A tricky Meg to navigate because the relentless and sad nature of the obits is really apparent now. Don't get me wrong – I'm 100% for them in the publication. It's just that stark reality of how many people we are losing right now. Anyway, after a nice Goddard cover I can't find anywhere online:
Dredd: wraps up quite nicely with a reappearance from a character I'd totally forgotten about. So, um, that. It's fun and very silly. The dynamic art was a treat. The last panel was... sigh.
A Paul Neary obit follows and then a kind of tribute seven-page text feature that never made it to Comic Book Punks. As a fan of Marvel UK in my youth, I really enjoyed this (and now know who to blame for cancelling Zoids).
DeMarco continues to be quite good. Which I'm sure sounds like damning with faint praise, but it's not really. It doesn't for me have a standout sport, and yet it's consistently very readable. Probably the best version of the character since she quit the force.
The Black Museum short was a good one, with a properly old-school last frame. After which we get another obit (Romero), a short text feature on David Michelinie, and a DPS Moore Dredd pic.
Reprint! Some Hellman, which is fine. Part 3 of Hookjaw, which I'm apparently only reading because I hate myself, because this has now hit Mega-City Two badness levels. Then a brief slice of painterly fine art from Coombe before the penultimate part of Under Siege, which I'm quite liking, even though it's never quite nailed Dredd himself. (There are some great Mega-City One ideas though.)
Devlin is now at peak Not, which I imagine will divide the audience further. That last frame is... quite something. And then Harrower Squad wraps things up with an episode that for some reason I liked an awful lot more than the previous two. Perhaps it just needed time to bed in.
Next month: Armitage. Presumably alongside Armitage's walking frame and/or Stookie.
Black Museum > Harrower Squad > Devlin > Dredd > Under Siege > DeMarco > Hellman >>>>> Hookjaw
all i can think of this month was THE CREATOR OF VENOM DID WHAT.....
Cover by Patrick Goddard:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Megazine-466-Cover-822x1080.jpg)
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/final-inks-768x1094.jpg)
Quote from: IndigoPrime on 19 March, 2024, 08:51:38 AMReprint! Some Hellman, which is fine.
Although, I notice that the reprint credits Mike Dorey as the artist on Hellman but everything after the first episode is definitely Jim Watson.
Hmmm frustrating Meg this one.
Dredd is actually a real up trick in the story which has been muh up to know, Anthony Williams art aside. Vega coming back really lifted things but ultimately this was just another big monster hard to kill story which is a shame - though the way they 'killed' it was fun.
DeMarco took a dip for me, but only cos I was being dumb I assume and couldn't for the life of me work out how DeMarco got to the name K.R. Babel??? That aside good episode... but how...
Black Museum was fine
I've loved Kot's Devlin Waugh but there was something really off with the pacing this time, basically all that dialogue killed the action and it didn't work for me but LOVE that last panel!
Harrower was a weak episode as it did that annoying trick of setting up what was meant to be a tough situation which the Judges get out of by just punching and shooting folks when the plot needs it. Still the end had potential.
The Paul Neary piece was good. I've not read the Marvel UK chapter yet but looking forward to it and reprint I've read (I remember enjoying Hookjaw - need to re-read it before defending it after Indigo Primes rage though!). So yeah nothing top draw for me this month alas.
This was a very meh meg, nothing stood out for me. The Dredd tale falls into the superhero trap – you need a bigger monster to fight the big hero. Normally I like Devlin, but I just cannot get into this arc. Harrow Squad is readable, nothing more. DeMarco never really got off as a stand-alone strip. The meg is currently on a very low ebb, where is Lawless, Dreadnoughts, Megatropolis (last seen in 2021)?
Quote from: broodblik on 20 March, 2024, 09:02:13 AMCover by Patrick Goddard:
(https://2000ad.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Megazine-466-Cover-822x1080.jpg)
Well, the answer to that is obviously Dredd ::)
That Rallying the Trooper Interrogation is ...
... well.
If you can't say anything nice...
A very quick review of the bits I read.
Dredd - I'm not really a fan of these 'Dredd-fights-a-scary-monster' strips. I don't really see him as much of an action hero any more; more a very old copper and soldier who involves himself in politics.
Devlin was fine, though basically just a fight with wordy captions. Did anyone else notice the stitching in Devlin's back pockets?
Harrower - I'm not crazy about Yeowell's modern style but I really like this strip. Not sure why but it ticks a few boxes for me. An otherwise familiar area turned into a bizarre post-apocalypse nightmare - I like it. And good to see that Slush Puppy will still be sold at least up until World War 3.
The text stuff was interesting - Dan Abnett being a mate of Stewart Lee's was a pleasant surprise for me (see my other thread on this). David Micheline, well, interesting to know there's been a creator droid who's been uncredited for decades. Shame about the creations.
