Prog 2156 - Gangster's Paradise.

[NapalmKev]

Striking Brink cover by INJ Culbard. Beautiful colouring, very nice indeed.

Thrills of the Future - Action and Cor/Buster specials and much, much more, apparently.

Dredd, Guatemala - Part 7. Penultimate episode sees Dredd and Co take on El Presidentes' forces. Brit-Cit gets saved from a good hot slap! Will be sorry to see this series end.

Defoe, The Divisor - Part 7. Am I right in thinking that The 'Shining Ones' are the same adversaries from Finn? Does anyone remember Finn?* I was a bit lost in this episode on how the Reeks got onto the Space ship unless it was a case of them literally just appearing.

Brink, Hate Box - Part 7 plays an interesting game of Guess the swear word! I think I got them all correct including two instances of the banned word! Interesting episode.

Hope "Under Fire" - Part 7. Hope really is a dark piece of work and I love it!

The Fall of Deadworld, Doomed - Part 7. I love this strip!

There's a Judge Dredd Star Scan by Brendan McCarthy and Mark Harrison.

Cheers

*I liked Finn.

[Eamonn Clarke]

[Frank]

Dredd, Guatemala - Part 7. Penultimate episode

That's disappointing. It's a story that feels as though it could easily run for another twenty episodes without treading water or testing anyone's patience.

I realise this story is a continuation of threads begun in other stories and will (i) provide the impetus for further Wagner (ii) strips that take the story forward, but I'd strapped in under feeder and settled into a steady rhythm.





(i) Rok permitting

(ii) ... and, hopefully, MacNeil. I loved John McCrea's Harvey, but MacNeil's incredible turn on this and Machine Law - and the way this story has expanded from a Mechanismo reboot into part of the larger, ongoing narrative of the city and Dredd himself - mean it's become the kind of strip (and trade collection) usually reserved for MacNeil or Flint.

[Proudhuff]

agreed, I would loved this to have ran on..

[Colin YNWA]

A parent run means I'm late to the party and as such I can save us all time by just refering you to my review of last weeks Prog really...

...okay I'd never be that nice.

Main thing that struck me about this Prog was Defoe. See I'm barely reading it now and while skipping across the art my major problem with it struck me. Nothing rests and is calm. Everything is hyped and busy and it means even when casting your eyes across the story there is no breathing space for anything its all so dramatic - there are no quiet moments of reflection its a continual assault. Each panel is pretty cool. Put together and its hard on the eye and pushes me away from the story.

Dredd is just brilliant - AGAIN - so do we think that last panel reveal is definitive then?

Brink is fucking [One dollar fine] brilliant - AGAIN.

Hope is creepily brilliant again

Deadworld is meladramatically brilliant again.

Tharg can drop a McCarthy Star Scan anytime he likes to if he fancies buffing up a Prog from bloody brilliant to bloody brilliant with a great McCarthy Star Scan.

Nice one.

[73north]

Read my Prog , for once when it arrived this Saturday
my thoughts were that it was a very good issue
- I have to admit , I am now liking the artwork in Defoe.
Pat Mills is doing a good job with the writing ( I look forward to the return of Slaine and ABC Warriors )

Dredd was yet again just lovely - with the artwork just sublime  .

Brinkwas Again just marvelous .

Hope was another top rate story , the art is brilliant and its a real joy to read

Finally Deadworld is the top rate story for me , and Dave Kendall has made his art
really stand out , I am ashamed to admit it , but this is the story where I first sat up and took
notice of who the artist was  , and seek him out to say so on Social Media .
Shout out to all the guys that have created and worked on it !

5 out of 5 for me ( Defoe has won me over )

[Proudhuff]

Striking Brink cover by INJ Culbard. Beautiful colouring,  but suffers from the Marvel curse

Dredd, Guatemala - Wonderful stuff as Dredd re-thinks his stance on Bots in general (but not the sniveling Walter)...  Will be sorry to see this series end.

Defoe, The Divisor - Part 7. I'm all for shaking up panel framing etc on a page, but I'm too confused by this current layout.

Brink, Hate Box - Part 7 enjoying the pace of this, really hoping its going to have a decent payoff.

Hope "Under Fire" - Part 7. Hope really is a dark piece of work and I love it, I went out and got the first TPB just to relive it!

