Well that's a lovely cover, all be it with a clunky tag line! Inside we're in good order as well.
Dredd villains put the gang together, Dredd prepares for a chat and Maitland dodges a bullet. Set up, but cut to the action by the end. Nice enough.
Damn the subs freebies on the page after Dredd - some of the best yet - a facsimile of Prog 0 (the proposal Prog). I don't quite qualify but damn this is tempting!
Diaboliks like Dredd quickly puts pieces into place and its an intriguing place and look forward to this moving forward.
Then a nice Tharg Star Scan by David Millgate.
Now Scarlet Traces was an ace. It too was a set up and if I'm honest I started this with a bit of dread, but quite remembering were we are up to... but this one does it all, recaps, sets the scene and moves us onto the next phase of things, but you don't notice the mechanics at work. D'israeli delightfully realising Edginton's trippy start and hellish ending. Wonderful stuff and worries quickly dismissed.
As they were with Anderson one off Anderson's of late haven't always ticked the boxes but this one works perfectly Maura McHugh keeps it self contained, but moves things into place for the next phase of her story. Okay so maybe not self contained with that cliffhanger but it works as an episode and I'm already hankering for what comes next. Lee Carter has switched some buttons on his dial and his colour and tone work the dark atmosphere perfectly. Loved this one, to my surprise if I'm honest.
Pandora Perfect - Mystery Moon again masters the set up trick really well. it gives us a frothy intro to the character, a cheeky double cross and an offer for what's to come. This is just perfect fun.
Okay Chris Western I know this was a Future Shock driven by the pun at the end BUT when you present it like that - come on don't leave us hangin' [spoiler]Lone Wolf and Grub[/spoiler] is a series you could make work. A star child take on the classic. Get ya writing cap on and don't leave this as a silly gag.
And we go out with The Out and it gets us up to speed and like others sets up what to come perfectly well. Its a great opener but as some of the other wears it mechanics on it sleeves - mind when the sleeves are suich glorious out on the rim colours colliding wonders who cares what mechanics they expose. Super excited by this one.
So yeah if latest weeks Prog was a real let down this one shows just how quickly the Prog can bounce back and the thrill ride being an avid follower of Tharg can be. Just a fantastic comic.
Cover by Mick McMahon:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E_ZZBVgWYAIspku?format=jpg&name=large)
Cover and Logo:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E_f-zpkWQAc5ujl.jpg)
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 18 September, 2021, 06:02:46 PM
Well that's a lovely cover, all be it with a clunky tag line!
How to crap on a classic cover, the font droid opts to choose four different type settings and the one at the bottom is a ripe old stinker!
Dredd picks up threads from previous Rob Williams stories and I like how Joe casually asks for a chat in a rather awkward but sweet way.
Always great to see the team behind Scarlet Traces return, nudging my Stickleback memories and thoughts towards a hopeful return of the Baker Street misfit.
Hallelujah! It's the APNIAMOFJOP*. Although being a digital subscriber pleb, I haven't got mine yet.
But on the subject of APNIAMOFJOPs, does anyone have a favourite APNIAMOFJOP from the many APNIAMOFJOPS there have been throughout the years? When was the first modern-day APNIAMOFJOP? I bet Funt Solo knows. And if I keep writing APNIAMOFJOP can I make APNIAMOFJOP the canonical term for APNIAMOFJOPS?
* Annual Prog Number Is A Multiple of Fifty Jump On Prog
I even made it pronounceable- Apnia, as in sleep apnea; Mof as in Grand Moff Tarkin; Jop as in Janice Joplin - stick it all together and you have APNIAMOFJOP. Simple
I hope it catches on!
In Anderson, can anyone remember if we've seen Judge Falzon before?
Future Shock - one for the 'over my head' thread, I think. Wot? Can someone explain please?
Seriously? I thought it was a hell of a lot of effort for a rather painful pun myself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Wolf_and_Cub
Thanks for the reference, Tjm. Never heard of it, but then again I know virtually nothing about Manga. I'm one of those people who pays hardly any attention to comix unconnected with 2000AD.
