What do you think?
Rate this book
Megg, Mogg & Owl #4
Bad Gateway
Irresponsabili fino all’autolesionismo, sfacciatamente oziosi, perennemente in cerca di sballo e di evasione. Megg, Mogg, Gufo, Lupo Mannaro Jones e la combriccola dei loro depravati amici conducono una vita a loro modo eroica, una guerriglia sgangherata contro l’ipocrisia e il conformismo.
Il terzo volume delle loro avventure, Bad Gateway, imprime una nuova e inaspettata direzione all’universo creato da Simon Hanselmann. Gufo se n’è andato di casa, abbandonando Megg e Mogg alle prese col loro rapporto di coppia in crisi. Noia e disperazione crescono, e con esse l’abuso di droghe e alcol. Megg è sempre più scossa e riallaccia i contatti con la madre, cercando le radici dei propri traumi nei ricordi a lungo rimossi della sua infanzia…
Senza rinunciare ai colori sgargianti e psichedelici, alle gag esilaranti e allo humour politicamente scorretto che hanno fatto di questa serie a fumetti un successo internazionale, Bad Gateway segna una svolta intima e riflessiva nelle vicende di Megg e soci, intraprendendo un viaggio brutalmente sincero attraverso sentieri sempre più oscuri.
Il terzo volume delle loro avventure, Bad Gateway, imprime una nuova e inaspettata direzione all’universo creato da Simon Hanselmann. Gufo se n’è andato di casa, abbandonando Megg e Mogg alle prese col loro rapporto di coppia in crisi. Noia e disperazione crescono, e con esse l’abuso di droghe e alcol. Megg è sempre più scossa e riallaccia i contatti con la madre, cercando le radici dei propri traumi nei ricordi a lungo rimossi della sua infanzia…
Senza rinunciare ai colori sgargianti e psichedelici, alle gag esilaranti e allo humour politicamente scorretto che hanno fatto di questa serie a fumetti un successo internazionale, Bad Gateway segna una svolta intima e riflessiva nelle vicende di Megg e soci, intraprendendo un viaggio brutalmente sincero attraverso sentieri sempre più oscuri.
176 pages, Paperback
First published June 10, 2019
15 people are currently reading
1004 people want to read
About the author
Simon Hanselmann
80 books670 followersSimon Hanselmann is an Australian-born cartoonist best known for his Megg, Mogg, and Owl series. Hanselmann has been nominated four times for an Ignatz Award, four times for an Eisner Award, once for the Harvey Award and won Best Series at Angouleme 2018.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 204 reviews
September 5, 2019
So, if you have read all or even some of Simon Hanselmann’s Megg and Mogg stories, almost nothing in Bad Gateway will be surprising. What began as a stoner comic remains a stoner comic, with a gradual veering over time toward tragedy. Things catch up with you if you live this life for a number of years. Rudderless, steeped in squalor, the green, long-nosed witch-girl Megg, in a troubled relationship with cat Mogg, continues on down the road to self-destruction, just as her junkie mom did, getting welfare checks, in an attempt to stay continually high and drunk. Punching bag Owl, who also came to the group with some money, who paid 80% of the rent checks for years, is now gone, replaced by the despicable nihilist Werewolf Jones.
I’d be tempted to call this is a working-class tale for our opiod times, since all of the young people are all always searching for money for rent and drugs, but Megg came from an heroin-addicted upper-middle class “family,” and as I said, Owl had some money. So I think of this as just an equal-opportunity addiction story which started out as a pretty funny stoner comic, and then has been moving sort of glacially to show how Megg in particular has serious issues with depression, addiction, broken relationships, all of it. The title, “Bad Gateway” gives a pretty clear indication that while Hanselmann clearly cares for these people, he knows they are imperiled, heading for doom, at least if they stay on their current path.
Like all very real addiction stories, this is not for the faint-hearted. There’s something to offend/disturb lurking around every corner with respect to sex and drugs and so on. There are moments of very black humor that I know some people find hilarious, but if you know someone like Megg, you are not laughing much.
One way to think of this particular instance of the Megg and Mogg tale is this is the single best instance so far revealing the basic arc of the story from haha funny stoner comic now heading very clearly to disaster though also pointing to. . . what, possible redemption? The cartooning, the artwork, is the best that we have seen from Hanselmann, as gross and vile as it can sometimes get. There are some full-pagers that are at the same time alarming and jaw-droppingly impressive.
The book concludes with several pages of wordless horror that don't so much part of the narrative as they are emblematic of the spiritual disaster Megg faces.
Here, I'll describe one: a younger Megg, sans large nose, naked, is seen ascending from a well with a broom, her mouth wide open. She's in shock, facing a frightening future.
