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All I really want to say about Meg 449 is that for the first time in months I enjoyed every strip. No exceptions- and if I were forced to choose a highlight it would be a difficult job. Reckon I'd go for Devlin though, and at this point I'd say Ales Kot is my Devlin writer of choice.

But the thing I want to shout loudly about is the second Robin Smith flopster. Just- wow! What *would* the prog have been without him? What a fantastic, dare I say perfect, use of the floppies. I really do want these in a bookshelf edition, perhaps with commentary and other design work that may be hanging about his studio or the nerve centre.

Essential purchase for a lifelong squaxx, I'd say.

SBT

A really good prog in which i enjoyed everything- even Enemy Earth, which I think I've got a handle on now. The art had been bugging me, as it's (as you'd expect, seeing its origins as part of Regened) more influenced by the type of strip seen in comics designed for, er, 'Young People', than I would normally like. It looks like a strip for The Phoenix or an Image series that I wouldn't buy- but as I said, I've come to terms with that now and appreciate the storytelling. And, of course, it wouldn't be 2000AD if everything were in the same style. Any comic that could be a home to Bolland, Ezquerra, McMahon, O'Neill (in the same prog!) and later Langley, Roach, Burns and D'Israeli, among many others, has earned the right to print absolutely any art style it so chooses.

And, to repeat, I enjoyed everything this week. I love Henry Flints new style- very 'European'- and Hope was (for once) a straightforward read that hit all the right notes. Hersey in Antarctica is always going to please me, and this Chimpsky is the best so far.

So: Hershey>Dredd>Chimpsky>Hope>Enemy Earth... but with EE scoring a decent 7/10 in my entirely off-the-cuff and madeup rating system, everything is top tier.

Now will someone please open a thread for Meg 449 because I want to shout loudly about how utterly brilliant the floppie is. (I've forgotten the Meg's strapline this month and the comic is bagged and boxed, so don't want to open a thread that is untitled).

SBT

Unless I've missed it, which is entirely possible, I haven't seen much in the way of comment about this.

I really liked it- the format is lovely, very tactile, and a pleasant size. I reiterate that were the Megazine to go to this format later this year, when the floppies stoppie, I would not be too upset.

The strips inside- while perhaps overfamiliar to those who us who inhabit this forum- are a pretty good representation of the prog to the uninitiated. Perhaps the selection is a little too on the nose when it comes to the accusation that 2000AD is "all big ugly men with guns"- I mean, Brink Book One, complete Shamballa and complete Halo Jones Book One, in a single collection? That's a lot of female-led strippage to flick the Vs at anyone expecting Dredd/ Stront/ Rogue/ Robo-Hunter and a comic stuck in the 80s.

Look, like most of us, I've got all this anyway I'm multiple formats. We are in a financial crisis and money is probably better spent elsewhere... but, I liked this a lot, and am likely to pick up #2 (even if I found the text article a bit/ a lot wanky).

Also, I saw a copy in Waterstones! How cool is that? An extended shelf life, then, one hopes.

SBT

...and of course, Crisis went for 63 issues anyway, I've just realised. Bah.

SBT

Well, I'm now the proud owner of my very first two official Thrill-Power Containment Units, after I made use of Rebellion's sale the other day.

The thing is, each TCU is 10cm wide, and holds 28 progs. This means to successfully bind the whole lot would require 8 meters of shelf space and 83 binders.

Now, obviously, I'm not going to do that. My progs are bagged and boarded, ready to sit out eternity in acid-free boxes- and I'm not changing that set-up. Besides, who has eight meters of wall space these days?

So, on the one hand- yay! Official binders at last! I've always wanted some, and was slightly perturbed to see these are 'Design #9'... is there an image anywhere of the previous eight? I had no idea it was that many! But on the other hand, how to use them? Can anyone offhand think of a UK prog-related comic that ran for about 50 issues, and would fit nicely across these two binders? Crisis? But without getting them out of the boxes, I'm not sure the size would fit. Toxic in one, Starlord in the other? Dunno.

