Meg 316 - American Reaper

[PreacherCain]

I'll be getting this tomorrow but Langley's art over the last few years is just not my thing. It's so static and dark and frankly, dull. I'll give this American Reaper thing a chance.

32 pages though?  Maybe they know it'll be divisive so want to get it over with faster...

[Buttonman]

Bah! Still paying for my American trip in more ways than one - a Proudfoot-in-mouth effort was the lowlight of a great Meg for me.

I thought sci-fi was a far better use of Langley's style than Slaine and I thought the Reaper was great. A bit like the film 'Strange Days' is styles and plot - just hope Juliette Lewis gets her baps out soon.

Dredd was good too but I hope it gets away from the usual wronged person seeks revenge while Dredd picks up the clues scenario. The deaths were inventive and I hope for some surprises in the next bit.

Koburn is a bit dull for me and I've kinda lost my way with it.

More Mercy/Cyan next month too - quite liking it but we could use some variety.

[PreacherCain]

More Mercy/Cyan next month too - quite liking it but we could use some variety.

I quite enjoyed the first two, the third was rather poor though. Surely the next volume is the last?!

[zombemybabynow]

sweet sweet megazine

[Colin Zeal]

I thought American Reaper was pretty good. It didn't seem too long to me and I wouldn't have known it was 32 pages if I hadn't seen it on here. Clint Langley's stuff isn't normally my cup of tea but it worked here and I found it a lot easier to follow what's happening. Early days of course but it gets the thumbs up from me so far.

[SmallBlueThing]

Two thumbs up from me as well. American Reaper was gorgeous- very cinematic, with Langley's art opened up much wider than usual, and not as cluttered with fine detail to distract the eye. Pat's script suggests this could be classic Mills, and the extra length episode flew by. I'll be rereading this lots in the intervening time before next issue, i think.

Dredd was superb too, with a carefully structured episode that genuinely had me wanting next month now. Clever final page and panel, i must add. Ordinarily im not keen on john higgins' colour palette, but here it suited the tone of the story perfectly.

Coburn, as i hoped, kicked up a gear and rounded the meg off in an enjoyable way.

And- Scream! Fantastic! but i couldve had three times the space spent on it and still been unsatisfied.

Movie reviews enjoyable/ or not, as usual.

Top meg. Floppy may get read this month, as i remember Tor Cyan as being okay.

SBT

[COMMANDO FORCES]

Interesting cover, don't know why but it reminds me of those movie mags that you get at the cinema (if you still do).

Now I haven't been down the town to check this yet, as my good lady collected my Thrill Power for me yesterday. I did notice that the floppy was on the front cover side of the Meg and cover to cover, thus it won't be well advertised if it's on the shelves in Smiths like that!

DREDD loved this opening part of the story with its twist in the middle and Dredds one warning. I do think one of the Judges should have been wearing a bowler hat though! My one tiny gripe would have been that surely the Justice Dept vehicle that fast ropes the assault team onto the compound would have had some external weaponry fitted to take out any defences. Still a great opener and how weird that monofilament would be used to great effect in this issue of the Meg and the floppy from years back.
I agree with the ending, sometimes even the greatest of plans can come undone by pure bad luck, depending on which side you are on.

SCREAM! thoroughly entertaining article but as SBT said it should have been longer.

AMERICAN REAPER I like it but I don't like it. Visually the opening shots remind me of Tim Burtons Batman but I just glanced over the art as there was nothing really to see. In fact they look like cinema posters. Once we get into the story I must admit the art helps carry it along but I would have preferred inks or paint. It just reminds me of those books you used to get that took loads of stills out of a movie and was released as a Movie photo story book.
The one bit that wound me up was the gun porn scene [spoiler]how on earth did the kid miss from that distance[/spoiler].
I did feel it was way too long and overpowered the Meg and it could have been a floppy in its own right.

REVIEWS I read them all for a change but only because of the wood chipper picture and I will watch that one when I can.

KOBURN it seems to heading to its conclusion which is a good thing as its not really doing it for me. I think its just one of those stories that takes for ever to actually get anywhere. I hope the payoff is worth it!

