Prog 2365: Battle for the Planet

[IndigoPrime]

A Saturday Prog AND Meg. Bit of a treat! Only time for the Prog right now though...

Nice cover, I thought, from Alex Ronald. And after a moment of respect for John Burns, it's on to Dredd. Good grief. Two episodes in and it's already tense. It seems Maitland's due for a fall. But I do hope there are some twists in this tale. The mirror it's holding up to the world is all too evident. (Lovely art too.)

A Gibson obit is then followed by Enemy Earth, which is blazing towards its conclusion. Nice alien designs. I'm enjoying this one. Which is more than can be said for Devil's Railroad, which is increasingly reminding me of a torture porn movie. It's just so relentlessly mean-spirited, and the characters feel so one-dimensional. The art has great energy and design. Perhaps I should just look at the pictures and ignore the words.

Fortunately, Thistlebone has a brand of hideous that's much smarter and deeper. A weirdly short episode of just four pages, but It packs in the horror and mystique. And then we end with more fighty action in Feral & Foe.

In a sense, then, more of the same, really. For me, it's four quality strips and one duffer, with Dredd being the standout. Dredd > Feral = Thistlebone = Enemy >>>> Devil's

[Le Fink]

Wot IP said.

Thistlebone - THAT image might turn some stomachs! Horrible but intriguing stuff.

Good prog.

[Cyber-Matt]

A weirdly short episode of just four pages, but it backs in the horror and mystique.

Er, no. Thistlebone's five pages. Logo appears on the second page.

[IndigoPrime]

Oops. Right you are. Not sure how I missed that on my flip through.

[JayzusB.Christ]

The Mighty One has spoken.

[Barrington Boots]

That's a really good cover there.

Dredd - terrific. The way this one is laid out is totally ramping up the atmosphere for what otherwise might have been quite a talky episode: it already feels like Maitland is doomed and that's where the real tension is for me. Definite real world parallels here, not least with Glenn claiming to be an ordinary cit in his giant ludicrous office. Can't wait for the next installment of this.

Enemy Earth is rocketing along but I really do not enjoy Devil's Railroad. Tharg says it finishes next week, which implies to me another series of this coming.

Thistlebone is incredibly gruesome - I've seen an injury like this in real life and I felt my breakfast rising reading this, which shows how good it was. This is perfect, horrible, sinister stuff.

Feral & Foe is all action brilliance. The sheer amount of stuff happening in these frames is awesome. For a story thats leaned into being daft, it knows when to get exciting and I'm looking forward to the conclusion of this one next week!

Finally, how lovely but how sad to get an Ian Gibson tribute and mention of John Burns passing. What a loss for us all.

[Richard]

Thistlebone is quite something this week!

Also really liked Feral and Foe.

In Rufus Dayglo's tribute to Ian Gibson, who is that at the top with the beard?

[Le Fink]

In Rufus Dayglo's tribute to Ian Gibson, who is that at the top with the beard?

Is that not the man (Ian) himself?

[Richard]

Marvellous, thanks!

[Colin YNWA]

There's probably lots to discuss in this Prog, loads of great work, some weak. Nice tributes to both Ian Gibson and John M Burns (well said Buttonman) but really there's only one thing to really say. This issue Henry Flint is undenibly the GOAT.

This episode of Dredd is just incredible, its stunning. I mean WOW! I've already thought he was probably 2000ad best ever artist but this Dredd episode just nails it down. He seems to be channeling Elektra Assasin era Bill Sienkiewicz (his pen and ink work of this era). He talks a very talkie episode (I mean its a great episode but it doesn't immediately offer itself as a visual treat) and makes it a stunning artist masterpiece and endless visually exciting. Look how many panels he slams in and yet it never looks crowded.

Its an absolute masterpiece. Its incredible. its confirms Henry Flint is the GOAT.

Oh yeah Thistlebone is pretty stunning too. Feral and Foe is fun, Devil's is a technicolour panto, and Enemy Earth... well its a good title isn't it.

But remember this Prog fellow reader. Mark it well. For this is the Prog when Henry Flint confirmed he is the best artist ever in 2000ad.

What hyperbole!

[broodblik]

A good prog, great Flint Dredd, 4 hits and a miss

Dredd – Everything is set up that the story is going in a direction that set Maitland to fail but maybe it is one of those card tricks where you look at the left-hand but forget to see what the right-hand is doing. For me Henry Flint is the de facto Dredd artist of the current age. Did I mention what awesome art from Flint

Enemy Earth – We now have met the alien invaders and after a quick duel the episode ends with an interesting twist. Hopefully this twist is not going to be another cliche. As I already stated I am not a fan of Horsman style, but he has a very interesting panel layout and I really like the last page's layout.

