Meg 324 - Rising Sun

[Hawkmumbler]

The second time one of my letters has been printed. 
Got case files 1 in the post today (curses).

[Zarjazzer]

Spiffy cover and jolliness all round with Samizdat squad (oh another panel of the train mecha thingy-it should be the star ),Dredd was very good but basically just an excuse to blast at capes, Snapshot has finally engaged my jaded attention storywise and I really thought it was top this month, Hondo looks brill and reads well and some nice adverts for forthcoming thrills Aquila being my fave.

I thoroughly enjoyed the freebie though, especially the Tiger story with some great action panels and ninjas.

[metcalfecarr]

Felt very light this issue.  Ignored the floppy as it contained two stinkers IMHO.

Dredd - reasonable parody, but just goes to show why Ezquerra doesn't do superheroes.  The story was ok.
Snapshot - Good looking, decent story, but a 2 minute read.
Hondo City - intriguing start, but will need more time to get into the strip. 
Samizdat Squad was my favourite thing this issue.  Good old school thrill and the art was excellent.

Interviews - How many pages long was Steve Pugh interview, and how much was actual text.  Way too many illustrations, we could have had another interview in there.  The Batman puffpiece again came across as a rewritten Press Pack rather than the culmination of two interviews
Haven't read the prose story as I'm not a fan of Worley's writing.  I take it the budget's been cut so the text story is in there to lower outgoings. As are the four pages of promo images. 

The issue left me feeling a bit robbed this time around.  There was plenty of room for a stock pile story like Black Museum, but it seemed like the issue was the print equivalent of the faces of half of the cast of The Only Way I Essex -  padded out with cheap filler

[SmallBlueThing]

Yeah, really feeling the absence of strange & darke this month- without it, not much appeals. The dredd story was alright, entertaining enough i guess, but did seem to be a left-over from the pre-tour of duty filing cabinet. Dredd's just not (often) like that days. Fun, though.

Snapshot was read in its entirety between final motion and wipe, so seems over too quickly in such short bursts. It'll probably be great as a pacy trade, or a movie, but in bitey chunks... nah.

That's all ive read so far. The thing im most looking forward to is tiger sun dragon moon in one shot. Will do that later tonight, if i can.

When are strange & darke and american reaper coming back?

SBT

[Link Prime]

I think Si is having a go at U.S. comic readers, as opposed to 'us' comic readers, perhaps?

He's having a pop at Marvel / DC, their (sometimes) preposterous comics and their readers. It was hilarious (especially the Super Villain team).
Equally hilarious that he recently sold the remaining 10% of his soul to Marvel. 

[The Sherman Kid]

Sixty-four pages and only 10 containing Dredd as a strip and two as prose.When Anderson is present or strips like the excellent  Insurrection or Koburn it's not so bad ,but the meat is really thin on the bone right now.

Dredd Simply awful.Simon Spurrier is absolutely brilliant, BUT ,just like Alan Grant just can't write Dredd
Samizdat Squad Absolutely dire.Cannot believe they have commissioned more of this dross.
HondoAs soon as I saw Hondo-cit, I thought science gone mad, greedy corporations, yakuza and genetic monsters and what do you know, it hit all the marks.In other words, nothing original.Hondo is an very interesting setting ,but it needs more depth and more characters,than constantly retreading these same themes, which have already successfully been covered in the past.

Snapshot The highlight of the prog.Thin on story but very well executed.

Which brings me back to my original point.If you are looking for an extra hit of Dredd each month , the Judge Dredd Megazine is on very thin rations right now.More stories with a closer link to Dredds world please (and for Gruds sake please reconsider and don't bring American Reaper back!) 

[Spaceghost]

More stories with a closer link to Dredds world please (and for Gruds sake please reconsider and don't bring American Reaper back!)

But Samizdat Squad and Hondo-City Justice are both Dredd-world strips. Or do you mean Mega City One specifically?

Personally, I'd rather see less focus on the world of Dredd in the Meg. One main Dredd strip and three completely unrelated 'back-up' strips, not necessarily connected to Dredd would be ideal and it's one of the reasons I'm in favour of the creator owned slot.

I often find the Dredd-world stuff a bit boring and pointless.

[James Stacey]

Personally, I'd rather see less focus on the world of Dredd in the Meg. One main Dredd strip and three completely unrelated 'back-up' strips, not necessarily connected to Dredd would be ideal and it's one of the reasons I'm in favour of the creator owned slot.
I often find the Dredd-world stuff a bit boring and pointless.

You already get that with 2000ad though. The whole premise and identity of the comic would be lost if they did what you suggest.

[W. R. Logan]

More Dredd, less filler and articles and it might bring me back but I guess the Meg is like Mrs Logan MkI.
Had a good run for 19 years and then the love affair ended.

[Spaceghost]

You already get that with 2000ad though. The whole premise and identity of the comic would be lost if they did what you suggest.

I suppose that might happen but would it be so bad? How many truly memorable strips can you name from the Megazine which didn't feature Dredd himself? I can't think of one. Now, how many brilliant, non-Dredd strips can you think of from 2000 AD? Bleeding loads.

Even when we do see an interesting and fun Dredd-world story (Low Life, Lenny Zero) it ends up in 2000 AD instead of the Meg which serves to further undermine the point of the monthly.

[James Stacey]

Insurrection, Missionary Man. Simpering Detective, Devlin Waugh, Boo's Anderson, Strange and Darke

[Spaceghost]

Insurrection, Missionary Man. Simpering Detective, Devlin Waugh, Boo's Anderson, Strange and Darke

I didn't like most of those as much as some people seemed to (don't understand the appeal of Insurrection at all) but even if you do like them, do any of them really stand up against strips and characters like Nemesis, Bad Company, Strontium Dog, Slaine, Rogue Trooper, Halo Jones, ACE Trucking Co, Zombo, ABC Warriors, Stickleback, Kingdom, Nikolai Dante, Defoe, Caballistics Inc. etc, etc, etc, etc, etc ad infinitum...

PS. I like the idea of a strip called 'Simpering' Detective.

[James Stacey]

some do, some don't. I'm not a fan of all the thrills on your list. The Prog has been running a lot longer and weekly so it's not fair to compare it to a monthly (ok briefly fortnightly) which contains less strips. The Meg has had some dire patches in its run where most if not all of it has been total shit. It's had a lot of good stuff too. What distinguishes it from the Prog tho is the 'Dreddworld' focus. There is room for the creator owned slot, Lilly Mackenzie and Numbercruncher were great. I really can't see the point in making it just another 2000ad though.

[radiator]

At the risk of repeating myself, I think the Megazine is pretty good at present, but imo should have a longer Dredd every month - say 12 pages, and lose one of the backup strips. So just have bumper Dredd, one backup Dreddworld strip, and the creator-owned slot. The monthly format suits longer episodes imo.

[Spaceghost]

I really can't see the point in making it just another 2000ad though.

I can see what you mean. I'm not saying I have all the answers, I just feel that the Dredd-world mandate often results in samey, unimaginative filler and if creators were let off the leash a bit, some great material could surface in the Meg. Like I said, putting stuff like Low Life and the new Lenny Zero story in the Meg instead of the prog would be a good start.

At the risk of repeating myself, I think the Megazine is pretty good at present, but imo should have a longer Dredd every month - say 12 pages, and lose one of the backup strips. So just have bumper Dredd, one backup Dreddworld strip, and the creator-owned slot. The monthly format suits longer episodes imo.

I could definitely get behind this.