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Since the other thread was locked, I just wanted to point a massive hole in Mr Mike Gloady's argument- Ron Smith wasn't the only artist to draw the Big Meg as an "exaggerated normal city"- Vince Locke recently portrayed it as, er, well, a small town complete with houses and street, in that Pat Mills story about the very old serial killer.

So, nyah nyah, Mister Clever Dick Gloady! 

Steev

I would attempt a proper review of this, but I feel it's futile: New readers would probably find it overly-simplistic and clunky, old readers like myself may find it impossible to disengage the nostalgia circuits and do anything other than claim every page to be shiny paper orgasm.

Frankly, it's brilliant. As brilliant now as it was back then, when it was the number one reason to read the comic in the first place. Having it all in one place (despite it missing the belated, underrated, Legend of Shamanna for no proper reason other than "people didn't like it". Ptch! I did) is more than we deserve. So many quotable lines, so many big, bold pictures of dinosaurs ripping people to shreds.

I do, however, have some queries with the package.

1) Okay, so the pages have been sourced from later printings- notably 'Best of 2000AD monthly', I guess. But wouldn't it have been better just to white-out the "From the 2000AD archives" tag that was hastily pasted onto the art? Sticking the back of a fag packet over it before scanning would have been preferable to having it there. Somehow, it just looks cheap, and throws you out of the aforementioned nostalgia, thinking "oh, I'm not reading the original, just a re-reprint". I know it's stupid, but it actually annoyed me.

2) Who's idea was it to stick a "censored" panel on the back? It's the only censored panel in the whole thing, as I recall (my reread hasn't got to the end of book one yet, I only got the thing yesterday), and flies directly in the face of all the dinosaury-mayhem that the casual reader may anticipate on picking this up.

3) Pat Mills's intro is magnificently grumpy- and fair play to him! And I agree with everything he says- including his call for 2000AD readers to bombard Tharg with demands for further Flesh drawn by Ramon Sola. Yes please! Sola is the unsurpassed master of dino-grotesquery and even a short return to Trans-Time's operations would be welcome. Especially if "greytoned" by Mr Dayglo again.

Brilliant strips in a pretty-good package, that would have been a hundred percent better with just a little bit more thought.

Steev

... The Oxfam shop, up Queens Road, near the traffic lights, has a box of progs from the 700-900 mark, as well as some contemporary sci-fi specials and Megs. All 75p each, all in very good condition.

Albion Books, in the Old Town, has boxes of progs from around the 1100-1400 mark- some okay, some verging on "battered to shit" condition (the same split is true of almost the entirety of his stock) but for 50p each. (except the very rare issue, which I bought in almost mint, heh heh). Also a lot of Megs (including vol 1- 1, 2 and 4), annuals and specials.

Public service broadcast over.

Steev

Stupidly, I've just put my thumb through the screen of my laptop. Any idea how much this is going to cost me to get fixed?

Steev

... he turns six today. A trip to the Living Hell that is Clambers children's play centre is ahead of me, followed by the addition of MY parents to our already crowded house (Mother-in-law still here) and an afternoon of video games that he doesn't know he has yet.

Incidentally, we're not letting him open any presents til he gets back from Clambers this afternoon... who says Modern Parents are a pushover?

Steev

Hivemind- I need some help regarding my cat. Anyone with experience in such matters BEYOND heresay, please comment.

Basically, Spooky The Cat appears to be ill. In all ways she is absolutely fine- except one, and it's been going on a while.

She's an indoor cat, only ever having been outside twice in her life (both times when she got too curious of an open window), she's 13 (14 in January) and appears to be in perfect health- shiny eyes, good teeth, good coat, very few bugs, etc, bouncy, purry, you know the deal.

However- she has taken to shitting everywhere. It's not like she's incontinent- she just appears to be lazy. She doesn't piss anywhere except in her litter box, but she seems happy to shit wherever she's standing. The thing is, there's a bloody residue with the shit, and she vomits, 9 times out of ten, straight afterwards.

