2000 AD Online Forum

Apparently we have Aimee Nixon on the front cover. I know she's a Wally Squad master of disguise but I didn't recognise Dylan's version of her here. The image is striking enough, but who is that bloke with the gun?

Dredd - So they find the House fo Pain. Not quite sure why its rigged to blow when the proprietor is letting them have it. Don't really know why he is on site either. This is really an action interlude. Bored of Guth. Hope he buys the farm (again).

Lobster Random takes the 'Best thing in the Prog' award once more, if only for the final box on the  second page. I like.

Shock, horror - there's plot development in the VCs and some new bad guys. The polity also have some much needed characterisation, I believe.

Low Life is a fucking mess. Ronson turns out to be the baddie (surprise!) and who is this other geezer? What's going on? Does anybody care? Not me. I find Dirty Frank quite boring, tbh, but prefer his unfunny outings to this shite. The artwork has not been helping a confused story either.

Dante ends. That was quicker than expected. He's now got the fleet. Whoo hoo. Let's see some good storylines again.

When's the next relaunch?

Dante back for three weeks? All that build up and he's back for 3 weeks, and doesn't return till 1500? God, I'm so sick of this shit with Nikolai Dante. He's never bloody in it, and when he is he turns up for two sodding minutes then pisses off again. I'm. So. Angry.

he turns up for two sodding minutes then pisses off again

Just like a man, eh?

So when can we expect him to lead his pirate fleet in a full on assault on the Romanov Empire?

Got me a day off so I thought I'd take advantage of the early read.

Cover. When it loads you'll see why this is almost a classic. The pic of Aimee is beautiful, but the rest... doesn't quite work for me.

Dredd kicks ass. So glad to see PJ on this, I'd have liked to see him do the VC's as well.

Great ad for Clint Lagleys  exhibition. Wish I was able to go, as that looks like a treat to see.

Lobster Random is getting sillier and darker. Barking.

VC's is jumping the big assed shark for me. I've really wanted to enjoy this, but it is getting sillier all the time now. Sad.

Low-life. I just don't care anymore...

Dante- Maybe I'm on a downer this morning, but I didn't enjoy it at all.

Letters: Dudley is a smartarse. Tharg said so...

Bolt-01

They printed it?  BWAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!!!  That one was meant for the looney pile...

I thoguht PJ's first Dredd had a lot of promise (although if I remember, Dredd was variable from okay to great) and I've really enjoyed seeing his stuff again, it's looking good.  If I said there was sometimes too much uniformity of line in the background detail, would I be talking crap?  Anyway, it's good seeing the artwork developing and look forward to seeing more.

It may have been a short Dante, but a lot happened.  I'd rather see really intense bursts than a run waffling on with a strip like this. I got a bit lost off with all that running through the jungle from animal people ast time.  Oh and Dante tied up that women in a way that would shame even a sex cultist of Gor!

Also, prog 1500, that looks to be the one to watch out for!  It's not often we reach a prog 500 stage as well.

Of course the world will end when we reach prog 2000 so we may as well enjoy this one.

Paul, you wouldn't be talking crap, it's a valuable and valid criticism. Cheers.

- pj

Cover: Hmmm not too sure, I've never cared too much for Low life Amiee, so I can't see a not reader going wild for this.

JD: The logic of that baddie defies me... but hey, who is he and is he a preist? Must pay attention more...

I wonder if they will show any true love Photo stories at the Carnival exhibition?

Random clipper; good fun the only story with a dinosaur I've bothered with

VCs I wish I cared...

Lowlife, nope no Idea who the guy is and what all the chats about

Nick D yawnsville UK, except maybe his Mum's reaction and the bondage bit...

over all a very disappointing issue, maybe its just me its all a bit rag, tag and bobtail and very very lightweight, either that or having a life away from the comic has pushed to the back of the stack

huffette

When's the next Meg out?

Next week.

I wonder if it would be a worthwhile experiment having a few more, for want of a better word, 'mental' covers, like the ones from the early days.

