2000 AD Online Forum

Surpirsed to be the first to set up the thread but I just have to congratulate the editorial team behind the relaunch of the Meg.

It is a much more rounded publication now than I have ever seen it and the strips are toppo notcho.

The Meg has had a habit of dropping in unexpected cameos and this month's issue is no exception. I won't spoil the surprises.

The two Dredd strips are well done, even if 'Meat Patrol' is a bit of a filler.

Shimura is a nice intro into a story of potential. Judge Fear's Big Day Out gives us a humourous look at the character of the crappiest dark judge (often thought Fire or Mortis should have had their own adventure).

Anderson kind of treads water, but does so with beautiful artwork and Young Middenface is top notch work from Ridgway and Grant.

Charley's War looks like (gasp) it might be coming to a conclusion .

There is a lot more text in the Meg, but it somehow fits in. Fear's text adventure was entertaining enough. Dreddfiles are still going. There is an interesting look at other comics, anime and star trek (if not completely enlightening) and Rennie is on hand to talk a little about the creative process.

Simon Spurrier takes the opportunity to flex his ego in a bad tabloid way about comic book movies and I've just noticed an interview with John Burns that I haven't red yet. Better get back to it.

Great Meg, but does anyone want another Placebo poster prog?

i think i'll sell mine on ebay

no sign of mine yet and Mondays a public holiday here, ho-hum, look like it will be late late this week.
 you mean somebody would buy that Placebo thing/ mine went to the recycling bin

Huff P

Crappest Dark Judge? I thought that was Death ever since someone decided he could do "comedy" - you know just like Robert De Niro??

Incredible Thong?  Any reason?

You'll see. And your eyes will pop out.

Mmmm:)


F

A nice montage cover. Bit of light would be nice but that's often the way with yon fellahs stuff.

Dredd - First tale had a nicely obvious twist that actually surprised me and lifted a fun, if ordinary, tale into something I really am looking forwards to seeing more of. Nice.

Simping - Smug points to me, but a great episode. Love the way this strip explores and develops elements from the past. Fun and funny, nice art.

Middenface - This feels different, like things are coming to a crisis point, or climax. Obviously things have been building towards this. I'm expecting big things of this.

Anderson - More of the same. I think when this tale is over and we can see where this is going it'll be a worthy tale.

Shimura - Never read this strip before but I didn't need to. Great art, interesting layouts. A nice relaunch, I think.

Dredd - Oh, I liked this little one. A really nice slice of megacity life thing exploring a minor part of the series mythos in great detail. Good stuff.

Interview - much, MUCH, better than the cackhanded interview in True Brit, this new series is off to a great start. John Burns, you are indeed, Da Man.

I'll review the rest later, if I can be arsed.

Cover- Nice bit of McNeil.

Dredd1-Great Burns art, big improvement over Ranger. Nice twist at the end!

SimpinD-One word. PHWOAR!

Interview-Great interview with a great artist. Got his head on straight, has our Burnsie.

Shimura-Art is a little flat, but an good, action packed episode. Hey-Smaurai's are cool.

Text story-Heh. Nice fun little tale.

Anderson-Yeah, it's kind of stalling, but hopefully the end'll make us all go "Woah!" Hopefully. Great page and a half spread of the damned there!

Midenface-I'm not a huge fan of Ridgeway's art, but the saga looks like it's finally comin to a head.

Dreddfiles- Blah.

Charley's War-Good stuff! I've grown quite fond of this for some reason.

Heatseekr-Controversy from Spurrier, fairly good article on the original Star Trek, an okay review of 00 bullets, anime review is okay and hooray! Rennie's back!

Dredd 2-Good one off, we finally get to see the workings of the infamous meat wagons.

All in all, a great start to a new design.

Is this the one with the new format Meg?  What's it like?

OK, before I start - Fraser, been using models?  Can I get her number?  I think Dudlette would understand once she's seen the picture.. hrrnnnn...

Hmmm... more text articles means less comic.
They'll have to be good articles, but it sounds like the cost cutting has started on the Meg, so at least people can see how Preacher ends when they start reprinting that again.
I'm probably just being cynical, though.  I'll wait until i read it before I pass comment.

Prof Bear - more new comic, less reprint.

Wasnt the man in Dan Dare with a gun welded to his hand called Hitman?  

As for the Biochips names, if it wasnt for the Milli-Com memories story, you could argue that each clone was assigned a slot by name, so there were 100s of Bagmans, Helm, Gunnars, with Rogues denoting some kind of wildcard one chip fits all status.... plus it would explain Major Magnum.  Possibly there's still some merit in trying to explain the names as a kind of sick joke the genies were having when they had to name the little buggers...

It's like the old Meg, but better. Strips are a nice bunch, there's a good mixture of development nad surprises.

The actual look is very good indeed, pages are thin but there you go. Prefer the mix of new strip and review stuff to the reprint material, even though I was enjoying it.

Perhaps 2k could get a matching overhaul soon? Borrowed the issue from a mate because mine hasn't come.

More thoughts... Perhaps the GIs were trained in seperate squads/classes of twenty troops, labelled A to T in each batch (or A to Z with letters M and such taken out for the senior officers).  

