Ooh – wraparound cover. Alas, no print for me. (Is that the case for everyone?) Anyway, on with the strips...
Dredd returns to McConville's time-travel shenanigans, which feels a bit like it's talking place in an alternate time stream from the main Dredd strip, to some degree. (Although, TBF, that's all Dredd these days.) Nice to see a range of judges (and no insulting stereotypes). The story itself seems good so far.
Death Cap lost me early on in fridging/murdering kids, but this episode is a little better. Nice art (not least the Carlos tribute), but it all feels a little empty to me. I'm not sure I care what happens to the protagonist, which is never a good thing.
Diamond Dogs III has some nice moments. It feels markedly less futuristic than Dredd. Remove the judges and much of it could be happening in a BBC 1 drama. For all that, it's fine, and I might do a re-read at some point, to remind myself of how everything got to this point.
Interlude: Ennis chats about Hawk the Slayer and Steve White digs into his career on 2000 AD and beyond.
Lawless remains the Meg's high point for me. I don't know where Abnett's taking this, but there's plenty of intrigue and some wonderful character moments.
Surfer continues to build. Strange to see Wagner hiding away at the back of the Meg, but with this and Lawless it ends well.
Lawless > Surfer > Dredd > Diamond Dogs > Death Cap
Am I right in thinking that the floppie is the first part of Hawk the Slayer?
Cover by Stewart Kenneth Moore:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHH1C7qXIAEh1uL?format=jpg&name=large)
Cover and Logo:
(https://dyn.media.forbiddenplanet.com/zuAQQG_n6fFcqYIL3-uu8nO6yn4=/trim/fit-in/1024x673/filters:format(webp)/https://media.forbiddenplanet.com/products/37/d1/145b6284501d23514efd8544e62dd0fabaf9.jpeg)
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 January, 2022, 11:51:02 AM
Am I right in thinking that the floppie is the first part of Hawk the Slayer?
Yes. I've not read that yet.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 17 January, 2022, 12:45:59 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 January, 2022, 11:51:02 AM
Am I right in thinking that the floppie is the first part of Hawk the Slayer?
Yes. I've not read that yet.
Cool - just wanted to check I wasn't getting over excited about getting it Wednesday as really looking forward to it - even if I'm no fan of the film!
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 January, 2022, 12:52:09 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 17 January, 2022, 12:45:59 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 January, 2022, 11:51:02 AM
Am I right in thinking that the floppie is the first part of Hawk the Slayer?
Yes. I've not read that yet.
Cool - just wanted to check I wasn't getting over excited about getting it Wednesday as really looking forward to it - even if I'm no fan of the film!
Who care for the movie we have Flint back in action !!!!!!!
Minor peeve that after four and a half million floppies (approximately) this one is suddenly the size and dimensions of a US comic. I'm still not sure at the business sense of giving this away for free to people who probably would have bought it anyway, but I've long since learned to trust that the Rebellion people know what they are doing, mostly.
SBT
I agree I would have bought it and i think most of the guys getting the meg would as well.
Quote from: broodblik on 17 January, 2022, 03:39:16 PM
I agree I would have bought it and i think most of the guys getting the meg would as well.
or it is a case of boosting the megs exposure
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 17 January, 2022, 11:45:06 AM
Ooh – wraparound cover. Alas, no print for me. (Is that the case for everyone?) Anyway, on with the strips...
Tharg has spoken on Facebook (sorry can't copy and paste the text) basically to try to avoid a price raise with increased cost he's gone with stopping adding the print.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 18 January, 2022, 05:43:42 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 17 January, 2022, 11:45:06 AM
Ooh – wraparound cover. Alas, no print for me. (Is that the case for everyone?) Anyway, on with the strips...
Tharg has spoken on Facebook (sorry can't copy and paste the text) basically to try to avoid a price raise with increased cost he's gone with stopping adding the print.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FJZOkQvXwA0VlBC?format=jpg&name=small)
I'm not too worried about the lack of print. They weren't something I put to any use. The Hawk The Slayer book is great! And overall the Meg is on a winning streak. Happy to still be buying it.
