I don't think there's much to say about this one. These two have probably (possibly) done more for the Prog than any other*. You could debate whether Pat Mills ruled the first half of Tharg's reign and Dan Adnett has owned the Rebellion years? Is that the distinction folks will have to make? Well that for you to decide as for the last time (well almost) I ask you to decide:
Dan Abnett - http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=DANA (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=DANA)
OR
Pat Mills - http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=PATM (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=PATM)
FOR THE GODPLETON CUP!
*This of course excludes John Wagner...
What is all this nonsense you ask well we're finding out whose 2000ad (Meg and associated items) writing do you prefer? Voting - just add a comment here with whose work you prefer (and anything else you might wish to say to discuss their work). This vote closes some time early Thursday 25th June?
Want to know more https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46552.0 (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46552.0)
We'll have a final soon.
There were only two people I'd have voted for over Pat Mills - and indeed I did, but he crushed them both in consecutive rounds anyway! By turns furious and purposefully hilarious, his writing is driven by a kind of revolutionary zeal that can sometimes tip over into polemic but which, at its best, fuels a seemingly-endless stream of mad ideas, crazed characters and demented situations - all delivered with an eye to the mass audience. There is no-one like him in the history of comics - he's the 2000AD creator whose name is most likely to be prefixed by 'Uncle', which I suspect is a sign of the profound love we all have for the man and for at least a substantial proportion of his amazing work.
In Torquemada, Pat created the greatest comics character of all time. Which is why...
...I can't say it often enough! Be pure! Be vigilant! Vote Mills!
The first thing I did was to remove the following from the equation and that is that Pat created 2000AD. This is about writing and not what was created and who created it. Pat has certainly created (wrote for the context of the thread) some of the best work in the prog: Nemesis, Slaine, Savage, Finn and ABC Warriors. This we can measure up against Abnett's own creations: Brink, Lawless, Grey Area, Kingdom and Insurrection. Both have some weaker candidates Flesh for Mills and Sin/Dex for Abnett. Sin/Dex is just a story that mills around and feels too much for me like it is directionless (adding too this is that I never warm-up to the main characters). Flesh is just plainly average, nothing special. Mills problem is that all his stories especially the later one feels like the same old theme over and over again. He just rehashes his stories give them awesome artist to draw them and there we go. Abnett's stories all feel fresh different and original. Lawless and Brink is to me two off the best new thrills in any comic the past two decades.
My choice is Dan Abnett
This is a tough choice.
Dan Abnett is the best writer at present and has been for a good few years. He seems to be getting better and better and after a few lesser stories early on is now producing thrills of the highest quality on a consistent basis. Thrills that disprove the oft trotted out line that "the Prog isn't as good as it used to be". Well with strips like Brink, Grey Area, Kingdom and Feral and Foe in it, it absolutely is still as good. Add in the sublime Lawless and Insurrection and it will take something pretty special to beat Mr Abnett.
Pat's writing, on the other hand, just doesn't seem anywhere as good these days. His stories now seem to take an age to go anywhere (years!). I am still planning on doing a re-read to reappraise them though.
Now as I said it will take something special to beat Mr Abnett, so step forward early ABC Warriors, early Slaine and Nemesis up to and included book VI. These were the strips with the most thrill power in the history of the comic (alongside Dredd and Stront). They are what I look on as 2000AD.
Indeed the first series of ABC Warriors is probably why I have been a 2000AD reader for the last 40 years: after a stuttering start as a reader, when I tried it again with Prog 127 it was probably the first episode of the Steelhorn two parter that hooked me in. Then when the ABC Warriors went to Mars - just wow.
So for me Pat's highlights are just that bit higher than anyone else's (apart from maybe Wagner's, but that's a conversation for another day...).
Given that, my vote goes to Pat Mills.
Setting aside Pat's credentials in creating the Prog, he's written some incredibly memorable stories which will always be held up as classics. Does he still come up with fresh ideas after all these years?