The names of clones could be a sick joke by the Genies, or it could denote the specialisms - Gunnar is shown as a crack shot for example - perhaps they had introduced subtly different genetic traits to the different clones in order to see which were most successful - or perhaps they were undertaking a nature over nuture experiment by specialising identical clones to see if it had any difference.

Perhaps if Rogue had been in a different place at the battle, we would have seen the continuing adventures of Sniper, Trilby and Packman!

The story where they are all stuck in the "wrong" slots suggests a specialism, as they all panic!


 

OK, let's just say it.  This whole Meg is so good that there's little point picking at the odd tiny weak moment (y'hear that, Mr Spurrier?  I'm going to leave your self-indulgent columnette alone!)

In fact I'm going to hand over this review to Sharon Osbourne from "The X-Factor"

Cover - Fantastic
Judge Dredd - "Bite Fight" - shaping up to be an fantastic multi parter.  Some fantastic John Burns art, best I've seen from him in years.  And WHAT a fantastic surprise at the end!
The Simping Detective - the fantastic art mixes fantastically with the fantastic narrative to make this a stand-out favourite even against fantastic competition.  And the final frame - just fantastic.  Oh, and let me remember that thong one more time, fantastic drooling pervert that I am...
The John Burns interview is fantastically interesting and informative, even if he does come across as a fantastic grouch!
How fantastic to see Shimura back in the Meg, and it does look as though Morrison's got over whatever it was that made the last few Shimura tales a bit rubbish.  Introducing Dredd makes for a fantastic method of re-introducing the man himself, and I'm genuinely intrigued as to where this is leading.
Anderson - well, over the months I've continued to review this story with the single word "perfect".  I'll not change that here, though Ranson's art reaches a fantastic new peak.
The change of tone in Middenface is noticeable from the get-go, and Ridgeway's fantastic art enhances that change well.  Could this surprise us and actually be *more fantastic* than Traitor to his Kind?
Dredd - Meat Patrol.  Well, it may be filler, but it's fantastic filler, and I really like the way that Blythe's colours work on Coleby's art, which can occasionally be a bit too lumpy for me.

Overall, this was the Meg that finally did it.  I ran out of adjectives.  Fantastic!

looks good in general, but does anybody care what simon spurrier and gordon rennie think about anything? i could do without people imagining that saying the most outrageous thing possible, like a geek with a loud voice in the pub/cinema/restaurant, is a substitute for journalism. don't get me wrong, i love both of their scriptwriting, i just don't paticularly want to read about their points of view.

Heh, the text features were definitely the weakest part of the Meg.

The anime one was solid & quite interesting, but the Star Trek one was pish. Throwing in a few "humourous" adjectives and taking the mick out of The Next Generation does not equal a decent column. Si Spurrier's review of Spidey 2 was horribly out of date & pretty pedestrian.

GRennie's Bile Duct was actually alright, and he seems to be settling into a decent rhythm with these pieces. It's not great, but it's entertaining enough.

I've no problem with this number of text features, but I'd *really* like to see the excesses reined in so we end up with less "humourous" geekery and more of the interesting and thoughtful.

Hmmm... people taking the piss out of Rogue Trooper again is it Watch?  

>Hmmm... more text articles means less comic.
They'll have to be good articles, but it sounds like the cost cutting has started on the Meg, so at least people can see how Preacher ends when they start reprinting that again. I'm probably just being cynical, though.  I'll wait until i read it before I pass comment.

More strip pages, no more 2000AD reprint which is the cheapest thing to fill those pages with. Instead Mr Barnes is paying people to write articles instead of walking upstairs to the Thrill Archive and picking out some film. The only expense that incurs is the wear on Alan?s shoes and the time that G1RL-01 spends cleaning up the scanned film.

More original strip, more features that have to be paid for, to me the new look Meg says that The Meg has money to spend and not that things are looking bleak.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

Yeah, 'Fantastic' is the word I'd go for.

Dredd: Bite story - class stuff, good investigation, a little insight into the judicial celebacy issue, and O MY WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ***********?

Simping Detective - brilliant art, as usual from the Ir-ving droid (although I wouldn't have recognised the dame without the text to tell me who it was - mind you I suppose I wasn't really focussing on her face...), really enjoying these. Good simping. Liked Cliq, nice touch.

Anderson, PSI - not much happened, but it did happen very well.

Shimura - glad to have him back! Although *shock* I have complaints: I don't like Andy C's Dredd much at all - his helmet & face don't seem right to me. But I can cope with that. Linked, I don't much like Robbie M's Dredd either, based on past stories. Also, I didn't much like the previous Shimura meets Dredd story - I reckon Shimura works much better as a character when away from Dredd.
Having said that: this story completely changed my opinions on that - the Dredd bits where spot on. "Mega-City judges always get their man."

Dredd: Meat Patrol - great stuff, good artwork. Ultimately filler, granted, but nothing wrong with that when it's good.

Texty stuff: Didn't read the Fear story.
Enjoyed the Star Trek review. Agree with it even - people *should* be free from the "Trekkie" stigma when watching the original series. (If you're going to watch all the rest then you should just accept that you're a Trekkie & cope with it.)
Anime: Okay, I guess. Wasn't that interested.
Spidy: Entertaining and funny, even if Si's wrong. (AND YOU ARE WRONG, SI.)
Gordon: Continues to entertain.
Metro Dredds: I like the way they're spaced out over the pages, it gives the staggered effect that they're meant to be read in. Still fairly lame, but seem less lame when spaced out like that.

Nice square spine.

You should read the Fear story - it's absolutely brilliant...

Okay then.

Haven't read Charley either yet.

Nah, the fear stories rubbish. Read it on this very site years ago.

Can any Irish individuals tell me if Easons got the meg in early? Not likely I know, but... it calls to me...

On the contrary. The Fear story is a nice little piece. Like it.

Re-read the lead Dredd, the Simpin'D, and McNulty and they are top rate stories. I was more impressed by the Bite Fight thing second time around.

Interesting to note that Bendatti Vendetta is listed as 2002-present in the Burns Stripography thing which implies it'll be back. Good. Second series won me over and if Sidhe deserves a third stab at the corpse then so does Bendetti.

Oh - forgot McNulty!

Not much in this one episode, but looks like it could go far.

Thought i'd seen the thinnest thong on Durham Red.
What the hell is she wearing in that full shot? Cheese wire?
Give her a wedgie and she'll be sliced in two.

>Nah, the fear stories rubbish. Read it on this very site years ago.

No you didnt.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure it had the same name... is it an updated version?

You read it on Class of '79's site, which is linked from this site.  Probably.

Logan means you read it on the Class of '79 website, not this one.

Not sure if it is different though.

Bolt-01

Lost property Blog

>Not sure if it is different though.

Yup, the Megazine version is the Writers cut. George Lucas isnt the only person to revisit past stories and tinker with them.

La placa Rifa,
W. R. LOgan.

It was great, the text articals weren't bad. the megazine is turning into a proper magazine

Wowzer. Whenever I get my Meg in I always settle down with the intention of reading it cover to cover but that hasn't happened for months as my attention starts to wane round about Charlie's War, but this morning I read it cover to cover and although still didn't enjoy CW at least it was brief. The cameos were fantastic and I'm desperate for the next issue now! Thought Meat Patrol was good as I don't remember ever reading something that showed you a night on a meat wagon, but I might be wrong. Was nice of them to draw some attention to 100 Bullets and Ghost In The Shell. Oh, and one of the single greatest panels in comic book history, you know the one. It had a thong in it. Was a great surprise to find out who it was too. The best Megazine I can remember reading I think.

Oh, and forgot to mention Alan Grant. After the duff Dredds lately, having Anderson and Middenface back to back proved without a doubt that he's still got it.

An utterly splendid publication; so much so that my comments on it are about as long as the Meg itself. :-)

I've talked a bit on this site about the "magazine leanings" of the Megazine, so I'm delighted to see that side develop.

IMO the results are mixed, but it's a valiant try.
I thought the anime section was interesting, because it's something I know little about and was informative.
I applaud the DVD bit, although the release of Star Trek was probably unlucky for it, as it meant a fairly obvious - almost cliched - subject matter for the first column.

I'm afraid I wasn't keen on the film column at all.
Writing a review, it's too easy simply to say you don't like something, and far more difficult to produce an engaging piece of writing about it. This was pretty self-indulgent, I'm sorry to say, and I wasn't interested in its outdated subject matter.

Spiderman 2? Who's interested now?
What does that column actually tell us, apart from someone's opinion?
I've been writing film reviews for years (admittedly for a local paper, although one with a higher circulation than the Meg) and the writer here has fallen into the trap of thinking he matters.
People read such things for information or entertainment. Opinion must always be strictly limited, as it's of almost no importance. (All this is IM professional O and with sincere respect to Simon, whose other work I enjoy.)

A purpose needs to be worked out for these three new parts. The Meg isn't equipped to offer news, and deadlines would similarly mess up any chance of a competitive review schedule.
I suspect the retrospective approach of the anime column is the way to go.

Grennie's column is still excellent, and a good example of how to write something that, despite having little real content, still has value as a bit of fun.

We were also treated to a very in-depth interview, of which I read every word in abject fascination. It was damn good stuff; just what a Mega-magazine needs.
It's also interesting to see printed media grabbing this sort of thing back from the internet, where it's wandered, homeless and sad, after various other publications folded.

I no longer have any interest in the Dredd Files. Sorry.

On the strips:

Dredd with biters: Love that Burns art, and what a pay-off! Strong stuff.

Simping Detective: Also brilliant fun.
I'm really keen on the way people are now prepared to use 2K's and the Meg's "back catalogue" to its fullest.
I might otherwise have been scandalised by that thong (see my previous comments on Durham Red), but it worked fine in the context, IMO.
Isn't Frazer's work beautiful?

Middenface continues to be a highlight for me. I'm a Ridgway fan anyway, but this is some of his best work for ages, I think.
The story is also rolling along really, really well. One scene was effectively lifted from Portrait of a Mutant, but I don't care.
Great stuff.

Despite the lack of Frank Quitely, I also enjoyed Shimura, which seems to have a good artistic successor.
I'm keen to find out more of what's been happening. My only quibble is Dredd hiring an assassin. I know he's done worse, but I have to suspect he's up to something. It seems out of character.

I'm rapidly losing interest in Anderson, despite Ranson's lovely work. There only three of them left now, but I forget what happened to the others already. Or how many there were to start with. Ho-hum.

Charley's War is still messy, horrible and fantastic.

Finally, Dredd on the meat wagon was just the latest in a long line of good, solid Dredds from Gordon Rennie. Moody and satisfying.
The man can spin a damn good yarn.

