Favourite CLASSIC art droid - SEMI FINALS - Mike McMahon or Carlos Ezquerra

[Colin YNWA]

That's a good way of putting it. Might have been enough to sway my own vote had you written that up an hour ago. Maybe.

You can change your mind - though I will curse you if you do!

[IndigoPrime]

Ha! I think I'll stick with McMahon, because this one's about favourites. He has that 'something' in a very slightly greater quantity for me than Ezquerra does (despite Ezquerra being well ahead of most others).

[Magnetica]

That's a really interesting way of looking at it.

Yes there are single images from McMahon that more readily come to mind like:

when Dredd returns to Mega City One from Lunar One
The Judges' tanks in front of the mob in Block Mania
A two credit freezy whip hitting a cit and sparking a block war
Ukko losing at dice
Hammerstein and Mongrol centre spreads in the first series of ABC Warriors

But Carlos has his too:

Dredd with stub gun
Request denied
Who's gonna mess with us?
Today is the day of the Strontium Dog
Stix shot through the heart


Overall I'm sticking with Carlos for volume and consistency.

[broodblik]

This page below shows us what a great storyteller Mike is:

[Funt Solo]

Sorry, I can't do this one. I love them both equally.

[Southstreeter]

Early McMahon would be a dead heat, but as I'm not so keen on his later stuff it's got to be Carlos.

[Max Headroom]

I have to agree with Southstreeter - early McMahon was great, but I didn't warm to his later more experimental style. Carlos moves forward into the Final!

[sixmo]

Another day, another tough decision. I'm going to pick Carlos Ezquerra in this match up. His mastery of flowing action is winning here against McMahon and his varied beautiful styles. I'm a particular fan of Ezquerra characters diving for cover/through windows, etc. I wish I had a set of images picked to illustrate this, but you know what I'm talking about! Also, I would not like to be called out by any Ezquerra-style gunslinger of any era. Things would not end well for me!

[Andy B]

Should have been the final! McMahon's peaks are arguably the greater, but on average, King Carlos is the master. (Literally: was he not a big influence on McMahon?)

[Colin YNWA]

VIOTING CLOSED

Two legends*, rightly hailed, but its clear now that one is almost universially raised to a level above the others. To an extent I'm really surprised by the extent to this victory. Not necessarily that Carlos wins, I think he was always such a strong favourite. Rather that its quite so one sided. In the semi's across both sides there are three artists I prefer at least (I'm lucky I've only had to make one decision so far!) - that's not to say that I don't think Carlos is as astonishing, of course he is, he's brilliant. The surprise is that art is subjective, that opinions amongst 2000ad fans so diverse that one talent seems to largely unify opinion.

Mike McMahon is rightly give much praise here, is held up as a legend, but this vote, if it has no other purpose is a fitting tribute to

Carlos Ezquerra

It'll take a shock of unprecedented proportions to stop him in the final surely?

* I don't wish to forget the vote for Massimo here and of course 3 legends got votes here!

[sixmo]

Does a clash of styles on wildly different stories create closer contests? The two giants in this contest are best known for their classic Dredd action styles so it is easy to compare and contrast. The Flint/D'israeli confront over on the Current Artist shootout was a very close battle, but the artists could not have been more different.

[IndigoPrime]

I guess it also depends where people see these artists. I'd say very early McMahon was close to Ezquerra, but then he was more or less instructed to create a knock-off. But his Dredd quite quickly diverged from other artists, and his style evolved into something unique. Then you have Sky Chariots, which from his anxiety about the finished product resulted in something breathtaking. His more recent efforts are divisive, but I love the energy in the finished product.

So even in this challenge, I'd say we're looking at two quite different artists — albeit obviously not poles apart to the extent of Flint/D'Israeli.

[Colin YNWA]

I think another factor is both Kev O'Neill and Mike McMahon have such defined styles which have transformed over the years. Certainly latter work from McMahon, where as Carlos, well he's developed and flexed but he's always been very Carlos. His work hasn't diverged too much from utterly comfortable comic book art. All be it very, very good comic book art.

This isn't the best way to express this but Carlos' art feels comfortable and safe, in a high octane, energetic way - but I look at his work and I feel at home.

I look at Mike McMahon and Kev O'Neill's work and I feel like I'm at some bangin' party and we don't always feel comfortable at some bangin' party full of new and difficult things.

[credo]

The choice in this vote does just highlight how amazing Block Mania/Apocalypse War is as a comic book double-header.

[Link Prime]

El Rey