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[The Naked Gun 2&1⁄2: The Smell of Fear]

Had one of those days yesterday, so went for two ice cold bottles of Birra Moretti and a comedy on Netflix as soon as I got in from work.

The Naked Gun 2&1⁄2: The Smell of Fear was my chosen tonic. Still a classic.

Is there a bigger 'separate the art from the artist' situation than still finding The Juice funny after all these years?

[TMNT: The Last Ronin]

A very, very decent haul for me, including the following:

TMNT: The Last Ronin issue 3; Only quibble here relates to the gulf of time between issues - otherwise it's a meaty turtle soup as per the previous two chapters. Eastman, Laird and Waltz continue to deliver.
BRZRKR issue 2; Keanu and Co. deliver a strong second issue, including an intriguing origin story for the immortal protagonist. Two more issues to go with this arc, and enough goodwill thus far to give them both a pre-order green light.
Grendel: Devils Odyssey issue 6; Another 'first contact' scenario for The Paladin and Sigma-Seven. The encounter with each planet and its inhabitants has remained fresh through the series - anything remains possible. Faultless.
Red Room Issue 1. I'll preface this with the key point; it's about internet snuff films. If that doesn't sound like your cuppa, best avoid. Otherwise you are in for a stomach churning treat. I'm only vaguely aware of cartoonist Ed Piskor - I know he hosts a popular YouTube show, and is generally well regarded, but (I believe ) this is the first time I've read anything written or drawn by him (I probably would have picked up his 'X-Men: Grand Design' series, but had already given up on Marvel a few years before it was released). Back to the topic on hand; this was the first 10/10 comic I have had the pleasure of reading in a very long time - grimy, disgusting and depraved, it evoked memories of reading 'dangerous' material in days gone by (some 2000AD content in the 80's when I was a young kid, and some Vertigo content in the 90's when I was a teen). Intriguing story, superb artwork and a huge first issue stand-alone story. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I will paraphrase Piskor's cheeky comment in the editorial discussing his own comic at the back of the book; "It's been a long time since you had a new monthly comic to look forward to. I know".
It has, Eddie. Too fuckin long.

Has Ennis ever written Batman before? (Other than his cameo in Hitman.)

Back in the late 90's when Ennis was riding high on a wave of ultra violence and dick jokes I added everything he was writing to my pull list - I'm talkin 'Medieval Spawn / Witchblade' levels here.

Anyway - he did three issues of 'Legends of the Dark Knight' with Will Simpson during that period, and the only thing I can recall about it was that it was kinda disappointing.

Another flick through, then direct to bag & board issue for me.
Cya next week pals. 

Dredd's family has been getting all the more positive and nice ever since Origins. Maybe time for a clone he doesn't get on with?

I'm still waiting for Rico II to turn bad, and I'm impressed that he hasn't. If I had my druthers, I'd have Joe go rogue (on a point of principle, naturally) and Rico be the one to finally take him down, but I think we all know that's never going to happen.

Considering a healthy proportion of Dredd's antagonists were from within Justice Department itself, not a crazy idea.
Final panel of 'Long Live the King' by Wagner & MacNeil will of course be a fully painted rendition of a now middle aged Rico removing Dredd's blood stained badge and pinning it on his own chest.
"More than a man...a symbol"

Have the first issue on this on pre-order for a few months based on the creative team alone, but that's the first time I've seen a preview - Sharp as in 4K.

The bike one in particular reminds me of the unreasonable number of Death Star Trench Runs I completed on my Grifter, targeting computer fully deactivated, the drain grill of the secondary exhaust port waiting at the end of the cul-de-sac.

Generation Z get their kicks role-playing as pie-eyed Poe Dameron - their Mom's can tuck them into bed and pat them on the cheek when they've been bold.

I'd have to go with Batman Arkham, but Asylum. I find it the least pretentious in the series. Tbh, there are not many superhero games out there, so that may work a bit in the Knight's favor.

The core Arkham games are still the gold standard.
The first set the tone, the second arguably the best and the third a satisfying conclusion (including a personal top ten gaming moment - driving the defeated and indignant Riddler to the GCPD lock-up).

You're better men than most, lads.

I've read about 200 pages of it so far over the last few years, and it's so bland I genuinely can't recall if the main characters name is "Skip" or not.

What is coming to your prog/meg in August:

https://2000ad.com/news/whats-coming-from-rebellions-comics-imprints-this-august/

My anticipation for that month of Wagner & Higgins Dredd is somewhat cooled by the seemingly never ending runs of Skip 5 pages Tracer and Dildo Wahhh, but I've persevered through worse.

Welcome return for Angelic too.

[Pat Mills]

Pat Mills (72) is pretty much our Stan Lee.

Agree with him or not, guy wants to blow off a little bit of steam - so what?

A very bittersweet thread.
Still can't get me noggin around the fact Bolt was an entrant himself in the previous month's art comp.

Great work all contributors.

[OCTOBRIANA WITH LOVE]

I liked the look of this, and backed it over the weekend:

OCTOBRIANA WITH LOVE via Kickstarter

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/octobrianawithlove/octobriana-with-love

Features some nice artwork by the venerable Fraser Droid.

One annoying snag - as there always is with these things - postage will be charged at a later date, and I can expect it to be about €20 for delivery to Murphyville.
'Twould nearly make ye go digital.

[Spiral: From the Book of Saw]

Technically, I haven't actually watched it yet, but thanks to appalling impulse control and the fact there is no sniff of cinemas re-opening in ROI, I watched several dodgy Youtube clips from Spiral: From the Book of Saw (aka 'Saw IX') over the weekend.

The view of the back of a cinema-goers head notwithstanding, that is one fantastic final scene.
Maybe only bettered by the original jaw dropper.

I hope it does relatively well in the cinema / VOD (when available), cause I'd like to see more from Chris Rock and the boys.

I haven't looked back since I stopped cutting mine. 

Only a certain few can pull it off convincingly, which is why I'll be venturing to upper Abbey Street later this month.

In other words:

What I think I look like; Snake in 'Metal Gear Solid V'.
What I actually look like; An overweight mid-life crisis.