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I'm going to take pedantry up a notch here.  "Hand picked" means that humans were involved.  This states "by droids", negating that completely. 

Prog 2367 - A New Direction?

Mr Robinson on cover duties may be slightly ironic but only for those looking backwards.

Dredd; Better World

Okay, let's start with Mr Flint on art duties.  Simple: wow! This is absolutely someone who is at the top of their game.  Possibly someone this story deserves.

Williams and Wyatt on scripting duties.  Well, there have been comments about the issues this story is dealing with.  Most specifically the behaviour of a certain type of channel and presenter.  How it influences practitioners ... "the law is impatioanl above all else".

Isn't that the point?  Maitland is completely impartial.  She follows the data.  Her approach is predicated on data.  Dredd neglects politics because his focus is on the law. Layers upon layers and then we get to Major Domo!

3Rillers: the English Astronaut

These are always a challenge.An extended Future Shock but can it work over 3 issues?  Certainly you can't fault Helsby's artwork. (Unless you are being particularly anal about military uniforms of the '50s).  Where is this going?  Hard to tell from part 1 but certainly the idea of time anomalies is in play. Does that have implications for the present day?  Good question, well posed, deserves an answer ...

Full Tile Boogie
Ocean's artwork is impressive, to be sure.  In fact there is little if anything to criticise from that perspective.  From a script point then: nope.  This is laying out the challenges the crew face: an 'ancient regime' intent on exacting retribution, the implications of clonage (gosh, I've got "Friday" on my mind ... ) and all the political ramifications.

Now this is where Regened works to my mind.  It take the sensibilities of modern mange, merges them through the punk mind-set of Tooth and then extrudes the most extreme aspects of SF (TBH I'm thinking of Heinlein right now but I also get a Reynolds' riff).

Enemy Earth. Hmmm, a. it of a Chris Carter moment here.  So all of the events to date are predicated on the 'dinosaur killer' event of yore.  Not a problem because that just laid the scene for all of the events to date.  TLDR: things are seriously hotting up.

Thistlebone.  Davis captures that seventies film-making sensibility that many of its intended audience will appreciate.  Where are things going?  Isn't that the question?  Certainly there are plenty of questions.  Isn't that the whole point though?

TBH this has proven to be a far stronger prog than many of late.  Full Tilt Boogie is one of the stronger offerings from Regened and really does seem to capture the sensibilities of Tooth.  3fillers are always hit or miss.  It's a challenge to work out whether they should have limited themselves to a FS or pushed the script to its limits.  Two more weeks to see ...

Overall though, a far better offering than we've had of late.

[Friday]

Currently working my way through Heinlein's Friday, a novel that I've had sat on my shelf for a while but strangely not got round to.  I do wonder how much of that is due to the complete lack of blurb so it's anyone's guess as to what the novel is about.  As one of Heinlein's more substantial tomes, it does make for interesting reading.

So the Friday of the story is an artificial person, genetically engineered, working as a courier for some arcane agency.  Part of me is wondering whether this was in anyway relevant to Gibbons' decision to name the new Rogue Trooper Friday or that was just a coincidence but that is merely an aside.

Set in a future balkanised America, the plot revolves around the lead character's misadventures during an obscure crisis that sees her on the run and trying to get back to her employers.  The nature of the crisis is unclear but the effects are enough to make life difficult for her and involve several near misses of a potentially fatal kind.

Like much of Heinlein's writing, a lot is made of polyamorous situations.  Various different kinds of marriage and relationships feature, as does Heinlein's rather 'flexible' perspective on sexual mores (for when the novel was written).  Written in the first person it rattles along at a brisk pace, almost breathlessly at times.  It is definitely of the 'pulp sci-fi' era but quite an enjoyable tome.

One of the interesting aspects of the novel is that it is so difficult to discern where things are going.  The rather peculiar nature of the crisis at the heart of it, the fragmented nature of North American society and the speed with which Friday has to navigate the crises she faces makes for a considerable amount of unpredictability.  In that respect it is all the more intriguing a piece of work.

Personally I've always felt that Heinlein is a little under-rated as an author.  Far more attention is given over to Dick, Asimov or Clarke from that generation.  Heinlein has more in common on some levels with Dick in that his characters tend to inhabit a shady world and struggle with complex situations whereas Clarke and Asimov's characters tend to be officials or persons of influence, largely able to control events.  Admittedly his libertarianism can be problematic at times.  Overall though, his work deserves far more attention.

