Prog 2221 - Taking the Biscuit!

[TordelBack]

Would they need to "get the gang back together" for the sixth time first?

I think you're missing a decimal point there.

It's personal taste of course, but I thought all but perhaps the most recent run of 'current' ABC Warriors were great fun. 

And while I'm a Sláine obsessive, I had lost all hope during the post-Books of Invasion Langley years.  SBD's Brutannia was a breath of fresh air, and while as others have noted on this thread it ultimately seemed like one interminable dialogue-heavy fight scene in the progs, the gorgeous collected volumes give it brisk life as a coherent, exquisitely painted story that chronicles a key turn in Sláine's life. The bizarre Archon lettering choices hamstring it a bit, but for my money it's a great read.

Dragontamer delights me, because it's a seamless development from that run with completely different but equally extraordinary look. I'm not really one for hyper-realistic fully-filled art, the scratchier or more abstracted the better for me, but this is just superb: novel-design horrors abound, fleshy characters appear to twist through volumes of space on the page, the heaped bodies of fighters seem to intertwine like zoomorphic interlace, hard surfaces glitter and dark skies loom. It has all the weight that Angie Mills borrowed from Gal et al, the colourful solidity of Power and Staples, Fabry and Bellardinelli's attention to the details of the objects that fill this world, the physicality of combat of McMahon and Pugh, and some of the Frazetta sensibility that Bisley started out with, married to Manco's own feel for realistic light and form. The same feeling of the artisitic heritage of the strip drawing together pervades the script.  IT'S GREAT.

Phew.

[broodblik]

Manco for me is doing all the heavy lifting the script is riding an the wave of the stunning visuals. I am at this stage bamboozled that Slaine is not my favourite thing in the prog. I am a great fan of the stories and I want to like it and it is almost that I lost interest. Hopefully next week we are amazed by the awesome ending.

[IndigoPrime]

Hopefully next week we are amazed by the awesome ending.

"End of book one."

[The Corinthian]

"End of book one."

Book two begins with four episode recap of book one.

[The Corinthian]

Given that ABC Warriors has been ret-cons and recycling for years, god knows how it'd be closed off.

I got the impression at one point that everything in this and Savage was barrelling towards a definitive conclusion revolving around Howard Quartz getting his comeuppance.

That was over four years ago.

[norton canes]

After completely failing to spot the 'Orinoco' joke on the last Niemand Dredd cover I feel like I'm already about to fall into the same trap again, but... is there some kind of pun hiding in "Baked and offed"?

Well the biggest problem is a combination of the 'blams' placed on the side of both Bike Cannons and the colouring used for the Lawmasters lights made me think that Dredd was firing from his bike's fire arms

Excellent observation skills there cadet, reckon there's more to this murder than a simple drive-by, but you better have some watertight evidence if you're implicating a senior judge.

Nice that the whole of the setup is contained in the first three pages of the story and for the last three practically nothing happens, but does so delightfully, giving PJ a chance to shine with his little cartoon bodies and hero costume designs.

If there's one problem with that utterly amazing double-page Thistlebone spread it's that it's not in the centre pages and I can't open the thing properly nice and flat. Still, it's something else, especially since I find the tangled roots of upended trees really creepy even when they're not cradling skeletons.

More painstakingly narrated melee in Slaine. To keep everyone happy, I wonder if Pat Mills could be persuaded to write a one-off five-pager that winds up the stories of every title character in his unfinished strips? Slaine, Defoe, Bill Savage and the ABC Warriors, all meeting up for a final blast of mayhem before disappearing into the dark fundament (so to speak).

Perfectly happy with the changes to Durham Red's character - I think it's the sort of thing you have to expect when a new writer takes ownership and wants to stamp their own mark. Or to flip the idea, I'd certainly be hugely surprised (and more than likely a little disappointed) if a character who first appeared 34 years ago was still being written exactly the same way. Anyway the acid test is, is the current way working? And for me the answer is a resounding 'yes'.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

The closest I got with "Baked and offed" was the obvious "Bake Off"/ biscuits/ tv show/ murdered tenuous linky.

