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Thargs editorial in this weeks 2kad, suggests that a long time character is going to die in the next 18 months, please let it be Joe, please.

Who do you want to see dead? And please don't mention Bison!

lets start with the easy thing bison (crap as it is) is brand new so it won't count as an long time thrill my guess (and this is my guess) judge dredd seriously if they had the guts to kill johnny alpha they will most certainly kill the most popular character

Kill Anderson.

She's sexy, but as a character she's run her course. They've got her in some coma now, which is about as interesting as she's been for years.

It would leave the way open for a Dark Judges attack, and the Meg without its usual line of defence.

Anyone with me?

- Trout

I did this pissin first!! ITS STILL ON

"Today you will play jazz, tomorrow you will betray your country!"

LOOK AT HIM GO!!

that was not guts
that was bloody stupidity.
killing dredd off, thats a great idea as well, i bet walt wished he had done that to mickey,

it could be nikole dante, though the best place for that would have been the tsar wars of course,

sinister , leaving dexter alone and lost,

but hereshy has got to be up for it soon, that may leave joe no alternative but to take over, finally,opening the way for rico on the streets and him in a fish out of water type of story line, politics and behind the scenes decsions, not always to his liking,
yeh hereshey i say,

I did this pissin first!!

Hate to rain on your parade Soviet Sam, but...
This is thread 2542
Your thread was 2507
And james' thread was 2500.

You did this pissin second!!

Oh marvellous, here we go again. Johnny Alpha, Dredd, Rogue et al as we all know are some of the best sci-fi characters ever dreamed up. When making life or death decisions with these precious chaps, perhaps they should consider the quality of the replacements first. Sinister Dexter/Bison/Tor Cyan etc just don't cut it For the love of God! Good marks for taking chances, but I'd rather read 24 pages of the further adventures of Walter The Wobot and Mawia the comedy landlady every week than a comic full of the above bozos.  

If it was Hershey,Dredd reluctantly assuming power would be interesting,the Justice Department intrigue stories fill me with joy..

What about Chopper?The Dredd poster prog with him in it points to a final reckoning and Mr Wagner has been revisiting old Dredd characters recently,Bella Bagley,Slick Dickens,Otto Sump,Vienna..

Personally I love Thargs hype machine,how many hours did I spend with my mates working out who was going to die back in the day(poor Johnny).

Whos coming back?whos gonna die?what will happen at Orloks trial?when was the last time we had so much to look forward to?This is genuine thrill power my friends..

It'll either be Dredd or Hershey, or Anderson, or the bloke, you know the one. I don't really want it to be Dredd, but it looks that way.

SHAKARA!

Shakara is right. It'll be that bloke.

"And james' thread was 2500"

Thank you

definitely that bloke,you know the one.

As everyone knows that comic characters always come back Tharg has decided that he's going to do something a bit different. Rather than kill off one of the characters Tharg has programmed one of his droids to kill one of us.

One of the message board irregulars won't be making it to Christmas 2003.

Look- Dredds the man he cant die otherwise the whole comic loses its main attraction. If he does die however their going to have to think of something pretty amazing to keep me interested. The thought of Dredd dead is a fearful one for me it must be said! How about killing Tharg and having the comic taken over by another speaker of incomprehensible jibberish!

Oh gods, don't say that...!  Especially not after dodging the gunplay in my local 7-11 last night (7.30 at night, three LVMPD squad cars and the smell of cordite heavy in the air...)

Why does everybody keep thinking Dredd is going to die? Admitidly Rico is in the wings waiting to fill the boots but I can't see that happening until Wagner decides to retire from writing. Dredds death would be the perfect swansong for the man. Now look at the deaths of other major comic characters Superman & Batman. The death storylines created massive PR for DC but reader interest dropped with the replacement characters. The same happened with Spiderman. Who gave a shit about Ben Reily or Azarael in Batman? Nobody, that's why the originals had to come back. It was all a cheap marketing ploy. I can't see 2K or Wagner doing that to Dredd. Ok they did it with Necropolis, but I can't see em dooing it again! The problem 2K will have to solve is the time line they imposed on the series as it does make the characters age in real time.

Surely nobody believes that Dredd will die before the release of the Shoreline films and the computer game...

I did earlier suggest Dante, but maybe it will be Anderson. She's certainly runnning out of steam. Unless of course Anderson features in the game or the films.

why not slaine again his new story starts xmas say a year worth of new stories then chop

I think it was Orlok.

Might've been Niamh.

Quote from: "Grant Goggans"Might've been Niamh.

Thinking about it, 18 months might suggest that Slaine was really supposed to kick the bucket at the end of The Books of Invasion, but they changed their minds along the way.

I wasn't reading back then, was it a genuine possibility that Dredd might die?

Eh? I don't remember this.

Quote from: "Godpleton"I wasn't reading back then, was it a genuine possibility that Dredd might die?

It doesn't seem that way to me, but I've read it all the wrong way round. This was around the time that the new Rico was getting a lot of build up and a story like Leaving Rowdy was fresh in the mind so there was a strong "changing of the guard" idea floating around.

my money is on nikolai dante. its been 12 years (ish) hes getting ready to fight the Tsar. all the pieces are in place.  