First things first and overall, this was a wonderful prog enjoyed it tremendously. Just shows us that a change is as good as a holiday. Good balance of stories with some good variety in the art as well. Top notch stuff Tharg, looks like the last quarter will be a goody. The only letdown for me is the cover and it just did not work for me.
Dredd – We are introduced first by the main villain (now if you are reading the meg, you will know who the Red Queen is) and the red coats (you know if you are a re a trekkie fan the guy in red we all know whom will not make it) and lastly to our targets Maitland and Dredd. This is all setup for what is to come, good start.
Diaboliks – Quite the diabolic start the new arc and a future shot of what is to be. Now this the Our team is split up and Jenny is given a darker task to accomplish and what can possibly go wrong?
Scarlet Traces – D'Isreali's got such a unique style and the way he portraits [spoiler]the dream sequence[/spoiler] is just amazing we know in the story when we are back in the real world. Wonderful storytelling by Edginton.
Anderson – We continue the fallout from the sci-fi special and this feels like an intro to Anderson's next tale. Good stuff (and for all the purest Anderson does not look like a teenage prom queen).
Pandora – A fun start to Pandora's series debut. This is going to be entreating ride.
Shock – Lovely art as usual mister Weston but no mister Weston you can not just give as the wrapper of the candy.
The Out – The travels of Cyd continues and we are the spectators of this journey in the alientastic, spectacular explosions of weirdness and exoticness.
B/W Cover:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-2021-09-16-14.15.42-777x1024.png)
Some fine work.
Almost makes me regret skipping Mick at the bar at the 40th bash.
My jumping on prog appears to have jumped off. Still no sign of it...
Good to see Maitland back though I did find myself thinking during the collecting villains phase that they'd just get in each others way. Sure it'll be entertaining, but I was at least expecting them to be working independently. They just look like one big target in the last panel...
Great work from D'Israeli in clueing us in that it was a dream sequence even before appearances from dead people and psychedelic touches. Does the reference to watching too much TV show in the double-page spread? Some of it looks a little Jamie and the Magic Torch.
I think it's referencing Yellow Submarine more.
Quote from: Timothy on 22 September, 2021, 10:25:37 PM
I think it's referencing Yellow Submarine more.
Oh yes - that makes sense. Thinking about it, while I saw a lot of Jamie and the Magic Torch when I was a kid (and a little as an adult) I'm not entirely sure I've ever watched Yellow Submarine, other than little clips in other media...
Yep. Yellow Submarine, but the previous pages have folk dressed as Tony Hancock, (the first) Doctor Who, John Steed and Captain Kirk. I think his mum is probably dressed as Lucille Ball and Iykarus has a touch of the Jason Kings about him but is more likely dressed as Jon Pertwee's Doctor.
An absolute belter of a prog after the last slew of stories was a real slog. Makes me glad I continued with my subscription! (I was seriously close to cancelling after that last lot)
We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine.
Some wonderful pictures from that dream sequence:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/thumbnail_02-Yellow-Submarine-DPS-Rough-Pencils-1024x679.jpg)
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/thumbnail_04-Yellow-Submarine-DPS-Inks-1024x679.jpg)
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/thumbnail_05-Yellow-Submarine-DPS-05-1024x679.jpg)
Wow - good find - where did you see that out of interest?
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 September, 2021, 09:14:52 AM
Wow - good find - where did you see that out of interest?
Interview with Ian/Matt:
https://2000ad.com/news/interview-ian-edginton-disraeli-are-at-the-storm-front-next-stop-jupiter/ (https://2000ad.com/news/interview-ian-edginton-disraeli-are-at-the-storm-front-next-stop-jupiter/)
Ah, that cover. So brilliant. You get comic art legend Mick McMahon to do you a Dredd cover, expecting to see something like the Lawman of the Future astride a Lawmaster, blasting his way through the Big Meg; and he gives you Dredd in the most bizarre pose imaginable, brandishing a long red umbrella. This man is a national treasure.
