Not sure if it's me or the prog...

[JoFox2108]

I don't want to go back to the days when every episode had a recap of what happened last week. They're just an unwelcome interruption when the story is collected in a graphic novel. We have the Nerve Centre available for that kind of thing. Or we can just remember what happened last week.

The Nerve Centre thing doesn't really work though. The recap can always be removed when collected in a trade, just like the "Next Prog" caption.

I've found that the nerve centre thing frequently only gives background to the strip as a whole rather than what's been happening in the story.  Maybe adding to the nerve center info might help.  Personally I'm not bothered where the info is put, but I would find it really helpful to have it in there.

[Colin YNWA]

I get that Chaos Day was a way to upend the status quo, but to my mind it just didn't follow through in the way Apocalypse War did. Other writers didn't seem to grasp the scope of what had happened.

I think I'm right in saying other writers didn't know what was coming. I'm not sure Tharg even knew till he got the script in for the final episode. At the time, Day of Chaos badly needed an immediate Wagner follow-up story, to show how the series would work going forward. (This might have also given the other writers time to get their heads around it.)

Yeah we've had that said on record... somewhere. In fact I believe the story that followed the week after DoC was actually written prior to it and had a couple if lines of dialogue changed to try to make it work. Which it clearly didn't. I kinda put that at Tharg's feet but not knowing the why and wherefores don't know why he allowed that to happen BUT after a few weeks for me the follow up to DoC has been handled really deftly. There's been a sense in many stories of the long term ongoing 'change' but its not actually stopped people writing the Dredd stories they want to. I like that. It might be a superficial impact felt but its not stilted the story while letting those invest carry on with a sense of continuity... well that's how I've felt this thread clearly says otherwise!

[Jacqusie]

But for some time now, it's felt like a case of too many cooks.

Several strong arcs competing and not complementing each other. As a result, consistency in MegaCity One (often cited as the star of the strip) seems to suffer.

At the moment, I genuinely don't know what I should be worrying about - it's it invisible judges in the walls? (I hate this idea by the way.) Sector Zero (virtually the same awful idea.) Texas? Brit Cit? Chaos Day fallout? Enceladus fall out? The Sovs killing a load of ex-judges? Dredd seeing and riding magical black horsies? The Mechanismo Project? Sinfield? Probably a couple of other potentially city destroying problems that I've missed?

Months seem to go by without mention of a major event, then suddenly they're back it's that writer's turn, and sometimes it's hard to be emotionally invested.

I really would like to see some stability in MegaCity One, especially as we're heading for a TV series about it.

That's hit the nail on the head for me Pete. The lack of coherent and consistent story lines in Dredd makes the character and those around Dredd suffer. What's this week? Send him over to Texas & have some fun adventures then, forget about the big Ice storm / monster that invaded MC1 and the consequences of that.

Williams' and Trev Hairsine's short story was great, then what? More random stories with no linkage into any of the big hitters. I'm not a great fan of Carrol's take on Dredd (throw as much as possible into the pot with no back story) and Dredd's suddenly become this 'toy' that's being shared across the playground with a total loss of identity and credibility.

Maybe it was ever thus, but I'd like to see some more careful plot threads from his story writers, give all this massive, life changing story lines a rest and build some stability and continuity, or else we just get a product, which as Pete says, it become incresingly difficult to emotionally invest in...

...until Wagner comes along that is.

[Tjm86]

Maybe it was ever thus, but I'd like to see some more careful plot threads from his story writers, give all this massive, life changing story lines a rest and build some stability and continuity, or else we just get a product, which as Pete says, it become incresingly difficult to emotionally invest in...

...until Wagner comes along that is.

To be honest one of the former strengths was that very few of the strips ever had major ramifications.  Exceptions such as the Apocalypse War stand in contrast to the 'perp of the week' style story.  A lot of the time the emotional investment came from that aspect of the strip.

If anything I think Carrol's biggest weakness is his attempt to create an X-Files esque mythology.  Justice Dept is big enough and bonkers enough without some stupid conspiracy.  Stuff like the Edgar Files worked more because it was the political machinations and over reaching of individual judges, perversion of the system.  That was what worked best for me anyway.

Maybe the other advantage of the 6 page weekly strip is that odd 'meh' stories such as we had this week can often be drowned out by the class.

[Jacqusie]

If anything I think Carrol's biggest weakness is his attempt to create an X-Files esque mythology.  Justice Dept is big enough and bonkers enough without some stupid conspiracy.

One part of emotional investment is credibility (I know we are talking sci-fi) and investment in the characters. World building takes time and we as readers appreciate character development in the prog, seeing the rise and fall and rise of the individual Judges is what keeps me coming back.

We don't have so much of that these days, it's the continuity thing again. The stories are all seperate, there seems to be no links between writers and characters, let alone developing threads that keep one interested to the point we care about them.

One example is how the chief judge has been portrayed in that godawful way as a lame duck in Carrols story last summer. It was like reading a completely different Hershey that the tough 'not taking any crap' character we had seen through the years. In the past anyone making such a idiotic (and quite frankly baffling) decision such as she did would be for the chop. It was painful reading the Texas stories, watching the characters you knew and loved being malaigned and written out of context.