And then I went back to look at it yet another time and I looked at the cover and the back cover and it maybe tells you everything you need to know about this book. Well, you can see the cover yourself: Megg, smiling, smoking a joint, no problem, life's good, and then you connect it to that lighthearted title, that old saw about marijuana being a "gateway drug" to stronger stuff, such as heroin, which her mother was/is addicted to. Her mother, in crisis, calls Megg, who is in her own crisis, home. No place to hide for Megg: Her relationship with Mogg is falling apart, she has to act crazy to keep getting welfare checks, she has not quite enough money to get by, she's addicted to weed. Then those last six wordless pages of horror, and the back cover: Megg, wandering listlessly in a gray, dystopian wilderness. Can heroin be very far behind? If this were ever (merely) a darkly funny stoner comic, we are no longer in Kansas anymore. We are in Hell.
Boy, those sad/scary images will stay with me. This book, this series, is not for everyone, but at its best it is beautifully rendered, and I think ultimately humane. You’ve been warned, but I say: Full marks!
I’d be tempted to call this is a working-class tale for our opiod times, since all of the young people are all always searching for money for rent and drugs, but Megg came from an heroin-addicted upper-middle class “family,” and as I said, Owl had some money. So I think of this as just an equal-opportunity addiction story which started out as a pretty funny stoner comic, and then has been moving sort of glacially to show how Megg in particular has serious issues with depression, addiction, broken relationships, all of it. The title, “Bad Gateway” gives a pretty clear indication that while Hanselmann clearly cares for these people, he knows they are imperiled, heading for doom, at least if they stay on their current path.
Like all very real addiction stories, this is not for the faint-hearted. There’s something to offend/disturb lurking around every corner with respect to sex and drugs and so on. There are moments of very black humor that I know some people find hilarious, but if you know someone like Megg, you are not laughing much.
One way to think of this particular instance of the Megg and Mogg tale is this is the single best instance so far revealing the basic arc of the story from haha funny stoner comic now heading very clearly to disaster though also pointing to. . . what, possible redemption? The cartooning, the artwork, is the best that we have seen from Hanselmann, as gross and vile as it can sometimes get. There are some full-pagers that are at the same time alarming and jaw-droppingly impressive.
The book concludes with several pages of wordless horror that don't so much part of the narrative as they are emblematic of the spiritual disaster Megg faces.
Here, I'll describe one: a younger Megg, sans large nose, naked, is seen ascending from a well with a broom, her mouth wide open. She's in shock, facing a frightening future.
And then I went back to look at it yet another time and I looked at the cover and the back cover and it maybe tells you everything you need to know about this book. Well, you can see the cover yourself: Megg, smiling, smoking a joint, no problem, life's good, and then you connect it to that lighthearted title, that old saw about marijuana being a "gateway drug" to stronger stuff, such as heroin, which her mother was/is addicted to. Her mother, in crisis, calls Megg, who is in her own crisis, home. No place to hide for Megg: Her relationship with Mogg is falling apart, she has to act crazy to keep getting welfare checks, she has not quite enough money to get by, she's addicted to weed. Then those last six wordless pages of horror, and the back cover: Megg, wandering listlessly in a gray, dystopian wilderness. Can heroin be very far behind? If this were ever (merely) a darkly funny stoner comic, we are no longer in Kansas anymore. We are in Hell.
Boy, those sad/scary images will stay with me. This book, this series, is not for everyone, but at its best it is beautifully rendered, and I think ultimately humane. You’ve been warned, but I say: Full marks!
January 11, 2020
So I’m late to the party on this one because Simon Hanselmann’s Megg and Mogg books went from a great first book in Megahex to meh in the next two - Megg and Mogg in Amsterdam and One More Year - and I thought this was the holding pattern here on out. Well, I’m sorry for doubting Simon Hanselmann because he instead came through with the best book he’s done yet in the magnificent fourth book in the series, Bad Gateway!
This was one of those books that I foolishly decided to start around midnight on a weeknight, thinking I’d read a few pages and then finish it the next day, then got totally caught up with, deciding, well, fuck it, I guess I’m sleeping at work then!
There wasn’t a single bad story. With Owl moving out for good, things go from depressing to worse to worst for our heroes, Megg, Mogg and Werewolf Jones. Megg has to put on a remarkable performance to continue receiving government benefits while Mogg goes looking for a job anywhere. Both storylines are funny and inventive. And then there’s the outrageously depraved Werewolf Jones who ends up staying home and getting chem-sexed?!
Jones (basically Florida Man) is such a great character. He’s a total scumbag who deserves everything he gets - and he gets more fucked up in this book than ever before - but he’s so interesting to read about because he’s so unhinged and completely without boundaries. He repeatedly takes any drug he can lay his hands on, has sex with anyone, anywhere, locks up his kids in bins and bird cages - he’s utterly insane. Things went so far in this one, and so very dark, I had no idea what to expect later on in the Bird Cage story - it’s totally unpredictable.
Hanselmann’s portrait of Megg continues to develop in new and interesting ways. She’s in love with the trans character Booger but can’t break up with Mogg. She hates that she has to sell her childhood toys - the Roller Blades story - for drug money but can’t stop. And then she has to go back and help her junkie mother at the end with the book closing on a harrowing flashback story of her teenage years.
