2000 AD Online Forum

Firstly, that is NOT a graphic novel. It's a collection. A graphic novel would be bound properly.

I was liking the Meg at the old price with the old content. What we have is a big hike in cash for reprints that are bundled seperately, albeit in colour. It's nice to have a choice over which reprints I buy, but not with the Meg.

Overall, I still think it's good value, mainly because I can afford it. In realityville I can see readers dropping off as once again they are being charged more money for old material.

Thoughts..?

Well, I think this issue was well worth a fiver. Bar the movie reviews (which are written well enough, but still feel superfluous in this magazine), it was end-to-end goodness, with great strip and prose content. The Jock Dredds, while not exactly top of my must-have list (nice art, but unspectacular stories) were worth the extra two quid.

However, that's the rub for me now—I'll now be considering the Meg's reprint quality when it comes to value, and some of the stuff that's so far been announced really isn't my thing at all. Here's hoping that over the next year the 'pros' top the 'cons'.

QuoteFirstly, that is NOT a graphic novel. It's a collection. A graphic novel would be bound properly.

Heh heh, I feel the urge to head off and bait Eddie Campbell with this one...  There he is struggling day after day against his better judgement with the definitions, etymologies and sub-divisions of an entire medium, and up here in the northern hemisphere it's all about the spines!

//http://eddiecampbell.blogspot.com/search/label/my%20rules

Agreed, it's just a big free comic, not a graphic novel.

When said big fee comic is 64pp of classic Jock Dredd, it's worth the cover price on its own. When it's Snow/Tiger however, I feel we're due a part-refund of our subs money. Anybody know what othr delights await us?

Anybody know what othr delights await us?

 Probably nothing that i have already said that i would like to be reprinted in this format specifically.

Oh! oh! oh!

theres a good story coming up soon for reprinting....forgot its name....something involving a priest or something!

I stopped buying the Megazine a couple of years ago because I didn't feel it was worth the money. So, speaking as a non-reader, I think the price hike is crazy.

Effectively, you have to pay an extra two quid for a supplement that reprints fairly recent material. Most people can easily dig out their old progs if they want to read those stories again. I can't understand why they've done it; it's more likely to put existing readers off than attract new ones.

QuoteOh! oh! oh!

Let it go, man, you've won, it's over.  Isn't it enough that Tharg is weeping in a corner after crying 'uncle' at the eleventh hour?  Must you rub your triumph in his rosette-filled face?

personally, I think that at less than the cost of two pints the Meg is great value, (except the film reviews: ARTIC-B).

Think about how long it takes to sink two pints and how long the meg takes to read...
and you can go back to it unlike a pint.

Also i will enjoy rereading whole stories with out the time space between pages, even that stuff involving priests...is it Father Ted?

The Megazine's gone up in price by 66%.

My mortgage has only gone up by 20% (or "32 Megs per calendar month", as we call it round here).

I suspect something is going to have to give...  

Personally i would rather not have to dig out my old progs that are stored out of daylight as its a pain in the arse doing that and i dont have a complete run of them so i would like to see certain strips reprinted in 1 or 2 volumes and i am happy to pay extra for them and i would even go without eating to pay for them.

That's the spirit.

I saw a selection these in WH Smiths today. (A nice surprise actually. I didn't think they stocked 2000 AD and the Meg there. Turns out I was looking in the wrong place. They store these mags on opposite shelves to the Marvel and DC stuff for some reason high up. The other comics are low down. A way of protecting the young uns from the lashings of ultra violence maybe?)

What struck me was how thin both comics in the package look. I suppose the Meg would be a bit thinner with the removal of reprint material ... However 64 page extra comic (I agree it's not a GN) is a big chunk nonetheless right (albeit smaller than the usual GN/Collection)? Maybe it's thinner paper stock or an optical illusion or something.

Anyhoo, undecided about picking these up. Might pick up this one though, give a proper informed judgement so to speak. Trouble is there's another series of comics I'll be getting soon,(Dark Tower: Treachery), and money is scarce...)

Quote from: "dandontdare"Agreed, it's just a big free comic, not a graphic novel.

Where I live, a graphic novel is a big comic. freeness is optional.

I find it hard to muster any indignation over 2 quid per month.

Well, I'll continue buying it as I don't drink (can't afford alcohol, need money for progs and megs). If it proves unpopular, they'll drop the graphic pamphlet anyway and go back to the way it was(ish). The only thing that'd give me pause would be if they decided to give us Defoe or Black Siddah as said graphic pamphlet. Honestly, I'd (almost) rather have reprints of Space Girls or Valkyries than those piles of steaming bantha poo.  

