Topics

I'm not a massive fan of Armoured Gideon but the cover does do the character justice.  I think though that some of the comments about the prog being a bit of a mixed bag might be applicable again.  Dredd finishes off nicely and McConville has produced a serviceable script for Manco's artwork.

I'm in the 'not really feeling the current series of the Order' camp.  Burns' artwork is as sumptuous as ever but I'm not really sure what the hell is going on here.  Perhaps I need to go back and give it a re-read.  The 3rillers is another tale that has left me cold.  A cliched turn hasn't helped matters.  Maybe the final denouement will help change my mind.

Mechastopheles is another strip I'm hoping will shape up into something more than it is at the moment.  Richardson's artwork continues to serve well and there are some interesting ideas.  It's a bit exposition heavy but not OTT.

Grey Area shows Harrison's strengths and there's an interesting colour pallet in play.  The episode is a bit jarring as the story takes a dramatic turn to develop the plot.  Other than commenting that there are one or two elements that could be construed as cliched, it is probably best to say very, very little about events until the prog hits the shops.  All I will say is that for me, this is the other highlight of the prog.

So, glancing at Multiversity today, they had an article about Dark Horse's upcoming solicitations.  Not being completely with it, I misread it as "Disney Frozen and Predator" as a single title.  Now part of me was thinking, WTF, and another was thinking, that would be a mashup to enjoy!  Considering how staid and boring comics seem to be becoming, more of that sort of thing would make for fun times, no?

I know that this is on Tooth's twitter feed but for the non-Twitterati amongst us, I don't know how many are aware of what the Simone Tweet on the homepage is all about.  Reading the JustGiving page , looks like they're not having the best of times at present (.... and the award for understatement of the year goes to ...).  I'm sure folks will respond accordingly and that everyone's thoughts, prayers and whatever practical support as is possible will be with them.

Ponty has it's own con at last!  Tidy!

Limited information at present, mind

My daughter is stoked to see what this is like.  Reasonably priced too.

Just got to part 2 of Strontium Dog: The Final Solution as part of my intermittent prog slog.  Reading the text from the first page:

"New Britain 2180.  A nation divided.  On one side, the norms, the ordinary people, the ones with jobs, homes hopes and aspirations ... And on the other, mutants, the genetically impure, the ones with hovels, welfare vouchers and crushed dreams ... the ones with nothin.  A nation which has been ruled by the political right for as long as anyone can remember ... A nation where extremists prosper, and decent men mind their own business .."

I think the digits were in the wrong order  - 2180 - 2018.  Otherwise, scarily prescient.

I think that it is fair to say that the new cover prints initiative really comes into it's own this month with McCarthy's work.  His psychedelic worldview is perfectly suited to Baillie's script and starts us off nicely. 

Krong wraps itself up in what is possibly the weakest part of the meg.  Nice to see Heston getting his just rewards and the Court of Owls ending does seem a little contrived but I'm willing to be converted in the future.

The Returners continues to confuse nicely.  A team of complete misfits put together for who knows what purpose?  A lot of cliched posturing but it's starting to show a bit more promise so here's to what comes next.

I guess for those complaining about Ezquerra 'phoning it in' for Stront, Koburn is probably the strongest argument in their favour since the maestro shows his true flair.

Then we wrap up with 2012movieworld Dredd, with Flint once again delivering in spades.  These Dark Judges show how disturbing they really are, Dredd struggles with the full force of their might and it looks like Anderson is really struggling with these guys.  Wyatt and DiCampi have definitely succeeded in making the DJ's fearsome again (okay, so has Kendall and co but that's another story).

Razorjack though really does read like something half way through the story.  Higgins' artwork is outstanding and the story works but I'm minded of one of the earliest editions of Sandman that has a text introduction talking about walking into a film part way through.  Yet it is touted as a prologue tale.  Maybe it's me then.  Thinking that this is something I should be familiar with off the back of ComiX.  It works well and does leave me wanting more which is surely a good thing.

This month's floppy though is probably the icing on the cake.  The Nemesis monologue makes for a pleasant change and is probably the best forum for such a dissertation.  Granted there is a lot already written about the genesis and gestation of the character but it is still nice to have it as a complete text.  This is speaking as an owner of both editions of TPO.  It would be nice to see more of this sort of thing.  Granted Dredd has been done to death but Halo Jones would be a prime candidate for this treatment.  It would be a real treat to hear from the likes of Beeby, Moore et al how they viewed the character, commentary on the new colorised version, even a new analysis from Mr Moore himself.  I'm sure Mr Mills could be persuaded to write a monologue on Slaine and ABC to help those of us confused as hell about where we are at (let's face it, ABC continuity baffles most Chaos theory experts).  If push comes to shove, no before then, commission Hibernia to do some of their outstanding work on Tooth related stuff.  It's been nice to have a supplement that hasn't been flicked through then shoved in a box until someone starts searching it out.

