MEG 232: Rock Hard

Tiplodocus · 05 May, 2005, 11:44:57 PM

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At first I was confused by the comedy jock accents in DREDD because I thought Inga was still in South America but she must have gone to the CAL-HAB (I had to reread last month's to check). As Dudley said, I have no idea where this is going but that's a good thing.

I'm really enjoying ZANCUDO - the narration is absolutely spot on, some great running jokes and the reveal of the old ones at the end was fabulous.

I've given up on Bogie Man (I loved the original) but still found time to chuckle at the DEKE AND BRODIE pun. (That could be a clue in Gordon's Edinburgh based Dan Brownathon)

Devlin get's top marks for a laugh out loud moment when describing the boat race and the rather brilliant "Do we look like Girl Guides?". Tasty art, sparkling dialogue, flying ninjas and knob gags. Fantastic.

Johnny Woo - is there a backstory to this that I have missed? Is Woo's "deceased" wife going to turn out to be the sniper who failed to kill him? No, Rennie is much better than that so I've no idea where this is going either.

I'll be controversial and suggest Anderson is as deserving of a rest as Slaine and Sin/Dex. Some of the Half-Life stuff was fun but, vaguely interesting as this linked tale is, it seems to have dragged on and on. And I don't like Ranson's art. Don't think I ever have. He just seems to get body proportions wrong from time to time and it always jars me out of the story.

Roger Godpleton · 06 May, 2005, 12:37:23 AM

Dredd: Great stuff, nice to see Inga doing more than her previous eye-candy mode. I was slightly confused when Rymes didn't get it first, as last month's cliffhanger hinted that she was in peril. (And I also thought that the lady who did die was Wally Squad, but obviously not). PJ is probably my favourite Dredd villain, but I don't know if I want him to survive this. I like this even better than "Total War", so that's saying something.

Devlin - Excellent stuff. Fast paced action, and great dialogue. I hope this doesn't degenerate into "Devlin & chums fight some minions, while the baddies look a bit menacing, and allude to their nefarious plot" every month though.

Bogie Man - I'd never read any of the prequels, so while I have enjoyed this for the madcap fun and lovely art, I feel as if I'm missing the point of many of the jokes

Johnny Woo - PJ puts in a stirling performance here, as all of the panels convey the hectic action & also feature lots of detail, but don't look crowded. Rennie could probably make any premise into a readable script, so I enjoy this, despite my ignorance of HK movies.

Bryan Talbot - I sometimes wish these interviews could be a bit more biting. Interesting bit about deadlines though.

I enjoyed all of the text articles, if Metro Dredd hadn't appeared, I wouldn't be able to fault this meg in any way.

Darryl · 06 May, 2005, 04:16:05 AM

Gah! due to a broken tooth (lots of PAIN by the way) I haven't managed to pick up either my tooth or meg this week yet!

Carlsborg Expert · 06 May, 2005, 04:38:24 AM

yih, Im sorry Darryl but the word "gaylord" applies to you mostly today as I have a rotting wisdom tooth,a regular tooth ,so rotten I cannot bite up on it and a cheek chewing half-tooth which leaves me in constant day to day pain

And I still bought both Mags(tho I am yet to get round to buying the EE and Serenity series)

Ive also got a tonne of back progs and GNs to sought out

dont let me be your concsiounce tho, hang in there and buy your allocated reads as soon as possible and I think you will find....they help with the pain.

Love T'Noerth

Darryl · 06 May, 2005, 04:43:20 AM

Thing is, I've had the tooth out and so the pain is form a particularly nasty surgical extraction - not the tooth.

Do yourself a favour - don't put off going to the dentist kids - it's worth it in the long run.

I type this from my bed in hospital - god loves laptops!

Carlsborg Expert · 06 May, 2005, 04:56:21 AM

OK Daz,ill let you off.

Darryl · 06 May, 2005, 05:01:45 AM

why thankyou soooo much, I'll sleep better tonight!

good news is - Jules (me girlfriend) is bringing me my fix (of tooth and meg) tomorrow!

