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MEG 370 : THE KRAIT BARRIER REEF

Started by Buttonman, 12 March, 2016, 01:24:42 PM

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Buttonman

Terrible pun strapline apart I like the action packed cover. Straight out the Gyre the full page lets us see a lot more detail in Nick Percival's glorious art.

A great letters page with three well reasoned letters (no Huff, natch) with one modest reader notching up his 50th Meg letter and 91st overall!

He must kiss a lot of ass to get printed - but no! Stephen Watson of Paisley tells it as he sees it and gets a strong comeback from the editor who tells him off for judging something (Realm of the Damned) after one episode. Frankly if I bit into a shit sandwich I know I don't like it without consuming the whole thing!

It will however be read and reappraised as we go on. Still to read the rest but the bonus book is 'Angel Zero' with next month's 'The Best of Tharg's 3rillers Vol 1'.

Lots more strip this month with a feature and sample of 'Goldtiger' which has intrigued me as they try to layer it into 2000ad's past.

Ghost MacRoth

Cover:  Out of focus....I do wonder why Percival seems to favour that blurry look....

The Gyre:  Bit of a damp squib of a tale....over before it really got going.  Some nice panels, some more blurry stuff.

Featurette??: Skipped...had a read of the comic episode... Dan Dare with sex puns?

Realm of The Damned:  I expect there'll be a lot more 'oh dear, dear...no, no!!' type opinions along soon enough, but I think it's fine.  Good art, and we are getting undead, immoral, murdering vampires in aq vampire story.  Good.  Beat the living shit out of sparkly emo types or 'integrated' veggie vamps.  The art is great, and I could care less about 'naughty' words getting bandied about, but I'd have to put some effort in.  Dark, brutal, and reads like a pitch for a decent R rated vamp movie. 

DeMarco:  I guess it's a build up for something in the future....for now I doubt I'll remember this strip by next month.

Dust: Continuing along nicely, gorgeous to look at, and a decent script even if it does read like something we may have already read a couple times. ;)

Letters:  Outraged 'harrumphs' abound! :p
I don't have a drinking problem.  I drink, I get drunk, I fall over.  No problem!

moly

Thought this months issue was just a bit bland not really enjoy the Meg at the moment but dos think realm of the damned was better

Hawkmumbler

Fuck, the 3rillers get into floppies next month? Really wanted these to get a trade.


Buttonman

Sorry, just noticed my headline should read 'beef' not 'reef' - still a poor pun!

Freddychopper

That's a really, really powerful cover. Great art and very dynamic. Shame about the dodgy wonky letters design again though. Is this choice of letters, going to be a regular thing on covers now? Loved The Gyre - wish it could have been longer as the story felt a little bit rushed but fabulous atmospheric art and hope Percival & Carroll get to do a longer Dredd epic next time! They work really well together. Time to read the rest of the Meg with a strong cuppa..... :)

jannerboyuk

I think that lettering is very specific to the story

IndigoPrime

Not a great Meg for me. The cover's quite nice, but the typography is iffy. The Gyre ended, but had no punch. The text feature seemed entirely appropriate for what everyone's trying to do but nonetheless almost put me off of Goldtiger a bit rather than trying what could be a really innovative and clever trade.

Realm was a notch better than its opener for me, but it still feels a bit immature. I like dark, intense comics, but this has felt like some teens trying to be edgy. (I thought the responses in the letters pages were a bit odd, too. Yes, other strips have had horrific acts depicted, but there's a point when a lot of people go "really?")

DeMarco has, for the first time, lost me. I've no idea what's going on. Needs a reread. (Also, although I understand why ditching her fortune was a plot path to take, I'm not sure it benefits the character at all. I liked that part of her, and it afforded the strip opportunities that a lone, broke PI really doesn't.)

Dust, boob armour aside, is really the saving grace for me this month. In fact, I'd happily see 'Dredd' have a much longer residence in the Meg. Have the two Dredd continuities bookend two other strips for the foreseeable.

Magnetica

I noticed on the letter page Al Ewing and Si Spurrier were referred to as "former 2000 AD writers".

Now I knew Al Ewing was going off to write for some American comics, but I didn't realise Si was no longer working for Tharg. It's a real shame IMO, as Simping Detective has to be my favourite non-Dredd Megazine strip of all time.

Plus you know...Trifecta.

Colin YNWA

Quote from: Magnetica on 14 March, 2016, 08:41:34 AM
I noticed on the letter page Al Ewing and Si Spurrier were referred to as "former 2000 AD writers".

Now I knew Al Ewing was going off to write for some American comics, but I didn't realise Si was no longer working for Tharg. It's a real shame IMO, as Simping Detective has to be my favourite non-Dredd Megazine strip of all time.

Plus you know...Trifecta.

I think both would like to come back and have said as such, but richer opportunity elsewhere so I think, alas, very understandably, the times of plenty for both are over.

That said I'm sure they'll squeeze us in at some time in the future and I know another Zombo has been muted somewhere down the road, so fingers crossed...

IndigoPrime

In his recent Meg interview, Al specifically cited Zombo, and it appears time is the only reason he's not still writing for 2000 AD, rather than contractural reasons. So that's at least a little positive.

Hawkmumbler

When I spoke to Henry Flint at TB last year he said that the toughs for a new ZOMBO where already completed so their is a script of sorts done, though Mr. Flint did say it was only a test run not the actual story.

chrisfil

Just delurking... I was a bit disapointed of the rather dismissive response to the Realm Of The Damned queries. I've read every issue of the Meg since it launched. However, this is the first time I've actually just gone WTF at any strip and considered leaving it.

I'm no prude when it comes to violence or gore - I'm a huge fan of Preacher thanks to the Meg. But this I really, really didn't like. Do I pick up the Meg to see someone pissing blood into someones mouth? Really? Just truly awful, such a misstep.

I know there's a market for this kind of strip, and I'm sure to fans of that style of strip it's great, but it's just not 2000ad/Meg for me.

Maybe I'm just getting too old for the Meg, I don't know, but just yuk. Sorry!

CalHab

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 13 March, 2016, 09:45:47 AM
DeMarco has, for the first time, lost me. I've no idea what's going on. Needs a reread. (Also, although I understand why ditching her fortune was a plot path to take, I'm not sure it benefits the character at all. I liked that part of her, and it afforded the strip opportunities that a lone, broke PI really doesn't.)

I read it thinking that I thought I must have missed an episode. Not a high point.