Prog 1672 Blood Sisters

[Colin_YNWA]

Not a fan of the composition of that cover, that aside not a bad prog. The highlights for me are the ABC Warriors, though why do they have to be blown away my bullets so often these days? Blackblood just steels (for once pun intended) the show and as ever Dante. The Dredd is fine but not yet to the standard of those of late, is that the lass off of Space 1999? The Future Shock looked good as did Stickleback.

Where's my western?

Good Prog.

[mygrimmbrother]

is that the lass off of Space 1999?

I thought so too! It's all in the eyebrows.

[Proudhuff]

A strangely flat Prog.

I too want back to the main event in Dredd and while this is a great idea for a mutation (similar to one in a PKD story: The Golden Man (?)) I feel the story's let down by the art and the lack of gravitas it gives Dredd.

ABC are fine, less talk more action... while Stickleback stands head and shoulders above the pack this week, Eeek! that final panel! how did 'he' escape?

[Mikey]

Cover - bit underwhelmed by this and I'm a huge fan of Elson. I'll put it down to my indifference to the strip.

Dredd - I'd have preferred this in b&w, the colouring somehow doesn't feel 'right'. I'm not saying it's bad but the story kind of feels monochrome, if that makes sense. As the first part of a two parter it sets up the pay off well. I'm feeling the 'she's not all that' vibe, but surely that's the point?

Future Shock - that'll do nicely! Great art as usual from Williams and a neat twist. 

Stickleback - what Trout said. This strip is up there with Zombo and Shakara! of the more recent thrills for me

Dante - now that's a double pager alright! I always think you get more out of Burns work when you hold it at arms length. Still not fussed on Dante though. But you knew that.

ABCs - It's big. It's stupid. It's great fun! I really love some of the character designs from the Langley droid and would love Three A to produce at least Baba Yaga. I agree it's sometimes hard to follow, but it's just top bonkers IMO. And Blackblood/Hangman is great as his old self!Sssss!

Overall, a solid prog.

M.

[radiator]

Is it just me that thinks Burns work is a lot stronger as linework with colour washes (like how he does the flashback sequences and some BGs) than when he paints all over it?

[mygrimmbrother]

As Proudhuff stated - 'a strangely flat prog'

Cover was well drawn (of course, it's Elson) but not particularly memorable. Dredd was poor in every respect (he looked like a cardboard cutout on the last page), and I just don't see what purpose these lightweight interludes serve. Still, the Talented Mayor Ambrose starts soon... The future shock was ok, but I didn't like Anthony Williams art this time. Dante I wasn't so enamoured with either, and I want Simon Fraser back! ABC Warriors was nonsense, again. Stickleback was, for me, the highlight by far.

Sorry to be negatory.

[Emperor]

Jon Haward has posted up some art and it seems Kev's arm twisting well get some more goodies out of him later, so keep 'em peeled Thrill seekers:

http://hawardarthouse.blogspot.com/2010/02/2000ad-judge-dredd-lust-in-dust.html

[Mike Gloady]

Cracking episode of Dante.  Can't really add more, but I'm looking forward to Hawksmoore Jnr and her Tefal head being dispatched nastily.  As RG might say - GREAT STUFF.

Stickleback continues to impress. Great Stuff

Blackblood and Mek-Quake were huge fun in the ABCs, but Langley's storytelling suffers hugely from this art style - on some pages I just can't work out the purpose of every panel.  If he'd drawn it, well, his previous work demonstrates that it wouldn't be a problem.  Shame.  Otherwise, good stuff.

Dredd, well, the art wasn't really up to much I'm afraid.  Nothing special really.  Ok stuff.

Not read the Future Shock, but I rarely bother with them straight away.  Unread stuff.

The closest thing to a duffer in a while.  And nice as that cover is (particularly nice to see Elson working on characters I've not seen him do before), am I alone in wishing John Burns had recreated the image from the interior for that cover?

[TordelBack]

Curate's egg time for me, I'm afraid.  

One word review: Garish.

Cover:  I worship at the temple of Elson, but the composition here was... uninspiring, and the colours a bit on the ugly side.

Dredd:  I've no problem with these diversion stories, it makes Dredd's exile seem a lot more believable, long-term and significant.  If it was just Dredd vs. Sinfield And One Must Die!  it'd be a yet another epic that fails to change the status quo, in the manner of Doomsday or (shudder) Inferno - with these Cursed Earth stories you really get the feeling that Dredd's career has taken a genuine detour.  That said, I could live without the Cursed Earth being turned into an endless series of Deadwood-style settlements complete with saloon and stagecoach.  Colours are way too bright.  

