Prog 1934 - Warp Factor Ten!

[ThryllSeekyr]

Given the sloughing in this prog (not proag) it becomes apparent that his name was Slough (rhymes with fluff) Feg.

That's a new one for me!

Well, Sláine would be pronounced totally differently to Slaine, for a start.  I'm going to continue to pronounce Slough to rhyme with cow, because a) that's what I've been doing for the past thirty years and b) sluffeg sounds silly.

I think it sounds just right if you put less emphasis on the Uff. Almost make it silent and it's like Slff-Feg.

I was always saying Slo-Owe myself.

Ukko [ Uck-o ]
Slough [ Plough ]
Niamh  [ um, there only is one right way, so that's easy ]

I can't bring myself to slightly warp-spasm my vocal chords into the correct Irish pronunciation of Slaine, shudder when others go that extra mile, so just stick to 'Slain'.

Ukko I could have sworn I heard Pat Mlls pronounce this one as Arko or even Orko (You know , as in He-Man - Masters of the Universe!) on his last podcast. I think he was talking with Michael Molcher.

Slough What I said earlier.

Naimh  Now this one is my favourite, I believe it's either pronounced like Neeve or just plain Eve.

Slaine I always go with, how it looks like it's spelt. Yet, I once heard a Irish fellow pronounce it as Sla-Oyne. I put up a link to this one some where else on this message-board. he was some guy who made a video whre he was answering letters and opening packages sent to him by some friends. Somebody sent him the Slaine-Beanie (Not mine!) and that's when I heard him say it that way. I think he sounded Irish as well. He had that northern accent.

[Frank]

Does Slaine win the prize for comic strip which has caused the most debates about characters' name pronunciation?

A friend insisted on calling Tharg's droid compactor MEE-QUAKE, although he also referred to the version of Apocalypse Now with all the deleted scenes put back in as REE-DOO, rather than REDUX, so we can discount practically anything he says.

Tharg got tired of all the readers' letters and published a pronunciation guide for the proper nouns in Slaine. I can't be bothered raking it out, but they were definitely SLAWNYA, NEEV, MAYV, UCKO, and SLUFF FEG.

As pointed out above, though, SLUFF FEG just feels awkward on the tongue. The only way it (sort of) works is if you engage in the kind of syllable swapping newsreaders do with the name of the French President, to produce FRANSWAH-ZOLLOND.

SLUH-FEG works okay, depending on your accent.

[Goaty]

[Jim_Campbell]

[Mikey]

I really enjoyed this prog and thought it had a great balance accross the strips.

Dredd was simply a cracking opener. All ready for some Murphyville based shenanigans!

And depsite what I felt were a few slower episodes, I've been really loving this run of Slaine. It bears repeating that SB has knocked it out of the park since he started on the strip. This prog I liked the juxtaposition of the mountains of mechanically rended flesh and bone with the slow, deliberate preparation for the coming slough.

Given the sloughing in this prog (not proag) it becomes apparent that his name was Slough (rhymes with fluff) Feg.

See, I always know (well, virtually always) that it was meant to be 'slaow' but I never liked it, so opted for the Norn Iron/Scotchland straight pronounciation with the back of the mouth thing - 'sloch' - which to me suited the characters more. I shall continue to do so. I also took up saying 'Slawnya' around the time of the Horned God and now can't stop, even though Mills hisself says it's wrong.

I've loved Absalom since it first appeared and so, yep, loved this too. Every time it returns I realise how much I've missed it. Another cracking opener.

And I agree with the good and bad points raised so far about Helium, but think of an Edginton/D'Israeli strip as like pizza: there may be a few common elements, but the sprinkling of key ingredients make each one unique enough to enjoy on its own right. It helps that D'Israeli makes it look so tasty, it feels solid and cinematic as usual.

M.

[Fungus]

Bit of a comics binge today, including the last 2 progs. Staying on-topic...

A superb prog, and one that I can see I'll look back on as the 'Helium' prog. This strip was close to perfection for me. Bit surprised at comments like - to paraphrase - 'yes, but we know Edginton does this'. A strange comment, not something ever directed at Wagner, or Ezquerra, or... Leviathan I haven't read, admittedly, that one's on the 'list', so no deja vu for me. Yet I admit a smirk at the Zeppelinesque (ugh) obsession (see also Brass Sun and Hinterkind). D'Israeli's art looked nice at a glance in the shop, but in the reading it's beautiful. Both simple and detailed at the same time, with his usual masterful colouring. As with Stickleback, every foreground detail, background detail and piece of witty dialogue rewards your attention. 9/10, Tharg.

Very fine cover & content otherwise, too. And a reinvigorated Meg due on Wednesday, can't be bad.

[Professor Bear]

I have been half-joking for years that 2000ad survives by not frightening off its remaining middle-aged readers with anything too drastic, so I am kind of surprised by the criticism of Helium just for being written by a 2000ad regular.  If I'd criticise anything, it would be the large amount of exposition, but given this is the first episode and is being shown about the various comic sites as a teaser for the book, that's not exactly a criticism that has legs, either.

Personally, I'm liking it so far, but then I am a sucker for anything that breaks from being about gruff types in spaceland spitting soundbites at each other between gunshots.  If you're going to be influenced by anything in your world-building, you can do a lot worse than Castle in the Sky and Valley of the Wind as your starting points, though I notice a lot of Last Exile in the mix, too, particularly the character design of Hodge.  There seems something different about D'Israeli's art this time out, too - perhaps I'm imagining it, but there seems to be more light sources in play than usual, as well as more use of primary colours.

[Colin YNWA]

I have been half-joking for years that 2000ad survives by not frightening off its remaining middle-aged readers with anything too drastic, so I am kind of surprised by the criticism of Helium just for being written by a 2000ad regular. 

But that depended on whether just surviving by not frightening off us aging, balding (I speak for myself) regulars, is a good thing or not I guess, not that I necessarily agree that it is what 2000ad is doing... in fact I say far from it...

... but then I also think Helium is a well worn path that Edginton and D'Israeli navigate quite magnificently.

[Professor Bear]

I may use a sniffy turn of phrase for humor value, but not frightening off the baldies is obviously a good thing if the book's sales figures are healthy and stable.

[Magnetica]

  There seems something different about D'Israeli's art this time out, too - perhaps I'm imagining it

Yeah I thought that too, and some different about MacNeil's on Dredd as well. Can't quite put my finger on it though.

[Jim_Campbell]

"Oh, there's a big ship at the start of Helium! It's almost exactly the same as Leviathan!"

Really, no. I have no idea what that's all about.

Best non-jumping-on jumping on prog in years. Apart from the Davis droid rescuing the non-stop snore-fest that is the current book of Slaine, it's all really good stuff.

Cheers

Jim