ECBT2000AD Ep550: Prog 2214

The gang are joined by ‘Space Bastards’ very own Eric Peterson. We talk about the Kickstarter campaign, which as has been fully funded by the time this progcast gets published! Hooray!!!

And we manage to fit in the Prog review.

To check out the ‘Space Bastards’ Kickstarter…click on the link below.
http://kck.st/3sEdKCY

Podcast available via iTunes or the Libsyn Webpage as a direct download.

The Law In Order: Spugbug

Pranking is back! And fresh from pranking the Conservatives of the USA with a sophisticated Election rigging where he managed to oust a 9D Chess Grand Master, dispose of all evidence of thousands of dead voters, machine tampering and ballot stuffing here is Orlok with his latest retro review. Now if he can just produce a slew of unreliable or intoxicated witnesses, he may just get away with it!

DATELINE:
April 2107 (Prog 413).

WHO’S RESPONSIBLE:
John Wagner and Alan Grant pull the wool over Kim Raymond’s eyes.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT (IN ONE SENTENCE)?:
An after-dinner game turns deadly.

WHO’S THAT IN THE HELMET?:
Judge Wall and his bitching moustache analyse the vid call. .

IT’S CULTURAL, INNIT?:
JT Edson was an English author famed for his western series of books. .

WHAT’S THE ART LIKE?:
This is decent enough from Raymond. He drops in a circle panel and makes the citizens involved look like a typical bunch of mooks. I must say that as one of the more unloved artists from the classic 80s run, Raymond does actually have a style for the layouts.

HOW MANY LINKS?:
Three. It’s another light tale and not one to become a classic. The voice print analysis ends the investigation really quickly and the whole thing is self-contained enough to work on that basic level. There’s something pleasing about cits in the far future still engaging in dickery.

ECBT2000AD Ep550: Retro 23

Ye Olde Blurb…again…doesn’t age well.
‘Rich takes a break as Flint and Stace go through progs 1677, 1678 and 1679. Nuff Said!’

Podcast available via iTunes or the Libsyn Webpage as a direct download.

The Law In Order: Monsteroso

Oh great, giant fucking robots. The only thing worse than having them roam the place freely is making them large enough to smash up the city when they go mental. We have all had the metal bastards rebel against us at some stage in the form of a Roomba with attitude or a malfunctioning sexbot with a grip of iron, but it’s a fool’s vision to allow them to get big enough to demolish buildings or punch out a Kaiju.

DATELINE:
April 2107 (Prog 412).

WHO’S RESPONSIBLE:
John Wagner and Alan Grant activate Robin Smith.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT (IN ONE SENTENCE)?:
A giant robot goes on the rampage.

WHO’S THAT IN THE HELMET?:
Judge Virgil and his magnificent tache are killed in the robot’s knee joint.

WHAT’S THE ART LIKE?:
Standard stuff from Robin Smith and the robot design looks utterly 1970s. Even in the 1980s it looked dated.

HOW MANY LINKS?:
A very thin tale that could easily have been a Daily Star strip. Three.

Sentinel Issue 6 : Bad Kitty

Script Alan Holloway – Art Morgan Gleave

Review by Luke Williams

For those who don’t know Sentinel is a comic that is based on what could reductively be described as DC Thomson’s sci fi / fantasy version of Commando : Starblazer. Like Commando, each issue of Starblazer was a complete, mostly self contained sotory, with the occasional recurring character. Well thought of,  it ran from , 1979 to 1991. It was a nice contrast to serialised tales especially when you just want to pick a single story with no cliffhangers, dig around and you’ll find work from Grant Morrison, John Smith, Colin MacNei and  Alcatena. I have a small collection of these from a lorry driving family friend who used to hand them over once he’d finished with them.

Entitled “Bad Kitty”, this month’s adventure stars professional thief Carlos Harrison, with a scheme to rob the very rich resident and owner of the Midas Hotel Rover Kingston – known as Lucky Dog after striking it rich in mining. Carlos scams his way into the best room in the hotel to steal a flymon crystal, the source of Lucky Dog’s wealth. Outwitted and trapped, he’s given an option: work for his would be victim or suffer a more deadly fate.

Lucky Dog’s family is slowly being picked off, LD suspects the culprit is a grudge bearing cat his family adopted when he was a pup. Lucky thinks that Carlos’ has the brains to help him stop the cat’s caninicidal rampage.

Tongue in cheek and not taking itself too seriously, plot and script are littered (heh) with dog and cat tropes and nods to classic strips. There are homages to cartoons from our childhood and dearly departed artists. It even guest stars rock band “Cats in Space” (or at least their logo)

’77 regular Morgan Gleave’s art is bold, expressive and highly stylised, redolent of the NME and Self Made Hero  artist Jake, or perhaps a less intense Marc Hempel . It’s lovely work, a great example of coherent storytelling with consistent and recognisable characters. The Starblazer influence extends to the panel count, nothing more than 3 per page.

If there’s a criticism, it’s that the lettering is a little stiff , but its a minor gripe. This is loads of fun. Recommended.

Kickstarter for Sentinel issue 6 : “Bad Kitty” goes live on the 1st of February

You can buy back issues here : https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SentinelComics

http://www.facebook.com/thesentinelcomic

ECBT2000AD Ep549: Prog 2213

The gang is back from their two week break!
Johns Chinese takeaway adventure. Steve reads a Star Wars. Flint watched all The Twilight Zone series. Wonder Woman 1984. The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne….and the Prog review.

Podcast available via iTunes or the Libsyn Webpage as a direct download.