Prog 2169 - 43 Years of Blood, Sweat and Tears

[davidbishop]

Cracking one-off Dredd in the new prog! Extra oil rations for all the droids.

[Darren Stephens]

Yeh, lovely one-off Dredd. That final panel left me smiling. Stunning cover from the Robinson and Teague droids, too. Only had time to read Rex so far. Awesome stuff!

[Richard]

I really liked Dredd, although I do wonder whether the ending might confuse new readers.

[Richard]

I forgot to say: a fitting ending for Brink.

[Eamonn Clarke]

Cliff Robinson and Dylan Teague

[Eamonn Clarke]

[Woolly]

Niemand's best Dredd so far, and considering all his others are sublime then thats saying something!
He's a keeper, Tharg...

[JayzusB.Christ]

Love that cover. Great to see Cliff's keeping the logo-incorporated-into-the-picture thing alive.  He's been around since I was very small and I'm glad he's still there.

[Woolly]

Niemand's best Dredd so far, and considering all his others are sublime then thats saying something!
He's a keeper, Tharg...

Just noticed an art cock-up in this weeks Dredd... I'll not say what it is though 

[Bolt-01]

Has anyone else had a problem reading the RED on BLACK text in Feral & Foe?

I had to get a magnifying glass out!

[Colin YNWA]

Has anyone else had a problem reading the RED on BLACK text in Feral & Foe?

I had to get a magnifying glass out!

Beat me to it, I was like reading 'Damage Report' from back in the day when it was grey against dark grey / black. Mind with a shift of the Prog to catch the light I could make it...

...and I've one other complaint. Which will be a bit Facebookie so I'll save it for the end. Cos its seems an absolute crime to moan about anything when the Prog is THIS good. I mean this run has been good. But by all that's thrillpowered this is a Prog and a half it really is. Its bloody amazing.

Okay so it could be said that Zaucer of Zilk has a slightly quieter Prog than normal. But since normal is quite superb and this is just a bit superb its silly to see that as a negative.

Feral and Foe has the very unfortunatel fate of having a real up swing and blood red on black aside its quite clear that this thrill is at its best when it has a Tank in it. The previous episodes with the Tank rose the level of fun to magic and this one does it again. With bonus soul sword for good measure and a wonderful twisty turn. Just brilliant... and yet only the fourth best thing in the Prog.

So a Keith Neimand and Tom Foster Dredd is going to fare better right... well yeah... but its still only the third best thing and its absolutely magnificent - I mean Kenny Who good. JUst fantastic to look at and christ whomever Neimand is he is perfect at Dredd. Just pitch perfect...

...So Proteus Vex then... well its close but no. I mean this is fantastic, absolutely Kirbyesque brilliant and Henry Flint is on absolute fire here its just out of this world and yet so solidly bound storytelling. Its sharp, witty, thrilling and crafted in a burning furnace of unfettered imagination. I adore this series and this is possibly the best episode to date.

And so OF COURSE that leaves us Brink - with crashes down into a schmaltz and twee, comfort blanket of a happy ending epilogue that mollifies what has gone before... bollocks and arse its does, OF COURSE it bloody doesn't ... except it kinda does... kinda its just Dabnett and INJ Culbard are so brilliant they make it work perfectly. Absolutely perfectly. This then is added to by the fact its has such a different tone and feel to what we are used to with this thrill it has like 262% more impactful (exactly 262%, not approximately, 262% or hyperbolically 262% actually measure with an impact-o-scope 262% more) than it would in any other series. Just when you think this wonderous series has given you all it can, has shown you all the delights it can possibly offer in five simple pages it lovingly slaps you across the face screaming I AM MORE THAN YOU CAN KNOW and leaves you with the greatest stinging cheek your life will ever know. By 262%

So the Facebookie complaint. Look I'm really please that Tharg has let Brink finish and I'm super glad we are getting these all ages issues this year, its a FANTASTIC thing. Its just a shame that the momentum will be lost from three absolutely fantastic thrills... or will they. Am I being too Facebookie (WE. DON'T. LIKE. CHANGE)? Will the break give me a different delight and then when these three thrills return I will have renewed vigour and anticipation for them?

