Prog 1751: the Exterminating Angel

[Trout]

My mind is broken.

This comic contains John Smith at the height of his word-inventing, weird shit powers in Indigo Prime, while Kek-W and John Burns arrive with a truly gorgeous, fascinating story in Angel Zero. I can't wait to see more of this. What a great first episode. Organic car parts? Freaky!

Dredd continues to delight me like a Christmas morning (massive spoiler: yes, Dredd was right again), and I really, really love Ampney Crucis Investigates. There's a big shock at the end of this week's episode.

As usual, I was laughing out loud at Dirty Frank in Low Life. I can't think of a better character created for 2000AD in the last 10 years.

That's five out of five from me, and I haven't the superlatives to express how it brightens my Christmas mornings. It's topped with a beautiful John Burns cover.

- Trout

[Trout]

By the way:

THE PROG THREAD IS MINE! ALL MINE!

MWAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

You losers.

- Trout

[mogzilla]

"with great power comes great resonsibility"-stan the man lee

[Bluecube]

Yeah! This is more like it! Zombo and SinDex are now a nice distant memory. Every single story in this prog rocks from Dredd all the way through to the new story Exterminating Angel. I LOVE John Burns art so this is a real delight for me.

My usual list of notes -

Is it me or is Dredd becoming a wee bit more of a background character in his own strips? More and more stories remind me of America where Dredd is omnipresent in the background, ready to step in with some wise words and a soothing daystick but never quite at the forefront. I noticed this in the Megazine strip as well.

Ampney Crucis has become one of my favourite strips which is surprising as I was introduced to this character with what I thought was a poor story a year or so back. This new story arc is tickling all the right chords - a highly imaginative story with some superb art.

Indigo Prime - yup. Fab great brilliant. LOVELY artwork coupled to yet another highly imaginative script. Looking forward to the next episode.

Exterminating Angel - As stated above, I find John Burns' art is sublime - he is my favourite Nikolai Dante artist. Is Kek-W a blast from the past? I remember him from many years ago but not recently... A great start to the story.

I've never found Dirty Frank as funny as others appear to. The previous story arc was excellent but I feel that every time we visit Hondo Cit everything goes tits up. Highly enjoyable though!

[Richmond Clements]

I've been following the 'if you can't say something nice say nothing' rule, but really, Dredd is a bit dull.
Sovs again? Council of Five ignoring Dredd's warning again?
I'm prepared to be proved wrong in the coming weeks, but at the moment this story is not moving me in any way.
Plus- why is the Chief Judge wearing bright red lipstick? Is the twist going to be that he's River Song?

This is balanced out by the rest of the comic, which is very good.

[dangermouse3597]

Well I enjoyed it but have one query why does Dredd have ionic eyes and Dirty Frank have an eye patch? Why didn't Frank get a bionic eye too? It may have been answered before but I have wondered this since I started reading the Prog and first saw Low Life a few years ago.

[Darren Stephens]

Stunning cover by Simon Davis. I much prefer his covers to his strip work. Only had a flick through so far, reading only Exterminating Angel, which is great and looks amazing. Also, the artwork on Indigo Prime is astonishing. That Kirby-esque splash page blew me away. I'll read the rest tomorrow, as I'm about to go out on the piddle! 

[radiator]

Well I enjoyed it but have one query why does Dredd have ionic eyes and Dirty Frank have an eye patch? Why didn't Frank get a bionic eye too? It may have been answered before but I have wondered this since I started reading the Prog and first saw Low Life a few years ago.

Because eyepatches are cool.

So has Angel Zero been renamed Exterminating Angel?

[Steve Green]

That's just the cover tagline. It's still Angel Zero.

Yeah I wondered about Francisco's lippy. Quite dark around the eyes as well...

[Banners]

How come Angel Zero is only four pages? Is there some cost-cutting going on at the Galaxy's Greatest...?

[Colin_YNWA]

People who wonder into certain Dc related threads of late will know I'm a bit over excited in their DCNu building shenanigans this week. So how does 2000ad compare to such high profile comicing.

Well firstly I think it needs to be said that its the most beautiful thing I'll see this week without a shadow of a doubt. On paper at least. The prog as a whole just looks stunning at the moment. Paper after paper of art, even though in very different styles, that just blows you away. Glorious.

Storywise Dredd continues to frustrate. Its all very well done just whats being done feels like well trodden territory. Schemes building slowly and menacingly and Judges doubting Dredd being proved to be foolish and wrong. The character moments are brilliant but I waiting for this one to travel down new roads and its not yet.

Ampney Crucis continues to build well from last week as does Indigo Prime though with John Smith brilliance raising it uo a notch . Both are still building their story, or in Smith's case his universe, both are still entertaining. Angel Zero cuts straight to the chase in quite thrilling style however. Building a quaint little world, slightly leftfield and off kilter which then has a chilling stranger drop in. Fantastic intro looking forward to seeing where it goes.

The highlight though is Lowlife which is just hilarious yet never loses sight of a need to build a story that promises excitement and tension. Frank is throwing himself in the deep end, a man with nothing to loose that we care about so much. Intriguing and brilliantly crafted. Its standing out in a prog with Wagner and John Smith and I don't think I can come up with better praise.

So DC is building worlds and that excites me. 2000ad builds on many things each with different qualities, each presented beautifully and continues to build my faith that regardless of whats happening elsewhere week in week out it'll be the best thing I read.

[DrJomster]

Good prog this. Better than 1450 at any rate and close to 1449 which was awesome. So.... Did you notice:

- what looked like a very McMahon tribute-like Big Boots Dredd on the top of page 3 of Dredd?

- someone with the Jigsaw Disease (a la Judge Child Quest) in Indigo Prime?

Liked. A lot. 

[House of Usher]

Indigo Prime and Low Life were both marvellous this Prog.

[DrJomster]

Before anyone says... Yes I DID put prog numbers that were 300 out... Dear Lord! Now when is that "edit post" button coming back again?... 

[Darren Stephens]

Before anyone says... Yes I DID put prog numbers that were 300 out... Dear Lord! Now when is that "edit post" button coming back again?... 

That's what I was just thinking......Exterminating Angel indeed. Tut!