Defoe - awesome, poop-tastic, or somewhere in between?

[TordelBack]

Jeebus Tweak man you're on fire today!  Great stuff!

But:

Three years later capital is still a smoking ruin and towns like Ipswich have not been overrun and eaten but it's OK because they not only suddenly invented rudimentary machine guns before the repeating rifle, built steam engines topping any advances the Victorians made in the whole first 25 years and done it in less than a half a decade (based on Steam tech from 1663).

I refer you to my post above!  In the words of Lucy Lawless, "a wizard did it".  By which I mean, the zombie plague and technological doo-dads aren't the only things going on - they're side-effects of something bigger.  Or to put it another way, what would have happened if workaholic geniuses like Newton and Hooke had access to all sorts of working occult and alchemical secrets, and a huge war-footing budget funded by the export of zombie slaves?   Your 'what-if' scenario doesn't really allow for the fact that magic and levitation and such actually work in this 17th century.  That's got to offset zombies a tad.

[Proudhuff]

HoU, I'll forgive you your anti-Jedidom  as anyone who like Prof Chris Hill can't be all bad, mind you what Mr Mills will create if he starts reading The World Turned Upsidedown is anyone's guess!

[Jim_Campbell]

as anyone who like Prof Chris Hill can't be all bad,

Was that not me, rather than Ush, who mentioned Hill's book on Bunyan ... or have I missed something?

Cheers!

Jim

[Peter Wolf]

...it doesnt explore the historical figures that were around at the time and their involvement in the esoteric and the Occult

Have to stop you right there Peter mate!  Did you see the guest list at Nonesuch House?   I'm not sure Pat could have shoehorned in more actual 17th C dodgy characters if he'd tried.  I spent a delightful evening googling the hell out of that one, and learnt a bucket-load of stuff I never knew.  And that's not even touching on all the major Enlightenment players we'd met so far...

The steam powered cars etc seem to me to be in the strip to make it more fantasy or sci fi or to make the strip more dynamic as if to suggest that the convential mode of transport at the time like horses and carriages are boring somehow

As to that, I definitely would have agreed with you about that at the end of Book I, but as things move along it's apparent that the technological craziness is as much a part of what's going on as the zombies, maybe more - the disaster of 1666 was a manmade by-product (and seed) of an occult arms race that's driving magic/science hybrids.  It's not unlike the reverse engineering of Martian tech in Edginton and D'Isrealie's Scarlet Traces.

And Mike:

Class is one of those issues, like race, that's only really apparent if you're on the rough end of it.

Well put!

I did miss that episode unfortunately which was a bit annoying and no doubt i might need to have a reread of the entire thing but those were my thoughts at the time of typing.

I still thimk it would make an amazing film as well.

[Paul faplad Finch]

If Jim was joking I appologise for overreacting but I know how seriously some people can take accusations of trolling and I don't like the idea that people would think of me in that way on a board that I enjoy spending (too much) time on.

To be honest, Faplad, I wasn't sure. I accept unreservedly that you weren't and apologize for the suggestion that you were.

Cheers Jim, for bothering to respond to what I realise now was something of an over reaction on my part.  It's funny, in my normal life I say whatever I want to people I see every day and don't care what they think of me, completely impervious to embarresment and yet the thought of someone on here having a bad opinion of me really does upset me. Guess thats just me.

Anyway apologies to you and thanks for your apology and lets just agree to disagree and move on to something more important. Like Shakara. Oh, hang on...

[Proudhuff]

as anyone who like Prof Chris Hill can't be all bad,

Was that not me, rather than Ush, who mentioned Hill's book on Bunyan ... or have I missed something?

Cheers!

Jim

darn that Stella lager...apploys to Jim and HoU a Jedi would have that radiator sorted by now...

[johnnystress]

has this link already been posted?



http://www.hypergeek.ca/2009/08/trade-review-defoe-vol-1-1666.html

Very interesting scans of Leigh Gallagher's amendments to his art that he did especially for the tpb

"Since the series began Gallagher's artwork has improved quite markedly, as he has grown as an artist. When he learnt that 2000 AD were going to press with the first collection of Defoe he asked Tharg whether it would be possible for him to go back and do some slight improvements  to what he believed were some of the messier parts of his original art. Tharg gave him the green light, and here are some of the results."

[dweezil2]

Defoe is brilliant. The end.

[Dandontdare]

No it's not. The other end.

[Hoagy]

It's defo somewhere in-between for me. I can't help liking the the weird JLA style team hero aspect of it, yet see how so bloody cheesy and uncomfortably targeting a younger audience than me.

I really admire Leigh G's art. But as with the script it sometimes comes across too dark to enjoy the satirical side that also lurks in the shadow.

[Zarjazzer]

Why you nerds-Oh wait what am I saying -er Defoe is jolly zomboid fun. 

[mogzilla]

awesome or pooptastic? some where in between? that would be arseom then?

[Ignatzmonster]

Awesome. It's just my kind of Pat really. I like Mill's just going ape and throwing shit about with violent slapstick and constant invention. Pat ain't a subtle guy and wouldn't know continuity if it bit him, but he can spin a crazy yarn better than most. I think Defoe plays to those strengths.

[BPP]

Defoe is barnstormingly bonkersly bloody brilliant. Another fine 2000AD match of story and art - Mills' excels in silly names and 'group' yarns with more invention irreverence and bravado per page than any other writer. He's at his best when he's at his most madcap and high-octane (see also Vampire Knight & ABC WARRIORS) and this is a particularly fine example. Add to that some unique art in a style few other journals would accommodate and you get another example of why 2000AD should be lauded as the best thing in comic.

The collection was my fave GN purchase of 2009 and roll on BK IV, V, VI, VII, VIII etc etc