2000 AD Online Forum

Spoilers => Prog => Topic started by: Eamonn Clarke on 20 May, 2017, 03:20:11 PM

Title: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Eamonn Clarke on 20 May, 2017, 03:20:11 PM
(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r182/Caliban_photos/2AE9C76B-0B70-4ECA-B3B8-7A4DC9A87AA7_zps5zkq6l9p.jpg)

Biggles Stardust and the Spitfires from Mars
( I know, it's tenuous but I'm going with it. Sky 1 launches)

Lovely cover, looking forward to the Covers Uncovered blog on this one.

Dredd wraps up the Sons of Booth

Brink has got the blues.

Defoe sneaks in some interesting and familiar chapbooks

Scarlet Traces brings back the Virgin Soldiers

Cursed also brings the references. Gruesome.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: A.Cow on 21 May, 2017, 12:20:46 AM
Cover -- D'Israeli doing his usual cracking job.  (He's obviously been having evening classes at the Simon Coleby school of in-yer-face perspective.)

Nerve Centre -- As you'd expect, suitable space given to THE announcement.

Judge Dredd: Sons of Booth (part three) -- Seemed to be building nicely ... but this episode is a bit of a damp squib IMHO ([spoiler]a bit like Kelvin's bomb[/spoiler]).

Brink: Skeleton Life (part 10) -- Brink has a nice habit of catching the reader out and this week is no exception.  A bit too heavy on the talking heads -- something that Defoe handles much better -- but satisfying nevertheless.

Defoe: Diehards (part seven) -- Unfortunately, although I'm a fan of Colin MacNeil, I'm finding it hard to tell the difference between many of the minor characters.  Pat Mills showing off his enviable research skills again with some of the references, plus a nice [spoiler]Nemesis[/spoiler] cameo.

Scarlet Traces -- Cold War: Book 2 (part 10) -- solid with a nice little twist at the end.  The Martians also need to get a spell-checker for their [spoiler]song lyrics[/spoiler].

Cursed: The fall of Deadworld (part X) -- Hmm.  This is one of those episodes that probably works better when read at fast pace in a collected edition.

All-in-all, a mixed prog but certainly enjoyable.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Colin YNWA on 21 May, 2017, 03:47:52 PM
Day late to the Prog - I've been busy its not reflection on the quality of the comic, which remains top notch.

As I mentioned in my Meg whithering T.K. Eglington, who I'm liking more and more as a writer has two Dredd stories endings. Both stories have started well , but a good exit can be the trick, here he pulls it off quite superbly, unlike in the Meg. I loved this. Fantastic story. Pat Mills over in Defoe could take a leaf out of book here (to be fair not so much this week but generally). The story makes its points strongly, its messages of fear from political extremes, leaking insidiously and ruining the week, its clear and simple but doesn't feel laboured. Its really nicely done and more Dyer please.

In similar fashion Brink hits nails firmly in heads but without feeling laboured and preachy and its another simply magnificent episode. Simple and deliberate in execution. Brilliant.

Defoe would normally then stand in stark contrast to those two... but this week it lets me down by not having a hamfisted episode and its not bad. The problem here though is the threat doesn't seem treatening at all.

Scarlet Traces is magnificently solid and dependable in a really rewarding way. Maggie's cameo is interesting.

Deadworld has really turned itself around for me in this run and is chilling in theme and execution again. Just don't fumble it with comedy Fear at the death (no pun inten... well okay I did intend it...)

Magnificent 4 out 5 for me.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Proudhuff on 24 May, 2017, 11:44:03 AM
3-2 Prog this time, hoping someone can explain WTF Mrs Mills laddie is having a pop at, Confused by the AFA in Dredd, as read it as Anti-Fascist-Action, then realised it was America for Americans  ::)
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: TordelBack on 24 May, 2017, 12:58:42 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 24 May, 2017, 11:44:03 AM
3-2 Prog this time, hoping someone can explain WTF Mrs Mills laddie is having a pop at

People who use anonymous ghost-writers, or possibly publishers who don't give credit to their writers. And probably toffs manipulating everyone with fear of a threat they themselves created and probably control - as usual.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: sheridan on 24 May, 2017, 01:02:48 PM
Quote from: A.Cow on 21 May, 2017, 12:20:46 AMNerve Centre -- As you'd expect, suitable space given to THE announcement.

