1553 - Abra Cadaver

[TordelBack]

Ah hey, I thought Judgement was a very good Dredd story, an interesting villain and mystery, and a good use of Anderson.  Mind, I didn't much care for Regime Change.  The Vienna/Sov Assasin story was good stuff, though, hampered a bit by an odd choice of art.

I'm a little undecided on the Kazan Clone saga, but as there hasn't been any real pay-off from the build-up yet, I'd say it's too early to call.  Obviously no-one wants to see Wagner take the Hike, but Rennie on a good day delivers.

The current two-parter was indeed pretty weak, but I'm going to lay a lot of the blame for that on tired and frankly boring art that really wasn't up to Marshall's standards.  A more dynamic-looking villain towering over the citz would have given the story a centre - as it was it was hard to care over so many pages.  Imagine Frazer or Henry drawing it and it passes muster.

[JudgePrager]

Hmm. I take your point about the art, but I'm not sure I agree, since the villain is pretty generic, and the story even more so. More likely I'd be saying what I am about ABCs - great art, poor story. Maybe I'm just being harsh.

My main problem with Judgement was not the idea, but its execution - 'exorcist rounds'? 'guiltseekers'? Really? (not to mention the fact that if they are simply seeking guilt, then Dredd should be at risk because of things like Lopez) Plus of course it had the whole 'Rico' badge thing, and the 'I have no idea how well these work, this is their first field use' idea was used (more effectively) in 'Gulag'.

[Bolt-01]

Hey, I was right!

Dave Kendall is indeed a nice fella and an amazing artist. He's also contributed a cover to one of the end of year FQP comics...

Bolt-01

[radiator]

I don't know what the beef is with Stone Island. Its got loads of brutal violence, cool creature designs, and occasionally very funny dialogue ("We've been sold a shitty stick and told its a Mivvy"). What more do you want? I think the first series kind of squandered it's potential with a rushed and messy ending, and maybe thats affecting people's enjoyment of it. IMO its certainly more entertaining than Detonator X.

[radiator]

Oh, and to anyone that missed it, Mandroid II is starting in prog 1555!!!

I really don't want anything to end until Mandroid starts. At the moment Dredd is kind of letting the side down, with a Wagner Dredd in the mix, IMO you've got yourself as solid a lineup as can reasonably be expected.

[Goaty]

yeah but two different artists for Mandroid 2!!!! it sort of ruined it! :(

[Funt Solo]

::"it sort of ruined it!"

Did it?  Did I sleep through that?  What was the story like?  Were there any good covers?  Did Blackblood ever find out who General Public was?

Anyway - back in reality - Bisley and SMS on ABC Warriors didn't ruin it.

[TordelBack]

"...not to mention the fact that if they are simply seeking guilt, then Dredd should be at risk because of things like Lopez"

Hah!  You're ablsutely right about the guiltseekers Prager, (which I really liked, very 2000AD), Dredd is wracked with guilt both personal and professional.  But I suppose as Kenner was a Judge, his 'ghost' can tell the difference between the impefect man and the corrupt cop.

[JudgePrager]

Nice try, but giving Kenner any ability to make that sort of distinction ruins the idea of him being used as a pawn.

To be honest, I thought it would have been better not to involve Kenner and Rico at all (maybe having that as a seperate story, with some kids stumbling across kenner's remains or something), and just having the PSI Judge turn herself into a revenant, but ultimately at the cost of her own life (sort of a home-made PSI-amplifier).

[Hereward The Wake]

What do you think of Simon Davis' humans, personally I don't see much difference in how they get there.

Dudley on
but Langley's humans still jar