(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnZghbmWgAA3iaU.jpg)
Even alongside Ezquerra's wonderful art and Annie P's superlative lettering, the new Meg boasts an absolutely stand-out and phenomenal Dredd script from the Carroll droid, both in terms of rounding off the saga and on its own merits. It is brilliantly structured, reverential of the strip's legacy, thoughtful and progressive all at the same time, and features cracking, engaging and delightful dialogue throughout.
We all love the explosions, action sequences and shoot-outs of course. But this episode shows Carroll at his best I think. More scripts along these lines, and as Med-Judge Gregory says, Carroll can surely write Dredd "for another few decades".
Bravo.
Very interesting Dredd. Although in part it felt like a huge exposition dump to explain the plot points that weren't obvious in the original story it actually worked as a character piece for both Dredd and Hershey and tied the strands together to bring the feel of an epic to the arc that frankly I've felt has been missing since the Lion's Den run.
Excellent stuff.
Can't wait for a Lawless trade to reread from the start. Big, but not unexpected twist this episode.
Blunt isn't cutting it for me......
Realm is non 2000AD and not my bag.
Liked how in dredd [spoiler]it said he was fit enough for another 20 years /spoiler]
Anyone understand [spoiler]how Hershey can decide the Chief Judge of Texas City?[/spoiler] [spoiler]Or why she didn't seem concerned about all the people that had died?[/spoiler]
Quote from: Skullmo on 17 July, 2016, 05:16:58 PM
Anyone understand [spoiler]how Hershey can decide the Chief Judge of Texas City?[/spoiler]
She paid Jeremy Corbyn £25/
She called an election, but everyone except Theresa May dropped out (
delete according to your own political bias)
Oswin framed her takeover as a merger of the two cities, and her relationship with Hershey as a partnership, so presumably Hershey gained the same power over Megacity Three as Oswin had over Megacity One.
Seems to have solved the depleted Judges crises?? Z
So the 2 cities are now merged?
Don't know Skulmo, I havent read it yet. I'm surmising, but at our last Belfast meet up a discussion around likely out comes pointed towards something like this. Z
What's the reprint this month?
Cover: Dunno.... think I like it, but oddly unsure!
Dredd: Nice wrap up of current events, and a wee insight into Hershey's past. Like others, not convinced how Hershey can so easily put one of her own in charge of TC, but if it makes for a revitalised Meg, then I'm all for it. They need some tales of growth before they get butt fucked again by the next big crisis.
Rumble in the Jungle: Skipped. Will wait till I get the comics before I know anything about it ta.
Interrogation: Skipped as always.
Realm Of The Damned: Hmmm.... seems a gear has been shifted, but I don't think it's up or down...more kinda sideways! Good episode, well...until Queen Clattypatra starts with the ghetto pish again.
Blunt: Sticking with it, but looks like it may be going in an odd direction......
No Act Of Kindness: Decent tale, but no real 'kicker' to it.
Lawless: Looks like it's about to turn into the 3:10 from Yuma! But I doubt it'll be in a bad way. Great series so far, I expect it will continue to be so.
Floppy - Sinister Dexter: A great reminder of some of the superb art that has featured in this strip.
I was really impressed by Michael Carroll's script this month. Everything Banners said above. I liked the cameos by really old-school cameos and little bits of history from Hershey's past. And I enjoyed the humerous sub-plot with Dredd and the CMO. Carroll has shown that he has what it takes to write Dredd regularly and take over from JW when he retires.
I meant "really old-school characters."
Great Meg this month. I even found RoTD enjoyable, despite having been put off by the earlier episodes.
I really enjoyed Hershey's trip down memory lane, and this was a good character study of her and Dredd, as well as a fine companion piece to the prog story, but I too was confused as to [spoiler]how Hershey gets to install a MC judge as CJ of Texas - even if the rest of the TC justice dept claim not to have know Oswin's true intentions, which I doubt, why would they stand for a MC placeman, given the disparity in strength? That part of the story (and just "keeping" the TC judges) seems a little implausible[/spoiler].
Lawless continues to be awesome in every respect. Blunt is okay but "colonists threatened by a crazy planet" is an old trope, and I'm not a massive fan of Boo Cooke's style (apart from when he totally nails it - I'm rather bipolar on this droid!)
