All hail Tharg
All hail The Phoenix
Once again two great comics arrive as on time as is possible these days. Fantastic stuff. As is the cover even if its a generic Dredd its a pretty bloomin' fantastic Dredd.
Speaking of pretty damned fantastic Dredd that's what Neimand (who he, who he) and PJ provide us and Chimpsky's plan fall into place.. well except for Dredd of course...
Aquila the flames wash away years of pain and damage and our heroes - or what passes for them in this strip are reborn a new in Hades... one assumes that not necessarily a good thing and we are left hanging. Which is odd - well its not its just that I thought this was the last Aquila story, not sure where I got that from??? Looking forward to this one returning.
Survival Geeks has a fantastic and disarming passage as events reach their games masters turning point and we await nerd fate. Fun, nothing more.
Future Shock... is so unshocking. Unless I misread something this is entirely based on the idea that a [spoiler]jealous lover locks [/spoiler]some folks out of a post apocolyptic safe house. Is that it? Did I miss something. Wafer thin - if even that - by my reading. Nice art though.
Hershey is just brilliant as ever. The series got mixed reviews here last week. I can't agree, while folks might feel slighted by what this replaces, to me it just adds. Or folks might struggle with its handling of Hershey - I've taken the whole point as this is a damaged and broken woman finding her final redemnation and rocked to her lowest this week we see what's its been building to. There is is in control regardless of what she faces. Fantastic.
Great Proggage one weak story aside.
Zero for three so far here. Mini-G upset about no Phoenix. Perhaps tomorrow.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 11 May, 2020, 09:39:11 PM
Zero for three so far here. Mini-G upset about no Phoenix. Perhaps tomorrow.
Fingers crossed its out there. Hopefully just a post thing.
Prog landed in Brum about an hour ago. Just in time for lunch...
Ahem. Thanks Tharg. I really do appreciate the efforts you and all the droids are going to just now.
Another, utterly outstanding prog - really enjoying the heck out of all of it.
One thing - and spoilers are there for a reason - [spoiler]In Hershey, the big, burly male with one eye and a beard reminds Hershey not to forget who she is, to which Hershey says 'that's rich, coming from you' - Frank? Is that Frank? I may be wrong, but I wanted to get it down here. [/spoiler] Seriously - you've been warned.
Oh my gosh Bolt you could just be right. I'd completely missed that... I wonder...
ISTR the Williams droid saying something very oblique on Twitter a little while back — not a confirmation of Bolt's speculation by any stretch of the imagination, but it caused a flicker in the back of my head. I didn't dare to hope, though...
(https://i.imgur.com/QhmAKQS.jpg)
Jake Lynch
I think Colin says it all pretty well, and Bolt could be right good spot!
Future Non-shock.
That star scan by Mark Montague is phenomenal!
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 11 May, 2020, 08:43:31 PM
Speaking of pretty damned fantastic Dredd that's what Neimand (who he, who he) and PJ provide us and Chimpsky's plan fall into place.. well except for Dredd of course...
Hmm ... like a few others, I'd wondered if Neimand might secretly be the Rennie droid, but the average word length is too low for that. I'm now fancying Si Spurrier. (Not in the Biblical sense, mind you.) Have been re-reading
Lobster Random recently and it's set my Spidey-sense tingling. (Again, not in the Biblical sense.)
Quote from: Richard on 12 May, 2020, 11:39:11 PM
Future Non-shock.
What he said.
A good solid prog with just one miss for me and one story that ends to soon. A must give kudos for the cover great stuff mister Lynch.
Dredd – The story is really heating up and hopefully Chimpsky can get out of this mess. A good Dredd story with good supporting art by PJ.
Aquila – A little bit of a let-down this episode since it ends very much like in the middle of the story. I am at least glad Aquila will return. This was a fascinating story so far.
Survival Geeks – That two-page middle section is how I can describe the story, fun action full, gory when it needs to be and entertaining. Googe as this series evolved has become better and better
TFC – I might have missed something in this one there was no surprise or a shock for me. The art form Mutti is always food though.
Hersey – Great story and let us see how Bolt's theory holds up. I must again compliment Fraser for his use of colour to drive the story.
Good to see the silver badge returning to the cover. I always much preferred it to the gold version.
I really hope Neimand is... Neimand. I get why there's so much speculation about his identity, but it'd be great if someone this good arrived fully formed. If Neimand is a pen name, I find it baffling that people are suggesting he's Rennie. The style of Dredd is so different from what Rennie used to write. Spurrier... there is some overlap there, but it's not really setting off my Spidey sense in the same way as Mr. Cow.
