Prog 2329: Fruiting bodies!

[IndigoPrime]

First thought: good cover, but grim for Regened. Second thigh nice to see Herne and Shuck will be returning.

In terms of strips, Dredd is already done, in what was a fun little two-parter, but it appears to be a set-up for more Dark Judge shenanigans. I just hope Niemand doesn't do the obvious and plays up the hapless nature of the protagonists. As good a writer as he is, I'd happily not see the Dark Judges for another decade.

The Order ends, with a 1980s-style wrap-up. Well, sort of. It's left open, to say the least – to the degree it feels like a comma rather than a full-stop. Honestly, it feels like this would have been left on a fuller conclusion, with a spin-off coming to life later on, if Tharg felt it would work.

Durham Red continues to work really well for me, and I especially liked the meta talking point on the penultimate page. Yes, all the 'legends' were about a foxy badadd vamp chick, scaring bad guys and bagging bounties. And, yes, the reality is so much creepier. I get why people are annoyed about this, but I'm really enjoying this reinvention. For me, it overtakes Rogue this issue.

Enemy Earth is pretty good, if still tonally awkwardly sitting between Regened and 2000 AD. Really, it's slowly shifting towards the latter. I'm not convinced this belongs in the same comic as, well, basically everything else from Regened.

And then Rogue, which for me this week feels like a bit of a lull. Still good (although I'm unsure it needs the swearing, but whatever). But it doesn't quite keep the momentum going for me. Nice to see Tharg commission a Will Simpson pic for the inside cover, which I imagine will end up on the collected edition's cover.

So: nothing bad this week and an awful lot of good. Only Red hits great though.

Red > Rogue > Earth = Dredd > Order

[broodblik]

Cover by Luke Horsman:

[broodblik]

Cover and Logo:

[Barrington Boots]

SATURDAY PROG!

I liked this cover. It's suitably gross.

Dredd Shame it wrapped up as I would have enjoyed another episode or two. This was a fun with just a hint of nastiness, great stuff. Great art as ever. I don't like the idea of the DJs returning either, but the portrayal of this pair has been so goofy that I'd be surprised if they manage it.

The Order definitely doesn't feel like the ending it deserved, but we've already discussed this on other Prog review threads. In retrospect, for me this is a thrill that started off fantastically well, then got hugely ambitious but struggled to maintain the elements that made it good in the first place. We get a very nice ending for Anna and a good epilogue for Clara, and a quick ending for all the other characters I didn't get invested in which is the right way round for me! I'm always a fan of Lovecraft references and I'd be up for seeing a spin-off with librarian Clara hunting for the book of Eibon. Lovely art especially on the last couple of pages and it's good to hear the creative team has a historical strip on the go.

Durham Red another enjoyable episode. My issue with this strip tends to be that I don't like Red as a protagonist, so when it's all action, and the addition of the sidekick protagonist, really highlights the strengths of the story and the visceral art.

Enemy Earth caught up with this after reading others comments here. I don't like the art at all which doesn't help me get into it. The story is probably closer to what we older readers might think of as 2000ad fare (ie grimmer) with a modern update - I agree with what IP says above about this being quite un-regened-y. It's not for me, but that's personal preference, it's not awful.

Rogue Trooper - Four weeks in now and I'm still waiting for this to become good. It looks great but there's no excitement or tension or, well, interest, so feels like a huge disappointment. Like others I was sort of thinking there'd be a twist but it's taking its time getting there if there is one. Digging that glorious Will Simpson picture though.

[Blue Cactus]

Not sure about the cover, maybe a different colour scheme would have made it pop for me. Definitely gross though!

Dredd was fine and Googe is great. Like others I can't really be arsed with more Dark Judges either, especially if they're played for laughs.

Agree completely with Boots re The Order. Tharg mentions the Burns and W droids will be pairing up for Nightmare, New York - was it just me that assumed this will be the follow on from the end of The Order?

Red was fine and it looks great. I wish Red herself had a bit more of a personality. As a character she's been around a long time now, I still don't feel like I really know her that well as a person. I'd find it hard to describe her personality. I've enjoyed this reboot though and I would love if it built into a proper long-running arc with some real character development. More likely we will get fairly standalone stories.