The rest is on my "get around to reading some time" pile.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 18 July, 2016, 07:38:37 PM
I too was confused as to [spoiler]how Hershey gets to install a MC judge as CJ of Texas[/spoiler].
I read it that Hershey is not devoid of strategic thinking (hints dropped in the text) and is [spoiler]essentially planning her own -- more subtle -- coup[/spoiler] to avoid this happening again.
The [spoiler]hidden Psi[/spoiler] side of things would obviously give an advantage in manipulating things, but it's logical to presume that [spoiler]another Psi would spot her a mile off[/spoiler]. This gives more credence to my theory that Texas City's anti-mutant sentiment [spoiler]extends to Psis too[/spoiler].
Quote from: A.Cow on 19 July, 2016, 12:26:55 PMThis gives more credence to my theory that Texas City's anti-mutant sentiment [spoiler]extends to Psis too[/spoiler].
I thought that was implicit in one of the responses from Oswin.
Yet they cloned one from their own Psi's to make Thorn.... ;)
Quote from: A.Cow on 19 July, 2016, 12:26:55 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 18 July, 2016, 07:38:37 PM
I too was confused as to [spoiler]how Hershey gets to install a MC judge as CJ of Texas[/spoiler].
I read it that Hershey is not devoid of strategic thinking (hints dropped in the text) and is [spoiler]essentially planning her own -- more subtle -- coup[/spoiler] to avoid this happening again.
The [spoiler]hidden Psi[/spoiler] side of things would obviously give an advantage in manipulating things, but it's logical to presume that [spoiler]another Psi would spot her a mile off[/spoiler]. This gives more credence to my theory that Texas City's anti-mutant sentiment [spoiler]extends to Psis too[/spoiler].
I got that, but can;t see how she would ahve any power to install anyone anywhere? Presumably, Texas City is still better functioning than MC1, with a less depleted Justice Dept? I can;t see how they could fly in a rebranded MC1 Judge without Civil and Judicial unrest - unless she is going to get a face change and goin as Oswn!
I had assumed that how Lewis becomes chief judge was just implied, but now I think MC is setting up another story.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 19 July, 2016, 07:57:41 PM
Quote from: A.Cow on 19 July, 2016, 12:26:55 PMThis gives more credence to my theory that Texas City's anti-mutant sentiment [spoiler]extends to Psis too[/spoiler].
I thought that was implicit in one of the responses from Oswin.
Uh. Just re-read this Meg's story and it's stated that the thing controlling Thorn is a clone of a Texas City Psi judge. Grrr.
Presumably Dredd himself will be travelling down to Texas City in the near future particularly if some elements of of that city's Justice Department kick up a fuss about having a MC-1 Judge as their new CJ
Quote from: A.Cow on 19 July, 2016, 10:49:49 PM
Uh. Just re-read this Meg's story and it's stated that the thing controlling Thorn is a clone of a Texas City Psi judge. Grrr.
Nothing in the story suggested that Texas didn't have/use Psi judges, only that they considered them genetically inferior to reg'lar
white non-mutant folks.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 20 July, 2016, 06:48:16 PM
Nothing in the story suggested that Texas didn't have/use Psi judges, only that they considered them genetically inferior to reg'lar white non-mutant folks.
Fair point, well made.
From 'Whichever way you look at it. Mega City One is dying' -Hershsey
To ' Lewis......I intend to install you as chief judge of Texas City............we're equals now'
:o :o :o
Done deal
Did they go into TC and take over? You could read it that way. If so how when they were so weak. If not why would they possibly accept another city choosing their new Chief judge.
A good series but a clear as mud ending.
PS Where did Anderson disappear to in all this -simply said basically she was busy elsewhere.
I read it as TC council have more or less admitted their part in the whole takeover so accepted Lewis as the cost of 'kidding on' they knew nothing about the coup. It doesn't say that anywhere but that's what I read between the lines. That kind of political buy off we're seeing a lot of elsewhere just now.
Yeah I kinda took it as the agreed cost of keeping their house in order after this was allowed to happen. After all they've seen what happens to however many other plans and actions against Mega City One and Dredd. I'm guessing Hershey has sold it to them by underplaying Lewis and installing her as a puppet boss to keep an eye on the Council in Texas City.
