Meg 275 - information sent to subscribers

IndigoPrime · 02 July, 2008, 10:18:03 AM

Some of the guesswork can be laid to rest regarding the Meg. I today got a subscription notice that outlined the basic plans for the Meg over the coming months. The salient points are as follows:

EE30 is confirmed as the final issue.
The price of the Meg is going back up to £4.99.
The Jock Collection is the first 64-page mini-trade to be bundled with the Meg.
Subsequent collections are planned to include: Snow/Tiger, Dredd: Lawcon, Armitage: Flashback, Pussyfoot 5, a John Burns Dredd collection, and Son of Mean Machine.

From a personal standpoint, that hit-rate's about the same as the EE. I'll happily lap up all the Dredd stuff announced, but couldn't care less about Snow/Tiger, absolutely can't stand the dreadful Son of Mean Machine, and didn't care for Pussyfoot 5. Armitage is a strange choice, too—I was very much hoping (indeed, am still hoping) for a trade series, especially if that character's going to become a fairly regular Meg strip again.

Still, the promise of Tank Girl and a rejuvenated Meg in general (which has improved somewhat over the past couple of months) is enough for me to give it another year's stay of execution.

nameuser · 02 July, 2008, 10:40:39 AM

QuoteThe price of the Meg is going back up to £4.99.

Can't see that helping the Meg's sales. Could kill it off. :shock:

I thought the price drop was a way to get people to continuing buying it. Strange move to increase it to one pence shy of a fiver.

The big question is

Will the more casual JD Meg fan buy a comic priced at £4.99 even with a 2000AD graphic novel attached?

I hope we're not seeing the demise of the Dredd Meg. A fiver is quite a lot for a comic. A more cynical person might believe Rebellion want to kill off the Meg. In the long run it might save them more money - one comic published rather than two.

radiator · 02 July, 2008, 10:46:23 AM

Interesting. I can see some people being bothered by the price, but I think its fair enough. I'd probably still skip the odd issue if there's nothing of interest, but issue 275 (Ratfink, Tank Girl, Jock Collection) at least seems to represent pretty good value to me.

Armitage, Pussyfoot 5 and Snow/Tiger I can take or leave, but you can't please everyone all the time.

I hope the John Burns Dredd collection steers clear of stuff like Statue of Judgement/Sleaze/The Cal Files so they can give that storyline the proper GN treatment later on.

I hope (though very much doubt) they'll stick that Mean Machine one shot where he gets married (and Mean Junior is concieved) in the Son of Mean collection.

radiator · 02 July, 2008, 10:50:33 AM

Quote from: "nameuser"A more cynical person might believe Rebellion want to kill off the Meg. In the long run it might save them more money - one comic published rather than two.

I'm sure if they wanted to cancel the Meg, then they would do so. It seems to me thet're trying to make as good a magazine as they can with the resources available to them.

Can anyone confirm whether the movie reviews are staying?

nameuser · 02 July, 2008, 10:56:26 AM

To me it doesn't make any sense other than forcing people that don't want to read EE to buy it with the Meg. In that way it does seem a tad cynical. For example, I'm fortunate to have a full collection of 2000AD so I've never bought EE and I don't need to get Snow/Tiger and future 2000AD graphic novels. I've already got 'em. To put it bluntly, I'm paying for something I don't need.

Another question:

How many pages is the new Meg and will it contain all new material? If we're getting reprints in the Meg as well as reprinted graphic novels that's a bit over-the-top. I wouldn't mind seeing some more Daily Star Dredds or Charlie's War reprints but if we get those reprinted in the Meg and we get graphic novels instead of EE we're getting twice as much reprint. It does seem as if we're being forced to get extra reprint, and stuff like Snow/Tiger... well, I'd rather it was Daily Star Dredd, Charlie's War or more Bob the Galactic Bum (if there are more series out there). But I guess everyone has their ideal choices for reprint material and you can't please everyone. Snow/Tiger does seem an odd choice, must admit!

Richmond Clements · 02 July, 2008, 11:01:52 AM

No one is forcing anyone to buy anything! And the suggestion that they're trying to kill off the magazine is ridiculous. If they wanted to cancel it then they would, and not spend more money on it.

£4.99, while a jump, is not that horrible. How much do you pay for a computer game magazine? £6 or £7 a month, maybe even more. And them coming bagged with a free book or disc doesn't stop people buying it.

