The Stop Button
blogging by Andrew Wickliffe
Category: Dan Dare
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I’m going to assume Dan Dare had a future-sword in the original comics or whatever, because otherwise, writer Garth Ennis has even more to answer for. This final issue is oversized, which I’d been gleefully anticipating, but it turns out it’s too long. It’s fluffed up with lots of double-page spreads and it’s still too…
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As I feared, Gary Erskine continues to fall apart on the art this issue. As I assumed, it doesn’t really matter. Writer Garth Ennis is doing such a phenomenal job with the script, Erskine gets a pass. He’s got exceptional problems with depth—I don’t even know how to describe it but somehow, although Erskine’s figures…
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Writer Garth Ennis has a good issue with this Dan Dare, but artist Gary Erskine seems to be struggling to keep up. The issue downshifts the series a bit, with Dan and newly appointed companion Ms. Christian butting heads with the Royal Space Navy or whatever they’re called. Back on Earth, Home Secretary and former…
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I’ve never read any Dan Dare besides this series. I assume it’s some British Silver Age book about British derring-do in a sci-fi setting. So I don’t know if writer Garth Ennis is doing some homage with the pacing of this issue or just the plotting of the series in general. Here’s what the first…
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It’s an absurdly good issue, starting with Dan Dare having a showdown with the little shitheels currently calling themselves British officers. He and companion Digby are on a desert planet, trying to evacuate the civilians before they and the garrison have to shoot it out with literal monsters, and some officers are whining about their…
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Writer Garth Ennis starts distinguishing what makes Dan Dare different this issue as Dan and Digby get underway with their mission to save the galaxy. Or at least the human colonists. Though the humans and some of the alien race, the Treens, live together on some planets. The issue opens with Dan and Digby reunited,…
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Dan Dare’s all about the reassuring, calming presence of the capable colonialism and patriarchy (i.e., the British Empire). I have a feeling it’s going to get even more interesting once Anglophiliac Dan Dare returns to active duty. The original series—the British Buck Rogers—dates back to the fifties, and writer Garth Ennis keeps with the mid-century…
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It’s an inoffensively weak issue. Finley-Day handles both Invasion and Dredd and doesn’t do well with either of them. Invasion has some really complex layouts from Dorey, which are cool, but the story’s pretty lame. Dredd is oddly not particularly busy–McMahon spends more time on little details than city designs–and Finley-Day doesn’t have a good…
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Odd, odd issue. Lots of too long stories and too short ones. Invasion and Shako are both way too short. Invasion is dumb and–inexplicably–for laughs. Shako is dumb and serious; at least it has good art from Arancio, who’d have been better served just doing wildlife studies. Bad Harlem Heroes. Bad Dan Dare. Dare reads…
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It’s not the worst issue but there’s sure nothing to recommend it. Not even Dredd. Gerry Finley-Day writes both it and Invasion. Neither stand out except by not being as bad as the rest of the entries. Good twist at the end of Dredd though. Oh, wait, Shako. It has some really nice art from…
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There’s some exceptional stupidity this issue, starting with the new thrill, Shako. While Ramon Sola does draw a fantastic giant killer polar bear who can dodge bullets and do acrobatics, John Wagner and Pat Mills’ script is about the dumbest thing ever. Apparently the strip is going to be about the C.I.A. hunting this polar…
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This issue has about fifty percent good stuff. Maybe even a little more. It feels like more. Invasion is fine. Finley-Day comes up with a gruesome way for the lead to kill the bad guys. Dorey draws it well. There’s a little humor at the expense of the military “resistance” too. Flesh is, for the…
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2000 A.D. is averaging about a thirty-three percent success rate, but the lame stuff is proving extra lame this time around. Invasion is barely comprehensible. Finley-Day fills it with these little scenes, but about the only major event is the resistance’s base being discovered. He can’t even properly introduce a new villain. And Flesh is…
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This issue has some strange turns. Mostly when Flesh all of a sudden become about dinosaurs teleporting to the future and having Fly-like effects with the guys’ heads ending on a dinosaur. It’s the cliffhanger and it’s dumb, but Gosnell writes a decent enough story before it. Invasion is a little weird too. Finley-Day plots…
