Brilliant meg. Hondo City fJustice is back. Full review later today!!!
Bah just beat me to the thread. Nice looking issue that I'll gorge on tomorrow while hungover after today's drinking frenzy. The highs and lows can all be found on the Dreddlines page. 'Channelling Quentin Crisp' what a lot of pish - imagine using 'channelling' in a letter. Oh wait...
Sorry for the delay, have been extremely busy today!!!
Cover - An average cover by 2 brilliant artists!!!
Dred - Ends in a whimper!!!
Samizdat Squad - Is starting to remind me of [spoiler]the first story[/spoiler]!!!
Snapshot - Is starting to "pick up"!!!
Hondo City Justice - Is the [spoiler]The Hulk[/spoiler] I see on the final panel?? The [spoiler]Avengers Assemble movie madness[/spoiler] continues!!!
Floppy - The first story looks good, but is confusing (ie. who is who??)!! The second story is the final Harry Kipling (deceased) strip!!!
Interviews & [spoiler]Fiction[/spoiler] - Were both skipped over!!!
Dreddlines - By Proudfoot, Buttonman & various others!!!
Damn! My letter wasn't published again! >:(
There is always next month, but come Decmeber we'll be all out of time! :D
Cover- Very Nice. Look's prity and Inaba is all angry. So that's promising. ****
Dredd- Saldy this fall's into meh. the PR Judge's are still dillectably camp though. LOVE Sir Carlos and son. *** and a 1/2
Samizdat Squad- Is very samey. Nothing here is particularly original. Art is still the shitz though. *** and a 1/2
Snapshot- Still loving this. How can I not? Diggle and Jock together again? Pure bliss. **** and a 1/2
Hondo City Justice- Promising first parter. Looking forward to how it's going to play out. Spot the cameo on page one! :lol: ****
Dreddlines- BUTTONMAN!!!!! >:D
Floppy- I WANT to like TS/DM........but it's just so MEH! It's so bland and forgetable.............oh look, Harry Kipling! I knew there had to be more after last month. Now Tharg. rather than commisinig another series of Age of Wolf, bring this little stonker of a strip back. Please? ****
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 May, 2012, 12:25:50 PM
Full review later today!!!
Then why bother? Sorry, but this really annoys me - if you aren't going to bother with a review then don't start the thread.
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 19 May, 2012, 08:15:07 PM
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 May, 2012, 12:25:50 PM
Full review later today!!!
Then why bother? Sorry, but this really annoys me - if you aren't going to bother with a review then don't start the thread.
Sorry, but it was nearing 1PM and still no thread!!
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 May, 2012, 08:40:21 PM
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 19 May, 2012, 08:15:07 PM
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 May, 2012, 12:25:50 PM
Full review later today!!!
Then why bother? Sorry, but this really annoys me - if you aren't going to bother with a review then don't start the thread.
Sorry, but it was nearing 1PM and still no thread!!
The time has nothing to do with it. If you have nothing to say, don't start a thread.
It was PAST 12 and I wanted to start the topic BELIEVING that I could write my review with the next 10/15 minutes!!!
Again: it doesn't matter what time it was. There is no obligation for anyone to start a prog review thread before noon on a Saturday. Also, it doesn't matter when you intended to come back and post more. If you don't have a review, you shouldn't start the thread.
I don't want to give you a hard time, BSC, but - as a general rule on message boards - people shouldn't start a thread when they have nothing to say. If you're going to post, tell us something.
All the best
- Trout
Quote from: Trout on 19 May, 2012, 10:03:47 PM
Again: it doesn't matter what time it was. There is no obligation for anyone to start a prog review thread before noon on a Saturday. Also, it doesn't matter when you intended to come back and post more. If you don't have a review, you shouldn't start the thread.
I don't want to give you a hard time, BSC, but - as a general rule on message boards - people shouldn't start a thread when they have nothing to say. If you're going to post, tell us something.
All the best
- Trout
I
KNOW you're not giving me a "hard time" but my original intention wes to create just one thread for the Prog but after creating the thread and seeing their still wasn't a thread for the Meg, I rather stupidly created another thread & for that, I humbly apologise. How about next time, I do a one word review for each of the stories??
You created both threads without having read either comic.
I expect you'll continue to do whatever you like. I tried to be polite about it. Never mind.
