The End
No, I haven't run out of things to say about 2000 AD. I just felt like putting a few pictures of the last panels from stories here and there. There's an art to writing a good ending. In comics in particular, it needs to be one that is satisfying in itself, but that could easily lead into more stories as the readership demands. Also, it's be good to get a bit of sci-fi goodness in there, too. Now, 2000 AD is of course famous for its actual 'Tharg's Future Shocks' strips, which often end with a mind-blowing twist in the last panel (in theory; true blowing of one's mind has been achieved a scant few times). I won't be using any of those today - that's an entirely different discipline of ending. No, here's what I'm all about:
Flying cars heading off into the distance above a beautifully painted future cityscape. Aaaaah.
On the other hand, there's also the more personal touch of seeing off a main character.
Walking into the foreground can give even more closure than walking into the distance. But, of course, it allows for the reader to demand to know what happens next. I wonder how many letters Tharg received asking after MACH Zero's cousin Tommy? I really enjoyed MACH Zero, for all its retro feel alongside more obviously exciting stories like the VCs and Judge Dredd.
And of course there's comedy. We don't see the main character's face in this one, bit rather his hapless chief commissioner - an indication that the series is very likely to make a comeback. One which will involve more mis-matched police shenanigans.
It almost doesn't matter what the story is (Calhab Justice, by the way) - you just need a certain kind of protagonist and you could tranpose this panel onto the end. Strangely, this doesn't bother me.
In a similar fashion, here's another everyman ending, only this one is filled with hate.
I believe this story (Vanguard) was very much meant to be followed up, but to be honest it doesn't need it. You can see what's going to happen just from this ending, really. In many ways, the image of the spaceship peeling away into the background gives a suggestion that deep space during war is full of vengeance and hate - we don't need to read the individual stories to understand this 2000 AD concept.
And now, the group ending. How do you do justice to a whole cast of characters?
Isn't that sweet. No, really. A lot of Second City Blues was disappointing to me, but the camaraderie of the team was not part of that. Nor indeed Pleece's simple but touching artwork, especially in this final scene. It's extremely reminiscent of a certain kind of children's cartoon, and all the better for that.
And what of Dredd? Well, there are infinite endings showing a perp being led away ito the catch wagon, usually with Dredd making some appropriately dark remark. But here's one you don;t see every week...
Lovely tears from Higgins, there.
Flying cars heading off into the distance above a beautifully painted future cityscape. Aaaaah.
On the other hand, there's also the more personal touch of seeing off a main character.
Walking into the foreground can give even more closure than walking into the distance. But, of course, it allows for the reader to demand to know what happens next. I wonder how many letters Tharg received asking after MACH Zero's cousin Tommy? I really enjoyed MACH Zero, for all its retro feel alongside more obviously exciting stories like the VCs and Judge Dredd.
And of course there's comedy. We don't see the main character's face in this one, bit rather his hapless chief commissioner - an indication that the series is very likely to make a comeback. One which will involve more mis-matched police shenanigans.
It almost doesn't matter what the story is (Calhab Justice, by the way) - you just need a certain kind of protagonist and you could tranpose this panel onto the end. Strangely, this doesn't bother me.
In a similar fashion, here's another everyman ending, only this one is filled with hate.
I believe this story (Vanguard) was very much meant to be followed up, but to be honest it doesn't need it. You can see what's going to happen just from this ending, really. In many ways, the image of the spaceship peeling away into the background gives a suggestion that deep space during war is full of vengeance and hate - we don't need to read the individual stories to understand this 2000 AD concept.
And now, the group ending. How do you do justice to a whole cast of characters?
Isn't that sweet. No, really. A lot of Second City Blues was disappointing to me, but the camaraderie of the team was not part of that. Nor indeed Pleece's simple but touching artwork, especially in this final scene. It's extremely reminiscent of a certain kind of children's cartoon, and all the better for that.
And what of Dredd? Well, there are infinite endings showing a perp being led away ito the catch wagon, usually with Dredd making some appropriately dark remark. But here's one you don;t see every week...
Lovely tears from Higgins, there.
posted by alexf at 08:00
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