2000 AD Online Forum

Just two quickies;

I'd like to know how early Mr Rennie starts to write and if he writes too fast how much dies he spill?

Secondly; My sub seems to have just one cover varient; is this right or am I missing something?

Meg? Meg?

I have no Meg!

Postieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

- Trout

Wrong thread yer brininess. That should be on the 'Great Aiieees! of our time' thread surely?

Mine's not come either.

Yeah, but maybe you'll get the two covers when it does arrive.

Mine's got two covers...

Not had time to read it yet but it looks a good 'un

thanks Gary; I'll give the subs dept a call.

Mine has two covers. Here's my thought Pt 1:

Dreddlines:
Gerald Bostock's letter is all the points already discussed, and I hope it doesn't al lstart again. Third or fourth time I've read you say that Cookie had a Whizzer and Chips style look to it. It still doesn't stand up as a point to me. It's such a critical argument, that's what gets me. Yes, I'd like a more adult Dredd story, similar to The Killing Joke or something, but at the same time I LOVED the Cookie story. The two things aren't mutually exclusive Gerald, come on.
Floyd - Woo! And is Matt the Matt I hink it is? Woo! Well I have to say, my final thoughts on the Satanus fiasco are that if it WAS a warning shot to other writers, I don't think it should have been in the comic. I don't want to read stories where the sole purpose is for the writers to snipe at each other. GRR Mr Mills. Now make Savage GOOD. No messing around.

Dredd - YEAH! WOO! Nice. Enjoyed this a lot, and pretty great artwork too. It could develop well, and I'd love it if it tied in with the Dredd in the prog, but I know it won't. Still, looking forward to next week.

Young Middenface - Great stuff! Though it's yet ANOTHER 'village with a secret' thing. Although I love this, creepy villages were perfected in 'In The Mouth Of Madness' so maybe fresh ideas would be a plus?

I shall return...

A quick comment on the Dredd art; It reminds me of the transfer scenes that you used to get on the side of breakfast cereals; a photo-esque background on which you could add your own transfers to make a picture.  I'm not adverse to computer art, but it does seem a bit 'obvious' at times at the start of this story.

"And is Matt the Matt I hink it is? Woo! Well I have to say, my final thoughts on the Satanus fiasco are that if it WAS a warning shot to other writers, I don't think it should have been in the comic. I don't want to read stories where the sole purpose is for the writers to snipe at each other."

Cool, sounds as though I got my letter printed then. That's 3 out of 3 so far. Maybe I'll start giving Floyd a run for his money!

Got my subscription copy and only have one cover.

Henry's covers are great and make you wonder why he isn?t chained to his cube and made to work on Dredd?s scripts for 23 hours 59 minutes a day.


La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

RadWagons Ho!


La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

Ok, finally had a chance to finish it:

Mean Machine - First things first: I think MM has been done to death. He should be released and left to rn around in the Cursed Earth, brought back every few years or so for a minor appearance because he is STILL quite fun. But I'm not sure about another strip. Although it's enjoyable, I expect it'll go the same way as... well, all the other MM strips. No, I exagerate, but we have seen this before: Mean is cured, Mean is released/trusted, Mean isn't actually cured, goes up to 4 on some poor sucker, then Dredd or somebody catches him. This is looking like following a similar pattern, with the added spice of Mean's marriage. Though that isn't the first time there's been a Mean marriage thing. Hm, like Young Middenface, good enough, but the ideas strike me as unoriginal.

Whatever Happened To... Conrad Conn - For it's flaws, I enjoyed this. It was predictable enough, but the story really made me smile at times, and feel a bit sad for the poor guy at others. The writing was spot on, and it was really fun. The flaws I mentioned are mainly courtesy of the artwork. Really not my thing. It might have been improved in colour, but in B+W it didn't work for me I'm afraid. Some highlights, but mostly not as good as I'd hope.

Black Siddha - I've been reading 2000AD for around a year now. In that time, I've read a LOT of progs, both past and present. This is the first time I've switched off while reading one. It completely failed to grab me, made me feel sleepy, and had a grand total of 1 moment I'd consider decent. It's just not my bag baby. Maybe others will enjoy it, but for me it just didn't work, on any level really. Savage had better be drokkin good...

