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Post by Reddog on Dec 14, 2010 21:40:18 GMT
While there is no way in Hell I can ever hope to keep pace with Kimbo I will do my best to at least try to catch up. Before commenting on the new stories I should quickly respond to this, As for Lew's pun having sat down and read them, this self referential put down of puns is a staple of Lew's it even crop up again in this next issue choice. All I can do it humbly hold up my hands and bow to your obviously vastly superior knowledge of STC. Reading that back to myself it sounds like I'm being a sarcastic [censored] but really I'm not! I mean, while I have reread all the STC strips in a massive binge read over the last few months, I can't honestly say I was taking it all in but rather just enjoying the wild ride down memory lane. So then, what was next? Oh yes 'Rampage of Mekanik' and just to reiterate I'll only be making additional comments I consider worthy of making, not just repeating what's been said, so what new do I have to say? Not really, it is as Kimbo aptly put it, your fairly standard team up story. The only major problem I personally have with this story is a total inability to stop laughing while I read it, why? Tell me, does Mekanik look...familiar? I'll give you a hint Yes! It's Reptar from Rugrats! Every single bloody time I read this strip I just image that 'somewhere' in the Stone Tower Zone are Tommy, Chucky, Phil and Lil crawling around on the ground, while Tommy occasionally points up at Mekanik and mumbles "Reptar."
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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Dec 14, 2010 22:35:20 GMT
Good review, Kimbo!
My only major complaint with A New Hope is Shortfuse almost being too powerful (yes, I know, he's invulnerable). I understand that Sonic is the leader that keeps the Freedom Fighters together, but for them to be performing so appallingly in his absence undermines them hugely. Then up shows the author's original creation and he takes everyone down with ease and saves the day. Somehow a bit jarring.
The art isn't Flint's best, but it's not his worst either. He illustrated one of the early Sonic strips and it looks outright bizarre. I loved most of his covers, mind you, so it's not as if he's incapable of drawing these characters well.
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Post by Reddog on Dec 14, 2010 22:57:28 GMT
Now on to 'Earth Attacks,' two words spring to mind, 'train wreck'. I thought this story was appalling when I read it as a kid and it's even worse now! Firstly, while many of us Boomers have a pretty solid respect for Elson, compared to his earlier work, this story is pretty poor quality, the issue of Sonic's horrible upwards spikes have already been touched upon...I hope no one cut their fingers (*shot* for terrible joke) in my opinion everything looks pretty [censored]ty, WAAAY below Elson's standards. From reading lengthy emails and posts from Nigel about the history of STC though I remember reading that Nigel was very keen to make sure Elson was involved creatively to some extent in the writing process, he said he did this because he wanted to give Elson the chance to draw things that interested him, knowing full well that this would get the best form him. It really does show when you compare the work Elson did on the Super Soinc story arch, which he was heavily involved in the creative process, compared to the late stories where, one assumes he was not. Admittedly this is pure conjecture, perhaps Lew did involve Elson to the same extent that Nigel did, but given Kimbo's already made reference to heavy editorial interference in this story, it may be a case that Elson just really vomited this out without putting as much effort into it as a kind of subtle protest at the fact he knew this was [censored]. To give a historical comparison, in the classic film Blade Runner (which purely coincidentally I also referenced in another topic for very different reasons) as many fans know, studio interference forced Riddly Scott to add that horrible Deckard voice over stuff, what many fans don't know however was Harrison Ford himself was in total agreement with Riddly Scott on this and so deliberately did the voice over reading as badly as he could get away with in the hopes that after hearing them, the studio tops would be so mortified at how bad it sounded, they would not end up using it...they did anyway...*facepalm* Getting back to the story content, I'm going to say something a little controversial, when originally reading the Colonel Granite stuff, even though it was mentioned before then, I honestly though that he was American and so when Sonic ended up in London it was quite a shock I can tell you! I'm going to have to be 'vary' careful how I word this without it coming across as racist, look, it's not that I genuinely believe that the American military tops are any less sane or prone to violence than ones from other counties. To give just one example, the role of the British army in Malaysia during the 50's and the sicking atrocities carried out by them under orders on both the guerrillas and the civilian population, easily compare to the American ones carried out in Vietnam later on. My belief that Granite was American rather stemmed from the fact that, the OTT aggressive, paranoid, cold war mentality, American military leader has, whether we like it or not, become a very common overused staple of fiction and I was just responding to that. Is any of this important, well not really, I'm just saying that, Granite was so bland and typical of the kind of that kind of character that he lacked any defining traits whatsoever that could mean you would think of him as British, granted what constitutes 'Britishness' is another controversial issue I'm not even going to go into, however, at the very least, if you are going to establish that it's the British military, or a section of it, why not at least roll with it and do something interesting? For example, just off the top of my head, while Britain, though it's strategic close alliance with the US remains a key player in world politics, it is no longer the world superpower it once was before the Second World War, the Brittish Empire is gone while a section of the ruling-class even today still resents their diminished position, perhaps they could see getting their hands on the Mobian technology was a way of raising Britain's and more importantl their position? Do I have anything posative to say about 'Earth Attacks'...um...Sonic super spin attacks a tank, that was kinda cool.
