(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r182/Caliban_photos/Meg357_zpsf9648af9.jpg)
Clint Langley turns in a lovely American Reaper cover.
Inside Ewing and Willsher's The Cop continues.
As does American Reaper by Uncle Pat and Langley
DeMarco in in more trouble with Michael Carroll and Steve Yeowell.
And the interesting Angelic by Gordon Rennie and Lee Carter continues.
Plus there's a beautiful double page spread of Dredd versus the Dark Judges by Ben Willsher, and a Roger Langridge interrogation.
The free floppy is the Harlem Heroes volume one by Michael Fleisher, Steve Dillon and Kev Walker.
This is the one I have really been waiting for, there are two, what look to be, excellent stories: The Cop and Angelic both of which really hooked me last month. Cant wait to hear what some of the other early recipients of the Meg have to say. Z
Well Al E-Wing has reaĺly done it this time! Finally we get the Dredd taĺe we deserve. Top hole stuff from the over all story to the knowledge and detail of MC1. Tharg you HAVE to kèep this droid onboard. Ten pages of this isnt enough. The rather good Angel story suffer some photo realism leakage from Sexy Ostriches but otheswise fine.When it comes to creator talks I'd like a round up of what the great and good are up to , just a suggestion.
Cover: Langley on a good day.
Dredd: Great tale, nice art. Look forward to more.
Ostriches: Static poses of hackneyed 'actors' with murky backgrounds telling a tale that drags its arse like a dog with no back legs. Awful as always, and 17 damn pages.
DeMarco: Things resolve themselves in a bit of a rush, but and enjoyable tale overall. Not so bad with the page bleed issue either. Good stuff.
Angelic: Definitely the highlight of the prog for me, with an exploration of Pa's history, and brilliant framing and art from Lee Carter.
10 pages of adverts, 7 pages of interview, 17 of Reaper, and only 28 pages for the remaining three stories......I can understand why some have stopped buying the meg these days.
Yes you'd think they could dispense with this flim flam and maybe do interesting articles on fan initiatives: certain lego builds or prog storage themes off the top of my head; or dare I say a remarkable 'Map of Mega City One' feature I happened across....Z ;)
I can only agree with Roger Langridge's assessment of The Straightjacket Fits - that strip would have been so much better if he had written and drawn it, rather than let some raw wannabe loose on script duties...
...still, lovely art and amazing lettering!
Quote from: ZenArcade on 14 February, 2015, 04:10:56 PM
Yes you'd think they could dispense with this flim flam and maybe do interesting articles on fan initiatives: certain lego builds or prog storage themes off the top of my head; or dare I say a remarkable 'Map of Mega City One' feature I happened across....Z ;)
I'd settle for more comic strips in my comic. ;)
Bah! :D
Better versions of this image will no doubt turn up (possibly on the 2000AD Covers Uncovered blog)
(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r182/Caliban_photos/WillsherDarkJudges_zpse1247004.jpg)
I agree with the rather scary looking MacRoth fella. I've noticed that it doesn't actually take very long to read the Meg at the moment despite the page count. Reaper is the main reason, as I just flick past it but it's not the only offender. Imagine if the whole (or most, being realistic) of the Meg was as good as the current Dredd story and Angelic. A round up of what the great and the good are up to sounds interesting for the usual I/v slot...
My last paper Meg. Annoyingly, this makes 101 subscription issues.
Anyway, Dredd and Angelic were good.
De Marco surprised me by finishing so soon. I guess this has been all about changing the setup for next time.
I read the Harlem Heroes floppy and, well, I didn't think it was that bad. It was more just boring than actively terrible. Had a quick look on Barney though, and it seems this first series ran for 28 episodes long! Surely there's not another two months of this to come?
Quote from: The Cosh on 17 February, 2015, 06:57:42 PM
My last paper Meg. Annoyingly, this makes 101 subscription issues.
Anyway, Dredd and Angelic were good.
De Marco surprised me by finishing so soon. I guess this has been all about changing the setup for next time.
I read the Harlem Heroes floppy and, well, I didn't think it was that bad. It was more just boring and predictable than actively terrible. Had a quick look on Barney though, and it seems this first series ran for 28 episodes long! Surely there's not another two months of this to come?
I liked the Harlem Heroes re-do the first time, and I enjoyed it again now.
Quote from: Geoff on 17 February, 2015, 05:50:15 PM
I agree with the rather scary looking MacRoth fella.