Charley's War - Ok, it's good. I enjoyed this, but I can't help feeling that it's just the same old thing. I GET IT!! ENOUGH!! Eesh. I do enjoy it though, it's just I find it hard to summon the strength to plough through ANOTHER episode, just to eventually go 'Huh, that was awfully similar to last week'. War is bad. Bad things happen. I get it. I knew it before I read this strip to be perfectly frank. And this often coats reality with a certain sweetness that's a bit cliched. In reality, Ginger at al would have been killed. Sorry, but they would have been. Maybe it's time the reprints changed...?

Hell Trekkers - For some obscure reason, I've read one episode of this, and it was enough to make me curious... I have to say I really enjoyed this (would be glad to see it replace CW and have Dredd alongside it) aand I'm looking forward to more. What I read was nice and harsh, with cool tragic parts, while being a lot of fun. I hope it's mostly like this. Plus, this part has an abundance of dinosaurs. This makes anything brilliant.

Grennie's Column - Yet another chuckle-filled read. I look forward to this each month, because I know I'm going to laugh out loud at least once. But Gordon - mentioning Johnny and Wulf as examples AGAIN? Surely you've learnt by now!!

Meg Dredd - Well, thanks to Bolt-01 I've already read this! But it is nice to have it in glorious colour, and I hope it's a monthly thing. They aren't utterly mindblowing, but they're nice light entertainment.

Hm, I've said more than I expected....

More food I need. So long

I f you thought the Mean was unoriginal youd be right..its been lifted straight out of A Clockwork Orange...the whole modified behaviour thing that Alex gets in the Brodsky Centre

I was also disappointed by the return of one my favourite charcters...Middenface...turns out its another tweak on the Legend of Brigadoon (albeit with a cannibal twist)

I hope Black Siddha gets going too..thought the 1st episode was a big slow paced...

On the whole i thought 218 was a bit of a letdown...the Art was fantastic in all of the strips but the stories were weak...C'mon you script Droids  give the pencil necks something to work on

5/10

I don't think Mean is a straight 'Clockwork' lift, though there are similarities. It's the same principle though. And similar to when they tried hypnotherapy on him etc.

And despite my Black Siddah bashing, the last two pages were ok. It doesn't make up for the rest though.

Wagners skillfully moulded it with a megacitiness but the premise of the story remains...Doctor seeking recognition and fame seeks high profile 'bad guy' with which to test revolutionary 'new treatment' that modifies violent impulses at the onset.

That was the whole point of Burgess' book and the whole point of Wagners story. The rest is just window dressing for their respective worlds

Re: Brigadoom, I had planned on having both elements in my own Scottish themed story I am currently posting up on this board, that of Brigadoon and of the infamous Sawney Bean and the Scottish Cannibals. Looks like I was beaten to the punch. Damn! Still, I can't be too upset, after all, it is about my namesake!

Slightly related , I've put up some more pages, including some Cursed Earth pages (a tenuous link, I grant you..) and some Biz ABC pages on my list in the ,Original Art, section.
Haven't got my meg yet... : (
Rufus

... have a good look at those 2 covers chaps, is it me or does cover #2 have the same robots in it as cover #1? (the original Cursed Earth saga) So are we going to be treated to a return appearance of President Booths droids and maybe the infamous man himself, always thought it a bit of a lame punishment to put him in suspended animation for 100 years, what kind of punishment is that??? Anyway, when Dredd gave him hard labour itd be nice to know what hes been up to in the last 26 years. Nothing good i be bound, hes maybe even the leader of the New Mutant Army...

The robots on the covers appear to be the Justice Dept droids not the President droids/vampires.

The Meg is up to its usual standards.

You can take that comment any way you choose.

Just spoken to Denise in subscriptions:
01621 877250
If you received your subscription copy of Meg 218 with only one cover give her a ring and she?ll post you the double cover version.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

Thanks Logan,
I gave a call yesterday and she was fab and said that she would put it in the post.  The subs dept should get their own mention in droid-life for all their hard work.
WoD.

Second that. Couldn't get a more polite and friendly person on the end of the phone.

A decent enough Meg. Dredd in the Cursed Earth with Rdgeway art? Can't fail, can it? It doesn't. Dounrey gets a decent introduction. Looking forwards to the rest.

