Meg 299

[Grant Goggans]

It really is asinine.  Manga's the Japanese word for comics.  That should be all.  I suppose if Siku's book was twenty-four inches tall and 48 pages long it would be a "Bandes Desinee Bible," right?

[locustsofdeath!]

I can't even remember how long it's been since I've "reviewed" a Prog or the Meg, but this month I was moved to do so because - of all things - the letters page!

Cover: ...it's okay. I always judge a cover by thinking "if I wasn't a fan of this comic, would this cover make me want to pick it up?". This is not that cover.

Now on to the content, which all round is better than it has been for some time (a trend that seems to have been building lately). The fact that the Meg has been so enjoyable lately give me hope that the coming lineup announced in the Editor's Letter won't shape up to be the absolute dud I normally would fear it to be...Anderson, while readable, has never been a fav, Hondo City Justice has been meh-worthy and Armitage has caused me to suffer through it more times than not (though the final episode of the last arc was quite good).

Dredd: I'll echo the sentiments that Dredd acts a bit out of character, I like the scenario, the action and L-O-V-E Peter Doherty's art. Mr. Doherty seems to have a real fine feel of the Cursed Earth and its denizens. Mutants are mutated without being overly silly, Dredd appears suitably aged without being weak (grizzled, yes, grizzled) and the landscape is bleak and depressing. Good stuff, script-wise but brilliant stuff art-wise. Tharg, get Doherty in the Prog!

Dredd Lines: Yeah, yeah, more Tank Girl debate, this time pro...anyway, I found the second part of the second letter, the one penned by Keith Thorburn, to be an incredibly touching tribute to John Hicklenton; I think he summed up beautifully how a lot of us felt about Mr. Hicklenton - I remember his work being ripped apart, and though I was indifferent to the art in Satanus, I did feel like I was being punched in the gut...that he was strong enough to keep on and keep creative is just another testament to his strength. It's a shame that it took his death for him to get a tad bit more recognition, but better late than never. Lovely letter, Mr. Thorburn.

The next letter, by Will Watt, again raises the same question that has been raised on the forum - that of the age of 2000AD readers - only this time it comes from one of the few young 'uns reading the Prog. The line "...all the teenagers who are considered 'cool' buy XBox magazines, but if I was to go into school with a prog or Meg, I would most likely be pummeled and called a nerd" is worrisome indeed and makes me think Tharg had better get that Rosetta dialed into the youth. He can do it; after all, he got most of us at a young age, right?

...and then there's a letter by some shmuck called Matt Soffe...the guy must be some sort of weirdo! Stalking PJ Holden! Ha! As if PJ wouldn't mind being stalked!!! 

Siku: Great interview. Siku sounds like a really nice guy. I'll admit that I never liked his Dredd, but I absolutely adore his work on Tales of Telguuth and the lone Slaine strip he painted.

Black Museum: Found it fun.

New Comics: A nice read. Nothing I'll seek out, but some nice b&w art.

Lilly Mackenzie: Ah, she's a dream isn't she. I have fast become a huge fan of Simon Fraser since meeting him at Hi-Ex. I've always liked his stuff, but he's such a gent and such a class act, I can't help but root for him. And here, with thtis strip, he is shining. I hope this keep progressing as finely as it's started! More from Mr. Fraser!

New Comics: Screen Violence: An interesting write-up, even if I had heard snippets of this tale before...ah, a couple of degenerates, Ewing and Holden (compliment, trust me), and a feat to be proud of, getting banned by Apple.

Johnny Woo: Had to admit, I was worried about this one. After reading the first part, I was sure this was a four-parter. When I realized it was only a two-parter, I wondered if it could be wrapped up without feeling rushed. Well, it was, and despite my fears, I rather enjoyed it. Johhny Woo is not high on my list of Twothy characters, so that says a lot. Very nice art from Mr. Holden (what a Meg, PJ, flitting from the letters page, to a write-up, to a strip...)...

Good read this month. Keep it up, Meg!

[TordelBack]

As a matter of fact I'm writing "Indigo Prime" right now!  It's a bit of a bitch but we're getting there...  Before "Ship of Fools" there's a one-off Devlin story - told in song in the style of Noel Coward - called "Exquisite Corpses" that I'm still struggling to finish... then the new "Strange & Darke" series... so I'm supposed to be busy.  I just wish this bloody weather wasn't so nice!

There's only one possible response to that:

[Cactus]

Good Meg. Probably the best in a couple of years to be honest.

