Meg 467: Brit for Duty?

[JohnW]

I'm too lazy to go digging, so remind me: when did we meet Hives the robo-butler before?

(Not getting my money's worth from the Meg these days, seeing as I've already paid for the TPBs of pretty much all the material being reprinted.
Arse.)

[JohnCKirk]

First time poster, so I can't put this in the Megazine forum. Sorry that my first post is a bit of a grumble.

I upgraded your account and merged the topics — IP

Looking at Megazine 467, there seem to be a couple of production glitches:

* pp14-15 have an article about "Time Breakers", including a link to the Zoop crowdfunding campaign. That sounded interesting, so I went to Zoop, but the campaign finished 2 weeks ago. Was this article supposed to be published in a previous issue of the Megazine? It seems like a breakdown in communication: if Chris Weston knew that the article wouldn't appear until this week, it would have made sense for him to extend the campaign. Or if Rebellion knew when the campaign was ending, why mention it afterwards?

* pp44-47 have an interview with Steve Kyte. p47 has a blank section taking up half the page, which I'd normally expect to contain artwork. Did someone forget to add it? Or is it present in the paper edition but not the digital edition?

[Funt Solo]

* pp14-15 have an article about "Time Breakers", including a link to the Zoop crowdfunding campaign. That sounded interesting, so I went to Zoop, but the campaign finished 2 weeks ago.

Mein Gott!

[broodblik]

The meg for currently is on a bit of a low. I do see that next issue Dreadnoughts returns, so yes this at least is awesome news. The meg is still very much meh most strips are just average even Devlin. I really liked Kots take on Devlin but the last few stories just felt bland.

The Dredd story I enjoyed and did put a few smiles on my face (I needed something to laugh at since in todays age you are not allowed to challenge your work colleague to a sword duel anymore). This is one of those Dredd stories where as you read you start getting the picture of an innocent question becomes a destructive event with deaths and unnecessary arrests. Dark satire at is best.

The other highlight for me was PJ's art on Devlin. I must say that I felt this was his best work for either the prog or meg. Just brilliant but pity about the script itself.

[IndigoPrime]

Anyone know what's next for the reprint? The IDW well is going to soon run dry of anything good.

[jrdd]

* pp44-47 have an interview with Steve Kyte. p47 has a blank section taking up half the page, which I'd normally expect to contain artwork. Did someone forget to add it? Or is it present in the paper edition but not the digital edition?

Hi John, welcome to the board - I checked my paper copy, there's meant to be a page of Terrahawks in that gap:

[Colin YNWA]

Well while the Megazine may not be on top form I actually think this is pretty decent.

The Dredd doesn't do a great deal for me but is fine with great art.

Armitage isn't normally my thing but this was pretty good with great art and I'm happy to see more.

DeMarco is good but needs a re-read - art - well see above.

I know the reprint hasn't landed for some but while I've not read it here as I have it all I like Hookjaw and Mark Russell might not be at his best on Dredd - which is weird given it would seem a perfect for him its not bad.

The text pieces are fine but not as good as normal for me.

Harrower Squad took a scene shift that just lost me - again re-read required I think. Art as above.

The highlight though is Devlin Waugh without a shadow of a doubt. It was just brilliant. Art is as good as all the rest of the stuff, possibly, probably the best. The story though was amazing. Something seemingly so benign and mini just had tension and a sense of impending doom just cutting all the way through it... somehow... I've no idea now but it was there and just set up... whatevers to come superbly. Loved it.

So while some needs a re-read nothing was bad and one story was absolute top draw.

Just need me Prog now. Everytime my sub is about to renew always seen to have a problem and that appears to be the case again - sigh - Still this is the Meg thread and that all good.

[scrotnig]

The Meg always feels slightly flat after a Lawless run but it's pretty good nevertheless. Fantastic to see Armitage back again. One of my favourite strips and characters.

I like the reprints. I haven't read most of them previously so for me it's like having more new stuff!

[Le Fink]

A supercool cover by McCrea. All those sharp angles. Love it! Colour scheme also very attractive.