All that said and as much as I've LOVED this epic I do find it a bit weird that Hershey has remained in power. Others have quit for A LOT less, though in this case I'm guessing the city has actually come out on top and in better shape in terms of resources and political power. This seems to be dispite Hershey's decisions rather than because of them?
Anyway to the Meg as a whole and three quarters of the strips are quite wonderful. Just a shame the one quarter that I'm skipping now is actually about two fifths. Ho hum Red Overused on the Dross is more than made up for elsewhere.
The Dredd is quite wonderful (issue as discussed aside) and adored the Dredd exchanges. Surely now Mike Carroll has done all he need to to prove he's Wagner in waiting? Blunt I continue to find ridiculously entertaining and the scene at the wreck was quite supreme.
Of course all this pales behind Lawless, but then almost all other comics do so that's no shame. Lawless is near perfect and I hope it all gets collected very very soon.
Its a shame the text features are a bit uninspiring this month but still 30(ish) pages of great comic just about carries the show and if anyone ever needed any proof that its a crying shame that Sinister Dexter deserves a new trade run surely the floppy this week is all the evidence you'd need... mind its also all the evidence you'd need that this ain't going to happen!
Wow. I seem to be a little out of the step with the general opinion of the parish here as I thought the Dredd was woeful. It read like a mixture of Hershey fan fiction and hastily mixed plaster to trowel into some of the gaps in what's been going on over the last few months. I fully understand the distinction between a character's knowledge and the writer's but if Lewis's psi impression of Dredd is any reflection of Carroll's own (as the med judge's verdict clearly has an authorial/editorial angle) then I'm not hopeful.
Lawless, despite being a mid-season rounding up the posse episode, is a delight. In the continued absence of Devlin Waugh, this is the Meg's standout strip.
If I accept it for what it is, then Realm of the Damned has grown on me. Pye's art really is a wonderful thing. It's a shame we haven't seen it before and I hope we get to see him on something else in the near future.
Blunt is an excuse for Boo Cook to draw brightly coloured creatures eating people. It's not Zombo but it's inoffensive.
Meant to congratulate Steve Frame of Caithness. How many star letters is a short story worth in The Beast?
Just a thought, but according to Missionary Man it's the Deputy Chief Judge who holds the real power in Texas City IIRC, with the Chief Judge being a figurehead; this obviously doesn't seem to have been the case with Oswin, but perhaps the understanding with TC is that Lewis will be such a figurehead, when in fact she'll be using her Psi talents to assume more direct control. Seems weak, but IDK.
Quote from: Banners on 16 July, 2016, 08:48:18 PM
Even alongside Ezquerra's wonderful art and Annie P's superlative lettering, the new Meg boasts an absolutely stand-out and phenomenal Dredd script from the Carroll droid, both in terms of rounding off the saga and on its own merits. It is brilliantly structured, reverential of the strip's legacy, thoughtful and progressive all at the same time, and features cracking, engaging and delightful dialogue throughout.
We all love the explosions, action sequences and shoot-outs of course. But this episode shows Carroll at his best I think. More scripts along these lines, and as Med-Judge Gregory says, Carroll can surely write Dredd "for another few decades".
Bravo.
Well said Banners.
A brilliant finale this month to The Carroll Droid's mini epic, fittingly drawn by the venerable Carlos Ezquerra.
Was this another in a first pairing for Mike with a veteran Dredd artist?
The insightful
Butch previously commented that working with MacNeil & Flint on Dredd were the equivalent of an orb and sceptre, and it now seems he has been handed Excalibur for the final chapter.
Kudos to all involved with this storyline- MacNeil, Flint, Holden, Ezquerra, the fine lettering & colouring Droid's, and the man himself, Mike Carroll.
The Thrills were at least equal to the number of guest stars / cameos.
<Disengage snivelling suck-butt mode>
Dredd: A nice, leisurely epilogue - possibly a bit too leisurely, but I loved Dredd's exchange with the medic and his (Carroll's) marvellously straightforward answer to the old question of Dredd's longevity.
