Main Menu

SCB vs Total War

Started by Bad Andy, 07 March, 2005, 07:41:23 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Bad Andy

Second City Blues will be running for 13 episodes. Total War only ran for 12.

Does the board think that Dredd should be allowed a longer main run on some stories when you take into account that a newbie story was invested with more episodes?

Or is it because Dredd is so established that storylines can be condensed easier? If this is so, should all new strips be allowed a good long run to start off?

Tordelbach

I dunno about giving *single* Dredd stories longer to run...

Most of the really great Dredd stuff is made up of connected shorter pieces, inlcuding the Total War storyline itself of course, which has now dominated Dredd for many more months than SCB's run (and really stretches right back to 'America', and arguably back as far as the Democracy sequence).  I really doubt that this would have been half as effective a storyline had it been run as a single 26-part "Total War!" mega-epic (say covering from 'Terror' through to the Brashill one about the precog).

I think most here agree that the mega-epic 'payoffs' are rarely as good as the build-up and aftermath stories.  Certainly it's hard to see "Judgement Day" as a worthy payoff for the Narcos saga, or maybe even "Necropolis" (much as I adore it) as an appropriately wonderful climax to the Deadman/Death saga.  

I wonder whether this has something to do with Wagner's occasionally noticeable "weak ending" syndrome. Several Dredd epics are a bit anti-climactic (Judge Child, Judgement Day, Necropolis), despite being great stories right up to that point.  By keeping things shorter, there's less expectation of a Big Bang finale, replaced instead by more sustained fun in waiting for the next bit of the story.  
 

Tordelbach

AAARRGHH!  In teh previous post For "Judgement Day" read "Doomsday".  I know, i know, I'm a silly billy, but did not for one second confuse Ennis for the Master.

House of Usher

SCB at 13 episodes, Total war at 12...

Just goes to show it isn't quantity that counts.
But yes, I'd like to see more longer Judge Dredd stories.
STRIKE !!!

Trough

>>I know, i know, I'm a silly billy, but did not for one second confuse Ennis for the Master.

"I am Garth Ennis and you will obey me!"

Trough

Sorry, couldn't resist it.

Funtwangle

surely each story was the length it needed to be

Funt Solo

Nerd Watch

SCB estimate: 68 pages
Total War: 72 pages

[Assuming the 13 episode run is correct, and 5 pages each for remaining installments of SCB].

Not that size matters.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Jared Katooie


Jared Katooie

Oops! For what it's worth I think Dredd needs more longer stories if it's going to keep the quality up. There have been some good one-offs but I think Dredd really shines in the longer stories.

Second city blues is far too long for what it's giving us but it hasn't been terrible sdo I can put up with it.


House of Usher

I disagree that Second City Blues has been too long. There's a tricky balance to be struck. Sometimes a shorter run can leave you feeling cheated (Leviathan - wouldn't it have been nice if that had run to 20 parts?), and other times a very short run can have you thinking 'yes, a three-parter is just about the right length for Synnamon...'

I wouldn't want Second City Blues to have had to come to a resolution any sooner, because as it is it doesn't feel either rushed or sprawling.
STRIKE !!!

Carlsborg Expert.

Dredd is like good rock and roll.

Led Zep or bowie have proved, that done right both the epic and the short verse are naturally suited to them.

Dredd also needs to prove this.

On most occasions thiere is the quality and the quantity.

On some there is the The Laughing gnome and Moby Dick(which is quite good but something stinks big time somewhere)

Does this mean we have SCB going like a coke fueled Oasis song that may last on first appraisel but reeks of misguided loyalties?

House of Usher

That depends upon whether we think SCB is as shit as Champagne Supernova or not.
STRIKE !!!

opaque

Maybe more things related to MC1, not just Dredd with related things going on in Dredd stories.
Kind of the way (although the art annoys me) the Juliet November? character turned up in the Anderson story in the Meg.

I think one thing is that SCB needed an awful lot of time to set the scene which is needed for something new (although if it's just a one off did it need so much?) wheras with Dredd you know or understand so much already. You know about Total War, you know about the democracy movement, you know about how big blocks are etc (ie you say block in another context it sounds so much smaller, eg a block of flats) so you already have an idea of the scale as it was done on a lot more localised view rather than just the Chief Judge staring at a map of the city which gives you little impact (apart from when it's the entire south of the city getting nuked of course)
Even without direct stories we know whats going on.

Funt Solo

Perhaps Tharg is nervous that another Inferno or Wilderlands might accidentally slip through the quality net.

Longer story does not equal quality story, although I do prefer longer runs on Dredd (generally speaking).  Long sequences of one-offs fill me with ennui, as the quality is usually patchy.

One of the weird things about Dredd now is that we all know Wagner's tricks.  We know when a story is probably highly significant for the future.  "Fire & Ice" was obviously laying down some framework for the future, for example.  

I'd like to see Dredd dive into a real epic story with no warning at all:  that would be a surprise.  Just as long as it's nothing like Inferno or Wilderlands.  10th planet?  Arse.  Statue of Judgement hitting the West Wall?  Arse.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++