Prog 2334 - Voyage into the Void

[Colin YNWA]

You know its going to be an interesting Prog when Dredd is the weakest thing in there.

Before I kick off on Dredd best to start on a positive. Paul Marshal is such a talent and so underrated. Once again he's on fire here.

Okay as I mentioned before the big challenge for this story is to trick you into forgetting what a daft premise this tale is built on. And to be fair on one level that is done here by sidestepping the wired up Dredd spotter and focusing on gang war and betrayal. All good stuff. The trouble is however this is undermined by reminders of why the premise is just so silly. There's emphasis that organised gangs on the whole get on and don't rock the boat, so why do it now cos you have this chap with the worst superpower ever. Don't do it, it makes no sense.

Why is it the worse superpower ever?

Well in this very issue a Judge is exposed as a traitor, in the pocket of the gang that thinks its a big deal to know where Dredd is. We've seen similar scenarios time and again in the strip. BUT to stay focused we see it now, in a strip where the premise is its a massive advantage to now where Dredd is and ALL of the big stuff that happens here just stems from that. If gangs have Judge's in their pockets, Judges who one imagines and just a Judgy Intranet net search away (I mean I reckon) from knowing where Dredd is, when any gang needs to know this vital information, just ask the Judge in your pocket.

Everytime I start to get past how daft this story is the story itself reminds me and pulls me straight back out.

Void Runner brightens things up however. Its a strip that seems from this first part to be perfect for Boo Cook's art that I think works well on some strip and holds back others. In this opener we get a quick and easy intro to the premise, the villians and our contrasting protagonist in a nice neat entertaning package. Great opener and I hope things continue like this.

Enemy Earth as one of its better episodes, fun, sharp and entertaining with very few of the art storytelling glitches to hold it back. Good episode.

As is Durham Red this week, in a series that is already very good. Bitter, scarey and builds things very well. Top stuff.

However good the other none Dredd strips are this week they pale compared to Rogue Trooper that has a fine episode. Patrick Goddard really seems to be channeling Colin Wilson in the opening two pages, which is a great things indeed. The episode rattles along, reminds us why we care about the soldier, so after a quick action set piece we can have our hearts broken. Amazing stuff.

[broodblik]

Cover by Boo Cook:

[broodblik]

Cover and Logo:

[Richard]

Bit sloppy of Rogue there. If he'd spent less time chatting he could have shot those Norts in time.

[JohnW]

A sad revelation in Rogue Trooper this week. The German prisoner establishes a rapport with one of his British captors, shows him a family snapshot BUT – did you see the tie he's wearing in the photo?
It's one thing to joke about bringing up your son as a 'sissy', but a patterned tie? And with a sharp-lapelled double-breasted suit?
I can see now how the Weimar Republic lacked a strong moral foundation. The seeds of decadence had already been deeply sown.

[norton canes]

Red and Blue seem to be tag-teaming at the moment, or playing good cop/bad cop - by accident or arrangement, whenever one goes heavy on the gut-punch emotions, the other serves up a blistering action-fest. It's working really well and makes each strip even better than the sum of its already great parts.

Yes, 'In The Event...' is really plot-heavy, but in a good way, because that means you really gotta pay attention. And come on, some Dredd stories have made a hash of trying to show the events of one raid coherently but here the Carroll droid is juggling three and some background, and its flow isn't the slightest compromised. Factor in the Marshall/Teague combo's stunning art (love those H-wagons, and particularly the little panel of the Judges disembarking from them) and the little bit of extra required focus pays off. Though I did wonder if Justice Department ever though to put cameras in the Judges' helmets..? I guess we have to assume some supplementary hacking has being going on with Hart's personal vid system.

A good start to Void Runners - it certainly got straight to the point, albeit very much in a 'tell don't show' fashion. Can't wait to see if Captain Shikari's fluffy green thing is a pet, or their actual genitals.

[Grush]

Top Thrill for me this week is Void Runners. Hugely enjoyable and intriguing intro with fantastic art and page layouts. I'm hoping the happy fluffy groin protector is an ongoing character – I miss comedy sidekicks like the Gronkses and Feek the Freek (no hee hee).

Next up is Dredd, really enjoying this run, the density of the plot is involving. Not really sure what the guy with the psychic link to Dredd brings to it, as the plot would seem to work just as well without him so far. Durham Red is solid fun, it's gone from action to horror, with a genuinely creepy plan from the bad guy (who is pretty creepy with or without a plan). Rogue continues to Rogue.

As for bottom thrill, the Prog is an anthology and there is almost always one Thrill which doesn't hit the spot for me. I still struggle with the abstractness of the art style, can't really tell who is who. Presumably others are enjoying it though.

Excellent Prog, excellent cover, excellent new Thrill.

[broodblik]

A good prog and a good start to the new thrill.

[Funt Solo]

Couldn't help but notice that the opener to Void Runners was peddling some anti-vax conspiracy fantasy. Hopefully, that's not going to be central to the series. We don't need a Modern Mills 2.0.