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Megazine 366 - War on the Law

Started by Eamonn Clarke, 16 November, 2015, 04:43:22 PM

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Eamonn Clarke

Monday and no Meg thread yet?



Great cover by Colin MacNeil. We do seem to have had a lot of Lawmaster covers this year.

Dredd ramps up the police work on Total War and with Joe himself on the sidelines Beeny steps up which is always good. Wagner and MacNeil producing the best thing in either comic at the moment.

An article about Garth Ennis and Keith Burns' new Johnny Red comic from Vertigo and an interrogation with Mike Carey

There's crossing and double crossing in Demon Nic but it's not really my thing.

An ad for the Planet Replicas Mekon figure and an article about the Future Shock documentary.

Storm Warning wraps up and Tom Foster is a rising star. Slightly stunned to see his pages were more expensive than Henry Flint's at Thought Bubble but that just reflects that Henry undervalues his own work. Get 'em before the art dealers is my advice.

And then there's the last of Lawless for the time being which is possibly the second best thing in the two comics at the moment. Big cliff-hanging ending leaves me hungry for more but that Phil Winslade detailed artwork must take some time to produce.

Finally there are some Dreddlines with a letter from the ubiquitous Dr Rich Evans, and details of a Dark Judges short story competition with a Planet Replicas badge for the winner.



Proudhuff

Aye, surprised not much interest here but the TB crowd must all be licking their wounds or curled up with the ill gotten gains, or licking their ill-gotten gains and curling up with their wounds  :D

A better Meg that some of late, I think due to the relevance of the text articles. Not keen on the Demon Nic story but loving the art, it really is top drawer stuff. The Dredd as mentioned above is text heavy and Benny moves up a gear while Dredd licking his wounds.

Storm not doing it for me, but I'm shocked and stunned that Butt'man hasn't updated the Beat yet given the letters cascading out of the Nerve Centre, he must be off doing more telly  ;)
DDT did a job on me

Proudhuff

Looks like its only thee and me Doc!  :(
DDT did a job on me

NapalmKev

Demon Nic gives us the line [spoiler]"it's all Cheese".[/spoiler] Yes, it certainly is!

Cheers
"Where once you fought to stop the trap from closing...Now you lay the bait!"

Hawkmumbler

Dredd continues to just be the hight of awesome, with two of the top creaters bringing their A game!

Lawless was also top notch and can not wait for its return, Demon Nic is just the very best thing and I chuffing love it. More, please, more!

Then theirs Storm Warning. After seeing Tom Fosters B/W art at TB, I can confirm it would have looked 10 times better as was. The colour pallet has muted the wonderful deatil that lies beneath, which was bordering on Bolland level genius. I suspect an editorial demand for no more than 1 B/W strip, which was a huge blunder. Please do correct me if i'm mistaken, tough.

James Stacey

Lawless was fantastic. Looking forward to more soon, please. Dredd barrels along well and Demon Nick continues. Don't hate it, not buzzing my thrill receptors either. Storm Warning I gave up on sorry. Very rare it happens but I just couldn't bring myself to be interested. So one dud, 1 OK and 2 worth the price of admission.

Magnetica

A bit of a mixed bag this month.

Having recently re-read Terror and Total War in the Mega Collection, Terror Rising seems to be treading a well worn path - terrorist outrage, Dredd investigates, Dredd gets them in the end. The trick is going to be making this different - but the last page hints at that, and hey it Wagner and MacNeil on Dredd, so I guess I should have a bit more faith. It is probably that there have been so many great Dredds in both the Prog and the Meg lately that my expectations are now really really high.

Demon Nic [spoiler]- yeah I thought that Nic and Mercy switched from enemies to being on the same side a bit quick a couple of months ago. Shouldn't have worried.[/spoiler]

Storm Warning - the last couple episodes, read individually left me a bit baffled. It is only I have them both that it makes sense. Still the ending left me a bit flat. But overall I quite liked it and would definitely like to see some more. Really love the art, and if what is said above about the uncoloured vesrsion is true, I would very much like to see that in future.

