Meg 238 - Bastards... and a tooth crossover

[Grant Goggans]

I used to work with an improv comedy group called Corn Pone Flicks (see www.cornponeflicks.org) and we were making a short called "The Tsubaraya Home for Retired Japanese Film Actors" when our lead, playing a TV newsman, adlibbed "From Tokyo, I'm Jack Shit."  The cameraman dropped the camera from laughing so hard.

--Grant

[McNulty]

I'll admit it's been a while since I've posted here, but with the Meg and this week's 2000AD in today, I thought I could do so. So here are my
comments.

It's the new look Meg (now returning to calling itself the Judge Dredd Megazine.) And it takes the controversial step of including a.bad word on
the front cover!!!! Cover the kids' eyes for goodness sake!

Judge Dredd: Blackout: Excellent art and story from Cam Kennedy and John Wagner! Taking on a Sector House is no mean feat, but this story makes it believable. I find myself eager to read next month's episode!

Shimura: The Harder The Come: So Shimura and Stan Lee have history? I can't say I'm surprised. Frankly, I don't know why they haven't gone down this path before. The Naga woman is a good, but strange addition to this story, we'll just have to see how that pans out. There's still a lot in this story I want to address, so If you'll indulge me. I have to question the introduction of the stasis cages to replace the iso-cubes. I understand that it would require less resources and manpower to
hold criminals than tradition imprisonment, but I do not see who they could be used as either a deterrent for criminals or a means for  rehabilitation for the Judges. If you put a criminal in stasis, surely you are only putting
off the day he will return to the streets, just a bad as he was when he was arrested? Also, if you are going to keep them sedated for such a long time anyway, why don't you simply just freeze them? Put them all in the Vaults. I
suppose you could hook them all up to a massive virtual reality machine which would try to rehabilitate them over the years of their stasis, while using their body heat as a means of cheap energy production.

Anderson: Psi Division: It's about time that the Sisters of Death made their move again. It's been years since the failure of Necropolis and since they needed a psychic bridge, surely Anderson, as the divisions most powerful
telepath would be the obvious choice, especially taking her prior relationship with Judge Death into account. Phobia, Nausea, Dementia, now
Pustula; how many of these Sisters are there?

The Simping Detective: I don't think Jack's pet Raptaur is going to be around for much longer. That's the trouble with pets, people get them when their young and cute but after a while they grow up and get into trouble. And I don't think Jack's going to be able to flush this one down the toilet. BTW, am I the only one to wonder if Jack will ever run into any other Wally Squad Judges from a certain series from 2000AD that has proved just as popular as his own?

Charley's War: Another excellent instalment of this war story. It's amazing to think that a story such as this was made such a long while ago, and still has the impact that it has today with a different readership. A good story about an ordinary soldier, well told.

Judge Dredd: Burned out: A great conclusion to this story. Adding on to what I've already said about this, I enjoyed how Guthrie could play good
Judge-bad Judge over the comm. line. In the end, Giant made Guthrie realise that he was still a Street Judge, no matter what happened. They clean the streets and they do not quit.

All in all, there was not one story in this month's Meg I did not enjoy.

[IndigoPrime]

I agree about the SFX?unless the artist directly puts them in, just leave them out.

As for the page count, I'd say it's pretty obvious: the Meg can't be selling enough copies to remain profitable at 100 pages, so it's been cut to 84. (I have no actual facts to back this up, but as someone who's worked on magazines that have gone through tough times, mags that have been on "kill or cure" and mags that have been cancelled entirely, cutting pages is the sort of first step when things aren't looking too great.)

[The Amstor Computer]

I agree about the SFX?unless the artist directly puts them in, just leave them out

Yup. Check out Kev Walker's SFX in Mandroid, or Dom Reardon's work on Caballistics, Inc. to see what a difference having the artist do the SFX makes - they seem a part of the finished page, rather than just dropped on top.

I suspect your guess at the reason for the page cut is probably close to the mark, sadly.