SBT

[TordelBack]

The closest I got with "Baked and offed" was the obvious "Bake Off"/ biscuits/ tv show/ murdered tenuous linky.

My reading too. While I'm there, I might throw in my general dislike of the tagline font, since I seem to be otherwise overflowing with positivity and praise this morning.

[norton canes]

The closest I got with "Baked and offed" was the obvious "Bake Off"/ biscuits/ tv show/ murdered tenuous linky

Oh yeah. That'll be it. Another blindingly obvious one flies right over my head... 

[sintec]

It's great to get back to our 3 continuing tales back having skipped a week for the Regened. Proteus hints at some big reveals for the finale, it's great stuff and will be a must buy for me if/when we get a collected trade. Slaine continues to deliver jaw dropping art not sure I'm that engaged with the plot, not sure that entirely matters when the art is this good. And Durham Red continues to deliver twists and turns as we find out whos hunting Red and why.  It's all great stuff.

Of the two new stories it's Thistlebone I'm most excited about. Loved the first series and will be grabbing the collection next month when it hits the webstore. This episode is a strong start and I'm looking forwards to seeing where it goes, Simon's art is magnificent (as ever). The Dredd is an ok setup but for whatever reason it's just not exciting me. Maybe the next episode will change my mind. Think I'm a little burnt out on wacky citizens plots there seems to have been quite a lot fo that kind of thing recently.

[Tiplodocus]

Zarjaz has a wraparound EVERY issue!

Whoooooore!

[Mardroid]

I quite like psycho Red tormented by the guilt of her involuntary murders.

Me too. Rather than considering her as amoral, I'd say she is both more moral, and at the same time, more dangerous than she has been before.  With early Red, under Wagner, Ezquerra and Grant, I got the impression she was a bit of a rascal who kind of revelled a bit in what she was, although there was a bit of tragedy even then. And I didn't get the impression she was particularly dangerous to innocents... although she could be if she starved.

There were other stories later where we saw more of her backstory that we saw more of the tragic side to her, but now she seems to be way on the other side of the spectrum.

Now it seems she really has been a danger to innocents, but I don't think it was ever a random murder spree. I think these situations are still very much in the minority, but fact is, sometimes she gets caught short, so to speak, and if she is in a starved state, she will reach a stage where the thirst takes over and she has no control of herself. But she is also shows more guilt and remorse for her actions than before.

I'm not sure she was so much blaming the thirst as stating a fact.  At the start of the story she was literally out in the desert tracking someone, and hadn't fed in days. I'm not sure how she ended up starving on a cruise ship. You'd have thought she would have made preparations before taking the security job, but we just don't know the full story there.

I don't see this so much as a contradiction to what happened before as more of an exploration of how her condition responds in extreme circumstances.

[Sean SD]

Solid prog this one, tough to pick a top 3 anyhow here is:

My Top 3 for Prog 2221

1st - Thistlebone - edges into first place.  Very good start episode for Book 2.
2nd - Dredd - A certain simian is back  Nice work on last page PJ
3rd - Proteus Vex - very busy story wise but tension is building up nicely between Vex and his superiors

[TordelBack]

I don't see this so much as a contradiction to what happened before as more of an exploration of how her condition responds in extreme circumstances.

Good analysis, Mardroid.  Ultimately Red has been depicted in so many different ways (Wagner, Grant, Hogan, Abnett, now Worley) that judgment in any new incarnation really has to be based on how entertaining it is, and how internally consistent it is within that version. Worley is a writer who has really grown into his craft over the past few years and I'd rather see him (and Willsher) develop the character in the way that interests him, rather than being tied to 'treacherous vamp with a heart', 'eternal mutant messiah' or worse, 'generic action babe no. 37'.

[CalHab]

The closest I got with "Baked and offed" was the obvious "Bake Off"/ biscuits/ tv show/ murdered tenuous linky

Oh yeah. That'll be it. Another blindingly obvious one flies right over my head...

It's not just you. I was scratching my head as well.