Halloween Horror Gallery

Time for the annual Halloween horror comic post. Whilst you scroll through the images please click play on this years sound track of choice.....The Omen. 

Giles: The Collection 2022 (Express Newspapers)

 

In addition to reading comics I used to love those collections of newspaper cartoons which featured either Andy Capp (lots of which would get frowned on today) from the Daily Mirror but also those almost but not quite timeless Giles cartoons from the Daily Express.

I came across this volume by accident when looking for the Doctor Who Annual in WHSmiths and after picking it up and having a giggle at one or two of Giles pieces I just had to buy and I wasn't disappointed.

This collection of cartoons from across the decades features the Family in all their glory around the house. Each piece is not just a one off joke but contains lots of imagery in the background with the kids, their pets and relatives that makes each cartoon frankly a work of art.

Of Giles is sadly no longer with us but this collection is worth a read whether you are old enough to remember these cartoons or didn't read the Daily Express. I always just looked forward to the collections come Christmas they usually floated around somewhere in the family.

Rating: 5 Stars  

Marvel Select: Eternals (Panini)

 

The latest Marvel Select collection arrived in the post and features the Eternals in a timely publication to coincide with the release of the latest MCU feature film. These characters were created by Jack "King" Kirby back in the mid-seventies when he returned to Marvel comics after a stint at the rival "Distinguished Competition" as the referred to DC in those days.

This was obviously built upon the work of Erich von Däniken whose book Chariot Of the Gods and it's sequels were casing a stir back in the early seventies. AS a schoolboy I got thrown out of RE class for raising his thesis that Mary might have been artificially inseminated by an alien. The Headmaster wasn't particularly bothered and just told me to disappear...

The theories that mankind was visited and helped by aliens has gained much traction over the years with books and TV programmes becoming big business. Personally as fascinating as these theories are there is of course no firm evidence of alien intervention. In fact despite the efforts of UFO spotters no indisputable evidence of actual aliens has ever been produced.

I firmly believe that mankind is not alone in this vast universe but am sceptical of any contact though I live in hope and that they are friendly...

However I digress in Kirby's stories the Eternals live in the Andes awaiting the return of their Celestial masters to pass judgement on mankind. The Eternals are not alone as their masters also for reasons best known to themselves also created a race of mad "deviants" leaving the two in eternal war.

Originally it was not clear that these tales took place in the Marvel Universe but eventually they were retro included a decision I wasn't happy with at the time but has led to some interesting stories involving the enigmatic Celestials themselves. The long Ring Saga in Thor leading to the epic confrontation in Thor #300 is one of the best single issue comics of all time.

As for the Eternals themselves their indestructibility always annoyed me. However their presence allowed a offshoot to create the mad Titan Thanos the most genocidal criminal in universal history, which in a roundabout way brings us back to this tome. The Eternals are being reborn and there is a threat afoot. It just had to be Thanos but did he murder Zuras?

This edition reprints the first six issues of Kieron Gillen's series and is pretty good value. There's also a timeline guide to help the unfamiliar reader. Quite enjoyable science fiction.

Rating 5 Stars.

Torchwood: The Great Sontaran War (Big Finish Audio)

 

I don't often buy any of the Torchwood audios and to date I think I only have a half dozen of the 55 in the series. I remain disappointed by a couple of those I picked up but have found one or two quite good. Then there is this, the latest release from Big Finish. 

The fact the cover shows a Sontaran with a cat in basket was enough to sell the CD to me being a fan of the feline creatures and boy is this eccentric story well worth the price of entry. A Sontaran prisoner of sorts is dropped into a caravan park where Captain Jack has given orders that Major Kregg is to complete his report on humanity for the war command.

And what a place for a warrior to be. Of course his presence is masked by technology or the other residents would heading for the hills as fast as possible.  Thinking the caravans are crashed space vehicles Kregg soon gets a surprise and as Lanto Jones regularly visits him the Sontaran is gifted with a computer. It's reach controlled by Torchwood of course.

On return Lanto finds Kregg has obtained a cat as he says that's what the internet is mostly about. The Major respects the canny creatures as hunters and warriors after his own heart.  Of course the cat does create some mayhem when he eats the neighbours bird.

Combine this with the sight of a Sontaran warrior being beaten by a self service machine in a supermarket and a fast paced and entertaining dialogue with the various characters you won't be disappointed by this story! Oh and inevitably Kregg gets in a punch-up and has to be released by Lanto. There is just so much in this story that shows what a puzzling lot humanity can be to a logically hatched being with a single purpose in life.

If you never buy another Torchwood audio (though the forthcoming one with Ace is already on my pre-order list) then this is one that cannot be missed. High adventure it is not but one of the best Who-Universe stories ever made.

