The Sandman Overture #6- Desire, you will lead me to my end

Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artist: J.H Williams III
Publisher: Vertigo (DC)
Released: 30th September 2015



I’m back in the Swindon town centre library, and it has to be that way, as I review a book that takes me back to the days when I was a sweaty student nobody trying to survive days of nothing, but reading, writing and hoping for a better tomorrow.

All of that internal drama was played out in libraries. All of that work, longing, thinking, questioning. It was always in libraries. Now I do it alone, isolated in a room, but for today I’ll go back to the past. I need to feel the past, as the past is writ large all over this book, and that is how I feel about it today.

I’m still a nobody, not so sweaty now, that’s been sorted out, but no longer a student with dreams about doing something interesting, or noticeable, with his life. No, today I’m just as destroyed as everybody else. Going through the routines of living, here I am, alive, barely. The dream died a while back, only remnants remain. The young bloke in the library turned into an old bloke dismissed, a bloke that writes, but does anybody care? The answer is no, and I don’t mind, and so I write these words that flow as urine into the public lavatory of the world, stinking it up, briefly, then down into the sewers of the void.

I used to care about people. I used to dream of feedback, of discussions, of debates and controversies, but now all I care about is the writing. That’s all that matters now, the writing, and the lack of reaction to it, that doesn’t bother me anymore.

That’s what’s changed for me. I read about dreams, used to dream myself, but that’s all gone now. What remains is a dry sweat rash, writing continued, but with zero desire for acknowledgement. Neil Gaiman is a world away from me. People read what he writes, they look forward to it, they demand more, and they interact with him, asking him to do more of that good stuff that he used to do in the past.

That’s what I get from ‘The Sandman Overture #6.’ I get a writer, an insular, selfish, self-indulgent person, writing for his own pleasure, but discovering that he has an audience, winning. The audience enjoys the self indulgence, the world that is created, the characters resonate and when the writer wants to end it all, they shout in loud unison chorus of desire- NO.

Sandman Overture #6 reads like a writer talking to himself. Success destroys the barriers of isolation, forcing reality into the equation, the writer telling himself that it’s all a dream, that dreams must end, but fan desire rears her head, demanding more, the writer relents, and the dream/writing continues. That’s very good news for fans of the dream, so if you are reading this review and don’t know what I’m on about, I’ll make it clear.

The world of the Sandman and the endless cannot end here. There will be more. I’ve read this book and it does not read like an end. There’s no ending here. This ‘final’ book reads very much like a submission to desire.

How do I feel about this? I’m unsure. The Sandman is a comic book very much stuck in it’s time. To me it screams early 1990’s, so how to make it resonate with the now, the world post 9/11? It’s going to be difficult. Sandman Overture is a treat, but it’s a 90’s treat, out of time and existing in a comic book world of 2015 that cannot get to grips with the realities of the modern world.

Dreams come from fragments of reality, and to be a dream of real meaning there needs to be a connection with the now. You can’t hide in Goth, you have to come outside, stare at the sun, look at the wrinkles on your face, and understand that the world has changed.

Can Neil Gaiman do that? Can he say something about the world that has changed so dramatically over the past fourteen years, or does he even want to? Will his world of the Sandman continue, but stay in the past, or will it do that most difficult of things and reinvent itself for this nightmare Orwellian world in which we are now living?

I hope it’s the later. If it’s the former, then perhaps the dream should have died? Perhaps it’s best to ignore desire? I do, but I have to. My lack of success means that a desire for anything will destroy me. I expect nothing, get nothing, and remain free from the jaws of desire.

Neil Gaiman is a successful man, and in Sandman Overture #6 I read a willing submission to desire, to give his readers more of what they want. Will it be any different for him? Will his submission to desire lead to happiness? Will it lead to the happiness of his readers? Reality says no, reality says that satisfaction can never be achieved, but this is a dream we are talking about, and dreams are notoriously immune from the mundane aches, pains, discomforts and disappointments that come with the harsh light of the day. I wish him the best, desire demands, desire wins, and the dream world of the endless, continues.


