Prog 1964 - Big Jobbed (Like Turds in the rain)

[IndigoPrime]

Sooner or later, Justice Dept will be like the one in the movie, purely on the basis of there being so few Judges left, and how many of those remaining being corrupt.

[mejustnow]

Great proggage.

It really does seem that whilst Fargo oversaw the rise of Justice Department, Dredd is bearing witness to it's fall.

This second run of 'The Order' has really hit the ground running. It feels like the etch-a-sketch was shaken in between series and I'm connecting much more with it's return than I did its first outing.

Whilst I can appreciate 'Strontium Dog' for what it was, we do seem to have gone to an awful amount of effort in bringing Johnny back from the dead just to get to a place where we can tell the kind of story Wagner used to write before he let Alan Grant go solo with it. Personally I never really approved of resurrecting him so my bias may be showing.

'The Kingdom' is my kind of 2000ad. Richard Elson's art is sublime. Makes me want to dig out 'Atavar' just to gaze at his beautiful creature and ships designs.

I'm a complete mark for anything 'ABC Warriors', but the Ro-Busters days were before my time. I've just purchased Vol1 of the 'Nuts & Bolts' and it'sa fun experience reading that alongside the current strip. I've not read 'The Rise and Fall of Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein', but we've got to be quite close to that timeline-wise, surely? If Quartz now suspects Hammerstein of being the Mark 3 that killed his brother (the President) I can't see things coming to anything other than a head for the robots' time at Ro-Busters.

[Jim_Campbell]

I've not read 'The Rise and Fall of Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein',

If you can, do. Fierce Mills scripting, and some fantastic artwork with both McMahon and O'Neill very much on the cusp of greatness.

Cheers

Jim

[Dark Jimbo]

It's a funny thing about Ro-Busters, but the best stories are the ones that deviate furthest from the strip's premise (with only one or two exceptions).

Hammerstein's War Memoirs, The Terra-Meks, Fall and Rise... All superb, and none of them have anything to do with disaster management!

[Skullmo]

"Whilst I can appreciate 'Strontium Dog' for what it was, we do seem to have gone to an awful amount of effort in bringing Johnny back from the dead just to get to a place where we can tell the kind of story Wagner used to write before he let Alan Grant go solo with it. Personally I never really approved of resurrecting him so my bias may be showing."

I think that the resurrection was in part because there was no real peril to the character if the reader knows what happens at the end of the story. In many ways that's what I dislike about the mainstream superhero comics, you know nothing will ever happen to them or their world that will not be reversed in a few years, it is not that way with 2000AD.

Although I think the Life and Death of . . .  lost its way (I still need to read the whole thing in one go), I really like where the series is now. I also like how complex Johnny's character is and how he is developing.

[Dark Jimbo]

I think that the resurrection was in part because there was no real peril to the character if the reader knows what happens at the end of the story.

Aye. If these stories had been set pre-Final Solution you couldn't have had Middenface's worsening alchoholism, his losing an arm, Kid Knee losing an eye, the GCC revoking all S/D licences and closing down the doghouse, the more-or-less extinction of all Britain's mutants... we're in a much more interesting place now, basically.

[Magnetica]

Dredd.

I like the stories where dredd investigates stuff rather than just has endless shoot outs, but maybe that is just me.

I liked the conspiracy blowing itself open so soon in Dredd.

Like Skullmo I like it when Dredd investigates so was hoping for a bit more plotting from the bad guys rather than going straight to the shoot out. Oh well, guess there is still scope for a bit more intrigue next week.

Kingdom - more of the same.

The Order.

Is it just me? It's seems to just be me...but I haven't got a Scooby about what's going on in the Order!

No it's not just you. I am just hanging on as well. Like last week, the main thing for me is spotting bits of Southwark e.g. is that arch the one by Vinopolis and Nando's?  No can't be, that is a railway bridge, is that the Anchor pub? Then they get to the Globe - but the new one isn't on the site of the old one, but it still works as the old one was somewhere nearby (sorry guess no-one cares  ).

Ro-Busters/ ABC Warriors.

It's a funny thing about Ro-Busters, but the best stories are the ones that deviate furthest from the strip's premise (with only one or two exceptions).

Hammerstein's War Memoirs, The Terra-Meks, Fall and Rise... All superb, and none of them have anything to do with disaster management!