Dan Abnett's imagination when let loose is a thing to behold. He's expanded Dreddworld out into the galaxy, given us a modern classic in Kingdom, and much humour and terrible puns in Sinister Dexter.
For being so consistently brilliant in the modern era, my vote goes to Dan Abnett.
Pat for Nemesis.
Putting aside the respect due Mr. Mills, Dan Abnett represents everything great about the prog since I resubscribed a few years ago. Brink has quickly become one of my favourite strips of all time, in this or any other publication, and would almost be enough to secure my vote by itself, to say nothing of Grey Area which is also high in the list. I will gamely resist the temptation of allowing his writing credit for Alien: Isolation, which IMO is in the running for video game of the century, to influence the decision any further, since he crossed the line before it became a factor. :)
My vote goes to Dan Abnett.
I was dreading this.
Dan Abnett.
This is based on personal opinion exclusively and by looking at the Trades on my shelves.
Dan has gone out of his way to bring quality storytelling to the prog, and in Gene the Hackman I think Dan has created one of modern 2000 AD's apex characters.
Pat has always been a very contrarian figure. He is currently putting together his own take on what he feels a modern 2000 AD should be in Spacewarp, (which is not the first time he's done this - Toxic) in what could be interpreted as an 'I know better' position.
Both of them are superb storytellers, but only Pat gets 'when he's got a story to tell' added to the sentence.
Missed the entire tournament, but completely unsurprising that Brazil and Germany made it to the final.
I'm a big fan of Dan Abnett and grateful for his continued strong presence in the Prog + Meg, but when it come to Big Jobs - it's gotta be Mills.
Wow this is going to be neck and neck if it carries on like this. Literally as soon as one writer gets a vote ahead the other gets a vote to 'level the score.'
This one is going to be fascinating - which isn't at all surprising.
Also came along to say I'm going to level this one for a week to give as many folks as possible the chance to vote and will wrap the whole damn blast it thing up in the morning of Thursday 2nd July - just before folks can go to the pub to celebrate!
I came to this with my mind made up, then looked at far more votes for Abnett than I'd expected, and some very convincing arguments for him. He's a great writer and has probably been more consistently good than Pat Mills and the many storylines that could have been wrapped up tightly years ago instead of left to meander.
But... The Wickerman. The Horned God. Sky Chariots. The King. (Quagslime's heart ripped out through his mouth - I was 12, for Grud's sake, Pat!) Nemesis from the O'Neill years to the Hicklenton ones. ('Be Pure has a big mouth... I make it bigger.' I was 12, for Grud's sake, Pat!) The ABC Warriors in the Black Hole. Rico Dredd and pretty much the entire story of how Mega City 1 and the Judges came to exist. These factors were a huge, huge part of my childhood and have contributed to the person I am, for better or worse, and more than make up for all the Finns and Greysuits and making a Volgan tank crash by throwing soap under its wheels.
Pat Mills it is.
Both these writers are quite variable, to my mind, and yet also forces of nature in the Prog. Ultimately, this for me is mostly down to what was (Mills) vs. what is (Abnett). If I could only choose one writer's original creations to still exist, I'd probably go for Mills; but if I had to decide only one writer to still contribute today, I'd go for Abnett. Add in Mills's tendency to rehash, and Abnett grabs this one for me in extra time.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 25 June, 2020, 10:52:07 AM
Wow this is going to be neck and neck if it carries on like this. Literally as soon as one writer gets a vote ahead the other gets a vote to 'level the score.'
This one is going to be fascinating - which isn't at all surprising.
Also came along to say I'm going to level this one for a week to give as many folks as possible the chance to vote and will wrap the whole damn blast it thing up in the morning of Thursday 2nd July - just before folks can go to the pub to celebrate!
I love them both so I'm kinda hoping it's only won by one vote and not a landslide either way. The play off against Mr Wagner is going to be tough too.....
another clear win for Pat Mills
I don't think there is any final that could possibly have resulted in me being more torn. On the one hand, Dan Abnett is responsible for the majority of my favourite strips of the last twenty-odd years. From Sinister Dexter to Brink to Lawless, by way of just about everything he has written for Tharg, Abnett has become not only my number one "new" writer ("new" in this sense meaning "not Mills, Wagner, Grant, Finley-Day or Moore", so not that new, really), but also crucially a writer whose work I will track down away from the prog. I may not buy it all (and in Abnett's specific case, I'm fully aware I buy a small proportion of his enormous output) but I'm more inclined to buy something with his name on it than just about any other product from both sides of the Atlantic.
On the other Pat Mills would be a worthy winner if he'd only ever written Slaine, Nemesis and The ABC Warriors and then gone off to other things away from Tharg's influence. The fact he *was* Tharg is by the by here. In recent years, his work in the weekly and monthly has been more problematic, but hell, I liked American Reaper, Flesh was okay, Defoe took a while but got there in the end, and Savage is never less than magnificent. And it's impossible to discuss Mills without saying "Charley's War" and rendering every other argument invalid.
I've made my mind up. It has to be Abnett, because 2000AD is about the future and reinventing itself for a new generation. A "new" writer winning seems appropriate, and Pat coming second should be as big a shout to Management as there can be- we still want him in the prog. He's relevant, he's spectacular and he can tell a story and create characters better than most other writers out there.
Dan Abnett though, were the prog to lose him, would be irreplaceable. Abnett it is.
SBT
Pat Mills.
Behave.
Pat Mills may be the godfather but I am going for Dan Abnett
Both great, prolific writers that (because of the volume of their output) have hits and misses over the breadth of their careers. Pat usually has a strong message and a clear ethical stance whereas Dan seems more of an out and out entertainer.
As is often the case with trying to think of who's better when both of the people under consideration are so highly talented, I need to use a gimmick. I'm going to use the "whose work would I most like to read if I opened a new comic today"?
(https://i.imgur.com/fHfB1ea.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pkrhmqg.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/i4VAOpp.png)
It's Dan Abnett. And that was the scrapping of that day.
The legend that is Pat Mills is my choice.
Well, this has all gone quite 2016 so far, with the less established choice getting an unexpected surge. The main difference, of course, is that Dan is a great writer, rather than a tiny-handed wannabe dictator or a decision to impose sanctions on your own country.
I voted Pat but I get the impression he wouldn't be at all happy to see how well Dan is doing.
Pat Mills.
This is the most awful of choices. Pat has given me by far the most joy of the two writers, of almost any writer, with Sláine inarguably diverting my life down its current path [wait, this is all his fault..?], and Third World War heavily shaping my worldview. But Abnett's work is often what I look forward to each week.
It's maybe worth noting that at different times I have disliked the work of both writers: on Abnett's side I hated (hated) Sinister Dexter when it started (love it now), didn't like his Durham Red, didn't think much of Black Atlantic or Roadkill, never bothered to read Sancho Panzer. For Mills I also really disliked Blood of Satanus, Greysuit, and Finn, and any Judge Dredd after about 1979, and parts of mid-period ABC Warriors bored me rigid. So it's a tribute to jus how much I like all the other stuff they've done that I think we've picked the right two writers to be vying for the top spot.
Looking at Funt's approach as a way into this conundrum, if I picked up (downloaded) the Prog next Wednesday, and it turned out that it was Dredd and four other strips by just the one author, would I rather that it be Abnett or Mills?
Say it was Sláine, ABC Warriors, Defoe and one all-new creation, versus Brink, Kingdom, Sinister Dexter and yet another new strip? Sad to say, i'd probably be happier to see the latter lineup - and if it was Mills or Abnett on the Dredd as well, there's no question.
I love Defoe, still enjoy Sláine, but I just prefer Abnett's current writing to Mills'. But then I previously voted for Mills over Alan Moore on the basis of his 40 year catalogue of wonder, and I love Moore's work in a decidedly unnatural way. So why not vote for Mills over Abnett as well?