Rating: 9/10 (Insular and complex, artistically and thematically)

2000AD-PROG 1950: Jump on board, the ship is sinking

Artists and writers: Various.
Publisher: Rebellion
Released: 29th September 2015


I’m writing this in a public library and it’s quite the experience. I have a morbidly obese lady sat two seats away from me, mumbling to herself as she surfs the Internet, and two jobs seeking teens behind me, talking loudly about the NFL whilst working on their job applications. The large lady cannot appear to breathe without making a noise much like a sweating/rutting Walrus, and the two teens probably need to look for jobs as NFL analysts, as that appears to be all they are really interested in. As for me, I’m typing away on a computer console in the corner, trying to keep my composure, and trying not to let the immense irritation that is building inside of me to spill into this review of PROG 1950 of 2000 AD.

Every now and then 2000AD offers a jumping on point for new and lapsed readers, an opportunity to sample their wares and to see if 2000AD has more to offer than the Marxist inspired identity politics that is polluting the US comic book industry at the moment. PROG 1950 is one of those jumping on points, offering four brand new story arcs for new and old readers alike.

The problem with 2000AD is that it is wildly inconsistent. When it’s good it’s very good, but when it’s bad, it’s bloody awful.

I don’t enjoy saying this, but PROG 1950 is very much on the side of ‘bloody awful’ and no, it’s not just because the rotund lady is still mumbling to herself and the students are now talking loudly about their Mum’s and driving licences.

PROG 1950 gets off to a horrible start with a Judge Dredd story (by John Wagner) that uses two of the biggest clichés in contemporary writing, that being the serial killer and the sawing in half magic trick. Seriously, what is going on here? Does writer John Wagner have nothing better to offer than this? If so, he needs to find a new line of work, because this is terrible. Who hasn’t read a story about a magician being murdered when one of his tricks is tampered with? Who hasn’t read a story about a serial killer sending taunting letters to the cops? When you are reduced to using tired old tropes like this, you have run out of ideas. You need a break, you need to live a bit, read a lot, and come back to your writing career when you have new ideas and something interesting to say about the world in which you are living.

Oh great, here come more job-seeking NFL analysts. The library sounds like a busy pub now, and yes, the walrus is still here, and just as noisy as ever. Crap, oh well, onto the second story in PROG 1950 of 2000AD.

Defoe//The London Hanged is from the pen of Pat Mills, the man who produced the excellent Slaine, the best thing about 2000AD since I started to re-read it over a year ago. This new story has excellent black and white ink and pencils from artist Leigh Gallagher, and the narrative follows what amounts to a zombie hunter in mythological Olde-England. This opening is short, it introduces the main protagonist, sets the scene, and introduces a threat. That’s about it for the opening, and it’s hard to tell whether or not it’s going to be as essential as Slaine. All I can say at the moment is that it looks great, and I’m eager to see where Mills takes it after this introductory phase is over.

Brass Sun-Motorhead- is one of those set in the future stories where you have a pretty young female protagonist fighting against the evil powers that be. These stories are a dime a dozen in 2015, but is this one any good? First off, the young girl heroine is incredibly annoying. Mouthy and bossy she bravely puts up with her own physical discomforts, doing what is best for us all, and telling people to shut up whilst she does it. What can I say? It’s another narrative seemingly designed to make young girls feel good about themselves. That’s very laudable, but it’s also very, very, very common in comic books today. Plus, here’s a revelation, there aren’t exactly thousands of young girls reading these comic books, so who exactly is getting anything out of this? It’s not middle aged blokes like me, that’s for sure.

Let’s see if the last story in this jump-on issue of 2000AD has anything to offer this old, grumpy and increasingly fed-up bloke.

