Messages

Good ones, Van Dom and Richard! I had it in my head the deadline was this Sunday coming... but it looks like it was yesterday! Forgot to enter the competition when it was my own theme!

In much the same way that i'd compulsively buy any book or magazine that featured a piece on carpenter's film, because i'm always interested in new thinking and opinion on what is surely one of the greatest movies ever made

Have to agree... not just one of the greatest horror films ever, but one of the greatest films full stop. To be honest, watching the trailer made me want to go and stick the Carpenter dvd on... don't think I've given it an airing this year.

They're b & w, phonebook-style. Colour collections... nothing in-print that I am aware of re: the Reavers stories, though I'm pretty sure there's a colour collection of the Infero stuff (which falls in the middle of the Australia era) out there, plus definitely earlier stuff like the Mutant Massacre.

I assume the Reavers/X-Men run has been collected in a trade. Anyone know what it's in?

It's in Essential X-Men 8 & 9. The first Reavers story is the first issue in 8.

The Reavers were great. Until they turned up in The Punisher and he put on some stupid exo-skeleton armour type thing to fight them. I loved (and still do) that Punisher series but that bit stank.

My friend was a big Punisher fan at the time, but those were the only two issues I bought, 'cos the Reavers were in 'em. In a rather nice continuity touch, in a later Jim Lee-era issue of X-Men (I think it's the one where Rogue returns) we see Prettyboy wearing The Punisher's shirt, with a red circle with a line through it painted over the skull. But yeah, the Reavers were brilliant. They crucified Wolverine! And not metaphorically, either.

My personal Claremont highpoint is the Australia-era and the destruction of the team. As has been suggested, Claremont is (was) very good at creating a real sense of peril, and the way the X-Men get whittled down to the point of irrelevancy (deliberately so) is one of my favourite aspects of this era. Rogue goes through the Siege Perilous, Longshot quits, Logan's too busy taking care of his own business, Havok accidentally 'kills' Storm – they're falling to pieces as a team, but their struggle to fight on is very appealing. Their foes in this era, the Reavers, come across as extremely menacing and very, very dangerous, and the bit when they advance on the hopelessly outgunned and isolated X-Men (down to just Dazzler, Havok, Colossus and Psylocke by this point), ready to kill them, is one of the high points. (Of course, Psylocke telepathically manipulates the other three into going through the Siege Perilous to be reborn – the team is forced into the most complete act of running away it's possible to engage in.) Love it.

[shudder]

Wasn't there a. ... shudder Funeral For a Friend one as well?

Yeah, I was looking through some back issues the other day and stumbled upon it, lying in wait like a scorpion in a cowboy's boot. But not as cool.

Got my copy yesterday (cheers Van Dom!), haven't had a chance to give it the attention it fully deserves, but on a first skim through, I'm mighty impressed. Gorgeous art, mad stories, lots of variety in both the visuals and the story-telling styles, and really professional-looking. Lovely stuff - congrats to all involved! Proper in-depth review to follow when I've had a proper, intensive read-through. (Favourite at present is the Gryphon story though.) For any other boarders yet to commit though, it's worth yer time and cash, folks, for the cover alone.

In principle, I think having Namor in the X-Men is actually quite a good idea - he is a mutant, after all. Namor's a great character - like Dr. Strange and Nick Fury, he's a pillar of the Marvel Universe but he can't seem to sustain his own series, so it's as well to utilise him on a team (the Avengers is probably the most obvious home for him, and of course he has been a member.)

However, if I like the idea in principle, in execution it has not been so well handled. All he seems to do is chase Emma Frost (he likes blondes and they had a retconned liaison in her Hellfire Club days) and boast about his sexual prowess.

I owe you big time for this, Pete - ticks an important box for me, this one.

A pleasure sir! It was hard to let it go but it was worth it for those photos of you in the bath...

I'd long suspected this was the secret of ming's collection... but now I wonder if Pete trades his own special tub-time snaps to pay for all those commissions? 

Ordered! (Nice cover!)

Clearly Murdoch is simply taking a leaf out of DC Comics's book... it'll be relaunched with a new #1 and a suitably vague connection to previous continuity. And v-necks. 

In keeping with the recent play-by-play detailing of what writers are up to, I'm going to go stick on my old Autopsy vinyl for inspiration. Or maybe 'Reek of Putrefaction'. Must... think self... into brain of Chris Reifert.

Ooh, Autopsy on vinyl?! Seriously? I love Reek of Putrefaction, but Necroticism is one of my top DM of all time!!!

Yeah, I've got Severed Survival (the Kev Walker cover art version, to throw in a 2000AD link), Fiend For Blood and Acts of the Unspeakable on vinyl, the latter with its brilliantly perverted Bosch-esque gatefold. That's the one I stuck on for inspiration. I would agree that Necrotism is the crowning glory of Carcass's back catalogue ('A body is committed to a public mortuary.....'), though I love Reek's horrible, gargling, primitive nastiness.

Fantastic, that was just what I was looking for.  Thanks Greg M

The uniform colouring for judges from both locations looks to be identical to all intents and purposes.

Is the star on the belt buckle and hat the same colour as the eagle that it sits on?  Or is it coloured reminiscent of the stars and stripes on the MC1 Judge equivalent or something?

No probs. In this story, the star on the belt and hat is exactly the same colour as the eagle.

Had a quick look at Texas City Sting in CF17 for you... the uniform really is pretty much the same except the belt buckle has a star on it, as TB says, and the stetson has an eagle with a star on it too. Weirdly, not one of the Texas City judges uses a gun in the story but we see 'em in boot holsters. Here's part of a panel for you: