Again, niot much to say, just thought I'd get the thread started..
FS is really unoriginal and left me scratching me head thinking I'd missed something
But ABC really hit the spot - Flints best ever Deadlock!
Barring B & K, rest is entertaining stuff
Sadly no sign of a prog or a meg here :(
oh, my god, i didn't realise it was the weekly and monthly this week. i feel like a kid on christmas morning!!!
yeah its a up and down prog this week..thought the FS was quite good (even if it did feel I'd read it before) lovely art by Parkhouse...
ABC is top thrill again IMO..cant wait for next weeks double lenght clincher..
Caballistics has improved again and was genuinely creepy..
The Dredd story and B&K have finished.
James Feist completes the letters double header this week(prog and Meg)
er what else happens?...thats about it
Another good prog! The ABC Warriors are the stand out, closely followed by Dredd.
is it just me or does each ep of cabin go by to quickly, like there isn't enough to read.
p.s. can't believe dredd's still droning on about bloody card numbers.
Right, I wrote a rather lengthy review of Meg 223, so I'll try & keep this short :-)
COVER: Lovely.
DREDD: A satisfying conclusion to a good tale. The card thing did get a *little* stretched toward the end, though ;-)
ABC WARRIORS: Genius. Keep Flint on this for Book III, and make sure the Mills Droid keeps on getting whatever he's being fed.
BEC & KAWL: Sorry, but no. The first ep was interesting, but it flopped completely after that.
FUTURE SHOCKS: Not really much of a "shock", but this was a nice, moody short with gorgeous art.
CABALLISTICS, INC: Aliens, trips through British horror movie classics, soldiers in gas masks & a mysterious man killing zombies. Rennie throws another bit in the mix & Dom produces some beautiful art. Sublime.
LETTERS: What's this mass mail-out? Sounds like an interesting scheme.
A damn good prog, let down only by Bec & Kawl.
Cover - Yeah, it's okay.
Dredd - Loved the cards speech, pleasantly surprised that the Cadets stayed in the J.D., and would like to see some of them again.
A.B.C. - Enjoying it but it's not getting much further, is it?
F.S. - a nice mood piece. Not a surprise but good for what it is.
B & K - Well, I like it. Nice to see Norman again, acreting a supporting cast is a good thing for the series, I think.
Cabals - This is the good shit. Mystery man killing zombies? That's no mystery man, that's Lawrence, surely?
Good prog.
I thought the cover wasn't very good (for a Harrison cover) I think it looks rushed. And the tag line font sent a "Chronos Carnival" shiver down my spine!
Why the white stripes?
And what's up with the logo (and the price ring)the red on my prog is all mucky on one edge?
I take back all my comments from last week, the Dredd was excellent and the pacing (splitting the speech over 2 weeks' worth of progs) worked. In the end. Is this Dredd Mellowing?
FS was crap. And pointless. And unfunny. And annoying. And very unlike this particular creative team. So disappointing, too.
B&K rounds off in fine style.
Cabs rollicks along. I can't think of a single instance when this wasn't my favourite thing in any prog it appears in, since series three anyway.
ABC Warriors. I want to get very stoned, drop some acid, lie on my back in a field, and have this two series of ABC Warriors projected onto the clouds above my head. Trippy, wierd, mad, quite possibly brilliant, I just don't know.
Asylum II art! Excellent!
if tharg spends time bollocking on about asylum 2 then why do we need the promo thing too? bring back p14!!!
abd i think the fs was more about the art than the story, hence two 'silent' pages.
Sorry, but I thought the Future Shock was rubbish! The art was okay, but not special enough to carry a duff story. Fortunately, the other four thrills this week *were* special enough to carry one duff Future Shock - so it's stays a good solid prog.
Dredd was top stuff, as per.
ABC Warriors, I'm enjoying this loads at the moment, and the art work is brilliant.
Bec & Kawl was funny, great to see recurring characters here.
Caballistics, Inc. Class. Pure class.
Came home from a dreadful days work to see a meg AND 2k in my mail, nothing cheers me up quite like it!
cover- Loved it, one of my favourites of the year so far and is now my phone wallpaper!
Dredd was a great ending to a really enjoyable story, and ABC was one of those episodes where everything just clicked and was perfect, Deadlock's coolness knows no bounds,and Blackblood's line at the end gave me my first laugh out loud moment of the issue. Bec&Kawl wrapped up nicely but didn't really leave much of an impression. Future Shock was a major disappointment, was too short for the ending to have an impact, and Caballistics is the perfect way to finish off, fantastic in every way.
Veeeeeeeery excited about Asylum 2, I cried during the first one for some inexplicable reason so I'm expecting great things.And now I get to read the meg! Life is too good.
Link: PAIGE
DXB - well, it looks a little like Lawrence Verse, but I don't think it is...
Cover-Okay enough.
