Meg234...and your Point is? (SPOILERS)

[Oddboy]

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Only read Anderson Psi so far-- is that another 2 boarders referenced? Looks like Dudley, sorry Meme, joining in the death cult and there's a Will Cooling Block?

[Artificial Idiot]

Two words...

Simping Detective.

Two more words...

FECKING FANTASTIC!

Everything else I've read so far was great too. Except the Bendatti Vendetta... Couldn't get into that.

Yet to read Devlin or Charley's War but I'm pretty sure they won't disapoint.

[Funt Solo]

Part #1 (I can't read it all in one go or my thrill circuits will overload.)

Well, 50 pages in and not a bum note in sight:  in fact, it's firing on all cylinders and showing no sign of flagging any time soon.  Even the editorial is provoking and intelligent (as opposed to 'editorial blurb').

Judge Dredd: ... P.J. Maybe
Aha, so that's what he was doing with the heart and the man and the inheritance!  I'm so glad he got away:  and yet it was the perfect time for him to lose:  thus it left us guessing right up to the climax.  Marvellous.  Ezquerra's work is just so accomplished that it almost belies comment:  but I especially love the frame where PJ and Inga are dancing in front of the image of Judge Geraldi being splattered across the front of a slabroller.

The Simping Detective
Fantastic cover:  anyone who misses the point must be blind.  More lyrical dialogue from Simon 'Zancudo' Spurrier and evocative noir from Irving.  What a build up, and what an ending:  I want my hipflask.  Special mention to the frame where Jack is sitting in the corner, obscured by the madly dancing shadow of Zig.

Devlin Waugh: All Hell
I'm totally at home with MacNeil's art and I love all the occulti-babble.  Eddie Whyteman was a big surprise, and I'm wondering how exactly he plans on inhaling that cigarette given his unfortunate new anatomy.

Young Middenface
Shaun Thomas for art-godhood!  Stunning.  This is the one that made me laugh out loud (whilst still being dark and sinister).  I used to think this story couldn't decide what it wanted to be:  comedy or drama.  Now it's really hit it's stride as it's managing to combine them perfectly.  "Have ye got any fags?  I'm gaspin'" is just spot on.

Well, that's it:  the first 50 pages are astounding (and that's without reading the article on The Avengers).

[The Amstor Computer]

I'm pleasantly surprised at how good "Shaun Thomas" (did we ever find out who he really was?) is on Middenface. Having really disliked his previous efforts for the prog and Meg, and having seen the preview pic on this site, I was fully expecting to struggle through the art with this tale.

It's still not entirely to my liking, but it's much improved over his earlier work and there are some great moments in there that suggest that if he continues developing in this vein, something truly great is only a matter of time.

Add to that another great British icon article - the stand-out text piece every month since its introduction, IMO - and a mix of corking new and old strips, and it's another great Meg.

The only duffer was - sadly, and predictably - the Bendatti Vendetta. I was baffled when it first got commissioned, re-baffled when it was brought back for a second series & I'm now triple-baffled by its reappearance. It's been relentlessly dull and predictable since it began, and John Burn's increasingly sketchy artwork isn't doing it any favours on this third run through the Meg.

[Funt Solo]

The Second Half:

The Bendatti Vendetta
I never expect to like this:  it's just so contemporary and feels (with the style of the art) as if it should be in Crisis (not a bad thing in itself, admittedly).  13teen and Snow/Tiger were contemporary but variously had psychics, giant robots and planet-killing evil genius bombs.

Anyway, you could easily consider this the partially raw turkey on an otherwise perfectly cooked plate of christmas nosh.  However, it's very well written, very well drawn (whatever you think of the overall style) and by the end of it, I wanted more.

Charley's War
I'm really glad this is back:  and I can see now how the break really worked in the strips favour.  We've moved on from the Somme to experience a blitz I wasn't even aware of (historically).  The art is amazing:  check out the last panel on the 2nd last page.

Anderson Psi Psi-Division (You really should do something about that textual stutter.)
Unlike the dude on the letters page, I have no problem with Anderson going inside someone's mind:  she is a telepath, so it's this ability (and her precog) that really marks her out from other characters.

I think it's great that the slightly difficult alien world of the mind is interspersed with events taking place in the real world:  it's very well structured, leading as it does to the dual cliffhanger.

The Rest
Haven't had time for the articles yet and metro-Dredd is pretty throwaway stuff.

[Funt Solo]

I notice that the editor's of the Meg accidentally forgot to include this image in their article on The Avengers:

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[Dudley]

hrrrrruuhnnnnn.....

[Dudley]

I like to read Dredd first, of course, (Sheer twisty plotty brilliance - and like many I was wrong-footed by the final outcome) and then after that I plan my way through so I start with the least thrilling strip and gradually crank up the Thrill Power so I finish with the best non-Dredd thing in the comic.

This month, I read in this order:

Metro Dredds.  Lazy, rip-off and shite.

