Whats everyone reading?

[judgeblake]

Just read Dredd Case Files Vol. 3 - ending in the first Judge Death case and Anderson's sacrifice, as well as Judge Miny's long walk - sheer brilliant genius!

[GordyM]

Latest comic:

Think Tank #1. A GREAT read about a reluctant weapons designer working for DARPA. Strongest first issue I've seen in a long time.

Latest book:

The Apocalypse Codex - Charles Stross. It's the latest in Stross' 'Bob Howard/The Laundry' series that transplants HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos into the modern day and shows how the British government would try to deal with it (what's worse - fighting Dagon or trying to justify the expenses afterwards?). Can't recommend this series enough.

[Charlie boy]

Just finished John Ajvide Lindqvist's HARBOUR and reached the conclusion I won't be bothering with any of his next releases (which is quite fitting seeing as he's described as "the new Stephen King" and I swore some years back to never read another release of King's...). I'll be starting Jonathan Carroll's KISSING THE BEEHIVE in the next couple of days.

[Professor Bear]

Judge Dredd Case Files 09-14, just to fill in the gaps in my Dredd reading, and it's rather good, isn't it?  The biggest thing I noticed - apart from the liberal use of the word "nips" to refer to anyone Japanese - is after the dissolution of John Wagner's heterosexual writing partnership with Alan Grant and the two go their separate ways, Dredd as a character begins immediately - and I mean literally with the first story after Oz concludes (The Hitman) - to feel lost and old, though tellingly it's only in the Wagner-penned tales that this is anything other than glibness on the part of Dredd or other characters, with this new angst informing almost every character arc leading up to Tale of the Dead Man in which Dredd finally quits.  After Necropolis, of course, Wagner hand-waved the "I feel old" stuff with some rejuve and handing the strip off to pretend-Irishman Garth Ennis and it doesn't really come up much because it was really just a theme running in the background of the strip from Dredd's first doubts about his role in the Judge system that comes with the first real public failure of his authority and his wondering if he's the good guy in his own story that occurs with his hesitation to shoot Chopper in the back at the end of Oz, and it's only twigging for me now why Dredd being old has never interested me much as a story* - after Necropolis, that story is irrelevant because "Dredd being old" has already been done.  More than that, Dredd has doubts (undermining the resolve and certainty of character that defined him since the very beginning of the strip), quits his job and goes off into the wilderness and then dies - there is literally nothing else that can be told in that story, especially as his death doesn't even take and he comes back to his job and in the process literally beats Death.  Dredd getting old is... old.  The only surprise that could possibly come from "the last Judge Dredd story" is if he retires to raise a family and dies happy.
Anyhoo, that being said, the transitionary volume is probably CF12, where Wagner began to take control of Dredd and his world and Grant settled into filler tales and setup for Anderson solo stories.  From this point on, it's Wagner's baby and the tone begins to shift as Dredd becomes contemplative and rather than softening his image as a hard nut it just underscores the brutality and injustice of his world.  These five volumes are a hefty chunk of solid-gold storytelling with some gorgeous artwork to match and strange but true, I never used to care much for Cam Kennedy as an artist, but looking through his contribution to Dredd has me wondering what I was on at the time, as his draftsmanship elevates even politically-incorrect crud like the Seven Samurai stuff into something sublime, while The Big Sleep is just perfect.  I know we've lost Cam to the ravages of time, but to me this just says we need to encourage more clones - maybe break that Dwyer kids' legs so he can't go to America to do them Star Wars comics.**  There's the inevitable duff artistic note from the revolving door policy in place for 2000ad's flagship character, but hey, when you're competing with hundreds of Cam Kennedy pages on either side, you're doing well if you come out of it without people outright hating you.

If I have a gripe, it's that there's not much Cursed Earth or Undercity in this run, but I suppose that part of Dredd's world had already been built and stuff like Oz, Banana City and Our Man In Hondo was arguably now necessary.  Fantastic stuff, all the same.



*Apart from the fact that he's been yapping about being over the hill since 1988 - 24 fucking years ago.
**JK.  Obv.

