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Author Topic: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.  (Read 2360 times)

Darren Stephens

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Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« on: 14 May, 2011, 10:45:20 AM »
Nice eye catching, Anderson cover from a new droid (to me...) Garry Brown.

Dredd. Ends quite satisfyingly with the villain getting his dues. Arsom, indeed. Willshers artwork is as fantastic as ever, but the fem-judges clothing situation was a bit too cheesy.  :D

Red Seas. Cracking strip. Great last page this week, too. Can't wait to see next weeks episode.

Cadet Anderson. Probably the weakest strip this week, despite the Ezquerra duos art being as cool as ever. Nothing really wrong with it and I did actually enjoy it, but Grant rarely thrills me too much. O.K.

Dante. Ticks all the boxes for me. Brilliant story, amazing artwork. Another great last page that makes the wait for the next installment all the more difficult.

Absalom. Only three weeks in and, like Dante, this is top, top strippage. Quality story and dialogue. Trevallions artwork blows me away. It's very Duncan Fegredo hellboy-esque, which is a very good thing indeed. The missus also mentioned how good it was, which is very rare for her. She normally only mentions if she doesn't like something!  :lol:
« Last Edit: 14 May, 2011, 10:47:29 AM by Darren Stephens »
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Pete Wells

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #1 on: 14 May, 2011, 11:26:07 AM »
Yup, as Darren says, an excellent prog with some last pages that gave me Goosebumps!

The cover is excellent, I really like Garry Brown's work. Check out his Incorruptible covers on his site, his Batman one is excellent too. He really puts me in mind of Jock.

Thrills of the Future - Ichabod coming back, it can only be a good thing!

Dredd - Good old Ben Willsher gives us lots of female arse after cruel taunts by certain boarders (Pete whistles innocently) that he was obsessed with mens! Brilliant, brilliant art as you'd expect and a really action-packed script from Mike. The ending was particularly satisfying, I'd welcome this plot device again.

Red Seas - Again, superb. Half way through I was wondering just how Jack was going to get out of this one and goddamnit the answer was ace...

Anderson - Ah, King Carlos is back, all's right with the world. A decent enough start, I'm looking forward to meeting the baddy. One thing that really jarred though was the lettering on the signs on the bus and the shop, gah, absolutely awful!

Dante - oh, Morrison and Fraser, you wonderful bastards. Those pages with Dante and Viktor were beautiful and that final line from Dante (who is so hairy he shouldn't be cool but just IS!) had me both grinning and fearing for our Russian Rogue. Excellent.

Absalom - Absolutely fantastic writing and art. Absalom is a great character (nice flashback too) and that blind street artist's pictures were superb! Comic masterclass.

A superb prog where I couldn't pick a fave strip. Happy days!
« Last Edit: 14 May, 2011, 11:28:07 AM by Pete Wells »

blixab

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #2 on: 14 May, 2011, 11:49:06 AM »
Great cover - great Prog and on a Saturday again after a three week absence of Saturday thrills!!

My stand out was Dante great plot and just brilliant last page with Dante's comments for the future - top drawer

And as Pete mentioned the Thrill of the Future the return of Ichabod. Any ideas on just when he is back?

The Enigmatic Dr X

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #3 on: 14 May, 2011, 11:59:49 AM »
The signs in Anderson - jarringly bad.

The Cosh

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #4 on: 14 May, 2011, 12:20:38 PM »
What an absolutely fantastic cover. The really simple, muted colour scheme and the stark background makes it stand out all the more to my eye. Gorgeous.

Inside, only Dante really measures up to the standard that's been set. Name changes in reverse, a reflection of Tsar Wars and a pulse-pounding penultimate panel. Class.

Absalom is next best strip for me. Princess Di made me snort.
This fool got more comic books than a motherfucker!

mygrimmbrother

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #5 on: 14 May, 2011, 12:50:13 PM »
Third great cover in a row. Who is this Garry character? (sorry, unecessary reference to Weird Science there), anyway, we need more.

I'm usually a huge Willsher fan but I have to say I've found his style has gotten more and more reductive until all I see now are triangles everywhere. Found this last episode especially hard to follow.

Red Seas - trundling along

Dante - I liked

Cadet Anderson - was good, old fashioned fun. Sort of like catching a repeat of Cheers.

Absalom - this is the undoubted highlight of the prog for me at the moment. Someone recently talked about how fortunate Pat Mills was in finding Leigh Gallagher to illustrate Defoe. Well, here we have another marriage made in heaven (or hell). Tiernan is my new favourite art droid: official!

Trout

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #6 on: 14 May, 2011, 02:34:48 PM »
I loved that Dredd story. A strong idea, great characterisation (with, crucially, a good grasp of how Dredd behaves and talks), plenty of action and a bit of continuity thrown in.