This is quite obviously driving me mental, what with two kids in the house. We've got to bite the bullet and get her to the vet- but experience has told me that my local vet is crap. Plus, we are concerned that it may be the End for poor Spoo, and frankly, we are unsure we can handle that particular jolt at the moment.

My wife rescued Spooky when she was two and a half weeks old and about to be drowned by an Irish farmer. She weaned her on bottled milk and she's a vital part of our family... and she doesn't appear to suffering at all, except when she shits.

Previously, she's had something called "mega-colon", but that was fixed with a dietary change. She eats ProPlan Chicken & Rice dry food exclusively, drinks plenty of water and, as I say, appears to in all other ways, in rude health.

Help!

Steev

Help! I need a link to a decent-sized image of the cover of the pre-launch, "tester", prog zero, sharpish... and can't find any on the web. Please help!

Steev

[FINGER IN THE PIE]

Sorry, this here is a horribly shameless plug for FINGER IN THE PIE, at Madame JoJo's, Brewer Street, Soho, (London, for all you Squaxx Dek Bumpkins!)- at which my lovely wife, the marvellous Domino, will be debuting a new Burlesque Striptease Balloon act, "The Devil In Me".

Tomorrow night (Sunday 5th July). Tickets £8 in advance, from:

Iris Tickets at https://express.iristickets.co.uk/k?fingerinthecabaret
Or follow the link from http://www.fingerinthepie.com/Cabaret/index.html

or £10 on the door. Show starts at 7pm and ends at 9.30.

Doctor Who fans, looking for some themed-entertainment, may find the act to their taste. And no, she doesn't wear a scarf and curly wig.

I will, of course, be there. So any London-based Squaxx who want to pop along would be more than welcome.

Other acts on the bill are: Honey Wilde, Ernesto Sarezale, VJ Spankie, Hurt Club, Ruby Deshabille, Vikki Stone, Aliens Ate My Schnitzel!, Suri Sumatra, Pavabotti, and Raven Isis. Compered by the incomparable Myra DuBois.

Pop along for some risque, raunchy, glamourous and hilarious entertainment. Cabaret lives!

I now return you to normal service...

Splundigs,

Steev

Right. I have the old DC-released trade of The Meknificent Seven. I have heard that it's missing a page- is that right, or am I gettng that arse-over-tit and it's the new Rebellion one that's faulty? Also, on looking through the Rebellion one, it appears to have an "Epilogue" that "was originally published in the Titan edition". Whaaaat!?!?!? Are there any more of these 2000ad strips that first appeared in Titan collections?

Also, if the new Rebellion trade IS faulty, have they been corrected? In other words, is the one that appeared on the shelf in Waterstones on Thursday likely to be okay?

And on the subject of page fuck-ups, I have all three Slaine: BoIs and I know one of them is a mental clusterfuck of pages arranged in no particular order... but can you remember which one it is, since finding out would involve a reread, and I'm not incined to do so at the moment. And and and- when buying a replacement on eBay or wherever, is there a quick way of checking that the new one is okay? Does it have a "second printing" stamp, or a "this one is actually readable" sticker or somesuch?

Lots of questions, possibly spurred on by the intense heat. My apple-ogeys.

Steev

Seeing as the swaps threads have been used very well, and nobody has tried to rip anyone else off yet- I dug out some related comics and books that someone somewhere may like to have in exchange for something else.

The Cursed Earth, vols one and two, Titan editions.

The Art of Judge Dredd (Boxtree, movie tie-in)

DC Dredd #1-5, 8

DC Dredd: Legends of the Law #8

Battle Picture Weekly #2, and issue dated 4th July 1981.

I also have some doubles of Lawman of the Future issues, some issues of Toxic! and some 70s Mighty World of Marvels, but I'd have to dig around to find them.

Oh, and since they've been reprinted in a lovely trade, lots of Spider-Man 2099.

PM me if any of that appeals. Like for like trading is what I'd be interested in.

Steev

...just looking at BARNEY's coverzone, and- after 31 years- have just this minute "got" 'M.A.C.H 0'- "Macho"! I geddit now!

<facepalm>

Steev

Subject header says all, really. Our WH Smith had it secreted away in the sport section, where it has taken the place of the Roy of the Rovers special.

