Messages

My guess is (just based on an image search of the spine) that's Raptaur first appearing in Volume One of the Meg.

I'm having problems posting longer ... well posts I guess. Used to be able to add things of up to 20000 characters and am regularly trying to add posts be around 15,000 - 18,000 character but lately I'm having to break posts of these lengths into 4 or 5 parts ... now many would say I should go on less but I'm on a role here and stubbornly determined.

Has the character limit been reduced - is this something that could be increased again or is it part of anti spam measures or similar?

[Part 4]

Part 4


Copyright - Rebellion

Kenneth Niemand produces Dredd stories that are as distinctive as they are diverse. He's humorous and whip smart when the story needs it, able to generate real tension and emotional punch when it's required. He plays in Dredd's 50 year old (almost) world in a way that is fresh and compelling, as if he created the series himself and is using it to tell all his own story ideas and to deal with the themes he wishes to bring on board. He's bold and innovates and yet immediately comfortable at the same time. He's been consistent in the quality of his output. Knows how to write a perfect Joe Dredd himself, yet will play cheeky with the character and the tropes of the long running series. He isn't afraid to push Dredd to the background as he builds Mega City One in new and fascinating ways. In short he is the perfect Dredd writer... well near perfect, maybe one more will get a call out, we'll see.

In short I have absolutely no doubt that Kenneth Niemand's Judge Dredd stories are completely worthy of their place on this list.

Where to find it

Well reprinting of his work is a little patchy to say the least at the moment. I'm aware of the following collections of his work.

Megatropolis

A Penitent Man - the Kyle Asher story arc.

And I think that's it. He has other bits and pieces in some other Graphic Novels but these are the two that feature his exclusively that I know of. No Chimpsky hardcover special edition yet I'm horrified to report.

Basically if you want to keep up with Kenneth Niemand's work for the time being you'll need the original Progs and Megs, which is no bad thing. I'm sure this will change over time but for the time being that's where we're at.

Learn more

No Obligatory Wikipedia page for Kenneth Niemand yet, you'll have to make do with and incredibly short biography on Simon & Schuster webpages.

2000ad Thrill-Cast has an interview with him from 2021. Though many will speculate this was produced to continue to mask our mystery writers true identity. I go with who'd have the time and energy to do that, but who knows for sure. It's well worth listening to regardless.

Normally reliable sources for all things 2000ad are of little use for Niemand. Both Barney and the 2000ad webpage have pages for him but they are both now very out of date and only deal with his earliest work for Tharg. I used the ever brilliant 2000ad in Stages - A to Z for a number of things for this one. It's not designed to list works by creators though so it took some poking around and scribbled calculations.

I can point you to Good Reads Kenneth Niemand page for the reviews there. At this point, as far as I'm aware however that's your lot, so odds and sods a Google search will unearth aside.

What is all this?

Conscious that this is becoming a long thread and if you're wondering what the heck you've just read and can't be arsed (quite sensibly) to search back to find out I'll link to my opening posts that try to explain all this.

What this all came from

And of course a nerd won't do a list like this without setting 'Rules' / guidelines

Some thoughts on what will not be on the list.

[Part 3]

Part 3

I'm not going to make this an exhaustive list of other Dredd writers, who has the time! But I will flag a couple of others I really like. Carroll and Edginton have both done a number of great stories. Neither has the consistency of Niemand. Al Ewing was a big favourite of many and I love a number of his stories, but it never coalesced for me in a way I had a real sense of what he was doing with Dredd. How his Dredd stood out beyond just well written Dredds. Niemand does that for me as I will get to. Our own lovely Gordon Rennie gets as close as anyone and he did some amazing Dredd's and developed a real niche in characters and corners of Dredd's world he 'specialised' in. Again though for me he played with the existing toys really well, he didn't add to that pool in quite the same way Niemand has.

Basically what I'm saying here is my admiration for Niemand's Dredd takes nothing away from how much I enjoy the good, often great work, of a number of other Dredd writers. It's just he brings something new to the party and for me is so much more consistent. I will discuss that in a wee bit, when I try to sum up what I admire about Niemand specifically, not in comparison to others. Suffice to say I have considered those others and I feel confident, for me, Niemand stands above them.


