NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE RESUMED SHORTLY!
No new Progcast this week as Flint had a power outage! In the meantime…listen to this Blast from the Past!!!
Original Blurb: ‘With Flint unavailable Stacey once again steps in to help work through progs 1684-86, recap the Bristol Comic Expo and take the p*ss out of Flints “yappy type dogs”. As usual, spoilers throughout and language not suitable for the kiddies.’
Podcast available via iTunes or the Libsyn Webpage as a direct download.
Writers: Wagner/Grant
Artist: Ian Gibson
Date- May 2107 (420)
Blimey, picking up in the aftermath of a horrible event is a hell of a thing to do. In some aspects, for example, a rousing story of 9/11 heroism, this can be a tearjerker and give food to the soul. In others, like this a shit-loosening tale of Dark Judges slaughtering pensioners like some supernatural Dr Shipmans, it can be a something that will keep you up all night. Of course, anyone who has met Dick Van Dyke in the flesh knows what that is like.
The Plot- In the wake of a Dark Judge attack, the Department cleans up at Ron Reagan Crock Block.
Helmets- Judges Johnson and Mathie assist Dredd with the clean up.
Judge Marietti uses his Forensics experience to search for banned eldzines.
Judge Bunns brings her ample assets to the strip.
In a touching moment, Judge Willis offers some condolences before an arrest.
Judge Hils helps out with the subsequent raids.
Cultural- Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the USA and a man whose convenient memory lapses and simple ways made him legendary to Republicans. I wonder if they will be as fond of Joe Biden? Oh, wait…
Jubal Hershy is doubtless a nod to Stranger In A Strange Land’s Jubal Harshaw,
Duncan Renaldo was (like Reagan) a cowboy actor who found fame as The Cisco Kid.
Law Lore- Bite fights are illegal.
Gambling is illegal, as is living off the proceeds.
Art– Gibson’s unique style again works really well here as the humour and tone suit it well. He also paints a disturbing picture with the vidzine names of “Playcrock” and “Wrinkle Tinkle”. Utter filth.
Links– An understated tale that is the first actually crossover story for the strip. Years before the overrated Trifecta, this story picks up on what happened in the Judge Anderson strip in this very same prog. For that alone it would be worth four links but the pacing, well-wrought art and procedural investigation nets this a fifth.
Orlok
Deviations : Judge Dredd
“Howl Of The Wolf”
By John McCrea and Mike Spicer, with Simon Bowland
Review by Luke Williams
Four years old now, but topical considering that Disney+ is now streaming their What If series, an animated version of their well established comic exploring alternative universes where significant events in the MCU took a different path . 2000AD have tried this a few times in the past, and “Diversions” is IDW’s take.
The initials IDW on the cover of most comics with2000AD characters should make you shudder. But the feeling diminishes when an experienced droid is at the helm, in this case it’s John McCrea, ‘ritin’ and drawin’ and coloured by Mike Spicer. It’s the alternative take on John Wagner, Alan Grant and Steve Dillon’s classic “Cry Of The Werewolf” Dredd strip from the eighties and McCrea’s tribute to his late friend and homage to one of his favourite Dredd strips.
For those not aware, in “COTW” MC1 is experiencing a series of werewolf attacks, the lycanthropes are traced back to the undercity. Dredd is sent to investigate (read “exterminate”) them but gets bitten in the process. McCrea poses the question what if ™ Dredd was never cured of his lycanthropy?
McCrea has some fun with this, mixing in some other memorable strips from the period and his affection for the source material and that classic era shines through. McCrea’s anarchic, kinetic work is a distinct contrast art to Dillon’s clean, bold lines, but it’s a good fit, complemented by Spicer’s atmospheric colouring.
Rounding off the package is a short written tribute from McCrea, an insight into book’s creation and some top notch pin ups from Brendan McCarthy, Garry Leach, Mike Spicer, Jock and Duncan Fegredo.
Completist me bought this following a mention in the Mega City Book Club podcast. To labour a point , with the exceptions of some of the Dredd mini series and the brilliant “Rogue Trooper” mini most of IDW’s 2000AD output has been poor. This is fits in with the minority, recommended.
Or where Luke continues to buy the same stories over and over again but in increasingly fancy formats
Review by Luke Williams
In Volume 1, “The Early Heresies” we left Nemesis, oddly chipper for a guy who had just received news that his wife and child had been murdered by Terminators, as the saviour of the Gothic homeworld and getting his revenge; Torquemada was dead at the hands of his own fanatics. Where could the strip go now?