It really does come down to choosing between the heyday of each writer: Mills in the '70s to the early '90s, creating [as a writer] and sustaining the uniqueness and identity of the Prog with everything from Flesh to the Cursed Earth, Sláine and Nemesis; and Abnett late '90s to now, providing so many modern classics in Kingdom, Lawless, Insurrection, Brink, Grey Area and Sinister Dexter.
If you took Pat's writing out of the Prog's history, the comic simply wouldn't exist as we know it- Future Police Officer called-something-other-than-Dredd ft. Strontium Dog weekly is what we'd have, and probably not even that.
And if you took Abnett out of the Prog and Meg today, you'd have a gaping hole that'd make Al Ewing and John Smith's departures look like a minor inconvenience (I imagine a torrent of Kek-W and Edginton strips pouring in to fill the gap, so it wouldn't be all bad).
Crucially, I think the comic without Abnett's writing would still be recognisably 2000AD, weaker, far poorer and less enjoyable (and the heavens only know what Tharg would use to plug those awkward two-or-three week holes in the schedule without Sinister Dexter), but it'd still be the Prog.
But have Thoth go back in time and get Satanus to gobble up Uncle Pat before he wrote a single page of script for 2000AD, and the comic would be something else entirely. Even with Mills in the editor's chair, a 2000AD without his writing wouldn't be possible.
So it's Pat Mills for me, and damn the consequences.
Pat has the history but he also has the sexy ostriches. Two piles of trades - what do you pick? Got to be Dan Abnett for me.
It's kind of an unfair contest in one key way, as expressed by many others here:
Pat Mills got there first.
And by 'there', I mean 'inside my brain'. It's his work on Nemesis in particular, but also some key Ro-Bustin' and ABC Warriors tales, a smidgeon of Slaine and Judge Dredd: the Cursed Earth that pushed me into 2000AD megafandom and arguably even comics obsessiveness.
It's also hard to get over how much research he does, and how well he puts it across. Even the preaching that goes along with that research is something I relish. I LIKE going to lectures, and if I can get my lecture with a plateful of gore and sloganeering all the better.
And yet, and YET
Dan Abnett is just a force of nature. He has written so much, and unlike Mills he did a lot of his learning in the pages of 2000AD so we got to see a fair bit of his untested early work, which Mills got out of his system in the 60s and 70s on titles I've not read much of. Late 70s/early 80s Mills is like 2000s Dan Abnett, from VCs onward when he's got nearly everything right.
Page for page it's possible that I have had an continue to have more fun with Abnett. Although it'll be hard even for him to generate a heftier stack of collections than the Nemesis, Slaine and ABCs volumes that fill most of shelf in my room.
To be honest my heart has always been to vote Mills and it's going to stay that way. And it's the preaching that does it. If Pat Mills wants to educate me about food terrorism, even if it's too dense and too nasty and too silly all at the same time, part of me just respects it more than the delights of plot, character and the imntersection of cults and madness that is Brink.
But I will say that today's Abnett is far superior than today's Mills at writing epsiodes that satisfy in single chunks, as opposed to only really holding together in long form. Something Mills was SO GOOD at maybe 20 years ago, when that's how comics were designed.
Yeah. I'm with Pat Mills Block.
The Progfather. Big Pat
AlexF makes an interesting point about Mills "getting there first". When I was reading the Prog, a credit from either writer was the last thing I wanted to see. Pat Mills was in his "& Tony Skinner" period, and Dan Abnett was churning out Vector 13 and early Sinister Dexter, both of which I regarded as cheese of the highest order. Both have bounced back/developed, but nostalgia really plays no part in my decision here. So although you could say I'm voting from a position of ignorance, having not read enough of Mills' defining work for Tharg, on the balance of what I have read over 25(!) years, I've got to give it to Dan Abnett. Wildly inconsistent in his early days, it took him a ridiculously long time to "get good", but now he constantly blows me away.
