2023 Advent Submissions

The Legendary Shark · 14 December, 2023, 12:08:58 AM

Second, the crappy picture!

The Legendary Shark · 14 December, 2023, 12:11:51 AM

Third, the Main Event!

SHARKY'S (CHRISTMAS) FILL3RS!
#202301b – Zanda Claws & Mrs. Snow
20~~~^~~~23

PART TWO - BACK DOOR SANTA

PAGE ONE

F1: Zanda is on his knees, frantically examining the fireplace and ignoring everything else. The fire in the grate causes him no problems or harm at all - it might as well be a hologram to him.

ZANDA: No... No, no, no, no, no... There must be a way to re-open it. Get back.

MRS. SNOW (OFF): Uh... Hey! Hey, Santa Claus! Hands in the air, now!

ZANDA: Not detecting any residual energies... that's... that's impossible!

F2: Mrs Snow, one foot on the dying Morrow, aims a chunky, bloodstained pistol (she's been pistol-whipping Morrow) at Zanda.

MRS. SNOW: I won't ask again.

ZANDA (OFF): Maybe the energy from the fire is interfering with... No. No that makes no sense...

F3: Zanda ignores her, so she shoots him. The bullet bounces harmlessly off Zanda's back, surprising him, and continues on to damage the Christmas tree (or something).

MRS. SNOW: Okay, you asked for it.

SFX (GUNSHOT): BAM

SFX (RICOCHET OFF ZANDA): PEOW

SFX (FINAL BULLET DAMAGE): SPAK

ZANDA: What?

F4: Annoyed, Zanda blasts the gun out of Mrs. Snow's hand with a single laser beam from his fingertip.

ZANDA: How dare you attack a General of the Army of the Sacred Claws?!

SFX (LASER): ZZP

SFX (LASER HITTING GUN): BAZZ

MRS. SNOW! Ow! Hey!

PAGE TWO

F1: Snow gets all cage-fightey on Zanda – who is shocked, not hurt

MRS. SNOW: No offence, Santa, but I'm gonna' assume you're with whoever's trying to kill me. Hai-ya!

ZANDA: What? That is... not my name.

F2: Zanda holds Mrs Snow at bay easily. Morrow crawls away as best he can - he's in a bad way - talking into a phone he's had hidden.

ZANDA: I am General Zanda of the Army of the Sacred Claws.

MRS. SNOW: Of course you are, and I'm the bloody Grinch.

MORROW (WEAK): Team Leader... nnh... Plan B... Now...

F3: Gunfire rips through the farm from multiple outside assailants. Only Zanda, getting annoyed now and thinking about killing Mrs. Snow, doesn't duck as bullets bounce off him.

ZANDA: What did you say? You are part of the evil Hive Mind?

SFX (BULLETS, ETC., LETTERER'S DISCRETION):

MRS. SNOW: Aah! Right, I'm going to kill this lot and, Santa Claus or no, if you get in my way I'll John Wick you an' all.

ZANDA: No. Killing is a last resort.

F4: Zanda, working up a good head of mad, kicks out the front door of the farmhouse to confront his attackers.

ZANDA: Allow me.

ZANDA (COMMANDING): Enough of this foolishness! Surrender now or suffer my wrath!

PAGE THREE

F1: The attacking mercenaries are momentarily startled and amused. It is snowing a little harder now.

ASSASSIN: Is this prick for real?

ASSASSIN #2: Real enough to be dead in five seconds. Take aim, boys, let's ruin this fool's...

F2: Then Zanda lays into them with just his bare hands, breaking the right forearm of the first mercenary he encounters.

ZANDA (SINGING): From the Army of the Sacred Claws, I come, in the name of the Massed Armies of Kryss.

ZANDA (JOIN): I bring with me gifts, freely given.

F3: Their bullets don't penetrate his clothes but he can crush their guns to fragments with ease. The rest of the assassins are arriving.

ZANDA (SINGING): To the oppressed, I bring the gift of life.

ZANDA (JOIN): Freely given, freely given.

F4: Their knives break against him. He breaks the right forearm of another mercenary.

ZANDA (SINGING): To the oppressor, I bring the gift of death.

ZANDA (JOIN): Freely given, freely given.

F5: Their fists break against him. He breaks the right forearms of two attackers at the same time while ignoring the punch to his mouth of a third.

ZANDA (SINGING): To the Enabler, I bring the gift of pain.