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 May, 2012, 10:14:59 PMI KNOW you're not giving me a "hard time" but my original intention wes to create just one thread for the Prog but after creating the thread and seeing their still wasn't a thread for the Meg, I rather stupidly created another thread & for that, I humbly apologise. How about next time, I do a one word review for each of the stories??
Why don't you just wait until you've actually got time to review, and if somebody else has started a thread in the meantime, post your reviews in that? Anybody who's desperately waiting for the thread to appear to read spoilers is going to be a lot more annoyed by a fake review thread that hasn't got any info about the issue in it than if there's just no thread at all yet.
That was all good stuff. I've been very critical of the Meg in recent years but I'm enjoying it a lot more now.
The lead Dredd story was lots of fun. It's done in a light, good-natured way and I think it's important to read it with that in mind. I laughed a lot and I thought Dredd was handled properly, [spoiler]particularly when he sentences the woman[/spoiler].
Samizdat Squad's my favourite story in the Meg. It's got lots of great ideas in it and the art suits it really well. This is what the Meg should be about - Dreddworld stories full of twists and turns.
Snapshot's very cool and I love all that kinetic page layout that Jock does so well. The small problem with an action-oriented strip like that is it's easy to read it quickly. Sorry - is that splitting hairs? I liked it and expect I will love it when I re-read the lot eventually.
I love those flying bikes in Hondo City Justice. This was a great first episode.
I wasn't going to read the floppy, but I'll dig into it to read the Kipling story. I didn't know it was there until I read it on this thread.
- Trout
Quote from: a chosen rider on 19 May, 2012, 10:41:35 PM
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 19 May, 2012, 10:14:59 PMI KNOW you're not giving me a "hard time" but my original intention wes to create just one thread for the Prog but after creating the thread and seeing their still wasn't a thread for the Meg, I rather stupidly created another thread & for that, I humbly apologise. How about next time, I do a one word review for each of the stories??
Why don't you just wait until you've actually got time to review, and if somebody else has started a thread in the meantime, post your reviews in that? Anybody who's desperately waiting for the thread to appear to read spoilers is going to be a lot more annoyed by a fake review thread that hasn't got any info about the issue in it than if there's just no thread at all yet.
Fair point, I'll refrain from making any review topics for the next 3+ months as punishment. It's just that being the first to write a review is like being first in a school queue. I humbly apologise for my actions, it won't happen again!!!
Did anyone spot that the cover art for the new Solaris book 'Deadfall Hotel' is by this guy: http://johnkenn.blogspot.co.uk/
Maybe we'll see him in the prog someday - a nice creepy Terror Tale please.
Big shoutout to Smudge too for his wonderful Dredd portrait in Alec Worley's text story.
No need for all that! :)
Just remember that if you start a review thread, it should have a review in it.
Sorry - that last post was in answer to BSC.
The last three panels of Dredd. Is Si having a go at us comic book readers. Thats the impression I got.
V
I think Si is having a go at U.S. comic readers, as opposed to 'us' comic readers, perhaps?
I drokking LOVED that Dredd, it was brilliant. The [spoiler]'Time For A Team Up![/spoiler]' and it's subsequent panel made me laugh out loud, as did the afore-mentioned final three panels. An absolute joy, it's great to have Spurriur back.
Thats what I mean't.. U.S.
Curse my lazy typing.
V
I'm a bit surprised the cover hasn't tickled my fancy much given the creators! But yeah, it's grand.
Dredd I thought was ok overall. It just didn't click fully for me because I can't get over the PR Judges existence, stupidly. I would like to see more of The Bugger's adventures though!
Samizdat Squad is graced with some wonderful, wonderful art and it's building up well with the spooky wee lad appearing. Good stuff! Feels more of a 2000ad strip if you know what I mean, but it benefits from the longer page count.
Snapshot - hard to say much about a mainly action episode, apart from top action scribbles! This is a good intruiging story I'm enjoying so far. Don't know where it's going to end up which is always a good sign!
I found Hondo City Justice a bit like several people shouting at me about different things at once. There's a lot in the episode and at times it felt like I was reading several different strips - I know it's setting out all the story elements, but I was tired and felt confused! I'll give it a re read to get it straight before next month.
The text story annoyed me for one reason - I've had that core [spoiler]scream orchestra [/spoiler] idea kicking around in me head for years, but have obviously not the talent or inclination to have done anything with useful with it! >:( It was great to see a text story if you ask me - I'd be happy with more. And I did enjoy it, Alec! A good one off. Nice Dredd illo too.