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All in all, not a bad issue. There’s actually danger in Dan Dare, for example, and a couple good pages in M.A.C.H. 1. A little makes a big difference with 2000 AD, apparently. Invasion isn’t terrible. It’s mostly action, with Pino doing decent work on a shootout between the protagonist and a bounty hunter. Very…
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It’s another weak issue. Mike Dorey’s art is real lame on Invasion, but the writing’s worse. Finley-Day actually relies on a huge truck of acid to solve the problem. Flesh is weak too; Sola’s art is distressingly underwhelming. It might just be too rushed–all the art this issue is rushed in some way or another–dinosaurs…
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Good grief it’s a bad one. The only good story is the Dredd one. Wagner packs way too much action into its pages; even though Ian Gibson tries hard, he’s too rushed. But it’s still a solid story. The Invasion story isn’t terrible, but it’s got a frantic pace too. And it’s dumb–the peaceful nuclear…
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With a couple exceptions, it’s one of the better 2000 AD progs so far. Invasion is decent; very nice art from Dorey and Finley-Day has learned how to plot out a rewarding cliffhanger. A real surprise is Flesh. Without dinosaurs–this issue’s just future men against giant spiders–the comic is a lot better. Great art from…
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Carlos Pino does the art on Invasion. He does pretty well, though Finley-Day’s script has all these analogues to the Nazis. It seems inappropriate and somewhat insensitive. Flesh has good Sola art and a lame script, as usual, from Gosnell. They should’ve just done it without dialogue. Gosnell even manages to butcher pop culture references.…
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Overall, it’s not a terrible issue. Nothing really stands out as good or bad. The first half of the Dan Dare is okay even–Belardinelli really does do a lot better with space battles than anything else. The Invasion entry has decent art from Eric Bradbury and a nice reveal at the end. Finley-Day’s dialogue’s moronic,…
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What a stinker of an issue. I think the M.A.C.H. 1 might actually be the second best story, which is sort of unbelievable. It opens with a tepid Invasion. Not terrible, but not very good. Carlos Pino’s art is decent. Then a poorly written Flesh about family vacations through time. Studio Giolitti’s writing (whoever it…
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Harlem Heroes takes place in a world with a Mega City-One. That one detail is more diverting than anything else in this issue’s entry, except maybe how Gibbons draws the Russian players. They’re giant bear furries. They’ve been so attired a while now, I just hadn’t bothered to comment. The Invasion story isn’t bad. Finley-Day…
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Poor Judge Dredd. Even with a great page or two from McMahon–he does better with full scenes, not trying to summarize–the story ends on a lame pun from Shaw. Worse, there were some obvious better ones. Invasion has decent art from Sarompas, Flesh has a possibly good setup for the next issue (at least in…
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More hard going this issue, even though the art’s much better overall. Invasion has decent Ian Kennedy art and a not bad idea from Finley-Day, his execution is just weak. He doesn’t plot it for his page count. Sola does a small dinosaur versus cowboy battle in Flesh. Not a lot of opportunity for the…
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It’s a distressingly tepid issue. Even with Judge Dredd fighting a giant robot gorilla–or maybe because of that emphasis on absurd bigness. The Dredd story does look good though–Carlos Ezquerra bakes dry humor into every panel. The opening Invasion story is a bore. Finley-Day’s just writing dialogue for action scenes and he’s not particularly good…
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Pat Wright takes over the art on Invasion and it’s immediately less interesting. Gerry Finley-Day’s writing isn’t terrible, but without dynamic art, the cracks show a lot clearer. Flesh still has great art from Sola. Ken Armstrong’s writing is even worse than usual, especially the dialogue. And they rip off Westworld whole sale. It’s a…
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Ramon Sola does the art on Flesh and all of a sudden it looks great. The dinosaurs, the landscapes, even the cowboys. All the strip needed was good art to make it palatable. Belardinelli handles the art on both Dan Dare and M.A.C.H. 1. He doesn’t do a good job on either, but Dare is…
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Once again, Invasion is the best strip, M.A.C.H. 1 is the worst and Harlem Heroes is the strangest. Starting with Harlem… Gibbons’s art is better this time, but the future setting is poorly thought out (Harlem’s a bad neighborhood even after future retrofitting?). It’s not a traditional storyline though, which is nice. Flesh is a…
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There’s definitely some weird stuff in the first issue of 2000 AD. Quite a bit of silly stuff too. Pat Mills wrote–either solo or with a partner–every story in the issue so the lack of creativity on some of the series might just be exhaustion. The first one, Invasion, is the strongest. Great art from…
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