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Post by ShayMay on Dec 14, 2010 23:03:34 GMT
Nobody's made any mention of Earth Attacks, what are you on about? >_>
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Post by Pete on Dec 14, 2010 23:18:04 GMT
Great thread, as already mentioned, Kimbo!
Waltzing in with my two pence: Shady Characters, in my eyes, was quite the drama piece that really did have me guessing until the reveal. I really didn't put it together that whenever Agent X appeared, so too did Johnny; it came totally out of left field, and was actually a little disappointed that it fell prey to the "evil clone" plot device. Ce la vie.
Speaking of Elson's art, I felt that Richard hit a great stride between STC's 30-110's (there abouts, don't ask for specifics)- his art, especially around the S3+K adaptations were vibrant, full of neat touches and, as people have mentioned, consistently on model. There was the obvious lull during the Shanazaar saga, but the Sonic Adventure adaptation was a nice mix of the older, more stylized beginnings, but something that is still recognizably "Elson". Interestingly, however, I've preferred his background art, more so the greener zones like Emerald Hill, or Flicky's Island, in the later issues. Dunno why.
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Post by Reddog on Dec 14, 2010 23:19:26 GMT
Nobody's made any mention of Earth Attacks, what are you on about? >_> Nobody eh? Hehehe, we'll see about that! As these honourable mentions were meant to be shorter than they are I’ll wrap up with the last two honourable mentions. 28: Earth attacks. Issue 146-147 Art: Richard Elson. Mobius is attacked by lame villain Percival Granite and Sonic meets Tony Blair. This isn’t a good story by any stretch, but Earth being in the comics was one of the demands of Debora Tate the editor, and I think so might the excessive environmental messages that got OTT in STC’s later years, so Lew can hardly be blamed for having to make the best he could out of this. It’s by no means great like I said, but it’s certainly unique, in no other Sonic continuity would Sonic be attacked by the Uk military and invade a military base in Scotland. Before getting a map off a guy heavily implied to be Tony Blair. To me that’s far more worth a mention then bringing up Raining Banana’s again. Then a couple of people went on to give their brieff thoughts on it, starting with, D'aw, I really like Earth Attacks. True, Granite is a rubbish villain and the world got saved by flower power but the venture to Earth for the first time and the fight of animal against human was quite an exciting one at the time. Moving on to, Earth Attacks is pretty inconsequential, but I do agree that the trip to Earth was at least interesting. I don't think it was handled massively well, but such an ill-fitting plot line for STC was never going to work completely. And then, of course, we get a load of Ring of Eternity stories where Sonic/Amy & Tekno visit Earth multiple times, with the Ring of Eternity being such a gigantic plot device to enable these stories it's almost insulting. As a minor recurring villain, I don't think Colonel Granite is that bad. He's just been in a few bad/pointless stories. Finally going back to Kimbo, Also Earth Attack is a story my brain tells me to hate, but I can't quite dislike it. Check and mate! ;D
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Post by ShayMay on Dec 14, 2010 23:31:50 GMT
Oh aye, sorry. My mistake.
I see what you're doing now, going through them and giving your two cents.
