Nice cover!!!!
(http://www.2000adonline.com/2000ad/media/index/megs/original/291.jpg)
nice cover and 7 links 8-)
Reference to a damn fine Clint Eastwood movie as well. Probably the first of Eastwood's "subverting the genre" westerns, and its from 1968!
I have so much time for Clint Eastwood.
Cheers!
Jim
Exclusive preview of Mr. Amperduke Returns? Hoppity-skippity!
Yay, a Prog and a Meg day on a Friday, cool!
I've only read Dredd but had to post that Al Ewing has done it again! It's a cracking little tale featuring Dredd and Rico. It's both funny and poignant with great art by Paddy Goddard. Then, immediately following it, there's a beautiful forthcoming cover by King Carlos - think of the seminal "Who the Hell would mess with us?" page from Judgement Day but this time featuring Dredd and Rico, it's really cool.
I've not been able to read the rest of the strips yet but just want to say that the standard of the artwork seems particularly high this issue. Goddard on Dredd (yay!), that amazing carlos Cover, really beautiful Tanky work by Rufus (especially the first page, wow!), a preview of the ABC Warriors cartoon thingy, PJ's work on the Black Museum looks like a cross between McMahon, D'Isreali and erm... PJ, Mr Amperduke and more of that Mad-esque Andrew Currie Bato Loco art. Finally, there's a great, festive John Higgins cover for next issue, cor!
I can't wait to read 'em, damn you work!!! I hope that those that didn't enjoy last months' issue will get more out of this 'un.
Sounds good - really looking forward to the Meg again after a few below-par issues. Really must remember to add the Meg to my sub - in fact I think I'll do it now.
Dredd was a corker this month. Had an old skool feel about it.
Tales from the Black Museum was good as was, surprisingly, Tank Girl.
Not into Bato Loco at the moment but i enjoyed the piece on comic licences.
The movie reviews continue to be the black sheep of the family.
Best yet, Meg 292 will contain a Rogue Trooper G/N.
Happy days.
Quick question since I don't usually get the Meg: Is that book 2 of Canon Fodder with this month's one?
Yup, with a couple of bonus Chris Weston stories.
Awesome, shall have to pick that up, so.
Yeah Shutdown, it's a great Meg too. As I wrote earlier, the Dredd tale is excellent (wait till you meet the jury, Juror Eight is a hoot!)
I know it's not eveyone's cuppa, but Tank Girl is really good this month. As ever Rufus' art is sublime but the script is really interesting here too, looking forward to seeing where this goes...
Arthur Wyatt turns out yet another quality script in Black Museum and PJ's art is fantastic! I'm loving the splashes that Arthur is writing into these scripts, it's like going back in time! Paul's colouring on this strip is mental - it's black and white with a green so horrible that it shouldn't work but somehow does! Love it!
The Amperduke tale is lovely but gut wrenchingly sad. I love the world that Byrne has created here, it's so cute but so nasty too.
Finally, quite a rushed ending to Bato Loco which is a real shame 'cos a) it's great to have Grennie back in the Meg, b) I adore Andrew Currie's boobietastic art (like a cross between Mad Magazine and Eric Powell, if ye ask me) and c) I love the character. It all seemed a bit rushed and convenient, I thought Gordon would have spiralled the scenario much more out of control before ending it. Ah well, next time I hope!
For me, a cracking Meg this month.
prog and a meg on a Friday yeeeeeeha!
Well done those droids and the noble posties
I healthy handful of Meg this month, seems more pages that normal.
A great Dredd, only gripe that Rico and Dredd look too alike: after all Dredd has had a hard life and his face should show it, Rico on the other hand has a handsome plastic chin.
We don't see the names badges until way into the story and even then JD's is indistinct, hopefully that grave yard on the way out of towmn is the town's old one and not the result of four people and a baby's two days of hard graft ;D
Tankie , Black Muse and Bato all good reads but the suprise for me was the Bob Byrne Amperduke, I realluy really warmed to this. And I have to say the New Movies slot has earned its place in the Meg for being interesting and informative about the films reviewed.
Cannon fodder is currently on the bedside pile awaiting a night I'm not up to Menkell.
Only one envelope for me today. Luckily, it was the Prog so all is good with the world.