I think for me one of the big problems is that there is a tendency to think, "oh, kids love Harry Potter, we need to pull on that."  So we end up with the likes of Lowborn High which reads like Harry Potter meets Waterloo Road.  Sorry, but that doesn't work too well. 

The best strips have been bonkers or managed to find a new twist on old ideas.  Pandora Perfect captures that manic, mischievous fervour that gives the old Cor / Buster stuff a sci-fi twist and then cheerfully rams it down your throat!  Enemy Earth took the old Survival and crossed it with Day of the Triffids on steroids with a dash of Independence Day crossed with the Fly. 

The biggest disappointment with EE has been the artwork that shows so much potential but doesn't quite deliver.  Mind you, when you look back at Henry Flint's early Rogue Trooper work you wouldn't think it was the same artist who is giving us the latest Dredd strip.

There have been some good Regened issues and some quality strips in individual issues but for me the trend has been downward over the most recent ones.  I'm at the point now where I groan at the prospect rather than look forward to it.  I know I'm not the target audience  but simply looking at them as a supportive critic I'm finding that a challenge.

Done that. also 1/ changed the fuse.
                 
                2/ changed the socket.   It's dead Jim!

Okay, have you tried kicking the living daylights out of it, hammering it with a sledgehammer, running it over with a steamroller and then dropping a low yield tactical nuclear device on it?  Then turning it back on again?

Thanks again NapalmKev.


Now my microwave combi oven has stopped working (Yes I've changed the fuse AND tried using different sockets)

Ah, but have you tried turning it off and then back on again?


<ducks ....>

f***!  Unfortunately this is going to become a tad more common considering the pedigree of some of our favourite artists. 

An amazing talent and a gracious man.

Please do not make any hasty decisions Doc.  I would completely agree with you regarding the advice you have received.  However well intentioned it might have been, it misses so much about how much your mother meant to you.  Let us know when the crowdfunded is set up.

Have you spoken to Citizen's Advice and Shelter?  It sounds a little like your caring responsibilities have limited your employment options in recent years, would that be fair to say?  Also, has your mother left a will of any kind?  Is there an official executor of her estate?  Have you spoken with the landlord?  These would all be relevant to how best to proceed.

Make sure you are taking care of yourself too.  We're here for you if you need anything, even if it is to sound off about things. 

Well, I would suggest checking out the last Battle series Rebellion put out if you've not already done so.  Definitely worth it and there's another one due next year.  Not only was Ennis on fine form but he has started to pull together a wider team of writers to give it legs.  Some bloody good stuff there.

Isn't it nice to know how competent these companies can be?  Not sure they appreciate how much of a challenge dealing with a letter like that can be.  Anyone would freak out at something like that, especially when they wrap it up in heavy-handed legalese as well ... "If you do not pay the full amount within 5 minutes of this letter being posted through your door we will send in the bailiff to take full payment in a manner that will make Shylock look utterly reasonable ..."

Wish we could offer more than best-wishes and support.  Would say that if you do think of anything specific that would help then please sing out.  In the meantime, keep on updating up with your situation and know that there are folks out there that do give a damn about you and want to see you get on.

[Amtrak Wars]

Having started a re-read (well, partial and then finishing off the series) of Patrick Tilley's Amtrak Wars, I have to say it does end in a very odd way.  ISTR reading somewhere that Tilley was considering a new series to follow this up before he passed away.  Certainly I can see why as there are more dangling threads than a teenager's ripped jeans.

It's definitely brain candy overall.  Nothing particularly deep and in some respects the characters are even shallower.  Describing Steve Brickman as a tw** is probably fairly accurate.  Certainly he comes across as incredibly narcissistic and opportunistic.  Then again so do half the characters.

The racism that permeates the series can also be a little hard to swallow at times.  This is especially true of those parts of the storyline that take place in the territory of Ne-Issan which seems to account for a substantial part of the series.  It's not just the strictly hierarchical society that is described but also the way many of the Japanese characters are portrayed.  As time goes on it does become a bit wearisome.

What is most peculiar though is that at the heart of this series is some sort of prophecy about a super-being that is going to unify the Plainfolk, a sort of hybrid American-Indian / African-American offshoot of the gang survivors of the distant holocaust.  For a plot device that seems to be central to much of the action, the fact that it is left unresolved in the final novel is baffling.

I suppose if it were not for the fact that it such an easy read and right now I just need something that is not going to engage my brain too much, I doubt very much I would have bothered.  Certainly compared to Fade Out and Mission, these are very poor fare.

Dead Men walking goes back a bit.  One of Cook's earliest pieces.  Mash up of a prison movie and a zombie movie IIRC.  Not bad as these things go.  A one and done.

