no prog but i did get my meg today still to read it but yes the 2000ad encyclopedia covers a certain priest patrol member this time round so thats worth the early post of this....will add more as i read it
Too early for Soul Sisters, surely...
I read about half of mine last night. Judge Dredd was wrapped up pretty quickly. Feels like America is still Wagner's turf at this point. A nice enough tale, but I hope he writes some more soon. Megatropolis is having Elseworlds larks, but also throws something new and intriguing into the mix. [spoiler]Check out the gun design[/spoiler]. Dreadnoughts continues to be terrifyingly on the nose, showcasing in stark fashion how rapidly a country can irrevocably change for the worse.
I got my copy through the door earlier, not only bent down the middle by the postman in spite of the "PLEASE DO NOT BEND!" message, but also with a rubber band around it. Fortunately, the brunt of the bendage seems to have been borne by an extra copy of part 2 of the 2000 AD encyclopedia. Tharg the all-knowing has clearly pre-empted the Royal Mail's wanton attack.
Our current postie seems to delight in folding comics in half, shoving them into the letterbox and leaving them, the miserable sod. (We don't tend to have the same one for long, fortunately, and I hope his replacement is better.)
The cover by Tim Napper:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Emn4ji5XYAEbNUu?format=jpg&name=large)
The cover plus logo:
(https://i2.wp.com/www.comicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Meg-426-11.jpg?resize=768%2C1007&ssl=1)
Nice cover. Tim Napper is new to the world of Dredd, yes?
No prog or meg here yet. Hope it comes soon. We've been lucky how regular these have been during the pandemic.
Well my digital sub means no extended wait for the Meg at least and what a Meg it is, again.
The cover is utterly striking. I'm not sure I like it but, its a strong interesting image and should be commended for that.
Inside barely a mistep. Dredd Wagner delivers an utter blinder and Beeny is clearly being set up for some very interesting developments. Dan Cornwell delievers a blinder. I was sure why Chris Blyth's colours were so sharp and bright in the first scene... until... and then you know he's played a blinder! Just a fantastic story.
Flip the page to Megatropolis and we get another fantastic story. This episode just builds things up to quite an astonish level. Its been good up to now, here it pitches to the next level. Just superb. David Taylor is as masterful as ever.
Flip the page and Dreadnoughts rattles along to keep the fantastic stories coming. Again wonderful craft, gripping tale, stupendous art. What's not to love.
Flip past the text pieces (just okay this month) and we get to fantastic story number 4 with The Returners. I've always enjoyed this, if the second story lost me a little. Here though no need for re-read (though it will be a pleasure) its great stuff. And have to say Nicolo Assirellli is getting better and better and this is probably his best yet... and flip the page...
... yep you got it ANOTHER fantastic story, Deliverance just... ready, you ready for it... delievers, creepy murderous and then a great little set up to pull you into next week. Brilliant stuff.
The encyclopedia continues to frustrate. The design is better but still leaves questions about layout and use of space. Predictably there are most that level you aghast at the entry selection as well. All sorts of character pages which are fun and particularly some obsure(ish) Dredd characters but Ramone Dexter does get a page - really. Very odd.
Still the meat of this comic is just superb. Absolutely superb. In normal circumstance you might be concerned how well the next issue will read when you lose Wagner Dredd but heck the rest of the stories are soooo strong I think we'll barely notice.
Yeah, the Meg is seriously on form right now. Switch Deliverance for Lawless and I think that it would be just about... perfect.
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 19 November, 2020, 08:48:26 AM
Yeah, the Meg is seriously on form right now. Switch Deliverance for Lawless and I think that it would be just about... perfect.
Agree but I will only switch Returners with Lawless and try to keep Wagner on Dredd
The Meg is definitely on form here. I stopped buying for years, but then was intrigued by the promise of a Wagner Dredd and an Elseworlds Dredd. And it's paid off - l'm buying again. Long may this level of quality last.
The floppy is a massive disappointment - at least the third time over the years putting this rubbish into print when the best place is online. Its total toss and a complete rip off too. Sod off Tharg.
Nineteen posts in nine years and every single one of them about how disappointed/angry/upset you are. Can you show me on the doll where Tharg hurt you?
It's cheaper than publishing stories, and in 2020 it's probably necessary for Tharg to keep overheads down. He's done well to keep two comics in print without missing a single week.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 25 November, 2020, 10:10:31 PM
Can you show me on the doll where Tharg hurt you?
"RIGHT HERE"
< Every forum member points to patch of thinning hair in unison >
That sulking Judge Whisper in Deliverance. Loved it!. Top creepy art as always. Great issue as usual but wish my postie would treat the comic with more respect. Yep, folded in half again :( Now I must sulk as well
Another great meg. The mg has certainly hit some great form the last few months. I cannot choose which was my favourite and looks like we might have two stories that can join Lawless on a more regular basis (Megatropolis and Dreadnoughts). The Dredd story at least gives us a possibility to see more Wagner in the future.
So I'm gradually picking up digital Megs as and when I can find the cash, and so have a delayed reaction to this one.
The conclusion to Dredd: Bennett Beeny is downright excellent. The only place where I really missed Colin was in the reveal of America (Jara) herself, which didn't really come across as her (I thought it was a version of Ami herself). Other than that, top stuff from Cornwell (and Wagner).
Megatropolis. Nah. This is a good story with spectacular art, and I think I'd really enjoy it if it was just America, Rico and Joe in AltDecoCity-1, but the relentless name-dropping has just killed it stone dead for me. After the previous episode I thought I might warm to it, get my head in the Elseworlds zone and go with the flow, but no, just not for me.
Still, I'll happily look at the art all day and squint just enough to blur the very lovely lettering so I don't see the pointless names Guthrie, Roffman, McGruder and on and on and on. A rare case where a Niemand script just doesn't work for me.
Dreadnoughts. Great near-future procedural, perfectly matched with Higgins & Hurst, and wears it's prologuery lightly. My hat is completely doffed to Mike. Damn fine read.
The Returners. Still not a hint of a clue what's going on, still think it's overly liberal with the page real estate, but very very nice to look at. I'll catch up eventually. I hope.
Deliverance is another strip where the background is unknown to me, but even I can pick-up on colonial marines hijacked by Dark Judges, and this was a corker of an episode. No idea what Whisper's story is, but he's wonderfully creepy in a Swamp-Thing-villain way. Very enjoyable.
Was going to complain about inconsistencies in the Encyclopedia (Judge Caligula again? Lack of reprint info on some of the entries etc), but then I got completely absorbed reading about stories I'd almost-or-completely forgotten, and others I'd definitely never read. So scrub the moans, this was diverting stuff!
Haven't tackled the text features yet, but I will. Good value comic, and pretty from stem to stern.