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2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2018

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

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Leigh S

Yeah, what I'n getting at is that Sci-Fi specials with other creators often feel "off"/different - there is nothing like Dan Dare vs the frogs or Dredd and wind resistance here - if anything, a lot of the scripts feel very on model - the Rogue is more GFD than Rennie for example.  The art is more of a mix, but again. Sci-F special-at leas this time those differences are as a result of asking for difference ratehr than misfiring attempts to ape a style?

Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 22 June, 2018, 07:54:36 AM
Quote from: Leigh S on 21 June, 2018, 10:13:13 PM
I saw a comment (here or elsewhere) that it wasnt very 2000ad, but I think it upholds the feel of a Sci-Fi special very well, and the bits that "don't feel 2000AD" are not always the worse for that.


I said something along those lines.

And I can see what you are getting at but for me it's just too far removed.

Like buying oranges and receiving cat litter.

Tjm86

Over the last few years Rebellion has given over the special to trying out new creative teams.  We've had first time try-outs, all-female creative teams, combinations but with a view to giving something completely different a shot.  There is none of the pressure of the mainstream prog or the meg but we get a chance to see what they can do.

I have to be honest, if I had half the talent that we'd seen in the prog I'd have been a very happy bunny.  There may be imperfections but I would say that overall the contributors comported themselves well.  I have absolutely no problem with double dipping on this one.

Compare that with some of the specials of yore which were a combination of filler, new strips, reprints ... Especially the last couple.  I personally would argue that Rebellion is giving us far more quality. 

The Monarch

i thought it was a solid issue not a single duffer of a story and the art across the board was mostly good

i do agree though that the wrong dredd drawn in the dredd story threw me off at first

Jacqusie

Quote from: sheridan on 21 June, 2018, 01:10:35 PM
Quote from: Jacqusie on 20 June, 2018, 12:51:41 PM
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?

I think you're thinking of 1989: Judge Anderson/Corey, Tyranny Rex, Moon Runners, Zippy Couriers and Maze Dumoir




That's the badger, I remmeber the Anderson / Corey story being rather powerful at the time. The days when John Smith wrote Tyranny Rex too. 2018's incarnation hasn't the bite of her old stories and I agree with the some folks on here that at times, there doesn't seem to be much due care and love put into a few of the stories.

I'm all for blooding new writers and artists, it's great that 2000AD has always done this and should keep taking risks, but the use of an all female crew for this might have stretched an ideology without decent stories or art to back it up on a couple.

Which in some cases must be a tough gig on stodgy and the rather dull DeMarco world type scripts (I have no idea why she continues to be rolled out) and I do have to applaud the efforts to keep faithful to the prog without going too left-field on others.

I wonder if a Winter-Special is being proposed along the same lines?  :think:


broodblik

Quote from: Jacqusie on 23 June, 2018, 02:14:19 PM
I wonder if a Winter-Special is being proposed along the same lines?  :think:

It is going to be an all male cast of writers,artists, colorers and letters  :lol:. Something quite unique for the industry  :lol:
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

Blue Cactus

Loved that Dredd, I thought the script was pretty much a perfect balance of action, laughs, weird future crime and Dredd sounding like Dredd. Sure, the uniform a bit off (isn't that back plate from the Karl Urban version?), but other than that I thought it all worked well and would happily see more Beeby Dredd.

Agree with the comments above about this being more like what DeMarco's solo stories should have been like from the off. I found the smartarse, conveniently rich, squeaky clean private detective with comedy gorilla sidekick version a let down for a character who actually had some depth and baggage - her penchant for unjudicial liasons, unhealthy fixations and sometimes making bad choices seemed to be forgotten (other than her going out with Jack Point). Bailey seems to have a much better understanding of the character and her past than some others who have written her. The Carroll stories were getting there but I'd like some more of Bailey's DeMarco. I agree that her lack of nose in some panels was kind of distracting though!

As for the rest, like all these specials there are good points and bad, so I won't dwell on the bits I wasn't keen on, though I thought the manager on the final page of the Death strip was a little too casual with what was going on around her, sitting back drinking a beer. And that [spoiler]loveheart [/spoiler] at the end of Tyranny Rex really bothered me for some reason!

I had no idea Bulmer drew full strips herself, a lovely cartoony style - she draws a great Tharg!

Taryn Tailz

Did anyone else find they had to turn back to the contents page in order to glean the title of the Terror Tale? That font was completely unreadable.

Though there were numerous niggling issues, I enjoyed most of that. Rogue Trooper, Anderson, Dredd, and Death were all enjoyable reads, with DeMarco PI being the standout of the issue for me.

The only two strips I didn't get on with were Tyranny Rexx (which was very poor in both script and art departments) and the Future Shock. (Though I will admit that I had absolutely no idea what was going on in that story. I couldn't make the art out in key places.)

Blue Cactus

Quote from: Taryn Tailz on 23 June, 2018, 04:21:39 PM
Did anyone else find they had to turn back to the contents page in order to glean the title of the Terror Tale? That font was completely unreadable.


Absolutely!

