2000AD Prog 2011

This post is going up a day early because frankly, few enough people read these and putting it up on Christmas Eve was just asking to be ignored, am I right?


So I'm not much of a one for Christmas. A sucking sinkhole of time and money that leaves you with nothing to show at the end of it but an empty wallet, a pile of rubbish that you can't get rid of because the wagons don't work the holidays and an extra inch on your waist.

However, as with all of lifes miserable little clouds, there is a silver lining to be found. One shining beacon of hope that the festive season will not be a complete waste of the energy expended getting out of bed. I speak, of course, of the 2000AD Christmas special.

An annual event since the turn of the century, these 100page bumper issues serve as the closest thing we're going to get these days to a traditional 'Annual' as well as being classy jump-on points for new or lapsed readers. They also stay on sale for 3weeks instead of 1, allowing Editorial a Christmas break. So that's nice.


Pick up this issue and you get 3 complete stories, featuring Judge Dredd, Psi Judge Anderson and Rogue Trooper - this latter being written by his original creator for the first time in decades - and 4 Part ones of ongoing series that will continue into the new year when the regular issues resume in January. Also, somewhat bizarrely, the final part of a Slaine story that has been running in the last few weeks worth of regular issues. This kind of takes away from the 'jump-on' ethos but it's just one story so we shouldn't be too hard on them.

The Dredd story uses the humorous framing device of The Chief Judges Christmas Speech to give a decent overview of recent Dredd history and tell newcomers everything they need to know about the current state of play. The Rogue Trooper story is a proper blast from the past and really feels like it could have come from this writers original run on the title. And the Anderson story is a neat way of using a character set to appear in the new Dredd movie, thus generating a bit of buzz, while at the same time re-establishing the 'real' backstory of the character, to soothe those who might have been worried that the comic characters would change to match the movie versions.

But it's the new ongoing series that are of the most importance here because it's these that will be required to hold on to any new readers that this issue drags in. Are they up to the task? Well, when one of them is Dan Abnett and Richard Elsons 'Kingdom' you don't need to worry about that. Generally considered on of the best new series in recent years Kingdom is a joy to read, with Abnetts deceptively deep world building, ear for puns and dialogue utterly unlike anything you'll read elsewhere perfectly complemented by Elsons crisp uncluttered art and brilliant character and creature design. (Indeed, in a series that barely features humans, character and creature design are essentially the same thing.)

Then you get dynastic intrigue in the corridors of Hell, in 'Necrophim' by Tony Lee and Lee Carter, Universe shattering carnage and mayhem in millenia spanning space opera 'Shakara' by Robbie Morrison and Henry Flint (I cannot tell a lie, I do not enjoy this series at all, despite liking these creators on other projects, but I am pretty roundly derided for that opinion. The majority view would seem to be that Shakara is a winner. Each to their own I suppose.), and finally some occult investigations in the 1930's with 'Ampney Crucis Investigates' by Ian Edgington and Simon Davis. A more eclectic mix of stories and art styles you couldn't hope to find. If there isn't something in there to please everyone then I'm a llamas lapdancer.

The question of whether you should pick this comic up is a simple yes/no deal. Do you want to read the cream of British comic creators writing and drawing some of the most spectacular flights of the imagination you'll ever encounter. Yes or No?

Frankly, if you are a comic book fan and you aren't reading 2000AD, well, you owe it to yourself to start and if you aren't a comic fan but just like good stories, well told, the same goes for you. This issue is the perfect chance to get on board and see for yourself. Will you love it all? Probably not, but that is the beauty of an anthology. I'm confident you'll love some of it.

The whole thing is wrapped up in a truly beautiful cover by Simon Fraser. Stunning futuristic cityscapes are becoming something of a Fraser trademark and this is yet another example of his genius in this department. The cover you can see in the shops is at the top of this post but if you want to check it out in all it's glory, without those pesky logos and barcodes, you should head on over to the excellent Covers Uncovered blog (link to the right there somewhere) and see it as it deserves to be seen.

The English Rebel

Something a little different this time out, as I delve into the murky waters of the non-fiction shelves. The occasional celeb autobiography is usually as far as I go in that direction but I am resolved to make a little more effort to educate myself a bit and so here we are.

Having always had an interest in history at school, and later fostering that interest, at least after a fashion, with the reading of lots of historical novels from the likes of Bernard Cornwell, it seemed like the natural place to start. Hence this weeks post, and probably most of the non-fiction posts (certainly the next one will be because I already know what the book is), at least for a while, is firmly within that area, So without further ado, I give you The English Rebel by David Horspool


I came to this book after requesting recommendations on a forum I frequent, asking for history books that were accessible enough to not bore a layman but also not so dumbed down as to patronise anyone with half a brain. This was one of the first mentioned (I'll be checking out a few of the others later) and had the attraction of being a fairly broad overview of English history, which I figured would be better to begin with than jumping into one specific aspect or era.

From the resistance movement that sprang up to oppose William the Conqueror in the 11th Century to the strikers and suffragettes of the 20th, the book attempts to cover a lot of ground and for the most part comes up trumps. Getting through almost 10 centuries in less than 400 pages might lead you to suspect that it would read as rushed but not so; the fact that some of the longer reigning monarchs actually faced very little in the way of opposition means that long periods of time are passed over without comment, without compromising the books intent.

Did I, as someone with a very limited knowledge of 'real' history (that is, not from a novel, movie or TV show) gain anything from the reading of this work? Indeed. For one thing, I now know more about the Tudor line than Henry-Henry-a few others with Elizabeth in there at some point, which was the extent of my knowledge before now. I even know the story of Jane Grey, whom I'd never heard of before she cropped up in an episode of Sarah Jane Adventures of all things.*

A few myths and misconceptions gleaned from Robin Hood stories were put to rest, some shady reputations were redeemed slightly (and vice versa) and Mary Poppins is no longer my go to text for knowledge of the suffragettes. All told, I reckon I came away a fair bit more knowledgeable.

