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2000AD Winter Special 08

Started by Funt Solo, 03 November, 2005, 01:29:35 AM

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Funt Solo

Cover:  Tharg's Control Panel
Excellently inventive cover art from Boo2-D2.

Legends Of The Rogue Trooper: Survival Lesson
Serves as a good introductory tale for anyone unfamiliar with the character and setting.  As such, it doesn't offer anything new for anyone familiar with Rogue's early adventures.  

I found the art hit and miss.  Rogue looks wrong, somehow, but then you've got beautiful frames like the "reflection in the visor" shot.

More? Absolutely.


Road Warrior
An insane sci-fi concept, this one, that must be strange to draw (spaghetti junction to the nth degree).  I'm not sure if the Lobo-esque main character and a complex series of inter-connecting highways in "Downlode" have anywhere to go.  

The art is great fun - wonderful facial expressions - but seems a bit rushed on the last page.
 
More? Honestly, I'd rather see Mad Max: Road Warrior, as concepts go.  Great as a one-off Pulp Sci-Fi, but no legs.


Bones Of Eden
I enjoyed this - it has a great basic concept - but the storytelling is confusing.  It jumps back and forth in time (especially on the 2nd page) and requires some effort to figure out (as it goes present day [strip time] - past - present day - further past - present day very rapidly with no direct indication).  

More? No - I have no sympathy for any of the characters.  All the "goodies" are people that f*cked up the entire planet, and the "baddie" is an insane cannibal.  Like Rain Dogs, post-apocalyptic tribal society scenarios often go nowhere, slowly.


Judge Dredd: Sugar Daddy
Uhm.

More? No.


Judge Dredd: Out Of The Black Stuff
This is very reminiscent of the full colour Bolland-Dredd that appears in the 1983 2000AD Annual (the one where there's a breakout at the Alien Zoo and JD ends up inside a duck-billed Yabba-Dabba). [Aside: not listed in the database on this site.]

The art is great - like a cross between Bolland and Cliff Robinson.  Great chin on page 2!  Wagner's script is typically zany MC-1 stuff.  Is that the Muzak Killer at the bottom of page 2?

More?  Of this quality of art?  Yes, of course.


Terror Tales: Contagion
Fantastically creepy tale that's genuinely disturbing, whilst (I think) avoiding any Future Shock cliches!

Stunning black & white art: interesting angles and the use of shadow help evoke a sense of dread as we spin towards the dynamic climax.

More? Aye - get some more twisted psychologically disturbing tales in the prog - and get this artist to draw Zenith Phase V.  Heh.  I wish.


Blade Warrior
The story was a bit hard to follow in places, but it's high fantasy stuff, so maybe that's why.  The insane conflict and the rich, sumptuous art kept me enthralled, though.  The final splash page is something that Slough Feg would be proud to call home.

More? Of all the strips so far, this one serves best as an opening episode in a grander story - and the artist clearly deserves a place in Tharg's Droid-Roster.


Earth War
Bad Company.  War is hell.  It's good enough as a one-off, but as with A.H.A.B., I've got no sympathy for the supposed good guys:  I hope the Skatch rip them apart.  This art is sometimes disappointing (the double-page spread combat), at other times stunning (the micro-shield frame).  Reminds me of early O'Niell - and someone else I can't put my finger on.

More? Muscle-bound goons in another sci-fi version of Darkie's Mob isn't going anywhere new for me, but I'd love to see what the artist's style develops into.


Unholy Warriors
Gibson-esque art that portrays a strange hybrid of sci-fi and fantasy in which a party of Dungeons & Dragons characters (with guns and cybernetic implants) does a days work of demon-fighting.

More? Yes:  who are all these characters and what brought them together?  Who's pulling their strings?  You can see the art's a little bit rough around the edges, but it's lively and entertaining.


Summary:
Cheers, yer Betelgusian Mightiness, for producing this zarjaz anthology for our winter perusal.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Leigh S

I enjoyed Als stuff best - Caveman Warrior (as it should rightfully have been christened) had the feel of an updated Action tale - like Kids Rule OK, but with (only slightly) more gore.

Road Warrior was OK, though the Place of Dead Roads wasnt all that bad, despite the dread build up.  

Sugar Daddy might have had the most basic art, but Wagner did a nice little tale with the concept - Things we learnt: If you ever get mind control over Dredd, it always pays to be very specific!

The other Dredd had great old school art - very much David Pugh meets Bolland.  Again, Wagner does a nice old school story to match.  Both of these Dredds had a good feel to them - perhaps we need a thread of suggestions for Wagner to rip off!

Blade Warrior had nice art but a pretty standard fantasy plot.  

Earth War was a bit too close to Bad Co, but I like rufus' art

Unholy Warriors was my least favourite - the art seemed to too consciously riff off Gibson and the "hey Dude" characterisation of fantasy heroes was straight out of the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon..

Overall, I found it an enjoyable read - more so for the concept of new writers, artists and characters - even where I found myself more against than for a strip, it was still an interesting experience to get all these new perspectives on things. Definitely worth repeating, though perhaps with less Warriors next time?