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Post by Matt on Dec 15, 2010 1:15:36 GMT
I've been keeping a fair pace with these updates but due to the real world once again taking up far to much of my time Secret Weapon will have to wait..... but I have to say how shocked I am at the brilliant response this thread had thanks every one for reading so far. @ Kimbo: I don't think "lazy" was the right word to use; maybe more "complacent". Elson's characters looked more and more plastic to me as the series went on. Less like comic characters and more like drawings of Sonic, if that makes sense. It might well be a side effect of my general disinterest in the onslaught of Drakon stuff. I feel like my enjoyment Elson peaked when I was a child around the "Return of Chaotix" 6 parter. No your right Lazy wasn't quite the right word, I think your right with complacent. I was looking at thinking over my list and am aware that the more it the list really does fit my overall opinion of STC, while not ever story on the list if from the same era, the bulk are from what in my opinion is the Golden era of STC (50-100) their is obviously a lot of great stuff before and after but this is the period I think the comic is strongest.
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Post by madhair60 on Dec 15, 2010 14:17:57 GMT
Interestingly, however, I've preferred his background art, more so the greener zones like Emerald Hill, or Flicky's Island, in the later issues. Dunno why. That is interesting. I agree, though not so specifically - I like his backgrounds in general. My issues are with his depictions of the characters exclusively - everything else is top drawer. And he's a top draw-er, do you see
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Post by Mambo's Here! Look Busy! on Dec 15, 2010 19:21:25 GMT
That scene is so awesome - all the nerdy stuff in the background...
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Post by Arch on Dec 16, 2010 0:03:50 GMT
I've spent the last six years thinking that was Sonic's bed and it's actually just a really messy sofa. Christ, Sonic, you're such a role model...
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Post by Matt on Dec 16, 2010 0:14:37 GMT
24 Secret Weapon Issues 90-91 Art Rob Corona and Andy Pritchett Sorry for the lack of update yesterday, while I hadn’t said I was going to update daily or anything after completing one a day it seemed like I’d fallen in to the pattern, plus if I keep up a good pace there is a certain deadline I have in mind. Also as a warning this review is over 4 pages long with out picture's But without further ado Background: Much of the background for this story was covered last time as this is the issues following directly on, However it’s worth going over that Robtonik is currently based out of the impressive Robotnik shaped Citadel Robotnik at the heart of the grim dystopiain city of Metropolis Zone, this is effectively the seat of Robotniks empire. Synopsis: Johnny is out on the street of metropolis to rendezvous with an informant, an non to nice looking rat, who sells the Rabbit information on Robotniks secret weapon, that rat can’t say what it is but only that Troopers will be escorting it through Gum Tree Zone in two day’s time. As Johnny runs off cloak blowing in the wind, Robotnik steps out of the shadow and thanks the rat for his loyalty. Two days later and the gang are in Gum Tree Zone and are worried no ones turning up, but shortuse picks troopers up on his sensors, a small unit of Troopers are guarding a crate. Shortfuse bursts out all lasers blazing and the hapless Robots are soundly kicked around by a group of freedom fighters who last issue couldn’t have beaten a grandmother with acute arthritis. Shortfuse figures there something a foot, the troopers must be letting them win. With the guards taken care of they turn attention to the crate, what weapon lies inside can it be used against Robotnik? Turns out.. No! the secret weapon is part of a trap. The secret weapon is the second Cybernik, Vermin. The rat that two day’s ago sold them in information. Shortfuse tries to reason with Vermin, help break the programming, but Vermin isn’t brainwashed he’s just a bit of a Dick So promptly he bashes the Cybernik to the ground. In part two, the Heroes battle the new villain. Vermin beats on shortfuse some more, knocks down tails and then use his secret weapon… A computer virus to disable Shortfuse. After Johnny fails to take down Vermin, Amy shoots a Deus ex machina down on Vermin causing damage to his armour so he retreats. Still they don’t know how to repair a cybernik, luckily however Shortfuse had already saved a brilliant and talented technology expert from Lardbelly for just such an occasion, so safe in Tekno’s secret lab the Squirrel who who just loves to hate Robotnik begins his slow recovery. Also the gang meets Tekno. Why it’s on the list: Part of me wants to use write; because it’s great and leave it at that. Theres a lot more to it then that though. While I liked what a new hope represented to the advancing story line in light of it’s other wise unremarkable story. Secret weapons is full of