Prog 1696 - Know Your Enemy

[Trout]

Hell of a twist in Strontium Dog! It was, of course, the highlight of the prog.

Due credit, though, to Gordon Rennie's excellent Dredd story. I like it when Dredd does detective work. I enjoyed the rest of the comic, too. All hits and no misses.

- Trout

[Proudhuff]

[spoiler]Some readers quite like Middenface McNulty. Personally I don't think he's got too many stories left in him. Would he actually have to give his life, or just show willing, for the Stone Wizards to do their magic? Which would piss off readers most: Johnny in exchange for Middenface, or Johnny back again for free?[/spoiler]

I'm with you, Ush, I think. [spoiler]Much as I love Middenface, has he really got anywhere else to go as a character? It's precisely because I do love him that I'd be happy to see him bow out permanently, like Wulf - give him a death that really means something and stops him being overused (if he hasn't been already). And while I'm not overly keen on Johnny coming back, that pill would be massively sweetened if it happened in this way - the sacrifice of such a long-standing character would stop the reversal of Johnny's original death seeming at all like a cop-out, because it would still have cost the Stront universe dear.[/spoiler]

Your mouths are so full of wrong!

For me, Middenpus is the top Dog, and of those of us with AA/NA pals there is obviously plenty of direction left for old Lumpyheid, he also has a bit more light and shade that goody-two-shoes, closet job Johnny

[Trout]

Indeed. Middenface rocks! Help ma boab!

[Keef Monkey]

S/D was the highlight this week for me, purely because I really wasn't prepared for such nastiness and it took me by surprise and left me feeling....dirty. I kept expecting some sort of miraculous rescue to occur, and in that way was reminded of a popular classic brit-horror movie whose name I won't mention so as not to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. But yeah, grim.

Everything else was tip-top as well, Red Seas still left me cold but every other strip was building brilliantly and bodes well for next week.

[amberkraken]

Another good prog this week. Though pretty much anything I was gonna say has already been said.
I did feel bad for Steve Yeowell, that strip looked like it took forever to draw but I read it in seconds!!! (so I did re-read it, much more slowly later!)

[Roger Godpleton]

Cover: I Like the letters. Great Stuff.

Dredd: Usually I would frown on supernatural villains, but Grennie doesn't go overkill on the vaudeville. Wouldn't normally like this style of art, but again, I must concede how it coheres. Very Good Stuff.

Red Seas: Took me less than two minutes to read. I would have paid the delivery people an extra £0.50 to give the word spewer a vaguely disapproving glance when he hands the cheque over. OK Stuff.

Sin/Dex: Kinda feel that the "Ray & Finny hold all the cards" aspect would be even more interesting if Ray was still a rubbish shot. A minor
gripe as this is by far the best thrill in the prog and the most adventurous. Is
Abnett the best writer in mainstream comics? Great Stuff.

Savage: Guessing that Satanus comes out of the flashy thing. Or whatever. Stellar art. Good
Stuff.

Stront: Guessing that Feral getting burned still brings Johnny back. It could
add some bite to the strip as Johnny essentially destroys Feral's life
without his lifting a finger or even being aware of it. Great Stuff.

[the shutdown man]

I suppose this is as good a place as an to ask; Where does the Feral in this strip fit in with the story from a few years back with the "Walking Lady"? Didn't he go through some sort of transformation after that, which Middenface was there for? Or is that not part of this story's continuity?

I wasn't there for the earlier Stront stories, so a lot of this stuff is kinda mixed up for me.

[Colin YNWA]

John Wagner dealt with this early in this story when he said something along the lines of the early Strontium Dogs stories of Feral and particularly those as told by Peter Hogan (he wasn't quite that blatant) aren't to be trusted. So basically he put them to one side to be ignored.

How people felt about that was discussed in the review thread for 1693 the prog it happened in.

http://www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,29169.0.html

[radiator]

I suppose this is as good a place as an to ask; Where does the Feral in this strip fit in with the story from a few years back with the "Walking Lady"? Didn't he go through some sort of transformation after that, which Middenface was there for? Or is that not part of this story's continuity?