Is it just me, or does the overall quality of the Megazine seem to be better when Dredd is on the cover?
Hey, great Dredd! Twisty and turny, with all sorts of action and intrigue. That's the stuff.
Conversely, I hated Mr Amperduke. The art's nice, but I don't see how it can be considered a story. [spoiler]He accidentally creates a child, and the child dies. [/spoiler] That's not a proper narrative. That's just a horrible, sad tragedy and I don't understand why it's in the comic. What's the point?
I also enjoyed Bato Loco and it was great to see Sentenoids again. I love every Tank Girl strip without reservation, but all the war stuff this month made it a special treat.
- Trout (still buying the Meg)
Generally good; Dredd was awesome; TotBM was good; Bato Loco leaves me cold, neither loving it nor hating it; Amperduke the same, but at least that is imaginative enough to be interesting. Bob Byrne seems to be an acquired taste and I'm not sure if I have yet.
So mostly good and since the Meg has always been a mixed bag, the fact that it isn't all round perfect is excusable. What isn't excusable is Tank Girl. Everything in an anthology arguably has a place, but Tank Girl stretches that rule to breaking point. I just can't STAND it anymore :'(
<futsie>
Tank Girl. I mean Tank Girl. Drokking Hell, Tank Girl. Twaddle. Stomm. Drivel. Rubbish. Nonsense. Childish. Purile. An orgy of tapeworm infested cancerous dog stomm that would disgrace the Sunday Sport, never mind the Beano.
It's like the result of a sordid alcohol fuelled one-night-stand between What do you mean, it wasn't made on drugs (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitle1fqxgbbvavmd?from=Main.WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs) and So Bad It's Horrible (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/DarthWiki/ptitlew9bltta3dv6n?from=Main.SoBadItsHorrible); it's been a long long time since I hated anything the way I hated this. >:(
I'm off to the kook cubes to recover ::)
</futsie>
Canon Fodder was funny but has a serious edge to it; good choice of reprint.
Quote from: Martin Howe on 07 November, 2009, 03:34:22 PM
So mostly good and since the Meg has always been a mixed bag, the fact that it isn't all round perfect is excusable. What isn't excusable is Tank Girl. Everything in an anthology arguably has a place, but Tank Girl stretches that rule to breaking point. I just can't STAND it anymore :'(
<futsie>
Tank Girl. I mean Tank Girl. Drokking Hell, Tank Girl. Twaddle. Stomm. Drivel. Rubbish. Nonsense. Childish. Purile. An orgy of tapeworm infested cancerous dog stomm that would disgrace the Sunday Sport, never mind the Beano.
It's like the result of a sordid alcohol fuelled one-night-stand between What do you mean, it wasn't made on drugs (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitle1fqxgbbvavmd?from=Main.WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs) and So Bad It's Horrible (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/DarthWiki/ptitlew9bltta3dv6n?from=Main.SoBadItsHorrible); it's been a long long time since I hated anything the way I hated this. >:(
I'm off to the kook cubes to recover ::)
</futsie>
Man, and I thought I had a dislike for it. Poor old Rufus, puts so much effort into it. Not that bad surely .... Ok, so I don't COMPLETELY disagree.
Would anyone else object if they simply lost the pages of the film reviews and made the meg shorter? I mean, does anyone else actually read them? I am struggling to remember the last time someone had a positive comment about them. Better yet, replace them with selections from small press titles. Most of them would probably chew off their right arms, sell their granny and mother and even vote nuLabour ( OK, so maybe that one's a bit extreme, then again, it could have said Tory! ( quick game of spot the difference ensues) ) for that sort of exposure. Puts a hole in the old, 'got to keep costs down' argument. In fact did they not do that before? The only problem I can see is trying to pick the best to showcase, simply because there is so much good stuff out there.
Anyhoo, apart from that this was the first meg in a while that had me thinking 'maybe the sub can keep going'. A nice Dredd one parter, Bato Loco was not as bad as it looked to shape out ( short and sweet, not outstaying its welcome ), TotBM was even mildly enjoyable.
Looking forward to seeing what they do with some of the historical stuff from next month, the preview ad a few months back looked interesting.
