Prog 1977

ZenArcade · 20 April, 2016, 01:30:28 PM

WTF is it with H Wagons?? It seems if you set foot in one, some maladjusted prick is trying (for 'trying' read succeeding) in blowing the bloody thing up. Jeez can they not develop some effective armour, shielding or counter measures? Z

DrRocka · 20 April, 2016, 01:42:14 PM

Am I the only one that's REALLY pissed off that this Dredd cliffhanger is continued in the magazine? I really don't like the Meg, bought it for way longer than I should then gave up out of despair at the poor quality of strips in it. I've bought 2000ad every week for nearly forty years, why do I now have to spend a fiver to find out what happens?
Poor play, Tharg, very poor.

Nic_Freeman · 20 April, 2016, 02:11:38 PM

Quote from: DrRocka on 20 April, 2016, 01:42:14 PM
Am I the only one that's REALLY pissed off that this Dredd cliffhanger is continued in the magazine?

You're not the only one. I wouldn't mind buying the Meg if it was anywhere near the quality of it's original launch, but it's patch at best.

There will be a temporary disgruntled sales spike then it will slump back to where it was.

Keef Monkey · 20 April, 2016, 03:22:26 PM

Got no problem with the prog crossing over with the meg as I read both, and it made for a very cool lunch break to read the two back to back like that.

As for the whole Dredd being dead thing, my first thought (spoilering although I'm sure most people have come to the same conclusion) is that [spoiler]he was teleported out of the H Wagon a moment before the explosion (hence the weird wibbly effect on it just before it blew up). As for why, I'd assume they could conspire to fake his death to get Brit Cit off their backs and get aid from them. That or aliens did it or something, but it definitely seemed pretty obvious to me that some sort of teleporty shenanigans had gone down.[/spoiler]

I do like the idea of Rico taking on the Dredd mantle for a few months, and even that could be Rebellion testing the water to see if they can finally get away with that (I've always assumed that was the plan from the moment he was introduced). Really though, I reckon [spoiler]the meg will follow Rico and the prog will follow Dredd wherever he may have been teleported to[/spoiler].

Great story whatever happens.

Rest of the prog was decent, the Tharg tale went over my head a bit and I didn't get the twist at the end of Survival Geeks but other than that it was cracking.

Frank · 20 April, 2016, 05:18:07 PM

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 20 April, 2016, 03:22:26 PM
I'd assume they could conspire to [spoiler]fake his death[/spoiler] to get Brit Cit off their backs and get aid from them. That or aliens did it or something, but it definitely seemed pretty obvious to me that some sort of [spoiler]teleporty[/spoiler] shenanigans had gone down.

I do like the idea of Rico taking on the Dredd mantle for a few months, and even that could be Rebellion testing the water to see if they can finally get away with that (I've always assumed that was the plan from the moment he was introduced). Really though, I reckon the meg will follow Rico and the prog will follow [spoiler]Dredd[/spoiler] wherever he may have been [spoiler]teleported[/spoiler] to.

I don't think it would be a matter of Rico actually changing his name to Dredd and getting called into the Chief Judge's office every time they need someone to deal with an alien invasion - just a less angsty version of Kraken's travails.

As Keef says, Rico's going to be busy in the Megazine anyway. It'd be nice if Beeny stepped in to fill Dredd's too tight boots and the 2000ad strip, but I'm pretty sure Dredd will be in his usual slot, following the Nerve Centre page.

Steve Green deserves a Scooby snack if the [spoiler]Lawlords[/spoiler] turn out to be behind this, but my money is on [spoiler]Brit-Cit or the Emerald Isle[/spoiler] doing a bit of extraordinary rendition. If we're in for another Doomsday- style Trial Of Judge Dredd, I'd prefer Cosh's idea of a Dredd-free six months.

Steve Green · 20 April, 2016, 05:28:18 PM

Outside chance of [spoiler]Sabbat being behind it - lightning stopping H-Wagons flying

[/spoiler]

Steve Green · 20 April, 2016, 05:33:06 PM

[spoiler]1000-1 it's Johnny Alpha on a CUR timejob[/spoiler]

Proudhuff · 20 April, 2016, 06:58:31 PM

Yeah, the teleport seems top idea, as no-one's firing at the H-Wagon when it happens.

Spikes · 20 April, 2016, 08:07:43 PM

Apparently Mick McMahon is on art duties for Dredd for Prog 1978. Here's a sneak...

sorry...

Hawkmumbler · 20 April, 2016, 08:12:45 PM

Quote from: Spikes on 20 April, 2016, 08:07:43 PM
Apparently Mick McMahon is on art duties for Dredd for Prog 1978. Here's a sneak...

sorry...

Oh you tease!

jannerboyuk · 20 April, 2016, 09:00:41 PM

[spoiler]this is not a spoiler[/spoiler]

ZenArcade · 20 April, 2016, 09:06:26 PM

Could you imagine but. Z

Eamonn Clarke · 21 April, 2016, 06:46:19 AM

Quote from: DrRocka on 20 April, 2016, 01:42:14 PM
Am I the only one that's REALLY pissed off that this Dredd cliffhanger is continued in the magazine? I really don't like the Meg, bought it for way longer than I should then gave up out of despair at the poor quality of strips in it. I've bought 2000ad every week for nearly forty years, why do I now have to spend a fiver to find out what happens?
Poor play, Tharg, very poor.

It doesn't really continue in the Megazine. spoiler for Meg story = [spoiler]Rico and Cursed Earth Koburn head off after the Cowboys in what seems like a new mission, there's no detail of what happened to the H-wagon[/spoiler]

AlexF · 21 April, 2016, 11:24:46 AM

Obviously the discussion here is being dominated by the events of Dredd and various ingenious suggestions about how it will play out. And why shouldn;t the Meg enjoy a sales-spike as a result?

On to the Prog. Can we expect more delightfully nostalgic covers / star scans in the weeks to come? Or is a throwaway joke in the Damage Report all we get? I do like to wallow in the old-timey business. But I can see it'd be off-putting to new readers if it went on until Christmas!

Can I express surprise at the Aquila-bashing? I'll agree that the story isn't so compelling this time around, but the artwork of the half-flayed face is about the best such I've ever seen! Certainly it's up there with Stone Island and Martyrs (the French film, not a long-forgotten 2000AD strip). And I'm getting a kick out of how it's yet another call-back to Blackhawk, who had a half-rotten face for a while.

Survival Geeks, like Bec and Kawl before it, seems to me to be getting funnier and pleasingly weirder with each passing episode. Googe is the star of the show, for sure. But Rennie/Beeby's dialogue is good for some chuckles. They were great on the Alienist, too -will that come back?

Dreams of Deadworld is a contender for strangest series to run in the Prog ever. Unless there's some twist to come, it features no returning characters, it's just a very bleak examination of the slow death of an entire society. As such, it's very effective, again the art especially. But it's super depressing - how could it be anything else?

IndigoPrime · 21 April, 2016, 01:44:09 PM

A bit of a weird Prog for me. I liked the cover and Dredd, and Survival Geeks has been fun, even if I preferred the other team to 'our' one.

Elsewhere, Aquila's never clicked with me, and this series isn't doing anything to change that, and the Tharg story was a bit weird, but didn't really do anything for me.

Dreams of Deadworld is a strange one. The basic premise has legs, and to my mind it has a vibe a bit like Walking Dead. We know (or at least assume we know) the ultimate ending, but it could be interesting seeing how Deadworld got there. (It at least beats Young Death, which demolished the mystery and horror surrounding the Dark Judges, playing them for black humour instead. DoD is much more overt horror.)