Overall, the Meg keeps on getting better and better! I love it.

- Trout

Well, I'd pretty much echo everything that's been said. A very fine meg indeed.

One thing though: reading the John Burns interview, and seeing the pictures chosen to illustrate it, I was reminded just how good a black and white artist he is, it seems a shame we don't really get to see that side of his craft these days (much as I like his painted art - and I thought his work on the Biters story was particularly fine). Any chance of getting him to draw (as opposed to paint) something?

I've just (last Wednesday) put in for a dual Sub to tooth and the Meg, hoping that there was a week or so more till the Meg was out.

Does anyone know how quickly the subs dept get around to processing these things.  I put this weeks issues of both as "start" issues.  WIll I get them, or should I pop down the shop tomorrow?

Dan

Dan, you'll probably get them, but give Denise a ring anyway, just in case you miss it.

It's unmissable.

(BTW as if my comments weren't long enough, I want to add that I really enjoyed the Judge Fear story. He's always been my favourite Dark Judge.)

- Trout

I've no problem with this number of text features, but I'd *really* like to see the excesses reined in so we end up with less "humourous" geekery and more of the interesting and thoughtful.

Bollocks to that.  I was pleasantly surprised by the review section this issue.  Grud forbid it become all pious and thinky.

TBH I couldn't be bothered with any of the text peices bar Gordons (which was the same as it is every month) and Sis (Hmmm, taking swings at 1960s superhero conventions is neither big nor clever, and it wasn't even done in an amusing or original way).

Tx Trout.  Apparantly I got my sub in in time and both of them should be winging their way to me.

The weren't in the box today (was away yesterday), so there are 3 options.  1) They are in my post box today. 2) They are upstairs (postie is sh*te). 3) Posties a theiving Get.

This is a great week.  New Delgados Album, Meg and 2000ad subs.  Star Wars DVDs. And herself is back from Thailand.  Actually with the rest of that, she could probably have stayed away an extra week...

Dan, back in the fold.

Welcome, Dan!

- Trout

'Wasnt the man in Dan Dare with a gun welded to his hand called Hitman?'

Yeah, Gunnar was the first Space Fort crew member to get his brains sucked out by those giant worm thingies.

There seems to have been a bit of a mix-up here.  I called him 'Gunman' when I wrote the article, which wasn't the right name.  Someone's corrected it to 'Gunnar', which is also wrong, although there a character by that name in the Dan Dare story, only it wasn't the guy I was talking about.

My point stands though.  'Hitman' is still a crap name.

Reckon that Gunnar was one of Wulf's "little vulfs" he's been sowing...

"Grud forbid it become all pious and thinky."

I don't want "pious and thinky", but I'd like to see something a *little* bit smarter than "Hey, isn't that titting TNG shit? And hasn't Shatner gotten really twatting fat?"

:-)

No Jack Wardog?

am i the only person getting bored of si banging on about how much he hates spiderman movies.  i mean his rant here was mildly amusing, then in an interview it got repetitive, and when i saw a big pic of spidey in the meg i though, fuck, here we go again........


also, is it just me or it the paper quality of the new meg crap?  it's so thin and cheap to feel......

The best text piece I've seen in a comic is the recent columns in 'Metal Hurlant' which covers all kinds of sci-fi & fantasy pop culture ephermea (sp?).
The Meg could do worse than hire the writer or at least get someone to write something in a similar vein.

Proudhuff dashes into the Chamber from behind Thargs chair points at the opposition benches and shouts
'See! See! You've muched up pensions, Everything that the Trout Said about the Meg is True!'
before being wrestled to the ground by aging men in tights, swords and tail coats.

All good stuff. The interview with John Burns was a real treat.

Was glad to see that they havn't dropped Charley's War, but not so glad to see the Dredd Files is still there....

The two dredd stories are good, but with Total War just starting in the prog,. wouldnt it be an idea to have one of them tie in?

Simping Detective - I love this character! And as for THAT outfit... well, I should write to the Daily mail about this filth... ;-)

Shimura - I missed most of his earlier stories, so Im a bit huh? about this. Andy Clark's artwork is as good as ever though.

Anderson - Please get a move on! this is soooo slooow....

Young Middenface - made me laugh. moves at a good pace - cant believe this is the same Alan Grant as above....

Judge Fear - heh.

havent read the rest yet, saving it for a boring trip home on the bus....

Meg/Prog tie-ins?

After the pain in the arse that Narcos robot war thing was to keep up with, you don't have my vote, I'm afraid.

- Trout

"Meg/Prog tie-ins?"

Erm... no.

I lost my original post.  How posterity must weep to herself.

Middenface is great.  Lovely to have Ridgeway back on it, he gives it a really human touch, and does these outdoor locations really well. 'Yes, Ridgeway, more rural than urban one thinks.

Some of those opinion columns in the meg were very very weak and slackly written.  I appreciate the sentiment behind the star trek one, but not the drunken pub banter way it was put in the meg.  Others are also not very good.

I found Rennie's to be pretty good, even though I expected it to annoy me for going on about bloody Rogue Trooper again.

Outstanding John Burns interview from the Bish.  A real overview of his career, and an insight into what makes him tick.  Great.

other than that, Charley's War was really affecting this issue, superb.  