Really every character is well-developed here. Mogg’s depression and overall pathetic behaviour stemming from his unwillingness to grow up and Jones’ brief attempt at sobriety, were all brilliantly depicted - we see both desperately trying, wanting, to change and tragically failing. And mixed into this artistic, thoughtful writing are really funny jokes like Jones’ idea for an arcade box scam, Mogg’s stint working at a cat cafe, and the whole amyl episode.
Simon Hanselmann is a master cartoonist - this is comics storytelling at its finest. The craftsmanship is there in every panel, none of which are wasted, the narrative beats are perfect, and the writing and art is always on point. I especially loved the painted splash pages that open the book, showing Hanselmann’s artistic abilities that don’t always come off in the comics pages.
At the end, he writes that this book took a year to make - this was his 2018 - and 3764 work hours. That’s 72 hours a week - every week. That’s just insane. But the dedication paid off. You can see how good a creator he is for having put in that amount of time. What does Malcolm Gladwell say about outliers - 10,000 hours of practice to become a master of something? Hanselmann’s definitely surpassed that at this point creating his four books. Bad Gateway is a showcase of what someone at the top of their game looks like.
Had I read it a couple weeks ago, this would’ve easily been in my top 10 comics of 2019. Anyways, I read it now and I loved every minute of it. Funny, sad, entertaining, real, superb cartooning, the definition of a page-turning read - Bad Gateway was never boring, hooked me from page one to the very end and I’ma recommend it to one and all.
This was one of those books that I foolishly decided to start around midnight on a weeknight, thinking I’d read a few pages and then finish it the next day, then got totally caught up with, deciding, well, fuck it, I guess I’m sleeping at work then!
There wasn’t a single bad story. With Owl moving out for good, things go from depressing to worse to worst for our heroes, Megg, Mogg and Werewolf Jones. Megg has to put on a remarkable performance to continue receiving government benefits while Mogg goes looking for a job anywhere. Both storylines are funny and inventive. And then there’s the outrageously depraved Werewolf Jones who ends up staying home and getting chem-sexed?!
Jones (basically Florida Man) is such a great character. He’s a total scumbag who deserves everything he gets - and he gets more fucked up in this book than ever before - but he’s so interesting to read about because he’s so unhinged and completely without boundaries. He repeatedly takes any drug he can lay his hands on, has sex with anyone, anywhere, locks up his kids in bins and bird cages - he’s utterly insane. Things went so far in this one, and so very dark, I had no idea what to expect later on in the Bird Cage story - it’s totally unpredictable.
Hanselmann’s portrait of Megg continues to develop in new and interesting ways. She’s in love with the trans character Booger but can’t break up with Mogg. She hates that she has to sell her childhood toys - the Roller Blades story - for drug money but can’t stop. And then she has to go back and help her junkie mother at the end with the book closing on a harrowing flashback story of her teenage years.
Really every character is well-developed here. Mogg’s depression and overall pathetic behaviour stemming from his unwillingness to grow up and Jones’ brief attempt at sobriety, were all brilliantly depicted - we see both desperately trying, wanting, to change and tragically failing. And mixed into this artistic, thoughtful writing are really funny jokes like Jones’ idea for an arcade box scam, Mogg’s stint working at a cat cafe, and the whole amyl episode.
Simon Hanselmann is a master cartoonist - this is comics storytelling at its finest. The craftsmanship is there in every panel, none of which are wasted, the narrative beats are perfect, and the writing and art is always on point. I especially loved the painted splash pages that open the book, showing Hanselmann’s artistic abilities that don’t always come off in the comics pages.
At the end, he writes that this book took a year to make - this was his 2018 - and 3764 work hours. That’s 72 hours a week - every week. That’s just insane. But the dedication paid off. You can see how good a creator he is for having put in that amount of time. What does Malcolm Gladwell say about outliers - 10,000 hours of practice to become a master of something? Hanselmann’s definitely surpassed that at this point creating his four books. Bad Gateway is a showcase of what someone at the top of their game looks like.
Had I read it a couple weeks ago, this would’ve easily been in my top 10 comics of 2019. Anyways, I read it now and I loved every minute of it. Funny, sad, entertaining, real, superb cartooning, the definition of a page-turning read - Bad Gateway was never boring, hooked me from page one to the very end and I’ma recommend it to one and all.
August 6, 2019
Growing to genuinely care for the characters that Simon Hanselmann has created has got to be the biggest bait and switch in the history of stoner comedy.
I was introduced to irredeemable reprobates Megg, Mogg, Owl (and more than occasionally Werewolf Jones) via Megahex, where they were presented as a bunch of vile layabouts whose Jackass style of clownery justified its own cruelty merely by merit of being fucking hilarious. There were some moments of pathos peeking through, naturally, but what kept me hooked on the series was Hanselmann’s insanely sharp skills at being blunt - some of his panels have so much inherent, forthright comedy to them that I genuinely don’t know whether they’re funnier in or out of context (see: Megg riding a pony and declaring “I’m a fucking rich bitch!” or Owl’s dead-eyed delivery of “I go to clubs.”). Moving on to 2016’s Megg and Mogg in Amsterdam and 2017’s One More Year, I found more character development poking its nose into the squalor, and it was at the point where the eponymous druggies trudge dutifully to an engagement party while musing that they “never want to leave drug world” that I found myself feeling a little twinge of something more than voyeuristic pity for these characters. Am... I relating to them? Am I reading for more than the single-panel meme-ready catchphrases?
