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Meg 382 - Life in the Big City

Started by Trent, 11 March, 2017, 11:03:40 AM

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CalHab

The 3riller floppy was good this month. These can sometimes be a bit uneven, but they were were all enjoyable and complete stories in their own right.

Trent

Ironically, considering my reservations about the Prog these days the Meg provides exactly what I want.

All stories are crisp and the monthly format seems to steer writers towards concisenessin their storytelling.

Recent offerings such as Angelic, Lawless and Anderson are prime examples of what 2000AD used to be all about with neat, self contained arcs which actually work even in monthly doses often better than the weekly.

Absolutely loving everything about the Meg at the moment, possibly the best it has ever been. Even the floppy adds to the mix; great to finish the VCs and enjoying the 3hrillers.

Only downside with the Meg is that these stories are harder to collect in trades which I tend to prefer retrospectively over wading through Megs/Progs.

AlexF

Yeah, this month's Meg was one of the best ever - a super solid line-up and the promse of more greatness to come.

Kim Raymond was impressively generous about the kicking his old Dredd strips got/get*, not least from Alan Grant. I had never noticed before but he explians how much he's indepbted to Ron Smith and looking back less cartoony approach.

*Personally I've always liked it, but that doesn't mean much because I basically like everything.

Proudhuff

Quote from: Trent on 13 March, 2017, 11:02:00 AM
Ironically, considering my reservations about the Prog these days the Meg provides exactly what I want.

All stories are crisp and the monthly format seems to steer writers towards concisenessin their storytelling.

Recent offerings such as Angelic, Lawless and Anderson are prime examples of what 2000AD used to be all about with neat, self contained arcs which actually work even in monthly doses often better than the weekly.

Absolutely loving everything about the Meg at the moment, possibly the best it has ever been. Even the floppy adds to the mix; great to finish the VCs and enjoying the 3hrillers.

Only downside with the Meg is that these stories are harder to collect in trades which I tend to prefer retrospectively over wading through Megs/Progs.

This ^^^ and to say I loved the Dredd
DDT did a job on me

73north

I also really enjoyed the Megazine - well worth the money
and as ever Lawless keeps storming on .... a great read

sheridan

Quote from: dweezil2 on 12 March, 2017, 11:50:26 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 12 March, 2017, 10:44:52 PM
Quote from: dweezil2 on 12 March, 2017, 11:38:01 AM
Quote from: Richard on 11 March, 2017, 04:56:39 PM
Yes. Six episodes, by John Wagner and John McCrea.

I liked the Dredd one-off, that was good.

I wouldn't mind seeing Kim Raymond come back to work on a new story.

A big fan of McCrea's work and a pairing with Wagner sounds irresistible!

Can't wait!  :) 

Good year to be a McCrea fan - looking forward to the IDW Dredd Werewolf story (saw the pages at the 40th, trying to take in the artwork without paying attention to the unlettered story).

Yeah, that IDW werewolf story looks like it's going to be a lot of fun and a fitting tribute to Steve Dillon's work!
Can't wait!  :)

I'd like to see a Kim Raymond story as well - though that job at Disney and the watercolour painting must take up a fair chunk of time!

I try to keep away from buying reprints of things I already own, but I'm going to make an exception for the Cry of the Werewolf - all those pin-ups, pairing it with the new story and the contribution to the charity have all swayed me.

Proudhuff

Oh never mind all that interesting stuff, I get a namecheck, three times on the first page first panel!

Ha!take that Butt'man!
DDT did a job on me

Prodigal2

Big thumbs up from me too. A bad day yesterday with a genuine lift coming by way of a firing on all cylinders meg.

Not one single gripe regarding content-genuine thrill power on all fronts.

Ta big Tharg.

Colin YNWA

No denying the Meg is on fine, fine form at the moment. Almost as strong as the Prog, if not on a par.

The Dredd is a fantastic neat and indulgent in all the right ways one off. Havn makes an enigmatic start, left me with a few questions, but for an opener that's not a bad thing and there's no denying it looked great. Anderson provide another fine episode.

