ABC Warriors...

Funt Solo · 19 February, 2005, 05:00:09 AM

Oh, now stop - you're getting me all nostalgiac.

Here's a thought, though: the entire comic was wonderful in the 300s and crap in the 700s, so maybe Mills had fallen foul of whatever it was that was sucking the life out of the whole comic. Just a thought.

To be honest, Finn was something that I tolerated (because, like you, I'd seen enough of him in Crisis) but I eventually warmed to the series: if only because lots of people in suits broke out in pustulent boils (and stuff).

Legend of Shamana you can feed to da boids, true enough. Pretty much pants. As for Dinosty, it's not something I even remember very well now: which speaks volumes on it's own.

Just to branch off slightly, I grabbed progs 330 and 722 off the wall for a glance at the contents. There couldn't be a starker difference in quality: on the one hand you've got the first episode of Slaine, Sam Slade (in what should have been his last ever episode, madcap Dredd, Skizz (the first, good one) and classic Rogue Trooper; then on the other you've got mediochre Dredd, Brigand Doom (oh, the horror!), crap Rogue Trooper (Golden Fox Rebellion, anyone?), and Armoured Gideon (my favourite out of the bunch at that time). The best thing about prog 722 is the advert for Speedball 2 by The Bitmap Brothers.

And rest...

thrillpowerseeker · 23 February, 2005, 01:31:08 AM

Pat Mills again?..lets discuss the works, politics and mindset of Steve Moore or Igor Goldkind ..just for a change eh?..

Pat does it his way..always has always will.

God bless ya !

goochoid · 26 February, 2005, 06:31:06 AM

If Hammerstein and co were in the war BEFORE the judges and survived all the way to the society of Termite that appears on earth thousands of years after the judges are long gone, how can they still be the best robots?

Hasn't anyone designed an upgrade?

Don't they get metal fatigue?

thrillpowerseeker · 26 February, 2005, 02:29:22 PM

ah, but they are constantly being upgraded..nano-bots are currently at work in their entire structurem making sure the Warriors satay cutting edge..

Funt Solo · 26 February, 2005, 07:11:38 PM

This theme is touched upon in many of the stories: when SMS and Bisley were drawing the Warriors, they were suffering metal fatigue (thus Hammerstein's "stringy helmet" look).

In Khronicles of Khaos, they are out-moded by the Imperial Rottweilers, who use Deuterium bullets, leading to the [paraphrased] line "We should have been made the ABCD Warriors".

In the recent tales on Mars, the opposition are trying to take them out with more modern robots.

It's just that, despite their rust-bucket status, they still seem to come out on top at the end.

Note also that Joe Pineapples and Mek-Quake often use new bodies, and after being shot full of holes by honest scientists (Khronicles, again) they all had their outer-casing repaired.

Tordelbach · 28 February, 2005, 03:22:49 PM

It's actually even more complex than this. In the recent Mars shennanigans (which I generally enjoyed), the warriors hop into "backup" bodies. WTF? Where did these come from, and why do they so closley resemble the 'current' states of the Warriors? Have they always had backup bodies, where were they all this time (surely not in Mek Quake's dozer?), and id not where did they find them?

Particularly intrigued by Mongrol's, who IIRC is rebuilt from bits of other robots after an unfortunate parachuting accident, and Blackblood's, which is still missing an eye and has a drill (acquired in the Blackhole Bypass) for a leg.

Ah well.

Jared Katooie · 28 February, 2005, 03:28:19 PM

"Where did these come from, and why do they so closley resemble the 'current' states of the Warriors?"

Yeah that whole thing was fierce dodgy. How convenient that they happened to have a crate with back-up bodies nearby.

Another interesting thing about these back-up bodies is that they're all scarred and battle-damaged in EXACTLY the same way the originals were.

Funt Solo · 28 February, 2005, 04:03:28 PM

That is a daft state of affairs: maybe the artist wasn't reading the script? Hmmm...

(Of course, Blackblood does like his road-drill leg, so maybe he ordered that for his back-up. They could've just popped into a scrappies: it might have made for an entertaining aside.)

I'm pretty much bored with them saving Mars anyway - I'd like to see what they get up to between adventures: does Joe hang out in the gay district of Mekka? How about having some rogue nanobots take over Ro-Jaws: the only way to save him is to miniaturise the Warriors and send them in the back way. Erm...

goochoid · 01 March, 2005, 02:47:22 AM

Yes, I was somewhat disappointed about the whole 'spare body scenario' thats a real get out clause.

Yes I think they should bugger off from mars and just go and shoot stuff for a while. Leave the whole psychic deadlock/nemisis malarky for a bit and go off and blow stuff up.

Personally I think Blackblood is well overdue a story of his own.

What about a mini series where we explore the warriors 'down time'?

Oddboy · 01 March, 2005, 08:05:53 PM

I've just started reading the ABC novel 'Medusa War' (only about half the first chapter, so far)

Any one know which (comic) series this is set between? I'm guessing it's supposed to be just before the Shadow Warriors Book I?

Tordelbach · 01 March, 2005, 08:24:38 PM

"Yes I think they should bugger off from mars and just go and shoot stuff for a while."

Nah, silly spare bodies aside, the Mars stuff is the best 'ABC Warriors' in years and years, since the Blackhole Bypass stuff at least. Ther Shadow Warriors are fun, and the whole Martian setup just weird enough to be interesting. I say let them stay on Mars, but also heartily endorse the idea of getting to see them in their leisure hours.

Given how successful the Deadlock solo series was, I'm sure there's mileage in a short sequence of solo strips exploring each Warrior's downtime. Of course if this means making teh gap between regular 'books' any longer I'm dead against it...

There also isn't nearly enough acknowledgement of their insanely complicated histories, particularly the very odd relationship between Steelhorn and the rest - former liquid-Mess-turned-planetary-consciousness meets up with former comrades who have lived several millennia longer than he has, seen the future and been to yer actually end of the world (on a day trip admittedly), and as I'm fond of pointing out actually have 'original' versions of themselves out there in the universe somewhere doing Medusa-knows-what while all this is going on... Worthy of some downtime discussion, surely.

Will I. Cooling · 01 March, 2005, 09:00:27 PM

My head hurts

Will

Funt Solo · 01 March, 2005, 10:48:03 PM

It's as easy as A, B, C.

(Why are you all throwing tomatoes?)

Smiley · 01 March, 2005, 10:52:35 PM

Not read Medusa War but IIRC yer right.

Oddboy · 02 March, 2005, 03:23:50 PM

No, I've read up to half-way through chapter 2 now (slow readers class, I know. Why do you think I like comics so much?!)

Morrigun's in it and it starts with the Warriors returning to Mars so it must be before 'The Third Element' series (progs 1234-1248).
It's set 2000 years on from the original Mars story, although I don't know how many years it was for the Warriors, with their time-travelling.