Copyright - Rebellion

Finally is the fact that he's the latest shiny toy, the fact that he is the latest great Dredd writer, does that artificially inflate my view of his work and that will wane over time? I genuinely don't think so, I genuinely think he's that good.

I mean firstly he's not that new anymore, he's been writing Dredd for 5 years now. I've thought about other contemporary writers, as listed above and think his work stands out. I think his output has been consistent over the years and as he increases that output the quality isn't dropping, his work is still exceptional. Lastly even if we do consider him new and relatively speaking that's understandable, should that mean I miss his comics off this list, which is after all my option at a specific point in time. I've already said and I'm certainly experiencing as I write these things, the list is flexible and my options will change. The very act of writing about these comics has changed my view on where I might put particular titles or runs if I did the same thing again, even now.

So should my view of Niemand's work diminish over time, and I've no reason to expect it will, that shouldn't take away from the fact they got their place at the point I made this list.

That leaves me with the final thing to unpick, why do I like his Dredd work so much. Well there's a few reasons. I've discussed the fact I think his output has been more consistently great than others who work alongside him. Sure I prefer some stories more than others, a few I felt are average, never less, but that could be said of even Wagner's work. Overall though the exceptional highs are far, far, more common (of the other not Wagner writers I should make clear!).

Secondly I think he's brought something fresh and new to Dredd's stories. He has a keen focus on the one thing that really makes Dredd and Mega City One such an inexhaustible story engine: the citizen's of Mega City One. Now of course he's not the first to do that. Wagner has done it brilliantly so many times, and others have too, but none have done it with quite the same exceptional skill as Niemand. He introduces new characters at a great rate and almost all the times he does that I'm left wanting to know more about those characters. Chimpsky is the obvious example and really is one of the best supporting characters, not only of recent times, but in the history of Dredd. The fact that he's spun out into this own, superb series, with its own fantastic supporting cast, so quickly and each of those has been simply brilliant speaks volumes to this.

Chimpsky isn't the only one. Kyle Asher I've mentioned already and his trilogy was superb. Mona, the skysurfing delivery mum, Mor Hallam, the security officer who sees folks naked, the occult shop owners, the list goes on. The fact that I can't remember names there is a failing of my addled memory not Niemands. Even characters who won't return are all fully fleshed out, engaging and add something new to the billion stories in Mega City One. He does this in a way that makes his tales feel cohesive. There's a tone and feel to his output that is clear and distinct - the main reason I don't buy into the idea he's an established 2000ad writer using a new pseudonym.

He does that while never losing sight of Dredd as a character. He might drop Dredd into the background, make him a supporting character in his own strip but that's not a bad thing, it widens the scope of the series' potential wonderfully. When he does write Dredd its with a voice that is spot on, that gets Dredd perfectly. He just uses him as a character as much a particular story needs, but when he's there he's absolutely spot on. That feels like a really brave thing to do for a relatively new writer in the Dreddverse.

His wider use of the Dreddverse has also been delightful. Mega City 2099 is great fun and so well executed. The crossover with One Eyed Jack is very effective and seems to have already spurned a spin off that I look forward to reading. Megatropolis was an absolute triumph, so much so that I bought a hardcover which I rarely do if I have a series in a different format. One of the best new strips in the Meg for a long time. Niemand has had such a positive impact on Dredd and this wider Universe, indeed universes in such a relatively short time I really don't think another writer compares favourably to their output.

I should also note that while this post is clearly very focused on the writing side of things, as Kenneth Niemand has had his strips drawn by a number of artists, he has been very well served on the art side of things. Artists as great as PJ Holden, Dan Cornwell, Tom Foster, Dave Taylor, Colin MacNeill, Patrick Goodard to name just a few, the list goes on and on, have all provided superb art for his stories. It's testament to the depth of talent in the 2000ad stable that Niemand has done so many diverse stories in tone and feel and Tharg has always, always, been able to match him with an artist who has done brilliant work to elevate his work. But this one is really all about the writing so please excuse me for talking so little about the great talents that have worked with Niemand.