ZANDA (JOIN): Freely given, freely given.

F6: Zanda leaves them all alive (about a dozen), all with the same injury - a broken right forearm. He stands for a triumphant moment, soaking up his victory.

ZANDA (SINGING): Know you have been vanquished by a soldier of the Army of the Sacred Claws!

ZANDA (JOIN): Your defeat freely given! Freely given!

ZANDA (TRIUMPHANT): Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!

PAGE FOUR

F1: Mrs. Snow, re-armed and still in her novelty slippers and jeans but now wearing a jaunty Christmas sweater and hat, strides out of the farmhouse, which is beginning to catch fire inside. Zanda reacts to a distant howl.

MRS. SNOW: Well, thanks, I guess. Won't be much of a challenge to kill 'em all now.

ZANDA: I have looked in your eyes. You cannot kill people.

MRS. SNOW: That is literally what I used to...

SFX (G'RNCH HOWL, OFF, DISTANT): RRAAAOOOOUUUUGHGHGH

F2: Zanda files off into the sky after the howl, Mrs. Snow, cursing, heads for her Land Rover.

ZANDA: I must go.

MRS. SNOW: Oh no you don't!

F3: Mrs Snow drives through the worsening snowstorm, following the flying Zanda into a knot of bare, thorny trees.

MRS. SNOW: What the Hell am I doing? This must be a dream.

MRS. SNOW (HARD JOIN): Yeah. Too much advocaat, that's...

SFX (G'RNCH HOWL, OFF, CLOSER): RRAAAOOOOUUUUGHGHGH

MRS. SNOW (SMALL): Shit.

F4: Mrs Snow leaps out of the skidded-to-a-halt Land Rover, dragging a military grade rifle with her. A random Prog or two are swept out with her, caught by the wind. Close by, hidden by snow-covered and quivering winter trees, Zanda is fighting a G'Rnch monster.

SFX (G'RNCH HOWL, OFF, FROM TREES): RRAAAOOOOUUUUGHGHGH

ZANDA (OFF, FROM TREES): Die, monstrosity!

F5: Mrs. Snow bursts through the trees to see that Zanda is fighting a lion-sized G'Rnch, neither is winning. The G'rnch has claws that can cut through Zanda's Weave generated force-field and Zanda's energy beams have only a small effect on the G'Rnch's body. Their massive strengths are evenly matched.

MRS. SNOW: Okay, so maybe it isn't the advocaat.

MRS. SNOW: I've had a stroke. That must be it.

PAGE FIVE

F1: Another G'Rnch attacks Mrs. Snow, whose reaction is a shade too slow.

SFX (G'RNCH HOWL): RRAAAOOOOUUUUGHGHGH

MRS. SNOW: Oh crap...

F2: Both the G'Rnch and Zanda are taking damage in the vicious battle.

SFX (G'RNCH HOWL): RRAAAOOOOUUUUGHGHGH *YIELP*

ZANDA: Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! Aaargh!

F3: Zanda is distracted by gunshots from out of frame and the G'Rnch senses its chance.

ZANDA: Why are you here, beast? How are you...

GUNSHOTS (OFF): BAM B'BAM-BAM

ZANDA (JOIN): Huh?

SFX (G'RNCH): RRNNNGHGHGH...

F4: The G'Rnch strikes and impales the distracted Zanda.

SFX (G'RNCH HOWL): RRAAAOOOOUUUUGHGHGH-GHGHGH-GHGHGH!

ZANDA: Nyaaaaah!

MRS. SNOW (OFF): No! Hang on, Santa...

F5: Mrs Snow, pinned under the shot-dead G'Rnch and mortally wounded herself, is forced to take aim from an unconventional and uncomfortable position.

MRS. SNOW: ...just... nnnnnh... hold... still... nnnnh... for a... nnnh... nnh...

STRAP: NEXT: XMAS SOCKS

######

Judge Woody · 14 December, 2023, 02:04:50 AM

Unfortunately I'm not sure who did the original art for this, I think it may be Bisley, am sure someone will let me know.

Judge Woody · 14 December, 2023, 02:25:25 AM

My apologies, it would appear I have credited the wrong artist. Original art by Jason Brashill. Thanks M.I.K.

Dash Decent · 14 December, 2023, 04:49:04 AM

Another dangerous double-up by Dash - in the spirit of all those 'changing the logo' prog covers.

Andy Lambert · 14 December, 2023, 07:16:23 AM

From The Vaults...

