Prog 1693 - Aces High

[House of Usher]

Well spotted. I couldn't be bothered to look that closely, even though I was hoping there would be something funny on one of the screens.


Artist's joke?

Random selection of time-delayed playback?

[Colin Zeal]

Good prog overall. Dredd was top-notch and I'm really starting to get into The Red Seas now. Sadly I can't say the same for Sin/Dex. Too much backstory I haven't read and I just can't pick it up. I take it we're meant to know who the woman on the last page is, but I haven't got a clue. Stront was good. I have to echo the stuff about the look of Feral though. Wasn't he bright pink in the MacNeil drawn FS?

[James Stacey]

I have to echo the stuff about the look of Feral though. Wasn't he bright pink in the MacNeil drawn FS?

IIRC Feral was an albino. I assume Colin drew him pink for that reason (lack of melanin pigmentation) I assume Ferals current situation is to further remove his 'cool' image.

[Roger Godpleton]

BONUS SARCASTIC REVIEW IN SPOILER TAGS DON'T BLAME ME WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT AND IT MAKES YOU CRY

Cover: Not usually fond of this type of art but this works for me. Good Stuff.

Dredd: Wraps up just a bit too neatly for my liking. Sinfield's "They'll see you for what you are!" looks like it could be intriguing. Good Stuff.

Red Seas: Is it just me or is Beryl a dwarf in the last panel? I can't help but feel that the gaps between stories is the biggest impediment to enjoyment here. OK Stuff.

Sin/Dex: Easily the best thrill this week. Hooked right from the start, even the captions seemed to leap off the page. Never expected that I would ever be moved to "Holy Shit" by A. Williams, but "Holy Shit" I did. Great Stuff.

Savage: At this point I'm Stuffing based on a hypothetical scenario in which each week's episode is the first I've read and whether I would want to read it all from the start (or to consult wikipedia) to figure out what's going on. This week I would. Good Stuff.

Stront: Can't help but wonder if they missed a trick in not having Feral looking all badass and junk with "THE MOTHERFUCKING RETURN OF FFFEEERRRAAALLLLLLLLLLL" as the caption in order to enhance the surprising nature of the surprise reveal. Probably the first episode to really suffer from lack of Alpha as he's not there to rub up against the ker-azzyness. Good Stuff.

[spoiler]Stront: We all agreed that Blood of Satanus 2 was shit, yeh? Well this is the same thing. Bad Stuff.[/spoiler]

[Goaty]

SORRY FOR SPOILER!!!!!


Cover: Like the cover, is that Tony Curran? And other is Jamie Foxx/Cuba Gooding Jr

Dredd: Love it! Glad they give the final stories of Tour Of Duty to Ezqerra. :-) So Dredd in Council of Five, with Niles and Buell! that a good Council! Lucky PJ Maybe, I am sure that other one Against the vote was Buell. 

Red Seas: Ut good, dammed the Scout, so saved the world, again? that man at final panel is ex-guy of Beryl who was in "Meanwhile" spin-off of Red Seas.

Sin/Dex: Damn! that a good detial artwork of monitors in 2nd Page! But I notice few montiors on bottom left are re-artwork of Sin/Dex few stories ago, when both wrok as bodyguards for that Singer woman whose's guy replace by other guy. nice to see ex-wife's back, but where that crazy schoolgirl???

Savage: LOVE IT! but er.. are Volgs stupid? trust the Infomer, the Bill Savage!

Stront: WOW! Now I seriously think I dont see where it going from here! is Johnny alive or still dead???? I dont means of Ezqerra's version on Feral, but he was mutant with very claw-fingers and white eyes was he? and weird-look back? Wagner done it again, an alien planet where the noses are offendable! remind me of old joke....

My Dog doesn't have a nose.
How does he smell?
Awful.

[JayzusB.Christ]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GOATY!

[Goaty]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GOATY!

arghh! cheers mate, but forgot to changes my status as it been a month! argh!

