Neither of these artists got past the 2nd round of their respective tourneys - but to be fair to Chris Weston it took a casting vote from me to deny him a Quarter-Final slot. The vote couldn't decide on the details between him and Phil Winslade. While there might be common ground between those two there is a whole load of contrast with the artist he is drawn against here. John Hicklenton's contorted art is like nothing we've seen before or since.
Time for you to decide your favourite as the droids square up to the tee...
Chris Weston - more info (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=CHRISW)
OR
John Hicklenton - more info (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=JOHNHI)
Remember for this tourney you have 5 votes to distribute as you please between these two artists, whole numbers only. So you can vote 5 - 0; 4 - 1; or 3 - 2; either way depending on how much more you like one artist's work over the other.
If you can't be doing with that just name your favourite - remember bold tags, or other ways of highlighting always appreciated - and I'll give them 3 votes and nowt to the other droid.
Three day votes, so this one ends morning of Monday 24th May
Remember we only consider work for Tharg in these Tourneys
What the heck is all this about - well we have a thread for that (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=47534.0)
How does this new voting work? Look here (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=47534.msg1059536#msg1059536) and why again? (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=47534.msg1059557#msg1059557)
I don't understand how this works, what are the rules of the Ryder Cup - yep got ya covered there too (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=47534.msg1059595#msg1059595)
Anything else just ask and I'll make something up. Most importantly have fun!
Weston is astonishing, and I love his earliest stuff (e.g. Worms and Crazy Barry, the Rogue Trooper annual) just as much as his magnum opus Killing Time and later (latest) fully formed masterpieces with their insanely crisp detail. Writes a decent story too! However I remain of the opinion that his very best work lies outside the prog, which is actually scary considering, but leaves an opening for...
I didn't fully appreciate Hicklenton when we had him. Now I regularly seek out his work on my shelves and in my piles and try to drink it in, engrave it onto my eyeballs page by page. He was a truly unique artist, and we should be marvelling at his triumphant final Sláine story today instead of wondering what might have been.
Johnny 3 to Chris 2.
Chris has delivered incredibly detailed work for so long, it's always a pleasure to see.
John was completely out there, so many memorable pages, and arguably was a better fit for Heavy Metal Dredd than Bisley.
Chris Weston 2, John Hicklenton 3.
Chris 5: John 0
Chris Weston 2, John Hicklenton 3.
Weston 5 - Hicklenton 0. I can appreciate Hicklenton's art, but the development of Chris Weston's art is astonishing. He must be one of the top artists working in comics today and we're very lucky to have him regularly in the prog.
Can't think of two artist who better tickle the gore/sex/horror/funnybone than these two. Maybe Lee Carter.
And while Mr H did it more dramatically and in ways that will never leave my brain, Mr W did successfully draw both God and the Devil in glorious detail - and I don't even like Canon Fodder all that much!
For sheer madness it's Johnny all the way, but for that plut character desgn + storytelling it's Chris.
Weston 3, Hicklenton 2
Chris Weston - 4
John Hicklenton - 1
Oh, Grud, this is tough.
In most other circumstances I'd give all the points to John Hicklenton - he's one of my favourite prog artists ever. But against Chris Weston - feck.
John 3, Chris 2
This is the hardest one so far. It would be impossible to find two more different artists- the epitome of comparing apples and oranges. I have to go with Hicklenton, because his Nemesis and Blood of Satanus III are exactly the kind of strips that young eyes should be presented with on opening 2000AD. It should look at first glance ugly and scary, but should draw you in with mesmeric intensity- and of course should be offset by more traditional art on other strips in the same issue. Weston is that 'more traditional' art, and is among the best there is.
3-2 win for Hicklenton. But the winner was in extra time and the players embraced afterwards.
SBT
Both good artists in their own way, however sometimes I find Weston's work a little stiff and overly busy though it's alwaysa well drawn. Hicklenton's had bags of dynamic, though it has to be said that the drawing on BOS III was very scrappy in places (understandable given his health at the time IIRC), so this is tough- IMO, these two artists are pretty much polar opposites and it's like comparing apples to oranges.
However... I dislike oranges.
And apples.
Weston Hibernian 2 Hicklenton Olympians 3
Weston Ham (2) Hicklenton Rovers (3)
Weston 5 : 0 Hicklenton
Oooooooooooohhh tough one.... those awesome Chris covers just top it for me. Chris 3 John 2.
Quote from: paddykafka on 21 May, 2021, 12:38:38 PM
Weston Ham
You've been waiting for that one - right!
Weston 5: Hicklenton 0
Tomorrow, tomorrow
This votes closes tomorrow
Don't worry the next vote is only
A day away....
So maybe I'll make my vote in musical form... that's a no.
I'm not sure where I'm going with this one. I really struggled with Chris Weston's earlier work as he developed in front of us, but there is no denying he's become an astonishing talent and I'm always quietly amazed we still see him pop up as often as he does when he must be in such demand. His affection for the comic just shines through. John Hicklenton was an amazing artist whose style was quite something to take in. One of those artists whose work just entirely shakes things up and grips you. Hence I think some folks don't enjoy it. My issue with John's work is this astonishing impact sometimes came at the cost of fundamental storytelling and for me that's a key component. I prefer John as an artist but Chris as a storyteller and I'm here for the stories and so:
Chris Weston 3: John Hicklenton 2
Been sitting on the fence on this one. Love both artists but for very different reasons. After much consideration I think I'm going to have to go with:
Hicklenton 3 : Weston 2
I wasn't a big fan of Weston at the start but he's just refined and developed his own classical style to the point it overwhelms the hit-and-miss creative energy of hickleton 3-2.
Both great artists.
VOTING CLOSED
And with that the turn around is complete. We end the third week of competition in a position no one would have seen coming with Current Team ahead in the competition! In this one John Hickleton possibly won as many votes as Chris Weston but the simple fact is John's style meant some folks just don't get on with it and so Chris got a number of whitewashes giving him a comfortable win overall.
What a turnaround and what can Classic Team do to turn it around?
Current Team 8 : Classic Team 7
Current Team 690 : Classic Team 719
Interesting both teams are ahead and behind
Quote from: broodblik on 24 May, 2021, 09:06:32 AM
Interesting both teams are ahead and behind
One of Umberto Eco's lesser-known Features of Fascism...
Yeah a scenario I proposed but didn't actually think would happen is there - if we ended now - that being Current winning on points and thus lifting the trophy BUT Classic getting more points as they'd won their ties by larger margins. The second half will be mighty interest!