Well a very significant week in the tournament as we enter Round 3 after the seemingly unending Round two. We're down to the last 128 thrills and from here the quality will step up, but the choices start to get harder. But the lovely thing about this round is there is still plenty of room for mis-matches...
Two classic thrills known for having distinct periods. Dan Dare who conquered Hewligan's Haircut in Round 2 (after a bye in the 1st round) time in the Prog was more condensed, with Belardinelli madness, quickly followed by 'Space Fortress' which led into Space claw. We each have our fav. Robo-Hunter - who s.l.a.y.e.d. Bob the Galactic Bum - has its classic period, which is surely 98% of folks memory of the series; Millar muck and Hogan healing. The key question here I suppose do folks just ignore the eras they don't like?
Dan Dare - more info (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=dandare)
Vs
Robo-hunter (Sam) - more info (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=SAMSLADE)
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 Friday 13th May and the winner gets a place in Round 4 (of 9!!!).
What on Earth is ALL of this? (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=48011.0)
For those that need 'um and can be bothered to follow 'um there's some simple rules (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=48011.msg1070150#msg1070150)
Any questions, just ask as ever - and have FUN
Sam is the man
Robo Hunter
Ho boy, this is definitely an interesting one. Two classic but also sometimes flawed strips.
Dare ... Belardinelli's batpoo crazy aliens, Gibson's technically smooth machinery ... Space Fort ... Mekon ...
... then that cliffhanger that still hasn't been resolved decades later (admittedly since the strip hadn't so much 'jumped the shark' as tried bungee jumping the damn thing and wrapped itself around the beast a dozen times ...)
Robo-Hunter ... Gibson art, totally insane robot world, crazy robots, ... did I mention Gibson art? ..., Rhian Clark on art ...
... casual racism, homophobia, annoying robot side-kicks, less said about a certain writer who shipped off to the states the better, fat-sl**s rip off ...
If this were just the early Robo-Hunter vs Dare then it would be pretty clear cut. The Verdus strip and God-Droid strips were amongst the best the title had. Just comparing the RH / Dare strips that ran alongside each other then, Slade definitely slays it.
After that it became a serious case of diminishing returns before cutting the head off and performing unspeakable acts on the decaying corpse ... (okay, maybe a harsh description of some of the more 'controversial' 90's tales ...) It is hard to get past the 'please, rinse out my brain with bleach and caustic acid' memories of those years.
Adding this into the mix, Dare winds up in a much stronger place. Ultimately Dare's greatest sins are the final 'superhero' style strip and its abrupt ending. Even then, the "Servant of Evil" tale does have a number of redeeming qualities, largely as a result of Gibbons' work.
In some respects then this comes down to which of the two is least offensive to a degree. On that score, Robo-Hunter is far more problematic.
TL:DR ... Dan Dare ...
Robo-hunter starts strong with Verdus but then quickly looses the magic for me and at it's worst leans into lazy stereotypes and casual racism. Dan Dare manages to avoid those lows and is supported by some glorious art. Dan Dare it is
dan dare
I didn't get the Prog when Dan Dare was in it and I've not read it all, despite having bought both hardback volumes when they came out.
Ian Gibson Robo-Hunter is easily a top ten thrill for me. I've wiped the others from my memory.
Classic-era Sam has its problems but still enough wit and great art from Gibson to get my vote.
Robo-Hunter.
Robo Hunter
So yes, I have to overlook the racism of the early run and then the extreme awfulness of the reboot, but there are so many RoboHunter tales that are so amazingly amazing I can't ignore them, and not even the gonzo spacewhips of Belardinelli or the terrifying monsters of Gibbons can hold a candle. Seriously, Verdus, Day of the Droids, Beast of Blackheart Manor, Filby Case, Farewell my Billions - these are all serious contenders for top 20 stories 2000AD has ever published. Nothing from Dan Dare comes close. (And never mind that e.g. Serial Stunners and Return to Verdus might be among the worst).