'I am struggling to remember the last time someone had a positive comment about them'
I did five posts up ;D
I say again my four words for Meg text column success:
Dave
Langford
Book
Review
I'm pretty clued up about films, and I'm afraid I have no investment in the validity of the opinions in the film review column, but there are a LOT of books published every month and I'm not clued up about them. And, more importantly, I absolutely trust Langford's opinion.
Cheers
Jim
Cover - didn't hate it, but the helmet just looks odd, a wee bit asymmetrical. Not a massive Williams fan anyway, though.
Dredd - excellent, cold brutal hard-bitten frontier justice, Al delivers once again. Goddard's art I find perfectly serviceable if a little uninspired (but with Blythe adding the colours the end result here pisses on Savage)
TOTBM - loved it, abso-bloody-lutely loved it. Referencing one of my favourite storylines/eras of Dredd history, and with perfectly pitched art from PJ. I spoke to him at BICS and he was quite humble about his stuff - far too humble really, as this evokes the spirit of classic twoth strips, especially golden age McMahon.
Tank Girl I still haven't read and can't be arsed with.
Bato Loco - meh.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 07 November, 2009, 10:46:49 PM
I say again my four words for Meg text column success:
Dave
Langford
Book
Review
I'll see those four words with:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
and raise with:
Andrew
Rilstone
Examines...
And I rather enjoy Lew Stringer's comics blog, so can we have something from him, too?
Regards
Robin
Quote from: Proudhuff on 07 November, 2009, 10:35:00 PM
'I am struggling to remember the last time someone had a positive comment about them'
I did five posts up ;D
Ok, fair dues, take that back ... ::) would you settle for on balance they are generally disliked and the space would be better used for an alternative purpose?
QuoteI absolutely trust Langford's opinion
+1 from me. It was always the first thing I read in the old White Dwarf, and I still follow the Ansible religiously. He's pointed me at more great SF books and authors than anyone else, and he's never let me down. If he was in the Meg it would settle the 'cost-effectiveness' wavering I'm feeling (it's a lot of money out of a very tight budget at the moment). This sounds like a good idea for a writing campaign.
BTW, I liked the Movie section when Alec Worley was doing it, but I haven't been able to warm to it lately.
got to agree with the sentiment but already subscribing to SFX kind of duplicates it. That is my main problem with the reviews. I always take them as the writers own personal opinion and respect them as such, I just don't see them as belonging to the meg.
Langfords okay, but he's no Kim Newman.
Also if you think PJ's art on the Black Museum story is good you should see some of the stuff he has coming up.
Yes please.
Hurry Tharg. Hurry and print the PJ stuff.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 November, 2009, 12:15:32 AM
Reference to a damn fine Clint Eastwood movie as well. Probably the first of Eastwood's "subverting the genre" westerns, and its from 1968!
I have so much time for Clint Eastwood.
I always thought that clint would have made a great Dredd.
But, no. They gave us Stallone, instead...
Even in the mid-nineties, Clint would have JUST about made a good Dredd (albeit an older one than we were seeing in the prog, but there's nothing wrong with that, the character's ageing is one of the best things about the strip).
Now? Just a tiny bit too old I think. Which is a shame, as it's a role the man was CLEARLY born to play. Especially as Clint himself was one of the inspirations behind Dredd...
Quote from: Art on 08 November, 2009, 05:47:25 PM
Langfords okay, but he's no Kim Newman.
Langford does books, Newman does movies. I say get 'em both.
Regards
Robin
It's good to see that next months GN is going to be War machine. Been a long time since I have read this. Shame the story arc went the way it did.
V
Quote from: Tjm86 on 07 November, 2009, 07:00:58 PMPoor old Rufus, puts so much effort into it. Not that bad surely
Interesting; the content gets right up my nose and yet the defence here is of the artist ??? As it happens I don't have a problem with Rufus Dayglo's artwork; it's just that this strip pushes too many of my "yuck" buttons at once. I mean, according to Wikipedia:
The comic's style was heavily influenced by punk visual art, and strips were frequently deeply disorganized, anarchic, absurdist, and psychedelic. The strip features various elements with origins in surrealist techniques, fanzines, collage, cut-up technique, stream of consciousness, and metafiction, with very little regard or interest for conventional plot or committed narrative.I guess you could call her a sort of "Chopper's granddaughter on drugs" :P As a natural Dreddist since I were a sprog, I totally reject the ethos of the strip and the improbable stuff that happens in it and would happily award TG and her crew of creeps 80 years each in the cubes. Unfortunately, though I don't believe TG naturally belongs in the Meg, being fair the Meg has become a useful haven for anything orphaned by other publications or journeying through the underworld of obscurity; I just wish TG had stayed there :)
That is indeed one fine cover. The noose is just the thing to take it away from a stock pose.
