Meg 239 - All Rise

(Link to BARNEY)

Apologies for the lack of reviews recently. I have been away for a few weeks and I have started a new job so it's been a bit manic! Can't promise 'normal' service will resume, but I will try and fit some reviews in when I can.

Nice to see Koburn on the front cover, expertly penned by the one and only Carlos Ezquerra. It's quite a plain cover with the white background, but I'm not going to moan about that... For once!

A long Dredd (12 pages- nice!) bought the story Blackout to a conclusion. Lots of action in here, although I don't think the artwork quite kept pace. A couple of frames had me confused and heading back to the previous ones. Still, it didn't detract from the overall story and I still enjoyed it. Cam Kennedy in colour still takes a little getting used to as I am so used to reading his older stuff in black and white. Sympathetic colouring by Chris Blythe helps (Chris is one of the best around for my money).

Part 2 of the Shimura story The Harder They Come saw us head into the Radlands of Ji as the Taoka Corporation master plan begins to be unveiled. And a lot of the residents aren't too happy about it! Shimura has his work cut out protecting his new employer (and lover). I do like Shimura and Robbie's story continues to intrigue, mixing action with mystery. I love Colin MacNeil's depiction of some of the Radlands terrorists, but I'm not too keen on his version of Taoka. Can't put my finger on why, but it's possible she was set in my mind by the strip's previous artist (Andy Clarke). This sometimes happens in strips with different artists, which is often why I prefer stories and characters that are the vision and realisation of one writer and one artist. Like Shakara, Defoe and...

...The Simping Detective, who finishes his current run in the Meg with the last part of the story Petty Crimes. I'm really confused about what has gotten into Cliq, Jack's loveable alien killing machine, so was hoping he'd be ok as he is a character I like a lot. I won't say if he is or not, but it was happy with how the plot resolves. Spurrier really is on top form -again - and is complemented by Frazer Irving superbly- um - again! We also find out a lot more about femme fatale Anna Thrope. Good stuff all round. Come back soon Jack!

It's the second part of the Anderson story Lucid, and for those following her hairstyle adventures, the flowing locks are still cropped... As the story is developing we are getting some of those wonderful Ranson paintings of the chaos happening in the victims minds. He really does capture these weird images wonderfully. There is a particularly good splash page of the rampaging army of Nausea and Phobia. I must confess to feeling slightly lost during parts of this tale. Will see if it makes a bit more sense next time. What's with the lizards?

And so on to Cursed Earth Koburn in a new story called The Assizes. In the main, this is a tale of Koburn performing circuit judge duties in a mutie town, judging a series of increasingly bizarre cases as a bemused Bonaventura looks on (she seems to have all her uniform still, unlike Koburn with his 'modifications'). Towards the end we have a new character introduced. Someone quite sinister. Looks like this strip will be back next Meg, which is good news.

In the reprints, Charley's War feels a little bogged down in the tale of this deserted legionnaire. It just seems like it wrapping up, when something else happens. It's not reaching the heights of the earlier episodes, but it's still decent enough. The Metro Dredd was ok.

In the text articles, I sat and read all of the Meg history article 15 Years Creep! This surprised me slightly, but this is Bishop at his best and I enjoyed his writing and story telling. There was something about The Tomorrow People I skipped. I flicked through the Heatseekers articles, but nothing stood out.

And finally... Sir Alan's editorial acknowledged the drop in page count (100 pages to 84) but countered the complaining by saying he was going for quality rather than quantity. It was that or a price rise.. That's the way of the world, I guess...

Oh...

And MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my readers. Thanks for the support over the last months I've been doing this. Hopefully I will get some time in 2014 to get some more reviews done!

Meg 238 - One of these B@stards

(Link to BARNEY)

I liked the cover art, but not the wording. Did the word "bastard" have to appear (apologies if that causes offence, I'm just repeating the text on the cover)? Run out of ideas? Lazy copy? Didn't need it, as far as I was concerned.... Anyway, let's not overlook Dylan Teague's fine drawing - which was fabulous.