Rating: 5 Stars Plus (Highly Recommended)

Available from: www.bigfinish.com

November release: 

Catching up with...DC

 

Earlier this month I wrote a short piece about catching with what was going on in the Marvel Universe. I had a similar(ish) problem with DC except my losing touch was due to being taken to hospital and being paralysed for for of the eight months I was there and mostly housebound for a while after being released. I was still reading core DC titles up until that point though wasn't enamoured the Dark Metal stuff that was dominating their comics but I digress.

The first American comics I ever read and loved were Superman, Superboy, The Legion of Superheroes and the Justice League of America. Occasionally I'd buy other DC titles including more than a few Batman comics. Marvel came later and because so many stories were "to be continued" lack of pocket money meant I couldn't keep up with them as well as DC since they were usually self contained stories in one issue.

Regardless of that Superman, Superboy, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Green Lantern, The Flash, the Atom and the Legionaries from the 30th Century became and have remained my core favourite characters. There are far more DC comics in my collection that any other. I am at heart a DC fan but not tribal in that I dismiss other companies creations. I liked Marvel Comics and over the years have been fans of Tower's T.H.U.N.D.E.R gents, the Charlton action heroes and many others.

Whilst I was indisposed DC changed radically and I missed The Doomsday Clock Maxi series and was so out of touch with core DC titles I really cut back.  Of course I was forced to retire during that period as going back to work with my health problems was out of the question.

I now try to read comics in collected form and at first treated myself to a lot of DC hardbacks though it's trades from now on!. I made an exception with Infinite Frontier and collected the series including the "Secret Files edition" as it came out. This made me go back and get a copy of Death Metal: War Of The Multiverse which didn't do much for me I have to say and I like these sorts of stories normally. DC Generations was much more the sort of adventure I liked.

Then of course I thought that it was time to read my two volume slip-cased edition of The Doomsday Clock that had been collecting dust in my room. Not sure why I left it so long but things happen. THis was of course one of the greatest stories ever told and is the perfect sequel to The Watchmen. I will read in tandem one of these days.

It seems that DC has made every single part of it's publishing history part of the new multiverses and we are more or less (more in fact) back to the pre-Crisis days. Fine by me. Somewhere out there are Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes I grew up with.

That said I intend re-reading Infinite Frontier in one or two sittings as I find stories flow better when collected. There are times I wish I'd collected more trades and paperbacks but the hobby being what it is and of course I just had to buy this and that on a Thursday. 

The way I read comics has changed and I can only grab a handful these days but for me DC will always be my first love in comic book entertainment. 

Uncanny X-Men: Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire TPB (Marvel)

 

Continuing my catch-up with the Marvel Universe I thought it about time that delved into the back story of the X-Men. I think this story had just started when I dropped all my Marvel titles. I certainly recall the beginning so of all the volumes I hope to collect at least this had some continuity from my past collecting.

Panini's new British X-Men title has renewed my interest in Marvel's mutants who seem to have been through a lot in the last few years. Even when I returned to comic collecting at the end of the nineties I found far too much X-Men and their spin-offs to catch up with. Only Grant Morrisson's run eventually brought me back. Then there was The House of M which wasn't that great.

However times change and so do my interests so off to Shi'ar space for some adventure.  The story by Ed Brubaker is engaging and full of twists and plots within plots. The artwork by Billy Tan and Clayton Henry outstanding. 

It appears that there is a third Summers brother (the others being Cyclops and Havok) which was news to me but I digress. This man known as Vulcan appears to be an "Omega" level mutant and has headed off into space to destroy the Shi'ar Empire after remembering his past as a slave to the aliens and wanting revenge for the death of his mother. Of course a lot has happened since those days.

It seems that Xavier is no longer married to the Empress Lilandra and is wanted for crimes against the empire even though these were actually committed by an evil duplicate apparently (no idea but sounds like a story to read at some point). The Prof has to hide his presence wherever he goes though it's inevitable they will be found out.

There is a galaxy of stars and villains in this 12 chapter adventure. Skrulls, the Starjammers, bits of the Pheonix force and more. A worthy tale that will lead me to picking up more trades as I am able. Watch this space!

Doctor Who: Missy and The Monk (Big Finish Audio)

 

Hot on the heels of Titan's Missy comic collection comes the third volume of Bug Finish's Missy audio adventures. As usual Michelle Gomez steals the show with her wonderful portrayal of yet another insane incarnation of The Master.

As with the other volumes in this series there are three CD's with three adventures. And Missy is not alone having picked up another renegade Time Lord in her travels as Rufus Hound portrays The Monk first seen way back in the sixties with Carry On star Peter Butterworth playing the role in The Time Meddler.

