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Best packaging effort yet from Hachette. I order four books. What's delivered: a card envelope minus the books.

Isn't his argument that comics are now too middle class and that the industry has given up, and that he has the tools and knowledge to unlock comics for a new generation of working-class kids, or something like that?

I mean, he's not wrong in that comics are no longer a mass-market concern. And their circulations have dropped to the point they are out of reach of many families. But then a £10 Spacewarp is hardly fighting against that particular problem. Which leaves, I dunno, attitude? But if people have been reading The Phoenix and even the modern Beano and arguing that it's far too 'safe', I'm not sure they've been paying attention.

Half the time, old men just appear to be rallying against the increased inclusion (and the drop in bullying) in modern comics, and ignoring all the other changes that chime with the current generation. (I even see people arguing that modern cartoons aren't allowed to be rude and anarchic. And my response is: have you read Looshkin?)

If nothing else, interesting to see the gulf in a (weekly) comic ten-year-olds are excited about reading (to the degree there's even an annual convention now, along with regular video drawalong sessions with the likes of Jess Bradley and Jamie Smart) and (a very irregular) one that's ostensibly aimed at the same age bracket, but really feels like it's aimed at people who were ten somewhere between 1976 and 1983.

I'm sure Spacewarp has its fans, and I'm all for more comics. But perhaps it's not a great idea to bang on about it being some kind of panacea to the country's shortfall in children's comics, given that it failed to hit an affordable price point and disappeared for four years. (I've no idea whether the content struck a chord with kids. I've no way of knowing that for sure.)

Talking of the Phoenix, mini-Solo greatly enjoyed their April Fools issue.

The Spoons issue last year was a masterstroke. Mini-IP was young enough that it did actually catch her out. She was ready for this year's gag, but appreciated their dedication to all things egg. I bloody love that comic. During the rare occasions I get to see it. (Mini-IP sometimes takes pity on me and suggests I read Bunny vs Monkey or something. But I haven't read No Country in weeks now.)

Be fair, Gordon: it's perfectly standard between issues of a comic to wait a mere *checks notes* four... years...

Yeah. My 9yo gets antsy when her Phoenix is a day late.

That's the thing with Dredd: everyone likes different stuff. I quite often see people asking for the best starting point, and it's hard to reply. I mean, what are their expectations? There's a world of difference between classic-era Dredd and The Pit, and then again compared to what we have now.

Also, Dredd often works best in the smaller moments rather than the epics. And many of the epics only hit home when you've some context behind them. So I don't think America or Origins are goods start points. Case Files 5 isn't too bad, because at least you do have a bunch of strips before you get to the epic. But I'd almost be tempted to point people at 6 or 7 first, if they fancy some old-school Dredd.

I wonder what would be a good intro to more modern Dredd. 35? (Block Court; Sin City) 40? (Total War kicking things off might be a bit much, mind!) 41? (Some nice strips, including Mandroid.) 44?

From what I can tell, folks from the US in particular have a very hard time getting into 2000 AD. It's black and white. The storytelling is staccato and dense. And the early Dredd doesn't really fit  expectations. It doesn't help that it took the team until its second year to figure out what the character was. And even then, you get quite a lot of hokey Dredd for a time.

So, yeah, I can see a lot of folks buying Case Files 1, wondering what all the fuss was about, and then going no further. (It was interesting watching Omar over at Near Mint Condition going through this. Although, curiously, he was also far more receptive to strips by Ennis and Morrison that most of us would consider poor.)

Krazy Kat seems to click with cartoonists. Perhaps it's again that thing of whether you've the inbuilt mentality to be able to place yourself in a certain era or not. (I don't, for the most part. Although I can – and do – enjoy a lot of early Peanuts, and collected the entire run of HCs.)

On the dailies, that notion of slowing down makes a lot of sense. These strips were designed to be enjoyed as quick blasts of fun, rather than as a sit-down treat. (One might argue the same about 2000 AD and even classic-era US comics, before collections blurred the lines.) So I found myself in a similar space when sitting down with Roger Langridge's Diary Comics. I read them a month at a time, because I don't want to burn through them and not appreciate them.

