Megazine 399- War on the Law!

[Colin YNWA]

Well a Meg issue #99 is always going to be about the landings isn't it... well that and any one offs needed to fill the space. Which alas in the case of the Dredd here isn't done that well. The normally relible McConville has a mis-step here. He has the kernal of a story, a decent idea, but doesn't seem to be able to settle on the best way to expliot it and so throws it all in and hopes it gells... alas it doesn't.

and so to the landing and by George most of these are planeted with barely a back step insight.

The Returners will be returning WAYHEY. What felt like it was destine to be a done in one has turned out to be an origin story and a delightful one at that so can't wait for this to ret... come back...

Devlin Waugh ends really nicely. I've enjoyed the way this in has leap about with abandon.

Chopper was just glorious Kirbyesque fun and I just loved it.

Strange Brigade was okay. It didn't have space to really engage with so much going on. Harmless fun.

Looks like functional text pieces (not yet read) and the floppie content looks really good given its stuff I don't own so well into that - though would have LOVED Mind Wars, hopefully coming.

[TordelBack]

My second Meg of recent years, and another astonishingly solid content-heavy issue.  Annoyingly, I now want to go back and get the last few issues so I can read the Devlin, Returners and Chopper stories.  On the basis of the two parts I did read, this is the best post-mortem Chopper we've had yet, and The Returners is justplain intriguing.  Another good McConville craze-focused Dredd this week too, supported by the ever-evolving ever-improving Johnson.  Liking the look of that Block Mania card game too!

But I didn't come here to heap deserved praise! No, I came here to complain about the floppy.  yes, Grant's stories are the definition of unnecessary, but for some reason they read a lot better in a chunk than I remember, and the B&W art is just fantastic (special-shout outs to PJH, Dyer and an almost unrecognisable Williams), BUT.  This is one issue where episode titles really should have been included, or if there was an issue with that, some simple new ones added.  Also, it might have have been a fun experiment to see these shuffled into chronological order.

[Richard]

The titles are on the inside front cover.

[Frank]

Nice to see Mo Malik, from the Sons Of Booth storyline, is still presenting the (fake) news.

[TordelBack]

The titles are on the inside front cover.

I know, I'm not functionally blind quite yet, plus I've read them all before: but there is a serious case of "Oh, the art has changed, has it been 6 pages already?  Ah, this must be an entirely different story" afoot in this volume, the same sort of thing as bedevils certain volumes of the Casefiles. Just a simple title at the top of the first page of each new story, is that really such an unreasonable request?

[Richard]

Well you have to admit that the art changing is a bit of a clue. Plus if you've been reading the story then you ought to recognise the ending for what it is.

[TordelBack]

Sorry Richard, I don't agree. I think it's a pretty universal convention to signal the end of one story and the start of another by some explicit editorial means, rather than expecting the reader to play art detective.  Every other anthology I've ever read in any medium, including of course the Meg itself, seems to manage it. It's not a big deal, but I do think it takes away slightly from what is otherwise a surprisingly enjoyable collection.

[Proudhuff]

Nice to see Mo Malik, from the Sons Of Booth storyline, is still presenting the (fake) news.

Strangely these are the Easter eggs that I love in Tooth.

[Colin YNWA]

But I didn't come here to heap deserved praise! No, I came here to complain about the floppy.  yes, Grant's stories are the definition of unnecessary, but for some reason they read a lot better in a chunk than I remember, and the B&W art is just fantastic (special-shout outs to PJH, Dyer and an almost unrecognisable Williams), BUT.  This is one issue where episode titles really should have been included, or if there was an issue with that, some simple new ones added.  Also, it might have have been a fun experiment to see these shuffled into chronological order.

Yeah completely agree with this. Finally got around to Da Floppie and its a bit frustrating that they weren't shuffled into chronological order, then the no titles would have read really nicely.

Also yeah unnecessary sure, but such fun and have to have say 'Collaborators' was absolutely fantastic, really really well done.

Oh and Thurston Moore and Sonic Youth - my fav band get a good chunky reference! Cool. Also I now know where PJs avatar comes from. Really enjoyed these, niggles as mentioned above aside.

[TordelBack]

Really enjoyed these, niggles as mentioned above aside.

Yup, wasn't complaining about the content at all: I had memories of this being a lacklustre series of largely pointless tales (Book of Scars, Dreddstyle) but there really was some good stuff in there. And the art was universally fantastic - PJ's animated Block Mania pages were a particular treat, especially the partially successful transition into Ron Smith at the end.  Williams does a splendid job of evoking very early Gibson and McMahon, and maybe a hint of Ron Turner, while Dyer's Chopper plays to his naturally Cam Kennedyish strengths.  All of those are decent stories as well, as is the first of two Roche entries, Collaborators, which is a pretty strong story. 

The last three are where the format begins to look a bit strained, with a very tangential nod to Letter From a Democrat, an entirely random tie-in to The Graveyard Shift through the medium of 59Cs which seems to exist mainly to permit Roche to draw ladies' pants (which he does very well), and an Oz epilogue which more or less just reprises the panel where surviving Judda teleport back into the inferno beneath Uluru. 

Even so, it's a lot more hit than miss, and the art is genuinely great throughout,  it's a great example of what the floppy can do, pulling together this kind of series and giving it another shot.

[TordelBack]

"Roche"="Roach".  Never get that right.

[DrJomster]

What a good Meg and Praise Be To Tharg!

Special shout outs for:
- those poor students in Dredd
- that two page splash in The Returners
- Devlin, which has been just great!

Tbh, it was all good. Roll on 400!

[athorist]

Should we start a hype thread for Megazine 400?