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Review: 2000AD – Prog 1833

Now that’s a striking cover for an issue! – You can tell she’s a Psi!

Judge Dredd’s follow up of The Forsaken continues here with the interview and flashback routine. It doesn’t get old, and there are some excellent beats here, the reveal on the penultimate page is well done and then followed up with another in the last panel! The use of dark and light space here add to it all

We get a new Cadet Anderson story here – with Anderson yet to be bothered by Dark Judges and the like. What we get is a good crime story slipped into the Mega City and all it includes! It’s still grim in parts, but from a lighter age – and you can see how it leads to the Judge we know and love!

Sinister Dexter continues his witness protection – sticking his nose in and discovering some issues! The art is mixed, but on the whole works out well. I’m enjoying this more than other Sinister Dexter stories!

We’re into part 10 of Stickleback and still deep in the caverns and shadows. The art is well suited to this grim humoured story, but I feel it’s getting too long in the tooth and needs to be finished soon!

Zombo’s on part nine, and we get parachute guns (!), lazer swords and more – it’s madness, but done well in doses you can handle. We’re close to the end of this Zombo run, and it’s finishing off strongly!

Review: 2000AD – Prog 1832

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A suitable wet and dour over for the return of Sinister/Dexter in this issue of 2000AD!

Returning to Mega City One, we get more of Dredd’s search for his ‘kin’ after the chaos of the Chaos Bug. There are Mega City Judge Cadets out there, and gradually we are learning the fate of all in the group as Dredd gets closer to tracking them down. Again the flashback sequences work well here as a storytelling trope, and I always enjoy a look at cadets in the ranks. Obviously there are personal reasons for Dredd, and we get hints at his feelings along the way.

The final part of Thargs 3hrillers: Gunheadz, gives a conclusion and explanation to whats going on. The ‘real world’ and the comic world combine well here with some brilliantly laid out panels. This was given a more final ending than some of the others and it’s all wrapped up. You can’tt but help feel sorry for all involved!

After last weeks conclusion to Dandridge, we get the return of Sinister Dexter in Malone again. For new readers it may be a little confusing, but in this issue you get the basics about what has gone before and who people are. The art is unique and takes a little getting used to – it’s different to what has gone before, but works well in this scene.

Stickleback’s fight against the reptiles continues on, with new things being learnt about them. I’m getting an ‘Aliens’ feel from these recent issues, and the art style adds something different to this!

Finally Zombo gets some action – with the usual degree of madness. Using guns as a parachute is an excellent idea, and this is a brilliant Zombo series with a perfect mix of humour, violence and action!

Review: The Private Eye #2

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The new pay-what-you-want digital hit enters the difficult issue #2!

And again it hits it out of the park!
Read in widescreen you get some good panning shots which give you a real good look at the future in which the story is set. Combined with some claustrophobic areas there is an excellent mix. It’s fun in this to pick up all the details and backgrounds in a second read!

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I’m enjoying this already immensely and it’s not too late to jump on – multiple format (PDF, CBR and CBZ) and many different languages. This is a series which can go worldwide.
We’re in early days in this maxi-series, but we’re already getting a good look at the key players including help and enemies. The final panel is a good mix of humour and a cliffhanger which will keep you going until the next month!

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Review: 2000AD – 1831

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There’s nothing wrong with seeing the imposing figure of Judge Dredd staring out at you from a cover of 2000AD….

Prog 1831 kicks off with the continuing arc of Dredd looking for missing cadets from Chaos Day! We get some good flashbacks here, which are well placed and are built in well to the story. we know it’s personal for Dredd as there’s ‘family’ there. This is a good mid-sized arc for Dredd, where we get a good look at more of Mega City One as it has been left now!

The second part of Thargs 3hrillers: Gunheadz continues on from the twist we got from the first part of this story. It makes a brilliant middle part and we know that things are not going to go well in the final part! We still get the mixture between the art in the real world and the comic world.

We get the final part of Dandridge in The Copper Conspiracy. I’ve grown to enjoy Dandridge and am looking forward to the next instalment – there are obviously plans in place!

Stickleback has family and we get a good look at him now and the attack of the reptiles continues on now! The art is still brilliant and enjoyable – in a way it shouldn’t be!

Finally the Zombo we know and love is back! yes, he’s grey, but it’s still him! We’re getting towards the final act here too in this crazy story!

