Things for December

Christmas... The time of year when you just want five sodding minutes of peace and bloody quiet to yourself, and traditionally there's no better or easier way of putting that message across than burying yourself in a big fat book. I did a similar post to this a few years ago, but here we are in an odd moment of motivation, and so it is - the "best" books a comic-liker could hope to find themselves reading over the festive period and beyond.

Apologies for this terrible picture - my camera's died, so this is the best my phone can offer.

The majority of these books can be found for a few pennies on Amazon Marketplace, but some of them you might have to look a bit further for... They're all definitely worth it though (if you like this sort of thing).

It cannot be left at 35!

Call it an emergency posting, or call it "doing a 2014 round-up like everyone else" - I just couldn't end the year with having thirty-five posts. It's my least-favourite number you see, so here you go...

Okay, bit of a mixed bag, this whole 2014 thing. Started out in the worst way possible, with the death of a friend only a couple of years older than me. Following that was a reduction in my working hours (and obviously, a reduction in the amount of money I get), a slight mental breakdown on what should have been a fun night out, my first ever panic attack (leaving work in an ambulance, something surely everyone does at least once in their lifetime), a bit of confidence-shattering from a certain quarter, and of course, the deaths of four of the most influential famous people that I've known of - a quadruple devastation of Harold Ramis, Rik Mayall, Sue Townsend and Jim Petrie. What a bugger.

Somewhere in the middle of the "good/bad" spectrum, I developed a love/knack for ten-pin bowling. Went plenty of times this year, and thought it'd be my "thing", but then all the enthusiasm for it was completely shattered by the rude staff at the local Megabowl, one day in October. Never mind.

On the other hand, as in, the "good" end of it all, there's been plenty. Two great weekends working for Replay Events, proper "family unit" stuff there. I'd drop anything and everything to work with them full time, but there we go. Had a fun week in that London as well, went to a wedding, saw a few bands (Space for the third time, the Australian Pink Floyd Show, Republica and Half Man Half Biscuit for the first time - all better than anything), had the strange realisation that some people actually like me, and made a good handful of new friends, whilst also keeping up with slightly older friends, using the power of the Internet. It's a small island, maybe we'll all get to meet up someday in 2015? That'd be fun. Not all at once, obviously, I'm aware that some of you don't exactly get along, but it could still be fun.

Erm, quick round-up of cultural artefacts enjoyed this year? The only albums I heard were by those bands I went to see, so we'll give "Album Of The Year" to Half Man Half Biscuit's Urge For Offal, with the runner-up prize going to Space for Attack of the Mutant 50 Ft Kebab. Three films were seen this year, and only one of them I'd happily watch again, so we'll give the prize to Guardians of the Galaxy. The prizes for "Best Book That You Can Buy In Waterstone's Or Similar" go to Where's Dennis? by Wilbur Dawbarn, and Comics Unmasked by Paul Gravett and John Harris Dunning, and the award for "Best Book That You Have To Order Specially From The Internet" goes to TATP: Talk About The Passion by Ben Baker et al. Mostly for the chapters on Viz and Earl Brutus. I enjoy comics too much to pick a favourite, and this year saw (possibly) the most "new" purchases on my behalf since... 2006? Favourites include Up Yours! by Lee Turnock, this year's output by Eyeball Comix, States of Mind by Nigel Maughan et al, and the endlessly interesting stuff put out by The Comix Company. All of this and more will be "looked at" properly in 2015, if all goes to plan.

At the end of it all, I'm still in more or less the same position as I was in at the start of it all, only I now share my flat with an overweight cat called Gus, so there's an improvement at least. Oh, and there's only a couple of hours left of this year - I'm staying in on my own for the tenth year running, it's more enjoyable this way, definitely. Still didn't get time to find an appropriate "thing to enjoy" to go with this post, so instead you can have the "new year themed" comic that was posted here at the START of the year. Again.

It's Zig & Zag's Zogmany Special, from 1995. Written and drawn (mostly) by Kev Sutherland (who's acquaintance was also made this year!):

(More by clicking and so on)

Xmas 2012 - That was good!

Well, here we go - it's nearing midnight on New Year's Eve, and I'm indoors with only the axolotl as company. No complaints there, it's been the same for four years now. Take advantage! I can be noisier than usual, what with the neighbors all being elsewhere or otherwise awake. Ho ho!

And speaking of Ho Ho, the busiest few days in the life of Mr. Claus have just passed by.

Yep, it was a good one. Read on if you're interested. If not, happy new year to the lot of you, see if 2013 can be made any more interesting than 2012.

Xmas Gift Guide, sort of.

