This week's prog in brief:
Dredd: Satisfying dose of Wagnerian gravitas.
Skip Tracer: Disappointing fridging leaves underdeveloped lead holding baby
Department K: Intriguing escalation (or should that be egg-scalation)
Sinister: Exposition as only Abnett can deliver it
Aquila: A refined mix of problem-solving and extreme violence.
In summary, then: Breezes.
Cover by Clint Langley:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E64_-_hWEAIVbUM?format=jpg&name=large)
Cover and Logo:
(https://dyn.media.forbiddenplanet.com/dJ6ZI8ULNl4pMqxQ9DXyf6ciqE8=/trim/fit-in/779x1024/filters:format(webp)/https://media.forbiddenplanet.com/products/5a/4f/fa5e83f793d60776ca6a5dc2277a119ba713.jpeg)
Quote from: Goosegash on 26 July, 2021, 10:17:58 PM
Skip Tracer: Disappointing fridging leaves underdeveloped lead holding baby
TBH that is an incredibly accurate summation. I find myself slowly joining the throng of people who have little time for Skip Tracer. In fact it may be that the title itself becomes dangerously accurate ...
Nice cover but not a brilliant Prog for me this week.
Dredd: Feels a little slower this week as Dredd takes time explaining the copycat killer isn't relevant to the story (unless it is) - other than that, this is cool stuff.
Skip Tracer: Well, we all hoped this was turning a corner after the last series and it did: it's got worse. This is poor stuff.
Department K: Still not interested in this but it looks great (love that frame of Estaban tackling the alien)
Sinister: Not interested in this either sadly, so not much to say beyond Sinister is incredibly annoying here.
Aquila: Second episode in a row that's looked tremendous but left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. I think it may be the format: each episode has been adversery arrives (pirates, Cronos, warring armies etc) and then the heroes beat them and move onto next episode. It's all very good, but also feels like it could be better at this point (as much as a bloke charging into the ear of a titan can be bettered).
My not enjoying Department K and Sinister are on me, but Skip Tracer feels like it's used up it's goodwill by now. Can we have Paul Marshall on something else please?
Letter of the week felt very "In episode 2F09, when Itchy plays Scratchy's skeleton like a xylophone, he strikes the same rib in succession, yet he produces two clearly different tones. I mean, what are we to believe, that this is a magic xylophone, or something?"
Functional prog but 3 strips are just middling around all readable but not grabbing me. But we all know that this is the nature of the beast when we read an anthology.
Dredd – Some detective work and Dredd goes into analysing the clues and a lot of talking but for the benefit of the reader. The "real" plot is revealed, and we see now know the real "victim"
Skip Tracer – A lot of harsh criticism and yes this is not the story that will have the comic-fraternity stand-up and take notice it is generic but still readable.
Department K – This episode more focus one the battle of the eggy thing/ball of light/the heart of the beast and he controls that he controls something/universe/bragging rights. This is not bad not the best around but keeps my interest. Lovely art from Cornwell script-wise it still feels too much like an American comic.
Sinister – The Sin is back, and the AI is not up too any good. Next round it looks like we will focus on the flight of the Dexter for a showdown between the two.
Aquila – Once big action driven episode and one that does not push the plot forward but gives Goddard time to show-off some nice boss-end battle.
Oh dear. I would be reviewing this week's prog right about now, except...
I took a few magazines into town in my bag to hand in at the charity shop. And I ended up handing in the magazines after I'd bought this week's prog. And guess what I ended up doing...
Yeah.
Back to the charity shop tomorrow morning.
Quote from: norton canes on 28 July, 2021, 04:24:58 PM
Back to the charity shop tomorrow morning.
To buy back your own copy? :lol:
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 27 July, 2021, 02:01:06 PM
Sinister: Not interested in this either sadly, so not much to say beyond Sinister is incredibly annoying here.
Here, there and sadly everywhere.
I'm at a loss with this storyline / plot that has been going round and round, along with the alternative universe tripe where the characters have seemingly become so far from what they began as hitmen and are now just bit-part players dissappearing up the series' own rectum
We thought there might be blessed relief at the conclusion of the last series, however the premise of a 2000AD character actually dying and staying dead is no more and so I question as to why bother with the dramatic so called 'death' scenes in the first place?
So I take it we will see the return of Skip Tracers ex-missus next prog? :think:
Quote from: Jacqusie on 28 July, 2021, 08:34:49 PM
So I take it we will see the return of Skip Tracers ex-missus next prog? :think:
Too early maybe give it 2 weeks but we might see the real enemy in Department K Judge Rico
Right... one rescue mission to Barnardo's later, this week's prog is safely back in my possession.
