Messages

Trust me, I'm not a member of any blind and faithful fan club, either for David Bishop or anybody else, and to suggest such is to dismiss my opinion as biased and false, whether you wink ;) at me or not.

I've certainly not always been complimentary about the articles that appear in the Meg - as evidenced by the posts I make on this site and by the letters I occasionally send in to Dreddlines.  In point of fact, I can be incredibly critical and often am.

I will say this:  if Mr. Bishop really wanted to "wipe his hands of the whole debacle", then wouldn't he simply turn down the commission to write the article?  Just a thought.

Metcalfe - I think you're taking a very harsh stance and also over-simplifying issues in favour of your core argument (which seems to be that you think David Bishop has little artistic talent).

Whilst it's fair for you to have that opinion, it's unfair of you to paint things in such black and white terms.

Here's a story:  I'm attempting to compile a two-page article / submission for a fanzine.  This is my first attempt at such.  So far, I've found that I may require the talents of something in the region of three artists, at least one writer and a graphics designer.  So, I immediately recognise what a complex process it must be to be the editor for a professional monthly publication with multiple artistic talents, and that's without even factoring in the publication issues and the anthological (?) requirements.

Your diatribe also reminds me of a hotel patron that complained to me that he wasn't getting served quickly enough.  I explained to him that we were very busy and had a queueing system in place, so that everyone was being served in order and at a reasonable pace.  He retorted that he worked in the hotel trade and he'd have served everyone in half the time.  I pointed out that he didn't work in my particular environment and therefore couldn't fully appreciate the localised problems.

If you've read the entire TPO series then you'll know that singling one person out for having a bit of a moan is hardly fair.  Just about every single person who's ever worked on 2000AD has a few gripes:  be it about intransigent managment or editorial censorship.

Your "you aint happy with stuff that's happening at work either do something about it or get another job" clearly over-simplifies.  The second option, to "get another job", may not be simple, dependant on your location, profession, family and financial circumstances.  The first option, to "do something about it" may also be highly complex, and dependant on contractual obligations, managment support, union activity, legal requirements et al.

Life is not always easy, and to suggest otherwise is fraudulent.

Armageddon: The Bad Man was touted as being a lead-in to a history of MC-1.  I think I read that in one of Bishop's articles, as it happens.

Didn't it go (heavy paraphrasing) something along the lines of "but then Alan Grant got bored", or something?

I'm probably remembering completely wrongly.

There are some interesting points about this phenomenon [phe-no-me-non, tra lah la-la-la] of David Bishop effectively writing an article about himself:

- He went to some effort to retain impartiality by having the previously mentioned tete-a-tete with Alan Barnes.

- Some readers are suspicious of his impartiality despite this.

One question is this:  do you trust Alan Barnes to give a full and frank opinion when discussing David Bishop with David Bishop?

I don't know them, so I couldn't really say, and wouldn't presume to.

As it is, in a recent thread which focussed in on Soul Sisters, David Bishop was not backwards in coming forwards and accepting (as I recall) that (in hindsight) it was a bit pants.  It was only when threatened with summary execution (of a metaphorical comic form, I presume) that he mentioned that he wasn't the only person involved.

Here's an attempt at an (unintenionally) fiery context for the debate: personally I think Ezquerra's early Dredd is shit on toast (to perhaps coin a phrase), but you don't hear people slagging him off for it.  

Which, roughly translated, means that "everyone makes mistakes".

The faulty Meg was for sale in Forbidden Planet in Edinburgh this very Sunday.

I found it hiding behind 12 aisles of toys, with all the other comics in their rather small "comics section".

They've given so much space over to toys that it's practically impossible to show off any comic covers (spines only), and therefore difficult for me to impulse buy.

In fact, Waterstones, despite having a much smaller selection of GNs and TPBs, has a better display.

[/rant mode off]

[Cover]

Content Review:

Cover
An excellent image from Cliff Robinson, with a nice nod to Fahrenheit 451 thrown in.  I was a bit upset at all those megazines being burnt.

