Oh its a Saturday Prog
The wait is not a Slog
Recently its been in the week
When it does the weekend is bleak
But when it shows up on time I'm... happy... damnit...
And can we say first off WOW! What a cover. So fizzy, exciting, and it bursts with thrillpower. Well done the Harrison Droid that one is a contender (as is the cover for next weeks - assuming the add at the end will be the cover.
Inside ain't too shabby either.
Dredd - is just fantastic the end is cruel and the underlined by an unsurprising No.1 in the countdown. Masterful.
Skip Tracer - all action BUT WE CARE so its entertaining and matters. Again its not setting the world on fire but... well actually this is a really good episode.
As is Dexter so much action and wit packed it. Things move on at a right ol' pace and even if I'm not really diggin' Bulletopia overall this is the Sinister Dexter I love. And a chilling ending.
And Thought Bubble winners Paul Starkey and James Newell produce a cracking Terror Tale. its funny last weeks, from seasoned vets missed the mark entirely. This one is tight, straightforward yet still really effective. Great play on an old idea. wonderful one off.
And finally Aquila comes to the end of this run with a stunning episode. This one, like Dexter, like Skip Tracer, like the cover just cuts to it, stabs at you with energy and excitment and absolutely finds its mark. This has been my favourite Aquila story to date and the ending, bridging well to the next part with an 'I am' moment works really well.
Absolutely crackin' Prog under a crackling cover.
Cover by Mark Harrison:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E8lJXKYWYAEBg9g?format=jpg&name=large)
Cover and Logo:
(https://dyn.media.forbiddenplanet.com/u6XjMgFxo4lXdnyyQb2R2pb2ovc=/trim/fit-in/779x1024/filters:format(webp)/https://media.forbiddenplanet.com/products/f9/ec/f918920f46302aa07fbbe7818ff6372ac667.jpeg)
One thing I like about this cover is how the logo is being shot to bits
Quote from: broodblik on 14 August, 2021, 08:02:36 PM
One thing I like about this cover is how the logo is being shot to bits
Yeah but you can still read it clearly.
For all the car lovers 1958 Edsel Pacer from Sin/Dex:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/58_edsel_pacer.jpg)
That Terror Tale was really good!
I also got a Saturday Prog... arriving just minutes before I went out the door to visit my brother for the weekend. Still a Saturday Prog though! Read it last night.
Mixed feelings on the cover - I like the concept with the car bursting out of the cover and I love the logo being shot up, but I'm less keen on the background. Kinda cool overall though.
Mixed feelings on the Prog, too!
Dredd - Lovely downbeat ending. This has been a very good Dredd: Dredd himself has always remained in control and the Justice Dept has been portayed in a very dark light, from Dan Francisco's brutal beating of the mutants to the horrific looking frame of the activist being interrogated last week and the other perps wife and kid being caught in the net and punished. It's been a very bleak tale - the NTWICJ interludes I thought initially would be relevant to the main story, then maybe were just some cool padding but in some ways they've been the darkest bit of the tale: as the Hyman family's tragedy builds thanks to Dredd, we finish on a lunatic shrieking with delight about the death of millions. Horrific stuff and a masterful Dredd.
Skip Tracer - all action this week, but we're too far gone really for this to be in any way interesting.
Dexter - Pretty terrible. I do like this artist though!
Terror Tale - cool little story this, and way better than last weeks, as has already been noted. Makes really good use of the format with a neat twist.
Aquila - continues to blaze it's way through hell with the enemies swiftly defeated in a gory blaze of action and a cool tease for the next series set up. Re-reading the whole thing, this had felt very old school in structure: very much written in episodic format, rattling along at speed with monsters and horrors thrown up and defeated one by one. The story hasn't blown me away but it's been an exciting read throughout and I'm looking forward to it coming back. Patrick Goddard's art for this has been phenomenal.
Quotevery much written in episodic format
As it should be. It's all very well reading it all in one go in a graphic novel, but we have to read it weekly in the prog, and I'm quite happy that the writer has remembered that.
Quote from: broodblik on 16 August, 2021, 10:39:10 AM
For all the car lovers 1958 Edsel Pacer from Sin/Dex:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/58_edsel_pacer.jpg)
I don't really do cars at all but that is a thing of beauty. For some reason I always assumed the fact that it had 'Edsel' written by that radiator thingie was a storytelling device so that folks knew when the 'Edsel' was refered nothin was crossing over with Matt Wagner's Mage*, and folks knew it was the car. Didn't realise it was a feature of the real thing.