Anyway, this is all to say that my emotional investment in the wellbeing of Megg and her townie friends has been a gradual and mostly unconscious thing, and now that Bad Gateway is here to pick up the cigarette-burned threads of the gang’s reckless escapades, I find myself actively rooting for everyone to get sober. This installment focuses a lot more explicitly on backstory and drama and frankly I’m kind of glad that the jokey nihilism takes a backseat to character development. It’s definitely not as funny as previous volumes, but that feels like a tangible and worthy side-effect of the characters stepping out of their arrested development and putting in the effort to grow the hell up. I never thought I would be interested in seeing any of these characters develop a sense of maturity, but I tore through this book with more of an appetite for the “serious” chapters than the silly vignettes. I mean, fuck, even Werewolf Jones - the grimiest and most absurd of a cast full of grimy absurdities - is given a few moments of sincere self-reflection and sympathy. What the hell? Since when did I care about the narrative trajectory of Werewolf Fucking Jones??
All of that said, I’m kind of curious to see what the critical reception to this will be. It’s definitely not the best example of the blunt-force comedy that has come to define this series, but it feels to me like a natural and meaningful evolution. I’ve known people like Megg, Mogg, and Owl. I’m not proud to say I’ve been them at certain points. It’s a fun life for a while and it provides for some funny bar talk, but eventually no-consequences debauchery gets old and self-loathing loses that silver lining of self-aware humor. I’m super curious to see where Hanselmann’s characters go from here, because I myself have no idea. All I know is that I no longer need jokes to be tied to this series. I just want to know what comes next.
I was introduced to irredeemable reprobates Megg, Mogg, Owl (and more than occasionally Werewolf Jones) via Megahex, where they were presented as a bunch of vile layabouts whose Jackass style of clownery justified its own cruelty merely by merit of being fucking hilarious. There were some moments of pathos peeking through, naturally, but what kept me hooked on the series was Hanselmann’s insanely sharp skills at being blunt - some of his panels have so much inherent, forthright comedy to them that I genuinely don’t know whether they’re funnier in or out of context (see: Megg riding a pony and declaring “I’m a fucking rich bitch!” or Owl’s dead-eyed delivery of “I go to clubs.”). Moving on to 2016’s Megg and Mogg in Amsterdam and 2017’s One More Year, I found more character development poking its nose into the squalor, and it was at the point where the eponymous druggies trudge dutifully to an engagement party while musing that they “never want to leave drug world” that I found myself feeling a little twinge of something more than voyeuristic pity for these characters. Am... I relating to them? Am I reading for more than the single-panel meme-ready catchphrases?
Anyway, this is all to say that my emotional investment in the wellbeing of Megg and her townie friends has been a gradual and mostly unconscious thing, and now that Bad Gateway is here to pick up the cigarette-burned threads of the gang’s reckless escapades, I find myself actively rooting for everyone to get sober. This installment focuses a lot more explicitly on backstory and drama and frankly I’m kind of glad that the jokey nihilism takes a backseat to character development. It’s definitely not as funny as previous volumes, but that feels like a tangible and worthy side-effect of the characters stepping out of their arrested development and putting in the effort to grow the hell up. I never thought I would be interested in seeing any of these characters develop a sense of maturity, but I tore through this book with more of an appetite for the “serious” chapters than the silly vignettes. I mean, fuck, even Werewolf Jones - the grimiest and most absurd of a cast full of grimy absurdities - is given a few moments of sincere self-reflection and sympathy. What the hell? Since when did I care about the narrative trajectory of Werewolf Fucking Jones??
All of that said, I’m kind of curious to see what the critical reception to this will be. It’s definitely not the best example of the blunt-force comedy that has come to define this series, but it feels to me like a natural and meaningful evolution. I’ve known people like Megg, Mogg, and Owl. I’m not proud to say I’ve been them at certain points. It’s a fun life for a while and it provides for some funny bar talk, but eventually no-consequences debauchery gets old and self-loathing loses that silver lining of self-aware humor. I’m super curious to see where Hanselmann’s characters go from here, because I myself have no idea. All I know is that I no longer need jokes to be tied to this series. I just want to know what comes next.
August 6, 2019
Man, some of the scenes of just absolute squalor in this book are next-level funny/depressing (especially Megg's visit to the welfare office.) Megg, Mogg, and Werewolf Jones (minus Owl, who has followed through in his escape--good for him--I was actually happy that he stayed away in this volume) descend to new depths of depressive consumption. Even with the random vignettes, there is still very much a story line happening, with real world complications. After their return from Amsterdam in the last book, Megg & Mogg's relationship is all fraught, tense and weird, with Mogg happy to mooch off of Megg all day (who in turn relies upon her disability checks) and Werewolf Jones just werewolfing up the place.