How much of it will be retained is down to the reader (I'm terrible) rather than the writing, which is accessible almost throughout. In fact, the only time I found myself flagging slightly was in the closing chapters on the rise of the trade unions and the use of strikes as protest. It's entirely possible (or indeed probable) that this was a problem on my end rather than any lowering of standards on the part of Horspool. As a very young child at the time of the Union/Thatcher clash I don't really remember it as such but I was certainly aware of the aftereffects and the dark mood of society for a while afterward. Perhaps this first hand experience (albeit peripheral) made it seem less legitimate as a history text. After all, doesn't it seem odd to read about events from your own lifetime being considered 'history'? Maybe that's just me.

*In the episode the character is worrying about how history will perceive her and the girl from our time (who was very excited to meet her) tells her that she will be remembered for hundreds of years. Either the guy who wrote that episode has a very poor grasp on how up on history the average schoolkid is or I'm a bit of a dullard. I choose to believe the former.

Loads of interesting stuff.

Snow. Lots of it. Meaning school closures and me getting roped in to have my sisters child. All day. Every day.

He's six, he's incredibly attention needy and he never, ever, ever stops talking. I've been tempted to bury him in one of the many snowdrifts around about but have, so far, been able to resist.

His constant presence has, unfortunately, meant that I have done as much reading in the last week as I would normally expect to do in one average soak in the tub. Which I haven't been able to have, because he's eaten into my time so much that all I can afford to allot is enough for a quick dip. Get in, get washed, get out. Come on, that's not a proper bath, is it? I'm feeling a little deprived.

I had thought that I might write a few words on Nemesis, the Mark Millar written, Steve McNiven drawn comic mini-series that has been running in Clint, reasoning that the final issue (#4) would be in Clint #4, which was released yesterday (02/12). I figured I could finish reading that and do a quick rundown of my thoughts about it. Sadly, only half of nemesis #4 was actually printed in Clint #4, meaning I'll have to wait a month or so for the concluding pages. Another plan foiled. Buggeration.

So no book finished, no comic series finished, what on earth am I going to write about. Well, as it turns out, not much of anything. I'm just typing a load of old nonsense until I hit a halfway decent wordcount, which I'll put up on the blog and then post the link on twitter, so that the 3 people who actually read these things will be tricked into thinking there is new content and come boost my views. Mwahahah.

Is that enough do you think? Should I stop now? Yes, I think I probably will, but before I go; Clint #4 does contain what I believe (but don't quote me on this) is the first published comics work from comedian Stewart Lee. It's very good, and not just by first-timer standards either. It also has some very nice art by Steve (Zenith/Red Seas) Yeowell. Worth checking out, but fair warning, lots of part 3's and 4's of ongoing stories elsewhere in this issue so a first time buyer might find themselves in at the deep end a little bit.

That's me then. I'll be back next week when I'll be discussing something or other I'll have read by then.

The Borribles

The Borribles books were unlike anything I'd ever encountered when I first read them at the age of 11. Dark, uncompromising, and very very bloody, they are nevertheless full of likable characters, loyalty, friendship and a way of life that every kid reading them would have loved to emulate.

The trilogy comprises The Borribles, The Borribles Go For Broke and Borribles : Across The Dark Metropolis. All three are available in a nice big chunky omnibus.

Basic not-too-spoilery plot is that the Borribles (street urchin types who steal to eat and squat in abandoned buildings) learn that the Rumbles (rat creatures that live on parks and commons, obvious Womble analogues) are planning to invade the urban territories. A pre-emptive strike is launched.

Said strike is the basis of the first book. Books 2 and 3, which need to be read back to back for the full effect, concern the repercussions on the Borrible way of life of one minor (but pivotal) event in the first book. These repercussions are large, and they are unpleasant.

You know how JK Rowling casually culled her characters in the last couple of Harry Potter books? Remember how everyone was all, "Oh, that's a bit nasty, that's a bit grim, that's a bit shocking for the little ones"? Well, The Borribles is like that, all of the time. The difference with this story though, (and I mean no disrespect to Rowling here, whose books I genuinely love) these characters are much better drawn, in a much shorter space of time, so each and every death ( and a couple of fates that are literally worse than death, in the context of the books) hit you like sledgehammer blows.

There are some very complex shifting moralities at play here too, with the closest thing the books have to a hero acting like anything but on a number of occasions whilst redemption (if not always rescue) is afforded the most unpleasant of people. It's a cliche, but the best villains don't see themselves as such and in these novels everyone has a motive for what they do, everyone believes themselves to be on the 'right' side. You'll often find yourself agreeing with them.

It seems the violence and ant-establishment themes (the Police don't come off particularly well) rubbed a few people up the wrong way (perhaps understandable in books aimed at children) and author Michael de Larrabeiti struggled to find a publisher for the third book. Whether this convinced him to wind up the series as a trilogy or whether that was the intention all along I don't know. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, because while the Borribles and their culture were ripe for exploration, and might perhaps have had a much larger cultural influence had they appeared more often, the fact is that the ending we get, while not exactly fairytale, is a fitting and memorable cap to a sometimes harrowing, always worthwhile tale.

I could write page after page about these books but if I do I'll not be able to resist mentioning my favourite moments, all of which constitute massive spoilers so I'll leave it at this : a happy ending for the few, paid for with the blood of the many. If that sounds like your cup of tea, read The Borribles now.

