Prog 2362 - It’s a 100-Page Festive Mega Blast!

[Le Fink]

It's the Xmas prog! Interesting one with only one jump-on story, and that is resuming half way through. All other new stories are one and done.

Cool madcap droidtastic cover from the Robinson-Teague team.

Dredd is a spooky Rico episode with portents and ghosts of [not Xmas] past - Tom Foster being his most Cliff Robinson. This is mainly teasing us about things to come. Nicely done though.

Azimuth is back with a bang and with an ending that feels a bit like fan service... and I loved it! It's very exciting, looks great and I couldn't be happier! Art absolutely sterling.

An Anderson one off and Our Cass is younger than ever, as is the rest of Psi Div, in a competently executed one-off. It's set in 2145, the same year as the Dredd tale. Anderson looks about 16.

And a new writer on Strontium Dog. Starts well but segues into something a bit wordy... and ends up a bit too on the nose for me. Cornwell auditioning to take on another Ezquerra strip? He's done great on Spector, which has really grown on me, I'd be happy to see him an extended go on  Johnny.

The rest of the prog is a Rogue one-off, and the continuation of the Helium, Devil's Railroad, Enemy Earth, and Feral and Foe strips, to be read.

[IndigoPrime]

I got mine this morning. Early! But is still don't have 2361. Argh!

[Tjm86]

Not sure how it feels having a Christmas prog as a continuation prog like this.  It doesn't quite scream 'special' in the same way really.  That said, there are some quality tales here to make up for things. 

Niemand and Foster's Dredd strip pays more attention to Rico than to Dredd himself although arguably as the Dead Man makes an appearance it could be argued that he is there, albeit in spirit / hallucination form.  Rogue Trooper is another strong one although possibly more because of Coleby's artwork than the strength of the story itself.  Both are stand-alone tales which does help although in both cases they draw on old material.  Not necessarily a critical flaw but it's possible readers less familiar might find the tales less satisfying.  Anderson is another tale that works well but lacks something to really lift it.

Would have to agree with Fink on Azimuth.  The artwork is top-notch even if the story is now straying more and more into matrix territory.  We'll just have to see where things go.  I'd also have to agree with the position on Stront.  A bit of a mixed bag and the sudden shift in artwork threw me briefly.  Certainly it is true to Johnny's character as we've seen countless times through the years.  He's always been one to stand up against bullies and this was no exception.

Helium is just rattling merrily along as the world is expanded once again.  D'israeli's artwork is as sumptuous as ever as Space Battleship Yamato makes an appearance!  Cue another plot twist. 

As for Enemy Earth.  Not sure why this has turned out to be as disappointing as it has.  That early glimpse was exciting and intriguing.  Somewhere along the way it seems to have lost things.  Whether it is this 'alien threat' direction or the artwork, I'm not sure.  Perhaps I need to go back and try again, see if I can recapture that lost appreciation.

Devil's Railroad is one that just hasn't really captivated right from the off.  Nothing really specific to put my finger on, as with EE.  I guess it is just one of those types of stories that I don't connect with.

Rounding out with Feral and Foe though, things are as chaotic as ever.  This whole series has kindled a far greater appreciation of the strip with plenty of humorous nods to D&D.  It's also helped that some of the expectations about characters have been upended as the tale has progressed.  Bit of an info-dump episode but executed well ...

Overall then, a reasonable Christmas prog but not one of the strongest. 

[Le Fink]

Forgot to mention Fiends of the Eastern Front which is reminiscent of Mignola. Beautifully drawn by Trevallion - a good short story.

[broodblik]

Cover by Cliff Robinson and Dylan Teague:

[Southstreeter]

Not read it yet, but just wanted to say it's great having it so early - last year it was late January when the Xmas prog arrived!

[staticgirl]

I love the cover.

I've kind of read it but I need to read it again to absorb all of it. I wasn't really sure what was happening in SD but i liked the art.

[IndigoPrime]

Bit of an oddball this year, with some much of the Prog continuing through the special. The lack of a letters page (a first in the Christmas Prog?) threw me, as did the paucity of features. Honestly, I miss the cover retrospectives from the old annual.

The actual cover, though, is fantastic. And Droid Life was excellent, with some amusingly dark humour. I liked the Dredd with its riff on A Christmas Carol, but it did feel like a continuity bridge. And as for continuity, Grud knows what's going on with that Azimuth reveal. Still, it was an enjoyable read, even if presumably baffling for newcomers. (Next to the final page, The Out: Book Four advert. Yay!)

Echoing others, Anderson and chums all looking like kids was a bit weird, but the story was solid enough. In a sense, it fittingly felt like an old annual one-shot. Fiends, though, took things up a level, and for me was the highlight of the Prog: creepy, 'festive' with a twist, and with some stunning art. Wonderful stuff.