Where's the airliners being attacked by the Capitol building in the Bermuda Triangle?

Or Skeletal Nazis attacking John Probe underwater?

Maybe it would be a bit too retro and pulp, but I'd rather have that than the 'meh' stock covers of people pointing guns at each other/the reader.

- Steve

Covers with speech bubbles on them are eight times as thrill-powered as covers without. This is a scientific fact. If the speech-bubble says "IT CAN'T BE -- AND YET -- IT IS!!!" then it's as much as twelve times.

Al speaketh true:

I really enjoyed this week's prog, in stark contrast with last weeks, even though it contains all the same stories.

Cover
Looks good, but it's a stock pose and I'd like to take this opportunity to be utterly original and suggest that some speech might help characterise the manequins.  I haven't managed to think of anything witty they could say yet.  How about "IT CAN'T BE -- AND YET -- IT IS!!!" No?

Judge Dredd
Excellent art of the H-wagons coming in low out of the rising sun:  duh duh DUH DUH, duh duh DUH DUH - "Yeah, I use Wagner -- scares the hell out of the Slopes! My boys love it!"

Cool idea to have this group of sov ships left over from the Apocalypse War.  THEN - ultimate cheese from CJ Hershey - "Yo, Joe, do it for the team!"  LATER - Dredd's arm inexplicably retracts into his shoulder-pad - "Drokk!  Arm - inexplicably retracting!"

Still - duh duh DUH DUH, duh duh DUH DUH...

Langosta Escogido Al Azar
Pick of the bunch, this.  Excellent arm-snippage, double-take double-back at the start AND a cliffhanger - what is he smirking about?

The VCs
So - the Polity - an uber-powerful race of aliens that can't hit anyone, but they can pay someone else to do it.  Are they some mutated, far future descendant of Tony Blair, because that's taking political bullshit to a whole new level.

Compare:  the human fleet of 6 spaceships with the human fleet going to take out the Geek homeworld from the original series.

Low Life
Love the fight scene with the high kicks and the extreme close-up of the boot o' doom.  I like this episode - all of a sudden Aimee has both a love interest and a nemesis - whereas before they were just wandering around a convention of the NRA.

Nikolai Dante
This week he literally jumps over a shark.  It was all worth it, though, for the way he tied up the redhead.

So who takes over for Dante next issue?

I suspect we're in double episode finale territory next week, or is it the return of Harry Kipling?

Kipling is coming back in 1492

Double episode then. Future Shock?

Okay there's a prize for the most thrill enhancing caption for this weeks prog cover. It's been a while since we had a compy and it'll be fun to see what's produced.

"Oi! Bignose!"

yeah, that's pretty crap

I never thought the day would come when the best thing in the prog was a letter... by James.

Worst to best....

7) Low Life.  Coleby's not had the best of days on this.  Very inconsistent characterisation of people the script doesn;t give me any reason to care about.

6) The cover.  I am yet to really like a Dylan Teague cover, just too clinical for my eye.

5) The VC's.  How can so much happen yet leave me with an impression of stasis?

4) Dredd.  If Eva de la was still colouring PJ's art, this would probably go up another notch.  Put them back together soon!  Oh, and the plot's going great guns now.

3) Actually, that was a pretty good Dante.  introducing your villains and killing em all off in 3 episodes, and finally forcing the confrontation between mother and son is Good Stuff.  He needs a longer arc, though, Tharg.

2) My letter getting printed, and Tharg's reply.  Made me laugh.

1) Lobster Random.  Actually better than having a personal message from Tharg.

Another vote for Eva's Colour. I can't understand why she was only given one episode. Surely a whole story would be more appropriate?

Bolt-01

"Langosta Escogido Al Azar
Pick of the bunch, this. Excellent arm-snippage, double-take double-back at the start AND a cliffhanger - what is he smirking about?"


What was coming out of his zombie arm?

And about the smirk, look at 1488. He does something right before Teak hits him with that  HautE stuff.

