Prog 1961 - Welcome to your future!

[Frank]

I can't decide whether the holes in Kano are a visual metaphor for the narrative aporia or whether the unexplained gaps in the story are a textual metaphor for the bits missing out of Kano and the memories of his men ...

I like the idea that Kano's physical form reflects how the men under his spell* perceive him the more I think about it. After all, he began the original story as a regular guy with a flat top, then - as he metaphorically grew in stature - finished The Krool Heart looking like a cross between Boris Karloff and The Hulk.


* or how the reader perceives him. Given that the strip is a tribute to the memory of Brett Ewins, you can also look at the changing depictions of Kano over the years as a reflection of his creator's state of mind

[Colin YNWA]

I was going to avoid commenting on Bad Company anymore until I'd done a full re-read of it to check my facts BUT when will I get time? So here's my very rough around the edge's take on things.

First of all the point very clearly underlined in the closing episode is the first casualty of war is truth. You could read that to help you revise anything that's gone before as required. So any of the inconvenient facts form the previous episodes can be well and truly ignored... that said though given that Kano spends the story running around with a great big hole in his head removing half his brain (a key question is therefore surely which half? Human or Krool?) I take it as referring more directly to the truths we are getting in this story. Is this story real? Well there's a heck of a lot of facts that point to the answer being no, at least in a literal this happened in the 'real world' way.

Add to that the fact that we have Golgotha Joe running around telling us that he has produced physical embodiments of his drug induced fantasies. So is all of this some kinda chemical flashback. Is all of this a revelation experienced back in the first story when Bad Company first went through the Golgotha Plains?

Maybe, but my preferred understanding and reading (I so often get these things wrong, but its one I'm happy with and will go into my re-read looking to support) is given away in the very first part. As I recall  Danny had the Krool 'light flashes' dancing around his head at the start and this made me think he was very much linked to the Krool Heart still, right from the off.

As Robert Ellis says below:

Danny remembers being the Krool Heart - and if so wouldn't he have learned the truth then?

He would and therefore is that what we're seeing? Is this the truth Danny got while in the Krool Heart? Is this the story viewed from the Krool side, is the half of Kano's brain that's been blown out the human side, which had become dominant after all, and with that removed we get the Krool side? Its still framed very much with Danny's human context but its actually the other side of the story.

That's why I've enjoyed this story so much. Its had a direct narrative that's been pretty straight forward to follow, in terms of events happening. This has left many questions about what has gone before for those of us who know the old stories, but we're given multiple ways of making the story work for us if we choose to. This has made me really want to find time to go back and read it again to delve in and find the truth of Bad Company as I see it and I suspect each time I do I'll get some new truth. So yeah a great story that offers much to return to and reason to do so, who could ask for more?

[Richard]

Excuses.

[Colin YNWA]

Excuses.

For?

[robert_ellis]

I love the idea that Kano is riddled with bullet "plot" holes. I just didn't get that from the story itself. I expected to have a Jacob's Ladder moment of competing realities. I think the much earlier colour story of Kano on a planet of ghosts and backwards time was a fitting end to this series - but I'm glad others enjoyed this. Maybe I'll read it collected one day and see it with fresh eyes.

[Prodigal2]

Bad Company hurts my head.

[I, Cosh]

Read this in the small hours after getting home from my work's Christmas dinner. A delightful Christmas hodgepodge of the good and the ... differently good.

Dredd was superb. I've really enjoyed the Williams/Flint partnership on the longer form Titan storyline but Rob's one-offs haven't always hit the spot, tending to rely on the distancing element of another character observing Dredd himself. This one, however, is a triumph. I laughed out loud at the carrot noses bit and enjoyed the old-fashioned brutality.

A fine Christmas tradition continues as Absalom once again shows exactly how to construct a standalone episode which also advances some of the ongoing story and gives us a insight into some of the characters. Tiernen Trevallion is a national treasure and should have his face on the stamps of whatever nation he hails from. Bravo.

I'll certainly give it a reread (and maybe try and engage with Colin's comments then) but Bad Company really didn't work for me. I was happy to give it some benefit of the doubt in the early part of the run on the assumption that the seeming inconsistencies would be cleverly reversed later on but that didn't really seem to happen. There are parts of the story which it's hard not to view through the prism of my own poorly informed knowledge of Brett Ewins' later life but then I start to question how much of that is intentional and how much my own interpretation. Not that it matters either way, but it does add another level which prevents me from wanting to be too critical for some reason.

Pleasantly surprised to see Simon Davis back on Sin/Dex. I like seeing other artists' takes on them but his always seems more authoritative somehow. As with several stories before it, this can be read as either a potential reset or a resting point. I'm happy enough to see more (the last story was one of the best in years) but I think it would benefit from being either a longer run or some standalone outings without the longer fixed plots which have dominated the last few years.

Not quite sure what to make of ABC Warriors/Ro-Busters. The driving instructor was just embarrassing but Ro-Jaws had some good lines and the page turn from the Reaper style rind to the Gibbonsy meat was a jawdropper for me.

