Prog 1948 - On The Edge

[I, Cosh]

... it shows a very harsh and almost cruel Dredd. So much so that I wonder if there's more to this than meets the eye.

This occurred to me as well. One of those "testing the rookies to see if they'll go along with everything you say" type deals. Maybe I'm wrong and they'll get wiped out next week but, so far, it reads like a decent pilot for a Meg spin-off series. Albeit one with a pretty strong atmosphere. I'm not convinced by Taylor's take on Dredd although his cityscapes are as impressive as ever. I particularly like the almost monochrome video footage in the first couple of panels.

And is there some sort of Betelgeusian byelaw which stipulates that every single Edginton story has to start with a double-length episode?

Nothing else really doing it for me. Deadworld looks great but can't really go anywhere other than to dig into things which really don't need to be excavated.

The Alienist hasn't really caught fire for me either but I wouldn't begrudge it another short run to see if it can take. As an aside here's my personal ranking of current Rennie-related projects for you all to disagree with:
Absalom>Jaegir>>Aquila>>>Monsterology>>>Alienist>Man from the Ministry

Although the return of PJ will sweeten that pill.

I wouldn't swallow any pill that particular man offers you, sugarcoated or not.

Also good advice RE PJ Holden.

I know comics don't pay that well but are you really saying he has to sell drugs in provincial nightclubs just to make ends meet?

[Link Prime]

I know comics don't pay that well but are you really saying he has to sell drugs in provincial nightclubs just to make ends meet?

Yes I am.

[Verence]

Glad to see Brienne of Tarth make an appearance along with the cast of Last of the Summer wine too!

Good to see a mention of Cyril Blamire who was the first "third man" and who often gets forgotten about when people talk about LOTSW

[TordelBack]

Dredd was good if utterly brutal,  and a well-linked piece of post-catastrophe reflection that helped both DoC and Enceladus. But doesn't MC-1 already have a corps of Rangers on the other side of the Wall? Why not just pull them back in?

Grey Area was a good if predictable interim conclusion, but again with the naked (albeit alien) woman lying on top of Bulliet, this time with comedy spread-leg shot. I'm all for running themes, but... Even so, I've really enjoyed this run, and Harrison's style is spot on.

Deadworld was clever and horrid at the same time. I love that Fear suffers from performance anxiety.

The Alienist... I'm not entirely convinced yet.

[Proudhuff]

Dredd was good if utterly brutal,  and a well-linked piece of post-catastrophe reflection that helped both DoC and Enceladus. But doesn't MC-1 already have a corps of Rangers on the other side of the Wall? Why not just pull them back in?

That's another bunch who it would be good to catch up on, could be they already headed back to the ranch when D0C hit? or they could be seconded to the Mutie Townships and the Judges there brought home?  I was wondering about the Space Marine guys and off world bases too...

[Dandontdare]

Glad to see Brienne of Tarth make an appearance along with the cast of Last of the Summer wine too!

Good to see a mention of Cyril Blamire who was the first "third man" and who often gets forgotten about when people talk about LOTSW

with an additional nod to Flowerdew and Walkden from radio 4's Gardener's Question Time.

[Frank]

I was wondering about the Space Marine guys and off world bases too...

Michael Carroll called in the space marines for his DOC fallout story, Debris (1793):

[Dark Jimbo]

That was a plotline that went nowhere, wasn't it? I assume the Space Corps being in the city has been quietly forgotten about now - shame it didn't lead anywhere.

[ZenArcade]

Just having a quick look at prog in pub. That Dredd is simply brilliant. Z

[ZenArcade]

We had a few good discussions around this zonks ago. Love seeing these being addressed. Z

[TordelBack]

That was a plotline that went nowhere, wasn't it? I assume the Space Corps being in the city has been quietly forgotten about now - shame it didn't lead anywhere.

Mike and PJ did do a follow-up soon after, didn't they?

[Judge Nutmeg]

Nice to see Dredd be a bit of a bastard but theses are desperate times for the big meg, also nice to see  mention of previous plotline. Still enjoying deadworld, loved the pun at the end.

[Zenith 666]

Anyone know if Serial Serial in prog 1950 is return of PJ.

[Judge Nutmeg]

Anyone know if Serial Serial in prog 1950 is return of PJ.

yes it is

[Starkers]

I'm glad I'm not the only one to think Dredd seemed a little old school in this, it seemed like the second half of this was from Jane Doe's POV, so I'm wondering if she's an unreliable narrator and in fact this isn't how things went down? "First Dredd gunned down this poor mutie, in front of his daughter no less, then he killed all these eldsters. People I tell you, it's time for a change!"

Given how weakened MC1 is now I'm amazed no one has tried to take advantage. I guess however depleted the populace they still have TADs or something similar. I'm also surprised they haven't put any measures in place to up the populace. I know they've taken in Judges from other cities but you'd think they'd be encouraging immigration from the other Mega Cities, and from their own off world colonies.

Anyhoo, the rest of the prog was enjoyable enough. I've been a fan of Grey Area pretty much from the beginning but it does seem to be meandering along a bit now. Dreams of Deadworld was intriguing, Fear's anxiety was amusing, though you'd imagine there must have been people on Deadworld with natural psi abilities immune to some of the Dark Judges' evil, so it's surprising he hadn't come up against someone immune before now.