Middenface - glad to see it back. Feels like a sidestep in the continuing story though. Looks lovely.

Mean Machine - get's me points in the league so yay! Okay story, odd art.

Whatever - don't know the character but got the jist. Not so taken with the art though.

Black Siddhe - Yeah, enjoyed this. Quite liked the last run, look forwards to more.

Reprints - I'll get round to reading them eventually. Not read Charlies War since the Decembe issue. Glad to see Helltreckers though. I've not read it before but am interested in reading it.

Whats happened to the 2000ad GOLD! reprints pull out section? This month, it's all bundled in towards the end of the Meg. SHAME!

Is there a reason (Mr Barnes) for it no longer being called GOLD, and for it not being "Pull-out"?

Hooray!

It's Meg time!

- The fish swims north very quickly...

Doctor seeking recognition and fame seeks high profile 'bad guy' with which to test revolutionary 'new treatment' that modifies violent impulses at the onset.

That was the whole point of Burgess' book and the whole point of Wagners story.

No, that was the plot. The point was the loss of freedom, and questioning whether freedom should be sacrificed etc. Plus Alex didn't get married... :-P

This months meg covers are obviously inspired by McMahon's "Second Civil War" cover for  prog 169 and there's nothing wrong with that; they all look incredible.

My monthly dissection, with far to much detail for me to be confident of my own mental health...

The covers are truly amazing. Full-on thrill power. I like. They're officially the Best Bit In The Comic, IMO.

I quite enjoyed the opening Dredd, especially as I'm a big Ridgway fan.
However, the colouring's dodgy, isn't it? Is Dounrey wearing lippy?

I was interested to see the Rangers introduced. Dounrey appears to be the first non-Judge we've seen use a sleep machine, too.

Young Middenface, was fine. It seems a good enough first part.
All those Scots stereotypes are often funny in comics and we'll see how this develops.

Yes, I have deja-vu too with the Mean Machine tale, and it's nothing special, although not actually bad.
I'm hoping it'll have some sort of shock ending.
The art's quite nice, too.

However, I didn't really like the art on the Conrad Conn story.
I'm all for trying new styles - and stylistically it was nice - but I had trouble following it in places.
The story wasn't shock-filled, but it was okay.
I'm also very relieved none of the journalists I know wear a thong like that. :-)

I didn't hate Black Siddha, surprisingly.
It seems a straightforward US comics tale of a new hero mastering his powers. I've read similar stuff before.
The work of Si Davis was the highlight here.

This month's Charley's War was the best yet.
It's simplistic yet exciting and the art really appeals to me.

I was pleased to see Helltrekkers in as the reprint, as I'd read one episode in the past and was interested to read the rest.
I'm sure it was slagged off on the board before, so I was surprised to enjoy it.

I like carnage.

The Rennie column was very funny again. He's a real troll-baiter, that one! :-)

Finally, Bishop's Dredd files feature was interesting and nicely themed.

Overall, I'm not enthusing about this Meg, but I still enjoyed pretty much all of it.

Maybe six out of ten.

- Trout

hmm shocked to say i enjoyed helltreckers i thought it was supposed to be filed in the chronos carnival bin?

Anyway good prog and interesting to see another themed prog first giant and now the cursed earth what next?

Well, I really enjoyed Helltreckers. It was a great read. I hope some of them actually manke it to where they are going.

My two penn'orth.....





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Dredd - Good start, like the flashback/inquiry setup, Im looking forward to seeing where this goes John ridgway's art is good as ever.

Young Middenface : - heh, good.

Mean Machine - good art, but Im with the others who say that mean's been done to death.

WHT? conn - the orignal story was a bit before my start in tooth, so I dont know the character, but the storie's a good swipe at the build em up/knock em down media types.

Black Siddha - Is Mr Mill's a little jealous of certain other writers? Quit the digs at other writers expense AND GET ON WITH TELLING A STORY!   I really want to like this, I thought the first series was quite good, funny in places with Simon Davis' art shining through, but this 1st episode is just a little slow.

charley's War - NOW YOUR TALKING! this is what Mill's should be aiming for - write another classic like this and your sins will be forgiven!

Helltrekkers - The only thing I remember about this is the acid rain - And I can't remember when it happens!

