Meg 211

[The Amstor Computer]

Just got mine this minute - but I thought I'd grab the opening post ;-)

Back in half-an-hour...

[The Amstor Computer]

Several cups of tea later... :-)

Cover(s):

Love the B cover (the Bolland homage) which subs get as the outer cover. Not as keen on the A cover - it's a far weaker image, and it looks more like a sketch for a final image than a finished piece.
Still, as a spawny subscriber, I get two for the price of one, so I'm not complaining too much ;-)

Dredd: Sturm and Dang

Loved this. The Cursed Earth was my favourite Dredd locale when I was younger, and it's always a pleasure to see a story return to this setting. It's even better when you've got Carlos Ezquerra providing the art, and Gordon Rennie turning out another polished piece of writing.

The tension between Koburn (!) & Dredd is thoroughly enjoyable:

DREDD: "Keep it up, Koburn. It's all going in my report."

KOBURN: "Now *there's* something I'm liable to lose sleep over."

...and comedy mutant Nazis are always entertaining:

"Ack-tongue! Der Mega-City Judge shrine-hoonts!"

The story reads like an affectionate poke-in-the-ribs at old Battle strips (Major Eazy, obviously), and the timing couldn't be better, with the Meg reprinting classics like Darkie's Mob & Charley's.

Good stuff.

Death: The Wilderness Days

The remaining members of the family we met in episode 1 are still hot on Death's tail, as the superfiend himself enjoys a little Micky & Mallory action.

This is still one of the stand-out strips in the Meg, but it does seem to be in danger of outstaying its welcome if it carries on like this. At the moment, each episode reads like "Death turns up, kills a bunch of people we've only just met, and moves on".

For a couple of episodes, this is enjoyable, and when it's coupled with the hints of a larger story - as in the episode last month - it works perfectly well.

Just a minor worry, really - and it's hard to be churlish when you've got exchanges like the one between Death & Nirvana on page 7 ("Ssstill, iff we're talking fffulll penetration...")

Blazing Battle Action:

Another solid installment - though I suspect my unfamiliarity with the history of Battle helps.

Charley's War:

At last. There's nothing much for me to say about this series, except that I'm absolutely delighted to see it being reprinted. I only hope that we get to see it in its entirety.

The intro is typical Pat Mills - read it & you'll see what I mean - but it sets the reader up for the story nicely. I'm glad to see Dave Hunt getting a prominent mention for his decision to publish the story in the first place - it's rare to see writers & artists thanking editors publicly, and in this case it's well deserved.

Harry Twenty on the High Rock:

Again, not much to say here. A minor classic from the vaults - here's hoping more are on their way.

Devlin Waugh:

Whoever described this as the comic version of Dino Crisis was spot-on. Unfortunately, what works brilliantly on your PlayStation stinks in the Megazine. Most of the failings have been covered here extensively, so rather than repeat them, I'll just keep my fingers crossed that this comes to an end soon.

Interrogation Cube:

A fairly throwaway interview with Frazer Irving, with a little hint of what he's going to be up to in the future ("Monsters of Rock" in Prog 2004? Sounds fun)

Xtnct:

Slightly confusing episode - at least initially - and a bit of a let-down after the previous two. Although it's got some very funny scenes with Raptor - "Gorgeous yet unsatisfying terminal exclamation"; "Satisfying death squeal" - it's a little unclear exactly what's meant to be happening, and it doesn't seem to bear much relation to the events of the episode last month.
Hopefully it'll be back on track next time.

Apocalypse Soon:

WHEN WILL IT END? Please, somebody, kill this strip - hell, you could replace it with just about anything right now & I'd be happy.

The Bendatti Vendetta:

...And so another pointless, dull series comes to and end (though I've no doubt it'll return)

Just think - all of the time and energy spent on this non-story could have been put into a series of Dante one-offs...

Dreddlines:

As the title says - "Battle Battles Continue" with another letter from someone who appears not to have read any of the "Blazing Battle Action" series, and who seems to have missed the point of reprinting Darkie's Mob entirely.

I hope we're not in for more of this now that Charley's War is being reprinted, but I suspect we will.

Here's an idea - give Pat Mills a right to reply slot in Dreddlines. It would certainly be more interesting than reading yet another complaint...

Verdict: B+

Another solid Meg, and hopefully the replacement of Bendatti with Armitage and the ongoing reprints of Charley's War will push the monthly into a new high.

[Last of the V8's]

Fantastic Meg, especially the Dredd strip Sturm and Dan a homage to Major Eazy.
I remember suggesting this to John Wagner at Dredd con last year a Dredd/Judge Eazy strip. John suggested I give Gordon a prod.
This gives me a big thrill,if my idea was listened to or not, it's great to see.
Cheers Gordon!!

[Proudhuff]

Proudhuff pushed up the peak of his cap, leans back on the old wooden chair, squints, nods at Blackblood and says 'what he saz'.


LazeeHuffy

[Mangamax]

Thank gawd Eazy finally turns up in a Dredd strip. Do you know how long Captain Skank has been wittering on about the two of them teaming up? Feels like a couple of centuries.
I even wrote him a 3 parter that he could draw to try to shut him up but now the real deal's here.
Work of genius Mr Rennie - everything about it works. Loved the "Koburn" name, the brilliant play on boys comics standard Nazi-talk, the clever updating of Eazy's car and, best of all, you have Eazys creator on art chores. How many of us lot, growing up on 70's war comics, are looking forward to Dredd going up against a Tiger tank drawn by Ezquerra?
Bring it on!

[Trout]

This month's Meg - which looks like it may creep ahead of 2K in quality again, IMO - is a fine example of why there's so much scope in an anthology comic.

The wonderful lead story is adventure/ comedy/ war,  we have Death and horror with a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun, we have full (if dull) horror in Devlin Waugh, we have a magazine article, we have a spy thriller, and the best in reprints, including a prison escape tale.

How else could so much variety and quality be presented?

I loved this month's Meg, especially Sturm und Dang (that's DANG, Tharg - watch those mistakes in e-mails :-)) which is so cool it's almost beyond words.
Cursed Earth Nazis? "Koburn?" This one's got the lot, not least the best of Carlos. I'm utterly sold and dying for next month.

Death seems to have settled into one of those humour-breaking-up-the-horror tales, which is fine.
I enjoyed it very much, especially the art.

I continue to read the Battle articles with interest.

I'm glad of the chance to read Charley's War for the first time. It seems very good.
The other reprint, Harry 20, I've read lots of times, but it's still good fun. I love Alan Davis' stuff.
Anyone spot Hitler in it this week?

I'm really bored with Devlin Waugh now.
Who are these people? Why won't they just get a move on and die? *yawn*

Apocalypse Soon is a noble idea - one-page stuff is worth a go - but I'm not really interested.

Bendatti remains strong visually, and I'm finally following the story a bit better.

I liked XTNCT, despite not really following why there were generic comments. I got the story and enjoyed the art.

And the Bolland homag cover was beautiful.

So, by chance, that makes the front and middle of the Meg fantastic, and the back end just a bit stinky.

Oh well.

- Trout

[Art]

Ooooooh... Tigers...

[Slippery PD]

Reviewed in pathetic one line questions!!! :)


Dredd in War comic pastiche in the cursed earth?  

Death in road movie mayhem reminder of kalifornia and natural born killers?

A good Mills rant on the futility of War?

An old GFD classic set on an escapable prison?

War comic history that places older creators in new light?

Devlin Waugh in race agaisnt time vampire slayers bash?

Great D'Isreali art and weird sci fi in XTNCT?

Two great covers for subscribers?

You have a great Meg!!!!

[JTurner]

My subscription came through! Wahey!

Dredd is better than ever with the Eazy tribute. Dredd really does need character contrasts like this to function well IMHO.

Death - very good, I love the slowly developing Death personality. He's becoming a much more real character.

Devlin - More dull green pages. THis really has outstayed it's welcome. I'd read the first chapters to remind myself exactly what the point of it all is, but I really can't be arsed.

Bendati - Not bad, but still seems to be building up speed. When it finaly gets to where it's going I'm sure it will be spectacular, but at the moment it leaves me empty.

