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Prog 1978 - outer dark

Started by Skullmo, 23 April, 2016, 10:39:21 AM

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Skullmo

Shame they didn't contine with the retro cover revamp theme - that would have been fun.

Cover - it's very pink and blue. Nice to see the title completely obscured, they should just remove it if they are going to cover it every week. It's ok I guess - a bit bland. I certainly wouldn't pick it up if I wasn't a reader already. However, the INJ's  inside on brink is great.

Dredd - lovely art from pj and Adam, this is probably my favourite work I've seen from pj Holden! The story is more of the same 1. resolution of cliffhanger/fight 2. Talking heads chat 3.cliffhanger that is some kind of shootout/explosion. As I mentioned in an earlier post I can't help but feel that a lot of Carroll's Dredds, although generally an interesting idea, seem to follow this formula and for me it means that all we actually get regarding plot is 3 pages of talking heads and then a cliffhanger. Also I still find a cliffhanger of an explosion or a shootout boring as we know what will happen. i found the plot idea was ok, just a bit slow.

Aquila finishes this issue thankfully, but with every silver lining there is a rain cloud and survival geeks begins another series. The art in both these series is not really to my taste and the stories seem laboured and lacking characters that I care about. Also I find the humour particularly misses, but that's me.

I am pleased to see that Slaine is back next issue.
It's a joke. I was joking.

Tjm86

I think the response in Damage Report about the cover ideas was bang on:  4 months of it could get old quickly.  Also, do we really want covers to remind us of some of the dark days of the nineties? 

I have to agree on Dredd: okay as it goes.  Bit of a LOL moment with the House of Commons scene - Big Dave's Pork Pies.  Sorry but it did tickle.

Brink does a reasonable job setting the scene.  See where it goes. 

As for the rest of the prog.  Not quite bad for a 'meh' personally but not raving either.

Colin YNWA

The Prog continues its upwards trajectory. Nice thing about The Galaxies Greatest even when its at a rare low ebb you can feel confident that things will start to improve and after the low of the 1972 (I think it was) line-up is starting to get good already with another positive change on the way with Slaine replacing Aquila next week. To be fair though Aquila does end on its best episode of this series, though only cos it pathes the way for its return and the feeling that things might become more substansive. Trouble is, as Skullmo says even if that happens I've not engaged with the characters so it'll never be a fav.

Its the same with Tainted for me, its all just so very there and the key to that is unlike other Kek-W work of the last few years there's no one to pull me in to get me involved with the tension that's so clearly there.

Survival Geeks , has the advantage of it not really matter about the specifics of the characters the caricatures they present make them at least immediately recognisable. The story has me interested and given the improvement I felt in the last story maybe this strip is finally beginning to offer me something. Again it'll never be a fav but you can't blame a trier and its doing that at least.

starts really well - see characters, there's something about the cops that was immediately engaging and interesting and made me want to learn more about them. The setting and scenario aren't immediately freshing but from that opening panel to that closing shot (is eye violence going to be a thing?) there was enough to keep it going while we enjoyed the duo we were meeting. Loved the way both Bridge and Brinkman were made to seem very human and real, both in the writing and the art. Not quite as exceptional as many 2000ad characters, vomiting aside. So yeah good solid start and I'm looking forward to seeing this one develop.

Finally we get to Mike Carroll's tour-de-force on Dredd. From early doors I was hoping he might become one of the key Dredd writers and that seems to becoming true ... well except of course its not Dredd is it. Really strong episode and I certianly think Skullmo's break down of the episode structure holds true here I don't think that as standard as he suggests and I think you only need to go back and look at the last two to see how deftly he balances the two elements to the ongoing plot.

What I do argee with him about is how exceptional PJ's art is. Seems like its been a while since he's been in the Prog but great to have him back. He certainly shows that he's continuely evolving and getting even better - just look at the fella getting his brians blown out, brilliant. Look at that last panel on page 3, superb, the expressions in the conversation so palpable. Only in 2000ad will will two such superbly rendered, contrasting images sit so comfortably side by side.

Loving me (lack of) Dredd at the moment and can't wait to see were this all goes - did like Hershey's line "...we are working on another option to secure the city." that one's going to come back isn't it and I do wonder how our absent lead will be either involved or resolve it. It also makes me wonder if this is fortelling the desperate mistake Hershey might make to fullfil Mike's promise of offing a character... all so forboding at the moment.

jannerboyuk

Cover: like it except for the logo covering. When will the madness end?
Dredd: who needs Dredd?
Survival geeks: a little bit too clever for its own good, breaking the fourth wall and all that, but it's got me intrigued. Art is growing on me as well.
Tainted: getting more like crossed, hopefully the Alan Moore version.
Brink: feels familiar but I always enjoy a new mythos and world building. Art is great.
Aquila: it ended.

Looking forward to Slaine coming back but I'm very happy with the line up as is. Sub still more than justified


scrotnig

Am I missing something obvious? Is there a reason the bar at the top says 'NEW THRLL!', or is it a mistake?