Judge Woody · 15 December, 2023, 12:55:57 AM

As promised, here is my Advent submission

Dash Decent · 15 December, 2023, 04:13:29 AM

Another dimwitted double-up by Dash:

Andy Lambert · 15 December, 2023, 07:19:20 AM

From the Vaults... with apologies to Clint Langley.

Judge Woody · 15 December, 2023, 10:28:19 PM

The Snowmen are the Law

Funt Solo · 16 December, 2023, 01:22:34 AM

The Grand Polygamy of Squaxx (2023)

---------------------------------------

If you were married to the prog this year (as part of The Grand Polygamy of Squaxx) then you will recall receiving a robo-telegram containing the following rhyme:

QuoteSomething old,
something new,
something borrowed,
something blue,
and buckets of vengeance - just for you!

With that in mind, witness tell of the fifteen best* thrills of 2023, finely crafted by eleven script droids, fifteen art droids, five colourists and four letterrors. Oh - and, before you feast - let it be known that HERE BE SPOILERS!, although I've tried to keep them non-specific.

++SOMETHING OLD++

Judge Dredd: The Night Shifter
Script: Ken Niemand, Art: Nicolo Assirelli, Colours: Peter Doherty, Letters: Annie Parkhouse

You can't get much of an older thrill than Judge Dredd and here the N-AI-mand entity spreads the story twenty years into the past with a dark, disturbing tale of long-term trauma. This is one of those narratives where Dredd's not so much the protagonist, and instead we're following Luna Aguerra - a refugee facing demons from her past. Nicolo Assirelli and Peter Doherty provide a suitably dark, grimy aspect to the city, where permanent night threatens to envelop Luna as she desperately seeks salvation.

Where it falls down: that's just a Transit van! What is this - Mega-City Manchester?

Azimuth
Script: Dan Abnett, Art: Tazio Bettin, Colours: Matt Soffe, Letters: Jim Campbell

On the face of it, a brand new thrill, but full of trade-mark pun-names and tattooed, unkillable assassins: it turned out to be a stealth thrill for one of the comic's long-running properties. Tazio Bettin & Matt Soffe produced a wonder-world of sometimes obscure cultural references (from Whacky Races to Zardoz) and architectural clues (with at least one hidden QR code). The stealth reveal doesn't fully explain how we've arrived at this particular version of reality and the series climaxes on a cliffhanger that promises to (at least partially) resolve in this year's festive prog. This thrill wins the Top of the Oldies award because, after a long dry spell, the interest it generated got me back into reading the prog this year.

Where it falls down: Suzi Nine Millimetre was such a popular new character, and the setting so interesting, that people were hoping for Mazeworld: Fury Road and found themselves somewhat peeved to discover that they'd been had and were instead reading (from one perspective) Highlander V: Let the Right One In. How they'll feel after getting hit with the meta-stealth-bomb of the festive prog is anyone's guess.

Helium: Scorched Earth
Script: Ian Edginton, Art: D'Israeli, Letters: Simon Bowland

Prog 1945, August, 2015: our heroes crashed in flames, and the tag-line read "Helium will return". Ever patient, the humble Squaxxerati were entirely content to wait quietly without rancour or chuff - and only a short eight years - for this sequel. While much is left shrouded in mystery, we do get back-stories for some of the main players as they are brutally introduced to the flora, fauna (and mega-fauna) of a poisoned world. D'Israeli stands alongside Boo Cook as master at bringing worlds of lights-in-the-darkness to glorious life.

Where it falls down: the set-up in the original has three main civilizational players - the under-gas humes, the over-gas humes and the under-gas muties. This (at least initially) pushes two of those groups off-page and introduces the cryptid bubble-dwellers as a fourth hand. It is fun, but given the eight-year gap between series, I may well be dead before we reach any sort of conclusion, and especially if the scope continues to broaden. Have pity on our meagre lifespans, Tharg!

++SOMETHING NEW++

Void Runners
Script: David Hine, Art: Boo Cook, Letters: Annie Parkhouse

An intergalactic trip that answers well the question "what if Ace Trucking Co. took a heroic dose?" or "what if Flynn from Moon Runners crawled through an alien sphincter?" Questions you didn't even know you wanted the answers to are all answered here, in fabulous Boo Cook technicolour. There are hints of Belardinelli's influence - especially in terms of an agile, sentient, playful merkin (somewhat reminiscent of Garp's scarf). This thrill wins the Top of the Noobs award because it has the most effortless-seeming panache.