Well, with the impending loss of a job it's looking like I'm going to have to make a few hard choices so I'm going to start with the low hanging fruit in the best tradition of our glorious government.  I have a full run of the 1976 / 77 that is in need of a new home.  Issue 1 has a tear to the front cover but issue 2 has the Hookjaw iron on transfer. 

To sweeten the pot, this also includes the Martin Barker History with the reprint of the pulped issue along with the 1977 Summer Special.  A number of issues have the usual newsagents markings on but other than the first issue, none of the others suffers from any major defects.  All are bagged and boarded.

This is an interesting part of tooth's history and it is with reluctance that I'm parting with it but necessity is the mother of intention.  I'm looking for £250 which is pretty much average based on recent ebay sales and would be willing to travel for collection / delivery to try and minimise delivery costs.

One of my biggest problems post revival with Alpha has been the coldness of the character.  To me there was always a warmth at the depth of him.  He may well have been a cold and calculating killer but the calculation was often in terms of the impact of not following through on his actions.  The Doc Quince case is probably the strongest example of his morality, something that seems lacking following his return to the land of the living.

Except, re-reading rage and Incident on Mayger Minor, I wonder if I've missed something.  There is a coldness to him even here.  Tempered granted, but even so he seems to lack that something that he had previously.  So now I find myself re-evaluating some of the more recent stories.  I wonder if I forgot how much of an impact Wulf's death had on him in those final years and how much of that has carried through to now.  Certainly it would explain his attitude towards Wulf's son.

Lots to ponder.

Just seen these listed and for a moment I was seriously tempted.  Then noticed that they were paperback.  Gah!

Guys, get a hardback edition of these out and you've got one confirmed double dipper straight off.

An impressive cover for an equally impressive prog.  Dredd seems to be setting Pin up as a new Edgar, although perhaps I'm misreading things.  Jaegir continues to evolve nicely and Sinister Dexter is another exercise in punch-line establishment that it tends to do best.  Anderson draws us further in.  Can't remember if we've seen Echo before or when and not so sure about how Karyn ended up where she did.  Then we round out with Stront which has a nice old-school feel to it as more of the set up is established.  Dreaming of Wulf's death may point to the reason behind Alpha's hostility but there seems to have been an edge to him that wasn't there before the death.


... and as for the art; Weston, Coleby, Yeowell, Roach, Ezquerra ... all on fine form.  Another treat.

Is anyone else getting a completely blank thrill mail?  Last couple I've received are just a black blank and nothing seems to download.  Odd.

Like quite a few boarders, I've purchased quite a few items from the Tooth shop.  May well be that i've been fortunate but I've always been privileged to receive first rate service from them.  Which is why I was slightly more than a little surprised when the bookplate Fall of Deadworld I ordered failed to arrive.  This is where I've discovered exactly what their service is like.  No quibble, no fuss, no arguments, just got on and sorted it out.  Then the replacement failed to materialise!  Wondered if there was something odd going on and got in touch.  Again.  No problems, no arguments, just got on and sorted it out.  I'm going to single out Oliver for his sterling service here and heartily recommend them.  Not that this is anything new to most of us but I do think it's a welcome reminder of how well served we've been over the years and long may it continue.

Cheers Guys.

This is most likely a really daft request but does anyone happen to have a copy of this publication from Hibernia that they would be willing to part with for a reasonable price?

Hope everyone has a great one.  All the best to you all.

Just wondering if anyone else ordered this, had a dispatch email and has actually received theirs yet?  IIRC something similar happened with either Last American or Summer Magic where there was quite a lag between the email and delivery.  Not so much a case of the mail service from the Oort Cloud as it was that the email was automatically generated when someone was thinking about packing the books and there was still quite a delay before they got round to sending them.  Not completely willing to discount the posties mind as I'm still waiting on the most recent Mega Collection volumes which seem to take longer and longer to arrive each month. Seriously questioning whether I want to carry on past 80, but that's another discussion altogether.

Seeing the news on this, I have to admit to being a tad torn.  Including the colour spreads makes it a bit tempting but then again the Titan Hardbacks (missing poppy notwithstanding) are a thing of beauty.  Now if Rebellion had decided to release a hardback 100th Anniversary edition with the colour spreads, as a box set even, then I'd have my slightly well worn kidney on eBay in a heartbeat.

1.  Everything is either 15 reasons .... or 15 memes ...

Actually, you know what, that's it!  Used to be vaguely interesting and had the odd snippet of news (okay, stuff I hadn't seen by that point).  Now it just seems to be poorly constructed click bait.  Or am I just being overly cynical?

Stumbled across this little gem this morning. Looks like a nice little line up for the new year.  The meg listing looks especially enticing. Solicitations for January for tooth.  MovieDredd Dark Judges, Cursed Earth Koburn, Lawless ... oh my!

Okay, so here is the challenge.  To generate a thread solely by the use of bizarrely associated lyrics.  What can the hive mind come up with to move the thread forward?

"Here I stand, foot in hand, talking to my wall."

Talk about a major nostalgia fest.

This has got to be the greatest idea to date.