Dredd-tory didn't really spark me off. Feel like we're treading old (cursed) ground. Good art though and some nice crazy characters.
ABC-What the hell is going on? Who cares? So far we've had loating fat men, apes with guns and big stompy robots a go-go. Fantastic art from Henry Flint, as usual. Keep taking the pills, Pat!
B&K-Look, I like it, oaky? It's better than a few other comedy strips I've seen over the years. It's just meant to be entertainment! It made me laugh, it did it's job.
Future Shock- Iliked this, actually. I like the whole silent aspect. I guess it doesn't stand up to scrutiny, but hey, there have been worse.
Caballistics-I'm going to have to catch up with the story at some point and try to remember what the hell is going on with all these people, but, well, Lovecraftian Monsters & Zombie killing, axe wielding Egyptians do kick ass, so Woohoo!
I liked the Future Shock for three reasons;
1 - It doesn't have a twist ending, which is kind of like a twist in and of itself.
2 - Steve Parkhouse art - always a pleasure.
3 - I've never seen Signs, and apparantly I don't NEED to watch it now, as this is some sort of condensed version, but without Mel Gibson - result.
Okay bucaneer, want to make a bet about whether that was Lawrence or not? I'm assuming that each of the Cabals has ended up in a different film inspired environ and they'll slowly get to find each other again over the coming weeks. That's Lawrence and we'll see the others in equally strange places...
Fiver to the charity of your choice says it is...
Er, i just figured that was Lugate's Dracula...
Dracula Vs The Scorpion King - Genius!
I kind of like the Future Shock ,even though its very definitely a "non-story", I guess because theres some hints of EC Comics-ness to it and I'mn a sucker for that kind of thing.
It is basically the first five pages of the second Authority though.
Gripes:
Cover not up to Harrison's usual standard, Bec & Kawl came off like two episodes sloppily edited into one, and the FS... well, not much point in showing off yer artistic storytelling prowess while not having an actual bleedin' story, is there?
Hurrahs:
Everything else.
Speculation:
Joe Pineapple's boinks the President's missus in Book 3.
got mine.
its like dining on caviar and lobster
or for you veggies, the finest organic foods each week isnt it.
its so damn good these days we find it hard to say very positive things about the prog.
i say we are now officailly in a second golden age.
each story was good to bloody brillant.wonderful art and great sound bites. come on Dredd once again showing a moment of bending just a little.
years gone by he would failed them all for not following orders.
it was once again a thumping good read, even the future shock was a decent tale.with lovely art.
two thumbs up for being the galaxys greatest week on week with hardly a hiccup once again.
it was great, not outstanding WOW SAD COMIC FAN BOY MOMENT granted. but was still bloody great.
Bit disappointed with this prog, myself.
cover - balls. The harrison droid just cannot draw Dredd, IMO. How does he see through that visor?
Dredd - Didnt do much for me. The cards speech got a little silly in the end, and im still not sure wether he passed the cadets or not.
ABC warriors - Im just not 'getting' this. I love the artwork, and want to see more of it, but what the hell is going on? Should it really have taken 2 books just to get...well... nowhere?!?
Bec & Kawl - Its over! Woohoo!
Caballistics Inc - The extremely large jewel in the 2000ad crown. Best episode yet of 'Creepshow', fantastic stuff. Dom Reardon makes the art look so damn easy!
FS - I kinda liked this, but mainly for the art. Allways a pleasure to see Steve Parkhouse's scribblings. The 'story' was a bit shite, but still made a nice FS.
No droid life - Boo!
The preview of the art for Asylum 2 looked very very good indeed, but im still not looking forward to its return to be honest.
Sheesh, am i on a downer today or what!?!
Cover - I really liked this one
Dredd - I've enjoyed this tale and the arts been ace
ABC - You cant fault the art and most of the crazy ideas have worked well but if its taken a whole book just to introduce the Shadow Warriors how many is it going to take to knock them all down?
FS - This read like a prologue to some larger story. It was ok and I love the art but feel using Parkhouse for this story was a missed opportunity. Couldn't they have used him on a comedy Dredd or are they reserved for Gibson.
B&K - I really enjoyed this as it means it wont be here next week!
Cab Inc - I think most agree that this is the best thing in ages. Looooooong may it continue.
All in all a mixed bag but tooth is definitely on a roll this year.
MiniBolt loved the FS. Said it reminded him of Signs, which I haven't seen (btw).
He was most impressed with the art, so I've pointed him in the direction of the Bojeffries, much Hee Hee!
Bolt-01
"...so I've pointed him in the direction of the Bojeffries, much Hee Hee! "
Bolt - Theres a new issue of A1 out that has the Bojeffries in it, though I dont think its a new one.
A1 is still running? Thought it only lasted for six issues and a bikini spesh?
Have to have a look for that!