Let it go, man, you've won, it's over. Isn't it enough that Tharg is weeping in a corner after crying 'uncle' at the eleventh hour? Must you rub your triumph in his rosette-filled face?
Ah I guess you are right

Soo err how about that complete taxidermist gn idea?

If this comes out and you say "actually, it's not as good as I remembered..."

Quote from: "dandontdare"If this comes out and you say "actually, it's not as good as I remembered..."

My only exposure thus far to Canon Fodder is Monarch's talking up of it during his campaign for the reprint, so he's got a lot to answer to if it falls short of expectations. Then again, it's Chris Weston, and I really don't see how you can go wrong with that.

Well, it works for me. Since my return to the world of 2000ad with prog 1500, after a 12 year absence, I've been unable to get back into the Megazine, despite being once again hooked by the weekly. I've sure picked it up and leafed through it a few times over the past 2 years but there was never anything that grabbed me and inspired me to purchase it. But I had to give this issue a try, and it was well worth it. The four strips are all enjoyable, the inclusion of Tank Girl is genius, and the free 'graphic novel' (if thats what Tharg wantsto call it then who am I to begrudge?) is a lovely touch. Okay, sure, you cant stand it on a bookshelf and its not perfectbound but still, getting a nice collection of these together on their own will be neat enough. And since I've missed a period of 12 years of 2000ad, the period from which the reprint stuff will most likely be pulled, its working out kind of perfect for me. Havent read Canon Fodder or Snow/Tiger so thats all good. I'll be able to catch up on some of the stuff I've missed, good and bad, (though hopefully mostly good) without having to shell out for the bound editions. I just hope they will put some 'classic' stuff in these freebies and not just reserve them for the lesser stuff that isnt quite good enough to qualify for a proper perfectbound trade release...

As for the cards. Well bugger. I had absolutely no interest in these damn things, and had no intention of even slightly considering checking them out, until I opened the free pack and scored a few beauties that really made me go "ooohh, ain't they purteeee". I got a Samantha Slade (yes, I'm one of the few fans), a Strontium Dog, a Slaine, a Durham Red - favourite characters all. No Sketch Cards unfortunately but I don't really fancy them anyway.

So yeah now I'm thinking I might have to invest in a box........bugger it all anyway!!!!! Must....resist....the.....urge....!

As for the meg, yep Ill be picking it up again next month and probably for the next 12 months now at least while Tank Girl is running and these freebies are around. So its one new reader earned anyway!

Cheers!

Heh! You put inverted commas round 'graphic novel', but you forget to put them round 'free'.  

Enjoy Canon Fodder - it's great! I loved it too.

To me the meg is no different than before except it has a "free" separate reprint. I'm no fan of Tank Girl, although the art is gorgeous, the character or the stories I feel don't have any substance and are not engaging. So what am I supposed to be paying more for? The crap movie reviews are still there too.

QuoteIf this comes out and you say "actually, it's not as good as I remembered..."

nope that won't be happening with me I recently dug out my old issues and the first series is still as great as I remember it what shocked me was how much better the second series was in both writing and art

I don't usually get the Meg... but I confess I succumbed to the temptation of the extra comic today.  Partly because
a) my prog didn't come today and
 b) my Dad's wife was blaring music downstairs and it gave me an excuse to get out of the house. (Her idea of playing music is to turn up the portable (yes portable) CD player in the front room... then she works in another room. Did I say the CD player is portable? As in with a handle you can pick it up and ... oh never mind....
c) I just wanted an excuse for an excuse anyway to be honest. (So I was actually quite glad for b)

OK:

Judge Dredd:  Obviously I've missed the first episodes (wondering if it's worth getting back issues? I think this really should have been a jumping on prog, what with the changes but never mind.)  I enjoyed it though. Nice art, decent episode.

Tank Girl:  I've read a couple of the earlier graphic novels, and whilst I found it amusing I kind of missed the storyline, and I wasn't all that keen on the 3rd wall stuff. However, I was still curious about an all new story... and I enjoyed it. Nice art too. First glance I thought "no colour?" but then I went with it, and it worked very well. Lovely in fact.

Anderson:  Again with missing the earlier bits, but I enjoyed it just the same. Is it me or is she a bit more stern in her old age though? Aged remarkably well though hasn't she?

Black Museum:  Sick stuff. I loved it!

