On a run of Saturday progs!
Love this cover from Tazio Bettin.
Dredd is already starting to heat up. We know Asher is a decent guy (considering, anyway) and the tension here is who is going to get him first. Great gag with the corpse in the car - funny, but also heartlessly horrible stuff from Dredd.
Portals is winning me round - the monster stuff is good, Dain's overblown dialogue is excellent althiugh the vampire stuff less so. I'm less sure on the racism analogy: I think I know what it's aiming for but it seems clumsy when Kroy is literally trying to avoid being killed by monsters. If the monsters are literal flesh-eating monsters, is fearing and hating them a sensible reaction? Anyway, it's enjoyable stuff on the whole.
Void Runners has won me over - and then it finishes. Argh! Glad to read it's coming back as I feel like it's only just started to get really good. The three subjugators are definitely the highlight.
Absolute belter of an episode of Hershey - the last two pages are sheer, sheer horror. Incredible art and the red against the muted colours is a masterstroke. Nightmarish.
Finally Azimuth - SPOILERS - is what we thought, a straight up continuation of Dexter. Its a standard Dex episode where he shoots people with funny names. Ho hum. At least it looks good.
Cover by Tazio Bettin:
(https://dyn.media.forbiddenplanet.com/z9JJ1yrX0jUCIJ6f0G_7RWx4x_Q=/trim/fit-in/779x1024/filters:format(webp)/https://media.forbiddenplanet.com/products/e7/35/b300fbca82155580ccf58887fdfec7385a0d.jpeg)
Partying like its 2102 in Dredd.
I wish Tharg had pointed out the prog numbers from the last Asher story as I can't recall the exact details of where it was all left - Dredd is already onto Asher, Asher is mobbing it up, but its a bit hazy - is Barney up to date enough to track em down? As ever the KenPT Droid is pretty close to that Classic taste, and I appreciate a reference to ShepNerd, being one. That said, I do feel the calibration of Dredd Softy/Bastard/Wanker scale seems to have been turned a bit too far to Wanker after some complaints about Softy setting coming through in the N-AI_mand bot. Burning the corpse is fun in the moment, but is a 90s/00s flavour that jars a bit with the 70s/80s stylings elsewhere.
Portals & Black Goo is working better than Tomlinsons shorts, though as Barrington says, the "Racism" angle is a bit weird. We could presume that the story would reveal that the myths are all just that and the monsters arent "comin over here and taking our entrails", but we've kind of established that they are?
Still at least theres a theme and I think thats the Void in Void Runners - whats it all about? Drugs are cool? Dunno, the comparisons to Ace Trucking arent putting this into teh best light - I could see a fun Ace Trucking story based rouhghly around the same plot points, but it would be half the length and twice the fun? It;s OK, but feels a bit stretched thin.
Hershey is dead to me (literally)!
Azimuth - not too disappointed that it ties into Sun Dex as it wasnt that out of the blue, but I must have lost track of Sin Dex - wasnt Sinister still after Dexter and co and part of the Creep fakes? Again, could do with going back if Barney has up to date enough info....
Oof! Barney is 3 years out of date - I know the feeling as the last 3 years all feel like a bit of a gap - if I had the passwords, I wouldnt mind updating it as it would give me an excuse to go over the last 3 years and see if I can make some of it stick
An Honest Man was in progs 2281-2286 (tel:2281-2286).
The A-Z has a Kyle Asher (https://2kstages.github.io/AtoZ/KyleAsher/data.html) page.
Quote from: Leigh S on 22 July, 2023, 07:43:56 PMDredd is already onto Asher, Asher is mobbing it up, but its a bit hazy
In the first story, the SJS were the bad guys. In the second, Asher does go perp - trying to generate quick creds to pay to his first victim's daughter. He succeeds, but a hot-head Judge dies in the debacle. He's now wanted.
Quote from: Leigh S on 22 July, 2023, 07:43:56 PMI must have lost track of Sin Dex - wasnt Sinister still after Dexter and co and part of the Creep fakes? Again, could do with going back if Barney has up to date enough info....
The A-Z is more up to date on Sin-Dex (https://2kstages.github.io/AtoZ/SinisterDexter/2022.html#baseMenu).
Sinister is a creepfake, and was chasing Dexter and co., who were trying to escape to Mangapore. However, in the last part of Bulletopia (The End of the Pier Show), Lilith (an AI that lives in Dexter's Fony implant) gains the power to locally stealth-blind creepfakes.