Set ten years after the events of the Gothic Empire, this collects the second act of the saga, where Thoth, Nemesis’ not actually dead son, Thoth, returns to resolve some Daddy issues and exact a rather convoluted revenge on the man who ordered the death of his Mother.
The volume collects books 4 “The Vengeance of Thoth”, 5 “Torquemurder” and 6 “The Two Torquemadas”, plus the interlude / prologue to the latter half of the saga that is “Torquemada the God” and a bunch of other bits and bobs such as the Nemesis and Torquemada games from Diceman, photo strips and one offs from various annuals, specials and the Prog itself.
Across the volume we see Torquemada plucked from the past by Thoth, thrust into the present to be endlessly tortured and subsequently used as bait by Nemesis to entice his revenge driven son into the open (Book 4 “ Vengeance of Thoth”).
This swiftly moves to Thoth being pursued through the time wastes by the motley crew of Nemesis, Torquemada and the ABC Warriors (Book 5 “Torquemurder”).
There is brief “lull” in the Kevin O’Neill illustrated “Torquemada the God” which cues up the next sequence with a glimpse into Torque’s new domestic arrangements,
whilst the final book illustrated by John Hicklenton, sees the far future Torquemada meeting his first incarnation, the leader of the Spanish inquisition Tomas De Torquemada (“The Two Torquemadas”).
You can argue that the logic in the strip fails as in any time travel story, e.g. why doesn’t Nemesis just go back in time to just before Thoth kidnaps Torquemada in the timeline to stop any of this happening. Alternatively, you could just ignore all that tosh, don’t think about it too much and just enjoy the ride.
This, the middle period of “Nemesis”, is where the strip starts to start to sag. That’s not to say that these stories are bad, but from here on in the strip begins to lose direction and it seems Uncle Pat wasn’t quite sure how to wrap things up. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
What is undeniable is the quality of the art. From the sublime Kev’ O’Neill drawn strips, Bryan Talbot’s gothic majesty and his killer double page spreads to Hicklenton’s unhinged and grotesque genius. The Diceman strips are an interesting curio, and you get some cracking O’Neill and Talbot art to illustrate them. If there are drawbacks, the running order of strips is a bit off and the ridiculous, incongruous and painful to read photo strips maybe a necessary inclusion for the completes point of view, but add nothing to the saga. Finally, for such an impressively produced volume it seems a bit of a cop out to use reprinted creator commentary.
Volume 1, “The Early Heresies” was meant to be a “limited edition”, but clearly it sold in sufficient numbers for it to be reprinted, alongside this Volume, presumably Volume 3 isn’t that far away. The Titan reproductions are still the best, even with their Orson Cart (he falls apart) binding, but these hardback volumes are a big step up from the soft cover phone books that Rebellion also hawk. The “Heresy” editions have better quality paper and clearer reproduction than the occasionally smudged and murky reprint in the soft cover volumes, they are also bigger than the phone books, Prog’ sized, and have that mark of class – the book ribbon. I love me a book ribbon. Do yourself a favour; sacrifice a few trees and get a copy of this (if there are any still available of course)
it’ll look lovely on your bookshelf. It’s a super attractive format and one they should really consider for other classic strips.
Roll on Volume 3
Nemesis The Warlock : A Potted History
Script: Wagner/Grant Art: Ron Smith
Date- May 2107(Daily Star).
The Plot- The Judges mount a sting operation.
Is it fair to entrap criminals in a way that leaves them open to prosecution? There is definitely some shaky legal ground in the old agent provocateur scam but the end can sometimes justify the means. Is it wrong to dangle the carrot of a lone hitchhiker over the nose of a serial killer? Is it wrong to set up a C4 sale to ensnare a fanatical terrorist? Is it completely over the top to leave a lawnmower in the middle of your garden surrounded by pressure mines? Ok, maybe that last one is on shaky ground.
Art– Standard.
Links– Three, but the sting operation is a belter.
Orlok
by
Pat Mills, Tony Skinner, Kevin O’Neill, Trevor Goring, Dan Schafer and Digital Chameleon
Published by Roger Corman’s Cosmic Comics
Review by Luke Williams
Everything Comes Back To 2000AD 