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2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2018

Started by Tomwe, 19 June, 2018, 09:31:12 AM

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Jacqusie

Shame the Dredd/ Anderson cover wasn't a choice we got from ordering at the 2000AD shop.

It says summer much better than the dull, gloomy slate grey Hershey version we get from ordering directly, although I did get a small bit of the wrongly credited Tula's cover inside.

I'm pleased that the Sci-Fi Special has returned, I remember an all female cast way back (in 1990?) although Tyranny Rex really has changed so much, I'm not sure it's the same Tyranny Rex that used to be in 2000AD - it must be a clone ey?


Dunk!

Thought I'd pop in and say I enjoyed the Sci-Fi special

As a fan of a simpler "clear line" style, I found a lot of the art refreshing for 2000ad.

My 2 pennies worth.

Dunk!
"Trust we"

Jacqusie

Quote from: Jacqusie on 20 June, 2018, 12:51:41 PM
Shame the Dredd/ Anderson cover wasn't a choice we got from ordering at the 2000AD shop.



Oops, I see it now is... hmmm I'm sure it wasn't there when I ordered a few months ago...  :think:

JamesC

Well...I generally try not to be negative on these threads but I feel like I should be frank in my reactions to this special.

I started off feeling quite excited when this was announced - I always think a special is a great way to introduce new creators, try out new ideas and potentially grab new readers.
I was really blown away by the cover reveal - the Tula Lotay cover is just awesome. I love the colours and the composition is striking. By contrast I'm not at all excited by the Emily Zeinnar cover. It's a well rendered image of Hershey but isn't a particualrly interesting composition or anything. It just doesn't say anything to me or make me want to pick up the comic.

Those were my thoughts before looking through the issue in WHSmiths this afternoon. Unfortunately I have to say I'm really disappointed. I have nothing to say about the quality of the writing as I haven't read the stories but, for the most part, the art just doesn't look like it's of a professional standard. Actually, the Future Shock and Terror Tale both have decent art although neither style is my cup of tea. I thought all of the other strips looked awful. There were a couple of panels in the Tyranny Rex strip that seemed to have little thought put into anatomy or perspective. There's a panel in the Rogue strip in which Rogue is firing a grapple gun into a tree. It's the least dramatic image of Rogue I've ever seen - he looks like a disgruntled Tesco employee with a pricing gun. There's a panel in the Anderson strip where Judge Death looks...well I don't know how to describe it but it certainly doesn't do Bolland's character design much justice.
I don't like being negative and as I said the writing may be very good but I just couldn't justify paying out for this product.

Mattofthespurs

I've ordered both covers from the 2000 AD shop and the website exclusive cover arrived this morning.

Have to agree with James. Massively underwhelmed. Underwhelmed to the point that I wish I had not ordered both covers now.

Neither story nor art grabbed me, in fact I would go as far to say that the artwork is just not up to the standards of a comic bearing the name 2000 AD.

Nothing against the creators involved it just does not feel like a 2000 AD product.

Probably my fault as I was expecting something and got something else instead.

Mattofthespurs

I will say that the centre spread is gorgeous though.

Loved that.

SmallBlueThing(Reborn)

It's going to be impossible to comment on this without some kind of disclaimer along the lines of "I am not a Rorschach-style bearded living at mums house-dwelling incel lunatic, but...". Needless to say, I have nothing against female comic creators* but bloody hell, this tested the patience. I sort of liked the Rogue story, but not the art, and I sort of liked the Anderson story, but again not the art. Nothing else did anything else but remind me of the worst bits of the nineties indy comics scene.

I'd love to find some positives, but I'd be struggling just for the sake of saying something nice. 

SBT

*bought a great one today- Land Creatures volume one, by Juliet Brando.


Mattofthespurs

I would like to add I am not a Rorschach-style bearded living at mums house-dwelling incel lunatic

I don't have a beard and I live in my own house.

Proudhuff

Got the Hershey cover and love it... a bit too much  :-X
DDT did a job on me

dweezil2

The whole thing was a good, if rather insubstantial read.
I had high expectations for Beeby's Dredd tale as she seems to have a good handle on the character usually and though the premise was sound and amusing it didn't quite hang together, not helped by some art that looked unfinished and by someone who'd only seen the Stallone movie-in fact it read more like an IDW Dredd backup strip from back in the day.
The Rogue and Anderson strips were probably my favourite from the mag.
As a showcase for new talent, it served its purpose and it was certainly worth a purchase, if only the quality was just a little higher.
Maybe next time.  :thumbsup:
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TordelBack

Just a vast amount of content in this thing, some good, some not so good, but the general trend is upwards.  Shall we run through it?