[Part 2]

Part 2


Copyright - Rebellion

While the focus of this entry is Niemand's work on Judge Dredd specifically, I have also included his wider Dreddverse stories as they have frankly been just as good. So I am including 'Chimpsky's Law' the spin off solo stories of Noam Chimpsky the uplift chimp whose brilliant mind is put to good use protecting the downtrodden citizen's of their Block. Chimpsky, introduced in 'The World According to Chimpsky' in Prog 2131 made a meteoric rise similar to Nemand's and had his own series just a couple of years after, having made a number of appearances in the main Dredd strip. The chimp is not only one of the best new characters in the Dreddverse, but one of my favourite ever member's of Dredd's supporting cast.

'Megatropolis' Niemand's reimaging of Mega City One in an art deco alternative take on the city and its key inhabitants is also brilliant and worth consideration. Finally I'm also really enjoying 'Mega City 2099' which takes the first year of Dredd tales in the Prog as a launch point for another series of alternatives takes on Dredd and Mega City One so I'm bundling that in as well. Basically all of Niemand's work in the Dreddverse in its widest context is fantastic and can be considered part of what I'm discussing here.

From Niemand's first Dredd story 'Block Bud' which made an immediate impression on fans to the three part tragedy looking at the life of returnee from Titan Kyle Asher. To more comedic stories such as the hilarious 'Naked City' via powerful dramas such as 'A dream of a thousand flowers.' Niemand has already had a massive impact on Dredd stories. He's packed a punch, raised smiles and proved to be a master of what makes Dredd and Mega City One such a powerful engine for story in a very short period of time.


Copyright - Rebellion

Let's return to those doubts that I had about whether I was right to put Niemend's Dredd work on the list. I think they can be summed up in three questions:

Dredd has a creator who dominates this tales, how can these stories possibly compare that?
Are they really better than all those other great Dredd writers?
They are so new, have they really earned their strips? Or is the fact they are the latest bright new thing distorting my view?

So let's tackle those shall we.

John Wagner dominates folks' thoughts on Dredd for good reason. He's brilliant and defines how we think about a good Dredd strip, character growth and most relevantly here the ability to use Dredd and Mega City One as a vehicle for such a breadth of story types. Unlike any other character Dredd is able to support, be the launch point for, or even the focal point of, such a diversity of tales. Batman, Spiderman and the great superheroes can't do this. Characters such as Usagi Yojimbo, Concrete, Grendel, Corto Maltese (and this short list is plucked from my noggin as I type and there is no rhythm or reason I have chosen those; it could have been so many others.) are all amazing, and so completely associated with their creators understandably. While they can support many stories and a range of ideas they are much more focused on their core concepts and certain themes and tone. Dredd doesn't have those restrictions. I can think of maybe one character that gets close and that's The Spirit and even there we don't have the depth of possibility Wagner's Dredd opens up.

It's that diversity of story types that Niemand taps into so amazingly. So while Wagner has left his wonderful, mucky paw prints all over Dredd, he opened the door for so many others to play with the character in a way their writing best suits. So to that end I really shouldn't be surprised there's another writer for Dredd aside from Wagner, on this list. There will be multiple writers for a few characters on this list so the same should be true for Dredd.

Is Niemand as good as Wagner, well we'll have to wait for a while to see - I mean come on you know the answer to that - but part of Wagner's and Ezquerra creative genius on Dredd, however much they have defined the character in a way few others have 'owned' a house character, they do so in a way that opened seemingly infinite possibilities for others.

Also who needs to compare. Wagner Dredd is Wagner Dredd, Niemand stories have their own qualities and purpose and as such the fact that one is so good should have no bearing, on how much I enjoy the other.


Copyright - Rebellion

That leads nicely into the second doubt I had. Is Niemand really better than a host of other really good writers on Dredd. The short answer there is yes, according to me.

See that was an easy one wasn't it.

Okay, okay that deserves a little unpicking doesn't it and goes some way to examining why I think Niemand's Dredd is so good.

