Messages

Mighty Xmas issue of the Megazine with a cracking Cliff Robinson festive cover.
I enjoyed the Dredd (always like Goddard's art) but that bottle in the eye! Ouch! That's an image that'll stick with me over my Christmas pud!
Storm Warning winds up in a solid satisfying way. It's had a nice spooky feel to this short series and I've been pretty impressed with it throughout.
I'm old enough to remember Roy of the Rovers and the article was a nice touch.Not too convinced on the reboot, though. Has the old stuff ever been collected?
Turbo Jones? Classic
Will read Blunt & Lawless later with a cuppa
Blown away with this month's Dark Judges Torture Garden. Fantastic design and detailed art from Percival. We get to see the Torture Garden for the first time and it's a gruseome twisted place with some stunning grotesque imagery but strangley beautiful feel with the colour palette he uses. I also love this take on Judge Death. Getting more of an insight into what makes him tick - he's still a dark killing machine but nice to see some twisted intelligence there as well. It's a nice new direction for them and keeps things fresh and interesting.
So, top marks from me so far!
As a side note. Anyone else not been getting their prints with the subs copy? Have they now stopped doing them? I've not ahd one for 2 issues...

Great issue with the Meg on top form as usual. Always like the wraparound covers and the ones lately by Winslade and Percival's last month have been top notch!

Good Dredd one off this month with a nice original new look to Dredd (you'll know what I mean when you read it!). Not seen Mack Chater's art before but he has a solid style.

Lawless contnues its widescreen action packed run with some insane battle scenes but I still do long for some more black areas in the art to separate things a bit but this is still a quality strip and has the best looking snow plow I've ever seen!

The Carlos tributes are wonderful and bring a tear to the eye with a great selection of anecdotes and memories from top talent, past and present. I particularly liked Garth Ennis' recollections. The floppy this month is a nice selection as well and great to see the original idea for the Judge Dredd logo.

The Torture Garden has the Dark Judges living up to their name with some gruesome deaths all delivered by Nick Percival's wonderful painted art. So atmospheric and great use of colours and lighting. Also interesting to get a take on Judge Death philosophy behind killing and hints at a bit more substance to the motives of the Dark Judges.

Just need to read Blunt and Storm Warning (which looks ace) but I've been told I have to return to finish watching I'm A Celebrity. Drokk!!

Decent floppy this month as well. Early Patrick Goddard Dredd / Johnny Woo stories, written by Gordon Rennie

Or a case for buying the graphic novel when it comes out!

Yes. Much better paper on those hardbacks!

Well then you'd also have to make the same comments about Langley's Dredd this issue as well. I know from reading stuff from a lot of artists (Percival included) have said that the paper quality isn't kind at all to painted artwork. The mainy shaes of colours and heavy blacks in fully painyed art bleed together and are absorbed by the paper when the inks are printed. You can tell a big quality difference between the digital images and the printed images and when things are on higher quality paper, they look a lot more defined. Another case for digital, I guess.

Yeah, the print / cover is awesome. Mine wasn't damaged but maybe they should actually put them in the Meg instead of loose, to protect it a bit more? (That cover scan is a really bad photo, by the way. Looks way  better in the flesh.)

Halloween comes early with a totally terrific/horrific Dark Judges wraparound cover by Nick Percival. This a great, spooky image, showcasing a spiffy new look for Death & his pals that fits in with the new storyline. It's good to see them constantly evolving - kind of like a Doctor Who regeneration after they were nearly destroyed last issue. (the free print looks great as well!)

Starting off we get a one-off Dredd by McConville and Clint Langley -  a decent enough tale but I'm really waiting for a new Dredd epic to begin and I'm not 100% convinced Langley's art works that well on Dredd. He's great on ABC Warriors but this strip looks a wee bit weird for the lawman.

Lawless is solid and reliable as always with one hell of a battle scene in there this month. A classic case I'm sure of Abnett writing a one line description and then over to the artist to nearly kill himself drawing it! Would like to sometimes see a bit more black, shadow areas though as sometimes it's a bit overwhelming to make certain things out but does keep you looking, Where's Wally style!

Storm Warning has some nice spooky ghost stuff and I really like Broxton's European style of art, that'll he'll have to stop after Brexit, of course. He does some nice colouring as well.

Articles on the new Scream/Misty special & Sniper Elite comic are perfectly fine as is the one on the new Worlds of 2000AD tabletop games. I might actually take the plunge on these.

Blunt is nice and cheerful in style but really doesn't do much for me. I'm sure it has its fans.

And finally, The Torture Garden. I love how this is developing with Hine and Percival on board. It really feels like something different with the new Dark Judges, like it's all building up to something monstrous and epic. Superb atmosphere in the art - that double page spread is sublime - and now we're also introduced (Aliens style, it has to be said!) to a strange group of super-marines tasked with travelling to Dominion to take on the judges, while Rosco seems to have gone native living in tunnels and eating weird creatures. I'm so glad this is a longer series than before.

So after issue 400, the Meg is still blazing away putting most other comics to shame and the price is back to £5.99 as well. All good!

Thinking of picking up the meg again, but I'm a bit annoyed that the collected Dominion couldn't have been issued first, given that this seems to contain the sequel. Will it spoil too much if I see the first part of The Torture Garden first?