I've only started the floppy so will only give a hearty :thumbsup: for Parkhouses art.
Good Meg, Tharg.
M.
Cover - fine could have done with a couple of Whoosh! lines
Dredd - Enjoye dthis nice and light hearted ribbiing of The Gusset Brigade and their fans.
Samizdat Squad - not too sure about that train/spider thang, I think i prefered PJ chunkier, darker art work , but thats just me
Snapshot - an episode long car chase, hmmm, hopefully the story will move along as quick next month
Hondo City Justice - Crickey that's a big creative team, all looking good, unfortunately I've half read the Floppy and now the two stories are jumbled in ma noggin!!
Floppy - half read, the red skull baddie is a bit old hat and the unnecessary topless fights grates a bit, strangely happy to see the return of Mr Kipling tho'
Interviews & Fiction - Read the scream thang, and the other nothing raelly shaking my tree or floating ma boat
Dreddlines - Proudfoot Vs Buttonman !!
Quote from: Mikey on 23 May, 2012, 10:37:40 AMDredd I thought was ok overall. It just didn't click fully for me because I can't get over the PR Judges existence, stupidly.
I just got up to prog 1709 in my catch-up efforts and discovered there's a Judge
Kamble, Public Relations
Department in there. (As opposed to Judge Camble, Public Relations Division here.) Apparently Spurrier liked the idea of PR Judges so much he invented them twice.
I wonder if this Meg story's been sitting unused in a drawer for years and got pulled out to coincide with the Avengers film?
I should clarify - it's not the possible existence of a Justice PR Department, but how they'd actually act as Judges if they're in a strip. I just can't get a member of the Justice Department acting like such a mimsy, even if they're PR. I don't usually get hung up about such things but just feel Dredd would, or perhaps should have gubbed them when they showed up. My problem!
M.
Quote from: Mikey on 23 May, 2012, 11:10:48 AM
I should clarify - it's not the possible existence of a Justice PR Department, but how they'd actually act as Judges if they're in a strip. I just can't get a member of the Justice Department acting like such a mimsy, even if they're PR. I don't usually get hung up about such things but just feel Dredd would, or perhaps should have gubbed them when they showed up. My problem!
M.
I know what you mean. You'd expect Justice Department PR to be involved in things like faking the deaths of Volt and Fargo and those kind of cover-ups, not swanning about like theatrical darlings the way they do in this story.
Quote from: a chosen rider on 23 May, 2012, 11:02:16 AM
Quote from: Mikey on 23 May, 2012, 10:37:40 AMDredd I thought was ok overall. It just didn't click fully for me because I can't get over the PR Judges existence, stupidly.
I just got up to prog 1709 in my catch-up efforts and discovered there's a Judge Kamble, Public Relations Department in there. (As opposed to Judge Camble, Public Relations Division here.) Apparently Spurrier liked the idea of PR Judges so much he invented them twice.
Was that the one where some illegal immigrants tried to enter Mega-City One inside a giant fish?
Quote from: Tim Tailz on 23 May, 2012, 11:56:45 AM
Quote from: a chosen rider on 23 May, 2012, 11:02:16 AM
Quote from: Mikey on 23 May, 2012, 10:37:40 AMDredd I thought was ok overall. It just didn't click fully for me because I can't get over the PR Judges existence, stupidly.
I just got up to prog 1709 in my catch-up efforts and discovered there's a Judge Kamble, Public Relations Department in there. (As opposed to Judge Camble, Public Relations Division here.) Apparently Spurrier liked the idea of PR Judges so much he invented them twice.
Was that the one where some illegal immigrants tried to enter Mega-City One inside a giant fish?
Yep, that's the one.
I'm happy to go along with mimsy PR judges if the story is fun, and this one was a blast. A nice break from the bleak Prog Dredd.
I'm finding Samizdat Squad really dull, as I did the last series. The art is cool, but I hate the story.
Snapshot is intriguing, and probably will be a good complete read through later on.
Hondo Justice looked fabulous and was a good read to boot. Loved that the not-quite-copyright-breaking Hulk thing at the end was followed by "Next Issue: Rampage".
Nice letters page, apart from that Watson bloke. My letter was Arsom though.
Quote from: a chosen rider on 23 May, 2012, 12:16:37 PM
Quote from: Tim Tailz on 23 May, 2012, 11:56:45 AM
Quote from: a chosen rider on 23 May, 2012, 11:02:16 AM
Quote from: Mikey on 23 May, 2012, 10:37:40 AMDredd I thought was ok overall. It just didn't click fully for me because I can't get over the PR Judges existence, stupidly.
