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Spoilers => Megazine => Topic started by: ukdane on 10 March, 2003, 04:22:05 PM

Title: Megazine 204
Post by: ukdane on 10 March, 2003, 04:22:05 PM
Yipeee! I got mine today.
Review to follow...
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: DavidXBrunt on 10 March, 2003, 05:58:02 PM
How the shickety-brickety does this happen? The Meg can get to Denway or Norland or wherever but can't get to Manchester on time? It's a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world alright.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: stodge on 10 March, 2003, 06:00:22 PM
huh,  don't get me started.....

i'm not expecting mine until at least wednesday and i live in bloody altrincham (near manchester for those that have never heard of it!)........
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: DavidXBrunt on 10 March, 2003, 06:08:20 PM
Oh, Altrincham - so much to answer for.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: ukdane on 10 March, 2003, 06:09:59 PM
Excellent postal service over here (see current Prog thread for my praise of them)
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: DavidXBrunt on 10 March, 2003, 06:11:46 PM
Ah, funt you, you smug funt. With your funting prog and your funting Meg and your funting decent postal service and your funting Dan Cakes. Funt.



FUNT.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: stodge on 10 March, 2003, 06:24:00 PM
like what DXB?  what has altrincham ever done for us?
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Mangamax on 10 March, 2003, 07:45:45 PM
Read it and...

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

What's the point of setting the tale back in 2099?
I thought we were going to have a retro look or some nod to the past or maybe filling in the blanks in Dredds history or something like that. But, going by this first episode, all we have are a new apperance by Cal and Chief Judge Goodman. On the present evidence this story could be set at any time couldn't it?
Mind you, Ennis is a bit of a fanboy so hopefully there's some twists to come.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: paulvonscott on 11 March, 2003, 06:23:46 AM
Is there a page missing from that future shock?

Only read TPO and Darkies Mob so far.  Top stuff.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: HiEx on 11 March, 2003, 12:51:20 PM
Got my Meg 204 and Prog 1331 yesterday (Monday) here in Hong Kong as well!

S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S

Haven't read the whole thing yet, only the Dredd story which I'm enjoying, byt one comment (two actually).

Doesn't Chief Judge Goodman look a little too buff? I sort of remember him as this rather frail kindly old guy, but here it looks like he's either been attending the Devlin Waugh school of body building or been hitting the steroids rather too much!  

Also, and as this story is set in 2099, shouldn't Dredd be drawn a little younger as well!

HiEx

Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: davidbishop on 11 March, 2003, 01:47:20 PM
No, the Future Shock is complete at two pages long. It's the only FS Bolland ever drew and one of the few non-Dredd strips he ever did for 2000 AD. IIRC, it's from a prog where he drew and shared art credits on three of the strips - a Big Bollo record!

davidbishop
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Oddboy on 11 March, 2003, 04:48:57 PM
BIG POINTY SPOILERS AHEAD!




Dredd: Yeah I thought that this story would be better set in the 'present' (ie 2125) - Dredd seems too old & bitter rather then the keen young thing he was back in 2099.  "On MY authority" he snarls, as if he's got the experience of a handful of epic disasters (Apocalypse War/Necropolis/Inferno/Judgement Day/Aliens/Sin City) under his belt.  Surely at this time in his career he wasn't that cocky - look at Cursed Earth & Day Law Died: sure he was a natural leader & the best judge around, but he hadn't had the experience yet to proove it, & wasn't so cocksure.  I reckon if you're setting Dredd in '99 they should try to capture his personality (& uniform - although the helmets were more 'rounded') as it was in the early progs.
And as someone (was it Slippo or DXB or Watcher? - I forget) pointed out in the chatroom - the west wall hadn't been built in 2099.
All that aside - it's looking like a good tale.

Devlin: BRILLIANT.  Art brilliant.  Story brilliant.  Just brilliant.

Family: What's this all about then?  I don't understand & can't keep track of who's who.

Phoenix Falling: Another brilliant one, shame it's ended - & double shame that it doesn't look like it will have a sequal :-(

Bad Karma: Didn't read it (didn't read it last month either).  Might try & catch up before next month but I kinda lost interest 1/2 though ep.1

TPO: Good stuff, really interesting about the secrecy of the Rebellion deal.

SinDex: Funny - the way Sin Dex should be - these 1 pagers capture what's good about the strip without dragging it pointlessly over 5 pages, ruining the joke.

