Messages

1

General / Re: FFT - ROUND of 16 - Halo Jones vs Fiends of the Eastern Front - Heat 03

« on: Today at 06:25:00 AM »

Day to go here but lets be honest we know the result already. Still all votes share love for a particular thrill so they all count. get um in today and I'll count them up tomorrow morning.

2

General / Re: FFT - ROUND of 16 - The Out vs Brink - Heat 02

« on: Today at 06:20:41 AM »

VOTING CLOSED

So it wasn't that close, at least in number of votes with the winner getting almost twice as many. In terms of each individual vote I think many, many were close. This was a tough, tough call. In my headI'd decided if it was a draw I'd go The Out on the simple basis that its just that little bit more different and fresh, but both are and while Brink has the volume it feels more at home in 2000ad, while The Out has blown away what 2000ad can be... but would I when I came to type... I'm not so sure... thankfully I didn't need to make the call and

Brink

ominously crawls into the Quarter Final.

3

Megazine / Re: Meg 447 - Monster Smash!

« on: 18 August, 2022, 04:05:36 PM »

I don't usually post in this section, but I felt compelled to say just how utterly brilliant 'Lawless' was this month. A triple dose of just the very best thrills! Dan Abnett is an amazing writer and I think others would join me in saying this deserves the deluxe hardcover treatment one day.

Yes I would absolutely gobble up a hardcover of Lawless. Few, if any thrills have deserved it more.

4

News / Re: New 2000AD Audios

« on: 18 August, 2022, 12:00:11 PM »

KEITH ALLEN is Torquemada but very badly IMO

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=431025445756009

It seems an obvious choice with a suitable manical over the top quality to Allen... and yet somehow how there it seemed off?

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General / Re: FFT - ROUND of 16 - The Out vs Brink - Heat 02

« on: 18 August, 2022, 06:25:32 AM »

With a day to go this one looks close, but one thrill just seems to be peaking ahead...maybe. Last day votes could still swing this I suspect.... whatever happens please don't leave me the casting vote then we wrap up tomorrow morning.

6

General / FFT - ROUND of 16 - Nikolai Dante vs ABC Warriors - Heat 04

« on: 18 August, 2022, 06:21:41 AM »

Sponsored by 2000ad in Stages* - see links below.

Nikolai Dante - more info

VS

ABC Warriors - more info

Two big thrills in every way here. Both long time regulars in the prog when they were running. Nikolai Dante had a really satisfying ending. ABCs never seemed like it would get out of the rut it was in of cyclic story ideas and then… well has it gone for good now? Will that be the difference in this tie?

Form book - Thrill vanquished to date (in order of round met earliest to latest):

Nikolai Dante: Age of the Wolf; Caballistics Inc; DR & Quinch; Survival Geeks
ABC Warriors: Dead Men Walking; Robusters; Leviathan; Skizz

Round 6 - or “Round of 16” as folks seem to like to call the last 16 these days (?!?) will feature just one thrill a day. I’d like to pretend this is to give these epic thrills more space and time to be commented on… but really it's to buy myself a bit of extra time to plan what comes next!

To Vote Just reply in this thread naming your favourite thrill of these two series at the beginning of your post (or use Bold tags so I can spot it easily) and say what you like about these wonderful stories after that.

Match ends early on the morning of Sunday 21st August and the winner gets a place in the Quarter Finals.

What on Earth is ALL of this?

For those that need ‘um and can be bothered to follow ‘um there’s some simple rules

Any questions, just ask as ever - and have FUN!

*Important Note - this is done with neither permission, or money changing hands (damnit). Apologies for the former, I also meant to do this much earlier but… well ya know how it is…

7

General / Re: FFT - ROUND of 16 - Lawless vs Firekind - Heat 01

« on: 18 August, 2022, 06:19:15 AM »

VOTING CLOSED

After the start Lawless got it was always going to be an uphill battle for Firekind and so it proved. While the thrill fought back it was never going to be enough. That leaves us in the horrible position of having no John Smith beyond the Round of 16... and that feels wrong. To be fair the writing was on the wall when we lost Cradlegrave in Round 4. I'd not have sacrificed Lawless to Firekind but still. That said I'm stoked that

Lawless

is our first quarter finalist.

8

Megazine / Re: Meg 447 - Monster Smash!

« on: 17 August, 2022, 09:01:35 PM »

I mean this issue has triple Lawless so there's not much more to say is there. Its an absolute winner. But let's delve deeper.

Dredd I misfire by Niemand's terms but still a fun Dredd, its just not an excellent Dredd which he's pretty much always done before. Lovely and utter perfect choice of art from Neil Googe (with Gary Caldwell on colours) does elevate the whole think. Kenneth does another citizen focused story and here introduces Callum a crafty seller of Justice related merchandise. Its a humour driven strip and its good for giggles but that robs it of the emotional resenance of Niemand at his finest. Still heartly one off with a telegraphed ending and a sure return I'll happily read.

Anderson... err this happens and then that and... some stuff and Green Judge and then.... well its over...

