A little something else from 2000AD - Meet DR and Quinch

[icon_uk]

Looking at whitesycamore 's posting of Halo Jones, reminded me that in the earlier post, someone noted we don't have any DR and Quinch on S_D.... and that just plain ain't right!

DR and Quinch are the creations of Alan Moore and Alan Davis back in 1983, and if that combo doesn't at least leave you wanting to see a LITTLE more, then you can check your geek cred at the door methinks. ;)

Our Devastating Duo had many adventures, but this is their introduction to the readership of planet Earth.

They first appeared, not in their own strip, but as one of Alan Moore's legendary contributions to 2000AD's "Time Twisters" series; short, done-in-one stories with the core concept of time travel somewhere within them. Moore's tended to be VERY clever and elegantly convoluted... but, as you will see, not ALL of them.

I should add that, as is nearly always the case in Moore and/or Davis work, cutting it to a 1/3 is a positively painful work. This is approximately 2 pages out of 6, and I hope this might encourage you to seek out the collected works, because I've had to hack great swathes of fun out of it.

So, without further ado.



Meet Ernie and Waldo... DR and Quinch



Want to take a guess as to what wiped out the dinosaurs? Yup... they did, but that's just for kicks. They've also brought a thermo-nuclear bazooka and a crate of shells... They zip back to the dawn of Earth and let loose with a few big booms...



They decide to come back when the slimy things have evolved into some more interesting, and zip forward to the Plesitocene era, where they find Neanderthals... who aren't bright or interesting, so our lovable pair liven things up by showing them how to beat the crap out of each other with pieces of bone.



Yeah, about those pyramids? Just the locals completely missing the point of explanations of how space travel works.

Over the next few panels they time travel around; detonate Krakatoa with a Nuke-shell (They only meant to blow a couple of hole in it, but....), scared the locals on a ship they found (What sort of a name for a boat is Marie Celeste anyway), throw an apple at Newton, and accidentally blow up some plains off the coast of Bermuda.



Also, they are responsible for the banana skin that Neil Armstrong encountered as he set foot on the moon (DR thinks they edited that bit out for broadcast) and also had a slight accident with the San Andreas Fault it's probably better not to ask about...)

But now their plan nears fruition as in 3017 ("chimp time" as DR puts it) the weird looking aliens from the tedious little planet finally meet up with REAL people as they travel through the stars... Quinch is embarrassed to note that they quote one of his incredibly hokey speechs about "interstellar brotherhood" almost word for word. It's so simplistic nobody knows where to look.

But since they're there, the local branch of the Disadvantaged Planets Charity throw them a reception. And as he always boasts about how much he gets involved in charity work, our boys know that Dean Fusk is SURE to be there with his family.



Luckily this means that all the evidence for their involvement is gone (The piles of beer cans in the Durrasic era for example)

Dean Fusk never really recovers and steps down as Dean due to a breakdown. Our Dangerous Duo are also able to suggest to the authorities that Fusk was actually running a black market racket and HE had planted the fur-coats and lasers in their lockers to divert suspicion.

In closing, DR notes that he feels he had a very productive summer, and how much more awesome the universe would be if more people actually went and DID things, instead of just hanging around causing trouble.

And who can argue with such a noble ideal! ;)

 

Comments

YAY!

[capt_satellite]

"MIND THE ORANGES, MARLON!!!!"

Re: More here:

[icon_uk]

Hate to say it, but our posting rules state that we don't link to sources for complete stories, we're usually skating on fairly thin ice here by posting a third, complete piracy is discouraged.

[halloweenjack]

For historical purposes, it should be noted that D.R. and Quinch are openly based on O.C. and Stiggs from National Lampoon, but IMO this is much superior to the source material.

[icon_uk]

See, s_d IS educational, I had somehow managed to never be aware of "OC and Stuggs" (Though in fairness National Lampoon magazine was never terribly easy (eg impossible) to find in my part of Scotland)

Thanks for that!

[silverzeo]

Can anyone name some of these aliens and how they appear? Like what do you call that chin-alien?

[icon_uk]

Most of these are just incidental Davis aliens. The only race named are chin-aliens (if you mean Dean Fusk's species) who are the Centravians,

[whitesycamore]

They remind me a little of the Shumi people from FFVIII. Must be the wattles and pomposity.

[whitesycamore]

"I like guns and starting fights. My psychiatrist says I'm a psychotic deviant. But that doesn't mean I'm a bad person, right?"

That's probably the most perfect introduction ever. It's exactly the sort of thing you need to be upfront about when meeting new people! I also like how these aliens are appropriately alienesque, and not all anthropomorphised like most alien protagonists. I guess it's because they are emphatically not good guys, so they don't need to be all 'relatable' and human-looking.

"Looking at whitesycamore 's posting of Halo Jones, reminded me that in the earlier post, someone noted we don't have any DR and Quinch on S_D.... and that just plain ain't right!"

And yet it did not prompt you to comment on said post of mine. Interesting. *narrows eyes*

[icon_uk]

It's exactly the sort of thing you need to be upfront about when meeting new people!

Reminds me of the scene in... I think it's in "A Hat Full of Sky" where trainee witch 11 year old Tiffany Aching, meets the latest full blown witch she will be working for, Miss Level

Tiffany - "Are you an evil witch?"

Miss Level - "Of course not! What sort of a question to ask is that?"

Tiffany (after a moment's thought) - "The obvious one? If you'd said 'Yes I am, mwah-ha-ha-ha', then that would save us a lot of time, wouldn't it?"

Miss Level (Looking at her appraisingly)- "They're right, you ARE a born witch to your bones."

As for not commenting on your post, well, I clicked on the link, saw there was a part one, went and looked at that, noted the comment about posting DR and Quinch, decided then and there to do it, and sort of forgot to go back because it was getting late.

Of course, if I post on it NOW, people might think I was only doing it because you shamed me into it or something (Though why anyone should think I had much shame left I'll never know). I might post on it later... if the mood takes me! :P

;)

[jlroberson]

Alien delinquents remorselessly destroying everything in sight across space and time. See, this is what I go to British comics for.