was a bit of a shocker. Brilliant last page, that. Iconic images that will stay in my brain for some time. This can not be the end, though??! Surely? Tharg? :'(
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Tjm86

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 06 November, 2009, 09:43:55 PM

Funnily enough last when reviewing last weeks Prog someone said in reference to 'Strontium Dog' sometimes when a series is very good its hard to get an ending that matchs the quality. Well this week we had two ending that were completely wonderful and more than fitting to the quality of the fantastic series they rounded up. Both 'Kingdom' and 'Shakara' ending superbly.


Shakara and Kingdom both showed how an ending could be done properly.  Kingdom gives us enough to feel like this is a satisfactory conclusion to another chapter in the storyline and leaves us wanting more.  In fact the whole of this series has made me radically reappraise my view of it.  The first series did not do anything for me personally.  It seemed like one more hack and slash tale with no real point at the time.  Now it seems like a multi layered tale with so many threads.  Characterisation is more polished, enough of the back story revealed to entice without giving away the whole game, and the attitude Numan revealed toward Gene leaves us wondering where that side of things is going.  Shakara just pummels the reader with all out annihilation, a visual treat that makes Dali look like a journeyman, and an ending that leaves jaws on floor.  Maybe because the ending of Stront has already been written and a lot of the backstory already covered over the years it makes it difficult to get that sense of anticipation going in the same way that the other two do.  You can't do the shock and awe ending of Shakara with it because the fates of the major players is well known.  It almost seems at times like a by the numbers piece to keep the old guard happy ( and yes, I do have a reservation in the KOS corner! ). 

vzzbux

Shak attack. Cant see a way forward in this story, but I am sure Mr Morrison has a lot more up his sleeve to come.

Brilliant prog all round but no sign of a cock anywere on the prog cover. Plenty of shit though.







V
Drokking since 1972

Peace is a lie, there's only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.

Mikey

Sad to see Shakara and Kingdom conclude; my top two of the last while without a doubt.

I'd be happy if that was the end of Shakara and almost hope it is - the dude himself pretty much turns up, causes havock and sods off again almost before you have time to blink - so it would be a nice self contained story. Would there be a danger of spreading it out too much? Where else can it go? (I'd still love to find out!)

Kingdom I've enjoyed since it turned up. The speech patterns and reasonably formulaic start set a rhythm to judge the later series events by...it's a solid story perfectly executed - something that's all too easily taken for granted - and if I read Dabnett like I think I do, there's plenty left in the tank. Elson's work has been simply gorgeous and the series is his own.

Dredd - what else can I add? Excellent.

Sin Dex - I'm still loving the gun monkeys after all this time.

M.
To tell the truth, you can all get screwed.

Versasovantare

Huh, I'm really hoping that Munn survives the attack that's coming against his outpost. The guy's a dick, and he interests me somewhat because I'm not too sure how much of him is a good Judge, and how much is just a disgruntled git. It'd be a pity to lose him so soon.

Colin Zeal

Poor old Gene. A fantastic ending to the story, but sad as well with him seperated from Leezee and going to look for this mythical farm he's heard about.

Good prog aside from that. I'm quite enjoying Necrophim, and the artwork is excellent. Shakara is not something I'm bothered about finishing its run, as I've come to it late and find it difficult to get involved with. Same goes with Sin/Dex starting. There's far too much backstory I don't know about for me to do more than take it on an episode by episode basis.

Hoagy

Well I'm late to Shak too but I got more involved the more it involved itself. I love seeing strips evolve from basic action to stories. Its the classic comic formula. I'm sorry I have no enter key and this is going to look like a stream of consciousness but I want to drop it while its hot.                                                 No way is Shak ending like that?good point about the articles in the hold. Brilliant example of writing, as is Kingdom. There two have really set the bar. Abnett has no excuses with Rim-Sex now. Which may I say opened out really well. This story should have kicked in ages ago. There's been too much building on the main characters and it feels like a revival rather than a development.                           Back to Kingdom a sec. Again this relative newcomer has formed from foetal to dancing bear steadily and sure footedly. What an ending. Leezee can come back as a svelte young lad with a load of baffling exposition on how they unattached the tick, for all I case at the end
"bULLshit Mr Hand man!"
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billpayer

#24
OMG. SHAKARA was absolutely AMAZING. PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME THIS IS NOT THE END !!!!!!!!! Best 2000ad story EVER !!!!!!

My theory.... we have not found out what the artifacts are OR what the Heirarchy have been constructing... There is definitely (hopefully) more so come.

MASSIVE RESPECT TO Henry Flint and Robbie Morrison !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ETA on the next volume anyone ????