So many great writers have worked in Dredd, to differing degrees of success. There are a number of writers whose work on Dredd hasn't landed for one reason or another so we can chalk those off straight away. Morrison, Mills (though I love Cursed Earth and Blood Of Satanus (first one!) I'm not keen on the rest of his Dredd), Ennis all spring to mind whose Dredd just isn't great for one reason or another. John Smith to a lesser degree falls into this category as well.

Alan Grant's work with Wagner may well be getting some comment down the line but, his solo work is patchy. He did some absolute humdingers 'John Cassavetes is Dead' is one example and one of my favourite Dredds. His writing seemed to work so much better on Anderson and he took what he learnt from Dredd to Batman with much more impact than his solo Dredd work. So while it's hard, in fact impossible, to ignore his contribution to Dredd there just is an inconsistent quality there.

Similarly Rob Williams is a writer I might pull out as a contemporary of Niemand. His work gets so close to my list as he's done some of the very best recent Dredd. Indeed there have been two absolute classics in the last few months. It's just he's done some stinkers and can fall down a rabbit hole of his own personal Dredd peccadillos. 'Titan' did his Dredd as an indefatigable fighter, yet for a while he returned to that time and time again and it started to grate. He also seems to play a lot with one specific theme, the political landscape within the Justice Department and the effects of that and while he does that really, really well at times for me he lacks the range of Niemand.

[Part 1]

Part 1



Number 88 - Judge Dredd (and Dreddverse) by Kenneth Niemand

Keywords: 2000ad, Chimpsky, Citizens, Mystery man

Creators:
Writer - Kenneth Niemand
Art - Various
Colours - Various

Publisher: Rebellion

No. issues: By a very quick estimate I have it as equivalent to 49 US comic issues

Date of Publication: 2019 to date

Last read: Ongoing

This is another one I've been subconsciously, and occasionally consciously, drafting in my head since I started writing these things. There are quite a few things to unpick here, most importantly why I like the Judge Dredd work of Kenneth Niemand so much.


Copyright - Rebellion

After all he's a new writer on a character that's been around for almost 50 years now. Dredd has had numerous very good writers working on him, so It felt a bit weird that Niemand's work in Dredd would spring quickly to mind when making my rundown. Was I just thinking about him more than other Dredd writers as he was new? Was his work really better than other writers of Dredd that haven't made the list? For those reasons I really questioned his work on the character and its place on the list. The more I questioned it however the happier I became about the fact it was there.

Before we get into why let's set the scene a little with some background about what I'm actually talking about on this one.  Kenneth Niemand is shrouded in mystery, he turned up writing a Starlord story in late 2017, not returning until just over a year later on Dredd. No Future Shocks, no 3riller, no 'lesser' thrills, straight to Dredd. He quickly established himself as a regular Dredd writer and also created a major supporting character Noam Chimpsky. Each year (2000ad in Stages A-Z as my guide and some very quick and possibly wrong maths on my part.) he's written more and more by page count on the character across the Prog and the Meg. I would hazard a guess he's one of the, if not the, biggest contributors to the character over the time he's been writing him. Though I've not attempted to qualify that.

That's a pretty rapid rise to the top. That, added to the fact that we know Kenneth Niemand is an acknowledged pseudonym and Niemand can loosely be translated to 'who?' from German (or Dutch I forget which) meaning he is literally Kenny Who? Has led to all sorts of speculation about who he really is. I'm going to ignore all that and treat him at face value 'cos we don't know any different and their work does have some very unique qualities. This leaves me to think they could well be 'just' a writer of radio plays who uses a pseudonym to separate that career from his comics career. And Tharg just really liked the stuff they submitted and so he got a really quick raise up the ladder. I don't know, I could be wrong, but that's what I'm going with.

For what it's worth, I was a big reader of 'normal' Archie comics in my youth (age roughly 10-13) - for some reason, they were readily available in India, where my best friend used to go (or his uncles maybe) to bring and share massive bundles of them. They're kind of like if Whizzer and Chips had a rom-com story that was less stalker-ish than 'Crazy for Daisy'. At the time I couldn't quite undersatand why Archie was so into VCeronica when Betty was right there, but I get it a bit more now. The TV show Riverdale is much kinder to Veronica than the comics ever were!

