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Prog 2224 - Gangbusters!

Started by Colin YNWA, 20 March, 2021, 02:45:25 PM

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Colin YNWA

Always nice to get an early Saturday prog read just after lunch. Wonderful.

Over on last weeks review thread there's a good discussion about the virtues of what was a fantastic Prog it is, without any second, or third generation writers. That drifted into chatter on how lucky we are to have the talent pool in Tharg's capable hands and how as well as this new(ish) talent we have greats like Dabnett to hand - well as if to underline that point we get double sized DanA this week and its makes for a delightful Prog.

We open with one of our newest Droids however as Kenneth Neimand shows that one of this many talents is stcking that ever tricky landing as the latest Chimpsky adventures ends really nicely. The well presented juxtaposition between Dredd and Chimpsky end this wonderfully and position our favourite detective chimp in the perfect place to move him onto his solo adventure scheduled for June we now understand. Super excited for that one AND to see we have a new Neimand adventure starting in Dredd next week, this time with Tom Foster.

Is Neimand now the regular Dredd scribe with others filling in around him? I certainly wouldn't complain if that was the case.

Thistlebone still feels a long way from its ending but it wonderfully continues to raise the creepy and seed the past with motive.

3riller - Nakka of the S.T.A.R.S. stickies its landing amidst the toffee apples. It delightfully whimsical stuff and I hope Roger Langridge and Brendan McCarthy can bring us more of this stuff.

Good as all that is with practiced ease Dabnett and Richard Elson manage to remind us what talents they are as Feral and Foe blast into action, but with fantastic hilarity, as opposed to the edge of the seat excitment of last time. The consequence of the magic explosion at the end of the first outing are felt in a touching way... but maybe not touching in the way we'd have expected. Its funny and brilliantly sets up what's to come.

The Prog might be in fine hands when we don't have Dabnett and his co-creators are on board, but there's little doubt that its even better when the mighty Dan is with us.

broodblik

When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

broodblik

When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

The Monarch

we are so lucky we have so many good writers and artists in the prog at the moment not a single dull moment at all

BPP

After PJs ace recent cover we now get this. Norn Iron representing.
If I'd known it was harmless I would have killed it myself.

http://futureshockd.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/FutureShockd

broodblik

A good prog with a very good start by the new thrill. Looking forward to the return of Mechastopheles as well.

Dredd – We are handed a nice and positive ending the adventures of Chimpksy as he is going solo. The story setups what is possible in his own arc.

Thistlebone – This round we have a lot of building the narrative which focus on what happened before. Good slow burn story.

Nakka – The inspector gets his man/robot/clone and as we all suspected it is not all as it seems Would not mind for Nakka to turn up in the prog again.

Feral and Foe – Great to have Feral and Foe back in the prog the last series ended with a real cliff-hanger and we sort off start from that point.  The story starts with a tall tale told by one of the survivors. We soon learn what is the fate of our heroes and I can how interesting the journey will be. Great script and great art.
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

TordelBack

Ah what a cover. McCrea can do no wrong.

Speaking of infallible, the warm breeze of guaranteed quality blows Feral & Foe our way. Normally I harrumph about double episodes and their visible seams, but this works so well that there's nothing to gripe about. All-round cheeky fun, and seriously, how is Elson still working for the prog? There ought to be a socially-distanced queue of US editors clutching International Fund Transfer apps.

Nakka ends a bit softer than I'd hoped, in that it's exactly what it appeared to be. Still extremely enjoyable,  and most importantly there was no tired revelation that the good inspector was a robot/clone/robo-clone. More please, and be quick about it.

Chimpsky has a clever concept in lieu of an ending. Unless I'm missing something, those hoodlums Chimpsky incapacitated in the warehouse are just going to rat on the kids as soon as they wake up. Overworked or not, I don't buy Dredd just riding off and leaving obvious loose-ends in the hands of a judge he just put on review. A truly glorious panel of Dredd dispensin', and the redressed Paine statue was brilliantly realised. Nice sound effects early on too.

Thistlebone is doing its thing, really excited to meet Hillman. Not quite sure why Malcolm is holding a spirit level as a scale (what size is a spirit level?), makes me wonder if there was a quick text edit following miscommunication of Level Staff somewhere along the way (archaeologists are ways looking for someone to hold a staff for a minute). But that's pedantry of an entirely regrettable if predictable level. This is fine work from everyone, made better by having a focus on Malcolm as a recognisable character. And I remembered Seema's name this week, which is a good sign.


Barrington Boots

Agree with all about this great cover.
This was a fairly light hearted prog I thought, with three strips leaning more towards fun with Thistlebone lurking between them.

Dredd – This Chimpsky fell flat for me and I've been mulling over why. I think in the main the story wasn't much of a story: Chimpsky immediately found the killer, invented some gas and defeated the bad guys and it all wrapped up without any real twists or peril. Dredd was peripheral, which I don't mind in Cit-based tales, but here as others say his behaviour isn't quite right. I think also i'm a bit chimped out, so whilst I'm looking forward to solo Chimpsky, there's mild monkey fatigue settling in.
Aside from that plot, the stuff with the statue was nicely done and I think this would have been better as the focus of the strip - on ideas, the supression of them in MC1 and Chimpskys own moral compass.
Art as ever was magnificent. BOPP!