Mike Gloady

I'm sure there's a fair bit of Shak to come.  Can't wait to re-read the first three series in the collection and then this one.  In fact, I may start that this weekend. 
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Hoagy

....but yeah, yeah. Great writing of Kingdom too. I so knew Clara Bow was gonna pull his ass outta that fire. Favourite line in the prog too:" I don't think they fancy Gene like Clara Bow do. "
"bULLshit Mr Hand man!"
"Man, you come right out of a comic book. "
Previously Krombasher.

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Alski

Droid Life - hahahahahahahahahahahaha  funny

Dredd - I like this story, although not sold on Collins' art, when;s McNeil coming back?

Kingdom - Excellent as always, possibly the best "new" strip for many years. I'm sure we wil see Lezee again.

Necrophim - I like this, and the art is lovely. The sort could be better but I enjoy reading it.

Shakara - Although the art is superb, the story descended into "ho hum" territory for me a while back. Didn't feel anything at the conclusion, and don't much care if it returns.

Sinister Dexter - Still ike 'em, and it's good to see them back.
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Kerrin

Cover - Well, it's fantastic isn't it. Wonderful painting and design as usual from Si Davis. Pete Wells has got a load of Si's cover artwork sans logos etc here on his superb covers blog, but then you knew that already.

Droid Life - Nyaa-haa-hee-hoo-hoo.

Dredd - It's gonna get messy and them boys sure is big. Is Munn going to prove his mettle?

Kingdom - Great ending. So the next books gonna begin with the Wild Bunch after Gene and the humans in orbit trying to create a bio-weapon to destroy THEM. Excellent!

Necrophim - Starting to lose me storywise I'm afraid.

Sin/Dex - Woo-hoo! It'll take me a while to remember who is a doppelganger from another dimension and what the hell is going on but I love Sin/Dex so it's all good.

Shakara - Gulp.  But on the other hand, Zombo II is on the way! I'd be quite satisfied with that as a final ending for Shakara as it happens. No happy ever after, no ride into the sunset.

Letters - Could do with a readers art panel.

Great prog, yadda, yadda. Impending Slaine though. Hope there's a discernible story this time.






Paul faplad Finch

If theres one thing guaranteed to split me down the middle it's a sin dex cover by Simon Davis. On the one hand, it's sin/dex, yay. On the other hand, it's by Simon Davis, the opposite of yay. Never liked the mans work, on anything he's done, so when it's sullying one of my faves it gets on my wick that little bit more. Oh, well, at least he's not on the srp itself.

Dredd : Nice little precursor to the carnage to come. My prediction, Munn will kick some arse, come close to being killed, be saved by a mutant from the camp, said mutant will become his right hand deputy. It could happen.

Kingdom : Exellent ending. This is how it's done, alright. You've gotta feel for poor Gene. My predictions for next series. Numan wakes up some humans. Once they are operational again they intend to eliminate him cos he's served his purppose as a clone. He escapes, taking Leezee (who's now a test subject thanks to the tick) with him and they head off iin search of Gene. Partly because he's the only person either of them knows on Earth that they can trust but also to warn him. The humans are awake and want Earth back, which means wiping out the Aux as well as Them. It could happen.

Necrophim : This interests me less by the week. Mildly intrigued by what is in Heaven tha all the Hell dwellers are so afraid of but since that is probably a story for another series it's not realy enough to make me care about this one. I wouldn't begrudge Necrophim another series - it's never reached the lows of Shakara or Slaine - but I would hope it would expand it's scope a little. I'd be very dissapointed if Heaven was as small scal as Hell has been portrayed so far.

Sin Dex : Yes, it's back, and it has decent art. And a very good start it is too. I agree that this series seems to get the short end of the stick when it comes to scheduling, being used as filler in short bursts. It's a real disservice to an excelent story. I remember an editorial that realy got my back up. Tharg was saying "remember when this happened in prog????, then this happened in prog????, and of course then this hapened in prog????". Short answer, "NO, I don't remember, because it was ages ago and there have been huge gaps, and the fact that you are reminding us of all these things means you know this."  Anyway, I think this series would win over a lot of naysayers and dispel the 'inpenetrable' and 'drawn out' accusations if it was given a little more consideration. As the Eurocrash thread showed recently, when given the space to show his stuff Dan Abnett can do realy rather wonderful things with these characters. It's a shame he isn't being given the chance.

As for this episode, Appelido has to be a clone right? I mean, the one being killed is a clone of the main clone, if you see what I mean. And did anyone else know Apellido was Surname in Spanish? Has this been brought up before? I liked it anyway.

Shakara : Piffle. I'd be more than happy for that to be the end of it. Sorry.

3/5 again then. Good going. Whats new next week? Dd someone mention Slaine(groan)? What else, a run of future shocks or whatever until Christmas? Do we know?   

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