I just got up to prog 1709 in my catch-up efforts and discovered there's a Judge Kamble, Public Relations Department in there. (As opposed to Judge Camble, Public Relations Division here.) Apparently Spurrier liked the idea of PR Judges so much he invented them twice.
Was that the one where some illegal immigrants tried to enter Mega-City One inside a giant fish?
Yep, that's the one.
I thought so. I remembered seeing a PR Judge somewhere fairly recently but I couldn't quite remember where it was.
The second time one of my letters has been printed. :D
Got case files 1 in the post today (curses).
Spiffy cover and jolliness all round with Samizdat squad (oh another panel of the train mecha thingy-it should be the star :)),Dredd was very good but basically just an excuse to blast at capes, Snapshot has finally engaged my jaded attention storywise and I really thought it was top this month, Hondo looks brill and reads well and some nice adverts for forthcoming thrills Aquila being my fave.
I thoroughly enjoyed the freebie though, especially the Tiger story with some great action panels and ninjas.
Felt very light this issue. Ignored the floppy as it contained two stinkers IMHO.
Dredd - reasonable parody, but just goes to show why Ezquerra doesn't do superheroes. The story was ok.
Snapshot - Good looking, decent story, but a 2 minute read.
Hondo City - intriguing start, but will need more time to get into the strip.
Samizdat Squad was my favourite thing this issue. Good old school thrill and the art was excellent.
Interviews - How many pages long was Steve Pugh interview, and how much was actual text. Way too many illustrations, we could have had another interview in there. The Batman puffpiece again came across as a rewritten Press Pack rather than the culmination of two interviews
Haven't read the prose story as I'm not a fan of Worley's writing. I take it the budget's been cut so the text story is in there to lower outgoings. As are the four pages of promo images.
The issue left me feeling a bit robbed this time around. There was plenty of room for a stock pile story like Black Museum, but it seemed like the issue was the print equivalent of the faces of half of the cast of The Only Way I Essex - padded out with cheap filler
Yeah, really feeling the absence of strange & darke this month- without it, not much appeals. The dredd story was alright, entertaining enough i guess, but did seem to be a left-over from the pre-tour of duty filing cabinet. Dredd's just not (often) like that days. Fun, though.
Snapshot was read in its entirety between final motion and wipe, so seems over too quickly in such short bursts. It'll probably be great as a pacy trade, or a movie, but in bitey chunks... nah.
That's all ive read so far. The thing im most looking forward to is tiger sun dragon moon in one shot. Will do that later tonight, if i can.
When are strange & darke and american reaper coming back?
SBT
Quote from: Pete Wells on 21 May, 2012, 10:32:38 PM
I think Si is having a go at U.S. comic readers, as opposed to 'us' comic readers, perhaps?
He's having a pop at Marvel / DC, their (sometimes) preposterous comics and their readers. It was hilarious (especially the Super Villain team).
Equally hilarious that he recently sold the remaining 10% of his soul to Marvel. :)
Sixty-four pages and only 10 containing Dredd as a strip and two as prose.When Anderson is present or strips like the excellent Insurrection or Koburn it's not so bad ,but the meat is really thin on the bone right now.
Dredd Simply awful.Simon Spurrier is absolutely brilliant, BUT ,just like Alan Grant just can't write Dredd
Samizdat Squad Absolutely dire.Cannot believe they have commissioned more of this dross.
HondoAs soon as I saw Hondo-cit, I thought science gone mad, greedy corporations, yakuza and genetic monsters and what do you know, it hit all the marks.In other words, nothing original.Hondo is an very interesting setting ,but it needs more depth and more characters,than constantly retreading these same themes, which have already successfully been covered in the past.
Snapshot The highlight of the prog.Thin on story but very well executed.
Which brings me back to my original point.If you are looking for an extra hit of Dredd each month , the Judge Dredd Megazine is on very thin rations right now.More stories with a closer link to Dredds world please (and for Gruds sake please reconsider and don't bring American Reaper back!)
Quote from: The Sherman Kid on 24 May, 2012, 09:39:17 PM
More stories with a closer link to Dredds world please (and for Gruds sake please reconsider and don't bring American Reaper back!)
But Samizdat Squad and Hondo-City Justice
are both Dredd-world strips. Or do you mean Mega City One specifically?
