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[Avengers #33]

Avengers #33
Kind of losing interest in this now. Doesn't help that the focus is on Cap, who I find pretty hard to side with.
3/5

Avengers World #10
Lovely art, but too many plot threads. A bit too SHIELD-centric for me, I prefer my Avengers more super-hero and less super-spy. Dropped.
3/5

Batman Eternal #17
The mystical plotline is probably my least favourite at the minute, but it's serviceable. Joker's Daughter is still a ridiculous character.
3/5

Detective Comics Annual 2014
Pretty standard Batman story, probably could have been squeezed into a normal sized issue without losing anything. Not a fan of the multiple artist per book thing.
3/5

New Avengers #21
In contrast to adjective less Avengers, really enjoying this. Pretty epic stuff. Nice to see Namor take the initiative.
4/5

Original Sin - Hulk vs Iron Man #3
Silly retcons aside, fairly readable. Nice reminder that Bruce is pretty clever too, but done without making Tony look like an idiot. Hoping for a twist in the final issue with regards to historic events, pretty sick of the whole 'everything must be connected' schtick.
3/5

Robots In Disguise #31
Strong issue. The title's always going to suffer in comparison to the excellent 'More Than Meets the Eye', but this issue sparked some hope in me that there might be some potential in the 'back to Earth' premise. Some top quality banter from Galvatron.
4/5

[Dredd]

Dredd - Decent enough, run-of-the-mill Dredd story. The assistant just conveniently letting slip about the drugs was a tad unbelievable and clunky though. To be continued? Would have been much better just leaving the ending hanging IMO.

ABC Warriors - More lovely art. What a panel to start the strip on, perfect way to draw the reader in. Didn't really read the dialogue, just took in the art.

3rillers - Interesting start. Not sure about the feasibility of the premise though. 'Population just turns around and overthrows the government overnight'? The rest of the world doesn't intervene? Only part one though, so hopefully these things will be elaborated on later. Art was serviceable for the most part, although not quite sure what emotion the last panel is supposed to convey. Is he grimacing? Evil 'I have a plan' smile?

Terror Tales - Discombobulator set the tone as comedy in my mind. Not really a good thing for a Terror Tale. Downhill from there.

Grey Area - No problems with the plot this week. Mainly because there wasn't much of one. Unbeatable, overwhelming odds. Beaten quite simply in the end. Behind closed doors no less. Tense, Aliens-esque, last stand drama this wasn't...

[Dredd]

Dredd - Good start, always enjoy a good fatty story every now and again. Liked that the medic didn't die, good to see that red-shirts aren't always completely incompetent. Parasites always creep me out a bit, so glad I wasn't eating when I read this

ABC Warriors - Snore. I'm sure Mills is making some sort of meta-point with the collector robot, but I really don't care. Still not a fan of the blue colouring on the otherwise black and white pages, always looks to me like a printing problem rather than deliberate.

Grey Area - I like it when the strip focuses on aliens being alien, as with the differing methods of currency here. Aliens as 'exactly like humans but with funny ears', or whatever, always bothers me a bit. Other than that, wasn't really a fan of this episode. Don't really care about the inter-team relationships, and the 'expert's knowledge of the other eggs was ridiculous. 'Hey, there's two more eggs that almost certainly will have hatched by now, but I'll not tell you that right away, lets go and have a meeting somwhere else instead'.

Future Shock - As often with Future Shocks, good start, interesting set up, disappointing pay off 

Strontium Dog - Oh dear, and it was going so well. From 'it was only a flesh wound' McNulty, to 'deus-ex time bomb', just a big disappointment all round for me (when even the writer acknowledges the implausibility of the resolution in caption boxes, you know something's up.) Lovely art though, and more beautiful colouring on the explosion splash page.

[B.P.R.D, Hell On Earth - The Reign Of The Black Flame #002]

B.P.R.D, Hell On Earth - The Reign Of The Black Flame #002

Plot advancement, funny moments, and some beautiful art. What more can you ask for? Loved the shot of the Black Flame looking out over Manhattan.

Fables #138

Never disappoints. Spoiled a little by the knowledge that the series is ending, makes it hard to believe in the magnitude of the threat presented by Gipetto's return to power when we know things are going to be wrapping up soon. Braun's art isn't too jarring as a replacement for Buckingham.

Savage Dragon #193

Hmm, new start for the book. Seems like Larsen is going for an early Spider-Man vibe, with a younger lead, establishing Malcolm's school mates as a supporting cast, e.t.c. A few hmm moments, the rant about Asian women's figures, the casual caving in of the babies head, but not a bad start overall. I don't love Savage Dragon, but it's always an enjoyable read, and I'm a sucker for the art.

