Ghostly Stories by Celia Fremlin Review

I’ve never heard of Celia Fremlin before but I’ve been enjoying the Faber Stories line and I’m a sucker for ghost stories so I gave Ghostly Stories a shot - and unfortunately it was turrible!

Black Widow: Widow's Sting Review (Ralph Macchio, Simon Buonfantino)

My latest review for Multiversity Comics went up today - it's the one-shot Black Widow: Widow's Sting: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/reviews/black-widow-widows-sting-1/

Remina by Junji Ito Review

Shortly after a wormhole is discovered in space, a killer planet (or a planet-sized alien) passes through it and starts bearing down on Earth - and of course it’s all a little girl’s fault! Ready for stoopid? Here’s another Junji Ito horror manga!

2000AD Prog 2205 Review

My latest review for Multiversity Comics went up today - it's the second and final part of Judge Dredd: They Shoot Talking Horses, Don't They?: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/multiver-city-one-2205/

Notes on a Case of Melancholia, Or: A Little Death by Nicholas Gurewitch Review

A father seeks out a psychiatrist to unburden himself of his fears for his child - do they have what it takes to follow in his, and his family’s, footsteps? Also the father is DEATH!

Rorschach #1 Review (Tom King, Jorge Fornes)

A US Presidential election. An assassin: Rorschach. But Walter Kovacs is dead... isn’t he?

Operation Morthor: The Last Great Mystery of the Cold War by Ravi Somaiya Review

In 1961, the Congo was in crisis. Having regained independence from the hated Belgian occupiers, who caused decades of pain for the Congolese, the country was thrown into civil war as the mineral-rich region of Katanga attempted to secede - without the wealth of resources and income from Katanga, the Congo would not survive as a country. The battle-lines were drawn between the Western-backed Katangese rebels and the Congo forces, the latter of whom were appealing to the newly-formed United Nations to diffuse the situation. So the UN Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjold, flew out to the region to help - and then his plane was shot down, killing himself and everyone else on board. Whodunit?

2000AD Prog 2204 Review

My latest review for Multiversity Comics went up today - it's the first part of Judge Dredd: They Shoot Talking Horses, Don't They?: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/multiver-city-one-2204/

Judge Dredd Megazine 425 Review

My latest review for Multiversity Comics went up today - it's the second part of The Returners: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/judge-dredd-megazine-425/

Punisher: Soviet Review (Garth Ennis, Jacen Burrows)

Someone’s taking out Russian mobsters in New York City - and for once it’s not the Punisher! So who’s doing it and why? Frank Castle’s on the case.

Avengers, Volume 1: The Final Host Review (Jason Aaron, David Marquez)

A million years ago primitive versions of the modern day Avengers fought Celestials. Now, the Avengers have to fight more Celestials again. Oh and Loki’s up to something. In an Avengers story? No! Yes, it really is that imaginative - hacks assemble!

Avengers books are almost always dismal and unfortunately Jason Aaron’s take on the series is no different. I love Jason Aaron but this is the worst book of his I’ve ever read - The Final Host is so utterly pathetic it makes me wonder how the same guy who wrote Scalped managed to write this. It couldn’t be any worse.

All that happens is that the Avengers go giant size and punch Celestials - it’s like seeing a kid playing with toys smashing them into one another. It’s so childish and silly. And what’s amazing is how much tedious overwriting Aaron is able to cram into this book considering how little is happening - it’s just dumb fighting.

Avengers, Volume 1: The Final Host is skull-numbingly boring - nothing worth seeing here!

Steeple Review (John Allison, Sarah Stern)

Billie Baker is the chirpy new curate in the small Cornish town of Tredregyn - but little does she realise she is stepping into THE hotbed of the fight between good, evil and sea monsters! While her colleague, the hawt older man Reverend Penrose, battles things that climb up the cliffs at night, Billie meets the local Church of Satan, a rapturous company trying to develop a local wind farm, and gets stuck in with a witch’s convention. But who is Billie - really?

The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular Review (Scott Snyder, Jock)

What do you get a clown for his 80th anniversary? If you’re The Joker, a 100-page bumper special!

2000AD Prog 2203 Review

My latest review for Multiversity Comics went up today - it's the fourth and final part of Judge Dredd: Carry the Nine: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/multiver-city-one-2203/

The Captain and the Glory by Dave Eggers Review

Dave Eggers reimagines Trump as a captain of a ship called Glory (America) in this boring satirical novella, The Captain and the Glory.

Doomsday Clock, Part 2 Review (Geoff Johns, Gary Frank)

SPOILERS! 

As Ozymandias tries to convince Doctor Manhattan to save their world, the DC Universe begins to implode too as a metahuman war between America and Russia breaks out - with Superman caught in the middle! All roads point towards these two - but what will happen when Superman meets Manhattan? The Doomsday Clock is mere moments away from midnight…

Batman: Three Jokers #2 (Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok)

Three Jokers becomes two in, er, Three Jokers #2! After the dramatic finale of the first issue, Red Hood is on a rampage, chasing down the remaining Jokers with Batman and Batgirl hot on his tail. Meanwhile, a judge is found beaten to death by a weapon covered in Joe Chill’s prints - the man who murdered Bruce Wayne’s parents. But Joe’s been in the Blackgate medical wing being treated for terminal cancer for months - what do the two remaining Jokers (or are there more…) have planned?

2000AD Prog 2202 Review

My latest review for Multiversity Comics went up today - it's the third part of Judge Dredd: Carry the Nine: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/multiver-city-one-2202/

The Nightworkers by Brian Selfon Review

Emil is a talented up-and-coming Brooklyn artist but perennially broke. So when he meets Henry, another wannabe artist, and is offered a gig being a runner for money laundering, he decides that’s an easier way of making cash instead of slinging baggies of dope - until he suddenly disappears along with a quarter million in cash. Henry and his small crime family have to figure out what happened and where the cash has gone before the money’s owners come looking for it…

The Last God #1 Review (Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Riccardo Federici)

 The Last God is the strangest title I’ve come across yet in DC’s Black Label. It’s certainly not a famous (by comics standards) pre-existing series (unless this is one of those obscure “ran for ten issues in the 1970s” titles) unlike the rest of Black Label, which is mostly Batman-centric. Although maybe DC is trying to compete with Marvel’s godawful new range of Conan the Barbarian books with their own garbage fantasy series - in which case, it’s probably not selling as well but in terms of quality, they’ve matched Marvel!

Mr Wilder & Me by Jonathan Coe Review

Fifty-something film music composer Calista looks back on her youth when, in the summer of 1977, she worked on the Billy Wilder movie Fedora and got to know the personable director.

Sgt Rock: The Lost Battalion by Billy Tucci Review

1944, post-D-Day, and a battalion of US infantry is surrounded by German troops in the French Vosges Mountains - they have to hold on while the Allies, in the form of Japanese/American soldiers (the “Nisei”), try to break them out.

2000AD Prog 2201 Review

My latest review for Multiversity Comics went up today - it's the second part of Judge Dredd: Carry the Nine: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/multiver-city-one-2201/