90% of the prints showed up damaged here. I haven't used any of them. I like the idea, but always wished they'd have been a bit smaller than full page, so they didn't get mashed. I'm not fussed either way about them going away. Better than cuts to the comic.
A bold choice of page numbering on page 40!
Quote from: broodblik on 18 January, 2022, 06:14:01 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 18 January, 2022, 05:43:42 PM
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 17 January, 2022, 11:45:06 AM
Ooh – wraparound cover. Alas, no print for me. (Is that the case for everyone?) Anyway, on with the strips...
Tharg has spoken on Facebook (sorry can't copy and paste the text) basically to try to avoid a price raise with increased cost he's gone with stopping adding the print.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FJZOkQvXwA0VlBC?format=jpg&name=small)
I'm sorry but what do you lot mean by the Cover Print?
For a while, the Meg came with a print of the cover, minus the logo and cover lines. This month, that stopped.
It was only for subscribers.
Thanks everyone for the answer, but as a subscriber , I really can't remember this. Can I get a (hopefully) photographic example of this please...?
A good meg again this month with Lawless and Surfer the stand-out strips. Keeping Hawk for the weekend.
Dredd – The previous arc of this series was not my favorite storyline, but the new arc starts of on a good footing. Let's see were the story take us.
Death Cap – I liked the opening episode, but this now feels much generic than I hoped for. Just an interesting point how long does the mushroom disease take to claim his victim because my understanding was that this might not be the only series.
Diamond Dog – Not the most dynamic story but enjoyable nonetheless and it ends on a nice cliffhanger.
Lawless – Nudge nudge, know what I mean, say no more say no more. What is there to tell anyone if you do not read Lawless you are missing one fine piece of comic. So, what are you waiting for get the collections catch up and enjoy. I forget to add my review: this is another fine chapter in one of many fine chapters, so say no more
Surfer – Great storytelling by Wagner and great art by MacNeil. Great to have the meg and prog both having surfer stories in.
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 January, 2022, 05:27:33 PM
Thanks everyone for the answer, but as a subscriber , I really can't remember this. Can I get a (hopefully) photographic example of this please...?
This suggests that scrapping it is the correct course of action...
PM me your mobile and I will happily take a few snaps for you, but I can't face the trial of getting a picture on the forum. I am sat beside a pile of subscriber Megs!
Quote from: broodblik on 19 January, 2022, 06:15:43 PM
............Keeping Hawk for the weekend.
Well stuff that and I am not a person whom can wait so here goes:
Hawk is 30 pages of stupendous awesomeness. We start the first chapter or let's put it this way a what happened before and then we off with the new storyline. Flint's artwork is just plain super, and his panel layout adds to the enjoyment of the story. He treats us with not one but two double page spreads with those last 3 pages just brilliant. Now script wise the story flows and there is never a dull moment. Good to have Ennis and Flint back in action. Cannot wait and I am sure I will sucker myself in buying the collection.
So get the meg people and do not miss out. Hawk, Lawless and Surfer must surely be the any sane person's reason to get the meg.
This is a good Meg, in fact very good indeed but the thing that stops it being a GREAT Meg is there's a curious lack of tension in it. A numebr of the stories are builders, but don't yet have a clearly defined threat or villain, or conflicit yet.
Dredd - its an excellent opener. Taking a really fresh angle on things and setting up necessity of the caper. Loved Logan at the 'UN'. But at this stage its a bit like the first 10 pages of an Asterix travel story. We're setting up the need for Asterix to go on his travels BUT we're not on the adventure yet and we have really got a sense of where the danger will come from. Still immensely enjoyable.
Death Cap okay so this one has a more traditionally formed structure. I know the danger, I see the disease and I'm introduced to the baddies, the challenge and there a good beginning, middle and end to the episode which really nicely drives the overall story. Just as Indigo Prime says at this point I don't really care too much as I'm not sold on the protagonist.
Diamond Dogs I need to re-read this as if I'm honest it wshes right over me. I read it and the moment I've finished I don't really remember a thing about it.
