Forum’s Favourite Thrill - Rain Dogs vs. Mean Team Round 2 Heat 78

[Colin YNWA]

Week 10 is quietly fascinating. No really BIG hitters, but some fascinating ties. What looks like some tough choices, some great stories, a local derby and a prime example of how a lesser thrill could just slip quietly through to later rounds by the luck of the draw. Good, interesting mixing coming this week.

Oh this one is interesting. Rain Dogs, beautiful though the Colin Wilson art is a bit of a footnote in 2000ad history. Seemingly written (???) to the plan to produce continental style albums, it never quite got to its potential. Mean Team, to my eyes, was an utter misfire. Starting with a creative team that should have been a gold seal of a winner it quickly ran off track and then was taken in a direction no one expected when the the writers left. It does seem to have fans, well enough to justify the nice looking trade collection that came out not that long ago. Which one will win out here?

Rain Dogs - more info

Vs

Mean Team - 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 Saturday March 26th  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

[Huey2]

Mean Team

[The Mind of Wolfie Smith]

mean team

[broodblik]

Mean Team

[AlexF]

That first book of the Mean Team is a huge part of how I fell in love with the Prog, gonna take a lot ot unseat that in my mind, even the awfulness of Book II.
No slight to Rain Dgs, which is perfectly good, but at no point does it capture the charm of a man swinging a morning star around his head with intent to murder, let alone the talking panther.

Mean Team

[rogue69]

Mean Team

[abelardsnazz]

Mean Team.

[IndigoPrime]

Rain Dogs was fine. Mean Team was always naff for me and these days feels like nothing more than an exercise in nostalgia. I don't care about returning to either, but I'd sooner read Rain Dogs again, so that edges it.

[sheridan]

Mean Team - and I appear to be alone in liking both halves of the tale, especially Massimo's artwork on Earth.

[CalHab]

Much as I love Mule Variations, Frank's Wild Years, Heartattack & Vine and even early stuff like Closing Time, Rain Dogs will always be his defining album, for me.

[Colin YNWA]

Much as I love Mule Variations, Frank's Wild Years, Heartattack & Vine and even early stuff like Closing Time, Rain Dogs will always be his defining album, for me.

You know what you are not far wrong there. I'm a big fan of it all - and disappointed with myself that I didn't use that as part of my intro - but there's not denying the post Swordfishtrombones works are his best and Raindogs is arguably the best of those, Alice, Mule Variations and Blood Money are all up there though.

[maryanddavid]

Mean team

[CalHab]

You know what you are not far wrong there. I'm a big fan of it all - and disappointed with myself that I didn't use that as part of my intro - but there's not denying the post Swordfishtrombones works are his best and Raindogs is arguably the best of those, Alice, Mule Variations and Blood Money are all up there though.

How could I have forgotten Swordfishtrombones!

[Blue Cactus]

Rain Dogs is good, shoutout to the sometimes overlooked Blue Valentine though, not to mention Small Change. Mule Variations perhaps a personal favourite.

Having said that I loved Mean Team book 1 as a kid. Still enjoy it! That artwork!

[paddykafka]

Rain Dogs