*
In the original 'Mage - Hero Discovered' there's a character called Edsel - I've often wondered if it was a coincidence, other whether Mage influenced Dabnet on his choice of car?
The Edsel might be the prequel to the Lotus Esprit S1 - Bulletopia vs the Spy:
(https://www.hiroboy.com/thumbnail/1200x1200/userfiles/images/sys/products/124_Lotus_Esprit_S1_James_Bond_Car_Submarine_83389.jpeg)
So, we are now in the rollercoaster territory with the prog as most of the stories winding down to a conclusion. Yes, it this week's progs is significantly better than last weeks, and I enjoyed it.
Dredd – Well Dredd comes to the expected conclusion. This has been a great Wagner tale again from the begging we had 3 "stories" playing out and each of them was masterfully told. Let's not forget the great contribution by both Higgins and Hurts as well. Loved the 3rd pages button panel with the focus on the Lawgiver and Dredd out of focus – let's not forget that last page.
I have recently listed to an interview with John Wagner and what he is up to. So, some spoilers here if you would rather wait: [spoiler]He is busy with a 10-part Dredd story related to the Apocalypse War, with art by Dan Cornwell called The Citadel. This will start in the 45th anniversary prog.[/spoiler]
Skip Tracer – Well this round I can say that this was not a bad episode, some back-stabbing and a lot of action. Marshall's art as always is top-notch.
Dexter – For some strange reason I am enjoying this run and the action is heating up as the episode ends with a bang. I do like Tezio's art, and it is working for the strip.
Terror Tale – This was a good one-shot. I am with Colin on this one, how can newbies show the old hands how to do it?
Aquila – A good book one and can not wait for the next chapter. The whole series was very much told in the old fashion way but in the right way. Great stuff from the whole creative team.
Dredd - great finish to a great story. You really can't beat Wagner.
Terror Tale - very good story, I remember seeing the pitch and liking it.
Sinister/Skip Tracer/Aquila - Meh
Dredd was great, as ever. Wagner has few equals in comics are arguably none on Dredd. Aquila ended well and the Terror Tale was solid. Good call, Tharg, in including some extra context with the interview. Dexter is fine, but like a treadmill or static. I just don't care anymore, and that's rare for an Abnett tale. Skippy continues with its laundry list of cliches.
Dredd > Terror Tale > Aquila > Dexter > Skip Tracer
I loved how Higgins' Dredd took me back to Phantom of the Shopperawith all that scaffolding, I wonder if that was intentional?
I must say, I worried a bit when reading it. I know we can't have him forever, but it felt a little like Wagner maybe revisiting things for the last time and maybe wrapping things up. Maybe I'm reading too much into it all.
That's how we feel everytime you post these days Mr 'The Lovely'
Great resolution to NTWICJ but the whole Top Fifty Countdown element seemed kinda grafted on, and to be honest the last couple of pages felt a bit redundant (though nicely illustrated!)
I've been enjoying 'Dexter', especially the Bettin droid's Simon Fraser-esque artwork, so good to see it's back straight after Jokko Jongo. Aquila's been great too, yeah very old-school, let's hope it will also be back before too long a wait.
The Terror Tale was definitely an improvement on last week but I think I need another shot of synthi-caff... who was responsible for the carnage in the church? And did DS Grant wind up hellbound because she'd tampered with the book, or because she took bribes, looked the other way and stole evidence?
Mayflies and a new Rennie, Beeby n' Googe joint... looks like I'll be buying the next Regened after all...
Late to the party but I've really enjoyed Aquilla.I like the Blackhawk vibe.Warms my cockles.
Just caught up on Now That's What I Call Justice - wonderful stuff! Dredd, Wagner Dredd at that, always the best. We're the luckiest fans on Earth with master like Wagner and Higgins and co. on the case. Now I just need more! And some more after that.
My Top 3 for Prog 2245
1st - Dredd - love the page 3 art of Dredd's gun in focus and rest out of focus also, page 4 bottom left of brother witnessing the inevitable from afar, great stuff
2nd - Aquila - enjoyed this series looking forward to the next run. Well done!
3rd - Dexter - action aplenty is what I want from SD
(https://i.imgur.com/NMhYxWP.png)
- Have you noticed the shape of the space station?
- What do you mean?
- Well, it's an evil-looking skull.
- Yeah, so?
- It's just ... are we the baddies (https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5uhf9g)?
---
I'm also imagining the extra cost involved in deliberately making an object that most people will never see from the outside look like something. It being space, you'd probably not approach it necessarily from the correct vantage point anyway.
Now, the design of B-Hive-K, on the other hand...