Prog 2229 - Crunch Point!

[broodblik]

Another week another entertaining prog. Just loved the cover !!!

Dredd – This episode is all about the build-up heading for the grand finale. Will The Pertinent Man survive and will Dredd get his answers?

Thistlebone – The past story is now all stitched-up as we are heading back to the present. I liked the technique Davis employed telling us the past tense. The episode ends in a cliff-hanger as we are still in the dark if Thistlebone is real or not.

Visions – Another interesting back story as the creepy return. A lot of action and a more straight forward story but that might change next week

TFS – Conceptionally this was an interesting Shocker but it felt a little bid bland at the end. We have a good build-up and then the story started in another direction. The ending did not quite get there for me.

Feral & Foe – This round something we all knew but did not know what it was revealed. Krodgun is soulless. The rest of the gang is enjoying the feast soon realize they are literally part of the feast. Enjoying this series and kudos for Abnett/Elson telling us a very entertaining story.

[The Corinthian]

The rest of the gang is enjoying the feast soon realize they are literally part of the feast.

Given F&F is poking fun at a lot of genre conventions, I spent most of this week's strip assuming that the whole "fattening up" thing was a red herring and waiting for the real twist.

[broodblik]

You might be spot on Corinthian all might not be what is displayed on the last page. It would be "great" if it is not as straight forward.

[TordelBack]

I'm with The Corinthian on expecting a bit more overturning of convention in Fortnum & Mason, but maybe next week? Liked the woodwose designs.

Thistlebone too maybe errs on the predictable side this week. Love the final linked panel of Seema and Malcolm, and the random one-eyed granny.

Future Shock. I'm grateful that a schoolgirl changing-room underwear fight was rendered so resolutely un-sexily by Fabry, even one in a virtual-reality prison. When I saw the great man was back again, I was wondering why Tharg wasn't trumpeting it on the cover, but it may be for the best. Marks to McCann for a thoughtful setup, but I'm not sure I fully understood it in the end.

Dredd remains solidly solid plotwise, elevated by the art. Loyal robots an unexpected pleasure, but the 'lawgivers don't work here' thing is horribly old. Sort that out, TekDiv, or let writers do the Tower King reboot they so often seem to crave.

Cover highlight of the week. Interesting to see Power and Fabry back in the prog at the same time. 

[gogilesgo]

Took me a while to warm to Tom Foster's art in the Dredd story but my god, that panel on the second page with Judge Copper dwarfed by the two SJS droids put a lump in my throat.

Incredible sense of scale.

[norton canes]

Cover: Lovely stuff, glad it was rescued from obscurity. The bullet hole in the shoulder pad is a great touch. Was it a near miss or a flesh wound? Perhaps that explains the bared teeth...

'A Penitent Man': A brilliant story that would have graced any era of Dredd. The scale of the SJS droids does indeed elevate them. The exchange between Asher and the droids on the first page is a fantastic example of how to give extra value to an already tremendous story - just a little moment that helps bring it to life. You know how occasionally - very occasionally, I should say - strips in the prog don't completely fire up the thrill-circuits? Often it's not down to some intrinsic flaw, but because little things like this don't happen. 'Value Added Material', I think they call it.

Anyone else getting a Go West vibe off that huge wrench?

Feral & Foe: Love it. And it's great that in the middle of all the smutty innuendo we get a poignant moment where Krodgun wonders whether he really has lost his soul. Excellent.

Deadworld: Absolutely one of the best Visions so far

Thistlebone: Some great ideas (and artwork of course), all still rather hampered by the rather humdrum nature of Seema's investigation

'Regarding Henry': I did slightly lost as it went on, but McCann is an arrestingly literate writer and I'd love to see what he'd come up with for a full series.

[broodblik]

Some B/W action on the cover:

[Colin YNWA]

That black white image is fantastic - some very mid-period Kev Walker to it to my untrained eye.

[broodblik]

That black white image is fantastic - some very mid-period Kev Walker to it to my untrained eye.

When I first saw it I also said Kev Walker

[Bolt-01]

It is weird isn't it - looking at the linework I can see things that remind me of Parkhouse, Baikie, Cam K, Jock and goodness knows who else.

It is a lovely piece of work but I wish it wasn't such a straight on angle.

[broodblik]

This year has so far produced two memorable covers this one and naturally the one by Dan Cornwell for prog 2217:



and

[JayzusB.Christ]

Well, that was a very decent prog.  My favourite for a while.  I love that Ken Niemand is a regular Dredd scribe now - with all due respect to Mike Carroll et all, this is the Dreddiest non-Wagner Dredd since Al Ewing.

The Future Shock - well, I think I understood it, not entirely sure though.  Kind of a Black Mirror vibe, which is fine by me.  Great to see Fabry back - while he's not really giving it Sláine levels of detail, he's getting the job done.

F and F - great fun.  Kind of folk-horror-by-numbers (seeming nice, rural society welcomes you in to take part in rituals, turns out you're a sacrifice), but perfect for the time of year and with a bit of piss-taking involved too.

Speaking of which, I need to read Thistlebone from the start.  I lost track a bit - my fault, not the story's - but I really want to read it now.

Deadworld is always great.

That black and white version of the cover is lovely.  Reminds me of Greg Staples in pen-and-ink mode more than anything else.

[low down dirty drokker]

Prog 2229: cover: swear dredd is smiling, must have a hard on for shooting big holes in droids.
                     Penitent man: fab.
                     Thistlebone: not my cup of tea.
                     Future shock: fab.
                     Feral and foe: MEH...
                     Tales of dead world: fantabulastic.
                      For what it's worth, that's my tuppence. ( and that lawgiver is slightly skew whiff )

                     
                     

[MumboJimbo]

Can anyone help me decode Regarding Henry?

Are Janet and Henri actually interacting in the Empathy Simulator? Or are they having separate simulations?
Whose POV are we watching in the simulator?
Is Henrietta herself in simulator (abusing Jane) or Jane or the green Rorschach Test thingy?
Why is Jane’s mum called Janet? Isn’t this confusing enough?

My working hypothesis is that the two girls’ simulations are linked. Henrietta is Rorschach Henry, and Jane is Janet. So Henrietta being Rorschach Henry allows her to hear Jane/Janet’s thoughts, and become thereby gain some empathy and become a better person.

But...the technician woman says that Jane character is based on Janet, which implies that Jane is just something made up by the algorithm and that Janet herself is not actively involved in any of it.

Are we meant to imply that before they each were plugged into the Empathy Simulator, Henrietta bullied Janet in the same way simulated Henrietta bullied Jane in the simulator?

[Colin YNWA]

Okay I have a history of getting these things wrong but this was my take (and I've not read it for a week so apologies if I get anything mixed up.).

In the 'real' world both are hooked up to the empathy simulator and Henriette (red head) as been bulling Jane (brunette). The simulator is however making Henriette experience the world through Jane's eyes so in the simulation we see things from the POV of Jane / Janet i.e the bulled BUT this is actually Henri's experience to try to teach her the consequence of her bullying.

Oh god I've probably got this so wrong!