"And, more importantly, I absolutely trust Langford's opinion."
I'd buy that for a dollar. He was the only OP-ED piece I liked back when I used to buy SFX.
Quote from: Tjm86 on 08 November, 2009, 02:34:15 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 07 November, 2009, 10:35:00 PM
'I am struggling to remember the last time someone had a positive comment about them'
I did five posts up ;D
Ok, fair dues, take that back ... ::) would you settle for on balance they are generally disliked and the space would be better used for an alternative purpose?
Have to say, i have banged on about how the Film Review doesn't fit in the Meg for so long now that when I found this one interesting I feel it would be churlish not to mention it. ;D
so in general with 100% on this one.
I don't know either of the reviewers mentioned above, any info? but a heads up on things like the new Bryan Talbot or Rainbow Orchid would be a better use of Meg space.
With Rico taking a sidekick's backseat this issue, I couldn't help thinking that I wanted to see him feature a bit more. Then I got to thinking, although he looks like Dredd and for all intents and purposes IS Dredd - it's clear from the occasions we see him on his own that he thinks differently, even acts differently, I think Al Ewing said he was Dredd-lite and a lot of fun to write because of that.
Are the other Dredd clones similarly divergent from their source?
Elsewhere someone commented (radiator?) that there are seven or eight clones stalking around the Big Meg - I can't help imagining a sort of 'Magnificent Seven' style outing of all the Dredds - if all of them ended up exiled on the 'Tour of Duty' by the current council of five that is.
Huff - Dave Langford is a long time fan writer, regularly wins Fan Writer Hugos. You could subscribe to his SF Newsletter Ansible (free e version) to check him out. You'd like Thogs Masterclass...
In case there's any doubt - I'd take a slice of Langford with the Meg, ta very much. Good call Jim!
Kim Newman is a film critic/genre writer who looks like he's been sucked from polite Victorian society and dumped in our world. I like both his fiction and his criticism.
The Meg was very good this month. Stand out for me was Tales from...I just absolutley loved the PJ's work there.
Dredd - excellent one off, nice solid feel.
Tank Girl - defo enjoyed this more than a lot of the recent stuff. I'm happy for it to be in the Meg and I always give it a go - to mixed results. Some I finish, some I don't.
Bato Loco - meh. Shame there wasn't more of it.
Mr Amperduke - me likey! It strangley reminds me of a cake left out in the rain (and it took so long to bake it...) - something has smeared the facade, leaving a slightly uncomfortable picture of something you recognise. Good stuff.
Articles/reviews - the comics articles I've found consistently entertaining and interesting. The film reviews I don't mind so much - I tend to canvass several reviews for films so they're either highlighted first by Mrs Mikey, Empire, Interzone or the Meg (Nick Lowe in Interzone is a joy BTW).
M.
Cheers mikey, off to inter-xpore em now...
Quote from: KevLev on 10 November, 2009, 01:08:30 PM
With Rico ... - it's clear from the occasions we see him on his own that he thinks differently, even acts differently, I think Al Ewing said he was Dredd-lite and a lot of fun to write because of that.
Are the other Dredd clones similarly divergent from their source?
Elsewhere someone commented (radiator?) that there are seven or eight clones stalking around the Big Meg - I can't help imagining a sort of 'Magnificent Seven' style outing of all the Dredds - if all of them ended up exiled on the 'Tour of Duty' by the current council of five that is.
For the best description of Rico see my signature... ;D
As I recall, with the exception of Rico, The young Un who went off planet and Nimrod(?) who was genetic freak/sport, the other Dredd clones haven't really been seen, just mentioned at a healthcheck
Right, so we have Rico, Nimrod and Dolman accounted for and five others that have yet to be seen.
What a cracking Dredd strip. "Best one Robbie Morrison's done for years." was what I was thinking as I cackled to myself on the bog.
Then I read back and noticed it was Al Ewing. Top quality. A real leap from Mr Holden on that Black Museum story too. Nice.
