Hello all,
I made a return to Squaxx-dom recently with Prog #1650 and there's no looking back.
But I used to pick up the Meg too. My memories are mixed from some quality, slightly grittier stories with the odd bit of dross. I Remember Dredd was awesome (of course) and I remember liking Hershey, but there was some forgettable stories that I've well..forgotten.
I'm curious but would like some advice - Should I bother with the Meg again? If so, when's the best time to start (hate coming in part way through stories)?
Cheers!
The Megazine is, and always has been a bit of a mixed bag. IMO it doesn't really compare to 2000ad in terms of quality though the lead Dredd strip is often very strong, and there's also occasionally some really great stuff like Tempest and Insurrection.
Bear in mind that the Meg now costs £4.99 and part of that price goes towards the supplementary reprint magazine that may consist of stuff you've read before. Personally I enjoy the reprints, though it's a divisive issue. A lot of the Meg is also now made up of text articles rather than comic strip, which by their nature are a bit hit and miss - I find some of these fascinating, while others go unread.
The Meg doesn't often have jumping on issues (usually only about one a year) so my advice is to just jump on with the current issue. It looks as if Robbie Morrison is on Dredd scripting duties for the next few months, there's also Judge Dredd: The Lost Cases coming soon, which looks fairly interesting, as well as new series of Bato Loco, Judge Anderson and Tempest, and possibly a bit more from Devlin Waugh and Insurrection. If you like the sound of that, give it a try....
The text features tend to have excellent interviews with Twoth/Meg creators past and present. A two-part Ron Smith interview concludes in the current Meg.
Sometimes the reprint is well-judged to fit into what's coming in the strips themselves - the first Armitage storyline a few months back coincided nicely with the character's return. You'll either like or dislike the concepts of reprint and text articles.
If you are on a tight budget and getting back into toof, you are probably better off getting back issues of what you missed for the thrill power fix. When I got back into it at the start of the year I went for a subs to both as it's not that much really, and it's more Dredd. I haven't really regretted it, there has been some excellent new stuff and its certainly better than the mind nummingly bad mid ninetys Meg.
A fiver a month with about a 75% chance of a good to great Dredd and on average one other good story. I don't grudge it, but you might.
Hmm, bit of a mixed response and as I had feared.
Still, the digital edition is only £1.99, so might be worth a punt and I can decide whether the print is worth pursuing?
thanks for the input.
have look at the recent reviews here and see if you get a good vibe for it
On balance I wouldn't move into the Meg right now, if you're wavering. It may sound like heresy, but although I've got a long-standing dual subscription, I keep the Meg out of habit and in hope that it throws up the occasional doozie. But when the two magazines arrive together, it's 2000AD I reach for and the Meg often lies by my bedside or in the magazine rack in the loo for weeks before being read. That must say something. The supplements are of little interest if you've been reading this stuff since near the start.
Quote from: Delingpole on 30 September, 2009, 04:49:04 PM
On balance I wouldn't move into the Meg right now, if you're wavering. It may sound like heresy, but although I've got a long-standing dual subscription, I keep the Meg out of habit and in hope that it throws up the occasional doozie. But when the two magazines arrive together, it's 2000AD I reach for and the Meg often lies by my bedside or in the magazine rack in the loo for weeks before being read. That must say something. The supplements are of little interest if you've been reading this stuff since near the start.
I'd agree with most of that, but even though I've got all the old stuff buried in my prog-piles, I never dig them out, so the reprints are (usually) most welcome. I could have done without Harmony or Snow:Tiger, but the artist-themed ones are especially interesting. What the Drokk are they printed on though? If you ever splash a drop of moisture on them, they wrinkle up and blister like I imagine Robbie Williams would if you dipped him in an acid bath (I imagine this scenario perhaps more often than I should....)
But apart from the Dredd, most of the Meg doesn't get read for weeks, if at all, especially the text articles.
While at the moment I don't get the Meg there are a number of stories I wish would be collected and maybe some compilation of the interviews, assuming they are an interesting read?
The interviews are usually top-notch and I've been back on the meg for the last year. It works out (money-wise) roughly the same as Twoth itself and, although it's a little lighter, there's always something good in it.
The reprints - Snow/Tiger, Pussyfoot 5 and Harmony aside for me - are pretty worthwhile. Who'se going to dig out Canon Fodder or Law-Con for a re-read? Probably very few of us (assuming we even HAVE that stuff or can remember where it first appeared). It's nice to have them collected together sometimes - particularly the recent Armitage ones (but then I'm a fan).
I'd try the Christmas one, as they tend to do a jump-on Meg once a year and that was the last one I think. If you like it, keep going until you don't.
Personally, I only get the meg now if I need the reprint. If I'm honest, none of the recent stuff has impressed me at all. I don't like missing out on a Wagner Dredd, but there's a good chance that they'll be repirnted at a later date anyway.
i enjoy the meg
you said the meg is only £1.99 for the online edition sorry but my loyatly is getting stretched with the meg have to cancel my meg sub and get this at that price its worth it and ill be able to delete tank girl lol