little details that keep me coming back to it, as well as bringing a couple of developments to the comic and an interesting story. A new world is almost the opposite of shady characters. Shady characters was a great story let down by an poor end, on the flip side A new hope was a mediocre story that set up for something great. Secret Weapon is what neither of them where alone, a great story on it own that helps to further a good ongoing plot line. As I mentioned in my first review, I liked that during the hazy days of 50-100 and even before, we often had Sonic being watched and commented on by Robotnik from his grand citadel. I always liked these, I also liked when stories started with a shot of the impressive landmark as this one does, In fact really enjoy seeing metropolis city, particularly as portrayed by the Lew and Rob Corona team, rather than Nigel Kitching and Richard Elson. This brief scene in Metropolis is brilliant and really pushed this story up in my estimation when writing the list. There just so much hanging in every image in this story, it never needs to be started in dialogue its just oozing from the poses and the backgrounds… Metropolis Zone is a city of grime and shadow’s a world of secret deals and sleazy crime lords. It’s also a place where a hero has to keep his head down and his face hidden, spies and badniks are around every corner. Also this is a story giving Johnny something to do, Lew Stringer I think has tried quite a few times to do something with Johnny, who is a character that often falls by the way side, he’s done much more in his death then he really managed in life. Sonic fills so many roles in the team that it’s hard to guess what his role is meant to be, is he the muscle of the group, the heart more often then not he just making up the numbers and with some few pages to tell a story Johnny often get over looked. However this story helps us to imagine more to the character of Johnny, the guy getting down and doing the nitty gritty work, Amy is busy keep the group together and making plans, Tails is the shy younger guy not trusted to do mission’s, Shortfuse and Sonic are to arrogant and recognizable to do the slinking around jobs, which leave Johnny daring the dangers of collecting the intelligence that Kintobor just can’t get. The attack in Gum Tree Zone it’s self does all feel a bit similar, a case of haven’t I seen this somewhere before… freedom fighters attacking a Transport in a Jungle Location only to find out the cargo inside was one of The Dr’s traps… In fact it really is the start of the plot to Face from the past another good (though not list worthy) story by Lew Stringer in STC 51 and 52. While this might be a chance to moan, I’m not that type of reviewer, and it useful to see how the team dealt with a similar situation with Sonic over Shortfuse. Though it did lead me to question something. Side Point: Why does Dr Robotnik keep transporting stuff by land transport, he does it here, in face from the past and in Badnik bridge, we know the Dictator has a tons of flying vehicles yet he insists on ground transport. Even two bit villains are able to get spaceships by the late STC issues so why does he do it, Lew’s two story you can explain away with “well it is a trap.” Nigel however writes Badnik Bridge and that isn’t a trap, sure the thruster is bigger, but it’s being flown later anyway… I guess it’s for the sake of a good narrative which does need to take precedent over little niggles, but I like to imagine that old eggy has something of a passion for sending land vehicles all over the place, just because he can. Back to the review: It’s great to see here that when the freedom fighters are having an easy time of it they’re being let off easy… I know it seems silly, but if they legitimately kicked ass as a team after last issue it would have felt off so it’s a nice to have it easy in part one, almost as a buffer before part 2. Now the villain of the piece, Vermin. Vermin is a nice reoccurring villain for shortfuse, the opposite morality to our hero with all his powers and More it’s a cliché, but only because it works so well. Vermin is what the Cybernik project was always meant to be. It makes sense that Robotnik would have created a badnik specifically to take down one of his worst mistakes the Cybernik. Having learned of his team up with the freedom fighters its sensible that he’d try and use it to take the whole gang down. L.T said this after the A New Hope, and I have to say it’s a common complaint about Shortfuse and Tekno, that they are no better written then fan insert Mary Sues. It’s a complicated question that I think is important and I going to go into in more detail when I get to Game Over. However I think the reason that A New Hope works, is that Shortfuse needs to be seen as that savior hero before he can fail. So I think it worked for the story. Both Kitching and Lew had their own break out characters in Shortfuse and Tekno and Captain Plunder and his crew, and really on the one hand you can argue that Lew made Shortfuse a Mary sue, but likewise can ask why Nigel continued writing a pirate who’s adventures in later issues had so little