Meg 293 - Devil Child

[stacey]

Well I've finished reading it and I can't understand the negativity, I'm with radiator me.  I really liked the Dredd, I love Tempest I LOVE Tank Girl and I really enjoyed the Lost Cases Dredd. I enjoyed the Mike Carey interview, and obviously the podcast article ROCKED THE BIG ONE! Overall - smashing!

[TordelBack]

I accept I may have misjudged the mix, though

Not at all PJ, it was supoib stat to finish.  Care to let us know what approach Alan takes to his scripts?  If Wagner is a 1 and Moore is a 10, where does Alan fall on the detail scale?

I've great respect for Logan's opinion on all matters both Dredd and Wagner, but I have to take issue with this:  

Al may be a great writer of the future but as far as his Dredd's go he's got to stop standing on the shoulders of giants and come up with something better.

If anything Al's handful of Dredd scripts have been characterised by a really solid degree of originality - the intelligent uniform, Community Officer Joe, Little Juvey Jovus, the Eisnerish Christmas story, the Harry Lime story: all made me smile, all were memorable, and all still felt like Dredd.  With all due respect to Rennie, I don't think any other non-Wagner Dredd scripter has hit the ground running quite as sucessfully as Al has.  I'd like to see him handle a longer and  more serious story, but I'm really excited to see what he does next.

[radiator]

re: Lost Cases Ron Smith tribute. The strip ties into a Blockmania story drawn by Ron - that final page was specified to be a match up to the first page of the Ron Smith story.

Ah, I thought it might be something like that - Block Mania/The Apocalypse War is one of the Dredd epics I've read the least amount of times, so I didn't spot the reference. For some reason I only picture McMahon, Dillon and Bolland when I think of Block Mania.

[W. R. Logan]

Not only is this a load of shit (unless, of course you apply the same accusation to Alan and John when they wrote things like Batman and Star Wars) is also pretty fucking insulting to the writer.

Apologies, I forgot that your not allowed to have an opinion.

[Trout]

You grumpy fucker! 

Everyone's allowed an opinion but it's better to express it with a bit more respect. You're a good guy, Logan, but this time you got a wee bit personal.

- Trout

[PreacherCain]

I thought the Meg was okay this month, but it could be a lot better.  I think most people's problem with the current incarnation is the format/price issue and whether the Meg should be a comic or a more rounded, try-and-cover-everything magazine. I'm of the mind that there is a middle ground to be reached but as of right now, the Meg is too much of the latter and too little of the former.

There's only four strips in an issue (not including the attached reprint, which I really like and enjoy 90% of the time!) and far, far too much 'magazine' content. In my opinion they need to reign back not only the number of articles, but also their lengths.  Even decent, interesting stuff like the podcast article in the current issue outstays its welcome at three pages. 

There's a three page article on a Spanish genre festival (where the reviewer seems to dislike everything, even The Road which I thought was very good. Reminded me a little too much of a tabloid reviewer too, the guy was does the normal film reviews is much better) and another three pages of film reviews later, which covers TWO of the same films (the Road and Carriers).  I have issues already with film reviews in what is primarily a comic but having two reviewers covering the same films is a bit ridiculous!  Add another two pages of director interviews and you've got quite a large chunk of the Meg covering films, a medium that is already well taken care of by four or five magaziners (Empire, Sight & Sound, Total Film etc.) and pretty much every other newspaper/magazine out there.

If the text articles have to be there as a necessity, I'd much rather they cover comic-related subjects, stuff like creator interviews (which are great and I hope they stay for a long time indeed), You Should be Reading (not watching, which usually covers TV shows that have already been over for a year or two), and articles which cover more niche/left field stuff like Manga (not really my thing personally but I can still understand it's being there).  I'd quite like to see some articles on some of the independant American/European guys like Chris Ware, Eddie Campbell etc.

It feels to me right now that the comics in the Meg (Dredd et al), regardless of quality, are an aside while I feel they should be the focus. It needs to be a tighter, leaner beast than it is at the moment. If it's a case of not being able to afford more comic strip, I really do wish they'd just come out and say it rather than try and sell the Meg as something it isn't or call a lot of the written content as anything but filler.

I also wouldn't mind seeing a return to printing some of the small press stuff if it means we get less guff about crap horror films that I never intend (or most likely would even get a chance) to see.