In short, no, the story doesn’t have much to offer me at all. The art in Bad Company//First Casualties looks great, very old school 2000AD, but this new arc begins and ends in a very predictable manner. The story is all about the end of a war. A cool sounding warrior (Kano) is missing, and his group of warrior comrades are chilling out in a veteran’s compound, drugged up, and fed-up now that the war is over. The story follows one of these men as he’s released on a special mission, and guess who he bumps into on the final panel of the book? Yep, it’s exactly who you would expect him to bump into, it’s Kano. Is this predictable narrative excusable because what happens next is going to be so much fun? I hope so, but as a stand-alone opening, it’s very mild, not very exciting, and as predictable as a walk in the park with my headphones on. Is that what I want from my 2000AD? Not really. I want a bit more than that.

That’s it. The jumping on point is over, so let’s recap what we have here. A formulaic detective Dredd story, a cool looking zombie tale, a bossy heroine narrative and a retired soldiers going back to war against/with their old boss story. I want to get excited, but there’s not a lot going on here, and as a new jumping-on point, I was hoping for a bit more. If 2000AD want to stand out from the politically correct social justice warrior wave of dross coming from the states them they need to do a lot better than this.

I want to be a huge fanboy. I want to scream about 2000AD from the roof-tops, but they are not giving me a lot to work with here. Introductions to new arcs can be difficult, but they are also an excellent opportunity to make a killer impact, and from what I’ve read in PROG 1950 of 2000AD, the impact is going to be minimal at best. 2000AD is usually a lot better than this, so this book is a huge disappointment. It’s tame, very tame, and I can’t see this book winning over any new converts at all.

Okay then, review over, the walrus is still grumbling, the class is still chatting like it’s Friday night in a pub, and it’s time for this disappointed, frustrated and not too happy comic book reviewer to get out of here. Urggh, the guy in the booth next to me just exhaled all over me, and his breath smells like vomit. I need to get out of here. Oh dear, who’d be me?


Rating: 3/10 (As a jump on point for new readers, this is very disappointing.)

Comic review: Inhumans-Attilan Rising #5- ‘There is no freedom in this world.’

Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: John Timms
Publisher: Marvel
Released: 23rd September 2015



I’ve had a pretty intense comic book reading week. Dealing with the liberally skewed distortions of reality that come from progressive statists can be hard-work, so to end my week on a soft landing I’ve decided to conclude with a quick look at one of Marvel’s ‘Battleworld’ event books.

That book is ‘Inhumans-Attilan Rising #5’ by Charles Soule, a writer who writes a lot, some of it good, some of it very good, and some of it painfully mediocre. Inhumans #5 fits securely into the ‘good’ category.

The story isn’t particularly complex or revelatory, but I did get a glimmer of truth from it, something to use for my own deviously anti-statist purposes. What am I talking about?

I’ll explain.

The narrative is about subjugation, about a people being enslaved, and not really understanding that they are enslaved.

‘The world is not as we have been told. We are DOOM’S playthings. He caused DEVICES to be built into New Attilan that broadcast a signal. It keeps the populace from realising one essential truth…There is no freedom in this world.’ (Medusa)

Replace ‘Doom’ with ‘Government’ and ‘Devices’ with ‘Mainstream media’ and you pretty much have a perfect encapsulation of what is happening in the western ‘democratic’ world today. A tax net population enslaved under the illusion of authority, propagandised through their televisions, newspapers and I-devices, and told that their enslavement isn’t actually enslavement at all. That’s our world, and that’s how we live today, but how many of us see it for what it actually is?

Do you see it, or are you getting angry with me for pointing it out? My message is simple. You are owned, and your owner is government. I don’t even think that this is a particularly extreme thing for me to say. It’s a bit like me pointing out that water is wet, so why do people get so angry with me for pointing it out? Oh well, that’s the matrix that we all live in. It annoys me, but I’m used to it now.

Did Charles Soule deliberately include an anti authority meaning within his comic book narrative, or is it just me (as a nasty, anti-authoritarian anarchist) that is putting meaning into something that is not there?