Time Killer - didn't read it, but that's because I read it last year...

Darkie's Mob - Top stuff - love the colour mix, enjoying these immensly (sp?)

Future Shock - I like this one (read it last year aswell though)

Daily Star Dredd - okay, great filler material

Apocalypse Soon - BRILLIANT!  Took a few panels to work out wtf was going on but then I read it again from the top & loved it  -  Can't wait for more of this.
Anyone know if this is reprinted from something else or was intended for something else or if it was commissioned or what?  I'd've appreciated a word from Alan B. editorial about it rather then it just poping up from nowhere...

That's what I thought about Meg204/Gold004 - really pretty good on the whole
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: DavidXBrunt on 11 March, 2003, 04:49:03 PM
Great Issue. Covers okay but nothing special.

Dredd - I'm assuming the reason it's not set now is that it involves possesion of the Chief Judge by some Mutant or another (
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: paulvonscott on 11 March, 2003, 04:49:49 PM
Okay, seemed a little bit dodgy from page 1 to 2.  I have read it before a long time ago and thought I was maybe missing something.  Nice to see it again though.

Incidently, how many more episodes of TPO are there left?  I forget.

Up to Devlyn (nice) and Black Siddha and half way through the amazingly groovy Slaine story.

Enjoyed Siddha more this week, photorealistic characters always seem to drain the energy from a strip for me, because they appear static, but I really like the look of the Siddha, so it looks like it's going to be fun.  

The gods can talk of people justifying their wars, when it looks like they are about to let loose the Black Siddha for more mayhem against others.  Nice of them to provide an example for us.

I have to say though, what will be the targets?  George W. Bush or just insitutional racism?  I suspect the targets may lie between the scope of Finn and Third World War.  Brother Mills is about to begin his sermon!
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: DavidXBrunt on 11 March, 2003, 05:03:45 PM
Just one more part of T.P.O. to go.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: GermanAndy on 11 March, 2003, 05:39:36 PM
Dredd:
I love Ennis? work, but this is not a very good beginning. The characterisation reads off, this Dredd isn?t very "young", and why establishing this early that Goodman is somehow posessed? When there isn?t a major surprise at the end of the road, this will be quite dull.

Family:
Is it me or is this hard to follow? I like the concept, but there are too much characters runing around. Who is who? and the constant switching of the story viewpoint doesn?t help either.

Juliet November:
Okay, Alan Grant can still surprise me. Didn?t see this ending coming. Even if the love-thing was a bit hard to swallow. Great artwork.

Bad Karma:
Can?t get into it.

TPO:
Great as always.

Time Killer:
This is fun, my, the Fabrey art was good. Only knew his covers. Hard to believe that this is the same writer who does Bad Karma.

Darkie?s Mob:
I don?t believe it. This was done for kids? "Take scalps"? Great stuff, still powerful as hell. If "Charley?s War" is half as good, I can?t await the reprint. If they do one.

Devlin Waugh:
Good story, great artwork.

Good MEG *g*
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Slippery PD on 11 March, 2003, 06:12:55 PM
Well my take,

Dredd -  Sure its full of holes, but it should be interesting.  Ennis deserves a break on his dredds, at themoment Im willing to give him one.

Juliet Novemeber - I hadnt liked this at all, but the end sure was a shock.

Family - Well its like the Soprano's on acid. It seems to have an older focus than many of the stories we have seen, but my one complaint!  The story is not clear, whether thats deliberate (by the normally outstanding Simon Fraser) or due to the sc ripting Im not sure.  Other wise very good, and it is becoming better asd the story progresses.

Bad karma - this has taken a swing now, wetheer that swing is good or bad Im not sure.  Lets hope we are not in for a mills rant.

Reprints - both are great.  

Waugh - good story and some very nice touches int it.  And well the Art is superb.

TPO - astounding as usual.

Ter Slippo
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 March, 2003, 07:53:02 PM
Odders,
Just intrigued that you thought that SIN?DEX stretching out an *old* joke that could have been told in two panels into a page long strip was a better use of SIN/DEX.  

It's a joke that requires timing (hard to do in a comic, even with elipses) and is an aural pun (again, hard to do when you see the one word WRITTEN down rather than hear it).  

I really would have been ashamed to send in an invoice for "writing" that page.

Liked the DREDD though I share the resaervations about him being so cocksure.  Liked Devlin, Liked the reprints, not read Family and Siddha yet which probably is my comment on them. I wanted to like Juliet November just because it was so different but I don't think I di in the end.

