Prog 1824 - Back of Beyond!

[Hawkmumbler]

Smiley exists to retcon the retcon.

[Professor Bear]

installing conveyor belts, diverting all MC1's energy output to special logic inhibitors installed along the city walls ...

And putting big stone platform boots on the Statue of Judgment so that it was now several hundred miles high, in order that it could fall on the West Wall to allow the Judges a means of escaping the city on the offchance it was ever invaded from space by a single ship full of disorganised and borderline-disabled prison inmates.

[A.Cow]

And putting big stone platform boots on the Statue of Judgment so that it was now several hundred miles high, in order that it could fall on the West Wall to allow the Judges a means of escaping the city on the offchance it was ever invaded from space by a single ship full of disorganised and borderline-disabled prison inmates.

Hey -- that very same thing took place at the end of our road just last week.  You'd be surprised how often it happens.

[4junk2pop]

Hi all, just wanted to say love the cover on this! Only read survival geeks so far but glad I bought this prog before the new one tomorrow.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Just caught up on my prog stash. Prog of the year so far.

[Grant Goggans]

Smiley was put in place to oversee the construction of a second statue of judgement, overlooking the Wall instead of the other side of the city, along with some much smaller than usual squat city blocks, several years prior to the events in "Inferno."  Also, during the events of that story, the original statue was also blown up, although Morrison and Ezquerra elected not to depict that moment, as the Western statue's collapse was the one that allowed the story to proceed, with Dredd re-entering the city.  The rebuilding of the original statue was shown in prog 954, and references to "Inferno" in that narrative are referring to the collapse that we were not shown.

Smiley's awesome.

[Frank]

So was Smiley involved in the conception of "Dredd's impossible niece, Vienna"?

[Grant Goggans]

No, Rico managed that much without him.  (See prog 1300.)

[Frank]

No, Rico managed that much without him.  (See prog 1300.)

Aye, but who got that hack liquored-up and into the Titan interview room? Dredd speaks of her being given special "permission" ...

[Grant Goggans]

Hmmm.  There's a point.

[Dan Banks]

Hey guys, late to the party on this one but I thought I'd work my way through the current stories, leaving quick reviews from my "new-to-2000AD" perspective. It'll help me get up to date and get to know you fine folks. I actually started reading with Prog 1820 but didn't really have any clue what was going on (not including Dredd) so I've decided to start here and plow onwards. Without further ado...

Cover
I've never read Stickleback before but I'd say this cover is an impressive introduction. What a unique style. More on this later...

Dredd
Great way to start the prog. Fast, frantic action, the drama of the assassination attempt and some sci-fi goodness re: cybernetic eyes/targeting system. Glad that this will be my first strip reviewed, it's my favourite of the week by a good distance.

Dandridge
I think I'm in the minority here but I really enjoyed this. With just the blurb and this set-up strip I feel like I know these characters inside and out. That could be a bad thing (one-dimensional characters perhaps) but with a strip this charming I'm putting it in the plus column. I noticed that there are no Dandridge collections in the 2000AD shop, is this a young strip or just not a very popular one? Unlike Stickleback, which I'll get to later, this strip requires very little background knowledge to be enjoyable so for a new reader this was a nice surprise. Looking forward to the next chapter.

Survival Geeks
Another stroke of luck for a new reader, a completely fresh tale, 3 chapters, no strings attached. Works pretty well without being exceptionally interesting. I did enjoy poking around Simons room though, what a treasure trove.

Stickleback
And finally, the much hyped cover star himself. He certainly doesn't disappoint. The art is just incredible, so much detail, such an interesting and unique style and really making the most of the black and white format. As for the story, it seems like this one has a pretty rich back story but the blurb and this first chapter set me up nicely. The only criticism is sometimes Sticklebacks dialog is a sort of hybrid of childish and vulgar when m aybe it doesn't need to be. But I suppose that's part of his character and after a few more progs it'll read a bit smoother. It's not as easy a world to get caught up with as Dandridge but I'm not struggling as much as I thought. Onto 1825...

[Dark Jimbo]

Dandridge
I think I'm in the minority here but I really enjoyed this. With just the blurb and this set-up strip I feel like I know these characters inside and out. That could be a bad thing (one-dimensional characters perhaps) but with a strip this charming I'm putting it in the plus column. I noticed that there are no Dandridge collections in the 2000AD shop, is this a young strip or just not a very popular one? Unlike Stickleback, which I'll get to later, this strip requires very little background knowledge to be enjoyable so for a new reader this was a nice surprise.

This is only the fourth story - and one of those was a one-episode one-off. So not a massive page-count yet.

This hasn't been his best story but I'm a big Dandridge fan too - I find it surprising actually that it doesn't seem too popular here on the boards. If we must have a dandy supernatural sleuth in the progs then I'd rather him than Ampney Crucis any day of the week.

[Dan Banks]

I've got to admit, I was surprised by the 'meh' reaction the strip was getting when I read through this thread. Perhaps it's just in comparison with the other strips being particularly good or well liked.

Cheers for the reply anyway. I suppose it would be easy enough to gather the relevant back issues if there's no paperback on the horizon. Get myself caught up that way. I'll see how this story plays out anyway.