Just a short review for this Meg, as I'm pushed for time, but it's going to start with a rant. Why, oh why, did they have to publish the 2nd part of a Dredd that had started in the Prog. It's a cheap marketing trick to try and get Prog readers to buy the Meg. And I'm not happy about it. I buy the Meg because it's different to the Prog - I get different stories, different characters, I like the text articles. Just leave them as two separate publications! Rant over (and in protest I didn't read the 2nd part to a Dredd I hadn't read the 1st part of!).

The Dredd that I did read was part 1 of Blackout by Wagner and Cam Kennedy. Looks like an interesting set up and am looking forward to seeing how it develops.

Part 1 of The Harder They Come, a Shimura new story, saw art duties switch to Colin MacNeil, but he is using pen and ink rather than painting it. So the strip has gone from full colour to black and white. It took a little getting used to, but MacNeil is a master of all art forms (I bet he makes a mean clay pot too) so there is no real concern. Morrison's script is more than adequate, as usual, and I liked this episode very much.

As this is a "New Readers Start Here" issue, it's another part 1 and this time it's a new outing for Anderson in the story Lucid. Got to be some of the best work Ranson has done in the Meg, for my money, with some tender moments followed by some violent and horrible ones. All beautifully painted. Too early to tell if this will be a hit with me, let's see how it goes.

The Simping Detective sees Jack wondering if Cliq is getting a little too big for his alien killing-machine boots (or tentacles). The SJS are on Jack's back as well. How will our fun-loving simp get out of this predicament. Spurrier and Irving rock. Nuff said.

In the reprints, Charely's War remains a must read and the Metro Dredd was passable as well.

In the text sections, the British Icon was The Prisoner was profiled expertly by Alistair McGown. I learnt a lot about this series that freaked me out when I was younger, but which I avidly viewed. David Bishop continued exploring the origins of the Meg in 15 Years Creep. I did wonder if I would lose interest in this, but not so far. I haven't read any of these Megs, but it's still a good read. I read all the sections of Heatseekers this time, and I particularly enjoyed the origins of Godzilla in the Orient section.

And finally... Dreddlines had a defence of  the request for Anderson to have flowing locks once more and plenty of people agreeing with me that cover 236 was awful.

Meg 237 - 15 Years Creep!

(Link to BARNEY)

This is a special edition Meg celebrating 15 years of existence. The cover comes in two parts; firstly Dredd in a frame surrounded by previous Megs in a black border, which you can see in the photo above. However, opening up the cover reveals a fun image of Dredd and fellow Judges burning copies of the Meg in a furnace (with the control panel showing a temperature of Farenheit 451!). It's great stuff from Cliff Robinson and is a fitting tribute to the Meg's birthday.

Inside we have a monster 36 page Dredd story called Flood's Thirteen written by John Wagner and drawn by the marvellous Henry Flint. Jonny Flood has just spent 21 years in the cubes serving an 18 year sentence (that's MC-1 Justice right there for you!) and is plotting the mother-of-all heists. He recruits his band of crooks and sets about executing his elaborate plan. His target is The Mirage. Not a Las Vegas casino (are you seeing the references to a certain Rat Pack movie here?) but a large spaceship returning to Earth after collecting tax revenues from the colonies. And a very bored looking Dredd is in charge of security. Will Jonny's audacious plan succeed or will Dredd stop him?

This is a great story and the longer format really gives it room to develop. Of course, it could have been split over three Megs but the fact the editorial team did something different for this special issue is to be commended. Great stuff from both Wagner and Flint.

Having been missing from the last Meg, Devlin Waugh concluded in a double episode of fiery glory. Lots of action and intrigue as heroes and villains swap sides and use their special powers in their battle for supremacy. I liked it. The first episode didn't go well for me, but since then I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

The issue concluded with a one-off Simping Detective special called Fifteen. One of the big crime bosses is celebrating 15 years at the top and is throwing a big party. Jack gets wind that someone is going to try and take out this big boss and prepares to enjoy the show. However, 'a friend' informs him that the assassin is someone close to Jack from his past. What should he do? As always, and you are probably sick of hearing this, it's fabulous stuff from Si Spurrier and Frazer Irving. Despite the shorter story format, it is perfectly paced and well executed. Comic gold!