Get some comics read on the 25th of this month! It's "traditional", as in, it's not Christmas without an annual to read. There's a few on offer this year, and they're cheap enough if you know where to look. For example, this year's Viz annual can be found for £6.99 (instead of £10.99) in that discount book chain known as The Works, whilst all the others (Beano, Dandy, Oor Wullie, The Broons and so on) can be had at three for £10 in Asda.

BUT... Why spend that much money when you can get over a thousand pages of classic comics for just over £5? Or £16.22 if we're including postage too. Observe:

Dennis & Gnasher & Friends Cartoon Capers

This cheap-looking and clumsily-titled wedge of a book was sneaked out into the shops without any advertizing (to my knowledge) back in 2000 - I'd never heard of it until finding it in a charity shop last year for 50p. Remember Classics From The Comics? This is essentially that, only it's 382 pages long! 

Hundreds of high-quality chuckles from a huge variety of characters. There's stuff from the Beano (including Dennis the Menace in both Law and Sutherland flavours), the Dandy, Topper, Beezer, Nutty, Sparky, Buzz and Cracker. Should last you through to at least the day before New Year's Eve. Yours for just a penny (plus postage).

The Big Comic Book 1988

For those that prefer Shiner to Smasher, there's The Big Comic Book 1988 (so big it wouldn't fit under the scanner!). Another one that's full of reprints, this time from Whizzer & Chips, Buster and Whoopee! Ken Reid's Faceache is in here, as is Reg Parlett's Ivor Lott & Tony Broke (possibly history's most consistently funny comic characters), and it's a big fat 254-page hardback - a nice contrast to the floppy phonebook-style of the above DC Thomson tome.

Again, you can have it for a penny.

The Dog's Bollocks

Viz at its supposed "peak", I'm only highlighting this one as it's the first one I ever got, and has consequently kept me amused for the longest. As well as your usual crowd of Biffa Bacon, Roger Mellie, Billy the Fish and so on, there's a few "forgotten" characters in here such as Tubby Tucker ("The Big Fat... Person"), Norbert Colon ("He's meaner than a Scottish person"), Buster Gonad and his Unfeasibly Large Testicles, Boswell Boyce ("He Throws His Voice"), Mike Smitt ("He's a patronising git"), Jelly Head, Mrs. Neat, and the extravagantly-titled Miss Demeanour and her Concertina ("The Mischievous Token Female Cartoon Character Who's Got A Concertina").

126 pages, all good, and what unimaginative people are talking about when they say it isn't as funny as it used to be. All that for a penny, again.

The Giant Holiday Fun Comic Album

Last of all, there's this curiosity. We've had chuckles from the houses of DC Thomson, Fleetway and the rude kids, and now there's this one from... everyone else? It's a bumper variety pack pulled from the pages of Wham!, Smash!, Pow!, Wow, Knockout, Monster Fun, Shiver and Shake, Eagle and so much more - you'll even find Laurel & Hardy and Billy Bunter in this one. There's FIVE full adventures with The Cloak, roughly half of Ken Reid's Queen of the Seas pages, Steadfast McStaunch from Denis Gifford, a full Albert Hall the Office Boy adventure... Really, the amount of variety on offer here is nauseating. The print's a bit faded on a few pages (maybe just with my copy?), but this WAS a budget release to begin with - published in 1989, see.

A bit pricier than the rest at £4.99, but definitely worth it.

And how about that? Those four books combined, at £16.22 including postage, works out cheaper than three annuals from Asda plus the Viz book at £16.99 - and you don't even have to leave the house for these ones!

Creaking Floorboards, or Why My Back Is Hurting

So, I've had twelve days off work just now. Bit of travelling, bit of fun, bit of adding to the pile of stuff...

Yeah, just a bit...

Desirable Things I'm Not Likely To Own

Presented here are several, several things that'd be great to have, but it isn't very likely in the immediate future. All of them either NEVER show up anywhere, or if they do show up, they sell for crazy stupid prices. So, unless I either become a millionaire somehow or get VERY lucky, these'll only remain as JPEGs on my hard drive. At least I've got my health etc (although I did wake up this morning with the taste of blood in the mouth, oh my!). 

Oh, and I've been collecting these images for years, without noting where I found most of them. So if you recognise any of your own pictures in this lot, let me know and I'll be sure to give you a bit of credit.

To start with, and so that the page doesn't look empty before being clicked on "properly", here's the Astral Moat Monster from Thundercats in TWO variations!

Classy stuff, yes? And it only gets better. Let's see what else...

The Postman Brings Things

Today, like most days, the postman had some things for me. Those things will now be looked at.

Guide to Economic Survival

I've seen this done on other blogs, so why not on my one too? These are some of the things I've acquired over the last few weeks.