“I Ain't Never...Made Nothin' My Whole Life.” COMICS! Sometimes I React Quite Badly To The Tiresomely Derivative Violent Fantasies Of The Middle-Aged White Male. Tough Titty.

So, hey, you know all the Goodwill I've built up with y'all. Let's douse all that in kerosene and flick a lit match at it. Because, damn, this comic sure rubbed me the wrong way. Sometimes I'm like a mad dog. A sexy mad dog. You've been warned. WOOF! WOOF! MEN OF WRATH by Garney, Aaron, Milla & Fletcher

Anyway, this... MEN OF WRATH Art by Ron “Through The Jungle” Garney Written by Jason “Star Wars” Aaron Coloured by Matt “Killer” Milla Lettered by Jared K. (“-Bar”) Fletcher Marvel, $3.50 each MEN OF WRATH created by Ron Garney & Jason Aaron

And all the others Running 'round so hot and bothered Anything to give their lives some meaning In the evening Running around with guns and Said they would act in self-defence With violence

Violence - The Pet Shop Boys

I’m a Killing Machine! I’m a Killing Machine! I’m a Killing Machine! I’m a Killing Machine! I’m a Killing Machine! I’m a Killing Machine! I’m a Killing Machine!

In The Neck – Revolting Cocks

Hey, Buddy! Yeah, you! How bad is your ass? No matter how bad your ass is I bet it’s not as bad as the bad asses in this comic and that’s allowing for a high level of badness when it comes to your ass. Man, the asses in this book are all bad. Because they are all (mostly) men's asses. And all men are violent. All the time. I’m being violent right now. And manly. Hell, I piss oxtail soup and fart raw lumber. Imagine an ambulatory hickory-smoked cock constantly emitting milky explosions of violence and that’s me, Padre. Straight up! I didn’t grow this beard, I was born with it! Chafed my Ma so bad on the way out that during the delivery (in a clapboard shack with a roof o’ tin) she tore an intern’s throat out like The Swayze in Charles Dickens’ immortal classic ROAD HOUSE. Shitfire and molasses! Get out of my sight! Get out of my way! Rubber Duck to Teddy Bear, we got ourselves a convoy! A Convoy of Violence! Yeah, my chapped lips to your cauliflower ears, I thought this comic was just great, if a little dainty for a giant violent hickory-smoked bearded cock like my bad ass self. No word of a lie, this comic displays all the nuance and insight into male violence you would expect of a comic called MEN OF WRATH which is about some men called Rath who are angry. And that’s some smart stuff right there, Cochise, because, see, wrath is a synonym for angry and, get this, wrath rhymes with Rath (largely in fact due to it being the same word except the “w” has gone), but not only that, but, and I don’t want to tell tales out of school or anything, but men are renowned for being violent, and violence is often a physical embodiment of anger, or, brace yourself - wrath. MEN OF WRATH! Geddit! Yeah, that stain on the wall is your mind, baby. Because like a sailor on shore leave, it just got blown. And that’s just the title. Comics aren’t just for kids anymore! They are for big kids! Big kids who enjoy the literary equivalent of staring into the gummily cycloptic eye of their own boner.

MEN OF WRATH by Garney, Aaron, Milla & Fletcher

MEN OF WRATH has many things to tell us about the human condition and some of these things are about men growing old. And revenge. And  religion. And animals. The religion bit is easy – religion is rubbish. A white collar won't stop a bullet. And nor will God. Controversial stuff there; knocking Christianity being as tough as mocking Perry Como in this the year of Our Lord 2015. There's a lot of sheep and horses in it so I guess the idea is to suggest people are just like animals, they just pretend otherwise because, uh, that sounds like a really badass thing to say. In fact, people can indeed act like animals when under extreme duress, or following lengthy periods of systematic abuse or when there are soup makers with 33% off RRP on Black Friday. Mostly though people act like people. I'm not sure about the animal thing, MEN OF WRATH might not be that complex, but I'm committed to this train of thought so we'll carry on - I suspect people are not actually just like animals because I’ve yet to hear of a chicken tiling a bathroom or a capybara performing chanson. Although, true, quite a few barnyard animals do seem to be elected to political office. Actually it's probably not saying anything about animals. What about men and age? I bet it's replete with wisdom on that score. Oh yeah, as men get older, MEN OF WRATH tell us, they might get cancer but that's okay because they'll just spit blood, or maybe run out of puff during a gunfight, or occasionally clutch their side and grimace like they are trying to keep a fugitive poo in. Cancer, MEN OF WRATH assures us, much like renal failure or pulmonary embolisms, can be pushed back by sheer force of will, a crinkling of the forehead and a manly hiss of “Not now, old man. Not yet.” Old men, cancerous or no, MEN OF WRATH reveals, can be shot and burned with little immediate impact, although MEN OF WRATH is fast to point out that they will suddenly fall over and black out at a moment of high emotional impact in the narrative. This is because, and I'm reaching here, maybe, old thoughts don’t travel as fast as young thoughts so it takes time for the news of their injuries to reach their aged brain. Like dinosaurs. Sometimes old men can be referred to as dinosaurs because dinosaurs died off; the fact that humanity will have to stick around for several millennia more before they equal the dinosaurs’ tenure never gets mentioned. Or maybe it’s because old men are scaly and have a tendency to stumble around roaring with no pants on. I don't know. Mostly, though, MEN OF WRATH is telling us about sons and fathers. What it tells us about sons and fathers is fuck all. It starts off telling us that a cycle of violence began when Papyrus Wrath stabbed a dude over sheep, but then it realises that it isn't the 1970s and everyone with more sense than a doughnut now knows all that “bred in the bone” shit is just a weak ass refusal to take responsibility for one's own actions. This means it kind of stumbles about all confused and bellyflops into a truly poor end reveal which is both pandering and maybe a wee bit sexist. Because ladies? Not violent. Ever. Hey, Jason Aaron - meet my mum. Yeah, you better run, boy. Stop when you hit the sea. Anyway, MEN OF WRATH has many things to tell us about many things, I'm not sure what they are but I am sure all of the things it has to tell us are dumb. This is because everything MEN OF WRATH tells us is based on a bunch of movies and books that have already told us all these things better. On reflection I suspect MEN OF WRATH doesn't tell anyone anything, because MEN OF WRATH is five issues of macho posing and as a consequence any message within has all the strength of a sick man's piss. MEN OF WRATH is a book apparently written by someone who doesn’t get that the truest thing movies like TAXI DRIVER and ROLLING THUNDER tell us is that Paul Schrader was a very unhappy young man.

MEN OF WRATH by Garney, Aaron, Milla & Fletcher

Oh yeah, MEN OF WRATH has a lot of violence in it and this violence is extraordinarily effective in solving everyone's problems. True dat. Now, sure, some people will tell you violence solves nothing. Probably some guy who goes to work in an office and wears glasses and loves his wife like he’s some puling castrato or something. Personally speaking,  I’ve yet to find a problem violence can’t solve. See as a for instance, a couple of years back we were calculating our return for the Tax Credits and it turned out some sums had gone awry and we’d been claiming more than we should. We’d been claiming it for a full year, so we had to make the choice of whether to ‘fess up and pay the not inconsiderable sum back, or just sail right on ahead living with the possibility that at any moment  the black helicopters would descend and there’d be knock at the door. Please understand, it wasn’t that we didn’t want to pay it back. After all I’m big on paying taxes because I have this dumb idea I’m a part of a wider society to which we should all contribute so that we can raise each other up (also, hospitals, prisons, schools and roads - quite useful!) No, the issue was whether we’d get into trouble; it was an honest mistake, but you know maybe They wouldn’t see it like that. I don’t know about anywhere else but in the UK the last person you go toe to toe with is the Tax Man. You’ve got more chance of getting away with fiddling with kids than with fiddling your taxes. So, we talked about it for a few days and it all got a bit stressful and in the end I just went out and murdered someone. That solved the whole Tax Credits problem right quick, don’t tell me it didn’t. You can visit me on Wednesdays. Bring cigarettes.

MEN OF WRATH by Garney, Aaron, Milla & Fletcher

Look, it's not that Jason “Star Wars” Aaron can't write and can't write well but, seriously, this is some tired path he's treading. It's certainly very fucken' far from Cormac McCarthy. Because, hey, didn't you hear, Jason “Star Wars” Aaron is Comics’ Cormac McCarthy. You know, like Brian Michael Bendis is Comics’ David Mamet, Ed Brubaker is Comics’ Raymond Chandler and Matt Fraction is Comics’ Rip Taylor. Throw all that stuff on your rhubarb to make it grow. Jason “Star Wars” Aaron can write, but MEN OF WRATH is refried junk. Oh, hey, since my pills are overdue and I'm going all Scorched Earth have you heard the one where comics writers equate themselves with Charles Dickens? Have you not heard that one? It’s great. Honestly, I’ve seen at least one do it in a public comments section, and given comics writers are herd creatures you can bet the concept’s got some traction with a few of ‘em. Modest folk that they are. Anyway, it seems to run like this: Charles Dickens produced popular fictional entertainments in a serialised format which were later collected between two covers for posterity. So do they. Thus, comic book writers are like Charles Dickens. QED.  If any comic book writers think that, I want them to know that I have two step ladders in my garage and they are more than welcome to borrow one to try and get over themselves. Because, yes, clearly it was the format in which Dickens’ work was published that makes it great rather than, you know, the genius of Charles Dickens. See, you start out complimenting a writer and before you know it we’re in a place in which Frank Tieri is comparable to Charles Dickens. A hot place with imps and cackling. Look, the last thing I want to do is rub poo in anyone’s eyes here, but if the writing was the most important thing about comics there wouldn’t be any pictures in ‘em. Writing is the most important thing in prose - fancy your chances in that arena, comic book writers? Yeah, thought not. Go back to hiding behind Frank Quitely’s skirt. No offense, like. Look, short version: If Charles Dickens was alive today I doubt very fucking much if he’d be writing comics about C-3PO’s arm or Han Solo’s sassy wife. Check and mate. Cormac McCarthy, my arse. More like Charlie fucking McCarthy. Gottle a geer!  Gottle a geer!

Also, I made the mistake of starting to read the back matter until I hit the usual ride-a-cock-horse about how the story has a profoundly personal aspect, which comes across about as sincere as Wayne Newton telling us Peace Frog holds a very special place in his heart before clicking his fingers and getting stuck in on the Trocadero Main Stage, during a poorly attended Thursday matinee. Apparently one of Jason “Star Wars” Aaron’s kin done gone killed some fella back yonder  times over some sheep or some such, hence the inspiration for this timeless paper classic; one which will be ranked by posterity somewhere under that FRIDAY THE  13th comic Jason “Star Wars” Aaron did.  I think I’m supposed to be impressed by the honesty of Jason “Star Wars” Aaron’s facing of the familial sins of the past full on and the colossal internal strength he draws on to use it as a spur to create art (i.e. money). And had the ancestral Aaron touched kids I probably would be suitably impressed. But Festus Aaron killed someone, which is still a manly and butch crime; the kind of crime you can walk tall behind, and so we just got another comic about how violence is, oh, so very, very bad but still manages to force itself  to roll around in it like a dog in fox shit.

What? Maybe I'm just not the audience for this? Maybe it's a bit too raw for my fluffy pink liberal palate? Seriously, you have no idea who you are dealing with here. Circque du Soleil would gasp at the contortions my Electric-Pink Liberal Conscience can make just so I can enjoy my Hot Strong Man Boner Action. DIRTY HARRY? The balls, man, Just the balls. I can recite that thing; don’t test me, it’ll end badly for you. And yet, as my regular readers will attest I’m all, hey, why don’t we all look after each other, and, like forgive although we can never forget, and bad things are real bad, yeah, and you use roads, you were born in hospital, so  pay your taxes and all that, ugh, nasty, nasty, wispy beard, cork sandaled, recycling, folk listenin’, home-made preserves shit. Listen to this, and you best believe you better be bracing yourself like nobody’s business because here it comes: I’m the guy who thinks Harry Callaghan throws his badge away at the end of DIRTY HARRY because he has failed The System! That’s right! The System hasn’t failed Dirty Harry, Dirty Harry has failed The System. He no longer believes he is fit to carry the badge. (Well, he isn’t is he? I mean, there’s crossing a line and then there’s being silly about it. He endangers about twelve little kids at the end; not cool, Harry.) Why then, John, is he back in MAGNUM FORCE and also, John, not only is he in MAGNUM FORCE but he is such a plainly unapologetic fascistic bastard they have to set up a bunch of bike cops including David “Black Bean Soup” Soul and that guy from Vega$ as a kind of Central American Death Squad, whose only Real Crime the movie seems to be saying is offing a luckless cop. Why, John? Because John Milius is why. Also, it’s a fucking cartoon. The first movie is a proper film; Don Siegel made proper movies - word to that. And the rest of the Harrys? Fuck those. That Cagney & Lacey one is so badly directed it’s a good job the human charmball Bradford Dillman’s in it, and THE DEAD POOL has a remote control car chasing Harry Callaghan about like it’s some kind of R-Rated Hot Wheels movie or something. A remote controlled car! That movie is for goofballs and Liam Neeson/Jim Carrey completists. The only half way decent one (other than MAGNUM FORCE; I like fascist cartoons! TWIST!) is that one that keeps forgetting it’s a Dirty Harry movie and thinks it’s Sondra Locke in DEATHWISH. (N.B. DEATHWISH is a piece of crap.) And SUDDEN IMPACT’s only good because it would take a sleepy chimp indeed to come away from that one feeling revenge was any fucking good at all. A chimp, or John Milius. I mean, I’ve checked my pants and I’m a man; I have a weakness for dumb aviator shaded, cigar chompin’ shit like the stuff John Milius sprays like musk, but the important thing to remember is that stuff’s a fucking cartoon.  Yeah, I know he’s dead. It should be sprayed not sprays. Fuck tenses. Grammar ain’t manly, pal. Except Powers Boothe’s Gramma. Ma Boothe cures her own pork, you hear me! Skiddlyupyah! But, y’know, you can step the Hell back if you’re even thinking of telling me RED DAWN says anything about the human condition. My point? Like John Vernon said in Josey Wales, “Don’t piss down my neck and tell me it’s raining, Senator.”  Capiche, cochise?

