MEG 328 - BUMPER MOVIE SPECIAL

[Dandontdare]

I was so happy when, still buzzing from the movie, I woke up Saturday morning to see this and 2000AD had arrived. That's the kind of thing that makes a great weekend even better.

Was a great read too, the movie interviews were very welcome (although I think one of them contained a bit of a spoilerific reference to the very end of the movie which would be a shame for folks who haven't watched it yet).

Also, before I turned the page and saw her from the front and heard her name I was convinced Judge Zeff was based on Yolandi Visser. 'Zef' is a bit of South African slang she throws around a lot so would make sense.

I've got a mate who knows Boo Cook and I got him to ask about this via Facebook.

Boo's reply simply read; "Zeffside!"

I was so happy when, still buzzing from the movie, I woke up Saturday morning to see this and 2000AD had arrived. That's the kind of thing that makes a great weekend even better.

Was a great read too, the movie interviews were very welcome (although I think one of them contained a bit of a spoilerific reference to the very end of the movie which would be a shame for folks who haven't watched it yet).

Also, before I turned the page and saw her from the front and heard her name I was convinced Judge Zeff was based on Yolandi Visser. 'Zef' is a bit of South African slang she throws around a lot so would make sense.

I've got a mate who knows Boo Cook and I got him to ask about this via Facebook.

Boo's reply simply read; "Zeffside!"

I had to wiki her - is it a coincidence that her first group was called MaxNormal.TV?

A very disappointing Meg, I thought. Lots of movie stuff that (most of us) would already be more than familiar with.

Biggest disappointment though was Alan Grant's Ratfink story, Probably suffered 'cos I read Wagner's brilliant original in the floppy first but WTF was going on here? He's in a iso-block that we're told is specifically designed to cut the perps off from the outside world and yet he (with a hitherto unknown super-power) sings ... and this is heard, not just outside his ISOLATION (sic) Cube, but by rats and rad-ants hundreds of feet underground through rockcrete etc. These critters then chew down a whole iso block. Yup. Now either they do this in the "few hours" they mention, which is ridiculous, or they've been gnawing for months and nobody notices that the block is crumbling, which is also daft. The block collapses, apparently killing everybody but leaving Ratfink totally unscathed. This felt like a rejected Pied Piper script from DC, absolute tosh.

I may review the rest later, if I can be arsed, but a Meg that is as weak as the prog is strong this week.

[Dandontdare]

Damn that vanishing MODIFY button!

[Proudhuff]

DDD: Rad ants, Rad rats in their millions, and I think they only got  the wee bit in the execution courtyard.


Bet you complianed about the flying rats in the cur-sed earth too.

[radiator]

Biggest disappointment though was Alan Grant's Ratfink story, Probably suffered 'cos I read Wagner's brilliant original in the floppy first but WTF was going on here? He's in a iso-block that we're told is specifically designed to cut the perps off from the outside world and yet he (with a hitherto unknown super-power) sings ... and this is heard, not just outside his ISOLATION (sic) Cube, but by rats and rad-ants hundreds of feet underground through rockcrete etc. These critters then chew down a whole iso block. Yup. Now either they do this in the "few hours" they mention, which is ridiculous, or they've been gnawing for months and nobody notices that the block is crumbling, which is also daft. The block collapses, apparently killing everybody but leaving Ratfink totally unscathed. This felt like a rejected Pied Piper script from DC, absolute tosh.

Weirdly the only thing that stood out to me was when the judge was about to execute Ratfink. Would they really use a bullet in the head to carry out a schedule execution? Seemed a bit weird.

Surely the logical story here was to have Ratfink escape during Chaos Day?

I dunno. Humdrum script raised up by some pretty awesome artwork.

[A.Cow]

Alan Grant wrote some great stuff back-in-the-day, but his 2000AD/Meg stuff in the last decade has fallen far short of that.

Maybe he should avoid the Anderson & Dredd and spend his time creating original stuff instead.

[Dandontdare]

DDD: Rad ants, Rad rats in their millions, and I think they only got  the wee bit in the execution courtyard.


Bet you complained about the flying rats in the cur-sed earth too.

a) putting 'rad' in front of it doesn't make it any less silly.
b) no, but I was 10 and they were cool!
c) curs'd CURS'D - listen to Urban, not Stallone!