[Colin YNWA]

Just finished the four trades of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitches 'The Ultimates' (I promise I do read 'real' books as well, just never have as much to say about them!) and its bloody infuriating, it shows everything that I drives me nuts about Mark Millar... its not that I don't enjoy it... well kinda, its just that at times it drives you to distraction.

Millar plots a wonderfully tight action story. At times he uses some smart ideas fleshed out with sassy, sharp dialogue. He even creates some fantastic character moments and some real emotional punch. Its just that he can't bloody rein himself in. All the individual stories are by far and away at their strongest in the early stages, during the quieter, set up when everything is more human and restrained. When he focuses on character and people he has some pretty great moments (though I'll return to that). Its just when ever everything gets going he just goes over the top and things just get silly. This set pieces at the end are certainly action packed, its all very dramatic, its all just so overblown and 'staged' that it really gets a little dull. So many 'moments' so many points where I felt I was meant to be blown away that by the end they were washing over me. He even allows that sort of stuff to creep into this quieter stuff.

When Iron Man proposes to Nastasha its with 3 million people spelling out his desire. Its such a straightforward demonstration of 'look, look how someone like Tony Stark would deal with this moment' I can imagine him so satisfied with himself, thinking how smart he was with that one (note I said imagine, I have no idea) but its a bit rubbish. See over all 3 million is just too carried away, I know its meant to be overblown and BIG but why make it so much so as to jerk the reader out of the story (or this reader at least). Also its a crappy character moment. If this relationship is so different wouldn't be act different. I guess the counter to that might be to say since he doesn't know how to really handle how he feels he just hides behind this grandeur. That loses impact for me and cheapens something  that we see time and again Stark (this Stark) is able to deal with in different ways.

For me the whole thing is in many ways summed up by the 8 page gatefold (was it 8, or more?) spread of the Ultimates fighting in the last book. It expertly crafted, it takes some taking it, its staggering. It has impact and some really smart touches. But when it comes to the storytelling its pretty annoying. The amount of time spent looking at it, this captured moment, takes away the speed and kinetic energy of the instant it represents and the power of the battle. Its self indulgent and defeats its purpose.

The number of big moments this series has really does set this in my mind as Millar doing a big movie in a comic (and I don't think he disputes this?) the trouble is he forgets its a comic. Often said about Mr Millar but no more evident (well aside from the bit of Nemesis I read in Clint) that here.

Silly, infuriating if fun nonsense.

[Zarjazzer]

Starblazer a 1980's British b&w comic by DC Thompson i'd never heard of it but it had fine art but a very old school style story of space knights maaahnn.

Priests of Mars a wh40k book ok but not much happens until well into the book. Not finished it yet but I'm wondering if this is some trilogy or two parter.

Hellboy Storm and the fury-I found it odd, parts were great but it seemed full of deux ex machina magic swords turning up just at the right time, etc. Genuinely original yet it seemed as though too much was left up in the air.

[Tjm86]

The Apocalypse Codex - Charles Stross. It's the latest in Stross' 'Bob Howard/The Laundry' series that transplants HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos into the modern day and shows how the British government would try to deal with it (what's worse - fighting Dagon or trying to justify the expenses afterwards?). Can't recommend this series enough.

Couldn't agree more, although this one seems to have a more mature voice than some of the earlier in the series.  I constantly find myself amazed at how versatile Stross is as a writer.  He strays from this to alternate history / parallel earth to murder mystery to hard si fi.  For me the weakest stuff was the Merchant Prince stuff.  Can't really put my finger on what it was about it that didn't sit great just came away feeling like I wasn't really reading Stross.

Currently on Macauley's 400 billion stars.  Read Fairyland a long time ago and enjoyed it, picked up Eternal Light and couldn't get on with it until I realised that it was a sequel.  Good read, interesting ideas.  Will see if I get on with Eternal Light any better.

That plus The Rat Pack courtesy of our friends at Titan who are now hammering my bank balance with their reprint series.  Superb!