A mixed bag of strips - I guess you could say 'something for everyone' as long as one of the things some people want is a rather tedious ongoing saga about a bounty hunter with psychic powers.
Dredd continues to impress despite a very bubble-heavy second page. The sequence where Francisco casually disorients a group of mutants before wading into them to dispense summary justice is classic Wagner. Do we think Kurt Vish and his rundown are going to feature in the main plot? Or will Dredd's method of apprehending Gort and/or Justice Watch simply be his no.1?
I quite like the twist Sinister has taken and enjoyed the A.I.'s flat single-mindedness, as well as the artistic touch of the arrows constantly directed towards it. Surprised and delighted to see it's getting at least three consecutive weeks!
It's fair to say that Aquila is delivering the thrills on a week-by-week basis rather than constructing a complex over-arching plot, but there's nothing wrong with that - on the contrary, in fact, it's nice that a strip recognises the GGC's heritage as a comic where most stories delivered largely self-contained thrill-bursts.
Which leaves Department K once again providing a treat for the visual receptors if not perhaps the dialogue receiving circuits. Also, there's another gift from Joko Jargo hoving into view in the near future. Is the GGC undergoing an identity crisis? At the risk of sounding melodramatic, it needs to work out what it wants to be or it'll alienate more current readers than it will attract new ones.
Quote from: norton canes on 29 July, 2021, 05:16:43 PM
......Also, there's another gift from Joko Jargo hoving into view in the near future. Is the GGC undergoing an identity crisis? At the risk of sounding melodramatic, it needs to work out what it wants to be or it'll alienate more current readers than it will attract new ones.
For me it is always about finding the right balance in strips. Yes, do feel that the current run's balance is a little bit off but the upcoming strip "we shall not mention" will be part of a strong line-up The Out, Scarlet Traces and The Diaboliks. Something for everyone.
I've put off buying this week's because I am sick to death of having to go into town three or four times a week- in an effort to just do every sodding thing I need to do on one day, I won't be getting the prog (and Shift and Panini Batman) til Saturday or Sunday.
That said, I've already read on one of the many Facebook groups seemingly dedicated to middle aged men who read the comic for a couple of years decades ago and who are a) unaware it's still going and b) absolutely convinced it must be rubbish (oh and c- not at all interested in comics in general, seeing them as entirely for kids) that this week's prog is so bad it's led to people giving it up entirely. Like they say every week. Without fail.*
So it's nice to come home here and see some positive comments and constructive criticism and jokes**.
SBT
*If I have to mention Brink/ Lawless/ Dante to another hairy-arsed Farage-follower with an England flag profile picture when they ask for examples of 'stuff as good as Sam Spade Robot Hunter' or 'that Dredd where he fights Russians' I will make a YouTube video of me burning a Judge Death Lives Titan volume.
**jokes not about immigrants, that is.
Late to the party as I've been away but home now and with Prog.
Dredd - well its grand isn't it. Its fantastiv craft pure and simple. I'm loving Dredd guiding, I love Fransico grinning. Its glorious.
Skip Tracer - Its high octance, it always is, but now it matters - see its not hard is it!
Department K - Yep its greart, setting up the finale nicely with an exciting episode. This story has been a triumph and now all it has to do is stick the landing.
Sinister - Its playing to its critics isn't it. Two episodes of exposition as returns explained last time, this time how Sinister will clash with Dexter. I enjoyed it but its lacking a spark at the moment.
Aquila - Well if your gonna take down Zeus' popps that's the way to do it. Pure Harryhausen fun this episode!
Great Prog.
Dredd was great, but Skip Tracer fridging was a low. I mean, come on. Dept K was fun, but frankly putting 75% of a swear word (with it being very obvious what the next letter would be) in a strip that will ultimately be collected for the young market is a terrible idea. I hope that gets edited for the trade. If not: oof. (And, yes, that might sound daft, but it's the way it is. You stick swear words in these things and they're dead to a great many parents and *they won't trust your publication again*. If 2000 AD really wants to widen its appeal, it needs to stop doing this—at least in the Regened strips.)
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 30 July, 2021, 11:24:21 PM
And, yes, that might sound daft, but it's the way it is.
Doubly hilarious because parents imagine their little darlings don't have a quite extensive range of profanity in their vocabulary. Certainly, I recall having a comprehensive grasp of the vernacular long before I went to comprehensive.