Review: 2000AD – Prog 1830

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First and foremost – let’s here it for that cover! When I first saw it I thought there was a mistake! Harking back to the early days of 2000AD complete with pencil marks! It makes me feel all nostalgic!

On to the inside!

We get the beginnings of a new Dredd story, with one of Dredd’s clones taking centre stage and still following up on the events of Chaos Day. A lot of the story is all told in flashback, but there’s some good action here and a good jumping on point for new or returning readers. The final panel gives us an idea on what to expect!

Tharg’s 3hrillers is what the cover refers to – with some classic old school story, mixed in with a modern 2000AD twist! I’m enjoying these stories and the bite-size of them over three issues fits nicely! The cross between the art of the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ is excellent!

We’re up to part seven of Dandridge in the Copper Conspiracy in no time at all! Moving quickly between the issues has stopped this series from dragging and it’s pretty fast paced! The reactions of Dandridge are excellent and I enjoy the ‘science’ behind it all! The only thing is that we must be close to the end, which is a shame!

After all the action, Stikleback gives us a more talkative issue, which is fine and needed in a series such as this. The exploration of this underworld and what’s going on is excellent, there is so much, and a feeling that there could be even more! The art continues to be excellent!

Zombo as we know him – other than the colour – is back, but while he’s trying to get up to speed, there’s a lot going on. This series is an excellent bookend to the comic, full of action, mad ideas and sci-fi! This could run and run!

Review: Tarnished Volume 1

We get a new look at some golden age style stories in this release from Broken Soul Press.
It’s available digitally on Drive Thru Comics.

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First of all we get Simulacrum – a future shocks style story, which delivers in all the ways you would expect – including a good twist ending!

Next up we get a Watchmen/The Boys style look at what a super group may get up to behind the scenes in Giant Killer. We get a look at a new member and her story! There’s some red scare thrown in here as well as some good flashbacks. In the style of the volume, there’s a lot going on here and I’ve seen similar decompressed over a number of issues.

Following up, we get a Black Terror story – of the famous webcomic – this is only a short story and although we get a minimum of Black Terror action, there’s enough here for old readers, as well as something good for newbies!

Our final story is a dark story of an actor/spy and the Devil – Agent 99 Vs Satan. Again, this is a twisted dark tale – perfect for what you are buying, with a good ending the art is nice and screwy and suited to this story.

Overall you get a good selection of stories here, with a good mix and adding a twist to the Golden Age!

Review: Strip Magazine Volume 2 #1

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Strip Magazine relaunches in print and digital with this second volume and a new start.
What we get are a selection of stories in this monthly anthology style magazine/comic. Also included are a selection of interviews and reviews to pad out and give a reading experience.
In the digital version you also get the option to touch for information about the strip – including a bio, audio and video, which are now becoming the norm from Rok Comics.

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We get a nice circus of stories here (my phrase for good anthology comics – if you don’t like the clowns, you may like the acrobats!) with a nice mix of humour, action and science.

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We start off (and finish) with Cosmic Patrol – a fun look at the ‘capes’ of today. This is a single page gag strip, but a fun way to kick off the issue.
Next is a return of King Cobra – a character I remember from my youth and an old Hotspur annual I had! This re-introduces the British hero and adds sufficient action and promises answers as to the legacy of the character next month. Again, a good marquee character for the magazine, and hopefully a mainstay!
The two strips of Black Ops Extreme gives us a nice two nice short stories, introducing the team and some of the characters in the team. A change of pace from King Cobra, but with enough action to keep it going!
Operation Inferno crosses James Bond, with Alex Rider and adds in some alternate dimensions and martial arts. A young British agent in a world where Britain still has it’s Empire. Again, this is an introductory story, with some of the characters being introduced and added in some action. There were some little teasers here and hopefully this will develop.
Denizens slows the pace a little, with a thoughtful set up of a story which looks like it could grow (!) into something apocalyptic. The change of pace works well in such a frantic issue, but there are some nice points here as we see the set up for a potential plant based oblivion.
Warpaint, for me was the most intriguing titles an it doesn’t disappoint, the Loki type character and the feel of American Gods was excellent. I liked the mystery and the set up dialog was brilliant!
Finally another couple of single page gag strips – bogeyman Bob – good clean fun, with a twist of monster.
In all Strip have a provided an excellent boys comic, which may be able to find a distinct niche in the market. 70+ pages and packed full!
You can get Strip Magazine #2.1 on the App Store for the iPad!