Ewing is the writer Neimand's Dredd seems most like to me. Regardless, I'm just stoked at seeing such consistently great Dredd in the Prog again, despite Wagner's ongoing (and presumably more or less permanent) absence.
I'm just seeing all the writer droids in the command module standing up, one after another, and declaring, a-la-Spartacus: "I'm Neimand!" ... "I'm Neimand!" .... "I'm Neimand!"...
And why wouldn't they? His Dredd run has so far been superb. There's a slightly old-school sense of heart (to the strips — not Dredd) and silliness, along with the hard-edge of the Meg and Dredd. It all works really well.
It looks like Niemand will be used as the main Dredd writer since the start of the year he has written most of the Dredd stories. I would not mind him being the regular writer.
Quote from: paddykafka on 13 May, 2020, 10:23:49 AM
I'm just seeing all the writer droids in the command module standing up, one after another, and declaring, a-la-Spartacus: "I'm Neimand!" ... "I'm Neimand!" .... "I'm Neimand!"...
I'M TIGER WOODS*
*This only makes sense if you used to go to Glastonbury back in the (my) day. If you did this is hilarious I'm sure...
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 12 May, 2020, 12:57:51 PM
Oh my gosh Bolt you could just be right. I'd completely missed that... I wonder...
As much as I'd [spoiler]love that to be the case, I think that he's got the wrong eye missing.[/spoiler]
Quote from: Judge Olde on 13 May, 2020, 03:34:59 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 12 May, 2020, 12:57:51 PM
Oh my gosh Bolt you could just be right. I'd completely missed that... I wonder...
As much as I'd [spoiler]love that to be the case, I think that he's got the wrong eye missing.[/spoiler]
Yeah, but it's Simon Fraser - the man has previous!
I would hate that to be the case. [spoiler]Dead characters coming back to life or not really being dead is a rubbish comics cliche which 2000AD generally avoids; doing it twice in the same story would just take the piss.[/spoiler]
I would be delighted if Kenneth Niemand became the main Dredd writer in Wagner's absence. He really "gets" Dredd, and his story-telling is superb.
"Any part of that perp description sound like I need back-up, control?"
Some very nice dialogue in this week's Dredd.
Quote from: Richard on 13 May, 2020, 10:44:20 PM
I would hate that to be the case. [spoiler]Dead characters coming back to life or not really being dead is a rubbish comics cliche which 2000AD generally avoids; doing it twice in the same story would just take the piss.[/spoiler]
Agreed.
Has anybody considered that it might be [spoiler]Dolman[/spoiler]? Would also fit her comment.
That is an interesting idea.
As for giving Niemand the keys to drive Dredd - I'd just hold on there. The man has written some cracking strips so far, but beware of putting too much pressure onto the man.
I think TMO has a good balance at the mo, Dredd needs a good pool of writers.
Quote from: Richard on 13 May, 2020, 10:44:20 PM
I would hate that to be the case. [spoiler]Dead characters coming back to life or not really being dead is a rubbish comics cliche which 2000AD generally avoids; doing it twice in the same story would just take the piss.[/spoiler]
Fairly significant fan-favourite character [spoiler]'dies' off-panel after being badly injured
always flags the possibility that they're not really dead, surely? In this case, it would fit the thrust of the series, since Hershey faked her own death to provide an angle of attack on the power structures Smiley had built — having other 'believed dead' characters on her side would make sense.[/spoiler] I'm certainly not suggesting you have to
like it, only that it would make sense in context.
I've said this before elsewhere, but I think the idea that 2000AD generally avoids resurrecting the dead is actually less true than we'd like it to be – the fact is, Tharg brings people back to life with, if not quite the regularity of the Big Two, less hesitation than we might ascribe to him. That said, he also tends to do it with less hype.
Characters who have been killed off only to return anew include Ace Garp, Chopper, Johnny Alpha (twice!), Wulf (as a zombie), Torquemada, Nemesis, Hershey, chunks of Nikolai Dante's supporting cast (many of them were clearly always planned to return, but I'm betting Viktor was a swerve), Kano, Thrax, Danny Franks (effectively), Mad Tommy, Flytrap, the Angel Gang, Tyranny Rex, Rogue Trooper, Winwood and Cord, Claw Carver... and so on.
I'm not saying all these resurrections were necessarily bad – though I think some were definitely a mistake – but they're not as uncommon as we imagine.
That's a fair point. But when did Rogue come back from the dead? Or do you just mean we've had stories about him since he was killed, set before that happened?
