FFT - ROUND of 16 - Nikolai Dante vs ABC Warriors - Heat 04

[Colin YNWA]

Sponsored by 2000ad in Stages* - see links below.

Nikolai Dante - more info

VS

ABC Warriors - more info

Two big thrills in every way here. Both long time regulars in the prog when they were running. Nikolai Dante had a really satisfying ending. ABCs never seemed like it would get out of the rut it was in of cyclic story ideas and then... well has it gone for good now? Will that be the difference in this tie?

Form book - Thrill vanquished to date (in order of round met earliest to latest):

Nikolai Dante: Age of the Wolf; Caballistics Inc; DR & Quinch; Survival Geeks
ABC Warriors: Dead Men Walking; Robusters; Leviathan; Skizz

Round 6 - or "Round of 16" as folks seem to like to call the last 16 these days (?!?) will feature just one thrill a day. I'd like to pretend this is to give these epic thrills more space and time to be commented on... but really it's to buy myself a bit of extra time to plan what comes next!

To Vote Just reply in this thread naming your favourite thrill of these two series at the beginning of your post (or use Bold tags so I can spot it easily) and say what you like about these wonderful stories after that.

Match ends early on the morning of Sunday 21st August and the winner gets a place in the Quarter Finals.

What on Earth is ALL of this?

For those that need 'um and can be bothered to follow 'um there's some simple rules

Any questions, just ask as ever - and have FUN!

*Important Note - this is done with neither permission, or money changing hands (damnit). Apologies for the former, I also meant to do this much earlier but... well ya know how it is...

[davidbishop]

Nikolai Dante.

[Aaron A Aardvark]

Dante

[sintec]

Dante

[NapalmKev]

A.B.C Warriors.

Cheers

[Magnetica]

A proper heavyweight tie.

So the choice is between an iconic strip from my childhood that is greatly responsible, along with a few others for me reading 2000AD at all, but which went seriously off the boil in later times versus the best example of a long running strip with a beginning, middle and a proper ending. One which along with Dredd and SinDex carried the Prog out of its lowest point into the modern era.

For me the highs in ABC Warriors are higher than Dante, and the lows lower.

I suspect Dante will come through this overall, but I'm voting for Steelhorn coming through the flame barrier to dispatch Marshall Volgod in Prog 127.

So ABC Warriors.

[abelardsnazz]

Nikolai Dante.

[Funt Solo]

Both great thrills with amazing high points. Nostalgia says I should vote ABCs, for the mad creativity of the episodic first foray on Mars. For their resurrection in Nemesis. For the insanely exciting art of The Black Hole, and the cheeky apple-cart tipping Khronicles of Khaos.

But this has swung into what I'd like to see in next week's prog, and the answer to that is Nikolai Dante. I think it still has things to say, whereas ABCs has proved it doesn't (unless we were allowed a new writer).

[Jim_Campbell]

I think it still has things to say, whereas ABCs has proved it doesn't (unless we were allowed a new writer).

Which, of course, we aren't. However, stay tuned for David Bishop's XYZ Soldiers coming to a prog near you! [spoiler];-)[/spoiler]

[Funt Solo]

XYZ Nuns, shurely.

[Huey2]

ABC Warriors

[Barrington Boots]

Dante by a mile for me. I adore the parts of ABC Warriors I read as a kid, and the character designs are incredible, and Mek-Quake is the absolute best. It's got a lot of highs, and a lot of lows - I'd agree with Funt that it seemed to run out of things to say and just existed for the sake of it at the end of it's run, and on re-read the Kaos era is a holw lot less clever and funny than teenage me thought it was.
Dante though is off the charts awesome: epic story, proper character arcs and growth, humour and violence. It's not flawless, but it's low points are higher than ABCs and fewer and further between.

[broodblik]

Dante every second of the year. ABC was great but overtime it become too repetitive and stale - only the great art of Clint saved it for me.

[credo]

Dante

Are its highs as high as those of the Warriors? Yes. Are its lows as low as those of the Warriors? Not by a long shot.

ABC Warriors is full of iconic comic book moments (even at its worst) and that might swing it for some, but Dante is just great storytelling.

[BPP]

Dante

Still wish we'd had the fat Dante gone to seed years.