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Prog 1812 Trifecta

Started by Mattofthespurs, 01 December, 2012, 10:29:31 AM

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staticgirl

Just popping in to say (in case any of the droids who worked on it ever look) that this series has been one of the best things I have ever read in a comic. I just loved the cleverness and the surprise as the different threads began to knit together.

Not being a long time reader I didn't get a lot of the continuity refs but it was so well written and illustrated that it didn't matter. The basic story and lots of the jokes came through shining. The art was fantastic and at times just gobsmacking.

I also enjoyed reading this thread, you nutters.

revis84

Being a relative newbie (jumped on board as of Prog 1799) I certainly enjoyed the Trifecta saga. Still remember the night I realised all the stories were connected-had to flick between pages a few times to take this revelation in  :D

Looking forward to a full years worth of Progs and Big Megs, will be very zarjaz!


TordelBack

Quote from: revis84 on 15 December, 2012, 12:26:40 PMStill remember the night I realised all the stories were connected-had to flick between pages a few times to take this revelation in  :D

Truly one of the best comics reading experiences I've ever had.  As you say, flicking back and forth between Dredd and Simping Detective thinking 'haaaaang on a mo....', and then on to Low Life!  Sad to say I twigged both SPOILERS FOR TWO OTHER GREAT 2000AD SWITCHEROOS [spoiler]Dead Man (square pupils) and Malone (clown demon)[/spoiler] in advance of the actual reveal, but beyond the nagging curiosity generated by the Ducks, all I recall is mild irritation that two Wally Squad were scheduled for the same time, and then BAM!  Even better than the disorientating shocker in Cerebus: Reads where you, the reader, suddenly find yourself looking at the back of your own head, while at the same time feeling your own eyes watching you...  Priceless stuff, brilliantly conceived, paced and sustained. 

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: Big Barry PengeBack on 15 December, 2012, 01:52:26 PM
...beyond the nagging curiosity generated by the Ducks, all I recall is mild irritation that two Wally Squad were scheduled for the same time, and then BAM!

Still can't believe I didn't twig.

Not only did I grumble on here about the repetition of the duck motif - 'as if further proof were needed of why two such similar strips shouldn't have been run at the same time; what are the chances?' - but when Folger's body was found in a Sector 13 chem pit I thought 'Tsk. Sector 13 again. These writers ought to talk to each other now and again to make sure they don't overlap ideas like this. Doesn't Al Ewing know that Sector 13 is where Simping Detective is set? And Low Life too, for that matter. All going on in the same sector and yet nobody ever mentions the events in the other strips.'
@jamesfeistdraws

SuperSurfer

Those hints that something was going on demonstrate the quality of writing and editing that I believe sets 2000AD apart from most comics. Only once before can I remember noticing something in a comic that barely registered at the time and then a few issues on things became apparent. It was in an early issue of Love and Rockets when I noticed one of the characters seemed a bit weightier. A few issues on, an episode began with her looking in a mirror, just having realised that she had put on weight. Just how things would work out in real life. Don't come across that kind of thing in comics often - everything is usually spelt out for the reader.

But in Low Life - what a 'BAM' that was - Dredd kicking a door down. One of my favourite 2000AD moments ever.

Dark Jimbo

Yeah, that really was the genius of it - not only that nobody saw it coming but that in retrosect all the clues are there.
@jamesfeistdraws

Mabs

Ah man that was truly terrific! I think its a good time for me to read the Trifecta storyline from the start. I think the fact now i  know about the overlap, it'll be more of a fun read just looking for the clues. :D
My Blog: http://nexuswookie.wordpress.com/

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FinH

WOW.

I sure picked the right time to come back to the fold.  Pity I could only afford to get digital copies of recent progs 'cause it's too expensive to get physical copies sent here to Oz but I just read the 'Trifecta' conclusion and was absolutely blown away by the scope, ingenuity and ambition of the whole intertwining threads thing.

I don't really have anything new to say that a hundred other people have already said in previous posts, I guess,but just wanted to register my delight within earshot of others who will also appreciate what I'm talking about.

One thing: that Travis Perkins gorilla guy seemed to get his head blown off in a pretty off-hand, arbitrary sort of way.  I'm a bit behind on De Marco's story but wasn't he a reasonably significant character in 2000AD?  He just seemed to get killed off with oddly little fanfare and De Marco just referred to him as having had "her gorilla killed" like he was a piece of property rather than a person.  Anyone shed any light on this for me?

TordelBack

Quote from: FinH on 16 December, 2012, 12:03:35 PMOne thing: that Travis Perkins gorilla guy seemed to get his head blown off in a pretty off-hand, arbitrary sort of way.  I'm a bit behind on De Marco's story but wasn't he a reasonably significant character in 2000AD?  He just seemed to get killed off with oddly little fanfare and De Marco just referred to him as having had "her gorilla killed" like he was a piece of property rather than a person.  Anyone shed any light on this for me?

