Prog 2268 - Against all odds!

[Colin YNWA]

Prog feels a little transitional as we prepare ourselves for 45th B'day Prog in a week or two.

Dredd is a solid if a little uninspriring one off.

The Order is superb as boarders are repelled, though not entirely successfully.

Saphir2 is solidly decent.

Terror Tales a neat one off by PJ Holden, maybe the [spoiler]ink[/spoiler] needed to be foreshadowed a little earier? Still decently creepy.

Proteus Vex remains superb as action and escape are top of the menu.

So a solid Prog doing the yeomans work of making ready for the big event.

[broodblik]

Cover by Neil Roberts:

[broodblik]

Cover and Logo:

[Magnetica]

I've not posted in the Prog review thread for a while, as I've been a few weeks behind, but I finally caught up today, including this week's Prog.

Overall I think the Prog has been great since Xmas. I've even sort of followed The Order.

This week's Dredd was a really great idea and I hope we get more from this story later on [spoiler]and it seems we might given that ending.[/spoiler] Don't remember this artist being in the Prog before but I loved his work.

Proteus Vex is a really good strip for my money.

David Roach is knocking out of the park in Sapir 2. We him in the Prog more.

The Terror  Tale didn't do much for me; then again they rarely do.

[Magnetica]

Sorry that comment about Dredd related to last week's. 🤣

That's what happens when you read 4 Progs in a day.

[broodblik]

This week's Dredd was a really great ..... Don't remember this artist being in the Prog before but I loved his work.

Her name is Silvia Califano and she is from Italy and this is her first Dredd, so kudos for another new debutant

[Darren Stephens]

Hell of a cover illo.

[Goosegash]

Thought something was "off" with the colouring in Saphir this week, and on closer inspection of the credit box I see Peter Doherty has been replaced by John Charles 

I don't want to dunk on Charles whose work is always competent, but Doherty's colours on this strip have been outstanding, so this is a bit disappointing.

[The Monarch]

[spoiler]still think the dark matter from canon fodder is the threat the order is facing atm its mo is just too similar[/spoiler]

[broodblik]

We are again at that stage where the prog feels like something is going to happen, o yes, the 45th anniversary prog is just around the corner. Still not a bad prog considering.

Dredd – An adequate one-shot with a different kind of [spoiler]serial killer[/spoiler]

The Order – All out action is our valiant heroes battle the shadow horde. Everything looks like it is going a-okey until the last page. A good cliffhanging ending.

Saphir – The battle is heating up as we are heading into the end game. Art wise the colors does look different but that splash page would make a super nice poster. 

Terror Tales – Well if this is PJ debut as a writer in AD congrats. Nice creepy story as the last page the killer blow is delivered.

Porteus Vex – An all-action episode as Vex makes his escape at a cost ([spoiler]maybe being his partner is not the greatest idea[/spoiler]). Another great episode enjoying this sci-fi space opera story all thumbs up.

[broodblik]

Forget to say the cover reminds me of those pulp sci-fi books of the 60/70s really lovely stuff

[Link Prime]

Forget to say the cover reminds me of those pulp sci-fi books of the 60/70s really lovely stuff

It is.

The best work I've seen from the Roberts Droid.

[broodblik]

Here is a nice article on how the Terror Tale Roots by PJ came to light (warning do not read the article if you have not read Roots):

https://downthetubes.net/creating-comics-pj-holden-reveals-the-story-behind-his-new-2000ad-terror-tale/

[norton canes]

That cover is... interesting! And brilliant, of course. You don't realise, looking at Jake Lynch's relaxed line style, that Vex is basically wearing a skin-tight gimp suit. Neil Roberts, on the other hand, with all the extra time and effects a cover illustration affords him, makes it abundantly clear with plenty of highlights and muscle definition. File under 'mildly disturbing'.

Inside PV remains the highlight, while it's fantastic to see another freshly-constructed art droid let loose on Dredd.

[IndigoPrime]

Bit of an odd Prog after the recent and long high. A nice cover and great to see further confirmation of The Out, but then we're into the strips, and they were a mixed bag for me.

Dredd didn't land. I quite liked the broad twist, but not the execution. The ending felt like something from 1979, and them having to freeze someone with chronic heart defects? Really? Hmm. Art was good, but one element of Caldwell's colouring irked: in all the frames, the sole non-white face was Dredd's judge partner (who on page 4 briefly turns white in the second frame). Come on—it's the USA 122 years into the future. The Prog needs to do better here. (And, I know: artists/colourists often draw/colour themselves. And this is a relatively small detail. But this episode in that way felt more like it was taking place in Surrey in 2022 than MC1 in 2144.)

Next up, things happened in The Order, including confirmation that Armoured Gideon being useful is "lost to us". Quite a bit of action and a cliffhanger, but I just don't care anymore. I hope the strip will click on a re-read.

An uptick at the midway point with Saphir. Top marks to Tharg for putting that gorgeous spread on the centre pages. Extra oil rations for the Roach droid. The strip itself is barreling along nicely too. In typical Kek-W fashion, it'll probably need a re-read to grok everything that's going on, but I'm enjoying this one.

The Terror Tale was solid and suitably creepy. I wonder if I missed something about any reasoning behind the ink, or whether that doesn't matter. (I'm fine with "shit just happens" a la Mignola.) Nice also to see an art droid graduate to writing droid.

Proteus Vex continues to be compelling. I really wasn't sure about this during the previous run. It felt like the momentum from the Flint-illustrated original had been lost. But Lynch has made the strip his own, and the narrative continues to build and build. Some of the devices are familiar (the Dante-style 'history' wrapper), but it all works very well indeed.

So for me, this week, its:

Proteus Vex > Saphir > Terror Tale > Dredd > The Order, with, for the first time in a while, a couple of strips that didn't do much for me. Roll on the 45th!