Topics

1.  Everything is either 15 reasons .... or 15 memes ...

Actually, you know what, that's it!  Used to be vaguely interesting and had the odd snippet of news (okay, stuff I hadn't seen by that point).  Now it just seems to be poorly constructed click bait.  Or am I just being overly cynical?

Stumbled across this little gem this morning. Looks like a nice little line up for the new year.  The meg listing looks especially enticing. Solicitations for January for tooth.  MovieDredd Dark Judges, Cursed Earth Koburn, Lawless ... oh my!

Okay, so here is the challenge.  To generate a thread solely by the use of bizarrely associated lyrics.  What can the hive mind come up with to move the thread forward?

"Here I stand, foot in hand, talking to my wall."

Talk about a major nostalgia fest.

This has got to be the greatest idea to date.

Part of Rebellion's new publishing strategy.

Posties early today and he brought the prog to boot - tidy!

Nice cover by Trevallian.

Expo heavy Dredd.  Filling in details with an info dump.  Marshall does it his usual justice. 

Return of the Alienist.  Jumping straight in with the mystery and a new antagonist?

Greysuit goes bananas (literally).  Higgins' art as ever is a pleasure.  In fact it is easy to be bowled over by it.  (apologies for that one).

Grey Area is a one off.  Bit light hearted.  Okay but nowt special.

Rounded out with Hunted.  Sorry, not got into this at all.  Traitor General is just too one dimensional.

Overall, an okay week.  Oh, and Lawless is returning to the meg  (yay!)

It occurs to me that so much of what is out there is so negative, vitriolic and downright nasty that this site really does seem like some sort of oasis.  I mean I know that we have our differences, that some threads (I"m thinking the recent Dr Who thread or the political thread) can get a bit heated, but that tends to be the exception rather than the rule.  Even there views and ideas are respected.

We have a number of members of this board with serious needs that get all the support they need, that are welcomed with open arms.  There are only a handful of members that have ever been barred and even then it has been after a prolonged exploration of alternatives.  Disagreements are met with respect and an appreciation of different views first of all.  We try to find solutions to problems rather than focusing on the problems.  We have a broad but respectful church here.  It just feels like it is unusual on the internet. 

Answers on a postcard ...

Looks like Titan are having another shot with Dare.  Milligan on writing duties.  Weston on variant cover duties.  not familiar with the interior artist but it doesn't look too bad.

Well, any TV series that has got Tory MP's frothing at the mouth has at least got to be worth a gander.  https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/02/bbc-king-charles-iii-anger-drama

Don't know much about this and certainly not heard about the play.  Certainly it seems a realistic premise although I'm sure the original writing dates back to when the monarchy was slightly less respected a few years back.

New York 2140 -

The waters rose, submerging New York City.

But the residents adapted and it remained the bustling, vibrant metropolis it had always been. Though changed forever.

Every street became a canal. Every skyscraper an island.

Through the eyes of the varied inhabitants of one building Kim Stanley Robinson shows us how one of our great cities will change with the rising tides.

And how we too will change.

(From Amazon)

Hmmm.  All it needs is art by Colin Wilson.

Another CBR top 15 including both Dredd and Anderson.  Dredd is pipped by Jim Gordon?  Anderson all the way down at 10?  There is no justice ....

It's been gorgeous all morning with nary a cloud in the sky.  Just put the washing out and where has the damn sun gone!  Razzlefrazzledagnabbit!   

Well, I purchased a copy of the Tornado Summer Special from a seller based in New Zealand before Christmas.  It's been about two months now and there is still no sign of it.  I've been in contact with the seller who said that he posted it after Christmas when the postal service reopened.  That still places transit time at a month.  When I've sent stuff that way in the past it has taken about a fortnight and that was a larger book.

Anyway, aforementioned seller asked if I could give it another week or so when I initially contacted him.  Also said that he would have a look and see if he had another copy.  I accepted the suggestion of giving more time, by this point having given it the best part of a month anyway.  It still hasn't turned up so I suggested that perhaps we had to accept that it was lost and look at refund options.  At this point the seller noted that I hadn't opted for insurance on the purchase and is offering a partial refund.