Again just shows everyone has a different opinion. I started with Starlord and the early* stories were all about disaster management and I loved them. I think I am right in saying once Starlord merged with 2000AD there was only one disaster story, the one about the train crash (and that was more like a whodunnit anyway).

* if memory serves Massacre on the Moon and the Tax Man Cometh were moving away from that format  - but I haven't read them in 38 years - must dig out those Starlords for a re-read.

Stront.

"Whilst I can appreciate 'Strontium Dog' for what it was, we do seem to have gone to an awful amount of effort in bringing Johnny back from the dead just to get to a place where we can tell the kind of story Wagner used to write before he let Alan Grant go solo with it. Personally I never really approved of resurrecting him so my bias may be showing."

I think that the resurrection was in part because there was no real peril to the character if the reader knows what happens at the end of the story. In many ways that's what I dislike about the mainstream superhero comics, you know nothing will ever happen to them or their world that will not be reversed in a few years, it is not that way with 2000AD.

Although I think the Life and Death of . . .  lost its way (I still need to read the whole thing in one go), I really like where the series is now. I also like how complex Johnny's character is and how he is developing.

I find the best way to deal with Johnny's resurrection is to just ignore it, and then it is all good.

Damage report - just shows Cyber Matt is reading the forum (or Molch-R or Richmond are keeping him informed). So guess "we" need to watch what we write 

[Hawkmumbler]

Whats Marshal Law doing in Ro-Busters?

"He's looking for a robot. Hasn't found any yet."

[TordelBack]

There's some damn fine art happening this week!  Everything tickles my fancy, and you know things are going well when Wagner and Ezquerra are in the bottom half of the pack.

Cover: Fantastic.
Dredd: Stunningly confident art for a relative newcomer, really quite amazing, like a cross between Weston and Goddard. I'm not 100% sure about the Orlok-grade combat skills on display, the wisdom of leaving Dredd to die instead of HiExing him to start with or beating him to death with that chair to finish, the Attack of the Clones getaway, or Justice Dept's laughably lax airspace restrictions. But I loved Dredd going for the disarm shot when he's moments from death, and it certainly is an intriguing story.Did I mention the art?
The Order:  More please. She does look like Anna though, right?
Ro-Busters: More please. 'Like turds in the rain'. I'm enjoying this as much as everyone involved clearly is.
Kingdom: More please. Looks like we're finally getting back to Lizee Sower (and Numan).
Strontium Dog: More please. Love the utility mutations - for  while it seemed like Johnny was the only one with a talent. Hey, is anyone hoping that the foundr of Galanthus is Howard Quartz? Just me, then.

[Colin YNWA]

The Order:  More please. She does look like Anna though, right?

Defo and (assuming I got the name right!) I'd be very surprised if that was a coincidence...

[Jacqusie]

"Whilst I can appreciate 'Strontium Dog' for what it was, we do seem to have gone to an awful amount of effort in bringing Johnny back from the dead just to get to a place where we can tell the kind of story Wagner used to write before he let Alan Grant go solo with it.

It's only been 26 years or so! Stronty Dog has suffered on the whole from some very discontinous history and patchy plot linage. The franchise (sorry to call it that) has been torn apart & put back together in various guises and it shows in the current reboot, that it hasn't half suffered for it.

However, this story feels like a Stronty Dog of old (non of that painful to read Johnny suicidal talk) and just a great rolliking caper. I think Wagner has started to get a groove going finally and long may it continue...

[NapalmKev]

Good Prog. Standout for me being The Order. Intriguing story and fantastic art, and a welcome change from the non-stop peddling of older characters. I'm afraid Strontium Dog is well past its sell-buy-date, IMO.

Cheers

[TordelBack]

Strontium Dog past its sell-by? I don't really see that myself - the current story feels like a light SF caper, quite fresh and fun. If anything the use of old characters like Johnny, Middenface and Evans just adds some depth, as it forms part of their rehabilitation after the events of the second Mutant Rebellion. I do agree that 2000AD should always by pushing new characters/stories as a priority, but preferably not at the cost of Strontium Dog!

[Skullmo]

Stront is my favourite strip.

[Magnetica]

Like Tordelback and Sullmo, I like Strontium Dog and am always happy to see it in the Prog.

It is one of my four all-time equal favourite strips (like my favourite band, which I actually prefer depends on which I am reading / listening to at the time).

To me it is vital that Johnny Alpha is the lead in the strip (whether resurrected or in a story set before he died - I don't mind). So no Strontium Dogs please.