1495 - R.I.P. V.C.s?

[Dudley]

London Falling was absolutely frigging excellent.

Dredd followed up the previous story using the park beast very nicely - but it would have been nice to have a multi-parter out of the concept again.

VC's - who was it who was talking the other day about well-known writers spinning one-book concepts out into five-book epics?  At least Tharg too seems to be washing his hands of it.

Red Seas is going to be better read all i one, I think, but it's all great and at least Jack and his paramour are back together again.

Not wanting to be overly contrary, but I thought that the Droid Life was actually one of the better ones this year.  Then again, in my teens I seem to have memorised several scenes from Porky's.

[Bad Andy]

I friggin' love Porky's and have the first two on DVD. I also love Droid Life (and thought the McCoy one hilarious even if no-one else did).

This one just didn't work for me. Looking forward to the Revenge of the Nerds themed one next week though ;>

[nick-is-at-home]

Got to say,

V.C.s: hated it at first but these last few episodes have realy caught my attention.

GOOD WORK! shame it wasn't like this the whole time.

[LARF]

Really did not warm to the VC's at all. bad artwork, sloppy script, glad it's over.

Sad really because I loved the original version.

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[Bolt-01]

VC's.

I get the feeling that the main reason this isn't coming back could be because Dan Abnett has forgotten what he was going to be doing with it.

The first of the new books featured Smith looking like he was losing it and talking to the rest of the troopers from the first run. That was interesting, but it was dropped.

An alternative version of the last episode could have featured smith being roused from his beating by the mercenary by a vision of Jupe and the rest telling him he'd got more work to do before he blitzed the Alien frikker and avenged Keege.

The stuff with the Polity was a waste, as the war should just have been left to run, with smith and his crew kicking Geek ass. That way the series could have been left with big gaps between offensives and used as a jolt of adrenaline in the prog.

I understand that that approach would have reduced the chances of a collection, but it would have also allowed the strip to be used in a Sin/Dex kind of way for newer artists to try their hand at future war.

Could anyone else picture a VC's by D'Isreali?

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Bolt-01

[Tiplodocus]

I actually enjoyed the VCs this time round.

I really would like to hear detailed crit of the art because I thought it was pretty good.  Antwill seems to be getting the backgrounds in (his major sin from earlier) and most of the colouring, especially the jungle planet was spot on. It was clear, unfussy and told the story without confusion or flipflammery.


Agree, when I think about it, that Dabnett did lose his way as described above but the gaps between books were such that I never noticed the change in tone.  My major gripe about Dabnett is his descent into action film cliche. Really, can any writer type "Hear endeth the lesson" in a script these days and not feel ashamed to collect the cheque?*  The simple repetition of "You're hit, you're dead" was more effective and in line with the simple message of the earlier stories.  



*I actually know the answer to this question but feel free to chip in and embarrass any other writers who frequent here and have used it.  I'm almost certain GRENNIE has.

[J.Smith]

Book 5 of this has been my first book. And i have to say. THE VC's RULE!!! So cool. But i can't believe they killed Keege! Jesus, why him? Frick! I shall never say that again. EVER!

[Trout]

Great stuff all round.

London Falling was the best thing in the prog.

The only story I didn't enjoy much was the VCs. That's despite having liked every other episode of it. I just felt the ending was a bit flat.

Also, the Red Seas is 10 times as much fun as it has any right to be. It's silly and trashy and I love every panel of it.

- Trout

[Satanist]

Cover : Meh

DLife : Funnee.

Dredd : Good solid stuff but with Origins on its way its gonna be a while before Grennie gets a chance to return to any of his villains. If he wants to that is.

Red Seas : I saw Pirates of the Caribbean last night. Why cant it be more like this and less like a big long advert for a Disney ride? Grrrrrrrrrrrrreat.

VCs : How can one story take so long to deliver so little? Thats the end? Whatevah.

London Falling : Like a big fat future shock given room to grow and none the worse for it. Loved this.

Good prog with more surprises to come.

Cheers Tharg.

[Bico]

I thought the VCs was the epitome of what stereotypical 2000ad strips should be like - confusing space-war with grim setting and relentlessly savage deaths as the crew gets whittled down over various suicide missions decried by the anti-war narrator who gradually becomes a psychopathic officer and/or leader of the remaining troops.  This wasn't that story, though.
I have no problems with cliched rubbish as long as it entertains me (see Red Seas, Nikolai Dante, and at this point, Judge Dredd), and even though Dabnett should be well-versed in cliched guff with his tenure on American crapola, he failed to deliver the goods here - even though the elements of a decent story were present.
A poor epitaph for a fondly-remembered 2000ad classic.

I now renew my calls for a Dabnett-scripted Halo Jones Book 4.  The thought of it boggles my mind.

[J.Smith]

Hmm let's here:
Cover- Love it.
Dredd- The Sanctuary Booth is a great idea. Love it.
The Red Seas- Funner now with more dialogue. Love it.
The VC's- Very Cool. (What does it really stand for? Is it Vaccum Cleaners?)
London Falling- Heh heh. What an ending. Loved it.

Great prog.

9/10

[Funt Solo]

Yeah, it's vacuum cleaners - I think Logan posted up a screenshot of it being explained in the original series - but I can't remember what thread that was and I fear search functions.

[Dark Jimbo]

Something to do with they clean the vacuum of space, wasn't it? That would seem to explain it.

[Funt Solo]

Damn your cold, hard, Vulcan logic!

[HiEx]

Best thing in the prog was definitely London Falling. The ending was great, didn't see it coming at all. More please.

VCs was pretty good this week. I hope it's really not the end. I'd like to see it back again, perhaps after a break of a year or two and with a different art droid. Not saying the art is bad, just not perhaps the best style for a future war strip.

Red Seas has it's moments I guess, it's just not really my cup of tea. Perhaps a change of art droid would help? The style of the story seems especially suited to the art droid that usually draws Dante.

Dredd was good. I'd been wondering if we'd ever get a follow-up story about the beasty in the park.

Hope we get a new Strontium Dog story soon. I guess Ezquerra's been busy working on origins though.

HiEx