[Dredd]

Dredd - Nice ending. Great use of page space, with the gun raise fake at the end of page one. Thought the emphasising of Nixon confirming she'd cleared the bombs was too obvious, but that turned out to be the point, which was cool. Nice role reversal at the end, it's normally 'paragon of the law' Dredd lecturing someone else to make the 'right' choice.

ABC Warriors - Same old, nice art, rather dull, slightly depressing plot. Didn't like the colouring on page 4. I assume it's supposed to be the glow from Caine's eyes, but just looks like the inks have been washed out. Wasn't sure if it was a printing error at first glance.

Grey Area - Nice little done in one, with a hint to something bigger. Hope it's 'bigger' in the sense of the overall narrative (payback for Bulliet killing the ambassador), not 'bigger' in the sense of just a two-parter. Enjoyed the first person viewpoint for the first couple of pages.

Ulysses Sweet - Okay ending to a so-so series. The fact I couldn't remember where the whale came from probably sums up my interest in the story. I like that 2000AD is trying out new strips though, so not complaining too much.

Strontium Dog - Continues on in it's greatness. Not normally a fan of the old 'unbeatable enemy' thing, but the Ikan look so damn cool, I'll give them a pass. In other strips, I'd be expecting a 'back from the brink' victory for the muties, but this is Wagner, anything can happen 

[Dredd]

Dredd - Few problems with this one. Long term planner McIntosh, who's waited all this time, suddenly flips out at a word from Sinfield? The marine mentions flooding the place, then there's a big explosion? And I've still got no idea what's going on with Gerhart. His head is hanging off! Nice shout out to Insurrection I suppose.

Ulysses Sweet - Picked up a bit this month. Liked the heroic charge failing miserably.

Grey Area - They killed their god by shooting him? So it wasn't a god? Don't buy the stupid level of intolerance shown by the aliens to make the plot work. "Any mere mention of a god and we'll kill you!" Normally a fan of Grey Area, but the past few stories have been weak. I did like the reference to the existence of an ethical evaluation team though.

ABC Warriors - Nice art. Is that Terraneer Defoe I see? 

Strontium Dog - Highlight of the prog for me. Not sure who these Ikan are, but Wagner gets across a decent level of menace emanating from them. I'm guessing 87 of them is actually going to turn out to be quite a substantial threat? The dig at real life Anglo-American relations pulled me out the story a bit.

[Dredd]

Dredd - Really unclear what happened to Gerhart here. How is he still alive with huge holes in him? Art was fine for the most part, but really confusing for this section.

Ulysses Sweet - Was going to skim over until I came across the Rupert bits. Cute.

Grey Area - I do like the whole 'no universal translator' shtick, and the mentioning of dialects was a nice touch. Makes the 'gifted' thing less deus-ex'y and shows Abnett's given the concept a bit of thought. The whole plot falls down for me though on the premise that the aliens would be so offended. Firstly, it's established they don't speak English, so how did they even understand the samaritan to be offended in the first place? Secondly, they're obviously intelligent and know the difference between 'your god', 'my god', e.t.c., so the overreaction just feels so forced.

Future Shock - Nice little tale. Name checking places near me (Durham) will always get a story extra points 

Strontium Dog - Lovely splash page of the ship exploding. Colouring was spot on and really helped convey the impact of the moment. Just noticed the main redneck is called 'Dad Nabbett'. Seriously? Completely in keeping with the way the strip has always been, but... seriously? 

Judge Dredd - Decent chapter. Hmm'ed a bit at the old 'despite being near death, Dredd can still easily take out four Judge trained opponents' bit, but I guess you could argue they were malnourished, or that Nixon was starting with the easy opponents, or something. Forgot who Sinfield was until I read the 'Chief Judge' bit, then my memory joined the dots. Not sure why he's in his Judge's uniform though, complete with name badge.

Ulysses Sweet - Ready for this to finish. Liked the toaster reference (Red Dwarf?), and the guy getting cut off before he can count down from ten.

A.B.C. Warriors - Nice art, nonsensical plot and terrible dialogue. Flashbacks/imaginary scenes were a bit confusing, could have done with being a bit clearer.

Grey Area - No strong feeling either way. Disappointed with last weeks episode now I know it wasn't a two parter.

Strontium Dog - Urgh, not Ezquerra's best work. Thought we were in for a 'Johnny underestimates the opponent' bit, with the Nazis guessing it was a trap.