MEN OF WRATH by Garney, Aaron, Milla & Fletcher

Someone out there is going to go, yeah, yeah, you big limey mincer, but have you read SOUTHERN BASTARDS - that’s great! And because I was raised right  I am going to ignore the fact that this site is fully searchable and you can find out fairly easily that I have read SOUTHERN BASTARDS and, no, in the world in which I am cursed to live, it is not great. SOUTHERN BASTARDS took five issues of “stellar character work” to tell us nothing about said character or the mise en scène (yeah, some ooh-la-la parlez vous francais there. Bite me, tough guy!) that couldn’t have been covered in one issue. He’s old, he’s sad, his dad was bad and Americans react to seeing dogs shitting like someone was murdering a baby. (Of course he’s been in ‘Nam. Of course he had. Did you know ‘Nam backwards is Man? There goes your mind again!) Anyway, five issues of repetitive dithering. Five issues of it. Five fucking issues of packing boxes, hitting people with sticks and being sad. Fucking interminable stuff.  And all so that the end of issue 5 would come as some big surprise. Which it did, because who had “Jason Aaron is just wasting everyone’s time” in the raffle? You, sir or madam, are a winner! Tickets to that raffle cost $14.95 approx. You’re welcome. And ugh. That last page. Where the non-Caucasian non-male character is revealed on the page turn like she’s Darkseid or something; a move shocking only in its humungous smuggery. Who the hell in their right mind went – it’s a coloured lady! A POC! OMG! Why the blue fuck wouldn’t it be? Even better - she’s in the Army! Talk about mixed messages. Either all the suspense just dropped out of the arse of this book because, really, who will win between a drug dealing sports teacher and his shit-thick hicks, and a government trained killing machine with revenge on her mind? Dur. Lemme think. In Michael Bay’s documentary CON-AIR Cameron Poe (Nic Cage with seaweed on his head) is dealt with more harshly than other mortals by The System because his awesome military training makes him unlike other men – he is become like unto a Living Weapon, he has become War. It’s not much of a contest is it? Lady Cameron Poe versus Craig T. Nelson's COACH? Or maybe it means Jason “Star Wars” Aaron thinks the US Military is so shit its soldiers would have trouble dealing with a drug dealing sports teacher and his shit-thick hicks. I very much doubt that was his intention, Americans being pretty well disposed on the whole toward their boys in uniform. There are even a couple of movies about it and everything. You could say I didn’t give it long enough; how long is long enough? Perhaps I should have waited to find out that the drug dealing sports teacher had a Bad Dad and got his knee shot off so he could never play football. Or whatever, I didn’t give it that long, did I? Sure, I can see someone turning to crime because they can’t play their favourite sport in a professional capacity. My heart bleeds. I never got to be Howard Victor Chaykin’s pool boy but you don’t see me peddling drugs and exhibiting singularly poor recruitment choices. Maybe the lady character will allow Jason “Star Wars” Aaron to bring to bear some “stellar character work”.  Perhaps when she’s strapping some C-5 under a pickup with a Confederate flag on its plates she’ll pause wistfully as a baby in a pushchair is wheeled past. Because: nuance. Jason Latour’s art was spectacular, mind you. It had a lovely autumnal pallet all russet and  dusty and what a goddamn waste. Which reminds me, Ron Garney illustrates MEN OF WRATH and his art, inconsistent as it is, is wasted on this cowflop. They say you should talk about the art so there you go. That much I did right. MEN OF WRATH is CRAP!

You can't choose your family but you can choose – COMICS!!!

“THE TRAVELLING PALACE OF IEMUHM ANNOUNCES ITS ARRIVAL IN BRIGHT RUNES” COMICS! Sometimes Houses Are Surprisingly Mobile!

In which I write about a single series that is in fact like a whole imprint in itself. Now, I'm not usually one for comics about, you know, the Frangipanis struggle against the Ipanemians on the planet Sega, but I have a weakness for good storytelling, which all of these had. Um, spoilers! 8HOUSE: ARCLIGHT by Churchland, Graham & Maher

Anyway, this... 8HOUSE #1 -2: ARCLIGHT Art and Colours by Marian Churchland Art by Brandon Graham om p.27 in #1 Art by Brandon Graham on p.28-29 in #2 Story by Brandon Graham Letters by Ariana Maher Image comics, $2.99 each (2015) © 2015 Brandon Graham & Marion Churchland

Man, this thing just drips aristocratic hauteur does it not? It can barely bring itself to allow a prole like you to sully it with your low-born gaze. First there’s that weird title to get past; the one that sounds like a Bullingdon Clubber saying outhouse e.g. “Haw, haw, by 2020 we’ll have turned this country into an 8House. Hard times for the little people, what?” I mean, as title’s go it’s not exactly informative is it? 8House? Hate House? Yeah, I’m not fond of it myself, more of a Northern Soul man. Luckily, I have been gifted with powers beyond those of mortal ken so I know it refers to the 8 Houses (or Families) which rule the planet of Greg Araki where Ghoonga Djinn will save everyone by using the magic white spice to make his pupils contract to pinpricks and talk crap very fast. Or is that our Chancellor, Norman Osborne? Hard to tell in days as strange as these. No, all digressionary bullshit aside I’ve read two issues of this comic now and it’s basically magical space fops in love. Oh, and more importantly it's pretty great to boot.

8HOUSE: ARCLIGHT by Churchland, Graham & Maher

I know it’s pretty great because even though its pacing is stately and the storytelling somewhat opaque (two things which when done badly I hate), this stately opacity is tethered to meticulously honed storytelling. Each image from line weight, framing, size through to colour is carefully measured to maximise its impact and import.  Brandon Graham's captions are sparse, being used mainly for an atmospheric mix of the evocative and the expositionary and so the book is mostly imagery drive. And the imagery Marian Churchland brings to it is really quite striking. Everything looks hand drawn with a lovely human wobble to the line, and the colouring is the soothingly smooth combination of hard and soft only coloured pencils seem able to achieve (although it was probably all done on those computers I hear about). Gesture and expression are pivotal in conveying information here and the book's lucky to have someone so gifted in conveying such tricksy stuff on board. Having said that, I'm still a bit unsure if I gleaned all the meaning from these two issues. As far as I can tell there’s a bundle of twigs in a cloak hosting the soul of a genderblended noble and s/he/it is and her pal are tracking whatever has nicked her/his/its body. The whole being made of kindling thing is putting a serious crimp in stick face’s attendance at soirees where all the gentleladymen wear gossamer nighties and trade bitchery of the barbed variety. So when news reaches Twiggy that his/her/its body is doing the rounds off they set, and after some blood fueled sigil based scuffling a confrontation, the outcomes and import of which are still a tad unclear to this most unreliable of readers, seems unavoidable. Now, I could have some stuff wrong there, after all I read it a bit back and this book isn't exactly eager to give up its secrets, but puzzling them out is part of the fun. And it's gorgeously illustrated and meticulously executed fun, which makes 8HOUSE: ARCLIGHT VERY GOOD!

8HOUSE: ARCLIGHT by Churchland, Graham & Maher

8HOUSE #3: KIEM Story & Art by Xurxo G. Penalta Story by Brandon Graham Image Comics, $2.99 (2015) © 2015 Brandon Graham & Xurxo G. Penalta

In which that unavoidable confrontation promised by #2 is...avoided. I guess whoever’s in charge of this 8HOUSE gaff (Brandon Graham)  thinks you’re getting a little too comfy, a little too complacent what with you being all involved in the story of Sir Arclight, aristo-discos, blood-magick combat, hidden agendas and the cloaky twig-thing - HOOPLA! – 8HOUSE is now, without any whiff of warning, about a completely different bit of the 8HOUSE world and a whole new set-up!  I guess this is to stop your brain getting all swaddled in fat and lethargic, so we’re now dealing with a young woman who appears to be part of a military unit, one which is sequestered from the outside world. This bunch of bantering naïfs only leave their bunker to mind-leap into the far-distant deceased bodies of their mono-zygotic twins, whereupon they battle alien creatures on an upsettingly huge construction I failed to retain the exact nature of. Which is nice but don’t put your feet up, Cochise, because now Kiem (yes, it’s named after the lead character; a rare sop for the traditionalists there) has to enter the real world on a Special Mission and finds all is not as she thought (or as we have been led to believe in the preceding blah-de-blah pages (if they aren't going to number them then I'm not going to count them, people)).

8HOUSE: KIEM by Penalta & Graham

In line with its contrasting tech-heavy ambience KIEM takes a different approach to storytelling to ARCLIGHT with the captions being both more plentiful and more larded with straight exposition. But then they are the inner monologue of the main character (a soldier) who is less high faluting than those in ARCLIGHT (dandyish aristos). Which is fair enough as soldiers tend to be more direct in communication than ruffle necked aristocrats. That's not to say the storytelling burden borne by the art is any lighter. You can't fault Penata's art, it is a pretty staggering achievement; it’s as though someone saw Jean Giraud and decided it was good....but not detailed enough, or wanted to explore how deep a focus a paneled image could pull off. The art on these pages is so visually dense it made me worry about the sanity of the mind behind it. I mean, I didn't worry that much because I had tons of fun looking at it and I'm not actually all that caring a person. You drive yourself nuts, Xurxo G. Penalta, just keep those comics coming! Also, there's a cool bit where Penalta upends the images so proving he knows when simplicity is the best tool in the box too. Pretty much a totally different approach and experience from ARCLIGHT it turns out that KIEM is also VERY GOOD!

8HOUSE #4: YORRIS Art by Fil Barlow Written by Fil Barlow & Helen Maier Image Comics, $2.99 (2015) © 2015 Brandon Graham, Fil Barlow & Helen Maier

Obviously, predictability being toxic to this series, with the next issue we needs must leave Kiem staring slack jawed at a truck sized crystal with her war wounded space-panda beggar friend because issue 4 of 8HOUSE (The House That Likes To Move About) is about Yarris or YARRIS (although that reads like CAPSRAGE, and I prefer to save that for when someone writing Spider-Man has done something I don't like; you know, the important things in life). Again, in what can only be deemed a calculated slap to the face of the unrepresented male, Yarris is a young woman but, aha, she is a different young woman to Kiem (clue: different names); she seems a bit more of a hot house flower who spends most of the issue sat very still indeed while indulging in an internal monologue of such expositionary density you could put icing on it and pass it off as a christmas cake. If exposition were edible. To be fair though, while show not tell is an important rule it's hard to carry off when what you are showing is a big alien dog phantom spitting ectoplasm formed of screaming faces. Since this is the primary form of oppression used by one sect (The Bound) to undermine another (The Un-Tied) some explanation is forgivable. Also, I think a little of it is lack of confidence on the part of Barlow & Maier. They’ve done some comics but they aren't a seasoned old lag like Brandon Graham, whose influence here only seems to extend to an invitation to the talented pair to play in his sandbox. Ultimately though it's probably just another form of storytelling. It's not wrong, it's just different, as I used to tell my teachers to admittedly very little effect. Alas, poor YARRIS is the weakest entry so far but it's still pretty strong. It's all relative. This is 8HOUSE after all. There's a flamboyance to the designs in YARRIS which is somehow both restrained and demented, and the storytelling finally settles down to promise thrills aplenty. And how could one not warm to a comic which ends with a character worrying that The Suprymes have been dispatched after them. On past evidence however we'll probably be denied the sight of Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown as sassy steampunk bounty-hunters because this is 8HOUSE so it'll be about something else entirely, but a young woman will probably be involved. Just like many a fight on Saturday night. Unlike physical violence fueled by alcohol, stupidity and hormones 8HOUSE: YARRIS was GOOD!

8HOUSE: YORRIS by Barlow & Maier

Pro Tip: When visiting the 8House I always take some – COMICS!!!

Arriving 11/11/15

This week brings a new wave of new Marvel books plus the debut of THE GODDAMNED from Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera. Plus new WICKED + DIVINE, BATMAN and SECRET WARS! Check the cut for the rest of this exciting week of fall comics!

8HOUSE #5 YORRIS PART TWO ABE SAPIEN #28 ADVENTURE TIME #46 AIRBOY #4 (OF 4) ALL NEW ALL DIFFERENT AVENGERS #1 ALL NEW HAWKEYE #1 ALL NEW WOLVERINE #1 AMERICATOWN #4 ASSASSINS CREED #2 AUTUMNLANDS TOOTH & CLAW #7 BACK TO THE FUTURE #2 (OF 4) BATMAN #46 BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #6 BATMAN BEYOND #6 BATMAN SUPERMAN #26 BIRTHRIGHT #11 BLACK BAG #1 CAPTAIN AMERICA WHITE #4 (OF 5) CARNAGE #1 CATWOMAN #46 CHEWBACCA #3 (OF 5) CODENAME BABOUSHKA: CONCLAVE OF DEATH #2 CONSTANTINE THE HELLBLAZER #6 CROSSED BADLANDS #89 CROSSED PLUS 100 #11 D4VE2 #3 (OF 4) DARTH VADER #12 DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS #4 DESCENDER #7 DRIFTER #9 FABLES THE WOLF AMONG US #11 FASTER THAN LIGHT #3 GEARS AND BONES #3 GODDAMNED #1 GRUMPY CAT #2 (OF 3) HARROW COUNTY #7 HEROES VENGEANCE #2 (OF 5) ILLUMINATI #1 INFINITY GAUNTLET #5 SWA JUST ANOTHER SHEEP #1 (OF 5) JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR GREEN LANTERN #1 JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR SHAZAM #1 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #15 KING TIGER #4 KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #225 LANTERN CITY #7 (OF 12) LAST SONS OF AMERICA #1 LETTER 44 #21 LIMBO #1 MAXX MAXXIMIZED #25 MENS FEELINGS #2 MIRRORS EDGE EXORDIUM #3 MYTHIC #5 PATHFINDER HOLLOW MOUNTAIN #1 (OF 6) REBELS #8 RED HOOD ARSENAL #6 RED SONJA CONAN #4 (OF 4) SADHU BIRTH OF THE WARRIOR #5 (OF 6) SECRET WARS #7 (OF 9) SWA SHADOW VOL 2 #4 SLASH & BURN #1 SOUTHERN BASTARDS #12 SPIDER-GWEN #2 SPIDER-MAN 2099 #3 SPONGEBOB COMICS #50 SQUADRON SINISTER #4 SWA STARFIRE #6 STRING DIVERS #4 (OF 5) SUPERMAN AMERICAN ALIEN #1 (OF 7) TEEN TITANS #13 THORS #4 SWA THOUGHT BUBBLE ANTHOLOGY 2015 #5 TWILIGHT CHILDREN #2 (OF 4) TYSON HESSE DIESEL #3 (OF 4) ULTIMATES #1 UNCANNY AVENGERS #2 UNITY #24 WALKING DEAD #148 WAR STORIES #14 WEB WARRIORS #1 WICKED & DIVINE #16 X-FILES SEASON 11 #4 ZODIAC STARFORCE #3

Books/Mags/Things ADVENTURE TIME ORIGINAL GN VOL 06 MASKED MAYHEM AGE OF ULTRON VS MARVEL ZOMBIES TP ALEXANDRO JODOROWSKY SCREAMING PLANET HC AMERICAN VAMPIRE TP VOL 07 ASHES FIREFIGHTERS TALE GN BTVS SEASON 9 LIBRARY HC VOL 03 CYANIDE & HAPPINESS STAB FACTORY TP DJANGO ZORRO HC DOUBLE D GN BOOK 01 FATALE DLX ED HC VOL 02 FREDDY LOMBARD HC HELLBREAK TP VOL 01 MANDALAY HC MIMI AND THE WOLVES GN VOL 02 ACT II THE DEN MORNING GLORIES TP VOL 09 OLD WOUNDS TP PAUL KIRCHNER BUS HC VOL 02 PAWN SHOP GN RANMA 1/2 2IN1 TP VOL 11 RED SONJA TP VOL 03 FORGIVING OF MONSTERS REDHAND TWILIGHT OF THE GODS GN RESIDENT ALIEN TP VOL 03 SAM HAIN MYSTERY SCORCH TP STAR WARS HC EPISODE VI RETURN OF JEDI SUPERMAN ADVENTURES TP VOL 01 THANOS TP COSMIC POWERS TOMB RAIDER TP VOL 03 QUEEN OF SERPENTS TRANSFORMERS VS GI JOE TP VOL 02 UNCANNY X-MEN TP VOL 05 OMEGA MUTANT UNCLE SCROOGE TP VOL 02 GRAND CANYON CONQUEST WALT KELLYS FAIRY TALES HC WOLF TP VOL 01

As always, what do YOU think?

“Somebody Who Should Be Dead Is Alive, Or Somebody Who Should Be Alive Is Already Dead!” MOVIES! Sometimes I Am Reminded That No Matter Whatever Our Country Of Origin May Be We Are All Human And So United By A Fear of Being Stabbed In The Face By A Gloved Nutter.

