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Catching up on this blog... excellent stuff as ever!  Re: Nimrod being one "Dredd kills his corrupted other self" plot too many, I actually rather like the repetitiveness of it, because I feel like there's something psychologically interesting at work there.  We've since learned in Origins that Fargo attempted suicide after he judged himself unfit for the job and wasn't allowed to quit it, which colours the fates of the other Dredd clones for me.

In Blood Cadets we found out that Dredd believes (whether he's right or simply deluding himself) that Rico killing a man in front of him was a failed attempt to provoke suicide by clone.  Kraken's fate was more overtly that, and we're told that Nimrod's state at the time of Total War is partly due to what might have been a suicide attempt on his part.  (Which is also an interesting callback - well, technically call-forward I guess - to Fargo, and perhaps adds some layers to Dredd's initial reluctance to sign the euthanasia order; the dream he has in the sleep machine in The Connection rather suggests Dredd might still have some unresolved daddy issues surrounding Fargo's suicide attempt.)

Not quite sure where I'm going with this, but I guess I feel like knowing about Fargo shifts the theme from one of Dredd killing off flawed clones that don't measure up to something more about the strong tendency in the Fargo line to opt for suicide when they feel that they're no longer fit for purpose.  Which has rather more interesting implications for what's potentially going on in Dredd's head, especially given his tendency towards depression whenever he feels like he's not accomplishing anything useful.

(I also have to wonder, for some added psychological twistedness, what it actually feels like for Dredd to keep shooting his own clones in the head from a couple of feet away, given that it's established he has at least some degree of a psychic connection with them.  Surely their deaths can't be wholly feedback free for him?)

Not bad, not bad!    Only a little bit of Dredd in those pages, but what we see looks and sounds right.  Optimism rising!

Just been thinking about Hershey's flashback and the nostalgia thing-she brought up Lopez just before the mutant vote,apologised to Dredd for her behaviour in fact so it seems she's revised her position. So it's not quite as nostalgic as I thought,she's brought it up quite recently.

Yeah, it's actually quite a fascinating reversal of positions when you think about it.  Hershey started out as the green young Judge who took the moral high ground and resented Dredd for making the decision that killed Lopez.  With the passage of time, she's come to appreciate that it was necessary and she was wrong to blame him for it - but over the same course of time, Dredd has become less of a hardliner and started to question the ethos of doing bad things 'for the greater good', and now she's the one making the ugly choices and resenting him for refusing to come down from the moral high ground and deal in compromises.

Now there's character development for you.

also the story john cassavetes is dead

Ooh, good one.  Doesn't get mentioned much as a significant story, yet it's one that really stuck with me.

The death of Lopez in the Judge Child arc.  Comedy 'Dredd is a stickler' subplot suddenly goes dark places.

Dolman's, "I'm not a machine, sir."

The very end of Origins, where Dredd and Hershey speak about Fargo's final words to each of them.  "Pretty much the same.  ...  Pretty much the same."

And of course the already iconic, 'Dredd needs a hug' panel from the end of Day of Chaos.

Dirty Frank seeing the Judge Badge, in colour, at the end of the last Low Life story, simply incredible.

Have to second this one as well.

[Cover]

Cover - Have to admit that Jack Point face doesn't quite work for me.  I really like the pencils for it that were posted earlier, but I don't think the flat style of inking here has done it any favours.

Dredd - I love this depiction of Hershey.  The scenes between her and Dredd are fascinating, and much more complex and interesting than just the usual schtick of Dredd vs. a foolishly short-sighted council.  I can sympathise with both their positions here.  Interesting to see Maitland having a biscuit-dunking flashback of her own; there certainly seems to be a suggestion Dredd's aware of the machinations.  Fantastic writing and great art - this truly is quality Dredd.

Low Life Are the opening scenes here implying Smiley [spoiler]created Dirty Frank[/spoiler]?  Mein Gott and blimey.  Also, love Dirty Frank's non-standard but quite effective resistance to interrogation.  Underneath it all he really is still a good Judge.  From his reaction to the list, I get the impression it's not just fake, but made up of people the Justice Department would be happy to have disposed of.  As for the art, what's left to be said?  Insert superlatives here.

ABC Warriors - Ro-Jaws!  Okay, this coasts by on pure nostalogia factor, but it gets away with it.  Love this black and white art.