You can pretty much discount everything after The Final Solution. There's no Feral/Fear-All/Fire-Fall, Charn-El isn't Feral's dad, the Gronk is dead (probably), and there is no Walking Lady/Alphabet Men etc.

Thinking about it, as it is all tied in in one way or another, The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha also casts doubt on the integrity of Durham Red post-Isle of the Damned - to be fair, after Abnett and Harrison took over, she pretty much became a different character anyway...

[the shutdown man]

Ah well that sorts it I suppose. I started reading after the Final Solution, so that probably writes off pretty much everything up until recently.

[Dunk!]

Only reading Strontium Dog at the mo, so no point reviewing the rest of the prog, but i have to say: Mr Wagner apparently wasn't a Feral fan. 

Shocking, yet strangely satisfying.

[Jared Katooie]

Quickly, then...

Cover: Too cartooish, but okay. 5/10

Sinister Dexter: A lot better, but still bad. 4/10

Red Seas: Dull. Don't care. 3/10

Savage: That bloody teleporter again. 4/10

Strontium Dog: Magificent. 8/10

[Huey2]

Another Middenface fan here (Best supporting character tooth's ever had - with Ursa the Bear running a close second). Would be really disappointed if he is for the chop.

One of the thing's that helped make Johnny a different character to Dredd is that he has mates.

One of the things that helped made the, all-too-brief, post Rage B& W stories so fresh was that the line-up could keep changing - one story solo, the next with Middenface and the next with Red. It'd be nice to see a return to that.

[vzzbux]

I think with the events in SD this prog, any other speculation on this story can go out of the window.





V

[Mardroid]

Cover- It doesn't look much like I imagine Bill Savage, but it's a great idea and a great picture.

Dredd- Good as usual. Great art.

I'm curious about the statement 'That kind of psi talent is usually beyond human-norm, so I'm guessing we're talking alien or mutant here.' Not the idea that the perp might be an alien or a mutant (the facial features and glowing red eyes kind of give that away). I'm more curious of the level of power within Psi-division. Are none capable of that level? Or are those ones (or all Psi-div judges for that matter) classed as mutants too? Nothing to do with the story, just one of those little side things I'm curious about. I know Anderson's ability seems to be mainly mind reading an precognition so she probably wouldn't be capable of that telekinetic stuff. I just wondered if other humans psis could.

The Red Seas- Mmm. Ok.

Sinister Dexter- I enjoyed this, but I usually do. [spoiler]I suspect that extra voice might be a trick too, although for some reason I didn't think it was Sinister but good call![/spoiler] I've read a few speak against the art in this strip, but I really like it. The ladies are certainly... impressionable. (I believe I said that last week too. Cos they are.) The android's (or would it be gainoid in her case?) name: 'Polly Alloy'. Okay, I get it. Penny finally dropped with the finger thing...

Savage: Enjoyable enough, but I agree the Volgs are rather stupid. It was funny though. [spoiler]"Sorry Joe but he said I was beautiful! I don't take that from anyone!"[/spoiler] Heh.

Strontium Dog: Now I did not see that coming. Certainly answers peoples complaints about "We didn't see them escape! What a cop-out!"

I have mixed feelings about it to be honest. [spoiler]I really did like the twist, and part of me accepts the fact there wasn't a happy ending. I was hoping they would do more with the character of Feral though. I guess it's possible there would be a further twist with the pain of burning triggering a massive warp allowing him to break free, crispy but still alive. (Does he heal like the Hulk when warped?)  That would probably stretch things a bit far though considering there's a good chance Johnny will be back too though.  Possibly in multiple versions since he was planted on a magic planet.*

That could be interesting if McNulty and Matson spent the rest of the story chased by an insane warped Feral though...
[/spoiler]
I really did enjoy the story overall though.

[spoiler]*He might have sprouted a Johnny tree. Johnny fruit. Get it? Yes I'm being silly.[/spoiler]