Metro Dredd - I dont get the metro every day so Im glad that theyre being collected here - good art, punchy story.

all in all a good meg.

Always enjoyed the idea of Helltrekkers, "the Grapes of Wrath" set in "the Cursed Earth". I remember enjoying it at the time too but never realised I was in a minority.

Must give the whole story another glance again.

Great covers...more please

Dredd...Alright,but with Gulag in the prog I can do without another suicide mission(if thats how it turns out).

Middenface...Alright,predictable stuff with Oor Wullies mutated cousins.

Conrad Conn...Alright but poor art.

Black Siddha...Alright,starting to come round to this.Great art.

Charlies War...Alright I get it,war is hell,yadda,yadda.

Helltrekkers...Alright in a retro kind of way

Overall...Alright but we know it can be better.

Megazine 218:

Covers: Really don't know which I prefer, as they are very similar: I like bits of both of them best.

Dredd: Cracking read...but the colouring seems weird. Not keen on the computer rocks with the line drawing people next to them, and why does our new hero wear bright red lipstick? Definitely not his shading, he should go for a more sutble makeup.

What the ***k happened to Conrad Conn? Fat & old & balding, yes - that's what we want, like some hideous Class Reunion. Good stuff.

Mean Machine: Great! Really like the art & story here. Want more! When did Mean go back to prison, though? Last seen wasn't he roaming the Cursed Earth curtousy of Gordon killing Extreme Sports Vidstars?

Black Siddha 2, will have to wait until I've read until I've read Black Siddha 1.

Middenface - Intreagueing - what will happen next?

Charley & Hell Trekkers: not read yet, get round to it later on.

Metro Dredd: okay, not great. Glad these are getting printed *somewhere* though - I take it the online thing isn't going to happen?

Gordon's rehab page: Answers a question I was meaning to ask GR about Storming Heaven.

Back page: Shaun of the Dead, with ASH! and THE SMITHS! Roll on Friday!!!

Oh I forgot all about Mean Machine...It was alright too.

"Black Siddha 2, will have to wait until I've read until I've read Black Siddha 1."

Dont read it.

Mean Machine - get's me points in the league so yay! Okay story, odd art.

That it does DavidX, that it does...

Prog 1384 and Megazine 218 points are now updated:-

Link: League: April week 1

Covers-Good, striking image, looking at the two covers together gives us a great example of the changes to Dredd, both story wise and artistically. And look! Mutants and Robots and stuff!

Dredd- Excellent stuff, Doon's already become a character that we can empathise with and cheer on as he kicks the poo out of nasty mutants (we need more mutant kicking IMO). The Rangers are an interesting concept, are they a specialist Citi-Def unit or an entity in their own right? Art's good too, a few quibbles about the colouring and Dredd looks like my Gran in the last panel, but then he is getting on slightly, isn't he?

Middenface- A nice fun knockaboot adventure with plenty of humourous scottish steroetypes and cannibals. Good art from Goddard, I like his clean, crisp lines, as good at fleshing out backgrounds as he is characters.

Mean Machine- A good Mean tale, he was overused in the past, but if he's allowed to develop (ie headbut people more) on his own without Dredd locking him up at the end (which'll probably happen anyway), I reckon he could do okay. I like the art on this, makes mean look, well, mean.

WH2..Conrad Conn- never read the original stroy behind conrad, but I getthe idea, good story, nice viscious backstabbing journo (are they all like that or just the ones here?), let down by some dodgy art work.

Black Siddha- I don't mind this, I like Davies art more and more each time I see it, it's really starting to grow on me and that Rakshasa looked really good. It's probably where I'm used to superhero antics and love the concepts behind this that I like Balckj Siddha, I mean, Indian mythology is a an untapped resource, comic wise. I also like the "I usually get the mature version" injoke.

Dreddfiles- Rather than spend time looking reading this, I read my cursed earth hardback. Mmmm.. classic thrillpower :)

Charley's War- Love it, can see now why it's a classic, are we going to get the whole story or is it going to end soon?

Helltrekkers- Good stuff, don't see why people don't rate it, unless it gets really bad after these early ones. Best bit- cute little crustacia and the acid shower.