Charlies War - Darkies Mob has only made me appreciate this more. Superb.

EXTNCT - Novel, but a real headfuck this time. Enjoyable though.

The meg is getting better after a poor few months. As soon as Devlin is out of the way and as lond as Dredd keeps up to this level I'll have no regrets about splashing out on a subscription.

[Waddie]

Spoilers









Dredd: Funny.

Death: Cool but spoiled somewhat by the occasional panel that completely baffled me.

Devlin: Dull.

Bendatti: Erm, what?  I should probably re-read this from the start because I don't think I've really been following it properly.

Charlie's War: Awesome - I was afraid my memory of it might be inaccurate but no, it's just as great as I remembered.

XTNCT: I think the "generic comments" are Raptor's understanding of the basic gist of what other characters are saying.  He doesn't pick up on the exact details and words because his thought processes are so much faster than everyone else's.

Or, er, something.  I might be just as confused as everyone else.  Either way, I enjoyed it with my interpretation of what was going on, and that's good enough for me.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwone/charlie_war

[Waddie]

Gah, spacked up the link.

Oh yeah, Harry Twenty was good too but Apocalypse Soon is crap.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwone/charlie_war_diary_01.shtml" target="_blank">Fingers crossed...

[Tex Hex]

Phew! Now that Im through it all...

Dredd: This is Dredd at its best - fighting insane cursed eath mutie nazis. It really dosnt get more Dredd-y than that. A little reminiscant of the three amigos. Doom-cough!

Death: It was mentioned above, but I hope it dosnt keep doing this week-in week-out. The whole "Death meets some folk...and then kills them!" thing that is. It IS good mind I just fell itll get a wee bit boring is all.

Havnt read GOLD yet...

Devlin: Well Im going to be positive about this. I too read it at first and thought "oh...more running about some complexy thing with vampires in...how miserable". But I really wanted to like this and so dug out all my old megs and read the whole damn thing in a one-er. And it was great. Its just one long whirlwind paced barny, and it does have plot and purpose! It might not be some super intellegent uber-plot but it is there and flowing well. I totally agree that its a travesty to have six pages per month. Giving it twenty pages and making it one of the megs main strips would have put it on, oooh, episode 3 now. And it would be a fan-fave too.

XTNCT: Confession of stupidity dressed up as dissapointment. This was quite confusing. Im not sure I liked this months. It wasnt in keeping with the previous episodes in terms of plot (seemingly) and narrative style (I dont know if this is the right term, Im no scholar...). I hope this isnt the begining of this dissapearing up its own arse.  

Bendatti: After last months episode being entierly devoted to some backstory, I didnt think this was going to end this soon or in such a anti-climax. In fact this story could have been told in its enirety in episodes one and three. Very odd. Unless it picks up again immediately next month with a new story.

Overall, quite good. The main character is doing his job well, and the other stories are a bit hit   n miss. Could be a promise of great things to come or of impending pishdom.

:o)
hex

[Paul Cornell]

Yes, that's how Raptor hears what others are saying.  Each episode is from the point of view of one of our heroes (apart from the second one, from the POV of that scientist, because we have more episodes than heroes). In this episode Raptor 'rescues' his team mates from a peaceful, settled existence.  

I thought this would be the one that everybody liked, and that initial uncertainty would fade at this point!  Just goes to show that often a writer has no idea how their work is going to be seen until it is.  

[Leigh S]

I really enjoyed this episode of Xtnct - I particularly liked how it was amusing, while simultaneously adding a bit of depth by muddying up the ?ethics? of their ?mission? ? after all, they rebelled in protection of Raptor (and admittedly their own skins), and this episode paints him as an unreserved (if entertaining) nutter, just as destructive as Man ever was.
Its also the sort of storytelling that would only work in comic strip form, and thats always nice to see.

I?m just scared by episodes 5 and 6... :)

[Dudley]

I relaxed into XTNCT this prog - like the episode with the Buggerian's pubic lice in Shakara, it tells me that this is a strip that's going to go where it wants and I need just to settle back and read.  Really liked it.