FFT - ROUND of 16 - Kingdom vs Sinister Dexter- Heat 05

[Colin YNWA]

Sponsored by 2000ad in Stages - see links below.

Kingdom - more info

VS

Sinister Dexter - more info

Heartbreak in the YNWA household here as Sinister Dexter faces another Dabnett Derby, and as Derby often do households are split and not talking to each other... well yes there only really me in the house that cares but still.... Both these thrills mean so much to me, and both formed a very significant part in my return from the bewilderlands. Malone was running when I returned from the lost times, and that went into some brilliant S&D and Kingdom was the new thrill that really reminded me what made 2000ad so special not too long after. All I ask is you don't force me to make the deciding vote here... I suspect it wouldn't be required.

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

Kingdom: Carver Hale; Proteus Vex; DreadNoughts; Rogue Trooper
Sinister Dexter: Tales of Telguuth; Tao De Moto; Diaboliks; Feral and Foe

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 Thursday 25th 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!

[Rogue Judge]

Kingdom! Any vote not for Gene-dog is full of wrong.

Hopefully we'll get a continuation someday too!

[Trooper McFad]

Kingdom

[Aaron A Aardvark]

Kingdom.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

Kingdom will undoubtedly take this, but my vote goes for Sinister Dexter. Which is, as I often find myself saying hereabouts, my favourite Thrill to appear in the prog since that initial flush of brilliance, and the strip that signalled the comic's return to magnificence at long last in the 90s.

But I doff my cap to Kingdom, which is also among the very best.

SBT

[abelardsnazz]

Kingdom.

[rogue69]

Kingdom

[broodblik]

Kingdom for me but the recent run of Sin/Dex elevated the strip for me (which was not always to my liking)

[Magnetica]

I'm sure Kingdom will win this,  it having voted Sinister Dexter over Feral and Foe, I'm going to continue to vote for it here.

As I said in the last round  SinDex was one of the key thrills that help the Prog move into better times. It's also the kind of thrill that provides the editor with flexibility. It can do one offs, short stories and epics. Indeed it can do short stories within epics. As it is right now.

[IndigoPrime]

Sinister Dexter is fine in and of itself, but for me feels like the lesser of Abnett's work. Moreover, it's never fully got to grips with what it features: two murderous assassins. It never quite works when they try to be moral and have a 'code'. (Compare to Dredd, say, which walks that line in a manner that feels authentic.) The stories have sometimes been good, but the strip's also wrapped around several layers of continuity hell and for me long ago outstayed its welcome.

Kingdom initially baffled me a bit: giant dogs talk like rejects from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. But it grew to become one of the finest 2000 AD strips to date, cleverly combining a classic feel with a modern approach. I'm not sure how far it will go here, nor if it'd fare well against a Halo Jones or a Strontium Dog (not least when nostalgia enters the equation), but for me it's by far the better choice in this round.

[NapalmKev]

Kingdom.

Cheers

[Barrington Boots]

Going for Kingdom also. I agree that it neatly meshes the feel of a classic 2000ad strip with a modern one. Great stuff and an immediate favourite.

SinDex is a weird one because when it was on form it was excellent, but what I feel hurts it for me is that it's usually well past it's sell by date. It's still sometimes funny and interesting nowdays but often just feels tired. Re-reading Feral and Foe in the floppy this weekend just underlined how much fresher that feels as a murderous-buddies type strip.

Anyway! My vote is full of Kingdom.

[paddykafka]

Sinister Dexter

[Southstreeter]

SinDex. Close one, but.

[Dash Decent]

Kingdom