Team Classic vs. Team Current
Only work for Tharg to be Considered
The crowd is going wild, literally days of anticipation are now over as we kick off the first of 16 ties to determine which era of 2000ad has the greatest writing Droids, the deep and rich history OR the current bunch, still cranking out thrill after thrill for Tharg.
And what an opening tie we have (genuinely this was the first pairing out the hat!) , demonstrating the rich history of the Prog and Tharg's organs beyond. Very few, maybe only one other Droid has a history for Tharg as these two. Not much needs to be said, but some head scratching needs to be done.
The jubilant crowd suddenly falls respectfully silent as they realise the scale of the competition they are about to witness.
Time for you to decide your favourite as the droids square up to the tee...
Alan Grant - more info (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=alang)
OR
Pat Mills - more info (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=patm)
Remember for this tourney you have 5 votes to distribute as you please between these two artists, whole numbers only. So you can vote 5 - 0; 4 - 1; or 3 - 2; either way depending on how much more you like one artist's work over the other.
If you can't be doing with that just name your favourite - remember bold tags, or other ways of highlighting always appreciated - and I'll give them 3 votes and nowt to the other droid.
Three day votes, so this one ends morning of Thursday 24th June
Remember we only consider work for Tharg in these Tourneys
What the heck is all this about - well we have a thread for that (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=47640.msg1062908#msg1062908)
How does this voting work? Look here (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=47640.msg1063058#msg1063058)
I don't understand how this works, what are the rules of the Solhiem Cup - yep got ya covered there too (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=47640.msg1063060#msg1063060)
Anything else just ask and I'll make something up. Most importantly, have fun!
Grant 3: Mills 2
Alan Grant 2- 3 Pat Mills
Well a doozy to kick things off. I know we wouldn't all be on here having these discussions if it wasn't for Uncle Pat, but for me his polemic too often gets in the way of the story. As Mr Grant keeps things more subtle, my scores are:
Alan Grant 3, Pat Mills 2.
A 5-0 victory for Mills in the opening round.
SBT
Mills at his best produced simply the greatest thrills to ever appear in the Prog (apart from the odd Dredd and Stront) in the early to middle books of Nemesis, early Slaine and the first book of ABC Warriors. On the other hand his later stuff (last 30 years really) was no where near that standard.
Alan Grant was responsible for some of the very best Dredds, but these were co-written with Wagner so it's hard to know who wrote what. Plus Stront and Anderson. I somehow think he doesn't get the credit he deserves.
Overall:
Alan 2
Pat 3
It's true that Grant doesn't get the credit he deserves, I know I'm guilty of it but it's partly because many of his solo Dredd stories have been frankly, poor. But then, his solo Anderson stories have been, largely, amazing. Still and all, I literally don't think I'd be the person I am today without the writing of Pat Mills, even taking into account his lazier, retreading work. Such a weird thing to have to quantify.
Mills 4, Grant 1.
Wow, this is gonna be a juicy topic. Almost all writers left an indelible mark on 2000ad, so it's tough to go picking up.
I gotta go with Alan 3, Pat 2.
I'd rather split 2.5 each, but bloody hell. I was never really a staunch decision man.
Quote from: abelardsnazz on 21 June, 2021, 08:24:37 AM. As Mr Grant keeps things more subtle...
I would remind you of BLAIR 1 going to hell as punishment for doing a bad job as PM...
Pat's not as good as he was, and his self-righteous ranting grates on me these days, but, well, Sláine, Nemesis and the ABC Warriors make up for everything. Even his obscure Ronald Reagan Diceman story would make up for everything.
Sorry, Alan, but it's
PAT 4, ALAN 1
For sheer hit to miss ratio I'm gonna go:
Alan Grant - 4
Pat Mills - 1
When Grant worked with Wagner, it was all magically so good...however, I can't say I've enjoyed his individual contributions as much. I enjoy a lot of early mills stuff, and the Volgan Wars in more "recent" times, so its Pat for me.
Alan Grant 2 : Pat Mills 3
Despite my absolute love for Stront above all else, no contest when considering Grant's solo output v the man who gave us Slaine, Nemesis, ABC Warriors and 2000AD, even before yiiu factor in the hard work he put in making Judge Dredd live up to Carlos's vision.
Pat 4, Grant 1
Alan Grant (2) Pat Mills (3)
Grant 4
Mills 1
Two exceptional comic-writing talents. What swings it is Nemesis the Warlock.
Mills 3 : 2 Grant
Been holding off on this as it's a tricky one... surely the nod has to go to Pat though for an awesome collection of iconic work. Alan's done some fine work too, so don't get me wrong. Some of that Anderson work as mentioned was tops. That's what makes this one a bit tricky.
Pat 3 - Alan 2
Going to break my own abstention rule and vote on this one. I like a lot of both of their stuff- Pat has a huge amount of good stuff but very often his dialogue makes me cringe and he has written some pretty gash stuff too. Grant doesn't have such an extensive body of solo work, but he has Anderson and Ace Trucking.
Pat 3 Alan 2
So we hit the final warning on our first vote in the Solhiem Cup and if you've been struggling to make up your mind - well nows the time to knuckle down and make a call as I'll close this one down and count up in the morning.
So when I drew this one out the hat (well random name picker online, but hat sounds so much better) I thought straight away - damn that's a harsh draw for Alan (G) but then you think about it more and its closer than I thought. Worth noting straight away both are wildly inconsistant writers. Both have written strips I'm madly fond of, both have written strips I've not enjoyed. For every Nemesis the Warlock there's Blackhawk. For every Finn there's Anderson. The list at both ends of the spectrum for both writers goes on and on. All that said when you get down it it I surprised myself in terms of pure writing Mills probably has more misses than hits compared to Alan Grant. While Nemesis and Savage are favourite Slaine dropped off my popular list many many years again and Strontium Dog by Grant alone and his run on Anderson match Mills highs.
In the end I remember that Alan Grant co wrote one of the greatest comic runs of all time with John Wagner with thie Dreddand there's a danger of giving all credit for that to Wagner - but it was a partnership and so on that basis.
Alan Grant 3 : Pat Mills 2
i used to love the work and musings of pat mills. but recent events surrounding the millsverse have made it difficult to even read those early classics any more without a jaundiced eye, and without wondering if the sad seeds were actually always there (my jury is still out on this).
so it's 5-0 to the master sci-fi comics storyteller, alan.
VOTING CLOSED
This one was close, as is fitting for such titans of the comic. In the end thoguh pretty early on Pat Mills started to establish a lead and from that point on Alan Grant was always playing catch up. So the first round has gone to Team Current and they certainly seem to have got some big guns firing early in this tournament - judging by other rounds. The question is can they sustain it and what do Team Classic have in reserve?
Team Current 1 : Team Classic 0
Team Current 48 : Team Classic 42
So the bloke that's quit 2000 AD is Team Current, but the guy who's still writing for it is Team Classic? Or have I misunderstood something?
There's a whole post in the set up thread about my Mills call
https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=47640.msg1063035#msg1063035 (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=47640.msg1063035#msg1063035)
As far as I recall Alan hasn't - unfortunately - written more than a few one-offs since Prog 2000 (2016) and hasn't done a series (or a load of Dredd) as per the benchmark.