Really interested in seeing where this all goes--I am totally ready for a Mogg free life (and baby-in-the-birdcage WJ needs to be in jail).
Really interested in seeing where this all goes--I am totally ready for a Mogg free life (and baby-in-the-birdcage WJ needs to be in jail).
September 11, 2019
Simon Hanselmann's Megg and Mogg resembles a twisted diary comic. In his most recent M&M volume, Bad Gateway, the uncanny parallels between Hanselmann's anthropomorphic hedonists and real-world people continue to multiply. The growing possibility that these characters might be actual people makes this strip all the more hilarious, heavy, and horrifying.
October 16, 2019
Man atrodo, puiku, kad autorius nusprendė nedaryti amžino "stoner-comedy", ir Megg, Mogg and Owl serija artėja prie pabaigos. Šis labai gražiai išleistas komiksų rinkinys yra perėjimas prie kito (bene jau paskutinio), ir neprarandant humoro čia įtraukiami pokyčiai personažų gyvenimuose.
Nors personažai ir mėgina gyventi tokį gyvenimą, kuris visiškai nesikeistų (TV, narkotikai, Werewolf Jones nesąmonės, tyčiojimasis iš Pelėdos), pokyčiai vis tiek vyksta. Pelėda neapsikenčia ir išvyksta (dabar visiems reikia galvoti, kaip mokėti už nuomą), sunku rasti narkotikų, Megg turi stengtis neprarasti pašalpos, o tuo tarpu vis akivaizdžiau, kad jų su Mogg santykiai niekur neveda. Werewolf Jones išsidirbinėjimai darosi kuo toliau, tuo pavojingesni jo sveikatai.
Šitas rinkinys man buvo bene gal mėgstamiausias iš Megg, Mogg and Owl serijos - juokingas ir rimtas. Kitas bus apie tai, kaip Megg lanko savo narkomanę mamą, ir susiduria su praeitimi, tikiuosi, nebus primityvaus psichologizavimo, kažkaip iki šiol šiam autoriui pavykdavo to išvengti.
Nors personažai ir mėgina gyventi tokį gyvenimą, kuris visiškai nesikeistų (TV, narkotikai, Werewolf Jones nesąmonės, tyčiojimasis iš Pelėdos), pokyčiai vis tiek vyksta. Pelėda neapsikenčia ir išvyksta (dabar visiems reikia galvoti, kaip mokėti už nuomą), sunku rasti narkotikų, Megg turi stengtis neprarasti pašalpos, o tuo tarpu vis akivaizdžiau, kad jų su Mogg santykiai niekur neveda. Werewolf Jones išsidirbinėjimai darosi kuo toliau, tuo pavojingesni jo sveikatai.
Šitas rinkinys man buvo bene gal mėgstamiausias iš Megg, Mogg and Owl serijos - juokingas ir rimtas. Kitas bus apie tai, kaip Megg lanko savo narkomanę mamą, ir susiduria su praeitimi, tikiuosi, nebus primityvaus psichologizavimo, kažkaip iki šiol šiam autoriui pavykdavo to išvengti.
July 29, 2019
Necesito hacerme con los anteriores y seguir con el siguiente, me ha dejado con ganas de más <3 <3 <3 <3 < 3 < 3
May 9, 2022
Es muy burro, es gracioso y está bien en general, pero todo el rato tengo la sensación de haber leído historias parecidas en el Víbora hace más de treinta o cuarenta años, solo que ahora estas cosas underground te las saca Fantagraphics en tapa dura a treinta pavos.
June 18, 2019
La primera historia es de lo más gracioso que le han traducido a Hanselmann por ahora. También tiene algunos de los momentos más tristes y decadentes. Como adelanta la portada y hojas interiores profundiza bastante en el personaje de Megg.
Creo beneficioso pero no necesario leer antes el material previo del autor.
Qué maravillosa combinación Simon Hanselmann + Fulgencio Pimentel.
A.R.T.E.
Creo beneficioso pero no necesario leer antes el material previo del autor.
Qué maravillosa combinación Simon Hanselmann + Fulgencio Pimentel.
A.R.T.E.
September 2, 2019
This is the comic series of the decade.
October 2, 2019
Each Megg & Mogg book gets better. What started out as a raunchy stoner riff on a childrens book series from the '70s has developed into well-developed characters making terrible decisions that they seemingly can't control (a steady diet of drugs surely doesn't help). There's still plenty of humor, but the pathos keeps getting ratcheted up as the relationships grow more dysfunctional, the money runs out and the drug addiction becomes more pronounced and harrowing.