Personally, I'd rather see less focus on the world of Dredd in the Meg. One main Dredd strip and three completely unrelated 'back-up' strips, not necessarily connected to Dredd would be ideal and it's one of the reasons I'm in favour of the creator owned slot.
I often find the Dredd-world stuff a bit boring and pointless.
Quote from: Lee Bates on 25 May, 2012, 10:01:15 AM
Personally, I'd rather see less focus on the world of Dredd in the Meg. One main Dredd strip and three completely unrelated 'back-up' strips, not necessarily connected to Dredd would be ideal and it's one of the reasons I'm in favour of the creator owned slot.
I often find the Dredd-world stuff a bit boring and pointless.
You already get that with 2000ad though. The whole premise and identity of the comic would be lost if they did what you suggest.
More Dredd, less filler and articles and it might bring me back but I guess the Meg is like Mrs Logan MkI.
Had a good run for 19 years and then the love affair ended.
Quote from: James Stacey on 25 May, 2012, 10:07:45 AM
You already get that with 2000ad though. The whole premise and identity of the comic would be lost if they did what you suggest.
I suppose that might happen but would it be so bad? How many truly memorable strips can you name from the Megazine which didn't feature Dredd himself? I can't think of one. Now, how many brilliant, non-Dredd strips can you think of from 2000 AD? Bleeding loads.
Even when we do see an interesting and fun Dredd-world story (Low Life, Lenny Zero) it ends up in 2000 AD instead of the Meg which serves to further undermine the point of the monthly.
Insurrection, Missionary Man. Simpering Detective, Devlin Waugh, Boo's Anderson, Strange and Darke
Quote from: James Stacey on 25 May, 2012, 11:03:26 AM
Insurrection, Missionary Man. Simpering Detective, Devlin Waugh, Boo's Anderson, Strange and Darke
I didn't like most of those as much as some people seemed to (don't understand the appeal of Insurrection at all) but even if you do like them, do any of them
really stand up against strips and characters like Nemesis, Bad Company, Strontium Dog, Slaine, Rogue Trooper, Halo Jones, ACE Trucking Co, Zombo, ABC Warriors, Stickleback, Kingdom, Nikolai Dante, Defoe, Caballistics Inc. etc, etc, etc, etc, etc ad infinitum...
PS. I like the idea of a strip called 'Simpering' Detective.
some do, some don't. I'm not a fan of all the thrills on your list. The Prog has been running a lot longer and weekly so it's not fair to compare it to a monthly (ok briefly fortnightly) which contains less strips. The Meg has had some dire patches in its run where most if not all of it has been total shit. It's had a lot of good stuff too. What distinguishes it from the Prog tho is the 'Dreddworld' focus. There is room for the creator owned slot, Lilly Mackenzie and Numbercruncher were great. I really can't see the point in making it just another 2000ad though.
At the risk of repeating myself, I think the Megazine is pretty good at present, but imo should have a longer Dredd every month - say 12 pages, and lose one of the backup strips. So just have bumper Dredd, one backup Dreddworld strip, and the creator-owned slot. The monthly format suits longer episodes imo.
Quote from: James Stacey on 25 May, 2012, 11:38:33 AM
I really can't see the point in making it just another 2000ad though.
I can see what you mean. I'm not saying I have all the answers, I just feel that the Dredd-world mandate often results in samey, unimaginative filler and if creators were let off the leash a bit, some great material could surface in the Meg. Like I said, putting stuff like Low Life and the new Lenny Zero story in the Meg instead of the prog would be a good start.
Quote from: radiator on 25 May, 2012, 11:43:53 AM
At the risk of repeating myself, I think the Megazine is pretty good at present, but imo should have a longer Dredd every month - say 12 pages, and lose one of the backup strips. So just have bumper Dredd, one backup Dreddworld strip, and the creator-owned slot. The monthly format suits longer episodes imo.
I could definitely get behind this.
Would be great to see Lenny Zero or Low Life in the Meg and even better to see ,as Radiator suggested, an extra long episode of Dredd each week.Just feeling a little short-changed at the moment ,at almost £6 ,the Judge Dredd Megazine is not doing'as it says on the tin' so to speak.Stories need to be more closely aligned to Dredds world.
There a lots of divisions within Justice Dept that could do with a higher profile eg Exorcist Division so maybe start there....