I got the Lotay Dredd'n'Anderson cover, and it was even better in the flesh.  Excellent stuff, any chance of some stripwork from this artist?

Dredd: Perfectly serviceable tale from Beeby, and I actually really like Babs Tarr's art - its just the off-model Stallonish Dredd that throws it off for me.  Pity.

Tyranny Rex: I suppose this is a bit of a riff on the setup of the original Tyranny story, with 3D printing replacing cloning, but it doesn't do a lot for me plotwise - I do love the Ryan Hughes stylings of the colourful art though, even if it there's a bit of an anatomy flub on the third page. I could probably go for more of this.

Rogue Trooper: Story's okay in an old-school way (although it's hard to believe no-one had thought of utilising the trees in 3 years of stalemate), art has great expressive faces but the figures are static and there's something gone aksew with the arms... especially the Norts. And what's going on with Gunnar's sling and Bagman on that last page! Colours are neat.

Things pick up in a big way with Tillie Walden's Future Shock, which is start-to-finish great, probably the best thing in the Special. That's my kind of story, more of this please!

Maguerite Sauvage's Anderson poster is amazing.  Heading for my office wall.

Moore's Judge Death is another solid story, but Xulia Vicente and Pippa Mather's art is a highlight of the whole comic - love it! 

Laura Bailey and Dani's DeMarco is intriguing. This is kind of how I had hoped a DeMarco series would work, back before such a thing existed.  Galen could use some kind of a nose, but otherwise I thought this was a great concept, well-executed with a good ear for the peculiarities of the character and MC-1.  Definitely like to see more in this vein. 

The Terror Tale, I dunno. Bulmer does a skilful and colourful St Trinian's thing, but the story didn't really work for me. 

McHugh wraps things with a busy and enjoyable Anderson, well-observed and sharply rendered by Vieceli and Nosenzo.

All in all the Special had some bits that didn't agree with me, but there was so much in there that the odd misfire didn't matter.  I'd be happy to see more of a good chunk of this, both in terms of individual creators and some of their versions of strips.  A very worthwhile showcase!



     




Woolly

What Tordelback said, thats pretty much my review in a nutshell.

One question: is the Judge Death tale set in Gotham?

Richard

Now that I've read this, I'd like to take back my earlier comment, based as it was on an untrue review by another poster.
Quote(DeMarco P.I.) just jars from the off as a woman says she's married to a Judge and everyone seems toi just accept it! It's not bad apart from that
What actually happens is DeMarco exclaims "What are you talking about? Helmets aren't allowed to have romances, let alone a partner. Trust me..."

That is the exact opposite of what the reviewer described, and it's unfair to the writer, Laura Bailey, who not only turned in a perfectly good story with [spoiler]a suitably macabre ending[/spoiler], but also did her research, since the "Trust me" and other comments clearly allude to DeMarco's own past. In fact, DeMarco's surprise and scepticism also serve to alert the reader that something is up, so that the pay-off does not spring out of nowhere but is fair to the reader. I have no issues with this story.

Turning to the rest of the Special, I have the colourful Tula Lotay cover and I love it.

Emma Beeby's Judge Dredd story is okay but is let down by some dreadful art, which is a shame.

Tyranny Rex is just terrible, story and art. I have nothing good to say about it.

Rogue Trooper is good. Alex de Campi has written a good story, and it's something of a rarity in Rogue Trooper stories in that it has some supporting characters with their own identities, not easy to do in a one-off. There's a good mix of violence and humour. I thought the art was good too (in spite of that one panel that was criticised in another post).

I'm probably being dense, but I didn't quite get the precise ending of the Future Shock, although I got the rough idea. I enjoyed reading it.

The poster is good, and it's on nice glossy paper too, not just printed on regular pages.

I really liked the Judge Death story, which presumably is indeed set in Gotham. It's a nice homage to Judgement on Gotham, which I'm going to go and have another look at later. I like the energetic art style, although the artist struggles a bit with disembodied hearts. Practice will, I'm sure, make perfect, if Tharg gives her the opportunity.

I haven't read the last two stories yet, because I immediately had to start this review as soon as I finished DeMarco. But overall, I don't think this Special deserves the tsunami of negativity that, predictably, has started above. It's not all good, but I never expect a special to be all good. There's enough good content to make me happy to part with my £5.

Richard

After reading my last post back to myself, there are too many "good"s there (must. Click. Preview.). I should have used adjectives like excellent, brilliant, zarjaz.

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