What a smacking prog. absolutely firing. Now having said that maybe not the best Prog of late BUT given the line up isn't quite as strong as it has been so far this year (it is still a wonderful line-up I will note) its amazing as so many episodes are just hitting peaks right now.
Dredd its all shooty action (no bad thing in Dredd) and reminding us of context in which to take the story and then BANG that last page and we have another reason why Dredd might not be quite Dredd. What is the truth here? Fantastic cliffhanger.
Hope nice way to start this new story off... well okay nice isn't the word here is it. Jimmy Brixton does great scary, or desperate or world beaten eyes doesn't he. Nice cameo from Monster as well.
Intestinauts in one of the panels at the 45th someone (and rudely I can't remember who) said in 2000ad if you are going to do a spread make in the 5-6 pages you have it better be for a good reason and you need to make it count. Intestinauts gives use the very definition of how to do that here! A series which I find a fun distraction normally but this is a cracking episode.
Fiends and speaking of cracking episodes this is one of a thrill I really like. Just brilliant, so much energy. The ecoplasm positively crackled off the page.
And well its Brink next so we know that it ends on a genius note and this is a truly wonderful episode. Again!
So yeah a MAGNIFICENT Prog with a very good line-up hitting above its weight even, which makes it a very, very good Prog.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 02 April, 2022, 08:46:30 PM
Dredd its all shooty action (no bad thing in Dredd) and reminding us of context in which to take the story and then BANG that last page and we have another reason why Dredd might not be quite Dredd. What is the truth here? Fantastic cliffhanger.
It's intriguing certainly, but it does worry me that[spoiler] Dredd clone storylines are very well-trodden ground at this point, so I hope there's something more to it than just another clone running around.
My theory before this episode was that "our" Dredd would die during the attack on the Citadel and be replaced by another clone, so I may've been half-right.
I wonder what Wagner's intent is with this? It seems significant that this story takes place during the Apocalypse War, the scene for arguably the single most morally questionable thing Joe Dredd has ever done - pushing the button to nuke the Sovs. This is reaching a bit, but I wonder if there's going to be any attempt to retcon Dredd's actions during the war by having another Dredd be responsible? But then, that wouldn't really fit with the guy's story that Dredd did something so reprehensible he was locked up to stop it ever being known. Hmmm.[/spoiler]
Cover by Tiernen Trevallion:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FPKwnP2X0AQ-HKA?format=jpg&name=large)
Cover and Logo:
(https://dyn.media.forbiddenplanet.com/hPfzKDdOg4hcQAGTx-HQGY7pww8=/trim/fit-in/779x1024/filters:format(webp)/https://media.forbiddenplanet.com/products/7e/92/d67cf1741b0c454a074de594a7d60d6f88d9.jpeg)
what a fantastic cover!
and the text overlay, for once, augments and intrigues.
Quote from: The Mind of Wolfie Smith on 04 April, 2022, 09:05:43 PM
what a fantastic cover!
and the text overlay, for once, augments and intrigues.
A rare example of the Logo and text actually enhancing a cover image!
Top marks to the Trevallion droid there.
Quote from: Woolly on 04 April, 2022, 10:00:46 PM
Quote from: The Mind of Wolfie Smith on 04 April, 2022, 09:05:43 PM
what a fantastic cover!
and the text overlay, for once, augments and intrigues.
A rare example of the Logo and text actually enhancing a cover image!
Top marks to the Trevallion droid there.
Edit: And editorial design droids too!
Well, the prog now feels completely different and that is the beauty of an anthology. Another point is when was the last time we had 2 thrills in B/W? Overall, this was a good prog with a lovely cover by Tiernen.
Dredd – The episode ran like any other before heavy focus on action and Dredd being a version of Dredd but then the that last page, we have an interesting turn of events.
Hope – Good to have this back and the first episode does not disappoint with a great opening page. Love the cameo of Monster in his own movie.
Intestinauts – Well now that we have been introduced to the "Impactors" we can expect some heavy action next episode. Although the plot has not really moved forward Pye flooded our eyeballs with some great visuals.
Fiends – A great episode as we have a sort of rescue. Our valiant heroes will have to fight there way out the lair.
Brink – This episode we had a lot of talking as our reporter tries to unravel the clues. So, this episode is the opposite of the Dredd episode. Still intriguing but I would like some secrets to be revealed.
Please tell me that we haven't spent the past forty odd years following [spoiler]the adventures of Armin Tamzarian[/spoiler].
Quote from: The Corinthian on 06 April, 2022, 05:43:36 PM
Please tell me that we haven't spent the past forty odd years following [spoiler]the adventures of Armin Tamzarian[/spoiler].
Get bent Juves!
I hope the final panel of The Citadel is a smiling Dredd winking directly out of the page. 'But we know the truth - don't we, readers?'
That scar on new Dredd's mouth -- Orlok?