Where it falls down: it's probably designed as a one-off, so it would be strange criticism to suggest that it's slight - but it is. I suppose there are some characters (Harry Kipling, say) where less is more, and it's baked in. (This is one way of saying this is a neat little parcel that it's difficult to fault. Cue series two...)

Portals & Black Goo
Script: John Tomlinson, Art: Eoin Coveney, Colours: Jim Boswell, Letters: Simon Bowland

Peanut Butter & Goo is one of those "London - it takes all sorts" tales that has magic and monsters (werewolves, wizards, vampires and such) living side-by-side with regular humanity. It pushes pretty strongly as an immigration allegory (throwing up a mirror to people who feel all thuggish about "the other"), but also manages to fit in victim-blaming from the police when a woman is assaulted in her own home. It's starting to sound a bit kitchen sink and preachy, but has a happy-go-lucky vibe about it with a hapless delivery driver getting into and out of scrapes with various occult threats. In other words, there's sugar to help with the medicine. It's also very much a set-up for a second series, which should be along anytime now - although perhaps this sort of thing will be made illegal by new Tory legislation against allegorical criticisms, or otherwise just sucked into a dark void.

Where it falls down: some have questioned the protagonist's goatee as a poor sartorial choice, and complained about too many spinning plates and not enough resolution. A bit like being a delivery driver.

Tharg's 3rillers: Maxwell's Demon
Script: David Barnett, Art: Lee Milmore, Colours: Quinton Winter, Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Not brand new (but new enough for a forty-six year old comic): this is a sequel to The Crawly Man from last year. There we first met Herne and (his dog) Shuck - a couple of roving demon-battlers in otherwise contemporary Britain. This time we're up against a very Black Mirror-y threat, and have joined forces with Caris (the demon-dreaming girl rescued from the wickerman in the previous tale). A spanner enters the works in the form of ~~Durham Ex~~ Jordy Coquet! She's a goth punk pirate with a taste for revenge! Extra points here for trying to have various British accents work in comic-form.

Where it falls down: Coquet? Like, how do we even say that? Also, shouldn't Caris be going to school?

++SOMETHING BORROWED++

Judge Dredd: The Disciples of Death
Script: Ken Niemand, Art: Neil Googe, Colours: Gary Caldwell, Letters: Annie Parkhouse

If there's one thing the N-AI-mand entity does well, it's absorb and reflect the existing lore of the Dreddverse. The borrowings here run from the obvious (Dark Judges lore), to the general milieu (Mechanismo working cases), to Scottish cultural artefacts ("help ma boab!") and even the meta (with zombies teleported in from Survival Geeks). The story moves along an overarching plot that seems to suggest the possible return of the Dark Judges to Mega-City One, but it's the trip there that provides all of the fun.

Where it falls down: it disnae, ye bams. (Although that does look a little like Cadet Dredd.)

Hershey: The Cold in the Bones
Script: Rob Williams, Art: Simon Fraser, Letters: Simon Bowland

Hershey, in deep cover, has tracked Smiley's Enceladus spiders out to Antarctic City, where she tries to contain a potential global infestation. As her body increasingly succumbs to the alien virus that is poisoning her, she looks back over her life and starts to think of how it might end. Simon Fraser does a masterful job of taking us back to key moments from Hershey's past as she fights for survival in the frozen wastes. This thrill wins the Top of the Borrowers award because it gets under the skin of the players. This series, more than any other, has humanized Hershey as a character.

Where it falls down: probably just the "stop sniffing your own ass" joke, contextually. Otherwise, this was frozen gold.

Durham Red: Mad Dogs
Script: Alec Worley, Art: Ben Willsher, Letters: Simon Bowland

Worley's take on the Strontium Dog universe seems steeped in action movie set-ups (which is no bad thing). Born Bad (from 2018) is an angel-of-vengeance western and Served Cold (2021) played out like an Alamo-style actioner (think Assault on Precinct 13 but with the setting of John Carpenter's The Thing). Durham's no longer an S/D agent, though, and has found herself on the wrong side of the law. In this series she gets hired by a shady spy organization to carry out an infil-and-kill mission against a galactic drug-pusher. It's Mission: Impossible ... in space!