So many of the above posts echo my thoughts here, I have to say. They have both made seriously strong contributions to the prog, they really have and, thinking about it, this makes for a good final match. I dearly love both their work, but I think the fact that Pat lay the ground works and showed how it was done has to take the day. So, I'm going with Pat Mills block!
Having said that, I would like to give a shout out for all the other creators. 2000AD is really blessed with its talent. I couldn't wish for more, honestly.
The anarchic and fun first half of 2000AD history vs the more slick and grown-up second half...
Let's face it: it's the first half - I'm going for Pat Mills
That said, Dan Abnett would have been a worthy winner of the "Ultimate not Wagner or Mills Tourney" that this could easily have been: this was the right final.
Abnett
I have spoken
Mills. Even though he is a bit repetetive these days.
I'm fighting with Abnett block
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 26 June, 2020, 02:13:40 PM
I'm fighting with Abnett block
Twice - don't think our voter fraud checks aren't top notch. I'm like a razer sharp vote rigging catchin' person me!
(mind for reason some might be able to grasp I might let this slide. Pat is beginning to pull away, just a little)
Whatever could have you in such magnanimous fettle this morning, ColinYNWA?
Pat Mills. Z
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 June, 2020, 02:58:29 PM
Whatever could have you in such magnanimous fettle this morning, ColinYNWA?
I've no idea - did something happen last night or summit?
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 26 June, 2020, 03:19:20 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 June, 2020, 02:58:29 PM
Whatever could have you in such magnanimous fettle this morning, ColinYNWA?
I've no idea - did something happen last night or summit?
How many pitchers of Carling Black Label would have been sold in Concert Square if the boozers were open this week do you reckon?
Dan Abnett
Are the fish still there in... that bar with the fish? I've not been to Concert Square for years it was always a hassle!
Though to keep on track errr... if one writer had to write a story in a mid-size plaza in a port town that is always over-run by 6.30 on a weekend evening who would you rather do it Dabnett or Mills?
What I find interesting is that the votes I counted for Top 10 Rebellion Year Tourney so far Mills does not have one strip in the top ten but Abnett has two in the top five. I think when I run the Galaxy's Greatest Tourney we most likely will see a different picture.
Dan Abnett!
This is probably easier for me than it should be...Mills has written a few of my favorites but he is more miss than hit for me overall. Way to preachy about anarchy and dark forces etc. I often find myself speed reading through his thrills. Forever grateful for Cursed Earth, early ABC Warriors and (although not 2000ad) Charley's War.
Abnett on the other hand can do no wrong! Lawless, Kingdom, Brink, Insurrection etc. I can read those over and over again, just pure thrill power.
In recent years I find I skip reading a lot of Pat Mills' work.
I look forward to, and savour, new episodes of Lawless and Brink.
Abnett for the win.
Pat Mills
I have been intrigued to see so much love for Kingdom in this thread and the Rebellion 20 years one. I joined this story in the middle somewhere and have never been able to make any sense of it. Perhaps I need to go back to the beginnning and find out what it is about.
Quote from: WhizzBang on 26 June, 2020, 09:16:15 PM
Kingdom in this thread and the Rebellion 20 years one. I joined this story in the middle somewhere and have never been able to make any sense of it. Perhaps I need to go back to the beginnning and find out what it is about.
You should, you really chuffin' should.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 26 June, 2020, 02:32:12 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 26 June, 2020, 02:13:40 PM
I'm fighting with Abnett block
Twice - don't think our voter fraud checks aren't top notch. I'm like a razer sharp vote rigging catchin' person me!
(mind for reason some might be able to grasp I might let this slide. Pat is beginning to pull away, just a little)
One vote was cast while under the influence of alcohol.
