MEGAZINE 262

[nofuture]

cover scan please?

[Byron Virgo]

George Low's a very nice chap, and amzing to think he's been doing the same job for so long, yet is still so enthusiastic about it all. Be sorry to see him go.

Also, had to say I really enjoyed the piece on exploitation films - I know the film articles aren't everyone's cup of tea (including mine), but that was good fun, and set me off thinking about some of the taglines that *weren't* featured, such as:

'She Escaped Death. Now It Wants Her Back!'

'Revenge Has No Face!'

'By Pick, by Axe...Bye Bye!'

"why does being a country singer make you a good fighter?"

If'n you'd played summa them dang backwater C&W fleapits, then ya wouldn'ta needed ta ask, boy...

[Rio De Fideldo]

In Big Robots who is the big white dog which comes out of the Hall of Heroes?

[mogzilla]

Dredd's going to put the bad spelling and link it with the south am worm things and shorten the onlygood story in the meg at the moment!

[Roger Godpleton]

Argh! I was all geared up for an eloquent dismissal of Blood of Satanus III, but this month's epsiode actually got better! How annoying is that? I can't even trust it to be consistently bad!

That's happened to me with several recent Mills anti-classics, including BOS II, that fucking scary Black Siddha story where he just ranted about psychiatric care for six months and Savage Book one. Damn you Pat, damn you to Hell.

[Funt Solo]

P.J.Maybe's a lot of (very dark) fun, but are both he and Dredd supposed to be dense?

Maybe's murdering the Judge because he'll mention the expensive robot, which is a tenuous link to him.

He does that by exposing not only his actual identity (which the script discusses), but also by using his poor spelling trademark (again, the script mentions this) and his deadly robot trademark - never mind the South Am connection of the worm things.  

For someone of Dredd's experience, wouldn't that be a big neon sign saying "P.J. Maybe" in twenty foot high letters.

Mind the oranges, Marlon.

[Leigh S]

I was thinking the same - robot bug plus bad spelling plus extravagant murders surely can only equal one man. Still, it's always seemed that PJ likes to sail close to the wind, and constantly thinks hes that much more intelligent than the Judges.  Plus, if its a choice between killing someone and risk, and not killing them... really, the robot thing seems more of an excuse for PJ to justify "just one more murder" than it makes sense in covering his tracks

[Tiplodocus]

"Other stuff padding and fillers, Why is there some perceived link between shite horror films and 2000ad? i don't see it myself "

Yeah. And they keep foisting ANIME and MANGA articles on us as well.

One thing that strikes me about some of the text articles is that even when they are about subjects I *AM* interested in (Garth Ennis, Commando) I don't find that the articles actually interest me.  e.g. Tharg's little line about Clint Eastwood progressing from WHERE EAGLES DARE to FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS set me thinking about the journey and our attitudes to how war is portrayed than anything in the Commando article (maybe that wasn't the point of the article but I'd have found it more interesting if it was).

DREDD - great yet illogical.

ANDERSON - great yet spaced      out    too     much

ANGELS - Great yet should have been punchier

ROJAWS - Great yet familiar

SATANUS - Great pile of shite.

[Funt Solo]

Plus, there's an article on Commando before there's been a retrospective on Starblazer.  Uhm - or am I talking shite?  Has there already been a Starblazer article?

[Proudhuff]

++wouldn't that be a big neon sign saying "P.J. Maybe" in twenty foot high letters.++

But Funt, didn't the last time PJ appeared everybody was convinced by some of PH's clever ruses(sp) that he died? and these almost convinced old Stoney-Pus himself.

The other idiot-huff

[TordelBack]

Now see, I enjoyed the articles again.  All were on subjects I find interesting, all were well written, some told me very little I didn't know but in a pleasing manner, some were all new to me.  Seems about right as mixes go - apparently I want a bit of a magazine, instead of Necropolis reprints (although I'd trade 'em all for more Charley's War!).  

I would be a little dubious about the editing process here - there are at least two factual errors in Matthew Badham's Ennis article (Chopper 'apparently died' about an inch from the finish line of Supersurf 11, not several metres away - part of the genius of the story is the "did he/didn't he" angle) ; Alpha's death was not 'retconned at the turn of the millennium' - at least, I sincerely hope not).  It might be a sign that Matt Smith is totally run off his feet editing both comics (and getting married), and these are small things, but I reckon if you're going to do self-cannibalising nerdy articles, they should at least be accurate.

Of the stories, Dredd was just stonking in every way, Angel Gang had an excellent conclusion and I'd like more of this fascinating balancing act (although how did that Grimzci bloke have all his fingers if they were eaten, and when did Roberts abandon he McMahon pastiche (no harm)?), Anderson was fine (but suffering the death of a thousand cuts), the Small Press pretty good, Satanus was well... I haven't managed to read it yet, but I will, promise.  

Throw in a great cover (has Robinson arrived at some amazing new level or what?), and I got damned good value for my â?¬5.29 - a price that would barely buy me one Amercian 24-pager.

[Art]

I suspect the author of the Ennis article has only read the Marvel Knights punisher GNs and not the later MAX Punisher, which is dark as hell and not nearly as cartoonish. No marvel character cameos either.

[Jim_Campbell]

"Unfortunately, I wanted to start with a bit of a moan about the latest issue... "

I have to say that this issue may mark the end for me. There was literally nothing I wanted to read in here. I forced myself to look at some of the pages, because I paid for the damn thing. I barely flicked through last issue, put it to one side with the intention of going back to it, and never did.

Frankly, when I couldn't give a toss about a new PJ Maybe story (it is a PJ maybe story isn't it? That's how little attention I've been paying) with art by Flint, then there is something drastically wrong.

Everything else is downhill from there. For obvious reasons, I have a vast well of affection for the Meg, but for well over a year now I've felt like I've been handing over my cash every month just to keep the title alive, not because it's really offered anything in return that justifies its existence.

Plus, I'm a bit strapped and, for the first time since it started, I'm genuinely considering saving the money.

Bear in mind that I've been more loyal to the Meg during its lifetime than 2000ad, since I don't believe that I missed an issue, even when I stopped buying the weekly during the dark McKenzie days.

Sorry to come over so negative, but I'd rather read more reprint than Satanus, I'm unconvinced by the small press offerings, and the reprint is all stuff I've read before and remember clearly.

Cheers

Jim

[paulvonscott]

Hang on in there Jim!

Read PJ Maybe and the small press this month, which I thought was pretty effective, definitely one of the more interesting ones.

Must be better to come for the Meg though.

[paulvonscott]

Hang on in there Jim!

Read PJ Maybe and the small press this month, which I thought was pretty effective, definitely one of the more interesting ones.

Must be better to come for the Meg though.