To me, it doesn’t really matter. The meaning is there, whether it was deliberate or not. I read comics to find meaning, not for purely hedonistic purposes. That’s what I do, that’s the main reason why I’m writing these ‘reviews’ on my blog and not working for a comic book website that values hedonism and entertainment over reality.

That doesn’t mean that I’m a complete masochist though. I read comic books for fun as well, and as a comic book existing purely as a vehicle for narrative excitement and thrills, Inhumans-Atillan Rising #5 is pretty decent. The story is fast paced, the characters are interesting, and the art, by John Timms, is very pleasing to the eye. The final panel in particular is superb, featuring a young lady looking absolutely stunning.

So, that’s it for my blog this week. The Tithe #5 is the one book that you need to track down. 2000AD PROG 1949 features a very revealing contrast between two authoritarian Judges. Negative Space #2 is creatively weird and fun, and Inhumans-Attilan Rising #5 is a lot better than I thought that it would be.


Rating: 7/10 (Sweet art, involving story, interesting characters, worth checking out)

Comic review: Negative Space #2- Misery Loves Companies

Art: Owen Gieni
Script: Ryan K Lindsay
Publisher: Dark Horse
Released: 23rd September 2015



‘Misery mourns to be devoured.’ (Manic Street Preachers- Removeables)

I have been thinking about that line, analysing it, deciphering it, and trying to extract every last ounce of meaning from it. I’m still not 100% happy with my conclusions, but as far as I can understand it, what it’s trying to say is that unhappiness feeds on itself, leading to more unhappiness, the cycle continuing forever, more misery, more unhappiness, feeding forever, never satisfied, always unhappy, but demanding more unhappiness.

‘Negative Space #2’ takes this idea of unhappiness as energy, and speculates that as well as it feeding upon itself, perhaps there is some other entity that benefits from it as well? I’ve read about the concept before, the idea that there is a race of extra-dimensional beings that feed on human suffering. They are usually referred to as Archons, or Reptilians, and are often described as working within the bloodlines of the ruling elites of our planet. David Icke talks about it all of the time, so if you are reading this review and are not already aware of the idea, get one of his books, you won’t regret it.

Anyway, the idea of an alien race feeding on human misery is given a slightly new and different take in ‘Negative Space.’ There are no reptilians here, no mention of bloodlines, and no mention of government agencies or any of the real world slave masters of planet Earth. As far as I can tell, the blame is being put onto a private corporation in this book, a corporation that works with the aliens, harvesting the food for them by promoting misery all over the world.

I don’t really have too many problems with corporations. It’s governments that control the world, not corporations. Corporations are powerful, but they don’t have a monopoly on the use of violence. They can’t put you in jail for failing to pay them. They can’t start wars. They can’t even force you to buy their products. Government however, can pretty much do whatever they like. They can extort you, rob you, torture you, kill you and kidnap your kids, then say that it’s legal and that there’s nothing that anybody can do about it.

I didn’t see any mention of government in ‘Negative Space #2’ and I don’t know if that’s a deliberate omission, or just something that the writer didn’t think about. The blame for misery appeared to be completely heaped upon a corporation, and I find that a bit strange. Sure corporations have power, but real power is always within the centralised control system, and that system at the moment is government, not corporations. Corporations do indeed try to pay off politicians and I do understand the revolving door between the two, but government has the gun, and guns have a way of getting things done.

Perhaps the omission will be addressed later? I hope so, because Negative Space is a very interesting book. There is a daft sense of humour to it all as well, making it a very enjoyable, occasionally silly, read.

There are quite a few interesting characters in the book as well. The main villain is ridiculously over the top, (‘I can only beat on a hipster for so long before I need breakfast nutrition.’) and issue #2 introduces a daftly entertaining alien character that is on the side of the heroes.

