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I thought Zombieland looked like tremendous fun, and using Everbody Wants Some! by Van Halen on the trailer was the clincher! \m/ and :-)

The Misty re-print is the one I'm most looking forward to, as well. I've developed a real interest in the British girls' comics of the 1970s and 80s over the past couple of years, especially the 2000AD-related ones. They've been rather overshadowed by the likes of Action! And 2000AD, but the little I've managed to read of them has been very impressive. It would be really nice to see Egmont, Titan or Rebellion publish some quality re-prints from the era.

In fairness, Ian Rankin might not be the greatest comics writer of all time - although his affection for John Constantine is quite genuine - but Alan Moore and Grant Morrison aren't exactly the greatest prose writer's I've ever read, either.

King's major fault as a novelist - which he's admitted himself - is endings. It's surprising how few of his novels have really satisfying endings, although I find you've usually had a good enough time getting there that it's pretty easy to forgive him.

I've just finished Bad Men and The Black Angel by John Connolly. I really enjoyed his blend of hard-boiled noir and the supernatural; it put me in mind of a collaboration between Stephen Hunter and Peter Straub (which is Very Good Indeed, by the way!). I'd recommend them to anyone who enjoyed Michael Marshall's Straw Men novels, or F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack books, which explore similar territory.

At the moment, I'm reading the third Merrily Watkins novel by Phil Rickman, A Crown of Lights, then I think I'll probably start working my way through Connolly's Charlie Parker books from the beginning.

Player of Games and Use of Weapons get my vote for a newcomer's first Culture novels, too.

And, lastly, respect to Steev - your heroic perseverance with Patient Zero is an inspiration to us all. :-)

I still blow hot and cold about the last couple of Dark Tower books. Somehow, I can't help but feel it could have been more than it wound up being. There was definitely something a bit anti-climactic about Book the Seventh. I didn't particularly mind King writing himself into the novel, though. I thought it was interesting he portrayed himself in such an unsympathetic way, too (c.f. Philip K. Dick's autohagiography!).

I haven't read Lisey's Story or Duma Key. I thought Cell was pretty good, although Simon Clark handled a similar idea far more effectively in Blood Crazy. I thought Just After Sunset was a fantastic collection of short stories, and a major return to form.

I'd really like to see The Keep again; I saw it once, many years ago, I think as part of Moviedrome on BBC2. It seems to be a bit of a "lost" film these days. I think it was a huge box-office flop on its original release. It's a bit of a mess plot-wise, but very atmospheric, and the cast is fantastic. I'd recommend F. Paul Wilson's original (far superior) novel to any fans of Fiends of the Eastern Front.

I thought Deathwatch was pretty good myself, especially Andy Serkis, who delivered a great psycho turn.

You're a cynical man, Your Lordship. :-)

With regards to something The Cosh said back along, about Gaiman over-describing everything in his prose - am I the only person who thinks he does that in his comics, too?

I haven't got around to Anansi Boys. I should really get my skates on, because (despite the impression I may have given above) I loved American Gods and Anansi is one of the best characters in it. According to Neil Gaiman, though, Anansi Boys isn't exactly a sequel to American Gods, just a novel that shares certain themes and ideas with it.

For the most part, I really enjoyed American Gods, especially Mr. Wednesday. But that quirky, chirpy, gay punk girl who turns up about halfway through is one of the most annoying characters in English-language fiction.

I'm not at all familiar with Outland. Given the rather strange circumstances I read the Bloom County books under, I consider myself lucky to be familiar with Bloom County! I don't know if it's just my skewed perception, but it does seem to get quite overlooked, especially in the UK.

I didn't know there actually was a Billy and the Boingers LP! Quality!

Wayne Kramer (do I need to add "of The MC5"?) once formed a band called Deathtongue, so I guess he was also a fan.

"Of course, I'd much rather be David Lee Roth with a beautiful blonde on each arm than a small, damp waterfowl with a boil on the end of his beak. But I guess that goes without saying."

Tom Savini to play The Governor!

I don't remember Terry Farrell in Hellraiser 3. Then again, I don't really remember Hellraiser 3. The Motorhead video was cool, though.

Sounds a little bit like The Prophecy movies, and I really enjoyed those.

Thanks for the feedback, Colin.

I have a bad feeling I may have missed Issue 37; I'll have to check the numbers when I get home.

I've always thought that the strength of Liberty Meadows was that it worked on so many different levels. There's the ongoing "romance" thread between Frank and Brandy, the slapstick with Ralph, Leslie and Dean and the more satirical Bloom County-ish stuff, like "Chuck Hur". And then there are all the media references and pastiches, as well. It's an extremely flexible strip, and Frank Cho really knows how to tell a joke.

I'm a big fan of the same sort of 1940s-style pin-ups that Frank Cho is so enamoured of - espcially Gil Elvgren - so no complaints on that score from me! :-)