Yes! It’s that thing where I watch some movies you aren’t interested in and then tell you what I think about them, while prefacing my words with a comment My Lady of Infinite Patience made about them. Look, I just haven’t had chance to read anything lately. Sorry but, uh, them's the breaks. Anita Strindberg in Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key (1972)

Anyway, this… PHENOMENA (1985) Directed by Dario Argento Written by Dario Argento & Franco Ferrini Starring Jennifer Connelly, Daria Nicolodi, Fiore Argento, Frederica Mastroianni, Fiorenza Tessari, Dalila Di Lazzaro, Patrick Bauchau and Donald Pleasence as Professor John McGregor. Special Guest Chimp “Tanga” as Inga Music by Simon Boswell and Goblin

….and she said, “I think I’m going to be sick…”

That wasn’t a comment on the movie; we were barely forty minutes in when She of The Streaming Content was taken badly. This left me with a dilemma: I could either watch a ridiculous movie in which a baby-faced Jennifer Connelly hunts a serial killer in a Swiss girls school aided only by her ability to communicate with insects together with wheelchair bound pathologist Donald Pleasence and his trained chimp, Inga, or…or…or I could  provide succour and comfort to my ailing heart partner. Obviously, I watched the movie. Now, before you trip over yourself in your rush to judgement may I just remind you that this was a ridiculous movie in which a baby-faced Jennifer Connelly hunts a serial killer in a Swiss girls school aided only by her ability to communicate with insects together with wheelchair bound pathologist Donald Pleasence and his trained chimp, Inga. Sometimes Life’s all about priorities, kids.

Even though we (well, I. Sorry, dollcakes) watched it via a streaming service and so it wasn’t HD, and thus it was like watching it through a piece of soiled muslin, Argento’s much lauded stylishness was still more than apparent. Having avoided his work thus far in my life I am really warming to Dario Argento; there is just something supremely endearing about the seriousness and sheer graft with which he approaches the most preposterous baloney. As preposterous baloney goes PHENOMENA is amazingly so right until the end. At which point the preposterousness and the baloniness reach such a hysterical pitch that they pummel you into submission.  Truly, the ending to PHENOMENA is just a thing of wonder and a joy forever, because this ending goes on for a good half hour and just keeps piling insane nonsense atop insane nonsense, in a kind of splendidly insane nonsense Jenga of an ending. And somewhere in there Donald Pleasance is “doing” a Scots accent to boot. HELP MABOAB! Look, if you are okay with a barely pubescent Jennifer Connelly attempting to locate the killer’s house by taking a fly on a bus ride then you, sir or madam, are in for an intoxicating treat. PHENOMENA was PHENOMENAL! (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Shame is for lesser men!)

TENEBRAE (1982) Directed by Dario Argento Written by Dario Argento Starring Anthony Franciosa, Giulana Gemma, Christian Borromeo, Mirella D’Angelo, Veronica Lario, Ania Pieroni, Eva Robins, Carola Stagnaro, John Steiner, Lara Wendel, Daria Nicoldi, Giuliano Gemma and John Saxon as “Bullmer” Music by Massimo, Fabio Pignatelli and Claudio Simonetti

…and she said, “Do they not have bras in Italy then?”

Oh, we both liked this one. Belay that, we both loved it! Sure, enjoyment was expected but amore was a pleasant surprise. That Dario Argento, the tricksy scamp,  outflanked me by making a wicked-smart movie; one not just with a plot that made sense but one with real cinematic smarts too. The stuff cineastes adore is here with “doubling” abounding, a meta-textual message to his critics embedded in the meat of the movie (one that needs to be reconsidered once the movie ends) and playful jumps between diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Or, cough, so I hear. For us layfolk who are here for the entertainment that’s all well and good, but it’s probably nicer that with TENEBRAE Argento’s got several people who can act in the cast, rather than the usual just one or two (or none).  Also, style? This thing is lacquered in style. It’s so ‘80s I was tempted to try and snort it through a rolled up tenner. TENEBRAE may mean shadows (or darkness) in English but the movie is shot in such a way as to eradicate as much shadow as possible. This is Hell in the glare of a neon flare. Murder in a world lit like a Supermarket. (Some of my trademark overstuffed writing there in case you were missing it.) Even a chase through a park at night denies the quarry the safety of shadows. A park at night, even! That’s visually tricky stuff to pull off that is. But Argento et al pull it off, alright. There’s just something fantastically right about TENEBRAE; as though it’s the movie Argento was working towards and everything after it could only ever be a decline. (Calm down, Argentophiles: That’s relatively speaking; his “decline” still includes PHENOMENA see above). Argento is just ON with this one. He even has one of the most flamboyantly pointless camera moves in history and it’s just a delightful indulgence soundtracked by the best blare of Death Disco soundtrack yet.

Anthony Franciosa winningly essays  a charmingly jovial author whose new schlocky horror novel (‘Tenebrae’, natch) is found at the scene of a brutal murder which leads to the police taking an interest in him, and his taking an interest in the crimes. After all, imagine if “Peter Neal” (for 'tis he), could catch a killer - imagine the book sales!  Unfortunately he fails to consider what might happen should the murderer have other ideas –imagine the bodycount! Don’t worry you won’t have to. You’ll see it. There’s some mighty fine murders in this one. Although Franciosa’s persistently upbeat performance owns the movie he gets good support from the ever sturdy John Saxon (who has fun playing with his hat and wiggling his eyebrows),  the cops (Carola Stagnaro and Giulano Gemma) are sympathetically puzzled and Daria Nicoldi gets the best of the female civilian roles (most of the other female roles involving screaming and bleeding) and, really, the only weak spot in the main players is what seems to be a young Martin Amis in a bad jumper. But, you know, for an Argento movie the cast is like MAGNOLIA solid. Not only that but  the plot makes sense. I know! I wasn’t expecting that at all. Usually you’d have more chance identifying the killer by opening a book of Baby Names at random, but this time if you’ve got your wits about you the smug luxury of being right is within your reach.  TENEBRAE’s not perfect, there are still some of Argento’s bad habits like some truly ridiculous plot contortions to get a character to accidently enter the killer’s den and some stilted lesbian arguing but when it ends you won't remember any of that. When TENEBRAE ends you'll just remember that sometimes the darkness is within. TENEBRAE is TENEBRAE!

YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY (1972) Directed by Sergio Martino Screenplay by Adriano Bolzini, Ernesto Gastaldi and Sauro Scavolini Story by Luciano Martino and Sauro Scavolini Based on the story The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe Starring Edwige Fenech, Anita Strindberg, Luigi Pistilli, Ivan Rassimov, Franco Nebbia, Riccardo Salvino, Angela La Vorgna and Enrica Bonaccorti as “Hooker” Music by Bruno Nicolai

…and she said, “Phew! For a minute there I thought we weren’t going to see her breasts.”

Seriously, who could resist a movie with a title like that? Not I, honeythighs. YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY ! It’s like something a bell-bottomed Howard Victor Chaykin would use to chat up “foxy chicks” in the ‘70s at a roller disco: “YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY!” (Subtext: THE KEY BEING MY PENIS!) Fan-tastic. Obviously the movie doesn’t live up to that promise of staggering ridiculosity, but it certainly has an admirable crack at it. YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY is a 1970s Italian movie adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat, but in a really sleazy giallo stylee. So, there’s  pair of gloved hands, some heavy breathing POV, blaringly cool murder tunes, scads of stabbing and a pint pot of plot twists. That’s the giallo bit taken care of. The 1970s bit is covered by the unpleasantly leering air, the use of unfortunate racial terminology, a supercrazysexygroovy party scene, excessive motocross footage, asphyxia mocking levels of smoking,  and wardrobe choices which turn everyone into a sartorial criminal.

(Words fail me.)

Well, everyone except Luigi Pistilli who has that distinctly craggy machismo which enables him to carry off looking like a disco shepherd. Anyway, he sulkily plays a debauched writer who can’t write, and so like any writer fills his time by drinking, smoking, throwing supercrazysexygroovy parties, drinking, abusing his wife (Anita Strindberg doing a nice line in “Crazy Lady Eyes”©®), smoking, drinking, feeding his black cat (“Satan”, natch), smoking, drinking and knocking off (in a sexy sense) his ex-student. Then someone knocks off (in a dead sense) his ex-student and things escalate into a crazy slasher flick for a bit before calming down into a movie normal human beings might endure at a push, but then his sexually, uh, accommodating niece (a very, uh, vigorous Edwige Fenech) turns up and  things hurtle off into the a realm of mental delirium so unapologetic Poe would probably approve. (Although he’d probably have had conniptions over the surfeit of tits.) YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY  was DELIRIOUS!

So, um, next time – COMICS!!!

Arriving 11/04/15

Big week! New DOCTOR STRANGE and the X-Men make their ANAD Marvel debut with EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN from Jeff Lemire and Humburto Ramos, new PAPERGIRLS and the debut of of MONSTRESS from Marjorie Liu! Check the cut for all the fresh Autumn comics!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #3 ANGEL AND FAITH SEASON 10 #20 ATOMIC ROBO & THE RING OF FIRE #3 (OF 5) AXCEND #2 BARB WIRE #5 BAT MITE #6 (OF 6) BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #5 BLACK SCIENCE #17 BOBS BURGERS ONGOING #5 CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS III #1 (OF 6) CAPTAIN FREEBIRD GN CITIZEN JACK #1 CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS #2 DARK CORRIDOR #4 DEAD VENGEANCE #2 (OF 4) DEADPOOL #1 DETECTIVE COMICS #46 DOCTOR STRANGE #2 DOCTOR WHO 11TH YEAR TWO #2 DOCTOR WHO 8TH #1 (OF 5) DONALD DUCK #7 DRAX #1 ELEPHANTMEN #67 EXODUS LIFE AFTER #1 EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #1 GRANT MORRISONS 18 DAYS #5 MAIN CVR GREEN ARROW #46 GREEN LANTERN #46 HANGMAN #1 HARLEY QUINN & POWER GIRL #5 (OF 6) HERCULES #1 HOWARD THE DUCK #1 HUMANS #9 INSUFFERABLE #7 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #3 JAMES BOND #1 JOE GOLEM OCCULT DETECTIVE #1 JOHN FLOOD #4 JOHNNY RED #1 (OF 8) JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR FLASH #1 JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR SUPERMAN #1 KLAUS #1 LARA CROFT FROZEN OMEN #2 (OF 5) LAZARUS #20 LOBO #12 MARVEL UNIVERSE GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #2 MEANWHILE #4 MICKEY MOUSE #6 MIDNIGHTER #6 MIRACLEMAN BY GAIMAN AND BUCKINGHAM #4 MONSTRESS #1 MORTAL KOMBAT X #12 MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDS FOREVER #22 NAILBITER #17 NIOBE SHE IS LIFE #1 NOVA #1 PACIFIC RIM TALES FROM THE DRIFT #1 PAPER GIRLS #2 RASPUTIN #10 REGULAR SHOW #29 ROWANS RUIN #2 SAINTS #2 SCOOBY DOO TEAM UP #13 SENSATION COMICS FEATURING WONDER WOMAN #16 SEX #25 SPIDER-GWEN #0 STAR TREK NEW VISIONS HOLLOW MAN STAR WARS #11 STRAY BULLETS SUNSHINE & ROSES #9 SURVIVORS CLUB #2 THIS DAMNED BAND #4 (OF 6) TITAN #2 TOIL & TROUBLE #3 (OF 6) TRAIN CALLED LOVE #2 (OF 10) TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS EYE #46 UFOLOGY #6 (OF 6) UNCANNY X-MEN #600 UNFOLLOW #1 VELVET #12 VISION #1 WE STAND ON GUARD #5 WOODS #17

Books/Mags/Things AGE OF APOCALYPSE TP WARZONES ARCHIE VS PREDATOR HC BATMAN ARKHAM TWO FACE TP BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT SAGA HC BIRDS OF PREY TP VOL 01 BLADE UNDEAD BY DAYLIGHT TP BOBS BURGERS MEDIUM RARE TP CLASS PHOTO GN COMPLETE PEANUTS HC VOL 24 1997-1998 COPPERHEAD TP VOL 02 CROSSED TP VOL 14 HAWKEYE TP VOL 05 ALL NEW HAWKEYE HEAVY METAL #277 INVINCIBLE HC VOL 10 ULTIMATE COLL JOJOS BIZARRE ADV BATTLE TENDENCY HC VOL 01 KODT BUNDLE OF TROUBLE TP VOL 52 LUTHOR TP MIRACLEMAN ARTIFACT ED HC MISTER X RAZED TP MOUSE GUARD LEGENDS OF GUARD HC VOL 03 NEW AVENGERS BY JONATHAN HICKMAN HC VOL 02 ROBIN TP VOL 01 REBORN SANDMAN OVERTURE DELUXE ED HC SIP (STRANGERS IN PARADISE) KIDS COLLECTED ED TP STAR TREK NEW ADVENTURES TP VOL 02 STAR WARS KANAN TP VOL 01 LAST PADAWAN STAR WARS PRINCESS LEIA TP SUICIDERS HC VOL 01 SURFACE TP VOL 01 WINNERS GN

As always, what do YOU think?

“Selena Has Already Decided Not To Buy The Lawn Furniture.” COMICS! Sometimes I Look at Saga - The Saga Of The Swamp Thing!

It's Halloween! Gather round, gather round! O, you lucky children! Feast your tiny dead fly sized eyes on a ghoulish gallery fit to chill even the hardiest of souls! Halloween! Sil-VER SHAMROCK! Oh alright, I just scanned in my incomplete Saga of the Swamp Thing comics run. No tricks here, m'dears; only treats! It's mostly covers but also some pin-ups and even Swamp Thing's death certificate. Morbidly apropos eh, what? I hope you enjoy looking at them while I creep up behind you. HOO-HA! Gonna wear your face like knickers! SWAMP THING by Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, Alan Moore, Tatjana Wood & John Constanza

SWAMP THING Created by Berni Wrightson & Len Wein

I started reading Saga of the Swamp Thing (SotST) with # 2 because I was 12 and a morbid little thing. Oh yes, Horror was my jam. I spread it liberally on my toast of terror. I was there, so let me tell you that the 1980s were a pretty awesome time all around for horror in movies, prose and comics. Probably even jam; horror was everywhere. Probably because the 1980s was a pretty awesome time for horror in real life: Thatcher, AIDS, Clause28, The Cold War, Reaganomics, The Miners Strike, Phil Collins; sometimes you just wanted to pull the covers over your head. But then you ran the risk of missing some fab Horror jam. Like SotSW. I stopped reading SotSW with #6. Not because it was rubbish, but because it stopped appearing at my local market cum newstand. Those early issues by Tom Yeates and Martin Pasko aren't the ones people remember but they were pretty decent. Issue 3 with the vampires was nice (nice enough for Moore to call back later in #38 & #39) and #4 had a children's entertainer who entertained himself with children in a bad way. It was far from rote and just about worthy of note. I restarted reading SotSW with #35 when it suddenly reappeared back on my stands. That fella from Warrior and 2000AD whose stuff I liked only turned out to be writing it, didn't he! (It would turn out he'd been writing it for a while.) My surprise and delight at the chillingly efficient tales this Moore fellow was producing was rather upended when Swamp Thing promptly died at the end of #36. Well, fuck a duck, I thought (I was a potty mouthed child).

