Prog 2212 - Elecrtifying 100 page Xmas Issue!

[Buttonman]

No sign of this issue at the Paisley Wastes. Was going to send the subs droid a note today - is this still missing in a lot of places. Has anything been said about the delays?

[73north]

No sign ( for second time - last issue 2211 has never appeared at all ) of this Xmas Prog
so no new Strontium Dog for me to read !

The Postal delays are really biting - very disappointed - doubt I will get my 2 missing copies before
Thursday 24th - I realise its not Rebellion's Fault , however .

Had to contact the Oxford Studio today and ask for a replacement for both copies

[Buttonman]

The automated response I received said they were closed between the 23rd and 5th January. If you ain't got it now you a'int getting it this year!

[Colin YNWA]

So Christmas is winding down. Rather than a family game, folks have settled down to a family movie instead, which is keeping the mood pleasent and relaxed, rather than competitive and angry as it might otherwise have been (good call Mrs YNWA). So while they are all settled down I've taken the chance to enjoy a relaxed read of the X-mas prog.

Overall a very, very strong issue. Its a hoot and a fine example of what these end of year (start of next year really) issues do so well. Setting up what looks like being a super strong line-up to open the year - all that's missing is a new thrill - and throwing in a good few treats to boot.

Dredd - fantastic Chimpsky Dredd tale - though demostrates that maybe our new favourite simian has outgrown his roll as co-star in a Dredd strip and is ready for his up-coming solo adventure, to allow his potential to spread its wings some more.

Strontium Dog - well let's get it said right off the bat, in and of itself this is a great little SD tale. Its just that's the problem. Its a great little SD tale and so doesn't really serve any immediately obvious purpose. Now of course there could be reasons for it that aren't immediately apparent. Maybe Tharg is respecting John Wagner's suggestion that running new tales will throw some royality payment to Carlos' family (if they need such?). Maybe Tharg wanted to test the appetite for more SD tales? Don't know, but if Tharg is going to do more tales I think they need to be bolder and more interesting that this. Other folks pulling off great stories riffing off the tales we've seen before, but adding nothing don't really serve anyone. Go big or go home I say.

Mind as I say this is great for what it is and Laurence Campbell's art really captures early Carlos SD without being slavish. Let's see what happens after this?

Arh shucks the Survival Geeks - epilogue is rather wonderfully sweet. Its nice in a way that doesn't feel terribly 2000ad, but somehow feels really rather in place in the X-Mas special. Really rather liked this.

Visions of Deadworld - another fantastic one off and again a curiously off brand nice ending that suits this specific comic.

Then we hit setting up next year territory.

Proteus Vex - new story gets off to a fantastic start and the big news is Jake Lynch, not at all surprisingly, picks up art duties without missing a beat. Capturing Flint's energy but moving things his own way at the same time.

Slaine - well it looks pretty, even if the art isn't 100% to my specific liking you can't fault its technical skill, just astonishing. The story... well its Slaine innit and that good or bad depending on where you stand on Slaine... me I'm just hoping the strip gets a good send off fitting of its early successes. Mark this one - let's see how it goes.

Hershey - look I know this series rubs some folks up the wrong way. But see my comments about Strontium Dog. See I think this goes go big and so no need to go home. I love what this is doing with its lead characters and the art remains stunning. I'm happy to have this back and excited to see where it goes.

When a one-off is done well they are such a delight and perfect for a Prog like this and this one-off is a playful belter. Its look back at Time Twisters past makes it fit right into an end of year special. To then throw [spoiler]Tharg[/spoiler] in as well - do I really need spoilers there? -  marks this as genius. One of my favourite one offs for quite a while. All this and glorious Warren Pleece art. Absolute winner.

Oh and again see what you can do returning older characters that by rights maybe should be retired in some folks eyes. Durham Red goes big and so is welcome not to go home and this opener is an action drama classic trope done absolutely spot on. Love this opening and so welcome this strip back with open arms.

All that and some nice (not) back matter -

Very funny Droid Life - tick
Crazy cool art scan by Stewart Km Moore - tick
Nice interview with Carlos Pino - tick
Letters page with more Ming and Our own SBT getting Letter of the Week - tick
Thrills of the future for 2021 for more The Out and Thistlebone - Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

So all in all an absolute triumph of a comic and I'm so chuffed I saved this for today as its been a perfect treat to accompany a very pleasent X-Mas day... oh and the film is almost done, perfect timing...

[Richard]

Surely the purpose of the Strontium Dog story was to entertain us, which it did.

[Jim_Campbell]

Surely the purpose of the Strontium Dog story was to entertain us, which it did.