Well lets find out shall we. Thing is Tharg has gone out on such a bang!?!

[McNulty]

It's been a while, but here are my thoughts on this week's prog.

Dredd: By far my most favourite story this week. The dark artstyle was very atmospheric and the writing was spot on. I enjoyed lots of elements of this story. Dredd brought the case up but left it to others to sift through the minutia in order to crack it. The use of the robot judges shows that Dredd is not above seeing their worth in certain areas. Dredd goes about his day while the painstaking process goes on. And in the end he isn't even in on the final bust. I really liked this story.

The Zaucer of Zilk: I like this colourful art and insane story. True, this is less of an action orientated episode, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Proteus Vex: This one has been harder to get into. Flint's art is excellent as always but the story is difficult to get into. However that is true of any original story when you have to balance universe building exposition, character motivations and action and drama from scratch. I can still find myself enjoying this but it will require re-reading.

Feral and Foe: Eight episodes in and I still can't emphasize with the primary characters. Frankly I can see Orsola's motivations a lot clearer than the other two. The art's great and I do like the story (been playing Warcraft for years now). So I will keep with it, unless it goes too far into Kingmaker territory.

Next prog we are getting the Regened takeover, which I wasn't in love with last time, but I will give it a chance.

I was especially fond of the Dredd story this week because it harked back to an earlier time in 2000AD's history. This was important for me because I lost my Dad last Sunday. It was Dad who introduced my family to 2000AD when it started back in the late 70s. I was a bit young for it then, I was only about 6 or 7, but I still remember the bionic stickers that came with prog 2 when it arrived. As the years went on I gradually started reading the progs that he would buy and eventually read the back progs he collected in earnest. Later my younger brother would read them as well. Happy memories included talks we had about things that Dredd, Rogue, Alpha and Slaine were doing that week, although my favourites of that time were more Robohunter and Ace Trucking. Eventually, the task of collecting the progs fell to me and it was one I was happy to continue. Dad would still read the progs but now he had to wait until I has read them. Even in later years when he was less fond of the newer stories and artstyles that were coming over, he still had good things to say about 2000AD. I can say that he read 2000AD right up until the end of his life. And for that I want to thank everyone at 2000AD for this shared memory.
I am going to keep reading 2000AD, mostly because I can still get enjoyment from the progs and partly because I want to keep those memories. 

[Tjm86]

I'm in the 'Regened should be a special' camp myself.  Don't get me wrong, I applaud the idea and there were some reasonable strips last time.  I just feel that it is a bit of a missed opportunity.  At the end of the day though, most of us here would be buying it anyway. 

If it was a standalone special then anyone following up on it is less likely to be jarred by the normal prog, on the shelves against the prog it would highlight the fact that tooth is ongoing and possibly encourage casual readers to give it a try, it highlights the distinctive nature of the characters together with their relationship to current characters and stories ...

When you look at the increased output from Rebellion on the specials front (and the calls in this quarter for several of them to be more regular!) it does seem a peculiar approach.  It would be interesting to know why this one was chosen.

[broodblik]

I'm in the 'Regened should be a special' camp myself.  Don't get me wrong, I applaud the idea and there were some reasonable strips last time.  I just feel that it is a bit of a missed opportunity.  At the end of the day though, most of us here would be buying it anyway. 

I am in the same camp and would have bought the specials. 

[Magnetica]

I’m not bothered if the Regened is a special or not. But surely if it was a special it would be on sale for longer and therefore more likely to have higher sales.

As to the current thrills losing momentum due to the break, well you could just keep this week’s Prog handy for when normal service resumes in two weeks’ time.