Oh its cool that a 'regular' Archie reader has given this the thumbs up, especially one as well read as Alex.

In general I do not like Archie comics but this was a well-worth read

And one as well read as Broodblik with the alternative take showing this one really is for everyone!

[Rome]

I'm 19 years late to the party but I just finished Rome. Blimey, it's a bit good innit?

Yes. Yes it is.

13th

[Part 4]

Part 4

Where to find it

You might be as well to pick these up digitally, that's how I still have them.

You can get a trade of the first arc, containing the first five issues, but the second arc, which was meant to run to issue 12 hasn't been collected yet as it was never completed.

I do keep an eye out for these in the aftermarket, but while the buzz has died down somewhat they are still a little pricey. Not prohibitively though, but enough to keep me hanging on to see if I can get them at a better price.

Learn more

Obligatory Wikipedia page

Archie Comics have a YouTube channel and they have trailers and previews of each issue which give you a fun sense of the series.

Den of Geek has a list of 13 scariest moments from the series. It's pretty spoilerific , but if you can handle that does give a very good flavour for the series.

Vulture has an interesting article explaining how the deals in the comic coming out sounded the death knells of for the series.

There was a lot of fuss and attention surrounding the first couple of issues, the buzz started to die away with the delays and there is little reflection on the series as a whole. Reviews in all the normal places and Multiversity Comics has a nice reflection from 2020 about the first 5 issues for example.

What is all this?

Conscious that this is becoming a long thread and if you're wondering what the heck you've just read and can't be arsed (quite sensibly) to search back to find out I'll link to my opening posts that try to explain all this.

What this all came from

And of course a nerd won't do a list like this without setting 'Rules' / guidelines

Some thoughts on what will not be on the list.

[Part 3]

Part 3


Copyright - Archie Comics

Oh and speaking of great tropes done to perfection, and things being made close and personal we also get one of the singularly best tear jerking dog as loyal friend and brave companion pieces in any comic I have ever read. If you read my entry for Y the Last Man (no.105) you know how much of a sucker I am for the powerful emotions that can be created by people's relationships with their pets. In Afterlife there are a couple of pieces that really play with that. One in particular, spoiled above, does that as well as I've known it be done in any story in any medium. How a comic about characters I have no history with, told a tale of a dog I'd just been introduced to, reduced me nearly to tears, is quite astonishing.

As that image above shows though in a large part it's in the art. The art in this comic is breathtaking, brilliant. It's - and here's that word again - perfect for a horror comic. Francesco Francavilla's art on the series is such a massive part as to why I love these comics. His dark deep shadows cast so creepily across almost everything he draws, starkly contrasted with reds and deep greys, blues and purples creates such a depth of atmosphere. He makes the horror aspects leap off the page at you, he makes tense, creepy moments catch your breath and grip you. In doing that when he changes his palette and depth of shadow to show the lighter moment or more typically flashbacks they really pop, needing no further clues to the fact you are looking back or the tone of the scene you are joining.

Almost all of what is so great about his art is captured in the single page above. He captures the drama and emotion of a scene with real craft. Archie shifts from sadness to horror and revulsion then finally to dreadful acceptance. The violence is tight, confusing - you know what's happening the storytelling isn't a problem, rather the pace and visceral energy of the action is hard to keep up with, it's a blur of angry motion and terrible violence. Finally the way he superbly captures the affection and love in Vegas (the dogs) eyes as he turns to his 'master' in the hope he will flee is so heartbreaking in those deep loving eyes. A moment of almost calm bonding between the two, a final goodbye with no remorse. Then panicked retreat as Archie releases he has no choice but to go.

The storytelling is sublime. The ability to capture such scope in individual moments yet have them run together in a way that makes perfect sense in a single, fluid, exciting, heart wrenching page is exemplary. The use of colour to at first emphasise the savagery, then quickly switch to  focus on the more tender, if desperate character moment is superb. In that single page you get a real sense of how amazing the art on Afterlife with Archie is and how powerful and effective the story the art realises is.


