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I haven't read Cujo for years, I really should go back to it after Tjm's cool words about it.

The Doc is right re. Dark Tower in my opinion. A good start, followed by a descent into rot and then an ending that'll have you casting the book away from you in frustration.

Garth Ennis added to the guest list!

Simon will sign anything and everything you bring him at Lawless

I got Gunnar Hansen to sign a severed arm once so I could take this as a challenge.

Anyway, another superb episode of the podcast, thank you!
This is a really grim story tbh with some serious horror in it. That panel where Constantin has burned up the sex worker is horrific - something about the pose, her open mouth that makes my skin crawl... combine that with the state of Emmanuel after his chat with Constantin and we've got some of the nastiest images in the series imo. The scene with Dante and Lulu in the rain though is very very cool.

Pretty sure I've said this before on here or FB but Lulu is super-evil and in this story she reaches her peak imo, but she generally gets a bit of a free pass in Dante, basically because she's all sexy: she's an absolute monster but I'm pretty sure if she looked like Ursa she'd be regarded a lot differently.

Possibility of original Dante art at Lawless? Very interested in that! Or alternately, Sharko sketch.

The B&W Gideon story is probably my favourite one, although I'm very keen on the one shot with the wizard as well. The plot is very unfocused but Gideon himself is a bit neater - firing stakes at vampires and so on - and the art is fantastic. As Fink says, there's a few big splash pages of Gideon that look tremendous.
The AG design is so good, with his massive crazy feet and oddly expressive face.

Re-reading now I find the dialogue clunky in places but the whole book is completely stupid fun. Well worth the wait.

I watched the first episode last night, it nails the aesthetic of the games perfectly - the look, the atmosphere, all spot on. Really looking forward to seeing the rest.

I was coming here to chat about how good Armoured Gideon is but IP's tale of woe makes me think that should be a discussion for another day.

(It's great)

I've read both editions, and the expanded one just includes around 400 extra pages of stuff. It doesn't really expand or improve on the story - I wouldn't say it detracts from it really, but it's mostly just bloat - like when you watch the deleted scenes on a dvd and they're kinda interesting, but also you can usually see why they didn't make it into the finished product. I like the book so I was excited to read the expanded version, but the original text has a leaner, sharper feel to it. If you're a metal fan, it's like a modern Iron Maiden album compared to a classic one.

It does introduce a new character called The Kid, who is a seriously nasty bit of work but ultimately he adds nothing to the story with his over the top sociopath antics.

I haven't read an updated non-70s version of it though, I can't see how the book would work in the 90s or how he'd do it. Just describe people as wearing plaid shirts? Get a POGS reference in there somewhere?

Agree on early Stephen King and especially The Stand which is awesome up to a point, but I think its virtually a given now that Stephen King books are going to descend into bizarre nonsense at the end. Many of his books are what I'd call proper page-turners though, you really don't want to stop reading them sometimes.

I re-read The Stand during the pandemic and that was a joyous experience.

And the underage orgy, for that matter

I'd forgotten about this! Pretty messed up stuff and not in the slightest bit relevent to the plot (before or after the turtle)

Seconded! (But I think if they were ever going to do it, they would have done it already.)

Thirded on this, but yes, I think we can assume not happening now.

The Action Force stories are a mixed bag - they're based off a toyline, so they can be a bit basic at times. They're very violent (if bloodlessly so) for a kids comic though - they never miss a chance for someone to die nastily, often accompanied by dialogue like 'Aiieee! The pirahnas - eating me alive!'. Definitely not as good / gritty as a lot of the classic Battle strips but if you like old comics (and are nostalgic) I'm sure you'll dig them.

The Red Shadow stuff, which I assume this all is, is a bit dafter than the Cobra stuff as it includes Space Force and aquatic monsters.

Don't undersell yourself Colin, you're doing some great writing here and it's a shame it doesn't reach a wider audience. You should stick all this on a substack if nowhere else.

Just to chime in on reading comics in small chunks - it's a definite thing for old stuff. I'm reading Black Max at the moment and read in a block its a bit rubbish, to be frank: formulaic and repetitive.. but an episode or two every few days is a joy. I found it was the same with Liberty Meadows which I started reading online off this very thread. I can't think of many examples of older strips that really hold up to a binge read: Asterix was originally serialised wasn't it? That's one perhaps.

I always have time for a classic Tharg cover (apart from that one with the bongos)

I thought this was a good Prog. Vex is the highlight by some way, but that isn't because the other strips suck. Really enjoying this series of IP and great to see Aquila back: it's looking as terrific as ever.

I also hope that the next series of FTB won't be the last - it feels like it's just getting going, really. What happened to the big floaty head guy in ther heroes ship? We haven't seen him at all this time around, did he get the boot in the last series?
Dredd is action packed and brilliantly executed but still lacks any engagement for me. I expect this will change as the story unfolds a bit. Also I hope this bear chases them for the entire series like an ursine tyrant from RE2.

This would be great, limited only by the fact that by 2027, a first class stamp will cost £500.

What an awesome thing to find on a Monday morning - TGDR! Such a great listen, as ever.
2007 being almost twenty years ago sucks. 20 years ago should still be the early 80s.

Thanks so much for answering my questions and for the shout out to my cat (he took off like a rocket when the opening theme came in again, the big coward that he is). Looking forward to seeing you both at Lawless! I have a page of old Dante artwork that I hope Simon will sign if I bring it along.

Agreed. Excited to see these collected BAF strips.