Meg 239 - All Rise for His Dishonour

[Artificial Idiot]

I found nothing in the letter offensive, and to some extent thought it fair game. I'd sooner have him tell us about the goodies coming up in future megs, then tripping over his tonge akwardly apologising ro a few irrate boarders.  

[House of Usher]

Readers are entitled to be a little upset when it takes a few issues before the editor admits the page count has gone down.... it's not unreasonable for fans to want 'value' for money.

Well, strictly speaking they are entitled to either put up with it, or not buy it. Me, I'll put up with it for the time being, because I can. 10 years ago, I opted for not buying it.

[Harmful if Swallowed]

>Since when does an editorial start by pissing off your key target audience!!!!

If every message boarder stopped reading the Meg would they notice when the sales figures come in. I think that soem message boarders put to much importance on the fact that they feel they are the target audience when by far the largest section of the audience doesnt take part in the message board.

[Huey2]

Unlurking...

I didn't find anything in the editorial to get upset about. Furthermore...

Since Alan took over it's been refreshing to see an editorial that's worth reading. The input page in 2000ad has been a wasted page for the page for the past 15 years.

I might not agree with everything Alan says but I'd rather he said something.

and...

The start of volume 4 had more pages but still managed to have only 1 short Dredd tale worth reading. I'm happy with the quality so I ain't fussed about the quantity.

- H

[The Amstor Computer]

Not particularly fussed by the editorial, to be honest. It is nice to have a "statement of the bleeding obvious" just to clarify that the pagecount drop is permanent, and not just a one or two issue aberration - and that is, I think, all most boarders wanted.

[Queen Firey-Bou]

"I think that soem message boarders put to much importance on the fact that they feel they are the target audience when by far the largest section of the audience doesnt take part in the message board."

er , they do say that for every complaining customer, theres ten/hundred ?  who are pissed off but can't be bothered complaining.  I think we can safely say that the few hundred boarders can surely be seen as representing a selection of views shared by the wider custom-base ?

or are freaks who use the internet somehow completely different kind of people to the rest of the meg reading public? now that would be a statistical anomolie.

[Art]

script + art + colouring + lettering...

About 3 grand for 16 pages, assuming B&W art and not including editorial costs.

[Byron Virgo]

I have to say I wasn't particularly bothered to lose the 16 pages - in fact, if it hadn't been pointed out, I doubt I would have noticed it. The maagazine's packed with so much stuff that it still takes a while to get through anyway, so I still reckon it's worth the money as it proves to be a nice chunky bastard to get stuck into.

The editorial doesn't seem particularly confrontational either - if anything, Mr. Barnes just seems to be trying to stimulate a bit of activity to the letters page, which can never be a bad thing for the publication.

There - if that doesn't get me on Spurrier's Christmas card list, nothing will.

[Conexus]

Saying that Spiderman 2 is complete crap'll probably help too ;)

[Tiplodocus]

it seemed unusual to target the message board in particular but then I got to the bit that said "That's what DREDDLINES is for" and I tool a great leap of logic to deduce they hadn't got any letters complaining about it.

Enjoyed my Meg this month with the exception of Shimura which sort of lost me.

Mister Spurrier needn't worry - he's not the only one that didn't like SIN CITY (but my reasons were probably different from his).

Only two gripes (one minor and one, quite a big one, I'm afraid)

I don't like the Japanes cartoon column at all. This whole Manga/anime thing completely passed me by and I really haven't got time to start getting into it just now...

Charley's War - this may be sacrilege but I really don't think the quality of the reprint is good enough. Not script and artwise but actually in PRINT QUALITY. It's a smudgy muddy mess that really does ruin my enjoyment of the tale, I know how good Joe's art can be so it makes me weep to see it so dirty on the page.  But I know nothing about scanning and cleaning etc. - somebody tell me if this can be fixed or has it been steadily going downhill?

[Funt Solo]

++CONTROL TO BOARDERS++
++PRIORITY ONE MULTIPLE SPOILER ALERT++

A stunning cover from Ezquerra, Spanish God of Comic Art!


Judge Dredd: Blackout
What's to say?  Wagner and Cam K can do no wrong.  It's all worth it just for the H-Wagon.


Shimura: The Harder They Come
I didn't like the return of Stan Lee last ish, but that's down to disliking his original turns in the weekly way back when.  This is shaping up to be a fantastic thrill with an eclectic cast:  Stan, Shimura, Inaba and Dredd.  What with Giant possibly being offed last month (and still no word - oh, the anguish!) it looks like Wagner and Rennie have let Morrison loose in the sandpit, and to great effect.