My favourite character however is the main protagonist, an overweight, unattractive, unhappy, middle-aged bloke. That one character alone is enough to get my interest in a comic book. If I have to read another supposedly ‘rebellious’ book starring a punk haired young girl then I’m going to start losing my mind, so it’s nice to see some real ‘diversity’ in comic books for a change.

I have to mention the art as well. It has a unique atmosphere to it, a dark, almost abstract quality, like it’s touching on reality, but is not quite there yet. It’s unique, and for an equally as unique book, it’s a perfect fit.

Issue #2 of Negative Space adds a heavy dose of dark humour to the pathos of issue #1 and that combination of misery and comedy produces an excellent black comedy with depth and emotional resonance. I need more government in my misery, but apart from that noticeable omission, this is an excellent book that stands out from the crowd and is well worth you investing both your time and money on.


Rating: 8/10 (Not as doom laden as you might think, there is a lot of enjoyable silliness in this one)

Lyrics:

Conscience binds you in chains

Trail by stone hammer and nails

No-one made the holes but me

Misery mourns to be devoured

Killed God blood soiled unclean again

Killed God blood soiled skin dead again

Again everywhere again

All removables, all transitory

All removables, passing always

All removables, all transitory

All removables, passing always

Never grown preserved gently

A bronze moth dies easily

Unknown to others weak to me

Broken hands never ending

Aimless rut of my own perception

Numbly waiting for voices to tell me

For voices to tell me

All removables, all transitory

All removables, passing always

All removables, all transitory

All removables, passing always

All removables, all transitory

All removables, passing always

Comic review: the Tithe #5- Islamic Extremism and the ‘Progressive’ Left

Writer: Matt Hawkins
Co-Creator: Rahsan Ekedal
Artist: Phillip Sevy
Publisher: Image Comics
Released: 23rd September 2015


****SPOILERS IN REVIEW****


I need to add a few disclaimers before I start off this review. Firstly, I haven’t been reading ‘The Tithe.’ I bought this issue because the preview mentioned ‘Islamaphobia’ and that intrigued me, as Islam is rarely mentioned in contemporary comic books. Secondly, I assumed that the comic book would address all issues concerning Islamic terrorism from a secular, atheist, liberal/progressive point of view, with an attempt to minimise the personal responsibility of the individuals actually involved in recent terrorist outrages.

I made a lot of assumptions, but after reading this book those assumptions turned out to be pretty much spot on. That’s not me patting myself on the back, it’s just that I read a lot of comics, and as 95% of contemporary comic books come from a liberal/progressive mind-set and world-view, I pretty much know what I will be getting before I actually read the books.

The beginning of this book really shocked me though. It started with a quotation coming directly from the Koran, a quotation that gives valuable insight into what Muslims are taught to think of Jews and Christians by their holy book. Does it teach them about tolerance and respect? Nope, it doesn’t. It tells Muslims that they cannot be friends with either Jews or Christians. That’s a fact, it comes from the Koran, and to see it as an opening statement in a comic book was quite shocking to me.

The narrative of the book itself then proceeds to show a young Syrian immigrant shouting‘Allahu Akbar’ in a church as he detonates a suicide vest, blowing himself up, and murdering hundreds of innocent people.  This immigrant had been taken in by a Christian family, so what he is doing here ties into the concerns of many Europeans at the moment as refugees descend upon the west, escaping from the conflicts in their own war torn countries.

The fear in many European countries right now is not just about terrorism. It’s about the impact of an entire culture, a culture that is not exactly liberal when it comes to anything to do with women’s rights and homosexuality. Surely there will be tensions? What will happen when you have entire communities of people that oppose the very laws of the land in which they live? These concerns are not addressed within this comic book, but the first one is, that being the concern that Muslim refuges are potential suicide bombers, and that the more we let in, the more chances there will be of horrific events happening in our local Churches, sports stadiums and supermarkets.

I understand the concern because I’ve actually lived in Saudi Arabia, the spiritual, ideological and financial home of all things related to Sunni terrorism. If you want to know anything about Sunni terrorism then go to Saudi Arabia, that’s where the 9/11 hijackers came from, it’s where Osama Bin laden came from, and it’s where the funding behind ISIS comes from as well.

