Main Menu

2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2018

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

Previous topic - Next topic

DrJomster

Late to the party on this one...

... but I really enjoyed it. Great to see so many non-regulars show their stuff, some of whom are pretty well known in their own right to say the least. Some nicely different sensibilitities to story and art too. Quite small pressy in places, but I like that style, so was really pleased to see it get such a showcase.

Here's hoping some of them come back either in another special or as regular droids!

The hippo has wisdom, respect the hippo.

AlexF

Even later to the party! I had a good time with this Special, that felt very much like the last few years' worth of Specials - not quite as good as the Prog, but lots to like and an impressive variety of stories and art that just felt that little bit different to the norm, in a refreshing way.

I'm a lot less bothered than Frank by writers sticking to a formula, some characters and settings are kind of built for that kind of thing, no? Rogue Trooper in particular felt like one of the very best GF-D era one-offs, even if the art was not quite as good as that. And 'The Feels' was a triumph of capturing mid-80s Dredd along with thumbing a nose to the male-readership. Top marks! The Anderson story, less so, although I enjoyed the characterisation on that one a lot, and was delighted to see Psi Judge  Shakta back in action!

Unlike many here (but like a few!), I really enjoyed the tone of the Tyranny Rex strip, both writing and art. Yes, the story itself was very slight, but it really had that feel of early 90s hang-out comics, which I miss from the Prog (I'll make an exception for The Order, where the plot is so beyond my reading that it ends up feeling like a hang-out story).

My fave art was on the Judge Dredd and Judge Death strips (probably helps that they had the two most tried-and-tested writers, who are a proper safe pair of hands for Tharg by now). I don't think either artist would work on those strips in the Prog, but that's what I like about Specials, they can afford to be playful. But I'd love to see those artists doing something in the Prog on a comedy-based series, like Ace Trucking or RoboHunter or, better yet, something entirely new!

From the Podcast, I know some of the creators were deliberately trying to give readers what they might expect a girl to do, if only to show how silly this is. Overall it worked for me - a genuine breath of fresh air, with a nice side-helping of being poked with a stick.

Anyone complaining about the quality of this Special I think needs to compare it to other specials, not the Prog - it's waybetter than a lot of them over the years. I mean, when was the last time you cracked open one of the Judge Dredd Mega-Specials from the mid-90s...

sheridan

Quote from: AlexF on 10 July, 2018, 02:59:43 PM
Anyone complaining about the quality of this Special I think needs to compare it to other specials, not the Prog - it's waybetter than a lot of them over the years. I mean, when was the last time you cracked open one of the Judge Dredd Mega-Specials from the mid-90s...

Or the Sci-Fi specials from the 1970s, early 1980s.  As with the annuals, it seemed the prog was bought out of pocket money, so had to be good, while the annuals and specials were more expensive, so would be presents and bought by somebody who would never actually read them.

Richard


Professor Bear

Late to the party, I thought a lot of this was impressive, but not pro standard.  The weight of expectation that comes with doing long-running characters or properties is a bit of a grind for new creatives, so I have - from the comfort of my internet armchair where I don't have to ever actually expend any creative effort myself - come up with the notion that they should have given the creators Rebellion's recent IP acquisitions to play with instead, though I grant you this runs the risk of having a 2000ad special that is 90-100% stories about catgirls.
Dunno why I'm bothering being critical, though, as I buy 2000ad stuff out of habit.  Make the next Special a collection of Junker relaunches and I'm still there.

Fungus

It was good of Tharg to trail the strips in the Thrill-Mail. The art dissuaded me, I just couldn't get along with it. First non-purchase for since returning, haven't seen anything ti convince me I'm missing out.

Fungus

Quote from: AlexF on 10 July, 2018, 02:59:43 PM
From the Podcast, I know some of the creators were deliberately trying to give readers what they might expect a girl to do, if only to show how silly this is.
If this is true, that's pretty dispiriting?

Richard

If they didn't agree with the concept then they should have turned down the work and let someone else have a go.

sheridan

Quote from: Professor Bear on 18 July, 2018, 01:22:36 PM
come up with the notion that they should have given the creators Rebellion's recent IP acquisitions to play with instead, though I grant you this runs the risk of having a 2000ad special that is 90-100% stories about catgirls.

We've had the Scream!/Misty special, plus we have that V thing coming up (can never remember what it's called, Valiant/Vanguard/V-something else).

Professor Bear

It's called a marketing push.  All that spare IP represents an "in" to a wider market than the one that exists for the known quantity of 2000ad and its wide array of antiheroic stubbled heteros shooting lasers to get them out from under the heel of The Man.
Plus I kind of expect that Valiant thing to be a massive dud.

Quote from: Richard on 18 July, 2018, 07:25:15 PM
If they didn't agree with the concept then they should have turned down the work and let someone else have a go.

Were they in a position to knock work back and still have enough content to fill this thing?  They had to seek out creators from elsewhere as it is.

Richard

I mean the creators, not Rebellion.

QuoteFrom the Podcast, I know some of the creators were deliberately trying to give readers what they might expect a girl to do, if only to show how silly this is

M.I.K.

Quote from: Fungus on 18 July, 2018, 06:24:58 PM
Quote from: AlexF on 10 July, 2018, 02:59:43 PM
From the Podcast, I know some of the creators were deliberately trying to give readers what they might expect a girl to do, if only to show how silly this is.
If this is true, that's pretty dispiriting?

No it isn't.

I haven't listened to the particular podcast in question, but the two most obvious examples of intentional 'girliness' in the special are the Dredd story, (in which people are exposed to a drug that makes them express their feelings), and the Terror Tale, (about a demonic hockey match at a girls' school), both of which are handled in an appropriately (old school) 2000adish way.

Tiplodocus

Wasn't massively fussed on this on first rushed reading. Too much of the art wasn't my cup of tea and I genuinely thought there are story telling and clarity issues in quite a lot of the strips. Especially Delivery. I genuinely didn't comprehend it let alone get round to interpreting it. (But I loved the art style).

Second , more leisurely, pass I cut it more slack. There's actually not much that's any harder for me to follow than an average episode of THE ORDER or DEADWORLD or when Mark Harrison goes ballsout page splurging in Grey Area.

So yeah, take your time, be open to art styles that aren't your cup of tea and there is LOTS to like here.

What was the Anderson poster? Can't see it on download.

Be excellent to each other. And party on!

sheridan


sheridan