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 26 June, 2020, 11:04:25 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 26 June, 2020, 02:32:12 PM
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 26 June, 2020, 02:13:40 PM
I'm fighting with Abnett block
Twice - don't think our voter fraud checks aren't top notch. I'm like a razer sharp vote rigging catchin' person me!
(mind for reason some might be able to grasp I might let this slide. Pat is beginning to pull away, just a little)
One vote was cast while under the influence of alcohol.
Only one vote? :lol:
"We are voting for favourite, not best - so how much you like their body of work WRITING, not editing etc - quality of their work first, with quantity as a secondary factor."
Dan Abnett
I first started buying 2000AD on a regular basis because of Slaine. After that I was hooked!
Among the many wonderful creations of Pat Mills, some of my other favourites are Nemesis & Torquemada; the ABC Warriors (in particular - Deadlock), Defoe, Satanus and The Visible Man (which still creeps me out to this day,lol). And what can I say about Flesh?! That is, the original blood-soaked version from Tooth's early days. The more recent B&W update just did not appeal to me.
But by contrast, I much prefer the current incarnation of Savage - especially its nod to the whole "Secret Army" TV series vibe, (and thankfully strip did not stray into Allo, Allow territory). :)
With regard to the works of Dan Abnett, I remain a huge fan of his stories, especially the likes of Feral & Foe and Sinister & Dexter.
But in light of the fact that I owe my addiction to the Galaxy's greatest comic, and the many great thrills, laughs and straight gasps of "Wow!", to many of the best moments in the prog's history which he has created over so many years, I'm gonna have to tip my hat and vote in favour of the inestimable Pat Mills
Sorry Dan, it was truly a tough choice to make. I will continue to read with great joy the ongoing adventures of some of the great characters you have gifted the Prog with. And I'm hoping - nay, demanding! - a return of Feral & Foe in the near future. I'm really hoping that the titular characters have somehow managed to survive.
Close but dan abnett wins it for me
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 26 June, 2020, 10:09:59 PM
Quote from: WhizzBang on 26 June, 2020, 09:16:15 PM
Kingdom in this thread and the Rebellion 20 years one. I joined this story in the middle somewhere and have never been able to make any sense of it. Perhaps I need to go back to the beginnning and find out what it is about.
You should, you really chuffin' should.
I second Colin here, Kingdom is a must. I really hope to see it continue one day (it was finished in a satisfying way but left very open ended). And don't forget to read the novel Kingdom: Fiefdom which is just as good as the comics. More Kingdom novels please!
An interview with Dan Abnett he stated that we will see more Kingdom but when is the question:
https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-sci-fi-special-talking-hackman-vs-white-terror-with-dan-abnett-richard-elson/ (https://2000ad.com/news/2000-ad-sci-fi-special-talking-hackman-vs-white-terror-with-dan-abnett-richard-elson/)
Cheers, thanks for the link. Nice interview, I'm very pleased to see they are planning more Kingdom. Although it could be a while, it will be well worth the wait.
Kingdom at first: why are all these giant dogs talking like Mad Max? HMMMM. Kingdom after two series: this is a bit bloody good. Kingdom thereafter: WHEN IS THE NEXT KINGDOM?
This one is still very, very close, I think. Every vote will count as we get to the end. Closing this one in the morning and the Godpleton cup will be awarded.
This one is very much current form versus nostalgic form
Quote from: broodblik on 01 July, 2020, 06:46:29 AM
This one is very much current form versus nostalgic form
That's certainly the way I see it. Though nostalgic might not be the way many see it, rather first Golden Age (TM) vs nuGolden Age (TM) - though I'm sure there are many who like Uncle Pat's new stuff, I certainly like a chunk of it, but not all by far.
I wouldn't call it nostalgia. It's simply who's written stories you enjoy the most. Shakespeare doesn't knock out that many decent plays these days, but when you've written Hamlet, you've written Hamlet.
