Meg 431 - Badges of Honour

[broodblik]

Cover by Dave Taylor:

[broodblik]

Cover and Logo:

[Colin YNWA]

Decent Meg under a lovely cover.

Dredd a solid opener, not immediately up to Niemand's standard but lets see where it goes.

Megatropolis is the absolute highlight of the issue and right up with Niemand's usual standards. Action, intrigue and frankly quite stunningly good art. A wonderful tale, setting very robust foundations for more tales to come and we know we get more - so can't wait.

Mike Dowling gives astonishing art for Devlin Waugh, he just gets better and better and Ales Kot is building a fantastic long form tale that seems to be heading towards an exciting crescendo though these strong shorts. Looking forward to seeing this one develop.

Is that Star Scan meant to be Devlin? Its a good picture but ifs it is mr Waugh it utterly misses the mark alas.

Diamond Dogs again great art, this time by Warren Pleece the story defo has potential but lets see where it goes.

Deliverance cuts to the chase after a brief pause for reflection. Exciting but arguably a little weaker as a single episode as it cuts the creepy and unsettling for out and out gore and violence. Will work when the piece is a whole and certainly sets up a very exciting finale.

Texrt pieces are solid and the next part of the encyclopedia shows that no one planed the space for each entry well at all. I hope this get a more refined and planned second draft as it has such potential.

[Jim_Boswell]

Here's a little look at a page from this month's Dredd, with a before/after of Ian's art and my colours. 

[repoman]

I'm struggling with Deliverance.  I'm finding it a bit disappointing.  Especially compared to the likes of Torture Garden, Dominion and Dark Justice.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

I was slightly concerned, following Lawless and Dreadnoughts, that the final episode of Megatropolis would signal the Meg slipping qualitatively down a steep slope. But I am astonished to report that I thoroughly enjoyed both Devlin Waugh and Diamond Dogs. In fact, I may actually be close to saying that this most recent run of Devlin has been my favourite to date. And Diamond Dogs- which I remember being a bit sneery about last time round- was either so much improved that it was almost a different strip... or I was just being grumpy and unfair last time.
And the lead Dredd strip was magnificent too. That's three top thrills- so even if I am not HUGELY fond of the Judge Death shenanigans at the back, that makes me think that finally, finally, the Meg has slipped into gear and can now be relied upon to deliver top class strippage each month.

I will miss Megatropolis though.

SBT

[IndigoPrime]

Kot seems to have a solid handle on Devlin. It’s not as weird as Smith’s work on the character, but has a solid mix of horror, camp and mystery that keeps it moving along very nicely. He also seems keen to make the reader work for it a bit. McConville’s run appeared too eager to answer questions that didn’t really need answering—and in double-quick time.

[Leigh S]

Agree with all of that - enjoying Kot's take

Kot seems to have a solid handle on Devlin. It’s not as weird as Smith’s work on the character, but has a solid mix of horror, camp and mystery that keeps it moving along very nicely. He also seems keen to make the reader work for it a bit. McConville’s run appeared too eager to answer questions that didn’t really need answering—and in double-quick time.

[Freddychopper]

I'm struggling with Deliverance.  I'm finding it a bit disappointing.  Especially compared to the likes of Torture Garden, Dominion and Dark Justice.

I'm really enjoying Deliverance. It definitely has a different feel to what's come before but the detailed art is fantastic (great world building and atmosphere) and I'm curious to see how we'll leave the Dark Judges this time. Hine and Percival have really put their own unique stamp on them and long may it continue. Anyone else not get a cover print, by the way? My copy didn't have one

[broodblik]

A good meg but it is going to difficult to make up with the "lost" of Megatropolis and Dreadnoughts the next couple of months.

Dredd – Another Niemand scripted Dredd and he is steadily building up his resume. Just waiting for him to do an epic. Back to the story and it has a solid start with good art by Ina Richardson.

Megatropolis – What a great new addition to the meg wonderful noir alternative universe story with some exceptional good art by Taylor throughout.  Great the see that this is only Book One and a great setup is done for what future storylines.

Devlin – The story is steadily building up and more layers are revealed as Devlin’s relationship with Tit is exposed.  John Smith’s Devlin is definitely different but Kots is bringing something different to the character. I am enjoying the story and the build-up.

Diamond Dogs – The first series was not too bad, and we start right up wit an action sequence that leads to theme of the next series. Let us see where this will go but a steady start.

Deliverance – Judgement is now full swing as Whisper tries to stop the carnage. Percival’s art continues to deliver the dark twisted world as we heading for the final confrontation.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

The only thing that has been slightly bugging me about Devlin Waugh- and which has suddenly clarified itself as I was reading the last couple of posts here... wasnt there a recent-ish issue of Hellblazer with almost the same sequence of events? Tower block/ child outside/ demon inside/ conversation inside/ unexpected possession. Or am I doing Kot a disservice and just mixing two unrelated comics that have a surface amount of similarity?

SBT

[broodblik]

B/W Cover:

[Bolt-01]

I'm thoroughly enjoying the Meg right now but I'm going to miss Megatropolis.

[Link Prime]

I'm thoroughly enjoying the Meg right now but I'm going to miss Megatropolis.

A key strip, far better than anything else in this months Meg.

Might go digital cherry-picking for a few months, until Megatropolis or Dreadnoughts (or a strip of that caliber) returns.

[Sean SD]

My Top 3 for Meg 431

All of the 5 thrills in this Meg were fine but my top 3 for this issue are:

1st - Megatropolis - looking forward to this thrills return already as well as Dreadnoughts
2nd - Dredd - fun start to find out about BOB, PS don't mess with BOB
3rd - Devlin Waugh - well done Kot and team