I wouldn't go as far as to say that Travis was 'reasonably significant', but I certainly liked the character and was sorry to see him stuffed in a fridge, so to speak.  Apart from upholding the Dredd Epic Tradition of offhandedly murdering supporting characters, I suspect the problem here is DeMarco herself - she was such a fantastic character, but since Doomsday has since struggled to find anything interesting to do in her solo outings (from whence Travis hailed).  Knocking the PI partnership on the head by offing Travis and folding her in with Simping Detective (where she had previosuly guested) seems like a solution, but I'm not sure it's one I like. 

Anyway, in memoriam here are work-in-progress shots of DeMarco PI and Travis Pickle, Urbane Gorilla from the Mongoose Kickstarter (and a Hershey with fine child-bearing hips):


TordelBack

Perkins/Bickle/Pickle, you know what I meant.

FinH

I'm pretty impressed with the De Marco miniature they did, but I still picked Anderson for my Kickstarter.  :)

The Adventurer

I'd been waiting on the last 5 weeks of this years print copies of 2000 AD for way too long. And when I decided to buy Prog 2013 digitally and start my digital subscription I got the last 4 weeks of the year for free. So I said 'fuck it' and just bought the missing issue. Then promptly read a five issues I. One whack. Thrill Power overload indeed.

Anyway, that means I finally got caught up on Trifecta. And good grief did it not disappoint. Such a great roller coaster of events Nd one of the best crossovers I've ever seen executed. Also was reminded why I love Critchlow so much as an artist. Guy can draw (where is my next installment of Lobster Random Tharg?!)

One thing... With all the crossing over going on I was marginally disappointed that Anderson didn't pop her head in for a second. I was convinced she was the one who had planted all the mind blocks once they started to become a plot point, but alas.


Question, Judge Smiley is a new character retconed into Dredd cannon, yes? I like him, guy's got moxey.

THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

Hawkmumbler

I share Orlok's sentiment over at ECBT2KAD, when you take Smiley at face value as a new character in this story, it's OK, but over all there have been to many instances in MC1 history where you'd have though Smiley may consider important enough to pop his head right in and say 'Hullo'.
The Sinfield takeover, isn't that what Smiley was placed in BO for, and acting behind the scene's can only be to his addvantage, Sinfield wont even know he exists. Don't get me started on using his inability to do anything in the Titan Rebellion, and no, Bachmann did not do a good job of sortting THAT out thank you very much you smug git.
I'm sorry but all I see is alot of retconning coming from this corner of a foreign field. And I've had enough of retconning from Mr.P.Mills thank you very much.

TordelBack

Quote from: Hawkmonger on 18 December, 2012, 11:13:19 AM
The Sinfield takeover, isn't that what Smiley was placed in BO for, and acting behind the scene's can only be to his addvantage, Sinfield wont even know he exists. Don't get me started on using his inability to do anything in the Titan Rebellion, and no, Bachmann did not do a good job of sortting THAT out thank you very much you smug git.

Sinfield 'takeover'?  All that happened there was that Sinfield slipped PJ's magic beans into Francisco's soup, there was no hostile plot as such, he was just a corrupt incompetent who opportunistically manoeuvred himself into high office - nothing bad really happened by the standards of MC-1.  He was no Cal and he was going to hang himself eventually.

As to Inferno, well what of it?  There's not really any point looking for rational explanations in a wholly moronic story, but you might argue, if you were so inclined, that perhaps the ridiculous ease with which the Judges take back the city makes a molecule more sense with a hidden ally.

Doomsday may be the takeover where a decent intelligence unit might have been handy, but seeing as everyone was wrong-footed there, and seeing as Smiley is more about internal matters anyway, it's not inconsistent.  Again, you could interpret Volt's "we are not without resource" speech as partly referring to Blacker-than-Black Ops.

Given that the writers hung a very tasteful lampshade on the whole business, and given that behind the scenes, 'not in the official history', is the whole point of Smiley, I'm happy to accept what is a fundamental enriching of Dredd's world, in the service of a really great story and hopefully more to come.

Professor Bear

Quote from: Big Barry PengeBack on 16 December, 2012, 12:16:17 PMApart from upholding the Dredd Epic Tradition of offhandedly murdering supporting characters,

Leaving aside that one man's tradition is another man's lazy cliche*, was Travis even a supporting character?  This was DeMarco's first appearance in the prog since she resigned as Sector chief (Dredd's comments even say as much), so I'd lay money pretty much everyone reading didn't have a clue she'd latterly had a lobotomy and was hanging out with a talking gorilla.  At best he's a supporting character to a supporting character, no more significant in the context of a Dredd story than the 750 million faceless cits who carked in DoC.


* I think "killing off a minor character for shock value" was officially cliche when one of DC's books had a story where a minor character was kidnapped by a bloke with Wolverine hair and told "I'm not going to kill you just to get their attention - I'm not that insecure" and THAT STORY WAS WRITTEN BY ROB LIEFELD.