ISTR Kingmaker being left on a bit of cliffhanger with unresolved threads.  Mind you we've only just had the next volume of Helium and some of us are still waiting for Tully and Gibbons to finish off a Dan Dare story from 40 odd years ago ...

One of the reasons I think this is so good is because Garth Ennis obviously loves Johnny Red so this is written from the perspective of a fan to have all the stuff that makes a great story. Tough action, dogfights, johnny being stoic, Von Jurgen being the noble baddie, Yakob, Vorishkin and Nina, it's all there. The artwork is just amazing especially for the aerial battles.

This is the second outing for me as I picked up the series including its variant covers when it first came out.  Some great work by Ian Kennedy, Carlos Ezquerra and Mike McMahon, as well as Burns' covers.

On the flaws in the tale, aye, it's hard to argue with these imperfections.  His love for the genre and for Battle in particular do come through in this and a lot of the other work he has done of late.  The Battle / Action mini-series Rebellion has just finished is a cracking read, the Johnny Red tale is one of the highlights though.  If you've not read it yet then I would highly recommend it.

Ennis' maturity is definitely a strength compared to some of his earlier Tooth and Preacher stuff.  I would say his run on Hellblazer is probably the closest I've come to something comparable to his War Story strips.  The ones he did for Vertigo were spectacular.  What they all seem to show is that freed from the constraints of the sensibilities of the comic industry circa 40 odd years ago, there is incredible mileage in a more honest approach to war stories.

When you think about it, Charley's War is probably the closest they came to the sort of honesty that is needed.  It captures the nuances, the complexity, the brutality and the discrimination that existed at the time.  Mills got away with it by researching the hell out of it and skirting around issues at times whilst making sure they couldn't be completely ignored.  Plus an amazing artistic talent to bring his vision to life.

Ennis doesn't need to worry about those problems so much now.  There's far more recognition of these issues for a start, plus an appetite for this type of tale.  There's certainly no shortage of talent either.  Plus the work caters to a far broader audience.  This is no longer a "children's" genre which helps.

BTW - if you've not yet had a chance, I'd also recommend "Stringbags" which he did with PJ Holden.  A cracking book and well worth a look at the fliers of the Fairey Swordfish!  The other one I would recommend is "American Eagles" which is illustrated by our own Coleby.  It looks at the Tuskegee Airmen but also at the wider issue of race relations in the states.

Since 2000AD is now no more futuristic a name than 1977AD, can we just rename it Galaxy?

Get thee behind me Satan!!!!!!!!

I suppose with not having much experience with the characters in question, it didn't really mean all that much to me.  Then again, it was also very much a 'refrigerator moment' in terms of plot devices so I take your point.  Not read much DC of late but then I've pretty much given up on American comics as far as current stuff is concerned.

Moving back to Infinite Crisis, a re-read of Day of Vengeance.  One thing I've always felt DC do well is their magic stuff.  From Hellblazer through Sandman and Swamp Thing to Books of Magic (the original mini-series), there does seem to be a bit of a maturity to it that Marvel often lack.  In terms of DofV, this holds to a certain extent.  It does descend into standard Superhero fare but by and large it treads the more interesting tracks of the DC verse.  The idea of the Spectre on the rampage, decimating the coherent structure of magic, probably makes a lot more sense to someone better versed in DC history but as a relatively experienced reader it worked as an interesting story.

Having worked through all the linked mini-series, it was now time to retackle Infinite Crisis itself.  So much of it made far more sense now.  Clearly this is a weakness of this 'event'.  If readers need to dig back through a good couple of years worth of storylines just to make sense of events then something is going wrong.  At the very least there needs to be a helpful guide to point readers in the right direction and give some sense of important events.  Why is Batman so paranoid, what the hell are the Omacs, what is the problem with Wonder Woman, who is this 2nd Superman ... too many questions that need answering to follow the story.

That said, once these problems are overcome, it's okay as these events go.  Perhaps a little overloaded with the Rann-Thanagar War, the Omac crisis, Spectre going bonkers and several alternate Luthors, one of whom is trying to destroy the multiverse to create one perfect Earth.  Then you add in a psycho Superboy.  Yep, a little too busy really.

Maybe that's the real problem here.  Things got out of hand, overly ambitious.  The end result is a mediocre read rather than something impressive.  Where Crisis on Infinite Earths is still held in high regard decades later, I'm not sure this is going to last as well.  Given the ambivalence folks have towards Zero Hour, I'm still undecided on whether it is worth a punt ...