Retromancer

It is a fact well known to those that know it well, that pseudo-cosmic antimatter, (properly transperambulated of course) will solve most any quantum conundrum, or if not solve then cause. It works best when judiciously applied in the presence of an observer, preferably female and if at all possible wearing a straw hat.

And who can argue with that.

This is just one of many cosmic truths that I have learned from my many years reading the works of one Robert Rankin. Who may be very well be a genius. Or certifiable. Or possibly both, I'm not sure.

I've never tried to explain a Rankin book to anyone before. I've turned people on to his work, but that has usually just been a case of throwing one of his books at them and saying "read the first chapter and tell me what you think". Something which it is impossible to do, because either you share his sense of humour, in which case there is no way you're stopping at one chapter, or you don't, in which case I guarantee you will keep reading, if only to reassure yourself that you didn't dream the first bit.

Retromancer features the lad himself, Hugo Rune (Hugo Artemis Solon Saturnicus Reginald Arthur Rune to be precise. And I can't tell you how nerdy I feel whenever it pops into my head that I know that, months or even years after I last read it. It's one of those things that just sticks, you know?), who enlists the aid of his Acolyte, Rizla, to travel back from Rizlas native 60's to the bombwracked streets of London at the height of the blitz. Their mission? To prevent Count Otto Black (The Most Evil Man Who Ever Lived) from using futuristic technology to help Hitler win the war.

Along the way we visit The Ministry of Serendipity (the real brains behind Britains military strategy), learn the shocking truth about Winston Churchill, find out what the emergency services were really up to while people were huddled in shelters and of course find out the secret origin of the Steel Pan, as played by Trinidadians in the Notting Hill Carnival. (Or more accurately the Mark Seven fully chromatic/acoustic metallic idiophone. Which is an improvement on the Mark Six in that it doesn't give you spots.)

Pirates get involved at one point, as do a couple of werewolves. The Statue of Liberty is destroyed, a bottomless pit is discovered in a newsagents and much of the now legendary old toot is talked. By, amongst others, Fangio the barman, who is not yet a fatboy although he has already taken to the chewing of the fat.

I love Robert Rankin. A review of one of his earlier books compared his writing to hard drugs, in that it will make you feel sick at first but is extremely addictive. It certainly was in my case. The reason for my love of his work though is that no matter how many plot holes there are, how many loose ends dangling, how many unexplained anachronisms, how little overall sense it all seems to make, he knows exactly what he is doing at all times and it all makes sense come the denouement.Except the bits that don't, which he'll point out to you with a cocky grin and a "I don't care and you don't either, because we're all having so much fun." You find yourself chuckling at the audacity as the author basically sits and says "I bet you thought I'd forgotten that bit" and "see, that does make sense, you just weren't paying attention". His finales are scarily tightly plotted, making the seemingly random, stream of consciousness nonsense all the more impressive. Genius? Certifiable? Definitely both.

Kiss & Die

Matrioshki meets Arnie, with added ninjas. How does that sound?

As a youth Johnny Mann watched his father get murdered by Triads and vowed to bring them down. Later he learned that his father was actually a Triad himself and was killed for trying to get out. Now Mann is a member of the Hong Kong police force, doing all he can to bring down these criminal families whilst at the same time dealing with the stigma of his fathers legacy, not to mention the fortune he has inherited and doesn't want. Many of his colleagues don't trust him, the bad guys are trying to lure him to the dark side and there is a serial killer on the loose targeting foreign tourists. Mann has to catch the killer, stop a gang war and try not to spiral into drink and depression. It's all a bit bleak.

Except it's not, actually. It should be, but it's all laid on so thick, and with the subtlety of a brick to the temple, that it all just starts to feel ridiculous after a while.

Lee Weeks has written four Johnny Mann books to date, with Kiss And Die being the latest. They all follow the same basic pattern, with Mann being a bit grumpy while investigating some killings, his sidekick finding a couple of excuses to show off his kung fu fighting and the ongoing Triad storyline bubbling away in the background. The crimes usually have some kind of sexual theme, with prostitution, people smuggling, online kiddie porn and, well, just plain rape, being pretty much everywhere. This latest has as it's killer a young girl who likes to carve up men, during sex, which she accomplishes by drugging them and tying them up, then injecting their penises with a drug to get them physically aroused. (None of that is a spoiler by the way. These books are not whodunits, the killers and their methods being explicit from the start.)

Each book ends with some variation of Mann kicking loads of arse and slicing a few people up. Mann wraps up pretty much all of his cases by slaughtering a shedload of bad guys. His preferred method of killing is actually, just in case the kung fu sidekick wasn't enough of a cultural stereotype, throwing stars. One of which has a girls name, and is on an elastic, so it returns to him after use.

It's a bit of a shame really. The people smuggling and prostitution angles could have made for some excellent thriller/cultural commentary novels. God knows the issues are real enough and as anyone who has seen the criminally underrated TV show Matrioshki can attest, it is possible to tell a gritty crime drama with lots of sex and violence whilst still remaining respectful and educating the public as to what is going on under their noses. What we have here however is a case of real issues being cheapened to create a false sense of worthiness for what is essentially a brain dead action story of the type that Arnie was churning out in the eighties.

Why am I still reading, 4 books into the series? Well, I'll tell you. The characters are cliched, the storylines borderline offensive and some of the sexual violence is downright disturbing but for all of that, I love them to bits. A Mann book is never likely to win any great literary awards but so what? Sometimes you just want to switch off your brain and hearken back to the days when this kind of escapist nonsense was everywhere.When bad guys were evil, femme fatales were forever trying to seduce your hero and vigilante justice was king. It's tosh, of course it is, but it's mindless overblown tosh that can't help but entertain and doesn't outstay it's welcome. And anyway, who says every book has to mean something.

