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Prog 1985

Started by Eamonn Clarke, 11 June, 2016, 11:59:25 AM

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Andy Lambert

Alrighty then, first time reviewing so bear with me...

Cover: As always, beautiful artwork from Simon Davis, but I agree with Ghost McRoth, it's a bit too plain for my taste.

Judge Dredd: No real complaint for me, it's ended the current chapter of this compelling saga and has left me looking forward to the conclusion greatly.  There are niggles, but they've been mentioned elsewhere and they're not enough to spoil the whole thing.

Slaine: Again, it's the artwork that appeals to me more than the actual story - this may be because I've been away from 2000ad for such a long time, having only just returned a year and a half ago... I feel there's a lot of history I'm missing. Speaking of the artwork, does Davis' art here seem more... I don't know - 'crude', for want of a better word? At least in comparison to his other works. His Slaine work seems less 'clear' than that of say, Sinister Dexter, Stone Island and Ampney Crucis Investigates...

Brink: I'm just not following this. I've been reading it but I'm not engaing with it - I can tell when I read it my mind wanders. I've no idea what's going on. I'm taken with the artwork either, it's saved purely by the excellent colouring.

Black Shuck: It's alright, nothing that particularly stands out from other stuff. Again my concentration isn't held much until moments like the conflict between Black Shuck and the priest occur. I can see it has potential, as long as it doesn't go down a similar road as the tedious The Order.

Grey Area: The dialogue is fun and humorous, but I've never developed much of a grasp of the characters - again, I feel out of the loop having missed the beginnings of this strip. The artwork is both stunning and often murky and unclear, but that final panel is just amazing! I don't know who or what those ships are, and why they resemble hands, but it's a beautiful bit of art!

I reckon next week's cover is going to feature either Grey Area or Judge Dredd.

Richard

Quoteit was fairly clear the disabling of the palm print sensor on the  Lawgiver was going to feature at some point, otherwise why bother setting it up?
That's why Joyce could have shot them himself. It doesn't explain why he didn't. It's the whole premise of the question.

QuoteAlso looking at the political stink kicked up the last time Meg judges shot at Brit Cit judges, which partly caused all this, a Brit Cit detective doing the shooting makes it a lot less of an international situation
But didn't Joyce already kill some British judges earlier in this story?

Frank

Quote from: Richard on 16 June, 2016, 03:58:15 PM
[Joyce could have shot them himself. It doesn't explain why he didn't

Because Mike Carroll thought it would be more interesting to fool the reader into thinking a Brit was about to shoot John Thaw.

You're right, Joyce could have simply thrown off his Lion Bar helmet, shouted 'IT IS I, JOYCE!', and started blasting away at their kneecaps, but that would have been a bit Jack Adrian*.

I imagine Mike Carroll came to that bit of the story and thought he couldn't just hack out a predictable scene like that^, so came up with a fresh variation on an overly familiar scene.

It tried something original. Everyone's seen the set-up where the bad guy's about to shoot the prone hero, then the hero's buddy appears out of nowhere and shoots the villain in the back too many times:





* Tom Tully, Gerry Finley-Day, Pat Mills (delete according to taste)

Magnetica

Quote from: Richard on 16 June, 2016, 03:58:15 PM
Quoteit was fairly clear the disabling of the palm print sensor on the  Lawgiver was going to feature at some point, otherwise why bother setting it up?
That's why Joyce could have shot them himself. It doesn't explain why he didn't. It's the whole premise of the question.


Yeah well its kinda the other way round isn't it? Mike Carroll set up the disabling of the palm print sensor so that Armitage could use it.

Why did he do it?...well Butch has explained it...but basically because it's more interesting.

Goaty

Maybe Joyce can't see out of his Lion Brit helmet...?

Richard

Joyce disabled the palm print sensor so that he, Joyce, could use it. It wasn't his Lawgiver.

I agree it was more interesting, and worked better dramatically, to do it the way it was done. But sometimes it's nice for a story to make sense internally as well.

TordelBack

Everyone sees Judge Conroy (with his convincing Brit accent) go to shoot Armitage at close range, so no-one else tries to do it. Then they see Armitage pointing  a gun he can't possibly use, and are wrong footed long enough for Armitage to aim and fire. The alternative would have been for Joyce to try to turn and fire and hope he got them all.

Minkyboy

Quote from: Tordelback on 17 June, 2016, 07:33:31 PM
Everyone sees Judge Conroy (with his convincing Brit accent) go to shoot Armitage at close range, so no-one else tries to do it. Then they see Armitage pointing  a gun he can't possibly use, and are wrong footed long enough for Armitage to aim and fire. The alternative would have been for Joyce to try to turn and fire and hope he got them all.