RoboHunter
Everyone highlighting the bad points of Robo Hunter has very valid points, but when I think abut it I'd still rather read it than Dan Dare - the early stuff anyway, I wouldn't touch the latter bits...
So on the strength of those alone, it's Robo-Hunter for me too.
Robo-Hunter.
Robo-Hunter.
I was surprised how much I disliked Robo-Hunter when I re-read it in the UC. I get that it's a classic. Some of the Gibson art is inspired. But, yeah, it's packed full of casual racism, homophobia and sexism and these days I can't look past that. Even if I could, there were entire runs that were a horrible chore to get through. (As for the reboots, Millar's effort is obviously hideous, but I thought Hogan/Hughes made a good fist of it.)
Dan Dare... hasn't dated that well either, but it gets the nod for me here, and Belardinelli's art was relentlessly wonderful.
Gotta be Robo-Hunter for the classics.
Robo-Hunter
Robo-Hunter for Verdus and Brit-Cit to the end of Farewell My Billions. Let's ignore the MM stories (such a waste of full-colour painted Casanovas), and Hogan/Hughes tried to recover something from the mess that had preceded it.
I try to reconcile the racism of Robo-Hunter as being 'of their time' - an unfortunate product of late 70s, early 80s British culture. Millar was writing much later though, and doesn't get that pass.
Seems a shame to vote against all that Gibbons, Belardinelli, et al art, but there you go.
Never rated Robo-Hunter as among the prog's better thrills back in the day- and for me, if it weren't for a great deal of nostalgia for 'The Beast of Blackheart Manor', Dan Dare would be walking this. However, 'The Beast of Blackheart Manor' is a strip I have a LOT of nostalgic love for, and that's enough to give my vote to Robo-Hunter.
SBT
Robo-Hunter.
I'm not a fan of Dan Dare.
Cheers
Robohunter
Gee, Sam, it's ... uhm ... Robo-Hunter.
I guess it's in match-ups like this one has to decide whether it's permissible to cherry-pick the best era from a particular story. I've decided... no. Therefore: Dan Dare
It's gotta be Robo-Hunter.
This was 2000AD's first fully formed classic - at the stage it appeared, Dredd still hadn't fully crystallised. More than that - it was one of those strips which really helped form 2000AD's identity and showed what it could do; despite his punk rock makeover, contemporary Dare was still a traditional, straightforward action strip whilst Robo-Hunter was a perfect blend of high-concept sci-fi with proper humour: satire, slapstick, silliness...
Day of the Droids - Decades later, I can still recall reading the episode 1 android reveal which blew my tiny mind. And then we have the teeny-meks. Such a great invention and yet Wagner only uses them only twice.
Best of all though is Farewell My Billions. Career best art by Gibson on a stellar script. A rare example of a story being totally character driven rather than plot driven.
(mark millar. it did happen.)
I was taking it as read that my Robo-Hunter vote is for the *proper* stories ('78-'85) and not any of the reboot nonsense from the 90s.
To mis-use the name of one of our favourite boarders, it doesn't seem like Dan will be Daring to get into Round 4. Ro-Hunters lows seem to be easy for many to ignore, or are DD's just too many? Either way there's a day to wrap this up and I'll announce the result in the morning.
Quote from: Funt Solo on 12 May, 2022, 05:44:06 AM
I was taking it as read that my Robo-Hunter vote is for the *proper* stories ('78-'85) and not any of the reboot nonsense from the 90s.
Robo-hunter (Sam)
Robo-Hunter (Sam)
VOTING CLOSED
Impressive result this for Robo-hunter, it wasn't close. And for all its low points and issues its wiped the floor with Dan Dare, the first Prog 1 story to fall. DD is a thrill blessed with good art if not the best scripts. Robo-hunter just fell short of joining the 20 vote clubs, but given the strenght of the opposition, the apparent problems with Slade's strip this is a possible sign of a good contenter?
Robo-hunter
left DD smoking behind him as he used his boots to stride into Round 3 (what, huh, that's poor!)