Future Shock:  Amusing tale, but the colours (again) were way, way too bright, even for a fluffy story like this.

Stickleback:  Ah lads, this is just terrific.  A truly remarkable achievement for D'Israeli, seemingly specifically designed to push his Breccia style to the limit - mirrors, clouds, smoke, fire, rapid multi-character action, all at once.  Awesome.  Edgy also manages to create a real sense of danger here - when SB and pals fell, I really worried for them.  And a traitor revealed!  Best of the Prog by far.

ABC Warriors:  Who?  What?  Where?  When I eventually deciphered this videogame trailer screencap, it was pretty good fun.  But the implosion hammer thing... did the Mess have it hidden it in his jar when the Warriors came to Mars the first time?  If not, someone must have brought it for him, so how did the Warriors not know it was on Mars, since Steelhorn has been here ever since?  Maybe Happy Shrapnel carried it for him, under his hat?  Maybe Steelhorn popped back to post-Termight Earth to get it after Medusa resurrected him?  Maybe a wizard did it?  Maybe TUBAL CAIN?  Maybe it's poorly thought-out drivel?

Blackblood and Mek-Quake are carrying this at the moment, and for that reason it works, but I'm sadly waiting for the inevitable reversal, when 'the Hangman' double-crosses his Volgan allies, as we know he must.

Dante:   Tsar Wars Redux.  I liked this a lot, the double-spread in particular, but unfortunate lettering placement makes it momentarily unclear what's actually going on when Spatchcock 'discovers' the suits.  I'm liking this so much I started a Dante re-read last night.

[Proudhuff]

 That said, I could live without the Cursed Earth being turned into an endless series of Deadwood-style settlements complete with saloon and stagecoach.

Spot on !

[JayzusB.Christ]

Aye, the Cursed Earth has so much potential and I'm sure it's not totally exhausted.  Remember the days when it used to be full of big interesting things?  Like rubbish gods, ex-judges turned raggedy, fort knoxes with vampire robots and so on?  Western is fine but not all the time, the Cursed Earth is a big, mad place.

So yeah, at the moment I'm just waiting for the Sinfield episodes.

Good prog this week - aren't they all these days? - but nothing out of the ordinary.

[Colin_YNWA]

Western is fine but not all the time, the Cursed Earth is a big, mad place.

We have had Underground cities and fire breathing dragons so we ain't doing bad at the moment? We need more dinosaurs of course but I always think we need more dinosaurs.

[Dandontdare]

I think I mentioned this in the Meg review, but I think there is a definite progression in the way the Cursed Earth has been portrayed over the last 30 years. I get the impression that back in 2100 when Dredd made his epic crossing, everything outside the city was a totally wild mutie-infested wasteland. Since then we've had stories about Helltreks, munce and meat-fruit farms, hotdog runs, penal colonies, trading posts, settlements, and now five large townships and a railway. I really get the sense, like the Wild west, that this is an area that is being actively reclaimed and civilised, and that 30 years on, large areas relatively close to the city are becoming much less wild. Doesn't excuse the over-use of anachronistic western imagery though (the aforementioned saloon doors and stagecoaches) - should be more of a modern shanty town feel

As for the rest of the prog, Stickleback was the standout thrill, really gripping action. I'm enjoying this series far more tahn the first two.

The future shock was a little weak (how did those two, and only those two, survive the explosion that killed everyone else in the room, and are we to assume he had a second exploding pen stashed on his person?)

ABC Warriors as always is pretty but nonsensical, and Dante continues to buckle its swash in fine style.

[radiator]

We have had Underground cities and fire breathing dragons so we ain't doing bad at the moment? We need more dinosaurs of course but I always think we need more dinosaurs.

...And giant spiders! Don't forget the giant spiders!

I do think the current portrayal of the Cursed Earth is preferable to the hugely more wild and wacky one seen in The Hunting Party, with its boy scout militias, symbiotic spider-people and time portal whirpools(!)....

[George Dread]

As fun as Dredd is and the fact the art reminds of Bryan Talbot's too, doesn't seen to stop me wondering why it wasn't set in one of the new settlements.