November 1, 2019
The fourth book out by Simon Hanselmann that follows Meg (a witch) and Mogg (Meg's cat boyfriend). The series started off with Megahex, a comic where Meg and Mogg hang out with friends, get high, do dumb shit, etc. Fun and dumb vignettes. A funny stoner comic. Now we're on the fourth book: Bad Gateway. In this one we are getting deeper into a story that explores substance abuse, relationships, friendships, vicious cycles. It's no longer fun being broke and hungry and seeking a high all the time. In Bad Gateway, Meg struggles with her crippling depression while trying to fix her dying relationship with Mogg, while trying to figure out if this is the life she wants. Her friends are overdosing, moving out, leaving. Towards the end we even get to meet Meg's mom, who is also a substance user and who calls her back home after apparent years of lost contact. Bad Gateway is still funny in the way stoner comics are, but this time the humor is intertwined with pain and sadness and heart wrenching scenarios. So good! I didn't expect this series to go the way it did. So smart, so funny, and the illustrations are so fucking good!!
August 1, 2019
Sigo opinando lo mismo que cuando leí el primero de la saga. No está mal, bien dibujado, esa miseria moral y física de una cuadrilla de drogadictos con sus problemas del día a día. Pero ayer fui a ver una exposición del víbora y lo que leo aquí no es tan diferente que lo que leía hace 30 años en esa revista. Da la impresión de que Simon quiere impactar con este descenso al infierno pero muchos ya venimos impactados de casa. Y fuera de eso es que hay poco más, relaciones de pareja, mucha suciedad, algo de sexo y muchas botellas por el suelo.
November 14, 2025
my favorite of the series so far. very funny and gross, right up my alley.
September 12, 2020
Freaky! Dit smaakt naar meer...
July 22, 2019
La primera historia es de lo más gracioso que le han traducido a Hanselmann por ahora. También tiene algunos de los momentos más tristes y decadentes. Como adelanta la portada y hojas interiores profundiza bastante en el personaje de Megg.
Creo beneficioso pero no necesario leer antes el material previo del autor.
Qué maravilloso cóctel Simon Hanselmann + Fulgencio Pimentel.
A.R.T.E.
Creo beneficioso pero no necesario leer antes el material previo del autor.
Qué maravilloso cóctel Simon Hanselmann + Fulgencio Pimentel.
A.R.T.E.
May 5, 2022
Hasta ahora, es el que más me ha gustado de la serie. Igual de pasado de vueltas que de costumbre, pero con mucha amargura. Fan absoluto de Hanselmann.
June 4, 2021
Bleak! Super engrossing; I devoured this in a couple of hours. I wonder how things'll shape up with Megg and her mom. Everyone seems doomed except Werewolf Jones. He thrives in squalor.
April 12, 2020
Ever since I first delved into this series, I knew I would love it. It's realistic but fantastical, as funny as it is shocking, and altogether a look at a life filled with drugs, relationship problems, laziness, and at times, freeloading.
If this Hanselmann illustrated this series with real life people, instead of owls and cats and wolves, I think this would be a so much more horrifying graphic novel series, because the levity that's thrown into the pages would be gone, and we'd be left to face some of our own problems reflected back to us: a not so great living situation, haphazard friends, and generational problems.
I loved how we got to go back in time for a bit and see teenage Meg and her household lifestyle filled with--you guessed it--drugs. Only this time, it's her mother who's dealing, and she's dealing a lot, leading to the police raiding her home and forcing Meg to undergo a strip search to make sure she's not hiding anything. Traumatic? Absolutely. And now that we know this about her, it's no wonder that she uses drugs for escapism. But the sadness of it all has to do with the scene(s) where she must sell the roller skates her mom bought for her (by going off drugs for a few weeks) so that she can get money for drugs. Yeah, a lot less funny if we saw human beings instead of witches.
Overall, I just am in love with this series. It's funny, it's poignant, and it faces a reality I think a lot of other books aren't willing to approach.
Review cross-listed here!
If this Hanselmann illustrated this series with real life people, instead of owls and cats and wolves, I think this would be a so much more horrifying graphic novel series, because the levity that's thrown into the pages would be gone, and we'd be left to face some of our own problems reflected back to us: a not so great living situation, haphazard friends, and generational problems.
I loved how we got to go back in time for a bit and see teenage Meg and her household lifestyle filled with--you guessed it--drugs. Only this time, it's her mother who's dealing, and she's dealing a lot, leading to the police raiding her home and forcing Meg to undergo a strip search to make sure she's not hiding anything. Traumatic? Absolutely. And now that we know this about her, it's no wonder that she uses drugs for escapism. But the sadness of it all has to do with the scene(s) where she must sell the roller skates her mom bought for her (by going off drugs for a few weeks) so that she can get money for drugs. Yeah, a lot less funny if we saw human beings instead of witches.
Overall, I just am in love with this series. It's funny, it's poignant, and it faces a reality I think a lot of other books aren't willing to approach.
Review cross-listed here!
