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Prog 1952 - Suspended Sentence

Started by Eamonn Clarke, 10 October, 2015, 10:08:27 AM

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Dark Jimbo

Was amazed to find we're only on part three of these stories! They've crammed in so much already I'd have sworn they'd been running longer.

This Dredd thriller is the Stomm. So dense, so twisty! In three pages Wagner introduces a new serial killer to Mega-City One, has the Judges do their detective work, run their suspect to ground and elicit a confession - with a twist. In three pages! As for PJ, he continues to work fantastically as a shadowy Moriarty-like figure.The less we know about what he's up to the more intriguing he is.

Can't wait to meet the new Brethren members in Defoe, they look an interesting bunch. Thirteen(!) characters seemed like a heck of a lot when we first met them, but since then four members have died and another four have quit; reek hunting's a job that takes a toll!

Brass Sun wins back my interest a bit with the ticks and the tocks - great idea!

Sinister Dexter... is Sinister Dexter. Someone says funt, someone else says scuzzpuck, people get shot.

Bad Company's a cracker this week. Rufus really does like drawing the back of Kano's head, though, doesn't he? Not sure how much longer this can go without starting to reveal some of the answers to all these mysteries - hope it's sooner rather than later.
@jamesfeistdraws

sheridan

Quote from: Jacqusie on 11 October, 2015, 01:44:09 AM
Yes a lovely peice of artwork, beautifully rendered... then spoilt with all that crap all over it. God lord it looks busy, four or five different fonts & the last of which fairly illegible...

How I yearn for the days of just the one logo...
Other than the logo I see two fonts (the second of which could be easier to read, as you say).

Proudhuff

Powderpuff you say and a health visitor with tea? Loverly!
oh and that Dredd is a cracker...
DDT did a job on me

Mikey

#18
Another brilliant Defoe cover from Gallagher. No font type gripes from me!

And, predictably, Dredd is drokking fantastic. There's not much to say apart from that, and of course it's graced with some of the finest art Dredd has ever seen. With MacNeil and Flint I think we've have the best of all possible worlds in recent times. On a side note, I mentioned PJ Maybe was back and Mrs Mikey has asked me to keep the progs so she can catch up with it - good times!

Defoe also continues to press my buttons, though this episode was a bit on the reintroduction side. I still really like the pen portraits of the hanged I must say. Great stuff.

Brass Sun is also brilliant - I think this is quickly becoming my favourite outing since the first book. It's all happening and I feel there's a real jeopardy for Wren. Great stuff.

I think Sinister Dexter has rarely looked so good - Goddard and De La Cruz make a fine couple! Despite being a bit frustrated with the sporadic runs the strip gets plus the Holy H. Moses Tennenbaum thing still not resolved, I still have a lot of time for it and I'm really liking the structure to this one. Good stuff.

And last but by no means least, it's Bad Company. It's just wonderful to have it really dragging me into the mystery of what the jeebus is going on. Really nice touch with Flytrap and his roses, my heart melted. Of course this is a tribute to Brett and I don't read it as what happens to soldiers after conflict, but more about mental illness and the woeful way it's treated sometimes. Big overlap between those two concepts of course, but for me this is about the creators relationship to Mr Ewins and his creations. Brilliant.

Toppermost of the poppermost prog there Tharg.

M.
To tell the truth, you can all get screwed.

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: Mikey on 13 October, 2015, 12:51:30 PM
Bad Company... Really nice touch with Flytrap and his roses, my heart melted. Of course this is a tribute to Brett and I don't read it as what happens to soldiers after conflict, but more about mental illness and the woeful way it's treated sometimes. Big overlap between those two concepts of course, but for me this is about the creators relationship to Mr Ewins and his creations. Brilliant.