But then he brought him back. Later on he'd kill Swampy again, but I'd got the knack by then and just hung on til he was back. With #64 Moore moved on and even brought back Tom Yeates for a fitting finale. But Moore didn't push off before he'd written a pile of the most entertaining comics it's ever been my pleasure to read. (And re-read. And re-re-read. Etc.) So much so that I went back and filled as many gaps as I could, before TPBs were a thing at which point I, as they say, completed the set. It took time and it took money but it was worth it. From the early issues which recast old horror tropes in fresh robes of relevance, through the inevitable team up with Batman (one which actually had weight and consequences for once) through the tail end whistle stop tour of the DCU, Alan Moore brought the words. And plenty of them. But that's okay because they were good words. I have a weakness for writers who love language; I'm odd like that. And as ever with any long comics run you could tell he stayed too long, but rather than phone it in he simply concentrated on keeping himself entertained, and in so doing kept me entertained.

But there are more than words in a comic; otherwise it would be prose. There are pictures. And the pictures in SotST are the equal of Moore's words, mostly. From the titanic trio of Bissette, Totleben & Veitch whose jagged, fractured pages seemed to stab the horrors displayed right into your mind, to the stalwarts called in at short notice: Alfredo Alcala, Stan Woch, Ron Randall et al. And of course, Shawn McManus. Shawn McManus who gave Moore's script for POG (#32) a heartwrecking cartoony beauty. Everyone on the book seemed to be having a blast and so I had a blast. John Totleben certainly had fun, fun which culminated in, with #60, his flamboyantly futuristic issue-long recasting of Kirby Collage technique. John Totleben's eyes are tired, so they say, but he can hear well enough, so let's all say that, you, John Totleben rocked, and you rocked never harder than on #60 of The Saga of the Swamp Thing (unless it was that issue of Miracleman (yeah, that one). SotST is often spoken of as being Alan Moore's but that's just convenient shorthand. SotST and its many, many successes belong to everyone on its pages. Most notably those already spoken of, and particularly Steve Bissette's dark swathes of ink. SotSW is a remarkable run of comics; remarkable in its consistency, intelligence and heart. Yes, heart. Because for a horror book it was surprisingly keen to remind us of what it meant to be human; how that can be the worst thing in the world, but also how it can be the best thing in the world. That's not bad for a comic book about a plant that dreamt it was a man.Sage of the Swamp Thing was EXCELLENT!

You've all been very patient so here's the gallery:

Sometimes...I am almost...frightened...by my own – COMICS!!!

Tilting #245 is live

At Comic Book Resources, as always. Read it, love it, comment on it!  

-B

"It's All About The Angles." COMICS! Sometimes I Hope Someone Isn't Expecting The Dog Poo Fairy To Clear This Mess Up!

As a break from Dredd here's a look at a sci-fi horror outing remarkable for the artistry of its visual execution. I've not noticed anyone go on about this one, but I think it's worth going on about. So I did. DOGS OF MARS by Maybury, Zito, Trov, Wieser, Bautista

Anyway, this...

DOGS OF MARS Art by Paul Maybury Story by Johnny Zito,Tony Trov and Christian Wieser Lettered by Gabe Bautista Book Design by Pauk Maybury & Jordan Gibson Collects DOGS OF MARS#1-4, plus a couple of sketch pages, with pin ups by Steve Funnell, Viktor Kalvachev, Alexis Ziritt, Christine Larsen, Giannis Milonogiannis, Michel Fiffe, Rob Giullory, Jordan Gibson and Victoria Grace Elliot Image Comics, £7.99 (Digital) (2012)

I bought this on Comixology a while back and read it the other day due to circumstances having interposed a considerable distance between myself and my faithful paper pals. (This time of year I travel around unlocking the doors to lunatic asylums. I'm in Haddonfield on Saturday, watch out for me!) I'm glad I got round to reading it finally, because while it is a work few would grace with the term original it is effectively, efficiently and, I have to say, impressively done. I should probably set your trembling minds at rest right from the off that this has nothing to do with John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars; a film so execrable that all I can remember is the sight of Ice Cube stumbling about in camo “fat pants” (i.e. vanity pants designed to hide excess poundage) and the reliably stolid Charles Cyphers gamely failing to save this regrettable repetitive muddle of cinematic junk. (John Carpenter remains a cinematic God though.) No, this is completely different, by which I mean a bit similar. But then again DOGS OF MARS is a bit similar to a lot of things. That's not a problem. Borrow away; it's what you do with it that counts - that shall be the whole of the Law. And I have to say I was pretty impressed with DOGS OF MARS; particularly considering the only member of the creative team I'd heard of was Paul Maybury. The man no one calls “Magic Maybury” was the reason I found the book. I searched on his name, since Comixology won't find anything if you put in “derivative but fundamentally entertaining and surprisingly well executed genre entertainment”. Strangely “Paul Maybury” returns a lot more hits, I find.

DOGS OF MARS by Maybury, Zito, Trov, Wieser, Bautista

Endearing itself to me right from the start DOGS OF MARS doesn’t piss about. It opens in media res; I think that's the term. Anyway stuff's kicked off already, we're dropped straight in and you have to run to catch up. Clearly things on Mars Base Bowie (ugh) are less than ideal; order is breaking down, an execution is in the offing, a murder has occurred and there's talk of something “out there”. Before you can get your bearings the space fan gets a good coat of space faeces and we whipcrack back to the start to see what went wrong. Turns out that what we've got here is a bunch of scientists and soldiers planning to terraform Mars by dropping a nuke into its guts and then then, uh, algebra, plants and, er, things because, science. Clearly it's a case of Chekhov's Nuke so the “science” doesn't matter. Also, it's an action-horror story set on Mars so worrying about the science might not be the best use of your time here. The plot's good in its urgent hokiness, the whole thing's delivered with a straight face and the thundering pace means it can barrel right over any disbelief that might stray into the road. It's also pretty icky stuff and manages to define its cast quickly and with elegant simplicity. Other than Maybury's visuals this might be where DOGS OF MARS impresses most. No matter how brief their appearance all the characters are discrete and their demises are affecting. I liked the burly sad guy who became an astronaut to impress his wife but, “She left me for the manager of a Mr. Cluck's Chicken in Utah.” He's barely in the book but he's funny, sad and when he goes...it's bad.

DOGS OF MARS by Maybury, Zito, Trov, Wieser, Bautista

All the secondary characters, no matter their genre mandated impermanence, are similarly sketched by the creators with an efficiency lacking from (sshhhhhh!) many established writers. But the best bit of the book is the relationship which defines the two key protagonists: Zoe and Turk. They being two female characters who occupy the top spots in the Mars Base hierarchy and whose love/hate dynamic is so sharply defined you'll keep checking your fingers for punctures. Yeah, yeah, at first you might roll your eyes as it looks like Zoe's husband is the source of the sisterly friction, but it's soon apparent that that's just a symptom of a deeper and more realistic fracture. It's far less the usual rice cakes pressed into the shape of women that comics usually deal in. No sad lady assassins or sad lady robot assassins or ladies who are basically differentiated from the same male characters by their sadness. Nope, none of that sad crap. The interaction between Zoe and Turk is far more akin to the women in The Descent; which, yes, is a movie about weekend spelunkers menaced by cannibal throwbacks but, you know, fair's fair, is still pretty good on character. Honest. Horror always hurts more when you care about the characters, and because someone had bothered to write some characters DOGS OF MARS made me wince more than once.

DOGS OF MARS by Maybury, Zito, Trov, Wieser, Bautista

Mind you there's a difference between writing and “story” which is what Zito, Trov and Wieser are actually credited with. It's entirely possible they gave Maybury their “story” and the distillation of it into a viciously entertaining comic is down to Maybury's alchemical finesse. Or his “storytelling”, as it is known. Because be in no doubt Maybury rocks these pages like honeymooners in a caravan. In the back there are sketches of the characters which are clearly defined and reader friendly in the extreme. But in the book itself Maybury discards this catchy clarity and goes for an approach so loose it gives David Cameron's grasp on truth a run for its money. It also, honesty demands I concede, at times gives lucidity a run for its money. But...that's okay. It really is. There are a number of approaches to horror – show it, don't show it, and show something but let it unsettle via its lack of clarity. (Hey, you want Kim Newman you go pay Kim Newman, Cochise.) It's this latter approach that gets most play from Maybury. Given there's an awful lot of body horror and panicked rushing about it also turns out to be the most aesthetically appropriate approach. From character designs, hardware and general atmospherics there's an obviously experimental edge to all of Maybury's work here, but never moreso than in the frequent and intentional dips into visual bedlam. None of which detracts from the pleasure of the reading experience. In fact this lurching in and out of coherency works in tandem with the unusual colouring choice of having just white and red. On occasion this is powerfully inverted and so guts spray out like cold white worms into a warmly carmine world. There's also some lovely dream imagery and a daring fragmentation of images into pixellated chaos. All of which ultimately raises what is at root a merely satisfying act of genre homage up several levels, into a propulsive and frenetically entertainingly unique beast. Woof , woof! DOGS OF MARS is VERY GOOD!

Mars wants – COMICS!!!

Arriving 10/28/15

It's the spookiest shipping week of the year! New ISLAND, the debut of BLACK MAGICK from Greg Ruck and Nicola Scott plus the return of SQUIRREL GIRL!  

Check all the scary Halloween comics below the cut!

ADVENTURE TIME 2015 SPOOOKTACULAR #1 ALL STAR SECTION 8 #5 (OF 6) ANGELA QUEEN OF HEL #1 AQUAMAN #45 ARCADIA #6 ART OPS #1 BATGIRL #45 BATMAN 66 #28 BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #4 BLACK HOOD #6 BLACK MAGICK #1 CAPTAIN AMERICA SAM WILSON #2 CHEW #51 CHEWBACCA #2 (OF 5) CONAN THE AVENGER #19 CREEPY COMICS #22 CROSSED BADLANDS #88 CYBORG #4 DEADPOOL VS THANOS #4 (OF 4) DEATH HEAD #4 (OF 6) DEATHSTROKE #11 FIGHT CLUB 2 #6 FLASH #45 FROM UNDER MOUNTAINS #2 GOD IS DEAD #44 GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #10 GRAYSON #13 HELLBOY & BPRD 1953 PHANTOM HAND & KELPIE HENCHGIRL #1 HOUSE OF M #4 SWA HOWLING COMMANDOS OF SHIELD #1 ISLAND #4 JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #5 JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR BATMAN #1 KANAN #7 LADY MECHANIKA TABLET OF DESTINIES #6 (OF 6) MANIFEST DESTINY #18 MERCURY HEAT #5 MUNCHKIN #10 NEW AVENGERS #2 NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #13 ODYC #8 OVER THE GARDEN WALL #3 PASTAWAYS #7 PLANTS VS ZOMBIES GARDEN WARFARE #1 (OF 3) POWER UP #4 (OF 6) PREZ #5 (OF 6) REVIVAL #34 RICK & MORTY #7 ROBIN SON OF BATMAN #5 RUMBLE #8 SANDMAN OVERTURE #6 SPECIAL EDITION (MR) SAVAGE DRAGON #208 SECRET WARS OFFICIAL GUIDE OF MARVEL MULTIVERSE #1 SWA SHRINKING MAN #4 (OF 4) SIMPSONS COMICS EXPLOSION #2 SINESTRO #16 SIP (STRANGERS IN PARADISE) KIDS #4 SONIC UNIVERSE #81 SPAWN #257 SPIDER-MAN 2099 #2 SPIRE #4 (OF 8) SPREAD #11 STRINGERS #3 (OF 5) STUMPTOWN V3 #8 SUPERMAN #45 THEYRE NOT LIKE US #9 TMNT ONGOING #51 TOMORROWS #4 (OF 6) TRANSFORMERS REDEMPTION UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #1 VERTIGO QUARTERLY SFX #3 WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES #724 WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES 75TH ANN SPECIAL WE ARE ROBIN #5 WELCOME TO SHOWSIDE #1 WHAT IF INFINITY DARK REIGN #1 WHERE MONSTERS DWELL #5 (OF 5) SWA WILDS END ENEMY WITHIN #2 (OF 4)

Books/Mags/Whatever AVENGERS TIME RUNS OUT TP VOL 02 AVENGERS ULTRON FOREVER TP BATMAN ADVENTURES TP VOL 03 BATMAN WAR GAMES TP VOL 01 CASANOVA ACEDIA TP VOL 01 COMPLETE LOVE HURTS TP EMPIRE TP UPRISING FABLES THE WOLF AMONG US TP VOL 01 FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS HC GHOSTS AND GIRLS OF FICTION HOUSE HC GREEN RIVER KILLER A TRUE DETECTIVE STORY TP IDOL DREAMS INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR TWO TP VOL 02 LESS THAN EPIC ADVENTURES OF TJ AND AMAL GN VOL 01 MURDER MYSTERIES AND OTHER STORIES HC GALLERY EDITION NOVA TP VOL 06 HOMECOMING ONE PUNCH MAN GN VOL 03 PIANO TUNER GN VOL 01 PIN-UP ARTIST GN PREVIEWS #326 NOVEMBER 2015 PRINCELESS TP VOL 04 BE YOURSELF SHAFT COMPLICATED MAN TP SILK TP VOL 00 LIFE AND TIMES OF CINDY MOON

As always, what do YOU think?

“SHUT THEM DOWN! SHUT THEM ALL DOWN!” COMICS! Sometimes He’s Such A Stick In The Mud He’s More Like Judge Ludd!

In which I provide you with another cheerless slog through a volume of JUDGE DREDD THE MEGA COLLECTION. No charge! JUDGE DREDD by Doherty, Wagner and Parkhouse

Anyway, this… THE JUDGE DREDD MEGA COLLECTION REVIEW INDEX

MECHANISMO JUDGE DREDD MEGA COLLECTION VOLUME 24 Contents: Introduction by Matt Smith, Mechanismo, Mechanismo Returns, Body Count, S.A.M. and Safe Hands, cover gallery, Colin MacNeil interviewed by Michael Molcher Art by Colin MacNeil, Peter Doherty, Manuel Benet, Val Semeiks & Cliff Robinson, and Jock Written by John Wagner and Gordon Rennie Coloured by Chris Blythe Lettered by Annie Parkhouse and Tom Frame Originally published in Judge Dredd Megazine 2.12. – 2.17, 2.22 – 2.26, 2.37 -2.43, 2000AD progs 1374 and 1273 Hatchette/Rebellion, £6.99 UK (2014) (It’s £6.99 because it was the second issue which is always, in partworks, more expensive than the first issue, but less expensive than the third issue which is when the real price (£9.99) sets in.) Judge Dredd created by Carlos Ezquerra, John Wagner and Pat Mills

Cover by Colin MacNeil

I say, I say, I say, when is a comic book movie not a comic book movie? When it is Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop(1987): the best comic book movie ever(1). Yes, smarty pants, despite its not being a comic book movie. Yet, despite its having no direct single original comic book source it opts instead to indulge a cheekily blatant preference to plunder freely from many sources. Mainly though, it plunders from the best; its black humour, satirical edge, ultraviolence and taciturn (but sympathetic) central character all owing more than a little to Judge Dredd(2). In 1993 in the pages of Judge Dredd Megazine(3), no doubt having tired of waiting for acknowledgement or remuneration, John Wagner repaid the favour with Mechanismo; which is basically Judge Dredd vs. Robocop(s)(4). Due to the persistently apocalyptic nature of life in Mega City One Judges are getting a bit short in supply(5). Flying in the face of pretty much every piece of speculative fiction ever in which automata take on human tasks, Justice Department decide to bolster the Judges with automata. Better yet these are fiercely armed, heavily armoured automata with personalities based on Judge Joseph Dredd his own bad self. Dredd thinks this idea is less than ideal but he’s not Chief Judge. McGruder(6) is, so it’s her call. The Mechanismos get a test run and give Dredd a run for his money.