It's hilarious that the layout droid has made a rather half-hearted attempt, with the sparky font, to convince us it's actually an electric baton of some sort. Nice try!
A rather polarized selection of strips on offer this jumping-on week. The prog cruises along at the very highest levels of thrill-power for the first three, then completely falls off a cliff, only to be saved by an Abnett-shaped crash mat at the very end.
Dredd is glorious, and ably demonstrates why the Williams droid (in conjunction with the Wyatt-bot here, of course) is the ideal choice to introduce viewers to the world of Mega-City One in the upcoming TV series (yes it will). Although having seen upthread that the Red Queen was part of a Megazine story, I'd have liked a slice of backstory.
The wonderful Diaboliks demonstrates why a prog never seems properly complete without a strip by the Rennie droid. And the prog's highlight - a seriously stunning return to the world of Scarlet Traces from the Edginton and D'Israeli team. Reading the first two pages I wondered why the art looked so crude, then of course that breathtaking double-page spread makes it clear, before a genuinely gripping further six pages - utterly fantastic stuff.
And then...
It's a prog of two halves, Clive. Okay to be more accurate a prog of four-sevenths and three-sevenths.
At the risk of courting controversy, can I ask... when was the last time there was a genuinely good Anderson strip? I remember enjoying the one-off from a couple of years ago with Jake Lynch art, the one where the guy pretends to be Judge Death or whatever. But ongoing-wise nothing seems to really work, and this is no exception - it's all a bit by-numbers with some routine debate at the start and a nice attempt at a freaky under-cit gang but the story is just getting in the way and even Lee Carter's art looks a bit drab with a lack of backgrounds and the Anderson on the penultimate page doesn't even look finished (okay maybe there were huge pandemic-related production issues, fair enough) and then there's some hand-waving spells and it's all over for this instalment. Sorry, not really gripped. Though to be fair, I'm trying desperately to come up with even an idea for the Thought Bubble so props to all the droids that are involved in making fully-fledged strips.
Actually, speaking of the Thought Bubble, I wonder if this prog's Future Shock would have stood a chance as a submitted script? It seems like a lot of effort by the Weston droid for a slight payoff.
Anyway, two strips to go... one's a ostensibly light-hearted story about a woman heading into the unknown after a radical change of identity, and the other - yeah you get the drift. The difference is that one's a triumphant piece of work that'll hopefully grace the prog for some time to come while the other looks hopelessly out of place in the current line-up.
Oof - I see there's a 15p price rise next prog. They like to sneak those in after a jumping-on prog, don't they.
Dissing Pandora Perfect? Tsk, I say.
Quote from: norton canes on 23 September, 2021, 11:56:37 AM
Anyway, two strips to go... one's a ostensibly light-hearted story about a woman heading into the unknown after a radical change of identity, and the other - yeah you get the drift. The difference is that one's a triumphant piece of work that'll hopefully grace the prog for some time to come while the other looks hopelessly out of place in the current line-up.
Does The Out feature a change of identity?
QuoteOof - I see there's a 15p price rise next prog. They like to sneak those in after a jumping-on prog, don't they.
I did notice that...
Quote from: sheridan on 23 September, 2021, 12:19:41 PM
Does The Out feature a change of identity?
Well, [spoiler]Cyd is completely reconstructed after being killed by the Tankinar[/spoiler]. Bit tenuous perhaps.
Quote from: norton canes on 23 September, 2021, 11:56:37 AM
Oof - I see there's a 15p price rise next prog. They like to sneak those in after a jumping-on prog, don't they.
The digital prog's price has been the same since I started getting it going way back to 2011.
i sure hope i get those sub goodies i haven't gotten any at all since starting my dual sub in 2020
Quote from: The Monarch on 23 September, 2021, 05:15:11 PM
i sure hope i get those sub goodies i haven't gotten any at all since starting my dual sub in 2020
If its dual physcial you shouyld probably speak to someone about that as you should have this years badges at least - I think...
