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Thanks Hawkmonger! I enjoyed drawing that! 

Well Adamov's Dayak was an absolute treat! You can tell he is inspired by the late Moebius even down to the way he draws the speech bubbles, or rather boxes. This is the first time I've encountered a sci-fi comic set in Africa, the visuals were amazing and the cosmoplitan nature of the strip was what made it so interesting. I really need to track down the first and last series, It's really an amazing comic.

Just a little piece I did the other day called "Robot Apocalypse"!

I took inspiration from a brilliant panel in "A Night on the town" by Josef Rother & Klaus Scherwinski, depicting monster mayhem! In my case it's robot mayhem!   

Sorry, I meant to say Mark Harrison's artwork on Damnation Station, not Simon Davis! 

...and there was a letter complaining Anderson wasn't attractive enough in her old age!

To my shame, I think that was me. 

Lol. Nice one Jimbo! 

You'll be pleased to know that I downloaded two of your comics, Mr. Candlish! I'll let you know my thoughts after I've finished reading 'em. :-)

I've started going through the Megs which I purchased from Skurvy, starting off with #295. (I bought #295-315, and others that he was kind enough to throw in, what a guy! Check out my blog below for pics!).

Anyhow, #295 was really great. I can't sleep because of my sodding leg pain, so I finished the interrogation of Dom Reardon. He sounds like a great guy, it was a really truthful and insightful piece. I never knew Dom was mates with Jock, or they used to spend time together as budding artists, drawing together in Dom's basement! I really need to check out Cabalistic Inc. as I want to familiarise myself with his art. There was another piece I enjoyed involving Pat Mills, and his work on a French comic with Olivier Ledroit, 'Sha' was also mentioned and I had the pleasure of reading that superb comic in Heavy Metal Magazine not too long ago. The strips were also lovely, Judge Dredd (Sex, Vi & Vidslugs) was a lot of fun as was Tank Girl. The floppy 'Monsters' was a real treat; I got to see Feral Jackson when he was more young, fighting those blasted norms and questioning his own 'humanity', whether he was a monster. Garth Ennis' script was great and I loved Steve Pugh's artwork. Feral's dream sequence was out of this world! Not to mention scary as hell. Feral seems like an interesting character, I wonder why Wagner felt the need to kill him off? 

[Judge Dredd]

A nice cover by I.N.J Culbard, love the colour work on it. Very nice!

Judge Dredd (New Tricks Part 3) was a great read. I'm really enjoying this Dredd story thanks to Mike Carroll's excellent script and Paul Davidson's outstanding artwork. I love Pax's thoughts that we see as text beside the panels, that's a great idea giving us the chance to delve into the thoughts of a Judge. The underground setting works a treat, It got me going all nostalgic for films like Escape from New York for some reason! No doubt the post apocalyptic, run down New York in the bowels of another city, a factor (now, if only an Ernest Borgnine lookalike were to turn up in the next issue, I would die happy!). We also got a glimpse of the elusive and near mythical Goblin King, albeit in shadow. That was a great moment, as was that revelation at the end about the terrifying weaponary at the Goblin King's disposal. Yikes!

Brass Sun (The Diamond Age Part 3) was also coming along nicely. Some taut action involving the bloke with the pony tail's escape from the Scythe. There was some truly awesome visuals on show from Culbard, not least Mr. Ponytail hanging on for dear life from the window ledge with some fine plantlife and building decor to admire too! Ian Edington's script is cracking along at a nice pace, there's thrills and intrigue aplenty, and I loved that dressing down from Mr. Ponytail to Froddo Baggins (sorry, I'm really crap with names!).

Flesh (Badlanders Part 3) was...okay. It hasn't really got my attention like the other strips. Not because of James McKay's artwork, as I really like it, probably more to do with an uninteresting story, a story which has yet to really grab me. But I find that happening with a lot of Pat Mills' stuff, I didn't particularly enjoy Savage (Rise like Lions) or A.B.C Warriors (Return to Earth) at first but really got into them as the stories progressed, so there's still time. McKay's artwork is really great this issue, especially the panel with the Dino-men morphing into... well,  men. That was a surprise! Or that four panel showing a giant frog catching food as the characters converse. There's a really Southern feel to the strip, evoking films set in the deep south such as Southern Comfort or Deliverance.

Aquila (Where All Roads Lead Part 2) was really superb this week. Patrick Goddard's artwork coupled with Gary Caldwell's colours was an absolute treat to behold. The opening few panels of blood spurting mayhem was excellent, as were those panels of the freaky woman in white fluttering like an apparition along the rooftops. Also the last panel of the wolf, which brought back memories of the  history lessons  I used to take as a young 'un at school. In particular the story of Romulus and Remus and the mother wolf who reared them. Gordon Rennie's script is really engaging with a lot of mythical references which I love.