to do with Mobius it might as well been a separate universe so like I said it get complicated to looks at why Lew wrote Shorfuse the way he did and I’ll look at it more as we go through. You might however ask why Shortfuse get his own reoccurring foe here and all the freedom fighter have a foes with a personal grudge or a reason for the character to fear them against them at some point* but Johnny never does, isn’t he worth his own foe. For this story I think I makes sense, and in the case of the on going narrative, while last issue set up shortfuse joining the gang, Secret weapon set up the heroes foil here as Vermin, placing him in this story makes the events of Boiling Point possible and its a great idea from Lew, it’s a shame that after this fight with the whole gang and boiling point he becomes more and more and more a villain that only fights Shortfuse as there is a lot of potential in this character. The way they defeat Vermin comes a little out of left field, but it’s set up a little as the name of the zone s referenced throughout the story. Also having Amy as the character to stop Vermin is pleasant, showing that her cool thinking win’s over shortfuses brash attitude, again this is careful setting up for boiling point. While It could be argued that shortfuse rushing in first could be an early warning that shortfuse will go off on one alter (which it is.) What some people might miss knowing the story in advanced is how subtle this is, him leaping in is so totally in character, and also so similar to something Sonic would do that you can’t see that Shortfuse will ever be a problem at this point, it’s this slow building from A New Hope to Boiling Point that makes the storyline so grand. It’s is worth pointing out though that also a thow away piece of dialogue has this exchange… Now this might me reading to much into the story, which I don’t want to do. Shortfuse line here seems to dismissive of Tails, which comes up again in a monster wakes, whereas Sonic is a friend to Tails and has almost earned the right to mock his friend and have it taken in good humour. Shortuse is not nearly established enough to dissmiss Tail like that with out it being really quite rude. Vermin’s Virus attack also is a clever reason to introduce the gang to Tekno, who will go on from this story to start hanging out with them more and more, teaming up with Amy for the first time in 4 issues time, in what is a precursor to story’s that become regular in the post 100 issues of STC. Draw backs: I mentioned the very trivial points of land travel and similar story already, and I don’t really see them a draw backs. One things in part one, Is Robtonik beging in the shadow’s he has spy camara to watch wherever, and has a global empire to maintain but he lurking in alley at night. I dunno, it’s in character Robotnik often show up in odd places in person in Nigel and Lew’s story so it not only this story but still I don’t like it. You could have just as easily cut to the rat reporting to a badnik or appear in the citadel. Art: This review is already far to long,… but their so much I want to say about Rob Corona’s work, I think like Lew himself Rob’s work is much under praised, while Elson and Dobbyns work is always parised, and cassonova and Mcmannons mocked and called un suiting, Rob often fails to get mentioned. He is a great artist, his cartoon style is amazing, his details lush and engaging. The poses and details really help to sell this story. Corona is the best STC artist for expressions and we get a real sence of chracter take this panel from page 5 in part one. We can see Johnny is shocked, amy determined and angry and tails dumbfounded. These help to sell the chracters to us as 3 dimensional and layer. Plus I just can’t help but love his depiction of metropolis zone like I said before, the brick walls and his style just suit for me the setting, where as Elson, draws the Zone well there just something less claustrophobic about the way he draws the zone, and he often draws the zone is a way that looks almost airy and nice, even in some of it bleaker depictions. Also Johnny just ‘Chillin’ at the back at the bottom of page 5 part 2 just seems such a nice little additional detail his pose is so relaxed, again it helps sells Johnny as a character so well. Also the colourist for this issue is Any Prichett a good artist in his own right, but he really helps with story, the colours are a little more toned down them some artist but a re varied but the shading is great, compare the colouring her to John Burns colouring on Rob Coronas art as the lead story The hive part 1 in this issue, and you can see how much Andy brings to this strip. The lighting in this issue is also to be commended, particularly in metropolis zone and in Teknos lab. Johnny Lightfoot pretty chill guy*For any one wondering as I figure it - Sonic (Robotnik, Super Sonic)
- Amy and Tekno (Granite) and (Sett in that STC-O story )
- Porker (Hammer head)
- Tails (Flea byte, Trog, Gamble just to name a couple)
- Shortfuse (vermin)
- Knuckles (Zachary)
Also next story isn't a direct carry on, we're jumping back to STC's early day's with an Amy solo adventure.