I think this is the first time Michael Carroll's been trusted with a multi-part Dredd, and IMO he shown he's up to the task. More from him please!

Also, Carlos is a god among men. That is all.

- Trout

Colin_YNWA

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #7 on: 14 May, 2011, 03:24:40 PM »
Not had a chance to read it yet but that great cover by a new droid (to me at least) which is just superb, Carlos back in the prog and the news that Ichabod is coming back already has this marked as a winner to me.

The Cosh

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #8 on: 14 May, 2011, 03:25:20 PM »
Hang on a minute. Is that Cadet Anderson wielding a Mk II Lawgiver?

Oh, the humanity.
This fool got more comic books than a motherfucker!

Colin_YNWA

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #9 on: 14 May, 2011, 07:47:20 PM »
Well once you get past those three delights I mentioned earlier things are pretty good after that. Okay it doesn't quite live up to these high standards but hey its still good stuff.

The Dredd finishes effectively enough, okay so this wasn't quite the story I'd hoped it might be but still it was a fine action romp and had plenty of nice touches. Anderson on the other hand starts well enough, not earth shattering but fine fun and all the lawgivers are right so all good.

Absalom likewise is fine its really well crafted and all its just not going anywhere astonishing. It feels like a well worn path its treading. Its got all the hallmarks of a good strip I'm just not sure its going to be as good as its source.

The other two strips however are the stars in the the Galaxy's greatest and fantastic. Red Seas starts to crank up the pace and will its gone at a seemingly steady rate up to now seems to have taken things a long way in only seven episodes and looks to be heading to a thrilling conclusion. Loving this one. as ever however its cast in the shadow of the simply glorious Dante. Its so good at the moment it blacks out all the goodness around. What have we done to deserve, I must have been very good in a previous life or something.

Good Prog.

Dark Jimbo

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #10 on: 15 May, 2011, 11:06:30 AM »
Cover - Arsom. Who's this droid?

Dredd - Hmm. This never quite clicked for me. Dredd was too self-consciously 'hard man Dredd' throughout, as when written by GRennie or Ennis, and the continuity references this week felt rather clumsy and forced - it veered a bit on 'Hello, I'm Judge Joe Dredd, 21st century cop and toughest of all the Judges in post-apocalyptic Mega-City One, empowered to dispense instant justice.' I'm not sure the evil priest character quite worked, and Shiv's continually-dissapearing clothing was pretty silly. I never really bought the idea of their sitting about in a bunker for 18 years, either, and making no previous attempt to contact the Big Meg. But if you didn't think too hard about certain plot points it was enjoyable fluff with decent enough art, though we've seen better from Willsher.

Red Seas - Enjoyable enough, though I long ago lost real interest. Nice that the plot finally seems to be going somewhere at last, after years of talking about how they were going to have to take on the Cradle of Filth at some point.

Anderson - LUSH art, natch, and nothing to offend, but bit early to judge.

Dante - Simply fantastic (though there's a sense that Fraser was suddenly up against the deadlines). Can't wait for next week.

Absalom - Was a bit undecided, but it really earned its wings for me this week, and possibly just edged out Dante for top thrill. Second series soon as possible please! This new art bod's a bit good, isn't he?
« Last Edit: 15 May, 2011, 11:08:31 AM by Dark Jimbo »

strontium71

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #11 on: 15 May, 2011, 11:37:00 AM »
Hang on a minute. Is that Cadet Anderson wielding a Mk II Lawgiver?

Oh, the humanity.

Didn't want to say as I've said it before , but yes it should have been a bloody MK1 grrr  :)
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John Caliber

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #12 on: 15 May, 2011, 05:14:09 PM »
No, it's the Psi-Judge's version of the Lawgiver - the 'Psi-Lencer'  ;)
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Pioneer

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #13 on: 15 May, 2011, 05:44:52 PM »
Small gripe, couldn't the visors on the helmets in Anderson (being set in 2096 and all) have had the circular eye sections like in flashbacks in the likes of Blood Cadets?

Again, small gripe, petty in fact, when on the grander scale of things I f#@king love it all to the max....

Proudhuff

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Re: Prog 1734 : The Rookie.
« Reply #14 on: 16 May, 2011, 02:02:41 PM »
Cover - Arsom indeed!

Dredd - More Arsom, thought the layout a bit haphazard but otherwise fine Dredd work all round.

Red Seas Cracking stuff looking forward to the mega battle

Anderson - kinda lite but that text did jar a bit


Dante - Fraser's art wonderful,   

Absalom - top hole!!

Great great prog, well done chaps.
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