First thought: good cover, but grim for Regened. Second thigh nice to see Herne and Shuck will be returning.
In terms of strips, Dredd is already done, in what was a fun little two-parter, but it appears to be a set-up for more Dark Judge shenanigans. I just hope Niemand doesn't do the obvious and plays up the hapless nature of the protagonists. As good a writer as he is, I'd happily not see the Dark Judges for another decade.
The Order ends, with a 1980s-style wrap-up. Well, sort of. It's left open, to say the least – to the degree it feels like a comma rather than a full-stop. Honestly, it feels like this would have been left on a fuller conclusion, with a spin-off coming to life later on, if Tharg felt it would work.
Durham Red continues to work really well for me, and I especially liked the meta talking point on the penultimate page. Yes, all the 'legends' were about a foxy badadd vamp chick, scaring bad guys and bagging bounties. And, yes, the reality is so much creepier. I get why people are annoyed about this, but I'm really enjoying this reinvention. For me, it overtakes Rogue this issue.
Enemy Earth is pretty good, if still tonally awkwardly sitting between Regened and 2000 AD. Really, it's slowly shifting towards the latter. I'm not convinced this belongs in the same comic as, well, basically everything else from Regened.
And then Rogue, which for me this week feels like a bit of a lull. Still good (although I'm unsure it needs the swearing, but whatever). But it doesn't quite keep the momentum going for me. Nice to see Tharg commission a Will Simpson pic for the inside cover, which I imagine will end up on the collected edition's cover.
So: nothing bad this week and an awful lot of good. Only Red hits great though.
Red > Rogue > Earth = Dredd > Order
Cover by Luke Horsman:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FuJV2emXoAAQE6b?format=jpg&name=large)
Cover and Logo:
(https://dyn.media.forbiddenplanet.com/NQxdK-eOmvdBaCVZMa2prs-Yw1U=/trim/fit-in/779x1024/filters:format(webp)/https://media.forbiddenplanet.com/products/dd/a4/0ce4a8af48fd21302115f6ae6222ce95b5a1.jpeg)
SATURDAY PROG!
I liked this cover. It's suitably gross.
Dredd Shame it wrapped up as I would have enjoyed another episode or two. This was a fun with just a hint of nastiness, great stuff. Great art as ever. I don't like the idea of the DJs returning either, but the portrayal of this pair has been so goofy that I'd be surprised if they manage it.
The Order definitely doesn't feel like the ending it deserved, but we've already discussed this on other Prog review threads. In retrospect, for me this is a thrill that started off fantastically well, then got hugely ambitious but struggled to maintain the elements that made it good in the first place. We get a very nice ending for Anna and a good epilogue for Clara, and a quick ending for all the other characters I didn't get invested in which is the right way round for me! I'm always a fan of Lovecraft references and I'd be up for seeing a spin-off with librarian Clara hunting for the book of Eibon. Lovely art especially on the last couple of pages and it's good to hear the creative team has a historical strip on the go.
Durham Red another enjoyable episode. My issue with this strip tends to be that I don't like Red as a protagonist, so when it's all action, and the addition of the sidekick protagonist, really highlights the strengths of the story and the visceral art.
Enemy Earth caught up with this after reading others comments here. I don't like the art at all which doesn't help me get into it. The story is probably closer to what we older readers might think of as 2000ad fare (ie grimmer) with a modern update - I agree with what IP says above about this being quite un-regened-y. It's not for me, but that's personal preference, it's not awful.
Rogue Trooper - Four weeks in now and I'm still waiting for this to become good. It looks great but there's no excitement or tension or, well, interest, so feels like a huge disappointment. Like others I was sort of thinking there'd be a twist but it's taking its time getting there if there is one. Digging that glorious Will Simpson picture though.
Not sure about the cover, maybe a different colour scheme would have made it pop for me. Definitely gross though!
Dredd was fine and Googe is great. Like others I can't really be arsed with more Dark Judges either, especially if they're played for laughs.