Looking forward to Pussyfoot 5. I think I may have been alone in hoping for more of thet series.

Proudhuff · 02 July, 2008, 11:02:43 AM

Looking forward to Tank Girrrrrl and to reading Snow/Tiger in a oner. I think Armitage could benifit from being collected and hopefully its the stuff I missed when I gave up on the meg.

I've bored evryone here with my belief that the Angel Gang in all its guises, (and The Dark Judges) should be laid to rest and never disturbed, and I can't remember SpacePussy Footfive which doesn't bode well.

Still a fiver for the meg plus a GN would be alright if the GN half decent, just no Future Sport runs pleeeeease.

My subby has a couple o months to run so its a suck it and see time for me

radiator · 02 July, 2008, 11:10:30 AM

Was Son of Mean really that bad? I haven't read it since it was published in Classic 2000ad about 11/12 years ago. It's certainly better than Travels with My Shrink, isn't it?

nameuser · 02 July, 2008, 11:13:30 AM

QuoteNo one is forcing anyone to buy anything! And the suggestion that they're trying to kill off the magazine is ridiculous. If they wanted to cancel it then they would, and not spend more money on it

Well looking at it from my perspective - they are forcing me to buy graphic novels I don't need. If I want to buy the new Meg (and I do because I read it each month) and don't want to buy the Snow/Tiger graphic novel (which I already have because it was published in 2000AD a few years back), what do I do? Tear off the graphic novel section before paying for the Meg? :roll:

I assume the EE is losing sales hence its merger with the Meg. This is common when a title is losing money and readers. It merges with a more popular title. The downside is the price has jumped back up to close to a fiver. I think there's a distinct chance the Meg will fold within a year. I don't wish it to fold, I read it each month, but five pounds is a lot. Then again, a lot of things have increased in price: food, fuel, general cost of living, so maybe a fiver for a Dredd comic isn't that much. I can't see casual readers buying it. Would seem too costly, even with the graphic novel attached.

Rio De Fideldo · 02 July, 2008, 11:18:06 AM

Re Dredd Lawcon. Does anyone know how many pages this ran to? I don't recollect it running to 64 pages so I wonder what else will be in there.

Fingers crossed for a D'Israeli Dredd collection sooner rather than later.

Richmond Clements · 02 July, 2008, 11:18:26 AM

I see your point about perhaps not wanting to read whatever GN you get, but you don't have to- you could pass it on to some other young fellow and spread the word, for example.

QuoteThe downside is the price has jumped back up to close to a fiver.

Which is cheaper than the Meg and an EE every month!

QuoteI think there's a distinct chance the Meg will fold within a year.

You are Dez Skinn and I claim my £5!

+rufus+ · 02 July, 2008, 11:20:57 AM

NU... you could always give the 'free' GN away... I do with lots of things I've doubled up on...
I know it can be a bore when there's something you already have, but occasionally I'm surprised when I see reprint stuff that I'd forgotten or mentally written off..

:-)

ruf

nameuser · 02 July, 2008, 11:22:29 AM

QuoteYou are Dez Skinn and I claim my £5!

That's the second time someone has said I'm someone I'm not! I can tell you one thing...

I'm not....

Tharg.

radiator · 02 July, 2008, 11:35:47 AM

I can understand that its going to be frustrating for some, but each iteration of the Meg has alienated a certain section of the readership. For me, that was when they were printing stuff like Darkie's Mob, and more recently stuff like Bob the Galactic Bum. I'm sure there were people who lost interest when the Meg was reprinting Preacher etc.

Personally, I sometimes don't mind owning stuff twice. For instance - I bought the Origins graphic novel despite owning the original issues it ran in. Its a luxury not having to sit with a big pile of comics, and just read the story uninterrupted.

Also I don't have the space to keep many back issues, so it's nice to be able to build up a little library of gns instead.

The Adventurer · 02 July, 2008, 11:39:45 AM

I for one am digging this, though I lament the death of the EE. Each of the announced GNs are things I've never read and therefor stuff I want on my GN shelf. I just hope the GN format sticks to the current TP line's style. No reason to mix it up IMO.

Is Armitage: Flashback the first Armitage story?

EDIT:Also, as a TP whore I don't mind buying twice for TP collections, even of stuff I've already read in the Prog. Trades are for posterity and easy rereading after all.