Strontium Dog... So I'm always a bit twitchy when this strip is resurrected, given that Wagner's not returning and Ezquerra's sadly gone. But the reality is it won't be gone forever. And if it is to return in whatever form, it needs to be in good hands. Cornwell's a known quantity, but is this Rufus Hound's first comic strip? If so, big boots to fill.

In a sense, it's two strips in one. The B+W section gets the feel of the leads right. It perhaps intensifies the nature of their relationship, but it didn't feel like one of those old annual strips where everything felt off. And then there's the trippy mid-section (with some foreign text I couldn't identify, but assume must be Norse – it certainly translates from Icelandic though). This felt very different from Stront, and more like a short tale Hound wanted to tell.

In all, I liked this one a lot. It was different. It wasn't trying to be Wagner Strontium Dog. But it also felt like it existed in the same universe.

Next up, Wessel perhaps had an easier time of it with Rogue, and the story was much more straightforward. Again, I thought this all worked very well, and the art was – unsurprisingly – stellar from Coleby.

At which point, we returned to our standard programming:

Helium shoved yet more twists into the mix to make life tricky for its protagonists. Enemy Earth is for me still a solid read. Devil's Railroad still feels clumsy as hell and I don't care about anyone in it. And Feral & Foe continues to be fun and silly, which makes it very readable but I felt this week started to undermine any sense of peril, in much the same way quippy MCU movies do.

Anyway. Overall a very good Prog, if a slightly weird end-of-year Prog.

Fiends > Helium > Strontium Dog > Rogue Trooper > Droid Life > Azimuth > Feral > Dredd > Anderson > Enemy Earth > Devil's Railroad

[BPP]

'Right, let's get this done! The night is short and I have toddlers to fry!'


Classic.

[broodblik]

A very awkward year-end prog where nothing new starts as per normal but we do get is a lot of strips that are at the end of their respective runs and 6 stand-alone stories. If you are a new reader this is not the best jump-on point. Overall, it was a good xmas prog not the best but 8 of the stories were on song but 2 was certainly bubbling under. We also get a very much jam pack prog without anything but strips no articles at all and two great ads for what is coming.

Dredd – Interesting story with no Dredd in the story at all. This is more a setup story than a xmas story, but we do have some ghosts of the Dredd-verse.

Azimuth – Tazio's art is excellent. The story is all about the build up to a climax and then we have a reveal. Not sure where Abnett is taking this, but I think we are in for a wild ride.

Anderson – A very enjoyable one shot. Anderson is up against a very powerful PSI who controls people to do some bad stuff, especially using children. Justy one thing is that Anderson again is drawn as a hot babe, but the timeline is never established here so let's just live with it.

Fiends – Excellent story, excellent art just loved this one. The highlight of the prog. Hopefully the next arc can continue sooner than later.

Strontium Dog – Let's start with the art first. I believe that Dan Cornwell can take the mantle forward, his art feels like the real deal. The story, however, was not a Johnny story and felt very much anti him. We all know that he does not show mercy to those who are unjust but, in this story, he literally murders a person for his ideology and then laughs about it. 

Rogue – A good straight forward story that just tell us another tale off the brutality on Nu-Earth. This one is more focus on the Norts but not in a bad way. The story is boosted by the great art of Simon Colbey (he can the old master Cam is by favorite Nu-Earth artists).

Helium – The chase is coming to an end with our heroes trying every trick in the book, but we have a lifeline but with some strings attached. A good read as always.

Enemy Earth – So the story now has steered towards another venue as we move from The Walking Dead towards Independence Day.

Railroad – I am still struggling to really care for any of the characters, the story just is not working for me.

Feral and Foe – We are now getting closer to our questions and our characters might need a few level-ups before they can continue facing the final hurdle. A good read as Anbett continues to brew more dungeon-crawling antics.

[broodblik]

B/W Cover:

[JohnW]

[Magnetica]

Only read Azimuth.

I'd love to discuss what the implications of the ending is, but I think that really needs spoiler tags, but don't see them anymore.

Have they been removed?

[IndigoPrime]

They stopped working during one of the forum upgrades. Maybe start another thread, clearly marked with spoilers? (Although, TBH, I'd argue that if you're dipping into a thread about a specific magazine and haven't read it yet, you've kind of only got yourself to blame if you spot spoilers...)

[Le Fink]

Only read Azimuth.

I'd love to discuss what the implications of the ending is, but I think that really needs spoiler tags, but don't see them anymore.

Have they been removed?

Stick SPOILERS at the top of your post and have at it, I say. I thought it was a great twist, but didn't realise the Meg and Dexter's timelines were so intertwined. I've not read much of sindex though.