So the Quarter Final start and alas I'm letting Greg down out the door. Garth Ennis' charge to the quarters has surprised many as while he's done some of my favourite work outside of 2000ad his work in the Prog was when he was starting. Whether you include his Crisis work is a factor as well as we are only dealing with writing for Tharg here (I would by the way). Will this however be a test too far as he's in a vote with one of Tharg's most prolific world builders, a writer who has come up with some incredibly popular long running classics, as well as a single run story that will be featuring large in the 'Best of the Rebellion Years' vote currently running in Leviathon. So who do you vote for?
Garth Ennis - http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=GARTHE (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=GARTHE)
OR
Ian Edginton - http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=IANE (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=IANE)
What is all this nonsense you ask well we're finding out whose 2000ad (Meg and associated items) writing do you prefer? Voting - just add a comment here with whose work you prefer (and anything else you might wish to say to discuss their work). This vote closes some time early Monday 15th June?
Want to know more https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46527.0 (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46527.0)
Second two quarter finals will be up tomorrow.
Oh and just to confirm that this one will wrap up Friday 19th June, not in the past!
Whoops!
Ian Edginton
Ian Edginton without a doubt. He has produced some of my favourite writing in 2000ad (and in comics in general)
Ian Edginton for brilliantly realised, often linked, worlds of strangeness and wonder.
Ian has the Edg.
I suspect I'm once again on the opposite side of the debate to most here. Garth Ennis fundamentally got the 2000AD vibe of dark humour and balls-to-the-wall action. He knew how to write in the appropriate style. Edginton, on the other hand seems to have shaped 2000AD to fit his existing style - serialised historically-related pieces, rather than the ongoing adventures of an iconic character. For me, 'Last Night Out' beats anything Edginton's got in his knapsack. For the final time - Garth Ennis.
I'm surprised Ennis made it this and there's no way his writing for Tharg can compete with the likes of Ampney Crucis, Sticklback, Thistlebone, and Scarlet Traces. If Ennis's later work (Preacher, The Boys) was included this might be a fair fight but... it isn't so Edginton.
Edginton by a huge margin.
Edginton, however much I enjoy Ennis work- and have done it seems since I was a teenager, Edginton wins this for me due to the standard of his prog work across a number of series but most notably Leviathan.
Ian Edginton! Hm, are these rounds actually easier?
Ian Edginton
Quote from: Tomwe on 16 June, 2020, 09:02:10 AM
Ian Edginton! Hm, are these rounds actually easier?
I think, strangely this round could be the easiest round for most folks - there will be exceptions of course as different folks will rate different writers differently (so Greg M really struggled with the other draw here for example) but I looked at this and even with one heart wrenching round coming tomorrow I still could answer most in a flash. Not necessarily with the writer who will win, but the one I thought should.
Now the semis, man they are going to be stinkers I think!
Garth is my favourite writer of the two, but in terms of prog contributions there`s just no contest here, really - Edginton wins for me.
I take the point that Ennis has that 2000AD violence and snark coursing through his veins, and for sure that is the hallmark of maybe the first 20 years of the Prog (and beyond), but there's an argument to be had that Edington's weird and lovingly crafted old-timey / otherworldly / regional accented worldbuilding has in itself come to define the Prog in recent decades. Both writers have produced 2000AD work that I have really loved, and some strips I really hated but on balance it's no contest for me.
Ian Edginton
Quote from: AlexF on 16 June, 2020, 01:04:31 PM
...there's an argument to be had that Edington's weird and lovingly crafted old-timey / otherworldly / regional accented worldbuilding has in itself come to define the Prog in recent decades.
I think it absolutely has. It's not to my personal taste, but if someone said to me "What's 2000AD like today?", I'd point them at Edginton's work. Even the stuff he doesn't write, like Hope and Brink, have a similar feel. Of course, this is probably in line with a broader movement in popular culture - Rebellion-era 2000AD embraces the 'boxset' model. I'm not saying I don't like any stories in that 'serial' vein - Cradlegrave is absolutely that kind of story. But I feel that the balance has definitely shifted more in that direction and away from 'what's the iconic character going to get up to this week?'
Ian Edington for me.
Quote from: Greg M. on 16 June, 2020, 01:13:34 PMBut I feel that the balance has definitely shifted more in that direction and away from 'what's the iconic character going to get up to this week?'
After 2,200 of those weeks I can see why that might be!