When it comes to Sunni terrorism, all roads lead to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi’s fund terrorism, and are encouraged to do so as the main enemy of the west is not Sunni terror, it’s the Shia states, with the main villain, and eventual target, being Iran. Syria first, and it’s Iran that will be next on the chopping block.

Western governments support Sunni extremism today, just as they did in the 1980’s when they supported a young Bin Laden in his fight against the Russians in Afghanistan. Our governments are always eager to help out Sunni terrorists, as they give them a reason for the ever-expanding Police/surveillance state back home, and an excuse for wars for resources in the Middle East and Africa.

But back to the story in ‘The Tithe #5.’ After reading a plot that began leaning suspiciously to the right, I knew that the progressive side of the writer had to kick-in at any moment, unless of course this was the rarest of all things in 2015, that being a right leaning comic book writer? Is writer Matt Hawkins one of those rare creatures?

Nope, don’t be daft, of course he’s not. There’s no room for the evil right wing in comic books at the moment. When it comes to contemporary comic book writers, they are as left leaning as you can possibly get. It took a while, but the left wing side of Matt’s nature finally kicked in, and boy, when it did, what a laugh it all was.

***HERE COME THE PLOT SPOILERS***

Writer Matt Hawkins was absolutely brilliant in what he did here, and a real credit to the liberal progressive left. His story began with a suicide bombing in a church, and by the end of it he had managed to put the entirety of the blame for the atrocity onto right-wing, white, Christian men. I’m not joking. The final panels of this book include an evil white skinhead leaving a Church and laughing about his actions designed to stitch up the poor innocent Muslims. The final panel of the book features this evil white man framed with a giant crucifix in the background as he walks away from his base of operations, that being a Christian church.

The message is clear. Islam is a peaceful religion, and the terrorist events that you see around the world are part of some weird right wing conspiracy carried out by crazy skin-headed Christians.

Great work Matt, I really applaud your dedication to the cause of never offending people who strap bombs to themselves in order to further their sick, demented and twisted ideological agenda. Your determination to blame all of the ills of the world on the most politically expedient group out there today (right wing Christians) was particularly brave of you as well. Good job mate, good job.

The Tithe #5 then is not quite as controversial as you might think that it is. I applaud it for addressing the big Wahabbi Elephant in the living-room, a violently stampeding Elephant that is completely ignored by DC and Marvel, but what I have read here comes from a painfully liberal, laughably progressive mind-set.

This PC mind-set goes out of it’s way not to offend, and puts the blame for a Islamic terrorist event onto the easiest, softest of all targets, that being white Christian men. In doing so it comes across as a bizarre, politically correct, left leaning conspiracy theory book. It brings up real world concerns about Islamic terrorism, then takes the easy way out by placing the blame upon a group that has nothing whatsoever to do with Islamic terrorism.

It’s usually the right that gets accused of conspiracy theory paranoia, but this book proves that when it comes to ridiculous conspiracy theories, the ‘progressive’ left is fast catching up and becoming even more insane and wilfully ignorant than the old right.


Rating: 7/10 (I applaud writer Matt Hawkins for dealing with issues that most writers choose to ignore, but his conclusion that Islamic terrorism is actually a right wing/Christian conspiracy is absolutely ridiculous)

2000AD-PROG 1949- The comic book fear of anarchy

Artists and writers: Various
Publisher: Rebellion

Released: 23rd September 2015

Judge Death and Judge Dredd work together like liberals and conservatives, creation the illusion that you have freedom of choice, just as long as your choice is an acceptance of authority, and a lack of personal freedom and liberty. You can choose a controller, and that means that you are free. Both Death and Dredd are symbols of control, they block alternatives to mainstream status quo thinking, and channel you into a slaughterhouse of collectivised, state control.

