Meg 272 - It's Trying To Steal My Brain!

[mogzilla]

i'm still buying the progs too sod the message board politics its about the thrillpower maan!


hang on rufus,you still BUY the progs? wheres the freebies? do you realise thargs just getting the money  back what he's paid you.

[Art]

Frazer got freaked out by a bum? WTF?

[DavidXBrunt]

I had the same reaction Art before realising that he was freaked out when he read it as a kid. I had a similar reaction to a script - Almaranda - really freaked me out.

Anderson has sort of chundered along for a while being all competent and nice but generally sort of there. Alan Grant knows the character, the world, how to write a proper comic and Arthur Ransome certainly knows how to draw but it's been sort of 'there' for awhile. Read. Forget.

But this latest strip feels fresh and exciting. Hopefully Aicer will be a usefull supporting character, there's certainly room for more of that sort of thing in Andersons life and the art appeals to me more than Boo's stuff ever has. Less 'cluttered' or busy for want of a mroe clear explanation, with sympathetic colouring. Alan seems to have provided him with just the right thing to draw (unless I'm wrong and Boo came up with the idea) and it all works.

Anderson looks mature but still foxy, which works.

And there was other stuff too.

[Art]

I dunno, somehow I find it hard to imagine even Kid Fraz being freaked out by anything.

[House of Usher]

I've read half of it.

I didn't like the Dredd. Chopping out the brains of psi-practitioners was an intriguing premise reminscent of 'Heroes', which got me interested, but the payoff had me confused. What, so that he could turn himself, and them, into a little immortal psychic homunculus? What a weirdo! And yeah, if he's exploding judges' heads with a thought he should have killed Dredd when he had the chance.

Bob the Galactic Bum with its dated royal satire was even funny this Meg, so I've no complaints about it.

Anderson @ Hyven: Nice to see Anderson in a light-hearted adventure for a change. This has a bit of a 'Dream Palace' (Prog 26) feel about it, and Boo Cook's artwork is ideal for the tone of the story. This would seriously misfire if drawn in a more 'straight' fashion. The colouring is superb - very vivid and colourful.

[WoD]

I quite liked Dredd except for the 'kill Dredd now you idiot - the same time you explode everyone else's heads...duh!' moment.  Could it be that Dredd is so psy-flat that he had some resistance...or maybe just a thick skull...possibly he was being protected by the psy-judge though.

[Proudhuff]

good idea wod, but shouldn't the Psi be say that out loud for us non Psis?

Huffini

[COMMANDO FORCES]

I enjoyed the two versions of the Lawmaster this month.
Although I think both of these rae even harder to turn than the original design. lol.

[Will I. Cooling]

The problem I've always had with The Meg's text stuff is that save the interview and articles on comics its always seemed a bit, well pointless. If I want to read articles on movies, there's a million websites that will give me such articles for free. At least when it was Si writing, it was cool to find out what a high-profile 2000ad writer thought about movies, etc.

I understand that text is here to stay on cost grounds, but it doesn't have to feel like 'filler'. When TPO or its sequels were running, the text articles were the first things I turned to in the magazine. They felt like articles that I could get nowhere else and so I didn't mind paying for them.

How about dedicating all the text stuff on comics - for example a proper review section for small press comics or long-form analysis of classic comics. Or reverting to Barnes' strategy of getting creators to write about their passions; for example a monthly Pat Mills column would be a fantastic read.

[johnone]

Well this months Meg was what I can only say consistently good and it's a pleasure to say , too often The Meg has swung wildly in quality  (Resulting sometimes with the Main Dredd strip being the only thing worth reading) but in the last few months the Meg has started to become once again consistent in it's entertainment value

Dredd: Mindripper is a nice Skilfully told script from Morrison  with outstanding art from Neil Googe

Low Life : is as Rufus says "A little bit gray" but seriously I thought it was deliberate and fantastic choice perfectly suited to the excellent script so far ( Especially with that explosion sequence at the end)

Anderson: I'm not sure where this is going , with a self reference I haven't seen since Thargs head Revisited, this could be genius or it could be a mess ..however I'm Enjoying it so far!

Artcles

Frazier Irving, Genuinely Interesting  but most ..hell all of the interrogations  have been fascinating to read

Same for Studio Space which I will most likely buy

As for the Cinema Reviews , Who's writing it now  if it's not Simon??? there was no name on it , not that it was badly written , just odd not to see a byline.

Overall..I haven't felt like this in a long time but it reminded me of  TOOTH from the Mid Eighties  seriously  it was that good! no one story was great but all were of the same high quality this month that it was hard to find a stand out , now if you can keep this up I for one will be very happy

Just one thing  and I have to Mention this..I have been reading the Meg ever since it was relaunched eight years ago , I have been reading tooth since 1977 so I think it's safe to say I am a fan however I have been away from this board for a few weeks and have only caught up with what happened...and I will say this  I have bought the product and that does entitle me to criticise it if I am not happy with it .and to praise it when I am ( Anyone who has read my Meg Reviews knows my opinion of The Godawful Satanus saga and Black Siddah before it ...you also will know the love I have for Savage and for Charleys war and will read anything Mills has ever done at least once)  but to threaten to close down the forum because one person wrote something stupid ( Bollocks is not a valid arguement or critique unless you can back it up with imperical evidence) is a trifle harsh ..If the creators are upset  than they should remember this we read your work because we are your fans and it is you who are responsible for bringing  something special into the lives  of every single person who is a member of this forum and I ( Along with I reckon 99.9 per cent of the readers) am  and will always be truly grateful for your talent.....
  ( However I am going to still say it when I don't like a story , but it will be more concise than the word b*****ks)

On a different point could some one on staff answer me a quaestion? will the Meg be reprinting the Rest Of Charleys War or will I shelve out the money on the New Titan reprint? Just wondering because if the Meg was to continue than it would soon hit what I consider to be Mr Mills  finest moment , his coverage of the British Army Mutiny.

[Mardroid]

Just one thing and I have to Mention this..I have been reading the Meg ever since it was relaunched eight years ago , I have been reading tooth since 1977 so I think it's safe to say I am a fan however I have been away from this board for a few weeks and have only caught up with what happened...and I will say this I have bought the product and that does entitle me to criticise it if I am not happy with it .


No offence but people keep saying that. I don't think its the criticism they have the problem with, (After all constructive criticism can be an aid.) just the way those criticisms are expressed. I.e. give reasons and be respectful. I don't mean that in a suck up way, just bear in mind the effort that was taken by the writer/artist in creating the strip, don't be detrimental or, well, rude. It's just that old adage about treating others how you'd like to be treated really.

( However I am going to still say it when I don't like a story , but it will be more concise than the word b*****ks)

Exactly. That is fine.

Apologies for beating that old horse.

[House of Usher]

"more concise than the word b*****ks"

What is there that's more concise than that?

[Dudley]

Balls.

[Richmond Clements]

I'm still an editor of Futurequake, according to my CV...

And you've still got the chops, baby!

[House of Usher]

Brevity is the essence but not the entirety of concision. Balls is more ambiguous than bollocks, which, in turn, is more emphatic.