PROG 1451... STALKING ON THE MOON!

[ARRISARRIS]

...a superb but simple cover, nicely dark to complement this whole prog...

...no Droid Life...

...Dredd concludes his currant case, and a lovly twist at the end...

...Savage,continues in the same vain, glad the art is getting a little more detailed...

...Leatherjack, still abit confusing but a solid read...

...Breathing Space, lovely start to a first episode with Dohertys art on top form as ever where has he been all this time???...

...RoboHunter, getting better story wise but repro on art only just better than last week...

... overall a lovely prog, im just missing my summerly fix of Stronty Dog...

...and no letters page AGAIN!!!...

[paulvonscott]

Dredd Story was very good I thought, exceptional.  Can I have the same level every week please?

Enjoyed Savage, the whole Noddy thing makes my cringe, but then maybe it should.

Leatherjack, gibber mode to maximum, but I'm enjoying it.  It's looking like an 'OK for one series' job at the moment.

Breathing Space.  *Really* liked the start in Gravity Boot Hill, and the story looks intriguing.  It's all in that High Noon/Outland area.  Any story mentioning Judgement Day a lot (i.e. at all) loses points for me.  Lovely Art from Doherty, and a nice cover as well.

Robohunter.  I want to get into the story, it's okay, but it's not quite working for me yet.  And the repro or the original artwork just doesn't look as defined as we expect these days.

[therev]

Really good Prog!

Liked the cover alot and Leatherjack seems to be coming on at a cracking pace. Reminded me abit of Meltdown Man in some way, dunno why (apart from the cat women).

Dredd was quite good although for some reason I felt really depressed after reading it! Must be my frame of mind at the mo'!
:-(

Breathing Space was...in the Prog.
Not alot to say as it was to short a space to really get a feel for it.

Savage was BRILLIANT. This is such a great episode, I liked the way it was written as a report and the humour of having the washing as morse code was summat I could belive happen if needed.

Robo-Hunter?
Shit.
No I'm being harsh.
I LOVED all the Brit-City stuff with Sam but the new version leaves me cold but I do have to say this is the first of any of the new Slade that actually made me even vaugly interested.

Shame there's no Droid Life!

[paulvonscott]

"Dredd was quite good although for some reason I felt really depressed after reading it! Must be my frame of mind at the mo'!"

Cosnidering the ending, I think feeling depressed is a perfectly normal reaction to the story.

[therev]

no i mean REALLY depressed!
:-)

[Funt Solo]

2000AD MATCHING MEGAZINE FOR QUALITY SHOCKER!

Cover:
Stunning evocative cover from Pye, there.  Well done, that droid!  Here's the conversation at home:

Mum: "Little Johnny, why are you reading a comic with a bloody skull floating in space on the front?"

Johnny: "Quiet, boring parent, as I explore strange new worlds a million miles from Spidey and all the other be-suited American clones."

Nerve Centre
Bit of bad news in the Nerve Centre:  the return of the misnomered Lobster Random.  Lobster, yes.  Random, no.  I predict heavy sarcasm, a robot fetish and lots of explosions.  Please put this poor well-flogged one-trick pony out of it's misery:  the Spurrier droid does great things with Simping Detectives and Ant Wars homages, so no need to waste his talents on this repetitive 1-dimensional joke of a strip.  

Remember The Office, The Young Ones and Fawlty Towers:  they knew when to stop.  (Feel free to also apply this rule liberally to Nikolai "Been There" Dante, Sinister "Seen It" Dexter and Atavar "Done It All" IV.)

Judge Dredd
All hail the great comic-god Wagner!  How does he do that?  Laughing fit to burst at the antics of PD314 one minute, and then sitting in stunned silence the next.  This is very close to our reality.  

(There is a guy that was arrested under Blunkett, held for months under secret evidence, let go but then placed under house arrest with his name and identity splashed all over the media:  but someone else will have to remember his name for me.)

Savage
"Hi, my full name's Svetlana Exposition Jaksic."  I enjoyed this:  full on battle followed by something a lot slower as a build up.  Great b&w work.  I love the heavy use of shadow that we get from people like Yeowell (his work should never be coloured), Reardon and Adlard.

Leatherjack
Well, we pretty much got told last week what would happen this week, so no surprises, but it's executed beautifully by Marshall.

Breathing Space
Ooh, the end at the start!  Gorgeous artwork from Peter "Superfiend" Doherty:  nice to see him back.  I prefer this grimy Luna-1 to previous incarnations.  Twisty turny opening episode.  New judge uniform.  More!

Robo-Hunter
Ticking all the boxes for quality, and getting one big laugh ("Nope!") but ... nothing new?