By Doctor Who

The first story Body and Souless starts off with a real bang. No beginning just the middle of Missy on the run with The Monk or at least his brain in her handbag. He's not very happy about this as you might understand. They find themselves in the middle of a war as a body-less race seeks new cadavers to inhabit. With almost farcical side-switching the two Time Lords work together and fight on behalf of both sides. Who will win?

In the second tale War Seed (which ties in to the Time War) Missy returns to Earth to collect a weapon that she created for for the Time Lords but finds humanity have been using regeneration technology in her absence. What is going on and who is crying for their father?

Finally in true Carry On tradition Missy, The Monk a servant girl disguised as a Duke a mysterious woman who is not what she seems and one of the Borgias come together in this door slamming farce, Two Monks and a Mistress that entertains from beginning to end.

Rating: 5 Stars

Judge Dredd Megazine #437 plus a new prog!

 

Not Final Cover

The latest issue of Judge Dredd Megazine hits the stands tomorrow and has begun the run down to it's Christmas issue as the three remaining on-going stories reach their penultimate episodes. However as usual the Meg starts off with a (self-contained) Judge Dredd story Scrawling The Walls which is one of the odder outings for the lawman as youngsters and political dissidents escape Megacity into what seems to be just a piece graffiti on the wall.

Next up is part 7 of The Returners a feature I actually look forward to seeing the end of. Didn't like this at all. As for the bloody Leprechaun in a jungle...do me a favour. This is followed by Angelic which takes us through the search for Angel and we find yet another tortured soul. Give a man a choice..will he be friend or foe?

Tales from The Black Museum: The Electrosist shows a very different kind of haunting with an unexpected twist at the end. Mega City is just full of surprises. Of course Devlin Waugh continues with a very violent football match taking place in hell. Warhammer fans might want to think Blood Bowl. I still have that game somewhere.

There's also some interesting articles including one on Hibernia Comics who are publishing some of the lesser known British comics stories by arrangement with Rebellion. We also get further information about the revival of Monster Fun and why they decided to run with that title rather than the previous Buster/Cor arrangement which appealed to old gits like me, but cloth caps are a thing of the past and Monster Fun invites today's kids in on a level they will relate to.

Rating: 4 Stars

And as if you haven't forgotten the new 2000AD is out tomorrow and I just noticed I haven't read last weeks issue yet so a bit of catching up to do!

Fantastic Four/Inhumans: Atlantis Rising (Marvel/1995)

 

During the nineties I virtually gave up on collecting mainly due to the speculators who made first and other key issues impossible to find or on resale for ridiculous prices. When I retro collected a run of Avengeleyne during the late noughties I couldn't find the first issue in the runs  and Bruce the owner of the sadly defunct Avalon Comics in Battersea went out the back and dug up a metal covered first edition and threw it in for free. Those things were expensive back then.

Other than a couple of trades Death In The Family, Death  Of Superman and Zero Hour it wasn't until the boom was over and DC were published their DC One Million series that I caught the bug and returned to the hobby. I'v now collected and read quite a lot of the main image titles and frankly other than a handful of comics such as Spawn, Witchblade and the Alan Moore reboot of Supreme there was a lot of rubbish published in the nineties.

Marvels output during this period remains mostly a mystery to me me. Other than picking up the first volume of Jim Lee's Fantastic Four Reborn and Heroes Return mini-series I still haven't read much. The I saw this volume in Orbital Comics during my recent outing but at £29.50 thought it far too expensive. Found it on Amazon for half the price at just under £15 which was a lot more reasonable.

Now here I must confess I was a bit muddled in what to expect. For some reason I has Atlantis Attacks at the back of my mind and realised my error when I sat down to read it. That aside I was not disappointed. This volume collects the main parts of the crossover though not the Warlock tie-ins. I can live with that.

The story was straightforward enough. Evil witch Morgan Le Fay raises the sunken continent of Atlantis from the ocean wiping out half the Atlantean people. Meanwhile Reed Richards father manages to set off an explosion on the moon threatening to wipe out the Inhumans who now live there.

At this point neither Namor nor Black Bolt rule their kingdoms and both are exiled. It's up to the Fantastic Four then containing Ant Man and his shrinking formula to rescue Attilan and it's inhabitants. Shades of Kandor and all that.

Of course this triggers major military alerts in the USA and in NATO and the FF are invited to help out in London. The Avengers have buggered off elsewhere it would seem. They also have some odd company in toe including Doc Dooms "son" (no idea) and someone called Boris who isn't what he seems though we don't find out in this volume.

