As the flash bulbs cool and the red carpet is sweep clean inside the Rebellion Theatre Ballroom Dan Abnett makes his way to the stage as Pat Mills, Ian Edginton and the Original Writer fix grins to their faces and claps more heartily than anyone in the auditorium. Slightly flushed and getting his hanky ready he approaches the mic to give this his acceptance speech
QuoteI am surprised and flattered to find myself the winner of the Godpleton Cup for (*checks base of statuette*) "Best Not Wagner". This means a lot: if nothing else, it means the guy I'd have voted for would have won if he'd been allowed anywhere near the competition. I would like to thank all the members of the Forum who voted for me, or who campaigned and argued on my behalf, and I'd also like to thank the members of the Forum who voted for other writers so that some illusion that it wasn't a fix could be maintained. As a great man once said, "florix grabundae - this is ghafflebette." He was clearly as pissed as, but I think you get the sentiment.
I feel vindicated by this award, that a writer responsible for such cutting edge work as Sancho Panzer and a quarter century of will-to-live-destroying puns in Sinister Dexter can finally gain appropriate recognition. I am also glad that, 2000AD credit cards not withstanding, you are now persuaded that there really is a writer called "Dan Abnett" who has produced such frankly stylistically incompatible series as Kingdom, Brink, Feral & Foe, The Out, Grey Area, Lawless and so forth... rather than "Dan Abnett" being an invented name (like "Tharg") used for newbie and try-out writers down the years. We would all like to thank you... I mean 'I'. I would like to thank you.
I look forward to putting this (*re-examines statuette*) bronze runner up under fourteens Latin and Ballroom participation trophy labelled in Dymotape... on my "awards shelf" alongside "Best Writer Now" (plastic Bart Simpson bubble bath container with partial Letraset dedication), "Best Writer Who is My Dad" (Play-Doh "ashtray"), and my "Eisner" for most conspicuous use of inconsistent spelling.
I also very much appreciate the efforts you made getting the trophy to me in these times of social distancing: throwing it through my office window like that gave it an authentic "priority Hermes overnight" feel. Plus, it gives my local glazier some much needed work in these lean times.
Seriously, thank you, members of the Forum. I'm genuinely funting delighted.
— Dan Abnet
A massive thank you to Steev 'Small Blue Thing' for putting me in touch with Dan (don't worry I've not gone all fanboy on him just yet... well fully anyway!) and of course to Dan for taking the time to write this!
So you know I'm going to be pass some of the comments made about Dan's work during the comp to him. I'll do this without names - unless you let me know you'd like either your name or forum name included in which case I'll gladly do so.
Likewise if you don't want your comments passed on let me know as well.
So you're saying Tharg is a made-up name?
Quote from: sheridan on 07 July, 2020, 10:00:40 AM
So you're saying Tharg is a made-up name?
No Dan is - but don't worry he was overcome with emotion at the time.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 07 July, 2020, 10:04:24 AM
Quote from: sheridan on 07 July, 2020, 10:00:40 AM
So you're saying Tharg is a made-up name?
No Dan is - but don't worry he was overcome with emotion at the time.
Tired and emotion. That's alright then.
Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap!
Bravo. Best acceptance speech I've read in ages.
Grud bless us, everyone.
Brilliant response. Kudos to Colin for making all this happen. :)
Fantastic. What a legend! Thanks, Dan.
(I once thought he was a pseudonym for John Wagner too. Maybe he is, and Wagner has sneaked his way into winning a competition he isn't allowed to win.)
Great to hear from the creators and thanks Colin for organizing everything
What a great speech!
Gracious and hilarious!
By all means pass on my comments about not liking Sanco Panzer very much, and going on about how he's not as thematically rich as Pat Mills (in my humble o). I hope I said some nice things too :o
Glad I voted for him now!
Excellent speech! Well done, that droid!
Gawd bless him! Good of him to take the time for a genuinely amusing and considered response. Brilliant stuff Colin- many thanks for running the whole thing. Funnest part of the forum in ages.
SBT
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 07 July, 2020, 10:58:56 PM
Gawd bless him! Good of him to take the time for a genuinely amusing and considered response. Brilliant stuff Colin- many thanks for running the whole thing. Funnest part of the forum in ages.
While lots of folks have been kind enough to thank me for getting this I need to be clear any thanks is owed to this fine chap. He was kind enough to step up, get in touch with Dan, who then contacted me. All I had to do was resist the urge to have a massive nerdgrasm as I replied to one of my all time favourite writers!
So a big thank you to SmallBlueThing.