On the front cover-on-the-cover, I'd have liked the contrast to have been adjusted so we could actually see those covers a bit better:  after all, it's supposed to be a celebration.

Judge Dredd: Flood's 13
I really enjoyed this, for lots of reasons:  it's got an irritating Accountant Judge in it for a start.  The Accountant-Roadster was cool, as was the full page of insane bikers.  I loved all the little details inside the sort-of-vault:  excalibur, Elvis' motorbike, the illuminati pyramid et al.  Plus a welcome return from Branch Moronian.

The 3rd last page and final frame let this down in the art department:  was it rushed owing to deadlines?

Devlin Waugh
Betrayal upon betrayal.  A bit of a haphazard ending, but really, it was the journey to get here, the characterisation and the sumptuous art that worked well for this tale.  I enjoyed it.

The Simping Detective
I haven't read it yet as I await the final pages.  However, glancing at the art, it all seems a bit muddy compared to Frazer Irvings usual standard.  Was this rushed as well, or has Frazer gone all muddy on us?  If it's a deliberate new style I don't like it.

15 Years, Creep: 1
It's very interesting to hear about the birth of the Megazine, and the surrounding world of British comics that influenced editorial decision-making.

The vignettes from creators like Wagner about how they felt at the time over issues such as the resurrection of Chopper are pure gold.  

There's also interesting snippets to be had from the series synopses.  I'd quite forgotten that America featured the same Total War terrorist group still active today in MC-1.  As for Al's Baby, I'd assumed the series where he gets pregnant again was simply a re-imagining of the first series.  At the time I was very confused.

Oh, and what's this about Chopper doing Supersurf 13 near the site of MC-2?  When was this?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Anyone?  I'm very curious, as I seem to have forgotten when this happened.

15 Years, Creep: 2
This section opens with some very upbeat headline text (after Anus Mirabilis) but then spends almost the entire first page cataloguing a series of disasters.  After that, disappointingly, we end up in a series of rather tedious reminiscences of, well, series.  It's all very linear.

Very interesting to see someone's script actually published:  I believe more room should have been given over to this sort of thing.  Let's see more character designs and script notes, and hear less about editorial decision-making.  After all, it's the craft of strip-creation that really pulls us in to a comic.

:: "stopping at cliff hangers to get off the loo"

There's a joke in there somewhere.

(I did enjoy the content, although I haven't read all of it yet:  it's the format I've got issue with.)

[defecated]

A Letter To The Editor:

I hear tell that this meg is 80 pages instead of a 100.  Hurrah - let's celebrate 15 years by cutting a fifth off the page count!  D'oh!  What a wanky decision, whoever made it.

If, as has been suggested, the 20 pages have gone in order to pay for a square hole in the cover, then I'm going to have to dance naked on the table singing my "this is a pointless gimmick" song.

The history of the meg articles ARE really entertaining and a good read.  But do we need two installments in one month, in a reduced size Megazine?  I think not.

Proof-reading.  I'll do it for you guys for free, because you obviously can't be arsed.  Tut tut typos - unprofessional and lazy.  (I'm assuming that a certain artist is from Cornwall, and therefore should be forgiven for using "were" all the time when he should be using "was".)

The Megazine.  80 pages.  3 stories.  That's crap, frankly. It could have been a jump on issue with all new stories, but Devlin got lost in the nether regions for a month.  It could have been so much more than a huge article with a few stories thrown in.  

Now that you've defecated celebrated all over my monthly dose of thrill-power do you think we could go back to doing things right?  (That means producing a comic with a few text features instead of a magazine with a few comics pages.)

Mark Millar goes out in public?

[a]

Major Magnam.

Sorry, it's a message board tradition.

PVS, your attitude of "nobody seems to be interested" reminds me of the time my flatmate said he wanted me to teach him how to play Blood Bowl.

Some time later the board was all set up, the rules had been (roughly) explained and we were all set to go.  "I can't be bothered now", he said.

And then there's Talisman...

Just when I thought the word "funicular" was moribund.

Hive-minded.