Sponsored by 2000ad in Stages (https://2kstages.github.io/index.html)* - see links below.
The Out - more info (https://2kstages.github.io/AtoZ/Out/data.html)
VS
Brink - more info (https://2kstages.github.io/AtoZ/Brink/data.html)
OUCH - this modern Dabnett Derby (and clue this isn't the only Dabnett Derby this round) is arguably the tie of the round. Sure it's a shame they have been drawn together, but it answers a fascinating question in its own right. Dabnett is surely now undisputed king of Tharg Current Thrill-menagerie, but which of this two latest do we think best?
Form book - Thrill vanquished to date (in order of round met earliest to latest):
The Out: Zaucer of Zilk; The Order; Jaegir; Low Life
Brink: Mercy Heights; Shako; Taxidermist; Stickleback
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 Friday 19th August and the winner gets a place in the Quarter Finals.
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!
*Important Note - this is done with neither permission, or money changing hands (damnit). Apologies for the former, I also meant to do this much earlier but... well ya know how it is...
The Out strides boldly into the fray and gives Brink the fat slap it deserves.
The Out!
Cheers
Brink
The Out
Brink.
Brink
The Out is an instant modern classic and has deservedly received a lot of love in this tournament. But Brink is better.
BTW given there is another Dabnett derby and Lawless is already in play, I can work out what it is.
The Out is great, but there's an argument that switching to a war story in the second book does a disservice to the hook presented at the end of the first. But I still love it.
I've heard complaints that Brink's talking heads don't forward the plot, but this is incorrect. In each episode, even if there's no shooty blam blam, things have happened and a-forward we are indeed moving. It's a masterful exercise in slow burn comic suspense, and I would say unique in 2000 AD's history.
Both excellent, both with great art that supports the story, both modern classics. Difficult to get a razor between them.
Brink
The Out is superb stuff but if I have to pick one then it's got to be Brink. I was very happy when this got included in the UC.
Both really good and a tough choice, but has to be Brink - for reasons elucidated so well by better forum members than me already in this thread. Despite my recent gripes on the spoiler threads, it's a tour de force in suspenful comics.
A cruel choice, but it has to be Brink, if only on the grounds that it has had so much more of a chance to prove itself, and has never been found wanting. The Out has been great, twice, and arguably even more inaginative than Brink, but twice is not as many as five times, not even half as many.
Comparing the two does make me wonder if Dabnett was starting to feel the claustrophobia of Brink himself, and was pushing for an outlet where everything was wide open spaces and freedom of movement. Therapy through writing!
the out
(because i want brass sun to return).
Oh, come on. I love both of these. But I'm going to give it to The Out, by a whisker.
Brink
The art, the out
The Out
Brink. This will be an interesting result!
Brink - Tough to call though.
Yeah, tough. Brink's rigidly plotted narrative versus The Out's impulsive sprawl. Brink's crisp hi-contrast artwork versus The Out's messy frames spilling into each other. Brink's human race trapped (apparently) in the solar system versus The Out's colossal human diaspora. Brink's wrench attack versus The Out's Tankinar reveal.
Hmm.
Still can't make up my mind. Have to think about it some more.
You can't make me choose! I won't do it.
The Out
This is the single hardest round so far. How can I choose between the two strips that I think are the strongest Tharg has at the moment?
This is painful.
Every time I reread Brink it gets better. I even thoroughly enjoyed the audio adaptation- and those things usually send me off to sleep quicker than a roast dinner, a glass of brandy and an afternoon of James Bond on the telly. Brink is superb, and with this recent series- mostly devoid of the characters we have seen up til now- has proven the format is compelling enough to support many different stories- which is surely the very epitome of what 'Classic 2000AD' should be.
On the other hand, The Out is brain-meltingly good. If it were a novel, I'd be all over it. If it were a tv series, I'd stay in to watch- like we used to do before tv became just 'content', to be consumed as and when we could be arsed.
The two are very different, related only by their writer, almost diametrically opposed in their set-up and themes- as well as their art styles.
Logic says Brink, because we've had more of it. Heart says The Out, because I love it so much.
Heart wins. The Out.
SBT
Brink
Such a tough call. After two series of each strip, they'd both become absolute favourites. But Brink has had three more series so I'm voting for it by default.
Brink
Brink
With a day to go this one looks close, but one thrill just seems to be peaking ahead...maybe. Last day votes could still swing this I suspect.... whatever happens please don't leave me the casting vote then we wrap up tomorrow morning.
Brink
VOTING CLOSED
So it wasn't that close, at least in number of votes with the winner getting almost twice as many. In terms of each individual vote I think many, many were close. This was a tough, tough call. In my headI'd decided if it was a draw I'd go The Out on the simple basis that its just that little bit more different and fresh, but both are and while Brink has the volume it feels more at home in 2000ad, while The Out has blown away what 2000ad can be... but would I when I came to type... I'm not so sure... thankfully I didn't need to make the call and
Brink
ominously crawls into the Quarter Final.