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I thought the first story was outstanding. One of the best short stories I've read in a long time and an interesting exploration of class signifiers. I'd be very happy to read work by this team again and will be checking Jim's link.

The second story was more conventional and I enjoyed it too. David Roach was excellent, as always.

The specials package they put out last year was an excellent offer, and it meant that every so often I received a comic I'd completely forgotten about ordering, which was very welcome. I hope they repeat it.

[Hotel Artemis]

Hotel Artemis.

Watched this last night on your recommendation. It plays like a pleasingly efficient (run time a compact 90min) adaptation of an admittedly-lesser William Gibson short story. It isn't, but that's exactly how it feels. I doubt it's going into anyone's Top Ten Best Movies, but it rattles through its running time at a brisk pace and the supporting cast do a decent job with broadly-sketched roles around Foster's excellent central performance.

I rather enjoyed it, and there are definitely much worse ways to kill an hour and a half.

Yes, those were my thoughts as well.

I think it wears the Gibson influence quite openly. Low-life and high-tech. Sofia Boutella's character could be Molly Millions with a very light rewrite. Glad you enjoyed it too!

Both books have just arrived for me too. They really are rather lovely things.

So Block Mania arrived today. Still no Mega Mania - which seems to buck the trend???

I have both now! But nobody to play it with.... Unless I can convince my other half?

Yes, similarly I have two despatch notes. Its very odd.

I often receive despatch notes from Rebellion after I receive the goods, so I tend to ignore them.

I've had Mega Mania for a couple of weeks, but my Block Mania has never arrived. Is this the same with everyone else?

Good on Tharg for grabbing those Licensing groats, but creatively I do have to ask what is the point. I love audio books, a huge addition to my life over the last 15 years, but audio comics? Never understood those, and the various dramatisations made me cringe.

I've been listening to the recent Audible adaptiation of Sandman and it hasn't grabbed me. The whole way through I'm just thinking about the comics. Would it work better if I hadn't read them (many, many times) before?

[Hotel Artemis]

Hotel Artemis. Somehow I'd missed this film on release, but happened across it on Prime. It's a near-future cyberpunk thriller set in a private hospital for criminals. Jodie Foster is excellent as a jaded and damaged medical professional (they call her the Nurse, but she's clearly some sort of trauma surgeon). Dave Bautista is an orderly who keeps the patients in line, Sofia Boutella is an assassin with some seriously impressive martial arts skills and Sterling Brown is the clichéd gangster-who-just-wants-get-out (he does a good job with the role, though). There are also some visitors, who I won't spoil.

I really enjoyed this. There's some great action sequences, particularly Boutella's, and the plot moves on at a rapid pace. There's not a lot of originality in terms of character, but the actors do a lot with them.

A good one to enjoy on a cold saturday night with a beer.

I think the reason for Hellblazer sales being low, and certainly the reason I didn't pick it up until #3, was that the character has been really, really badly served in the last few years. There have been some truly dismal takes on poor old Constantine and I didn't trust DC to turn it around. It wasn't until it started being acclaimed that I picked it up.

The cancellation is hugely short-sighted and confirms everything I thought about how DC is being managed.

My 2208 arrived yesterday. The Meg arrived the day before. I suspect these delays will be with us well into January.

It suggests they are bundled together:

" Rebellion Unplugged are delighted to present, for the first time in over thirty years, a brand new printing of the Games Workshop classics Block Mania and Mega Mania."

That's my understanding.

I also ordered it. Something to look forward to once my board game group can meet up again.

It has arrived! Hooray!