Nothing much to say about the rest. Wasn't keen on the first series of The Order and this opener didn't do anything to sway me. Didn't get the joke in the Future Shock. Strontium Dog and Kingdom both decent starts for series I like but don't love.

That William Burroughs Indigo Prime teaser is probably the third best thing about the issue.

[Richard]

Excuses for massive inconsistencies and plot holes which basically amount to pretending that one of the classic stories from 2000 AD's heritage didn't happen. If I have to choose between the first series and the latest one, then I'm going to ignore the latest one.

[Proudhuff]

Didn't get the joke in the Future Shock.

There was a joke? 

[Colin YNWA]

Excuses for massive inconsistencies and plot holes which basically amount to pretending that one of the classic stories from 2000 AD's heritage didn't happen. If I have to choose between the first series and the latest one, then I'm going to ignore the latest one.

I thought that might be what you were trying to say but wanted to check before going off on one.

I have no reason to give excuses for anything, its not mine to 'excuse'. What I was doing was explaining why I enjoyed the story as it was getting a hard time. I doing that I though it was worthwhile addressing why I didn't feel confused by the story as it gave me everything I needed to form my own understanding of what was happening and why.

That you choose not to like the story is fine, I have no problem with that. For you to suggest someone who does is having to make excuses for it is a little narrow minded and I'm perfectly content that my reading of the story (intended by the creators or otherwise) doesn't need excuses, nor does it invalidate anything else from previous stories.

[I, Cosh]

Didn't get the joke in the Future Shock.

There was a joke? 

I assumed so but, as I didn't get it, I could be wrong.

[The Sherman Kid]

A mixed bag but a bit of a disappointment on the whole.

Nice cover, if a bit too retro.

Dredd Great art and the usual Xmas hokum spiced with Dredd humbug, enjoyed it.

Absalom Never really got into this so won't comment

Kingdom A welcome return and promising start

Bad Company To save a bit of typing this is a very good summation by Jimbo "Just read Bad Company for now, as an end to the 2015 run of stories. This was exactly what I was afraid of when it started, despite being frequently told 'stick with it,' wait and see', all will become clear'. Four dead characters are alive again and only one ressurection had anything like an attempt at an explanation; meanwhile planet Earth has blinked back into existence and the human race, last seen tottering on the brink of extinction, are numerous and prosperous. Why? How? It feels as though this was supposed to be a tribute to past glories, but all it did was trample on whatever legacy BC had left after the (truly awful) 2002 series."

Just dreadful, one big unholy mess from start to finish.

The Order Nice art but little substance.

ABC Warriors/ Robusters Artwork aside, truly dire and the dialogue cringeworthy throughout.

Sinister Dexter This will never end will it? Please stop,....please

Future Shocks Just plain awful

Strontium Dog Excellent art as usual from Carlos and nice concept  but very strange dialogue making former Mutant Army Generals and street-wise bounty hunters sound like complete imbeciles. Regardless a very welcome return.

Nice to see a double letters page too.

[Proudhuff]

Didn't get the joke in the Future Shock.

There was a joke? 

I assumed so but, as I didn't get it, I could be wrong.

Grud! if a brain your size never got what feckin chance the rest o us...

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Bad Company as a story was codswallop. I suspect it slipped through editorial control due to sentiment. But that sentiment should not cloud the insulting story.

By insulting, I mean that the incoherent and inexplicable story was an insult to us as readers.

[Hawkmumbler]

Well that was an eccelectic mix of comics and no mistake.

Cover: Absolutely superb. Kennedy is a national hero, and draw's futurescapes like no one else. Just an absolute cracking cover.

Dredd: Was a wonderful quasi follow up to Enceladus, acting both as a satire of a well known Christmas tale and as a great story in it's own right. Williams and Flint both at their finest.

Absalom: I adore the interactions between Harry and his inner self/ manifestation of cancer. I bloody love this series, and once again is a perfect partnership of writer and artist. More soon please, what a tantalizing and horrific cliffhanger!

Kingdom: I've gone out on a limb before and said i'm not the biggest fan of the series, it just doesn't click for me despite being something I should really dig. This time around though part 1 has grabbed me with both hands and i'm very much interested in seeing where this go's.

Bad Company: Well, this was all a little pointless wasn't it? Not bad per say, but left me feeling a little cold come it's conclusion.

The Order: Fucking loved the first run last year and adored this opening chapter for it's return. Just my cuppa cha, and Mr. Burns can do no wrong by me.

ABC Warriors: Oh good christ this was bad. Really quite painful to read and I can see it staying as such. These flashbacks that have plagued ABC's for years now are beyond tiring and i'm long past caring what the actual story is anymore. Langley's art is OK but so mired in schlock tropes it ruined anything good for me.

Sin/Dex: Actually a lot of fun. I think now the series has moved on from Moses it has the potential to rekindle some interest from myself. For once I actually want to see more Sin/Dex in the prog!

Oh, and Simon Davis is a bit good, isn't he?

Future Shock: Wait, this is a sequel? Long before my time it would seem, but it was a fun little tale with a surprise appearance at the end. Redondo still has it!

Stronty Dog: Has mucho potential and i'm excited to see where it leads, but the [spoiler]Stix[/spoiler] still have a grudge to settle first!