If there is a 5th Johnny Mann book (and let's face it, there will be a 5th Johnny Mann book, and likely a 25th) I'll be there to pick it up.

Age of the Wolf

Setting a dangerous precedent here, having comics on the blog two weeks in a row (a novel next week, honest guv) but a couple of factors forced the decision. The first being I've barely read anything this week (I am suitably ashamed) and the second is that the story I'm going to write about today ended a week ago in 2000AD and to wait any longer would make me even later to the party than I already am.

The story in question is Age Of The Wolf by Alec Worley (writer) and Jon Davis-Hunt (artist). It follows a young woman in her attempts to survive a werewolf outbreak, whose efforts are mde more difficult by the revelation that according to an ancient prophecy she is inextricably linked to this apocalypse and the head werewolf is personally out to get her. There is a cute heroine, a twisty plot and a fresh new spin on werewolf mythology. Does it work though?

I'll talk about the art first because, without wishing to dismiss the contributions of Jon Davis-Hunt (I mean that, truly) the reason I was so keen to discuss this series is really down to the writer. So, Davis-Hunt has worked for 2000AD before, most famously on the infamous strip Stalag 666, which did not go down particularly well with the readers and caused something of a stink (if you'll pardon the pun) when one disgruntled reader chose to express his displeasure to the writer in a somewhat, shall we say, unique (if not psychotic) fashion. Anyway, I remember liking the art on Stalag, if not particularly loving it, and I even had a beautiful cover from the series as my desktop wallpaper for a little while.


Age... is even better. It's far from perfect and there is the occasional panel or two where it's a little difficult to tell exactly what is going on but on the whole it works for me as classic, 'proper' comics art. No flashy effects or photoshopped models looking one step removed from a photo-strip (I'm looking at you Clint Langley), this is proper comics and if he continues to improve at this rate Davis-Hunt is welcome in my prog any time.



On to Alec Worley then.

2000AD has long had an informal apprenticeship system in place. Future Shocks (sci-fi) and the less iconic Terror Tales (horror) Time Twisters/Past Imperfects (time travel/alt history) are 5page one-shots with twist endings and they are used as the testing ground for aspiring writers trying to break into the hallowed pages of The Galaxies Greatest Comic. Get a few accepted, get a good reaction to them, and maybe you will be invited to pitch ideas for serials. This has been the accepted route into 2000AD since pretty much the year dot, just ask Alan Moore.

Let me tell you something, these things are bloody hard to write. I've been trying for years to put together something I wouldn't be embarrassed to submit and I long ago realised that even if I managed to get one accepted, the chances of my being able to churn them out with any kind of frquency were essentially nil. Which is why I am so fascinated by those who can do it, and do it well.

Alec Worly has been turning in these one-shots at a very prolific pace, and getting pretty much universal praise for them, for the last year or so and it was just a question of when, rather than if, he was going to get a series commissioned. Age... was that series. I was watching it very closely. How would he cope with the extra page count, not to mention the much higher quality threshold, series generally being held to a higher standard than the one-shots, partly because the reader knows they are written by newbies but also because if a one-shot is rubbish it at least won't wear out it's welcome? Would he hit a six or would rain stop play?*

Truthfully, it's a mixed bag. The central concept is sound, (who doesn't like werewolves, and in London no less?), the lead character is likeable enough after a slightly unsympathetic first couple of episodes and the sudden shift into Norse mythology is one of those rug pulling wtf moments that 2000AD does so well. The extended chase sequence involving a motorbike in a blizzard (depicted in the cover for prog 1703 shown above) is crying out to be put on film and the cliffhanger at the end of the penultimate episode was an absolute blinder that demands you read the conclusion. On the other hand, the expositional captions can be a wee bit overbearing at times, the supporting cast are a little underdeveloped and one particular piece of the story (involving a severed hand and a bunch of flowers) left me scratching my head a little, as it seemed slightly superflous, although that may just be me not quite getting it.

A qualified success then, but a success nonetheless. At 9 episodes Age Of The Wolf was significantly longer than the usual first serial from a writer breaking out of the Future Shock system, so it represented a pretty hefty vote of confidence from the powers that be. The fact that Worley has another series starting in the very near future (meaning that it was commissioned well before any feedback could have been gathered about Age...) is another sign that the editor is confident in the guy, and rightly so in my opinion. 2000AD has nurtured many a promising youngster who would go on to bigger things and if I'm any judge (debatable, but still...) Worley is most definitely on that same path. I just hope 2000AD manages to get a few classics out of him before he moves on to bigger (not better, never that) things.

Age Of The Wolf is too recent, and possibly too short without a second series, to be available in Graphic Novel format so short of tracking down back issues you're out of luck for the time being but if you want to get in on the ground floor of a very promising writers career, now is the time to check out 2000AD, because his second series, Dandridge, is due to start in the very near future and is almost certainly gonna be a cracker.





*I'm trying out sport metaphors, but I don't think it'll stick. I'm not even entirely sure I know which sport I'm referencing there.

Age of the Wolf and Stalag 666 covers shamelessly stolen from Pete Wells 2000AD covers uncovered blog which is all kinds of cool and full to bursting with beautiful artwork and well worth a look. There's a link over there on the right somewhere, give it a click. The Dandridge image is from Alec Worleys blog and is by Warren Pleece.