[The Amstor Computer]

Blimey - am I the only one who thought the cover stunk?

It's an OK idea, but executed poorly. Of course, it doesn't help that it falls in the wake of Jock's fantastic wraparound last week but a cover like this would look naff in comparison to virtually any other cover from the past couple of years.

[Endjinn]

I really didn't like the cover. I guess I just found it a bit...clumsy? That's not the right word, but it was the first that came to mind.

P14! A cracking addition to a cracking 2-part Dredd.

Savage - I don't care if it's ridiculous at times, it's a grand addition to the prog.

Leatherjack - making some sense now, and I'm liking it so far.

Breathing Space- Nice and moody setup, hope it keeps going this good. Peter Doherty HAS been away too long.

Robo-Hunter: I never really thought the original was that good, so I'm doubly cold wioth this.

[Funt Solo]

I know it's all a matter of personal taste, but I bring you the real stinkers:

[paulvonscott]

I'll stand up for the Gibson Bomb one, the rest suck though.

[Max Kon]

It's my fave cover for a while

[The Amstor Computer]

Well, the Adlard & Higgins covers are both pretty poor efforts & probably on a par with the new one.

Neither Ian Gibson or Steve Yeowell's are their greatest moments, but I think they're better images than the skullmoon.

I'd really have to disagree with you on the B&K cover, though. It's a nice, dramatic image, beautifully rendered by Davis & Roberts, and the appropriate typeface - in the lurid style of old sci-fi posters - finishes it off nicely. Far better than the Photoshoppery on prog 1451.

Certainly, I don't think that this prog's cover is any better than those covers (although that awful Adlard one makes it a close thing...)

[Funt Solo]

That Gibson one looks worse as a smaller thumbnail.  I take it back about that one.

I didn't include several that I personally hated - but where you could see why they were still good.

Looking back, it's actually been a pretty good two years of covers, with some out and out classics:

    

    

  

[McNulty]

And so to my comments?

Dredd: A really good ending to this story. In the past, the Security of the City Act was only used in times of the direst of emergencies as a last resort. To see used in this instance, on an innocent man (who was supposed to receive a good citizenship award) is very disturbing. Like others, it was heartening to see a character from a much more upbeat story making an appearance (Imagine what it would have been like if there was no comic relief in this story!)   But even with PD 314?s inclusion, this still remains a dark story, with a tragic ending.

Savage: One man?s freedom-fighter is another man?s terrorist. Even in the most oppressive regime, there is always hope, always ordinary people who are ready to stand against impossible odds. They?re not heroes, and don?t see themselves as such, they?re just people. The Volgs called them ?insurgents, thugs and terrorists? but what I remember is the Volg captain had a family executed simply for being in their own house, while the terrorists stood and sacrificed themselves in order to allow Bill Savage to escape. And now Bill hears that President Vashkov is coming to London. Although he told his sister he won?t try anything, I don?t believe that for a minute!

Leatherjack: All that death and destruction just so a fat, floating hedonist can get his flabby hands on the secret of immortality! The galaxy just seems to be full of his like! Must be in the job description?

Breathing Space: An ending as a beginning. It?s not a device I am particularly fond of but it seems to work in this instance. We finally find out the fate of Dredd?s old deputy Marshal, Judge Tex and we find out how decayed Luna-1 has become. One of the first things I noticed was that the Judges there no longer ride Zipper Bikes, instead using wheeled Lawmasters. I suppose the problems with the lower gravity of Luna-1 have been resolved since the days Dredd was the law there. The new uniforms, and Lawmaster designs also reflect the dark nature that Luna-1 has entered into. There isn?t a lot of colour anymore. All in all, a very suitable backdrop for this dark story.

Robo-Hunter: Unlike some other readers, I am enjoying this series. I love Gibson?s art and the story is genuinely funny. It wasn?t a good idea to send Hoagy undercover, though, he just isn?t equipped to handle himself as a spy. The Brit Cit Museum of Robotics was good as well ? I liked the statue of Iron Aggie outside and I recognised a few of the toy robots on display ? Artoo-Deetoo, Robosapian and Robbie the Robot! I suspect that Comrade Lennon might have something to do with the case, but that is only my detective instincts coming into play. We?ll just have to see?

So, all in all a very good prog. The Summer Assault continues to impress and I eagerly await next week?s prog!
 

[The Amstor Computer]

I'm interested to see where Pat Mills is going take Savage. This week's episode seem to be edging him back toward the more traditional "action hero", but I think the story is more compelling when it portrays Savage as the brutal face of a resistance to a brutal oppressor, and avoids romanticising him.