Articles:  The first one dragged a bit for me if I'm honest. The rest were ok, fairly interesting. To be honest I'd prefer the comics stuff. I'm curious that the Meg is described as the last of the Adult comics though. Isn't the Prog pretty adult too? I guess he means that the Meg was created with an adult readership in mind whilst the Prog was originally aimed at kids, but evolved through time.

Comic as a whole: I prefer the more strips we get with the Prog. (Then again, I noticed these tend to be a bit longer so I guess it's all swings and roundabouts.) I like the focus on Dreddworld though. I'm glad the Prog is more expansive though. Point is, it's good to get a different flavor with each comic.

Jock collection: This is more of a novelty for me than for many of you as I only started reading the Prog last year. I've caught up on quite a bit of Dredd history since then in library GNs but there are a lot of gaps, so this pretty much made for me, if that makes sense.

 I'm only a few pages into this so maybe more on that later. I'm enjoying the story I've read so far though. The fountain bit was sick. Hyuk hyuk. Art itself is decent although some of the faces look a bit asymetrical. Maybe that's intentional though. Flicking to the back I've seen changes in style. I'm curious to know if that's his evolution as an artist over time or change of colourist etc. (Bit of both I think.) And from what I've seen of Jock's work in the prog, the style was quite different. (That was a while back though, and my memory is sketchy.)  More after I've had a more informed read.

Worth the money? A fiver still seems pricey to me, although plenty of magazines go for that price (they tend to be pretty big.) Considering the price of other comics and the fact you get two for that price, I'd say it's about right. Not expensive, but not particularly cheap.

I was pretty negative about the idea of adding reprint supplements (again), and only more Ratfink (what a monster!) is offsetting the ennui inspired by the prospect of owning a second version of SnoreTodger, but the Jock collection... that was a great read.  All of it is lurking in the attic somewhere, but grouped like this it was a surprisingly good introduction to MC-1.  And the art... mmmm, nice. Is this really all of Jock's Dredd work (except for Lenny Zero)?  

And I am genuinely looking forward to Canon Fodder, a strip I've never read a single episode of.

Quotethis really all of Jock's Dredd work (except for Lenny Zero)?

Nope, he did at least one Episode of Doppleganger, a great Dredd mini-epic that would make a fantastic Magazine suppliment/GN. Pleeeeeease Meg-Tharg?

Quote from: "Pete Wells"

Quotethis really all of Jock's Dredd work (except for Lenny Zero)?

Nope, he did at least one Episode of Doppleganger, a great Dredd mini-epic that would make a fantastic Magazine suppliment/GN. Pleeeeeease Meg-Tharg?

Seconded - about the only thing wrong with that story is its too short.

If they're gonna publish a story about priests, I'd quite like to see John Smith & Dom Reardon adapt The Exorcist.

Any other takers?

my vote - worth every penny

OK. I've read the Jock collection now.

What a good set of stories!  The long ones were a great read. The short ones had great gags. I even found myself laughing out loud on occasion, something I rarely do in a Dredd tale. (Not that the humor in past stories was necessarily bad. Often I'll find myself smiling, but of late most of the Dredd stories I've read have been a bit more serious.)

As for the art, I hope my mention of 'faces being asymmetrical' didn't come across as negative. That was mainly something that I noticed in the first story. However, that art isn't bad even there, and it gets better. (A couple of the ladies look darn ugly though but maybe they are )  It's particularly interesting seeing the changes in style in different stories. Lovely work.

Oh, yes, and the spine for the collection:

I can see people point on this, but to me the comic seems to thin for that. No doubt it's doable, but I wonder if it would be superfluous and would just push the price up more.

Overall I thought the presentation with the slightly smaller (than other Megs/Progs) glossy pages was lovely. And I don't mind too much if I can't stack it sideways on my bookshelf. I'm out of space there for that anyway, and I can just stack it on my side (although this'll probably end up in a box at some point with other comics.)

I'd rather the reprints were bound in with the meg instead of the flimsy booklet thing which demands a plastic wrap etc. and obviously adds to the price.

Quote from: "garageman"I'd rather the reprints were bound in with the meg instead of the flimsy booklet thing which demands a plastic wrap etc. and obviously adds to the price.

I like the plastic wrap. It stops other people reading my Meg in the shop and leaving grubby marks on it, you know the type of scoundrel I mean.

Still aint read the Jock collection yet but it is a bit flimsy, a thicker cover would sort that out.