Judge Dredd Casefiles Vol 15

The Judge Dredd Casefiles are a collection of trade paperbacks that publisher Rebellion (current owners of 2000AD and Dredd) have been releasing now for the last few years, collecting together all of the Judge Dredd stories, in complete chronological order, from his first appearance in Prog 2 (2000AD issues are referred to as Progs) to, hopefully, the present day. Or at least, a couple of years behind the present day, so as not to interfere with more prestige Graphic Novels of individual stories. That's my hope anyway, I don't know what the plans are at Rebellion, but they certainly are showing no signs of slowing down with these books anytime soon. There are currently 16 volumes in the Casefiles series but in this post I'd like to discuss No. 15. Partly because I have yet to pick up No. 16 but mainly because it is in No. 15 that we get the stories marking the handover of control from the renowned veteran Mr John Wagner to the brash young upstart Master Garth Ennis.


At the beginning of the 1990's the then editor of weekly anthology comic 2000AD had a problem. John Wagner, creator and main writer of the titles flagship character, Judge Dredd, for most of the comics life (nigh on 15 years at that point) had expressed a desire to step back from writing the strip. He would continue to provide scripts featuring Dredd for The Judge Dredd Megazine (a newly launched spin-off comic that would feature stories from all around Dredds world) but the main strip in the weekly would require a new regular writer. Given that John Wagner is, in the eyes of all right thinking individuals, a God among writers, and his work on Dredd, especially in the couple of years leading up to this point, had been pretty much peerless, (it wouldn't be surpassed for years and only then when Wagner returned to the character for a run that has become one of the best on any comic ever), it would be very difficult to find a replacement that would a) be up to the task and b) meet with the approval of the readers.

Enter Garth Ennis. Not comic book industry superstar Garth Ennis with acclaimed books like Preacher, Hellblazer, Hitman, The Boys, War Stories, Punisher, Crossed, and Battlefields to his name, among others. This Garth Ennis was young, inexperienced and pretty much the last name anyone would have expected to be appointed, had they even considered him at all. But appointed he was and it was up to him to prove the doubters wrong and make the biggest character in British comics his own. Would he succeed? We'll see.

I am a huge fan of Garth Ennis. I have read and enjoyed a lot of comics by the man and consider him to be in my top 5 comic writers (as is John Wagner) so it is very difficult for me to be totally objective here. Every man has an off day though, and Ennis himself has admitted that his Dredd writing is not exactly his best work. Be fair though, he was young, and this was by far the highest profile gig he'd had to date. Seems only natural that he might take a while to find his feet. With that in mind, there is a lot to like about the first couple of Ennis stories and I can see a lot of potential here for his future on the title.

Only one Ennis story falls flat here and, perhaps tellingly, it's the only one not to riff on a pre-existing piece of continuity. It's called Emerald Isle and sees Dredd visiting Ireland, which has been forced to accept corporate money to aid in it's rebuilding after the Atomic Wars, and as a result has been turned into one big theme park based on Irish cliches. Write what you know they say, so for his first proper contribution to the Dredd mythos it's perhaps understandable that Ennis falls back on his Irish heritage but all in all the whole thing just seems a little bit too silly. Dredd as a strip has a long and distinguished history of incorporating comedy, ranging from slapstick to subtle satire, so it's not the inclusion of jokes that doesn't work, merely that the jokes aren't all that funny. It is, if nothing else, an interesting artifact, in that marks a very early collaboration between the Preacher dream team of Ennis and artist Steve Dillon.

The book also contains the first few Dredd stories written for the Megazine. Sadly, they do not seem to be particularly good. It's possible that I'm allowing my opinion to be clouded by the rather murky art on one story (The Gippers Big Night) and the (in my opinion) messy and unpleasant style of art on another (Black Widow) but hey, a great script can overcome poor art and these scripts didn't.

I hate to end on a downer when talking about a series which I really do love so I'll reiterate here that with the exception of Emerald Isle and the early Megazine mis-fires this book is chock full of arsomness. John Wagner on form is guaranteed class and even sub-par Ennis is better than a lot of stuff out there.

Nerd Do Well

Slight change of pace this week as I venture into the seldom visited realm of the non-fictional. Yes, for all my talk of giant robots, teenage witches, board game inspired shoot-em-ups and Jesus based conspiracies, I can, when the mood takes me, be all, like, intellectual and junk.

I'm not going to be here mind you, I'm just saying I can be. No, for my first non-fiction book in a long time I've gone with a movie stars autobiography. Because that's how I roll.


Nerd Do Well is, the cover tells us, "A small boy's journey to becoming a big kid" and charts the life of Simon Pegg as he grows up, realises he's funny, and parlays that into a huge television and movie career. Jammy bastard.

Pegg is funny. He is also charming and disarmingly honest about his childhood. (I assume he's honest. If you were making stuff up, you wouldn't make some of these stories up.) He seems at times to be embarrassed by the idea that he is important or interesting enough to warrant an autobiography and some of the funniest moments are self deprecating ones.

I can relate to Pegg, in that I was and still am very much the 'geek/nerd'. His obsessions were my obsessions, his heroes mine, although the way things are looking it's highly unlikely that I'll be making any movies with Steven Spielberg any time soon so the similarities probably end there. The fact that I can relate to Pegg so strongly probably explains why I didn't feel let down by this book. Nerd Do Well is not an industry tell-all. It barely scratches the surface of Peggs career. Instead it is a deeply personal account of the man himself, his influences, his relationship with his family and the friendships that have shaped his adult life. Anyone looking for Star Trek anecdotes or scene by scene production diaries for Hot Fuzz need look elsewhere because this is not the book for them. I'd have been happy with that book, but I'm happier with this one.