And that was it for the comic strips. We had two parts of David Bishop's new series 15 Years Creep tracing the Megazine's origins to present day (2005 that is!). It's in a similar style to Thrill Power Overload, with inset boxes detailing the history of some if the characters and stories. Obviously, I jumped on to the Meg quite late, but it was still interesting reading how the comic came about.

And that was it really! Quite a different style of Megazine, but interesting nonetheless...

And finally... If you do try and secure a copy of this one for yourself a number of copies were printed with a duplicate page in the Dredd story and the last page from The Simping Detective missing. I got both copies in the bundle I bought (from an old subscriber) so do check before you buy!

Meg 236 - Out Of My Head

(Link to BARNEY)

I'm not an artist, and I respect all work artists do. But I can have an opinion on their art. And I hate this cover. I really do. If I set out to design an Anderson look, it would be as far from this as is possible. She looks evil, with a strange neck and a weird looking body. Sorry Mr Taylor, not my cup of tea...

For reasons Lord Barnes declines to explain, there is no Devlin Waugh this issue. Sir Alan acknowledges his absence, but promises his return next issue. Instead, we have two Si Spurrier Dredds. The first story, Cursed Earth Rules, has a set up and pay off quite close in nature to a Future Shock. I liked this story. Dredd is policing the West Wall when captured muties are being released back to the Cursed Earth. Suddnely, there is Dune Shark attack. How will Dredd react? John Ridgeway is on art duties, and it was alright.

The second Dredd was a shorter story about a block shakedown and the guys who patrol the sewers seeing what is flushed down by the hapless cits. I found it a bit confusing to follow, as I wasn't sure what was happening at times. I'll come right out and say I'm not Boo Cook's biggest fan, but his art was more than competent in this episode. However, I couldn't work out where to attach the blame for my not following the story completely - possibly I should look no further than myself!

Part 3 of Playing Futsie saw Jack Point AKA The Simping Detective trying to get to the bottom of the mess he has ended up in following the leads given to him by Zig the murdering nut-job. Great stuff from Spurrier and Frazer, as usual, and it was a great ending too. We are promised Jack will return and I can't wait to read his next adventures. Again, the script has text that made me chuckle. He's just such a brilliant character and so well depicted by Frazer Irving. Great job all round.

The words "FINAL PART" have never looked so good on a Meg index page as they did for the Anderson saga City of Dead. Because we can finally wrap up this story line about the Half Life virus. Good Grud it's been going on for a while, and it has severely tested my patience at points, but at least we got to a conclusion. After so long, the ending did feel a little rushed. But it was an ending, and we can finally move on from this episode. I did feel a little sorry for the perp - his punishment was pretty cruel - but he does kill a million people so perhaps he got what he deserved?

Another story wrapping up was Young Middenface. It wasn't a bad story, but I can't help feeling that not a great deal of any significance happened. It ended quite strangely as well, with one of the key characters acting very oddly in my view. I don't think I quite believed what happened...

Contrast that with The Bendatti Vendetta which finished brilliantly and had a cracking conclusion. Paced very well over the three episodes by Robbie Morrison and painted wonderfully by John Burns the two Bendatti operatives have a final showdown with the mafia bosses. However, there is a twist at the end which I did not see coming, so it was an interesting twist! Great job all round and look forward to this coming back. I know it's not sci-fi or Dredd, but so what, it's a cracking story... And something different too...

Over in the reprints and Charley's War continues to tell us about life on the home front during World War I. So much to admire about this story - it transcends the medium it is told on. C'mon Hollywood, you churn our so much crap, surely there's room for a movie based on this wonderful comic strip. Or maybe that would ruin it? Metro Dredd was a Gordon Rennie story, but it was a struggle to get through it. There are just so dull these strips most of the time. I know they are set up for a different audience, namely bored and miserable commuters, but even so...