So my questions are:

• Am I being unreasonable wanting a refund?
• Do I have to accept that because I didn't take insurance out with the seller that the best I can hope with is his offer of a partial refund?
• Wouldn't this transaction be covered under ebay buyer / seller protection? 

Any replies will not be taken as legal / binding and any choices I make based on suggestions will in now ways hold the suggester liable.  Thanks guys / girls / insert your gender preference here.

Certainly true in this case.  Granted up and down the country to visit the various signings but the price tag on this offering for this Prog 2000 collection?  the Prog 2000 collection?

Just seen this on CBR.  Deviations.  A nice riff on the Prog 2000 cover there.  Maybe this will be enough to get my daughter to make the jump to the tooth?

CBR has posted this article about the 40th anniversary prog.  Great to see Señor Ezquerra given the honours for such an important event.  Up to his usual standard as well.

Being a little nitpicky but the article credits Starlord as a 'spinoff' which is not really 100% accurate.  More of a 'failed competitor' really.

Having recently upgraded to the Blu Ray's these are now taking up shelf space so if anyone feels the desire to binge on some quality (and occasionally dodgy) Anderson here you are.  These are quite bulky but not too heavy so posting shouldn't be a major problem. 

Call it £30 including p&p for a bargain of £7.50 per set.  Will throw in a free hand written address with every order.

Once again Titan have done us proud and this has been well worth the wait.  A cracking showcase of Kennedy's work (with support from Mike Western).  On the production front, Titan have ditched the dust cover in favour of the European style printed hardback.  Since I don't have volume 1 (although I am now seriously tempted) this is not kicking in the shelving OCD.  Ennis gives an intro to the volume in general and each story in particular.  I have to agree with his contention that there is a lot of filler in Battle that hasn't aged particularly well.  The policy of cherry picking the best is by far the more sensible strategy. 

Titan have also done a pretty good job on the repro front.  One or two pages look a little 'muddy' but for the most part the images are crisp and clear, benefiting from the superior paper quality to the original.  Artwork is clear and detailed and shows off Kennedy's obsessive technical detail.

The story itself stands up well considering the age.  Ennis notes some of the flaw in the introduction but by and large it reads well.  It is clear why it has been considered for inclusion and justly so.  If Titan are going to be both selective in their choice and attentive to detail in their production then there is a lot to be said for long gaps between volumes (volume 1, 2014).

Well, now that I've got thirty seconds to spare I'm looking at consolidating, particularly with the mega collection growing nicely.  With that in mind I've got some bits going up on eBay over the next few weeks but thought that some forumites might be interested.

Scarlet Traces The Great Game 1 - 4 £4

Batman vs Dredd (DC editions) Vendetta, Judgement, Die Laughing. £10

Hamlyn Books

Scorpion Dance £2
Childhoods End £2
Democracy Now £2
Blind Justice £2
The Pit £3

All prices include P&P.  Postage combined on multiple purchases.

I'm going to start with a  confession.  I've had to resort to a rather dubious digital download collection simply for space sake.  Having said that I remain constantly amazed at the quality of writing and art in this comic.

I'm still only up to 1978 and other then Spinball Wars ( which is constantly redeemed by Ron Turner on art duties) it is difficult to find a duff strip.  Mike Western on The Sarge has some first rate writing.  Hellman the early years alternates between Mike Dorey (with some exemplary draftsmanship) and another artist whose name is not credited, I recognise the work of and to my eternal shame I cannot name.  Johnny Red is back in Murmansk and Joe Two Beans is fighting against a sniper.  Titan should be ashamed of themselves of quitting both this and Major Eazy so quickly.  The Crete storyline is astounding.

I am perpetually amazed by the quality of the writing and artwork.  The challenge when it comes to identifying protagonists at times, the complexity of the characterisation.  The overt racism at times can e quite uncomfortable but having said that it is a historical artefact that needs to be recognised.  Personally I believe that it is healthy to expose these sensibilities lest we forget why it is such a problem.

I know that it lost its way towards the end (Battle and Storm Force?) but the early seventies were clearly the hey days.  And this is before classics such as Charley's War!