What with the gang in Unholy Warriors, recent Devlin Waugh shenanigans, Shakara Book II over in the weekly and now the bad-gang in this tale, it's like D&D fever has seeped into the House of Tharg.

Absolutely gorgeous black & white art from Colin MacNeil:  check out Dredd's chin in the last frame.

But wait!  What's this?  A reporter asking if the Taoka Corp. plans to rebuild MC-2?  Again?  I guess Supersurf 13 (progs 964-971) really has been banished to continuity hell, then.


Anderson, Psi Division: Lucid
Has that lizard-thing got anything to do with poor old Half-life, or is he totally oot tha picture now?  Another slow-burn mystery build-up from Grant, keeping us in the dark with Anderson - and more beautiful art from Ranson (also thrilling us over in the prog).  That full-page splash of the boney bridge from Deadworld to Earth (I presume) is horribly evocative.


The Simping Detective:  Petty Crimes
Some sick, twisted part of me wants to dislike this.  I mean, come on, a private detective dressed as a clown comes sauntering into the Meg from nowhere, playing it straight and as hard-boiled as Bogie (no, not that one).  Not only that, but he has the cheek to stay there and work, month-to-month.

Now, it's only gone and added so many twists and turns to a plot that already resembled spaghetti junction that it made my brain hurt, the way it hurts when I foolishly attempt to make sense of The Big Sleep when what I should really be doing is sitting back and just witnessing one of the finest films ever made.

Great strip.  Great finale.  Stunning art.  


Cursed Earth Koburn: The Assizes
Okay, look, just stop it okay!  It's one thing to keep accidentally inventing wonderful new characters on a regular basis - but to keep using them like this just smacks of showing off.

What with all the shenanigans of the court (Otus and Georgia - best Ezquerra art ever) the two pages were a real blind-sider.  Can't wait to find out what happens next.


Summary:
This is top notch stuff, and that's before I've had time to imbibe the articles and Charley's War.

In answer to my own letter to Dreddlines, if the Meg's in trouble then the best we can do is keep on buying it and carrying it around the street shouting "My God!  The answers to all the questions I've ever had about life, the universe and everything are contained herein!"

Plus, if you do the math, the Megazine is still better value for groats than the weekly, page for page.  Which means the 100-pages we were enjoying until recently were all just gravy.

And the hardcore quality?  The real cutting edge shit?  It's here in the Meg, not over in the weekly, which is saying something because the weekly's riding on the crest of a pretty tall wave itself these days.

[DavidXBrunt]

Did we lose any comic pages? I don't think we did. We've lost the Dredd files (I liked them but not many did), Rennies page was closing down anyway, the preview page, text stories, perhaps a few pages of reprints, bits and bobs here and there.

[IndigoPrime]

:: I tool a great leap of logic to deduce they hadn't got any
:: letters complaining about it.

That's the internet for you. Most magazines these days resort to "making up" a lot of the correspondence for that very reason. I guess this is why the letters page vanishes from 2000 AD every now and again.

[GermanAndy]

Alan Barnes is leaving the Megazine? Not good.

Even if I didn?t always like all the material - and that?s 100% okay - on the whole it had a consistent quality. It was strong and worse the money.

Concerning the editorial, what is the uproar? It?s nice that the board is mentioned and frankly give me an editor every day who writes what he thinks than some blah. I also didn?t notice the fewer pages till I read about it.

Hopefully the Meg will remain as strong as it is. I would sure miss it if not enough sales would kill it.

[thinky]

i started this thread, so hopefully i can put it to bed.

first and foremost i feel i should apologise for the last line of my initial post. It was ill-thought out, frankly quite obnoxious, and i regret writing it.

everything else i stand by.

following this thread and the similar one on 2000adreview, it appears that *no-one* is questioning Alan Barnes' competence as Meg Editor. On the contrary, it's generally accepted that he's the best editor that the Meg has ever had. I agree, and never said or implied anything to the contrary. i also believe that the current quality of the Meg means that the loss of 16 pages isn't even noticed.

i wasn't one of those that complained about the loss of 16 pages, and I don't even *care* that they are gone. As a paying customer (and not a member of the messageboard or a 'fanboy') i took umbrage to the editor's tone. It won't make me leave ("if you don't like it, then don't buy it"), because that would be silly. But i'm entitled to my opinion, and i believe that a more apologetic tone (to all readers, remember this isn't just about the messageboard) would be more appropriate.

thinky