As for the rest, nothing too impressive. Anderson has been a character in search of a decent story for a long time, and I didn't care much for the latter Dredd either. How long has Roboguthrie been running The Raft, sorry, The Barge? Did like the office-judge's name - not a major character evidently! All points that Mr Marshall accrued with that and the Ezquerra-style H-wagon were squandered by an over-the-top fanwank montage that ticked all the cliché boxes - Alien, Fett Doom, ALF, Predator etc.

A Wagner-free Meg, and boy it shows.

[Keef Monkey]

Never gave this a proper review so here goes...

Cover - Exactly what I wanted through my letterbox the morning after the movie. Man, Urban just looks so good as Dredd.

Dredd: Ratfink's Revenge - I really enjoyed this, despite it being pretty ridiculous. If we're honest there have been wackier and weirder ideas in Dredd over the years than Ratfink's escape. Seemed like a bit of a blend of old-school and new-school Dredd.

Coleby interview - One of my favorite artists so was a good read. That Rogue page looks amazing.

Anderson: Stone Voices - This is a decent Anderson story so far, although I've just recently re-read the PSI Files Vol. 1 and I found myself pining a bit for Arthur Ranson. I think Boo Cook is incredible, but I always felt like his style grounded everything and made things seem sinister where they would otherwise be a bit hokey. Still great fun, and again, I think the art is beautiful. Other than Yolandi's cameo the highlight was definitely Will Smith getting forked.

Karl Urban interview - I'd avoided too much of this kind of thing in the run-up to the film, so the insights here were new to me and fascinating. He's done such an incredible job and comes across great here. I'd like to shake him by the hand (and I know some of you lot already got the chance!)

Snapshot - Have to admit I've lost the plot on this one a bit. I'm still enjoying it (Jock's art in particular always floats my boat) and I've put it down to one that needs read in a oner. I'm pretty confident when I do that it'll all hold together really well, I just have trouble following things over this many months and small doses sometimes.

The Art Of Law - Just gorgeous. More of this next month? Please?

Movie Prologue - Had already read this on the ipad app, but was great to read it after seeing the film. A friend who saw the film with me commented that (film spoiler) [spoiler]he half-expected Anderson to let Ma Ma go at the end because she was clearly from an awful background so was as much a victim as the Tech. That was something that didn't even cross my mind watching the movie, but the prologue does have that at its core.[/spoiler] I've mentioned elsewhere that I think I might even like the movie outfit more than Dredd's comic outfit (controversial I know) so it was great to see it in comic form to be, ahem, judged properly. I does look awesome.

Alex Garland interview - Again, like Urban, he's taken on a task I always thought impossible. I really didn't think the Dredd I know and love would ever work on screen properly, but this man has made that happen. Great interview, although spoilers for anyone who hasn't made the trip to the cinema yet.

Judgement Call - I really liked this, particularly the ending, and the way you're not (I don't think) let in on whether the cadet is a pass or not. Was an interesting way to leave things. I'm all for more of these text stories, they're far preferable to the spoilerific movie reviews and I really feel like I get more bang for my buck with them in the meg.

Dredd: Killer Elite - The 'This story is set before Day of Chaos' disclaimer did have me worried this would be of low quality, purely because it gives the impression that it's been completed a while back and not published. That may or may not be the case, but it's certainly shaping up to be a lot of fun. Really enjoyed it.

Ratfink floppy - Read this when it was originally printed, and I remember at the time thinking it was pretty dark. I just don't think I really expected a Dredd story to feature rape so casually, especially one with ties to the Angel Gang (they're stories are all fun and japes). It's great though, and very reminiscent of The Hills Have Eyes or something, properly grimy with great art.

I thought the meg was really strong this month, as was the prog. I was a very, very happy Dredd fan this weekend

[Dandontdare]

ooh yeah, forgot the short story - possibly the best thing in the Meg, loved it. Is Robert Murphy a native of this parish? Don't recognise the name.

[Proudhuff]

a) putting 'rad' in front of it doesn't make it any less silly.

RADDandontdare ... you're right 

Anderson has been a character in search of a decent story for a long time

So very true, as for Guthrie I'm sure he's been running that Prisonship/rig for a while now.

Now that prisonship post DoC will be interesting...

