Forum’s Favourite Thrill - Durham Red vs. Return to Armageddon Round 2 Heat 122

Colin YNWA · 02 May, 2022, 07:10:23 AM

And we've done it... we've made it... the final week of the seemingly unending Round 2. It amazes me that we've stayed the distance, not killed each other over the course of these last 16 weeks, our love persists and maybe we need to take a break before charging headlong into anything else? I mean this week ends on a doozy, maybe we should take a break there and reflect.... Orrrr....

...see ya Monday for Round 3!

Two top draw thrills here in one of the tougher clashes in this round... or is it. Return to Armageddon seems to have the billing of the forgotten classic BUT that gets said enough that I think it's safe to say it's no longer forgotten? It's just rightfully seen as a classic. Durham Red has many iterations, and indeed these were subject to one of Broodbliks Sideshow votes recently. Will this diversity be a strength or will it dilute the impact of the thrill for folks?

Durham Red - more info

Vs

Return to Armageddon - 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 5th May 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 · 02 May, 2022, 07:12:28 AM

Durham Red

Magnetica · 02 May, 2022, 09:13:56 AM

Not sure why Return to Armageddon is referred to as a "forgotten classic".

It's definitely not forgotten by me. But I'm sorry to say, I'm not sure it's quite good enough to be hailed as a classic either.

Not sure which incarnation of Durham Red this vote is for; it seems to be all of them (?). And really they are quite different. So I guess we can choose on what basis we are voting. Anyway I'm am going for Red here.

moly · 02 May, 2022, 09:52:26 AM

Return to armegeddon

Southstreeter · 02 May, 2022, 10:58:25 AM

Armageddon was a great thrill. But Red's a classic character and deserves to go far.

Durham Red

SmallBlueThing(Reborn) · 02 May, 2022, 11:00:21 AM

Durham Red... but largely for the Abnett iteration.

SBT

abelardsnazz · 02 May, 2022, 12:03:10 PM

I did like Abnett and Harrison's work on Red, but RtA is a classic.

Return to Armageddon.

Blue Cactus · 02 May, 2022, 12:05:50 PM

Return to Armageddon is a weird and wonderful stand-alone series with lovely Redondo art. Red by contrast has been a wildly inconsistent strip but I tend to enjoy most iterations of it, including the current version which I hope to see more of soon.

I don't have the nostalgia factor for Armageddon cos I didn't read it until the collected edition came out, so I'm going with

Durham Red

The Mind of Wolfie Smith · 02 May, 2022, 01:52:26 PM

regardless of nostalgia, return to armageddon is one of the best thrills ever.

Colin YNWA · 02 May, 2022, 02:15:11 PM

Quote from: Magnetica on 02 May, 2022, 09:13:56 AM
Not sure which incarnation of Durham Red this vote is for; it seems to be all of them (?). And really they are quite different. So I guess we can choose on what basis we are voting. Anyway I'm am going for Red here.

Its a fair question, but all in all I didn't know how to segment it, as even the Dabnett Harrison stuff was explicity part of the ongoing continuity. I think the new stuff is considered a reboot, but I wasn't sure how explicit that was, or indeed if I imagined it beeing stated. So in the end it was all lumped together, as to be fair the offical site does.

As you say how you use that to decide your votes is up to the individual.

Richard · 02 May, 2022, 02:30:16 PM

Durham Red is wildly inconsistent. Dan Abnett's stories were brilliant. The recent series is good. The rest is pretty shit. Return to Armageddon was very good, but it only ran for one series so it hardly seems fair to compare it with a series that has had multiple writers and artists. Durham Red at its best is the superior strip, but Return to Armageddon is better than the lesser Durham Red stories.

It's a tough call. To make up my mind, I've asked myself which thrill would I want to return to the prog for a brand new series? Unequivocally Durham Red, but only because Return to Armageddon doesn't need a sequel.

IndigoPrime · 02 May, 2022, 02:40:01 PM

RTA was fine. I re-read it recently and I quite enjoyed it; but it never really again matches the high of that very first episode.

I know it's been divisive, but I've enjoyed Durham Red's recent reboot. The Abnett saga was pretty good, despite the portrayal of the lead. Isle of the Damned was quite good. None of the rest really does anything for me.

Still, Durham Red has plenty of highs to counter the lows, so it's an easy winner for me.

Funt Solo · 02 May, 2022, 03:31:49 PM

Return to Armageddon was a good story - highly entertaining, and with art by Redondo. That it's from my entry-point into the comic doesn't hurt.

I've never really got on well with Durham Red as a character, although there are some high points:
- Night of the Hunters
- Dabnett's Rebootium
- The Scarlet Apocrypha
- Worley & Willsher's Served Cold

Probably Durham would clinch it if Return to Armageddon hadn't been part of my earliest experience with the comic.

Link Prime · 03 May, 2022, 09:33:26 AM

Durham Red if only for the Abnett series (but not only for the Abnett series).

AlexF · 03 May, 2022, 10:47:40 AM

Big fan of Return to Armageddon, but it is certainly one of those long-running stories that ran aground a bit, can see a lot of people really hating the ending (it gets better the more you re-read it, for whatever that's worth). It's never going to be an all-time classic, even though the best bits are proper weird, and the art is an amazing showcase for what 2000AD can be. Look, you've got a man who is more or less melting in front of you who is in constant pain but who can't be killed and is sort of on the run from his twin brother who is literally the Devil. Also it's set in space.

Durham Red is an all-time great character, but for me has never had an all-time great story, even including the times she's appeared in Strontium Dog. I like Island of the Damned quite a bit, and I like a lot of the ideas Abnett put into his trilogy, but think Harrison was maybe 10 years too early on it. The art surely IS spectacular, and unlike anything else at the time, but if it didn't grab you it pulled the whole strip down with it.

It's tough, but I'm going with the weird but self-contained charm of Return to Armageddon.