Have to disagree with that one - the announcement of a 7" record got this:
(http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/hires/403.jpg)

QuoteDefoe: Diehards (part seven) -- Unfortunately, although I'm a fan of Colin MacNeil, I'm finding it hard to tell the difference between many of the minor characters.  Pat Mills showing off his enviable research skills again with some of the references, plus a nice  cameo.

"A warning to the sinners of the Earth to be of purity, vigilance and be obedient to the laws of the Creator" ;)
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: SuperSurfer on 24 May, 2017, 01:14:32 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 24 May, 2017, 01:02:48 PM
Have to disagree with that one - the announcement of a 7" record got this:
Allow me to make the most annoying comment in record collecting: I've got the 12inch. Wish I had one of the giant size posters that were fly-posted around town when that (crap) single was out, though.

You can go back to talking about the prog now.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: sheridan on 24 May, 2017, 01:42:55 PM
Quote from: SuperSurfer on 24 May, 2017, 01:14:32 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 24 May, 2017, 01:02:48 PM
Have to disagree with that one - the announcement of a 7" record got this:
Allow me to make the most annoying comment in record collecting: I've got the 12inch. Wish I had one of the giant size posters that were fly-posted around town when that (crap) single was out, though.

You can go back to talking about the prog now.

Pretty sure I managed to snag the 12" as well at some point - did you see video for that (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHmQO7K_6Po)?
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Proudhuff on 24 May, 2017, 02:34:43 PM
Got the 12 inch and loved it, as a Madness fan who wouldn't like it?
Back to the Prog!
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 May, 2017, 03:53:21 PM
Quote from: SuperSurfer on 24 May, 2017, 01:14:32 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 24 May, 2017, 01:02:48 PM
Have to disagree with that one - the announcement of a 7" record got this:
Allow me to make the most annoying comment in record collecting: I've got the 12inch. Wish I had one of the giant size posters that were fly-posted around town when that (crap) single was out, though.

You can go back to talking about the prog now.
My best pal's mum used to work for virgin records and he got me one of those huge posters, which adorned my wall for many years. Pity the record was shit though!

I have to disagree with Eamon & A.Cow about the cover - I thought it was a very dull and poorly framed image and the perspective on the plane's nose seems wrong somehow.

Dredd, Brink and Deadworld all superb, Scarlet Traces is great, but I tend to get a bit lost week-to-week. Defoe, like most Mills stuff just grinds on and on with the occasional flashes of brilliance such as the Nemesis chapbook, but on the whole I'm not invested in the story or characters
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: AlexF on 24 May, 2017, 08:05:38 PM
I'm a digital subscriber to the Prog so only read it to today (Wednesday 24th May). Had to stop after the Dredd effort as it's just a bit too timely following the Manchester bomb. Thank Grud Eglington chose to end the story the way he did, with the mad bomber going mad before he could properly detonate the device, or Tharg might've had to consider pulping the Prog. I know 2000AD has always been on the cutting edge of the news but this one sailed way close. That said, thank goodness for freedom of speech.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Magnetica on 24 May, 2017, 08:43:08 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 24 May, 2017, 01:42:55 PM
Quote from: SuperSurfer on 24 May, 2017, 01:14:32 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 24 May, 2017, 01:02:48 PM
Have to disagree with that one - the announcement of a 7" record got this:
Allow me to make the most annoying comment in record collecting: I've got the 12inch. Wish I had one of the giant size posters that were fly-posted around town when that (crap) single was out, though.

You can go back to talking about the prog now.

Pretty sure I managed to snag the 12" as well at some point - did you see video for that (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHmQO7K_6Po)?

I had never seen that before - I think Suggs sums it up nicely at the end "what a load of old grot" - and wasn't he one of The Fink Brothers?

Does that get the prize for the worse Mean Machine costume of all time?

And who was that scarecrow bloke meant to be???
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Richard on 24 May, 2017, 08:55:57 PM
Quote...or Tharg might've had to consider pulping the Prog.

I doubt it. There's always an explosion or massacre or something violent in the prog, so every time something like that happens in real life there'd be a relevant story going on at the same time which people could draw a parallel with. But no prog has ever been pulled before.

It's not like cancelling a film or episode on TV and then showing it a few weeks later, which is easy to do. The logistical and commercial difficulties of cancelling a publication would be a nightmare.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: A.Cow on 25 May, 2017, 05:54:43 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 May, 2017, 03:53:21 PM
I have to disagree with Eamon & A.Cow about the cover - I thought it was a very dull and poorly framed image and the perspective on the plane's nose seems wrong somehow.