I think there are a couple of clues in the title :D
Quote from: James Stacey on 25 May, 2012, 11:38:33 AM
What distinguishes it from the Prog tho is the 'Dreddworld' focus.
The 'Dreddworld focus' feels more than a little redundant given that the prog's always full of stuff like Cadet Anderson and Low Life, though. With the prog forever barging in on the one claim to a unique identity that the Meg has, the Megazine's always going to feel like the poorer younger brother.
Quote from: Proudhuff on 25 May, 2012, 02:26:32 PM
I think there are a couple of clues in the title :D
Exactly -but if they keep going it won't be long before it's 'Judge Dredd Megazine with special guest appearance by Judge Dredd' :|
Interesting thought. How Dredd focused should the megazine be?
Well, I've just read this after the new prog with Durham Red on the cover (1785) and this was better! This very rarely happens but I'd like it to happen more. A strong Meg and a strong Prog has got to be a good thing.
Quote from: DrJomster on 27 May, 2012, 11:12:49 PM
How Dredd focused should the megazine be?
I think it's right to have at least one more Dredd world strip, but sometimes I'd rather have a longer second Dredd strip. Overall though I read the Meg as an anthology comic so am not overly excercised with a lack of Dredd world strips - the creator owned slot has been consistently good for example, so I'd be very happy to see more of this sort of thing.
For the non MC1 strips I think sometimes other Judges can be just a bit boring. Everywhere esentially has the same Justice system so it's difficult to see through that, making some of the situations less believable (!) or something. I sometimes think it'd be better without the Justice system backdrop if you know what I mean.
M.
Quote from: The Sherman Kid on 25 May, 2012, 01:53:17 PM
There a lots of divisions within Justice Dept that could do with a higher profile eg Exorcist Division so maybe start there....
Meant to add no to the Exorcist Division. Just not sure about that one at all!
M.
Cover - Nice, I guess? Art is fine, but it's not particularly striking as a cover image. B
Dredd - Bland. The parody's cheap and not very clever (they look and speak like Marvel characters, and... nothing, that's all there is to it) and Spurrier's Dredd just fails to convince me; he acts like Dredd, but he sure doesn't talk like him. But any pages with an Ezquerra-drawn Dredd are never wasted, even if this does prove that his style is woefully unsuited to superhero costumes. C+
Samizdat Squad - The art on this series is beautiful. Love this style. Don't really have too much a grip on the story yet, but I'm enjoying it anyway. A
Snapshot - Not much to say about this; nice art, but this instalment is pretty much all action and over very quickly compared to the density of 2000AD stories. I imagine it'll read really well in collected form, though. B
Fiction - Hmm. Nice little Dredd story, but a tad overwritten I thought. I actually felt this one would have worked better in comic form. Still, good ending. B
Hondo-City Justice - Wow, five creators. So unused to seeing that in the Meg, even though it's the norm in all the other comics I read. Nice to have two female leads, and this seems like a good start, though some of the design work seems a bit uninspired: that "laser-katana" is just a lightsabre, and big guy at the end looks a lot like the Hulk. Still, I'm on board and looking forward to seeing how it develops. B
Reprints:
Tiger Sun, Dragon Moon - I'd read three parts from the middle of this due to collecting a Dredd story in the same progs, and found it confusing to follow. Reading the rest helped a little, but it still seems a bit of a mess. The Dreddverse elements feel like they're tacked on and swiftly forgotten, and the nudity seems a bit pointlesly random though it's quite tastefully done. (Less, "Yay boobies because boobies!" more "Bare-breasted women with swords make a cool visual.") As a one-man creation it's impressive, but I think it would have benefitted from someone else's input to point out where it's hard to follow. It all looks lovely though. B-
Harry Kipling - Glad to see more of this. Boo Cook's art is so gorgeous, and the writing is great fun. I much prefer Spurrier doing his own thing than when he's trying to write Dredd, which really doesn't suit his strengths. Fab stuff, would love to have a new series. A
Great Meg! Disappointing Dredd, but everything else was very strong. Polar opposite of the prog, in fact.
Quote from: Mikey on 28 May, 2012, 10:31:18 AM
For the non MC1 strips I think sometimes other Judges can be just a bit boring. Everywhere esentially has the same Justice system so it's difficult to see through that, making some of the situations less believable (!) or something. I sometimes think it'd be better without the Justice system backdrop if you know what I mean.