Quote from: Tjm86 on 21 September, 2021, 07:00:47 PM
Seriously? I thought it was a hell of a lot of effort for a rather painful pun myself.
Personally, I thought that the amount of effort he put in to such a terrible gag was precisely what made it funny. The equivalent of the cast of
Airplane! playing the dumbest of jokes with completely straight faces.
Quote from: nxylas on 23 September, 2021, 08:26:51 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 21 September, 2021, 07:00:47 PM
Seriously? I thought it was a hell of a lot of effort for a rather painful pun myself.
Personally, I thought that the amount of effort he put in to such a terrible gag was precisely what made it funny. The equivalent of the cast of Airplane! playing the dumbest of jokes with completely straight faces.
Ham on Five (https://youtu.be/fsj8F8wvupU)
Fair point, I'll concede that one, Shirley.
Really decent prog.
Scarlet Traces had me wishing that the gorgeous double page spread had been on the actual centre
My Top 3 for Prog 2250
Jumping on prog with extra pages/thrills and featuring several ongoing strips in a battle of the story setups.
Top 4 for me (Dredd, The Diaboliks, Scarlet Traces and The Out) were all very enjoyable and one unfortunately will have to miss out
1st - The Diaboliks - This story may work really well with this unlikely trio working together. See what happens. Love the touches of humour, "Probably best we wait in the car" lol
2nd - The Out - Great story and loooking forward to where Cyd ends up to next. Page two and three too busy for my liking with page 4 having more space and being much more easy to read. Luv all the added alien sound effects and Abnett always manages to add a surprise on the last page/panel
3rd - Scarlet Traces - Change in art style at start of strip had me checking if D'Israeli was still doing the art then it all became clear why the art style differs as you read on. Well done. Very Yellow Submarine indeed.
Easter Egg: Cheeky droid reading material in Pandora Perfect lol
Late to this one, because I only just got time to finish it. Still, Dredd things up well, despite a very Mills-like roll call. Diaboliks nicely got things going, as did Scarlet Traces with its oddball art and arguments in space. The latter getting that double length was a really smart move.
Anderson was fine, but for me suffers a bit from a lack of momentum in how it's being published. The stacking up of a lot of new lore isn't adding that much for me. Pandora Perfect's shift from single episode to multi-parter might make for a trickier spell, but I'm happy having something breezy in the Prog.
Chris Weston's Future Shock was a very silly in-joke that you feel got a green light because Chris Weston. Still, he deserves it and it was suitably daft. Then there's The Out, which remains masterful.
So: The Out > Scarlet Traces > Diaboliks > Dredd > Pandora Perfect > Future Shock > Anderson — although there was nothing outright bad in this Prog for me. Even the worst stories were pretty good.
I enjoyed the Anderson story (because it did something with the characters beyond a threat-of-the-week) but I was distracted by panels in which the characters exist in a background-free void.
It's not that you can't get away with the occasional gradient fill - Pandora Perfect opts for that in a couple of panels, but the final two pages of Anderson are completely devoid of a setting, and it feels like the artist must have run out of time. (See also blank Judge badges - and what looks like some penciled in background detail.)
My copy of this still hasn't arrived, but feeling flush I picked one up at the weekend at a newsagents thinking, as a jumping on Prog, maybe I could pass my sub copy on when (if) it shows up. Quick review from me as you guys have all already read it!
Dredd Big fan of this episode, as others have said a very old school / Millsian start with introducing a bunch of novelty hitmen and lovely work from Jake Lynch. Looking forward to seeing this play out.
Diaboliks Mixed feelings on this one - the strip is good, but the characters are so odious I just don't want to read about them and I'm not interested in their adventures - Jenny and Ravne that is, at least.