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Post by Arch on Dec 16, 2010 10:48:17 GMT
Quick things to point out:
* I didn't know Casanovas' art was "mocked". Sure, it's not very similar to the other styles throughout the comic but I really like "Mayhem in the Marble Zone" and "Badniks Bridge" for the art.
* I love Andy Pritchett's work for STC. I prefer his solo artwork though; his art has an Elson feel to it but his colouring is far better.
Onto the next installment, I'm hoping it's In Good Hands over Snow Business, the second one just wasn't very interesting to me.
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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Dec 16, 2010 14:25:42 GMT
Secret Weapon is a great story and brings a new serious villain to the table. While Lew almost certainly favoured using a Villain Of The Week (well, fortnight) in his stories, whenever he had to create a serious threat, he did a brilliant job. Metamorphia was a great recurring enemy in STC's early days (and I think it's a major shame she was stripped of her powers so soon as that crippled any real storyline potential, aside from a cameo as an illusion in Showdown and her reformation in her final appearance), Brutus is, of course, one of STC's most popular villains, and Vermin was a character with huge potential as the anti-Shortfuse.
One of the best things about Stringer's recurring villains is probably in the fact they're so different to his by-the-story enemies and, thus, our expectations are turned on their heads. While most enemies Lew came up with for the various Complete Stories days were pun-slinging loonies who couldn't hope to defeat Sonic or Tails in a fight and, later on, generally got dragged off into the hands of the penguin police by the end of the story, the likes of Brutus and Vermin would make good their escape to be fought another day but, more than that, they could hold a serious fight with the Freedom Fighters. An enemy that could only legitimately be taken down by an electromagnetic pulse or some other extreme piece of good fortune is not someone to be taken lightly.
One of the best things about Vermin, though, lies in the fact he prevented Lew from having to keep reusing one of his favourite Shortfuse tropes. Early on, there was lots of concern from Sonic and co that Robotnik would one day regain control of Shortfuse- he did in one of the Summer Specials and Sonic faced an extremely difficult fight that, in all likelihood, he would have eventually lost were it not for Robotnik's mind control device breaking. There was lots of worry from Sonic that Robotnik may one day permanently control Shortfuse, and this was echoed in a few other strips by other characters. It's even hinted at in the story arc you've looked at here, as the gang show concern that Shortfuse is potentially dangerous.
Vermin meant that Lew didn't need to keep going back to that idea and that Shortfuse could become firmly rooted as a good guy. By having a Cybernik on the bad team, and one even stronger than Shortfuse at that, there was no need to turn Shortfuse evil. The only way it could have been interesting would be to have both Cyberniks on the side of evil, but that kind of story stacks the odds too greatly against the heroes to have any kind of permanence.
I think it's a shame Lew didn't use Vermin more; he didn't need to be a foil for Shortfuse, he could have provided opposition for Tails, Amy or Tekno on their own without Shortfuse.
Rob Corona's art is so well suited to STC, and when paired with the right colourist, the stories really came to life. On a related note, John Burns may not have been as good a partner for Corona as Andy Pritchett, but he works ten times better with Rob than he did with Rich Elson. He worked best with Mike Hadley in the early issues, though, that was a "cartoony" look that I really enjoyed. It wasn't as good as what Elson was delivering around that time, but it was nice at bringing out character, which is miles more than can be said about the felt tip pen scribblings of some of the early Sonic artists.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 8, 2011 21:01:40 GMT
Re: Lew Stringer: the Top 25 stories (a countdown) « Reply #39 Today at 16:54 »
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12/12/10 at 19:21, Tom wrote: I can't say Bravehog is what comes to my mind when I think of Lew Stringer. I think "humour", given that's his speciality and what he was specifically brought onto the comic to deliver. And deliver he did - but despite that mandate he managed to sneak a lot of brilliant stuff under the radar. Shortfuse, Brutus, Metamorphia, Agent X, Mekanik, Future Shocks, Game Over. A Tails story that even Sarah Rose liked. Even "It's Raining Bananas" had its fans.
