Meg 207 - Femme Fatale

(Meg 207 on BARNEY)

So I'm a few Megs in to this mammoth task of reading every Meg since 201, and despite me giving a few strips a bit of a kicking, the quality has generally been of a very high standard. Put it like this, I've read a lot worse than the worst strips in the Meg. I won't name names here, but I'm sure everyone reading this blog will identify with one comic at least which made them weep at having spent their money on it...

Variety is the spice of life, right? I don't like Family, you may love it! I'm just so glad it's over, you may be desperate for more. I thought the ending was rubbish, you may think it's shocking and leave you wanting more... Right, that's that done and I never need speak it's name again (I hope). But as I said earlier, it was certainly not the worst strip ever. But I judge the Meg by a very high standard...

Before I continue, the Mark Harrison cover is a delight. Reminds me a lot of the Pulp Fiction movie poster - complete with the red and yellow title, smoking female lead and the fake creases of a tattered book cover.

I promised more about Young Middenface in my last Meg review and just when it was getting interesting, and I was really starting to identify with the characters and see where it went next - it stopped. It ended with the gang of Muties off on an adventure, but it's one of those endings I fret over because all I can see ahead is hardship... I really hope it comes back to the Meg soon, as I'm desperate to find out more. It's a real - well - human story. And I mean, it's about the characters - not about blasting aliens or travelling in time - it's all about the Muties and their survival and the way society treats them. A little dig at our own society by Alan Grant perhaps? Fabulous pen and ink artwork by John Ridgeway - I love good pen and ink art and Ridgeway has it in spades. I hope to see more of him in the Meg soon.

So - big thumbs up for Young Middenface. More please!

I'm not sure what to say about Devlin Waugh. It still chugs along - more one liners - more fighting vampires. If and when it changes tack, I'll let you know. Black Siddha is fast becoming a favourite. I love all the Indian gods and magic that run through the strip. Anyone who has read, or have had children who have read, Percy Jackson or any other Rick Riordan novel will identify with why I like this so much. I'm a big Riordan fan as are my 9 year old son, my wife and my parents!

The new Dredd strip is a John Wagner - hooray! With art by Graham Manley - hoo...errrmmmm. Well Mr Manley was responsible for drawing Juliet November, which if you remember by previous entires, I didn't like much. Still - fresh start - and it's a Wagner Dredd. Gotta be good, right? And it is. It's a cracker. Shakedown is about the Judges descending on a lawless block - Paradise Heights - to do a full-scale Block shakedown. Judges will enter each apartment and deal with law breakers. As we go through the story, we track different Perps and the different way they respond to the Law entering their block. It's another long strip - 12 pages I think - and I liked that in the story Monkey On My Back in the previous Megs.

Over in the reprints, Slaine finished. Nooooooooo! And it finished on a sodding cliff hanger too. Not fair! I don't know if Slaine gets reprinted in future Megs - but after a clumsy start and I really enjoyed these last episodes. Don't worry, the cliff hanger isn't really big - a lot of loose ends get tied up, I guess it's more of an intro to the next book. Darkie's Mob continues to please. It finishes next Meg, so I'll talk more about it then. We saw the work of a licensed Peeper in the Daily Star Dredd - which was a fun little story as these often are.

The Dredd text story, Rat Town, was a nice idea - told by different characters in the story. However, it didn't quite hit the mark. I had to keep re-reading bits and I'm still not sure I fully understood the ending. Gordon Rennie let loose on the 'jollies' (or corporate entertaining) comic creators receive. He's not impressed - but that's Gordon! Mark Harrison was in the Interrogation Cube and he made for an interesting read. He seems a nice guy - came across as the sort of bloke who would be interestin to chat to. And he has a chocolate addiction - poor chap!

And finally...Apocalypse Soon continues to be a highlight every month. I really hope this gets a reprint somewhere soon because it makes me laugh every time I read the one page episodes. I like to collect original comic art and I'd love to track down a page of this excellent little story...