Brilliant Dredd, loved Bato Loco (or the girlart at least), tie-ins article interesting. a step up!
Stuff that I loved in the Meg -
Tank Girl.
PJ's colour scheme.
Mister Amperduke.
Andrew Currie's artwork.
and I'm looking forward to reading Canon Fodder.
Still working my way through the Meg, but got to say, Al Ewing can really hit the mark with his Dredd scripts. Dredd is often described as a one dimensional character but few writers can really get to grips with him. So often Dredd's words or actions seem out of character but not the case when Al Ewing is the scribe.
When John Wagner writes Dredd I have a sense of relief. But when Al Ewing does its like a treat and I say that in this period when Wagner is on such a high.
I am guaranteed at least one laugh out loud line of dialogue when Ewing writes Dredd. He writes Dredd with a sense of freshness and enthusiasm as if Dredd has just been invented which for me gives his tales an old-school feel.
Cracking Dredd by Ewing as ever. Nice art too. Liked the Black Museum stuff too, PJ's art is a favourite of mine, but that panel with the Sov-Droid comforting it's rescuer - really nicely done.
Bato Loco is kind of fun too, cracking article on licensed comics filling it out nicely, I like the articles when they're done well (which, to be fair, they usually are). Didn't read Tank Girl (as usual), but Rufus continues to turn in nicely turned out pages. If I have to flick straight past something in the meg, at least it's well-drawn and exciting to look at.
Quote...but that panel with the Sov-Droid comforting it's rescuer - really nicely done.
Absolutely, bloody lovely that, and overall a really great 'new' style for PJ. It's nice to see someone doing something with a classic Ezquerra design that's both faithful
and fresh.
I really enjoyed this month's Meg, cover to cover. Everyone seemed on top form in both script and art departments. Particular shout-out for Bato Loco, which has finally found its feet for me, after being only of mild curiosity on its previous outings. It doesn't quite tick all the 'why this is set in MC-1' boxes I insist on, but not at all in the Steam Tank Hillbillies/Welded to Giant Scorpions way, and it's very welcome to return for a longer run.
A Bob Byrne strip will always be a treat for me, and the return of Mr. Amperduke even more so.
And Canon Fodder 2. Well, well, well. This was unexpectedly
brilliant! Great art and design, a fun character and a cleverly silly story. Hats off to Kek-W for taking the loopy threads of the first series and running with them, this was actually much more satisfying. Why wasn't there ever more of this?
I'm going to read the Cannon Fodder floppy tonight - both of them (I have the first floppy but it's unread, once I heard the second volume would be given the floppy treatment I decided to save it up for a mammoth re-read, the art looks as good as ever, but the story remains to be seen. I remember i didn't care that much for it at the time).
This is the best Meg since the TG-less one a few months back. In some way's it's BETTER (and that's with me not reading TG). Very enjoyable.
QuoteWhy wasn't there ever more of this?
Mark millar....
Yep, actually thoroughly enjoyed Canon Fodder.
I prefer the second series to the first. Chris Weston's work is sublime on both, but the story seems more focussed in the second volume.
QuoteChris Weston's work is sublime on both, but the story seems more focussed in the second volume.
S'right. It's helped by the fact that it's actually a pretty
good story, for all its utter daftness, and the Canon (misspelled Cannon throughout the first episode -tcch-, wouldn't happen in a House of Bolt/RAC product I'd wager....) himself is an amusing enough PoV in this one. I couldn't help reading this through a Father Ted filter, especially the bit where he avoids annihilation[spoiler] by Dark Matter Demons because he's judging a Lovely Girls contest[/spoiler] - I suspect this helped rather than hindered the enjoyment factor. Anyway, I demand more - I want to know if [spoiler]he patched things up with his Dad, and revealed his true feelings to
Mrs Doyle Sadie[/spoiler].
Quotewouldn't happen in a House of Bolt/RAC product I'd wager....
Darn tootin' it wouldn't!
See Batson, nobody gives a shit if you post the Meg cover early.
Is Tank Girl universally hated by 2000AD readers!?
I think I remember her getting a bit of flack, on here... and then after reading one of the letters to Tharg...