Grennies bile splat- Man the bridges people, Gordon's sounded the Troll dinner gong! Answers alot of questions I've had about various stories over the years and I reckon Gordon's got a Strontium Dog script hidden somewhere, the amount he goes on about them.

Metro Dredd- So Kilroy does have a talking arse...

"Charley's War... are we going to get the whole story"

Chris, it went on for years...

I don't think it's ending anytime soon.

I think the crucial question is, "How much of it are we going to get?"

Meg people, is it a semi-permanent feature?

- Trout

Okay review time...

Dredd: I like the character Dounrey and I hope this isn't going to end up with the character dying.

Middenface: brilliant

mean: Meh

WH2..Conrad Conn: while I wasn't around for the characters original appearance I do know of the character. Great story let down by some really shoddy artwork.

Black Siddha: shite moving on...okay a bit harsh the art was good but the story...

Dreddfiles: pretty much the same as mr c although curious as to how burger wars and the green giant story will be handled.

Charley's War: just to prove i'm not anti-mills this is beautiful stuff.

Helltrekkers: enjoyed it hope crustacia survives poor little thing.

Grennies part: hee the under bridge dwellers cometh...

Metro Dredd arse in a good way

>Dreddfiles: pretty much the same as mr c although curious as to how burger wars and the green giant story will be handled.

Probably the same as it always is. There seems to be no problem talking about the banned episodes in text which has been done in other reprints, it?s the imagery that?s always been the problem.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

WHT: Conrad Conn.

I liked the art. It reminded me of Paul Dini (Animated Batman design, Mad love comic) but not as polished. Some of the pages would have benefitted from being in colour to add more definition but hey, you cant have everything.

Thought I should stand up for it, seeing as it is getting panned in general.

Bolt-01

>Some of the pages would have benefitted from being in colour to add more definition but hey, you cant have everything.

Would have been better if the art hadn?t looked like the first thing Christy Brown ever drew when he picked up a paintbrush with his left foot.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

Can someone enlighten me - who was Conrad Con? what did he do?

cheers,

Floyd

The greatest actor of his time and the most handsome man in the world.
Appeared in films such as ?The Beasts That Ate Mars?, ?The Beasts That Ate The Beasts That Ate Mars? guess what the sequel was.

Cal offered Conrad the chance to play the mad Chief Judge in a film that Cal was making when he though he?d killed Dredd. Conrad turned him down as he said he?d retired but quickly changed his mind when Cal said he?d remove his head.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

Whay! mine finally came in the post

Why is it that when I get a prog and a meg on the same day, only one of them is top notch? This was a truely average Meg for me.
Black Siddha started well, but the cliffhanger was truely lame.

Charley's War - Please don't tell me that the total run is going to be printed. As good as it is, they're all looking alike to me, and the stereotypes are starting to become irritating. An old school action strip is okay, but cheesy preaching that treats me like the eight year olds that this was originally aimed at is a real turn off. If you want to know how nasty the first world war was, read Sassoon or Wilfred Owen.

Would have been better if the art hadn?t looked like the first thing Christy Brown ever drew when he picked up a paintbrush with his left foot. Sheesh, Some people are never pleased, I'm glad he never had to draw an eagle :P

Logan, is that a new '79 logo? It looks different, but I can't say why.

Bolt-01

Have to agree with Logan - the art on WHT wasn't very good at all. I'd have expected it in a fanzine, but I do want something a bit more accomplished in the Meg.

Top covers. The Killdozer's wardroid detachment make a reappearance next month?

Dredd - pure afternoon Western. Smashing.

Mean - Rehabilitate! Lord, will they never learn? The figure of fun line was Mean in a nutshell, reck'n, and the bit in the exercise yard was priceless.

Middenface - As with Mean I don't read this for the story, just the ace dialogue.

Conrad Conn - Horrible art and not much else. I was hoping there'd be a life in movies (to see Dino Valdi deliver that immortal line from The Beasts That Ate The Beasts That Ate Mars or maybe Cal's biopic with the midget Dredd.)

Dredd Files - meh.

Charley's War - still stands up well. Don't care what anyone else says.

Siddha - more of the same as last time. Nothing brill, just enough sly chuckles to make it worth reading once. SB's characterisation makes this.