[Charlie boy]

Just finished Jonathan Carroll's excellent Kissing the Beehive, another great by the man responsible for Voice of Our Shadow and The Land of Laughs.
"(Carroll) has the magic. He'll lend you his eyes; and you'll never see the world in quite the same way ever again" - Neil Gaiman

[Keef Monkey]

Reading Nemesis for the first time! I've actually had Volume 2 sitting there for a while (Tharg sent it for printing my letter) but only just got round to picking up the first. Really enjoying it, it's pretty inventive stuff and loads of fun. I particularly like that his head is the same shape as the Blitzspear, looks awesome. The first few episodes have a real sense of Shakara about them too.

Also reading book 3 of The Lost Fleet and it's the best one yet, and after that I've got that new Dredd e-novel by Matt Smith to read. Good times.

[radiator]

Just finished the first book of Orc Stain - I thought it was great, excellent writing and art.

There aren't many comics I follow these days apart from 2000ad, but this is now one of them.

[Mardroid]

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King.

I like novellas. (Although the word seems a bit naff.) A nice size - large enough to be substantial but not too padded out.

So far a great read. I haven't quite finished it yet (I'm on A Good Marriage and it's quite a cracker) but I enjoyed them all, although I found Fair Extension a bit disappointing. [spoiler]The premise was great but I was hoping for more twists and turns. Like the main character feeling guilty and attempting to renounce his deal with Mr Elvid,  but then the fact that seems to be the obvious route is probably the reason King decided not to got there. It's just after the first twist (and it was a good 'un) there seemed little more.[/spoiler]

All in all a good read. I think my favourites are Big Driver, and possibly this one, although it's too early to tell yet and there's one more story to go.

[judgefloyd]

I like novellas. (Although the word seems a bit naff.) A nice size - large enough to be substantial but not too padded out.

Just call them 'smaller novels'.  Leslie Charteris, who wrote the Saint stories, said he wrote his to be long enough to fill in the time spent waiting for the wife to get ready for a formal party. 

Me, I'm reading:
- The Book of Damiel - biblical mentalness, combining the stories about the lions' den, throwing people in fires with weird allegorical dreams and bits of God-praising songs
- The London Review of Books - never miss it. recent issues reveal that Gandhi wasn't as nice and wise as is popularly assumed
- United States by Gore Vidal - can't wait to get up to the essays on Edith Nesbit, Rice Burroughs and Baum
- World Shaper - bunch of Doctor Six Who comics with Doc 6, an unrecognizable Peri and the penguin dude.

[HdE]

Continuing my retro -comics kick by reading through the first volume of IDW's 'Transformers Classics', which re-prints the old Marvel comics run from the '80s.

Actually, quite surprisingly, some of this is really good fun. And some of it, like a double page spread where the characters all stand around talking and introducing themselves by name and improbably carping on about their powers and abilities (and shelf price and points of articulation), is dreadful.

I ALSO have one of the companion volumes, which contains reprinted UK-originated material that was commissioned to fill out the publishing schedule over here. I dipped into that and read the story 'Man Of Iron', which Transformers fans have told me for ages is a supposedly incredible piece of era-defining fiction. It's not. Although, it is indeed very, VERY good.

I've been balancing out the retro stuff by reading the first collected edition of Deadpool and Cable. Bonkers stuff, and too fast-paced for my liking, but great fun! It also contains some Rob Liefeld cover illustrations that - SHOCKINGLY - aren't laughably hideous.

[PreacherCain]

Just finished the first book of Orc Stain - I thought it was great, excellent writing and art.

There aren't many comics I follow these days apart from 2000ad, but this is now one of them.

Stokoe's a bit of a 2000AD fan apparently. Really hoping the House of Tharg can convince him to do a cover or an episode of Dredd or Rogue Trooper someday!

[Davek]

Read LOEG Black Dossier, 1910 and 1969. Actually I didn't finish 1969 as I was massively disappointed and they were almost unreadably bad IMO. The only bit I actually enjoyed was the Jeeves and Wooster Cthulu story from the Black Dossier.

Also read I'm Alan Partridge (hilarious) and the Psycopath Test by Jon Ronson (few interesting bits but felt a little contrived in places).