Agree completely with Boots re The Order. Tharg mentions the Burns and W droids will be pairing up for Nightmare, New York - was it just me that assumed this will be the follow on from the end of The Order?
Red was fine and it looks great. I wish Red herself had a bit more of a personality. As a character she's been around a long time now, I still don't feel like I really know her that well as a person. I'd find it hard to describe her personality. I've enjoyed this reboot though and I would love if it built into a proper long-running arc with some real character development. More likely we will get fairly standalone stories.
Enemy Earth does feel a weird fit in the prog but that's ok. I'm slightly worried it might become the new Skip Tracer and keep appearing very regularly despite not being the most popular (on here). I get people not loving Horsman's art but it's full of energy. I'm not sure what the big purple circles round peoples' eyes are though.
Rogue's an odd one. As a war story it's quite nondescript so far. As a Rogue story it's also a bit nondescript. Other than that he's somehow ended up on Earth in the past. Which is the kind of thing Finley-Day might have come up with, to be fair. It's looks fabulous though and I'm interested in seeing where it takes us.
A good prog
Dredd – A fun Dredd story comes to an end, but I smell another setup to a broader storyline. Hopefully the Dark Judges is just a ruse to something more interesting. Googe's art is perfect for this story.
The Order – A chapter ends or rather a series, but the door is kept ajar just a little bit. I enjoyed this series and would like to read this in one go. It was one of those stories that had a huge cast and moved in a breath-taking pace and could weave you into a spider-web quite easily. Art was always top-notch.
Durham Red – Red is planet bound and the real mission can now commence, and the blood counter is already way-up. Enjoying this and for me this interpretation of Red is the best of them all.
Enemy Earth – Struggle really to get into this especially the art and the story just feels like go to a go to b with no real substance.
Rogue Trooper – Would like the story to move forward and I just feel the WW1 setting is taking up too much episode counts. Do not get me wrong a still very much invested in the story and really enjoying the return of Rogue. Art is fatalistic but please mister Ennis show us your hand.
Dredd was a fun read, helped by the Scots dialect and art. I wish they'd just got on with it, though, instead of continuing it some time in the future.
Durham Red is really cool, with awesome art, it's a treat every week
Rogue I like, and there's still six episodes for Ennis to pull any rugs he has. Either way I'm happy with it tbh
Loving Rogue, quite enjoying the slow pace and simplicity whilst waiting for the inevitable twist. Keeping track of some of the other stories can be a chore i feel.
For me Rogue has been the best thing in the prog since it started. I wouldn't call it slow, there has been plenty of action so far, most notably the bit in the tank last week. But I think Garth Ennis will spend a bit of time letting us get to know all the new characters, so that their deaths later in the story will actually mean something, instead of being like all the deaths we've seen so far.
Quote from: Blue Cactus on 25 April, 2023, 10:08:41 PMNot sure about the cover, maybe a different colour scheme would have made it pop for me. Definitely gross though!
The cover with a different colour scheme:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/thumbnail_COVER-EE-BK2-Ep4-Colour-Variant-782x1024.jpg)
Short of turning over the entire Prog to The Order, I can't see how it could have ended any way other than the way it did: not by reaching a conclusion so much as rolling to a gentle halt. This is at least better than the way Slaine just seemed to stop randomly mid-story and gives the characters pleasing if not necessarily satisfying resolutions.
It's just a shame not just there were so many loose ends - including some that originate in the current arc, that hopefully the spinoff will explore - but also that the idea that we were seeing slices of a grand history-spanning conflict was reduced to an action-adventure runaround for much of its second half.
I had vaguely been wondering if the series was being curtailed because of the artist's advancing years (not being funny, but Burns is 85 now) so it's a welcome surprise to find he's doing something new.
Weird retro continuity time: do the developments about Clara in this episode explain why her presumed descendant Frank kept running into Armoured Gideon all the time?
Quote from: broodblik on 26 April, 2023, 07:38:41 PMQuote from: Blue Cactus on 25 April, 2023, 10:08:41 PMNot sure about the cover, maybe a different colour scheme would have made it pop for me. Definitely gross though!
