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[Judge Dredd]

Really enjoying my return to the Meg. Especially now I'm reading it on my shiny new high def tablet!

This is my 2nd issue in and I'm loving the Judge Dredd tale. Though the flashback to McPhee's demise required a double take for me to follow. Bloody lovely art.

I'm glad Lawless is less sweary this week. I'm starting to really like Marshal Lawson. Again, gorgeous art.

Enjoyed Man from the Ministry more this week too. I think its a case of getting into the pace of it.

I'm pleased that Dredd is pleasing me. I was worried that, although I loved the film, I wouldn't want to embrace the the alternative take on a world I've loved for so long. Is it me or do the final panels of this and this week's JD in the prog imply a mirroring of plot-lines? Its all quite V for Vendetta in both.

All in all, I'm very glad I jumped on board again. I'm even reading the Interrogations.

I really didn't enjoy the collected Valkyries though. Found it a confused and pointless slog. Gratuitous sex and nudity is all well and good, if its well done or saying something. If it was supposed to shine a light on sexism etc it failed (for me). If it wasn't, then it was just a pretty dire over-done lesbian rad-fem joke. Did I miss something?

[Dredd]

I acquired a shiny new high def 10 inch tablet this week... ostensibly justified for work but mainly wanted for my digital subscriptions.
And oooh the Prog looks great! Shiny shiny thrills! Crystal clear and no need to zoom in (unlike on my ancient pc screen).

Really liked Dredd this past 2 weeks. Nice set up. And a good mix of comedy and social comment. It feels like a jumping on story line really - a view of Dredd's world, not just from the outside, but from a perspective close to our own. In fact, I'm so used to MC1 that at first it felt clunky having the Justice system explained. But it works, and I'm genuinely feeling the tension about where this will lead.

Confused by the [spoiler]sudden death of The Great Mother[/spoiler] in Aquila... think I need to re-read last week's episode... Other than that, its all good gory fun but I still can't care what happens. I missed the first outings of Aquila and I'm not sure he is, but he feels invulnerable - and for me that removes any tension.

I'm afraid Brass Sun is getting less and less anything for me each week now. Again I'm getting no feel for the drama or tension of the story - but this time its because I can't recall who or why or why we should care. Its still quite pretty though and I do feel a re-read would be of benefit. Thing is, with a weekly anthology I'm not sure I want to feel that re-reading is necessary. Still, there's no accounting for my poor attention span! 

After a promising start Black Shuck just seems to be telling the same story each week, I'm not feeling much progression here. Maybe as others have said its the flashback format. I like the story and art, I'm just impatient for it to do something!. The appearance of Grendal's mother is intriguing though... ties in with with the use of the word "shuck" in Beowulf. Apart from the Anglo-Saxon setting, I'd not linked this story with that poem before... again damn my lack of attention.

Jaegir is skipping along at a cracking pace ain't it! Lovely stuff. Seriously enjoying seeing Nordland from inside, so to speak.

As an aside, the adverts for The Phoenix are enticing me...

Ooops, I appear to have purchased all the collections...

Thanks all. I think I'll give Year One a go and see how I get on.

I mean, are the IDW Dredd comics any good? I seem to remember hearing some criticisms but I haven't checked them out. I guess for this price its no risk

Just noticed this advertised on the 2000AD Facebook.
Good prices, but... are they any good?

I totally agree that Dredd could make an awesome game. Its sad we haven't seen one yet.

An RPG-lite FPS in a fairly open world MC1 with some apocalyptic big quest and loads of actual perp busting, crime fighting, side quests etc. Set in a classic 2000AD crazy MC1 with fatties and all that. It could be awesome!  The world is so rich, you there could be any number of mission types etc.

The game mechanics that could be built around making arrests etc would be fun. I'm sure it could be done so much better than mashing "E" to shout random Dreddesque quotes in the hope the perp will give up (while all the time getting shot at when they don't). The lawgiver and lawmaster would be pretty unique for a shooter too. And stuff like sleep machines and fast heal etc. All in all it could make for an unusual game.

Well, I'm a few hours in now and it is being just what I need - endless mindless on-rails FPS with some 2000AD references. So far the only rationale for the zombies etc is "because Judge Death". Hmmm.

[stuck on objects]

I just remembered that I bought this in a GOG sale ages ago and played a few hours, then (feeling underwhelmed) didn't play again. Booted it up just now and had a very happy hour blasting perps and shouting Drokk etc.

It is clunky as hell (keep getting momentarily stuck on objects, and swapping weapons when I meant to arrest a perp and countless other annoyances), and basic in many ways but I actually really like this game... anyone else?

I got stuck under the stairs in the training rooms right at the start. Most times, I got so frustrated with my lack of skills that I'd just end up shooting judges until the SJS arrived. That tutor judge at the beginning has the patient of a saint though - he took about twenty shots whilst gently admonishing me before the heavies arrived!

Shooting Judges when it all gets too much is quite fun. Also cuffing a perp then popping them in the back of the head when they're helpless!