Review: Master Merlini #1

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Cy Dethan writes and Giancarlo Caracuzzo is on art in this new multi media title from Rok Comics. Fictionalising the acts of David Merlini we get a new action hero story in a cross between Hudini and Doctor Strange!

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The story is excellent and contains some of Cy’s excellent dialog and pacing to give a nice cross between suspense, action and information. The movements along the story are strong and well crafted.
In this first issue we get some action, a lot of escapes and a big mystery – there’s not too much explained here, but thats the whole story, and the learning process is fun to go through! The addition of the multi media aspect adds to that (more later)
The art is excellent – with movement either within the panel or animated is brilliant, with some good small and large panels to show. A special mention to the colours by Kirsty Swan who has matched up with the art very well!

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The multimedia aspect is very well done, with some panels having animation – the first one being a well done waking up sequence. On top of that we also get some music and especially narration of the story – making it a real talking comic, this is what you get all bundled into one app!

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After the story is done and dusted you then get a well rounded bio of David Merlini including events and photos of his work.

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Finally we get some videos to either download or stream onto your device of Merlini in action.
It’s the touches like this that we expect from Rok in their well rounded apps – and this is no exception!

Looking forward to #2!

Review: Bodie Troll #1

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In the fairytale village of Hagadorn lurks Bodie Troll, a fuzzy little grump who wants to be big and scary, but is doomed to be cute and cuddly. But what Bodie lacks in terror he makes up for in mischief. Silly and suspenseful adventures await just beyond his bridge!

Introduced for Free Comic Book Day, here is a comic that I will happily sit down and read to my kids – and I have!

What we have is another excellent mini series from Red 5, who are rapidly becoming the king of series like this – from Atomic Robo, through Moon Girl and now this all ages title – Bodie Troll.
This first story is an excellent first issue – a done in one story which introduces many of the key characters we are sure to see more of!
The story is pretty fast paced, and has some excellent humour – the expressions of the characters is excellent. There’s a lot packed into this issue!

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I really enjoy the art – it could be going a dark route – but the style is excellently suited. I’m glad to seeing such a nice fun title is a market where I still struggle to find titles I can read with my daughter!

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Review: 2000AD – Prog 1828

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We get more missing people, Zombo and more in this latest issue of 2000AD!

Our Dredd story continues with a new look at religion and an explanation about the missing people! The story goes along some quite traditional lines, until the very last page where it twists in a way that I didn’t expect! I wonder if this is going to be the status quo for a while? I doubt it, but it would be a fun universe to go with!

We get a look (finally) at one of the villains in Dandridge, and there is a nice style here with pre-recorded routines and some nice humour! Dandridge is the new Dante as far as I’m concerned, with the same air about him and enemies!

The second part of Thargs 3hrillers – The Ghostship Mathematica jumps forward into the future and there’s a lot to take on! Once you get there though, you realise it’s going away soon, which is a shame, as this could have been a longer, epic story!

Stickleback gives us an explanation of sorts with a Jekyl and Hyde style twist – then twists again at the end to create a nice cliffhanger for you! This is continuing to be a good story for old and new readers and looks to continue!

We get more violence from Zombo under control here, and it looks like it’s all going wrong. The humour between Zombo and the rest of the cast is pure 2000AD – slick and dark! The side story with the Scarabs continues!

Review: 2000AD – Prog 1827

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Let’s hear it for that cover? Classic grim humour – especially when you read the story it relates to – and in a style that actually suits the ABC Warriors more!

We kick off with Judge Dredd continuing his investigations with a suicide cult in Mega City One – but it looks to be something grim, and at the end, downright creepy. This seems a well thought out story, which has been paced pretty slowly and has some excellent parts to it! The combination of the religion and the people of Mega City One works very well here – especially with the Chaos Day!

Dandridge continues well, and is picking up steam in the Copper Conspiracy! There are some nice ideas here, starting with how Dandridge gets out of the fix he was in last week! – All the clues were there! I’m enjoying Dandridge more and more here!

A new Thargs 3hrillers starts here with a futuristic Treasure Island style with robots, aliens and the significant lack of humans! This looks to be another excellent short story over a few progs, with some excellent rounded characters!

