Now that Shakara's over...

[The Amstor Computer]

What did you think of it?
It's pretty much a given that the art was superb, but what did everyone think of the story?

Now that I've had a chance to sit down & read through the whole tale in one go, this is what stands out:

The story was overlong. Some of the earlier episodes could have been trimmed without any problem. Cut down to 5 or 6 episodes, the story would have been tantalising without being boring.

Though fairly simple on surface, Robbie Morrison has managed to pack quite a lot of background into the strip that could be explored in future installments.

The big weakness of the strip if it were to be carried on is "Shakara's" apparent invulnerability. It works if the story is a one-off, but it could quickly become VERY dull if the story were continued.

Any other thoughts?

[nathan]

The longer a joke goes on the better the punchline needs to be. Same applies here, after eight weeks of beautifully drawn but only midly engaging build up, Shakara had an awful lot of explaining to do. Unfortunately, the denouement was underwhelming to say the least.
Morrison made the artist do all the hard work, if you ask me.

Nathan, suddenly an expert on storytelling

[Stu]

I thought it was a bit odd how Shakara suddenly broke his near silence. I guess after all those weeks of just saying "Shakara!" it seemed out of character.

"The story was overlong. Some of the earlier episodes could have been trimmed without any problem. Cut down to 5 or 6 episodes, the story would have been tantalising without being boring. "

I agree that not all the episodes were essential to the story but I don't think there were any dud episodes. I think it was PVS who suggested that it could have been given several shorter runs instead of one long one. Maybe that would have worked better, but I liked it how it was.

"Though fairly simple on surface, Robbie Morrison has managed to pack quite a lot of background into the strip that could be explored in future installments. "
I
 would be happy to see it return. Hopefully all these bits of background are things that RM has a plan for and not just names that he's thrown in.

"The big weakness of the strip if it were to be carried on is "Shakara's" apparent invulnerability. It works if the story is a one-off, but it could quickly become VERY dull if the story were continued."

They've had him on the ropes a few times already.

[The Amstor Computer]

I quite liked Shakara's speech at the end. It was quite interesting to see what the word meant - a battle cry for his slaughtered species.

>I agree that not all the episodes were essential >to the story but I don't think there were any
>dud episodes. I think it was PVS who suggested
>that it could have been given several shorter
>runs instead of one long one. Maybe that would
>have worked better, but I liked it how it was.

I didn't mean to imply that any of the episodes were dull, more that when placed together in a long run, they suffered.
I think the series would have been more interesting if it had run with one episode every fortnight, then the two-prog run for the Investigator's story followed a fortnight later by the double-length conclusion. Enough to keep you hooked, but not so much that it got dull waiting for a conclusion.

>I would be happy to see it return. Hopefully all >these bits of background are things that RM has >a plan for and not just names that he's thrown
>in.

If it's anything like Dante, there might well be a plan for future episodes based on the background in the first series. An "Origin of Shakara" story might be interesting...

>They've had him on the ropes a few times
>already.

...And every time he just comes straight back. He's been thrown through tower blocks, had his chest blown open, crashed into a planet... sure looks invulnerable ;-)

[Stu]

"...And every time he just comes straight back. He's been thrown through tower blocks, had his chest blown open, crashed into a planet... sure looks invulnerable ;-)"

That's the danger I suppose, that it gets to the point where readers don't believe he can be killed/destroyed.
Still he can be held by physical means and we've seen him be partially destroyed. All you would need is a fancy futuristic net and a big laser.

[The Amstor Computer]

Exactly. With nearly all of Tooth's other characters, you actually believe that they can be hurt badly, or even killed. It means that when they're placed in danger, you're not just going to shrug it off.

[20-Phfor-7]

Soem very nice touches, but a real rushed ending. The ending's a nice idea, but there's no real sense why we need anything more than the last two episodes.

I'll re-read it, but does anything that happens before Shakara encounters the Succubi help him/her/it/them take vengeance on said race?

And, much as I enjoyed it all, it's really just RM's attempt to re-do Nemesis. At that level it worked, and was even developing a background universe to rival Termight - and then he goes and wraps it up in a flash.

2000AD does seem much less keen on long storylines than it used to be, but some tales need more room to breathe.

Shakara's one, and so was Storming Heaven, which again seemed to be wrapped up on the quick as if the writer had received a 'no one likes it, get it finished with pronto' warning from the editor.