Dredd the tail feels familiar, but executed expertly, great art. The problem I have is surely robot staff would have protocols for Judges? I don't recall if we've met Hives before. Surprised Dredd took so much lip.

Armitage the department has been completely Spectored... this was a fun grumpy old man episode. Is this harking back to an old case we've already seen then? Looks good.

DeMarco I've read each month but not following it too well. I don't get why she hasn't realised her contact is the one behind her problems. Or at least that did seem to occur to her last series, but nothing came of it? Anyway she's coming across as a bit of an eejit at the moment. Still looks good though.

Devlin I didn't get the underlying vibe of doom Colin did... for me this was a sentimental nostalgic tale with Devlin at his most avuncular. Big shift from the last episodes where he came across as a real predator. PJ's lovely art lending the tale a certain sweetness that works very well with the story. A story that boiled down to... Devlin moves house?

Harrower is absolutely fine, bit of horror in there, enjoyable stuff.

As for the reprint I'll take Scream any day of the week, Hookjaw I'm still enjoying, super gory this month!, the very good Dredd reprint tale comes to an end.

An OK Meg with Dreadnaughts returning next time should elevate it a bit.

[Funt Solo]

Uhm ... Mega-Tharg?! Big jobs for Mega-Mek-Quake here...

[IndigoPrime]

Lovely McCrea cover at every size and in print. Dredd was fun, although you half imagine he'll be arresting the manufacturer of that droid shortly. As for Dredd taking that much lip, maybe. But it does also feel like he kind of fucked up in the first place with his heavy-handed tactics.

Nice to read about Time Breakers, but frustrating timing, given that the crowdfunder is over and there's no obvious way to buy now. Hrmm. Nessie/Where are they now/iGor Goldkind were all solid reads for me.

DeMarco continues to be... fine? It looks great. DeMarco seems a bit behind the reader, given that she's a PI. I imagine the pace is such this will read better collected. Armitage, though, starts really well: nice to see his ongoing relationship with his ex-partner, and bits of continuity being threaded through the tale. The set-up is silly and intriguing in equal measure.

Two more text pieces – Steve Kyle (which seemed quite sad) and Ian Rimmer/Scream, before some Scream reprint. Which was a lot more fun than Hook Jaw, which for me remains the comics equivalent of a long, drawn-out sigh. Sorry to the fans. Under Seige was all right, though, despite again being weird as soon as Dredd opened his mouth. (Also, that last page seemed weirdly conciliatory for the Judges of any era. Since when do they give a crap about regaining people's trust? Anyway, not bad, especially for IDW.)

Devlin warrants a re-read, I think. Great art. I hope PJ gets a longer crack at this character. But I kind of feel like I missed something with the story as a whole. No such issues with Harrower Squad, which rattles on with its action movie stylings.

In all, there's a lot to like here, and so I'm not sure why this issue didn't quite click with me, nor why it took a long time to get round to reading it. Dreadnoughts next month replacing Devlin is a good like-for-like quality swap. Does anyone know what we're getting instead of Under Siege? Or how many more months Hook Jaw has to run?

[JohnCKirk]

Hi John, welcome to the board - I checked my paper copy, there's meant to be a page of Terrahawks in that gap

Thanks, I'm glad that the paper copies had something there.

Uhm ... Mega-Tharg?! Big jobs for Mega-Mek-Quake here...

Your second screenshot is the same thing I mentioned before, so that confirms that it's a central glitch rather than something on my device.

Your first screenshot also matches my device. I remember thinking that the article looked a bit ... sparse, but I hadn't specifically twigged that there were missing images. (I've already backed that campaign at Zoop, so I only skimmed the article.)

It's odd to have the mismatch between paper and digital, since they're presumably both generated from the same source. On the plus side, hopefully someone can update the server files (i.e. we can download a corrected version later), whereas if the paper copy had missing data then readers would be out of luck.

[JohnCKirk]

Does anyone know what we're getting instead of Under Siege? Or how many more months Hook Jaw has to run?

There's one more month of Hook Jaw (i.e. the Titan series had 5 issues back in 2017).