LETTERS I always wonder how many of these are on the forum. Obviously Tom is but sometimes I see another name from my town and I just wonder who it is. It seems to me to be much harder to write a letter, especially if using pen and paper to Dreddlines than be on here. Each to their own I know but it would be great if all these letter writers joined the forum.

FLOPPY very enjoyable but next month takes us to five in a row! Are we running out of ideas chaps, how about CRUSADE as everyone loves that 

[Buttonman]

LETTERS I always wonder how many of these are on the forum. Obviously Tom is but sometimes I see another name from my town and I just wonder who it is. It seems to me to be much harder to write a letter, especially if using pen and paper to Dreddlines than be on here. Each to their own I know but it would be great if all these letter writers joined the forum.

Can't say definitively CF as to who is a boarder but the Beast reveals :

'Scott' from Dorset is likely to be Scott Taylor from that parish whom we last encountered in Meg 283 in 2009. This is his 3rd letter in total and 2nd in the Meg.

Doug Bulter is a newish convert who now has 3 letters all Meg, all this year - M309, M312 & M316.

Ross Trapnell is true to his letter's content in that this is his first letter.

Tom Proudfoot - no idea.

[Daveycandlish]

I thoroughly love my Meg but this has been the weakest one in AGES.

Only a two page text article? No droid interview? And 32 pages of a marmite writer teamed with a marmite artist? That story needed a bloody good edit - the panels were way too large for the page.
Koburn just ain't doing it for me, but at least Dredd was a good opening episode.

Haven't read the floppy yet but I will do as I've enjoyed the Mercy Heights stuff over the last few months - maybe it's time for something different though?

This has been the quickest read for a Meg in ages

[mygrimmbrother]

In fairness, I've read American Reaper now and I'll admit it wasn't bad. What others have said about Langley's stuff working better because it has more room to breathe is fair enough. I still don't want 32 pages of it though. Yes, he's more suited to this sort of dark sci-fi than Slaine, and some panels were rather effective. But overall to me it's ugly and static and it's just not comic art. Anyway, that's enough out of me.

[Proudhuff]

Do'h! Thought my subbie has a couple o months to run, but no it expired poor dear, have now renewed so hopefully I will get to see that glorious Button free letters page asap.

[Zarjazzer]

Oohh a weirdy prog. Reaper is a strange one I admit and it read much like a film script story board  in fact i saw Xingu films TM on it somewhere. Visuals good but as mentioned by others very Tim Burton (no bad thing for me others will have a very different view), but i am looking forward to seeing some more. Dredd was ace and Koburn a good solid read. Most fun for me was Kev walkers art on Mercy Heights. Certainly very  "Rogueish" in story tone.

[mogzilla]

enjoyed the dredd, shades of mandroid with a man done wrong doing wrong to the men what wronged him?

koburn love it but will have to re read in one as i get confuzzed by the time hopping storytelling...

reaper....hmmmm still have to read this but it seems a bit much i aint a fan of the langley photo stories but i'll give it a go but it were too long....


  though i will say this , a scream revival with langley on doomlord?

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

I love Clint Langely's work and always have done so the over rendered look is fine by me. I think if you look down to the left of the New York 2062 city shot you can see something that resembles a single gate of the Thames Barrier!

Not very Nuu-York but I can easily forgive this photo manip over paint since the rest of the work is equally amazing in it's Film-ik realism. Even the shooting of the Emo brat looks like a John Woo shoot out.

I do hope this is going to be a Movie though I understand how the painting style could be seen as too 'dead' and over done by others. I'm a fan and I dread to think of the long hours Mr Langely worked on this and I like the story idea.

The rich, old effectively stealing the lives of the  the young is a sort of twist on the vampire myth. It's been done before but I think it reflects what is happening in the world today with an aggressive, mostly already wealthy elite helping themselves while damning  the rest of us to Debt and lower living standards.

Eat the Young -not the Rich it seems to be these days.

[dweezil2]

The opening part of American Reaper was all kinds of wonderful and I for one love the art, intriguing and provocative premise to the story also-top marks for messers Mills and Langley!

The rest of The Meg was none too shoddy either. Excellent stuff.