July 2, 2021
Jest spójniej. Nie masz już wrażenia, że motasz się między czymś obleśnie zabawnym, a przerażającym, zostaje jedynie głęboki i ciemny dół. Boję się gdzie Hanselmann może jeszcze zajść z tą serią, a jednocześnie jestem tego bardzo ciekawy. Najlepszy komiks o depresji, jaki czytałem. Kategoria wiekowa: 40+
January 2, 2020
2020 ne pouvait pas commencer plus en force qu'avec ce merveilleux livre d'Hanselmann <3
December 25, 2019
Reaching new lows, the comedy falling away. At this point Werewolf Jones with his penis out is just sad. The desperation is growing and there doesn't seem to be a way out. How much longer can Hanselmann keep this up? The Coven must be the end. Has to be.
October 13, 2024
Delaney says I have to stop reading these books bc now my jokes are too dirty
July 12, 2021
Tinha tudo pra eu odiar (e comecei odiando mesmo), mas acabei me importando com os personagens e querendo saber aonde isso vai dar (se é que vai pra algum lugar).
June 17, 2024
One of the strongest entries in Simon Hanselmann's spectacular "Megg, Mogg & Owl" stories. This follows in the aftermath of "One More Year" and "Megg & Mogg in Amsterdam", and as such is largely devoid of Owl who has moved out of the collective trap house setting. As a result, we get to see Megg & Mogg try and get by without their more responsible anchor who manages to keep them from completely wasting away from smoking pot and caving to the degenerate influence of Werewolf Jones.
There isn't a weak story here, but the opening "28 Days Later" is my personal favorite. It features Megg continuing to cash in on her government support to pay rent, while Mogg must find a job to cover his portion. WWJ, for his part, continues to get by via his drug dealing and enjoys his truly depraved orgies whilst Megg & Mogg struggle to find money to cover rent. The exploration of slacker life via these three is perhaps where Hanselmann can grow beyond the simple juvenile gags are provide some intricate character portraits. The character most benefitting from this is Megg, through whom we see some semblance of a wish to improve, but trapped in the never-ending cycle of poor habits and bad influences. It's rather depressing under the guise of a gag strip, but that really is the main brilliance of Hanselmann's comics.
The artwork is particularly sharp here, perhaps the best at this point into Hanselmann's career. The designs are iconic enough, but the watercolors are incredibly sharp and potent here, giving the panels an almost luxurious look to them. The hard work put into each story really stands out, and Hanselmann includes a detailed breakdown at the end of how much work each one took which really makes this collection all that much more impressive. "Bad Gateway" is easily the one entry of the series I would recommend to anyone interested in getting into Hanselmann's comics.
There isn't a weak story here, but the opening "28 Days Later" is my personal favorite. It features Megg continuing to cash in on her government support to pay rent, while Mogg must find a job to cover his portion. WWJ, for his part, continues to get by via his drug dealing and enjoys his truly depraved orgies whilst Megg & Mogg struggle to find money to cover rent. The exploration of slacker life via these three is perhaps where Hanselmann can grow beyond the simple juvenile gags are provide some intricate character portraits. The character most benefitting from this is Megg, through whom we see some semblance of a wish to improve, but trapped in the never-ending cycle of poor habits and bad influences. It's rather depressing under the guise of a gag strip, but that really is the main brilliance of Hanselmann's comics.
The artwork is particularly sharp here, perhaps the best at this point into Hanselmann's career. The designs are iconic enough, but the watercolors are incredibly sharp and potent here, giving the panels an almost luxurious look to them. The hard work put into each story really stands out, and Hanselmann includes a detailed breakdown at the end of how much work each one took which really makes this collection all that much more impressive. "Bad Gateway" is easily the one entry of the series I would recommend to anyone interested in getting into Hanselmann's comics.
August 13, 2025
I read a series of articles about how great this collection is. Unfortunately, it inspired me to start at the beginning, and I found the first volume of this series, Megahex, to be one of the worst books I've read. Awful characters being awful to each other for the sake of being awful.
I asked some people who enjoyed this volume what they thought of the previous three volumes, and all of them said they thought they were agonizing to get through, but worth it to get to this book.
I strongly disagree.
At the beginning of this volume, there's a one page summary of the most important parts of the first three volumes. That is enough to understand where these characters are coming from.
In this volume, instead of being awful to each other, the awful people are doing their best to get by without hurting each other. THAT is a story I can get behind. Yes, terrible things happen, and there's unnecessary deceit and harmful actions, but none of it seems designed to destroy another person's life. The destruction is just an unfortunate side effect.
This is truly what I think the other books in the series have aspired to be. And while I certianly appreciate the narrative and visual growth that takes place from the start of the story to this point, I really think it's best just to start here. If you're feeling adventurous, maybe start with Megg and Mogg In Amsterdam (and Other Stories) and then read this one.
I asked some people who enjoyed this volume what they thought of the previous three volumes, and all of them said they thought they were agonizing to get through, but worth it to get to this book.
I strongly disagree.
At the beginning of this volume, there's a one page summary of the most important parts of the first three volumes. That is enough to understand where these characters are coming from.
