reviewing stories: Judge Dredd - The Hard Way

[sheridan]

How to put this?  I've thought for a while that it'd be nice to have threads on ongoing stories - like the prog and meg spoiler threads but focussing on stories that span multiple progs.  Plus, with sporadic consumption of progs (I'm one of those who supports their friendly local comic shop) due to lockdowns, changes in opening hours and generally getting batches of progs every month or so instead of every week like I used to up to March in 2020, this week is the first time I've actually gotten my hands on a prog on the day it was published!  Hopefully this shall be wildly popular and complement the existing prog threads.


Anyway, so this thread can be for the first story in jumping-on prog 2250.
Judge Dredd - The Hard Way
script droid: Rob Williams & Arthur Wyatt
art droid: Jake Lynch
colouring droid: Jim Boswell
lettering droid: Annie Parkhouse

[sheridan]

p.s. obviously I won't start any threads for one-offs, as they're already served in the usual prog threads.

[sheridan]

Oh yes, and I kind of missed out part of the explanation - side-effect of sporadic batches means that the weekly threads mount up and get a bit difficult to catch up on, whereas story-specific threads are easier to pick-and-choose if you really want to discern deeper meaning about a story weeks after it was first published (or have a rant about how good/bad it is).

[gogilesgo]

Nice background explainer and prologue here

https://2000ad.com/news/interview-doing-it-the-hard-way-with-rob-williams-arthur-wyatt-jake-lynch/

I have enjoyed following Maitland for a long time, from her first (?) appearance in The Bean Counter, through Trifecta, The Small House and Control. However I am not a regular prog reader, just dipping in and out when the mood grabs me, so I confess I have yet to read "Carry the Nine".

It looks like that four-parter could be mandatory reading.

Is there is enough material for a future collected edition that features Carry The Nine, The Red Queen’s Gambit and all six parts of The Hard Way? Anything else that would warrant inclusion?

[Leigh S]

Any story in which an accountant is the ultimate hero really doesn't feel like it sits well in the 2000AD as Uncle Pat oringially concieved it....

[sheridan]

Any story in which an accountant is the ultimate hero really doesn't feel like it sits well in the 2000AD as Uncle Pat oringially concieved it....

It's almost like 1977 2000AD was planned out by somebody who trained to be an accountant but then didn't follow that career path ;-)

[Funt Solo]

My Maitland appearances knowledge is here: Judge Maitland

And I did a review of Carry the Nine, which I'll paste in here:

Judge Dredd: Carry the Nine
(progs 2200-2203)
S: Rob Williams & Arthur Wyatt, A: Boo Cook, L: Annie Parkhouse

Rather than have the side characters purely acting as support during Dredd's investigation, here Maitland is the main character who brings into question the veracity of the entire Justice Department system, and requires support from Dredd.

This tale also drifts into the meta-verse by bringing up the very topical idea of science vs. an established beurocracy or society. Even though Maitland has discovered an important equation that could help everyone, she is not listened to because her data doesn't fit with the world view of her superiors.

Boo Cook's art is a joy throughout, with the city very much a living, breathing place - and you can spend happy minutes wandering around wondering: are those surfing Judges coming out of the Hall of Justice? Is that a stub gun (that the perp could've used) on the shelf next to the mothballed Mechanismo?

[gogilesgo]

My Maitland appearances knowledge is here: Judge Maitland

You know, just as I was typing my message yesterday, i stopped for a moment and thought 'I wonder if Funt has put Maitland in his appearance log?'. Bravo.

[gogilesgo]

Quite enjoyed episode 2, especially, as has been mentioned elsewhere, Maitland's encyclopedic knowledge of the first hitter on her tail.

Dredd "You really do memorise all the Euro-Crime files."

Maitland "It's a hobby."

The Brit Cit Mechanismo was fun too, though the vibe and every line of dialogue come cut and pasted from Albelard Snazz