Whats everyone reading?

[Colin YNWA]

Yike meant to mention this a couple of weeks ago but forgot. I'm currently slowly working through 'DC Comics Chronicle'. Its a really beautiful DnK book, hardcover in a slip case and all that produced as part of DC's 75th Anniversary last year. The reason I particularly wanted to mention it here was that I picked it up from Sheffield's The Works for a measly £12.99 rrp £35. So if this is the type of thing that floats your boat (and it is mine) might be worth checking out you local works and see if they have a copy in.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DC-Comics-Chronicle-Alan-Cowsill/dp/1405350806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310023721&sr=8-1

[mogzilla]

Just picked up a huge book on preston flea market.
Cartoon aid : a huge tome full of cartoon strips for band aid which i missed the first time

asides from
JUDGE DREDD :pingboing wizard there are loads of gems including
mickey mouse
lucky luke
snake!
hagar the horrible
winnie the pooh
tom and jerry
alley oop
gummi bears
superman
garfield
alias the jester
cwaig and mike
pink panther
paddington bear
archie
the spectacular spider-man
peanuts
rupert
star bears
batman
bugs bunny
fred basett
asterix
top cat
frank sidebottom
the incredible hulk
basil the great mouse detective
captain america
the far side
dennis the menace and gnasher
superted
masters of the universe
the muppet show
desperate dan
tin tin :the complete black island
flintstones

and many more!!!

only £3...

[HOO-HAA]

Geez, Mog. How many pages?

[mogzilla]

i aint counting them!

its a4 size and about the same thickness of the early case files! though probably thicker,its hefty!

[mogzilla]

and as im reading it a bit more i noticed alias the jester is drawn (or doodled might be a better description ) by none other than arthur ranson!

[zombemybabynow]

just read dc flashpoint #3 - have never seen anything so interestly done with  superman for years
ps. spoiler [spoiler]it's always brill seeing a super hero regain their powers ie. the flash[/spoiler]

[SmallBlueThing]

'Venus' by Ben Bova.

Now, im quite enamoured with Mr Bova's 'Grand Tour of the Solar System' series- some, such as the 'Mars' Trilogy, 'Titan', and 'Jupiter' are among my favourite reads of the last few years. And im quite okay with him bringing in characters and themes from his 'Asteroid Wars' books as well, as it all (mostly) fits together beautifully, giving a consistent 'future history' of Man's exploration of our nearest neighbours. Plus, you learn loads of fab space facts along the way.

But 'Venus'... Never was the word "meh" so appropriate. It's like he's writing two books at once, and this one is where he dumps all his clichéd characters and exposition. We have a gruff pirate captain and his crew of almost-racist Asian rockrats. We have a puny weed hero who's on a quest, and has a Very Bad Very Rich father who squats over the book affecting all the characters in turn. And we have yet more biological entities in the last place you'd think of looking for them. Im 300 pages in; which has taken weeks, and they're still orbiting the bloody planet, no closer to their goal.

October sees his Jupe sequel 'Leviathans of Jupiter' go to paperback, which i am more than a little excited about. But this- oh grud, this, this is as slow and hellish as the world he describes.

SBT

[HOO-HAA]

VICTIMS by Shaun Hutson. It's all about Laymon and Hutson in this house: my ghoulfiend and I are both interchangeably reading these two veterans and loving it.

Oh, and did you hear? Hutson's been commissioned to write three of the new Hammer imprint's movie adaptations, starting with TWINS OF EVIL.

In other news, just finished Marvel's SECRET WARS as donated very kindly by fellow boarder, Dandontdare. A fun albeit outrageous read. Mostly a trip down memory lane, but some nice ideas and character development - in an 80s kind of way.   

[Professor Bear]

Did Hutson write that one about the saint's bones that revive the dead and some gangsters come back as zombies?  I recall reading that when I was 10 or so and it's remained with me as being one of the worst things I had ever read - Exhibit A in my brain as to how you can't disguise bad writing with lots of squick.

Currently reading Death Got No Mercy by board and prog regular Al Ewing.  It's not quite as unhinged as Zombo or Al's small press work, though I imagine there's only so much he can do with the inherited post-apocalyptic setting.  The sample of another Afterblight book at the back of it left me unfussed about checking out any other entries in the series, but this one's a decent page turner.

[Richmond Clements]

Currently reading Death Got No Mercy by board and prog regular Al Ewing.  It's not quite as unhinged as Zombo or Al's small press work, though I imagine there's only so much he can do with the inherited post-apocalyptic setting.  The sample of another Afterblight book at the back of it left me unfussed about checking out any other entries in the series, but this one's a decent page turner.

I'm almost finished Kill or Cure in the Afterblight omnibus edition- Al's book is up next.

[HOO-HAA]

Did Hutson write that one about the saint's bones that revive the dead and some gangsters come back as zombies?  I recall reading that when I was 10 or so and it's remained with me as being one of the worst things I had ever read - Exhibit A in my brain as to how you can't disguise bad writing with lots of squick.

Could well have done. Haven't read it, mind.

'll be honest, I always had suspected Hutson would be a terrible read, based on what I've heard. Alas, the books of his I've grabbed thus far have been very entertaining indeed. In fact, I've belted through them. And so has my ghoulfiend, who's reading his RENEGADES as I type.     

[HdE]

I'm currently reading a trade collection of 'X men: The End' by Chris Claremont.

I just...don't get Claremont. I mean... I know the guy has fans, but so much of this stuff comes off as random and devoid of structure. I picked this up thinking 'That has potential to be cool,' but... it's really not.

[SmallBlueThing]

I'm currently reading a trade collection of 'X men: The End' by Chris Claremont.

I just...don't get Claremont. I mean... I know the guy has fans, but so much of this stuff comes off as random and devoid of structure. I picked this up thinking 'That has potential to be cool,' but... it's really not.

As a young teenager, I idolised Chris Claremont. That run on X-Men with John Byrne and then Paul Smith and John Romita Jnr (with poor old Dave Cockrum threaded through) was absolute bliss from the age of about twelve to fifteen. It's such monumental tragic/Romantic hogsbollocks, that I defy any teenager not to fall for it. It was our version of Twilight. Wordy, with crap characters and massive pronouncements of undying love, the returned dead and a big fight every issue.

A few years ago I bought Essential XMen 1, to see what the adult me thought of it, and- well, basically it's the only one of Marvel's black and white Essentials series that I've given to my youngest as a colouring book.

SBT

[TordelBack]

You're playing my tune, SBT!  I loved Claremont's X-Men when I was a teenager, for all the reasons you cite, but subsequent re-reads were near agony, and I really cannot handle any of his newer stuff.  His '80s New Mutants OTOH hold up quite well.

[SmallBlueThing]

Ive got a few of his new mutants from back then, and yeah i think the characters were just that bit more interesting. Especially the demon bear saga he did with bill sinkywinkywankywitch. I also loved his early captain britains; which on recent reread i thought didnt stand up so much as wobble about groping for purchase, but were fun all the same.
But those xmen... I utterly fell for the whole jean grey saga, and that paul smith issue when scott meets her looky likey at the airport long after her death- well, that fuelled a years worth of tragic girlfriendless unread poetry. The hellfire club, wolverine in japan, magick the limited series, happy happy times. But my grud, reading it now is like being forced to read an unending stream of a fourteen year old's facebook statuses, after they've been dumped.
SBT