JUDGE DREDD by MacNeil, Wagner and Parkhouse

Surprising absolutely no one Dredd’s right, and things go wrong about 5 minutes after the droids’ boots hit the slab. People die, chaos puts on its dancing shoes and Dredd soon has to hunt a rogue droid imprinted with his own personality. Um, SPOILER! It’s okay, Mechanismo isn’t really about suspense; Mechanismo is a fleet footed blast of future-thrill action which reads better collected than it did when serialised. Initially these tales seemed a little lightweight for the amount of time it took for them to appear, but here they all are in one chunk and their upside becomes more apparent; what initially starts as a sassy riposte to a cinematic rip off (or homage) develops into something a little deeper(7). Playing Dredd off against his robotic doppelganger(s) is a neat trick since their distorted mirroring of Dredd’s appearance, speech and behaviour is amusing, and their embodiment of his personality unfettered by any humanity is revealing in itself. The Mechanismos aren’t Judge Dredd because they can’t ever be Judge Dredd as they aren’t human, and as little humanity as Dredd may have it’s what ultimately prevents him from becoming a monster. Or at least prevents him from becoming an inhuman monster. As monster’s go Judge Dredd’s a very human one, which is cold comfort but still some comfort. After all, where there’s humanity there’s hope(8).

JUDGE DREDD by Doherty, Wagner and Parkhouse

Trouble kicks off because the units overheat and start disobeying orders. Or more precisely, they follow orders too inflexibly and are soon executing people for witnessing crimes and not reporting them. Having laws is all well and dandy but justice is about a bit more than that, says the book full of exploding heads and robots that look like killer Metal Mickeys. Tellingly by the end of the trilogy Dredd himself has been forced to do the wrong thing, but for the right reasons. Wagner’s writing takes a misstep here at the last by uncharacteristically labouring what Dredd has done and what it means. However, it is a big step in Dredd’s development(9) so it’s easy to see why Wagner’s usual lightness of touch becomes a little heavier than usual. Pretty much the whole point of robots in stories is that they’ll go wrong(10), or teach us a very special lesson about the magic of human nature(11). Here Wagner gives us both; although because he is John Wagner his very special lesson is a bit less sparkly than most. What starts out as a fast and funny, sunnily lit action romp pivots via a transitionary dank sewer set middle section into a final darkly subdued echo of the initial premise. The cheerful Robocop-esque overkill of the first chapter invites laughter as citizens are slaughtered for ridiculous reasons, but by the final chapter the same jokes have ceased to be played for laughs as the more mordant and downbeat world of Dredd takes precedence over its derivative cinematic would-be usurper.

JUDGE DREDD by Benet, Wagner and Frame

As ever these strips appeared over a lengthy period of time and the creative teams are (Wagner aside) discrete. Sensibly, visual choppiness over the course of the trilogy is kept to a minimum by assigning each chapter to a particular artist. MacNeil chooses to paint the opener, Mechanismo, in a bleached out style awash with bright sunshine, like it’s perpetually high noon (of course - because there’s a showdown!) Everything has a lovely warm quality - even the smears of colour that were once people’s heads. (12) Signalling the shift in tone Peter Doherty’s Mechanismo Returns is a far darker affair, due to its night time and underground settings. Doherty has an oddly hesitant line, and the resultant tentativeness is an odd fit for the blunt world of Dredd. Also, his people look like they’ve been dead for six months; it’s an odd look all round. I like it, but it’s odd. Not unpleasant, just different(13). In comparison to MacNeil & Doherty Benet’s art on Body Count seems simultaneously both "European" and old fashioned; like a throwback to a 1970s Heavy Metal, or a coloured-in cousin of Casanovas’ work on Dredd (remember Max Normal?) I mean, Benet’s art is fine, it does the job but it can’t help but look a little stuffy and archaic after Doherty and MacNeil’s comparatively brisk and frisky stuff.

JUDGE DREDD by Semeiks & Robinson, Wagner, Blythe and Frame

The book is filled out by a pair of tales falling within the unspoken remit of “robots gone wrong”. In S.A.M. Wagner writes a caustic take on bureaucratic pettifoggery which ostensibly involves Judge Dredd having to outwit a talking bomb, but is given satirical bite via its roots in the plight faced by an increasing number of folk in the real world. The ostensibly bizarre pairing of North American stalwart Semeiks’ pencils with the Bolland-lite inks of Robinson makes for a pleasing goofy result. Robbie Morrison’s Safe Hands is an example of the punchline approach to a Dredd strip and is weak in a probably-had-it-on-file-for-emergencies way. It’s still worth a look because it’s drawn by Jock. And that’s pretty much it. Plenty of Thrill-Power in this volume so Judge Kane’s verdict is a solid GOOD!

They can replace us all with robots but they’ll never replace – COMICS!!!

(1) Yeah, yeah, thinking about it now, Dobermann (1997), Sin City (2005) and Ghost World (2001) are close contenders, and, yeah, sure, you probably have your own favourite but I can’t read your mind, pal, so Robocop wins today (and mostly because I can’t be bothered to do a new opening).

(2) Oh, I’m sure there’s a quote somewhere about how no one involved in the movie had ever heard of Judge Dredd. But still and all, still and all…

(3) The actual issue numbers are up there. That’s one sexy time that is, copying that stuff out. I only do this so I can copy issue numbers out, don’t tell everyone! It’s my Secret Garden!

(4) It’s so obvious I kind of regret taking up all that space building up to such a non-revelation. The first chapter is upfront about it and has a bit of fun directly referring to the Mechanismo as both “the future of law enforcement” and “Robo Judge”. In the second chapter Wagner pokes fun at his own movie allusions with a character declaring “Number 5’s alive!” - the tag line to Short Circuit (1986); a quite different movie from Robocop. No, I haven’t seen Short Circuit; I was 16, why the blue blazes would I be watching a Steve Guttenberg comedy about a tiny robot. I was watching tawdry horror nonsense, probably involving Barbara Crampton screaming. And they let me breed.

(5) This takes place just after NECROPOLIS which had the Dark Judges take over Mega City One with predictably hilarious consequences.

(6) McGruder is a particularly confusing character when encountered in isolated stories. She’s of a distinctly mannish aspect and is functionally nuts, quite often referring to herself in the plural, and prone to paranoid fancies. Originally a Judge who took the Long Walk she returned to the City during NECROPOLIS and was hugely influential in overthrowing the Dark Judges. She means well but her eroding sanity is starting to take its toll. This a sensible footnote. You might want to frame it.

(7) But not that deep. It kind of introduces themes , characters and events which lead into the mega-epic WILDERLANDS which occurs beyond the covers of this book.

(8) You have to believe stuff like that if you have kids, otherwise you go nuts.

(9) Judge Dredd’s that rare character in comics whose character does indeed develop. He also ages and one day he will die. I doubt if he’d want flowers so send the money to a kid’s charity. It’s what he’d want.

(10) See Robocop. Although Robocop goes wrong by regaining his humanity which is right, this is still against his programming so it is also wrong. Look, just go with it.

(11) See Short Circuit. Probably, anyway. Because, no, I don’t know what lesson everyone is supposed to take away from Short Circuit. Like I say I was busy watching From Beyond or something erudite like that. We covered that earlier. Don’t you read these? I have other things to do, you know. I’m not sat around imbibing peeled grapes from servile hands while deigning occasionally to set some words down about Judge Dredd. This country’s turning to shit over here under the Tories, this is not a good time to be conscious and…sorry, 再见了!

(12) In the interview at the back of the book MacNeil explicitly acknowledges this luminous approach, but I’d just like to stress I’d already written about that bit before I’d read his interview. So I’m not stealing his words, I’m saying I was right. That was a pleasant surprise because I’m simply awful on colours.

(13) I’m pretty sure this is the same Peter Doherty who facilitates the excellent colouring on so many of Geoff Darrow’s grotesquely flamboyant creations. I could be wrong, I often am; it’s what keeps me modest.

(14) There is no fourteenth footnote. Go home.

JUDGE DREDD by MacNeil, Wagner and Parkhouse

Arriving 10/21/15

Marvel continues the roll out with ANT-MAN, INHUMANS and KARNAK from Warren Ellis. Plus new GIANT DAYS, GOTHAM ACADEMY and TOKYO GHOST plus the collection of Grant Morrison and friend's MULTIVERSITY.Check the cut for all the new comic action.

1872 #4 SWA ADVENTURE TIME FIONNA & CAKE CARD WARS #4 (OF 6) AGE OF APOCALYPSE #5 SWA AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #2 ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #1 ASTRO CITY #28 BACK TO THE FUTURE #1 (OF 5) BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #3 BEAUTY #3 BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA #17 BIZARRO #5 (OF 6) BLACK CANARY #5 BPRD HELL ON EARTH #136 BTVS SEASON 10 #20 CLEAN ROOM #1 COGNETIC #1 CROSSED DEAD OR ALIVE #1 (OF 2) CROSSED DEAD OR ALIVE #2 (OF 2) DANGER GIRL RENEGADE #2 (OF 4) DARK HORSE PRESENTS 2014 #15 DARTH VADER #11 DAWN VAMPIRELLA #5 (OF 5) DOCTOR FATE #5 DOCTOR WHO 10TH YEAR TWO #2 DOCTOR WHO 12TH #13 DOCTOR WHO 9TH #4 (OF 5) DONALD DUCK #6 DOOMED #5 EMPTY ZONE #5 ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK #11 FADE OUT #10 FISTFUL OF BLOOD #1 (OF 4) GIANT DAYS #7 (OF 12) GODZILLA IN HELL #4 (OF 5) GOTHAM ACADEMY #11 GREEN LANTERN THE LOST ARMY #5 GROO FRIENDS AND FOES #10 HACKTIVIST VOL 2 #4 (OF 6) HIP HOP FAMILY TREE #3 INVADER ZIM #4 INVINCIBLE #124 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #2 JOURNEY STAR WARS FASE #4 (OF 4) JUSTICE LEAGUE #45 KARNAK #1 LOOKING FOR GROUP #7 LUMBERJANES #19 MARTIAN MANHUNTER #5 MARVEL UNIVERSE ULT SPIDER-MAN WEB WARRIORS #12 MEGA MAN #54 MIDNIGHT SOCIETY THE BLACK LAKE #4 (OF 4) MISTRY PI #4 (OF 5) MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #35 PLANTS VS ZOMBIES ONGOING #5 GROWN SWEET HOME PRINCELESS RAVEN PIRATE PRINCESS #4 RAI #11 ROOK #1 SECRET SIX #7 SECRET WARS AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 SWA SHIELD #11 SHIELD (DARK CIRCLE) #1 SHUTTER #16 SIMPSONS COMICS #224 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #277 STAR TREK ONGOING #50 STEAM MAN #1 (OF 5) SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #22 TEEN TITANS #12 TEEN TITANS GO #12 TITANS HUNT #1 (OF 12) TMNT AMAZING ADVENTURES #3 TOKYO GHOST #2 TRANSFORMERS #46 UNCANNY INHUMANS #1 USAGI YOJIMBO #149 WEIRDWORLD #5 SWA WHAT IF INFINITY GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #1 WILL EISNER SPIRIT #4 WOLF #4 WONDER WOMAN #45

Books/Mags/Things 2000 AD PACK SEP 2015 ADVENTURE TIME TP VOL 07 BAD MACHINERY VOL 04 CASE OF THE LONELY ONE BUCKY BARNES WINTER SOLDIER TP VOL 02 GET JIRO BLOOD AND SUSHI HC HAWKEYE BY MATT FRACTION AND DAVID AJA OMNIBUS HC HELHEIM TP VOL 02 BRIDES OF HELHEIM HE-MAN & MASTERS OF UNIVERSE HC MINICOMIC COLLECTION JESSICA JONES TP VOL 02 ALIAS JOE KUBERT RETURN OF TARZAN ARTIST ED HC JUSTICE LEAGUE A LEAGUE OF ONE TP MEMETIC TP MOON KNIGHT EPIC COLLECTION TP SHADOWS OF MOON MULTIVERSITY DLX ED HC SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN TP VOL 20 SERPIERI COLLECTION HC VOL 01 (OF 5) SERPIERI COLLECTION HC VOL 02 (OF 5) STAR WARS LEGENDS EPIC COLLECTION TP VOL 02 EMPIRE TEEN TITANS EARTH ONE TP TRIBES OF KAI GN WILDS END TP VOL 01 FIRST LIGHT WOLF MOON TP

As always, what do YOU think?

"Justice Has A Price. The Price Is Freedom." COMICS! Sometimes I Hesitate To Correct An Officer Of The Law But I Think You'll Find That In This Case The Price is £9.99 Fortnightly. OW!

Borag Thungg, Earthlets! Clearly I have nothing useful to do with my time because I have bodged up a master list of the JUDGE DREDD MEGA COLLECTION. As each volume is released I will update the list and the accompanying image gallery. Should I “review” a volume I will link to that volume in the list. So, interested in the JUDGE DREDD MEGA COLLECTION as “reviewed” by yours truly, then this is the list for that. Pretty clear stuff. No questions? Anyone? Good. If anyone wants me to look at a particular volume, just drop me a comment. The volumes aren't released in order so it's not like I have a sensible plan of attack. If anyone wants me to stick them where the sun don't shine I suggest you keep that sentiment to yourself, cheers. Right, that laundry won't wash itself. Pip! Pip!

JUDGE DREDD by Mick McMahon & Pat Mills

Anyway, this... JUDGE DREDD THE MEGA COLLECTION Published by Hatchette/Rebellion UK, 2014 onwards.