Billi, Klinks and Hosanna head for Mangapore, and Dexter decides to return to Downlode. Lilith, who only Dexter (and us, the readers) can see, adopts a Sinister skin. Creepfake Sinister is whereabouts unknown.
(I haven't read the current prog to see how this ties in with Azimuth - I have to wait for digital.)
Lots going on this week behind an interestingly framed cover.
Dredd the story build. Niemand shows what a superb writer his in with the silent arrest pages, while get an exposition dump as a 'soundtrack' just sublime stuff.
Portal and black goo yeah feels disjointed at the moment but its okay.
Void Runners arh damn only 8 parts, 8 absolutely thrillpower packed part. Interesting Tharg says we'll retrun to the Universe rather than the specific thrill. I mean that might mean nowt and this story has a really satisfying end. So whatever we come back to looking forward to it. This has been a fantastic, fresh story
Hershey thought it was here I saw someone praising Simon Fraser art to the heavens, must have been elsewhere, which is a shame as I can't just quote it and say 'this' the story holds better than last week but let's face it Fraser stunning use of colour is the absolutely star here. Great stuff.
Azimuth nicely slams up back into gear. Intrigued that a story that feels far more of a 'typical' Dexter continuation retains the Azimuth title so things may well develop even further here. Great stuff.
So yeah overall pretty damned fine Prog. Do we know what we're getting to replace Void Runners next week? I'm guessin 2350 will be a jump on Prog (???) so a 3riller (not so frequent these days) or a run of Future Shocks? We'll see.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 24 July, 2023, 12:16:32 PM.....Do we know what we're getting to replace Void Runners next week? I'm guessin 2350 will be a jump on Prog (???) so a 3riller (not so frequent these days) or a run of Future Shocks? We'll see.
In prog 2329's Thrills of the Future it said that in prog 2343 Herne & Shuck return in Maxwell's Demon - the original 3riller was titled The Crawly Man and was published in prog 2297-2299
Lovely cover, despite, you know.
Dredd shows more assured writing and art from Niemand and Foster. The black humour and horrible city feel quite classic Dredd, albeit shifted into this more mature era. I'll be amazed if Asher survives this arc, mind.
Portals still feels really messy. Maybe it's Tomlinson's writing style, but from a storytelling perspective it feels quite disjointed. I don't care about the lead. So this feels like a "fine, it's there" strip for now.
Void Runners feels more end-of-arc than end-of-character. Surely the last line from the narrator confirms that. In all, this one was a short blast that was quite fun. Not a classic for me, but I'd happily read another series to see where it might go.
Hershey remains top-notch, in my book. I get that it's divisive. But for me, this pairing of script and art just works. Again, I do suspect we have a main protagonist who's not going to survive the arc. Although Frank might have better luck.
Azimuth was... fine. I mean, at this point it's basically Sin/Dex if Sin had magic powers. It looks lovely. I just still wish it could have been something else. But as an imaginative rug pull, it still outmatches anything else I've seen from this strip in a long while.
Hershey > Dredd > Azidex > Void > Portals
One of those weeks where another post sums it up perfectly
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 22 July, 2023, 01:14:31 PMOn a run of Saturday progs!
Love this cover from Tazio Bettin.
Dredd is already starting to heat up. We know Asher is a decent guy (considering, anyway) and the tension here is who is going to get him first. Great gag with the corpse in the car - funny, but also heartlessly horrible stuff from Dredd.
Portals is winning me round - the monster stuff is good, Dain's overblown dialogue is excellent althiugh the vampire stuff less so. I'm less sure on the racism analogy: I think I know what it's aiming for but it seems clumsy when Kroy is literally trying to avoid being killed by monsters. If the monsters are literal flesh-eating monsters, is fearing and hating them a sensible reaction? Anyway, it's enjoyable stuff on the whole.
Void Runners has won me over - and then it finishes. Argh! Glad to read it's coming back as I feel like it's only just started to get really good. The three subjugators are definitely the highlight.
Absolute belter of an episode of Hershey - the last two pages are sheer, sheer horror. Incredible art and the red against the muted colours is a masterstroke. Nightmarish.
Finally Azimuth - SPOILERS - is what we thought, a straight up continuation of Dexter. Its a standard Dex episode where he shoots people with funny names. Ho hum. At least it looks good.
So I'll just leave it there
Dredd was solid, not really moving anything on much but the info dump with the daft arrest in the background was effective. Love Foster's art, even if "Ken" doesn't like him.
