Oh that sub-tag line 'He is the jaw!' work it Tharg, work it.
Anyway Monday and no review thread - what's going on? I'm guessing folks didn't get it until today like myself. Anyway we're much as you were, which is no bad thing.
Dredd brings the first story in this arc to a suitably horrific ending. And like that we've off to our next big bad. Its solid and Dredd's reaction at the end worked well.
Full Tilt Boogie is a fine, fine comic, maybe not quite as good as last week but as our lines are drawn we head towards the major conflicit one suspects.
The Diaboliks is still all the better for Dellamore.
The Order continues to be sublime as robots march, cannons are fired and the dog has its day. Superb.
The Out continues to be so refreshing as language becomes a barrier and 'human-world person' becomes a refugee. Its fantastic stuff.
All in all it might have taken me a few issues but I'm loving this line-up.
(https://i.imgur.com/qu2DqPs.jpg)
Neil Roberts with a high street cover that will appeal to a very specialist, niche market.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 06 July, 2020, 08:23:56 PM
Oh that sub-tag line 'He is the jaw!' work it Tharg, work it
Could also have used a bit of Joe's medical history and gone with
"Gaze into the GIST of Dredd!"
But that's so obscure that probably only I would get it. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastrointestinal_stromal_tumor)
Full Tilt Boogie becomes more serious this week, and although I have enjoyed the earlier, lighter episodes, the shift in tone works and is welcome, possibly because it feels like a natural development and is not forced or clunky. It's moving away from its Re-gened origins and belongs to the prog proper.
If Dredd only has nine more episodes to go, and three more baddies to fight, then the pacing is going to pick up pretty quickly now.
The Out has suddenly introduced some peril and the prospect of some action, which I assumed would happen at the end instead of now.
Diaboliks introduces the next villain, who seems pretty threatening.
Four different strips have all simultaneously changed up a gear!
(And I've just read Eamonn's post, and I think Tharg should give him a job.)
Never mind the links in the badge chain... where's the zip, man?
Cover with the logo:
(https://i0.wp.com/www.comicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Screenshot-2020-06-27-23.13.37.png?resize=768%2C993)
Haven't read the prog yet, but that's truly horrible (and possibly a bit of a spoiler).
Also reminds me of the reason Godpleton was banned. Less said the better, really.
A good prog for me, though not a great one.
Dredd is fine, but feels as though it's on rails. I'm not really feeling the sense of threat, almost as though once Death is defeated (wonder who that could be), it'll all be back to normal.
Full Tilt Boogie is warming up nicely, as is Diaboliks.
The Order continues to annoy me, simply due to its presence, taking up room in the Prog that could be used for a strip that isn't beautifully drawn gubbins. I genuinely hate it. Who's the enemy? Is it still worms? Why do The Order have worms? WHO CARES.
The Out I really like. I wonder if it's related to Grey Area? Or if the oncoming baddies are [spoiler]something to do with what's happening in Dredd, Trifecta style. [/spoiler]
And I thought Droid Life was being utterly filthy, till I got the magnifying glass out. There's a reason Herr Flick never got a comic book spin off, you know....! Top gag.
All in all, a nice prog. Ace cover.
Dredd has almost nothing to offer me underneath all the super atmospheric art and gritted teeth. Despite being part of a global superstorm and supernatural heating-up (?) of nuclear warheads (which are surely every bit as soulless as Jonas) this particular personification of an intrinsic property of the universe's operating system can be quickly stopped by a robot and a cowboy shooting it. Might as well have brought along the Boing® and vacuum traps while you're at it. Meanwhile, a snarling Dredd watches, incapacitated, as usual - at least Millar would have had him punch the bad guy. This'd want to improve, so far it's very weak beer for my tastes.
Full Tilt Boogie confused me a bit by having an opening shot of what looked an awful lot like the titular starship, but then settled down to a solid episode that balanced character and exposition deftly. Liking this a lot, bright and fresh.