Winwood and Cord didn't actually die. Or, being Indigo Prime operatives, they were dead already.
Rogue's implied to be dead at the end of the Winter Special story that concludes The Hit. He returns with the regened chips and Venus and gets killed. He's then resurrected, after a fashion, as Tor Cyan.
You're right about Winwood and Cord - their resurrection doesn't hugely bother me given the nature of Indigo Prime but I certainly read them as close to a more permanent end at the conclusion of Killing Time.
Quote from: Richard on 14 May, 2020, 01:17:54 PM
Winwood and Cord didn't actually die. Or, being Indigo Prime operatives, they were dead already.
True, but much like Chopper in Song of the Surfer, the end of Killing Time is infinitely better if they do, as they appear to, Cease to Be.
Quote from: Greg M. on 14 May, 2020, 02:19:06 PM
He's then resurrected, after a fashion, as Tor Cyan.
Wasn't Tor Cyan a clone derived from Rogue's corpse? Whether that counts as resurrection would be an ecumenical matter.
He's a clone based on Rogue's chip, isn't he? (Been a while could be wrong.) Which pretty much makes him Rogue.
With the resurrection of Hersey it can easy be explained than some of the other return from dead scenarios we had. I am actually still dumbfounded how many old folk to not like the Hersey story.
Ah, I thought the No. 4 chip was damaged and thus he was a 'standard' clone, hence the lack of memories. But like yourself, I doubt I've read that story since it first ran so I'm probably completely wrong!
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 May, 2020, 02:58:33 PM
Ah, I thought the No. 4 chip was damaged and thus he was a 'standard' clone, hence the lack of memories. But like yourself, I doubt I've read that story since it first ran so I'm probably completely wrong!
Actually, on reflection, I think you're right, but I feel like maybe it's left ambiguous as to how much he is or isn't Rogue? He doesn't have his memories though, that's true.
Postie has just been and still no Prog for me. So looks like it won't turn up before the next one. Non arrival seems to coincide with the Bank Holidays. Not sure why that is....I can understand them being late, but not why they go missing altogether😢.
To be fair to Rebellion they have been good at sending out replacements when this has happened before.
Didn't Rogue and the others get brought back in the Friday timeline before Tor Cyan was declared a clone?
Quote from: metcalfecarr on 15 May, 2020, 10:49:06 AM
Didn't Rogue and the others get brought back in the Friday timeline before Tor Cyan was declared a clone?
Yeah, they came back and met Friday and then all got killed on some satellite or ship, apart from Venus and Gunnar's chip. Later on, the (oddly underrated) Mercy Heights started with Tor Cyan in it. Eventually, Tor got a somewhat directionless solo series, which revealed that he'd been cloned from Rogue's remains by... some big space monster thingy.
Quote from: Greg M. on 15 May, 2020, 11:09:01 AM
Quote from: metcalfecarr on 15 May, 2020, 10:49:06 AM
Didn't Rogue and the others get brought back in the Friday timeline before Tor Cyan was declared a clone?
Yeah, they came back and met Friday and then all got killed on some satellite or ship, apart from Venus and Gunnar's chip. Later on, the (oddly underrated) Mercy Heights started with Tor Cyan in it. Eventually, Tor got a somewhat directionless solo series, which revealed that he'd been cloned from Rogue's remains by... some big space monster thingy.
To be honest for me this is one of the biggest shames in 2000ad history in the space of maybe what 6 or 7 years they managed to make a mess of a characters history by trying to jam so much together that really didn't need to be. Took Marvel about 4 times that to make say Jean Grey as convoluted and DC at least two or three Crisis!
Tharg blamed the readers for allegedly besieging him with queries about how Rogue and Friday were connected.
Quote from: Greg M. on 15 May, 2020, 12:54:41 PM
Tharg blamed the readers for allegedly besieging him with queries about how Rogue and Friday were connected.
Obviously anecdote≠data, but literally none of the 2000AD fans I knew then or know now were remotely bothered by this question, understanding perfectly well that Friday was an alternate take on the original character. I've never thought that line bore much scrutiny.
Friday's story started before Rogue's story was completed. Rogue was completely abandoned when Friday was getting into its stride.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 15 May, 2020, 01:01:25 PM
I've never thought that line bore much scrutiny.
I agree - I'm not at all convinced that anyone was really clamouring for it. I know that distant 1989 was before the era in which the reboot became quite so ubiquitous, but I expect the readership got the general idea.
