Forum’s Favourite Thrill - Slaine vs. Bix Barton Round 2 Heat 18

[Colin YNWA]

If anything , were you to ask me - and I'm sure you all would - I'd suggest that Week 3 of Round 2 is even stronger than Week 2. Some really big guns, some real contenders for the semis, even [possibly[/i] taking the title, they won't all be like this!

Slaine's a contender right. In the 90s the strip was more popular than Dredd at times and is one of only a handful of thrills to have had an entire Prog given over to it. Do folks still have that level of love for the thrill? Bix Barton is a quirky thrill, but not Pete Milligan at the top of his game (personal opinion^TM) does he have a realistic chance against the Woad Warrior?:

Slaine - more info

Vs

Bix Barton - more info

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 3rd February  and the winner gets a place in Round 3 (of 9!!!).

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!

[broodblik]

Slaine

[Huey2]

Slaine

[rogue69]

Slaine

[abelardsnazz]

I liked the quirkiness of Bix, and despite Slaine featuring some of the best artists ever to have worked on Tooth, it dragged a bit at times.

Bix Barton.

[AlexF]

Even if you compared the worst Sláine efforts against the best of Bix, it'd still be a tough battle. It's hard to mess up Sláine totally, although Mills does try at time, he really does.
Some funny lines of dialogue aside, I'm not sure Milligan's plots ever matched the charm of McCarthy's art.

Got to be Sláine.

(ps, the trick is to hold down the 'Alt Gr' key while pressing the 'a'. Works for acute accents generally, not just fadas!)

[The Mind of Wolfie Smith]

bix barton

in general i'll happily vote for a dodgy story if the stellar artwork saves it. in this case, however, the fact that decades of retellings and meanderings and stasis could actually have been edited down to one satisfying and perfect thrill means that even a vote for the pretty pictures isn't possible.
and it's up against pete milligan showing how it's done.

[Blue Cactus]

Slaine is not all great, although a lot of the less good stuff often had great artists. I still love the good Slaine though. The Pugh and Fabry stuff had me spellbound as a child and I've gone back to the early years up to Horned God more than once. Never had much urge to reread it past probably Demon Killer though. Bix isn't a favourite for me.

Slaine

[sheridan]

Sláine - from The Time Monster to the end of The Horned God was a superb story (with a little meandering to reflect what Pat had been reading during the Time Killer arc).  Sláine had its moments after that with a few great tales after though they didn't tie together in the same was as the pre-Horned God sequence.  And then came a few multi-book stories which covered the same number of episodes as the classic period - for one story!  (Haven't re-read them since but shall be getting to them in the prog slog at some point).  Anyway, the strong early start still wins the series my vote.

[IndigoPrime]

Sláine, despite half of it being a trudge.

[Barrington Boots]

Got to be Slaine
Although most of it is a real trudge, a lot of Bix is also rubbish. One of those stories I always thought I'd like to see reprinted until I re-read it. It's often quite casually nasty, and whilst some it is funny, the idea is a bit overcooked.

[Link Prime]

Wow, a Rum deal there for Bix. I would have voted for it against dozens of other Thrills.

But:

The Pugh and Fabry stuff had me spellbound as a child

Me too, and I even liked some of the more recent runs.

Slaine

[paddykafka]

Slaine

[Timothy]

Early Slaine was exceptional, but it has been an awful slog ever since The Horned God and that has rather tainted it for me. Bit, on the other hand, was light frothy fun that didn't outstay its welcome and is still fondly remembered by me. So Bix it is.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I liked Bix - it was very much a fun Blackadder-style sitcom and it worked well for me.  I wasn't a fan of Jim's transition to colour though - it was ugly and messy and only suited the grease and egg-yolk of that haunted full English breakfast.

I agree that Sláine has been lukewarm since the Horned God finished; but the point where it probably should have wrapped up marked the end of an absolute, monumental, stone-cold classic comic series.  Sláine was a massive, massive part of my childhood and teens, and gave me a whole new appreciation of the old Irish legends we did at school (which tended to be illustrated with drab, skirt-wearing lame-looking warriors and none of the monsters in the stories), as well as giving me a life-long appreciation for Celtic pagan imagery and themes.

Sláine, by a long shot.  When it was good, it was very, very good.