Prog 1835: Backblast!

[JamesC]

Cover - Here we have an image of a couple of Victorian freaks fighting off a group of dinosaur men. Unfortunately it's so hard to make out that all the impact is lost. Certainly wouldn't make me pick up the prog if I wasn't a regular reader.

Dredd - really enjoyed the final episode of this story. There's a nice little twist at the end and I'm looking forward to seeing what Mr Carroll has in store for us next.

There's an advert for the complete Zenith which is now available to pre-order at the Future Shop. Exciting!

Anderson - Another enjoyable episode. Not much more to say about this really.

Sin/Dex - The story progresses quite a bit in this episode and I like the look of where it's going. I always enjoy this strip and I like John Burns art but I just wish he'd put something in to show that this is taking place in the future, on another planet! At the moment it looks like the lost artwork from a Kojak strip or something.

Stickleback - Haven't been reading it but it ends with a double length episode this week.

There's a beautifully designed advert for Defoe inside the back cover. This strip returns next week along with a Terror Tale.


Overall not a bad prog at all and it looks like things will pick up even more next week. Pleased to see that Zenith is going to see the light of day again too.

[House of Usher]

Dredd spoiler:

I can't reconcile the stated method for turning a male embryo into an XY female with the knock-on result that the XY female gets pregnant. From the technique described and the very fact of her being an XY female, Jessica Paris ought to be infertile, with hypogonadism, and oughtn't to have undergone puberty without hormone supplements. Justice Department medical technicians must have got up to some really weird Frankenstein business to grant her fertility, which seems perverse when judges are not supposed to go in for sexual relations, much less have offspring of their own.

Sorry to carp so early. First story I read; I haven't seen the rest of the Prog yet. 'The Forsaken' has been an enjoyable linear mystery tale and kept my interest week after week.

[Colin YNWA]

Wow quiet here and must admit I forgot to get to my review as well. I guess the big news this week is the double length end of Stickleback and were as I haven't enjoyed the story so much this time around I really quite enjoyed now it all wrapped up... or didn't as the case maybe.

The Dredd had a solid ending, I for one am not too fussed if the science doesn't match up with 21st Century science, cos ya know Sci-Fi and all that. The ending does set up some very interesting potential for the future even if the story itself kinda just peters out a little. I do think this one will benefit from a one sitting re-read.

Anderson is a real nice peak behind the curtains leaving the star of the show to be Sinister Dexter a great episode and a really nice resolution to the cliff-hanger from last week. So glad this strip is back and seems the break has done it no harm at all.

[House of Usher]

The Dredd had a solid ending, I for one am not too fussed if the science doesn't match up with 21st Century science, cos ya know Sci-Fi and all that.

It's a bit more complicated than that, but yeah.

Specifically, C21st XY females are infertile, but C22nd XY female (judges) aren't.

[Pop Culture Bandit]

Surprised at the lack of comments this Prog has generated.

Dredd - Well, that took me by surprise - I expected Cadet Paris to be dead, not pregnant! - Hopefully the Carroll droid has more plans for this plot thread after the time spent on developing it over the last six weeks.

Sinister Dexter - Again, a surprising turn of events in terms of escaping the cliffhanger from the week before. This has been an okay start, but we really need to start moving the plot along and get Sinister and Dexter together soon.

Cadet Anderson - A bit of a slow-burner again, but with the disadvantage of being a flashback story so you know nothing will happen to rock the status quo. I do like the psychedelic element to the dream sequence, which looks to dominate next Prog.

Stickleback - A good ending and nicely setting up a new gang for Stickleback to lead with Moody and the unnamed dinosaur hybrid guy. Definitely looking forward to seeing more of this in the future, especially if it continues to move forward rather than relying on past stories/old characters.

For a more detailed review, check out my blog review here:  http://popculturebandit.blogspot.com/2013/06/2000ad-prog-1835.html

[The Adventurer]

Digital Prog just dropped, blew through it. Dredd ends in an interesting way. I love Dolman. Brothers of the Blood was one of the first Judge Dredd strips I ever read and its been fascinating to see how Dolman has developed since.

Cadet Anderson isn't really thrilling me. Stickleback ends well, though the reveal at the end felt a bit predictable.

Sin Dex is just fab. Great art and great story. Though I do want to see Ray and Tracy back in the spot light. Like caseworker lady. Hope she sticks around. As for Generica coming across as a bit 'not very space or future' I honestly wonder if that's not intentional. Based of a few character comments and the general look of the place, I get the feeling that Generica might be an exact duplication of late 90 America. Like down to its geography and everything. I mean, that would be weird and impractical but it's Sin Dex.

[JamesC]

Digital Prog just dropped, blew through it. Dredd ends in an interesting way. I love Dolman. Brothers of the Blood was one of the first Judge Dredd strips I ever read and its been fascinating to see how Dolman has developed since.

Cadet Anderson isn't really thrilling me. Stickleback ends well, though the reveal at the end felt a bit predictable.

Sin Dex is just fab. Great art and great story. Though I do want to see Ray and Tracy back in the spot light. Like caseworker lady. Hope she sticks around. As for Generica coming across as a bit 'not very space or future' I honestly wonder if that's not intentional. Based of a few character comments and the general look of the place, I get the feeling that Generica might be an exact duplication of late 90 America. Like down to its geography and everything. I mean, that would be weird and impractical but it's Sin Dex.