Quote from: Greg M. on 15 May, 2020, 11:09:01 AM
Quote from: metcalfecarr on 15 May, 2020, 10:49:06 AM
Didn't Rogue and the others get brought back in the Friday timeline before Tor Cyan was declared a clone?
Later on, the (oddly underrated) Mercy Heights started with Tor Cyan in it. Eventually, Tor got a somewhat directionless solo series, which revealed that he'd been cloned from Rogue's remains by... some big space monster thingy.
Tor was regened directly from Rogue's biochip (recovered from his actual corpse, found drifting in space) and the 'space monster' was Rahab, one of the same 'flesh factories' that we met beneath Cinnabar in the form of Charybdis.
Since your memory of this demonstrates the crystal-clarity that mine lacks, I'm curious: is Charybdis directly referenced? If so, fair play, John Tomlinson.
Quote from: Greg M. on 15 May, 2020, 01:30:23 PM
Since your memory of this demonstrates the crystal-clarity that mine lacks, I'm curious: is Charybdis directly referenced? If so, fair play, John Tomlinson.
Yup!
And now I want to read it again.... Cheers!
Nice one, Dark Jimbo!
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 May, 2020, 02:24:29 PM
Quote from: Richard on 14 May, 2020, 01:17:54 PM
Winwood and Cord didn't actually die. Or, being Indigo Prime operatives, they were dead already.
True, but much like Chopper in Song of the Surfer, the end of Killing Time is infinitely better if they do, as they appear to, Cease to Be.
What he said. I recently re-read that Garth Ennis Chopper resurrection strip in the Megazine, and while it was fairly entertaining (if surprisingly smutty for the time), I would gladly exchange it for the memory of Chopper dying the absolutely monumental death that John and Colin gave him.
I'm wayyy behind in progs. I've only read the first Hershey episode so I shouldn't judge, but I have to say I'm very saddened to see yet another poignant and unforgettable McNeil-illustrated death being reversed.
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 15 May, 2020, 03:06:47 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 May, 2020, 02:24:29 PM
Quote from: Richard on 14 May, 2020, 01:17:54 PM
Winwood and Cord didn't actually die. Or, being Indigo Prime operatives, they were dead already.
True, but much like Chopper in Song of the Surfer, the end of Killing Time is infinitely better if they do, as they appear to, Cease to Be.
What he said. I recently re-read that Garth Ennis Chopper resurrection strip in the Megazine, and while it was fairly entertaining (if surprisingly smutty for the time), I would gladly exchange it for the memory of Chopper dying the absolutely monumental death that John and Colin gave him.
I'm wayyy behind in progs. I've only read the first Hershey episode so I shouldn't judge, but I have to say I'm very saddened to see yet another poignant and unforgettable McNeil-illustrated death being reversed.
Don't forget Johnny Alpha! ;)
Just America and Bennet Beeny left to bring back now... :o
Hadn't you heard? America Jara sent a droid of herself to the Statue of Liberty, and has been working in the Cursed Earth to send an army of Bennett Beeny clones to fight the judges in a forthcoming action packed Garth (Sleez n Ryder, Time Flies) Ennis adventure.
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 15 May, 2020, 06:49:34 PM
Hadn't you heard? America Jara sent a droid of herself to the Statue of Liberty, and has been working in the Cursed Earth to send an army of Bennett Beeny invisible ninja clones to fight the judges in a forthcoming action packed Garth (Sleez n Ryder, Time Flies) Ennis adventure.
FTFY ;)
:)
Hopefully illustrated by Glenn (Howard the Duck, a bit of Die Laughing) Fabry, then a less famous airbrush artist when he doesn't get it done in time.
- Hmm. Lot of punningly-titled fast food joints in Dredd this prog.
- That final frame in Aquila absolutely screams 'this is what comics is all about'.
- Really going to miss SG.
- Did the last page of the Future Shock not get printed or something..?
- That's some top-tier cybernetic limbage from Simon Fraser.
Just got my Prog. Glad I waited before contacting Rebellion.
Quote from: Magnetica on 21 May, 2020, 09:40:48 AM
Just got my Prog. Glad I waited before contacting Rebellion.
You have more patience that I have.
Just catching up on my Progs after postal delays.
Due to the delays I have hbeen reading them in a different way: several weeks worth of each strip in turn, rather than Prog by Prog. I have to say it really works.
I very much enjoyed this run of Aquila. As others have said it ended a bit abruptly; in fact it wasn't really an ending, more of a pause. Very much looking forward to more. I hope we aren't going to have to wait years.