Copyright - Archie Comics

Afterlife with Archie is an absolute triumph. It's simply put one of the very best horror comics I've read, regardless of its unexpected combination of story types. The characters it uses are made real and therefore the horror they face all the more terrifying. It's just such a shame that we only got 10 issues. Just as the world and story was opening up, new threats, challenges and internal conflicts being prepared the series was cruelly snatched away. It really felt like the story had so many places to go and was ready to go there. Even if open-ended, unfinished tales aren't your thing these are worth checking out for the sheer brilliant craft on display and the way it usurps your expectations entirely.

Hey who knows, is anything really dead and in the ground. This one might rise up yet.

[Part 2]

Part 2


Copyright - Archie Comics

The setting is also perfect for setting up horror tropes as well. We start the story at a halloween ball at Riverdale's high school. That feels just so fantastically in keeping with so many teen horrors. And introduces both characters and the threat so perfectly.

The character's in Riverdale fulfil the tropes of characters across those teen horror genre delightfully as well. From the adventurous brave heroes ripe for casting themselves into thrilling danger. To the adults more resistant to accepting the status quo has tumbled down and the things they had built their successful lives upon no longer matter. The relationships embedded in these characters create the necessary tensions and conflicts to mean the biggest threat to survival more often than not isn't the shambling zombie herd itself. Rather it's the way personal reactions to that and the existing interpersonal relationships will drive people to poor decisions that elevate the danger far beyond stumbling brain-eaters you could likely smack with a spade and run away from.

Afterlife dives into these tropes but does so with characters you are really made to care about and engage with. Where they have villainous motivations they aren't paperthin they are based on reflections on why anyone might see things the way they do and act in that way. The story is structured in a very smart way. The first opens up the dilemma, throwing our cast into a contained environment so we can spend time with them seeing how they all inter-relate.

The second arc opens things up in two ways, again fairly typical of the horror genre but done here to perfection. Firstly it removes folks from that contained 'safehouse' and pushes them into other situations. Secondly it starts to add focus on specific characters in specific issues to get a closer sense of why particular characters are behaving the way they do. To give you a closer, more personal view of the heroes and villains of the piece you are made to care about. Or issues introduce and focus on new characters to expand the view we have of the world we are following and one assumes appeals to fines of the wider world Archie lives in. It does this while never losing sight of the rest of the ensemble cast or moving the general plot forward. 

It might do this in a way that toys with cliche but never feels boring and gives you enough new insight and variations on a theme that it always avoids feeling cliche, while always feeling (un)comfortably familiar. You might know what you are getting, you might well have seen it before, but damn it's never been done this well.


Copyright - Archie Comics

Another thing the Riverdale setting adds, which is used to perfection is Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She is used as a tool to provide a frankly fantastic reason why a zombie invasion has hit. Often in Zombie movies or zombie tales in every medium there are two ways you can handle why the zombies are there. The most successful is just to ignore it, throw your viewer / reader in at the deep end. Accept the fact the person enjoying your story isn't going to worry too much about the how and why but rather just roll with it and enjoy the fun. Maybe you throw in a hint, reports of comets or other stuff such. Just a little something if folks want a little reason to hang onto.

The other way is to try to explain things. To give some 'plausible' scientific or mythical reason as to why the dead have risen from their grave and seek 'Brrrrraaaiiinnnnsss'. These rarely, if ever, work. In Afterlife Sabrina is used to explain why we have a zombie apocalypse in a way that is amazingly satisfying. Again I have no reference to whether Sabrina's actions are in character, my only knowledge of the character is being vaguely aware that she had a Saturday morning telly show in the 90s that seemed cute but I never really watched. Regardless of my ignorance in these comics her actions seem real and relatable. An innocent act with good motivation, gone astray and entirely out of control. This works perfectly with both my shallow understanding of the character outside the series and how she is presented in the series.

