Prog 2146 - Law in Motion

[Jim_Campbell]

Thought the pointy end was not a good idea in a prison! Given the perchance to turn non pointy things in chibs, this doesn't see a wise move 

Again, they're supposed to clean otherwise inaccessible pipework. The prisoners are never supposed to even see them, never mind get their hands on them.

[Dandontdare]

I also found the first page a little confusing - I thought it was the woman with the child who was narrating, not the innocuous figure in the background.

[norton canes]

Also not sure what those robotic snakes were supposed to do

They're basically cleaning droids. I thought that was fairly clear, myself…

Yeah, I got that when they were shown with Barbarbara (fantastic name, by the way), but what threw me was the way they moved not just from cell to cell but through communal areas too - it just seemed too obvious that they'd be used to traffic small goods (or as dangerous weapons as Proudhuff mentions).

I also found the first page a little confusing - I thought it was the woman with the child who was narrating, not the innocuous figure in the background

Phew. Not just me, then.

Whenever it comes to Dredd I just think of John Wagner's beautifully simple yet coherent prose, with which there's never any ambiguity. 

[TordelBack]

I also found the first page a little confusing - I thought it was the woman with the child who was narrating, not the innocuous figure in the background.

I don't want to seem like im picking a fight here, or slapping down valid reactions, but I really can't see that this line of criticism is justified relation to this sequence.

Barbarara isn't the narrator.  The narraror mentions Barbarara in the third person, when he says "Barbarara had ridden the iso-block bus four days a week for almost four years. She was used to strangers talking to her".

There's only one person talking in the scene. Therefore that isn't Barbarbara either: it's the stranger.  Up to that point the narration is just general exposition about MC1 public transport.

We're being shown a bus in an urban wasteland. We're seeing how people feel on that bus. We're being told it's the bus to an iso blocknow, and how that differs from the norm. We're being told this is Barbarara's work commute, and then shown that she is kind to frightened strangers. It's good, involving storytelling.

I'm a big believer in Wagner's style, but he (and T.B. Grover) has done this kind of thing many times. It's clear, it's efficient, it's interesting. More interesting than a caption on a pucture of Barbarbara saying  "This person is Barbarara, she works in an iso block but is basically a regular decent cit".

[MumboJimbo]

MumboJimbo, I have absolutely no idea what you and Norton are on about here. The Cit with the kid *is* the focus of the first page, he is 'the stranger talking to her', he'said looking at Barbarbara as he speaks. 

There's no bait'n'switch involved, this is an establishing scene setting up the isoblock environment within the life of the citizens, Barbarbara's role, her everyday life and her basic decency. If anything this is a very efficient way to hit all these points, all of which are important to the story.

I do appreciate the general point about unnecessarily obtuse storytelling, but this really isn't an example.

Well maybe it's just my comprehension skillz (or lack thereof!). I'm at my office at the mo, so haven't got the prog to hand, but I recall when reading it initially thinking the captions were the thoughts of lady with the child, and that she was Barbarbara, but then finding later on it was somebody else on the bus.

I'll check tonight, and I'd got the wrong end of the stick (through my own stupidity rather than a narrative bait-and-switch) I'll hold my hand up! 

[TordelBack]

REALLY don't mean to be calling anyone stupid, and very sorry that it reads that way. I just think Carroll and Dyer nailed this one, in a way that nicely echoes some of my favourite Dredd strips, and I disagree with what now seems to be a fairly common criticism (so even less likely to be a result of any imputed shortcoming on the part of the reader).

You're all just wrong, Gruddamnit!

[MumboJimbo]

Barbarara isn't the narrator.  The narraror mentions Barbarara in the third person, when he says "Barbarara had ridden the iso-block bus four days a week for almost four years. She was used to strangers talking to her".

There's only one person talking in the scene. Therefore that isn't Barbarbara either: it's the stranger.  Up to that point the narration is just general exposition about MC1 public transport.

Well that does seem to be, for my part, lazy reading then: assuming the new name in the caption to be the name of person depicted in that caption.

To be fair though, that would be true 90%+ of the time, so although "bait-and-switch" is may be too strong it is a bit of a banana skin for the reader!

[MumboJimbo]

Well that does seem to be, for my part, lazy reading then: assuming the new name in the caption to be the name of person depicted in that caption.

Meant to write: Well that does seem to be, for my part, lazy reading then: assuming the new name in the caption to be the name of person depicted in that panel

[Woolly]

I too thought there was a slight bait & switch going on with the Dredd, and assumed it was just a nice storytelling technique to keep the reader interested.

Guess I'm just wrong 

That said, if we're having to discuss it, then surely it's not worked as intended?

[JayzusB.Christ]

Either way up, Barbarbara Grimm is an absolutely spot-on Big Meg name.  And I've long been waiting for a mad city and citizens story, rather than a Dredd gets in a fight one.  Well done Mike; so far this has been your best Dredd work yet.

[Aaron A Aardvark]

I think recent Dredds have shown the non-Wagner writers upping their game with some excellent stories.