Meg 446: Royal Blood

[The Monarch]

An entire week and no thread for the meg? well i need to rectify that.

First of all I think i have said it before and I will say it again the new hookjaw is both too soon to reprint in a floppy and it also deserves its own trade. Okay on to the strips

Dredd: I kinda agree with maitland all that build up and thats it?!?

Death cap

the second strip in a row where i ask is that it? lovely boo cook art though

anderson: really enjoying this current story especially the art

black museum: I really liked this one the moral is kinda obvious "greed is bad" but i really liked it

lawless continues to be the highlight of the meg as it always is every month

[broodblik]

Cover by Jake Lynch:

[broodblik]

Cover and Logo:

[Tjm86]

It's a fair point.  Feels a bit at the moment like the forum has been taken over with constant strip polls.  Mind you, it keeps activity going so ...

I know what you mean about Dredd.  Considering the time given over the the storyline in recent years it does feel a bit ... meh.  Then again this is something that we've seen a lot of over the years.  Sometimes the long game doesn't play out quite as well as originally envisaged or else it is just wrapped up fairly quickly.

On the plus side, Lynch's artwork is definitely improving.  I suppose it's a bit like comparing Flint's early Rogue Trooper work with what he's producing now.  It's great to see.

It was great to see a feature on Andy Clarke as well.  I was gutted when he had to quit on Relay.  That was an interesting little series growing out of one of Philip K Dick's short stories.  There hadn't been much of an explanation as to what happened so seeing his take on events was a nice rounding out of that.  It would be nice to see him on something longer than a cover again but I get why he has made the decisions he has.  His Battle / Action cover is certainly worth it.

[M.I.K.]

My copy of this still hasn't arrived yet. Anyone else's issue not shown up?

[Colin YNWA]

Been saving this for various reasons until coming away on holiday, hence the delay on my review. Read it tonight in the Lake District and... well there's a REAL highlight isn't there.

Dredd so all that just so we have some Orlok Clones to play with in the future? I mean Maitland underlines the point quite specifically "Suddenly its over. In the blink of an eye"... but well its all a bit of a damp squib after so much set up. I wonder if the wind just left the creative sails. Either way a pretty disappointing episode. Lovely art mind.

Death Cap its certainly a lot more exciting finale, but the series was lost to me already. Maybe on re-read, the trouble is there's nothing to make me keen to do that.

Tales from the Black Museum was ...okay...again lovely art, decent tale, but nothing to really get your teeth into at all.

Anderson again super art. Lee Carter really does a fantastic job with the colours to divide worlds and tone. Fantastic. The story... well see above really. Its firmly okay.

So then we have Lawless which just blows the rest away doesn't. The art might be superb throughout the issue, but nothing compares to Phil Winslade on this strip. Its peerless. And Dabnett's story. Well its another masterpiece. Numerous different strands all successfully moved forward to thrilling effect. Some brilliant moments of tension, poor Pettifer and I worry for Jaro. What will Brotherly's next play be and Metta, well her vigilante has a lot to cover. Ita building up so brilliantly.

To balance some very average strips - the one exceptional highlight aside - the text pieces are really good at least.

Hookjaw is a great strip, but I re-read it on my recent read after only having read it for the first time 2 years ago so... well it feels all to soon to read again so the floppie is a bust this month.

I mean Lawless is worth the price of entry and I'm sure things will step up soon enough but overall a pretty disappointing issue.

[broodblik]

I agree with Colin. This current run of the meg feels like it is missing something. Lawless as always the strip that carries the meg with the Dredd wow it is done run feels like it could have been more thus we have an average meg.  Looks like 438 will become interesting again with the cross-over with the prog and 439 will be all new stuff.

[broodblik]

Looks like 438 will become interesting again with the cross-over with the prog and 439 will be all new stuff.

Should proof read my stuff before posting 438 should be 448 and 439 should be 449

[IndigoPrime]

Echoing Colin, Lawless is by far the best thing in this comic. Without it, this issue would have fallen flat. Dredd was fine, but felt like the kind of hard ending even Wagner would have thought twice about. It needed another part or two to be able to breathe. Death Cap looked nice, but that story never got over its first episode for me. Black Museum was fine. Anderson was OK. (It adds to the lore, but I’m honestly not sure I care enough about that department, and bringing back, like, Janus, like, seems, wholly, like, brave. Or something.

So: Lawless >>>>>>>>> Dredd > Black Museum > Anderson > Death Cap

[gogilesgo]

agree with the general sentiment here

Dredd and Maitland's pursuit of The Red Queen has been building for a few years now, weaving through both the Prog and the Meg. Justice Department eschewing the usual brute force with some nifty financial and legal shenanigans then part II of Regicide goes full bore attack and a few pages later it just ends?

Death Cap was another story that made me think, 'uh, is that it?'. The story actually picked up dramatically in the final two episodes but then...FIN.

Tales from the Black Museum was pretty good. Not quite up with the best ToTBM (Rat Runs for instance) but fun.

Anderson Also enjoyable. Quite like the lore that is being explored for the PSI Div.

Lawless was superb, as ever. rarely puts a foot wrong

[Proudhuff]

An entire week and no thread for the meg?

Mine not yet delivered!

[broodblik]

B/W Cover:

[BPP]

Does Jake Lynch have two page rates - one where he does backgrounds and one where he dosent?

The whole red Queen stuff has been so uninteresting as it’s totally devoid of settings. Just a series of talking heads or bodies moving through empty panels. It’s been a complete meh blighting the Meg for years now.

[Proudhuff]

My copy of this still hasn't arrived yet. Anyone else's issue not shown up?

Nothing at Huff Mansions...

[M.I.K.]

My copy of this still hasn't arrived yet. Anyone else's issue not shown up?

Nothing at Huff Mansions...

I contacted Rebellion a week ago and got a reply saying they'd send a replacement out. Got an email today saying it's just been sent.

I still haven't received this week's prog yet, neither, so I may have to chase that up as well. Could be something to do with my subscription renewing a few days ago.