Portals doesn't do much for me, not totally sure what's going on, though the art is good
Void Runners was a good series, and not stretched too thin which always makes a nice change. The best use of Boo Cook so far.
Hershey is OK, feels like we've been following her for decades up there, I hope it actually finshes this time round.The art is basic but works well.
Azimuth was fun, so glad it turned out this way as I was ready to bail on it last week until the twist.
Quote from: Bad City Blue on 27 July, 2023, 10:42:51 AMLove Foster's art, even if "Ken" doesn't like him.
Not sure where you're getting that from...? I don't do Twitter much these days, but that's the only place Ken has a social media presence and I haven't seen any griping about Tom on there...
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 25 July, 2023, 09:35:23 AMLovely cover, despite, you know.
Dredd shows more assured writing and art from Niemand and Foster. The black humour and horrible city feel quite classic Dredd, albeit shifted into this more mature era. I'll be amazed if Asher survives this arc, mind.
Portals still feels really messy. Maybe it's Tomlinson's writing style, but from a storytelling perspective it feels quite disjointed. I don't care about the lead. So this feels like a "fine, it's there" strip for now.
Void Runners feels more end-of-arc than end-of-character. Surely the last line from the narrator confirms that. In all, this one was a short blast that was quite fun. Not a classic for me, but I'd happily read another series to see where it might go.
Hershey remains top-notch, in my book. I get that it's divisive. But for me, this pairing of script and art just works. Again, I do suspect we have a main protagonist who's not going to survive the arc. Although Frank might have better luck.
Azimuth was... fine. I mean, at this point it's basically Sin/Dex if Sin had magic powers. It looks lovely. I just still wish it could have been something else. But as an imaginative rug pull, it still outmatches anything else I've seen from this strip in a long while.
Hershey > Dredd > Azidex > Void > Portals
This^^^ from me too!!
B/W and Coloured Covers:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Coverpencils-724x1024.jpg)
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/coverdexazimuth-807x1024.jpg)
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 27 July, 2023, 11:07:20 AMQuote from: Bad City Blue on 27 July, 2023, 10:42:51 AMLove Foster's art, even if "Ken" doesn't like him.
Not sure where you're getting that from...? I don't do Twitter much these days, but that's the only place Ken has a social media presence and I haven't seen any griping about Tom on there...
Ah sorry, my mistake, it was Leonardo Manco he shat on
Metaphorically. :-\
And even there, it's not that he "doesn't like him" so much as he found working with him to be a frustrating experience.
Really is a fabby cover!! :D
That cover has me jonesing for Tazio Bettin Nikolai Dante
Quote from: nxylas on 27 July, 2023, 06:15:47 PMAnd even there, it's not that he "doesn't like him" so much as he found working with him to be a frustrating experience.
To be fair, if I was watching a series I'd written get whole episodes removed just in hope of getting the artist to finish it before the heat death of the universe (while the artist in question is gaily posting images of all the commissions he's been doing), I might get a little salty about it, too!
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 27 July, 2023, 07:54:20 PMTo be fair, if I was watching a series I'd written get whole episodes removed just in hope of getting the artist to finish it before the heat death of the universe (while the artist in question is gaily posting images of all the commissions he's been doing), I might get a little salty about it, too!
And sending him images of his redesigns of the Lawmaster, when Dredd wasn't even shown riding it in the original script.
Quote from: nxylas on 27 July, 2023, 08:07:11 PMAnd sending him images of his redesigns of the Lawmaster, when Dredd wasn't even shown riding it in the original script.
True story: when I quit my job and went 100% freelance, a
big part of the calculation about whether it was financially viable hinged on a 150+ page OGN that I'd signed a contract for. The artist was then over six months late delivering the pages... while I watched him post his Farmville scores on Facebook. I was a
little salty about that, if I'm honest. :)
Si Spurrier recently tweeted out something blasting writers and artists who laugh and joke about having a relaxed attitude to deadlines, though I don't know if it was aimed at any specific individual.
Quote from: nxylas on 27 July, 2023, 09:02:14 PMSi Spurrier recently tweeted out something blasting writers and artists who laugh and joke about having a relaxed attitude to deadlines, though I don't know if it was aimed at any specific individual.
Can't enlighten on that, other than to say that I do a bunch of non-Big-Two Spurrier books and they all come in on schedule.