Cheers Satanist. This better not be a plot to get me into the clutches of your master!
Bolt-01
Its got 4 different covers so I got the lovely Bojeffries one.
I've had a look inside it now and it appears to be a greatest hits of the previous run as I recognise two of the stories.
Many people seemt to be furrowing their brows at my two favourite strips. ABC is great, and weird and a lot of fun. Dredd was a nice little story I thought, and an interesting character bit when he decided to leave any decision on the cadets to a disciplinary hearing rather than just boot them on the spot, he must be getting soft (don't tell him I said that).
Future shock, okay standard sort of thing, and nothing much is happening in Cabs, never mind ABC'S.
Well, you're right about Cabs really, Paul, it's established the premise of the tale and is now in the business of working through the permutations. And it's doing it very nicely indeed. ABC's is huge fun too. I'm assuming that Pat wrote this with Henry in mind, as far as I can see he gets his way about who draws his stuff these days, and on this assumption I'd say Flint seems to spark Mills' imagination in the same way Kev O'Neill does, Ok so the main story seems to be taking ages to get going, but there's so much incidental detail and so many typically Pat looney tunes ideas in there, what's not to like? And he still gets his rant about his latest bugbear in (doctors at the moment, it seems). it's quintessential Mills :)
Dredd's wonderful, and everyone who doubts the quality of this tale can go fry. The denouement was utterly not what I predicted, and of course perfectly in keeping with Dredd's character, which I guess is why Wagner is one of the finest comic writers alive and I'm a pathetic nobody :)
Future Shock was OK, nothing to write home about, but it's good to see Steve Parkhouse back in the prog.
I even liked Bec & Kawl. Best story yet for them, nice deflatory last panel :)
Most disappointing thing for me was the cover, Mark Harrison's capable of better than that. Oh yes, and the lack of a Droid Life.
Current ABC Warriors is fantastic - it's been many years since I approached a Mills strip with anything but trepidation, but the recent Savage and ABC Warriors runs (and Crom Cruach help me, even the Books of Invasion) have been great bursts of freshness and silliness.
Pete is dead right about the positive feedback between Flint and Mills - the same energy was there in both the final Nemesis series and the Deadlock solo strip. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but if the Shadow Warriors was collectedd, I'd but it - there just aren't enough pages to wallow in in a single prog.
More briefly;
Cover: Striking, clear, not Harrison's best work, but I bet it pulls in a few extra casual sales.
Dredd: Loved it, particularly Dredd's utter crapness at ad libbing the card sequence, loved the art, loved the cadets. Only regret is that the perps didn't get to express the individuality hinted at in the opening episodes.
Bec and Kawl: Good fun, great art. As comedy strips go, this has really grown on me - it's no Lobster Random, but it's very well done and makes me chuckle.
FS: This was actually okay, Parkhouse's art looks nice, and as a result it was a pleasantly atmospheric tale. I take issue with the phrase "terraforming", though: quite the opposite, I would have thought.
Cabs Inc: Much as I love both Caballistics and Quatermass, this particular episode didn't do it for me. The curse of the dream sequence / alien illusion / malfunctioning holodeck / virtual reality prison, I fear.
Someone else said it recently, and I have to agree: could this be a Second Golden Age, 1000 progs after the first?
FS: Parkhouse's art is superb, but, and it's a niggly one, it looks like he drew each panel separately and then placed and colouerd them in photoshop and in doing so enlarged/reduced certain panels so that the inking lines are thicker and thinner throughout the strip, interesting technique if it is a considered one, but just niggles me. Don't know why.
Could be he did just that. La Diva Critchlow does a similar thang.
Yeah, wondered about that too. Thought it might be Parkhouse making a deliberate/obvious echo of the panel-based "Amazing Tales" (or whatever) comic the sprog brandishes on the first page. Then I thought that it might be evidence of Blythe tampering with the art to make it a bit more dynamic. Either way, I liked the result.
In last weeks review post (1403?) I was quite harsh on the ABC warriors. Last night, however, I read the whole of book2 in a wan-ey and I really liked it. Strange. Example - there was me thinking that this neuropeptide stuff had been pulled out of the ether in 1404 only to see a billboard advertising it as "the right stuff" in an earlier prog. The human characters were nowhere near as jarring as they seemed when reading weekly.
There are still small things that annoyed, like Steelhorns intervention when Joe is about to shoot the Trisaur - why didnt steelhorn do anything the first time the Boons charged? Deadlock lopped one of the Trisaurs heads off! Overall, though, Im getting right into this. Cant wait for the doube episode this week.
I guess I had my own ideas of where book 2 of the Shadow warriors might go and this certainly isnt it! Exactly how many of these Shadow Warrior Books are there going to be?
hex
'Tis very good, and if Henry Flint's on art & Pat keeps up the pace, I'd be delighted to see much more of the ABCs.