Smax vs. OotS

[WarriorTribble]

I agree when Rich said pairing him up against Alan Moore wasn't exactly an equal match. So instead, how about a fairer contest against two parodies of D&D and fantasy?

Personally, I find both works to be of extremely well done. The only flaws are Smax kind of requires you to read Top 10 beforehand, and OotS has a weak opening. Ultimately though I have to reluctantly go with OotS since it's an ongoing source of entertainment with continuing quality. Smax’s sequel (not done by Alan Moore) was utter garbage.

[Dunesen]

Haven't read Smax yet. I got Top 10 and enjoyed it, though I wish Moore had done more with it than just three graphic novels. I kind of got the same impression of it that I did with Tom Strong: he had a ton of ideas but nowhere to use them.

So I can't really answer the question.:smalltongue:

[FujinAkari]

What is Smax?

[Dunesen]

What is Smax?

Top 10 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_10_%28comic%29) was a comic created by Alan Moore that only ran for about ten or twelve issues. It involves a megatropolis where everyone has superpowers and costumes. Top 10 is the police precinct. At the start we're introduced to the standard-issue newcomer, who is teamed up with Smax, a giant blue guy that can fire force beams out of his chest.

At the end of the series (not counting the third story, which wasn't written by Moore) Smax (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smax) learns his father has died, and he says he'll have to go back to his world to lay him to rest.

I haven't read Smax's mini-series, but from my understanding it pokes fun at fantasy story conventions.

[EponymousKid]

The tone is different. I certainly wouldn't call it "poking fun", because, to me, that's like friends trading harmless insults- It soon becomes clear that fantasy is not Smax's friend. If anything, the series punches fantasy for being a dork. There's spite, it what I'm saying.

No, Smax absolutely hates where he came from, and if it were up to him, he'd never have gone back ever.

[Dunesen]

The tone is different. I certainly wouldn't call it "poking fun", because, to me, that's like friends trading harmless insults- It soon becomes clear that fantasy is not Smax's friend. If anything, the series punches fantasy for being a dork. There's spite, it what I'm saying.

No, Smax absolutely hates where he came from, and if it were up to him, he'd never have gone back ever.

In Top 10 I got the impression he didn't care for his homeworld, but I didn't know to what extent that comes across in the follow-up.

I'll eventually buy it, because it's Moore.

[EponymousKid]

...As someone who's read Smax as recently as last week, those are actual facts of the series, is what I'm saying.

And you don't leave your home and run across dimensions to get as far away as Precinct 10 unless you really don't want to be there.

[WarriorTribble]

The tone is different. I certainly wouldn't call it "poking fun", because, to me, that's like friends trading harmless insults- It soon becomes clear that fantasy is not Smax's friend. If anything, the series punches fantasy for being a dork. There's spite, it what I'm saying.

No, Smax absolutely hates where he came from, and if it were up to him, he'd never have gone back ever.Minor spoilers, but just in case.
There's definitely humor in there of the "poking fun" variety. Think of how he was "forced" to enter a quest, the PC party forming regulations (with dozens of fantasy parodies), the dwarves that played "mundane life version 3.5 (or something)," the lackluster performances by Death(s) etc. When did the series call fantasy a dork? The place looked somewhat silly from our perspective, but the world was dead serious as any other, just different.

Smax did have animosity towards his dimension, but it seemed to be mostly excuses to not think about his failure, with a side of sexual cognitive dissonance, and general "gruff cop/warrior" attitude. He tried to completly forget about his world by assimilating into the Top 10 universe, and to do that, he had to think of his own world as primitive.Still, that's somewhat offtopic. :smalltongue: Do you have a preference for either OotS or Smax?

[Dunesen]

...As someone who's read Smax as recently as last week, those are actual facts of the series, is what I'm saying.

And you don't leave your home and run across dimensions to get as far away as Precinct 10 unless you really don't want to be there.

Yeah, OK, I was just saying that I haven't read Smax and didn't know to what extent he hated his homeland except for what comes across in Top 10. I knew he didn't like it, but the whole thing about traveling dimensions could have just been wanderlust.