Cover - No, sorry it doesn't do anything for me. Bo-Ring! Which kinda sums up the prog.

Dredd - Best thing in the prog and I think the art is growing on me.

Lobstah - Doesn't make me laugh but it sure crams a lot in. Worth it just for the art.

VC's - Its there, that's about all I can say.

Dante - This is another one I have no interest in. I've never read the first glorious arc and from what I have I'm not bothered.

James letter was funny though.

Ho-hum prog that wont be reread in a hurry.

Looks like I'm the only one to notice that the pistol on the cover is obviously a copy of the pistol Harrison Ford's character uses in Blade Runner.

Do I win a prize? :-)

Graham

Cover: Functional. OK Stuff.

Dredd: Solid yarn, bomb scare avoids being too cliched. Nice cliffhanger, will we see Guth's true colours? Good Stuff.

Lob: His crabiness is a bit too invincible here for my liking, the cliffhanger is ruined slightly when we find out that Lob has already got a plan. but at least it's smarts Lob has in his corner, not Millartastic mustle power. Critchlow's art is as alluring as ever, and the power of Spurrier is strong in this episode. Very Good Stuff.

VCs: Humourless, colourless mush. Don't care about what happens to these people. Williams is not my kind of thing. Bad Stuff.

Low Life: Coleby is off here. Don't really care about Aimee or her boyf, or "It was me all along"-guy. Bad Stuff.

Dante: Combines frolics and japes with plot development in a satisfying way. Burns doesn't quite bring his 'A'-game here, but his 'B'-game is better than most. Some Morrisontastic misery threatens to ruin things towards the end, but the net result is that I'm interested in what happens next. Good Stuff.

Nice letter James.

Overall: Two duff stories does not a bad prog make. Worth ?1.75 and 1 pence more.

For some reason, I thought Dredd was punching through the reinforced metal door this week, and for one ghastly moment thought Dredd's 'electronux' from that Meg story had turned up again and been upgraded.

It's not the sort of thing I'd have expected from Rennie, and it was all made clear a second later, but what a second.  Images of the Fonz water ski-jumping ten sharks tied together suddenly flashed through my mind.

In any other comic, this sort of thing would of course be quite normal.

That cover is Bladerunner.

Dredd is actually looking quite a fiesty strip now. I like the Gordens use of "magic pockets".

Lobster to's and fros. Is this an editorial decision or a humour one?

VC's is some solid non-nonsensical story and its refreshing.Very D+D.In space.

Low Life is better than most American comics yet the throat thing, well it was wrong. Rather Nixon cops a neck full of steel and then gives chase.

Dante is finished. Some beautiful work from Burns.

Letters are good and Mackay got a rilligien hotshot in the post.
Who entered the Fly Boxset Comp then?

:: Dante - This is another one I have no interest in. I've never
:: read the first glorious arc and from what I have I'm not bothered.

Once Tsar Wars comes out in trade form, buy the four trades, read and enjoy them. And then pretend that's where Dante stopped.

As for the Prog, I thought it was OK this week.

Dredd's keeping my interest: Rennie's one of the very few writers who just about "gets" the character and the art's pretty good (reminding me of Paul Marshall's better work). Lobster Random was next best for me: imaginative, beautifully illustrated, but a touch heavy on the captions.

Dante was OK, but we're a long way from the character's classic moments. As others have said, perhaps we need a much longer arc to get the character going again. Elsewhere was pure "meh" territory: I really don't care for the VCs (and have a horrible feeling yet another bloody book's going to be inflicted on us after this one), and Low Life's been pretty disappointing after the energetic and fun earlier stories.

Oh, and I agree with others about that cover: it hardly screams BUY ME!

Still, not bad, and Red Seas is back soon, which gave me a little "yay!" moment.

I really don't care for the VCs (and have a horrible feeling yet another bloody book's going to be inflicted on us after this one)

I'm sure I remember the blurb in Prog 2006 saying this was the last book, but I could be wrong. Or they might just decide to have another one anyway.

tharg said this was the final book in the series.