Just starting this off!
(https://twitter.com/nickpercival/status/1336022033277267969/photo/1)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EoqA9UOXUAMPAuv?format=jpg&name=large)
The full cover, I believe
And a bad scan of the printed version. Love the wraparound!
(https://www.comicbooknews.co.uk/img/articles/2000AD/Judge_Dredd_Megazine_427_1.jpg)
Okay that was weird. That Meg felt really light weight? I'm not really sure why as none of the strips where different and all of the same super quality. Maybe it was just the lack of any text articles that engaged me and a floppie that we all read a few years ago. Anyway.
Dredd was a simple but great story by Rory McConville, with lovely art by Agustin Padilla an artist I'm not aware of.
All the rest as good as they have been. Which is to say varying degrees of good to great in this order.
Megatropolis > Deliverance > Dreadnoughts > The Returners
And I really like The Returners to be clear.
So maybe I wiped through it but it was great - so all good.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 December, 2020, 09:02:28 PM
So maybe I wiped through it
Are they panic buying loo roll round your way already, Colin...?
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 December, 2020, 09:04:28 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 17 December, 2020, 09:02:28 PM
So maybe I wiped through it
Are they panic buying loo roll round your way already, Colin...?
I know and the paper is so glossy its useless.
As a digi-Meg reader, I hadn't realised it was a wraparound cover. Lovely stuff - for once it's a Christmas cover without Dredd arresting Santa Claus or saying 'Ho ho drokkin' ho'. I really love how Nick Percival has successfully made Dave Kendall's Dark Judge designs his own - they suit his style perfectly.
I have an issue with page 55 and 56 which should be a double page but because of the way the pages are numbered with the digital version it does not pan together when you turn your device. Is this the case with the printed meg as well that the double page is back-to-back?
Quote from: broodblik on 18 December, 2020, 02:22:44 PM
I have an issue with page 55 and 56 which should be a double page but because of the way the pages are numbered with the digital version it does not pan together when you turn your device. Is this the case with the printed meg as well that the double page is back-to-back?
I have the same issue in the digital Meg but I think there's a page (presumably ads) missing as the back cover is page 63 instead of 64 and that wouldn't really work with the hard copy.
I was going to ask here but the last time the same thing happened (Prog 2175) nobody could be bothered to dig out their paper Prog and check it for me.
Cosh, with prog 2175 on the iPad/Android apps the one page is missing but if you download the cbz from the webstore it has the missing page. I have seen the same issue on prog 2169 missing a page but this time it is fine on the app but missing on the cbz (the pdf is fine)
The Dreadnoughts series is rated one of the best comics stories this year:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/the-best-comics-of-2020 (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/the-best-comics-of-2020)
Congrats to the team of Carroll, Higgins, Hurst and Bowland !!!!
Only got round to this today and only read Dredd so far.
Did anyone else think Agustin Padilla's art had a similar feel to it as Ben Willsher's?
A slightly weaker Meg without the renowned Wagner, but I have to say - Dreadnoughts is playing all the right notes. In the right order too.
Stellar stuff from Carroll & Higgins.
the vigilantes gonna turn out to be [spoiler]joe[/spoiler] in megatropolis isn't it?
Have I got my dates wrong- arent we expecting a Meg to borrow (Wed 13th)? Isnt that four weeks since the last?
SBT
You're not borrowing mine!
Quote from: Tjm86 on 12 January, 2021, 05:35:06 PM
You're not borrowing mine!
That was just weird. And will teach me to type on my phone without very closely checking everything afterwards.
You can put yours down now, Tjm, I promise I won't be grabbing hold of it.
SBT
I didn't comment at the time but I also thought 427 was exceptional.
My partner got me this issue when she got me the Xmas prog - much of it didn't make any sense to me, but I thought my musings (as someone not following the current stories) might be of interest.
I'm going to damn Dredd with faint praise - it was fine. A nice enough little tale, that's ultimately not going to linger long in the memory.
Megatropolis was amazing. Definitely going to pick up the eventual collection of this. Purely as a vehicle for Dave Taylor to do his thang - that gorgeous neo-noir Gotham-meets-Metropolis - it justifies its existence, but the script was great too.
Dreadnoughts - equally, wow. So much to love here. It's such a dense read - halfway through I had to remind myself who had written this, and to see Carroll's name really surprised me. I wasn't always the biggest fan of his Dredds - in fact, his apparent assumption of the 'lead Dredd writer' mantle at the time was one of the reasons I parted ways from the prog - but this is such a step up! Really confident storytelling with loads to unpick, and Higgins brings his A-game to match. The colouring is really sympathetic, too. Another to pick up when collected.