The Order suffers from lacking a clear sense of where everything is happening, and I think giving Burns a splash page or two to pull the battle together might have been an idea. Sorry to see [spoiler]Simeon[/spoiler] go so soon, Kek-W really doesn't give us much time to get to know these people! Still, exciting stuff: if you can't enjoy Paul Bunyan clones shooting down French Revolution dive-bombers with hand-held cannon barrels, you've come to the wrong strip.
The Out is just glorious to look at, and I really enjoyed the dialogue and the sense of momentum this week. The dates already given preclude any connection to Grey Area, but the setting, theme and even the events would fit that universe perfectly: I wonder was this originally planned as a GA spin-off and then Dan & Mark decided to push for creator-owned so cut the strings?
I am enjoying Diaboliks, but the Five Sisters set-up is maybe a bit too reminiscent of Aquila.
Good prog, would have liked the very striking cover more if there'd been a zip!
Great prog for me this week!
Dredd feels really weird for a Dredd story for some reason, but in a way that really works for me. Such a surreal apocalyptic tale, and the art is just incredible. Feel like every page I turn to I'm aghast at how good it looks, Colin MacNeil is at the top of his game on it.
Actually enjoyed Full Tilt Boogie way more than usual, I didn't feel as confused as I have previously. I mean, I still don't know what any of these people have to do with any of those other people but I at least feel like I know what these people are up to, so sticking to them for an episode helped for me. No doubt I'll be lost again next week.
The Order I'm still completely lost with, but I think because my brain just isn't engaging with it at this point that's largely down to me. It certainly continues to look very nice so I can't say I'm not enjoying looking at it through my forgetful confusion.
Diaboliks was great, I think I'm over my previous 'this isn't quite Caballistics!' hang-ups and it's clicking for me now. I'll probably read back from the start now that I'm into the swing of things and can see me really enjoying it.
And last but definitely not least, The Out continues to be a real highlight for me, second only to Dredd in terms of how pleased I am to see each new episode. Love the set-up and the way it's depicting something seemingly massive but from the point of view of a confused outsider on the ground trying to make sense of it all, it works brilliantly and the art is perfect for it.
I'm finding this new Dredd epic rather, lass than epic. It all feels rather rushed & inconsequential I'm not feeling the sense of world ending doom in the story. The villains seem rather bland & faceless. It looks great of course, just hope it picks up.
Solid prog!
I'm enjoying Dredd but agree on the comments about a lack of Dread. Still v.much appreciating the unexpected team-up.
Full Tilt Boogie is still full tilt fun. I like the grimdark holy war background mixing with the vapidity/irreverence of the 'modern' world.
I still enjoy The Order, mad as it is. Lost track of exactly who is who and what happened to which version of this timeline or that clone or whatever, but feels pretty apt with the plot. Look forward to seeing how much more gonzo it will get.
Diabolik is a nice return to the world of Caballistics but I miss the 'old team' more with Solomon and Jenny.
The Out is my favourite too, I'm enjoying this semi-reversal of the Grey Area. I like the lighthearted approach, even as we enter heavier territory (perhaps). Reminds me of Halo Jones.
Maybe I missed something, but... where were all the Brit Cit judges in Brit Cit? Felt like a missed opportunity. Is everyone meant to be dead?
A letters page! Oh mummy daddy! More HERE! (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=44810.105;topicseen)
A good solid prog.
The Out is proving to be another solid hit by Abnett. As always I like the history-mesh-up roller-coaster ride that The Order provides. Full Tilt Boogie is coming together quite nicely as well. Now that Famine is sorted let's see who waits for Dredd in the arctic.
I am not sure if anyone noticed that the art of Diaboliks is done by Antionio Fuso and not Dom Reardon since last week. His art is very similar to Dom's art. Do anyone know if he did anything else in the prog or is he a prog rookie ?
