Round 1: 13 - Gordon Rennie or Alan Moore - Ultimate Not Wagner Tourney

[Colin YNWA]

Snooker is back and so in honour of that bloke who does the over dramatic shouty introductions to the players these days ...

"First up to the table is a writer whose work cuts through the years, famed for revivals and creations, all the way from NuEarth the Scribe from Scotland GORDON 'GRENNIE' RENNIE

And in this clash of the titans deciding whose writing for the Mighty One (so no Swamp Things here) you prefer he meets on the keyboard, the creator of some of the most reprinted comics ever, the name that shift units, the don of details, the Necromancer from Northampton ALAN 'The Wizard' MOORE.

Gordon Rennie - http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=GORDONR

OR

Alan Moore - http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=ALANM

What is all this nonsense you ask well we're finding out whose 2000ad (Meg and associated items) writing do you prefer? Voting - just add a comment here with whose work you prefer (and anything else you might wish to say to discuss their work). This vote closes some time early Sunday 7th June?

Want to know more https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46461.0

Two more Round 1 votes off start tomorrow.

[abelardsnazz]

Alan Moore, for DR & Quinch, Halo Jones, Skizz, and lots of brilliant Future Shocks.

[broodblik]

Well this is a quite difficult one to choose.

Alan Moore created some of the best short stories ever for the prog. Halo Jones is one of those thrills which at the time I never appreciated it but is certainly one of the best strips ever to grace the pages of comics.  DR & Quinch was another one of his excellent creations and let us not forget the original Skizz.

I am still going for Rennie simply on the strength of Jaegir, Absalom, Aquila and Caballistics, Inc.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

Moore. Always, always Moore. For Halo, for Skizz, for Time Twisters, for the Platinum Horde, for "the manager smiled and stole my gold watch", for "Mind the oranges, Marlon!", for 'Red Planet Blues' and then for walking away quite rightly, and giving us stuff to debate still, decades later.

SBT

[Tomwe]

Moore wins. Poor Gordon.

[IndigoPrime]

Urgh. These are the rounds that aren't fun. Rennie has long been a distinct, exciting voice in 2000 AD publications. Glimmer Rats was one of his earlier series that really cut through for me, but more recent strips like Caballistics and Absalom stand alongside the best the Prog has ever put out. He also has a great line in world building on existing properties, as evidenced by Angelic (actually making the one-dimensional Angels interesting) and Jaegir (adding depth and pathos to the Rogue Trooper universe).

Alan Moore isn't someone I put on a pedestal. Frankly, I find his writing hit and miss, not least when he's trying to pack in so many references they start to squeeze the plot. Also, we may gripe about Mills for preaching, but Moore has is own line in that. But his 2000 AD strips were from a simpler age. Some of his Time Twisters stand the test of time as some of the most brilliant shorts I've ever read in comics. (Chrono-Cops, Ring Road and The Time Machine are, to my mind, comics perfection.) I can take or leave Dr & Quinch, but Halo Jones and Skizz are among my favourite thrills to grace the Prog.

So: both have some greats, and it's the body of work that tips it for me. By the slenderest of margins, I'm going to give my vote to Gordon Rennie.

[rogue69]

Alan Moore becasue he knows the score

[TordelBack]

A very interesting match-up, probably the two most accomplished craftspeople of the 5/6/7-page episode in the comic's history. Each of their longer stories are broken down to perfection into parts that are their own mini-story, and usually without recourse to that first-page recap/retelling of the preceding cliffhanger that I would argue puts the Wagners and Grants into second place in this respect (maybe a bit of a hangover from the war comic days; we'll get to Abnett's place in the rating of the super-hunks in due course). There is a beginning, a middle and an end in every episode, or to put it another way, a setup, some action/comedy/drama, and then a payoff: and crucially, the longer story moves on.

Necessary info is always communicated through a thread of action or incident in the episodes, no-one ever sits down and explains things to each other: Rennie might favour in-fight/in-transit dialogue for this, Moore the caption box or reflexive voice, but the movement of the characters never stops, even when it's something as seemingly passive as catering a party on a cruiseship.  And when you only have a handful of pages to play with, this is the key to delivering a tasty mouthful that forms part of a satisfying meal.   

Anyway, they're both fuppin' brilliant at something that for me defines the 2000AD format.

I'm not going to try to list Rennie's contribution to the comic, it is absolutely vast and particularly critical to the health of the current prog at a time when Moore is a faintly bitter memory, but there really is no point pretending anything is ever going to dislodge me from my Moore fixation. Like the proverbial duckling, I imprinted on Skizz, my very first 2000AD love, and then so many Time Twisters, DR & Quinch and finally Halo Jones, the most accomplished story ever to see print under Tharg's imprint (IMO).

Those brief, heady days of the 300s and 400s were what began my relationship with the comic, and Alan Moore was the magus who wove the spell that I linger under still.

[Richard]

This is a very unfortunate pairing, because indisputably Gordon Rennie deserves to go through to the next round. His contribution to 2000AD is simply enormous. But as we are voting for our favourite writers and nothing will beat Halo Jones, I have to vote for Alan Moore.

[CalHab]

A very unlucky draw for Gordon Rennie, who has made a vast contribution to the prog and meg, and is putting out great stuff to this day (can we have more Jaegir, please?). None of this was Halo Jones, though. Sorry. Moore.

[AlexF]

I've loved about half of Grennie's stuff, disliked a fair chunk. Have loved or liked pretty much all of Moore's Tharg work.

But I'm still voting Rennie because what I've loved of it I've loved more - perhaps because I only started reading the Prog after Moore had already left, I imprinted on things like Cab, Inc stronger - to borrow Tback's phrase.

Also Rennie is a known boarder and I'm a massive suck-up.

Would pay money to see these two titans of tetch have a grumpy-off, too.

[Ghost MacRoth]

Moore, for much the same reasons as those above.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Sorry, Gordon.  You're one of the best comic writers the prog has to offer, but Moore is possibly the best comic writer of all time.  So Alan it is.

I was just thinking yesterday about how Alan Moore was originally pencilled in to script the first Batman / Dredd crossover.   I don't think he ever did tackle Dredd in the prog.  Oh, what might have been.

[Professor Bear]

I guess some poor sucker had to draw the ace.  Moore for me, too.

[Bolt-01]

Gordon Rennie. There, I said it.

Sheesh.