I'm so not scary! Well...okay, Nazi Zombie avatar might be
a bit scary, but I'm not! ;)
I really liked the interview with Mr Landridge
I have been picking the meg up for a few months now but am now considering dropping out for a while. 28 pages of strip is a bit meagre for me and Reaper does my nut in. It's a pity because on a good day I have tended to pick the meg up first.
Good thing about American Reaper is this is the last part :D . At least I'm enjoying Mr Mills and Mr Goddards Savage.
Yeah, but it does end on the threat of more. :(
Quote from: IronGraham on 18 February, 2015, 10:54:00 AM
Good thing about American Reaper is this is the last part :D . At least I'm enjoying Mr Mills and Mr Goddards Savage.
Agree on Savage mate-I love Savage. This is not an anti-Pat rant-just Ostriches.
Anybody know how many installments are left of Ostriches?
too many
But seriously it's not an anti Pat I'm enjoying his other writting and not anti Langley because I like his ABC work it plays better to his strength's
I adore Clint's art when he moves away from the photo realism. He is engrossing and so varied in his skill suite when he actually draws. Z
Absolutely agree. His drawn stuff is great....the 'Jackie' photo strip pish....not so great.
'Grooooaaaannnnn' When can Reaper end, please god let it end.
Quote from: ZenArcade on 18 February, 2015, 11:23:20 AM
I adore Clint's art when he moves away from the photo realism. He is engrossing and so varied in his skill suite when he actually draws. Z
I'm not a particular *fan* of Reaper's art but are there any interviews where he describes the process? I mean, he *must* start with photographs of these characters, right?
Not too sure, it looks as though he photographs people and 'photoshops'....but I really don't know. I don't get the prog and Meg until tomorrow; but in a rare turnaround, I'm looking forward to the Meg more so purely for the Dredd and Angelic strips. Z
Well, that was a satisfying lunchtime read. The Dredd strip gear shifted into the world of the criminal and a nasty duplicitous world it is: 'no honour amongst thieves'.
Angelic continues to fascinate and we get a sense of what Pa was about in his younger days. A criminal in a city evidently run by bigger criminals with badges. The death of his kin seems to have acted as a catalyst for extreme mental breakdown and enhanced 'meanness' and 'cussedness' and limited psi powers by the look if it.
The Jonbar point plot inclusion is also interesting with references to the Judge Child.
A couple of questions spring to mind: firstly the assistant at the mission appears to be a mutated woman in her twenties, if so, how was she born mutated before the war which was in 2070 only 5 years before the time line in the strip and secondly is there a differentiation between Judges in Texas City, in that some wear Stetson and some wear helmets?
All in all Angelic is the stand out this month. Well done to the droids involved. Z
American Reaper- Not got my Meg to hand but does it finish this month? Hell of a cliffhanger if that is the case and a right old downer of an ending.
I know the strip does a fantastic job of polarising opinion but I for one enjoy it. The Meg is the only place where the strip can have enough of a page count to indulge Clints storytelling.
It's Credit to Tharg for letting this run and not listening to the naysayers. Some of the naked derision this strip gets is embarrassing. We're supposed to be better than that.
It certainly polarises opinion Bat and personally I would be nonplussed about the strip at best. But what the heck I absolutely love Ulysses Sweet in the prog and lots of fellow squaxx really, really don't. Just one of those things that make reading an anthology comic the joy it is. Z
From an interview with Gordon on downthetubes.
"Angelic, which is running in the Judge Dredd Megazine as I write this, was way different. I was watching the Hannibal TV series, and liking the way the series has deliberate small continuity glitches in it from the very beginning, which grow as it goes on, so that – by the end of the second series – it's abundantly clear that it's set in its own very alternative continuity completely divergent from the later-set books and movies. I thought it would be interesting to do something similar with some classic Dredd villain. And the chance to annoy the continuity bores should never be passed up on. The Angel Gang, who had by this point just become fairly hackneyed comedy redneck psychos, seemed an obvious choice to develop into something with a little more grit and depth."
And I'm the biggest continuity bore that clothes ever covered. No Steve that does make sense from what I've read in an information replete episode this week. It is an engrossing tale and it has a sense if pathos and humanity about it which I buy into. Z
So anyway the Judges Stetson/helmet question?
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 19 February, 2015, 02:42:46 PM
American Reaper- Not got my Meg to hand but does it finish this month? Hell of a cliffhanger if that is the case and a right old downer of an ending.
Nope. It's got another two months.
Quote from: ZenArcade on 19 February, 2015, 03:23:03 PM
And I'm the biggest continuity bore that clothes ever covered. No Steve that does make sense from what I've read in an information replete episode this week. It is an engrossing tale and it has a sense if pathos and humanity about it which I buy into. Z
So anyway the Judges Stetson/helmet question?
