Prog 1447: Something Wicked...

[The Amstor Computer]

-- Prediction remains that Rico makes it and Guthrie snuffs it

Hm.

Well, trying to decipher the art, that doesn't look like Giant's head on page three. As far as I can see from his depiction previously, Giant is always drawn with very heavy lips, and they're missing entirely from the flying head.

The other two figures in that panel could be Guthrie and Giant, but it's impossible to say. It's safe to say at least one of the two is right on top of the blast.

I reckon that page would have been better if it had been finished with a half-page-height shot of the explosion, and the "heart-of-the-blast" shot had been dropped entirely.

As for Rico, it's another one that's difficult to judge, but this time it's down to the writing. The panel showing Rico being shot definitely indicates he's been critically wounded, and this is backed up by the comments of the two attending Judges. This is slightly undermined by Dredd's captioned thoughts a moment later ("He's lost clone-brothers before..." etc.) that suggests Rico is dead.

I suspect that Rico is alive & we're meant to assume he's in critical condition, but it's slightly unclear from the finished page.
 

[Banners]

I reckon the disembodied head is a generic rent-a-Judge. The shot is of the blast coming through the door into the corridor, so we assume  Guthrie and Giant are the figures furthest from the camera.

If Rico is dead, then it's his own fault. Bottom of page four - there are two chaps up in a building behind him on his right (who shoot him in the hand and then scarper?) but Rico inexplicably shoots the wall on his left for some reason.

I think we're not supposed to know about the fates of Mssrs Rico, Giant and Guthrie just yet. Expect it all to be summed up with appropriate pathos as the story draws towards its thrilling conclusion.

None of this is a problem though - I'm really enjoying the strip.

M@

[Byron Virgo]

Talkabout yer chinless wonder...!

[Funt Solo]

I know they won't, but imagine him with a really blatant and chunky mech-jaw (like that robo-mutie version of Judge Dredd somewhere in the prog 450-500 region) ... hang on ... I'll find it:



(Not quite as I remembered it, but hey ho.)

[Thursday]

Gah... too much to take in...

Dredd: OMFG, as they say on the intarweb.  Grand.  How many other comics would shoot the crap out of a strip's oldest and strongest supporting characters?  

Shakara: Groovy.  The demise of the galaxy bloke and the mass beheading of the alternate reality lass was cool, though not up to the splattery goodness of Fist's death.  The Shakaran armoury was particularly cool, what with all the weapons hanging in the air and everything.  The fact that even one of the best assassins in the galaxy couldn't identify more than a fraction complemented the picture nicely and added to the impression of miles upon miles of uber-tech killy stuff.

Cabbalistics: Sweet.  I'm more interested in the coppers hunting Jenny than in the big celtic demony things, but it's all good, and it's nice to see Ravne doing his thing.

Sin/Dex: Cool.  Shooty death 'splodo with clones and trains.  But I have to admit, I don't know why they didn't just blow up the track behind them to derail the clones' train.  

Atavar: Hoo hoo... nice.  Bet Atavar wishes he'd bothered to shave now.  At the end of Book One the Kalen mention that they'd tried the whole Atavar thing before and it hadn't worked, so I'm kinda thinking the Atavar-ess might be one of their previous attempts.  She could be a later version, but given that she seems to have ended up in much the same state as beardy-Atavar and the UOS haven't been wiped out, you have to wonder if the Kalen ever learn from their mistakes.  More than any other strip at the moment, I have no idea how this will turn out.  Personally I think that's a Very Good Thing.

Overall: Aces.  Hurry up and gimme next week's.

[Oddboy]

Cover: - blimey that's good. Best cover of the year, or summat.

Judge Dredd: - really liking the story, it's getting pretty intense. However, after weeks of quite liking the artwork, I've suddenly fallen on the side of quite hating it - mainly because I couldn't work out what was going on!
I thought the two spare judges with Giant & Guthrie were Dredd & Rico for a while, and I really can't work out whose head that was flying off - I thought it was Giant's - but I really hope it wasn't, if Giant's gonna die then I'd really like it to happen in a recognisable way!

Bah!

Sinister Dexter: - nothing happened this week, we 'discovered' they're clones, like we hadn't figured that out already, and we end up with the same cliff hanger as last week. Enjoyable enough though, as filler goes! Hopefully the plot will return next week.

Shakara: - great stuff, top art, top violence!

Atavar III: - going well, so is lady Atavar an earlier attempt at recreating humans, and she sided with the Uos, so they tried again with 'our' Atavar?  Looks likely.

Caballistics, Inc: - fantastic, brilliant artwork, gripping story.  Is that the imprisoned magician at the end? 'spect so.

All round great prog, let down by Dredd's artwork.

[GermanAndy]

Dredd: Wow. I have to say that was quite ... underwhelming. Till this part I thought the art okay, not great, but okay. But for such an important story-develepment this was very disappointing. If you have to discuss whose head was floting through the air, there is something fundamentally wrong with the work.