Personally, I love the bi-atch! ;D
Not universally, but there are a lot of us who just don't get it. WHich is maybe fine if it's a series that's going to be around for 3-4 episodes. But when it's seemingly in a long-term residency it starts to irk some of us.
Personally it's well-drawn, but hating the character from the very start, it's something I skip right past (wishing the creators were doing something less likely to hit all my "annoy" buttons).
The length of a long-term story you dislike in the meg hurts more than in the prog where, even if it's 12 episodes, it's gone in three months rather than a year. THere's also the price to be considered.
I wonder how many new readers it managed to bring across from the Tank Girl readership into the folds of the Meg.
It's so rooted in the early 90s "scene" that I doubt there's a massive audience for it (or presumably it'd be hosting it's own comic?). Could be wrong. I dare say there are a fair few, but whether they'd stay once TG (hopefully) takes "a well-earned break" (Thargspeak for "will never be seen again") is a different matter.
Quote from: COMMANDO FORCES on 13 November, 2009, 08:44:49 PM
I wonder how many new readers it managed to bring across from the Tank Girl readership into the folds of the Meg.
Interesting how the Meg keeps plugging Tank Girl in...almost as if it's being included to spite us. It really feels that way. Yet I keep shelling out my fiver to NOT read 6 pages of Tank Girl and 4 pages of movie reviews :o.
Must admit I was completly blown away by Chris Weston's art on Cannon Fodder. Amazing stuff a sort of combination of Glenn Fabry and Brian Bolland. The panels with the airship coming through a building was gobsmacking.
Only had a flick through so far, but going on art alone this is the best issue of the Meg for a long time. Everything looks great, from Goddard on Dredd, PJ's new style, Andrew Currie's wonderfully expressive work on Bato Loco, to Rufus' gorgeous opening page of Tank Girl.
And that upcoming Ezquerra cover....
I enjoyed the new stuff PJ's work on Tales was particularly fun and fine but my goodness Canon Fodder is a work of mad genius.Utterly amazing art and story.
Didn't care much for the Rogue Trooper tale or the Thargs FS for some reason.
I think I was too in thrall to Canon Fodder still.
Quote from: HOO-HAA on 13 November, 2009, 08:09:36 PM
Is Tank Girl universally hated by 2000AD readers!?
I think I remember her getting a bit of flack, on here... and then after reading one of the letters to Tharg...
Personally, I love the bi-atch! ;D
I would say it's a bit of an even split on the board, between those who like and those who hate Tank Girl. It's just that those who hate it are a bit more vitriolic and forthcoming in their comments. Personally, it's usually about my second favourite strip in the Meg. It would be interesting to hear how it's going down with the general readership though, as the board is really only a tiny percentage of that.
actually, considering how many registered users the board has, its not THAT tiny a percentage! sbt
Although only a comparitively small amount of registered users tend to post semi-regularly. Point taken though Steev.
Quotewant to know if he patched things up with his Dad, and revealed his true feelings to Sadie.
Which ironically is a part of the canon fodder III idea I have written out which will likely never see the light of day
Quote from: chris_askham on 14 November, 2009, 02:53:22 PM
Quote from: HOO-HAA on 13 November, 2009, 08:09:36 PM
Is Tank Girl universally hated by 2000AD readers!?
I think I remember her getting a bit of flack, on here... and then after reading one of the letters to Tharg...
Personally, I love the bi-atch! ;D
I would say it's a bit of an even split on the board, between those who like and those who hate Tank Girl. It's just that those who hate it are a bit more vitriolic and forthcoming in their comments. Personally, it's usually about my second favourite strip in the Meg. It would be interesting to hear how it's going down with the general readership though, as the board is really only a tiny percentage of that.
Yeah, I loved her in the Jamie Hewitt days, and was very excited to see her in the Meg.
To be honest, it was the clincher to bring me back to 2000ad after a long, long 'well earned break' from reading the mag ;)
She's a keeper, for me, but I can see how she would irk some folks...
There you go. Whereas for me, her continued presence may well send me right off to just reading the prog. Horses for courses, eh?
Too right, and it's better that way.
The (hopefully) imminent arrival of the fantastic Lilly MacKenzie by our own Simon Fraser, the upcoming x-masage (which is usually well worth it) and the lost cases thingy, along with the quality of this issue (which I loved, TG excepted, cover to cover) will keep me hanging on for a while yet though.