In Wagner we trust, but I'm getting a Ben Reilly spider-sense tingle in me dodgy knee.
I don't think it will be that; that was Kraken's story.
Great Cover
GREAT Dredd (actually very Rob Williams Dredd)
4 other great stories with astounding art
A freaking CENTRESPREAD SPLASH PAGE.
11/10
The best comic bar none.
Present day Dredd has memories of events before, during and after the Apocalypse War, so I can't see how a switcheroo could possibly have happened.
Dredd has memories of events before, during and after the Apocalypse War
bionchips
Dredd IS Major Magnum reveal incoming....
B/W Cover:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/thumbnail_Fiends-63-cover-2-A-778x1024.jpg)
Is the current Dredd story the one that was hyped with the phrase 'this changes everything'? I really hope that what people are hinting at here is wrong. Great story so far though.
I am sure that Wagner has a trick or two up his sleeve.
Well isn't this just fantastic. What a line up in script and art. Some of the last run were not my cup of tea but this prog is just what I want. And more! A centre spread full of zoom in gags!
Imagine if Dredd had been the last strip, and you were in my shoes having enjoyed every thrill, then got that reveal on the last page!
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 02 April, 2022, 08:46:30 PM
maybe not the best Prog of late
Your mouth is full of wrong
Yeah this is a bit of a golden line-up of thrills and they're all firing on afterburners.
They may not have been strictly relevant to the plot or the final outcome but those first few weeks of 'The Citadel', far from being extraneous were actually a vital part of building up the grim sense of foreboding, I think. And here's where it all pays off, with named characters despatched in an instant, horrible scenes in the torture chamber and what will surely become a classic Dredd panel, in crimson with bullet casings flying and the couldn't-be-more-Wagneresque quip "I've heard he can be quite fierce". Beautiful stuff - now, it'll be made or broken by the quality of the twist...
Hope comes back with a bang and a cinematic five pages that are quick to read but make a lasting impression. Anyone able to enlighten me - what's a 'Baby Rub' bar? And why should it be like 'Coal on fire'? That Intestinauts centrespread is glorious, of course, and the story ups its peril content to great effect. "Knivess!" Fiends comes good with five pages of supernatural skirmish and Brink, apart from being brilliant as ever, seems perfectly placed at the end of the prog, slowing the pace while maintaining the high thrill-content.
Overall everything just seemed fresh and fantastic in this prog - and the next one's out tomorrow! Happy days!
Quote from: norton canes on 12 April, 2022, 08:58:26 PM
those first few weeks of 'The Citadel', far from being extraneous were actually a vital part of building up the grim sense of foreboding
I'm not convinced that a condemned man would be that bothered about building up a grim sense of foreboding while making his last confession and/or spilling the terrible secret of Judge Dredd that has been concealed from the world for forty years.
I guess. Although he is on death row, so you'd excuse him for padding it out a bit :)
Could be the first person he's spoken to since being incarcerated?
Quote from: norton canes on 14 April, 2022, 09:26:00 AM
I guess. Although he is on death row, so you'd excuse him for padding it out a bit
Also, this is a basic narrative conceit as old as stories themselves, so it seems a bit... odd to quibble with it.
I'm not convinced that a condemned man would be that bothered about building up a grim sense of foreboding while making his last confession
nevre watch sunset boulevard
See, I would also ask whether much attention is being paid to what is happening in politics right now ...
Quote from: Big_Dave on 14 April, 2022, 02:12:57 PM
nevre watch sunset boulevard
That's different. He's (spoiler for 72-year-old movie) [spoiler]dead, he's got all the time in the world[/spoiler].
I'm kind of hoping that this [spoiler]clone of Dredd is more relevant to a forthcoming modern-day MC1
storyline, and that Tharg doesn't undo one of Dredd's defining moments, i.e. nuking East-Meg 1.[/spoiler]
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 15 April, 2022, 01:56:49 PM
I'm kind of hoping that this [spoiler]clone of Dredd is more relevant to a forthcoming modern-day MC1
storyline, and that Tharg doesn't undo one of Dredd's defining moments, i.e. nuking East-Meg 1.[/spoiler]
My guess is that it'll be something to do with [spoiler]Dredd killing the other clone[/spoiler], which our narrator [spoiler]interprets as covering up MC1's dirty little secret[/spoiler] but is actually about [spoiler]the clone being a Sov ringer.[/spoiler]
Your theory sounds solid and it makes sense but then we have the Wagner whom will be spinning his own "theory"
Which is true but all we can do until then is hypothesise based on the evidence.
I once came up with a great theory about what the final episode of Alan Moore's 'Cinema Paradiso' was going to be based on the idea that he was subtly seeding clues and allusions throughout the run about one particular star and one of her most famous screen roles... and then it came out and it was nothing to do with her.
That is good writing where you have clues pointing to a possibility then wham bang the real truth is revealed but still your theory is good and believable