Did I prefer Nigel's stuff overall? Yeah, but then he was given rather different instructions in terms of what to write (when he didn't ignore them). Not to mention that he was firmly embedded as the lead writer by the time Lew Stringer first started writing for the comic - they could hardly compete, particularly when they were being told to write to such different audiences (I once heard Stringer say the comic could seem rather schizophrenic at times).
Honestly I truly believe there's only a small handful of stinkers in Stringer's work on the comic. (And Nigel produced his fair share of stinkers too.) He wrote to spec and almost always did it well.
Tom
The way I remember it I told the editors how I thought the series should be written and I usually got to do it that way. I remember a few comments after a script arrived in from Richard Burton: One was to be careful about the Nazi inspired stuff when we first set up the Freedom Fighter idea. One was a comment that a time travel story was about as complicated a plot as I should attempt and the other was an idea that was rejected outright. This idea I pitched again after Richard had moved on - it was Smokey and the Badnik.
I was asked to write a 'Writer's Guide' remember so I was asked to come up with an approach to the series. I did hear stuff second hand about Lew being asked to include more humour. I don't think either of the editors ever asked me to put in more humour. I always thought my stories had humour actually.
Nigel
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Post by ShayMay on Jan 8, 2011 21:30:35 GMT
I always thought my stories had humour actually. In quoting this, I've just realised your username is Mr. Cuddle Bunny. Excellent. Your stories definitely had humour, but it wasn't quite as in-your-face or as obvious as Lew's; not that that's a slight against Lew, it worked for a children's comic. For example, your stories were less likely to contain a killer snowman throwing deadly snowballs at our heroes, while Lew's were less likely to have an over-arching story. Of course, I was reading this while very young (about 4 or so), so I only got some of your jokes while re-reading as a teenager, but I've always kind of separated them into "funny" strips (the little one-shots which involved a joke villain and a slew of puns) and "story" strips (the stuff you were more prone to writing - in fact, I was surprised to find it wasn't you who wrote Game Over or the Commander Brutus stories). Er... I think I've lost my point somewhere. What I'm trying to say is that while your strips tended to be more about the story and Lew's tended to be more about humour, your strips had humour and Lew's strips had story. ...Am I making sense?
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Post by madhair60 on Jan 8, 2011 21:55:25 GMT
I thought there was inherent humour in your art, Nigel. The style I hope you won't mind me calling "cartoony". I loved the way you drew Sonic and the gang.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 9, 2011 18:45:34 GMT
I always thought my stories had humour actually. In quoting this, I've just realised your username is Mr. Cuddle Bunny. Excellent. Your stories definitely had humour, but it wasn't quite as in-your-face or as obvious as Lew's; not that that's a slight against Lew, it worked for a children's comic. For example, your stories were less likely to contain a killer snowman throwing deadly snowballs at our heroes, while Lew's were less likely to have an over-arching story. Of course, I was reading this while very young (about 4 or so), so I only got some of your jokes while re-reading as a teenager, but I've always kind of separated them into "funny" strips (the little one-shots which involved a joke villain and a slew of puns) and "story" strips (the stuff you were more prone to writing - in fact, I was surprised to find it wasn't you who wrote Game Over or the Commander Brutus stories). Er... I think I've lost my point somewhere. What I'm trying to say is that while your strips tended to be more about the story and Lew's tended to be more about humour, your strips had humour and Lew's strips had story. ...Am I making sense? I get it. Maybe the humour in my Sonic strips was not obvious to the younger readers
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 9, 2011 18:48:59 GMT
I thought there was inherent humour in your art, Nigel. The style I hope you won't mind me calling "cartoony". I loved the way you drew Sonic and the gang. Well, I was thinking of the scripts. I meant there to be humour in my Decap artwork but not so much in the Sonic. Let's face it, as an artist, I was not great at the Sonic stuff. I loved what Rich, Nigel and Rob did. I was embarrassed by my attempts. But the page rate was better for drawing a Sonic so I wasn't going to turn it down. Nigel
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Post by Badly-Drawn Manchild on Jan 9, 2011 19:37:39 GMT
I just wanted to step in and say that this is a great thread. Looking back over the comic now Lew really did write some gems for it; I just find that they tend to get "lost in the shuffle" when I think of how I most closely associate him with the blatant "humour" attempts and pop-culture parodies that he'd inject into the comic later on.