It's probably no coincedence that most of the really successful Dreddworld spin-offs are those that have broken out of the 'Judge' formula and given us something new - Jack Point/Simping Detective; Devlin Waugh; Dirty Frank/Low Life; Lenny Zero, Insurrection, etc.
The basic concept of 'world judges' is at the root of the problem for me.
Even with the (relatively cosmetic) changes (unarmed Inspectors, shorts and shades, sexist Departments, corrupt Departments, spud guns etc.) the idea of a single global model of justice and policing is just... dull, and diminishes the uniqueness of MC-1. The best thing about the whole mess has always been the original McCarthy designs.
I can see the appeal from an editorial perspective, the lure of the Batmen of Many Lands, or the Justice League of Earth, but more creative more open world building would have been preferable for me.
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 28 May, 2012, 02:30:58 PM
It's probably no coincedence that most of the really successful Dreddworld spin-offs are those that have broken out of the 'Judge' formula and given us something new - Jack Point/Simping Detective; Devlin Waugh; Dirty Frank/Low Life; Lenny Zero, Insurrection, etc.
Yup.
Quote from: TordelBack on 28 May, 2012, 02:45:47 PM
The best thing about the whole mess has always been the original McCarthy designs.
Yup.
Maybe there's room for a proper long term, slowly developed 'other Judge' story to appear in the Meg each month? I suppose the problem is that any big events might start to encroach on MC1...
M.
Quote from: Mikey on 28 May, 2012, 03:55:16 PMI suppose the problem is that any big events might start to encroach on MC1...
I wouldn't worry, given that world-shaking events in Anderson are always COMPLETELY ignored in Dredd - and that's in the same city!
I think some judges work and some don't but find them all very stereotyped, the drunk Irish judges, tribal pan african and laid back Oz judges.
I really liked Calhab Justice, it may have been unbearably dour at times but at least it was trying to do something different with the judge concept.
I'd be in favour of less focus on Judges in the back up strips. I really like Tales from the Black Museum because, while story often features Justice Department, the focus is not on the Judges.
Couldn't bring myself to get past the second page of Hondo City this month - that thinly-veiled superhero rehash does nothing for me, I'm a "shit or get off the pot" type of reader. ONE OR THE OTHER DAMN YOUR EYES.
Likewise Dredd, which ended on exactly the same soundbite as Garth Ennis' The Pro, and shared that book's main problem of stemming from a central premise of laughing at the idea of superheroes despite being a story about superheroes, "grow up" losing any weight when it's the punctuation at the end of a juvenile story that lacks the sophistication of an issue of Spider-Man. As mentioned upthread, it brings "haha it is the Avengers who are in a film right now" to the party but nothing else. I have read stronger Mark Millar Dredds.
Samsz... Samis... the Russian thing is still good, but I'd like more dense pages, as this read too fast for me - though that's likely deliberate as Wyatt's pacing has always been one of his strengths as a writer. Something about the art makes me think of Akira here and there, but in a good way and not a "nonsensical story that goes on forever" kind of way.
Snapshot was a quick read, being essentially the end of act one action sequence necessary for the movie version. My only gripe was that the action didn't really flow as well as I would expect from Jock. Small beans as complaints go.
Harry Kip: no thank you.
Tiger Sun Dragon Moon - barely remember this, but don't recall it being quite as outre. Is this official Dreddworld canon, by any chance, or wiped-out canon ala The Inspektre? Entertaining stuff, but feels out of step with the 2000ad house style - not a bad thing in my mind, but I know that gets the goat of the traditionalists.
Cracking Meg this month, but then both the prog and the Meg have been flying high for a long time. Found it weird that the text story was set after the end of the Day Of Chaos, which of course we havent seen yet. Ive also found it weird that none of the stories in the Meg matched up with current events. I know people moaned about previous epics crossing over in to both titles, and I remember reading that it was a logistical nightmare to organise too, but it did feel strange reading for what passes as normality in Mega City 1 in the Meg.
Nice to know that Mega City 1 bounces back though. Its hard at the moment to see how, which might explain why I am enjoying it so much. Theres just so much anxeity in the story, I cant wait to read the next episode. Is Judge Death going to make an appearance this episode? Do any of those in charge of the nuclear arsenal going to become infected (imagine the possibilities; World War 3 etc)? Does the Eastern block have some other crap to throw at MC1 too?
Anyway, keep up the good work guys. 2000AD is definitely riding high.
I thought Tiger Sun... was beautiful and the closet I've ever seen to one of those films with wire-fu and doomed romances in.