To lighten the mood, and provide a third hand, she gets a sidekick for this mission in a (likeable) mash-up of Janus (of Psi-Division fame) and Mantis (from Guardians of the Galaxy). Ben Willsher does a stupendous job of depicting not only the modern Red's action-packed adventure, but also in flashing us back to the Ezquerra-design, replete with the trademark foreground-outline technique. It's masterful homage-work.

Where it falls down: the bit where Durham manages to neatly amputate a man's second pair of arms, then clench them somehow in her armpits without blood getting all over the place, drives back to base with the bad guys as if she's their four-armed buddy, hangs out there for a while trying to look natural and then, much later - after dinner and a movie - suddenly drops the gruff voice put-on and surprises everyone (to death). It's Hannibal Lecter turned up to eleventy-stupid, so one has to salute it, but it's difficult without squinting. We can be thankful it's not scratch 'n' sniff.

Continued in next post...

Funt Solo · 16 December, 2023, 01:22:59 AM

++SOMETHING BLUE++

The Out: Book Three
Script: Dan Abnett, Art: Mark Harrison, Letters: Simon Bowland

Cyd Finlea (the blue one, when she's wearing her body-condom) has to cope with interrogations by passive-aggressive Machiavellian aliens, grumpy panda-sentries, impending destruction by a time-traveling hegemonising swarm, post-traumatic stress, galactic entrepreneurial lotharios, duplicitous clerics and the death of Bing Bong. All this - and she's trying to save the universe, and maybe reunite with her daughter (who lives in The Sublime). A perfect series for Mark Harrison's epic space-art - it's possible that Cyd could just be shopping and eating (a bit like in the first series) and this would still be fascinating.

Where it falls down: at a stretch, one might pick on the character design for Bing Bong and how complicated and distracting it was. But it was also wildly creative and HOOK! HOOK! TOOT! TOOT! "SURPRISE!", so - y'know - that would be churlish. Where do we go from here, though? It is an end, but is it the end? (See the festive prog for an answer!)

Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley
Script: Garth Ennis, Art: Patrick Goddard, Letters: Rob Steen

The 1980 sci-fi movie The Final Countdown had a modern aircraft carrier travel through a time vortex to before the Japenese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The moral dilemma: should the captain act to change the outcome? Here, Rogue (the blue one) magi-ports to the no man's land of World War I, and tries to figure out if there's a way back to Nu Earth.

Given that the main sequence of Rogue's original run ended in prog 392 (in 1984), this tale wisely brings new readers up to speed on who he is, and why he's having conversations with his helmet. The blend of traditional war comic with Rogue's future-war works very well, and the choice to stick with black and white art helps sell it. There's (naturally) plenty of action on offer, but perhaps the strongest parts of the tale come from getting to know the characters we meet along the way. Why are they fighting? What are their hopes for the future? This thrill wins the Top of the Blues award because it's the best Rogue story since Cinnabar.

Where it falls down: it ended, and a sequel would probably cheapen things - but it's so good to see Rogue back in action in a solid tale.

Feral & Foe: Bad Godesberg
Script: Dan Abnett, Art: Richard Elson, Letters: Jim Campbell

If the first series was The Odd Couple, and the second was gender-bending LARP, this is a dungeon crawler that wisely separates Burlock Bode and Priya Wrathchilde (the blue one) so that quite a large cast of co-adventurers can be included ... and summarily dispatched. Red-shirts are here played gold-plated, as we hop out of the way of various cantrips and into a collection of Meteor Swarms (Range: 240', Duration: Instantaneous) - all beautifully conveyed by Elson's frame-busting action set-pieces.

Where it falls down: this series has strayed a little bit rimward from being an adventure that is meta-aware, to being random dice rolls from the Wandering Monster Table given a twist of the Dabnetts. Spoofs are difficult, because they work best (Airplane!, Top Secret!) when the characters don't realize they're in one.

++AND BUCKETS OF VENGEANCE - JUST FOR YOU!++

Proteus Vex: Crawlspace
Script: Mike Carroll, Art: Jake Lynch, Colours: Jim Boswell, Letters: Simon Bowland

It's brute force against chutzpah and space-smarts as a disparate group of rogue agents try to figure out how to shift the galactic power dynamic in favor of the younger races (as an act both of self-defence and revenge). The set-up is so polished, and the space battles so engagingly fun, you don't even stop to wonder about the bit where the troll-king goes void-surfing. Lynch and Boswell bring everything to life with a wide variety of demands, and some cool character designs: suffice to say that every episode's a masterpiece.