From what I've seen, you'd probably be best to read the Dominion book first. I would still buy the 400th issue though because the Dominion book comes out Oct 18th the same week as part 2 of the Torture Garden (Oct 17th), so you'd only have to wait one month and then be able to fully catch up. I think those date are correct looking at Previews.

400 issues! A thing to be proud of in the current comics climate. Well done, all Thargs past and present.

Not had a chance to digest all the contents yet- it's a hefty issue - but very much liking what I have read so far, but I do agree that the Dredd strip was a wee bit odd.

The editor interviews were interesting but did seem very brief. I'm sure there's a lot of juicy stuff there that ended up on the cutting room floor, so to speak. Gibson one was good. Come back please, Ian!

Devlin Waugh - not a story I'll leave lying around for the kids this month. Daddy, what's that big green lolipop the man is holding..? er...."go back and watch your cartoons!"

Jumped straight to the standout strip so far me which has to be the Dark Judges, Torture Garden. Love how it picks up straight away after Dominion, as I had a feeling there was much more to come with that story (and yes, I've ordered the book version, 2000ad!) and long may it continue. Glorious, spooky, gory detailed art from Nick Percival (so cinematic!) and David Hine looks like he's got some interesting things in store for Death and his gang. I'm guessing from that great preview art for next issue, that these damaged Dark Judges get a new, souped up look next month.

Got the other stuff to go through - Anderson looks quite nice and the floppy this month is great value. Nice to have an all Dredd one for a change.

(oh, very glad the cover price returns to normal next month but I do like that new cover paper - great Weston cover, by the way!)

Right! I need to go and catch a bus!!

Lovely painted cover artwork from Nick Percival  - Always great to see his work on Dredd.

Dredd wraps up nicely. I'm a big fan of Carroll's Dredd work and like that he puts Dredd in different environments. It was good to have an action episode and see the old guy fight and still kick ass like a youngster

Uncle Pat continuing at a pace on ABC Warriors. A bit off topiic: I actually just saw that Simon Bisley preview of the Joe Pineapples story, that kind of looks a little bit strange in this current age but hopefully will be good mindless fun and mayhem.

Love Savage - Go Quartz!!

Bad Company is good retro fun but it's Brass Sun that doesn't really do it for me, I'm afraid.

Decent enough prog though.

Time for tea!

Looks like a great Xmas issue of the Meg but I've still got to sit by a roaring fire and read all of the whole thing.
That pink cover certainly stands out on the shelves!
Just read Dredd & Dominion so far - Dredd being a good tale but a wee bit short? Dominion was A+ material again from Wagner & Percival - it's been a fantastic atmospheric take on the Dark Judges, making them truly dangerous and ends with a set up for what is to come (I read on Percival's Facebook, that the next series with the DJ's is 'The Torture Garden' next year which continues the story and is 100 pages long! Can't wait)
I will take the floppy to work (nice lunchbreak read) and then get ready for Santa as I digest the rest of the issue. Happy Holidays!

Very strong issue of the Meg again this month. No weak strips in there. Entertaining new Dredd story starting this month with Gallagher doing a decent enough Dredd. Lots of shocking pink in the episode but I guess that's what a Endoclorfin Womb looks like! Certainly was not prepared for that last page - bonkers!
Anderson finishes this issue with a full on action packed episode and the gun blasting action continues straight into Devlin Waugh, all good stuff.
Text piece on Dan Dare which was OK but not really into the comics review section that followed. Feels a bit like filler to me.
Lawless is strong as always and it's obviously quality but I do sometimes wish the art had a little more solid black tones/shadows?  Sometimes it can look a little cluttered but it's only a minor niggle.
The penultimate episode of Dominion wraps up the issue with some glorious zombie gory scenes and as always, stunning atmospheric art from Percival. I love the gruesome Dark Judges as they're trying to get into the Domes to attack the colonists. The last line of the strip, "But they found a way in." does point to a bleak ending to the series.
And there's a letter page this month! That was a nice thing to see and reminds me of comics from ye old days!

Starting the thread for 3 issues in a row?! Does nobody get the Meg in the post anymore? It's not like I've been providing Tharg special favours or anything
Anyway, got mine today and will post a bigger review later, since I've only read Dredd and Dominion yet.
Suitably spooky and stunning wraparound windscreen style cover art from Nick Percival of the Dark Judges and their gang of gnarly zombies. Great image choice for upcoming Halloween. Would make a nice and gruesome movie poster.
Dredd was a nice one off with another self help group about frozen patients from a cryogenics chamber with a nice twsit. Similar set up but follows a different path to last month's Dredd. Not familiar with Paul Davidson's art but it's quite nice in a cartoony, wonky sort of way.
Went straight to Dominion, which continues to impress with its movie style storytelling and truly menacing, lavish art. Said this before, but this would be a great Dark Judges style film and I really feel we're in for a grim ending for all these colonists.
Nice feature on the new Misty/Scream special which I'll be picking up later this week.
Off to have some hot Weetabix on this dark and stormy night and tuck myself in to read the rest (Lawless  -yes!)

In fairness to JW, the Dark Judges are back by popular demand. At least this story will be different, in that it has them without Dredd or Anderson to contend with, and they could even win.

Also I don't care what Nick Percival paints as long as it looks as amazing as this.

Yeah, I really love it and I also think that things will not end well for the colonists. It kind of has a grim feeling that the Dark Judges are in charge here...

Ooops - started the thread with the wrong issue number!  (387 instead of 388 What a virgin!) Can anyone change that???!