The cover with a different colour scheme:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/thumbnail_COVER-EE-BK2-Ep4-Colour-Variant-782x1024.jpg)
Oh, interesting! Thanks for that.
Have to say that alternative colouring looks so much sharper to my eye.
Yeah. It's not often I prefer an alt (and I was really torn by my favourite The Out cover), but this one looks clearer and more horrific in the alt. That said, the immediate focus on the used cover is on the monster, which may be why it was chosen. (The eye tends to flick around the alt more, and the fence at the front has too much contrast and becomes a focal point in and of itself.)
Quote from: The Corinthian on 26 April, 2023, 09:41:49 PMWeird retro continuity time: do the developments about Clara in this episode explain why her presumed descendant Frank kept running into Armoured Gideon all the time?
How did I not make this connection? Wow!
So for the cover Luke has this to say:
So for the final piece, to make it a bit more B-Movie'ish and "designed", I dropped back the colours to a 2 tone style and added a few paper stock blending layers to bring it all together.
The full article on the cover:
https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-covers-uncovered-frightful-fauna-attacks-in-luke-horsmans-latest-enemy-earth-cover-for-prog-2329/ (https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-covers-uncovered-frightful-fauna-attacks-in-luke-horsmans-latest-enemy-earth-cover-for-prog-2329/)
Quote from: The Corinthian on 26 April, 2023, 09:41:49 PM(not being funny, but Burns is 85 now)
Feckin hell, based on his long career it was clear that The Burns Droid was no longer factory fresh, but
85?
He's phenomenal.
It's a fantastic cover with loads of lurid detail. Think I've got a slight preference for the greened version because with them being plants and that, the brown one looks a bit like they're all dying
Anyway
I'm really on board with 'Blighty Valley', not finding it drags at all - to the contrary in fact, the Ennis droid seems to be pacing it perfectly for what will be a 10(?)-part story. Apart from Joe Colquhoun I'm getting a bit of veteran war strip artist Mike Dorey in Patrick Goddards's art. 'Disciples of Death' turns out to be an entertaining entrée for thrills to come, but I must say I'm a purist who doesn't really like the Dark Judges' more humorous outings so hopefully the plat principal (thanks, Google Translate) will focus on the cult's demented doings. Stunning final panel, I have to say. And completing a triumphant triumvirate, 'Mad Dogs' (hmm I seem to be sticking to story titles this week) continues to hit the head on the nail with another inspiring instalment of its exhilarating action spree.
Finally the end of The Order, and alles ist gut. Can we have the Netflix adaptation now please?
Blighty Valley is set for 13 episodes
Has the Megazine ever done a feature or interview with John Burns? If not they really should, he's an absolute star.
Sorry to see The Order go, though at least there is an ending. I'm not sure we ever found out who created Ritterstahl? My assumption is that this happened in the future and he was sent back in time (along with the seed stuff) to found the Order and fight the wurms, using historical knowledge of their incursions. This did all get a little lost in recent series, however.
Quote from: Blue Cactus on 27 April, 2023, 11:26:08 PMHas the Megazine ever done a feature or interview with John Burns? If not they really should, he's an absolute star.
Yes they did, back in Meg 224. The first of the Alan Barnes reformatted square spines era I think, a mere...19 years ago! Who'd have thought Burns would still be going strong after almost two decades?
Would be nice if they'd do another interview, if he's willing. It'd be really interesting to hear about an artist who's worked two decades into theoretical retirement age, and who's still going strong. Here's hoping he has many more years to paint – and is able to for as long as possible.
Mega City Book Club managed to get an interview with him in 2021, it was quite interesting:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2o3wA8YGkjtVSGSXRvGgut
Oh, nice. Thanks for the info Goosegash and the link there Dan200. There's something very comforting about seeing Burns's work when you open up the prog. I'm all for new artists appearing and developing too of course. One of the joys of the comic is having someone long established like Burns running alongside a newcomer like Horsman. There can't be many comics that are comparable in that respect, if any.