And it bears repeating, Pegg is funny. Not least in the chapters, inserted throughout the book at choice moments, that are not autobiographical at all, but rather are a bizarre 3rd person narrative in which Pegg is cast as a (pompous and dim) James Bond/Batman figure, jetting around the world with his trusty robotic sidekick to take on evil geniuses intent on world domination. I don't know whether Simon Pegg has read any Robert Rankin but it was Rankins distinctive brand of 'far-fetched-fiction' that these chapters reminded me of, which is a good thing, because few can pull off this level of ridiculous, fourth wall breaking, nod and wink insanity and not fall flat on their face, and I can't help but hope that if Pegg ever decides to write a novel he dares to embrace this style completely. The world needs more toot.

This book is fried gold. You should buy it, or at least get it out of the library, if for no other reason than to look at Peggs baby photos, in which he looks exactly the same as he does today. Seriously, it's uncanny. Oh, and The Galaxys Greatest Comic, 2000AD, gets a brief but positive mention. That's 10 points right there.

Horus Heresy : Mechanicum

Warhammer, the sword and sorcery tabletop miniature game and it's far future equivalent Warhammer 40000 hold little to no appeal for me. I have nothing against them, or the people who play them, but they just aren't my cup of tea. However, for the last couple of years I have been getting really rather hooked on the range of novels that are set in and around the world of the games.

My first encounter didn't go well. The Blackguards by Nathan Long. Not recommended. At all. After that though, I decided a second chance was in order so I went with the Horus Heresy series. The Horus Heresy is actually set 10000 years before the Warhammer 40000 game/novels. It purports to tell the tale of how the pretty bloody shitty, universe in chaos, perpetual civil war, demons running rampant state of affairs in Warhammer 40000 came about, by chronicling the events surrounding Horus Lupercal, Warmaster and right hand man to the beloved Emperor, as he is corrupted by evil and leads a bloody revolt against the Emperor.

I have read a number of these books now and I have to say that it is a strange series to get your head around, at least at first. A number of authors work on the series and while there is a definite 'house style' if you like, you can still see the influences that the different writers bring to the table, so the books all read slightly differently. I read the first three, which were a fairly tightly plotted trilogy, back to back and it definitely felt jarring as I went from one book to another. After that initial trilogy another thing occurred that threw one a little at first. The books began to shift around. Some would propel the story forward, some would backtrack yet further and some would show us events we'd already seen but through the eyes of a different set of characters. The series is as non linear as you're likely to get and yet the sense is definitely there of a plan, a framework that everyone is working to. Once I grasped what was happening (and I'm not so dense that it took me that long) I really embraced the method.

So anyway, Mechanicum is the title of the latest Horus Heresy book I've read and it concerns the titular organization being courted by Horus to join his rebellion. The Mechanicum are, as their name suggests, the technical wizards of this future setting, who have elevated machinery to the level of a religion. They are not in fact one organization but rather a loose alliance of separate 'Forges'; essentially factions that argue and compete amongst themselves but are united in their worship of machinery. Their main function in the story is to provide weapons and ships to the Emperors Great Crusade (he wants to wipe out all alien life and claim the universe for Man basically) and Horus wants them onside so that when the rebellion happens he is equipped and the loyalists won't be. Simple really.

Of course, all does not go to plan and the Mechanicum split down the middle, conveniently allowing both sides in the civil war to have weapons and ammo (otherwise it would be a short series). This outcome is inevitable really, for the reason given, so the book needed to have something else to become a truly essential addition to the series. Whether it has that something is, to be honest, debatable. An aspect I've seen talked about elsewhere is that it is the first in the series not to focus on people or groups actively involved in the Great Crusade. While this is true, I'll be honest with you here and say that a lot of the people we follow in this book, in terms of motivations, character traits and lifestyles are pretty much indistinguishable from the Space Marines et cetera that we've seen in previous books. We are told that they are allies of the Emperor, rather than being under his command, but you'd never know it from the way they live. So for a long time player of the games I imagine this book would be simply a necessary building block in the series, setting the pieces on the board where they need to be for future developments but not necessarily particularly thrilling in it's own right.

For me personally, however, Mechanicum scores very highly in a way that it probably doesn't for these long time fans. And it's for a reason that is going to sound a little strange, given the title and setting of the book. One of my main beefs with the series has always been the over reliance on tech porn. That is, the long, lingering explanations of every piece of weaponry, every inch of battle armour, every rivet and plate on the ships. For those who came to the books from the games, this obsession with tech is probably a big part of the attraction, seeing as how a large part of their hobby is in the construction of incredibly elaborate models of these very ships and bits of kit. For me though, who came for story, they can be laborious and really pull me out of the story. This is not something I can complain about; the gamers are, after all, the primary market for these books and I am the outsider.

Mechanicum is different though. It is the first book in the series to really be about characters over technology and the first book where the smaller characters (characters like Horus and his contemporaries have always been well drawn) have felt like anything other than pawns. It's odd, I know, that a book about technical geniuses who worship machinery should be the book least reliant on technology in it's story but somehow that is what we have here and to my mind, it is much the better for it. Graham McNeill, kudos.

I Shall Wear Midnight

Josh Kirby, late great cover artist extraordinaire, is to be thanked for awakening in me a need I never knew I had. A need to read as many stories by one Terry Pratchett as I possibly could. The book was The Light Fantastic and the cover was a chest of the kind you might expect a pirate to keep his booty in. The chest had legs, actual cute little pink legs, but it wasn't using them, for it was flying through the air, and holding on to the chest, in various states of excitement/terror were wizards, warriors and strange looking little men. They say never to judge a book by it's cover but had I not done so here I would have never known the delights and wonders of a little place called the Discworld.

