I thought the Meg was okay this month, but it could be a lot better. I think most people's problem with the current incarnation is the format/price issue and whether the Meg should be a comic or a more rounded, try-and-cover-everything magazine. I'm of the mind that there is a middle ground to be reached but as of right now, the Meg is too much of the latter and too little of the former.
There's only four strips in an issue (not including the attached reprint, which I really like and enjoy 90% of the time!) and far, far too much 'magazine' content. In my opinion they need to reign back not only the number of articles, but also their lengths. Even decent, interesting stuff like the podcast article in the current issue outstays its welcome at three pages.
There's a three page article on a Spanish genre festival (where the reviewer seems to dislike everything, even The Road which I thought was very good. Reminded me a little too much of a tabloid reviewer too, the guy was does the normal film reviews is much better) and another three pages of film reviews later, which covers TWO of the same films (the Road and Carriers). I have issues already with film reviews in what is primarily a comic but having two reviewers covering the same films is a bit ridiculous! Add another two pages of director interviews and you've got quite a large chunk of the Meg covering films, a medium that is already well taken care of by four or five magaziners (Empire, Sight & Sound, Total Film etc.) and pretty much every other newspaper/magazine out there.
If the text articles have to be there as a necessity, I'd much rather they cover comic-related subjects, stuff like creator interviews (which are great and I hope they stay for a long time indeed), You Should be Reading (not watching, which usually covers TV shows that have already been over for a year or two), and articles which cover more niche/left field stuff like Manga (not really my thing personally but I can still understand it's being there). I'd quite like to see some articles on some of the independant American/European guys like Chris Ware, Eddie Campbell etc.
It feels to me right now that the comics in the Meg (Dredd et al), regardless of quality, are an aside while I feel they should be the focus. It needs to be a tighter, leaner beast than it is at the moment. If it's a case of not being able to afford more comic strip, I really do wish they'd just come out and say it rather than try and sell the Meg as something it isn't or call a lot of the written content as anything but filler.
I also wouldn't mind seeing a return to printing some of the small press stuff if it means we get less guff about crap horror films that I never intend (or most likely would even get a chance) to see.
This turned out longer than I expected