Judge Dredd Created by Carlos Ezquerra, John Wagner & Pat Mills

Volumes:

01 – JUDGE DREDD: AMERICA Cover by Colin MacNeil

02 – JUDGE DREDD: DEMOCRACY NOW Cover by John Higgins

03 – JUDGE DREDD: TOTAL WAR Cover by Simon Coleby

04 - JUDGE DREDD: THE DEAD MAN Cover by John Ridgway

05 - JUDGE DREDD: NECROPOLIS Cover by Carlos Ezquerra

06 - JUDGE DREDD: JUDGE DEATH LIVES Cover By Brian Bolland 07 - JUDGE DREDD: YOUNG DEATH Cover by Frazer Irving

08 – JUDGE ANDERSON: THE POSSESSED Cover by Brett Ewins

09 - JUDGE ANDERSON: ENGRAM Cover by David Roach

10 – JUDGE ANDERSON: SHAMBALLA Cover by Arthur Ranson

11 - JUDGE ANDERSON: CHILDHOOD'S END Cover by Kev Walker

12 - JUDGE ANDERSON: HALF-LIFE Cover by Arthur Ranson

13 -

14 – DEVLIN WAUGH: SWIMMING IN BLOOD Cover by Cliff Robinson

15 - DEVLIN WAUGH: CHASING HEROD Cover by Colin Wilson

16 - DEVLIN WAUGH: FETISH Cover by Cliff Robinson 17 -

18 -

19 - LOW LIFE:PARANOIA Cover by Henry Flint

20 - LOW LIFE: HOSTILE TAKEOVER Cover by D'Israeli

21 - THE SIMPING DETECTIVE Cover by Cliff Robinson

22 -

23 - JUDGE DREDD: BANZAI BATALLION Cover by Jock

24 - JUDGE DREDD: MECHANISMO Cover by Colin MacNeil

25 - JUDGE DREDD: MANDROID Cover by Kev Walker

26 - 27 -

28 - JUDGE DREDD: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF P. J. MAYBE Cover by Cliff Robinson

29 -

30 - TARGET: JUDGE DREDD Cover by Jim Baikie

31 – JUDGE DREDD: OZ Cover by Steve Dillon

32 – JUDGE DREDD: THE CURSED EARTH Cover by Mick McMahon

33 - JUDGE DREDD: THE DAY THE LAW DIED Cover by Mick McMahon

34 - 35 -

36 – JUDGE DREDD: THE APOCALYPSE WAR Cover by Carlos Ezquerra

37 - JUDGE DREDD: JUDGEMENT DAY Cover by Carlos Ezquerra

38 - JUDGE DREDD: INFERNO Cover by Carlos Ezquerra

39 - JUDGE DREDD: WILDERLANDS Cover by Trevor Hairsine

40 - JUDGE DREDD: THE PIT Cover by Cliff Robinson

41 -

42 – JUDGE DREDD: DOOMSDAY FOR DREDD Cover by Dylan Teague

43 - JUDGE DREDD: DOOMSDAY FOR MEGA-CITY ONE Cover by Colin Wilson

44 -

45 - JUDGE DREDD: ORIGINS Cover by Brian Bolland

46 -

47 - JUDGE DREDD: TOUR OF DUTY: BACKLASH Cover by Carlos Ezquerra

48 -

49 - JUDGE DREDD: DAY OF CHAOS: THE FOURTH FACTION Cover by Henry Flint

50 – JUDGE DREDD: DAY OF CHAOS: ENDGAME Cover by Henry Flint

51 - TRIFECTA Cover by Carl Critchlow

52 - 53 - 54 -

55 – JUDGE DREDD: THE HEAVY MOB Cover by Dylan Teague

56 -JUDGE DREDD: BEYOND MEGA-CITY ONE Cover by Brendan McCarthy

57 - CALHAB JUSTICE Cover by John Ridgway

58 - 59 -

60 – HONDO-CITY JUSTICE Cover by Cliff Robinson

61 - SHIMURA Cover by Colin MacNeil 62 - 63 - 64 - 65 - 66 - 67 - CURSED EARTH KOBURN

68 - CURSED EARTH CARNAGE Cover by Anthony Williams

69 - 70 - 71 -

72 - JUDGE DREDD: THE ART OF TAXIDERMY Cover by Steve Dillon

73 - JUDGE DREDD: HEAVY METAL DREDD Cover by John Hicklenton

74

75 – JUDGE DREDD: ALIEN NATIONS Cover by Cliff Robinson

76 - JUDGE DREDD: KLEGG HAI Cover by Chris Weston

77 - JUDGE DREDD: HORROR STORIES Cover by Brett Ewins

78 -

79 - JUDGE DREDD: INTO THE UNDERCITY Cover by Tiernen Trevallion

80 - JUDGE DREDD: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON Cover by Brian Bolland

Judge Dredd! He is the – COMICS!!!

"The Mysterious Phone Interference Spot." COMICS! Sometimes The Bole Of A Tree Is Just The Bole of A Tree!

This time John decides to publicly embarrass himself by looking at something way out of his league- LOVERBOYS by Gilbert Hernandez. He strained himself so badly he couldn't really think of anything to put here. Aw, bless. LOVERBOYS by Gilbert Hernandez

Anyway, this... LOVERBOYS Story and Art by Gilbert Hernandez Dark Horse Books, $19.99 US, $21.99 CAN (2014)

This is an original graphic novel by the dizzyingly prolific Gilbert “Betty” Hernandez. Now, I am an unforgiving man and so don't fool yourself for one Holmfirth Second that there are any kudos to be had in these parts simply for sheer volume of output, or even length of service. The rule of thumb hereabouts is generally that the more a comics author produces regularly then the less worthy of note it is. Given the vast quantities of pages which the Comics Machine demands filling each month it's little wonder that even the most talented authors find their gifts become stretched, until they are present only in homeopathic quantities. And those are the most talented, never mind the rest of the Trex merchants. Ugh. Of course if there's a rule of thumb then there's always going to be someone who defies it so strongly they don't just break it, they snap it right the Hell off. These people are the true geniuses (genii? Or are those the dudes in lamps?) These people are pretty easy to notice. After all they just broke your thumb, figuratively speaking. Yes, Gilbert Hernandez is one of them. And in LOVERBOYS he's on fine figuratively speaking thumb snapping form.

LOVERBOYS by Gilbert Hernandez

Because the big thing about geniuses, which we've established Gilbert Hernandez is, is that everything they do is worthy of attention. Me, I'll buy everything Gilbert Hernandez does. Eventually anyway; I have fiscal responsibilities beyond paper entertainment, alas. So, yeah, well spotted, LOVERBOYS isn't the kind of thing I'd generally seek out subject-matter wise. By way of engorged contrast to all those war comics I morbidly maunder about to excess, I guess LOVERBOYs is about what people get up to in times of peace; they get up to each other, up to the nuts, in fact. Folk in LOVERBOYS are very much making love not war, but as the philosopher Patrick Benetar trilled, Love Is A Battlefield. And so it proves here, but rather than a Stoeger .22 calibre Luger or a North American P-51 Mustang the weapons of choice herein are emotions and genitals. Yes, cockle warmingly, people will always find a way to hurt each other. We're an inventive species alright. In LOVERBOYS everyone is just looking for happiness but everyone is still getting hurt.

LOVERBOYS by Gilbert Hernandez

It may seem weird that I liked LOVERBOYS so much, because I am, for my sins, English. Being English I am genetically wired to recoil in flustered distaste from any hint of emotion, and to hide my face behind the paper whenever feelings are invoked at the breakfast table. Basically, and I think I speak for all Englishmen everywhere in this, getting through, say, as a for example, no offence and all that, Matt Fraction's backmatter is as pleasant as having to change the nappy of another person's child. And yet despite all that, despite the perfectly healthy English aversion to emotional engagement, despite the fact that LOVERBOYS is all about emotions I was all over LOVERBOYS like an embarrassing rash (a dash of penicillin, I'm thinking).

LOVERBOYS by Gilbert Hernandez

Mostly I liked it because Gilbert Hernandez, but also because I am quite an emotionally dark man and because LOVERBOYS is a very dark book. This darkness is beguilingly furtive and runs counter to the bright and open style art Hernandez employs throughout. It's a very loose and energetic style, a kind of rendering down to cartoony fundamentals, the apparent carelessness of which is belied by the strength with which such a style delivers its (many) emotional blows. It's a deceptively simple style and its chief deception is in making the complex interaction of the large cast across a lengthy time span appear as direct and lucid as an Archie comic. Which it sure as shooting isn't. But then, unforgivably, I haven't really told you what LOVERBOYS is. Hold on! The precis bus has just pulled into the station. Talk about timing. (Smooth, huh?) Anyway, the disparate characters of LOVERBOYS all orbit the flamboyantly chested teacher Mrs. Paz and their emotional interactions spiral to a crescendo which result in collateral damage; damage which extends nor only to insidiously infect the children of the town, but also the actual physical town of Lágrimas itself, when the explosiveness of the situation stops being figurative and becomes dangerously literal. At the risk of being awarded a cash prize for Perceptiveness I'm kind of thinking a lot of LOVERBOYS is metaphorical rather than literal. We have a Mrs Paz (i.e. Peace) who lives in the town of Lágrimas (Tears), all the cats have disappeared, people's jobs (teacher aside) are nebulous and just in case there's any doubt there is a mysterious bunker in which whispering secret stealing “little people” live alongside dynamite. But alongside this in baffling harmony are quite perfectly realistic human interactions. The mundane and the fantastic are intertwined in LOVERBOYS like, uh, lovers. And like such coupling any friction between the two disparate elements is purely pleasant.

LOVERBOYS by Gilbert Hernandez

Oh, don't worry the book's called LOVERBOYS but it's visually a PG-13, with nary the sight of a gristle whistle and all the spelunking in lady caves happens off page. The emphasis is very definitely on the emotional fallout and undercurrents the physical stuff sets in motion. A lot of the time LOVERBOYS reminded me of a Douglas Sirk movie, but one where Douglas Sirk died on the first day of shooting thus forcing Russ Meyer to step in and with the end results so heavily censored that all the heaving and shrieking ended up on the cutting room floor. So, you know, don't be giving this book that teeth grinding stuff about how it's just some old dude whacking off in public, because all that's on show here are the insidious dangers and slow damage incurred by the innocent search for happiness. Which is to say - life. And if you find life itself worth whacking off over you better pace yourself or you'll chafe. Pacing, however, isn't a problem for Gilbert Hernandez who keeps on keeping on and here with LOVERBOYS proves himself once more EXCELLENT!

Sometimes Love speaks through - COMICS!!!

Arriving 10/14/15

The second week of All New, All Different Marvel rolls in along with new SEX CRIMINALS, EAST OF WEST, WALKING DEAD and WICKED + DIVINE. Plus debuts of TWILIGHT CHILDREN from Gilbert Hernandez and Darwyn Cooke and I HATE FAIRYLAND from Skottie Young. Check the cut for the rest of this mid autumn week of new comics!

ABE SAPIEN #27 ADVENTURE TIME #45 A-FORCE #5 SWA AMERICATOWN #3 ASSASSINS CREED #1 BAT MITE #5 (OF 6) BATMAN #45 BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #2 BATMAN SUPERMAN #25 BLOOD FEUD #1 (OF 5) CAPTAIN AMERICA SAM WILSON #1 CAPTAIN AMERICA WHITE #3 (OF 5) CATWOMAN #45 CHEWBACCA #1 (OF 5) CIVIL WAR #5 SWA CONSTANTINE THE HELLBLAZER #5 CROSSED BADLANDS #87 CROSSED PLUS 100 #10 CURSED PIRATE GIRL SPECIAL ANNUAL 2015 #1 DAY MEN #8 DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS #3 DEADPOOL VS THANOS #3 (OF 4) EARTH 2 SOCIETY #5 EAST OF WEST #21 EVE VALKYRIE #1 (OF 4) FABLES THE WOLF AMONG US #10 FASTER THAN LIGHT #2 FUSE #15 GOD IS DEAD #43 GOLD DIGGER #225 GOON IN THEATRE BIZARRE #1 GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #1 HARLEY QUINN #21 HARROW COUNTY #6 I HATE FAIRYLAND #1 INSUFFERABLE #6 JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS #8 JOURNEY STAR WARS FASE #3 (OF 4) JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #4 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #14 KING TIGER #3 LANTERN CITY #6 (OF 12) LOW #10 LUMBERJANES BEYOND BAYLEAF #1 MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE SEASON TWO #12 MARVEL ZOMBIES #4 SWA MAXX MAXXIMIZED #24 MICKEY MOUSE #5 MIRRORS EDGE EXORDIUM #2 MS MARVEL #19 SWA NEW AVENGERS #1 PHONOGRAM THE IMMATERIAL GIRL #3 (OF 6) REBELS #7 RED HOOD ARSENAL #5 RED SONJA CONAN #3 (OF 4) ROCHE LIMIT CLANDESTINY #5 SADHU BIRTH OF THE WARRIOR #4 (OF 6) SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #62 SEX CRIMINALS #13 SHADOW VOL 2 #3 SPIDER-GWEN #1 SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1 SPONGEBOB COMICS #49 STAR TREK GREEN LANTERN #4 (OF 6) STARFIRE #5 STRANGE FRUIT #2 SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK #1 SWITCH #1 CVR A SEJIC SWORDS OF SORROW #6 (OF 6) TWILIGHT CHILDREN #1 (OF 4) TYSON HESSE DIESEL #2 (OF 4) UNCANNY AVENGERS #1 UNCLE SCROOGE #7 UNITY #23 WALKING DEAD #147 WAR STORIES #13 WELCOME BACK #2 WHAT IF INFINITY X-MEN #1 WICKED & DIVINE #15 X-O MANOWAR #41

Books/Mags/Things ADVENTURE TIME MATHEMATICAL ED HC VOL 06 ANGEL & FAITH SEASON 10 TP VOL 03 UNITED ANGEL SEASON 6 TP VOL 01 BALKANS ARENA HC BATMAN YEAR 100 DLX ED HC BEST OF ARCHIE COMICS 75 YEARS 75 STORIES TP BIG GUY & RUSTY BOY ROBOT HC SECOND ED BOUNCER HC COFFIN HILL TP VOL 03 DAMAGE CONTROL TP COMPLETE COLLECTION DEAD DROP TP DEATH VIGIL TP VOL 01 GRAPHIC INK THE DC COMICS ART OF DARWYN COOKE HC GREEN LANTERN A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS HC HAUNTED HORROR HC VOL 03 PRE CODE COMICS SO GOOD THEYRE SCAR ISCARIOT HC JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS TP VOL 01 SHOWTIME KILLING & DYING HC LONE WOLF & CUB OMNIBUS TP VOL 10 MAD MAGAZINE #536 MAGNETO TP VOL 04 LAST DAYS MAN THING BY STEVE GERBER COMPLETE COLL TP VOL 01 MONSTER TP VOL 06 PERFECT ED URASAWA MORTAL KOMBAT X TP VOL 02 PEANUTS A TRIBUTE TO CHARLES M SCHULZ HC RAT GOD HC ROCKET RACCOON TP VOL 01 A CHASING TALE SATELLITE SAM OMNIBUS DLX HC SENSATION COMICS FEATURING WONDER WOMAN TP VOL 02 TWO BROTHERS HC WAYWARD HC BOOK 01 X-MEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE TP VOL 02 REIGN

As always, what do YOU think?

"If Only I Could Convince BEVERLY That He's As IMPORTANT As I Know He Is." COMICS FOLK! Sometimes It's 65 Pictures For 65 Years!

It's the 7th October 2015 and that means it's been 65 years of the chunky wee thermodynamic miracle Howard Victor Chaykin! Today is his day, so I'm going to shut my yapper and below the break you can feast your eyes on 65 images culled from The Chaykin Section in The Kane Garage Archives. Raise your root beers high and let's all drink to another 65 years of the amazing Mr. Chaykin!

THE SHADOW by Chaykin, Bruzenak & Wald

Anyway, this...

  Happy Birthday, Mr. Chaykin and thanks for all the - COMICS!!!

Arriving 10/7/15

We have had a couple small weeks recently, because everything is coming out this week. The first wave of All New, All Different Marvel lands with DOCTOR STRANGE, IRON MAN and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, plus new issues of 8HOUSE, the launch of the new BATMAN & ROBIN ETERNAL and Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang's PAPERGIRLS makes a splash!