Brass Sun - Must confess the background of the first page here confounded me for a bit before I realised that it was a painting.  I enjoy this, but it's so continually twisty I've given up paying much attention to the plot, since there's no way to anticipate where it's going.  Love that beautiful cityscape on the last page, and the colouring.

Simping Detective - Interesting character detail that Point doesn't like sleep machines, Dredd being of course famous for not liking normal sleep.  The lead characters make kind of a fascinating trinity here: Dredd, the ultimate straight man against the backdrop of an insane world and the platonic ideal of a Judge; Frank, genuinely crazy but still clinging to the symbol of the badge as his one true anchor; Point, pretending to be crazy to fit in among the cits and all too quick to ditch his judicial responsibilities.  Interesting stuff.  Lovely moody art, too.

Running out of things to say about this current run of progs.  So good.

Revisiting The Story So Far

Okay.  Rereading earlier progs, this is what I've got.  (Stuff in spoiler tags is my speculation.)

Maitland, investigating accounts, uncovered links between Bachmann and Overdrive.  She reported this to Smiley.  [spoiler]He then wiped her memory to avoid her tipping off Bachmann.[/spoiler]  Smiley contacted Dredd in 'Bullet to King Four' to bring him in on the operation.  [spoiler]Dredd knows what's going on, as he's the only one who can maintain a closed mind without causing suspicion; everybody else is either memory wiped or out of the loop to keep Bachmann's psis from eavesdropping.[/spoiler]

Bachmann had the Simps brainwash chief Folger into stealing the list of Wally squad Judges.  Folger was meant to hand this off to another Church Simp, but Jack Point was sent to intercept it instead.  [spoiler]It was Smiley who sent him -  the note was signed with a smiley face.[/spoiler]

Point's corrupt boss, Daveez, is mixed up with the Simps and tries to get the doll containing the list from Point.  He doesn't succeed, and Point makes contact with Miss Anne Thrope instead.  While Point is distracted Thrope swaps the doll for a substitute.  [spoiler]She's working for Smiley: the voice Point hears on the radio and thinks he recognises is Smiley's.[/spoiler]  She claims her boss is forcing her to cut him loose, and gives him the contact details of the buyer so he can sell the list.

Dredd is there in time to witness Point making the sale, but doesn't try to stop it.  [spoiler]He knows the list has been swapped out for a dummy.[/spoiler]  The buyer sends the list to Overdrive.  Point escapes, and follows subconscious programming from Smiley telling him to join the Church of Simpology.  [spoiler]Possibly to protect him?  Daveez knows he's Wally squad, so he can't be left off the list or it'll be spotted.  But Point submitting without a fight to the ninjudge at the end of this prog proves he's now a happy little brainwashed Simp, so he'll be spared.[/spoiler]

Oh, and my theory about the Cal reference in 'Bullet to King Four': given that we now know Smiley's all about the brain-manipulation, maybe he was called in to help deprogram all the Judges previously brainwashed by Cal?

Not specific to Commando, but the Writers Guild has a set of guidelines for comic writers that you can download here; they have ballpark figures for the page rates and royalties you might reasonably expect for different types of writing work.

[Cover]

Cover - Must confess that this doesn't quite work for me; something about the head-on perspective just seems weird.

Dredd - As last week, superb in every way.  I love the reference to the perp having seen Cal's Kleggs on the vid as a three-year-old - really drives home the depth of history at play here.  Also love the idea of Dredd being able to understand but not condone Judges suffering emotional breakdowns; underscores both how far he's come emotionally and the ways in which he hasn't changed.  Is Henry Flint's art getting even better?  I do believe it is.  Madness.

ABC Warriors - Wow, the [spoiler]blood[/spoiler] here comes across as unexpectedly and impressively nasty.  And that final splash page is great.  Overall this series has been very much up and down, but this is a really strong instalment without the usual squinting past flaws to see it that way.  Thumbs up!

Brass Sun - This continues to be beautiful, but I must admit I'm starting to get a wee bit bored with the constant twists and turns; I'd like to get a clearer sense of the stakes and where this is all heading sometime soon.  Still enjoyable stuff, though.

Low Life - D'Israeli's sensitive Klegg face in the first panel is the best.  Is it me, or is that Murd the Oppressor among that group facing Frank at the end?  ...I struggle for things to say about this strip, because it's simply just delightful in every way.  I could read whole progs of nothing but Dirty Frank's adventures.