Enemy Earth does feel a weird fit in the prog but that's ok. I'm slightly worried it might become the new Skip Tracer and keep appearing very regularly despite not being the most popular (on here). I get people not loving Horsman's art but it's full of energy. I'm not sure what the big purple circles round peoples' eyes are though.

Rogue's an odd one. As a war story it's quite nondescript so far. As a Rogue story it's also a bit nondescript. Other than that he's somehow ended up on Earth in the past. Which is the kind of thing Finley-Day might have come up with, to be fair. It's looks fabulous though and I'm interested in seeing where it takes us.

[broodblik]

A good prog

Dredd – A fun Dredd story comes to an end, but I smell another setup to a broader storyline. Hopefully the Dark Judges is just a ruse to something more interesting. Googe's art is perfect for this story.

The Order – A chapter ends or rather a series, but the door is kept ajar just a little bit. I enjoyed this series and would like to read this in one go. It was one of those stories that had a huge cast and moved in a breath-taking pace and could weave you into a spider-web quite easily. Art was always top-notch.

Durham Red – Red is planet bound and the real mission can now commence, and the blood counter is already way-up. Enjoying this and for me this interpretation of Red is the best of them all.

Enemy Earth – Struggle really to get into this especially the art and the story just feels like go to a go to b with no real substance.

Rogue Trooper – Would like the story to move forward and I just feel the WW1 setting is taking up too much episode counts. Do not get me wrong a still very much invested in the story and really enjoying the return of Rogue. Art is fatalistic but please mister Ennis show us your hand.

[Bad City Blue]

Dredd was a fun read, helped by the Scots dialect and art. I wish they'd just got on with it, though, instead of continuing it some time in the future.

Durham Red is really cool, with awesome art, it's a treat every week

Rogue I like, and there's still six episodes for Ennis to pull any rugs he has. Either way I'm happy with it tbh

[jannerboyuk]

Loving Rogue, quite enjoying the slow pace and simplicity whilst waiting for the inevitable twist. Keeping track of some of the other stories can be a chore i feel.

[Richard]

For me Rogue has been the best thing in the prog since it started. I wouldn't call it slow, there has been plenty of action so far, most notably the bit in the tank last week. But I think Garth Ennis will spend a bit of time letting us get to know all the new characters, so that their deaths later in the story will actually mean something, instead of being like all the deaths we've seen so far.

[broodblik]

Not sure about the cover, maybe a different colour scheme would have made it pop for me. Definitely gross though!

The cover with a different colour scheme:

[The Corinthian]

Short of turning over the entire Prog to The Order, I can't see how it could have ended any way other than the way it did: not by reaching a conclusion so much as rolling to a gentle halt. This is at least better than the way Slaine just seemed to stop randomly mid-story and gives the characters pleasing if not necessarily satisfying resolutions.

It's just a shame not just there were so many loose ends - including some that originate in the current arc, that hopefully the spinoff will explore - but also that the idea that we were seeing slices of a grand history-spanning conflict was reduced to an action-adventure runaround for much of its second half.

I had vaguely been wondering if the series was being curtailed because of the artist's advancing years (not being funny, but Burns is 85 now) so it's a welcome surprise to find he's doing something new.

Weird retro continuity time: do the developments about Clara in this episode explain why her presumed descendant Frank kept running into Armoured Gideon all the time?

[Blue Cactus]

Not sure about the cover, maybe a different colour scheme would have made it pop for me. Definitely gross though!

The cover with a different colour scheme:

Oh, interesting! Thanks for that.

[Colin YNWA]

Have to say that alternative colouring looks so much sharper to my eye.

[IndigoPrime]

Yeah. It's not often I prefer an alt (and I was really torn by my favourite The Out cover), but this one looks clearer and more horrific in the alt. That said, the immediate focus on the used cover is on the monster, which may be why it was chosen. (The eye tends to flick around the alt more, and the fence at the front has too much contrast and becomes a focal point in and of itself.)

[Barrington Boots]

Weird retro continuity time: do the developments about Clara in this episode explain why her presumed descendant Frank kept running into Armoured Gideon all the time?

How did I not make this connection? Wow!