Quote from: "Judge Kirby"my money is on nikolai dante. its been 12 years (ish) hes getting ready to fight the Tsar. all the pieces are in place.  :)

Spectacularly, IIRC.

Quote from: "Goaty"

Quote from: "Judge Kirby"my money is on nikolai dante. its been 12 years (ish) hes getting ready to fight the Tsar. all the pieces are in place.  :)

I was gonna say spectacularly but tordalback beat me to it. i hope he goes in Jenas arms but probably taking out The White Army is some magnificent explosion after having killed the tsar.  

Quote from: "Judge Kirby"

Quote from: "Goaty"

Quote from: "Judge Kirby"my money is on nikolai dante. its been 12 years (ish) hes getting ready to fight the Tsar. all the pieces are in place.  :)

I was gonna say spectacularly but tordalback beat me to it. i hope he goes in Jenas arms but probably taking out The White Army is some magnificent explosion after having killed the tsar.  :)

and dont forgot about both of his brothers? :x

I definitely see it as being one of the family who finally does for Dante. Just at the moment of his triumph too.

My money is on Konstantin doing something to redeem himself at the end.

My money's on MACH 1.

Everybody's waiting for Dante to die but he's clearly got ages to run
1) beat the tzar
2) beat the white army
3) rule the world for a bit then get stabbed by his bastard off-spring (who doubtless will be a very fit and sexy chick)

Thats a good 10 years worth right there.

QuoteMy money's on MACH 1

I hope you realise I was in mental trauma for years after that prog. Infact, it may have made me the man I am today!

-Bouwel-
(They...killed...him!!!)

QuoteMy money is on Konstantin doing something to redeem himself at the end.

Interesting.....

I actually think that the Tsar will redeem himself at the end, and the 'true' villain of the saga will be [spoiler]Dimitri/Arkady[/spoiler].

Also I've been wondering, after the events of the Amerika storyline, is the White Army's role over now? I seemed to get that impression, though I'd feel a little short changed - they've been built up as a big threat, and now the focus seems to have shifted to the approaching Dante/Tsar clash all of a sudden.

Or will Dante form an alliance with the White Army to topple the Tsar?

Whatever happens I hope they don't rush the ending!

I'd always assumed that Dante would end with him marrying Jena and them establishing a new Dynasty that rules the Empire justly. Then of course we got the "How will I die?"  moment and I realised I didn't have a clue what I was talking about so yeah, Dante probably the best bet.

Wish it was Defoe though.
Or John Blake
Or Savage
Or Slaine

QuoteI'd always assumed that Dante would end with him marrying Jena and them establishing a new Dynasty that rules the Empire justly.

I think you're half right there.

Quote from: "radiator"

QuoteI'd always assumed that Dante would end with him marrying Jena and them establishing a new Dynasty that rules the Empire justly.

I think you're half right there.

I can't remember it exactly, but very early on Dante says something to the effect that he's against all emperors and rulers. Given that other seemingly throwaway lines have had greater resonance as the story went on - and this was around the same time that he first talked about "an army of thieves and whores" - I can't see that he'll ever accept the Imperial throne. It's all leading to the destruction of the aristocracy, the re-emancipation of the people and Elena as the first prime minister of the new Russia. Possibly Jena and their children will be brutally murdered at their holiday dacha by the very people Nikolai thought they were fighting for.

Quote from: "The Cosh"

Quote from: "radiator"

QuoteI'd always assumed that Dante would end with him marrying Jena and them establishing a new Dynasty that rules the Empire justly.

I think you're half right there.

I can't remember it exactly, but very early on Dante says something to the effect that he's against all emperors and rulers. Given that other seemingly throwaway lines have had greater resonance as the story went on - and this was around the same time that he first talked about "an army of thieves and whores" - I can't see that he'll ever accept the Imperial throne. It's all leading to the destruction of the aristocracy, the re-emancipation of the people and Elena as the first prime minister of the new Russia. Possibly Jena and their children will be brutally murdered at their holiday dacha by the very people Nikolai thought they were fighting for.

Isn't the weapon's crest also grooming Dante into shape as a potential leader? I'm not sure we've seen all the implications of bonding with that sentient entity... weapon's crests haven't done many favours for some of the other Romanovs.
The guy in the prog right now is a very different man to the cock-sure swaggering Han Solo kinda guy he started out as. Although, he's still got no love for the empire I can tell you that. I reckon you're probably right about Dante refusing to be the replacement for the Tsar but I do hope that there is a happy ending in there for him and Jena.

I would like to see one of Sin/Dex but is has been tried and failed..
My bets are on Nik Dante after whatsherfaces precog about a fabulous death a while back.





V

Quote from: "vzzbux"I would like to see one of Sin/Dex but is has been tried and failed..

It can't really be said to have failed if you assume that Dan Abnett never really intended for either of them to be dead. On the subject of killing them off though, who remembers a Sin/Dex comedy one shot from way back in the mists of time where they read a book about great Gunshark duos and they all ended up turning on each other? It ended with them vowing that that would never happe to them.