Lawlesss...nooooooo...can't believe it is taking a break now. This needs to be a (semi) permanent fixture in the Meg.

Text articles. Can't wait to see the documentary. The other two  - skipped mostly (which is very rare for me). Indeed I am rapidly losing interest in those that have only the slightest link to 2000AD or the Meg (and ok  Johnny Red is by Garth Ennis and featured in Battle - but I'm not really that interested).

Frank

Quote from: Magnetica on 20 November, 2015, 07:01:09 PM
Terror Rising seems to be treading a well worn path ... The trick is going to be making this different - but the last page hints at that


Does it ever.  The question that makes Terror Rising an exciting and potentially very, very important story is whether the worn path it's expertly treading leads us into Origins territory or a Cal Files cul de sac.


[spoiler]Keston Knox would have been born sometime in the year after the Democratic March, during which America Jara had a baby taken from her womb by Justice Department. Even if he's not that baby, Beeny's hint suggests she already suspects he's her big brother.[/spoiler]







Timothy

Read month to month I've found Storm Warning a little disjointed and difficult to follow. Read in one sitting though it has been really enjoyable and the art has been stunning throughout (very Cliff Robinson). The only criticism I have of the story is the unnecessary name change of Burroughs. It's not an established character hiding behind another name and the change of name halfway though had the potential only to confuse.

Colin YNWA

Some absolutely cocking stuff in the Meg this month. The only real issues I have are Storm Warning just never really gelled into anything. It was just kinda there. It seemed to have all the elements in the story but nothing clicked. It seemed to have all the elements in the art but that didn't sing. Secondly Dredd while another example of two fine creators really doing some quite brilliant work is very procedural again (well after a barnstorming start of course) we've had that recently and there's no doubt Wagner gets so much more into the tale than just the actions and conversation while discussing the case. I just feel he has some much more to bring than allowing this to become his stock in trade. Still early days and whats there is quite brilliantly realised so this is a minor, potential worry not a real concern yet and certainly doesn't detract from what is a fantastic story.

The other two tales are without fault. They are seriously fantastic comics. Lawless has a real confidence to it in both art and story its quite masterful on both fronts and man that cliffhanger is just cruel! Its there astonishing that its topped by the quite supreme Demon Nic. I know this isn't everyones cup of tea but for the life of me I don't know why. Paul Grist is an absolute master. The art has such glorious original layouts completely bring the storytelling to life. The story itself is crafted to perfection and the twistly turns sown so seamlessly into the episode make the overall tale sing to me. Reall do think this is comics at their best.

The text pieces are pretty good as well. The only thing being in this world of podcasts a plenty they do lose a little of their vitality but still enjoyable.

So yeah for me, newly onboard the Meg its a revalation still and if the Prog wasn't on such form would be topping it. So I'm really intrigued to see how it holds with the next line-up changes coming.

Dandontdare

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 21 November, 2015, 12:18:43 PM
its topped by the quite supreme Demon Nic. I know this isn't everyones cup of tea but for the life of me I don't know why.

I may have mentioned a few Megs back, but my problem is with the tone - it's too frivolous to be a serious horror story; but if it's meant to be a comedy, it's just not very funny, so it fails to satisfy on either level.

Fungus

A poor Meg for me, Lawless continues on its glorious way and the Zhind references are tying up the Abnettverse very nicely. A tremendous strip all in. Demon Nic upped its game a bit by making more sense than usual. A bit of an entertaining caper this time, with neat banter, marred slightly by sensing the punchlines in advance (just me?). On a page-turn that shouldn't be happening.

Dredd & Storm Warning suffer from the month wait between episodes, for some reason. Possibly my fault. I know some read last month's before each issue - maybe that's a way to go.

Read the first Tyranny Rex tale as it was new to me, but skipped the main story. Slog-wise recently I think I skipped Deus Ex Machina, Smith's purple prose really isn't my cuppa.

This monthly title sure does have ups and downs.

Judge Nutmeg

the last panel of storm warning , is that boney from trap door ?   :lol:

Banners

Quote from: Judge Nutmegthe last panel of storm warning , is that boney from trap door ?   :lol:

Heh, I thought that too :-)