In one of the articles (don't have it on me so have forgotten which one) the author mentions that the old "Dungeons & Dragons" cartoon was cancelled before the kids made it home.

However, I seem to remember that they eventually did make it back to the fun fair. But, on returning to the real world, they realised how much good they had been doing back in the fantasy realm, so after confronting the banality of their reprieved home lives, they headed straight back to resume the fight.

Or did I imagine that? Worrying about Uni keeps me awake at night you know...

M@

I recall an episode where they got a glimpse of home, but had to return for some contrived reason or other.

I think they make it home a couple of times but by the end of the series they are still stuck. I have the box set at home as I thought me and the boy could enjoy together. He likes it but watching now I realise its pretty crap.

If memory serves, the only episode in which the kids' eventual fate was mentioned was called something like The Girl Who Dreamed Tomorrow, in which the girl in question tells Bobby (the annoying kid barbarian with the earthquake club) that one day he would join her back on earth. Hope this helps.

I thought the the Jock collection was wotrth it just to see the development of the artist. Fascinates me.

A really good Meg for me. All the strips were of a high standard, the Jock collection (spine or no spine) was great and is really good to have (and it prompted a friend of mine to pick up a copy after liking Jock's stuff in the Tori Amos thing he got). The articles dragged a lot though, and usually I'm all for them. Its not that I'm not interested in reading about Rufus Dayglo(that was a highlight) but 3 articles all about effectively the same thing (Tank Girl) was overkill I think. Also with it being a bit of a relaunch it might have been better to have new stories, new readers will be totally lost, but obviously that's not a problem for us.

All in all I'm still a happy customer, if anything much happier and looking forward to the collections every month.

It was really obvious to me that the bonus 'graphic novel' wasn't going to be of the type being sold in the shops for £10+.  That would surely have been a ridiculous move!  Surely!

What we did get was well worth the money I thought.  If the upcoming installments are half as good as the Jock collection I'll be a happy chap, even though the first four-parter was obviously a 'rush job'.

Quote from: "Krombasher"I thought the the Jock collection was wotrth it just to see the development of the artist. Fascinates me.

That t's riding that r like its no right to be there.

Which it hasn't.

Quote from: "Mr Long Face"even though the first four-parter was obviously a 'rush job'.

Best art in the collection for me.

The cover is good and solid enough. A touch more tougher galvanised paper than a regular prog. No where near the lattice paper of the meg. The nonspine holds up pretty sturdy too. If it were a barn it could have been built by mormons. The pages paper weight feels familiar, so if its a case of modern cover production mixed with something they've worked with before, I like it and its a success for my needs.

You've got be careful not to treat it too much like a reference manual and regard it as more comfortable than an Essential X-Men card-back.

These two two strengths of paper work well together and work well with the experimental staples. There's no price ticket on it. I couldn't get used to it at first. Now it's so much better for it.

The spot colouring leaves a great opening for a Henry Flint Collection, but how long before complications rise out of larger bodies of work?

Heh, I hope this post doesn't lead to a Dredd End.

my honest answer

no matter what the cost,  i will never stop reading.
i accept money is not a big concern to me. but i dont smoke or gamble, so for me its my acceptable vice.

i shall be a subscriber until i pass on, and i truly intend to keep a subscription up after,
the reason being in chinese belief if you burn offering to the dead they receive them,
so in all honesty thats what i shall have arranged.

hey we all have our quirks,
to me its bloody brillant, change is acceptable,i hope this brings more profitable returns so we may enjoy many years to come.

QuoteIf it were a barn it could have been built by mormons.

You mean it'd have room for plenty of wives, genealogical records and strange gold tablets, but not be as good as one built by the Amish?

'Tis a fine supplement English.

I put up a review of Meg 275 (//http://reverttosaved.com/2008/09/11/review-judge-dredd-megazine-275/) on Revert to Saved, if anyone's interested.

Quote from: "mechanix81"If they're gonna publish a story about priests

Monarch? that's your cue....

Quote from: "Chris Mardle"Oh, yes, and the spine for the collection: I can see people point on this, but to me the comic seems to thin for that. No doubt it's doable, but I wonder if it would be superfluous and would just push the price up more.

I don't think the point is that the freebies should be somehow spined (is that a verb?), but that it's a bit of a cheek to describe an excellent comic as a "free graphic novel"

Quote from: "Devons Daddy"no matter what the cost, i will never stop reading.

Hear hear! That's the attitude that kept me a squaxx throught he nineties!