I thought(and hoped) at the time that the idea was being planted for a reason and that this was to be the eventual outcome. I still hink it's the only logical way for the series to end. Not anytime soon mind cos I'm still loving it.

QuoteMy money is on Konstantin doing something to redeem himself at the end.

Hmmm. I think whatever happens to Konstantin will have a lot to do with his mother (Jocasta?). Maybe he will change sides (again) for her.

I also think that Katarina is the one who's going to finally do for Dimitri/Arkady.

Going back to my earlier point, I re-read Amerika and Prisoner of the Tsar recently, and they do explicitly refer to the White Army as being 'defeated'.

Really hope Dante's revolution is going to be suitably epic - anything on a smaller scale than Tsar Wars is going to seem like an anticlimax. Was just thinking the other day - who does he have on his side now?

The Pirate fleet
The Mafiya/Thieves World
The Rudinshtein Irregulars/Personal Army
Viktor
Jena
Jocasta
Those Amazonian Women
The Amerika insurgents (if there's any left?)
Lulu(?)

Anyone else slipped my mind?

Quote from: "radiator"

Quotewho does he have on his side now?

The Pirate fleet
The Mafiya/Thieves World
The Rudinshtein Irregulars/Personal Army
Viktor
Jena
Jocasta
Those Amazonian Women
The Amerika insurgents (if there's any left?)
Lulu(?)

Anyone else slipped my mind?

Sergeant Elena Kurakin (I know she in The Rudinshtein Irregulars but of course she very dangerous!)

My bet on that Lulu still alive....
and could be worse of all, Jocasta Romanov... remember that she got the crest as proof in The Hunting Party. But could her Crest be 2nd powerful of all?

Its almost certainly been said before BUT it seems worth restating. How refreshing is it to be talking about the death of a comic book character with a sense of event and significance still attached to it.

For those of us who read American comics the cynicism that any 'death' attracts these days just removes any real emotional impact (well aside from vague annoyance). Another fine example of why 2000ad is still the Galaxy's greatest.

Quote from: "ctaylor"For those of us who read American comics the cynicism that any 'death' attracts these days just removes any real emotional impact

Precisely why 2000ad is the only comic to survive with me into adulthood. I just couldn't be bothered with the endlessly recycled guff that the superhero titles were throwing at us.

That said, I recently began reading a lot of Vertigo stuff and I'm hooked. There seems to be a whole other sensibility there. I realise that I'm probably preaching to the converted here but cut me some slack, I'm only now dipping my toes in the non 2000ad waters after a many year absence.

QuoteWish it was Defoe though.
Or John Blake
Or Savage
Or Slaine

You could kill Slaine off and it won't make a difference.

There was a time when I thought "Slaine the Horned God" was the final Slaine story before seeing the following sagas.

As I was confused as to wether that was the Slaine who was ...

QuoteCovered in greenery
and made drunk with
mead so he would
feel no pain, he was
tied in the "five-fold
bond"- one thong
for each tribe.

After being beaten till he
fainted, he was flayed,
blinded, sorely wounded
and impaled with a
spear of mistletoe...

...Cut up into joints and
roasted over a sacred fire as Druidesses danced and sang...

Then distributed to his people...

Now I thought that might have been Slaine's death which really screws up one of the following Slaine stories that explained how avoided this fate.  

Accepting this fate in the Horned God sort makes killing him off again unessasary.

More a dnb more Intervening Slaine stories could be written.

In fact, this could be done for any popular character.

Well now we know who gets it
[spoiler:1q7nvda1]Inflatable Alan[/spoiler:1q7nvda1]

I've got a feeling it's going to be Hershey...

Quote from: "Goaty"

Quote from: "Judge Kirby"my money is on nikolai dante. its been 12 years (ish) hes getting ready to fight the Tsar. all the pieces are in place.  :)

Bio-blade malfunction while wiping his arse. Or if there's any justice, buried under a pile of oiled nymphomaniacs, nekkid ones. WOO-HOO!

Is it cheating to say everyone in The 86ers

Seriously though, who thinks Gene might cark it in Kingdom III

Quote from: "faplad"Is it cheating to say everyone in The 86ers

I wouldn't be surprised if this were true. Well a bit, I'd think there would be at least one survivor, but there's a possibility.

QuoteSeriously though, who thinks Gene might cark it in Kingdom III

Nah. He's just starting out really isn't he? Feels that way anyway. The first series was just finishing up when I started my subscription to the prog. There's plenty of life in the old dog yet.

Gotta be atleast a 4th Kingdom so as to get another tpb out of it....

RIGHT?

Abnett does like his trilogies though doesn't he?  And if it does end on book III I wouldn't rule out a death

Quote from: "faplad"Abnett does like his trilogies though doesn't he?  And if it does end on book III I wouldn't rule out a death

ms BPP is very cute and fit and has a weird sex-lust for gene... I'm sure I could bribe abnett to keep him going.