Meg 212

[ukdane]

And given that this has arrived on my doorstep, nice and early, I'll start this one too, this month.

Armitage on the cover!

2nd part of the Dredd tale Sturm und Dang. Looks like a good ending, and alot of people will be happy with the ending!

Black Flame books are announced for 2004!

Full reviews will follow!

[Krustabi]

Do any of the Judge cadets die? I was really worried about them.

[Mangamax]

And i didn't get that either (sob!)

[Waddie]

Spoilers








Dredd: Excellent fun.  Snail! Snail!

Death: Okay.  Didn't suffer the "what the hell is supposed to be happening in that panel?" problem I had last month.

Devlin: Haven't read it yet.  May not bother.

History of Battle: Interesting.  I remember wearing that Baron Ironblood mask.

Harry Twenty & Charley's War: Good stuff.  Best reprints we've had for ages.

XTNCT: Bloody marvellous.  Having ground my teeth through the endless ironic punnery and pop culture references of certain other 2000AD writers, the piss-takes on that front were very welcome.

Armitage: Okay.  Was the dismembered body with the head in a bottle supposed to be still alive?

Apocalyse Soon: Is anyone actually enjoying this?  I know I'm not.

[Krustabi]

No-one has answered my question. Do any of the Judge cadets die in Dredd? Am I right in thinking that Devlin is FINALLY over? Christ, it was wearing thin at the last episode.

[Waddie]

The cadets all survived.

I flicked over it but I don't think Devlin is done yet.

[Pete Wells]

Judge Death is starting to bug me again now. After going to such pains to make him cooler, scary and less of a joke in "My Name is...", Wagner and Irving now seem to be making him err towards being a comedy character again. A real shame...

Nice to see Fort cropping up in this months tale mind...

Pete.

[Dudley]

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Dredd: OK.  Not knowing the original Major Eazy I can't say that this did that much for me.  The problem being, of course, that the character's so strong it didn't seme right that he only got as much time as the frankly underwritten Jonny Woo did previously, but as it's a pastiche you know he's unlikely to be coming back.

Death: SUPERB.  Exactly how to handle the resurrection of an idea from ages back, with a quick reference but also explaining it for the newcomers.  And the sight of Death in the ring was a nice subversion of the character without going for the "Death in Bexhill on Sea" approach.  Finally, it's good to see some forward momentum building in this strip.

Devlin: Speaking of forward momentum... Still going.  They seem to have arrived at some sort of destination where the last stand will happen, thank Grud.  Next episode *might* be interesting.

Harry 20: Ok

Charley's War: still not finding any interest or excitement in all this - not having seen anything first time round the nostalgia factor's non-existent.  Maybe it gets better.  I dunno.

XTNCT - Kind of suffers from the Meg's monthly circulation: I would have preferred reading it in 2000ad weekly.  Still, damn fine strip, keeps me interested.

Armitage: Looks alright BUT I'm a bit worried that Becky Steel's in trouble in the first strip.  How many issues of Armitage searching for his partner can we take?

Apocalypse Soon: You either like this or you don't.  I do.

"Battle" story: OK, fine, there was this comic, right, 15 years ago, devoted to things killing things, and there were some good writers and artists working for it, but the market changed and it folded.  I used to read these war comics, my tastes changed, and THAT'S why I read 2000ad and the Meg.  Just not very interesting.

[Thread Zero]

'Armitage: Looks alright BUT I'm a bit worried that Becky Steel's in trouble in the first strip. How many issues of Armitage searching for his partner can we take?'

That's Treasure Steel - Becky Steel is Treasure's weedy sister from Pan African Judges who she never, ever mentions.

[petemaskreplica]

First off, I'd like to thank WAGN rail and London Underground for providing me so much time to read my prog and meg by keeping me sitting/ standing on trains going nowhere for ages.

A top notch meg for me. The second part of Sturm and Dang was hugely entertaining, and may I say how refreshing it is to see Dredd incapacitated by wounds rather than manfully/improbably chugging on.