I, Cosh

Quote from: scrotnig on 24 April, 2016, 11:38:12 AM
Am I missing something obvious? Is there a reason the bar at the top says 'NEW THRLL!', or is it a mistake?
I think it's because Brink is a new Thrill.
We never really die.

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: The Cosh on 24 April, 2016, 11:52:52 AM
I think it's because Brink is a new Thrill.

I think he's referring to the fact that, unlike team, there is an I in 'THRILL'...

Cheers

Jim
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

I, Cosh

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 April, 2016, 12:07:53 PM
Quote from: The Cosh on 24 April, 2016, 11:52:52 AM
I think it's because Brink is a new Thrill.
I think he's referring to the fact that, unlike team, there is an I in 'THRILL'...
Ha! That'll teach me to try and be smart.
We never really die.

Skullmo

It's a joke. I was joking.

IndigoPrime

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 April, 2016, 12:07:53 PMI think he's referring to the fact that, unlike team, there is an I in 'THRILL'...
Fortunately, it wasn't copied and pasted across the entire... oh.

Anyhoo.

Cover:OK art, but a bit DRAG THE EYE EVERYWHERE. Covered up logo is almost superfluous. Perhaps they should just get rid of it entirely and retain the badge. The 'mankind' strap has bizarre kerning to the point it makes my eyes squiffy.

Dredd: I never used to be the biggest PJ Holden fan, but I'm really getting into his more recent art, and this Dredd is no exception. There's a kind of classic vibe going on, with some really nice movement. The colours felt a bit bland and murky, but not to the detriment of the strip, which has some interesting stuff happening in terms of Dredd's world. I'm starting to wonder if a major character is now going to be blown up every week, before Carroll hands Dredd back to Wagner and wryly notes: YOUR TURN.

Survival Geeks: Tootling along very nicely. I like the art and the strip in general. From a scheduling standpoint, it's also rather nice to have something that's light and silly in amongst the angst, horror and tension.

Tainted: I'm getting more into this. In fact, this strip has a lot of legs and could run and run in a Walking Dead kind of way. I suspect it'll be 'one and done', but how long would it take to kill a planet?

Brink: A decent intro. Nice art. In at the deep end worldbuilding. Also: another example where the profanity added nothing whatsoever to the strip, yet wrenches it out of a younger market. Oh well.

Aquila: Pretty gory and a new direction. Hard to know if this is heading towards a conclusion or another curveball. It still hasn't clicked with me, but I've certainly not hated reading it.

Next week: Sláine returns. I may as well flip a coin about that one. I loved book one of Britannia Chronicles, but thought the second one was duff. Here's hoping for more of the first again.

Steve Green

Maybe it's the solution to that Lube price hike. Ditch a few letters.

Proudhuff

Cover: Fine cover, thought it was a giant microphone at first, dozy beggar! didn't noticed the missing 'i' as my eye was constantly drawn to Brink's strange left arm.

TNC: great to see Hannah Berry's name in the prog  :D Damage report exposes itself on the moral high ground. Oooer Matron!

Dredd: Great story continues building with clues dropping left right and centre, or are they? Hmmmm.  Nothing wrong with Gerry Anderson's 'start and finish with an explosion', if the meat in the sandwich is this kosher.
PJ's art has again stepped up a groove, with the odd wee things that used to grate disappearing and some great storytelling and page layouts. The colouring too adds to the overall Zarjazness of the whole thrll. I do love a silhouette and the use of white space occasionally.
Also Loved the statue of Corbyn, worn congestion 'C' on the road and pedestrianised Westminster Bridge.  :thumbsup:

SGeeks: Cold opening and the fourth wall destroyed! GReenie droid you wee scamp! Art, colour and storytelling all good stuff, but there could have been more gratuitous French Maiding  :-X

Tainted:I tried I really did, but its not for me, reminds me too much of the nadir of the 90's progs.

Brink: cold opening exciting and intriguing just as the droid foretold! struggling to seperate it in my eyes from the Counterclock world, my bad.

Aquila: ends on a cheery note  :D

and an avert for the return of Slaine: the words Brutania and Psychopomp in there give you idea of what the forthcoming lecture  story will be about, we will however have the joys of Simon Davis' art to carry us through these trying times.



DDT did a job on me

ZenArcade

Ok, as far as I'm concerned it is no longer Thrill Power; from now on it's Thrll's all the way. Z :lol:
Ed is dead, baby Ed is...Ed is dead

IndigoPrime

Quote from: Proudhuff on 24 April, 2016, 03:39:07 PMand an avert for the return of Slaine: the words Brutania and Psychopomp in there give you idea of what the forthcoming lecture  story will be about, we will however have the joys of Simon Davis' art to carry us through these trying times.
I finally watched Future Shock last night, and it was really interesting seeing the passion and energy Mills clearly has not only for comics but specifically for "his child", 2000 AD. It kind of made me rethink about his place in the Prog, but I do wish he'd tone down the lecturing a bit. (Strange also to see him and Diggle still griping about each other, too. Also bizarre that Mills would consider the Bishop/Diggle era the nadir of 2000 AD, given the absolute garbage shat out during the end of Burton's run and almost all through McKenzie's.)