Prog 1674 - All the President's Men.

[Pete Wells]

What a difference a droid makes, just one little Wagner! A fantastic prog this week, I know I can be guilty of getting a little excited some weeks, but I absolutely loved this. Here we go:

Cover - Yet another Langley double cover that'll divide the board. This time featuring that spooky Reeves and Mortimer Lloyd Grossman-esque leader of the Terran army. It's a horribly spooky affair with that Dredd-like G-Man on the back. That, plus the contents of his strip this week, really makes me want to see Langley do a Dredd.

Clint's sent me the cover so I'll put it on my blog today.

Nerve Centre - Oooh, a peek of Carlos' art for the Life and Death Jonny Alpha! I reckon, through interviews with folk from the Final Solution, we're going to find out Jonny's Death was a cover up and he escaped the dodgy dimension and is living elsewhere. After all, with just muties in that dimension, who's gonna know? I reckon this could be a decent get out clause that wouldn't compromise what Alan wrote.

Dredd - I enjoyed the interludes but man, it's wonderful to have Wagner back! The strip immediately becomes much a much denser, longer and important read. The art is beautiful too. The exchange between Dredd and Vienna is amusing and it's fun to see a sexy Hershey! Absolutely wonderful, gripping stuff.

Stickleback - A cracking episode. Brilliant art this week and more intrigue than you could shake a stick at. The panels of the AA guns blowing up were particularly good, really putting me in mind of black and white WW2 footage. A shocking ending too, sniff!

ABCs - The Return of Godpelton this issue! The exchanges between Ro-Jaws, Mekquake and Blackblood were hilarious this week and Joe was super cool. I hope his dashing off doesn't turn out badly for him as he's by far my fave warrior. Loved Clint's art this week, yup, his humans too, and as I said earlier, I'd love to see him have a bash at Mega-City One.

Terror Tale - Simply brilliant. Well done to Art Wyatt for a creepy as fuck tale and to Edmund Bagwell for his trademark unsettling art. This was a horrible, horrible tale with genuinely creepy moments, especially for those of use that remember it's inspiration. I wish the last page was a bit darker and we saw a bit less of the dolly but that's a very minor gripe for the best one off for ages.

Dante - Another winner. My heart was in my mouth reading this, I don't want to lose any of the cast. That's some cliffhanger this week too, can you imagine how much the strip would change if that particular character was to die? I hope Victor's okay too!

Not a duff strip for me this week.

[nev]

I personally thought that the cover was fantastic, so my hat is off to Langley on that one.

My favourite in this weeks prog would have to be the ABC Warriors simply for the dialogue between Ro-Jaws and Mek-Quake, I admit that this had me chuckling.

[Colin_YNWA]

Not so sure about this Prog. Things certainly stepped up a gear from last issue but still seems to be missing something over all. Not bad by any stretch but not great either. Another dramatic Clint Langley cover and another Clint Langley plastic woman inside once again deflecting from a fine ABC episode. The other doll story was ok but dolls being creepy and killing people isn't to new but not a bad story all the same.

Stickleback rattles along, I think I prefer the quieter episodes however though D'Israeli makes it all look startlingly good.

Then the best two. Dredd was hampered by the all the anticaption and speculation meaning that it felt almost as though I'd read it already. It was brillantly written and the way Wagner hinting at comparisons with the treatment of the jews in WW2 without labouring the point is so elegant. Its boiling under this one. Dante continues to shine and felt almost like a classic Superhero battle this week.

Maybe the problem is this stuff is good but seeing whats coming, Zombo, Strontium Dog and the western I've been waiting for, mean I'm looking to the future a little too much?

good prog.

[Pete Wells]

The cover's up on the blog. I couldn't resist embedding the old Reeves and Mortimer Masterchef clip too!

[worldshown]

Full marks to Mr Wyatt for slipping in a penis reference under Tharg's nose. William Gothard, indeed. Flint and Rich will have a field day with that on the podcast.

[Mattofthespurs]

In regards to the Terror Tale; The writer has obviously never actually been to Biggleswade...And it's not a Thames interlink train you would get there but a First Capital Connect train. But that's just me being picky.

[Swerty]

Asda came up trumps again.
Dredd's almost smiling while drinking his tea.
Tour of Duty episode 25 or 26 must be reaching conclusion soon?

[TordelBack]

I reckon this could be a decent get out clause that wouldn't compromise what Alan wrote.

Bit rough on Ennis and Hogan, though!

[JOE SOAP]

Full marks to Mr Wyatt for slipping in a penis reference under Tharg's nose.

Tharg's up for nasal intercourse, the impure alien pervert that he is.

[Robin Low]

I reckon this could be a decent get out clause that wouldn't compromise what Alan wrote.

Bit rough on Ennis and Hogan, though!

And those of us who enjoyed those stories.

Regards

Robin

[Art]

You lot have dirty minds.

...And it's not a Thames interlink train you would get there but a First Capital Connect train.

I have to admit, I mainly took the bus.

[Mattofthespurs]

I have to admit, I mainly took the bus.

I avoid the place like the plague.
The in laws live there.

[radiator]

Tour of Duty episode 25 or 26 must be reaching conclusion soon?

Wagner said on his facebook page a while ago that he had written up to part 23, and there was 'plenty of mileage left in it'. He also said he was happy to keep writing it until Matt tells him to stop.

Just counting the Wagner-written stories, we're up to about episode 20 so far.

Dredd was bloody amazing this week! The tea-spitting moment was absolutely priceless - the very thought! Can't wait to see where things go from here. Still have my suspicions that Ambrose might turn his attentions to Vienna at some point....

My prediction for next week's Dante: Jena is a dead woman.

[Colin_YNWA]

I have a feeling that you might be right Radiator I'm afriad to say.

[John Caliber]

My presumption is that Mayor Ambrose/PJ Maybe is going to impersonate Francisco, remove Sinfield and then take over MC1?

I didn't understand the 'tea-spitting' panel and had to go back to it a few times to make sense of it (I originally thought Dredd was having a brain haemorrhage!). A sound effect might have helped. Oh, but it's fantastic to get that strip back on track - lots of dialogue, PJ Maybe, the ever-so-nice Francisco, and John Higgins art! The Golden Years of Dredd have returned for a short holiday.

OT, 'Future Shocks'. For the longest time (20 years?) I've never read them. There are some strips I take one look at, my eyes glaze over and skip for the rest of their run (it's become an automatic reaction), possibly because I jump the gun and after reading one page make sweeping assumptions about the rest of the story being just as bad

Recent stories that 'glazed' me include Stickleback and that Brit detective by the same author (I don't even know the story's name), as well as Zombo (Zombi?) and that b/w strip about the fighting bald people (Nepholim or some-such? I think its author did that Stalag 666, another strip I developed a mental block about until it was recently brought up in a thread). I also cannot read anything drawn by Richard Eldon (despite not have a rational arguement why I should not), so his entire 2000AD career has passed me by. Sin/Dex is another.

Perhaps my brain is overheating and can't accept any more Thrill-Power...?