If this is how Dredd's going, I'm not sure I can read it much longer, it's pretty hard going, chewy and hard to swallow as it is, without all this secret judge malarky that I can't remember which one is division X and which is the Judges in the walls bollocks.

If it brings in more of the younger readers then fine, I too am happy to make way after 30 odd years I suppose... all in the name of progess ey...

[blackmocco]

If it brings in more of the younger readers then fine, I too am happy to make way after 30 odd years I suppose... all in the name of progess ey...

It's not bringing in younger readers.

[sheridan]

I also sympathise with Prof Bear and Arkwright99.  Even in an ongoing story I think the rhythm of good story arcs, each with beginning middle and end works best.  It is just so much more satisfying for a reader.  I remember once reading the first book of Tad WIlliams' 'Otherland' book series.  I really enjoyed the story and was totally looking forward to the next book, but then the story from book one didn't end, it just stopped, like it had been sliced in half or something.  I was really angry and upset, it felt like I'd been promised the satisfaction of understanding it and getting to the end of the first part and instead had been handed a 'to be continued' notice.  I've never read another Tad Williams book, mainly because I don't want that to happen again - it was SO irritating.
(Oops, got a bit 'ranty' there - sorry)

Cheers,
    Joanne

I'm not familiar with the series in question - do you mean that the story is continued, just not in the first book that was published, but that it reads like one book that got chopped in half?  I'm reminded of the end of the first HItchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book, which that almost literally happened to (it was more along the lines of Douglas Adams missing his deadline and the publisher telling him to bring over what he'd written so far - it ends pretty abruptly with a one paragraph set-up for the next book).

[TordelBack]

Well pals and chums, I'm just back from a few weeks of rambles overseas, and have missed out on two whole progs... from the edgy nervousness with which I anticipate a catch-up trip to the comic shop tomorrow, it appears my own thrill-addiction still has a firm grip on the whip.

Been reflecting on this thread quite a bit as I drfited my way through cheap wine and expensive museums, and as a 90's deserter myself, I obviously can sympathise with not feeling the beat of the weekly dance: but I also can't personally see the current line-up as being disappointing in any way.

I allow my own reservations about the overall direction of Dredd as a whole, as opposed to the individual stories, which have been fine), and do think a second long-residence Dante/Stront-esque strip, plus a standalone FS-slot every week, would bring a bit of the stability that multi-writer Dredd doesn't seem to contribute. 

But...

Brink alone would be enough to sell me the comic, and adding in recent and current series (Deadworld, Kingdom, Grey Area, Defoe, Hope, Kingmaker, The Order, Hunted, Aquilla, Savage, Scarlet Traces etc), I think it's as strong a line-up as it has ever been.  However, talk to me again when Grey Suit returns...

[AlexF]

I'm here to echo Tordelback's sentiments above! The Prog is at least 4/5 for me at the moment, and has almost never dipped below 3/5.

I, too have felt disenchantment from time to time, but agree with others that this seems to be more of a reflection of my own health (especially the mental kind), and indeed the state of the world. Sometimes, this means the Prog feels lacklustre; at other times, the Prog becomes a shining beacon of joy in my week.

To those bemoaning current Dredd and the lack of Al Ewing, I say it's a fair point, but don't dismiss the new guys yet! That Rory McConville is one to watch for sure, and there's fresh artists such as Jake Lynch who are bringing some of that manic energy to their work that allows 2000AD to recapture its early aesthetic.

I wouldn't mind a new 'hero' focussed strip, though, especially one that could come with a proper villain in it, too! We need a new Torquemada in the Prog, and the revamped Traitor General isn't going to cut it, I fear.

[sheridan]

I wouldn't mind a new 'hero' focussed strip, though, especially one that could come with a proper villain in it, too! We need a new Torquemada in the Prog, and the revamped Traitor General isn't going to cut it, I fear.

Call it a protagonist - that way you cover heroes, antiheroes and anybody else who isn't the antagonist

[Tjm86]

I wouldn't mind a new 'hero' focussed strip, though, especially one that could come with a proper villain in it, too! We need a new Torquemada in the Prog, and the revamped Traitor General isn't going to cut it, I fear.

Call it a protagonist - that way you cover heroes, antiheroes and anybody else who isn't the antagonist

I always thought a 'protagonist' was someone who was really in to playing tig.

[dweezil2]

I'd say that Rob Williams has ably picked up the slack left by Ewing.
Would be great to have him back nonetheless.

[CalHab]

I recently read some of Al Ewing's New Avengers work. I'm a big fan of everything he's done for the prog, but I have absolutely no idea what he's writing there. It would probably benefit him as much as the prog if he came back for a spell.

[Greg M.]

Ewing's Marvel  work is all very interlinked. This can be a blessing and a curse - lots of great continuity and big cosmic concepts, but if you haven't been following all the titles he's written, it can be a little hard to get into.

[CalHab]

That's a fair point, but it's just so baggy. There are whole issues which don't seem to move the plot. Tharg wouldn't stand for that.