Railroad – I still not liking this too much about people being cruel to each other.

Thistlebone – Wonderful creepy and hair-raising art. The story focus on the background of the movie set and this is an example of how to do a proper setup to move plot forward. Great stuff

Feral and Foe – Fun as always. What great busy overloading pages of battle with an explosive interesting final panel. Bring on the finale cannot wait to see how this ends.

Last thing Flint all the way

[IndigoPrime]

Flint is starting to remind me a bit of McMahon. Not in terms of style, but in terms of his willingness to shake up his style quite dramatically and try new things. And for those new things to be excellent. (D'Israeli of course deserves a mention in that realm.)

As for Judge Dredd, I hope this brings a conclusion to everything Red Queen. But I also hope I'm wrong in how I expect this to turn out for Mega City One and Maitland and that Williams is doing some cunning card tricks, with a strip that will in some way (whatever way) at least challenge the status quo.

One of the things I love about Dredd in terms of the strip and the lead is that things can change. Sure, the lead – as described IIRC by Wagner – moves like a glacier. But he does move. The Dredd we see today is not the same one from the 1980s. Similarly, the city itself has shifted and changed in response not only to major events but also its leaders.

I'm not suggesting I want to see A Better World end and for Tharg to be all: "Well, the judges are gone now. I HOPE YOU'RE ALL HAPPY WITH YOURSELVES!" But it would be great to have a series that has some kind of lasting impact, as per America, Apocalypse War, etc. And that sense of tension and topicality in A Better World is more heightened than I've seen and felt in Judge Dredd for a long while.

Quite what that impact could be, I've no idea. Upending the strip's entire set-up would be a massive risk and arguably unnecessary for future success. So I'll be gobsmacked if the series ends with a return to something resembling current-day democracy, and the judges 'relegated' to being a police force. By the same token, different 'states' operating in different ways might be sustainable, although I imagine a Sector 304 enclave wouldn't quite cut it!

I suppose if nothing else, kudos to Williams for making me care about a MC1 accountant, and not wanting the conclusion that's currently in my head: her plan being destroyed by nefarious types, possibly including her being badly injured or killed, and Dredd rocking up and angrily growling that "at least you tried", before being instrumental in dismissing half the council and possibly the CJ, without taking up a role of responsibility himself. (I do also still wonder what spanner Beeny might be in the works of whatever goes down.)

Anyway: this is all great. Nice to see such a strong Dredd in the prog.

[broodblik]

Yes I hope also that A Better World has a lasting footprint on the world of Dredd but I am actually rooting for Hernandez since we all hate "change". But still a great start

[norton canes]

Uh oh. I am so gonna be 'that guy' but I thought some of the art in this week's instalment of 'A Better World' looked just a tiny bit under-detailed - by the Flint droid's usual cosmos-quaking standards, of course. Or maybe leaving things like Glenn's suit mostly blank was a stylistic choice? By contrast, the cityscape panel on the third page was glorious, as was the walkway battle on page four. Also, is it missing the point for me to say that Glenn himself came across as a cliched Trump parody? I mean, if you want an antagonist, what better template than the most despicable person on the planet? The very Platonic ideal of despicable, if you will.

Thistlebone is reading like an episode of Inside No.9 come to life right now - I can just see Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith playing some of those characters. Love the detail in some of the panels, like Janine's blackened toenail. Feral & Foe is as blistering as ever and The Devil's Railroad has become a must-read if only to see how nasty it gets. Palamon's degeneration reminds me of how Danny Franks became steadily more haggard in each episode of Bad Company.

[Colin YNWA]

Uh oh. I am so gonna be 'that guy' but I thought some of the art in this week's instalment of 'A Better World' looked just a tiny bit under-detailed - by the Flint droid's usual cosmos-quaking standards, of course. Or maybe leaving things like Glenn's suit mostly blank was a stylistic choice? By contrast, the cityscape panel on the third page was glorious...

Yeah another panel to support my hypothesis that Henry Flint is 2000ad's artist GOAT is that city scape. In amongst all the other gloriousness he just throws in a MC1 cityscape to rival Dave Taylor at his past, for like one panel.

See even in not agreeing Norton Canes (interesting take I love the fact he both keeps things simple and yet throws in a deceptive amount of detail) you can't help but support by point!