I liked the Dredd story. It captured the feel of many older 'mob hysteria' stories, adopted the Cursed Earth setting well, looked lovely and ended with a joke. I think strips like this are Dredd's bread and butter and running these Cursed Earth one-offs in the Meg while Wagner does his thing in the weekly is a nice balance. Much better than the Judgement Day/Wilderlands/Doomsday arrangements.

Lilly Mackenzie - boobies! Fraser has a talent for drawing sexy women and he can write too. Love it, and the 'gay dwarf'.  

Good stuff from the Black Museum too, I think this was a better 'lost case' than half of the Lost Cases. Am I the only one who wants to see a spin-off series featuring Mechanismo-Judge Walter? Just a few one-pagers, maybe? Unlike some others I like these more often than I don't and I think they're a good way to get a mix of Dreddverse tales in the Meg without relying on World Judges... like the next few issues.

Johnny Who? I didn't really get what was going on last issue - has this character been around for long? - but the ending was intriguing so I might re-read both episodes in the smallest room later.

Top it off with some good articles, both of them interesting and relevant, and I'm a very happy reader.

[mygrimmbrother]

Careful Locust, I know where you live too 

[vzzbux]

Fantastic tale for the tales from the black museum. Only quibble was with the whole City of the Damned I didn't think the events of the future excursion were clouded in secrecy as the Zombie Dredd had been displayed in the black museum for years.






V

[Professor Bear]

Fantastic tale for the tales from the black museum. Only quibble was with the whole City of the Damned I didn't think the events of the future excursion were clouded in secrecy as the Zombie Dredd had been displayed in the black museum for years.

True, but the Black Museum tales are by their nature flashbacks to earlier events surrounding artifacts worthy of note, and this particular tale may have occurred before the City of the Damned became public knowledge - assuming it ever did become public knowledge and the zombie Dredd wasn't simply kept in storage in the Black Museum rather than put on public display.

Manga's the Japanese word for comics.  That should be all.

Yes.  And also no.
At this point the term is simply a buzzword that can mean almost anything comic-like, but I'd be inclined to concede that there's a case for the backwards-printed stuff bearing the title, since the form is a hybrid that's neither Japanese nor western but a poorly laid-out comic by the technical and narrative standards of both marketed under the name 'manga' to a specific readership who shop in bookstores instead of comic shops.  Oh, and the quality of translated manga here in the west also probably marks it out as separate from comics - you'd never get a writing gig in western comics with dialogue like that.  Not even at Wildstorm.

[TordelBack]

Anyone seen this in Ireland yet?  Isn't in any Easons I've looked in, wasn't in FP at the weekend.

[Professor Bear]

I'm up Norf, TB, and they're available here.  You might want to have a word with your comic shop to make sure they're getting it in.

[Art]

For the curious, here's the panel description for the large panel on Page 8 of the Black Museum story. As you can see Jon very much took it and ran with it, putting in all manner of awesomeness.

[spoiler]"Large panel. In the center of the panel is Connor, flailing helplessly as he falls through the air. He's surrounded by a swirling vortex, and around him in the vortex are various visions of possible Megacity Ones, and the destruction that befalls them – Theres a bit of necropolis with Judge Death looming over the city, a mushroom cloud,  the horsemen of the apocalypse swiping the tops off of city blocks with a scythe,  fire raining  from the sky destroying the city. "[/spoiler]

[PreacherCain]

Anyone seen this in Ireland yet?  Isn't in any Easons I've looked in, wasn't in FP at the weekend.

Nope, I can't find it either 

[PreacherCain]

Looked again in a few places today and couldn't find it. Easons is stocking the previous issue. Anyone else having problems finding this in Ireland?

[maryanddavid]

Ive not got it either, ebay here I come.

David

[TordelBack]

I tried asking what the story was in Easons Tallaght, but their policy of only ever employing snail-like apathetic Irish-born white people was working against me. Must be the only outfit in the country that avoided hiring even one immigrant through the boom years.  Just them and the Civil Service, really.

[maryanddavid]

Still havent been able to get this, Ebay dont have it either. The annoything is that I looked at it in FP in dublin a couple of week ago, but didnt get it because I have it on order at my newsagents.
If any kind soul spot a copy and would like to send it to the Emerald Isle, I have paypal at the ready. Otherwise I will have to go digital, and I dont think I am ready for that yet!

Cheers

David