Here's a question for Tharg: Why must Future SHock submissions be five pages these days.  I'm sure plenty of the ideas he gets would benefit from being 2, 3 or 4 pagers like this one (or like the Apocalypse Soon tale).

I thought Rennie was right about Crisis even though Fair Trade coffee is really the only stuff you should buy these days.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Oddboy on 11 March, 2003, 08:10:59 PM
Tips - I meant the series of 1 pagers in general rather than specifically this episode.
Also, the page wasn't just the joke that Finny told (if it was then yes, a couple of panels would have done).
What I'm saying is that keeping it short keeps it good - whereas stretching one joke over 5 pages a week for 3 weeks isn't so good.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: paulvonscott on 11 March, 2003, 08:45:57 PM
I'll give my view on this latest Ennis Dredd.  

On the continuity problems first.  Not a big deal, but by setting it in the present it might have got rid of the liklehood of them happening.  I haven't seen yet a reason in the strip why it should be set in the past, maybe they just fancied it which is fair enough.  But the story looks like it could have been set anytime.

So far, it's largely avoided being the epic I expected from the preview.  And what lies in the wreck is quite intriguing (evidence of what the spirit alien thing is and how it got there). I'm getting that early hellblazer feel, where I actually liked where the story was going, but not very keen on the actual writing.

Over a pint a few weeks back I stuck up for Higgins new style of art, and I like it here, but in places, some of it is getting too cartoony for me.  As a reader it jars me when I go from fairly realistially portrayed characters to cartoony ones.

As a story it doesn't inspire me to love it or loathe it.  Few niggles, few intrigues.  So I'm probably a bit indifferent, which as I'm not a fan of Ennis' work isn't too surprising.

Juliet November was a surprise, all light heartedand then, woomf!  Nasty.  Sadly I guess that means we'll see no more of her.  

I like how there have been a few Dredd spin offs like kleggs, november and monkey (despite my views on it), at least the Mgeazine is still doing part of what it was originally inteded to.  not that I'd get rid of the new features.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: mongor2003 on 11 March, 2003, 08:58:00 PM
Pretty impressed this month.

Cover : Not the best, but certainly not the worst either.

Dredd : Nice, I think Dredd actually Does come off as being younger. He's certainly more "do things by the book" than he is now, I mean, can you really imagine him shooting a little kid now?

Juliet November : Excellent, I love the way this has gone from a Bridget Jones chick flick into Carrie on acid. Nasty.

Black Siddah : For some reason I really like this, Hoping it'll turn into a "Bollywood" superhero as opposed to a mystical rant.

Family : Excellent art but the storys starting to piss me off a bit now. Who are these peolpe ? Why should I care about them ? The characters need fleshing out a bit otherwise this is going to lose its way which would be a shame cos its got potential.

Devlin waugh : Brilliantly atmospheric but is it just me or is the art looking a little muddy this month.

Sinister dexter : Cheesy fun.

Apocalypse Soon : More please, Death and Famine with the Nachos was laugh out loud funny, Lets just have a few more pages next month.

Daily star Dredd : Nice to see these again, once again, more would be nice.

Slaine : Shit-hot. Love it when Slaine bitch slaps the guy. and the story of "pluke" was one of the funniest bits of jet-black comedy i've read for ages.

Darkies Mob : This just gets more OTT by the episode, Absolute classic stuff.

TPO : One episode left - this will be missed.

All in all, a wonderfull evenings entertainment.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Wake on 12 March, 2003, 01:38:01 AM
I'm quite liking Garth Ennis' story so far, but IMO it is badly let down by the artwork. Partly this is because I don't like the style, but mostly it's because the judges bear no resemblance to the judge of 2099. Remember this is just 3 months before prog 2, and they aren't armed with Mk1 lawgivers, and seem to be wearing a uniform which looks like a cross between the movie and the DC Dredd series.

Classic artists aside, this would have been an excellent opportunity to give Rufus Dayglo a shot.

Link: Courtroom by Chris Lowder as drawn by Rufus

Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: ukdane on 12 March, 2003, 03:16:49 AM
How camp does he look?
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: DavidXBrunt on 12 March, 2003, 03:17:18 AM
I posted a long review earlier. Where's it gone?