SBT

From Previewsworld, re Meg 450:

"More action and adventure in the future-shocked world of Judge Dredd! The lawman deals with troublemakers in the Cursed Earth in the final part of "Babel"; Judge Death is given a new lease of life courtesy of a heavy metal band in "Death Metal Planet"; Zane Perks starts his dangerous mission in Surfer Book Two; Devlin Waugh continues to mine his past in "Karma Police"; and Psi-Judge Lillian Storm crosses the underworld in "Dead and Gone"; and in the bagged supplement this month we showcase the art of Thor: Love and Thunder storyboard artist Mark Sexton, collecting two Judge Dredd stories by him and Mike Carroll!"

I thought we were getting a format change and no more floppies after the next, second, Robin Smith one?

SBT

I've been giving this a bit of thought recently as well. To be honest- and I'm only speaking for me here, and don't expect any of you lot to feel the same- I think it's at least partly this:

Even aside from work and family responsibilities, my life is busy. I have particular interests- so I like to read a lot of books and comics, as well watching a lot of TV and movies. Already I've had to consciously cut several things out: I'm no longer even *thinking* about watching the TV Star Wars things, or DC Universe movie adaptations, for example. I'm way too behind on the Marvel shows, as well as everything else I'd like to watch. Creepshow on Shudder? American Horror Story/ies? The new Twilight Zone? Haven't been able to fit any of them in.

When the prog and the Meg turn up, I often find myself having yo rush them- as if they are just 'things to get through'. This isn't in any way good, and certainly isn't treating these things with due respect. I love the comics, I spend a lot of my time invested on them to one degree or another, but I can't even set aside an hour to enjoy them properly? Psh.

When I get a collected edition (like the recent Blunt one) for some reason, that inspires me to 'make time'. The Meg gets fitted in, in that twenty minutes before my wife gets home, or while I'm taking a break. The Blunt book got my undivided attention- I made time for it. So I properly enjoyed it, far more than I did when it was running in the comic.

I guess, the thing is, I need to slow down and prioritise. To approach things with the respect they deserve. Maybe it's a consequence of there being *so much* media to consume at the moment. If you've grown up like I have, it's the greatest golden age ever! But maybe i need to realise that I really can't read or watch it all.

SBT

Have a very enjoyable time away from it all, sir. And thanks for your continued efforts!

SBT

[Nemesis]

Nemesis, all day long.

SBT

[Dante]

While I feel slightly dirty for voting against Lawless, Dante is such a masterpiece that I can't in all honesty place my tick anywhere else.

Maybe, when Lawless is finally done, I'll change my mind... but for now, Dante.

SBT

*"I'm far more interested..."

Why don't we have an edit function in this bit of the forum?

SBT

Really enjoyed that Dredd- and I for more interested in how that turns out than I am in the next crisis/ invasion/ alien superfiend shenanigans that is probably just around the corner. Also, Boo Cook's art was wonderful- that page with her just sitting, all lonely and (maybe) anxious outside was perfect. I've not been a massive admirer of Cook's art up to now, but that proved to me he can tell a story with great skill.

Any comic that can serve up a lead strip that good, two weeks after an equally fantastic *but completely different* one-and-done 'event' like the zombie thing, is a strip that is in rude health.

Everything else was top notch as well- I'm still not convinced entirely by Enemy Earth, as I think it's far too juvenile for a comic that has a lead story about political approaches to crime and a strip like Hope. Chimpskey walks that fine line with more dexterity, whereas Hershey would probably be impenetrable to anyone not versed in Dredd lore, but manages to please me no end. Antarctica! Snowscapes! Simon Fraser!

SBT

[Brink]

Brink.

SBT

[ABCs]

ABCs.

SBT

[BOOK ONE.]

It has to be BOOK ONE. That first episode alone was perhaps Pat's crowning achievement in that first prog, but that it got *even more insane* as it went on, is remarkable.

Book Two is almost as good- and yes, it has Bellardinelli- but in the end the nostalgia for the original trumps it.

SBT