[Dredd]

Dredd - Getting interesting now. Guessing McIntosh will turn out to be a good guy in the end, the old triple cross. Fists of fury? Stan Lee? Bit confused why Dredd thinks it's odd that SJS sent a man when it's a marine op. Dredd's not a marine and he's there 

Ulysses Sweet - Meh, not bad for what it is. Bad time to publish this I think. The Joe Kelly Deadpool omnibus came out recently, and this suffers by comparison.

Grey Area - Was this part 1? Fairly obvious he was inside something, in which case if it was supposed to be a 'done in one with a twist', Future Shock style tale, it was pretty poor.

ABC Warriors - Still reading this, which is about as big an endorsement a Mills strip is likely to get from me these days.

Strontium Dog - Ignoring the absurdety of Johnny being there in the first place, another enjoyable chapter. Not sure what gave him away though. A... rat jumping through the window?

I was so jealous seeing Tombo's complete B.P.R.D Hardcover collection on another thread, that I decided to finish my own collection off ( I had the first two books). So I hastily purchased Vol. 3 and 1/3 of the way through reading (Just finished The Universal Machine) and I'm finding myself having to yank my jaw off the ground! What a beautiful story.....I was so close to tears!  , and of course we have our usual creepy goings on not least involving Dr. Corrigan's trip to France as the rest of the team sit around a table discussing his/ her own brush with loss and death. It was a brilliant opening, utterly gripping and Guy Davis' artwork as usual, had my mouth watering. And Dave Stewart's colours......

So after finishing this book I'll be purchasing the last one in the Plague of Frogs arc, and then I can look on at Tombo's book shelf without feeling envious as hell! 

I just powered through all the Hellboy and B.R.P.D hardcovers over Christmas. They'd been on my shelf for ages, can't believe it took me so long to dive in. Stuck now though since it doesn't look like there's any immediate plans to collect the Hell on Earth series as hardcovers

[Dredd]

Dredd - Enjoyable, with things turning into a good old fashioned quest. Has Titan been fleshed out much in the past or is Williams more or less free to go nuts with the setting? Just read Wilderness in the most recent Case Files and do enjoy me some good world building. Interested to see what lies down the mines, hopefully we get a bit of time to explore the environment, rather than them just being a simple way of getting from A to B. Art could have been a bit clearer on the re-entry scene.

Ulysses Sweet - Interesting bit with the origin of the implant, but overall a bit tedious.

Grey Area - Solid as always. Abnett is always reliable.

ABC Warriors - Story is passable and the art is lovely. Not dropped to my usual Mills = skip list yet.

Strontium Dog - Cringed a bit at 'most important person is the one that has to go undercover' trope. I refuse to believe there aren't any other human passable mutants amongst the army. The Nazis numbering in their millions was a bit hard to swallow too, still not getting the sense of scale I think I'm supposed to from this story arc. I guess the named mutants are easter eggs for long time readers and have appeared before?

Am I imagining it, or is McIntosh actually serving his sentence in a vacuum while still in MC-1?  I can't figure the combination of surgery and environment suit any other way.  If so, it's a bloody brilliant idea.

Great spot! I did notice the surgery and thought it odd, but didn't give it much thought after that.

Actually, thinking it through, I've now gone from:

mistake -> lol, great touch -> actually, that doesn't make any sense why the Judges would do that (other than spite) 

[Dredd]

Dredd - Finding the time jumps a bit clunky, but at least we get a caption box this week to avoid confusion. Still not sure why they would appoint Dredd to lead the mission though, he's clearly not as experienced in this kind of op? Guessed this arc was going to be about using the Titan judges to reinforce Justice Department on Earth in exchange for pardons, so bit disappointed that they've all been seemingly offed.

Ulysses Sweet - Getting a bit sick of this already. The Deadpool thing is good in small chunks, but starts grating fairly quickly.

ABC Warriors - A Pat Mills strip I haven't given up on after 3 progs, first time in a while. Not great, but readable. Bit confused how long the zombie thing had been going on. Assumed it had just started but then we get the guy in the cafe, who's obviously been there a while or else "rumours" is an odd noun to use. Nice Ultron splash.

Grey Area - Nice start, appreciated the exposition recapping the Bulliet events from the last story. Bit disappointed the aliens look to be malevolent. Also, yay, Mindless One butlers 

Strontium Dog - Enjoyable, as Wagner/Ezquerra always is, but having trouble buying in to the 'epic' scope that's trying to be portrayed. I thought it was a little uprising near Birmingham, yet it's being treated a full scale war, a.l.a. Savage. Maybe I'm misremembering what happened last year.

Go on then...you're in!

Great, cheers 

Forgotten what I was going to say now 

No... I think as your post count goes up, you get access to more areas of the forum.

So to prove I'm not a spambot, I have to... spam? How ironic.

Cheers Jim.