The Fall of Deadworld: Doomed, Doomed Doomed - Part 7. I couldn't make out Pte Fraser anywhere

There's a Judge Dredd Star Scan by Brendan McCarthy and Mark Harrison, the lengths TMO will go to NOT to give Butt'Man his century

[Dandontdare]

Hoping mine's finally arrived when I get home... 

[broodblik]

Another great prog. The prog is in a good space currently.

The highlight this prog is Brink. The art is just exceptional especially the use of colour. The script is as sharp and clever as always.

[McNulty]

Here is something I honestly never thought I would be saying. If it wasn't for Judge Dredd, I don't think I would be continuing my subscription to 2000AD and the Megazine.
This week's Dredd was excellent, great story, great artwork, I can't fault it. By extension, Fall of Deadworld continued to be a solid story. We all know how it will end eventually, but that is true of all prequels. Still there are characters I genuinely care in this story and it is good to see alternate reality versions of established characters from the main universe being depicted in different ways.

But as for the rest.

I struggle with Hope, it is really dark, both in art and themes. I stick with it but it is hard work. With Defoe, this entire series is becoming unreadable. The art style from the start was always darkly black and white but the last series showed that Defoe could be drawn clearly without taking anything away from the ambience of the overall story. This series has gone too far in the other direction. The story as well has not progressed well either. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a fan of Brink. Its bland story, its simple artwork and its glaring colours are not for me. I just don't like it.

As I have stated before, I understand that 2000AD is an anthology publication. It is supposed to field both established work from the masters in art and scripts as well as introduce the next generation of those aspiring to make their mark in this field. In artstyle and in various stories of action, horror, comedy and adventure, there should be something for every reader, young or old. That isn't happening now.
I have voiced my disappointment that 2000AD no longer runs more upbeat stories along with its depressing ones. Long I have missed the days when Ace Garp, Sam Slade and Dr & Quinch entertained us with high comedy along with beautiful artwork and memorable stories. Nowadays the best we can hope for is Survival Geeks, that started well but just ended up insulting the readership by trying to be edgy and "subvert expectations" (I really hate that expression).
Please Tharg, can you give us one or two stories that are set out to entertain us without having to preach a message of how Christianity is wrong, there are no heroes left in the world, and we all going to die unloved in a bleak meaningless universe? How about some optimism and less depressing endings that make us feel worse than when we started reading them? Is this really so much to ask for? Please?

[Frank]

Please Tharg, can you give us one or two stories that are set out to entertain us without having to preach a message of how Christianity is wrong, there are no heroes left in the world, and we all going to die unloved in a bleak meaningless universe? How about some optimism and less depressing endings that make us feel worse than when we started reading them?

I suppose it depends how you feel about being ruled by supernatural, alien entities. I, for one, welcome our new many-angled overlords.

[norton canes]

Haven't read the prog yet but that's cover of the year right there isn't it?

[looks at 2019 covers]

OK, there is some competition.

But, know what I really like about it? The stroke of genius? Bridget's gun. It's pointing at us, but not straight at us. One of my pet hates is when a character is shown brandishing a gun at the reader and the weapon is drawn squarely on so the barrel is a perfect circle. Artists seem to think it's the best way of depicting a gun aimed at the reader but in fact it takes all the depth out of the weapon and it just becomes a series of concentric shapes. Whereas here, we can see the gun's pointed in our direction and we can see it's a gun. Nice touch.

[Richard]

I'm sorry you feel that way, McNulty. I agree with you about Defoe, but couldn't disagree more strongly about Hope and Brink, I think they're both brilliant.

I think there is room for comedy stories in the prog, but I suspect that we don't see more of them because they tend to be unpopular with the readers. (You yourself mention Survival Geeks as an example you no longer like.) Rob Williams wrote the Judge Dredd story Undercover Klegg in progs 1969-1972 which bewildered several people on this forum who seemed to think it was meant to be a straight story, at which point I suspect that Tharg despaired and gave up on our capacity to recognise comedy when we see it!

I still enjoy Survival Geeks, but I think jokes work best when they're in straight stories, like in Guatemala right now, which is a dark story in many ways but which is lightened considerably by the antics of the angry colonel and his ridiculous sidekick.

[broodblik]

Comedy strips really works for me. If it is done in shorted burst, it can work but not a full fletch ten part plus story.  It took me awhile to warm-up to Survival Geeks but Ace Garp was just never my cup of tea.

[Tjm86]

Ace Garp was comedy?