Prog 1846: The Dead Sea

[hippynumber1]

I've never been the first to review a prog. I don't think I like it...

Cover: nice enough I suppose but I don't like anyone other than Gallagher drawing Defoe. Still, Trevallion does a solid job and the colours are nicely muted.

Dredd: Enjoying this very much, the story progresses and we get some great character beats. I like the way Wagner has switched to police procedural from apocalyptic epic; it really demonstrates his versatility as a writer.

Defoe: As before, I won't have a word said against it!

Ten Seconders: I thought this jarred visually this week. Without checking, I THINK there's been a switch in colourist. Whilst there's nothing wrong with it, it does seem much 'flatter' than previously.

AofW: The best thing I can think to say is 'meh', which I'm sorry to say is exactly how I felt after reading it.

Slaine: Another 'retread' but with slightly bigger deviation than last week. McMahon's art, while clearly not to everyone's taste, is bloody brilliant!

[IronGraham]

haven't read it yet but glancing at the McMahon art does look superb and agree about anyone other than Gallagher drawing Defoe

[Spikes]

McMahon in this weeks prog, eh? Roll on Wednesday!

[JUDGE BURNS]

What a day . The postie arrived with my weekly prog and the MEG as well.   

[JamesC]

The Cover is nice image and very well drawn but I don't think it's going to leap off the shelf.

Dredd carries on much the same as last week with Bender being shown up s a proper bad 'un. I'm guessing Lock is going to end up taking him down. I wonder if bad Judges are still being sent to Titan in the post Day Of Chaos MC1. Seems a bit resource heavy.

Defoe was great fun - very action packed again. Love the artwork too.

The Ten Seconders is losing me a bit - it's felt a bit flat the last couple of weeks. Damage has a couple if good lines though. He artwork is as great s ever - lots of Kirby crackle going on this week.

I'm not reading Age of the Wolf - not really my cup of tea. It looks pretty though.

I enjoyed Slaine and it's always nice to see McMahon in the prog. I can't remember what happened in the original Sky Chariots story o I'm not sure how much this differs.

Pretty good prog all in all.

[Ghost MacRoth]

Cover: Nice enough, but nowt to rave about.

Dredd: Coming on well, seeing more variation on where it could go than last week, and that's always good!

Defoe: Not sure how I feel about this episode.  Great art again, but for some reason I didn't feel it 'tracked' well, not really sure how to put it other than that.

Ten Seconders: Yeah, pretty much the same review as last time!  Nice art, decent tale.

AOTW: I can't even be bothered tying the full name.

Slaine: Once again, I know I'll be in the minority, but I'm not enjoying this episode at all.  Everyone else seems to believe McMahon a genius.....I cannot help but disagree.

Back Cover: Very glad to see a full page promoting the sequel campaign! 

[Colin YNWA]

Well we're not too fair from last week alas. Dredd continues to be wonderfully crafted but not exploring anything particularly new. Defoe had a better week but still does little for me. Age of the Wolf was defo in the Prog but not even undead werewolves can cut it here alas.

Then we have Slaine which looks bloody lovely but again doesn't seem to offer anything. Its does go down a slightly different route but not enough to really feel worthwhile. Its such a shame that this potentially exhilarating trip down memory lane isn't yet living up to expectations, art aside.

Finally we have Ten Seconders which continues to be, by far, the standout strip in the Prog.

Times there are a changing and I have to be honest I'm looking forward to this relaunch Prog more than any in the last few years.

[Proudhuff]

Well we're not too fair from last week alas. Dredd continues to be wonderfully crafted but not exploring anything particularly new. Defoe had a better week but still does little for me. Age of the Wolf was defo in the Prog but not even undead werewolves can cut it here alas.

Then we have Slaine which looks bloody lovely but again doesn't seem to offer anything. Its does go down a slightly different route but not enough to really feel worthwhile. Its such a shame that this potentially exhilarating trip down memory lane isn't yet living up to expectations, art aside.

Finally we have Ten Seconders which continues to be, by far, the standout strip in the Prog.