Darryl · 06 May, 2005, 05:10:37 AM

Just thought I'd add - I got out to vote!

tell yer - I must've looked like John Merrick!

Carlsborg Expert · 06 May, 2005, 05:12:19 AM

1;hahaha

2;Awww

KingPhone · 06 May, 2005, 10:38:05 AM

Normally I love Cam Kennedy's art, but it seems a bit lacklustre here. I don't know if it needs colour or more detail or what, just seems a bit below par.Otherwise, I agree with Dudley pretty much.
The Orient thing got on my wick; if something is a complete dud, not worth your time etc, why bother telling us about it? The Who thing was great fun and the feature on the other famous detective with rooms in Baker St was fascinating.

The Amstor Computer · 06 May, 2005, 05:29:22 PM

"The Orient thing got on my wick; if something is a complete dud, not worth your time etc, why bother telling us about it?"

I suspect it's because films like 2046 and Casshern have been getting rave reviews from other reviewers, and the reviewer felt a counterbalance was necessary.

Smiley · 06 May, 2005, 07:06:22 PM

Worth getting for the Dredd alone. I'd like to think there's more to it, that this poor sap's an elaborate decoy so I'll bite me tongue. Devlin Waugh and Judge Anderson have both been good fun of late, I like it when the silliness is upfront and the po-faced anguish takes a back seat. Zancudo's mildly amusing but reads terribly, like riding on square wheels. No flow at all. Struggled with Johnny Woo too, but mostly through nitpicking ("Ah, that's meant to be a rear view mirror! I get it now" or "Blimey, this goes on for another page? I thought that trap was the cliffhanger?" and stuff like that.) but Bogie Man is pure comedy-Marmite joy. I love the way McNab thinks it's showtime then just decides to kick off on the crowd. Sexton Blake was unexpected, welcome and interesting. Enjoyed the Bryan Talbot piece a lot. Didn't bother with the other articles (sor-eh.)

Smiley · 06 May, 2005, 07:08:40 PM

Oh, and the Metro Dredd was rubbish. And that's by Metro Dredd standards.

Funt Solo · 07 May, 2005, 07:42:17 PM

Judge Dredd:
- top stuff, this. I can't figure out quite what PJ Maybe is up to with his monsterus mashinashuns, but enjoying trying to figure it out.

Zancudo:
- I just love this. The dialogue, the narration, the art, the setting: love it all and it's OTT stylee.

Devlin Waugh:
- hysterical and beautiful.

Johnny Woo:
- I want not to like this (because it's so heavily influenced by contemporary movies) but I actually really enjoy it. If the sniper is his wife, then that's incredibly predictable. If it's not, then my expectations will have been over-turned yet again.

The Bogie Man:
- The (very) slow-burn build-up has actually paid off this month by throwing us into the incredible chaos and farce of the motorcycle display.

Curse of the Spider-Woman:
- F*ck, this is dark. Brilliant.

Anderson Psi
- Someone else mentioned that they often get disturbed by Ranson's "people that just don't look right". Yep. I've noticed that as well, but I still love the art. This story is very good, very layered - lots of insanity. Plus the robo-dogs going mental: which is an adventure opener from Slaughter Margin, one of the supplements for the original JD RPG (by the by).

Articles half-read as usual...may read them at some point but probably won't.

Altogether another corking meg that throws the gauntlet down at the feet of the factory production line that is the weekly.

Dunk! · 09 May, 2005, 05:23:30 PM

'Bolt-01, wishes he had more of the books though :('

The article got me re-reading all my Usagi books at the weekend and then on a buzz looking on Amazon.co.uk to fill the gaps in my collection. Was pleasantly surprised to find a whole host of the volumes for 7-9 quid. Very good value, if just for the page count that most Usagi volumes run to. No Bristol for me, but I'll make do with the Samurai rabbit to keep up my spirits.