Scarlet Traces I must admit I couldn't remember what had happened in the last series of Scarlet Traces and, to my shame, I wasn't interested to go back and check. This is one of those strips that whilst I can't say anything bad about it, I just don't like it. I love both D'israeli and Edginton so I don't know why and I'm in a clear minority so I'll just zip it on this!
That aside, more praise from me for the trippy start and the way the art shifted styles from the dream sequence to reality. The art here is magnificent, it really is.
Anderson Didn't dig this at all I'm afraid. I think I said in a thread elsewhere that I think Anderson as a character is played out: it feels like anything interesting with her has been done, she's not as one-note as Dredd in the core concept and chucking in a Justice Department wizard division is kind of symptomatic of this: it's just kind of muddying the waters further because it doesn't seem like there's many other good stories to tell here.
Very dark colour work from Lee Carter here and as others have commented, the lack of backgrounds is a surprise and I assume is down to time constraints which is a shame as his work is beautiful.
Pandora Perfect Perfectly decent start. Interested to see how this translates to the long form, but it's been the best thing in Regened imo so hoping it retains it's crazy feel. I do think it sticks out from the rest of the Prog, both in art and script but I don't think that's a bad thing.
Future Shock Some wonderful art here to set up a completely cheesy joke.
I liked this and would read this as a 3thriller.
The Out Nothing to dislike here although the horrible-things-happening-to-it rucksack joke was less funny this time around. It seems we're constantly changing direction with this story and that's not a bad thing: no idea what will happen next and looking forward to seeing where it takes me.
I'm somewhat less enthusiastic about the Prog than everyone else it seems, but I'm wondering if that's in part due to my frustration in actually getting a copy - I'll see how it pans out with this weeks (I still haven't got my subs copy if that yet either btw). Going back to my initial thoughts about passing a duplicate of this Prog on, I'm not actually sure I would. I work with a couple of guys who are lapsed 2000ad readers and I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be the Prog to tempt them back. Every long form strip here is at a halfway point and is very light on action, barring Pandora (and Dredd ofc). That's an observation, not a critique.
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 27 September, 2021, 11:59:11 AM
Anderson it doesn't seem like there's many other good stories to tell here.
Last years 'End of Days' could at least have had the decency to kill Cass off once and for all while it was busy making me lose interest in Dredd.
Quotechucking in a Justice Department wizard division is kind of symptomatic of this
That isn't new, that was introduced in the Half Life / City of the Dead storyline.
What Maura seems adept at (and I welcome it) is taking characters that have been relegated to the subs bench and bringing them back onto the field. Now we can have a game!
Sub-units within Psi Div have been with us since The Possessed ('86) introduced The Exorcists. Shamballa ('90) gave us the Department of Fortean Events and then the witches are part of the Department of the Supernatural (WMD, 2004).
Regarding characters, we can easily argue that continuation of existing characters allows for a more believable continuity. Corann & Lesley Ryan resurfaced in 2019's The Dead Run, after being dormant since 1997's Crusade (unless I'm missing an appearance). Shakta was brought back in 2018's Spa Day after last being seen in Lucid (2006), and now valley-Psi Janus is back - someone we haven't seen since 1997's Faustus.
Would have, like, been, like, happy if, like, Janus had never, like, retuned, wholly.
Argh.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 27 September, 2021, 11:02:13 PM
Would have, like, been, like, happy if, like, Janus had never, like, retuned, wholly.
Argh.
The Californians (https://youtu.be/Tt-tG6ufH90)
I do recall the sub-divisions like Fortean Events but didn't remember witches / spellcasters at all, my bad if so.
I should have guessed really because as Funt says Maura McHugh is really on the ball here continuity-wise and my review is also a bit negative, in retrospect as it doesn't highlight the good stuff like this. I do think the re-using of these characters is a good thing, but it also kind of strengthens my stance about Anderson as I'd much rather read a story about almost (ie not Janus) any other of these Psi Judges. I'd much rather read a story about Corann & Lesley. The likes of Shakta, Flowers, Echo.. even Shenker! There's (imo, more) possibility in all these characters.