In this volume, instead of being awful to each other, the awful people are doing their best to get by without hurting each other. THAT is a story I can get behind. Yes, terrible things happen, and there's unnecessary deceit and harmful actions, but none of it seems designed to destroy another person's life. The destruction is just an unfortunate side effect.
This is truly what I think the other books in the series have aspired to be. And while I certianly appreciate the narrative and visual growth that takes place from the start of the story to this point, I really think it's best just to start here. If you're feeling adventurous, maybe start with Megg and Mogg In Amsterdam (and Other Stories) and then read this one.
Read
August 21, 2021I was dimly aware of Megg and Mogg (as very distinct from the wholesome 1G versions), but before finding this in the library had never read them. And good heavens it's grim stuff.
"Fuck...I feel really weird selling them. My mother worked so hard for these. I think she, like, went without drugs to get them for me."
"That's a beautiful story, Megg. But we need money for drugs."
The back cover suggests "File under: squalor, ribaldry, insouciance", which isn't wrong, but as I watched these luckless, directionless wasters – who also happen to be witches, talking cats, werewolves and so on – getting into baroque masturbatory scenarios, working out how best to scam their benefits assessments, and generally fucking their lives up, another pitch came to me. If the cast of What We Do In The Shadows are the aristocracy of the occult world, horny idiots who, because of their cushion of money and minions, can always escape the consequences of their own fecklessness, then these poor bastards could very easily be the provincial underclass of the same world. They're no worse people, but when they get in a hole, they stay there. At times it's barely even funny, but then you'll get something like them desperately seeking something to pawn for drugs and just finding bag after bag of doorknobs, and I'd be laughing almost despite myself. Pretty much the Pacific North-West's answer to Viz' Drunken Bakers. Although the colour also makes for the odd glimpse of some truly gorgeous landscapes, which of course makes the characters' general failure to get out of their dismal house even more depressing.
"Fuck...I feel really weird selling them. My mother worked so hard for these. I think she, like, went without drugs to get them for me."
"That's a beautiful story, Megg. But we need money for drugs."
The back cover suggests "File under: squalor, ribaldry, insouciance", which isn't wrong, but as I watched these luckless, directionless wasters – who also happen to be witches, talking cats, werewolves and so on – getting into baroque masturbatory scenarios, working out how best to scam their benefits assessments, and generally fucking their lives up, another pitch came to me. If the cast of What We Do In The Shadows are the aristocracy of the occult world, horny idiots who, because of their cushion of money and minions, can always escape the consequences of their own fecklessness, then these poor bastards could very easily be the provincial underclass of the same world. They're no worse people, but when they get in a hole, they stay there. At times it's barely even funny, but then you'll get something like them desperately seeking something to pawn for drugs and just finding bag after bag of doorknobs, and I'd be laughing almost despite myself. Pretty much the Pacific North-West's answer to Viz' Drunken Bakers. Although the colour also makes for the odd glimpse of some truly gorgeous landscapes, which of course makes the characters' general failure to get out of their dismal house even more depressing.
August 17, 2019
I reread all of the Meg & Mogg stories in anticipation of the release of “Bad Gateway.” These stories aren’t for everyone, but I think they are so funny & smart that I could read them a million times over. On the surface, the Meg & Mogg stories come off as a stoner comedy or like a millennial Beavis and Butthead. But each book in the series peels away another layer and what is exposed is red-hot magma, burning away and dissolving each characters’ reserves and hard-partying defenses. With each panel the characters start to realize that their way of life is not sustainable and they might have to find other ways to confront depression and emptiness. The story is further bolstered by Simon Hanselmann’s signature illustrations of deteriorating vistas and decaying urban sprawl defaced with timely graffiti. What is presented is a technicolor sitcom featuring Queen food coloring and watercolor paint. ‘Bad Gateway’ dives deeper into the characters’ stories, particularly Meg who must face her junky mom. Meg’s mother serves as a mirror, flickering and alternating images between Meg’s past, present, and possible future if she doesn’t get her shit together. In an interview, Hanselmann talks about the title of the story, explaining that drugs are seen as a gateway and how for Meg, Mogg, and Werwolf Jones, the trip is going horribly wrong.
January 21, 2020
Read for the Popsugar 2020 prompt "Book featuring one of the seven deadly sins". I think this book could safely include sloth, greed, and probably a handful of other sins.
This was the bleakest installment in this already grim series - the stoner antics aren't particularly fun, mainly because by now the characters are a huge mess and you kind of just want them to get better.
Waiting anxiously for the next installment!
This was the bleakest installment in this already grim series - the stoner antics aren't particularly fun, mainly because by now the characters are a huge mess and you kind of just want them to get better.
Waiting anxiously for the next installment!
June 25, 2019
I’m starting Meg and Mogg here, so I’m no expert, but I enjoyed the slow burn sadness and black humor. Art is lovely, situations are gross and/or sad, comic timing is ace. I want to spend more time with these characters, even at their most depraved. Thanks to Fantagraphics for providing me with a gorgeous sample copy at ALA.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 204 reviews