Prog 1835: Backblast!

[Steve Green]

Could swear Hondo judges Day Stick/ Lawgiver/ Beaty thing was initialy snake orientated?

Not that I recall.

Sino-cit judges have a Dragon - maybe that's what you're thinking of, Brit-cit - Lions, South-Am Judges a Condor, Uranium City - A moose from what I recall, didn't the Pan-African Judge have some kind of animal shoulder pad as well?

As has been stated - makes more sense to keep it within the same pre-war design, and there's not really enough shown to make it worthwhile.

[Mikey]

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.

So the degree of realism exhibited is the only mark of quality in art? And you're arguing this on a comic forum? The 2000ad forum? 

M.

[Recrewt]

The whole continuity issue is more noticeable in the prog and meg at the moment due to the fallout from DoC - certainly the last three Dredd stories in the prog have all been tied to it, so any new reader jumping on board right now is going to wonder what's going on. 

[Goaty]

so any new reader jumping on board right now is going to wonder what's going on.

So buy a book.

[Recrewt]

so any new reader jumping on board right now is going to wonder what's going on.

So buy a book.

Indeed, but buying that book will only get them half the story!  The 2nd book is not out until July.

[Molch-R]

They could always buy the back issues

http://shop.2000adonline.com/categories/comics

[Recrewt]

Oh - he's on fire today! 

[The Sherman Kid]

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.

So the degree of realism exhibited is the only mark of quality in art? And you're arguing this on a comic forum? The 2000ad forum? 

M.

"Only mark"?Nope wasnt arguing that at all.

[TordelBack]

The specific issue with continuity in the post-DoC stories is this: the judges lost, completely and irrevocably, and the MC-1 Our Hero was created to serve is dead.  Dredd's story at the moment is scurrying about trying to do something with the pieces that are left.  As a surviving citizen, it is very likely that your entire family and most people you knew are dead (as cleverly evoked in Rennie and Beeby's collaboration). This is not some temporary overthrow of power or some supernatural disaster, this is the sad protracted self-inflicted end of the greatest city on Earth.

Without including this event, which happened in the past year, there's no way of telling any valid story about MC-1 in 2135.

For my money, the earlier post-DoC stories (or the retro-fitted ones) suffered from not grasping this nettle, presumably because it really wasn't apparent when the story was pitched or scripted.  Even in the current hard-hitting story, I don't really see the full horror of what has happened: we see riots, lawlessness, hopelessness, but we don't see what it was those things were consciously created to serve: the spread of the Chaos Bug itself. 

Which isn't to say that I want things to stay like that forever, but for now, for better or worse, Dredd stories that don't acknowledge and foreground what's just happened are missing the point. 

Also, and as a more general point, gripes about stories requiring knowledge of past stories annoy me.  Yes, it'd be great if things were entirely self-contained for the new reader, but after 36 years week-in week-out it'd also be completely ridiculous.

[Richmond Clements]

Also, and as a more general point, gripes about stories requiring knowledge of past stories annoy me.  Yes, it'd be great if things were entirely self-contained for the new reader, but after 36 years week-in week-out it'd also be completely ridiculous.

This. But it is the classic comic fan behaviour. Refer to the past? They complain. DO something new? They complain.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Also, and as a more general point, gripes about stories requiring knowledge of past stories annoy me.  Yes, it'd be great if things were entirely self-contained for the new reader, but after 36 years week-in week-out it'd also be completely ridiculous.

This. But it is the classic comic fan behaviour. Refer to the past? They complain. DO something new? They complain.

You make a sensible point. I COMPLETELY DISAGREE!

[The Sherman Kid]

The specific issue with continuity in the post-DoC stories is this: the judges lost, completely and irrevocably, and the MC-1 Our Hero was created to serve is dead.  Dredd's story at the moment is scurrying about trying to do something with the pieces that are left.  As a surviving citizen, it is very likely that your entire family and most people you knew are dead (as cleverly evoked in Rennie and Beeby's collaboration). This is not some temporary overthrow of power or some supernatural disaster, this is the sad protracted self-inflicted end of the greatest city on Earth.

Without including this event, which happened in the past year, there's no way of telling any valid story about MC-1 in 2135.

For my money, the earlier post-DoC stories (or the retro-fitted ones) suffered from not grasping this nettle, presumably
because it really wasn't apparent when the story was pitched or scripted.  Even in the current hard-hitting story, I don't really see the full horror of what has happened: we see riots, lawlessness, hopelessness, but we don't see what it was those things were consciously created to serve: the spread of the Chaos Bug itself. 

Which isn't to say that I want things to stay like that forever, but for now, for better or worse, Dredd stories that don't acknowledge and foreground what's just happened are missing the point. 

Also, and as a more general point, gripes about stories requiring knowledge of past stories annoy me.  Yes, it'd be great if things were entirely self-contained for the new reader, but after 36 years week-in week-out it'd also be completely ridiculous.

Really like this post.Probably because I agree with it 100%

[radiator]

I feel like two different arguments are being conflated here.

There's continuity and backstory - like say all recent Dredd stories being set in a ruined city, and then there's fan-service - ie basing entire stories around obscure, decades-old bits of trivia. In my personal opinion, this is a trap new writers occasionally fall into when they're writing for established characters.

But it is the classic comic fan behaviour. Refer to the past? They complain. DO something new? They complain.

Sorry, thought this was a forum for reviewing and discussing 2000ad comics.

[TordelBack]

...and then there's fan-service - ie basing entire stories around obscure, decades-old bits of trivia. In my personal opinion, this is a trap new writers occasionally fall into when they're writing for established characters.

Very, very true.  And it does happen a lot.

However, sometimes it pays off: Rico II and all the family-related goodness that followed stemmed from the McGuffin in Dredd Angel, Vienna herself was a bit of anachronistic trivia otherwise best forgotten, Sinfield's downfall stemmed from a chemical in an ancient PJ Maybe story.  Building from throwaway details or incidental characters can work wonders.

[Richmond Clements]

Sorry, thought this was a forum for reviewing and discussing 2000ad comics.

And your point?
Unless I'm being terribly dim, that's what's happening.