Prog 1776: Grand Target

[bluemeanie]

As nobody else has done one today.....

Cover - Gorgeous. Love it. Check it out here if you dont mind seeing it in advance
http://2000ad.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/prog-1776-subscribers-preview/

Dredd - Took its time getting to the good stuff but Day of Chaos now seems to be living up to its title. Way things are ramping up I can see something MAJOR still to come... and theres been some big stuff already. Really enjoying it.

Flesh - Bit light on story but when it looks as good as this you can let it slide. Time shift stuff confused me a bit... is it like an SD time bomb where its more of a transporter? Anyway, fun stuff

Zaucer of Zilk - Dont like it. Looks pretty but not my type of thing at all. Also should they really be giving what looks like a 10 year old girl such big norks? Seems a bit creepy. I know they describe them as teenies but unless she's a midget...

Age of the Wolf - Glad to see this series is going more action/adventure/fun than the first run which went a little too flowery towards the end for my tastes. Nazi boys delusions made me laugh and the fights were good and bloody.

Nikolai Dante - More beautiful work from John Burns and the first time I havent wanted to kill Spatchcock... maybe his other half was dragging him down. Anyway, some nice character moments and a good old fashioned serial ending.

[Zarjazzer]

Awesome cover there! Cheers bluemeanie for putting it up.

[JUDGE BURNS]

My postie was a wee bit early with this weeks prog and the Meg as well.

Stunning cover by Chris Weston. It just shows you  how really choatic things are in MC1. Really enjoying this story run.

Dredd: Things hotting up to some really big event soon I think.

Flesh: love it just for the good gory fun , and a timeshifting dino too. Thats a new twist in the tale !

Z of Zilk.  No sorry , it just does nothing for me. Too confusing with all the bright colours, it looks messy. If a story does not grab in the first episode then I abondon it.

A of the Wolf 2: At last some action ,  nice art work though.

Dante: when does this end?

Top story:  DREDD

[leebrown1990]

Devoured this the second it hit the ground through the letter box.

Cover: Didn't recognise it as a Chris Weston at first, the more you look at it who else has that level of attention to detail!

Dredd: Yeah this is still ticking a long nicely. Pure unadulterated Dredd this; mass grave diggings, missiles flying from hover cars, a dude with "Jim" tattooed on his forehead and some investigative police work. Plus Henry Flint art never hurts.

Flesh: Enjoyed last couple of outing, and this is still fun. There's just not a lot too it. I prefer a denser read like Mills' Nemesis, Savage or Defoe. This seems all to throw away considering it is meant to be resurrection of a classic. Savage was a modernisation of a franchise and Defoe is the successor to Nemesis for me, why doesn't this feel up to date? And it's not a matter of old school charm; Savage and Defoe have that in buckets loads.

Zaucer of Zilk: Mad shit, don't care for some of the narration but its good fun and that's the main thing.

Age of the Wolf: grooooooooooaaaaaaaannnnnnn I really don't think Alec Worley is as good everyone says he is. I think it's dull to look at, his faces are too dumb and the storytelling is a bit off, I don't feel his choice of camera angles flow well.

Nikolai Dante: Nice scene with Elena, and Burns' work oozes pulp appeal when it flows on to the back page, absolutely love that.

Overall: Strong line-up, again I enjoy them all besides Age of the Wolf. I don't mind Flesh in the context of the other series, they're a little denser and more serious so it works.

Top Thrill: Dredd.

Cheers,
Lee

[Colin YNWA]

As we where last week really Flesh and Zaucer of Zilk sat as polar opposites in terms of story and yet each wonderful in place in the prog and equally as enjoyable. Dante is simply superb and set up a return to pacer events. Dredd continues to be quite exquisitely crafted and Age of the Wolf continues to be okay while not really offer anything new.

Overall though an absolute delight.

[jamesedwards]

Having only seen the cover...

...has anyone else called Day Of Chaos on essentially being Judge Dredd:Inferno? New Psi Division upstart, viral epidemic, SoJ falls and now that cover, which is very reminiscent the early Inferno episodes.

Admittedly, less reused than the mined out DREDD AND ANDERSON ARE EXILED FROM THE CITY BUT THEN THEY SAVE THE CITY! structure for Mega-Epics (which Inferno 1 riffed on a bit) but still incredibly similar.

It also reminds me a fair bit of Doomsday, which excitingly promised pretty much the evisceration of Justice Department and seemed to visibly maim about half the Judges while killing a whole shitload of them. Doomsday didn't fulfill the logical conclusion of that storyline - Judges out, or at least massively weakened - and wouldn't be so sure this will either.