Maybe, but then even the guns and stuff look old fashioned and I'm pretty sure that this wasn't an issue in the original Malone story.

[Recrewt]

Don't recall the Malone story but I did wonder myself if Generica was supposed to be some 1950s based place where everything is retro - if that were the case though, a bit of narrative would have been nice to explain it.

That doesn't explain why the cover to prog 1832 seemed to show us a more futuristic Generica (well, that's where I assumed he was on that cover).

[I, Cosh]

Maybe, but then even the guns and stuff look old fashioned and I'm pretty sure that this wasn't an issue in the original Malone story.

My recollection of Malone is that it had a distinct, deliberate pulpy noir look and feel to it with the only thing making it obviously SF being the references to characters coming from or wanting to get "Offworld" rather than to "The Big City."

[Colin YNWA]

Maybe, but then even the guns and stuff look old fashioned and I'm pretty sure that this wasn't an issue in the original Malone story.

My recollection of Malone is that it had a distinct, deliberate pulpy noir look and feel to it with the only thing making it obviously SF being the references to characters coming from or wanting to get "Offworld" rather than to "The Big City."

Yeah can't fault that assessment. The art gave it a distinctly noir tone, which I guess was driven my the script given the story and heck even the title 'Malone' has a very noir feel to it. I read it not that long ago and hopefully even my dodgy memory is playing tricks there.

To be honest though the sci'fi elements are often underplayed in Sinister Dexter, especially on a visual level. Generally the clothing is fairly contemporary, cars still look like cars, guns like guns, inverse ninjas like inver... well I did say often, not all the time...

[JamesC]

It's hard to find any images on the web to back up my point but...

If you scroll down to the bottom third of this page there's a Malone cover by Dylan Teague -

http://2000adcovers.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/cliff-and-dylan-rip-roaring-combination.html

As you can see, it still has that pulpy vibe but there are just enough pointers to let the reader know, even at a glance, that this isn't set in the past. The street signs, the electronic panel on the door and the very slightly futuristic looking gun.

[Hawkmumbler]

Dredd- Loved it loved it loved it loved it! One of the best p-DoC stories thus far and add's another stonking thread to Carroll's tapestry. What a pair of legends you clever boys are. More please.

Anderson- Meh story, nice art. Not The King at his best i'm afraid.

Sin/Dex- So Frontal just buggered off because Finny went all Care Bears on him? Funt me!

Stickleback- Yes. More please.

[The Sherman Kid]

Dredd A good solid story that showed some of the wider impact of Chaos day that was pretty enjoyable. Pleased to see I was right with the clone turning out to be female, lots of potential for the future there methinks (reminds me whatever happened to Vienna's baby.....?).

Bit confused over the status of Uranium City (this is Alaska right?).Why do the judges look exactly like Mega City One judges? They have no jurisdiction there.

Trawling the web, there was a forum thread on it where this was brought up. Here's what PJ said -

"Given that no-one is that sure what they look like you could always make 'em up

-pj".

True ,but making them exactly like Mega City judges is both lazy and confusing.
I also wish PJ would stop using slits for eyes and draw them (the gate guard had no face in one panel at all - ). It makes the artwork look 'cartoony' at times, when overall he his a good artist. Nitpicking maybe but I notice it everytime.

Cadet Anderson Pretty good, interesting to see psi cadets learning their craft.

Sinister Its a pass for me.

Stickleback Brilliant. The dialogue is just fantastic.

[LorcanQ]

DREDD - Solid ending, 6 parts already? Aimed more at people who are more familiar with dredd continuity than me i think but still, perfectly easy to understand and was entertaining.

ANDERSON - Hmm. not impressed with this really. The fact its dialogue-light means its pretty easy reading, but, as with last issue, there was little to no plot momentum and character development so it just feels empty more than anything.

SIN DEX - Still the highlight. Story progressed a lot without feeling rushed and the characters all felt very real

Didnt read stickleback.

The mention of the submissions pile was a nice touch in the damage report

The Damned teaser (whatever it is) was fantastic!

[Steve Green]

Dredd A good solid story that showed some of the wider impact of Chaos day that was pretty enjoyable. Pleased to see I was right with the clone turning out to be female, lots of potential for the future there methinks (reminds me whatever happened to Vienna's baby.....?).

Bit confused over the status of Uranium City (this is Alaska right?).Why do the judges look exactly like Mega City One judges? They have no jurisdiction there.

Trawling the web, there was a forum thread on it where this was brought up. Here's what PJ said -

"Given that no-one is that sure what they look like you could always make 'em up

-pj".

True ,but making them exactly like Mega City judges is both lazy and confusing.
I also wish PJ would stop using slits for eyes and draw them (the gate guard had no face in one panel at all - ). It makes the artwork look 'cartoony' at times, when overall he his a good artist. Nitpicking maybe but I notice it everytime.

Cadet Anderson Pretty good, interesting to see psi cadets learning their craft.

Sinister Its a pass for me.

Stickleback Brilliant. The dialogue is just fantastic.

Let's see - MC2 Judges aren't noticeably different - Texas City are mostly the same uniform apart from a belt buckle and a cowboy hat.

I'd prefer that route than increasingly unlikely animals to stick on a shoulder pad.