Prog 1839: From here to paternity

Proudhuff · 02 July, 2013, 01:45:27 PM

Quote from: Fisticuffs on 02 July, 2013, 09:22:19 AM
Dredd - Joint weakest in the prog ...

Got to disagree, this is The Big W at his best: layer apon layer of story, great Dredd and a real feeeling of discovery of what has happened to MC1, a heavy sense of foreboding too, I'm expecting some big issues adressed in the coming weeks.

Dark Jimbo · 02 July, 2013, 02:42:16 PM

Quote from: Fisticuffs on 02 July, 2013, 09:22:19 AM
Dredd - Joint weakest in the prog along with Anderson. Not a fan of the wobbly art (how does the PSU Judge fit his head into that helmet?) and the plot is so-so. Doesn't really add anything more to the post DoC universe in a way that previous stories haven't already. Cool to have a 'Mo' reference though.

Flabbergasted. Weak script?! Wobbly art?! You're spoiled, my lad.

This is quality stuff - one of the few stories, besdies Rob Williams' Innocence and Ewing's Cold Deck, that have struck exactly the right sort of note for me post-DoC. There's so much subtle stuff to love, like the updated lexicon - 'Im bleedin' like a Chaos vic!' - and the cits desperate to be cubed so that they won't have to live off barbecued rats. The idea of a vast plasteen living complex that's now a monstrous melted eyesore is a blinder, and one that a lesser writer could have spun an entire tale out of, whereas Wagner typically introduces it only to completely underplay the possibilities.

Anderson is indeed pretty indefensible, though. Do we really have to suffer through any more of these? Ezquerra is wasted and just seems bored, while Grant's not even trying any more. This is telling us nothing new about the city or Anderson herself, who bears absolutely no resemblance to the character we meet in Judge Death. It's like an exercise in filling pages for the sake of filling pages of the sort which I didn't generally think 2000AD was guilty. In all my time of reading Tooth I think I've only ever given up on three strips, so they have to be pretty bad to turn me away, but this is in line to be the fourth.

Defoe is beautiful in every way. Even Pat's sometimes stilted-sounding dialogue somehow works when coming from the mouths of 17th-century types. Is that the end of Mister Scrimgeour now? I liked him as an antagonist, but was starting to feel that we were seeing a bit too much of him - would be nice to get more of Faust now, whose motivations still need fleshing out a bit, or the overdue return of Jack O' Bite.

Sin Dex loses a little of the goodwill that this soft-reboot has earned from me with, as Proudhuff points out, the return of the dubious morality which sometimes blights this strip. Some of the people we watched Finny execute in cold blood seemed like perfectly nice sorts, and he doesn't bat an eyelid at murdering these complete strangers. Then he draws the line at killing Piper and we're supposed to cheer at our moral hero standing up to the heartless villians? I've no problem with a protagonist who's a heartless bastard - it worked for Harry Exton, after all - but at least be consistent. He can be an amoral killer or a champion of everything good in the world, but trying to make him both just doesn't work. Still can't get over what a good fit John Burns is for this strip, though.

Ten Seconders has been gone far too long. This was the week that I came to terms with the fact that I may be a little bit gay for Edmund Bagwell.

Fisticuffs · 02 July, 2013, 03:40:04 PM

Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 02 July, 2013, 02:42:16 PM
Flabbergasted. Weak script?! Wobbly art?! You're spoiled, my lad.

Maybe, maybe, just doesn't tickle my fancy at the moment.

ChickenStu · 02 July, 2013, 04:15:54 PM

It was out at my newsagent a day early! HAPPY DAYS!

The Prodigal · 02 July, 2013, 08:30:38 PM

As a guy who jumped on board 2000Ad with the 2012 prog I have to say that the Ten seconders has been one of my favourite series. Very excited about tomorrows prog.

The Prodigal · 02 July, 2013, 08:33:17 PM

That last post made no sense whatsoever. What I meant was that I picked up the trade and loved it with a passion.

Pop Culture Bandit · 03 July, 2013, 10:03:57 AM

Dredd - In comparison to Anderson, this story has been fast-paced with Dredd already hot on the trail of the perps responsible for the Surfer attack and he's all but figured out their motive. Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

Cadet Anderson - A solid conclusion and I'm glad that it seems like this will have repercussions on the current Anderson strip in the Megazine, since it has felt a bit unimportant otherwise - which is one of the problems of being set in the past.

Sin/Dex - I'm torn about the semi fourth-wall breaking narration. Part of me likes it, but part of me feels it is a bit too gimmicky. I'm hoping that Piper joins Sinister at the conclusion of this tale and it drops off. If it's the new standard for Sinister, it might get annoying and fast. He's not Deadpool.

Defoe - Love this. I was a little shocked at how quickly the Spiriter was dispatched, but I suspect the bigger issue will be the distrust amongst the Reek Hunters and how the splintered group will be the cause of their own downfall.

The Ten Seconders - Loved the lengthy recap, even if it did jump forward too quickly towards the end, but I suppose that's my cue to pick up the trades. Bagwell's art is fantastic and suits the strip well.

For a more detailed review, check out my blog here > http://popculturebandit.blogspot.com/2013/07/2000ad-prog-1839.html

ChickenStu · 03 July, 2013, 11:01:13 AM

Quote from: Pop Culture Bandit on 03 July, 2013, 10:03:57 AMThe Ten Seconders - Loved the lengthy recap, even if it did jump forward too quickly towards the end, but I suppose that's my cue to pick up the trades. Bagwell's art is fantastic and suits the strip well.