Now Damnation Station (Darkness at the Break of Noon) was awesome! We should probably get more one-off's like this as I really enjoyed it. And what was even better was seeing one of my childhood idols, Sean Connery in the main role! Woohoo! Whoever thought that up deserves a medal from Tharg! As for the story, it was a really engaging one as we see a man of the cloth (Connery) trying to come to terms with past mistakes, mistakes which have cost lives. There was almost a sad, tragic feel to it, with the protagonist talking about the absence of stars in space. An empty space without stars is a frightful vision indeed, showing perhaps that the light, or rather God has left him. And his only solace is to embrace the empty blackness, as the burden he carries weighs too heavy. Again Simon Davies' artwork is excellent here, I love the technique he uses, it feels like a melding of two different styles. Al Ewing's script for this particular story is superb, less on the funny and more on the mediative.

An excellent prog overall!

Oh dear!   

I agree, Vega's bottom was a bit too flat in contrast to her bosoms, which are very er, prominent! Serpieri would not be pleased! 

[Events in quite silly stories like The Judge Child and The Day The Law Died are regularly referenced and important parts of the ongoing story of Dredd and MC1. While the older Dredd's regret over his treatment of Lopez is one of the things which gives the strip its rich texture, he and Chief Judge Hershey seldom reminisce about the time they were shrunk to teeny-tiny and lived in a man's handbag.]

is it more like Marvel. It only has the one continuity and yes all that cheesy/wacky old stuff DID happen but it doesn't get referenced much?

Walter the Wobot and Dredd's Italian stereotype landlady, Maria - the two most tonally awkward anomalies from the strip's first hundred episodes - both cropped up again over the years.

Events in quite silly stories like The Judge Child and The Day The Law Died are regularly referenced and important parts of the ongoing story of Dredd and MC1. While the older Dredd's regret over his treatment of Lopez is one of the things which gives the strip its rich texture, he and Chief Judge Hershey seldom reminisce about the time they were shrunk to teeny-tiny and lived in a man's handbag.

Dredd's incessant pestering of Lopez's 'tache was one of the funniest things about the Judge Child storyline. The fact that Dredd regrets his treatment of Lopez does indeed give the strip depth and texture. In fact this is the first I heard about it, I sure would love to track down that particular prog!

[Greg]

I already know the twist to Dead Man so I'll never really know what it was like to read it the first time round.  I imagine it's a great story nonetheless.

That's what so great about it - whilst it's impossible to deny just how mind-blowing that twist was at the time, the story holds up perfectly well even with foreknowledge. Ridgway's art is hugely atmospheric, and Wagner's control of tension is masterly - it's a bloody scary story at times.

The Dead Man had become my favourite story in the comic long before Wagner whipped away the table cloth, for exactly the reasons Greg states above.  It's got the feel of an old Western about it, crossed with childrens' stories where a kid gets a powerful or magical monster as a pet - like Shane meets Pete's Dragon. Maybe Whistle Down The Wind would have been a better comparison than a Disney cartoon for the way kids are drawn to figures like the Dead Man as a source of fun and fascination and because they're grotesque and dangerous.

I freaking love The Dead Man. I did a review of it on here a while back, and my feelings were just as sauchie describes; it was like a western (or even an acid western if you count the monsters!), with our mysterious Dead Man very much like Clint Eastwood. But its the boy Yassa Povey and his dog makes it so special. Couple that with the excellent script and Ridgway's magnificent artwork. His linework is some of the best I'd seen, up there with Campbell's work on From Hell. The sense of place, and atmosphere that he evokes with the stroke of his pen/pencil/ink is a work of genius. You almost feel transported to the places that he conjures up on paper. It's quite possibly the perfect short story I've read. And that twist at the end....one of the best.

Paper. I have a strange fetish for it, the smell of a new book you've just ordered or prog with its just-off-the-press smell, is equal to none. 

I've tried going digital, but I find it bloody frustrating at times, especially on Kindle. I've got so much books and comics at home that I'm having to stuff them into every available nook and cranny* as I'm out of space on the shelves, but I still cannot see myself giving up on the physical prog/ meg or any comics/ books for that matter.

*wel not literally stuff, but you get the idea!

Yeah, you're probably right!

[Brian Bolland]

I finished the first instalment of a French steampunk strip called 'The Regulators', which was also a lot of fun with some great artwork in it.

I haven't read this but I have read The Bombyce Network by the same writer, Corbeyran, if you want to check it out.  The comic shop I got it from thanked me for getting it becuase they thought it so was good, which was weird.

Lol. That is weird! Thanks for the recommendation by the way,  I'll add it to my list of must reads!

@Skullmo, I haven't read Dayak, but I do have its sequel which I'm reading right now in HM magazine (March 1996). I'm really enjoying this issue as there's a great piece on the making of the Heavy Metal Movie by Brad Balfour. I also read a really funny b&w story called 'Harry the Head' by the great Brian Bolland!

On top of that I'm also reading Judge Dredd Case Files 6, most of the stories take place right after the Apocalypse War, and they're a right old treat! I really enjoyed 'Destiny's Angels', the sequel to The Judge Child Quest which happens to be one of my favourite JD stories. It was also fun to see Otto Sump back again, making up more horrible sales ideas to sell to the gullible public! GUNGE...Ugh! Great fun!