If this is some kind of Wagner finale  it feels more like a rehash of previous themes (Chief Judge's Man, PJ Maybe, Sin City, Inferno, Apocalypse War) than a climax to building plot threads. Which is a shame. It hits a lot of the same notes as faves like The Pit but the repetition of themes and structures hobbles it.

Dante's still going? It feels a bit artificial at this point, like all the plot threads from the wedding could have been wrapped up, but maybe there's a larger payoff along the way. Nikolai killing his evil bastard of a dad and dying in Jena's arms felt like an inevitability.

[Trout]

I'm in love with everything about Zaucer of Zilk. It's beautiful, provocative and engaging, and I can't wait for more of it. I particularly liked: "Ban this sick filth!"

This is one of the most original strips in 2000AD for a long time and, as it's a comic that's thrived on originality, that's a major compliment.

Dredd's also very exciting - I love that cover - while Dante and Age of the Wolf are top-quality, too. I love my serialised adventure stories on a Saturday.
But I'm not enjoying Flesh, which seems to be the same dinosaur attack sequence every week. It has its fans, though, so fair enough.

Four hits out of five is a great score.

- Trout

[Minkyboy]

Cover - Great cover. I'd pick it up off the shelf. Love the detail and the colour. I imagine the Grand Hall to be much, much bigger though, but then as mentioned elsewhere, it is great that such details are rarely made canon in 2000ad and that individual writers and artists can reinterpret them.

Dredd - Excellent. I thought Flint was firing on all cylinders this week. Awesome blimpy H-wagons and the violence and movement when Jim tops his Mum - shocking. And all over her pink slippers too! Really enjoying the story arc as well, I wish people wouldn't be so picky and snotty about epics like this. We are so spoilt.

Flesh - Yeah writing is a bit thin and repetetive. Good dinosaur action though, very good.

Zaucer of Zilk - I had NO IDEA what was going on last week and thought it was going to be impenetrable. This week it all comes together though. Awesome stuff, trippy but coherent and delightfully bonkers. Where else but 2000ad eh? Very dense as well, loads communicated in only a few pages.

Age of the Wolf - Liking this run much better that the previous. It is rocking a real Preacher vibe this prog for me: the wheelchair Matriarch, the scarred and patched woman, the hand cannon, the violence. The "Bitch" panel face-off was sick, in a good way! I reckon some other 'mystic' is projecting all those thoughts into Harry's mind, maybe Rowan's Mum/Grandma again (can't remember form the first one). Love the difference in fantasy Rowan and her inflated love pillows and the real thing.

Nikolai Dante - Nice little comedy moment with Spatchcock and Elena, otherwise setting up the next big conflict. Not sure about elder Romanov's boots though!

Great prog, cheers Tharg.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Turned over at the teapot.

[Ochs]

Loving most of it.

Dredd is incredible. I can't wait to read this in one go when the trade comes out. I reckon that it will read brilliantly. It has been superbly paced, I can't think of a longer lead-in to a story before. Love it.

Dante equally great, building to a climax.

Zaucer I really like. This would have been in Revolver twenty years ago and I don't know if I'm alone but I loved Revolver. This feels like an acid house 90's throwback but with more humour.

Flesh I can take or leave, I find the artwork a bit confusing. I like the spreads though. To me, Flesh is a classic of the early days and while this feels close to the original in tone and sudden death count I would have preferred it left there. I don't really like any of the characters or care about them so when they get killed it doesn't matter to me.

Wolf, not a favourite can take it or leave it.

When all's said and done three out of five. Mind you I'd happily pay £3 for Dredd alone it's so good.

[Darren Stephens]

That cover is all kinds of wonderful. Dredds firing on all cylinders. Dante superb. Flesh and Wolf are both great, but Zilk, ahhhh Zilk. Love it. Much as I loved McCarthys Spiderman series "Fever", I much prefer his art at 2000AD size. Ewings given him some fantastically strange shit to draw, too, which helps. Can't wait for a collected edition, with character design sketches and other bits n bobs. Please Tharg. 

[DrJomster]

Another VERY strong prog this week!

That cover really is eye catching! Lovely detail abounds. The back of the missiles around the exhaust caught my eye in particular.

Dredd had some good touches. The way the mass graves were introduced and depicted was something I hadn't seen before. As mentioned above, after a mix of slow burn and hot action for months, this feels like it's accelerating fast now. Really looking forward to the trade.

