Meg 246: Invasion!

[John Caliber]

Umm... I think it started off as CUIDAD BARRANQUILLA, but didn't somebody once point out the spelling was incorrect and that CIUDAD was the proper name?

No worries... in the 22nd Century, spellings have changed a bit, a natural evolution/adaptation (also explains away my ropey Danish/Swedish/German hybrid language for the Viking Judges PDF on this site...)

- DC

[Arkwright99]

Logging on to post (for the first time? Can't remember) that having got Meg 246 in the post this morning I can honestly say that I hope I never see Inaki Miranda's horrible artwork ever again. I'm sorry, the 'depth of vision' effects are nice, but the characters - esp. Dredd - are just grotesque. It's like the second coming of Rob Liefeld. And not in a good way. Unfortunately, I see that this is the first part of a multi-part story so I'm not looking forward to next month's Meg as much as I usually do. (Just compare Miranda's Dredd with Ian Richardson's in this weeks prog (#1490) - that's a strip I can actually read.)

That gripe over the rest of the Meg is very good, esp. "Fiends".

[Floyd-the-k]

I married a ghost girl is a bit underwhelming. Unless I'm missing something the twist is that he thought he was married to c comics character but

spoilers











- wasn't really.

The Black Museum story was terrific.

Black Siddha wasn't actively bad, wasn't very exciting either. Mills obviously loves the characters and ideas there, it may become terrific.

Oh and welcome to the board demos99!

[Keef Monkey]

Likewise, welcome!
As for I Married A Ghost Girl, unless I was really confused I thought the twist was that...

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

He was the arch nemesis that she had been hunting all along. I may have read it wrong though.

[John Caliber]

Cam Kennedy would have been the perfect choice for the new Dredd story; Mega-City battletech and sleazy South-Am Judges are just two of many subjects he visualises brilliantly. It'd be great to have him work on a epic Dredd story in the Megazine.

Is 'Direct Action' a 4-parter?

- DC

[Pete Wells]

Meg 246 - In all, a good un!

A great cover as usual from Rufus. I know it's a homage to the artwork of yesteryear but I'd have liked a bit more colour!

Dredd - Looks like Inaki Miranda's art is splitting us down the middle but in the main I love it, despite one or two rediculous Dredds. I'd disagree with Demos99 (four posts up) as I found Ian Richardson's art in the prog so bland it put me off the story - but the diversity of artists and opinion is one of the many joys of reading 2000ad! As for the story, it's a cracker so a big well done to Gordon. I love how the big two (Wagner and Rennie) are each taking Dredd down particular paths. It's an exciting time to be a Dredd fan!

Fiends - Poor MacNeil, why does he always get lumbered with the six page strips a month apart? I suspect this is going to be a great story but I'm tempted to wait until it's completely printed before I read it... Definately should have been in the weekly.

Reprint Dredd - A poignant early Dredd which I've read 100 times before but don't begrudge it in my Meg for those who haven't seen it before. Much prefer this to Charley's War.

Black Siddah - Meh! Not the old Vegan/Vulcan joke again! I'm really off Mills.

Small press - I liked it but it was a bit pixellated in parts. I realise that this is smal press so it might have been unavoidable but this has happened a couple of times of late (Lobster Random and ABCs) and has really spoilt my enjoyment of those of stories.

Thrillpower Ad - I'm going for Richard Elson as artist on this.

Top Twenty - Yuck, HUGE amounts of dead space. Ditch this please!

Black Museum - Joint highlight (with Dredd 1) of the meg for me. A really creepy tale with suitably creepy, wonderfully detailed art (but what's with all the tits out?) I particularly liked the toys that the Cuddlers brought back - lovely little details that make you want to study each page adding hugely to the strip. Well done to all involved!

Pete.

[Bolt-01]

The Art on the Ad is Cliff Robinson. Convinced.

Fiends: Hurrah! This was much better on the lettering front. The font is still poor, but the size issue really improved, nice work Colin. The artwork is a joy and I am enjoying this immensely.

Did anyone else find that the Dredd pages were lightly printed in places- some of the balloons were really faint.

As for Dredd, I like Inaki's work. His stylistic choice for Dredd here was a bit off, but the story is still very readable and I'd like to see Eva doing more colouring.

Congrats to LMS on a fine article, and he thanks Ed as well (remember him?)

The cover is superb, and makes me want to see Rufus working on a Dredd proper.

Bolt-01

[+rufus+]

The ad Art is by Cliff R., not Richard Elson!
:-) Rufus

[ukdane]

I'd like to see Rufus drawing a flashback "Apocalypse War" story in the Meg.

[Dudley]

Dredd.  Situation - 8/10.  Action - 8/10.  Writing - 6/10.  Art - 8/10.  Moral Compass - 8/10.  
Total = 76%

Fiends.  Situation - 8/10.  Action - 4/10.  Writing - 5/10.  Art - 6/10.  Moral Compass - 5/10.  
Total = 56%

Black Siddha.  Situation - 6/10.  Action - 6/10.  Writing - 3/10.  Art - 8/10.  Moral Compass - 3/10.  
Total = 52%

I Married Ghost Girl.  Situation - 6/10.  Action - 8/10.  Writing - 7/10.  Art - 7/10.  Moral Compass - 4/10.  
Total = 64%

Tales From The Black Museum.  Situation - 10/10.  Action - 9/10.  Writing - 9/10.  Art - 10/10.  Moral Compass - 2/10.  
Total = 80%

Cover.  Situation - 7/10.  Action - 9/10.  Writing - 4/10.  Art - 8/10.  Moral Compass - 4/10.  
Total = 64%

Overall mark = 65.33%

[Satanist]

James, as I believe the Mighty Tharg said "No-one likes a smart arse"  
 ;-D

I've only read the lead Dredd so far, well I think its Dredd?. Thoughts later.

[Rex Banner]

With regard to the Alan Moore interview. He wants the creators rights to Halo Jones if he is persuaded to write Book 4 etc. Why not give them to him? Does Halo Jones still sell that many copies per year? If Rebellion let him have the character with the conditon that they get to print the strip it would be big news to have him back in the weekly again.

I know this is a very simple way of looking at the situation & I personally don't think Mr Moore will write any more Halo but it could be a real chance to introduce 2000ad to a whole new audience.

[Jim_Campbell]

"He wants the creators rights to Halo Jones if he is persuaded to write Book 4 etc. Why not give them to him?"

Umm ...

Can.

Of.

Worms.

Basically, everyone and their mother would form an orderly (or perhaps not so orderly) queue to demand the rights back on their creations.

Oops ... there goes Strontium Dog, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, ABC Warriors ...

And once the rights have been handed back, the creator is under no obligation to create the new work for 2000AD at all ...

Cheers

Jim

[scutfink]

Posted by Demos99:

It's like the second coming of Rob Liefeld. And not in a good way.

There's a good way for there to be a second coming of RL?


Aaaaand, yeah, what is the deal with Halo Jones?

Does Rebellion own the rights? What possible plans could they have for the character that don't involve Alan Moore?

If they keep the rights, pretty much all they can do is endless reprints of the first three books (I don't see the title lending itself to a Videogame adaptation, I suppose you could do some spin off novels but who'd want to touch Al's baby?)...

 If they get fresh material out of Northampton's favourite son, they can reprint that endlessly too...

[Satanist]

"If they get fresh material out of Northampton's favourite son, they can reprint that endlessly too..."

But what would be the point if Moore owned the rights? Its all too much for my poor brain.