[Dudley]

Just to add to that - I find it absolutely incomprehensible that the Megazine could be having any kind of circulation problems.  It's been a truly great read, consistently, for the last 18 months or more, usually outdoing the weekly.  While I appreciate that this could simply be an issue of personal taste, I've seen enough similar comments on all available review sites to make me think that a lot of people agree with me.  If even this brilliantly created comic can't sell enough to be self-sustaining, then I'll have to agree with small press supremo Dave Evans' comments in his interview over at 2000adreview.co.uk - comics really are just about dead.

The Meg remains excellent value even with the slightly reduced page rate, and I for one will carry on buying it.

[Funt Solo]

>> "I for one will carry on buying it."

So, will I.  Doesn't stop me being disappointed that the editorial has chosen to ignore the issue of a reduced page count.

[IndigoPrime]

To be frank, I really don't find it all that surprising. Rebellion seems to be having trouble convincing some chains to stock much of its stuff, probably because the names within the covers aren't as "big" as Marvel super-heroes (or whatever). For instance, in my town's centre, there are two large newsagents (a WHSmith and a Martin's). Both stock a fairly healthy selection of comics, especially the Martin's, which stocks Ultimates titles and a bunch of other stuff. It doesn't, however, stock 2000 AD. The WHSmith does, but it doesn't stock The Megazine. Fleet's a fairly small town (30,000-odd), but seeing as other comics are stocked, it's a shame Rebellion titles generally aren't.

I suspect there's a general marketing issue, too. From my dealings with Rebellion in the past, I know full well it's not like they aren't trying; however, marketing is expensive and time-consuming, and there's so much out there shouting for attention. 2000 AD and The Meg often end up lost in the crowd. As for reviews, I don't tend to follow comics websites much, so I've no idea how much The Meg is "getting out there" in that area.

Even with the drop in page count, I'll continue subscribing, unless it ends up being American reprint monthly again (which I doubt will happen). Here's hoping some nutcase Hollywood exec. decides to finance a Dredd movie, that it becomes amazingly successful, and that in turn results in The Meg having a dizzying circulation of 100,000+... Well, you never know.

[Dudley]

Doesn't stop me being disappointed that the editorial has chosen to ignore the issue of a reduced page count.

TBH, it might actually be the right route to go.  While the obsessives (us) might notice the page reduction, the vastly greater general audience who see it just as a pleasant read on their commute or whatever probably won't even pick up on the reduced pages, unless it were actively pointed out to them.

[Trout]

Me too. I liked it a lot and I'll definitely be sticking with it.

As usual, I enjoyed the lead Wagner story, and dipped into other bits of the magazine. Anderson has improved.

I wasn't keen on Shimura, but I'm not too bothered.

The prog and Meg brightened up my dull evening on call.

- Trout

[Funt Solo]

>> "unless it were actively pointed out to them"

Which it's bound to be in Dreddlines, anyway.  But I see your point.

[Dudley]

Which it's bound to be in Dreddlines, anyway

If the guy picking the letters is as dumb as a bag of hammers, yes.

[Tu-plang]

If the guy picking the letters is as dumb as a bag of hammers, yes.

Dreddlines has never been a page to only print letters of gushing praise like in Ultimate SpiderMan or something.  They usually present a balanced array of opinions, including the hard-to-answer ones like the question of reprint material, which was always answered with an honest 'we don't have the dosh'.

Besides, who said anything about 'selecting' letters?  I think they pretty much print everything they get. ;)

[IndigoPrime]

Not everything?I've written to The Meg a few times and, as far as I'm aware, I've never had anything printed in it, unlike 2000AD, where about two-thirds of the letters I've sent have ended up in print.

[Artificial Idiot]

I've wrote two letters to the Meg, and only one got printed. I'm glad the other one didn't get printed though, as it was idiotic in the extreme in hindsight.

[Funt Solo]

It's true, Dreddlines doesn't shy away from criticism or awkward subjects.