Where it falls down: there's no mention anywhere now of the fact that Proteus Vex has a little man inside his head that drives him - even with the title of this series being "crawlspace". What's it like in there, even? Is Mike Carroll driven by a little man inside his head? Is it the N-AI-mand entity? Squaxx demand answers!

Judge Dredd: Poison
Script: Rob Williams, Art: PJ Holden, Colours: Peter Doherty, Letters: Simon Bowland

Following on thematically from The Cold in the Bones (and thereby demonstrating Tharg's scheduling mightiness), this sees Dredd attempt to solve the case of who infected Hershey with a deadly alien virus. This works as a galaxy-spanning Dreddverse whodunnit, as all the usual suspects enter the frame - from the Sovs to the ghost of PJ ~~Holden~~ Maybe, from the Titan debacle to The Cursed Earth - Dredd tries to piece together the clues with his usual grim determination and single-mindedness. Williams has access to lots of key players, and this star-hopping, globe-trotting puzzler keeps us guessing and second-guessing all the way to the visceral, drooling insanity of the climax.

Holden and Doherty have to jump us around the galaxy and all over future Earth. One stand-out is the opening panel to part two, where Dredd stares up at the stars from the surface of an alien world. This isn't just about the dark vengeance of the antagonist, but also Dredd's as he tries to find justice for the murder of perhaps his closest colleague.

Where it falls down: the guy in the cell is basically Stumpy McStumperton, and seems to have no motive capability - and yet when we first enter the cell he has his back turned to us in grim contemplation. The rest of the scene is played out with him facing Dredd. How did he turn around? Was it by thinking about it? Did he have to be trained how to do that by medical staff? When nobody's in there mopping or interrogating him, does he just gently spin (gurgling quietly to himself) like a bizarre subterranean grimmy-go-round?

The Fall of Deadworld: Retribution
Script: Kek-W, Art: Dave Kendall, Letters: Simon Bowland

War wheels, people! A lesbian Dredd/Rico hybrid kicks the Sovs in the nuts! Judge Fear's a fucking nightmare-Tardis! There's a third Sister of Death - her name is Nasturtium! (Hang on, I have to look it up ... Eunomia!) Anyway, look, it's rambling all over the place but that's because there's a cool, wide, epic, gory, revolting story of grim darkness to tell. Complaining about the meandering is like complaining about Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit. Whinging about artistic clarity? Don't listen to 'em, Dave - the art in this is amaze-balls levels of kick-arsery and I wouldn't change it for the (dead) world. Who else would you get to do a decomposing, flame-lit nightmare?

What about the revenge, Funt, I hear you wail from the dungeons. Mostly, and fittingly, this is about Sidney De'ath taking revenge on the upstart Casey Tweed for, well, killing him. Naturally (or, rather, un) "you cannot kill what does not live", so Casey's demonstrating a youthful ignorance of the powers he's up against. That Sidney inhabits the corpse of his long-dead father (still dressed as a dentist) puts some people off, as the entire Young Death aspect of Death-lore can be controversial - but lore it is, and this leans into it - in much the way that Anderson's Half-Life did. This thrill wins the Coldest Revenge trophy because it's my favorite slice of bleak dystopia, and Dave Kendall's nightmare visions are disturbingly awesome.

Where it falls down: the protagonist, Jess, isn't in it. Like, at all. I know - it's a sprawling epic! It's a cast of (mostly dead) thousands! And there's some narrative reason we're not with Jess right now. But c'mon, Kek, you monster! Tell us what happens to Jess. Or maybe it's best you don't...

*List curated by a dedicated panel of one. Honorable mentions go to Flusher (best call back), El Mestizo (best stealth crossover) and Major Eazy (best inadvertent idea for a new series). Due to time constraints and prog-malaise (like mayonnaise, but you can't have it in a sandwich), I haven't (yet) read some of the thrills this year and therefore could not pass informed comment on them - including Tin Man, Heart of Darkness, Enemy Earth, A Fallen Man, Die Hoard and The Devil's Railroad. Lastly, I wasn't counting one-offs, Regened or the Megazine for this listing.

Dash Decent · 16 December, 2023, 02:29:09 AM

Another dreadful double-up from Dash:

Andy Lambert · 16 December, 2023, 07:05:53 AM

From the Vaults...

Judge Woody · 16 December, 2023, 05:19:49 PM

Not sure who the original artist was, but they signed it with the letter R.