Thistlebone – Super slow but that's ok because it's building and the weekly breaks between episides enhance that. Something awful has happened and is going to happen. Digging it.

Nakka – Wraps up nicely. No suspense, as the culprit was telegraphed last week, and surprisingly low levels of peril which if anything made this all the better. Unlike Bix Barton, which had a cynical and sometimes nasty streak, this is completely straight and hugely enjoyable and I would love to see it back.

Feral and Foe – Absolutely loved this series the first time around. The change in status quo is interesting but I'm not sure about the [spoiler]wank joke[/spoiler] - I'm not adverse to this kind of thing but here it felt a bit.. off? Dunno. Otherwise this great as ever, characters, setting, dialogue all rules - I much prefer the profanity-laden dialogue here than I do when it crops up in Sindex - nothing feels tired and it's a joy to read. Richard Elson is brilliant.

Also Mechastopheles is back and with Boo Cook? Looking forward to that.

You're a dark horse, Boots.

The Corinthian

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 24 March, 2021, 02:35:33 PM
Dredd – This Chimpsky fell flat for me and I've been mulling over why. I think in the main the story wasn't much of a story: Chimpsky immediately found the killer, invented some gas and defeated the bad guys and it all wrapped up without any real twists or peril.

The thing about Chimpsky is that up to now he's been like a "good" version of PJ Maybe: someone who's constantly in danger of falling foul of the Judges (and Dredd in particular) but manages to run rings round them through a combination of careful preparation and mad improvisation. And that doesn't really happen here, even though last week's cliffhanger seemed to be setting up precisely that. Especially compared to his last appearance in 'Three Kings', Chimpsky gets away with it too easily this time.

broodblik

Here is an interview with Dan Abnett and Richard Elson on the return of Feral & Foe. You might have missed it in the news section since for  a strange reason it was released on the 19th February:

https://2000ad.com/news/interview-dan-abnett-richard-elson-on-feral-foe-series-two/
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

Wilko10

Certainly a smaller prog in terms of the total stories, but still equally as entertaining.

Dredd -- I would have been happy for this to be longer, but Niemand prioritizes an efficient narrative and doesn't waste a panel. Who Killed Captain Cookies? might not have been the murder-mystery I was looking for, and yet that subversion was most welcome. Noam is a suitable heir to Cookies' thrown. I'm excited for A Penitent Man.

Thistlebone -- Simon Bowland is the dark horse of this series, with some of his best lettering since ABC Warriors: The Volgan War. Everything else is great, of course, but it's definitely the lettering that sells this novel being written about something inherently sinister lurking within the woods.

NAKKA of the S.T.A.R.S. -- Gloriously silly, delightfully simple. Penny won the raffle!

Feral & Foe II -- I'm totally unfamiliar with this story but, despite it being twice the length of a typical story, it flowed nicely and was a gentle introduction to this bizarre world.

BPP

Quote from: The Corinthian on 24 March, 2021, 06:45:51 PM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 24 March, 2021, 02:35:33 PM
Dredd – This Chimpsky fell flat for me and I've been mulling over why. I think in the main the story wasn't much of a story: Chimpsky immediately found the killer, invented some gas and defeated the bad guys and it all wrapped up without any real twists or peril.

The thing about Chimpsky is that up to now he's been like a "good" version of PJ Maybe: someone who's constantly in danger of falling foul of the Judges (and Dredd in particular) but manages to run rings round them through a combination of careful preparation and mad improvisation. And that doesn't really happen here, even though last week's cliffhanger seemed to be setting up precisely that. Especially compared to his last appearance in 'Three Kings', Chimpsky gets away with it too easily this time.

My problem with chimpsky came in the Xmas prog where it's revealed he's a rich as fuck so why is he risking his sub-normal mates like the fat kid to death by judges for whacky plans. Seemed an obvious character misstep.
If I'd known it was harmless I would have killed it myself.

http://futureshockd.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/FutureShockd

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: broodblik on 24 March, 2021, 07:05:22 PM
Here is an interview with Dan Abnett and Richard Elson on the return of Feral & Foe. You might have missed it in the news section since for  a strange reason it was released on the 19th February

I think the date on that must be wrong — maybe it should say March 19th, because I definitely hadn't lettered those pages from Bk2 that are shown in the interview on Feb 19th...
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

broodblik

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 March, 2021, 10:45:40 PM
Quote from: broodblik on 24 March, 2021, 07:05:22 PM
Here is an interview with Dan Abnett and Richard Elson on the return of Feral & Foe. You might have missed it in the news section since for  a strange reason it was released on the 19th February

I think the date on that must be wrong — maybe it should say March 19th, because I definitely hadn't lettered those pages from Bk2 that are shown in the interview on Feb 19th...

I will let the web droids know
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

broodblik

Quote from: Wilko10 on 24 March, 2021, 08:49:44 PM
Feral & Foe II -- I'm totally unfamiliar with this story but, despite it being twice the length of a typical story, it flowed nicely and was a gentle introduction to this bizarre world.

The original did not run so long ago from prog 2162-2174:

https://shop.2000ad.com/series/story/feral-foe
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.