Simping Detective - Love that panel of Point meeting the simps at the bottom of page one.  Coleby's art continues to grow on me more and more each week.  I also kinda love that the simps' dialogue is basically the equivalent of that Blackadder episode where he was trying to convince people he was mad by interjecting the word 'wibble' every so often.  I do find it very hard to believe that Mega-City law allows any sort of diplomatic immunity and special exemptions for religions, though.

Always sets a great tone for the prog when Dredd's on top form, and it's even better when everything else is too.  Fabulous stuff.

Crikey I thought we lost him years ago - who'd have thought he'd be (almost) the last survivor?

Why so? Wasn't he one of the youngest of the cast?

Yeah, I was shocked to realise he was 92.  I knew he was only in his forties when they filmed the series - guess I hadn't really registered just how long ago that was.

Sad news, Clive Dunn, 92. You are so excellent as Corporal Jones. 

Just came here to post that one myself.  That's a good age, but still sad news.

Currently getting 404 errors when I click any of the Add to Basket / Add Digital Copy links in the shop.

As I recall, the order goes something like:

Wilderlands
Blind Justice
The Pit
The Hunting Party
Scorpion Dance
Doomsday For Mega-City One
Doomsday For Dredd
Brothers of the Blood
The Chief Judge's Man
Satan's Island
Total War
America
Mandroid
Origins
Tour of Duty - The Backlash
Tour of Duty - Mega-City Justice

[Cover]

Cover - Now that's a great, striking cover.  (Although I did briefly see it as a head with MODOK arms and now it's really hard to un-see that.  Sorry)

Dredd - Roffman!  So glad to see he made it.  And, "The man's got a mind like a clenched fist," is a brilliant line.  I always forget to praise the art when it's Henry Flint, because, y'know, it's Henry Flint, doing this thing.  But yes.  Awesome.  And Al Ewing pulls the Wagner-esque trick of making me think I must have reached the last page when there are still two more to go.  High praise indeed, sir.

Simping Detective - Great, incredibly clever opening.  [spoiler]Despite the drastic change in art styles, the shift is so seamless that I was actually disconcerted when the story started following Point instead of Dredd.[/spoiler]  The "ohhhstommit'sDredd" made me snicker.  I also kind of like the symbolism of Point teaming up with his perp against Dredd.  It draws a nice clear line between Point as a protagonist and Dirty Frank, who is Judge through and through despite the mental instability.  This is defintely the best episode of Simping yet, and either Coleby's art's getting steadily better or it's grown on me a lot.

Low Life - Everything about this is fabulous.  "Both mein Gott and blimey!"  Bwahahahaha.  And D'Israeli's art seriously is getting better every time - how is that even possible?  And the moment when [spoiler]it all ties in[/spoiler] - genius.  Amazing stuff.

[spoiler]So.  Now we know we've actually seen our mysterious biscuit-dunker in the first part of Low Life.  Any theories on his identity?  Also, does the fact that this is a crossover mean there's a chance of seeing DeMarco appear in the main Dredd strip?  Please make it so, Mr Ewing![/spoiler]

ABC Warriors - Unfortunately for this strip, it was always going to be a let-down after that lot, and the awkwardly photoshopped White House in the first panel doesn't help.  I'm not one of the people who hates Langley's digital stuff, but I do think it makes a clumsy juxtaposition with the rest of the artwork here.  That's become my feeling about ABC Warriors all over, really: entertaining enough despite the obvious clumsy bits.

Brass Sun - Starts out a bit of a talky instalment, so it's good to see some action get going.  Lovely art continues lovely.  Not much else to say!

Well, that was incredibly clever.  Dreddworld stuff overshadows everything else in the prog, not just because of the spoilery clever thing, but also because all three strips are on fire individually.  Top stuff!

Yeah, I was all excited for the iPad Mini when it was rumoured to be around £200, but at closer to £300?  Just not worth it, so far as I can see.  It's main selling point is, "Like having a full-sized iPad but less expensive," and that's still pretty damn expensive.

I really like the look of the Nexus 7, though it bugs me that it doesn't have a rear-facing camera.  (Since I'm one of the three people in the country who still doesn't own a mobile phone, and I'm basically looking for some sort of cheap tablet-type WiFi device that has handy smartphone features without the network fees.)

Bagwell was my first thought, too, but yeah, that Judge uniform is quite different to his take on Dredd in 'Tea For Two'.