Her actions are explored more as the series goes on but I have to say it's such a smart way to use an in situ character to explain the astonishing turn of events in a way that I literally don't think has been done as well as this before. I wonder how many folks were in the writers room who worked to come up with the bumbled guff they came up with in Season 1 of the Walking Dead before they realised trying to explain why the Walking Dead were there before they realised that wasn't what folks needed to enjoy the show. Here we might not need it, but we get in such a satisfying way that it only enhances the enjoyment and makes things feel even more thrilling.

[Part 1]

Part 1



Number 89 - Afterlife with Archie

Keywords: Horror, Riverdale, Zombies, defies expectations

Creators:
Writer - Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Art - Francesco Francavilla
Colours - Francesco Francavilla

Publisher: Archie Comics

No. issues: 10
Date of Publication: 2013 -2016

Last read: 2016

As the 2000s moved into the early 2010s there were just too damned many zombies across all genre media. Walking Dead was making it big as a comic as sales began to soar, it had transitioned to tv and zombies were everywhere. Its curious then that


Copyright - Archie Comics

was the standout zombie story from this time across all media, and yes that includes Charlie Brooker's superb 2008 zombie epic Dead Set. I mean Archie Comics, those are the daft kids comics from the US about school kids in the fictional town of Riverdale. One of whom, Archie of the title, is trapped in an inexplicable love triangle with the school's two teen beauties, Betty and Veronica. Comics that made no impression on the UK market despite years of success in the US as they were just so American. How on earth did these comics, about as safe and saccharine and idiosyncratically American, manage to produce one of the best horror comics I've ever read?

The answer is of course by taking those secure elements of Archie's world and simply using them as a launch point to produce genuinely intense, scary and emotional great comics. To not be bound by people's expectation of what Archie Comics are and just make great comics. It's really quite an astonishing trick to pull off. Add to that pitch perfect art from Francesco Francavilla, making his second appearance on the list and you have a formula for astonishingly good comics.

Archie Comics' bravery to stick with both writer Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Francavilla even when their star rose and other, bigger jobs at bigger companies came calling for their services, is this series' greatest blessing and biggest curse. Their patience meant it took over 3 years to get 10 issues to lumber out and having lost momentum from its early rise to fan adoration and critical acclaim the series floundered. After this the two creators seem to have been just too busy and the series was left to quietly drift into an obscure hiatus driven ending, well before the story was done. Sticking with these two brilliant creators, even as things clearly seemed to be returning the series to its grave also meant that what we have is the near perfect zombie horror comic. The series remains undiluted by a commercial desire to keep riding the wave these comics caught regardless of the impact on quality. So even if the second arc didn't finish, what we have is superb. And who knows, maybe one day.


Copyright - Archie Comics

What Afterlife with Archie does so well is play with the best tropes of zombie survival stories almost ignoring the juxtaposition the setting and its characters offer. It plays things with a straight bat, and avoids the temptation to give knowing nods and winks to the reader about how setting zombies loose in the safe world of Archie is a bit of crazy fun. There's been previous tales in Riverdale - the town in which Archie Comics are set - that seem to play with the fun of things far more. The Punisher has visited, as has one of the Predators and from the outside looking in these seem far more playful than Afterlife. They seem to be gleeful in how absurd the ideas of these safe, homespun inhabitants of Riverdale meeting these extreme characters is. Afterlife has none of that.

It takes the characters and setting seriously and with what seems like genuine affection, but makes the tone less Archie and more zombie horror. The horror element is used well, rather than using the more spoofy, tongue in cheek zombie takes on other tales around this time. It places those characters in their setting, but flips that to be imagined in a genuine horror story rather than go the other way.

This means that even a reader like myself, with no relationship with Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica et al are introduced as real characters who I'm made to invest in and care for. It takes the ideas and scenarios from the 'normal' comics and treats them seriously as a launch point to create a world in a very 'real', 'serious' gut wrenching horror story. I say this as an outsider to this world before reading these comics and I felt entirely at home there, with only a very surface understanding of it. Well I say at home as it is played as a true horror story this one quickly does away with the homespun comforts of small town America. I can only imagine how effective this must have been if you were a long term fan of Archie and co. I got a sense that such fans didn't push back with this more 'realistic' take on the world, but embraced it as they knew they were getting an utterly enthralling new take on their favourites. That's certainly the impression I have and oh that all comic fandom was so open minded!