Quote from: Goosegash on 28 April, 2023, 07:03:29 PMWho'd have thought Burns would still be going strong after almost two decades?
Working on this final series of The Order was the first time I'd lettered John Burns pages since the stunningly gorgeous Classical Comics adaptation of Wuthering Heights, which was waaaaay back in the distant mists of 2010 (and which I steadfastly refuse to believe was thirteen years ago).
Thank you Jim, I didn't know that existed. Bought.
Quote from: Richard on 29 April, 2023, 04:57:43 PMThank you Jim, I didn't know that existed. Bought.
Oh... honestly — it's a long way from my best lettering job, but John's art is just ravishingly good. :)
The cover. Is "Fruiting bodies" a pun on something, or just a phrase I have never heard?
Dredd is a lot of fun, really like the art. Also the script.
Rogue and Durham Red very good, my first exposure to this version of Red and very much enjoying.
The Order leaves and leaves me befuddled, no idea what is going on. Enemy Earth also present. Someone must like it a lot as it came back quick and gets lots of covers, maybe it sells well when on cover
Quote from: Richard on 29 April, 2023, 04:57:43 PMThank you Jim, I didn't know that existed. Bought.
Oh... I should probably have added that there are two versions of the book, a simplified version of the text for less able readers and the 'original text' version, which is pretty much the entire novel. (Artwork is the same in both versions, though.)
Possibly also of interest to squaxx from Classical Comics, is a fairly magnificent version of 'Dracula', illustrated by the prog's own Staz Johnson. Again, I'd suggest that the original text version is the one to get.
I own both of those and they're fantastic. Burns also illustrated a beautiful version of Jane Eyre for Classical Comics thats well worth a look. Sadly Jim didn't letter this one.
Back to the prog - An enjoyable Dredd; for some reason more reminiscent of a wacky Alan Grant one than a John Wagner one, in a good way. Also a touch of Beck and Kawl about the whole thing, and the caption at the top of the last page made me laugh. I have to admit, though, I'm not in a rush to see the Dark Judges back any time soon; things have been a bit overkill (sorry) with them lately.
Durham Red is ok, nothing too amazing but chugging along nicely. Good to see just how vicious she can be when she gets into her stride. As an aside, it sometimes occurs to me that she's from Durham but it feels really weird to read her dialogue in a Durham accent. No offence to anyone from Durham of course, it's an accent I'm very fond of.
Rogue - for some reason, this was the episode that has really got me invested in this story. The last panel has me really looking forward to the next episode - sometimes, cliffhangers don't have to be about our hero facing certain death.
I just can't get into Enemy Earth, and I'm afraid I've always just skimmed through The Order - although, of course, the artwork is just stunning. I had no idea JB was 85 - what a fecking legend. Here's to many more years of his art in the prog.
A better prog than anything recently... cover felt a bit flat colour wise.
Dredd – A fun Dredd story comes to an end, Hopefully the Dark Judges is just a ruse to something more interesting. Googe's art is perfect for this story.
The Order – A chapter ends or rather a series, unfortunately the door is kept ajar just a little bit. I didn't enjoyed this series and would like to see the final finale.
Durham Red – Red is planet bound and the real mission can now commence, and the blood counter is already way-up. Enjoying this and for me this interpretation of Red is the best of them all.
Enemy Earth – Struggle really to get into this especially the art and the story just feels like go to a go to b with no real substance.
Rogue Trooper – Would like the story to move forward and I just feel the WW1 setting is taking up too much episode counts. Do not get me wrong a still very much invested in the story and really enjoying the return of Rogue, but had hoped for some more timey-wimey high jinks: Roman legions marching out the mist, Ensign Ewart and his Eagle, Crazy Horse in a ghost shirt! Art is fatalistic but please mister Ennis show us your hand.