I have a 2K (as in, KLF) "fuck the millennium" T-shirt. I wore it while exercising. Past tense, because the 7yo saw it and told me off. It's not like she doesn't know these words, but she knows they are wrong, especially for kids. She knows that if they let one slip at school, they'll be sent to the headteacher. Many parents of younglings in her age bracket have little time for publications that use such language BUT are these days a lot more tolerant of (even demanding of) things like diversity, child-led books and anarchic humour, so that's a solid trade—and a big step forward from my childhood.
The point remains that Rebellion is on very thin ice if it puts "SHI—" in a children's book. Their call, obviously, and they might think my comment absurd, over the top and ridiculous. But I guarantee that it would obliterate trust from that point on with parents of a big chunk of their target market.
Actually there was 3 times in the story wording used which was out of place for the strip and I felt that this was not the intent of an "all-ages" story.
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 29 July, 2021, 07:07:16 PM
*If I have to mention Brink/ Lawless/ Dante to another hairy-arsed Farage-follower with an England flag profile picture when they ask for examples of 'stuff as good as Sam Spade Robot Hunter' or 'that Dredd where he fights Russians'
I imagine they're thinking of 'Frankenstein Division'.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 31 July, 2021, 12:25:15 AM
The point remains that Rebellion is on very thin ice if it puts "SHI—" in a children's book.
I'm not disagreeing with you, IP. It's just one of the things, like the level of violence that is tolerable in just about any mainstream medium compared to sex, that makes very little sense objectively but which producers of entertainment content have to navigate their way around.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 31 July, 2021, 12:25:15 AM
The point remains that Rebellion is on very thin ice if it puts "SHI—" in a children's book.
Given it's a Dreddworld strip surely a nice child-safe Drokk of Grud would have been a better choice.
Back to topic it's a mixed bag of a prog for me this week. Wagner Dredd is, unsurprisingly, the top thrill. Aquilla is following the old school formula episodic formula and I'm looking forward to seeing what new challenge each week brings (even with the certainty that they'll breeze through it somehow). Dept K is charging to it's conclusion and has been great fun (best thing to slip across from Regened so far imo). But then we have another episode of exposition from Sin/Dex and Skip going for an 80s action film plot of "hard man left holding baby" - meh.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 31 July, 2021, 09:21:58 AMI'm not disagreeing with you, IP. It's just one of the things, like the level of violence that is tolerable in just about any mainstream medium compared to sex, that makes very little sense objectively but which producers of entertainment content have to navigate their way around.
Yeah—there is a lack of logical consistency. That said, I would say that parents of this generation are less keen on violence but more open of relationships (and varied relationships) in children's fare at this age group. Regened seems to be, what, targeting the same kind of age group as The Phoenix, so 7+? Perhaps it skews a little older, but not by much.
Also, I agree with this:
Quote from: sintec on 31 July, 2021, 10:41:43 AMGiven it's a Dreddworld strip surely a nice child-safe Drokk of Grud would have been a better choice.
Thinking about it, modern-day swears have crept into Dredd more often in recent years. With Dredd being a strip for adults now, that doesn't bother me per se, but the original "get around the censors" Drokk! and Grud! in the end became a part of world-building. And profanity
does evolve. On that basis, it actually made a lot of sense that these words extend a century into the future.
QuoteBack to topic
Having read the rest now, Sin/Dex is still going and going and going. I don't mind the strip, but it does feel a bit like wallpaper and the story that will never end. Aquilla feels really old-school, akin to the Strontium Dog Hell arc. I'm quite enjoying it.
So: yeah, mixed bag for me. Dredd was fab; Skip Tracer was FFS fridging; Dept K was nice enough but "SHI—"; Sin/Dex exists; Aquilla was fun.
I will just point out that as long ago as 2005, children's television programme Dr Who was using "Oh boll-" for comedic effect. Cutting off 'naughty words' is a standard technique- and even adverts broadcast during the day use it (see Green Flag's current campaign, "you're first words after an accident may not be Green Flag but maybe they should be your second", complete with "Ffff..." and accompanying mouthing- which is now covered/ blurred out when censoring swearing elsewhere on the box).
But yeah, I still prefer 2000AD to keep away from swearing- and sex. Don't mind the violence though. We are hypocritical as a species.
SBT
My Top 3 for Prog 2242
1st - Aquila - Big action scenes with use of silent panels (hooray!!) to tell the story give this thrill first place this month for me
2nd - Dredd - Wagner knows what he's doing but felt a bit busy text wise at times
3rd - Department K - the art and colour add so much to this thrill
Hard to do in 5 and 6 page comics I'm sure but love it when silent panels are used effectively.