I thought Andy Clarke's art had nicked another notch with this Shumura thing - well done to him.  It really suited the Japanese stuff. More kiddies suffering though, I worry about Mr Morrisons childhood.  

And I even think Smith can be forgiven for having vampires in his bitefight story.  As it is THE vampire in this issue.  I thought it was much better than meatmonger.

Anderson's story seems such a downswing after the excellent half-life.

Loved all the comic stories in the Meg this month.  Felt that the bit in Anderson where he guts th ebody was very well done. And the relentless carnage in Charley's War is starting to get to me.

Also liked the Meatwagon story - if you are going to have filler Dredd tales, I much prefer this sort of thing to the SNOZZBOURNES and B*WITCHED.

I applaud the thinking behind the text features but agree that the delivery leaves a bit to be desired.  "Pub banter" is a very fair description of the Star Trek one (or ten year old stand-up comedy material) - I think we deserve better than that. I reckon at least half of the message board could have written a better 850 words on Star Trek. (OK, maybe I'm stretching the point).

I may be wrong but I don't see Mr Spurrier's column (fnar) as a film review column.

I think he's just talking about films and therefore Spidey being as bit dated isn't an issue for me (and I've not seen any of his other rants because of the injunction he put out).  I do think he's sort of shot himself in the foot a bit though.  I think it's going to be a bit hard to get away from the "Well, it's all crap isn't it when you consider 9/11?" point of view. Well, yes. Everything is.  (Do I need to point out that I am only a long-necked and small brained dinosaur and have probably missed the point).

But yeah, top Meg. Some classy writing (Devlin Waugh is a top twist for what I assumed was going to be a dull vampire tale), the bethonged Demarco is also another good guest appearance - I must say I prefer this presentation of T&A considerably more than something like Valkryies.

I think I'm going to reread it all again.  

I quite liked the Star Trek review.  I thought it was very funny.  Am I entirely alone in this?

Yes.


;-)

Text pieces = POSSIBLE WORK and thus are GRATE.

Time to dust off my RETURN TO ARMOGEDDON rant.

I quite liked the Star Trek review. I thought it was very funny. Am I entirely alone in this?

yes.  

slagging something off then trying to give it away in a comp is really the way to go.  





sarcasm, by the way (a.k.a the lowest form of wit, so i'm told)

B-b-but he says "the first shock is how exciting" the first series is.  He goes on to say "it's fun, fast & fresh"!  "The three leads are fantastic"!  And it all end with "buy thse lovely DVDs"!

It's all fun.  And the bit about go, shag & shoot made me chuckle!

it also slags the reader of when they realise they want it.  don't get me wrong, my star trek obsessions days are so far behind me i can hardly remember them, but it'd still be a cool think to have.  suddenly i feel like a reject of society.



perhaps the reason i'm pissed is because, like the star wars one (i think) they displayed their total lack of knowlage on all thinks trek.  t'pau wasn't spocks girlfriend, she was the old hag who moaned that spock brought outsiders to the planet

then maybe one of the other answers was his girl?

Jen - he wasn't slagging off the product! He was slagging off the vastly inferior sequals it produced, while saying that *dispite* the social stigma attached to being a 'sad Trekkie', it's *OKAY* to enjoy the first series, because it's great.

I just want to see what Si's going to do when he's offered an American superhero comic to script...

Spurrier must be happier than a pig in shit...it's like he's been given the keys to a massive toy chest and told - GO PLAY, GO CRAZY!!

I want a pet raptaur and I want it now or I'm taking my ball home...

And what a thong - do you think the Simp shpuld send Dredd a piccy?

Heh... "Look at what you could have won" ?

I don't think 'Hitman' was such a terrible nickname for a guy with a gun fused into his hand. It's not in the least coincidental. It's a nickname. It's not like he's the son of Mr & Mrs Hitman, after all.

He could have been the son of Mr & Mrs Hitman though and entered into the psychological realms of self-fulfilling prophecy.

Let's face it, with a surname of hitman you would automatically be drawn to using guns, so that could be feasible.

After 'hitman' is a bit generic. It's not as if we was called Johnny Pistolhand who then accidentally gets a gun fused to the end of him arm.

I agree with Ush - Hitman is not so bad. There have been much much much worse. Such as Johnny Pistolhand, for example.

Meg 224 Nitpick #2

It's a bit rich David Bishop slagging off Barry Mitchell's artwork on The Great Muldoon and the Boing! story, when there's not a lot wrong with it and it's heaps better than a lot of the artwork Megazine readers were treated to in the 1990s.

(Strangely, I started with the text pieces this morning - I haven't got round to the strips yet)

House of Usher wrote: It's a bit rich David Bishop slagging off Barry Mitchell's artwork on The Great Muldoon and the Boing! story, when there's not a lot wrong with it and it's heaps better than a lot of the artwork Megazine readers were treated to in the 1990s.

Why I ever gave the likes of Frank Quitely or Trevor Hairsine or Jim Murray or Peter Doherty or Dean Ormston their first exposure in a mainstream comic defies belief, doesn't it? Obviously, I can't pick a good artist to save my life. ;-)

For the record, I have no problems with Barry Mitchell as an artist - he did sterling work on Roy of the Rovers for years - but I don't rate his work on Dredd. That's just my opinion.

