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Solid concept. Overly talky Daleks. Abysmal characterisation. But still one of the better Chibnall efforts, and I quite liked a lot of it.

I've not read the DC Dredds in a long time, but I remember them being of two types. The main DC series was awful—even worse than IDW's "Dredd with a bushy beard" run. The one being reprinted here was... fine? But it doesn't say amazing things that I used to own all these comics yet can't recall anything much about them.

JayzusB.Christ: Sorry to hear about the fire. I must have missed that on the board. I hope you're on the mend, life-wise.

As for Santa, I won't list everything, but I did get four comics: Aster of Pan, Through the Words, The Tom Paterson HC and Stray Dogs. And my wife lied about not getting me any Lego this year, because I have a Lego Strat to put together!

Bits of partwork, judging by the pic. But if they only sent seven, that's not what was ordered and they should send you three more.

Latest Humble Bundle is Ed Brubaker: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/ed-brubaker-image-comics-books

Loads of insanely good stuff in there.

Alienist

They have cradle grave 113 and sinister dexter 114 on the forbidden planet website

Huh. I couldn't find them earlier today. Odd.

No hints about anything. Hachette support hasn't got (or won't share) the full list. Oddly, Forbidden Planet also appears to have stopped listing issues after 108, for some reason.

I'm not Scottish, but, yes, Scotland could in theory join the EU under Article 49, although would have to do quite a lot to align. I get the sense the best settlement for Scotland, though, would be for the UK as a whole to stop electing fuckwits to Westminster, to rejoin the EEA (at least) and the EU (eventually), while increasing devolution (not only to Scotland/NI/Wales, but also to English regions), along with reforming the upper house so representation is split broadly evenly between the four nations (although I'd argue it would make sense to first split it evenly between non-partisans and politicians).

Sadly, I suspect the UK will continue electing fuckwits, in which case good luck to Scotland. Breaking away will make a lot of sense, but I do hope everyone on the "let's scarper" side recognises how painful and divisive such an event will be. A shit-ton of loser's consent will be required. (Wales did quite well with that during its vote on the assembly. The Brexit lot, though...)

[Dexter]

Dexter - I still think Tazio Bettin is putting in some great art here but this feels like one of those character developments that makes the story worse.

It's very much in Trope City territory. It also comes pretty much out of nowhere, like in a movie where [spoiler]the male and female leads suddenly fall in love/start kissing/start fucking because, well, surely that's the only thing men and women can do[/spoiler].

Any of those mentioned above can only mean a step closer to independence for Calhab

Perhaps. But despite everything, polling in Scotland hasn't substantially shifted. Also, even if 'leave' were to win there, the country would be deeply divided on the matter, which—as we've seen with Brexit—does't necessarily bode well.

Well, yes. Dennis was a horrible little shit right through to the mid-2010s in some formats. The 'softies' were positioned as weak primarily because they liked stereotypical girlie things. Beyond that, there was the casual sexism (ugh: girls).

The change isn't huge, but it does cleverly shift the entire strip. Dennis is now mischievous and streetwise but not a bully. Walter has been changed into a fun-hating spoilsport, taking after his father, the mayor (and wannabe supervillain). The gang has been updated too. Curly has gone and so Dennis's gang now comprises himself, Pie Face and two girls, JJ and Rubi (who also have their own strips elsewhere, with Rubi usually getting a page in every issue). His dad has spiked hair (suggesting he's the original Dennis, something further suggested by his granddad looking like the original Dennis's father).

It's not like Nigel Auchterlonie binned everything. The changes are all quite subtle. But they add up to something I'm happy for my daughter to read and that's significantly more inclusive, without diluting the rebellious edge that has always been at the core of the strip.

Violence is commonplace in media nowdays, but if younger people today are embracing diversity and that's pissing off old men everywhere, I'd say that's still got a rebellious edge to it.

That sums things up perfectly. Most of what we see is white men in their 30s and above whining that not everything is about white men anymore. Heck, even that classic period of 2000 AD was mostly white men in their 30s and above, with a few exceptions (the odd alien, a blue soldier, some black sportsmen).

As for milstar's friend arguing 2000 AD lacks edginess, it would be interesting to know what edginess means for him. Is it just violence? It surely can't be rallying against authority, because 2000 AD is still packed with that.

And on woke: exactly what's said above. It's a word/concept that's been weaponised. There is no 'woke agenda'. What we have in reality is a bunch of people—mostly younger—arguing for more inclusivity, acceptance and equality, and a bunch of white men getting really fucking angry at the thought of women and minorities having something even approaching the same level of influence that they've enjoyed for countless generations. We see this so much in UK politics. Raab is trying to rewrite the Human Rights Act to counter 'wokery'. What this means is trying to make things less equal.

In short, when someone says "We need to deal with woke", imagine them saying "Know your place". That's what it boils down to. Fuck those people.

As ever: argh. So. Many. Covers. Picking just three seems wrong. As ever, I'm going for what makes a good cover, rather than just a good image.

1. 2260: An excellent cover that warms the nostalgia cockles, smartly reworks the 2000 AD logo, and would make any lapsed reader wonder what the heck is going on, making them pick this up.

2. 2257: Powerful use of a limited colour palette here, and the combination of human figures and tentacles has a properly creepy vibe.

3. 2220: Great angles and figure work make for a high-impact cover that should draw in readers, young and old.

Lots of HMs (sorry):

2234: A really striking graphic that very nearly made it into my top three. Lovely stuff.
2253: Vibrant and beautifully rendered Martian invasion action.
2221: A lovely tribute to a much-loved great—and you gotta love those chunky black outlines.
2213: A divisive strip, but this version of Red looks superb, like she'd snap you in two, rather than a glamour model fantasy.
2252: More Cliff Robinson goodness, this time with a composition that feels decidedly old-school in nature.
2230: One of many brighter and more cartoonish covers that really stood out for me this year.
2229: An old master returns to Dredd with a punch. Here's hoping he has time for more in the future.
2214: Bright and dynamic—just the kind of cover you want to engage you with a new strip.
2222: Another cartoony cover that stood out and made me want to jump to what was inside.

Tricky, this year, because that's a great line-up. As ever, I'm going for what for me makes a great cover, rather than just a great image.

1. 435: Such a striking image with that hideous devil looming over Devlin Waugh
2. 437: Eye-catching. Great contrast with the peace (flowers) vs violence (bullet/Dredd silhouette). Daringly different.
3. 434: Excellent storytelling and rendering. Dynamic poses. Fink looks right into your soul.

HMs for 433 (vibrant and exciting Dark Judges action) and 429 (the beginning of the end for democracy, creeps).