Its almost a relief that Lawless isn't quite as good as it been of late, don't get me wrong its still absolutely fantastic and the best thing in any comics anywhere right now BUT the fact its not quite as good as its been of late at least tells us that DanAbnett has not been making deal with horny beardo at the crossroads.

All this and a smackin' cover, some great text articles and we have a Meg that rivals the Prog which at the moment is quite something!

NapalmKev

HAVN looks interesting but something about it reminds me of an old Dredd story which I'm going to put a spoiler tag on just in case my musings are correct - [spoiler]Crusade![/spoiler]

Great Meg, long may it continue!

Cheers
"Where once you fought to stop the trap from closing...Now you lay the bait!"

Alien Goodness

HAVN grapped me by the eyeballs! Wonderful art. And a totally baffling first episode, that left me with a thirst to get to know this world and its habitants more.

Lawless is another great story with superb artwork. Some of the big panels, such as the solar array and the water treatment plant are awesome. This particular episode felt a bit slow. My guess the pace has dropped before we are blown away by the next big action sequence.

norton canes

This is the first Megazine I've ever bought

So to commemorate this momentous occasion, here are my thoughts...

Dredd: Wow. It's not easy to write a story that's funny, touching, and has an epic sense of scale, but this achieves all three. A perfect way to start my first ever Megazine (did I mention that?).

Havn: Oh. Did not like. A confounding script and art that's not really my taste. Still, opening episode, might grow to like it.

Anderson: Haven't read yet, looks great though. Alan Grant on script duties, a good sign.

Lawless: Intriguing. Didn't realise this had been running so long without making it prog-side. Enjoyed it, and have put the forthcoming TBP on my wish list. (Also - Phil Winslade! Now there's a name from the (fairly recent) past. I loved Vertigo's 'Goddess'.)

What really made this edition of the Megazine, though, was the wonderful Kim Raymond interview. What a shame that his work has been slated. A pity his stint in comics was so brief - but glad to see he's prospering, and happy.

Oh yeah, and the '3rillers' freebie was a nice opportunity to catch up on some stories I hadn't read.

Overall... I wouldn't say the Megazine was as vital as the Prog... whether I continue with it will depend a lot on if I have a spare 5..9 floating around next month...

JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: norton canes on 03 April, 2017, 10:02:16 AM
Oh yeah, and the '3rillers' freebie was a nice opportunity to catch up on some stories I hadn't read.


Not quite sure if the floppies could be called 'freebies' - never really liked having to pay extra for stories that I already have, but I seem to be in the minority, so never mind.

Anyway, the Meg:  Only read Dredd and Anderson so far.  I loved the Dredd, I really did.  Just the right amount of America-esque dipping into MC1 history to keep an ageing fanboy happy; and it's not hard to see who Big Meg really is - she's the spirit of the city, far more than Dredd is. She's every unnamed Mega Citizen there's ever been, the unpared core of the original batch of 800 million.  It's probably best if we don't ever see her again - I loved the first Planet Gary story in the prog, but it really didn't need that sequel.

Anderson was a tad more interesting than she has been for a long time.  Although I didn't really like Alan Grant's old  habit of using Anderson to present vast, continuity-blasting, this-changes-everything truths about the Dreddverse; it almost gives me a sentimental glow to see it back again.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

norton canes

Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 03 April, 2017, 06:47:22 PM
Not quite sure if the floppies could be called 'freebies' - never really liked having to pay extra for stories that I already have, but I seem to be in the minority, so never mind.

Ah. Didn't realise they'd bumped the cover price.

Magnetica

I thought Havn had a great first episode. It is definetly worth reading twice though. Great art too for me.

Bit underwhelmed by the Dredd, especially as a 40th thing.

Lawless carries on, as superb as ever.

Anderson - ok ish, nothing special compared to what it has been in the past.

Highlight for me also was the Kim Raymond interview. I really don't get the point of view that "he didn't get Dredd / was one of the worst Dredd artists ever." Not for me. Indeed before I read the text I thought a couple of his panels looked just like they had been done by Ron Smith (and you don't get much better than that),so it was revealing to see Ron had effectively mentored him.

As to the floppies...sigh...it had been stated countless times...including by Rebellion's own PR bot, that they don't add significantly to the cover price.