Quote from: Proudhuff on 01 May, 2023, 04:20:12 PMRogue Trooper – Would like the story to move forward and I just feel the WW1 setting is taking up too much episode counts. Do not get me wrong a still very much invested in the story and really enjoying the return of Rogue, but had hoped for some more timey-wimey high jinks: Roman legions marching out the mist, Ensign Ewart and his Eagle, Crazy Horse in a ghost shirt! Art is fatalistic but please mister Ennis show us your hand.
I'd kind of assumed that "Rogue Trooper in World War I"
was the story.
Quote from: nxylas on 01 May, 2023, 09:07:10 PMI'd kind of assumed that "Rogue Trooper in World War I" was the story.
Yes, but where's the twist?
j/k
Quote from: Credo! on 01 May, 2023, 09:14:56 PMQuote from: nxylas on 01 May, 2023, 09:07:10 PMI'd kind of assumed that "Rogue Trooper in World War I" was the story.
Yes, but where's the twist?
Does there need to be a twist? So far this has played pretty old-skool; nothing complicated. I'm fully expecting a "the mists clear and he's back in Nu-Earth"-type ending, with bio-chips asking "Hey, Rogue, did that REALLY happen?" Not earth-shattering, but enjoyable stuff.
Quote from: A.Cow on 03 May, 2023, 10:41:47 AMQuote from: Credo! on 01 May, 2023, 09:14:56 PMQuote from: nxylas on 01 May, 2023, 09:07:10 PMI'd kind of assumed that "Rogue Trooper in World War I" was the story.
Yes, but where's the twist?
Does there need to be a twist? So far this has played pretty old-skool; nothing complicated. I'm fully expecting a "the mists clear and he's back in Nu-Earth"-type ending, with bio-chips asking "Hey, Rogue, did that REALLY happen?" Not earth-shattering, but enjoyable stuff.
Uhm ... you missed the most important part of my post:
Quote from: Credo! on 01 May, 2023, 09:14:56 PMj/k
(I would explain further, but like the man said: "explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. Nobody laughs and the frog dies". I said that to someone the other day and they said "jokes aren't like dissecting frogs".)
(https://media.tenor.com/horoWGOFesoAAAAC/head-banging-blood-everywhere.gif)
Quote from: Credo! on 03 May, 2023, 03:35:45 PMUhm ... you missed the most important part of my post:
Quote from: Credo! on 01 May, 2023, 09:14:56 PMj/k
Ahh ... have not come across that particular abbreviation before. Instead, I wrongly presumed you'd accidentally included a personal sign-off, especially with it being a few lines down.
In my job I sign things 'JK' (real-life initials) to avoid confusion with several co-workers with the same first name -- perhaps I have been inadvertently telling people to ignore my messages for years... :lol:
FINALLY!
Had to order a copy from elsewhere and it landed today allowing me to have a triple header... as we'll see in another thread!
Anyway three weeks ago for many of you the Prog was fine. Dredd was solid middle story set up, for the next time these characters return. I imagine this take has send the Grennie theorists into a whirl. Fun with good art.
Durham Red and Rogue remain absolutely first class. Just superb both and Patrick Goddard is just sublime - I mean Ben Wilsher is good but Rogue just looks amazing!
Enemy Earth is okay, it fun, but not in the same league as the others.
The big thing I've been denied by remaining Progless is getting to the sweet ending to The Order. Arhhh loved it. I mean it was pretty unTooth but damn it was lovely and I adored it. Lovely little touch at the end just to throw that going possibility, even though we know its done. Sure last weeks was a bit rushed but this weeks more than made up for that. Superb series overall and look forward to reading this all one day.
To last week... next week... oh you know...
Durham Red (Mad Dogs) is a lot of fun, but this was a bit too silly:
(https://i.imgur.com/M2X1fwi.png)
I had wondered if Red was hidden behind the mask on the previous page (because some skullduggery was being telegraphed) but then I noticed the four arms on the character. She had to manage doing their voice, not having blood drip, silently sawing off the arms, that not being weird on the way back to base and presumably taking part in torturing her buddy - just to get to this reveal.
Vampires in space are fine, but this was too forced.