Have to admit to not having heard of Mark Russell before (or if I did my terrible memory quickly forgot him) but I was big fan of Steve Pugh's art on Animal Man, and your write up in general makes it sound like it'll be right up my street, so I plan to get it sooner rather than later.

Mark Russell really is a brilliant writer. He did some Dredd for IDW (in a mini) which isn't his best by far, which is surprising as it feels like it would be right up his alley. He'll be on this list a few more times yet.

[Comics Import Amsterdam - or CIA Comics]

Knew we had a thread for this type of thing. So here I am on my holidays in the Netherlands and managed to blag a visit to a comic shop while we were in Amsterdam - I mean I want for 2 but that was over optimistic and to be fair we were in Amsterdam so its not like there is a gazillion other super fun things to do.

So anyway if you are ever in the city check out Comics Import Amsterdam - or CIA Comics for short. Its just by The Anne Frank Museum... which it could be suggested is a more significent thing to visit but I've been there before, so... ANYWAY. CIA comics I popped in and spent a glorious 45 minutes in the most incredible comic shop I think I've ever been to. The place is a mess, but I just spent the time chatting to the wonderful owner Charles who is simply lovely and a delight to talk to. The fella has over 2 MILLION (!!!!) comics in his shop (with a door with loads of sketches on, I recognised the one by Will Simpson which was my opening conversation piece and that seems to get him really talking). He has another million in his own personal collection.

He's a font of knowledge and seems to know everyone and everything. We chatted for the whole 45 minutes I was in there and frankly I'd have spent the day there chatting quite happily.

Now to be fair its next to impossible to look through most of the stuff unless you have like 2 days BUT even the stuff I was glancing at as we chatted unearthed some AMAZING deals. I got a hardcover collection of Gilbert Hernandez - which is really hard to get these days for 20 Euros - cos it had a bit of damage on it! I checked he was sure and he said it was fine. So I picked up a couple of other bits cos I felt I should he was giving me such a good deal on the book and he gave me a massive discount on those as well. At which point I stopped looking as I felt guilty.

Such a great shop, if you are in Amsterdam really check it out. If you like Marvel and DC take plenty of money as you will find some AMAZING stuff. He did tell me if I brought the kids next time he'd take them in trade... I'm going to discuss it with missus YNWA... I mean we have two so that makes one spare right... right...

...oh and two gorgeous dogs roam the comics and and so lovely and like a fuss. They sit on the comic boxes as you flick through and lick your face if you let them. Charles offers to make them stop but I love dogs so I just played with them!

[PART 3]

PART 3

Where to find it

Both mini-series are available in two neat trade collections. Though strangely It looks as if only the first is available as a collection digitally. 'Cult of Dogs' is available as single editions though.

As ever the aftermarket will also help you out. I imagine with a bit of patience you'll be able to pick these up for bobbins. It amazes and frustrates me that a writer of the quality of Mark Russell doesn't seem to reach massive audiences, nor have Netflix clamouring after him rather than Mark Millar. So while you might have a wait to find them, I'm sure when you do there's won't be a clamour driving up prices.

Learn more

No Obligatory Wikipedia page for this one. And to be honest not a load of information out there.

There are a few video interviews with Mark Russell, that I've not had time to watch so you'll have to cross your fingers and plunge in! Mind Mark Russell is always good value and fascinating to listen to so you should be fine.

FanBoy Nation has one.

As does Comic Watchers

Apart from that you'll have to rely on place like Good Reads for folks reflections. Or a Google search will get you some okay reviews.

What is all this?

Conscious that this is becoming a long thread and if you're wondering what the heck you've just read and can't be arsed (quite sensibly) to search back to find out I'll link to my opening posts that try to explain all this.

What this all came from

And of course a nerd won't do a list like this without setting 'Rules' / guidelines

Some thoughts on what will not be on the list.