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Think I read the space turtle one about 20 years ago - absolute excellence until the space turtle arrives. And the underage orgy, for that matter 

I really hated Garth's run on Dredd - sometimes my dislike of it probably crossed over into the irrational; I just really resented that John Wagner had been replaced by someone who was clearly inexperienced and didn't really seem to understand the nuances so meticulously put in place in the preceding years.  I remember I knew someone from my student days who was a mate of Garth's, and I really hoped I wouldn't have to meet him and pretend that I liked his stuff.

Nowadays, I honestly think he's one of the best writers comics has to offer.  The likes of Crossed, for all its lurid violence and depravity, is for me at least a profoundly moving look at how human relationships endure in the face of horror.

Speaking of which, I'm reading Stephen King's The Stand for the first time.  I've really lost my reading habit and tried to get back into it with Alan Moore's Jerusalem, but my brain just isn't ready for that yet, so I've given up and gone with something less taxing.

The Stand is great, though, it really is.  It's very different from how I imagined it to be - in fact it's more like the Walking Dead without the zombies, and without the repetitiveness.

I hadn't heard of that, not having sprogs myself, but I've just looked it up.  Genius!

I've reached an age where some of my peers are banging on about how 'soft' the younger generation are, as if our generation had to endure the trenches or the Blitz rather than play Nintendo games and watch Bullseye.

(The high school I attended didn't have open gayness. That's because open gayness was unsafe, not because nobody was gay.)

Same here. Funnily enough, not 5 minutes I was messaging an old friend from primary school. When we were about ten he told me to put my hand on my hip with one hand then pretend to bounce a tennis ball with the other, before telling our peers to 'look at the gay boy'. I had no idea what he meant.

He's happily married to another man these days. How far we've come.

Sorry, a bit off topic, and more about growing up in the 80s than growing up in the countryside, though I did both.

for a pack of comic nerds we're surprisingly non-toxic.

Sez you, fuck-face.

 

Except this forum!

Aye, there's the odd spat of course, but for a pack of comic nerds we're surprisingly non-toxic.

I like that cover and also appreciate the Tharg covers. Actually thought it was Boo Cook at first glance.

I'd like to see a similar, religion-themed cover with the caption 'Come fry ...AAGGGHH', but that's why Tharg is Tharg and I'm not.

Thanks Funt, appreciate the comprehensive answer to my question.  And yeah, I suppose I'm a bit stuck in my Liberal bubble and shy away from the reality that there are a lot of bigots and / or gullible people out there.

The people I know on this side of the Atlantic who like him, Christ help us all, generally fall into the gullible camp (though of course there's no shortage of bigotry here either).  They've either gone down QAnon-style internet rabbit holes about paedophilia cover-ups, or bought into the idea that 'woke'='bad' and the Democrats are somehow all about spreading woke ideology.  Or they believe the Democrats are somehow far-left Marxists, even though they're to the right of the most right-wing mainstream parties here. Though we're catching up, sadly.

Looks lovely - Simpson at his best there. (I count three unrelated British comic strips called Nemesis now - someone needs to write a tie-in to the 48k Spectrum game now to make four.)

Good god. I'm genuinely dreading this year's US election. You might have a better insight than I do, Funt, living stateside- what the hell do people see in him?  As far as I can see he hasn't got a single redeeming quality.

It sounds brilliant.  I'm looking forward to it, but the premise also scares the bejesus out of me, given the real situation across the pond right now.

Well, that was feckin awesome- not one but two of your podcasts to listen to!  I've missed you guys a lot - been looking forward to the return for a very long time.

And thanks for answering my question! Weird how full bondage gear with a baby's dummy is fine, but full bondage gear with a ballgag isn't. Crazy how the prog progressed from Rico Dredd saying 'darn it', presumably to avoid the d-word, to printing an image of the crucified Jesus with an ersatz stiffy.

Also, I always wondered if Annie and Steve Parkhouse were a couple, so thanks for clearing that up too! I was just last night reading the Luke Kirby story he illustrated with watercolour and ink - I'm probably alone in saying it's an overlooked classic and Steve's best work ever. And Annie's insights into the comic industry were genuinely fascinating.

Anyway I'm delighted to have you both back - looking forward to more!

Possibly a bit more Lord Flashheart.

I've just listened to a sample of the Nemesis audiobook.  Torquemada sounds pretty good when he's shouting in righteous indignation.  Nemesis only says 'credo' in the sample- kind of a well-spoken but forceful posh lad. It's fine, but I doubt I'll be buying the audiobook.