Prog 1445: Tartan Terror

[Artificial Idiot]

I hope to grud nobody has made a topic on this yet...

Dredd has really captured my interest again, things are really starting to get intriguing although it does seem Guthies in over his head...

Sin/Dex was actually quite good. I'm surprised at the quality of this strip, even if the Poriot knock-off bugged the hell out of me. Worse than translating hieroglyphics...

Flint really out did himself with the interior of Shakara's home world, I'm taking bets on how fast Shakara disposes of Fist...

Honestly didn't read half of Atavar... Skipped the first three pages and it didn't seem to harm the stories quality one bit. Seems a lot of long winded pointless explanation in this.... Lovely art though.

Cabs Inc. is definatly the highlight of this prog though! Reminded me why Ness is the only one I can ever remember.

[McNulty]

And now to my comments...

Dredd: Another great episode. It's hard to judge Pasha's actions. Did he goad Guthie on purpose? And doesn't his grey moustache makes Guthie look really old! I also liked the Star Trek tributes in this episode (NX-74205 is the registration for the USS Defiant from Deep Space Nine and Chronowerks was the 20th century computer company that was using 29th Century technology for it's own ends in Voyager. Finally, the last frame was particularly chilling, using people as chess pieces. Who is going to be removed from the board first?

Future Shorts: A bit ridiculous but fun none the same...

Sinister/Dexter: I have to echo Artificial Idiot's dislike of the use of Poirot's accent. Now I know how the sassanachs feel when they're reading strips with Scottish characters in them...

Shakara: Visually stunning once again. It's sort of like the calm before the storm. I'm reminded of the part of the sci-fi film when the space marines arrive at the colony to find the place mostly intact but there no sign of anyone...then the aliens strike!!!

Atavar III: I'm only slowly getting back into this story. I have to say that I had largely lost the plot before now, it's only just coming back to me.

Caballistics: Utter rot.

No Droid Life this week, but that is okay - I'm more than happy to see Strontium Dog's coming back soon.

So, all in all a good prog, with lot's for everybody.

[ukdane]

Bwah! No Prog.

[paulvonscott]

Always good to seeing the Astonishing Al Ewing, and it was a daft story, but I liked it.  

I have several ideas what 'fart' means at the end, but who knows if one of them is correct - I could have lost that last line.

Like the one page Future Shocks too.

[Eck]

Good cover.

[Dudley]

PVS - "FART" is the shortened version of the god's name.  Pinball machines will only let you type in 4 characters to represent your name.

In order, least to most thrilling:

Dredd continues to be...odd.  Very much a curate's egg.  Guthrie is astonishingly badly-drawn (did the artist not look at previous versions at all?), and the emphasis on age and loyalty makes me think he's for the chop.  Shame: he's a good character.

Everything else.  The Prog's on such a high at the moment it makes me giddy.  Shakara's stupendous, Sin/Dex a blast that rips away memories of all those one-offs, Atavar's gorgeous and unique in being a hard-core space opera - not a genre that the prog incorporates very often, Caballerostics has a Ness episode (yay!), and the wonderful world of Al Ewing gets into the prog for the first time (I don't count those Terror Tales, he's capable of SO much more).

Didn't think much to the cover, and the format of the droid interviews grates slightly, but overall it's a superb 9/10 from the New Cross jury.

[paulvonscott]

Cabs was okay this week, I feel sorry for the Swiss Royal Family though.  Still, they shouldn't have taken over Balmoral.

Dredd was much better than the previous episodes, there was more plot and less off-kilter characterisation.  I liked Guthries plan, but not sure if it was legal, and might not there have been other ways?  And I could try and second guess a lot of other stuff, but to be honest, I'd just tie my brain in knots doing so.  Despite wanting to kill this strip with a chainsaw last week, and then stamp on the bits and set fire to them, I actually feel strangely positive about it this week.  Enjoyed the perps driving off the road.  A good reminder to me anyway that Rennie can write a good Dredd story.

Shakara - yeah, entertaining, but I feel like I've missed an episode for some reason.

Cover, I like all the seperate elements, not sure it works as well as it should, but OK.

Stront Preview - Sneckin' yeah!

Looking forward to prog 1450 a lot, especially after wot I saw at the LF&CC.

[Al_Ewing]

Do kids not write their name in arcade machines as rude words anymore? Am I no longer DOWN... WITH THE KIDS???

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Funt Solo]

In order, worst to best (although only Shakara showed any real class):

Atavar XXV
You spin me right round, baby, right round in circles, like a record with a scratch in it.

Judge Dredd: Blood Trails
The script really picked up this week, with Dredd back on form:  endangering Vienna just to try and get a scoop on the bad guys (much more like it).  Loved the perps driving off the bridge.

Shouldn't someone arrest those two jimps for impersonating Giant and Guthrie?  Maybe it's a red herring, but it now seems obvious that Guthrie is for the chop.  

Future Shorts
I got the "fart" joke:  but when I was playing arcade games it was 3-letters only:  so lots of CIA and KGB.

Sinister Dexter: Dodgy Accent To Kal Cutter
If one has to stop every frame and spend ages translating dodgy phonetics written in english, doesn't that completely ruin the flow of the story?  Yes, it does.  And it's about as funny as "'Ello 'Ello", which wasn't.

Crabapplistics Inc.
What a crappy cover.  Verse looks great, but the monster is all blurry, where it would have been groovy to see his kilt and monster sporan in all their glory, plus the mouth and the tusks and so on.  Boo.  Looks good from a distance only.

Liked the "various attempts to kill boar-demon" bit.

Shakara: The Assassin
More, please.

[paulvonscott]

Well, I figured FART was what was put into the hi-score box, but wondered if it was supposed to be some corruption of Earth, and that didn't make sense.  But if it's just a rood word, fine.

I'd like to see more 1 page future shocks, I liked this one, but at one page I don't think I'd begrudge even a bad one much.

Cheers

Paul

[Byron Virgo]

"the wonderful world of Al Ewing gets into the prog for the first time (I don't count those Terror Tales, he's capable of SO much more)."

What is it with your worship of Al Ewing?

I mean, we all have particular creators we have a fondness for, but it's genuinely reaching stalker-ish proportions!

If I was Al Ewing I'd be very, very scared indeed!

[Dudley]

{Sigh}.

Welcome to the wonderful world of fan-forums, Byron.

[Keef Monkey]

Cover- loved it, got me very excited for the prog.
Dredd- great installment, lots of implications for future episodes.
Future Short- pretty silly but fun all the same.
Sin/Dex- the poirot schtick was hard to read but hilarious at times, story is shaping up well.
Shakara- have to agree with mcnulty, felt like the vibe you get from the first 40 mins of Aliens distilled into 5 pages. Nice.
Atavar- was a big fan of 1&2 but this hasn't gripped me yet.
Caballistics- best thing this week, lots of laugh out loud moments.
Circuit Breakers- really enjoying these actually, it's nice to see what makes these creative types tick.
All in all, a great prog, and the perfect antidote to a shit day at the office!

[Dudley]

A painful admission - I don't understand all of Poirot's lines.  

Has everybody else understood everything he says?

[Oddboy]

I doubt even Abnett has!