The third and final part of Interrogation saw Robbie Morrison recount the later periods of his work. After a huge picture of Shakara on the opening pages there wasn't more than two paragraphs devoted to this excellent story, but bloody loads of space to sodding Nikolai Dante. We've heard about him a lot already, surely more could have been said about Shakara? Bah. The British Icons slot was devoted to Depserate Dan of Dandy comic fame. I read the Dandy when i was a kid, so it was great to learn more about one of my favourite childhood comic characters.. Over in Heatseekers I read the Orient section about a manga film called Spriggan, which explores occult artefact hunters (and sounded quite good) and the Comic article about an interesting work called Palestine about the author's visits to the Gaza Strip and the interactions he has with the Palestinian people.

And finally...Only one letter to Dreddlines but it must hold the record for the longest ever! The entire page! Hats off to you Marcus Nyahoe for having the sheer willpower to review one Meg in such detail. Surely nobody would be mad enough to do that... No-one at all... :-)

Meg 235 - Tooled Up!

(Link to BARNEY)

A fabulous Cliff Robinson cover  - I could tell it was his artwork straight away. A classic Dredd.

Speaking of Dredd, we had ourselves a long single story by Rennie and Holden called The Magnificent Umbersons. Poor old Cousin Herb is sick of being the family idiot and so takes his revenge on the rest of the high-flying Unberson clan. Great story, great art - which is pretty much the default behaviour for the dream team of Rennie and Holden.

Moving on to The Simping Detective story Playing Futise saw Jack meet a mysterious female (doesn't he always, the lucky so-and-so!) and ends up retracing the steps of his futsie 'friend', Zig. It seems his condition isn't exclusive as many Angeltown cits seems to be going slight bonkers. 'Futsie', by the way, is a condition a cit suffers from when they can't take modern life anymore and decide to get aggressive with their surroundings! Still enjoying this, and great to see Jack's sidekick Cliq back...

A glorious double page spread showed the true madness taking hold of Mega City One in part 5 of the Anderson story City of Dead. Looks like Anderson may have finally figured out how to stop the spread of the Half-Life virus. And there was a bit of action too. So all-in-all, a pretty good episode, as it finally feels like we are heading towards a conclusion. Bit drawn out, though...

Still not 100% on Shaun Thomas' art in the latest Young Middenface. Having got used to Ridgeway and Goddard/Teague (who's styles are quite similar), it is a little jarring. But it's not too distracting from the central story, which is continuing to build nicely. This is a real gem from Alan Grant, and perhaps should have been the template for Anderson. I think Middenface has benefited from having regular breaks, whereas scheduling Anderson one after another seems a real slog... Lots of action in this episode as the muties take on the norms and Kreelers to avoid being taken into slavery.

The Bendatti Vendetta continues to build nicely, as our two heroes take the fight to the Camorras by disrupting a number of their key operations. Lovely stuff from Morrison and Burns again, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this plays out. The episode finished on a bit of a cliff hanger. Is it all part of the plan, or are the Bendatti avengers in over their heads... Ooo - it's tense!

Part 5 of All Hell, the Devlin Waugh adventure, sees us continue to journey deeper into Hell - or the oriental version of hell that is. Devlin has teamed up with an old acquaintance who hastens their journey, but is it all too little too late? Some lovely art on display, some of MacNeils best for me, and I'm really into this story. There is plenty going on, lots of eastern philosophy, religion and myth and some strong characters. And I know who everyone is! Hurrah!

In the reprints, Charley's War continues to be awesome - so glad it's back - as Charley and his friends do everything they can to clear the Silvertown ammunition factories before the German Zeppelins arrive. Honestly, if there's a better war story out there - I'd like to read it! The Metro Dredd was pretty awful. I'll say no more!

In my last article, I bemoaned the fact that there hadn't been a fiction text story. Well, guess what? Yep - a Dredd fiction story made an appearance! Honestly, I don't read ahead on BARNEY to see whats coming up - I'm genuinely writing this like I'm reading the Megs from back in the day. I don't want to spoil any surprises. So I was pretty pleased to see a this back!

The Robbie Morrison Interogation continued to be of interest. I haven't read Nikolai Dante, and was a bit worried it would go on a lot about that story, but actually Robbie did a lot of different and interesting stuff during this period, including publishing a graphic novel of his own. I'll confess to not reading any of the Heatseekers articles this time round. They just didn't rouse my interest. Check BARNEY if you want more info. The Dredd Files. Oh dear oh dear. When will it end?!