Now I wonder what Flint, Walker, Kennedy or Ezquerra could have done with such a story. It?s a shame and frankly a wasted opportunity, really.

Sind/Dex: some nice mayhem. still not big on Davis, but at least he knows how to tell a story dramatically artwise.

The Constantine ad. He with this gun straight out of Van Helsing. (which on the movie poster looks like he is using a geriatric crutch). This alone is a nice illustration what is wrong with Hollywood and how they just don?t get the characters.

Shakara: if Flint could fill this in a bottle, he would be a gazillionaire :-) Pure bliss.

Avatar: saving this till it is over. But the art is nice.

Cabs: wow. Talk about not decompressed storytelling. Great jokes. Great art. When will be the damn Trade out??!!

[Byron Virgo]

Fate: that was exactly what I was thinking, you cunning devil you!http://www.2000adonline.com/covers/2000ad/mediumres/474.jpg">

[The Monarch]

Sue dibney...blue beetle...and now possibly Guthrie what is happening to my fave characters...

[McNulty]

And now for my comments?(I?m not going to do them in order of appearance like I normally do, as I have a lot to say about Dredd this week?)

Shakara: Another great episode this week, with Void being next on Shakara?s hit list. It does raise the question of how Shakara?s going to deal with Phaze, though. As a side note, it might have been nice if some of her versions might have been wearing some form of recognisable clothing from other stories?(quote of the week: He?s discombobulating!)

Atavar III: I had problems getting into this series, but I must admit that the sudden introduction of this female atavar was a nice surprise.

Caballistics Inc: Again, I can only say that I don?t like this art and I don?t like this story. But as the Mighty One says only this week, you Squaxx dek Thargo have your own personal preferences. Each to their own I say.

Sin/Dex: Eye see zat we haf beecum ?Ze Attack off ze Cluns? zis week. Mon Dewer!

Dredd: I?ve got to say that I don?t hold out much hope for Judges Giant, Guthire or Rico. Giant is definitely dead, as he has had his head blown off. He was the only black judge there when the bomb went off. And Rico?s had the top of his head blasted. That?s pretty final.
 Now let?s get one thing straight ? I understand why the artist felt it necessary to draw such gory death scenes. If we don?t see a major character definitely die right in front of our eyes, some readers will maintain that they may not be dead. And some writers in the future might be tempted to resurrect them in their stories. After all, it?s been done before. Look what they had to do to Johnny Alpha just to make sure he was dead! And they still brought him back in the Gronk?s story! I?m not a fan of gore ? I much rather enjoy the type of art that Gibson or Ezquerra produces, which show action and death, but not the gruesomeness that other artists portray. It leaves more to the imagination. Judge Giant?s father was killed off but Dillon didn?t see the need to blow him to bits to get the job done. Changing times I suppose.
 We knew that there was going to a significant character?s death this week. I just didn?t think there would be three. And Vienna is by no means out of trouble yet. I just have to see the conclusion to this story!  

[Funt Solo]

McNulty: Giant, Guthrie and Rico are not definitely dead according to what was presented to us:

Rico:  his lower head has been shot, not the top as you say.  It looks very much like his jaw has been shot off.  Two minutes later Judges Blank-Badge and his partner Blank-Badge are telling Dredd "it doesn't look good", not "he's dead".

Giant / Guthrie:  much controversy at the moment regarding whose head that is flying accross the page.  It's not Guthrie cos it's got no tache, but given the state of the art here, it might not be Giant, and may in fact be Judge Blank-Badge or his partner Blank-Badge.

[IndigoPrime]

While I agree that Giant might be dead, I have no idea how anyone could know for sure from that artwork.

[Darryl]

Dredd is as good has it has been in a long time - expected someone to die but not 3 of the buggers!

Atavar - I like this - good artwork, and the story is gathering pace - a second (female) atavar? makes sense in a way.....

Sin/Dex - nope, dont like the artwork, too.... muddy?

Cab Inc - good story, apart from the Pat Mills baiting! whats up? Grennie not satisfied taking over from John Wagner that he has to wind up Pat Mills as well? ;-)

Bloody good prog, getting better week by week again. 8/10

[The Amstor Computer]

"apart from the Pat Mills baiting!"

ISTR some baiting at the close of "Blood of Satanus II". Perhaps Gordon is just returning the favour?

[paulvonscott]

Heh, let the battle of the lame jibes begin!  Two titans of feeble jibing clash word processors over the distance of a year or two.  It's not really an event is it?

I thought it was a nice idea at first in Caballistics, and I assumed we were in for some fun.  But stressing the same lame parody every week, wasn't really very funny, forced, and never went anywhere.

Some boars in kilts with axes, mild mockery of new age religion and a bizarrely improbable reference to neo-pagan comic books (that would be Slaine then) was all we got over the whole story.

A shame as it also tied in with a lot of 70's new age spookshow programs like the stone tapes, Children of the Stones and Quatermass IV.

My memories of Satanus 2, have largely been absorbed by Dark Matter, which I think is for the best.  They were never good memories.