Meg 279 - Chrimbo Meg

[Pete Wells]

Cover - Beautiful! I'm a sucker for a Christmas Dredd image and Greg Staples is one of my favourite artists of all time!

Dredd - Beautiful art by Dave Taylor but I beg you all - [spoiler]please read until the second-last page then skip the final one! Nasty horrible Wagner![/spoiler]

Citi-Def - I don't think this'll be everyone's cuppa synthicaf but I really enjoyed this. I liked the manga style art and the colours were superb. I'm more than willing to give this a chance.

Tanky - Fun, fun, fun with some beautiful layouts from our Rufus. Ace!

Insurrection - As I flipped through the meg I saw giant Gorillas and thought "Here we go again..." however, on reading the strip I really enjoyed it. MacNeil is on fire too.

Other Stuff - Dreddlines (that nutjob from Paisley is in there again), interview with Greg Staples, films, Manga and Spirit articles. Toilet reading ahoy!

Bonus Graphic Novel - I was excited for a bunch of Christmas Dredd but it's really hit and miss. We have Dredd: Auld Acquaintance (cool!), Cal-Hab Justice: Hogmanay (noooooo!), Dredd/The Creep (erm...), Tharg's Christmas Tale (yay!), Dredd: The Santa Affair (good), Dredd: A Christmas Carol (ace!) and two Richard Dolan Christmas Covers, the second of which has always been a favourite of mine!

A very enjoyable Meg indeed!

[The Monarch]

The creep?!? no....they seriously didn't reprint that did they?!?

[Dark Jimbo]

My overriding thought about this month's Meg is that Insurrection may be the most interesting new Dreddworld strip in a loooong time... Really looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Citidef also impresses - I like the dynamism of the art, even if everyone looks a little too 'clean', and the Judge looks far too young to be out on her Long Walk. But a reference to 'Andrews, Chapman and Corden' makes me wonder seriously if that Tony Lee fella is running short on names already! Someone buy him one of those 'baby name' dictionaries for xmas.

Dredd is a cracker (seasonal Wagner always is), the GN is a mixed bag to say the least, and Tank Girl is starting to drag a little now, although this is certainly no comment on the creators - if I'm going to invest in something for six months or more, I prefer something a bit more substansial to get my teeth into than 'madcap humour'.

[mogzilla]

But a reference to 'Andrews, Chapman and Corden' makes me wonder seriously if that Tony Lee fella is running short on names already! Someone buy him one of those 'baby name' dictionaries for xmas.

i think tony will be very wary about any parcels he opens this year!!!

[Tony_Lee]

I'm having my Xmas pressies vetted by ninjas before opening this year...

Fun fact. Stalag 666 was written/plotted after Citi Def was started, but around the same time as I was working on it. Andrews, Corden and Chapman were going to be members of Citi Def before I decided to use them in Stalag. (This was all in the planning stages)

When I realised that Stalag was out first, I thought it'd be an amusing nod to have them all killed off in issue #1

Of course, there are still those who wish that I did that in the first issue of Stalag....

[GermanAndy]

Cover - I like it.  :shock:  Classic Wagner.

Citi-Def - I hate this kind of artwork, looks like a kiddie cartoon.

Tank-Girl - I know the strip has a history, but I don´t get it and this isn´t for me.

Insurrection - great art. When does Abnett sleep?

The articles were hit and miss as usual. I liked the history of The Spirit, which I never read and could never be bothered to read about, and the nerd-hate for the Miller movie has long stoped to be amusing, so it was nice to read some facts.

The bonus reprints were all new for me, but it sure was a mixed bag. Auld Acquaintance was a lot of fun, but some of the others were very boring or one-note.

[Arkwright99]

Flicked through the Meg on Saturday morning; liked the Dredd tale even if the ending was somewhat predictable - I was expecting a spin on O Henry's classic The Gift of the Magi - and the rest of the Meg was so-so and I didn't feel compelled to read anything else there and then (but rather come back to it over the coming month at my leisure) until I reached 'Insurrection'. Talk about saving the best 'til last! Wow! Gorgeous monochrome art from Colin MacNeil and a storyline that looks like it could be a classic. Very much looking forward to future instalments and, of course, I'll be rooting for the colonists - even if they don't stand a snowball's chance in hell! Gotta love an underdog.  

[LARF]

Great Meg - really liked this issue

Cover - perfect, my little lad thought it was funny that Judge Dredd was arresting Santa

Dredd - Bitter sweet, always makes me wonder what kind of Christmas Wagner has

Tanky - love TG, Rufus is ace

Insurrection - wonderful story, but if muties are made freeman in MC1 surely they should be in colonies? Also, and I love Colin McNeils art, but isn't it just a tad...

[LARF]

Oh yeah forgot, Citi-Def - nice art, unsure yet though...

Other bits - Meh!

[Roger Godpleton]

Does this mean we'll ever get to see the return of guy in a vest and at the end a flight jacket?

[Something Fishy]

I've got it but I just beed time to read it.  Love the contents of the GN.  That'll get me in the spirit when I go off for Christmas.

[Trout]

A bleak Christmas Dredd from John Wagner... that's the stuff!

Utterly wonderful. The last frame of the second-last page had me going, "Oh noooooo..."

Overall, not a bad Meg at all. I really enjoyed Insurrection, too.

- Trout

[Proudhuff]

Everything Pete Wells said... plus+

Citidef: Isn't that the wrong Judge doing the double take when his buddy waxes on about the gun?

How come MC-1 can afford all that space hardware?  petty, I know but  that's the service we supply  

[Buttonman]

Other Stuff - Dreddlines (that nutjob from Paisley is in there again)

'tis true but alas the content was edited by a maniac with a pair of shears. Here, for the first time, is the full expurgated text complete with less fawning and comments that make almost sense.


"Meg 277 : Wheely Good - Tanks‏"

Dear Dreddlines,
 
Many thanks for the top notch Megazine 277.
 
I enjoyed the graphic novel of Lawcon a Dredd tale from perhaps a weaker period of Megazine history. I didn't buy the Meg at this time and my later ebay gap filling meant that the story didn't receive my full attention. It is a good way to use the format to showcase less well known strips or even as a way of collecting scattered episodes into a handy package.
 
Dredd's Ratfink adventure ended strongly and although I didn't believe that Dredd had been killed off panel (as if I was supposed to!) it was still a clever ruse to out wink Ratfink. I liked that his back story remains largely unknown and I'm sure the iso-cubes will do their usual bang up job of letting criminals escape just in time for their next adventure.
 
Elsewhere Anderson started well in a distinctly un-psi filled adventure but I'm sure she'll be melding with the plant life consciousness in no time! I was a bit confused by 'James Anderson block' is this the name of a lucky reader or a tribute to the cricketer? If it's the latter I'm sure the reference was missed by 95% of your readership. Maybe the Anderson is a relative of Cass' and all will be made clear.
 
Tank Girl continued to earn her Meg stripes in a fun story with some cracking Rufus art. I especially liked the splash of the skateboarder who's so good that he doesn't even need a back set of wheels!
 
All in all a great offering and with Canon Fodder up next month this are looking brighter still!

[Tony_Lee]

Citidef: Isn't that the wrong Judge doing the double take when his buddy waxes on about the gun?

Nope. He waxes about the gun oil and then goes "...what?" at his partner's expression...