Check the cut for the rest of this intimidatingly large week of comics! 1602 WITCH HUNTER ANGELA #4 SWA 8HOUSE #4 YORRIS PART ONE ACTION COMICS #45 ADAM.3 #3 (OF 5) ALL NEW ALL DIFFERENT POINT ONE #1 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 ANGEL AND FAITH SEASON 10 #19 ATOMIC ROBO & THE RING OF FIRE #2 (OF 5) AVENGERS #0 AXCEND #1 BARB WIRE #4 BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #1 BATMAN BEYOND #5 BLOODSHOT REBORN #7 BOBS BURGERS ONGOING #4 BOY-1 #3 (OF 4) CBLDF LIBERTY ANNUAL 2015 #0 CODENAME BABOUSHKA: CONCLAVE OF DEATH #1 CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS #1 COPPERHEAD #10 CYBORG #3 D4VE2 #2 (OF 4) DARK CORRIDOR #3 DARK TOWER DRAWING OF THREE LADY OF SHADOWS #2 (OF 5) DARTH VADER #10 DEAD VENGEANCE #1 (OF 4) DETECTIVE COMICS #45 DOCTOR STRANGE #1 DOCTOR WHO 11TH YEAR TWO #1 DRAWN ONWARD (ONE SHOT) DRIVE #2 (OF 4) GOON ONCE UPON A HARD TIME #4 (OF 4) GRANT MORRISONS 18 DAYS #4 GREEN ARROW #45 GREEN ARROW ANNUAL #1 GREEN LANTERN #45 GROOT #5 GRUMPY CAT #1 (OF 3) HAUNTED HORROR #19 HEROES: VENGEANCE #1 (OF 5) HIP HOP FAMILY TREE #2 HUMANS #8 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1 JOHN FLOOD #3 JOURNEY STAR WARS FASE #2 (OF 4) JUGHEAD #1 JUSTICE INC AVENGER #5 KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #224 LARA CROFT FROZEN OMEN #1 (OF 5) LOBO #11 LOONEY TUNES #227 MARVEL SUPER HERO SPECTACULAR #1 MARVEL UNIVERSE GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #1 MASKS 2 #7 (OF 8) MIDNIGHTER #5 MINIMUM WAGE SO MANY BAD DECISIONS #6 (OF 6) MIRACLEMAN BY GAIMAN AND BUCKINGHAM #3 MORTAL KOMBAT X #11 MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDS FOREVER #21 NAILBITER #16 OLD MAN LOGAN #5 SWA OMEGA MEN #5 PAPER GIRLS #1 PLUTONA #2 POWERS #5 PUBLIC RELATIONS #2 (OF 5) REGULAR SHOW #28 ROWANS RUIN #1 SAINTS #1 SECRET WARS #6 (OF 9) SWA SENSATION COMICS FEATURING WONDER WOMAN #15 SIEGE #4 SWA SOUTHERN BASTARDS #11 SPACE RIDERS #4 (OF 4) SPIDER-ISLAND #5 (OF 5) SWA STAR WARS #10 STAR WARS LANDO #5 (OF 5) STARVE #5 STRING DIVERS #3 (OF 5) SURFACE #4 SURFACE TENSION #5 (OF 5) SURVIVORS CLUB #1 TELOS #1 TET #2 (OF 4) THIS DAMNED BAND #3 (OF 6) TMNT ONGOING #50 TOIL & TROUBLE #2 (OF 6) TOMORROWS #3 (OF 6) TRAIN CALLED LOVE #1 (OF 10) TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE ANIMATED #3 TRANSFORMERS VS GI JOE #9 WE STAND ON GUARD #4 WHAT IF INFINITY INHUMANS #1 WHAT IF INFINITY THANOS #1 X-FILES SEASON 11 #3

Books/Mags/Things ASTRO CITY PRIVATE LIVES TP BATMAN ETERNAL TP VOL 03 BATMAN THE ROAD TO NO MANS LAND TP VOL 01 BITCH PLANET TP VOL 01 EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE COLOR YOUR OWN AGE OF ULTRON TP COMPLETE ADVENTURES OF CHOLLY & FLYTRAP HC DEADLY CLASS TP VOL 03 THE SNAKE PIT DOCTOR STRANGE TP DONT PAY FERRYMAN EC JACK KAMEN FORTY WHACKS & OTHER STORIES HC EI8HT TP VOL 01 FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #282 FLY OUTBREAK TP HE MAN THE ETERNITY WAR TP VOL 01 INJECTION TP VOL 01 JIM HENSONS DARK CRYSTAL HC VOL 03 CREATION MYTHS JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #364 JUPITERS CIRCLE TP VOL 01 KODT BUNDLE OF TROUBLE TP VOL 51 LUMBERJANES TP VOL 02 MARVEL SUPER HERO CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS TP VOL 01 MAX RIDE FIRST FLIGHT HC MICKEY MOUSE MYSTERIOUS CRYSTAL BALL TP MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC TP VOL 08 OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA TP VOL 02 (MR) OYSTER WAR HC PEANUTS WHERE BEAGLES DARE ORIGINAL GN RACHEL RISING TP VOL 06 SECRETS KEPT SECRET SIX TP VOL 03 CATS CRADLE SKY IN STEREO GN STAR WARS DARTH VADER TP VOL 01 VADER STAR WARS TP VOL 01 SKYWALKER STRIKES STORY OF MY TITS GN TMNT ONGOING TP VOL 12 VENGEANCE PT 1 UBER TP VOL 05 UPSIDE DOWN GN A HAT FULL OF SPELLS USAGI YOJIMBO SPECIAL EDITION SC BOX SET WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM TP VOL 03 WALT DISNEY DONALD DUCK HC VOL 07 TRICK OR TREAT

As always, what do YOU think?

“I'm Looking For A Creep With Big Feet!” COMICS! Sometimes Travel Can Limit Your Horizons To The Size of an Iso-Cube!

In which John beggars belief by actually following up on his threat to look at the Judge Dredd Mega Collection. This time out various, and largely unpleasant, xenomorphs get a quick course in The Law from Professor Joseph Dredd. JUDGE DREDD by McMahon, Wagner & Frame

Anyway, this... ALIEN NATIONS JUDGE DREDD: THE MEGA COLLECTION #75 Artwork by Dean Ormston, Ashley Wood, Ian Gibson, Mick McMahon, Karl Richardson, Cam Kennedy, Tony Luke & Jim Murray Written by Alan Grant, John Wagner & T. C. Eglington Lettered by Tom Frame, Fiona Stephenson & Annie Parkhouse Coloured by D'Israeli & Chris Blythe Originally serialised in 2000Ad Progs, 204,1033, 1133-1134, 1241 & 1855-1857, Judge Dredd Megazine 1.11-1.17, 2.53 – 2.56,& 2.73 -2.76 and Judge Dredd Mega Special 1995 © 1981, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997,1999, 2001, 2013 & 2015 Rebellion A/C Judge Dredd created by Carlos Ezquerra, Pat Mills & John Wagner £9.99 UK (2015)

This volume of the Hatchette/Rebellion partwork is yet more big chinned future cop thrills, but this time in the form of a (mostly) scrotnig smorgasbord of encounters between our autocratic anti-hero and various alien races. This is handy because it gives an idea of certain types of Dredd tales which occur in-between the mega death events. There are many kinds of Dredd tales and this collection is hardly exhaustive but it catches a fair few of them between its hard covers; covers adorned as ever with the pleasantly minimalist design of B&W line art with a red flash to catch the eye. It also allows me to look at a wide variety of Dredd artists including Mick (nee Mike) McMahon. Which is nice. (MICK MCMAHON!)

JUDGE DREDD by Ormston, Grant & Frame

A smidge over half the book is taken up by the opening double bill of Raptaur and Skar, both of which are fine examples of the longstanding tradition British comics have of providing off-brand (and slightly tweaked to avoid litigation) versions of pop culture faves. (For corroboration see my previous babbling about Action Weekly, if you really feel you must. I don't recommend it as even my family refuse to read my writing.) Here, in Skar particularly, it's Alien, as in the fantastic 20th Century Fox movie presentation. (Of which I have also written tediously on previous occasions). There would come a point when Judge Dredd would actually face the licensed acid blooded xenomorph itself; it would be drawn by Henry Flint and it would be pretty great, actually. I  guess no such permission had been given back when these strips appeared so it's Skar and Raptaur. Raptaur has a slight edge as a concept since the tweak there is it's Alien crossed with Predator. Dredd would also eventually face Predator and it would be drawn by Enrique Alcatena and it would be forgettable.

JUDGE DREDD by Wood, Wagner & Frame

As it happens Skar is quite forgettable too. It's not bad , it's just a bit distended for what it is. Generally John Wagner seems to be keen to let his artists have a pretty free hand, and on occasion he seems to write stories intended to showcase the art, and so story depth and density become less of an issue. This isn't a bad approach (comics being a primarily visual medium, or so I hear) but it does depend on how the reader reacts to the particular artist. Alas, I'm not an Ashley Wood man. I stubbornly maintain he is great at illustration but poor on storytelling. Here Wood's art is, I think, intended to carry the piece in arms made sturdy by atmospheric layouts and oppressive blacks. Unfortunately what happens in my eyes is there’s a bunch of confusing layouts with the use of black seemingly an excuse not to draw things, and this approach is implemented so excessively it nudges the whole thing into visual tedium. Also, I wanted to slap that airbrush(?) out of his hands. Raptaur, on the other hand is written by Alan Grant and is a much denser affair. As well as the whole finding out what this thing is and how to kill it business, Grant also provides little snap shots of city life along the way for colour, atmosphere and humour. There's even a real sense of danger for Dredd ; he gets several right batterings, and some stand out Dredd Hard! Moments (the bit where he stabs himself in the hand because he is losing his grip above a vast drop is pure Dredd Hard!). But Grant's clearly writing with story rather than atmosphere in mind, so obviously he wins. Mind you he also wins because he's got Dean Ormston on art. Here Ormston's art is still developing but it's developing quickly. His quirky line is made robust by a queasy colouring job with a palette informed by some imaginary but very toxic children's cereal; it's all slightly off primary hues laid over gnarly figures, which tip over into the truly grotesque when occasion demands. Raptaur and Skar are two very different beasts in teh end; two very different approaches to the same genre staple; how you react to either will depend on you, but I think Raptaur takes it. There's also a short Raptaur Returns thing which combines Ormston's art with Tony Luke's modeling (CGI?) to produce a fresh take on Raptaur as a toothy poo.

JUDGE DREDD by Gibson, Grant, Wagner & Frame

Acting as a kind of breather before the next chunk of fascistic fun we get a short one episode humour piece in which Dredd is tasked with showing an alien ball of feathers and eyes around the city. Alas, the alien isn't as cute as he looks and if “Diplomatic Immunity!” didn't work for Joss Ackland it sure as shit isn't going to work in The Big Meg. It's fun but slight and Ian Gibson's art is the real draw (ho!) Here Gibson is drawing as “Emberton” because for some reason there was a period where he confused the nuts off me by appearing in 2000AD under a couple of names (I think one started with “Q...”). For a bit back then I honestly thought there was some kind of Ian Gibson Movement or something. It would have been better than the wave of Bisley manques we did get. Oops, little bit of bitterness showing there.

JUDGE DREDD by McMahon, Wagner & Frame

Next up is Howler which is big fat lump of Mick McMahon. Again , as with Skar above, John Wagner's story is the barest whiff of a thing; this time it is clearly just there so Mick McMahon can do whatever the Hell he wants for 36 or so pages. Since I would quite happily look at Mick McMahon's drawings of the contents of his fridge, the fact that he's drawing a story about an alien who thinks shouting loud enough to make people explode is going to make him King of Mega City One is just a dream made paper. Basically here McMahon's art is in line with that Legends of The Dark Knight I talked about a bit back. The illusion of depth is created not by perspective but by the layering of flat elements. It reminds me a lot of the work of Oliver Postgate (Noggin The Nog and all that); it's easy to imagine McMahon's figures lolloping across the panel with their arms and legs moving in a weirdly convincing but thoroughly unrealistic way. This is uber reductive cartooning, all geometric shapes and straight lines; the genius is in the measure of character which still informs everything McMahon draws. Mick McMahon is a living genius – FACT! Also, Judge Dredd gets his head dunked in a lav. Watch out for toothy poos!

JUDGE DREDD by Kennedy, Wagner, Blythe & Frame

The traddest effort comes next in the form of Prey. I don't know who T.C. Eglington is but s/he does a decent job in providing a story about weird murders in an aid camp set post Chaos Day (see Vol.s 49 & 50). There's nothing amazing here but it's solid stuff and manages to lightly touch on a couple of real issues. Richardson's art is in the more traditional North American style (e.g. Ethan Van Sciver i.e. the Green Lantern one, not the more talented, arty one) and the end result is probably likely to be more to the taste of palates not used to 2000AD's traditionally richer mix. Then again look at Cam Kennedy. Don't mind if I do, cheers! Kennedy sees out the volume with a couple of tales. I was all ready to bang on about how it was a damned shame that Kennedy, a uniquely kinetic artist, had never found real success over in the Americas. Then I remembered he did all those comics based on the children's entertainment Star Wars so he's probably doing a-okay. Here he's doing better than a-okay because he's drawing Judge Dredd. And Judge Dredd and Cam Kennedy are like boots and feet – they are meet. Like all the great Dredd artists Kennedy has his own spin on The Chin. Literally in fact, because Kennedy's Dredd-chin looks like a crispy baked potato. In a good way. Kennedy's two strips are by John Wagner and are light hearted affairs with a varied roster of aliens for Kennedy to depict in his signature crumbly and lolloping style. Solid stuff, showing Dredd's softer side and given that extra oomph that only Cam can. Braced between Kennedy's efforts is a frothy piece combining escalating disaster and alien religious extremism, all of which is given whatever entertaining weight it has by Jim Murray's art. Murray's art is in that fully painted style popularised by Bisley and mills' The Horned God way back when; a style adopted by many but which only few could manage. Luckily Murray's one of the few.

JUDGE DREDD by Murray, Wagner & Frame

Like my comb-over in a stiff wind, this volume is a bit all over the place but that's a nice change of pace from the nerve shredding marathon of the Epics. I appreciated the varied art styles and the various tones of the tales. While it doesn't hold together as a book that's because it was never meant to. However, it is like reading a really big Judge Dredd Mega Special or something. I had fun and some of that fun was was spectacular (Mick McMahon!) and sometimes it involved Tony Luke's toothy poos. But overall it was GOOD! (But if you like Mick McMahon you can take that up to VERY GOOD!)

The question is not whether there is life in space but rather whether they read – COMICS!!!

Arriving 9/30/15

Smaller final week of the month but absolutely worth showing up for! The final SANDMAN OVERTURE lands alongside the third issue in the all new, all fantastic ARCHIE!  

Check the cut for the rest of the fresh comic action for the week!

AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL 2015 GRAB BAG #1 AMERICAN VAMPIRE SECOND CYCLE #10 AQUAMAN #44 ARCHIE #3 BATMAN ANNUAL #4 BATMAN ANNUAL #4 BEE AND PUPPYCAT #9 CAPTAIN AMERICA WHITE #2 (OF 5) CAVALRY SHIELD 50TH ANNIVERSARY #1 COLDER TOSS THE BONES #1 (OF 5) CONAN THE AVENGER #18 CROSSED BADLANDS #86 CROSSED PLUS 100 #9 DIRK GENTLYS HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY #4 (OF 5) DISCIPLES #4 DOCTOR WHO 10TH YEAR TWO #1 DOCTOR WHO 12TH #12 DRIFTER #8 E IS FOR EXTINCTION #4 SWA FROM UNDER MOUNTAINS #1 GHOST RACERS #4 SWA GHOSTBUSTERS GET REAL #4 (OF 4) GODZILLA IN HELL #3 (OF 5) GRAYSON ANNUAL #2 GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #4 HAIL HYDRA #3 SWA INFERNO #5 SWA INFINITE LOOP #6 (OF 6) JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS OUTRAGEOUS ANNUAL #1 JUSTICE LEAGUE #44 KAIJUMAX #6 MERCURY HEAT #4 MODOK ASSASSIN #5 (OF 5) SWA MORNING GLORIES #48 MUNCHKIN #9 NEW SUICIDE SQUAD ANNUAL #1 POSTAL #7 PROVIDENCE #5 (OF 12) RASPUTIN #9 REVIVAL #33 RICK & MORTY #6 SANDMAN OVERTURE #6 (OF 6) CVR A SAVAGE DRAGON #207 SEX #24 SHIELD #10 SIMPSONS ILLUSTRATED #19 SONS OF THE DEVIL #5 SPAWN #256 SPREAD #10 STRAY BULLETS SUNSHINE & ROSES #8 STRINGERS #2 (OF 5) SUPERMAN #44 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #94 THEYRE NOT LIKE US #8 TRANSFORMERS #45 TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS EYE #45 UNCLE SCROOGE #6 VAMPIRELLA ANNUAL 2015 WONDER WOMAN 77 SPECIAL #2 X-MEN 92 #4 SWA ZODIAC STARFORCE #2 ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS #9

Books/Mags/Things 2000 AD PACK AUG 2015 ANIBAL 5 HC BATMAN TP VOL 06 GRAVEYARD SHIFT (N52) CARTOONS FOR VICTORY HC EMPTY TP VOL 01 GAG ON THIS CARTOONS BY CHARLES RODRIGUES HC GREENBERG THE VAMPIRE TP INVISIBLE INK HC MY MOTHERS LOVE AFFAIR WITH CARTOONIST LIFE AFTER TP VOL 02 MADS ORIGINAL IDIOTS JACK DAVIS TP MADS ORIGINAL IDIOTS WALLY WOOD TP MADS ORIGINAL IDIOTS WILL ELDER TP MATERIAL TP VOL 01 MILES MORALES ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ULT COLL TP BOOK 02 MOON KNIGHT TP VOL 03 IN NIGHT MY LOVE STORY GN VOL 06 NARUTO GN VOL 72 SHIELD BY LEE AND KIRBY COMPLETE COLLECTION TP SO CUTE IT HURTS GN VOL 03 SOUTHERN BASTARDS HC VOL 01 STRANGE GIRL OMNIBUS TP TOKYO GHOUL GN VOL 03 TWIN STAR EXORCISTS GN VOL 02 WALKING DEAD HC VOL 12

As always, what do YOU think?