£3.99, no Charley's War for some reason (ongoing reprint collections?), but D-Day Dawson, Rat Pack, Bootneck Boy, Day of the Eagle (2 episodes), Drop Into Hell!, two pages of readers letters, Major Eazy, Pipes of Glory, The Sarge (2 episodes), Hellman On The Russian Front (2 episodes), Johnny Red (2 episodes).

They've even credited the stories this time- in teeny tiny print in the back page indicia. We have stories by Pat Mills, John Wagner, Gerry Finley-Day, Alan and Eric Hebden and Tom Tully, art by Casablanca, Carlos Ezquerra, Giraut, Pat Wright, Bill Lacey, Mike Western, "Jo" Colquhoun, Barrie Mitchell and a cover by Don Lawrence.

A nice package, all told. What's the next one- is it Misty?

Steev

This morning, while perusing the comics in WH Smith, I noted a sticky-up bit of paper behind the progs. On pulling it out, I found it to be a distribution note concerning 2000AD, from Seymour Distribution, London. Of course I pocketed it, what else was I going to do?

It states that WH Smiths receive ten copies of the prog in a "bundle", and eight "bundles" in a total order. However, it then states that the number of "copies in total order" is 360. There were only five on the shelf.

At the very minimum, this suggests they've sold half their stock within three days of being on sale (and not to me, I buy mine elsewhere) *if this was a delivery note copied to various outlets*.

If it means they received 80 copies, then at least 70 people have it on order (copies not on the shelf), and at best, it means that 350 people have it on order. That's quite a lot, isn't it, for a single outlet in a small town?

Can anyone in the know shine a light on this?

Steev

Can't find the other thread, so starting a new one. Anyway- I have the Titan hardback Nemesis The Warlock: Death To All Aliens (reprinting Terror Tube, Killer Watt, the Sci-Fi special 81 story, Books one and two and Secret Life of a Blitzspear)- and, since my lovely boys have bought me the Rebellion vol one for my birthday on Monday, I feel a need to offload!

Anyone want it?

Would prefer to swap for something 2000AD-related this time, if possible. Perhaps something Dreddy? But I'm open to offers!

Steev

Has everyone received a message from Ron Smith's daughter, via this site, regarding the recent court case? I ask because it came into my email, from 2000adonline.com, but there's nothing in my inbox here. I'd like to let her know that yes, I do know the result of the case, and to pass on my best wishes to her father and indeed the whole family- but there's no way to reply.

Steev

Okay, I bought the Titan Torchwood comics collection today- entirely due to the Grist/ Edgington/ D'Israeli content and because my Waterstones card a) unexpectedly worked after of months of being demagnetised, so they tell me, and b) had nearly nine quid on it, so bringing the price down to just over a shiny pound.

Anyone got any thoughts on it?

And, my general question aboout stuff... When are we due the second "volume" of those floppy Fleetway reprints? Is it Johnny Red next, or a general Battle one, or what? Misty is November, I think. Is that right?

Steev

Surprised not to see this mentioned here (at least on the front page of the Movies forum). Wow! I was completely and adamantly set against seeing this, due to Sam Raimi's recent history (or basically, everything since he got involved in Xena), but Mrs Spoo persuaded me and off we toddled.

Anyone wanting an Evil Dead 4- just drop everything and run to the cinema now- because this is probably as close as you'll get. Or, more pertinently, Evil Dead 2 part 2, as it eschews most of what brought Army of Darkness down to such a crap, plasticky, over-cartoony (and I use that word advisedly, Meg-writers, so *off!) rehash of ED2's best bits, and returns to Raimi's formula of gross-outs/ grue/ belly laughs/ jumps and shocks. It really is quite spectacular- utterly loveable from beginning to end and features some of the stand-out sequences in recent horror history. The seance, for example, is magnificent. The graveyard sequence is everything you ever wanted from such a thing and the ending is at once spectacularly obvious and guaranteed to leave you yuck-yuck-yucking all the way home, like Bruce Campbell in those Stooges shorts they shot so far way back when that it almost hurts for me to remember that Raimi and cohorts have been a part of my life for almost 25 years now.

