PROG 1419 Lobster reaches boiling point.

[janus stark]

lovely lobster cover ,nice use of logo.
ok here we go final part dredd,do i look at final page before starting,mmmmm temting.
dredd;shouldnt h wagons carry something better than pea shooters?
ahh kinda weak ending ,this story started of great but has really tailed of in last few weeks

[DavidXBrunt]

Which is one, perfectly valid, point of view on this story. However I think it's got stronger as the weeks have gone by. The Menace to the city was great stuff but Viennas peril made for an even more dramatic conclusion. Very nice stuff indeed.

And I know it's only been 12 parts but with 'Terror' running as effectively an 8 week prequal it feels like a lot of this year has been defined by the threat of 'Total War'. And then there's the way it thematically ties into the Dolman story and that's a lot of the years Dredd dominated by this tale and it's plot threads.

As for the rest of the prog, Faces ended as it's ran. Unmemorable but readable, Lobster ends with increased confidence in it's ability to run and run, and Red Seas is just a whole barrel of monkeys in hats worth of fun.

[Bad Andy]

Faces - why on Earth did it come back? Building up to a big barney which, while predictable, would have maybe saved it.

Only for both super powers to mysteriously stand down after a garbled speech from a hospital bed. I can only assume their gearing it up for a third series whihc should be called Faeces.

Absolute rubbish. Worst story I've read in a long time.

Good job a double episode Lobster saved the day.

And Dredd. Excuse me but hasn't he done this before? In fact both 'major' bits in the story have a bit of deja vu. Like the implication that Total War are going to be hunted down over the next few story arcs.

[ukdane]

No prog on monday AGAIN.

I haven't had a prog arrive on time in about 4 months now.

Fortunately it's not a fault of the Subs Dept, instead the piss poor British postal service. (I think they must put non-UK mail to the bottom of the pile).

[Trout]

Well, Daney, I've got my prog, which is all that matters. Nyah, nyah, nyah.

I want to congratulate Wagner and Flint for a great ending to a top-quality Dredd story.
Twelve parts just don't seem enough - the last page alone could have been an episode by itself - but that's no major criticism.
I might as well be complaining about a minor detail like the type of weapons on an H-Wagon, but that would be pointless, of course. :-p

The pacing, the visualisation, the dialogue, the characterisation and the sheer detail combined to make this a major highlight for me.
Well done to all involved!

I do understand Bad Andy's comment about deja vu. Dredd's killed a few of his clones now, hasn't he?
I'm starting to worry he's enjoying it. :-)

As for the rest, well...

I was keen on the idea of a sequel to Freaks, but I'm afraid I have to dismiss Faces as rubbish.
Despite nice art, the story was felt rushed and confusing and, despite the germs of a few good ideas, was by turns predictable or simply uninteresting.

Lobster Random - although I'm not enthusing about it this time - is, at least, a lot better than Faces.
It has more convincing humour and action scenes and even more imaginative art, with proper mucking around with perspectives, IMO. There's more movement to it, too.
Also, Spur and Critch get extra points for proper use of a monkey.

Finally, Red Seas was a perfectly serviceable story, but I didn't get too excited.
I like the robot dog, but I knew they were all going to be safe and I wasn't the slightest bit interested in any of the characters anyway.

Overall: Fantastic Dredd, but ho-hum prog.

Only seven days to the biggie!

- Trout

[McNulty]

Let me also add my congratulations to a great Dredd story. I think Wagner got the mix of the Vienna/Nimrod subplot and the overall Total War/nukes basis of the story right. Flint's artwork really lent a lot to the story as well. Especially stunning was the artwork of the nuke going off in episode Five, with all those poor souls trying to flee and getting incinarated in an instant. Very powerful. All in all, a classic story.

Faces and Lobster Random: I'm afraid I never really got into these stories, but they were readable, and I followed them to the end of their runs.

Red Seas: The second best story of the prog in my opinion. Lots of questions raised, which hopefully will be answered in due course.

And of course, I await for next week's prog!

[Lobo Baggins]

Shouldn't H-Wagons carry something better than peashooters?