Not a scooby what was happening in The Returners. Lovely art, but the decompression is something else...! You could just about get away with this kind of storytelling in the prog, on a weekly schedule, but when you're working with monthly episodes it's just insane to be offering up 2- and 3-panel pages like this. It's a big part of what (quite rightly) pissed everybody off with American Reaper Sexy Ostriches.
Not a fan of what I read of Deliverance. Hopefully this Whisper chap has had some prior set-up that I missed; he seems to be a walking deus ex machina. 'The only man who can free Death' - er, okay, but why? A fair bit of decompression here, too, and Nick Percival's soft-focus art just makes me feel like my eyesight's going. Based on this (maybe unfairly) I won't be rushing to seek out the Dark Judge stories that I've missed.
Quote from: broodblik on 18 December, 2020, 02:22:44 PM
I have an issue with page 55 and 56 which should be a double page but because of the way the pages are numbered with the digital version it does not pan together when you turn your device. Is this the case with the printed meg as well that the double page is back-to-back?
Hello! Very slow to reply to this, but I can confirm that the print copy of the Meg does have a properly printed double-page spread in the Dark Justice story, although I make it pages 56-57. It shows Death goring two hapless folks, one on each hand. Could it be that another page is missing from the digital copy, which is messing up the numbering and the double-page thing?
I agree with Dark Jimbo - this latest Dark Judges tale isn't working for me; a shame as Torture Garden was excellent, lots of creepy ideas in there.
Quote from: AlexF on 14 January, 2021, 09:33:00 AM
Quote from: broodblik on 18 December, 2020, 02:22:44 PM
I have an issue with page 55 and 56 which should be a double page but because of the way the pages are numbered with the digital version it does not pan together when you turn your device. Is this the case with the printed meg as well that the double page is back-to-back?
I agree with Dark Jimbo - this latest Dark Judges tale isn't working for me; a shame as Torture Garden was excellent, lots of creepy ideas in there.
I do have to stress this is the only episode of the current story that I've read!
Any fans of Dreadnoughts here is some good news and Mike Carroll confirms in the interview below that he delivered the second series:
https://2000ad.com/news/interview-talking-judge-dredd-desperadlands-with-michael-carroll/ (https://2000ad.com/news/interview-talking-judge-dredd-desperadlands-with-michael-carroll/)
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 14 January, 2021, 10:28:27 AM
Quote from: AlexF on 14 January, 2021, 09:33:00 AM
Quote from: broodblik on 18 December, 2020, 02:22:44 PM
I have an issue with page 55 and 56 which should be a double page but because of the way the pages are numbered with the digital version it does not pan together when you turn your device. Is this the case with the printed meg as well that the double page is back-to-back?
I agree with Dark Jimbo - this latest Dark Judges tale isn't working for me; a shame as Torture Garden was excellent, lots of creepy ideas in there.
I do have to stress this is the only episode of the current story that I've read!
Have to disagree and state that I'm finding the whole "Death Cult Of Death" storyline hugely entertaining and the gloriously grotesque art is the putrid swollen eyeball on the bloody cake.
Great news that
Dreadnoughts is due a second series too! :thumbsup:
I'm loving Deliverance. Admittedly, it's probably best that you've read all of Torture Garden to fully understand Judge Whisper and the Sisters but I think it's a fresh take on the Dark Judges by Hine. Percival's art is so imaginative and detailed. You certainly get your money's worth with it.
The meg continues its good run and as already mentioned hopefully Megatroplis and Dreadnoughts can be added along-side Lawless on a more regular basis.
Dredd – An interesting short with some good art by Agustin Padilla (I think this is his first Dredd story).
Megatroplis – The big question here is who is the vigilante? The smart money is on Joe Dredd. Niemand and Taylor created an interesting alternative Dredd-verse and which I am totally invested into.
Dreadnoughts – This is some of Mike Carroll's best work to date. The story has now established itself as a firm favourite in my books and hopefully we can have many more of this.
The Returners – This for me is the weakest entry of the meg but I am still enjoying the story and art.
Deliverance – The twisted tale of resurfacing of the Dark Judges continues. Nick Percival is the ideal artist to bring this grim and dark tale to life.
The floppy contains the story The Alienist and hopefully we will get more of this in the prog again.