Yes, ISTR Laurence posted a Johnny Alpha sketch on social media, Rob said "That's great", Laurence said "I'd love to do a SD strip some day" so Rob pitched one to Tharg for the end-of-year special. It's not warming us up for the return of a post-Carlos series (and I'm sure Rob said on the most recent Thrillcast he did that has no thoughts in that direction).

[I, Cosh]

Just gotten round to reading the Christmas Prog. Wasn't feeling too enthusiastic about it but the highs outweighed the lows. Strontium Dog, Survival Geeks and by far TC Eglinton's best script to date were the unexpected highlights.

Maybe time for a longer review tomorrow but I've just read this whole thread and can't believe nobody's mentioned Kek-W's tortuous Grateful Dead joke.

[Dark Jimbo]

Well I've long been a stranger to these threads as I stopped buying the prog in 2016-ish, but I like to check back in with the Xmas issue now and again.

Dredd was okay, but nothing more. PJ's art seemed pretty rushed, and I wasn't mad about the droid designs. Also my first Chimpsky story, and it didn't blow me away - why's he chumming around with Hitler?

Superb art in Stront. Not much else to say about it, really - a very slight story, but then I suppose it was basically written as a showcase for the art. I'm not sure Wulf's being able to leg it back in time to save the day makes much sense, unless Johnny was chasing perps through the village for a really long time!

A cute epilogue to Survival Geeks that probably hits harder if you hadn't missed most of their later adventures!

Visions of Deadworld was great, even if I didn't understand all of what I was reading. Worked nicely as a one-and-done, though.

Proteus Vex was a bit lost on me too, as I only read the first episode of the last outing!

Slaine looked gaaaaaaawgeous. It's nice that all the set-up for this was done at the end of Brutania..., meaning we can just get straight on with the action. Makes for a bit of a slight episode, though.

The Time Twister was great, really benefitting from an increase on the normal page count. Don't really understand why [spoiler]Tharg[/spoiler] appeared, given there was not a single mention of comics, droids or 2000AD, but I do love a bit of spot colour now and then! Loved the cheeky Chronocops and Dr Dibworthy cameos.

Durham Red was probably the highlight of the prog for me. Such an engaging opener, and every character felt like a real, fully-rounded person. Between this and Slaine, I'm mightily tempted to stick with the prog for this spring run of thrills.

[Colin YNWA]

So I guess the question Dark Jimbo is will this be enough to tempt you back in the new year?

[Proudhuff]

No sign of this issue at the Paisley Wastes. Was going to send the subs droid a note today - is this still missing in a lot of places. Has anything been said about the delays?

Prob free December here at Huff Mansions Sur La Mer....

[Andrew_J]

A great finish to the year's thrills:

Judge Dredd:  PJ brings the fun to Dredd as always. Noam Chimpsky has quickly become one of my favourite Mega City citizens.
Strontium Dog: I love this take on Johnny and Wulf.
Survival Geeks: A reminder of how much I love this strip. It feels like the definitive ending. Please don't let that be so.
Proteus Vex: Mike has created a fantastic universe. This episode is very frenetically paced though. I'm not sure I took it all in, even on a second read through.
Slaine: This is a great opener for the new series. Fingers crossed for more action, rather than mysticism.
Durham Red: Yes! This is going to be good...

[BPP]

The Time Twister was great, really benefitting from an increase on the normal page count. Don't really understand why [spoiler]Tharg[/spoiler] appeared, given there was not a single mention of comics, droids or 2000AD, but I do love a bit of spot colour now and then! Loved the cheeky Chronocops and Dr Dibworthy cameos.

Because it's a meta-joke about Tharg being the boss of the time twisters happening? Editor as god sorta thing. Hence other time twister characters appearing etc.  That's what I took it as and liked a lot.

[Dark Jimbo]

The Time Twister was great, really benefitting from an increase on the normal page count. Don't really understand why [spoiler]Tharg[/spoiler] appeared, given there was not a single mention of comics, droids or 2000AD, but I do love a bit of spot colour now and then! Loved the cheeky Chronocops and Dr Dibworthy cameos.

Because it's a meta-joke about Tharg being the boss of the time twisters happening? Editor as god sorta thing. Hence other time twister characters appearing etc.  That's what I took it as and liked a lot.

Yes, on reflection it works. In my defence I was minding my five-month old while reading the prog, so concentration was somehwat impaired!

[levireeves]

Just about to read prog 2213 but I just had to log in and say that prog 2212 had me, a 37 year old fully grown man, squealing with delight. An incredible year from 2000AD capped off with an issue of thrills beyond my wildest dreams. I've just realised that I'm excited about every single upcoming story announced so far. Can't wait for the return of The Out, Fiends of the Eastern Front, Dexter, Diaboliks, and so on, and hoping to see a return of Full Tilt Boogie and Hookjaw. My sincere and heartfelt thanks to the writers, artists and editors. Happy New Year everyone.