Bloody hell -- now you've pointed out the nose, I can't un-see it.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: norton canes on 25 May, 2017, 10:22:09 AM
Not sure what could be done about any perspective issues, since I presume the image as a whole is modelled on computer-rendered objects. If that's how they turn out then I guess the artist uses that and gets on with the next step. Anyway, I do love this cover. The strange nose cones make the attack craft satisfyingly ugly, as most combat vehicles tend to be.

As for the rest...

Dredd - Wasn't expecting SoB to end so soon, but TC Eglington does a magnificent job of wrapping the story, replete with a couple of wry twists.

Brink - Excellent again, though if I would level one tiny criticism (my first of any kind at Skeleton Life), the hidden workers Kurtis encounters could look a bit more decrepit; cadaverous, even.

Defoe - What is there to say. Like Pat Mills? You'll love this. I do, and I do.

Scarlet Traces - Well, this bizarre story moves on, not my favourite but it's never dull. I think it suffers from a surfeit of spindly bald men, I've lost track of which one's which.

Deadworld - Excellent as ever, looking forward to some hot Fear action next week.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: AlexF on 25 May, 2017, 10:27:50 AM
Quote from: Richard on 24 May, 2017, 08:55:57 PM
Quote...or Tharg might've had to consider pulping the Prog.

I doubt it. There's always an explosion or massacre or something violent in the prog, so every time something like that happens in real life there'd be a relevant story going on at the same time which people could draw a parallel with. But no prog has ever been pulled before.

It's not like cancelling a film or episode on TV and then showing it a few weeks later, which is easy to do. The logistical and commercial difficulties of cancelling a publication would be a nightmare.

You're quite right; in any event, this Prog will have been printed and shipped before the news broke; too late at that point. I hope Eglington and Dyer don't get any flak from it, they don't deserve to as overall it's was a rather good Dredd story.

In a weird coincidence, my current Megazine re-read has just arrived on the issue from July 2005, the one that shipped shortly after the bombs on the London underground. In his editorial Alan Barnes talks about whether or not he should censor or skip over that month's episode of Charley's War reprints, because they open with people saying 'quick, everyone, flee into the Underground! We'll be safe from the bombs in there!'. Barnes decided not to do anything, and with hindsight he was 100% right. Indeed, if he hadn't drawn attention to it in his editorial, re-reading that episode now wouldn't have struck me as anything other than a fair representation of the World War one verison of the Blitz.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: The Monarch on 25 May, 2017, 10:55:43 AM
Quote from: Magnetica on 24 May, 2017, 08:43:08 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 24 May, 2017, 01:42:55 PM
Quote from: SuperSurfer on 24 May, 2017, 01:14:32 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 24 May, 2017, 01:02:48 PM
Have to disagree with that one - the announcement of a 7" record got this:
Allow me to make the most annoying comment in record collecting: I've got the 12inch. Wish I had one of the giant size posters that were fly-posted around town when that (crap) single was out, though.

You can go back to talking about the prog now.

Pretty sure I managed to snag the 12" as well at some point - did you see video for that (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHmQO7K_6Po)?

I had never seen that before - I think Suggs sums it up nicely at the end "what a load of old grot" - and wasn't he one of The Fink Brothers?

Does that get the prize for the worse Mean Machine costume of all time?

And who was that scarecrow bloke meant to be???

going by the name they went by maybe fink angel?
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Magnetica on 25 May, 2017, 02:11:48 PM
Quote from: norton canes on 25 May, 2017, 10:22:09 AM
Scarlet Traces - Well, this bizarre story moves on, not my favourite but it's never dull. I think it suffers from a surfeit of spindly bald men, I've lost track of which one's which.

Very much this. Would it really be that hard to make different characters actually look different? It really makes it difficult to follow when you are going "who's that again?" half the time.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: TordelBack on 25 May, 2017, 10:03:17 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 25 May, 2017, 02:11:48 PM
Quote from: norton canes on 25 May, 2017, 10:22:09 AM
Scarlet Traces - Well, this bizarre story moves on, not my favourite but it's never dull. I think it suffers from a surfeit of spindly bald men, I've lost track of which one's which.

Very much this. Would it really be that hard to make different characters actually look different? It really makes it difficult to follow when you are going "who's that again?" half the time.

There are indeed four whole spindly baldies in The Cold War, but thanks to being drawn by a God Amongst Art Droids they are incredibly easy to tell apart. 