And finally...you could win a Star Trek toaster! OK, I'm about 8 years too late, but the fact a Star Trek toaster exists is really quite funny!

Meg 234 - And Your Point Is?

(Link to BARNEY)

What a great Frazer Irving cover staring Jack Point! All sorts of weird Mega City One characters in the background and Jack in his classic pose. Get the Point? Brilliant stuff!

Let's dive straight into the last episode of the Dredd and PJ Maybe story Monsterus Mashinashuns. It didn't disappoint and what a great set up for later events! Dredd returns to MC1 and starts thinking things through. Could Don Pedro Montez really be Phillip Janet Maybe? Did he fake that cut finger... I'll say no more. Suffice to say there is a chase and a stand off between Maybe and Dredd. If, like me, you know the story from here, the ending won't be a surprise, but otherwise... ;-) Top marks Wagner and Ezquerra.

Oh joy of joys, The Simping Detective is back! And still with Spurrier and Irving at the helm. This episode of the new story Playing Futsie sees Jack locked up in a Cube with a nutter who recounts how he ended up there. The clue is in the title. Suffice to say Jack can't tell who is being played for the patsy here, and has his suspicions. Good opening episode, and looking forward to the next one. Basically, I think it would be very difficult for Spurrier and Irving to cock up this fabulous character...

Part 4 of the Devlin Waugh adventure All Hell sees our trio of heroes still in pursuit of the trio of evil guys. The enemies lay a number of traps, but are Devlin and the team are equal to them? The mystery deepens as to what exactly they are up to. Yeah, still enjoying this one. Lots going on and as we descend deeper into Hell, there are more nasty things to fight. Good job by Smith and MacNeil and looking forward to the next episode.

Young Middenface returned, but we have had a change of artist; Shaun Thomas is stepping in. This is set post-Killoden and we discover that mutants are more hunted and more persecuted than ever. We see a 'norm' boy deliver a message to his uncle, a message that sets off an unexpected chain of events. I quite like the new art, although it will take a little getting used to, but Grant is as on form as ever and has introduced an interesting new storyline...

Also returning was The Bendatti Vendetta, with Robbie Morrison and John Smith on scripting and painting duties as before. Set in Naples, the team are tracking a mafia organisation and targeting the head of the operation. Why? We don't know. We may never find out, I don't know, but it's good, solid spies and baddies stuff here. Not very Sci-fi. Not Dredd. But I like it. Others, I fear, will not.

Just when we thought there might be a chance Anderson was back to some arse-kicking it's gone all weird again as she enters into the Chief Magician's head... She does do a bit of fighting at the end, but we are back to slogging through peoples minds again. Getting a bit tired of this storyline now. It's been going on for a very long time, and I just wish we would get on and wrap it all up... Lovely Ranson artwork on display as the Mega City continues to fall to the Half-Life virus. Especially the exploding space cruiser...

Charley's War was back. Hurrah! Charley is back in Blighty, but if he thinks he's getting a rest, he is much mistaken as the threat of the Zeppelins looms large. Good to see a different perspective on the First World War focusing this set of stories on the home front. Metro Dredd took the TV show Big Brother and gave it a 22nd Century makeover, complete with Dredd being kidnapped to appear in it. A bit silly, but it was OK...

Onto the text articles and Robbie Morrison was being grilled in the Interrogation slot. It was interesting to hear Robbie recount his childhood and how he nearly didn't make it into comics. Part 2 is in the next issue, which I think might focus a lot on Nikolai Dante. The Avengers were the British Icons and this was a great article charting their history. I'm a big fan of this show so it was good to get some insight into how it got started and evolved over time. And I still secretly fancy Emma Peel to this day... The Dredd Files lumbered on... Over in Heatseekers, Si Spurrier watches the Movie Conan The Barbarian on DVD and delights in the experience. The Outer Limits was explored in the Cult TV column.