Anyway, I hope you can find the time to complete this list, as so far it's absolutely cracking.
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Post by lewstringer on Jan 19, 2011 19:42:19 GMT
Oh Lew, unfortunately there’s only a few things that come to mind when we think of Lew Stringer, one of STC’s longest serving writers. We think of Brave Hogs, childish puns, lesbians in space, raining bananas and possibly if we’re feeling nice we’ll remember Project Brutus, but probably add “I thought Nigel wrote that.” Ha! They say one shouldn't read the words of critics but I'd just like to clear up something if I may. When I was asked to contribute to STC it was because of my work in children's humour comics. The thinking was that STC was a bit too serious and might put off the younger reader so I was brought in to provide a lighter tone to the stories I wrote. Hence the "childish puns". They were puns aimed at children. It's a bit unfair to compare Nigel's more serious material to my lighter stuff. It wasn't intended to compete on that level. However, as the stories were all under one roof as it were, and featuring the same characters, I can understand why comparisons are made. When I devised the Project:Brutus saga and similar "main" stories they were intentionally more serious simply because that was the remit for the main strips. The back-ups were there for light relief, hence the lighter tone of those. It didn't turn out too badly. STC had a good long run compared to many other comics and most readers enjoyed it.
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Post by Baron Canier on Jan 19, 2011 20:01:04 GMT
Wait. People didn't like Raining Bananas?
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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Jan 19, 2011 20:34:46 GMT
Welcome to the boards, Lew, great to see you posting here! For your contributions to STC, one of the biggest parts of my childhood, a huge thank you is in order from me. And Raining Bananas was brilliant anyway
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Post by madhair60 on Jan 19, 2011 21:03:26 GMT
-Slightly O.T.T gushing-
Lew, I've been enjoying your comics since I was a kid and excitedly receiving Buster, all the way through to today when I excitedly receive Viz. Vampire Brats and Tom Thug through to Pathetic Sharks and Felix and his Amazing Underpants.
Thanks.
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Post by Matt on Jan 19, 2011 22:14:38 GMT
Oh Lew, unfortunately there’s only a few things that come to mind when we think of Lew Stringer, one of STC’s longest serving writers. We think of Brave Hogs, childish puns, lesbians in space, raining bananas and possibly if we’re feeling nice we’ll remember Project Brutus, but probably add “I thought Nigel wrote that.” Ha! They say one shouldn't read the words of critics but I'd just like to clear up something if I may. When I was asked to contribute to STC it was because of my work in children's humour comics. The thinking was that STC was a bit too serious and might put off the younger reader so I was brought in to provide a lighter tone to the stories I wrote. Hence the "childish puns". They were puns aimed at children. It's a bit unfair to compare Nigel's more serious material to my lighter stuff. It wasn't intended to compete on that level. However, as the stories were all under one roof as it were, and featuring the same characters, I can understand why comparisons are made. When I devised the Project:Brutus saga and similar "main" stories they were intentionally more serious simply because that was the remit for the main strips. The back-ups were there for light relief, hence the lighter tone of those. It didn't turn out too badly. STC had a good long run compared to many other comics and most readers enjoyed it. thanks very much for your relpy, sorry if you missunderstood my meaning. I think your strips are great, just the fandom doesn't seem to see it that way hense my introduction... further into my list are my favourite STC strips all by yourself. I was just using the opening to open up with what people commonly say online about your work... before going in to the top stories of your that show it to be a missconseption... if that makes sence origanaly I wanted to do a quick top 1, then I found to many strip, so it became top 20, then top 25, then top 25 and 5 extra mentions. also to everyone that isn't Lew... this topic isn't dead i've just been very ill and with work, I havn't had time to update. However I will as soon as I can.... unless Lew rips my opnions to threads
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