Wow. I'd completely missed that, but it seems obvious now. Going to re-read from the start with this in mind, I think.
@jamesfeistdraws

Timothy

My theory on PJ. [spoiler]He never does anything without a reason, albeit a twisted one, so he's got a grudge against the serial serial guy and wants him brought down. Could PJ be the citizen whose hands were slashed by the slab suit guy?[/spoiler]

mejustnow

Nice theory, Tom. Alternatively: [spoiler] PJ is the serial serial. We all know how much he likes Justice Department to know about his activities. It would be completely in character for him to nudge them if he gets frustrated enough with their lack of progress in linking the killings. Plus I think he's sort of been Dark Judged up a bit. I think he might be body hopping as well, when he takes on these different killer identities.[/spoiler]
SMUSHY PEAS!!!

mejustnow

Naturally I meant Tim, not Tom. Mea culpa.
SMUSHY PEAS!!!

Hawkmumbler

I suppose that sounds reasonable, let's be honest. A serial killer here or their is the least of Justice Departments troubles right now.

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: mejustnow on 14 October, 2015, 10:27:40 AM
Nice theory, Tom. Alternatively: [spoiler] PJ is the serial serial. We all know how much he likes Justice Department to know about his activities. It would be completely in character for him to nudge them if he gets frustrated enough with their lack of progress in linking the killings.[/spoiler]

Unlikely, imo - PJ spent various parts of the killer's sprees being Mayor of Mega-City One and sitting in an iso-cube.

Also, what reason would there be? Tim's right, PJ's had a reason for every last one of his murders, however petty or misconcieved. It's usually the case that his victims either knew too much, stood in his way to money or success, or had just plain annoyed him. It's a bit of a u-turn to suddenly start random spree killing unconnected citizens in groups of eight...!
@jamesfeistdraws

mejustnow

True enough, and I must admit I haven't got a timeline in my head so I'll defer to your knowledge regarding when he was and wasn't in office. Never really pay that much attention to be honest.
SMUSHY PEAS!!!

Dark Jimbo

I love the idea that Mega-City One has so many serial killers that there's constant one-upmanship and professional rivalries among them. Like the long-running occasional plot thread of Mad Tony Newton's record-breaking kill spree and the various attempts to beat it, starting with Jean Paul Blatty's 'Lefty' murders in the Graveyard Shift.
@jamesfeistdraws

sheridan

Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 14 October, 2015, 06:03:30 PM
I love the idea that Mega-City One has so many serial killers that there's constant one-upmanship and professional rivalries among them. Like the long-running occasional plot thread of Mad Tony Newton's record-breaking kill spree and the various attempts to beat it, starting with Jean Paul Blatty's 'Lefty' murders in the Graveyard Shift.

Not forgetting the Righty murderer from Brit-Cit (not that we talk about that)...

Frank





Most Pat Mills panels ... ever. Leigh Gallagher says he's thinking of changing his style so he can afford to eat. His work on this strip is so detailed and technically accomplished I can't imagine there's anywhere else to go from here anyway, so I can understand why he might prefer to try a new direction, rather than following Bolland down the rabbit hole of zooming in so he can draw individual pores on characters' skin.

Dark Jimbo's own crazy attention to detail concerning the timing of the murders in Serial Serial puts the kibosh on the idea that PJ Maybe has assumed spirit form and is recreating 1980s video classic The Hidden. In less dispiriting news, is that really the first time in Colin MacNeil's near-thirty years service that Tharg's asked him to draw Anderson in a strip (if at all)? She's wearing a Sia wig.



Magnetica

Top, top Prog this week.

The highlight for me was Dredd: absolutely loving this. It is great to see the Judges actually do some detective work for a change. It might seem a strange thing to say but there seems to have been very little of this over the years. I also like that PJ is in the background - indeed so far its not really been about him and he has been more of device to get the plot moving.  I guess that will change as the story progresses.

Defoe - well I am still understanding it, so all's good so far.

Brass Sun - weakest thing in the Prog this week for me. Not bad, just not yet at previous levels.

SinDex. Love this - as always. Love the framing device of the post incident investigation.

Bad Company. I know the art is meant to be a tribute to Brett, but it doesn't actually look as much like his as I thought it did. It also doesn't have that trade mark thing Brett did in the original Bad Company of re-using the same panels e.g. with a close up. And he hardly ever used the "loads of dots shading effect" (sorry I don't know what the correct term is).