I just remembered that I bought this in a GOG sale ages ago and played a few hours, then (feeling underwhelmed) didn't play again. Booted it up just now and had a very happy hour blasting perps and shouting Drokk etc.

It is clunky as hell (keep getting momentarily stuck on objects, and swapping weapons when I meant to arrest a perp and countless other annoyances), and basic in many ways but I actually really like this game... anyone else?

Would we expect a better standard these days...

Hmmm, though if I submitted some art it would definitely be reminiscent of some of the poorer attempts of the past...

What does everyone make of the question posed by Tharg on the letters page, wondering whether they should bring back readers' art to the prog?

Do it! I wonder though, what the quality will be like. I'm doing an epic re-read from Prog 1 (currently in the 370s) and mostly the readers art reflects the age of the readers. Some of it is pretty good for all that. Would we expect a better standard these days given the increased age, and modern technology etc?...

[Dredd]

Dredd was a sweet little tale. The "Hold on..." moment was gold!

Finally Aquila has some interest beyond the go here kill that, go there kill them of the last few weeks.

Apart from the touching "I'm glad you're here with me" moment Brass Sun still seems to be coasting along at snails pace.

I'm liking the way the two mysteries in Black Shuck are weaving together. I don't see them so much as flashbacks interrupting the flow, but rather parallel tales leading (hopefully) to a neat joint climax.

Its funny, I never was a huge Rogue Trooper fan (though I'm currently enjoying Message From Milli-Com in my epic Prog read through). And I wasn't totally sold on Jaegir last time. But seeing old blue bonce this week sent thrills through me. Loved this opener! Best thing in the Prog for me.

[Dredd]

Dredd: Loved the cover and the return of Walter. Was I the only one to feel sad at his apparent robo-senility? I loved Young Death, back all those years ago, so it was nice to see Mrs Gunderson and Death reunited (even if it is only in her mind - actually this is a fine farcical set up: Person A pretends to be person B, which convinces person C, except that person C never knew who person B was anyway, which then confuses person A even more. Or something!). It would be great if this was somehow linked with the real return of the Dark Judge.

Sinister Dexter: liked this episode again (like the last one) much more than recent stuff. Not entirely sure why. Maybe its because there is a lot of story in comparison to the pointless shoot outs? Very heavy on the exposition though, but still better than recently. Nice art too. I missed all the Moses story line. Is that him in the last panel?

Aquila: fun stuff - I'm liking the idea that the rise of Christianity was accidental, and caused by diverting a worse prophesy.

Bass Sun: Also verrrry heavy on exposition. I'm a bit dubious when confusing stories get explained by brand new characters that just happen to turn up. But it does help pull the various threads together. Nice to have a change of pallet too.

Black Shuck: Enjoying this. My first thought when the beast came out of the mist was that it was Black Shuck himself. I was wrong... but I too am getting the feeling he's not all he seems.

[Cover]

Interesting discussion on narrative in comics! I'm not really a comic native so often miss some of the telling that occurs in the art in my first reading of a strip. Despite loving 2000AD for many years now, and picking up the occasional American superhero crap (sorry) from time to time, I often still default to reading a comic page as if it was prose.. and often then have to go back and re-read slower to really appreciate the whole. With 2000AD its nearly always worth it!

Anyway, this was an up and down prog for me.

The Cover is lovely! I do like mesel' a bit o' Viking vs Troll action! I saw a physical copy before downloading (which I hardly ever get to do) and it fair jumped off the stand at me! The digital copy is more muted (at least on my knackered old screen) but still nice.

Dredd was a little down, I liked this tale but something didn't quite connect. However I did love how I was just thinking to myself "why is Dredd spending so much energy on a mutant" when this is directly tackled! Great timing! And its great to see parts of MC1 that are destroyed and near lawless juxtaposed with the shiny Uni campus. Made me feel that the recent spate of tragedies has massively exacerbated the divide between rich and poor. Got a similar vibe from the Dredd tale in the latest Meg - though I'm assuming these are separate universes and the Chaos Day didn't hit the movie Dredd version?...

Sinister Dexter on the other hand was a real highlight! I've kind of been coasting through this and the last story. But this installment really made me sit up! As someone else possibly implied above, its odd that a strip about hired killers really hits its stride at a bbq with no weapons or violence in sight. But I found it funny, tense and thrilling! I genuinely want to read the next episode - which rarely happens SinDex for me!

Some nice grim Roman amusements in this week's Aquila. To be honest anything that supports my anti-Roman stance gets a thumbs up from me! But I'm still not engaged in this character or set up yet.

I'm feeling sad that this book of Brass Sun is leaving me feeling flat. I've really loved previous outings. But this is losing me slightly more each week.

New Thrill Black Shuck starts well. The oldy-worldy narration is a nice change of pace. I loved how the size of the Jotnar isn't fully revealed until [spoiler]the mighty spear bursts through the wall[/spoiler] in the last panel! I don't like the hero's name though.. not sure why but it annoys me! Heh 

Kill-A-Man Jaroo (great name)

D'oh! One for the "Things that went over your head" thread.

Double D'oh! I only just got it!