[JayzusB.Christ]

oops! hope you had a good one then...

[TordelBack]

Didn't like Strontium Dog at all this week.  I'm finding it quite boring, just a lot of sitting, walking and talking, and the Ho Gan fourth wall thing annoyed me (although I never cared for his or Ennis' SD stuff). Between that and the demonisation of Feral I've just gone off the whole thing.  I'm even finding Bowland's spiky lettering to be irritating. Ah well.

Meanwhile, Tour of Duty ended very satisfactorily but rather unspectacularly. Both PJ and Sinfield got caught because they were bloody stupid.   I'm glad it was done, but pardoning PJ made no sense in the story.  There's not much to worry about in a Council with Niles, Buell and Dredd on it.  Still Justice Dept now have an awful lot of secrets to keep (Ambrose, PJ and Sinfield) - wouldn't Edgar have loved that.  Now, what's happening with Rico out in the Cursed Earth?

Glad to see Sin Dex back, glad to see Meryl survived, and Savage... looks nice.  Are we to believe that the internationally-funded LHC went ahead in Savage's Europe, which has been under occupation for a decade?

Not my favourite Prog of the modern era.

[radiator]

There's not much to worry about in a Council with Niles, Buell and Dredd on it.

This thought occured to me, too. What I really liked about ToD is that it shook up Justice Department - Dredd was getting too cosy - all the people in charge were his allies. I would have liked to see how things would have progressed with a corrupt administration in charge - as things stand now Dredd has more influence than ever. Wagner has stated that storylines from ToD will carry on into future stories but I'm struggling to see many dangling threads....

That said, March is presumably still around - he could well turn out to be the anti-Beeny..... And whatever happens, I suspect we haven't seen the last of Sinfield - characters rarely fade away so quietly in Dredd's world...

One thing that I've noticed recently is the many mentions of Titan - it's only ever really been glimpsed in the strip's history (I tend to somewhat ignore Purgatory). It would surely be a great setting for a future Dredd story?

Now, what's happening with Rico out in the Cursed Earth?

More to the point, where is Hershey? That's the only thing that hasn't been resolved so far.... A (well deserved) return to the streets?

[James Stacey]

Now, what's happening with Rico out in the Cursed Earth?

More importantly, what's happened to Babs?

[James Stacey]

Stupid slow phone typing

[Jared Katooie]

Cover: 3/10

Red Seas: 3/10

Savage: 3/10

Sinister Dexter: 1/10

Strontium Dog: Brilliant! 8/10

Judge Dredd: It's been kind of a crazy story. I liked it a lot though.

Love the ending.

[House of Usher]

Savage: 3/10

You didn't like the factual inacurracy of 'landfill smells of methane' either? 

On the whole I didn't think the strip was that bad. But as Goaty says, the Volgans taking their intelligence feeds directly from the leader of the resistance can't be sensible. But it really nicely drawn as usual, and at least it's cutting to the action.

[Judge Olde]

I'm sure the guy on the cover was Mick Hucknall on the cover, I like him almost as much as Sin/Dex

Dredd. Really enjoyed this. Story feels like it's not all over just yet & the worry is now do we go back to lots of dull filler Dredd stories... March surely would also get the boot from MC1 & any other clones would be tested or removed from the streets?

Not reading Savage, gave up trying a long time back.

Couldn't give a shit for Sin/Dex either.

I've loved SD for as long as I can remember & the death of Alpha was shocking for me as a young reader. Now it was all lies & bullshit. Bad call 2000ad! I boo you! A very boring story slowly unfolding. The art is not very good either. The same team who just did such a good job on ToD? Really? The art of which wasn't as good as the older ArtDroid working alone. The story & the way the Feral character is being shat upon make me feel that its a case of sour grapes from JW.

If Alpha pops up alive - which looks a bit more certain than before - it'll make 2000ad more like the likes of Marvel or DC who as we all know kill of & bring back characters on a very regular basis.

Annoyed of Leatherhead!