Heh. That'd be amusing. Eight episodes in and Dredd's getting REALLY annoyed at his inability to shake a giant bear. And Moon's sincerely wishing she'd been a massive show-off so Dredd would have picked someone else. But then: shock twist! By the end, Dredd runs into a bunch of super-secret East-Meggers, planning to invade, but the bear tears through them all. To which the only response from Dredd is to make the bear an honorary judge.

(Why, yes, I have been leafing through 1970s and 1980s Dredd and 2000 AD specials. Why do you ask? )

[Dredd]

Nicely realised nostalgia cover. I've no idea if Tharg holds any widespread appeal, but I can't imagine that many characters do, frankly. And I don't really want every 2000 AD cover to be Dredd angrily going GRRR at the reader.

Speaking of, Dredd is probably not someone any judge should agree to go on a mission with, judging by the current fiasco. I'm enjoying this story well enough, though. Then Full Tilt Boogie ends well, but with that ominous strap. Returning for a series finale? I hope that means it just wraps up this arc, rather than the whole thing.

Aquila bursts out of the gate with its bloody fury, while Indigo Prime dodders a bit, even if that a full-page ship image is rather lovely. Then another twist of sorts in Proteus Vex, which remains compelling.

In all a very good Prog, and that looks set to continue next week, given that FTB is being swapped out for Brink.

Oh, and the strap on that star scan: let's hope so. But in a manner where Maitland's own cunning and foresight is the source and reason behind the downfall of those who killed her, rather than Dredd's fists.

Well, as in, if it chose to pursue a set of reprints. It's not like this is unheard of in publishing. I'm not suggesting it could magic up a set of reprints from nowhere.

Maybe a bunch will show up later, as happened with Leviathan. Fingers crossed. I've been phoning around today and none of the places I know that might have had a copy have stock. One local store says their distributor reckons it can get a copy in, but that it won't arrive until late May. I've no idea what that's all about, but I've said fine to that. (If I somehow magically end up with an extra copy, I'll let folks here know, in case anyone still needs one.)

I think you might be very wrong there. Action Force is a dead franchise, while Sonic is very much alive, and IDW currently have the licence to make Sonic comics.

Fair enough. I would have thought under those circumstances the current rights holder could, if it chose, work with the previous one and Sega.

Sonic would surely be somewhat simpler, given that the licenses wouldn't be so complicated.

There's a bit of me wondering whether I need to just bite the bullet and start collecting the floppies (well from the start of the Dark Horse stuff - as any earlier is going to get expensive!) given how much I love what I've read to date...

Or you could buy my box of Usagi Yojimbo trades, which I still haven't got around to selling, and that are a complete run through to before the switch to IDW!

Looking at the terrifying pile of boxes in my office, I really need to start offloading
books again. I haven't sell anything for over a year now. Oops.

Anything that can't be read slumped on the couch is doing something wrong!

For me, the Library Editions are just about OK. I've read those while lying on one of our sofas and kind of balancing the book on my legs/knees. It's not the best, but it's fine.

Also I think I'm the only person in the world who didn't get on with Hellboy.

Hellboy is an odd one for me. I was utterly smitten with it in the early days. The artwork is gorgeous. And I loved its fairytale logic. That run in the Library Editions is one of my favourite of any comics I've read. But. Then I got sucked into BPRD, which started well and ended horribly. Beyond that, the universe expanded to a ludicrous degree.

It was impossible to keep up. Moreover, the focus was gone. Without Mignola's guiding hand, what you get is a little too random for me. Sometimes, it's fantastic. Other times... not so much. So while I used to immediately grab anything remotely Hellboy related, now I'm much more cautious. And the BPRD hardcovers are one more read away from going on the 'for sale' pile, even though I know if I did I'd never be able to buy them again in the future. (Those editions are hen's teeth rare.)