However it is historical fact that The Great Muldoon and Palais de Boing were the only Dredd strips he ever drew for 2000 AD.

Draw your own conclusions...

davidbishop

late as usual...

Cover; way good, nice n` mean, not too cluttered

Dredd; Bite Fight; alright story, redeemed by great twist at the end

Simping Detective; yaaaay, Spurrier is a genius, Irving likewise. Dudley, I think the model for DeMarco`s pole dancing act is that French actress who did some controversial posters for some perfume or other in a similar on-her-back kind of posture

I really liked the John Burns interview - really lets the interviewee speak (as should all interviews)

Shimura is good stuff, it`s great to see him back

Judge Fear`s day out surprised me. It was really good. It didn`t surprise me because of any prejudice about Spurrier, just that I usually find text-stories a bit of a chore

Anderson; Ranson`s art makes anything look profound but it is a bit slow. fingers crossed

Young Middenface; I`m really getting into this, not many surprises, but a really solid story

the Dredd Files: Charlton Heston was an actor, we learn something every day

Charley`s War; as before, I`m liking it. Did seargents really have moustaches like that?

I need a hero; Terribly lazy, pretentious spiderman review, misses the point entirely. Should be in New Statesman. Yes, in real life kids on a train would be calling the newspapers on their cell phone or trying to steal Spiderman`s tights. So what? The 9/11 reference is inane and confusing. As has been said above, if 9/11 makes Spiderman trivial, it makes 2000 AD and  the Simping Detective trivial too, everything in fact. Does it mean that if SPiderman was an appropriately earnest movie, 9/11 wouldn`t happen?
  Comics aren`t big because of a Rebellion whim folks - they`re big because we the audiance, are really good at avoiding the issue. I`ll cancel my subsrcription and go fight terrorism, or at least be a bit earnest about it.
StarTrek; fun to read but wrong, early Star Trek was crap

Rennie on names; good fun, quotes one of the funnier lines from Spiderman 2

Anime column; interesting but doesn`t live up to the headline, ie doesn`t explain why Dredd wasn`t big in Japan.  Has anyone seen the comic?

Meatwagon; terrific story, pretty bloody grim

and that`s too much from me!

Actually, I thought that line was a wee bit too self paroding, threating viewers suspended imagination (of course it's unrealistic for him a name like that, but hey, realism, this is based on a comic book, were those conventions don't apply)

Oh, and El twatioso, if America is so loathe to look in depth at 9 11 et all, why do you think farienhight(sp) 9.11 did so well, and that's also forgetting that Spiderman is a popcorn movie, it ain't meant to be deep, and besides is Spidey went off chasing Arabs it would be distasteful, you twat.

I don't normally get like this but that article was idiotic on so many levels, if you wrote like that for you're degree it's a wonder you passed (bland accersion, bland accersion). A little thing called backing up theories with facts would go down so well.

distateful, racist et all, like a movie version of a certain crossgen comic

Conexus:

Disagree with Si, dislike the piece - I think you'd have a lot of company there - but there's no need for slinging insults at him.

Frank: - It's only Si, he enjoys these sorts of things.  We can't have his ego getting too big, he might thing he can write or somethign :-P

Yes. That is out of order. You are hereby banished to Luton.

Ooooh!  Now that's nasssssty!

Here's some thoughts.

Bite Fight: unremarkable generic Dredd story - until the last page. This could be fun.

Simping Detective: "Innocence: a Broad" is a fantastic title, the art's lovely, and I now know more about DeMarco's personal grooming habits than I think I needed to.

Burnsy interview: interesting generally, but I thought his comments on Si Fraser were uncalled for, not to mention plain wrong. Dante was the most exciting strip in tooth for years, down in large part to the way Si drew it and brought the character and his world to life. Morrison has never looked so good a writer with any other artist. Burnsy's a fine artist, but making him Dante's lead artist killed the strip.

Shimura. And still Andy Clarke gets better. Nice colouring too. Early days for the story, but a promising start.

Anderson seems to treading water a bit, but a nice start to Middenface with some lovely Ridgway scribbles.

Heatseekers: there's something about a section that reviews nothing but geek stuff - superhero films, Star Trek, comics and anime - but is so defensive and sneery in its desperation to not be seen as geeky that leaves a bit of an unpleasant taste. Oh, and Spurrier, I take it we can expect to see Bec and Kawl combating Chechen school hijackers instead of tooth fairies and Vertigo parodies some time soon?

Meat Patrol: made me laugh, and I'm warming to Coleby's art.

Being contraversial in a review is the easiest thing in the world.
It's there to prevoke just this sort of reaction. If you don't like it, ignore it.

What's the score with the reaction to the text pages then?

I think with a little tweaking they could be an interesting part of the Meg. If the text stories and interviews can keep up with that kind of quality and some tweaking is done on the other columns, I reckon they will fit in nicely.

Or would people prefer to see more reprint again?

I'd rather give the time for the articles to develop.

Or failing that they should run Sprouts articles from the 2000adreview site.

Bolt-01

I'd quite like to see the text pages stay, but I'd prefer something more in line with Jonathan Clement's piece on Ghost in the Shell than Si's Spiderman article, or the Star Trek column.

Yup, I think all the articles are a good idea, give it a bit more general appeal and have some informative stuff in it.  I don't think we should bring Roxilla back though :)

No, despite the few points I made about the text articles before, I thought the new Meg was a good idea, and the way forward.

They do need to be better, I want to be informed and entertained by em.

Have to admit, on first glance, I wasn't impressed by Si's Spider-Man 2 review either.  It just seemed to completely miss the point.  Then I gave it a second read, and realized that it was really an essay about how silly comic book superhero standards appear when thrust into the real world, disguised as a review of Spider-Man 2.

And I still wasn't impressed.  Because, yeah, that's a position you can argue, and you can agree with it or not, but as something insightful and interesting, it's about as groundbreaking as someone pointing out the subtext of conflict and angst in Hamlet.

Andrew

Then I gave it a second read, and realized that it was really an essay about how silly comic book superhero standards appear when thrust into the real world, disguised as a review of Spider-Man 2.

what gets my is that he's saying  silly looking blue and red spandex looks stupid in realistic style film (so does a guy with four mechanical arms).  but it's a film.  it's make believe.  it's fantasy.  it's enertainment.  it's not supose to be taken as seriously or as cynically as si has (unless it's really bad, and i don't think it is)

i mean, look at dredd.  i'm sorry, but he looks silly in that uniform.  he looked silly in the film, but no one moans and bitches about that aspects of the film (coz everything else was bad, okay bad example....errr......)  no one moans that the x-men are runing around in black leather (black is cool, okay another bad example.....)  okay, wolverine looks a twat in yellow spandex, but it's just a bunch of pretty pictures.  it's not suppose to be taken seriously.

i just don't understand why si has done so much bitching about it.  i mean, it's just entertainment.  if you don't like it, don't watch it, and don't bother going to see spiderman 3.  



Jen, who hasn't seen spiderman 2





P.S.  i have no idea what the purpous of the above is.

just received mine.

F%@K ME. you aint kidding.

MR Spurrier, you may well have created the greastest new character this decade in 2000ad with simping dectective.
and just for the record
(sadcomicfanboy mode on).MR IRVING,NOW THATS ART!
CLAP CLAP CLAP.i am sure you may well have a few beers passed you way with nothing more then a nod of appreacation should you be at dreddcon.
JOE whats wrong with you Man?
you turned her down??


as for the rest of the meg.
creative team in charge.
finest piece of printed matter ever to have the words Judge Dredd Megazine as its title.

This might be a bit late, but yes, Eason's has the Megazine in, I bought it there on Thursday. Great Megazine, by the way.

Folks - not going to respond to each poster seperately for the simple fact that it's not going to make any difference: I'd simply say that the point of the "Heatseeker" section, as I understand it, is not to offer deeply instructional/informative reviews, but to provide entertaining and/or provocative column-style opinion-pieces regarding cultural artefacts (read: stuff) currently in the spotlight.  Maybe you don't think they were entertaining, maybe you don't think they were provocative, maybe you don't think they were either:  whatever the score, there was at no point an instruction saying "Thou Shalt Agree".  It ain't journalism, it ain't an essay, and if you don't agree with the opinions contained therein, it's really not the end of the world.

As for calling someone a twat because you disagree with them, especially in an enlightened forum like this; I'd like to believe that would go down like the pigshit-laden juvenile arseballoon it so clearly is. [shrug]

On the flip side of the coin - may I just say that The Simping Detective was beautifully crafted writing and drawing.

The best part of a fantastic Meg and the posts show that I'm not the only one to believe that.

"On the flip side of the coin - may I just say that The Simping Detective was beautifully crafted writing and drawing. "

You are allowed, sir. Certainly my fave gig of the past umpteen months and you are all perfectly allowed to hound the boss for more.

Not that there's any particular with us making more, but I just like to see the letters page full of nice things being said about me and Spurious.

O, and a special treat awaits those Dreddcon attendees who are gonna show up to my little tutorial:)

F

heh heh....he said arse....

CU Krestel(looking forward to this one)

Well I quite enjoyed the Spidy article.

Although, having had the misfortune to read the Spiderman 9/11 issue - it's my opinion that superheroes should stick with the supervillians they're used to, because, as unfortunate an event as the 9/11 disaster was, it makes for a dull and sickly comic.

"As for calling someone a twat because you disagree with them, especially in an enlightened forum like this; I'd like to believe that would go down like the pigshit-laden juvenile arseballoon it so clearly is. [shrug]"

Agreed.

Also, sincere thanks for replying to our comments, Si.
A lesser person would have ignored them.

- Trout

> O, and a special treat awaits those Dreddcon attendees who are gonna show up to my little tutorial:)

Right, that's me sold!  You just better not be scheduled against Carlos or there'll be blood (or something, more likely beer actually) on the floor

;)

Dan

Can't make any comment...

Sleeping with one of the artists!!!!;-)

Tee, hee, hee...

(sorry, couldn't resist!)

Really?  Does Mr Coleby know?

"pigshit-laden juvenile arseballoon" - LOL

Understood Spurrier, bit pretentious deadline style taking it too serious clap trap, but interesting

Burns was a bit harsh on Si, and un called for, especially seeing as Si created Dante, it's like someone taking over the fathering of your child and saying you were a shit parent. Prefer Si's art to Burns anyday - PLUS the Burns Dredd strip - not his best, by far - to crit another artist so sharply and then have strip in the same mag which is poor, is taking your own ego into Prima Donna land. Take it easy big guy just 'cos your experienced doesn't mean you've the right...