I'm still enjoying Realm of the Damned and Blunt, but Lawless is clearly the best thing in the Meg.
I really wish sin/dex had a chunky casefiles style trade i really do
A better Meg than expected, as it's often the prog's poor relation, I find.
Dredd epilogue tale was the highlight, and far surperior to the supposed epic (?) that has been running recently. That felt directionless and I just wanted it to end (Dredd's miraculous escape and powers of recovery. Again?-(). But this epilogue had more clout than the tale itself, domestic though it seemed.
ROTD and Dredd text tales, I don't read. I've tried, and being kind, they're not for me.
Lawless remains hugely entertaining, this will produce a fantastic black and white trade when Tharg gets round to it.
Blunt is more purpley art. Too busy for me.
The bundled floppy is normally a chore but this one held my interest. The main capers were involving with Davis' paintbrush on top form and the "filler" tales showed Abnett's strengths too. A worthy floppy this time, not unhappy to see another SinDex next month.
Cover: Looovely Pye droid Vamp head, more on that in a moment!
Dredd: Answeres a few questions I had left over from the strip in the prog, very good stuff, I look forward to rereading it all! Hats off to the Car-Roll droid!
ROTD: Contrary to other opinions around these parts, i'm loving it! The revelation of Van Helsings doubt's was brilliantly handled. Really loving this, can't wait to nab the TPB (which I already out, I might add).
Blunt: This is turning out to be quite the delightful surprise. Another frontier strip, I was initially skeptical, but the story and art are both on point, and the ship sequence this issue was simply magnificent! The whole feel of the story reminds me, somewhat, of a late Pertwee era Doctor Who story.
Lawless: Superb, magnificent, graceful, brilliant. Lawless is all of these, and I chuffing love it to death!
That final frame in Dredd is hysterical. :lol:
Ed
I've only read the first part of RotD and this one so far, but I really like it. Parr's art is great.
Lawless is as flawless as ever, Winslade is staggeringly good, and I haven't got to grips with Blunt or the typey bits yet.
The Dredd I'm torn by... it does serve as a good epilogue to a solid saga, and the bits with Joe and Gregory are priceless, but I wonder if it should have been half the length and more importantly in the Prog. That said, I bought the Meg specifically to read it, so no fool that Tharg...
Is it wrong that the unexpected SinDex floppy was such a major treat for me? I'd spend a lot of dosh on Complete Fact:Totem Downloded.
All in all the Meg seems in fine fettle at present.
So what do we all make of Lewis's reading of Dredd?
For starters, I've always imagined that Dredd was a tricky proposition for psis to read (triple-zero rated and all that), but that's really an assumption, so not really relevant.
But the idea that Dredd isn't a 'complex mess of distractions, hopes regrets and dreams', or that he 'accepts his flaws and just moves on'? I always thought Dredd was chock-full of doubt, guilt and regret, but did his duty anyway. Certainly any time we get his internal monologue it seems to be agonising about something: Rico, Vienna, Fargo, De Marco, Beeny, old cases, the citizens... I prefer the idea that Joe is unwavering and resolute despite his internal turmoil, rather than because of its absence.
Also, while a nice scene, why does Hershey bring up Dredd at a? Is it because she's doing to Lewis exactky what Dredd has done to her?
Correction: "...at all?".
Quote from: Tordelback on 29 July, 2016, 02:22:38 PM
So what do we all make of Lewis's reading of Dredd?
For starters, I've always imagined that Dredd was a tricky proposition for psis to read (triple-zero rated and all that), but that's really an assumption, so not really relevant.
But the idea that Dredd isn't a 'complex mess of distractions, hopes regrets and dreams', or that he 'accepts his flaws and just moves on'? I always thought Dredd was chock-full of doubt, guilt and regret, but did his duty anyway. Certainly any time we get his internal monologue it seems to be agonising about something: Rico, Vienna, Fargo, De Marco, Beeny, old cases, the citizens... I prefer the idea that Joe is unwavering and resolute despite his internal turmoil, rather than because of its absence.
I think (to reconcile our view of his internal monologue with what the psis say) we'd have to use the trip zero rating to declare that they're missing all the inner turmoil and just getting the surface thoughts. Film Dredd, on the other hand - anger all the way :-)