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1) Eamon1961

2) Raggedman

3) Bad City Blue

Another great selection of stories. For those who wish to pick up the pen (or keyboard): use fun comps like this to hone your skills and give the old imagination a well-deserved kick up the arse!

Just found this on CBR (please forgive if posted elsewhere):

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/alan-moores-forgotten-work-monster-receives-reprint-from-2000-ad

Good news for us Moore fans!

That's ace news!

Is there anyone out there having problems with EA? I bought Battlefront for the Lad at Xmas but there seems to be some problem with connecting his old EA account with his Xbox Live account. I've asked for a password confirmation but I haven't received a reply. I've tried creating another account and adding him as a friend but to no avail as his profile is still tied to the old account!

A sad day for music. Even though they were on opposite sides of the musical hemisphere, I'm a great fan of The Specials and Motorhead. Lemmy's career defied the confines of genre and fickle labels. Yes he had the soul of a rocker but his influences can be heard in punk and elsewhere. (And he was a local lad!) The Specials were a band - like The Jam or The Smiths - that didn't stay around for long but certainly made an impact.

Post of the year. Congratulations and a heart-felt welcome to Olivia.

Another great advent calender this year. Well done to all.

Merry Christmas from us all at Creed Towers!

All is explained in the documentary gentlemen.

There is a repeat of a 2010 documentary on The Eagle and Dan Dare on BBC Radio 4 Extra today. It is repeated several times and available on the radio iPlayer.

It's funny how the Eagle was created as a retaliation against the US horror comics flooding Britain at that time whereas 2000ad and Action were an antithesis against the blandness of US mainstream comics of the day.

A RELIC OF CHRISTMAS PAST

'My agents found it in the Undercity.' Matchbox beckoned for him to enter the unit.'It's vintage and curious and dramatic. You'll love it.'

Kohl glanced back at his security detail. They stood with weapons at the ready. It was a bad neighbourhood. For the right price, Matchbox could get you anything. Junk and treasure of every description filled the unit. A rack of firearms lay beneath an antique print of a woman scratching her behind. An old vending machine wheezed as they passed by.

Matchbox was a valuable source of vintage robots and mechanicals. The small, shifty man considered him merely as a collector but Kohl did not actually possess a collection. What he did have was an industrial unit and a trash compactor. Kohl took great pleasure in watching droids being slowly crushed.

The vendor removed a tarpaulin to reveal the facsimile of a rotund human male. Kohl stepped back, suddenly wary. Most of the plastic skin and costume had perished. The white beard hung from a metal jaw. Dead lenses glittered under snowy brows.

'It comes complete with his little helpers.' Matchbox indicated to three small boxes on the floor.

'Does it work?'

Matchbox reached around the proud belly. The huge droid began to hum. Kohl started a little as the monstrous figure came to life.

'And what do you want for Christmas little boy?'

Horrified, Kohl cried out.

'Ah yes I remember.' Cyber Santa tucked its thumbs into a belt that was no longer there. 'A new hover-bike wasn't it?'

'Switch it off.'

With lightning speed, Cyber Santa swung an arm and struck Matchbox. His neck snapped. Kohl ran. Images of the grotto - shut away for so long - returned. He recalled ugly hands squeezing the life from his parents. The robots had taken over the city. Cyber Santa had rampaged through the store until the Judges arrived and blasted it out of the window.

'Code Red.' He shouted into his wrist communicator.

The clanking metallic beast roared behind him. The sounds of destruction reverberated throughout the unit. Kohl dived for cover as the doors slid open. The security detail opened fire. Armour piercing shells punctured the stout body. Cyber Santa toppled backward, dead and deactivated.

Kohl turned to his guards but found that they too had fallen. Bloody fountains gushed from their heads. Three small figures stepped over their twitching bodies and singing cheerfully, skipped towards him.

The Judges found him several hours later. Hugo Kohl had been reduced to nothing more than a puddle. They identified him by his DNA. By the marks on his body, the killers had used tiny hammers or mallets. Every bone had been ground to dust, every organ crushed, every inch pulverized.

Of the perpetrators, there was no sign. The Judges found a little spilt oil and a note.

Dear Fleshy-Ones,

'Tis the season to be jolly - while it lasts.

Best Wishes,

Call - Me - Saint Nick

Robert Loggia-

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/robert-loggia-1930-2015/

Well done Ragged!

1 Jacqusie
2 Eamonn1961
3 Modern Panther

HM's to everyone else. The quality of the stories this month has been outstanding. It made choosing just three all the more difficult!

That's the best thing I've seen all day. It's cheered me right up. Thanks for that!