Charley's War.  A lot of history I didn't know, all very interesting, but the blind bloke bits were bogus beyond belief.

Midnapped.  Still not coming off its permanent position at the bottom of the league tables, but Shaun Thomas's B&W work is very nice.

All the columns.  Yeah, yeah, blah blah, blah.

Robbie Morrison interview.  It's just getting started, I'm mainly looking forward to next month.

The Bendatti Vendetta.  Well, I like it.  A lot, actually.  Burns' art is great, as per usual.  And I've got a bad feeling about that client...

Devlin Waugh.  Chuckle moment: Devlin's crowing about the snake eyes.  Chill moment: taking a little snack en route.  Surprise moment: Eddie Whyteman.

Anderson, The Psi, Simping Psi Detective Division.  Arrrrghh!  How the hell can I choose between my favourite strips EVER?  However, that's a very handsome chap turning up near Will Cooling in Anderson, so I guess that clinches it.  Great to see you Jack.  Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out of my affections.

British Icons.  The first Meg column to become a must-read.  Some really great lines from McGown in there, especially the bile heaped upon that movie.

Overall, Meg just trumps a month's worth of the weekly.

[Byron Virgo]

"he blind bloke bits were bogus beyond belief."

Don't knock Blind Bob, he was one of my heroes as a kid!

Bendatti Vendetta's good, and am I the only person who wasn't surprised by the outcome of the Dredd strip?

"Lazy, rip-off and shite."

Sounds like the names of three goblins in a childrens book. Actually, thinking about it...

[Funt Solo]

Article:  British Icons:  The Avengers
I lost the will to live on the fifth page and had to stop reading.  It started off well, this article, and seemed to be telling a story, but then it descended into paragraph after paragraph of nothing much new.  

If you have all the details of where and when it appeared, and perhaps some brief quirky detail about said appearance, some kind of chart or graph would help break up the incessant prose.

Is there an editor that reads this through and checks it's tedium levels armed with a large red pen?  Why not?

An article (especially one as wordy as this), like a story, needs a beginning, a middle and an end.  Where and when isn't half as interesting as why and how.  

The Thrill Power Overload articles worked well partly because there was so much juicy gossip in them.  There was a story there.  

[Bolt-01]

Can I mention how nice the new credit boxes are? Really nice tweak on the design. Excellent work there.

Bolt-01

[petesbeats]

Dredd:-  So maybe can strike again. Good to see that someone can actually pull the wool over dredds eyes and get away with it on so many occasions.  Unlike Pasha over in the tooth.

Devlin Waugh;- Just finished reading both the TP's and I cant get enough of old Devlin. Macneil is really battling hard against Henry Flint for my best ever artist to grace the pages of my favourite mags.  Check out Whyteman at the end. Kerwality. Really wanna see what the Catechist is upto now though.  Roll on Next month.

Bendatti Vendetta:- Having never read this before i was willing to give it a try.  Burns art was lovely and the plot aint so bad either. Reminds me of an 80's crime program though.  You just know how its all gonna pan out.

The Simp:-  The simping detective is in my top three strips of the moment up against the mighty cabs and Shakara.  Point really does get in some crazy predicaments and Mr Irvings artwork needs commendin (feel like im repeating myself here BUT HOW GOod IS THE ART THROUGHOUT THE MEG? ACES!).  Love the picture of Zig after the massacre in the bar. More please!

Middenface:- Wow! Shaun Thomas.  Always like his work but something tells me his work on this strip could be the moulding of this man. I love the fact you can see his sketch lines beneath the artwork. Beautiful. Panning out nicely storywise. Thomas' mutants do look like somethin from the cursed earth.  Wonder how middenface is gonna fair against a submarine of troops. *WHACK*. Stitch that!! Tops. Nice continuity with Medusa being mentioned also.

Anderson:- Well shes figured it all outbut is there gonna be any twists of fate.  Think shes gonna need some help to get out of this situation to be fair. Shakta anyone??  Burns cant be faulted.

To sum up the artwork this month has been great from Ezquerra through to Thomas.  All the stories hit me with sufficient thrill power and if it can keep this momentum up theres no reason why anyone should wanna cancel there subscription.

Top draw!

[Will I. Cooling]

"Only read Anderson Psi so far-- is that another 2 boarders referenced? Looks like Dudley, sorry Meme, joining in the death cult and there's a Will Cooling Block?"

Oh yes!!! Came as a very nice and complete shock to me when I was reading it yesterday. (Alan was finishing writing this story when I interviewed him)

Damn good prog as well

Will

[Oddboy]

And is that the I-VING droid self portrait hiding behind "...TO BE MAD..."?http://www.2000adonline.com/covers/megazine/hires/234.jpg">

[Noisybast]

"And is that the I-VING droid self portrait hiding behind "...TO BE MAD..."?"

Fuckin' ace!

Compare & contrast...

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This month's Meg

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R-VING's Bristol sketch

Cool, eh?