Hell-Trekkers - this has some fans presumably but I was never one of 'em, the damn thing seemed to go on forever. (Without spoilering too much, keep an eye on the Glemps until the end, they're the best thing about it.)

GR's ramblings - Wot no Boozlebugs? Who could forget Feek's eyeballs playing table tennis?

Metro - ecch! Not my cuppa.

Seems like I disagree with just about everybody bout just about everything: maybe I should keep my head down?

Nah.

Flint covers - distinctly average, for Flint.  Admittedly if it were the first work I'd seen from him I'd be overawed, but we all know this droid's capable of better.

Dredd - story's fine, if a little "meh", but the art really isn't very good.  Computer sample don't sit well with Ridgeway's style, and why are the Rangers all about 12 and wearing Eagle Scout uniforms?

Brigadoom - lovely art, but I don't think this works if (like me) you don't know what the heck Brigadoon is.

Mean - what a nice surprise!  I was about to stick up a "whatever happened to David Millgate?" thread, as I thoroughly enjoyed his earlier outings.  Unfortunately, I don't think this is quite up with his best efforts (computer colouring and thick lines detract from the mania).  As for the story, well I enjoyed it the last 3 times, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it again.  There needs to be a twist next issue, though (and I DON'T mean "he butts her"!)

WHTCC? - As with rather too many of these, "whatever happened to..." the subject is, well, pretty much what I thought was going to have happened to them.  I mean, come on, "Hollywood star gets fat old and ugly, what a shame"?   A bit lazy, ne c'est pas?  But what lifted this for me was precisely the art you lot all seem to dislike - to the extent that I stopped halfway through, and went back to look for the credit box to find out who he was!  Swirly stuff, manga expressions, nice arses - I mean, what's not to like?  Since I really can't see what people hve a problem with, could someone please tell me in more detail?

Black Siddha - well, I enjoyed it.  A very promising start, all the set-ups falling into place nicely, and some beautiful Davis art.  The first outing for this character dropped into preachiness, but reading the entrails I think this might well be the best work Mills has produced for some considerable time.

Charleyzzzzzz

Helltrekkerzzzzz

Metro Mutie Menace - fun throwaway oldskool stuff.

Rennie's column - really, really lazy shite.  Come on, Mr Rennie, it's an old column you picked up, dusted off, and changed the gay bits to drug bits.  I can't believe it actually ended with the Jonny and Wulf reference again - that's only going to seem clever to the 50 or so people reading this board regularly and agree with you.

Oh, and letters page, second "Editor's Reply" - BWAH-HAH-HAH-HAAAAHH!!!!!!!

I thought Meg 218 was so much better than Meg 217.

Since I really can't see what people hve a problem with, could someone please tell me in more detail?



Brian Pseud sez:

"Heavens! At the risk of turning this thread into Dunk-The-Trigo, it's style over content, dear boy. Overly dynamic cuteness sucks hose big-time. Wispy expressive lines - fine, but without weight or depth all the viewer perceives are poorly defined figures made worse by perfunctory backgrounds. There was no apparent effort made at storytelling beyond the script either, I mean, if someone presented you the panel of Mega-City Two getting nuked, on it's own and without captions, could you honestly tell what it was meant to be? Poppycock! Of course you wouldn't."

Tsk! YOu should know that every critism that Brian ever makes always refers to how this artist is clearly inferior to Poussin (who is of course the greatest artist EVAH!)

I was 'cock-a-hoop' (to use a very old-fashioned, pre-Acid House expression) to see Conrad Conn was the subject of Meg 218's 'Whatever Happened to..?'

Maybe the story that emerged was a bit disappointing though. Perhaps it would have been more exciting to see him crop up as a guest in a Gordon Rennie scripted Judge Dredd tale: a blackmail plot, or a robbery-turned-kidnapping, or something. In and of itself, What Happened to him wasn't terribly interesting.

Anyway, I enjoyed this mundane snapshot of expired celebrity, and I concentrated on the words more than the pictures, so the art didn't trouble me unduly.

I think Gordon might've made a few more concessions to new readers, though. I appreciated being reminded of Conrad Conn's role in Nativity and a Half, which I'd completely forgotten (The Merry Tale of the Christmas Angel, Prog 450), but a passing mention to the time Chief Judge Cal wanted him for Cal's biopic wouldn't have gone amiss. And what about The Beasts That Ate Mars? (or was that Rocky Vollo?).