Lawless now this is brilliant. Its a fantastic character piece and Metta's journey around town and loneliness as her friends reject her is just fantastic. There isn't though really any meat to the caper yet... though Dadnett and Winslade are building that as a protection racket is creepily revealed. This is building and while I'm not sure where, the craft taking us there - wherever that is, is fantastic
The same could be said for Surfer its good stuff, it has moments of drama and tension I'm just not quite sure what's driving it all yet. This one is also building.
Then we get to Hawk the Slayer and I say this as someone who doesn't like the movie at all for full disclosure this is AMAZING... welllll almost. Firstly 30 pages of Ennis and Flint comics essentially for free in what is normally a chunk of cheap reprint is a pretty great thing. That Henry Flint's art is just next level good is quite something else. The art is just breathtaking. The story is developing nicely - its just like elsewhere - I'm not sure where or why. Hawk puts the band back together to... well I dunno yet really. I mean there are some creepy baddies popping up so we're not short of action I'm just not sure of what's motivating the badness yet. Still its fantastic stuff.
So yeah the craft in lots of the Meg is fantastic its just weirdly a little flat as a number of the better stories just haven't quite got the punch and thrill that they need. Now one or two like that is absolutely fine, in fact I'd welcome it. Its just read as a piece it leaves the comic overall a little flat... which feels very odd to say as its really very good... maybe I'm just a little over tired!
Oh and excellent text pieces too.
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 January, 2022, 06:51:44 PM
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 January, 2022, 05:27:33 PM
Thanks everyone for the answer, but as a subscriber , I really can't remember this. Can I get a (hopefully) photographic example of this please...?
This suggests that scrapping it is the correct course of action...
PM me your mobile and I will happily take a few snaps for you, but I can't face the trial of getting a picture on the forum. I am sat beside a pile of subscriber Megs!
I've sent you a PM.
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 17 January, 2022, 11:45:06 AM
Dredd returns to McConville's time-travel shenanigans, which feels a bit like it's talking place in an alternate time stream from the main Dredd strip, to some degree.
I found myself thinking much the same thing. I enjoyed the strip, especially the
Walk and Talk scene in the Hall of Justice - very
West Wing, but it feels like it's floating outside of the current Dredd continuum. A line like "Chief Judge Lewis has guaranteed Texas City is on side, and of course the Guatemalans will support us now El Presidente is gone." would have anchored the story nicely.
Maybe I am reading too much into this but the whole "Profundia?" "But the optics of this..". seemed to hark back to Theresa May's semi-desperate negotiations with the DUP post 2017 election day.
Confession - I've not been following the Meg for about a year now, but restarted last month what with yer Wagners and yer MacNeils. I'm not missing out on Hawky-Flinty goodness either!
Only reading Dredd and Surfer in the Meg itself:
Always a pleasure to see Staz Johnson's work, and I found this easy to follow considering I've missed the story it's referencing. Always a pleasure to see Logan too - best Chief Judge yet IMO.
Looking forward to seeing where this one goes.
Surfer is comics bliss - Wagner and MacNeil are a match made in heaven, no-one here needs me to tell them that. Every panel, every line of dialogue is just so perfectly economical. Again, looking forward to where this goes.
And then we get issue one of Hawk The Slayer for free!
I absolutely adored every page and panel of this, and once again cannot wait to see where this goes!
Best thing about it? Henry Flint is doing his own colouring again. And it's so [spoiler]fucking[/spoiler] good!
It all seems so simple at first glance, and yet there's a depth to those colours that I can't even start to explain. The Flint droid is an absolute genius, and Tharg should do everything in his power to keep said droid welded to his desk for as long as possible.
And that last splash page..... I would happily sell a kidney if I knew it would guarantee me that page!
Quote from: Woolly on 21 January, 2022, 07:57:21 PM
Only reading Dredd and Surfer in the Meg itself
You really need to give Lawless a go, if nothing else. I know I work on it, but I've been a fan since long before then...
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 January, 2022, 08:18:58 PM
Quote from: Woolly on 21 January, 2022, 07:57:21 PM
Only reading Dredd and Surfer in the Meg itself
You really need to give Lawless a go, if nothing else. I know I work on it, but I've been a fan since long before then...
Bit of a problem there....
I had all my paper Megs stacked up - for reasons unknown I'd lapsed reading Lawless after the first series, but was planning a big catch-up read.