That there's no Brucie cameo is dissappointing (he was tied up elsewhere), but the oldsmobile has a starring role, and there are a ton of references to previous Raimi movies- most notably recreations of ED2's most memorable sequences. That they all sit perfectly within the narrative and don't slip into pastiche, is simply a mark of a master re-energised and working with what he loves, after the soulless pap of Spider-Man 3 (and for me, 2, but I realise I'm alone in that).

After making a movie like Spidey 3, I think I'd've made one about having your soul sucked out and being dragged to Hell, too.

Not all of it works- as usual, Raimi overplays the Stooges violence just a tad (the anvil nearly lost me, I admit), but the cat poster and the gummy corpse make it impossible to watch without imagining Raimi's eager, fresh, grinning face circa 1985, before the suits, before the dark circles under his eyes were branded there by the Marvel corporation, before he thought he had to grow up.

It's not perfect by any means- but it's as near as dammit a return to that glorious feeling you got upon walking out of Evil Dead 2 for the first time, that you'd have to be an utter tosser to dwell on its flaws in preference to the sheer joy of Raimi doing what he wants for the first time in years. Go see it. And pray for Drag Me Back From Hell.

Steev

Does the hivemind know about this? Apologies to Tony, if you're here and lurking or whatnot, but I thought I'd do you some publicity.[attachment=0:107lb7ie]img359-1.jpg[/attachment:107lb7ie]

from Tony Ingram in another forum:

"I'm slipping into shameless plug mode to promote Crikey!, the magazine for British comic enthusiasts. Issue #10 is out now, and I think it's one of the best yet (even though I shouldn't say that, as I wrote a sizable chunk of it), with a rundown of the history of Captain Britain, an interview with Terry Curtis (who created many of Gerry Anderson's classic marionation characters) and articles on some of the more risque stuff to come from the pens of some of Britain's top talents, including Don Lawrence's 'Carrie' from Mayfair, Ron Embleton's 'Oh, Wicked Wanda' from Penthouse, the Mirror's 'Jane' and The Sun's 'George & Lynne' and 'Axa', plus Rogue Trooper and more! The big news though is that after two years of struggling along as a small circulation 'niche' magazine, editor Glenn Fleming has decided it's make or break time (we've all just been putting too much work into it for too little reward) so from #11 (on sale in August) onwards Crikey! is becoming an 84 page, full colour bi-monthly title available not only in Forbidden Planet and the other usual outlets but also in Borders and in selected newsagents, amongst other places. Hopefully, it won't crash and burn, as there's some rather nice stuff coming up, including a two part look at Doctor Who comic strips...

http://albionbritishcomics.co.uk "

Now, let's see if this formats right and includes the image when I post...

Steev

Quick question for the Collective.

It's become a matter of some urgency that I get my hands on at least two hundred 2000AD-size comic bags, two hundred backing boards and two comic boxes. Could someone recommend the best (read: cheapest) place on the Internet to order these? Or would someone have some knocking about that I could buy/exchange for something?

As I say, it's got to the point of being vital.

Cheers,

Steev

[about]

Reading through my lovely copy of Thrill-Power Overload of late (and thoroughly enjoying every page), I was stuck by how little there is "out there" in the way of books about 2000AD, that aren't just reprints of strips. So, I ignored that thought, but mangled it in my mind's eye (because I am a Child of The Whitehouse generation, obviously*) with the other thought I was having, about how much I used to love those "best covers of the year" things in the annuals.

This is what popped out the other end:

Would it be feasible for Rebellion, or whoever, to produce a "coffee-table" book, that reprinted each and every cover? Say, from the "pilot" mock-up to prog 1500? Four covers to a page, colour, wraparound covers printed in their entirety, with a little bit of text about them below. Volume two (because I have faith) could have progs 1501-1650, plus all the specials, Megs, postermags, annuals, yearbooks and whatnot. Perhaps even Starlord and Tornado and Crisis, etc, to bulk it up.

I would most certainly buy this. Anyone else?

Steev

*and I'll leave it up to you to decide if I mean Mary, or the late, lamented gentlemen's magazine.