Meg 205 - Street Bash Kid

(Meg 205 on BARNEY)

What is it with the last few Meg covers and them freaking me out? Had to keep this one turned over! Glorious art, but again, slightly disturbing...

This months Meg kicked off with an apology from Alan Barnes for not printing the middle page of the Brian Bolland Future Shock I mentioned in the previous Meg! I didn't really cover it in the last review because I didn't really understand it - and now I know why. And after I bigged him up in the last review as well! Tut! Following the link given in Alan's editorial to the complete story on the Internet yields an error message. I guess I'll never know what the middle bit was all about...

Anyway, on to this Meg, and our cover star is Young Middenface, a Scottish mutie who is on the run after he has broken out of prison with is companion, Bonnie Prince Charlie. This is another story set in a different part of the Dredd universe. Glorious penwork from John Ridgway and the start of an interesting story from Alan Grant. I gave Alan a bit of a kicking in previous reviews over Juliet November, so am hoping this story lives up to my high expectations of his work. The other Alan Grant scripted story, Apocalypse Soon, continues to be as nutty as a fruitcake and is a delight! Just one page in each Meg, but it is filled with wit and wonderful painting from Shaun Thomas. Long may it continue. Whilst the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been propping up the bar, the horses are getting fed up... Cracking stuff...

The star of last month's Meg, Judge Dredd in Monkey On My Back, continued to entertain. So good, I read it twice - and not because I didn't understand the first time - but because it's that good... The high page count for each episode works well, and is a great idea. I'd like to see more of these longer episodic stories in the Meg.

And then the other stories; Black Siddha, Devlin Waugh and Family are very much "as you were' and I don't think my opinion has changed much from the last Meg review. Rohan's task weighs heavy upon him, Devlin Waugh continues cracking crap jokes and battling the vampire horde and Family is as baffling as ever. On the subject of Family, I think I am ready to admit that I am completely lost. Perhaps a synopsis of who's who would be useful as this point, as I can't keep up with who is related to who and who keeps killing who and so on. I shall continue reading it - if only to see if I can "get it" at some point. It feels a bit like a soap opera with too many characters to keep track of... And I don't like soaps...

The reprints section was also in fine form still. I'm still loving Darkie's Mob and am still enjoying Slaine, although the latter remains challenging in figuring out where in time everyone is and who the different characters are. Still, I'm finding it easier than Family because at least they all look completely different! I'm wondering if complex comic plotlines aren't my thing, or whether I'll get better at keeping track the more I read of a story...

Thrill Power Overload concluded with an interesting look at how Rebellion came to own 2000 AD and the Meg. We have been promised new David Bishop material coming soon, and I hope it is as good. John Ridgway, artist on Young Middenface, was in the Interrogation Cube and I sympathised with his stance of swearing being unnecessary in Sci-Fi comics. He says it is justified on realism, but that doesn't work for him as comics depict people flying and punching holes in walls. My own view is that Dredd, Sinister Dexter and TV shows like Battlestar Galactica make up there own swearwords, which works well for me. In some comic strips it can be necessary for realism, but probably not in the majority...

Apart from Gordon Rennie ranting about office buildings, there is still little else in the way of text stories or articles. With Thrill Power Overload ending, perhaps we will see something different in the next Meg?

And finally...Chris Haynes of Sowerby Bridge writes to Dreddlines to say how much he enjoyed Juliet November, having read it several times, and how into Family he is. So completely the opposite to me then. Of course, I'm right and he's wrong :-) Goes without saying ;-) In all seriousness, this is why the Meg is so cool. Different types of stories which appeal to different types of readers. 

Have I encouraged you to pick up a copy yet?

UPDATE 30/07/2013:

Thanks to Hunter for his comment below on where the complete Future Shock now dwells. It's on BARNEY! Please follow this link: http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=thrill&page=thrillviewer&choice=soloflip