Ask yourself these questions:

Are they BLUE?  (If so, it's Ahron Shakespeare, a Venusian immigrant)

Do they have BOLTS STICKING OUT OF THEIR HEAD? (if so, it's a Martian consciousness in a humanoid body).

Are they PREGNANT? (if so, it's the FEMALE human/Martian hybrid that carries the future of the Martian race, whose name I have temporarily and embarrassingly forgotten).   

Are they just a VANILLA SPINDLY BALDY? (if so it's Iykarus, the David Bowie-alike from the first book).

Also, I don't see the perspective-thing on the cover at all - because I am blinded by the glory that is Matt Brooker on the printed page.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Magnetica on 25 May, 2017, 10:15:33 PM
Yes you are correct.

But even in your mild rebuke, you also re-enforce the point, given you can't remember two of their names - sort of. (Humanoid Martian consciousness doesn't count as a name). :)
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: TordelBack on 25 May, 2017, 10:34:41 PM
I can remember the name of the bald spindly dinosaur bloke if that makes it any better! (Sohna).

And i've just remembered his girlie's name too - Irya.  But I confess that the Martian's name eludes me completely - does he even have one?
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Magnetica on 26 May, 2017, 05:45:49 AM
Using Tordel's handy guide I re-read all of the current run of Scarlet Traces and yes it makes perfect sense.

For good measure I did the same with Deadworld and it too makes perfect sense (even with 2 blank speech bubbles).

I really must pay more attention from now on.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: TordelBack on 26 May, 2017, 07:37:38 AM
Quote from: Magnetica on 26 May, 2017, 05:45:49 AM
Using Tordel's handy guide I re-read all of the current run of Scarlet Traces and yes it makes perfect sense.

For good measure I did the same with Deadworld and it too makes perfect sense (even with 2 blank speech bubbles).

I really must pay more attention from now on.

A noticeable improvement in your engagement with the material Magnetica; if you can sustain this new attitude into next term I think we can have a reasonable expectation of a B+ overall. You've always had the ability, all that was lacking was a bit of application.

Does bolt-head have a name?,
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Timothy on 26 May, 2017, 07:42:58 AM
He does now.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Magnetica on 26 May, 2017, 07:59:15 AM
 :D

Yes that'll have to do, as no he didn't have a name in the story.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: sheridan on 26 May, 2017, 12:06:28 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 26 May, 2017, 05:45:49 AM
Using Tordel's handy guide I re-read all of the current run of Scarlet Traces and yes it makes perfect sense.

For good measure I did the same with Deadworld and it too makes perfect sense (even with 2 blank speech bubbles).

I really must pay more attention from now on.

I haven't been paying attention - have completely missed the spindly bald martians in Deadworld ;)
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Magnetica on 26 May, 2017, 12:47:32 PM
Well it does have bald automaton zombie Judges in it. Does that count?
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Cyber-Matt on 26 May, 2017, 01:36:42 PM
Quote from: Magnetica on 26 May, 2017, 07:59:15 AM
:D

Yes that'll have to do, as no he didn't have a name in the story.


Yes, he did. He's Captain Skellern, who was grabbed by the Martians when they first landed on Venus in part 6 of Cold War Book 1 back in Prog 1993. It's his body they've been using to create a new form.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Magnetica on 26 May, 2017, 01:49:34 PM
Thanks your Thargness. Will have to dig those Progs out.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: TordelBack on 26 May, 2017, 03:08:14 PM
I'm just disappointed that wasn't prefaced with "THARGNOTE:".
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Colin YNWA on 26 May, 2017, 09:34:20 PM
Damn I wonder what else I've forgotten from Prog 1993 back in August last year that I'm meant to remember?
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Mardroid on 27 May, 2017, 01:52:30 AM
I keep forgetting stuff from last week!

No criticism of the current prog - it's on good form.
Title: Re: Prog 2032 - Shock and Awe!
Post by: Proudhuff on 03 June, 2017, 11:28:15 AM
Quote from: A.Cow on 25 May, 2017, 05:54:43 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 May, 2017, 03:53:21 PM
I have to disagree with Eamon & A.Cow about the cover - I thought it was a very dull and poorly framed image and the perspective on the plane's nose seems wrong somehow.

Bloody hell -- now you've pointed out the nose, I can't un-see it.

Matt explains the construct of that image and noses out of joint:

Shock and Awe from the master D'Israeli on 2000AD Covers Uncovered!

Read it here: http://2000ad.com/post/1815