This turned out longer than I expected

[Roger Godpleton]

Why would the (presumably) American Tempest say "mum" instead of "mom"? For this reason I am forced to label Al Ewing "Worstest writer ever and most likely a HOMO".

[Trout]

Hmmm. You know, "Roger", it's against the board rules to have more than one user account, even if you're a comics writer?

[W. R. Logan]

You grumpy fucker! 
Everyone's allowed an opinion but it's better to express it with a bit more respect. You're a good guy, Logan, but this time you got a wee bit personal.
- Trout

Wasn't my intention to be personal, my intention was to give my opinion and so I shall elaborate. I like Al, hes a strange and unique individual and I've liked his work since he would run round conventions giving away his home made mini-comics, his disco dancing Rogue Trooper still remains one of the best comics handed out at any con.
Zombo, love it, Dredd's are fine but as with many new Dredd writers and at times even Gordon and Garth fell into the trap of having to show how much of a fan you are by getting as many references to old Dredd stories in as possible. Gordon's weakness was the Apocalypse War and I feel that Al is going down the route of getting in as many references as possible to show his love of the character.
When Al has to come up with his own characters and stories he mostly gets it right and as much as I like most of his Dredd's I'd rather see him dropping the fan pleasing refernces and just wrote about Dredd & the City.

[Dark Jimbo]

Wasn't my intention to be personal, my intention was to give my opinion and so I shall
When Al has to come up with his own characters and stories he mostly gets it right and as much as I like most of his Dredd's I'd rather see him dropping the fan pleasing refernces and just wrote about Dredd & the City.

Fair points all Mister Logan, but it's subjective really, innit? Where you see fan pleasing references I see natural and continuing, erm, continuity. I mean, our own world is still to some extent being informed and infuenced by what happened during WWI and II. It boggles the mind that the Mega-City wouldn't still be suffering ramifications from an event as massive as the Apocalypse War or Necropolis, even if it is twenty years down the line. You say you'd rather he wrote about 'The City' but heck, an awful lot of what makes up that city and the people in it is the past events they've suffered through.

For what it's worth I agree with you about G Rennie - he did tend to over-use the back references, which was fairly baffling for me because when he was at his height in the prog I'd yet to read most of 'classic' Dredd. One of the best regular writers Dreddworld's had, no doubt, but for me he never quite shook off the feeling of a 'fan writer'. But I think Al's just about avoided this so far (only just, mind). Give him time to really come into his own.

[Mikey]

Funnily enough, I was thinking of posting something similar to Logan but as a more general thread.

I really like Al's writing and look forward to him staying around for a good while, but I was wondering if we're all starting to get a bit bogged down by momentum/continuity? (I understand Wagner doesn't!)

Dredd is such a powerful character - does the undoubted genius of Wagner mean the character has been 'ruined' for anyone else? Is it likely to mean we won't accept the inevitable future Dredd writers?

M

[SuperSurfer]

I think Al Ewing's Dredd perfectly complements Wagner's. It really works for me that Wagner deals with the main Dredd continuity in 2000AD while Ewing has the chance to explore Dredd's situation in the Cursed Earth in the Megazine. I often thought that Ewing's trick for getting things right is by focussing more on the citizens of MC1 or the oddballs of the Cursed Earth but that's not always the case. Even when Dredd is the main focus he gets that right. I am always guaranteed a laugh out loud moment with some trashy dialogue. Can't say I see too many 'fan pleasing references'.

Mind you, I think he has been taking some writing tips off Godpleton. Your mother this, your mother that...

[Trout]

Good for you for taking the time to respond in full, Logan.

[Dandontdare]

the 'fanboy references' criticism may be valid in an everyday Dredd story, but surely that's the whole point of these "lost cases" - they are specifically designed to reference old stories. It's like complaining there are too many robots in the ABC warriors, or that you don't like twist endings in the Future Shocks.

[James Stacey]

the 'fanboy references' criticism may be valid in an everyday Dredd story, but surely that's the whole point of these "lost cases" - they are specifically designed to reference old stories. It's like complaining there are too many robots in the ABC warriors, or that you don't like twist endings in the Future Shocks.

The lost cases are written by Alan Grant though.