Quote from: broodblik on 08 July, 2020, 08:02:01 PM
I am not sure if anyone noticed that the art of Diaboliks is done by Antionio Fuso and not Dom Reardon since last week. His art is very similar to Dom's art. Do anyone know if he did anything else in the prog or is he a prog rookie ?
He followed on from Dom for some episodes of Ichabod Azrael, too.
Thanks for that I will check it out :thumbsup:
Quote from: judgeurko on 08 July, 2020, 03:45:17 PM
I'm finding this new Dredd... ...all feels rather rushed
The villains seem rather bland & faceless
This is what I was thinking, it's a bit strange as Rob Williams usually spends a while building back stories to his Characters before they dissappear (Think Judge Sam)
I was waiting for some big reveal in this weeks story for the baddie... but there wasn't anything really. It's a great concept that maybe we could have had a few prologue tales to build up the narrative.
Speaking of big reveals, that's not Dredd on the cover, it's a set of stage curtains... that or the old boy has put a bit of timber on!
Quote from: MacabreMagpie on 08 July, 2020, 08:04:13 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 08 July, 2020, 08:02:01 PM
I am not sure if anyone noticed that the art of Diaboliks is done by Antionio Fuso and not Dom Reardon since last week. His art is very similar to Dom's art. Do anyone know if he did anything else in the prog or is he a prog rookie ?
He followed on from Dom for some episodes of Ichabod Azrael, too.
Also a Dredd in Meg 331. In both of them he traced various panels from Jock's artwork - hopefully he's realised he doesn't need to!
Quote from: Jacqusie on 08 July, 2020, 08:27:26 PM
Quote from: judgeurko on 08 July, 2020, 03:45:17 PM
I'm finding this new Dredd... ...all feels rather rushed
The villains seem rather bland & faceless
This is what I was thinking, it's a bit strange as Rob Williams usually spends a while building back stories to his Characters before they dissappear (Think Judge Sam)
I was waiting for some big reveal in this weeks story for the baddie... but there wasn't anything really. It's a great concept that maybe we could have had a few prologue tales to build up the narrative.
Speaking of big reveals, that's not Dredd on the cover, it's a set of stage curtains... that or the old boy has put a bit of timber on!
Yes I know Williams has said he wanted to make an old school epic like The Cursed Earth or The Judge Child stories but, & I don't mean to be patronising, there's something unsophisticated about End of Days. It feels like a first draft script with the outline of an idea but lacking substance. Maybe a prologue story would have helped like Block Mania leading into The Apocalypse War. We could have had an Ichabod Azrael story that we only realise at the end is a prologue to End of Days.
Quote from: judgeurko on 09 July, 2020, 10:01:47 AM
Maybe a prologue story would have helped like Block Mania leading into The Apocalypse War. We could have had an Ichabod Azrael story that we only realise at the end is a prologue to End of Days.
Now
that could have been fun. A story about Ichabod and the angel, then an episode or two of looming crisis in Dredd and up they pop. I know it's an overdone concept in the prog now, but four supernatural beings killing the world in thematic ways is hardly unprecedented either...
Nah, that would just have been "let's do Trifecta again." It's been done. I'm happy to just plunge into a new story and get straight into the action with no messing about.
The problem with all these build-up story-lines it can take years in the making sometime getting into epic without any other prologue, prequel type story is fine
Quote from: Richard on 09 July, 2020, 01:11:40 PM
Nah, that would just have been "let's do Trifecta again." .
As opposed to 'let's do the Dark Judges again, but with less personality'? It's not the twist I'm after, I'm just casting about for something to give this story substance, beyond the art. Maybe integrating Ichabod properly could have been it.
The cover is bugging me. "He is the jaw". Now I suppose technically that is a mouth, and mouths have jaws. But it being a circular orifice with no feasible bone structure, surely "he is the maw" would have been more appropriate?
It's that "a lot of blood has flown/ flowed under the judge" all over again.