Stickleback is certainly back here, with a nice introduction into the use of the dinosaurs that inhabit Stickleback’s world. There is an Alien Resurrection theme here with the dinosaurs, and you know they’re going to be involved!

Zombo’s out and about, but not in the way that we think. There’s a slow burn in this story and it’s working well. The combination between the humour and the downright creepy is meshing well and wait until the last page!

Review: Seven Percent (7%) #2

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Seven Percent – or is it 7%? – Issue #2 is the second of a monumental mini series from Red 5 and is currently a digital exclusive – and so far I think this is one that can push for a good print run! This is an excellent advert for digital comics, this title is pushing the boat out and issue 2 is a better read than issue 1!

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After all the blood and thunder of issue one, things sort of calm down here, with a some flashbacks to all sides, which gives us a look at the motivations of the characters.
The art is even better here – issue one could be a little too dark in places, but that seems to have been sorted here. There are some excellent big scenes which add to the overall feel of the title.
The writing is well paced and has some excellent ideas – the father/son dynamic is really well worked and you already have an inkling that it isn’t going to go well.
In all this is a brilliant advert for new digital titles, which works excellently on the iPad or similar tablets.
You can get it on Comixoogy or ComicsPlus from Red 5 Comics!

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Review: Verity Fair

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Panel Nine have hit another home run with a new, excellent standalone app for the iPad.
You don’t just get a comic of graphic novel with Panel Nine, but a whole host of extras too!
Verity Fair – by Terry Wiley is an excellently put together story, with some well rounded characters and a brilliant storytelling technique. This app takes full advantage of it all, with a hard to put down story and a well put together app.

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On top of all this we get a lot of extras – this app contains audio, interviews and artwork for the stories. These are all combined into a well rounded app which has been solidly built and is stable.

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Panel Nine are excelling well in these apps – with this and Panel Nine’s previous offerings. And they are well worth the money – as you get a lot more than a comic!

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Review: 2000AD – Prog 1825

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Following on from last weeks kick-off issue, we get another strong issue from 2000AD!

Yes, that’s Zombo back! Last seen dead, but how is that going to get a Zombie down! – another classic cover from 2000AD!

In Cypher, we get the second part and final part of this story about the interrupted dealings between Mega City and the Sovs. It’s still as pretty fast packed as the first part. There’s a resolution here, and it may or may not be the one you expect, but I can’t help but think that this will be part of something more.
In Dandridge – The Copper Conspiracy, we follow on from last weeks cliffhanger with copper men with cannons coming out of their chests. We get an attempted kidnapping (ghostnapping?) and some looks at the relationship between Dandridge and his sponsor. This is a highly entertaining story and is in the same vein as Dante!

Thargs Thrillers – Survival Geeks continues on also, with some fun bright art and some brilliant geek comments. This is something new and seems a fun story with something new and a brilliant concept!

Stickleback’s return works well with the combination of the art, layouts and location all working well together – this is a series truly different to behold. We finish off some of the previous weeks work and then Stickleback walks into something new – he’s looking for someone!

Finally we get the return of Zombo – with some explanation as to his eventual return – giving us the hows and whys. It seems a little quiet in this issue without some of Zombo’s characteristic dialog – so I’m already looking forward to next weeks issue!

Review: Private Eye

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This is the new digital comics available from Brian K Vaughn, Marcos Martin & Muntsa Vicente!

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Pay what you want? Whatever you paid you got your moneys worth in this excellent new title from BKV. Set in the future (although not that far) where the information cloud has burst and no-one has any private information anymore. People disguise themselves and live different lives. Bring us into that world the Press and the police seem to be combined (The Forth Estate!) and it’s hard to find out anything new about people.

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That’s where PI comes in – finding out about people behind the disguises in many different ways! The wide screen of reading this on the tablet makes it worthwhile. The story is well paced and gives some excellent explanations for a first issue – in fact, no more should be needed for the rest of this potential 10-issue maxi series.
We get a good look at the key characters and their issues and what drives them (although one a little too briefly).

There’s a lot of story packed into this story, but it doesn’t feel to compressed or squashed!
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There are some excellent art pieces here – with full advantage of the screen being taken in. The colours and lights are also very well done. I especially like the crowd scenes which are so detailed I am still seeing new things.

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This is an interesting story on an interesting model, and I am happy to support it. Long let this story continue!