There's war brewing between all sorts including the "Genetic Council" who now rule the Inhumans though abandoned their brethren to die. Namor, Le Fay, the Inhumans and of all human nations Portugal fight over the new landmass.

It's an exiting and fairly complex adventure with repercussions which exist to this day in the Marvel Universe. Worth reading if you can get a copy of the TPB or find a run of the original issues. The influence of Image and it's "extreme art is obvious.  Namors appearance looks distorted at times as do many others in this style of art. And why did they give him long hair. Superman was given long hair as well. Was it fashion then? I've had a number one haircut since my twenties due to baldness so I don't recall!

Now need to see if I can pick up what I was originally looking for!

Catching up with..Marvel

 

I gave up reading new Marvel Comics (with the exception of the Fantastic Four until #25 and a short lived attempt at Spider-Woman) after being so thoroughly disappointed with the ending of the Secret Invasion crossover. These multi-title crossovers were hugely expensive and though I enjoyed Planet Hulk, World War Hulk and Civil War (with reservations) collecting these was not just expensive but some of the "tie-ins were in name only.

Then came the lifting of the Pandemic restrictions and Panini relaunched it's comics albeit in a very different format to those I occasionally purchased previously though not for a while either. I tried both The Amazing Spider-Man and Marvel Universe X-Men and to date I've kept on with these two comics returning to the world of Marvel which used to be one of my favourite fictional playgrounds.

There's been a lot of changes. Of all Marvels titles it was the X-Men I gave up on first because there was just too much to read. This current title narrows the field down for me and has a high level of science-fiction story telling plus the foray into the mystical world of Excalibur proved an interesting sideline. Trouble is there have been so many changes.

I have no idea who some of the newer possibly minor mutants are and although I had heard Doc Ock was dead I didn't realise there was a female replacement. Same for Electro. I need to read how Peter Parker got his secret identity back after the Civil War debacle. I know Mephisto was involved but there is so much out there I just didn't know where to start.

It was accidentally getting off at a wrong bus stop near a Waterstone's and decided to see what graphic novels were available. I started with Civil War II which was a very good story and and I ended up buying Infinity volumes one and two at a later visit. I would assume most Marvelites have read this excellent cosmic adventure. Both story-lines get a 5 Star Rating from me.

Then with a little birthday money and some savings I went for my first visits in a long time to the Forbidden Planet and Orbital returning with four more tomes (only one of which I had planned to buy. They didn't have the ones I wanted).  These included Avengers: No Road Home and Thor: Godbomb. I've now read these and would recommend them. I still  have Avengers: Star Brand Reborn and War of the Realms in my  reading pile along with some other items.

I have it in mind to purchase some more titles at a much slower rate for financial reason over the coming year and intend picking up Spider Island, Spidergeddon, Secret Empire, Thor: The Asgard-Shiar War and X-Men: Fall of the Shiar Empire. I would welcome suggestions from readers as to what they would recommend.

Doctor Who: Missy - The Master Plan (TPB/Titan)

 

If anyone ever asked me who my favourite Doctor was I would always think back to the old days of my childhood and name Patrick Troughton. His companions Jamie and Zoe were also favourites of mine. Of course there is to most people only one Master that as played by the late Roger Delgado. However times change and not only has the Doctor changed but so has the master.

Whilst Pa\trick Troughton remains my favourite classic Doctor I'm rather an fan of the much under-rated Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi who seems more in the old tradition than most of the new incarnations. However I have come to be a big fan of Missy as the female incarnation of the Master as played by the wonderful Michelle Gomez.

Wacky, fun and dangerous she has the menace and mystery of the Doctors nemesis to a tee. I've certainly loved her appearances on the TV show and am now on the third collection of Missy's audio adventures which I'll review in due course but for now Missy has a comic and that I've just read.

Originally published as a four issue mini series by British publisher Titan Comics it's now available as a collected edition which is now my favoured way of reading comics. This tells the tale of Missy impersonating the Doctor to free her former incarnation from you guessed it the time zone of the third Doctor who makes a couple of cameos.

Missy is on a mission. To save people and needs to find a piece of the Key To Time which older fans will recall from the mega-story line during the Tom Baker era.  Will her mission succeed? And why would a psychopath  want to save people? She certainly shows mercy early on.

Imprisoned in space is the original Master, well as far as we know given all the canonical revisions of late. Missy needs his help to open a door. Can her earlier incarnation really be fooled into thinking this is the Doctor? And what does the twelfth Doctor have to with all this?

A fun read which makes as much sense as Missy's humour at times but is a wonderful distraction from all the current goings on around us. Worth reading.

Rating: 5 Stars