Other than that, good proggage. Not really keen on this Dredd story so far- it feels too much like a 'Dredd epic by numbers' that's been sitting in a drawer for an emergency. And The Order baffles me.
But The Out, Diaboliks and Full Tilt Boogie are excellent. I'll take three out of five for a result.
And letters! Letters should be every week. With no exceptions.
SBT
So if Titan/Enceladus was Rob Williams doing Dredd: Inferno, but better, I wonder if End of Days is his attempt to do 'City of the Damned' - but for whatevere reason it's also mired in the same problems that epic. Lush art, crazy high stakes, but somehow just not quite engaging.
I did like the Prog overall but I confess the moment that most caught my eye was when the young lad on the letters page quite openly listed Dry Run as one of his faves. Heartening to hear that new readers can fall in love with the Prog thanks to a long box full of early 90s wonders, the time when my own squaxx brain was ignited.
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 09 July, 2020, 04:07:23 PM
The cover is bugging me. "He is the jaw". Now I suppose technically that is a mouth, and mouths have jaws. But it being a circular orifice with no feasible bone structure, surely "he is the maw" would have been more appropriate?
It's that "a lot of blood has flown/ flowed under the judge" all over again.
Other than that, good proggage. Not really keen on this Dredd story so far- it feels too much like a 'Dredd epic by numbers' that's been sitting in a drawer for an emergency. And The Order baffles me.
But The Out, Diaboliks and Full Tilt Boogie are excellent. I'll take three out of five for a result.
And letters! Letters should be every week. With no exceptions.
SBT
I still think they missed a trick by not going with
Teeth Thousand AD!!! :lol:
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 July, 2020, 01:27:33 PM
Quote from: Richard on 09 July, 2020, 01:11:40 PM
Nah, that would just have been "let's do Trifecta again." .
As opposed to 'let's do the Dark Judges again, but with less personality'? It's not the twist I'm after, I'm just casting about for something to give this story substance, beyond the art. Maybe integrating Ichabod properly could have been it.
Yeah it needs something especially as we are on part 6 already. Still wondering why Ichabod is even in the story. Unless he will end up being one of the four?
Quote from: judgeurko on 09 July, 2020, 06:11:00 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 09 July, 2020, 01:27:33 PM
Quote from: Richard on 09 July, 2020, 01:11:40 PM
Nah, that would just have been "let's do Trifecta again." .
As opposed to 'let's do the Dark Judges again, but with less personality'? It's not the twist I'm after, I'm just casting about for something to give this story substance, beyond the art. Maybe integrating Ichabod properly could have been it.
Yeah it needs something especially as we are on part 6 already. Still wondering why Ichabod is even in the story. Unless he will end up being one of the four?
We else was going to bring the head of the Angel ?
Can't help but wonder if this was rushed into the prog at the expense of build up, in order to meet production deadlines in lockdown. Tharg probably has a drawer full of mega epics in case a page is late.
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 09 July, 2020, 07:52:53 PM
Can't help but wonder if this was rushed into the prog at the expense of build up, in order to meet production deadlines in lockdown. Tharg probably has a drawer full of mega epics in case a page is late.
Makes sense. It's kind of lots of shit happening suddenly without much buildup and I'm not sure I care wnough about what's happening. And yeah, where are those Brit Cit judges? Brit Cit has suddenly become Manhattan in Halo Jones' world.
Why would Brit Cit judges be immune from the thing that killed the citizens and the Mega-City One judges who went to Brit Cit?
I have to agree with the Dredd comments too. The first episode I thought had a lot of promise (although I wasn't too enamoured with the crossover). But as it's gone on it's the lack of character. I find it very hard to care when people are just speaking in soundbites it seems. It's completely decompressed and a lot of style under which it seems there's a lack of substance. And there's a contrivance of plot at times where things happen that are meant to be cool rather than cool and make sense. The small house and the stories that lead into it suffered from a lot of that too. That art is stunning though. And Henry flint to come? It does help.