[James Stacey]

I could never understand why Guthrie couldnt have been given more sympathetic prosthetics and gone back to street duty. His cybernetics seem to be excessively chunky for no reason. When Rico needed a new chin they didn't make him look like lockjaw from he-man

[Dark Jimbo]

I haven't read this month's Dredd story but I have to admit I've lost all interest in Guthrie these days. What's happened to him just seems... silly. I know the idea is that Dredd's supposed to have forced through the absolute best in cyberntic prosthetics for his friend, but it would have seemed a lot more in keeping with Dredd's world had he ended up in some horrific iron lung contraption with a gangly steel claw or two, despairing and bitter at the monstrosity he's become, while top brass made vague noises about prioritising funds and budget cuts and Dredd angrily ground his teeth and did lots of brooding monologues about death and age and a Judge's fate in a series of big caption boxes.

[Alski]

So I guess Killer Elite is a "The Killing" (Stronty Dog) type of thing by the looks of it. Here's hoping it adds a spark or originality somewhere.

[Jimmy Baker's Assistant]

Almost bought this today, but was put off by the Ratfink reprint. I remember that from the Meg a couple of years back. Surely 90%+ of current readers will have already read it?

[SmallBlueThing]

Almost bought this today, but was put off by the Ratfink reprint. I remember that from the Meg a couple of years back. Surely 90%+ of current readers will have already read it?

100% of this particular reader owns everything ever published under a 2000AD or Dredd logo, but still happily buys trade paperback collections of the stuff he really, really likes. So most of it, then! I for one am extremely happy to have Ratfink under one cover in a nice handy readable edition... but you're right in that it is very recent. But then again, isn't is absolutely the best Dredd story, outside of the main recent "epics" Tharg has printed in yonks? As far as I'm concerned it's probably the best Dredd in the Meg since America, and only possibly equalled even more recently by that 'Great Expectations' multi-parter that finished last month (did it?).

Of this month's strippage- I really, really, really, really, really like the new Ratfink story. Singing to rats and ants to chew away the foundations of an iso-block and get free? Yes bloody please! My fear is, in the wake of the new movie, everything is going to get terribly serious and "gritty" with lots of swearing, drugs and prostitution, and very little in the way of citywide fads for exploding trousers and multiple murderers doing it because they are misinterpreting the broadcast of old Emmerdale episodes from somewhere in the Cursed Earth. Ratfink is the closest Dredd has had to a classic villain since probably the birth of PJ, and I hope they keep him alive for a while yet. I doubly like him because he scares the absolute crap out of me, due to being reminiscent of Dr Rat from COR!! comic, who I found terrifying as a child. Long may he remain free.

Next best was the Anderson story, even though that was largely due to Boo Cook's art- which as usual was pink and shiny and there's nothing wrong with that.

Wasn't keen on the movie prelude- this is what I mean when I voice my fear of what the strip is to become. That said, it may be time to tinker with the uniform a bit and bring it a little into line with the movie version. If, that is, the film's a success. if not, keep it exactly how it is! The movie uniform looks great in comic form. But to be honest, there's no reason why we can't have some strips drawn like that and others like we know him already- there should never be a "correct" way to draw the judge uniform. That way lies boring boring arguments about links in chains, stripes on respirators and number of pouches on belts. Artists should always be free to experiment, I reckon. Continuity fascists should be locked away where they can do no harm. But no thanks- didn't like that strip at all.

The back up Dredd, with the gathering of psychos... have I read that before? It seems familiar in concept at least. Nice idea though, and again- a slice of Dredd that amuses and thrills in equal measure.

Haven't bothered with Snapshot since part three, and this month it seems even more out of place than usual. Be glad when it's over, truthfully.

Lovely to see an interview with Mr Coleby, who is not only one of those artists whose work has developed so much over the years as to be genuinely astonishing, but also a bloody nice chap as well, if his Facebook persona is to be believed- and I see no reason for it not to be. I very much want to see more of him in the prog and the Meg, if you don't mind Tharg...

The articles and fiction and whatnot I'll read later- but, while not everything is to my taste, this month's Meg must surely be the best value for money the comic has been in absolutely years. A great one to tie-in with the movie, and I hope it sells by the shitload.

SBT

[JOE SOAP]

there should never be a "correct" way to draw the judge uniform. That way lies boring boring arguments about links in chains, stripes on respirators and number of pouches on belts. Artists should always be free to experiment, I reckon. Continuity fascists should be locked away where they can do no harm.

I agree, within reason. I even have a fondness for some of Siku's experiments.