I then had to move house. With limited room.
Sooooo... I donated all my Progs and Megs to the Ben's Center in Sheffield, which is a homeless shelter and charity run by a good friend.
It felt genuinely great to finally offload all the thrills I knew I was never going to bother reading (The Order, I'm looking at you!) but the down side is I've missed nearly all of Lawless.
I await my Rigellian Hotshot, and promise to buy the collections when I can afford them!
It's also worth saying that I donated the 2000AD Ultimate Collection as well. That was to The Special Branch in Sheffield, a charity and sanctuary for injured birds. They're on Chesterfield Road.
It's essentially everything up to about 3 months ago (except Dante - I kept him!), so if you're in Sheffield and fancy a bargain, seek them out :)
I'm one of those people who would 100% NOT have bought a standalone Hawk the Slayer comic. And, despite Ennis and Flint's best effrots, I can confidently say that I still have little to no interest in watching the movie, and although I will happily read the free comic, I'm not piqued enough to become a Hawk fan.
What can I say, I'm a Krull man.
Agree with the general opinion that the political shenanigans of this month's Dredd are top notch, very intrigued to see where this story goes!
Quote from: AlexF on 24 January, 2022, 07:56:43 AM
I'm one of those people who would 100% NOT have bought a standalone Hawk the Slayer comic. And, despite Ennis and Flint's best effrots, I can confidently say that I still have little to no interest in watching the movie, and although I will happily read the free comic, I'm not piqued enough to become a Hawk fan.
Boooo!
Quote from: AlexF on 24 January, 2022, 07:56:43 AM
What can I say, I'm a Krull man.
Yaaaay!
Quote from: I, Cosh on 24 January, 2022, 11:48:06 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 24 January, 2022, 08:48:08 AM
Quote from: AlexF on 24 January, 2022, 07:56:43 AM
What can I say, I'm a Krull man.
Yaaaay!
Beastmaster could take them both. With one ferret tied behind his back.
Tron all the way - drive circles around these pretenders
This must be one of the chattest/talking head issues of the megazine ever, and you know what? its head and shoulders above the current Prog.
Dredd and Surfer both stand out, Lawless is all talk and no action, but not in a bad way, nice to see a talkative Armitage back in the Megazine, and both text articles are interesting. The Hawk additional floppie is well worth the price of admission alone but with added Dredd and Wagner/McNeil (HONK!) its a no brainer, buy it early and buy it often!
That cover is a bit misleading though.
Quote from: broodblik on 24 January, 2022, 12:31:56 PM
Quote from: I, Cosh on 24 January, 2022, 11:48:06 AM
Quote from: Barrington Boots on 24 January, 2022, 08:48:08 AM
Quote from: AlexF on 24 January, 2022, 07:56:43 AM
What can I say, I'm a Krull man.
Yaaaay!
Beastmaster could take them both. With one ferret tied behind his back.
Tron all the way - drive circles around these pretenders
Hey look, if we're going to champion 1980s fantasy films, I'm going to bat for Starchaser: the Legend of Orin.
I'm on another Prog drought but am back on the Meg for Lawless and Hawk. This month Lawless, Surfer and the Hawk floppy are terrific: everything else is just kind of alright.
Anyway...
Lush art on Hawk the Slayer and a nice setup. Hawk himself is completely generic and the film itself shines on it's supporting characters and villains so looking forward to seeing where this goes next. Hawk > Krull but I'd read a Krull comic as well (in fact, I think I did in the 80s) and I'd DEFINITELY read a Beastmaster comic. John M Burns painting it please. Can he do ferrets?*
*I have previously kept ferrets and the little fuckers are no way as cool as the ones in the film.
Quote from: AlexF on 24 January, 2022, 07:56:43 AM
... although I will happily read the free comic, I'm not piqued enough to become a Hawk fan.
Get thee behind me ...
Actually, this is possibly one of those films that are worth watching with a breeze block of caution. Just like "Defcon 4" or "Red Dawn" might elicit a vague nostalgic sense, so too might this. In the same vein, viewers might come away thinking "WTF."
So it might be worth bearing in mind how many of us fall into the KOS category [Knackered Old S**s]