Prog 2327 - Blood Ties

[broodblik]

Another good prog 4 out of 5.

Dredd – A good one shot by Edginton and Gallagher. A mass murder leads the multiple arrest, and the lift scene made the whole story.

Durham Red – Still very much in building the context of the story. The last splash page was done really well and also is the start of the mission. Good stuff

The Order – The story is now literally on its last few episodes as more storylines conclude. Still waiting for the return of Anna missing from the first episode.

Enemy Earth – More of the same, not my favourite

Rogue Trooper – Rogue is trying the figure out where he is and what is going on. The action picks-up in the last few pages after we are introduced to the new team. Still interested on where Ennis is going with the story and Goddard's art is still fantastic.

[broodblik]

Cover by Simon Davis:

[broodblik]

Cover and Logo:

[Hawkmumbler]

Always relish a Davis cover, and though by no means in his top 10 I do appreciate how 2377 manages to say so much with so little.

[Barrington Boots]

Tuesday Prog on a bank holiday week is practically a Monday Prog and that's the new Saturday Prog so.. a nice surprise when I got in from work, anyway.
Cool cover with use of the Carlos silhouette.

Dredd – Neat Dredd tale. The lift scene is superb. I like Gallagher's Dredd, his facial expression is constantly sour and he looks like a pensioner but also like a badass.

Durham Red – I'm into a redemption arc story but I still need more reason to root for the character. Beautifully illustrated episode throughout but that final page is a winner!

The Order – Looks like it's all wrapping up for good. Sad to say John Burns artwork is much better when he's not drawing the robits - the contrast on the last page between that lovely image of Izta and Daniel and then the giant Francis Bacon French attack robot on the rampage... but I'm never unhappy to see a giant robot battle. Just enjoying the craziness now.

Enemy Earth – Started to read it but ended up skipping it.

Rogue Trooper – This looks absolutely amazing, stellar work from Patrick Goddard. It's well written but the story is.. alright, it's just not interesting me. I guess I'm just not interested in reading a Rogue time travel story. Plus surely with his super-duper gear he'll just massacre everyone? Anyway, I really, really want to love this so lets see.

[IndigoPrime]

A good issue in all. I'm not sure how this cover will draw folks in more broadly, but it's a solid piece of art. We then get a solid Dredd (and, yes, that lift scene is superb). Nice to see the female street judge. Again, MC-1 feels very, very white though.

Durham Red continues to build. I like Red's no-nonsense nature. Also interesting to see Willsher's take on the younger Red (with those chunky Ezquerra borders). She's much more ripped now (which to me makes more sense for the role). Script is solid. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

The Order continues. Honestly, I think important events and deaths are washing over me, because I just don't really have any investment in anyone or anything. Again, needs a re-read. But it's not top of the pile.

Enemy Earth still looks a bit odd to me for a children's comic, but I appreciate an artist doing their own thing. I'm fine with the script as well.

Then we end with Rogue Trooper. I'm enjoying where this is going, although C-mail felt a bit Pat Mills, and the "Eat shit" felt a bit off, not least given that Rogue had its own like of fake swears back in the day.  More broadly, this is of course an excuse to get an Ennis war story into the Prog, but if that's what it takes, fair enough. And I'm enjoying what Ennis/Goddard have done so far.

Rogue > Red > Dredd > Enemy > Order

Two solid weeks where Rogue Trooper for me is the best thing in the Prog. Blimey. And nothing bad this week again, although also nothing quite blasting my brains into the stratosphere either. More a case of "Good, good, good, good", then, rather than "double double good".

[M.I.K.]

Good lord! It seems the antagonist of the ZX Spectrum game I made for last year's advent calendar survived his encounter with Sam Slade and is partaking in further nefarious shenanigans!

[Colin YNWA]

Good Prog under a great cover. Not quite as goods as last weeks as a couple of the strips aren't quite at the same level.

Dredd being an example. This is good, fun Dredd, just not at the exceptional level of last week.

Similar Durham Red. Good stuff, nowt wrong with it as it sets up the scenario. Its just not as creative as the bridging opener last week and simple has a 'boss' laying out the scheme ahead. Good, but very straightforward stuff.

Both The Order and Enemy Earth crackle along. One, The Order, is wrapping things up with characters and scenarios I'm invested in and is great therefore and we get a powerful ending here. The other Enemy Earth I've not bought into the character as much yet as so there we have the difference. Both good, but one elevated.

Highlight of the prog is probably Rogue which likewise crackles along BUT does so at the beginning and is already making me invest. Also WOW Patrick Goddard really is knocking it out the park here.

So yeah really solid Prog.
 

[Richard]

Plus surely with his super-duper gear he'll just massacre everyone?

I'm confident that Garth Ennis can and will write a better war story than that.

[JimmyNailz]

That was one of my favourite Dredd stories in ages (not that I've disliked any recent ones).  I love a one-and-done.  Got a laugh out of me on every page without ever getting overly silly.  Got a hankering for Pasta Puttaneca now.

[norton canes]

A bold and striking cover, Simon Davis' muted oils providing a great juxtaposition to Ben Willsher's clean lines within the prog. At first I thought the tiles were fake poster folds à la Manco's recent Dredd cover.

Might as well start with Durham Red then, which is completely clutching me by the thrill-receptors. A set-up episode, yes, but enlivened by a superb Carlos tribute panel, a promising new supporting character and spectacular final page.

'Down by Law' had me at Lil' Findus to be honest, so the puttanesca gag (and its reprise) and the lift scene were happy bonuses. The Order enjoyed a better outing this week but to use an appropriately vintage comics analogy this sketchy final (?) book is less  TV21 and more TV Comic. Enemy Earth continues to be lightweight, despite the gory details.

Fortunately Rogue Trooper ensures the prog ends on a high, continuing its intriguing premise. Not the WWI we know, then, if the German forces have mobile armour? Perhaps this is going to go along the lines of Doctor Who's 1969 epic The War Games, with alien War Lords recruiting armies from across Earth's time zones? 

See how I've used colours to enliven my otherwise dull review? You're very welcome

[JohnW]

Dammit, Norton – you have lured me out.

Not the WWI we know, then, if the German forces have mobile armour?

The Germans captured a whole lot of British tanks at Cambrai, put many of them in working order, and painted big black crosses on them for the offensive of March 1918 (when this story is set).
Goddard and Ennis are on the ball.

See how I've used colours to enliven my otherwise dull review? You're very welcome

You have brought sunshine into an otherwise dull morning.

[norton canes]

The Germans captured a whole lot of British tanks at Cambrai, put many of them in working order, and painted big black crosses on them for the offensive of March 1918 (when this story is set).
Goddard and Ennis are on the ball

Thank you, I'm indebted to you for your Aufklärung

[JohnW]

Not at all.
I might add that the Germans did have a tank of their own – A7V – but it wasn't up to much and they'd built only around twenty examples, whereas they had about eighty British tanks which were, up to a point, proven technology.

I would say that's the end of the history lesson, but if you know me you should know that the history lesson is never over.

[broodblik]

The Germans captured a whole lot of British tanks at Cambrai, put many of them in working order, and painted big black crosses on them for the offensive of March 1918 (when this story is set).
Goddard and Ennis are on the ball

Thank you, I'm indebted to you for your Aufklärung