That was 20some years ago now. Terry Pratchett is still writing Discworld books (the latest is no. 38, not counting short stories and narrative inserts in non-fiction books) and I am still reading them. Sadly Josh Kirby is not still illustrating the covers, having passed away several years ago. I say sadly, and I mean it, because while the man currently tasked with providing cover art (Paul Kidby) is a fine artist, and his work could even be said to suit the slightly more serious tone of the later books better than Kirby's cartoony (but insanely detailed and intricate) style might have, I still can't help but think that a new Pratchett just doesn't look right without a new Kirby on the jacket.

So yes, the Discworld series. The series as a whole comprises, as I've said, 38 books so far, but these can be split, roughly, into subsets. There are Rincewind (failed wizard) books, the Witches (pretty self explanatory), the City Watch (police procedurals in Discworlds largest city) and numerous others.

I Shall Wear Midnight stars one Tiffany Aching, a character who has been the lead now in 4 novels, beginning with Wee Free Men, and continuing through A Hat Full Of Sky, Wintersmith, and now ...Midnight. Tiffany is a witch, and seems to have cornered the market in Witch stories set on the Discworld, as the previous 'star' witch, one Granny Weatherwax, and her established supporting cast, have not had a book of their own since Tiffany came on the scene, although they have made cameos in her stories.

The Tiffany Aching stories were originally marketed as Young Adult novels set in Discworld, somehow seperate from the 'grown up' books, but in truth there was little to seperate them, other than the lead characters young age (and even in that the main series had form, with early book Equal Rites having a child protagonist) and the conceit has been dropped now, possibly due to Tiffany herself having grown up (9 in her first book, she is almost 16 in her latest).

Did I enjoy ...Midnight? Indeed I did. Pratchett is one of the best in the world at what he does so compared with the rest of the overcrowded marketplace this book is right up there with the best of them. On a sliding scale of Discworld though, I'm afraid it's only middle ground for me. The reason is that the whole Witches subset has never been my favourite aspect of the series, so any book in that setting is going to be a minor dissapointment, if for no other reason than it's not a City Watch book, or a Rincewind book. This is purely my own prejudice talking though. As a Tiffany Aching/Witches story it's a belter so those for whom those stories are favourites, this will be a welcome addition.

It is quite dark in places though, touching on teenage pregnancy, domestic abuse and suicide, being sympathetic to everyone involved and allowing no easy answers to be found. All of the other usual Pratchett ingredients can be found here as well; real world folklore given just a hint of a twist to fit Discworld, wry and insightful commentary on human nature (good and bad), and of course an ancient supernatural threat that has to be defeated with good old fashioned common sense.

It also has jokes though, and will make you laugh. It is not the riotous, laugh out loud at every second line, eyewateringly hilarious stuff of the early Discworld books but it is still funny. Oh, yes.

If I have one problem with this series it would be this : because Discworld is a fantasy setting, every book seems to have a supernatural antagonist and they can sometimes feel shoehorned in. Quite often, I will be engrossed in the story of the hero or heroine as they go about whatever their agenda is and then boom, suddenly there is a demon or a ghost or an ancient prophecy to deal with. Human antaganists can be scary too. Indeed, the evil entity Tiffany faces in this book is a reincarnated witchfinder from the past who corrupts people with his old 'witches are evil' spiel. In flashback we see him as a human, before his death. He was far from pleasant then. A modern (at least to Tiffany) version of that character would have sufficed for me, and might perhaps have been more chilling, if he was shown to be corrupting with his prejudices through sheer charisma and force of personality, like a cult leader, rather than being able to 'posess' people.

That is just a pet peeve of mine and is the only one I have regarding Pratchetts books, which are, to my mind at least, nigh on perfect in every other respect.

Cross Bones

Ever felt like a total dunce? I've felt like one quite often the last couple of weeks. Why? Because I've been reading a Temperance Brennan book.




Cross Bones is the 8th novel from Kathy Reichs featuring her creation Dr Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist who consults on criminal cases in both the US and Canada. The novels, much like the TV show Bones, focuses on Brennan aiding law enforcement in the solving of murders. That's pretty much all the two have in common though. While the show is a glamorous, high tech product of the post CSI TV landscape the books are a much more grounded affair, focusing on the scientific realities of murder cases requiring the specific expertise of someone of Brennans particular discipline.

Which is where the confusion, and feeling like a dunce, comes in. Now, I flatter myself that I am a reasonably intelligent bloke, sort of, but I do tend to struggle with science of any kind. For me to persevere with something that has a lot of specific technical jargon that is necessary to the plot and can not be skimmed, I need to be properly hooked on the plots and I need to enjoy spending time with the characters. That's why I long ago stopped reading Patricia Cornwells Kay Scarpetta books* but have every intention of catching up and then keeping up with Reichs' work.

Temperance Brennan, or Tempe, is a far more well rounded and interesting character than her television namesake. A more, shall we say, mature, character, she comes intact with ex-husband, college age daughter and history of alcohol abuse. The 'will they/won't they' love interest is provided early in the series by Detective Andy Ryan, an ex bad boy turned cop with an eye for the ladies. I say early in the series because by the time of Cross Bones it's a pretty definite 'yes they will', with the characters firmly ensconced in a relationship and co-habitation being discussed.

It's this aspect of the books that keep me coming back. While the crime plots are as ingenious as you could want (this one takes in a trip to the Holy Land and a skeleton that may or may not be Jesus) and the science is pretty well laid out for the layman (it must be if I can get my head around it, albeit after multiple readings of the techy passages) the real strength of these books are the characters and Reichs willingness to a) develop their personal lives from book to book, avoiding the reset button, and b) do so in a believable, realistic and relatable manner that never seems forced and allows the characters to live and breathe on the page in a way some other ciphers singularly fail to do.