I suspect there is some nostalgia in it. That really comes down to whether you remember things being fun/interesting/good, or if you've read them relatively recently. For me, Nemesis is great rather than was great, and I find that an important distinction. (Compare to Harry 20, which was fun when I read it as a kid, but is now middling and horribly dated, like a lot of 2000 AD of the era—including, for me, Rogue Trooper and Invasion.)
I voted on current form and although I really like Mills work his recent work just do not do him any justice.
An I though that Hamlet was there to punish the young for being young,jubilant, vibrant and alive. :D
Has to be Dabnett for me. I loved Nemesis back in the day but other than Savage (and not always Savage) Pat's recent work does nothing for me I'm afraid. Abnett is constantly inventive, witty and fun to read. Uncle Pat isn't any more.
Mills.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 01 July, 2020, 09:46:24 AM
Nemesis is great
I agree. And for me, it wouldn't matter a jot if Pat had never written anything else good - his current form is irrelevant from my voting perspective. Book 1 of Nemesis alone is simply better than most other 2000AD stories.
Just done a count and WOW it is close.
Very close.
So if you haven't voted do so now you may well make a very significent difference!
All I can say is that at the end of the day we are blessed with two great writers.
Quote from: Greg M. on 01 July, 2020, 11:07:50 AM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 01 July, 2020, 09:46:24 AM
Nemesis is great
I agree. And for me, it wouldn't matter a jot if Pat had never written anything else good - his current form is irrelevant from my voting perspective. Book 1 of Nemesis alone is simply better than most other 2000AD stories.
Yes I can't quite decide what is the greatest (non- Dredd) 2000AD story of all time. But it's between Nemesis book 1, 3,4,5 and 6, the first series of ABC Warriors, Massimo Slaine, McMahon Slaine and Fabry Slaine.
So it's all Pat and that's why I voted for him.
This is a really tough call. I've been sitting on the fence trying to make up my mind most of the week as both of them are incredible writers.
After much consideration I think I've got to give it to Abnett. Brink, Lawless and Kingdom are all superb and for me rivial the golden age runs of Nemesis, Slaine and ABCs. Which means it comes down to the next tier of thrills to break the tie and it's here I feel Abnett really has the edge. Pat's writing is just a lot more variable compared to the consistent thrillpower delivered by the Abnett droid.
On runs of thrills, something just occurred to me, which hadn't earlier. Sláine Sky Chariots/Horned God and Nemesis Book 1 would very easily be in my top 20 (possibly ten). But basically all of Brink, Lawless and Kingdom would be.
It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out. Honestly, I'm glad it's close (I'd expected Mills to easily romp to victory). And if nothing else, this entire competition has shown how blessed 2000 AD has been throughout its run—and how the contemporary comic still retains a large number of quality writers.
Talking about Nemesis I did not know that the character is now 40 years old.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh.
Dan Abnett.
Pat Mills
much as I love Brink, and am thankful for Abnett providing some diverting material when the comic needed to keep me hopeful, it isnt Nemesis, or Slaine, or ABC Warriors, or even (since a lot of this seems to swing on Pats more recent output for a lot of people) Defoe or savage.
Pat Abnett ... no, Dan Mills.
This is so hard, if we included editorial and overall contribution, Pat would walk it, but we're only judging their output as a writer. It's very much a game of two halves - does Abnett's prolific and powerful body of work in the last 20 years eclipse monumental stories like Nemesis, ABC Warriors or the Cursed Earth from the first 20? Can Pat still be regarded as the best given that so much of his later output can sometimes be slow, preachy and formulaic?
In the end, I had to go by personal impact - now I know that the thrill-receptors of a 10-25 year old are more finely attuned than those of an older, more cynical reader, but as much as I admire Abnett's great scripts that have kept 2000ad on top of it's game well into the 21st century, absolutely nothing can compare to the sheer giddy, mind-expanding thrillpower that those early strips delivered, soo....
PAT MILLS (sorry Dan)
see, now I'm thinking about Brink and Lawless and thinking of changing my mind for the millionth time.
