Friday, June 27, 2014

2000AD - Prog 1885


Cover by Cliff Robinson and Dylan Teague.
Tharg's ever reliable cover duo reproduce the "Lets' Rock" moment from Aliens. Helpfully tells us who the main characters in Grey Area are, and illustrates why all those 80s shoulder pads went out of fashion. Another logo bites the dust.

Judge Dredd: Trauma Town part three by Michael Carroll, Nick Percival and Annie Parkhouse.
The full horror of the psychic attack is revealed and it seems that rather than cracking up Dredd has actually shown remarkable resolve in being able to resist the terrible images he has been seeing.  And while I was hoping for an exploration of Dredd's headspace the way this story is going is pretty enthralling, so kudos to Carroll and Percival. The artwork is fantastic and I love the varied and dynamic panel layouts which add a real sense of movement. Continues to be a top thrill.

Grey Area: Nearer my God to thee part two by Dan Abnett, Mark Harrison and Annie Parkhouse
Abnett cuts right to the chase with the reveal of the huge spaceship that appears to be responsible for the visions of the rapture. It's a great science fiction trope that has been done before but it seems to work well in the Grey Area setting and pulls in some earlier plot threads nicely. Harrison delivers some great comic art and his interpretation of the ETC armour is more realistic in the same way that the Dredd movie solved the shoulder pads issue. I haven't really got into previous Grey Area storylines but this seems to be shaping up as a great bit of science fiction and is a contender for pick of the week.

Slaine: A simple killing part twelve by Pat Mills, Simon Davis and Ellie De Ville
How long does it take Davis to produce these epic painted images? Each panel is a work of art and he has had to do thirteen parts of this. Nice to see the artist himself making an appearance as one of the self-flagellators. This wraps up next week so expect more heads to roll if Slaine is to save Sinead.

Tharg's 3rillers: In seconds flat by Eddie Robson, Andrew Currie, Abigail Ryder and Ellie De Ville.
The time travel twister wraps up with one of those revelations that makes my brain hurt. There's just one bloke, one woman and one alien, all repeating through time until they perfect a way of killing one another? And once the younger guy dies all the older versions blink out of existence. So does Lily still have to go through all the other stuff. I suspect the logic wouldn't hold up to close examination but who cares, it looks pretty and filled the space nicely. Nothing terribly memorable but good fun.

Indigo Prime: A perfect day by John Smith, Lee Carter and Simon Bowland.
Lee Carter's double page splash of the multiverse is a beautiful thing to behold but the story baffles me as new (to me) characters are introduced and I try to work out everyone's motivations. I guess next week we go full circle back to the first panel of the opening episode but the reasoning behind all this escapes me and my interest is waning.

Pick of the Prog is (yet again) Percival and Carroll's Dredd, although Grey Area is a strong second.

No comments:

Post a Comment