Prog 2314: Out of the past

[Leigh S]

He likes/d to crossdress, which is by no means the same thing

Since when did Joe have a thing for girls?

Since Day One, in fairness! He got booted out of his elite assassin unit over an affair with a human officer's wife before he met Hammerstein.

Really? I could swear he liked boys.

[Leigh S]

Not sure if "crossdress" is a phrase the kids are down with, so if not I apologise in advance!

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Clearly my mistake then. Sorry all. Still, my other points hold. I don't like the strip.

[nxylas]

I seem to be in a minority of one on this, but I'm actually quite enjoying the Joe Pineapples strip. I mean, it's never going to go down in the annals of essential 2000AD strips (except maybe for historic reasons, as Mills' last work for the prog), but I find it quite a fun palate cleanser between the more substantial stories.

[Max Headroom]

I will agree with nxylas that I find the Joe Pineapples story being treated a tad harsh. Okay, it's not brilliant, but is certainly not the worst thing I have ever read and I prefer it to all of the Regened stuff.

[Proudhuff]

and he's still down there, poor bloke.

Like the man said, GRIM.

Someone pick up this hanging chad!

[The Monarch]

.....sue....bananas....

really? just....really?

[A.Cow]

.....sue....bananas.... really? just....really?

Playing devil's advocate, that name wouldn't have sounded particularly out-of-place in the original ABC Warriors run back in 1979.

[Blue Cactus]

Yeah, Sue Bananas isn't really any sillier than the name of our protagonist, is it? Very Mills thought to have a full page of this new character so we know we need to be excited about them. I imagine she's either going to turn up, coincidentally right after Joe has mentioned (for the first time ever) this important character from his past that he's never mentioned before, or we'll get some flashbacks. Having said all that I'm not minding having this in the prog. It seems like what was meant to be a short inconsequential and quite silly story has gained this weight of significance since we've been waiting for it for eight years or something and because it's probably Mills's last for the prog. Put all that aside and it's just a kind of silly knockabout few episodes a bit like Nemesis and Deadlock. I feel a bit bad for Clint Langley having to finish it off, because it wasn't his project and it's a bit of a rubbish script. I like Langley's work itself though- he seems to have kept Bisley's colour palette and is making it work, no mean feat. And it does feel like a throwaway 90s strip, but it's a strange little curio and I'm ok with it being there. Even though it's not very good, and doesn't make much sense,  it certainly brings  a change of tone!

Elsewhere Dredd's great. True enough things could look a lot more futuristic but I really like Assirelli. His work on The Returners was very decompressed with lots of splash pages and big panels; the storytelling here with a more traditional 2000ad 'condensed' style is just as clear and flowing.

Like others, I enjoy The Out best when it captures that sense of Cyd being hopelessly lost in a vast universe, drifting further and further away to stranger and stranger places. The war stuff keeps things grounded a bit. Still a great story and happy to see where it goes. I cannot fathom how Harrison does what he does.

I've not given up on Hope but I have lost the plot a bit and thought the bottom two frames of page two where Broxton has just kind of tilted the same static image was really jarring. Some of the repeated headshots and images in this story have drawn me out of it a bit - people with exactly the same facial expression and lighting in multiple different scenes and such like. I like Broxton's work a lot though, would be interested in his thoughts behind this. It's certainly added a nightmarish quality to the story.

This is the first series of Vex that I'm genuinely enjoying. Not sure why that is, probably I just wasn't concentrating enough, but it seems like there are multiple plot strands here and at the moment and I think Im keeping up with them. Vex himself remains an enigma and Midnight is fantastic. Jake Lynch is excelling himself too and Jim Boswell's covers are nice. Good stuff - I wonder if Carroll had a whole overall storyline planned for this strip or is just seeing where it goes at present.

Anyway. I'm enjoying the prog right now.

[nxylas]

Yeah, Sue Bananas isn't really any sillier than the name of our protagonist, is it?

Well, I suppose one could argue that "Pineapples" is slang for hand grenades, making it somewhat relevant. But I don't consider it that big of a deal, just a silly throwaway joke.

[Magnetica]

Hope.... Some of the repeated headshots and images in this story have drawn me out of it a bit - people with exactly the same facial expression and lighting in multiple different scenes and such like. I like Broxton's work a lot though, would be interested in his thoughts behind this.

Brett Ewins used to do that all the time on Bad Company; I don't known why he did it, but I've not read any negative comments about it.

[Blue Cactus]

Hope.... Some of the repeated headshots and images in this story have drawn me out of it a bit - people with exactly the same facial expression and lighting in multiple different scenes and such like. I like Broxton's work a lot though, would be interested in his thoughts behind this.

Brett Ewins used to do that all the time on Bad Company; I don't known why he did it, but I've not read any negative comments about it.

True. I feel like Ewins tended to do it primarily in a single page or episode, while Broxton has used the technique throughout this whole story, but so might be wrong about that. Interesting choice either way.

[Link Prime]

I seem to be in a minority of one on this, but I'm actually quite enjoying the Joe Pineapples strip. I mean, it's never going to go down in the annals of essential 2000AD strips (except maybe for historic reasons, as Mills' last work for the prog), but I find it quite a fun palate cleanser between the more substantial stories.

Same for me.
And I have no problem with the art either - from Biz or Langley.

That said, I do wish that this wasn't the final ABC Warriors story.
After all this time (real world / in-universe), this is what it comes to?

As a long term fan (and I mean a "building them out of Lego in the 80's" variety of fan), it feels like less than a whimper.

On a more positive note; the current Prog line-up is 100% hitting the mark for me.
A rare yet immensely enjoyably alignment of planetary Thrills.   

[nxylas]

That said, I do wish that this wasn't the final ABC Warriors story.
After all this time (real world / in-universe), this is what it comes to?

As a long term fan (and I mean a "building them out of Lego in the 80's" variety of fan), it feels like less than a whimper.

I know what you mean, but I think the final story was almost bound to disappoint. Partly because Mills, whilst I don't want to write him off a complete Cleese*, is probably never again going to reach the heights of his '70s and '80s imperial phase. And partly because I'm not 12 years old any more.

*=my new word for embittered has-beens reduced to ranting about how their own irrelevance is everyone else's fault.

[Link Prime]

I just want the big ancient war droids to go out in a blaze of glory against I dunno, themselves (again), followed by a climatic clash with the Terran / Termight Empire, and for the last panel to be the red lights going out in Hammerstein's eyes just after he accomplishes that final mission.
Or sumthin along those lines.

Spread the word.