And finally... In Dreddlines, James Feist believes Anderson should grow her hair back because she is no longer the "...foxy, ravishing, sexy nymph" she once was. What is it with these chaps that need a nymphette Anderson? Just be content with fleeting shots of Shakta, Jim! :-)

Meg 233 - Buzz Off

(Link to BARNEY)

Just been enjoying the unseasonably warm weather in the UK to finish off reading this Meg today in my garden chair. I thought the cover by D'Israeli was dynamic, but not really that interesting.

Let's start with episode 3 of Monsterus Mashinashuns, the Dredd and PJ Maybe story. Having stolen the heart of a certain Dr. Ambrose, PJ sets in motion the next part of his plan. It's never going to be full of action, but it is gripping in that I am beginning to see what PJ Maybe might be up to. So far, Dredd has been quite a few steps behind the master criminal, so it will be interesting to see if he catches up anytime soon! Good story - enjoying reading it.

Zancudo concluded this issue. I say 'concluded', it has the door left open to more stories in this South American jungle ruled by giant mosquitos. Turns out there are various factions on this insect community, with giant ants being bought into play (hence the cover). Spurrier paced the story well over the 3 episodes, and the Cam Kennedy art was more than competent. I guess I fell a bit disinterested with this story, on the whole. If it never came back, I wouldn't miss it.

It was also the final episode of A Bullet In The Head, where Inspector Liu Chan Yen (AKA Johnny Woo) runs into someone from his past who he thought was dead. Can't say it was a happy reunion, and most of the episode was dedicated to their chase. It seemed to me that this was a prequel of bigger things to come, and I hope that's true. Fast paced action throughout, a trademark Rennie story, and fabulous Holden art. Come back soon...

Right, I'm really getting into Devlin Waugh now as the band of three; Devlin, Ralph (who makes weapons out of germs!) and Harry (handy with various weapons, it seems!) head into the first circle of hell in pursuit of a rather nasty trio intent on countless evil and nasty things! Some good back stories for the characters have now been established and we are off and running with the main story thread. I like the use of Chinese and Eastern religion and folklore in this story, and for a change with a Waugh story, am looking forward to seeing how it develops.

Finally, at long last, The Bogie Man petered out with a slight plop. It ended fairly predictably, but did leave a bit of a cliff-hanger as to what happens to 'Rick' and 'Ilsa'. For me, it was far too long and simply not enough happened in it. Glad we can clear this one out of the way and make room for something else next time.

Anderson's story isn't moving onwards much either. She is figuring out that the city is in a lot of danger from the Half-Life virus, and Dredd makes a fleeting appearance battling some of the crazed victims. But only towards the end of the episode did she start to take things into her own hands. Finally, she's breaking a few rules to get to where she needs to be! Lovely Ranson art as always, and some wonderful quirky Big Meg characters from Grant. Slowly, but surely, we are getting there with this story.

The reprints were three Dredds I had recently read in a Case Files. I still skimmed them, as they are quite good episodes, particularly the 10th anniversary episode (10 Years On) where Dredd gets to chase the Perp he locked up in Prog 2. The Si Spurrier Metro Dredd was good too.

Onto the text articles, and just in case you were wondering, The Dredd Files is still going... Ho hum. Nice picture of a Mick McMahon Rat Fink, who was always one of my favourite characters. The British Icons article was all about Sapphire and Steel, the late 70s/early 80s time travelling duo which graced ITV back in the day. I enjoyed the article, having sat through the first series with my wife when she bought it on DVD and been scared witless (I'm not great with ghost stories). My wife is a big fan and thought the article was well written and she learnt a lot from it.

In Heatseekers, I read the Cult TV section on The League of Gentlemen, which I always liked but found a little disturbing. The Orient section talked about a Korean film, Taegukgi, which was similar to Band Of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. It is set in 1950 in the Korean War. It sounded quite good, so I may stick it on my LoveFilm list.

And finally... We seem to have lost the text stories. I really enjoyed the Simping Detective one and some of the Dredds. The British Icons articles are quite hit and miss for me (mainly miss) so I'd like to see the text fiction brought back please Sir Alan of Barnes...