Times there are a changing and I have to be honest I'm looking forward to this relaunch Prog more than any in the last few years.

Spot on Colin.

[ThryllSeekyr]

Well, I just ordered this weeks physical Prog as well as this weeks Digital Prog as well digital Progs #1840, #1841, #1842, #1843 and the both Megazines #338 and #339. A you may know, I have already brought Physical and Digital Progs #1844 and #1845 in the weeks they came out in. My physical copy of Prog#1844 has finally arrived his last Tuesday or was that Monday. I swear I've lost all track of time since the weekend....

(I went to my 25th Year School Reunion on Saturday Night and have since been sorting through the ninety-nine photos I took and three videos I made with my Digital-Camera and putting them up our Official 25th School Reunion Face-Book page. I've only just finished uploading the last video which took fourteen hours to do last Tuesday afternoon and it's 1:06Am Thursday morning right now!)

.....Anyway, the Prog #1844 that I got was the one with the Simon Davis cover. Which works out fine for me as I have successfully won the same prog with the Clint Lanely in a auction on Ebay that closed this last weekend.

So now I waiting on that Prog #1844, (Clint Lanely Cover!) Prog #1845, and this weeks Prog #1846!

Anyway, regarding the digital progs I've ordered. I've only read this weeks instalment of Slaine: Book of Scars! So far, as I always do.

The Art-Work, it's not as good as Mike McMahon's earlier work on this very same story. While the figures and shapes are mostly the same. It lacks that cross-hatching which lent it that wood-cut effect I had grown so fond of. It's still all there and more, but without that one thing.

The Story, is too short. I would like it to go as long as the original at least.

For those whom have been saying that this is just a retread!  It is, but it seems to start and end differently. While the rest remains the same if shorter.......

[spoiler]With the Great-Guledig appearing to Slough Throt to ask him to make Slaine become a follower or kill him! (Wow, we almost get to see what a Mike McMahon drawn Cythron-Ruler looks like!) Slaine just about threatens to behead Slough Throt who responds by saying[/spoiler]

[spoiler]

I DO NOT FEAR
THE AXE FOR THE GULEDIG
PROMISES EVERLASTING LIFE TO
ALL THOSE WHO ARE BEHEADED
IN MEMORY OF HIS HOLY
SACRIFICE.

SO I, TOO,
WILL BECOME A
GODHEAD.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Since when do Drune-Preists who have sloughed off their skin to become God-Heads like the Great-Guledig. I figured you needed to be Cythron first or is this what really becomes of the Slough-Preists Is there a connection here?

Anyway, it's looks like Slaine will surely try to chop his head off.....

I wonder what happens next before we go to the Glenn Fabry episode?[/spoiler]

There's no story connecting these stories in-between. I was hoping for that!

I don't Slaine is so much traveling back in time as much as he seems to be only thinking back in time. Sending his thoughts, his instructions back to the Slaine in the past. As was hinted at in the last episode or else he would be dressed as he was when the Great-Guledig sent him back in the first place.

Now someone here told me that's why Mike McMahon is drawing a more mature Slaine!

Though, I don't think he is......

[ThryllSeekyr]

I don't Slaine is so much traveling back in time as much as he seems to be only thinking back in time.

I really meant to say "I don't THINK Slaine is so much traveling back in time as much as he seems to be only thinking back in time.

[ChickenStu]

Gonna have to re-read the previous one then read this again. Not taking it in lately for some reason...

[Fungus]

Cover Really like it, a proper fan of Trevallion (but not so much Gallagher), only downside the gloomy colours. Agree it's not going to jump off the shelf for everyone, but I don't need it to jump off the shelf - that glossy bugger is getting bought...

Dredd Like that it's more a procedural, and storytelling top-notch as ever. Artwork is fine, nice thing is that it feels almost like partners on duty. As a lapsed reader I don't know if that's particularly novel for Dredd, but it felt natural. Not all stories need to be mega-epics (and by definition most shouldn't be).

Defoe I suppose a sword-fight in a proper crow's-nest would have been too cosy ?-) Enjoyable enough.

