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[Counterfeit Girl]

Counterfeit Girl

I'll also just use this as yet another opportunity to shout REPRINT SHADOWS, THARG! SOME OF US HAVE NEVER READ IT!

[The Dead]

Enjoy both of these.

The Dead. What a weird story!

[Dredd]

Bit of an odd Prog after the recent and long high. A nice cover and great to see further confirmation of The Out, but then we're into the strips, and they were a mixed bag for me.

Dredd didn't land. I quite liked the broad twist, but not the execution. The ending felt like something from 1979, and them having to freeze someone with chronic heart defects? Really? Hmm. Art was good, but one element of Caldwell's colouring irked: in all the frames, the sole non-white face was Dredd's judge partner (who on page 4 briefly turns white in the second frame). Come on—it's the USA 122 years into the future. The Prog needs to do better here. (And, I know: artists/colourists often draw/colour themselves. And this is a relatively small detail. But this episode in that way felt more like it was taking place in Surrey in 2022 than MC1 in 2144.)

I was just popping on here to say the same thing having just read the prog. I really liked Califano's art a lot and would happily see her work again. I was particularly thinking she had a real handle on the type of future clothing all the citizens are wearing - something we don't see all the time in the strip but that is very much a traditional feature of Dredd. That's when I started noticing the citizens, and there are a lot of citizens in this strip, and they are ALL white. It really pulled me out of the story.

Is it too much to ask for to have Mega City 1 be multi-ethnic, in 2022, PLEASE? This has been annoying me since I was a kid in the 80s and it doesn't seem to ever get any better. Same with the judges... almost always male, almost always white (I realise there's a black judge in this this particular episode, bar that one colouring mistake panel). I really dislike it. As a kid in the 80s I loved seeing non-white judges, women judges, and always have.... this should be STANDARD.

Anyway, don't want to derail the thread, I just wanted to get that off my chest!

Bah. I knew this was coming. I quite like Savage, but it's mired in Mills's usual tendency for copy/paste, conspiracy theory, and endlessly dragging things out. Devlin has had some of the most impactful and imaginative writing 2000 AD has seen. I find it depressing that Dull Violent White Stereotype Bloke knocks Devlin out of this competition.

I also find the "demon dildo era" reference earlier a bit of a pity. Kot's Waugh has been superb. That most recent series was a highpoint of the entire Meg's history—completely bonkers, hugely imaginative, notably different, really smartly plotted, expertly drawn, and with excellent characterisation. Reducing it all down to "oh no, a dildo" (and this is a sentiment I've seen several times on this board) seems a bit odd to me, but there you go.

Anyway, again: this thread is full of wrong. We was robbed. #TeamDevlin. Etc.

Great summation of the Kot / Dowling Waugh.

[Sinister Dexter]

Telguuth had its moments and some glorious art. Siku's in particular sticks in my head.

Sinister Dexter though - it's great. It's been around so long it's easy to overlook it but what a run, so many twists and turns and different types of tales. So many memorable characters and moments. So many puns. It also significantly helped in saving the prog in the 90s. In any given prog when I turn to this strip I'm confident it'll be a good read.

If they ever did a Case Files type reprint of the whole lot I'd be up for it (though it seems unlikely).

Sinister Dexter

[Glimmer Rats]

Glimmer Rats

[Missionary Man]

Missionary Man

[Deadworld]

Deadworld

[The Out]

Hey Colin I hate to say this but do we have two Round Two Heat 26s? Maybe I'm reading it wrong.

Anyway The Out

Let's be quite clear before we start - this is NOT a case of simply not updating something when I've copy and pasted something across - at ALL.

Not rather its a well known fact that 27 is seen as an unlucky number on Quaxxann - due to the legend on the 27 thrillsuckers from 27 BT (in the Quaxxann calendar BT being Before Tharg). Thus you don't use 27, rather repeat 26 and then skip straight to 28... hopefully.

See no mistake at all...

[Ha! Seamless Taylor, seamless]

Seems legit. I never doubted you for a minute Colin. (You are genuinely doing a tremendous job!)

[The Out]

Hey Colin I hate to say this but do we have two Round Two Heat 26s? Maybe I'm reading it wrong.

Anyway The Out

Abnett is so good. So so good. My very favourite of his is Brink. Cannot wait for the next series.

Top five would be something like

Brink
Kingdom
The Out
Lawless
Insurrection

Shout out to the ongoing Dexter saga, I know some have felt it's dragging and should have been a continuous run but I'm thoroughly enjoying it cropping up regularly. I feel bad about what happened to Tracey Weld though. Poor Tracey. Always liked her as a character. I'm hoping Sinister doesn't come back (other than as an evil mech thing) and the series has a proper shift. Dex/Billie/Klinks/Hosanna is a good team!

[Fiends]

Sorry Bob. I do enjoy those Tales.

Fiends

[Devlin]

Really enjoyed Savage. Some beautiful art throughout. I wasn't sure tying in with Ro-Busters really worked for me and some of the stuff with song lyrics REALLY irritated me for some reason but at its best it's probably my preferred of the more recent Mills stuff.

Devlin is a patchier affair. I'm not as into Swimming in Blood as some others, although I do enjoy it. Red Tide dragged on a bit, works a bit better read in one sitting. Sorry to say I can't remember the McConville stuff. But what a great character Devlin is, and his weird corner of the Dredd-verse can be a wonderful place to visit. The Yeowell epic is tremendous and some of my favourite stuff from Smith (who's writing I love anyway). Add to that the brilliant run from Cot and Dowling, which gave the character a new lease of life and a proper ark that's surprising, satisfying, visually brilliant and distinct from the original without feeling incongruous. I hope they keep working on it.

Devlin

Wow, I did not expect that. I didn't vote in this one for much the same reasons you cite above, Colin - I don't envy you having to make the deciding choice!

I think I can see Dredd's eyes through his visor on the cover and it is FREAKY!

Good prog. Nice Niemand Dredd with scope for a follow up (he's good at that) and really enjoyed Rob Richardson's art. Stick him on the next series of Brass Sun please so INJC can concentrate on Brink!

Jake Lynch is great these days. I need a reread of Vex I think but it's rattling along nicely.

The change of pace in The Order was just what I needed. Some simple character stuff.

Kingmaker... I haven't got a clue where this is going. Love that final page!

Sapphire... I'm a little unclear who's who and what's happening. Quite impressive after three episodes! The Roach/Doherty combo is absolutely heavenly though. Just beautiful.