Quote...and now valley-Psi Janus is back - someone we haven't seen since 1997's Faustus.
Deservedly so, some might say.
A character chiselled from a solid block of Deeply Irritating.
Quote from: GordonR on 28 September, 2021, 08:47:45 AMA character chiselled from a solid block of Deeply Irritating.
Like, wholly. </scrubsselfcleanwithbleach>
It's seeming to me that where the real star of Judge Dredd is often Mega-City One, the real star of Anderson could be the rest of Psi-Division (and supernatural adversaries).
The JD strip can get away with it since we get this every week whereas Anderson we can maybe once a year
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 28 September, 2021, 09:31:09 AM
Quote from: GordonR on 28 September, 2021, 08:47:45 AMA character chiselled from a solid block of Deeply Irritating.
Like, wholly. </scrubsselfcleanwithbleach>
Probably why she's only used in cameo - although I can be proven wrong if a new series of Janus launches next quarter.
Quote from: broodblik on 28 September, 2021, 10:07:38 AM
The JD strip can get away with it since we get this every week whereas Anderson we can maybe once a year
Seems like one solution is to run Anderson more regularly.
---
I'm not really following the argument that Anderson is all used up as a character, any more than (say) Dredd, or Slaine, or Alpha. Or Janus. *cough*
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 28 September, 2021, 08:34:09 AM
I do recall the sub-divisions like Fortean Events but didn't remember witches / spellcasters at all, my bad if so.
It's not made explicit, but presumably Falzon's the current head of the Department of the Supernatural. We saw a lot of these guys during the Half-Life arc; Chief Fauster manipulated Cass and his own hapless stooge Gistane (like Falzon, a Justice Department witch) into releasing the Half-life virus on the city as part of a misguided attempt to achieve immortality.
Quote from: Funt Solo on 28 September, 2021, 01:56:10 PM
I'm not really following the argument that Anderson is all used up as a character, any more than (say) Dredd, or Slaine, or Alpha
Maybe they need to ditch all this portentous stuff and write her in a knockabout style like Pandora Perfect. I mean that was her original schtick back in the first two Judge Death stories.
Very late to the party but I thought that was a cracking prog where every strip had something in it to float my boat.
I think when I end up seven weeks behind it's probably a reflection on the previous run of stories rather than the current ones starting. So I am looking forward to devouring this lot of tales in a concentrated burst.
As a loyal, fellow Squaxx, Tiplodocus, I feel duty-bound to remind you to take all of the necessary precautions against Thrill-Power Overload. :)
Quote from: MumboJimbo on 19 September, 2021, 09:33:19 PM
Hallelujah! It's the APNIAMOFJOP*. Although being a digital subscriber pleb, I haven't got mine yet.
But on the subject of APNIAMOFJOPs, does anyone have a favourite APNIAMOFJOP from the many APNIAMOFJOPS there have been throughout the years? When was the first modern-day APNIAMOFJOP? I bet Funt Solo knows. And if I keep writing APNIAMOFJOP can I make APNIAMOFJOP the canonical term for APNIAMOFJOPS?
* Annual Prog Number Is A Multiple of Fifty Jump On Prog
Come on! Nobody would be tracking data
that esoteric.
(https://i.imgur.com/q03qUue.png)
This has made me so happy 😁- an early Christmas prez! Thanks Funt and your wonderful data scraping
Of course APNIAMOFJOPs are, at the moment, an Autumnal affair, reflecting the New Season time of the year in TV-land. This works because there are usually 50 progs per year...
...except when the year begins on a Wednesday, or if the year begins on a Tuesday and is also a leap year. Then there are 51 progs. Which means the APNIAMOFJOP creeps a week earlier one year out a 7 for the former reason, and one year out of 28 for the latter. Which equates to 5 out of 28 years I think, on average. So one day the APNIAMOFJOP will be in the summer. Although it will likely be a long time coming.
Well, I'm glad that's sorted.