De-Marco - sigh... the latest Megazine now has a spine!

I disagree. The only thing that could possibly be wrong about Burnsey's comment is that it may alienate Si from him and cause a small amount of offense, but that's between them. Whether i agree with his opinion on Si's art is irrelevant but I applaud him for voicing his opinion. In an industry which is on the surface full of sickening honey-soaked back patting whilst under the surface riddled with squinty-eyed back-stabbing Burnsey's honesty is quite refreshing, despite my disagreement with his viewpoint.

Most creator interviews I read these days sound like Star Wars featurettes, with words like "genius" and "amazing" tossed around until they have no meaning whatsoever. Personally, I was brung up to think that if I can't say anything nice then I should say nothing at all, but I ain't Burnsey.

And his experience as an artist DOES give his opinion a huge amount of weight when cpmmenting on the artistic/technical merits of another artist' work. IMHO.

F

>Can't make any comment...
>Sleeping with one of the artists!!!!;-)

Aren't we all.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

It's not as if Simon Fraser isn't very free with his expert opinions on other people's work on the artdroids group and elsewhere, though, is it?

And it's not like what he said wasn't true really. He said he's a good story teller but sometimes the actual drawings aren't the strongest. That seems fair to me. He can do the basics but the details aren't always that good.

MEG 224

Cover: Simon Parr has done a great job to make Colin?s cover better than it looked when it arrived at the Nerve Centre. The original art looked good but Simon has given it a little tweak and it?s all the better for it.

Bite Fight: Mr Burns may dislike doing the art for Dredd but whilst he may not like painting Old Stoney Face but I love looking at it.

The Simping Detective: Continuing to enjoy the tales of Jack Point and hope it doesn?t become over exposed. Hopefully Jack will appear with new tales from time to time but not become so regular that familiarity breeds contempt. Hats off to Spurrier & Irving and especially Irving, having to wear such a skimpy outfit whilst posing in front of a mirror to get the shots of DeMarco pole dancing just right shows how far he?s prepared to go for the readers.

Interrogation: John Burns: Great interview and hope we see more interviews of this vane in the future.

Shimura: Not a huge fan of Andy Clarke?s artwork and this doesn?t change my opinion it just seems flat & stiff. For me it also looked better before it was coloured.
Although I did enjoy seeing Shimura and Robbie gracing the pages of the Meg again.

Judge Fear?s Big Day Out: Again I enjoyed this but as I originally hosted a shorter version of the story on the ?79 website I suppose I cant say anything more.

Anderson: For me this is ?the? story of the current line up, enjoying this more than any other story and it?s the first one I read each month and the one that gets reread more between issues. Its one of those times where character, writer and artist just seem to be the perfect match.

Young Middenface: Enjoying the story and Alan reckons it?s the best Young Middenface story he?s ever written but John Ridgeway?s art just leaves me cold, thin, wishy washy and wouldn?t be my choice for the strip.

Dredd Files: It has its detractors but the fan boy in me loves this sort of thing and long may it continue.

Charley?s War: Still enjoying this but don?t know if its because of the story, the rose tinted glasses and remembering back to a more innocent time when I read comics or because of the old soldier in me, whatever the reason its great work from Mills & Colquhoun. Its also possibly due in part to the work the droids do when turning it from the scanned from comic art Tiffs in to what we see in the finished Meg.

Heatseekers: Enjoyed the Spurrier and Rennie sections and wasn?t bothered either way with the others although I?ll be interested to see where this goes in future issues.

Meat Patrol: Rennie once again takes a subject that we?ve seen many times in the background of a Dredd strip or heard Dredd calling for their services but turns it in to a strip that ensures the Meg closes as strongly as it started. Besides Wagner he seems to be the only Droid who can regularly get Dredd right and also for me it?s the background elements he uses that make some of his one parters so enjoyable.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

Hasn't Simon Fraser said some fairly direct things about Burns and the way that Dante was maneouvered away from his own control?

What a disgrace.  Dozens  of posts on this thread, and yet not one bitterly complaining about the change of paper stock on the Meg.  

You people might be fooled into thinking that it's a welcome trade-off for lots more strip and feature pages, but some of us aren't tricked so easily.

It's obviously yet another nail in the coffin of blah blah blah wibble wibble...

(continued ad nauseam, pointlessly and bitterly, on usenet for many weeks to come)

I know I should have done this sooner,so sorry about that too. But mainly sorry about calling you a twat, that was quite a bit over heated, as most the rest of my comments on the column it has to be said, over what you rightly said is just your opinion . In my (very pitiful) defence, I was in a bit of a moody stress over uni when I wrote that, so that may have coloured my mood. But whatever, what I said was wrong, So sorry, It was me that was really the twat.

Jings! Go on, Read this thread from the start to here, better that a double dose of Corrie.

proudhuff

"It's not as if Simon Fraser isn't very free with his expert opinions on other people's work on the artdroids group and elsewhere"

But never about a fellow professional in public, unless solicited.

The exception being Dave Bishop who I had a dig at on the old Citroen mailing list some years back. Maybe this is his revenge.

Si.

Link: Simonfraser.net

O, and a special treat awaits those Dreddcon attendees who are gonna show up to my little tutorial:)

Bah, still waiting ;oP