Yup, plus the deniability/don't cause another International incident. Reckon that explains it nicely. Looking forward to tomorrow - hope Babs gets the Texan Maggie Thatcher in a headlock!
Fiddling while Rome burns

"is being made a brain in a jar a lot more comen than I think it is." - Cyberleader2000

Frank

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 11 June, 2016, 05:12:13 PM
Hiding Dredd's face using shadow seemed a little easy


... but standard practice:





The revelation that Dredd wears a sheaf of A4 paper as a thong was intriguing. I find A5 adequate.

After last week, where three characters went out like Joe Pesci in a cornfield, the heads in Brink were talking rather than exploding like watermelons - but what talk and what heads.

Abnett takes full advantage of the fact his readership all have The Wire and its specialised lexical (box) set as a common frame of reference, as well as most of us having read Watchmen long ago enough for the Rorschach moment to feel less of a test and more of a fond reminder*.

It's all so fantastically and cleverly done that inviting those comparisons isn't a misstep. This is the best thing 2000ad has published in the 4 years I've been here, and I say that as someone who groaned at the thought of a cop story on a space station**. It really shouldn't be my kind of thing.


* This has some bearing on our conversation regarding whether 2000ad should be an all ages title. Brink is pitched at a level of emotional sophistication and complexity that would repel 10-12 year old readers like anti-vandal paint.

** Abnett's fake-out, setting the story up as a story about a tough, edgy cop with a name so tough and edgy it doubles as the name of the strip, worked a treat on me. Hook, line, and sinker

TordelBack

Brink is really brilliant stuff, the writing honed to a razor's edge and the art doing precisely what is required. Using the bloody title as a twist is surely some new highpoint for Abnett 's craft. Utterly gripping, and I can't decide whether I want this to be a perfect standalone jewel, or the start of something that will continue to thrill for years.

I feel for Moore and Reppion having their heavily shod packhorse running in the same race. That said, Black Shuck is a more interesting story this time out, but remains po-faced and ponderous despite some great images (the decapitated horse was shocking).

Dredd has been great fun, some odd plot issues aside. I think Mike has been very successful in creating a mini-epic that keeps the reader engaged and guessing, and I look forward to the homecoming!

Very pleased to see that Grey Area apparently has more in store. This has been the arc the series needed to win me over, and I want to see it continue.

Slaine was good again this week. The more variety Pat gives Simon to draw, the better the strip gets.

Colin YNWA

Quote from: Butch on 18 June, 2016, 11:11:43 AM
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 11 June, 2016, 05:12:13 PM
Hiding Dredd's face using shadow seemed a little easy


... but standard practice:





Though they kinda make my point if I could be arsed to take photos of the panels that bugged me. BUT with apologise to Mr Holden who I know hoovers in these parts BUT who I hope has more sense than to read this BUT (three BUTs too many?) in each of those pictures the shadows make sense in the context of the rest of the panel. In Mr Holden's (whose art I've stated I'm enjoying so much here in previous weeks for the sake of balance) though the shadows don't really fit for me with the lighting in the rest of the panel.

Echidna

Quote from: Butch on 18 June, 2016, 11:11:43 AM
Abnett takes full advantage of the fact his readership all have The Wire and its specialised lexical (box) set as a common frame of reference, as well as most of us having read Watchmen long ago enough for the Rorschach moment to feel less of a test and more of a fond reminder*.
This

QuoteIt's all so fantastically and cleverly done that inviting those comparisons isn't a misstep. This is the best thing 2000ad has published in the 4 years I've been here
This

Quote** Abnett's fake-out, setting the story up as a story about a tough, edgy cop with a name so tough and edgy it doubles as the name of the strip, worked a treat on me. Hook, line, and sinker
And this.

Quote* This has some bearing on our conversation regarding whether 2000ad should be an all ages title. Brink is pitched at a level of emotional sophistication and complexity that would repel 10-12 year old readers like anti-vandal paint.
Also this.

Have to agree with Colin regarding the shadow over Dredd's face - it doesn't seem to be cast by anything. But as Butch says, it comes with the territory - it's either magically-appearing shadows or suspiciously conveniently-placed objects à la Austin Powers or Wilson* (or indeed the sheet of paper Butch mentioned**).

* link does not imply approval of content

** lol @ the A5 comment, btw

DrJomster

Lovely cover, I have to say!

Going to echo the "Doesn't the Yeowell/Blythe combo look good" comments, mostly because it does!

Liked Dredd. More please, barman!

Good prog! Now, where's next week's? ;)
The hippo has wisdom, respect the hippo.

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 18 June, 2016, 08:14:32 PM
BUT with apologise to Mr Holden who I know hoovers in these parts...

Tell him to do behind the sofa, it's bloody filthy down there.
@jamesfeistdraws

ZenArcade

A5 Sauchie....I'm more of an A3 man myself. Z ;)
Ed is dead, baby Ed is...Ed is dead