UK police wear a variety of headgear, or whatever serves the story visually.
I quite liked the way the Missionary Man story set in New Orleans moved away from the twee stetson image of the Texas City JD to a helmeted, harder edged look. Z
Hang on, so if the original Harlem Heroes was retroactivly added to the Dredd-verse and has left a lasting legacy as a result, where does that leave Harlem Heroes (redux?).
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 19 February, 2015, 09:12:48 PM
Hang on, so if the original Harlem Heroes was retroactivly added to the Dredd-verse and has left a lasting legacy as a result, where does that leave Harlem Heroes (redux?).
I wouldn't describe it as 'retroactive' since it happened while the original HH strip was still running back in the 1970's. The author of the later HH story collected in for this months megazine must have decided to ignore the Dredd world.
Amusing then, as it's this second incarnation of HH thats been left by the wayside, what with Judge Giant Jr. still ticking.
Quote from: Bolt-01 on 19 February, 2015, 02:42:46 PM
American Reaper- Not got my Meg to hand but does it finish this month? Hell of a cliffhanger if that is the case and a right old downer of an ending.
I know the strip does a fantastic job of polarising opinion but I for one enjoy it. The Meg is the only place where the strip can have enough of a page count to indulge Clints storytelling.
It's Credit to Tharg for letting this run and not listening to the naysayers. Some of the naked derision this strip gets is embarrassing. We're supposed to be better than that.
Bolt I think I get your drift and I dislike cruelty in any form whether its "naked derision" or otherwise. Fair point. Very fair point.That having been said if you really don't like that one feature and yet it features regularly and takes a relatively large slice of the meg you purchase how do you comment in a measured and appropriate way that you feel really strongly about its continuing inclusion?
Its a good nod to consider how you express yourself though.
I'll put my name down now for an American Reaper Bookplate edition, should one ever become available.
Cheers
Seconded - all these fools moaning about static artwork and Photoshop! I was raised on Doomlord and Joe Soap. Bookplate hardcover? I'm in!
Quote from: IronGraham on 18 February, 2015, 07:59:44 AM
I really liked the interview with Mr Landridge
I'm pleased to say I met Mr Langridge a few months ago. As I only knew him from his work on the early Meg I asked him to draw any character from Straitjacket. He rose to the task admirably - pretty impressive since it's the first time he'd drawn any of those characters for over two decades!
I also recommend Pinkbeard the Pirate:
http://hotelfred.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Pinkbeard
Quote from: WhizzBang on 19 February, 2015, 10:56:53 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 19 February, 2015, 09:12:48 PM
Hang on, so if the original Harlem Heroes was retroactivly added to the Dredd-verse and has left a lasting legacy as a result, where does that leave Harlem Heroes (redux?).
I wouldn't describe it as 'retroactive' since it happened while the original HH strip was still running back in the 1970's. The author of the later HH story collected in for this months megazine must have decided to ignore the Dredd world.
Harlem Heroes appeared from Progs 1-27, and Judge Giant's debut (featuring a cameo from Giant Clay) ran in Progs 28 and 29.
Sooo the future, they can do complete body/person transfer, but they can't make mascara that don't run? ;)
Another good Meg! Great work, gang!
I think Reaper would work really well as a collected edition, btw. Some of the panels are brilliantly atmospheric.
I have to say I found this Meg's Reaper very, very difficult to follow. I'm turning the pages and turning the pages, and I get the gist, but connecting these characters with earlier strips in the story is way harder than it should be. Cracking art, but I'll never get on with the photo-real characters.
QuoteAnd the chance to annoy the continuity bores should never be passed up on.
He may just be joking. But I think that a strip which has 38 years of history, during which the lead character ages in real time, is a strength which sets Judge Dredd apart from all other strips, as compared with (for example) Spiderman who is still a teenager. Why fuck around with your USP?
Spider-Man's got how many regular monthly titles - three or four? He's been in five movies in the last 13 years, with movie number 6 now confirmed. Plus three animated series in the same period. Plus endless toy lines. And umpteen video games.
Decades from now, Spider-Man will still be around, in all the above forms.
How's that "but he gets older in real time (even though it doesn't really make any difference)!" USP working out for Dredd?
Well Dredd's not set in a perpetual stasis year in year out. The strip has grown and matured with the readership over the years. Whilst we can place value on 5 movies and 3 monthly titles, it could be argued that there is a value in Dredd as is demonstrated by the ongoing popularity and the dedicated following of the character. It cannot all be about the bottom line.Z
Quote from: GordonR on 23 February, 2015, 07:03:17 PM
How's that "but he gets older in real time (even though it doesn't really make any difference)!" USP working out for Dredd?