Havent a notion what's going on in The Order. John Burns though? That's enough for me.
I'm really enjoying Full Tilt Boogie. It feels like something new for the prog and looks terrific.
Diaboliks is good fun and I'm glad I did a reread of Caballistics & Absalom recently. This is 60s/70s international occult action movie time. Good craic.
Love The Out too. Abnett has been knocking it out of the park for a while now. Things like this keep my subscription going.
Just my two cents JB
One thing I have noticed or rather how it feels is that the Dredd story is very much structured like the classic epics The Cursed Earth and The Judge Child. It contains smaller stories making up the bigger story and not one big event.
Re. End Of Days, I suppose it is a bit weird that a story with such enormous global consequences is rattling along at such a pace that a lot of the bigger picture has been foregone. I'm not generally super bothered about a lack of preamble for epic stories but perhaps, yes, there could have been, say, four one-shots about the genesis of each catastrophe. Although let's face it, the first adversary in these series is usually the most perfunctory. I'm sure there'll be more depth at the sharp end of the tale.
(and the cover... see, without intending any slight to Tharg's talented cadre of cover artists, this is why I like to see covers illustrated by the strip's artist. That way it feels like the story is getting an extra page, and a chance for the droid to give an extra perspective on the action.)
Dan Abnett has once again slipped into that apparently effortless mode of constructing eminently readable dialogue. I'd love to be there while he writes this stuff - I'm sure he's the sort of droid that acts out every conversation, either in a mirror, or turning to face an imaginary camera. He probably even does the voices. Full Tilt Boogie continues to be great but is perhaps missing some of the concentrated bizarreness of the Regen opener. In fact, this and The Order are the two current strips that would read best in one sitting.
Diaboliks, though, once again demonstrates Gordon Rennie's knack for making his stories brilliant serials constructed from satisfying episodes in their own right. This time we get a nice callback to last week's diary pages, a superb story-in-a-story and the first glimpse of an impressive new villain and for that, the strip gets this week's TOP THRILL.
After 43 years, I must get round to writing Tharg a letter.
Tordelbakc summed up my feelings on Dredd but:
Quote from: broodblik on 10 July, 2020, 11:52:14 AM
One thing I have noticed or rather how it feels is that the Dredd story is very much structured like the classic epics The Cursed Earth and The Judge Child. It contains smaller stories making up the bigger story and not one big event.
I think the problem is also partly this very thing - it is structured like those "episodic" Epics, but rather than the episodes being smaller chunks of a bigger threat/tale, the "scale" of each episode is set to 11, so there's a disconnect there where the Scale of the threat is set to huge, but it is dealt with like it was Dredd fighting some flying rats or an alien salesman?
I hadn't twigged about Antonio Fuso until I read this thread! Similar styles indeed. I wonder who we'll see next week? Great thrill and very glad to have this world back in the prog.
Full Tilt Boogie is really coming along, not to mention The Out which is starting to fly very nicely.
Now with Dredd, I'm interested to see where we go next. It's a tricky business, when you go straight into the end of days so to speak. How to balance the build of the story, with presumably upping the ante after the first big bad... not easy. Intrigued to see how it goes. Great art.
Loving the sheer mix of stories and art. Can't beat an anthology, you know!
Just caught up on the last few weeks, so this is really a review of that than this particular Prog.
Dredd- this has got to be one of the weirdest tales ever. Really not liking the stomach creatures at all.
FTB is way better than I could have imagined it would be. And it makes the Regened episode seem way better too. At the time it seemed all a bit "so what?". Now it seems like a great set up episode.
I think The Order has definitely benefited from being read in one go. I think I am understanding it and I even seem to have understood more from previous series than I thought.
The Out. It's kinda Halo Jones meets a view of where the aliens in Grey Area are from.
Diaboliks. Great stuff.