I enjoyed Death too, although I do have my reservations about piling so much comedy on just when Wagner and Irving have gone to so much trouble to make him scary again. But I did like the parallels drawn between Death's reaction to Vegas and Dredd's all those years ago, isn't that frame of Death approaching the Hall of Justice very similar to the equivalent one of Dredd in Cursed Earth?

Devlin actually seemed to have some plot this week. Waiting to read it in one go, like most other folk.

Harry 20 stands up remarkably well after all these years I think. And speaking as someone who never read Charley's War before, so doesn't have any nostalgia glasses for it, I find it absolutely wonderful. Pat Mills at his absolute best, coupled with an artist perfectly suited to the task.
I've also enjoyed da bish's Battle articles, and it was nice the way he tied it back into 2k at the conclusion.

Xtnct very twistedly funny. D'Israeli gets better and better, and I'm intrigued to read he's designing a Tarot deck...

Good to see Armitage back, a promising opener.

Apocalypse Soon: Whoever said this looks like a leftover from Toxic was spot on.

Meg edges ahead of the prog once more, IMO.

[Quirkafleeg]

Xtinct, quoting from a certain film... tsk, never catch me doing that, oh no...

[opaque]

Dredd: V good and certainly a good lead off for any future Koburn stories. Just love the art

Judge Death: Getting to like this more now, also interesting to know whats happening in other cities. Can't see them not knowing who he is though!

Devlin Waugh: Need to see this in a GN for it to make sense now after so many epsisodes

Harry 20: Had enough
that as with Charlies War: would be better served as GN's not being printed in the Meg.

Battle Story: Great.

XTinct: Making more sense now, I think

Armitage:
TOTALLY wrong artist for Armitage,and I don't know if it's just mine but in black areas, especially Steels hair and coat it looks like someones been allowed to use felt tips to try and colour it in. I know art does look like this but doesn't normally come across like this in actual print.

I've got some of John Ridgway's art and it is very good, and looking at past covers he's done I just think that this armitage story is a massive step back.

As for the story Dave Stone is a good writer, I hope it gets darker.

[DavidXBrunt]

Jason Kane in the Armitage story looks nothing like the Jason Kane from other Stone stories though.

[longmanshort]

Wow, a meg i actually read all the way through in one sitting. Normally I leave it lying around for ages after reading the Dredd.

Anyways ...

Dredd: Really liked this one. As above, have no memories of old Eazee so I came to it fresh. Ezquerra's art, for me, was far superior to his recent SD in tooth. That felt crushed and unatmospheric, but IMHO this really captured that ol' Western feel I think Wagner was aiming for.

Death: hmmm. Liked this more than previous episodes as this had less of the humour about it (apart from the boxing bit) I've never liked the whole Death as comedy thing - much preferred him as the relentless killing machine. And NOW he's even enjoying it!! Not only did I spot Chuck Fort, but the guy fanning Death on the last page looks suspiciously like a certain bennie-wearing gothic artist we know and love (was going to email Frazer and goad him about it, but his e-mail addy doesn't seem to be working. Oh well, I'll just have to go round his house and knock on the door until he answers me ....... or else!!!!)

Devlin Waugh: Wah? Shouldn't this have finished, like, three months ago?!

Harry 20: Top notch stuff from my favourite writer. S'keeping me gripped and knocks that crap in tooth last week into a cocked hat ...

Charlie's War: waiting till end to read. Good art tho ...

Battle: Find these fascinating. Mr Dave's a nice little journalist, wish I could write my features as fluidly as this. Highlights a whole chapter of comics history I didn't know existed ...

XTint: Had me laughing out loud. Great characters and the art continues to be stunning.

Armitage: Oh no. Oh dear lord, no. What the hell is this?! Rideway's art recalls the terrifying days of Junker, while Dave Stone's script is like every worst Armitage script rolled into a few pages. Oh dear, I know it's the first episode but ... oh dear ...

And as for Apocolypse Soon ... wait the f---

[Dudley]

That's Treasure Steel - Becky Steel is Treasure's weedy sister from Pan African Judges

Good point - But I always preferred Becky.