“It's A Set Back, That's All.” COMICS! Sometimes No Face Is So Stony Time Cannot Erode It!

In which I look at a couple of Judge Dredd collections available over here (the UK) in a format which may be unfamiliar to some of you. Still trying to get the spring back in my step so bear with us, eh? JUDGE DREDD by Flint, Wagner, Blythe & Parkhouse

Anyway, this... DAY OF CHAOS: THE FOURTH FACTION JUDGE DREDD THE MEGA COLLECTION Vol. 49 Art by Ben Willsher, Colin MacNeil, Henry Flint & Leigh Gallagher Written by John Wagner Coloured by Chris Blythe Lettered by Annie Parkhouse Hatchette/Rebellion, £9.99 (2015)

DAY OF CHAOS: ENDGAME JUDGE DREDD THE MEGA COLLECTION Vol. 50 Art by Ben Willsher, Colin MacNeil, Henry Flint, Edmund Bagwell and Dave Taylor Written by John Wagner Coloured by Chris Blythe Lettered by Annie Parkhouse Hatchette/Rebellion, £9.99 (2015)

“Nothing will ever be the same!!!”, such is the fraudulent shriek prior to every pile of Comics Event Trex ever, but the only events which consistently deliver on this promise are Judge Dredd events. Most every year or two in the pages of 2000AD or The Judge Dredd Megazine, Judge Joseph Dredd's world will be shaken to its increasingly shaky core and the consequences will rumble realistically on through subsequent issues before subsiding and sliding beneath the onslaught of the next event and its own terrible outcomes. So interesting are the times Dredd lives in one can only assume his Mum pissed off a Chinese mystic. (1) Ah, but Dredd didn't have a Mum; he's a clone, one of a few from the very source of the Justice system itself – Eustace Fargo. A future cop in a future America; an America boiled into insanity by past atomic wars and reconfigured as a fascistic police state; Judge Dredd is The Law. Dredd serves the State because he believes the State best serves The People. And if The People get in the way of The State then The People get their heads cracked. In his own stony faced way Judge Dredd loves Mega City One. It is his love that is breaking your face, it just looks like a nightstick. Clearly, Judge Dredd would hold little love for Henry David Thoreau who claimed, that “He serves The State best who opposes The State most.”(2) So it may very well be ironic that in these two collections which form one big story, Judge Dredd faces off against disgruntled Sovs who are going to serve the State greatly - by unleashing viral retribution for the sins of thirty years past. Thirty years ago Judge Dredd pushed the button to end The Apocalypse War and wiped East Meg One off the map. For the past thirty years the Sovs have waited and planned. Today they act. For today is The Day of Chaos.(3)

JUDGE DREDD by Flint, Wagner, Blythe & Parkhouse

Potential readers might be feeling put off at this point by the implied weight of history but they shouldn't be. John Wagner wrote these books and John Wagner has been the main Dredd architect for longer than most of you have been alive. Age has not withered him. In short, John Wagner knows what he's doing. While the scope and severity of the events which unfold are impressive and horrific indeed, it's worth acknowledging both the quiet efficiency with which Wagner builds his story and the new reader friendly way in which he does so. In no time at all the essential information required is slickly delivered to the reader's mind via their eyes (the previous Chief Judge is in penal servitude; the new Chief Judge seems reasonable; Dredd is bored on The Council of Five; the Mayor turned out to be a serial killer called PJ Maybe; mayoral elections are imminent; and a scientist who has invented something very nasty indeed is being sought by certain someones with mischief in mind). It's a lot of plates to keep spinning but Wagner does so magnificently, slowly zooming in on certain events as other events recede and then adroitly shifting emphasis to keep the story interesting, intriguing and trucking implacably along to an an ending which may be inevitable, but never once seems predictable. His characters all possess some, and are defined by actions and words so economically it's easy to miss the skill involved. There's a lot of skill involved is what I'm saying there.

JUDGE DREDD by Flint, Wagner, Blythe & Parkhouse

It's called DAY OF CHAOS so no high fives for knowing where it's all going (it's going to go badly; the only question is how badly is it going to go) but fascinatingly Wagner goes to incredible lengths to put the inevitability of it in doubt. His genius move is in loading the dice in the Judges' favour. They have a psychic who is on the (crystal) ball, they have Judge Dredd, the new Chief Judge is a reasonable man, well, what could go wrong! Quite a lot of things as it turns out. But the crux of the Judge's f*** up, the pivot around which all the pain revolves is so brilliantly simple and so damning of The System I actually barked with laughter. Things go badly for a bit, but they are what someone with the soul of an ant might call “within acceptable parameters”. And then...oh, dear. (4) Waging a War on Terror turns out to be trickier than the Judges' might think. After all you can't shoot Terror in the face.

JUDGE DREDD by Willsher, Wagner, Blythe & Parkhouse

Fear, Fire and Mortis on the other hand are a different matter. Yes, the three Dark Judges turn up (Death's AWOL) but Wagner uses them more to reflect the extent of the stakes than as a threat in themselves. Usually a Big Meg shaking event in their own right, here they are just the cyanide sprinkles that adorn this dish of revenge; one served very cold indeed. DAY OF CHAOS is so dark that The Dark Judges act as something of a respite, that's how dark this one gets. (It's quite dark, are you getting that?) This is an attack on a Mega City and the deaths incurred are Mega-Deaths. After all the comic book universes which have died without a drop of blood, just a timorous winking out of existence, it's bracing and, yes, shocking to see so many dead. The business of death is a horrible business and DAY OF CHAOS never lets you forget it. By the time you get to the bit about the key under the door you'll be so starved of light that one simple act of humanity will blind you. Because despite all the sturm und drang, all the body pits, all the betrayals, all the torture and the serial killers and the dead, the dead, the dead, oh, the dead, John Wagner never forgets the humanity which makes it all bearable, which stops it al from being pointless. DAY of CHAOS is entertainment but it's also grueling stuff and as weird as that may sound entertainment-wise it's far less weird and far more honest than the weightless extinction of entire civilisations which at most cause Spider-Man to cry a tiny spider-tear.

JUDGE DREDD by Flint, Wagner, Blythe & Parkhouse

By necessity, as these episodes originally appeared weekly, the art for such a long form tale is by diverse hands . Cunningly they've kept the team to a minimum and the main story is handled by Willshire, MacNeil, Gallagher and Flint. Each of whom is a talented artist and so have unique styles, but there (sensibly given the intense density and extended duration of the epic) seems to be some attempt to conform to a base level of consistency, so that confusion is kept to a minimum but, crucially, some sense of individuality is also retained. Everyone on these pages is great, bringing solid skills to the service of pages packed with detail and information which, in lesser hands could have been inert and dull. It would be rude to pick a favourite, but luckily I am a rude man so, in a close contest Henry Flint wins; he does so purely because his style so strong and he finds room to unobtrusively include playful visual quotes from Frank Miller at least three times - the Prague enclave's architecture is straight out of RONIN; a bed in a hotel is the “heart” bed from SIN CITY; and his ladies lips are HELL AND BACK lips if ever I saw 'em. Dave Taylor and Edmund Bagwell provide art on a couple of post Chaos Day tales and the cleanliness and lightness of their approaches act as a welcome respite from all the darkness prior. Did I mention DAY OF CHAOS was dark? I know I forgot to mention it was VERY GOOD!

JUDGE DREDD by Flint, Wagner, Blythe & Parkhouse

Now, I believe the two volumes above have been recently released in North America in TPB format, but that's not the format I read them in. No, because I am Special my books form part of the Judge Dredd Mega Collection partwork (4) published by Hatchette/Rebellion. This is a proposed 80 hardback volume set of reprints of Judge Dredd strips, each fortnightly volume being organised by theme/storyline. They are not released sequentially - the 49 and 50 refer to where they will fit in the final collection. Anyway, this Judge Dredd Mega Collection has settled in at £9.99 an issue. And as I say, they are hardbacks, which is always nice, and they have a uniform trade dress with the spine building up a picture of 2000AD characters (rather than just Dredd characters for some reason; also this makes it hard to find a particular story, but I think if that's the most pressing of your concerns you are blessed indeed). None of them have fallen apart yet and despite the paper smelling like you suspect that bloke who fell in the radioactive waste at the end of Robocop did (i.e all chemically), everything seems sturdy enough. Obviously the newer stuff reprints better than the old stuff but them's the breaks. I'll be sticking with the series as long as I can and if you want me to look at any of the other volumes let me know, I'm only too happy. Actually, happy might be a bit strong. Not unopposed to the idea, say. Or I might do it anyway. Let's be straight here, I'm not your slave, pal!

But I am a slave to – COMICS!!!

(1) No evidence has been found to back up the fact that this is indeed an ancient Chinese curse. The source seems to have been mistranslation, or invention, on the part of Westerners resident there. Still a nifty saying though. Gremlins are real though, right? (2) Judge Thoreau would likely have been expelled from The Academy of Law after the first semester and strongly encouraged to take his fancy schmancy ideas with him on The Long Walk; bringing law to the lawless in the Cursed Earth until death. (3) Winningly, it has completely slipped the Sovs' collective mind that they initiated the Apocalypse War and the truth has become twisted so that they are now the victims. I'm not entirely unsympathetic, Dredd went a bit far but, y'know, you get in the pit you got to face the bear. If it gives you a bloody good mauling it's on you. (4) See, it's okay getting away with all these allegedly illegal wars and allegedly illegal drone killings and giving yourselves an 11% pay rise then voting for a Benefits Cap and selling bits of us to China and demonising the poor and allegedly sticking your bits in dead pigs mouths but what they forget, what they always forget, is one day they might need We, The People to trust them. And that trust just isn't going to be there. Because no one ever gets away with anything. (Except whoever did for Red Rum, obviously). (5) Partworks have experienced a resurgence of late but they were a staple in the 1970s when it would be possible to build, oh, say for instance, a replica of Hitler's skeleton by purchasing 206 fortnightly volumes. The first volume (Hitler's skull) would be offered at a knock down price, the second volume (Hitler's femur, say) at a slightly higher price, with the regular price kicking in around the third volume. Eventually part work fatigue would set in as people would get tired of paying for each of Hitler's vertebrae and the series would quietly disappear from the newsagents. In the 1970s a cardboard box containing an unfinished Fuhrer skeleton was a staple of most homes. At least that's how my dad explained those bones in the back of the cupboard that time. In retrospect, thinking about it now, I'm having my doubts about my Dad. He was away from home a lot...Oh.

Arriving 9/23/15

New HELLBOY, FIGHT CLUB and NAMELESS lead this exciting week of new comics! Check the cut for more!

1872 #3 SWA ADVENTURE TIME #44 ARCADIA #5 ASTRO CITY #27 BART SIMPSON COMICS #98 BATGIRL #44 BATMAN 66 #27 BETTY & VERONICA HALLOWEEN ANNUAL DIGEST #237 BTVS SEASON 10 #19 CAPTAIN MARVEL AND CAROL CORPS #4 SWA DEADPOOL VS THANOS #2 (OF 4) DEATHSTROKE #10 DEBBIES INFERNO (ONE SHOT) DOCTOR WHO 2015 FOUR DOCTORS #5 (OF 5) DONALD DUCK #5 ELEPHANTMEN #66 ELFQUEST FINAL QUEST #11 EMPTY ZONE #4 EXIT GENERATION #1 (OF 4) FIGHT CLUB 2 #5 FLASH #44 FURY SHIELD 50TH ANNIVERSARY #1 GEORGE ROMEROS EMPIRE OF DEAD ACT THREE #5 (OF 5) GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #9 GRAYSON #12 HACKTIVIST VOL 2 #3 (OF 6) HARLEY QUINN & POWER GIRL #4 (OF 6) HELLBOY IN HELL #8 INHUMANS ATTILAN RISING #5 SWA INVISIBLE REPUBLIC #6 JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #4 KANAN #6 MANHATTAN PROJECTS SUN BEYOND THE STARS #3 MARVEL UNIVERSE ULT SPIDER-MAN WEB WARRIORS #11 MYTHIC #4 NAMELESS #5 NEGATIVE SPACE #2 (OF 4) OVER THE GARDEN WALL #2 POWER UP #3 (OF 6) PRINCELESS BE YOURSELF #4 (OF 4) PUBLIC RELATIONS #1 (OF 5) RED SONJA #18 RUMBLE #7 RUNAWAYS #4 SWA SCOOBY DOO TEAM UP #12 SHRINKING MAN #3 (OF 4) SINESTRO #15 SONIC UNIVERSE #80 SPIRE #3 (OF 8) SQUARRIORS #4 (OF 4) THIEF OF THIEVES #31 TMNT CASEY & APRIL #4 (OF 4) TRANSFORMERS WINDBLADE #7 WE ARE ROBIN #4 WEIRDWORLD #4 SWA WILDS END ENEMY WITHIN #1 (OF 4) WITCHBLADE #184 WOLF #3 X-TINCTION AGENDA #4 SWA YEARS OF FUTURE PAST #5 SWA

Books/Mags/Things AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 05 SPIRAL AMELIA COLE & THE IMPOSSIBLE FATE TP ASTRO CITY CONFESSION HC NEW ED AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 10 SMOKE & SHADOW PART 1 BLACK WIDOW TP VOL 03 LAST DAYS BPRD HELL ON EARTH TP VOL 11 FLESH AND STONE DEADPOOL CLASSIC TP VOL 13 DEADPOOL TEAM UP DONALD DUCK SHELLFISH MOTIVES TP FREE COUNTRY A TALE OF THE CHILDRENS CRUSADE HC GOD IS DEAD TP VOL 06 HELLBOY 100 PROJECT TP HEXED HARLOT & THIEF TP VOL 01 HOWARD THE DUCK TP VOL 00 WHAT THE DUCK JOKER ENDGAME HC LOKI AGENT OF ASGARD TP VOL 03 LAST DAYS NEW DEAL HC NICKELODEON MAGAZINE #4 ONE PUNCH MAN GN VOL 02 ORPHAN BLACK TP VOL 01 PREVIEWS #325 OCTOBER 2015 PUNISHER TP VOL 03 LAST DAYS SHAMAN TP VOL 01 Y THE LAST MAN TP BOOK 03

As always, what do YOU think?