I'm in the "Like Zilk" camp. Enjoying the imagination and attitude of it all, not to mention the art and colouring!

AotW continues very nicely. Is it just me or did some of the faces' features look slightly misaligned. Minor quibble as the art has been very strong in this. Enjoying the second round more than the first and now looking forward to maybe three books traded together?

Enjoying Flesh too. The dinosaur / horse art is superb. Oddly I think the people art suffers slightly in comparison!

And finally Dante. More lovely art here and it looks like some action's on the way back after an understandably quieter couple of progs. A little "wrap up loose endsy" though? Good, nonetheless.

Overall another brilliant prog. Any quibbles above are very minor. Faves: Dredd then Zilk.

Roll on next week!

[WhitBloke]

That cover really is eye catching! Lovely detail abounds. The back of the missiles around the exhaust caught my eye in particular.

You're certainly not alone in that, DrJomster.

COVER - You don't like the cover?  Report to your block clinic.

DREDD - Whoof!  Loving Flint's phrasing, as usual.  And still the Statue of Liberty stands, proud and defiant while the city that scorned her continues to take an overdue kicking.  At first I was thinking, why the hell isn't Francisco in some sort of super-secure operations room already?  Then I realised, perhaps he remembers what happened to Volt and Griffin during their crises - and what a crisis this is shaping into.  Yes, Dan, stay out of bunkers if you know what's good for you during this story.  Eve of Destruction?  All this mess and we've yet to get to the actual destruction, whichever form that might take?  I wonder if the Statue of Liberty knows.  But, then, I keeping thinking that this is exactly what I'm supposed to be wondering.  Mr Wagner, you are a tricksy bugger.  Superb.

FLESH - Aha!  I've worked out how Pat Mills builds his scripts for Flesh, at least for the human side of things.  They're all written as being drunk apart from Carver.  Absolutely shit-faced, careening from one unfettered over-reaction to the next and swirling around the inevitable disaster of their own devising with the kind of reckless abandon that only an excess of Dutch Courage can provide.  Of course, we can't see them necking whole crates of Jack between panels, this being a thoroughly wholesome family comic and all, but they are.  They are.  And so would I be if I worked for Trans-Time.  The art seemed somewhat on-off this week, though.  I can't shake the feeling that people's hats are changing size.  (Checks.)  Yes.  People's hats are changing size.

ZILK -   Zzzzzz....  Nah, only joking!  "This is your brain, and this is your brain on Zilk."  It's flighty, it's fancy and I can even forgive the hardwired Gong reference.  A strong presence that fits perfectly into the Prog.  There's something in this deliciously frivolous nonsense that makes me quite, quite smiley while I enjoy its garish swagger and abject lack of self-doubt.  Ochs, you're so right that this would have been a good fit in Revolver.  (Ah, if only...)

WOLF - I can't help but borrow from PreacherCain's fitful comment after 1775, and I think it's Show-Don't-Tell Week and what do we get shown of Rowan's credentials as a worthy headliner?  Basically... and I think I've got this straight...  [spoiler]she's propelled by headless chicken heroism into running headlong into "saving" a certain blonde with one eye so we can have a cat-fight sequence but she has to waste precious time off-panel pulling her poxy (grossly overplayed signature) hood back up rather than actually save prop-boy Ash from getting chomped[/spoiler].  Meanwhile, the best sequence is again better off for Rowan being nowhere in sight.  Sadly, the sight of [spoiler]Fantasy Boobs Rowan[/spoiler] comes across as an unfortunately unavoidable metaphor for how a swollen sense of Rowan's "kewlness" pervades the strip.  I know it's too late for this instalment of Age of the Wolf but I rather hope that Tharg shows a sterner editorial hand with the third.

DANTE - I don't blame Spatchcock.  I do, however, feel a little sad that with this strip so soon to conclude we've never had a chance to see a full run of Ian Gibson on it.  Not that I mind John Burns.  Oh, no.  Not that I mind a bit. 

HIGH POINT - The complete lack of anything but strips.

LOW POINT - "It's the wool-uff, it's the wool-uff..."

[strontium71]

This Eve of Chaos storyline - is it the precursor to a Summer Epic in the same way Block Mania ( a story in it's own right ) was the forerunner to the Apocalypse War? We're heading for that time of year when the epics would start to kick in. I was just wondering after this immensely long lead-up , that there is still a 20ish part episode epic to follow. Which will be nice.

[Colin YNWA]

The entire story line has been running for 30 odd issues to this point, ain't that epic enough for you!