As far as crime thrillers go Reichs, for me, is up there in the top 3, alongside Mark Billingham and Val McDermid, and I'll be reading for as long as she keeps them coming.

*There is a quote on the back of my Cross Bones paperback that says 'It is becoming apparent that Reichs is not just "as good as " Cornwell, she has become the finer writer'. I'm not sure at what point that review was written because I seem to remember it being used in the blurbs of the last couple I've read as well but in my opininon it was readily apparent from the time her first book hit the shelves that she was always the 'finer writer'.

Droid Files

This was going to be about Cross Bones (Kathy Reichs) or Judge Dredd Case Files vol 15 (John Wagner, Garth Ennis and various artists) but sadly, childcare commitments prevented me from finishing either of them in time. So instead I'm going to talk about the Rebellion collection I read immediately prior to starting JD15. Namely this little beauty. Robo-Hunter : Droid Files Volume 2.



John Wagner and Alan Grant between them wrote all of the original run of Robo-Hunter and if you are in any way familiar with the world of comics you will know that those two names together is as close to a guarantee of quality as you're likely to get. So two great writers with an excellent pedigree, a superb artist in Ian Gibson (also responsible for drawing the sublime Ballad Of Halo Jones amongst many others) and one of the best characters of 2000AD's early years, all of which had led me to absolutely adore the first volume. Imagine my disappointment then when I found myself struggling to fully engage with this one.

The problem is that the first two stories are very gimmicky runs that really don't stand the test of time all that well. The first was based around a football (soccer to our American chums) tournament in which all the players and pundits were robots and someone was sabotaging them. I don't follow the sport and I'd have struggled to get all the jokes if it was published now so I was completely flummoxed by the lampooning of personalities from decades ago.

Then we move into a story about men banding together (The Human League, which I'll concede is genius) to commit hate crimes against robots and Sam having to put a stop to it. Now, in theory this should have been a good story but unfortunately it's set against a backdrop of a new law being enacted that requires everyone to sing all the time. Seriously, pretty much every line of dialogue is presented in song form. Now, as annoying as that is (imagine having to sing every conversation in your head as you read it) it's multiplied 10x by the fact that if you don't actually know the tunes you are meant to sing to the lines become meaningless. I mean, you can still understand what they are getting at but the lines just don't flow properly. Words and phrases are distorted/shortened/elongated to match the music and it doesn't read right at all as straight dialogue.

Not to worry though, all is forgiven with the 3rd story, as gimmicks are put aside and we get back to good solid comics storytelling. First up is 'The Slaying of Slade' in which some old enemies return to, well, slay Slade. This leads into 'Sam Slades Last Case', and from there we get 'Farewell My Billions', which is introduced with the somewhat classic line "Sam Slade, Robohunter, in his first case since his last case". These 3 long stories combined comprise an epic arc that sees Sam rise higher than he ever has before bringing him back down to Earth and depositing him right where he started at the very beginning of Volume One. They also mark the end of the original run and of John Wagner and Alan Grants writing tenure on the character. (Grant would return to the series many years later with a run of stories considered by most to be okay but far from classic, focusing on Sams Granddaughter, with the man himself playing a much reduced role)

The book also contains a one off story by John Smith and Chris Weston and the final stories in the 90's revival, written by Peter Hogan and drawn by Rian Hughes. These stories are excellent, managing to combine the strengths of the new guys with everything that was great about Wagner/Grant. The only slight niggle here is that Chris Weston and Rian Hughes are both absolutely incredible artists whose work sadly doesn't shine *quite* as much as it should after the greyscaling process. Some colour artwork translates better than others and some of the stuff here suffers. That's only a minor niggle though, and I'd much rather this than the stories not be included at all as they can sometimes be overlooked. Here is an example of Hughes Robo-Hunter in the intended colour, the cover to 2000AD issue 910:



Not included are the stories that started the 90's revival. These stories were written by Mark Millar and are somewhat, well, loathed, by fans of the character. Millar is not the most popular of writers to have worked on 2000AD with many fans and his Robo-Hunter run is a big part of this (along with his run on Judge Dredd, considered one of the worst ever). I can't comment, because I've never read his stuff, coming as it did before I started reading the anthology. To be honest, I kind of wish it had been included, so I could make my own mind up about it. There is a tendency to dismiss a lot of 2000AD's output from the 90's as unrepresentative and unworthy of reprinting and I'm starting to despair of ever getting the chance to read it. Maybe the push into the US will prompt a reprint of Millars stories to cash in on his name value there. Time will tell I suppose.

So that's my first attempt to write up a book I've read. I hope it wasn't too bad. I'm dithering over whether I should include a rating system on here? Am I going to 'review' stuff or just waffle about it? Which does the above read like? I'll see how the next couple turn out.

A brief welcome message to all...

...who have come to check out the 3rd of my pointless sets of ramblings.

I already have a personal blog, which is currently in the process of morphing into a kind of memoir type of thing full of rambling stories about my childhood, and one about my fascination with Science Fiction television, but I decided that I wanted somewhere that I could pontificate intelectually (or waffle gibberish) about the stuff I read. I'll try not to get too rambly, something my TV write ups can suffer from, but I make no promises.

I read a wide range of fiction across a variety of genres so hopefully this place won't get stuck in too much of a rut. On top of the novels I read I'll also be mentioning the various comics/graphic novels that I get through.

I'm in the midst of reading a number of things at the moment, including a Temperance Brennan novel by Kathy Reichs and a Judge Dredd Case Files volume amongst others and as soon as I finish one of them I'll get back on here with a proper post. In the meantime I just want to say hello, welcome, thanks for reading, I appreciate the interest, etc etc etc. Feel free to add a few more bland platitudes on the end there, cos if I could think of them they'd be included.