I was rather enjoying Nikolai Dante, too, but have had several weeks of tedious Future Shocks, just because someone doesn't want to run one story right after another. If it's OK for Dredd, it's OK for the others too.

[The Amstor Computer]

>I'll re-read it, but does anything that happens
>before Shakara encounters the Succubi help
>him/her/it/them take vengeance on said race?

I read it as Shakara destroying other oppressive races before finally wreaking vengeance on the Succubi. I don't think any of the other races were connected to the Succubi - they were just bastards who got nailed.

>And, much as I enjoyed it all, it's really just >RM's attempt to re-do Nemesis. At that level it >worked, and was even developing a background
>universe to rival Termight - and then he goes
>and wraps it up in a flash.

"CREDO... uh, I mean SHAKARA!" ;-)

I'm not convinced on this point - I think the ending for this series of Shakara worked, and it left room to go back & expand on the universe.

>2000AD does seem much less keen on long
>storylines than it used to be, but some tales
>need more room to breathe.

There was a discussion about this recently. My feeling is that the shorter 3-6 part thrills work perfectly as introductions to a new character. Within that space (18-36 pages) a competent writer should be able to tell a story that sets up the main character & their world, tells us a short story & leaves us wanting more. After several outings like this, THEN we can move onto the longer thrills. It worked for Slaine, Rogue Trooper, Nemesis & a whole host of other Tooth characters, and it would seem the most sensible way to proceed.

>I was rather enjoying Nikolai Dante, too, but
>have had several weeks of tedious Future Shocks, >just because someone doesn't want to run one
>story right after another. If it's OK for Dredd, >it's OK for the others too.

I'm not sure about that. Strips like Sin/Dex are enjoyable when they appear every 3 or 4 weeks, but they just don't work (for me anyway) when they're in the mag every week. I'd rather see a good story with 3-4 week gaps, than a strip that struggles to find something interesting to say every week.

[Dean]

I'd definitly like to see some more of Shakara if only for the artwork but please please lets have some characterization.

I can't believe I'm asking for a lot here, I'm just asking for writers to do their job ie write something that the reader cares about.

Shakara...did we care, no I reckon we didn't

Storming Heavens... did we care, well um.. yes we did but you didn't let us in on the joke.

On both strips the art was the canines testes but the stories were (frankly) superficial.

I sometimes think we care more on this message board than the writers but we're not paid and maybe thats reason enough to let Scojo loose on a script or two.

Signed  Angry from Purley

[DavidXBrunt]

The aliens killed in the earlier episodes were all ocnnected to the empire, to whoever wasn't sure.

I'd really look forward to another series.

[Thread Zero]

Now this I like Dean!

Oh now what shall I write?

Shakara 2?
Helter Skelter 2?
Oh so many choices....

In defence of Shakara, I get the feeling it's meant as a multi book saga.
Book 1: Introduction
Book 2: Explanation
Book 3: Resolution.

Or something like that.

I have mixed feelings about Shakara myself. I sort of liked it, except for the pubic aliens episode which I thought dire.

I would like to see it/him/she return so we get to know more about the character and its history.


scojo

[Thread Zero]

I think any new series will have to expand on the character. Explain what Shakara is, where it comes from etc.

Introduce some supporting characters, add more detail to the world it inhabits, introduce Shakara's true enemy (another survivor from his race maybe)....anything to give the story some depth and complexity.

scojo

[Charlemagne]

Oh I think not...
Shakara is very redolent of the early Nemesis the Warlock and in those earliest Nemesis was construed as virtually indestructable. It went on to become one of the classics.

I think Shakara will do so too.

I think we need more of this. It's one of the best new strips to come out of the House of Tharg in a long, long while...

[Mudcrab]

> "I thought it was a bit odd how Shakara suddenly broke his near silence. I guess after all those weeks of just saying "Shakara!" it seemed out of character."

That was a shock. Kind of like Silent Bob, or Vinnie Jones. "Holy shit! He said something!!"

[Mudcrab]

Or a can of Boing spray!!!

Not the first invincible character too. Torquemada had to be done away with very sneakily, although the eternal struggle of things was the point of that.

Who else, hmm, Steelhorn!! Damn near invincible.

Erm, who else was there? Oh yeah, Judge Death (doh!) and the rest of his cronies I suppose.

Come to think of that. Were there only ever 4 dark judges? Why not a whole department. (I hope Garth Ennis isn't reading this!)