Well if Week 1 broke you into what Round 3 could be like Week 2 will show you its extremes with possibly the tie of the Round coming in (though there is one later that possibly tops even this). Eyes will be blinding, hair will be torn out before this week is over...
The Dead took down Dragon Tales in Round 1 but then followed that up with what is possibly the surprise of the Tournament so far when it took out modern favourite Zombo. That sort of form must be leaving Lobster Random feeling nervous, especially since it didn't have its own way again low level opponent Time Flies in Round 2. I would have called this only one way, form suggests I could well be backing the wrong horse... well if that horse has diminishing numbers of crustacean claws and a fetish for mechanical love.
The Dead - more info (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=thedead)
Vs
Lobster Random - more info (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=LOBSTER)
Just reply in this thread naming your favourite thrill of these two series at the beginning of your post (or use Bold tags so I can spot it easily) and say what you like about these wonderful stories after that.
Match ends early on the morning of Friday 20th May and the winner gets a place in Round 4 (of 9!!!).
What on Earth is ALL of this? (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=48011.0)
For those that need 'um and can be bothered to follow 'um there's some simple rules (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=48011.msg1070150#msg1070150)
Any questions, just ask as ever - and have FUN
The Dead.
Lobster Random
Lobster Random was a lot of fun but against Milligan and Belardinelli's phantasmagorical feast there's only one way my vote can go.
The Dead.
Lobster Random
The Dead
the dead
Love the weirdness of the Dead concept, got a bit bored with the story as it went on. Lobster Random arguably tries a bit too hard to be as weird and clever as thrills like the Dead, (right down to the irritating name) but every now and then the weirdness lands - looking at you, person with a dinosaur grated to the top of his head.
Lobster Random
The Dead.
But for me, a matter of the "least worst" I'm afraid.
SBT
The Dead - one of the last great works that Massimo did for the prog.
I remember Lobster Random as being a better character than story but I can hardly remember The Dead as all.
Lobster Random
Lobster Random was never quite as good as it wanted to be, but then neither was The Dead, which I find a curiously depressing and dull experience to read (while loving the big concepts it plays with, and how originally it does that). At least LR was quite funny - it's certainly the one I'd most prefer to re-read.
Lobster Random
It is long past time that he returned to the prog. One lives in hope!
I never really got along with Lobster Random - it's too self aware. That was the zeitgeist of the time, I suppose - but a writer continually waving at the audience and pointing out the artifice is just too indulgent to be enjoyed on its own merits. Dirty Frank teeters on the edge of that trap and usually manages not to fall in.
The Dead was also an odd fish, but a Belardinelli-shaped odd fish.
The Dead.
The dead
Quote from: Funt Solo on 17 May, 2022, 03:26:42 PM
I never really got along with Lobster Random - it's too self aware. That was the zeitgeist of the time, I suppose - but a writer continually waving at the audience and pointing out the artifice is just too indulgent to be enjoyed on its own merits. Dirty Frank teeters on the edge of that trap and usually manages not to fall in.
The Dead was also an odd fish, but a Belardinelli-shaped odd fish.
Yeah this ^^^.
So
The Dead.
I loved a lot of Spurriers work for 2000, but never got LR. I really liked the Vort until that reveal. So its The Dead, good Milligan script with Massimos last great 2000 AD work, underrated TBH.
Lobster Random
Who needs to come back and finish The Vort....
Quote from: BPP on 18 May, 2022, 08:04:40 AM
Lobster Random
Who needs to come back and finish The Vort....
Yes, yes he does. One of the great unfinished stories. We need to go to our LCS hide all the Spurrier books so his transatlantic acareer fails and he has to come grovelling back to Tharg to finish it!
Though the Spurious one is a fine writer, I was never a fan of Lobster. I did like The Dead though; it really creeped me out as a kid.
Quite the tussle here I thought it was going the way of The Dead but looking quickly through maybe Lobster Random is doing better than I thought? Last day votes could decide this one go pop your vote in today if you haven't yet.
I realise Lobster Random is divisive and it is quite smug and sure of itself. But that's OK. It's not like the entire comic is like that, and it works in an anthology. But I also found it a solid read in the absurdly oversized UC volume. Even the ending didn't bother me. It felt a bit like what Furman does with Transformers – there's always a bigger threat, and perhaps one day we'll see that battle; if not, whatever.
The Dead, though... that's something beautiful and special. It wins it for me here on that basis, and I still find it staggering that, as far as we know, it won't be a part of the UC (not least since Rebellion presumably has it in the archives, what with it being in the old Extreme Editions).
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 19 May, 2022, 08:54:07 AM
I still find it staggering that, as far as we know, [The Dead] won't be a part of the UC (not least since Rebellion presumably has it in the archives, what with it being in the old Extreme Editions).
But it's such an odd fit! If you're not going to do a Peter Milligan volume (and it seems fairly certain by this point that they aren't) then what on earth do you collect it with?
Well, exactly. Why not have a Peter Milligan volume? (Again, I suspect it's down to what exists as immediately available material more than anything. Or at least, I'd hope so. Otherwise, Mean Arena? Really?)
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 19 May, 2022, 10:03:18 AM
Well, exactly. Why not have a Peter Milligan volume? (Again, I suspect it's down to what exists as immediately available material more than anything. Or at least, I'd hope so. Otherwise, Mean Arena? Really?)
Well at the risk of derailing the thread, yes, they totally should have done. Hoover up all those little Milligan oddities that aren't going to get reprinted anywhere else (Shadows, Freaks, Faces, Counterfeit Girl, round it out with some Bix Barton or Future Shocks).
Both very good thrills, but it's The Dead for me.
VOTING CLOSED
The Dead is kickin' ass in this tournement. Its not had easy draws and its more than holding its own. I'm a little surprised Lobster Random didn't make this closer. Its a thrill I adore and was certianly bold and different. Folks have spoken however and the weird vibes of
The Dead
have out bizarred Lobster and will see it stepping into the other side of Round 4.
Arsegike