Ten-Seconders Characters in 2000AD shouldn't be debating the 'way to save humanity'. Aaargh! Not a favourite episode, but hardly a criticism given the excellent start.

Age of the Wolf Hard to care about the witch's transformation, at this stage. And the splash-page reminded me of Brass Sun, a series that created a world and held your attention so much better.

Slaine Loved it. Art seems spartan at first glance, then the episode itself I found glorious. Been 29 years since I read the original and trying not to care if it copies that slavishly or twists it to whatever extent. Just enjoying it. And who cares about detailed backgrounds? Basically none here (cf. Red Seas) and this time around, it's appropriate. Nice script from Pat Mills, accessible and cheeky in places.

Favourite story: Dredd
Favourite art: Mick

Overall, loads to be pleased about and one dud equates to less than 50 of my Earth Pence...

[TordelBack]

Very solid prog this week, veering towards the completely scrotnig.

Cover:  Great dynamic stuff from the man with all the T's.

Dredd:  Wagner fulfils my expectations by defying them.  This is a powerful exploration of both the nature of the Judge system itself and the real effects of the Chaos.  It's also a damn good page turner in its own right: this is how it should be done.  Willsher's lines and Blythe's colours finally seem to have got into sync after several stories where I felt Ben's open almost unfinished shapes suffered greatly from a literal application of colour blocks, and as result this is his best-looking art yet.   Willsher has a great talent for popuiating MC-1 with established elements in new combinations.

Defoe:  Gallagher trips himself up a bit by having Faust's ship be so far away in the establishing shots as to make what follows implausible, and I have no idea how Tomazine and Sean were tied where they were, but this was a good action-packed instalment with a surprising ending.  My one concern with this excellent strip is how Defoe and Bill Savage seem to be merging into a single disillusioned bereaved character forced to work with powers that they respectively despise.

Hour of the Wolf:  Art still striking too light and cheery a tone for the apocalyptic script for my money, but this was a cracker of an episode all the same.  I love how Rowan's magic arrows have been replaced with one long spear-sized arrow, and zombie werewolves are a new one on me.

Ten Seconders:  Still enthralled by how this is playing out, this third run has been a complete surprise for me.

Slaine:  Perhaps a little more pedestrian in its thematic ambitions than last week, I still really enjoyed the reversals and new perspectives here.  As to McMahon's art, it is glorious to gaze upon and instantly re-readable, and I would love to see a Slaine run in this style, I think it could totally revitalise the strip.  I won't pretend that I like Mick's work here quite as much as the original, but that's only because I can count how many pieces of comic art I like as much as Sky Chariots on the fingers of one hand.  What is great is that he employs his new style so fluidly and confidently, and doesn't attempt to homage his own earlier work at all.  The Book of Scars is proving to be a lot more interesting a project than I had imagined.

[amines2058]

Well we're not too fair from last week alas. Dredd continues to be wonderfully crafted but not exploring anything particularly new. Defoe had a better week but still does little for me. Age of the Wolf was defo in the Prog but not even undead werewolves can cut it here alas.

Then we have Slaine which looks bloody lovely but again doesn't seem to offer anything. Its does go down a slightly different route but not enough to really feel worthwhile. Its such a shame that this potentially exhilarating trip down memory lane isn't yet living up to expectations, art aside.

Finally we have Ten Seconders which continues to be, by far, the standout strip in the Prog.

Times there are a changing and I have to be honest I'm looking forward to this relaunch Prog more than any in the last few years.

Relaunch prog tell more.  This is the first I have heard? ?

[JOE SOAP]

Dredd Like that it's more a procedural, and storytelling top-notch as ever. Artwork is fine, nice thing is that it feels almost like partners on duty. As a lapsed reader I don't know if that's particularly novel for Dredd, but it felt natural. Not all stories need to be mega-epics (and by definition most shouldn't be).

This is the bread & butter Dredd from Wagner. Characterisations are the best there is and it can't even be described as an in-between course, it's all meat.