Who am I kidding? I'd just like to feel like TG might be an occasional inclusion, 6 months out of 12 maybe, rather than grinding away at my good humour EVERY month. Ah well. If it were perfect we'd have nothing to type about.... And at least it's VERY popular with those who DO like it.
thought the Cannon Fodder GN was awesome, insane artwork! loved it!
I must say I was getting a bit tired of all the whining and sniping about the Meg, then along comes an issue like this to remind us all why it's here.
Quality stuff from cover to cover. Dredd wasn't quite as great as I'd hoped, but was still good fun and the 'Jury' character was inspired. Black Museum was just brilliant - I did a double take when I saw PJ's artwork, which I like more and more the longer I look at it. Really nicely pitched little story - if only there had been more BMs like this one!
Bato Loco is a entertaining little romp enhanced by excellent artwork, and Tank Girl was great fun as usual - really don't understand all the hate - the artwork alone makes it worthwhile for me. The only thing that didn't really work for me was Mister Amperduke, but it seems a little petty to criticise what is essentially a bonus strip.
Even the choice of reprint seemed well-judged, Canon Fodder has always been largely seen as a bit of a stinker, so it's nice that so many seem to be giving it a reappraisal.
Really looking forward to next month's issue *crosses fingers for a Wagner Xmas Dredd*
Radiator- I think it is Al Ewing who gets to write the X-mas Meg Dredd this year.
Brilliant Meg. Everything except TG (as usual for me I'm afraid Radiator, and I really can't understand why it appeals to so many, although I'm glad it does).
Ewing x-mas Dredd you say? Oh good. That makes me all a tingle now....
Really enjoyed this Meg.
Great Dredd (though I think he has a tendency to talk a little bit too much when beating people up).
Bato Loco - cracking art and funny script but not much in the way of actual plot.
Tales from the Black Museum was also good stuff and I even enjoyed Tank Girl and it's meticulously detailled art.
Mister Amperduke I didn't enjoy much though.
Thoroughly enjoying the CANON FODDER floppy (though I didn't read the first) but only a few episodes in.
The ROGUE TROOPER tale, however, I found to be pish. It seemed to be a standard haunted house terror tale with Rogue/Friday bolted on. It read OK but every time I looked at the pictures I though "WTF is Rogue Trooper doing here?" and it really spoiled my enjoyment of the art.
QuoteEwing x-mas Dredd you say? Oh good. That makes me all a tingle now....
You know, that's a very important moment in the history of the Dredd strip for me. Any other year, if I'd heard we weren't getting Wagner for our Christmas story I'd have been rightly hacked off - especially after the fabulous examples of recent memory. Even the prospect of Rennie, a fine sub by any standards, wouldn't have inspired any real anticipation, although odds are I would have enjoyed the resulting strip.
The prospect of a
Ewing Christmas Dredd actually makes me excited!
I'd call that a sea change in this Squaxx's relationship with the strip.
I've been enjoying the Meg - having come to it after a break of many years. I used to love Tank Girl in Deadline but fell out of love with her when Hewlett and Martin temporarily grew her hair long and called her Rebecca during the rave era. I like Dayglo's art a lot - he has the spirit dead-on without being a slavish Hewlett copier. I just don't like that style of writing any more.
I don't think there's another strip I haven't liked in the last few months. I liked the Darren D'ead strip for the bitchy dialogue and the fact that there was a woman in it as opposed to a girl with huge tits. If you fancy boys the GWHTs can get a bit boring. I want some new man-candy please to balance it out.
Armitage I liked but the art is rushed. I know Cooper can do excellent art so I'm sad he isn't really exploiting Photoshop a bit more to enhance rather than detract from his work. I like Canon Fodder - it was funny and surprisingly sad too and I can just about remember it from long ago...Generally I am liking the reprints as a way to remind me of some past goodies and also why I don't normally like fully painted artwork - doesn't seem to reproduce that well or at least it didn't in the early 90s.
I also can't be arsed with the film reviews. It seems out of place. I get film reviews in my newspapers, online and in SFX. So why not have something a bit more unusual like comics reviews or genre novels? Much more valuable to me.
The interviews I have enjoyed, every one of them. I don't mind them continuing as long as they don't run out of interesting people to interview.