Richard

Ive looked at the Future Shock again and I think (but stand ready to be corrected) that [spoiler]the delivery woman was putting pieces of her pet monster in the boxes and delivering them to people, who will then be either eaten or impregnated by them, to make more big monsters.[/spoiler] If that's what was happening, then it was a decent story.

Daveycandlish

Quote from: Richard on 23 June, 2018, 07:10:37 PM
If that's what was happening, then it was a decent story.

But the fact it wasn't clear is a problem.
An old-school, no-bullshit, boys-own action/adventure comic reminiscent of the 2000ads and Eagles and Warlords and Battles and other glorious black-and-white comics that were so, so cool in the 70's and 80's - Buy the hardback Christmas Annual!

Colin YNWA

Quote from: Leigh S on 21 June, 2018, 10:13:13 PM
I saw a comment (here or elsewhere) that it wasnt very 2000ad, but I think it upholds the feel of a Sci-Fi special very well, and the bits that "don't feel 2000AD" are not always the worse for that.

Not sure about those sentiments at all felt very like a 2000ad Special to me, for all the good and bad. It was a bit hit and miss and these things always are but the tone was on the nose for me.

Dredd was solid and nothing more, some interesting if uncomfortable design decisions aside!

I quite enjoyed the Tyranny Rex, it looked great - as Tordelback said something very Rian Hughes about it and the story was like the original story in a cute compacted way.

Rogue Trooper I enjoyed as it was about to keep the old skool action and ideas while using the Souther troops to add some character.

Arh damnit the Future Shock looked superb and when I got to the story, or at least my best guess at the story it was a good un. The trouble is I really had to work at it to settle on what I thought was happening. Such a shame as that makes it a magor fail and it was so close to being a major success!

Judge Death - Judge bloody amazing fun more like. Loved it.

DeMarco PI looked as good as the Future Shock but had the opposite problem, the story was too telegraphed and it was pretty clear what was what half way down page two. Just goes to so though being too obvious but good, is better than being to obsure and good!

Terror Tale
took a story as old as time and made it fresh and fun. Good easy fun

Finally Anderson was great, short snappy yet felt like ti carried weight. Another absolute hit. 

So by my count  the good fair outweighs the bad by some way and all the shiny extra, cover and poster were lovely and it felt packed so overall a bit of a success I'd say.

Frank

Quote from: Bad City Blue on 19 June, 2018, 03:43:37 PM
Leah Moore gets a crack at Death

Too soon.

When this special was announced, I thought it was a fucking awful idea; the worst kind of tokenism. If you want to give new creators a shot, just put them on the same Future Shocks-until-you-get-the-hang-of-compressed-storytelling treadmill as everyone else, rather than making a fuss to score woke points.

Having read it, I think it's 100% successful.

That doesn't mean everything's great - 3/4 of it's unexceptional filler - but the bits that work (specifically, which bits work) show Tharg the way for the future. Basically, the stuff where new creators are ventriloquising old creators, trying their best to imitate Wagner, Finley-Day, or Grant, are like gorging on rice pudding then being brought extra large helpings of rice pudding for desert.

Dreary, turgid stuff.

But the bits where new creators are allowed to speak in their own voices are a breath of fresh air. I honestly couldn't care whether Tharg employs women or not, but finding new creators capable of crafting strips that aren't reviving old characters or ripping off Lovecraft/Dr Who/Wells is a self-evidently good idea.

In conclusion, if Tharg thinks serving up yet another story set inside Anderson's mind, where transparent versions of the characters do psychic kung-fu, is in any way new, exciting, or even acceptable, just because the creators are free of Adam's apples, he can shove that Rosette of Sirius right up his dark green, puckered, indeterminate-but-anus.

But if he's serious about letting new creators tell original stories about fresh subject matter in their own style(s), he can have my money. How Tharg balances that with keeping the kind of reader who asks if Dan Dare will ever come back happy is beyond me, but that's why they call him Mighty One.



sheridan

Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 June, 2018, 09:32:48 PM
DeMarco PI looked as good as the Future Shock but had the opposite problem, the story was too telegraphed and it was pretty clear what was what half way down page two. Just goes to so though being too obvious but good, is better than being to obsure and good!


Just thought of another way the DeMarco story could be read.  Am I right in thinking that all of us readers knew there was something fishy about the Judge-boyfriend line?  And yet DeMarco the detective couldn't see it, due to her history...

Blue Cactus

Quote from: sheridan on 24 June, 2018, 03:00:57 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 June, 2018, 09:32:48 PM
DeMarco PI looked as good as the Future Shock but had the opposite problem, the story was too telegraphed and it was pretty clear what was what half way down page two. Just goes to so though being too obvious but good, is better than being to obsure and good!


Just thought of another way the DeMarco story could be read.  Am I right in thinking that all of us readers knew there was something fishy about the Judge-boyfriend line?  And yet DeMarco the detective couldn't see it, due to her history...

That's quite a satisfying way to read it.

abelardsnazz

Got the Hershey cover which I think is great. Striking and moody.

Highlights for me were Tyranny Rex, which I think could have done with a few more pages to flesh out its ideas some more. And Anderson, with precise art and references to her history. Hope we can see more of these stories from the respective creative teams.