For the readers of the comic, who hopefully are the ones that count, splendidly.
Quote from: ZenArcade on 23 February, 2015, 07:22:21 PM
Well Dredd's not set in a perpetual stasis year in year out. The strip has grown and matured with the readership over the years. Whilst we can place value on 5 movies and 3 monthly titles, it could be argued that there is a value in Dredd as is demonstrated by the ongoing popularity and the dedicated following of the character. It cannot all be about the bottom line.Z
There's also not much point comparing a British comic character with an USA one. How about comparing JD to a non-aging British character (outside of 2000AD)? I'd suggest one, but all I could think of was Dan Dare, but that fails on the outside of 2000AD front...
Ok so we are back to the aging Dredd debate.
Do you know what? I have changed my mind since last posting on this - basically I don't care if he is 80 or even 120, I want the original Dredd to stay. And if they just gloss over it, or say "well 80 is the new 40" in 2137 then that's fine with me.
Dredd's age doesn't overly concern me, as long as there is consistent and believable plotting and dialogue around it. The fact that Dredd has turned into a grumbling, narky old man with a lot of baggage concerns me not one bit. After all he was a grumbling, narky early middle aged man when first we seen him. Z
I like Dredd as he gets older and grumpier. Anderson's age is far more problematic.
Quote from: GordonR on 23 February, 2015, 07:03:17 PM
Spider-Man's got how many regular monthly titles - three or four? He's been in five movies in the last 13 years, with movie number 6 now confirmed. Plus three animated series in the same period. Plus endless toy lines. And umpteen video games.
Decades from now, Spider-Man will still be around, in all the above forms.
How's that "but he gets older in real time (even though it doesn't really make any difference)!" USP working out for Dredd?
Curse readers for still making the comic economically viable....
The real answer is 'he's been complaining about back pain for about 20 years now'.
Besides, we've seen the future of Dredd.. It's The Order. We're moving out of out 'grumpy bastards in their 40s-50s heroes' (Defoe, Dirty Frank, Lobster Random, Savage) reader-as-central character archetype to our 60s-70s Dissillusioned OAP reader-as-central character archetype.
I've sobered up from Thrill Power, and feel bloody awful. The withdrawal is excruciating! I've missed the last few Megs and desperately need to catch up!
Quote from: Ghost MacRoth on 14 February, 2015, 03:37:23 PM
Ostriches: Static poses of hackneyed 'actors' with murky backgrounds telling a tale that drags its arse like a dog with no back legs. Awful as always, and 17 damn pages.
10 pages of adverts, 7 pages of interview, 17 of Reaper, and only 28 pages for the remaining three stories......I can understand why some have stopped buying the meg these days.
I've been finding it hard going for a while keeping the faith, even though the house of Tharg think it's ONLY £5.70 a month for a bargain, I can think of plenty more things that will get you these days.
It's a shame as I'm enjoying The Cop & Angelic, although the latter has me scratching my head as to when 3 weeks ago from 2 days ago was, that might just be age catching up with me though...
I suppose it's pure frustration. Frustration to know that the Meg can do better than all this filler (including the floppy INMHO) and frustration that the price continues to rise even though the new content is 4 stories. One of which fills so much unnecessary space dragging it's behind as you so eloquently pointed out Ghost... ;)
Quote from: Jacqusie on 22 May, 2015, 08:11:06 PM
Tharg think it's ONLY £5.70 a month for a bargain, I can think of plenty more things that will get you these days
2000ad/Megazine joint subscription works out at £2.74 per issue (or
30p on top of the price of 2000ad alone):
http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/annual_2000_ad_combi_subscription
Quote from: Jacqusie on 22 May, 2015, 08:11:06 PM
dragging it's behind as you so eloquently pointed out Ghost... ;)
I have the heart of a poet. :p
Quote from: sheridan on 21 February, 2015, 04:28:01 PM
Quote from: IronGraham on 18 February, 2015, 07:59:44 AM
I really liked the interview with Mr Landridge
I'm pleased to say I met Mr Langridge a few months ago. As I only knew him from his work on the early Meg I asked him to draw any character from Straitjacket. He rose to the task admirably - pretty impressive since it's the first time he'd drawn any of those characters for over two decades!
I also recommend Pinkbeard the Pirate:
http://hotelfred.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Pinkbeard (http://hotelfred.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Pinkbeard)
...and he's making a return to the event I met him at last year - CECAF.