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ACTION Special review

Started by Bad City Blue, 19 March, 2020, 11:52:42 AM

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Colin YNWA

Quote from: AlexF on 23 March, 2020, 01:57:17 PM
I'm genuinely surprised by the tenor of this thread - I bloody loved the Action 2020 Special!

Yeah I came to the thread expecting shining praise and was confronted with more negativity than I expected. I mean its fine if folks didn't like it folks didn't like it no biggie. But I chuffin' loved it and while I love the fact we're a mixed bag and like different things I just liked this so much I was expecting almost universal praise... shows what I know.

Now one complaint I understand, as its driven me nuts with these specials in the past is the fact that they all feel like set up. Now it was the same here BUT the ending I felt were smarter in that they left things open, but for me left us at a point of closure that was satisfying (see my recent review of the end of NuVCs over at my self absorbed thread over at the 'Other reviews' section... a self promontion how appropriately self absorbed.).

Anyway enough bathered to the stories, behind a lovely cover.

Kid Rule O.K. was a nice simple action thrill... I mean story. JUst solid and very well executed and utterly satisfying in that context.

Hellman Garth Ennis and Mike Dorey doing war stories. I mean do we need to say more. A nice examination and I loved the way Ennis played the noble german soldier line well. Something of course he's done so well in the past and lacking the yuff comic gungho of older comics it felt really well examined.

Hell Machine was the absolute star of the show. Brazil meets ... well Henry Flint. Just superb. So full of ideas and imagination, no restricted to much. It kinda reminded me of the way Kirby used to run with an idea in comics like 2001. Not a direct compariosn but rather in the way or comics great hero Flint ran a story to the edge of credability but swept you along with imaginations and fun characters.

Thought the ending was particularly good here. We had a nice contained introduction and while it was very open ended the story itself felt complete. Would LOVE to see this back though. Oh and Jake Lynch is a bit good as well isn't he.

Hookjaw well to say that was 'cute' rather undercuts it. I mean yes the reveal - if it was a reveal it was always coming was superbly fun and silly and ... cute but the way it got there was fantastic. Again I think the ending worked. I mean we don't need to know who wins that fight, that'd rather spoil having the question posed for use to answer. The fun was getting to that punchline.

Oh and do we know who Quint Amity is - is that you Keith, its clearly a made up name and useless Keith Neimand has take to a new puesdonym ... that would just get confusing...

Dredger was pretty good, probably the weakest only in that it felt a bit familiar, maybe a bit to Greysuit? Still hearty fun.


Trout

I just found time to read this and loved it. My favourite strip was Hell Machine, which was creative and disturbing, and the Hellman story was really strong, too. I love Ennis war stories.

I'd buy this comic every week!

Funt Solo

Overall I really enjoyed this, and it stands up well alongside 2000 AD's output.

Kids Rule OK: great art, fantastic ramping up of action and a confusing ending. I thought "huh - looks like the top of the Statue of Liberty but it can't be that because this is UK-based. I wonder what thing in the UK looks a bit like that?" It doesn't ruin the story - it just left me flummoxed.

Hellman: brutal stuff, with the only slight criticism being that Hellman's group seem to get off a bit lightly against their opponents - nobody even wounded. Technically, I get that a Panther was a formidable opponent for the T-34, but narratively it seems to stretch credulity (especially considering the flanking infantry).

Hell Machine: this is amazing - Brazil meets Cube, with a smattering of Shadows. The slight niggle would be that it doesn't sit well as a standalone, because we don't get a proper climax.

Hook Jaw vs Shako: kind of an in-joke, which is fine for regular readers (from the 70s) but might pose something of a conundrum for new readers. Brutally fun.

Dredger: quite interesting Brutal Bond shenanigans but again a sense that the story hasn't really been told.

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I loved that the creator credits are designed to blend with their story: scrawled for Kids Rule, in a grenade icon for Hellman etc.
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