Sharp bit of analysis there though, Greg. I voted for Edginton [Note to Colin: I already voted further upthread, this is just Greg-inspired waffle] over Ennis because every time I mentally list out the strips he's done that I enjoy, I manage to forget a few, and I still have
loads. It's fair to say that Edginton is the best example of the Late Model Prog approach.
It hasn't all been plain sailing for him: the forgettable Interceptor and disappointing Detonator X; the stuttering start to Helium (using up precious D'Israeli drawing time to no good purpose!) and maybe American Gothic (well, it felt like a set-up for more to me); even the sputtering-out of otherwise excellent Ampney Crucis and that highly questionable reveal in my personal fave Stickleback.
But then you have his successfully-concluded or at-least-moving-along-well stories: Red Seas, Stone Island, Brass Sun, Leviathan, Kingmaker, and his and D'Israeli's masterwork, the sublime Scarlet Traces. Even his Dredds, while not perfect, have had a clear identity and a commendably tight focus on the stories he's telling.
I mean to say, that's a LOT, and I bet I've still forgotten something (
NARRATOR: He had. Several things). It's so much that if you subtracted Edginton (and let's say Abnett too) fro 2000AD, it's hard to know what the modern prog would look like week to week: mainly Rennie and Kek-W doing new things with established properties, I suppose. Not so bad, but very different, and perhaps still writing for the trade (although I'll contend that almost every recent Rennie strip works perfectly as individual episodes and individual 'books', depending a lot less on the collection).
Edginton. Without a shadow of a doubt.
Quote from: TordelBack on 16 June, 2020, 01:53:54 PMIt's so much that if you subtracted Edginton (and let's say Abnett too) fro 2000AD
In the modern era of 2000 AD, that really doesn't bear thinking about. The Prog would be instantly hollowed out in a very bad way.
Since his incredible work in Crisis has been permitted, Garth Ennis.
25 years ago, I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but Garth Ennis is a fantastic comics writer. But, as I explained ad nauseum in the last round, I despaired for the prog when he took over Dredd and Stront(s) duties and nearly gave up on it.
Ian, however, is a great fit for the prog and I love his Millsian cross-continuity elements.
Ian Edginton.
Garth Ennis' war stories and his Punisher stuff are some of my favourite comics, and his Crisis work, along with some of his Dredd, was pretty damn good. But from a 2000AD point of view, this is an easy win for Ian Edginton: quality and quantity.
Ennis.
Edginton all the way
Ennis.
Ian Edginton!
Ian Edginton
Ampney Crucis | Brass Sun | Leviathan |
(http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/mediumres/1666.jpg)
--------------------------------------- | (http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/mediumres/1852.jpg)
--------------------------------------- | (http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/mediumres/1360.jpg)
--------------------------------------- |
Scarlet Traces | Stickleback | The Red Seas |
(http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/mediumres/2028.jpg)
--------------------------------------- | (http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/mediumres/1824.jpg)
--------------------------------------- | (http://www.2000ad.org/covers/2000ad/mediumres/1491.jpg)
--------------------------------------- |
Illustrated entries - Cool. I adore that Brass Sun cover its so dynamic.
Ian Edginton...by miles.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 16 June, 2020, 07:55:23 PM
Illustrated entries - Cool. I adore that Brass Sun cover its so dynamic.
I love the Red Seas one - pure 2000AD, and not uncoincidentally the prog from the week my eldest child was born, who is also named Jack.
Edginton for Leviathan and a few other choice offerings.
Ian Edginton. As much as I tend to enjoy Ennis' Dredd, Ian Edginton is the obvious choice. I've not read Red Seas but really want to now.
Quote from: Rogue Judge on 17 June, 2020, 12:52:08 AM
I've not read Red Seas but really want to now.
Oh defo read it its wonderful fun. All pirates and Ray Harryhausensen monsters... oh and the devil, zombies(ish), two headed dogs, dinosaurs... you get the idea. Will be featured in four (is it four?) volumes as past of Ultimate Collection.
Yeah it's got 4 volumes planned for the UC extension. Really looking forwards to those ones as I've loved all the Edginton strips we've had so far. Might even persuade my partner to read those as she likes a good pirate yarn.
Don't be I' Cosh make sure you get your vote in before the morning (Friday that is) good and early as I'm wrapping this one up.
Mr Edginton gets my vote.
For Levithan alone: Edginton. Z
Ian
VOTING CLOSED - but feel free to add votes and comments but the call is made.
The Quarters are closing and the results coming in. The first one wasn't even close and while its always great to see some folks who call things differently the support for Garth Ennis didn't bring him close to
Ian Edginton
Who stormed into the semis.