But to answer Oddboys question about 'Apocalypse Soon' - Yes, it is a reprint. It's a reprint of a chapter of Pratchett and Gaimans 'Good Omens'.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: paulvonscott on 12 March, 2003, 03:30:25 AM
Yeah, I'd also like to see some Rufus Dredd appear in the meg.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Leigh S on 12 March, 2003, 04:30:06 AM
Anyone else notice the "from an idea by John Higgins" at the bottom of the first page?  Does this mean we can't slag it off anymore.  I'm confused...
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: paulvonscott on 12 March, 2003, 04:43:37 AM
No, it means we aren't allowed to like John Higgins, I think :)

When did Higgins change his style?
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: McNulty on 12 March, 2003, 05:42:12 AM
Okay, I want to talk about the Dredd.
Firstly, I will reiterate some of the concerns others have voiced. This story is set in 2099, but it just doesn't have the feel of the early Dredd stories. For one thing, if you read the early Dredds, the citizens were by and large in favour of the Judges, who were considered as their protectors. I certainly wouldn't have Dredd of this time pointing a gun at a young boy whose Dad's just been shot dead in front of him. And there wasn't any of those pervy bondage gangs running about in those early Dredds either.
The uniforms might be different, and the guns aren't the mk 1 Lawgivers, and the West Wall shouldn't even be there. Am I being too pedantic? I don't think so. If you are writing a story about Judge Dredd's past, then you should keep the spirit of those times in mind.
I don't want to be too damning, so I will reserve final judgement until I've read the entire story.

Link: The A-Z of Cal-Hab

Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Tiplodocus on 12 March, 2003, 05:57:42 AM
Thinking back about the DREDD though, maybe his cocksure attitude is right.  There were stories where CJ said "Send in the riot squad" and JD said "Bollocks to that! (I'm in Ennis mode now). I'll take them on myself".  EG: The very first Dredd with Whitey and that Punks Rule thing after Judge Cal. So him being all cocky and stomping into the affected area would be OK.  All the other stuff (wrong lawgiver, etc) I can't say I'm bothered about.  I am enjoying it, I like the hook of "What's in the desert?" But WILL there be a compelling reason for it to be set in the past?

Odders, you are right - Sin/Dex jokes are better at one page than 5.

And I'm with PVS - I'm sure I can remember a panel of the bloke tugging at the airlock in the Future Shock - are we sure there isn't a page missing?

Finally read Black Siddha and Family; enjoyed the former most (a lot is explained but not a lot happens) and I've come to the conclusion that like Bernadette's Vienetta, I don't care about any of the characters in Family. Which is a shame.

I always like it when people review things as
"It's like Jackanory on acid"
or
"It makes Se7en look like 3 and a half".

It sounds like very lazy tabloid film reviewers desperate to get mentioned on the video box.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Wake on 12 March, 2003, 06:12:36 AM
I've just dug out Prog 52. Solo Flip is a 3 page FS. The Megazine reprint is missing page 2, where the guy goes stir crazy.

How many pages are in the reprint in Quality Time Twisters 14?

Wake
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: HiEx on 12 March, 2003, 08:50:24 AM
Classic artists aside, this would have been an excellent opportunity to give Rufus Dayglo a shot.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm in complete agreement with Wake. I'd love to see Rufus drawing some Dredd in either The Meg or 2000AD.

Ithink it would be great to see some pre-2099 Dredd stories, and Rufus would be the perfect artist for these IMO.

Wake, would a petition or a poll to get Rufus drawing Dredd help in any way to get things moving?

HiEx
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: DavidXBrunt on 12 March, 2003, 02:22:47 PM
Glad that's confirmed. There's so obviously a page missing from that Future Shock.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Wake on 12 March, 2003, 03:14:34 PM
Wake, would a petition or a poll to get Rufus drawing Dredd help in any way to get things moving?

Probably not. I don't think Tharg likes polls on that kind of thing.

Wake
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: paulvonscott on 12 March, 2003, 05:01:10 PM
Ah well, the old mind isn't so knackered then.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Art on 12 March, 2003, 10:30:14 PM
Any chance of getting the page in question (or better, the whole thing) up on the site so we can enjoy it in full?
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Wake on 12 March, 2003, 11:01:34 PM
My proposal to Tharg was:

"What do
you think about putting the full 3 page strip online, and printing an
apology in the next Meg along with a link to the Thrillviewer on the
website."

Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 March, 2003, 04:19:01 AM
So do we have to refer to both editors as Tharg?

Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Wake on 13 March, 2003, 04:34:46 AM
No, but Alan Barnes is on paternity leave, so I can't contact him.

Wake
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: HiEx on 13 March, 2003, 07:53:42 AM
No, but Alan Barnes is on paternity leave, so I can't contact him.

Wake

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What! Thargs preggers!

What's Bou been up to then?

HiEx
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Oddboy on 13 March, 2003, 03:42:22 PM
Congrats to Mr Barnes!

What's the sprog called?
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Wake on 13 March, 2003, 04:08:51 PM
Julian Alexander and Oliver Nathaniel

They were born on 10th Feb.

Wake
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: ukdane on 13 March, 2003, 04:25:05 PM
Twin like congratulations to Alan (and Mrs) Barnes.

See, another Oliver is unleashed into the world!

(my Oliver being born 8th February last year)
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Oddboy on 13 March, 2003, 04:36:40 PM
Twins? Why weren't they called Joe & Rico?  Or doesn't Mrs Barnes like Alan taking his work home with him?
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Trout on 14 March, 2003, 07:19:34 PM
Adding a few thoughts very, very late:

I've quite enjoyed seeing Higgins' take on early Dredd.
Remember JH's style of helmet was always very sharp and those rounded ones, with all the other stylistic changes, is a serious departure.

I said last week I wasn't so keen on JH's darker stuff - he's better at more light-hearted tales like Phantom of the Shoppera - but I've quite enjoyed this.

I'm willing to ignore the continuity blip. It's no big deal. The story is a decent tale so far.

Anyway, I fair enjoyed this month's Meg, with Dredd, Darkie and Devlin the main highlights.
It's just a shame - as has been said here before - we're only getting six pages a month of Waugh. It's hard to keep the momentum up, sadly.

Hey David, you're spot on about Apocalypse soon, but I thought of Pratchett's Discworld stuff first. He even had a scene with the Four Horsemen sitting in the pub waiting for the end of the world.

- Trout
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: DavidXBrunt on 14 March, 2003, 09:27:35 PM
S'true, he does. But I seem to remember a similar meeting in the dustbowl of America in 'G.O.'...
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: The Monarch on 20 March, 2003, 06:05:59 PM
okay very very very very late here

cover crap ok a bit harse but it could've been better

dredd:.....i'll keep my silence

slaine/siddah i really do not like either of these

darkies mob; fantastic

tpo it will be missed

november ---ing hell i never expected that too bad this ended like but ah well next issue the main mutie mcnulty will be back!!!

devlin too short but i echo oddboys sentiments about it

family for some bizarre reason i cannot get into it

i am a huge pratchett fan and apocalypse soonish is just genius

Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: jock on 20 March, 2003, 06:23:17 PM
Rufus finished work on a future shock about a month ago- hopefully this will lead to more...

Jock
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Bart Oliver on 22 March, 2003, 08:57:05 AM
Keeping my eyes peeled for Mr. Dayglo's debut..

Will a Letratone revival with ensue?
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Mk13 on 23 March, 2003, 05:29:56 AM
Yup, and the artwork I've seen from it is very nice - I believe it will show up in 2K somewhat later in the year.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Wake on 04 April, 2003, 09:47:37 PM
Solo Flip is now up in full in the Thrillviewer. This hotlink URL will be published in the next Meg.

Link: Solo Flip

Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: Kate_Halprin on 06 April, 2003, 01:18:06 AM
There could be a lot of good stuff in an epic or an arc about letting mutants into MC1 - it's an issue that's been bubbling away for years like the democracy stories. This isn't it though.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: W. R. Logan on 07 April, 2003, 07:56:19 PM
>The characterisation reads off, this Dredd isn?t very "young",

He isnt very young, cloned in 2066, so hes been alive for 33 years but his body is 38. He graduated in 2079 so he?s been on the streets for 20 years. Anyway I have no idea what Im answering as I havent got my Meg as I?m writing this.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.
Title: Re: Megazine 204
Post by: W. R. Logan on 07 April, 2003, 08:01:43 PM
>Classic artists aside, this would have been an excellent opportunity to give Rufus Dayglo a shot.

If you want real old style 2000 then Rufus is your man.

>LINK Courtroom by Chris Lowder as drawn by Rufus - /index.php3?zone=input&page=thrillviewer&choice=courtroom

One of my best moments getting the OK for Courtroom.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.