Warwick Fraser-Coombe's mixed-media thingy - I don't know what the feck it is, but I like it. It's either MC1 or the Cursed Earth, or both, or neither.
It is treading water a bit at the moment with no star strip. As brookblik says, shame Megatropolis hasn't returned yet.
The beastie on the cover looks like it was drawn by Ant Williams! But the Dredd is more Goddardy.
Dredd goes all Bill and Ted. The way the monster was defeated was clever - not sure why we needed the timey-wimey stuff and a 'magical' character? Pretty decent stuff all the same, and Ant Williams is on form.
De Marco - it's OK, happy to read but it doesn't stick much in the mind. Not sure I care too much about this iteration of the character (she was more interesting in the Pit / Edgar series). It's fine though, and looks good.
Black Museum was a really good short. Happy to have more from this team.
Hookjaw really not bad! Nice to look at, enjoying the slight supernatural vibe and I'm following the story OK. The snarky dialog is great! What's not to like, IP :) ?
Under Siege for me is a superior strip that I've not read before - glad to have this reprinted in the Meg. This actually brings this month's offering up a bit in my eyes.
Devlin Waugh agree with Colin on the pacing. Devlin spends the first 5 pages staring at a Nazi. 5 pages! Still at least he seems to be enjoying himself in this one - the last story in the cave was both hard for me to follow and a bit of a downer. Less existential angst in this one. I like Austin's portraits of Devlin - he brings out the bastard.
Harrower Squad is fine. Decent story and art. I'm not really keeping up with who is who though.
Warwick Fraser-Coombe's mixed-media thingy - it's some kinda robot thingy staring at MC-1 through a big hole in the city's wall. I like it.
That's my favourite Megazine cover in a long time. Looks really good on the physical magazine.
Is there another story that gives paradox Vegas powers?
I read the one referred to her but she seems powerless there?
Quote from: Le Fink on 24 March, 2024, 01:02:28 PMI like Austin's portraits of Devlin - he brings out the bastard.
Now you mention it, that is an intrinsic part of Devlin's character that seems to have been lost a bit, and that I'd forgotten myself. He truly is, as you say, a bastard - for all his airs and graces he's a violent sadist at heart. Becoming a vampire didn't shake him all
that much, as he was already the type who'd torture someone with a blowtorch to the face to get information.
Quote from: The Monarch on 19 March, 2024, 04:01:57 PMall i can think of this month was THE CREATOR OF VENOM DID WHAT.....
Not a Megger - Whats the story with Michelinie?
He worked with Michael Fleisher on plotting some ideas during this time at 2000ad. It was a pretty interesting read, but fair to say his involvement was fairly minimal.
Ah. Cheers Colin.
It's so weird for me that 2000 AD thought it was a good idea to hire on US superhero writers to work on the comic. That's coming from my perspective that 2000 AD offered something uniquely British that was taking a different stance on the market. No heroes in capes (Klep excepted) was a breath of fresh comic air.
I realize with hindsight that a lot of British talent wanted nothing more than to get hired on by the big boys of the US and join them in their "everything in comics is basically a superhero template" world, and the editors at 2K probably figured it was a great scoop to hire on some US talent.
The results, though. The absolute worst of Rogue Trooper output. An almost complete lack of regard for continuity, or even internal logic. The article in this Meg skates neatly over the fact that most of the stories they're talking about are risible. It's a bit like "Oh yeah, that Billy McFarland - I actually helped him out on his Fyre Festival planning - it was me that chose the catering and sourced the disaster relief tents".
Quote from: Funt Solo on 28 March, 2024, 02:53:31 PMIt's so weird for me that 2000 AD thought it was a good idea to hire on US superhero writers to work on the comic.
Fleisher, particularly, was a good friend of then-editor Richard Burton. To be fair, Fleisher was pretty well-regarded for his runs on The Spectre and Jonah Hex, so it's not like Burton just brought on some total rando... it's just a shame that Fleisher never really adjusted to the very different discipline of writing 5/6 pages for a weekly anthology.
I always thought Steve Gerber would have been a good fit for 2000AD if they could get him. He had that off-kilter, satirical sensibility. I'm not that familiar with Doug Moench's work, but I understand that he was friends with Alan Grant, and that AALN-1 thought highly of him.
Dredd The action hero Dredd kind of grates with me now, I like the clipped, precise and economical Dredd, but that's just me, would have been better if Dredd had worked that out with the lift himself.
De Marco - Not really catching my attention except that scar seems way disproportionate.
Black Museum was a good short.
Hookjaw working well but would do better in a GN.
Under Siege: Just the movie reworked really?
Devlin Waugh enjoyed this, and chortled at the thought of the more gammon elements losing the plot about this.
Harrower Squad Enjoyed the set up and the policies alluded to made the trough to get here worthwhile, but can't see MC1 would want with an ethnically cleansed central belt? Especially when they have vast areas that are post chaos day cleared themselves, and are short of a bob or two currently.