Presumably, they're using some sort of small, anti-personnel weapon rather than a Big Gun in order to knock out Nimrod without vaporising Vienna...

[philt]

Dredd - Hurrah the reset button has been pressed. Everything back in their boxes wrapped in cotton wool ready for the next "mega" epic. There was a real opportunity in this story for Wagner to give the Dredd universe a good solid kick up the arse. He didn't take it. And to be honest I don't think it is a step he can take. Time to give Rennie a go.
Faces - As like the original as the Fleisher Harlem Heroes was.
Random Lobster - I think someon needs to sit down and look where is is going. On the basis of two adventures I think it is worth giving it another run -
Red Seas - Best thing in the prog...  

[Bolt-01]

Best panel in my mind:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/Bolt-01/Dreddshot01.jpg">

Awesome

Bolt-01

[Si Logan]

Could he really give the Dredd universe that big a kick up the arse?? (in any really major way - though it's quite major nuking sections of the city!).  Can you change the flagship character of 2000AD that much (commercial suicide?).

Also I thought I would take the opportunity to give a special mention to the colouring throughout Total War which has been excellent (particularly the 'explosion' pages McNulty mentions above).

[Mr D]

I thought there wasd a real kick up the arse to be honest - Dredd's motivations are now totally different! He doesnt think he's fit to be a judge anymore? How does this affect future decisions and stories? I get the feeling we'll be coming back to this...

[IndigoPrime]

I don't doubt that?after all, we've had "Dredd doubts the system" stories right back into the 1980s, when Murphy told him to buy a pair of tight boots...

[Matt]

Don't know how anybody can say the reset button has being hit. Total War not only resulted in the nuking of several sectors, which will probably impact future stories much in the same way the Apocalypse War has for the past 20(?) years, but we've seen Dredds motivations change. His duty to his family came first before his duty to the law. We've also seen how flawed the Fargo/Dredd clone project is and the extremes it's being taken too. I think rampaging Dredd clones might play a part in future stories. I also think the final panel was quite symbolic. The badge divided by two frames. Could this symbolise a new division in Dredds makeup? Total War has opened up more plot lines and possibilities than it resolved. Personally I can't wait to see what Wagner has got in store for 2005!

[Dan Kelly]

My 2p worth....

Whether of not the reset button has been pressed will depend a lot on the next 2-3 months worth of Dredd I think.  

Do we see what is happening in the nuked blocks?
How do the cits react to the Judges lies?
Does Dredd spend more/less time with Vienna?
Do his doubts get worse?
Can Hershey survice the scandal?

Or does it all get brushed under the carpet?  

In the same way that terror and Dolman built up to this, I wouldn't mind waiting a bit to see reactions.  But not too long.

As for the rest.  

Lobster seemed a bit disjointed this series (see what I did there?).  Love Critchlows art on this tho'

Red Seas was a fun diversion.  More a pause and set-up episode than anything else tho'.

Faces.   Hmm... Some great art, some interesting plot ideas.  But a bit shite in the telling.  Like the Star Wars prequels it seems like some good editorial control (redraw that!) would have been useful.

Hopefully should have prog 2005 before the smokecon.

Dan

[Slippery PD]

Im quite interested in seeing where Wagner takes this.  Surely the citizens aren't going to be that happy with the judges just taking power again.  Im hoping this will lead to more power struggles with the democracy movement and a possible power sharing agreement....

Id also like to see a relaxing of some of the more draconian judge rules on themselves (no personal relationships?) and maybe the return of some judges (DeMarco?!?!) to the fold.  Ach who knows.

Prog wise, Ive not done this for a while

Dredd- yeah nice human interest at the end.  Probably raises more questions than answered.  Great art.  Great Story.  Possible classic.
Faces - Lost interest in it.  Not totally awful, just bland and uninteresting.
Lobster - Not as good as the first story.  Not sure about the introduction of some lobster god.  Ill see where the utterly mad (when writing) but utterly normal Mr Spurrier takes us.
Red Seas - Good.  But not interested in the secondary characters.  Im not sure if Im that interested in Dancer, but its a fair old romp and is an interesting prelude to a proper tale.....

Overall.  Great Dredd.  Other stories OK.  Good prog.

Slips