You've never seen Brigadoon? I'm shocked, I thought you were cultured Dudley!

Seriously, if you want an accurate portrayal of the scottish people in their native environment, then look nae (which means no) further ye bonny wee haggis ye (which means you good little heart lungs and liver of a sheep wrapped in its own intetines you).

Did Gordon say what happened to Conrad's alien bride?

every critism that Brian ever makes always refers to how this artist is clearly inferior to Poussin

Y'know, he completely forgot to mention the robust display of bums. Or was that Sister Wendy?

what about The Beasts That Ate Mars? or was that Rocky Vollo?

Pointless trivia:

Conrad Conn was in The Beasts That Ate Mars. Dino Valdi was in The Beasts That Ate The Beasts That Ate Mars (presumably Conn was in that too). Rocky Vollo was in The Mutie Inside Me, Blue Suede Spacer, and a remake of The Blob (the titular creature being played by his future bride Miss Nawxyus Slym of Cekrus 4.)

Arrgghhhh! You've given me a flash-back to Sister Wendy on 'his marvelous fluffy pubic hair' Arrrggghhhhh!!!

mmm - the wheels have fallen off the Megazine - Dredd - it's alright I suppose
Middenface - don't care..
Mean Machine - everyones favourite turns up for another irony and laugh free misadventure....
Black Siddha - yeah great
What Ever Happened Too? Indeed Whatever happened to what ever happened to talk about wasting a great concept
The reprints - Helltrekkers? You are joking right - I read an interview with Grant and Wagner that they thought this was crap (in the Comics Journal perhaps with that nice Bolland cover? Late 80's?) Doesn't the F in F Martin Candor stand for F*c*? What next Hell Planet? Colony Earth? Some classic Millar Robohunter?
Charley's War - currently the only reason I buy it  
Everything else? undisguised filler
The downturn in the quality of the megazine apparent in the last few shows signs of developing into a full blown rut....I don't know if Charley's War on it's own is enough incentive to buy this any more?

I really enjoyed Helltreckers. Maybe it goes downhill from here. Maybe it's due for a re-appraisal. Maybe I have no taste, after all I reckon they should repring 'The Final Solution' next. But it's not a bad Meg by any length. I enjoyed it muchly.

I liked this meg better than the ones before it. Loved Dredd and Helltrekkers and Middenface too! Awa' wi' ye, ye doobtin' scunners!

id have to say that i was so moved by the art in this meg that i signed up here to post a comment.

the art is seriously going down hill, the art director needs replacing or something. the ridgeway stuff is horrible, it looks like he really struggles with it, and the mean machine art looks like it was done in between heavy hash smoking sessions- its so lazy ...possibly the worst most annoying art ive seen in a meg.

look closley- mean is drawn in the same way the artist drew dredd in that awful episode from last year...in some sub bizley pastiche.. im really disapointed that these guys are getting away with this crap, they should have a hard long look at the likes of cam kennedy and dave gibbons.
take pride in the work boys!

Germaine Screech replies

I think you've just cumpletely missed the point here.  The script for this tale is highly dictatorial, with almost no room for maneouver by the artist.  Since the "storytelling" comes from the script, this needs to be lewked at more as an illustration of a pre-determined narrative.  The nuclear destruction of Mega-City 2 shows precisely the point I'm making - would you really prefer to see yet another shot of a mushroom cloud?

Yeah, but it's still crap.

Now get back in that kitchen and make me tea, there's a dear.

Tom Apalling shrugs, waggles a bit, squeakily mumbles something about Greer mistaking accurate representation for literalism, manages to use the word "crux" twice before deflating completely and staring at the viewer with his mad dead eyes.

I hate you tom aPalin. Your invasion handbook is shit and contains no useful information whatsoever.

My mum's met both Tom Paulin and the Greer women and when I used to work near the beeb one nihgt I walked past the slaphead that writes for the Guardian. One of us had only got to meet the mockney twat below to complete the set...

"DEckard was is a replicant! Vader is Luke's father! He doesnt get on the Plane! And Burchill is a fat slag. Why did I ever marry her. Please read my blandtastic books."