The Dredd is a decent bit of Niemand - MC1 has felt just a tiny bit boring in recent years, and things like the corpse in the car and a place called Salmonella goes some way towards reintroducing the huge-scale, technicolour craziness that used to permeate the city. Even the old black and white Dredds somehow felt more colourful than some of the small-scale crime dramas that happen so often these days, but Ken Niemand has his finger on the pulse of the type of Mega City I like.
Azimuth - well, it looks lovely, and I quite enjoyed it. As I've said elsewhere, SinDex started as a kind of full-on barrage of fun and violence in the DR and Quinch tradition, and I kind of preferred that to the long, meandering dramas. I never really saw them as characters needing much in the way of character development, in the same way that Middenface McNulty and Ro-Jaws don't need to grow too mature, thoughtful and brooding. But this seems a bit more interesting than most of their tales of recent years and I do want to see how it plays out.
The only other one I've read so far is Hershey. The art is, of course, excellent, and the story is OK. However, I just can't get past the fact that her death was one of the most powerful scenes I've ever read in Dredd, and like other Colin McNeil death scenes before it was squandered for a story that isn't particularly consequential for Dredd and his world. Sorry. Maybe it's just me getting old and grouchy.
Niemand has a good handle on 'retro' when it comes to Dredd, picking and choosing the best bits and merging them with modern sensibilities. I know there has been criticism of his dialogue, which for Dredd could perhaps sometimes be more terse. But for me, his Dredds remain the closest in feel to Wagner scripts.
Hershey: I do understand people's upset with this strip's existence. But I must say it's also refreshing to have a middle-aged woman in comics who looks like a middle-aged woman and who is kicking arse. And, hey, at least it's better than the Angel Gang being resurrected.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 28 July, 2023, 12:13:05 PMHershey: I do understand people's upset with this strip's existence. But I must say it's also refreshing to have a middle-aged woman in comics who looks like a middle-aged woman and who is kicking arse. And, hey, at least it's better than the Angel Gang being resurrected.
All true, of course. Just wish it had been a
different middle aged woman, not the one whose death was, in my opinion at least, one of the all-time great Dredd moments. I don't know - deMarco, maybe? Perrier, or is she dead? Janus? Well, maybe not that last one, but all must be in their 50s by now.
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 28 July, 2023, 01:03:47 PMAll true, of course. Just wish it had been a different middle aged woman, not the one whose death was, in my opinion at least, one of the all-time great Dredd moments. I don't know - deMarco, maybe? Perrier, or is she dead? Janus? Well, maybe not that last one, but all must be in their 50s by now.
Or just stop drawing Anderson as Psi-Judge Barbie.
Quote from: nxylas on 28 July, 2023, 05:30:16 PMQuote from: JayzusB.Christ on 28 July, 2023, 01:03:47 PMAll true, of course. Just wish it had been a different middle aged woman, not the one whose death was, in my opinion at least, one of the all-time great Dredd moments. I don't know - deMarco, maybe? Perrier, or is she dead? Janus? Well, maybe not that last one, but all must be in their 50s by now.
Or just stop drawing Anderson as Psi-Judge Barbie.
Aye. I miss sexy young Judge Anderson - I remember growing to appreciate her far more as I hit my teens - but she's in her 60s and doesn't take anti-ageing drugs, and it's just getting silly now. So just to redress the balance, while I'm really not on board with resurrecting Hershey, at least she looks her age.
The Hershey strip divides me.
On the one hand, it shouldn't exist, but on the other hand, it's brilliant so I'm glad it does.
Quote from: nxylas on 27 July, 2023, 09:02:14 PMSi Spurrier recently tweeted out something blasting writers and artists who laugh and joke about having a relaxed attitude to deadlines, though I don't know if it was aimed at any specific individual.
How many years has it been since Fraser Irving announced that he was
finally making a start on the fourth issue of
Gutsville?
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 29 July, 2023, 12:52:32 PMQuote from: nxylas on 27 July, 2023, 09:02:14 PMSi Spurrier recently tweeted out something blasting writers and artists who laugh and joke about having a relaxed attitude to deadlines, though I don't know if it was aimed at any specific individual.
How many years has it been since Fraser Irving announced that he was finally making a start on the fourth issue of Gutsville?
Now there's something the Meg should run!!
Quote from: Leigh S on 27 July, 2023, 06:41:31 PMThat cover has me jonesing for Tazio Bettin Nikolai Dante
Was thinking the same!
Enjoy the Bettin Droid's work for as long as Tharg can afford him.