Lawless high octane, breathless ending to the current series than backs and beats Metta even further into a corner and trouble. The extended fight sequences mean we are robbed a little of what makes Lawless the truely wonderful thrill it is, its character driven moments but damn if its not impossible not to be blown away by it all. The tension is high, I worry for characters at every turn and Dabnett and Winslade play me like a fiddle.

There's a reason I think Lawless could win (won't by maybe should) FFT Tourney and its this. It can spend weeks building story and character and then bang smacks you in the guts and takes your breathe away with a glorious body blow like this. Its just brilliant and read back i think this will be even better. I love this thrill and its probably my favourite thing in Tharg's entire thrillorchard at the moment and that means I think its better than The Out and Brink... so fuck me that means its good.

Floppie is ... Feral and 20 mintues ago or whatever, very disappointing BUT made up for by a very moving tribute to Alan Grant from his peers and prodigies. Its fittingly wonderful.

Overall its 3* Lawless good so its an absolute winner of a Meg and next issue has quite the uphill struggle to not feel like a massive come down!

9

Film & TV / Re: Current TV Boxset Addiction

« on: 17 August, 2022, 05:52:18 PM »

2022 can't get any weirder than seeing Colin praise anything manga/anime adjacent.

Are we in the dark timeline?

To be fair I'm not anti Manga I love a number of the classic, Barefoot Jen, Onward to Our Noble Death etc just don't got on with all of it and bizzarely struggled with Shogun Jump which was (is?) insanely good value and I won't to love more. Just don't have time to expose myself to enough to find the bits I'd like.

My daughter has made it her life's aim to change this, though some show about Volley Ball bounced off me!

10

Film & TV / Re: Current TV Boxset Addiction

« on: 17 August, 2022, 05:34:52 PM »

Watched a show on Netflix called Alice in Borderland based on a manga of the same name. While it had some 'Oh commmme oonnnn really...' moments it was a pretty good 'page turner' with great characters. I think they are churning out more and look forward to seeing that when it lands...

... now this is made all the more important as it now means that girl child* is able to recommend shows to me that I will like... their getting big!

*who I will note hasn't stuck to the deal I'd try Alice in Borderland if she tried Paper Girls (i think she'll love it) - so she might make good recommendations but is full of dishonour and shame...

11

General / Re: FFT - ROUND of 16 - Halo Jones vs Fiends of the Eastern Front - Heat 03

« on: 17 August, 2022, 08:08:27 AM »

Fiends link for those wondering

Fiends of the Eastern Front - more info

12

General / Re: FFT - ROUND of 16 - Halo Jones vs Fiends of the Eastern Front - Heat 03

« on: 17 August, 2022, 07:37:10 AM »

WHOOPS - copy and paste FAIL!

Sorry folks yes it is Fiends of the Eastern (or any other) Front NOT Brink.

Sorry about that folks...

13

General / Re: FFT - ROUND of 16 - Lawless vs Firekind - Heat 01

« on: 17 August, 2022, 06:18:27 AM »

Firekind has fought back here after a very rocky start, but I don't think its enough ... yet... there's a day to go and who knows I think there's a few more votes out there - though it has been quiet in these parts last couple of weeks - so get them in and I'll reveal the first Quarter Finalist in the morning.

14

General / FFT - ROUND of 16 - Halo Jones vs Fiends of the Eastern Front - Heat 03

« on: 17 August, 2022, 06:10:55 AM »

Sponsored by 2000ad in Stages* - see links below.

Halo Jones - more info

VS

Fiends of the Eastern Front - more info

Can Fiends pull off one of the shocks of the Tourney so far here? It's arguably done well to make it this far. But the Halo Jone’s ballard - as I keep editing out for some reason - will leave Costanza sick as a parrot rather than a giant bat?

Form book - Thrill vanquished to date (in order of round met earliest to latest):

Halo Jones: Timehouse; Numbercruncher; Mind of Wolfie Smith; Shakara
Fiends: Bob Byrne's; Twisted Tales; Revere; Angelic; VCs

Round 6 - or “Round of 16” as folks seem to like to call the last 16 these days (?!?) will feature just one thrill a day. I’d like to pretend this is to give these epic thrills more space and time to be commented on… but really it's to buy myself a bit of extra time to plan what comes next!

To Vote Just reply in this thread naming your favourite thrill of these two series at the beginning of your post (or use Bold tags so I can spot it easily) and say what you like about these wonderful stories after that.

Match ends early on the morning of Saturday 20th August and the winner gets a place in the Quarter Finals.

What on Earth is ALL of this?

For those that need ‘um and can be bothered to follow ‘um there’s some simple rules

Any questions, just ask as ever - and have FUN!

*Important Note - this is done with neither permission, or money changing hands (damnit). Apologies for the former, I also meant to do this much earlier but… well ya know how it is…

15

Off Topic / Re: RIPs

« on: 16 August, 2022, 07:51:52 PM »

Das Boot, particularly the extended TV version was simply epic, glorious tension. And that ending was brutal. Such an amazing piece of work.