Yeah, this one had me hooked straight away. Looking forward to seeing where it goes!

Dark Jimbo · 03 July, 2013, 12:46:14 PM

Quote from: Pop Culture Bandit on 03 July, 2013, 10:03:57 AM
The Ten Seconders - This opening installment serves mainly as a recap for readers of the previous series, or a complete introduction for newcomers, like me. I really liked how the first few pages managed to succinctly sum up the strip, making me feel like I've not missed anything at all. It does make me wonder how much of it was repetition for readers of the first series, and whether it was enjoyable from their point of view. Having done some research, I discovered that this strip last appeared in 2000AD way back in 2008, which explains the lengthy recap.

In actual fact nothing that we saw this week has been depicted in the strip previously, so it was new to everyone - and very welcome it was, too, in fleshing out our protagonist's backstory a bit. The first series begins some years after the 'God's' invasion, with the remnants of humanity ekeing out a living in sewers and tunnels, their numbers gradually whittled down by each encounter with the Gods.

Pop Culture Bandit · 03 July, 2013, 05:05:34 PM

Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 03 July, 2013, 12:46:14 PM
In actual fact nothing that we saw this week has been depicted in the strip previously, so it was new to everyone - and very welcome it was, too, in fleshing out our protagonist's backstory a bit. The first series begins some years after the 'God's' invasion, with the remnants of humanity ekeing out a living in sewers and tunnels, their numbers gradually whittled down by each encounter with the Gods.

Ahhh, excellent. I did wonder if it was a "secret origin" of sorts, or just an elongated recap to account for the lengthy absence of the strip. Between this and Defoe's opening episodes, we've had some really effective openers that are open to new, lapsed and regular readers. Great job, Tharg!

Bat King · 03 July, 2013, 11:45:16 PM

My review is up. It auto publishes at 20:00 if I remember to write out Sunday....

http://judgetutorsemple.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/2000ad-prog-1839-general-release-030713-spoilers/

Goosegash · 04 July, 2013, 01:22:51 AM

Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 02 July, 2013, 02:42:16 PM

Anderson is indeed pretty indefensible, though. Do we really have to suffer through any more of these? Ezquerra is wasted and just seems bored, while Grant's not even trying any more. This is telling us nothing new about the city or Anderson herself, who bears absolutely no resemblance to the character we meet in Judge Death. It's like an exercise in filling pages for the sake of filling pages of the sort which I didn't generally think 2000AD was guilty. In all my time of reading Tooth I think I've only ever given up on three strips, so they have to be pretty bad to turn me away, but this is in line to be the fourth.

Apparently(well, this is what I was told) Grant's health is very poor at the moment, and this has had a big impact on his ability to work. In those circumstances, I think he could be forgiven for putting out some slapdash material in more recent times.

Proudhuff · 04 July, 2013, 09:43:40 AM

Quote from: Goosegash on 04 July, 2013, 01:22:51 AM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 02 July, 2013, 02:42:16 PM

Anderson is indeed pretty indefensible, though. Do we really have to suffer through any more of these? Ezquerra is wasted and just seems bored, while Grant's not even trying any more. This is telling us nothing new about the city or Anderson herself, who bears absolutely no resemblance to the character we meet in Judge Death. It's like an exercise in filling pages for the sake of filling pages of the sort which I didn't generally think 2000AD was guilty. In all my time of reading Tooth I think I've only ever given up on three strips, so they have to be pretty bad to turn me away, but this is in line to be the fourth.

Apparently(well, this is what I was told) Grant's health is very poor at the moment, and this has had a big impact on his ability to work. In those circumstances, I think he could be forgiven for putting out some slapdash material in more recent times.

Spookly, I was on holiday recently in 'his' village in the SW and saw him coming out the shop, I was in a car so never had a chance to chat, however he was looking a wee bit frail.

LorcanQ · 04 July, 2013, 05:22:15 PM

Anyone else having a problem accessing clickwheel? Entering the site address I get this :

This is probably not the site you are looking for!
You attempted to reach www.clickwheel.net, but instead you actually reached a server identifying itself as clickwheel.net. This may be caused by a misconfiguration on the server or by something more serious. An attacker on your network could be trying to get you to visit a fake (and potentially harmful) version of www.clickwheel.net.
You should not proceed, especially if you have never seen this warning before for this site.

All on a big red screen with a warning sign. Never happened before when ive tried to access the site either..

Montynero · 05 July, 2013, 11:00:02 AM

Quote from: Goosegash on 04 July, 2013, 01:22:51 AM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 02 July, 2013, 02:42:16 PM

Anderson is indeed pretty indefensible, though. Do we really have to suffer through any more of these? Ezquerra is wasted and just seems bored, while Grant's not even trying any more. This is telling us nothing new about the city or Anderson herself, who bears absolutely no resemblance to the character we meet in Judge Death. It's like an exercise in filling pages for the sake of filling pages of the sort which I didn't generally think 2000AD was guilty. In all my time of reading Tooth I think I've only ever given up on three strips, so they have to be pretty bad to turn me away, but this is in line to be the fourth.

Apparently(well, this is what I was told) Grant's health is very poor at the moment, and this has had a big impact on his ability to work. In those circumstances, I think he could be forgiven for putting out some slapdash material in more recent times.

I like Anderson, but a Droid being ill would be no excuse for 'slapdash material'.

Harsh, but fair.