No, sod it I'll stick.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 01 July, 2020, 08:27:43 PM
see, now I'm thinking about Brink and Lawless and thinking of changing my mind for the millionth time.
No, sod it I'll stick.
Do it...Abnett for the win ;)
Dan for me. The comic owes Pat a lot, and I am not going to suggest that he is anything other than a legend, but it's Dan's stories that keep me reading again and again. Every one of his recent series have been wholly compelling and his ear for dialogue is second to none. Go, Dan.
Abnett.
This is an evil competition.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 01 July, 2020, 08:27:43 PM
see, now I'm thinking about Brink and Lawless and thinking of changing my mind for the millionth time.
No, sod it I'll stick.
Be vigilant succumb to the brink side of the prog
VOTING AND TOURNEY CLOSED - Please feel free to comment and discuss but votes won't count.
This is what this has all been for the GODPLETON CUP
(https://i.imgur.com/cZSQyTM.jpg)
(seriously do a Google search and for some reason this appears so I went with it?!?)
And the final has been wonderfully dramatic, I mean just the counting process at Base Camp YNWA this morning has taken 40 minutes and countless checks and recounts. I ended up checking vote on a spreadsheet. Its been so close.
At the start it was literally going vote for vote with both on the same count. But then one writer started to creep ahead and a strong middle section meant they openned a lead of as many as 5 votes at its maximum.
It seemed over... but... the other writer started to creep back, they slowly cut the lead and by the start of the last 24 hours they had cut the led to 2... and then kept coming back. Votes came in for both writers, but that gap evaporated and at the end of voting it was a tie!
Seriously a draw.
But it wasn't over. As that spreadsheet was there for a reason and just as I thought I was going to have to make the casting vote for the first time one final check (well actually it wasn't cos I had to go again after it but it was meant to be a final check) revealed someone had accidently (I assume) voted twice, a few days apart and I'd missed it.
And so on a VAR (vaguely anxious ref) review has a clean result...
I am glad it is a draw both worthy winners
VOTING AND TOURNEY CLOSED - Please feel free to comment and discuss but votes won't count.
There has been so much love for both writers. Much deserved and not only each vote (well many votes), but the vote over all has been on a real knife edge. In the end however, despite seeming to be behind by a margin too significent to overhaul at one point, the winner of this vote and THE ULTIMATE NOT WAGNER and writer to lift the Godpleton Cup is
DAN ABNETT
[Tinselexplosioneffect] BOOM! [\Tinselexplosioneffect]
Quote from: broodblik on 02 July, 2020, 07:23:34 AM
I am glad it is a draw both worthy winners
Sorry the voided vote gave us a clear winner - I was just building up the dramatic effect!
At one stage this looked like an easy Mills victory.
Quote from: broodblik on 02 July, 2020, 07:52:29 AM
At one stage this looked like an easy Mills victory.
It definately did. It was only Tuesday I started to check the count again as I figured it was only going one way at the end of last week. But I noticed a creeping return and thought I'd better do a quick count so that Thursday morning (today) didn't get too nerve racking. Very glad I did as that lead to the spreadsheet last night and the fair result this morning.
I'll talk more about what would have happened with a tie in a bit.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 02 July, 2020, 08:01:41 AM
I'll talk more about what would have happened with a tie in a bit.
What would the world's biggest Sinister Dexter fan have done in the event of a tie? That's a tough one...
Quote from: Greg M. on 02 July, 2020, 08:09:06 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 02 July, 2020, 08:01:41 AM
I'll talk more about what would have happened with a tie in a bit.
What would the world's biggest Sinister Dexter fan have done in the event of a tie? That's a tough one...
Oh its not just Sinister Dexter, its Brink and Kingdom and Lawless and... oh damnit I've spoiled the surprise haven't I!
I'm glad it wasn't a draw. But if it had have been, just leaving it at that (rather than a deciding vote) would have worked for me, FWIW.