Was it always so? Probably, but it’s really noticeable now. Dredd murders to uphold the law, and Death does exactly the same. Check out the following quotation:

‘I will teach them the virtues of order and discipline. The rule of law.’

That quote comes from Judge Death, but it could just have easily come from Dredd. In ‘Ghost Town- Part Two’ Dredd massacres dissenters to the rule of law with no feeling other than his need to maintain control over the population. He doesn’t mind killing people, its just part of the job.

In ‘Dreams of Deadworld-Death’ Judge Death shows his lieutenants who is boss, killing one before carrying out a massacre of his order following minions. This is the kind of thing that always happens when a dictator purges his own party of troublesome thugs that he no longer needs. The most famous recent example being Hitler’s purge of his own brown-shirt thugs (the 'Night of the long knives') shortly after he gained the footing his needed to control the population of Germany.

Judge Death murders so he can sit on a throne (as is shown on the excellent front cover of this comic book) whilst Dredd murders in order to serve and maintain the centralised state collective.

Looking at the differences between the two Judges is hugely illuminating, as it shines a spotlight on an assumption that is central to the ideology contained within western comic books. That assumption (an idea pushed to the idea of a cliché, but an idea that is constantly reinforced as truth through repetition) is that freedom in the west means not having a dictator.

We don’t have a dictator, so that must mean that we are free, right?

What is being pushed here is the idea that the collective tyranny of democracy (the rule of the majority, or two wolves and a sheep deciding what’s for dinner) is the best that humanity can hope for. It’s the idea that individuality must be consumed by the collective, that the collective is held together by law, and that it’s up to uniformed order followers to enforce that law, at the point of a gun.

This is the legitimisation of collectivisation, of centrally controlled tyranny, of a small group of people who know better than you, and so will tell you what to do, for your own good, of course, and if you don’t obey them, then it’s death or jail for you.

Oh, and by the way, don’t forget that you are free.

Judge Death then is a perfect villain as he reinforces the idea that the only thing that we need to fear is the dictator, and that the collectivised tyranny of Judge Dredd is how things should be, because after all, we don’t want to fall into chaos or ANARCHY, do we?

‘Only the zero-tolerance Judges- empowered to dispense instant justice- can stop total ANARCHY.’

That line always appears in the ‘In This Prog’ section of 2000AD, and it’s very telling, giving the reader a social assumption, an agreed upon lie, in order to frame what happens within the narrative of the Judge Dredd strip. The lie is that anarchy equates to chaos and murder, and that without order following murderers in uniform then it will be a big free for all with babies being murdered in the streets.

That is the assumption, and it’s an assumption that comes from the mindset of an indoctrinated, fearful slave to the state. It’s an assumption that hates humanity, and assumes the very worse of people. It is an assumption that is reinforced, without evidence, that the only way to stop us murdering each other in the streets is for us to all live in a giant prison state, for our own good, of course.

Fear of anarchy, and a willingness to accept the collectivised tyranny of the state is an ideology that runs like a stick of rock through 95% of western comic books. It is an ideology that assures the slave to the state that the system s/he has been born into is legitimate. It backs up a machine of violent coercion a machine that has made the world the boiling Hellhole that it is today.

The idea that the only thing to fear is a crazy dictator, is a straw-man argument. It’s a socially programmed assumption that works because comic book writers push it without even realising what they are pushing. They know somewhere deep within their souls that a centralised, collectivised system of violent coercion is morally wrong, but they justify it by looking at the alternatives. A lack of courage, and imagination gives them only two: 1- A villainous dictator. 2- People being murdered in the streets. That’s Judge Death, and that’s Judge Dredd. Both follow the law, both wear uniforms, both exist to control you. One of them is a cartoon villain, and the other is an agent of the collectivised state.

Judge Death makes you fear dictatorships, and Judge Dredd makes you fear anarchy, or the lack of a centralised control system. The two fictional characters represent false real-world choices, like the red and blue parties, keeping you fearful, dependant, and safely imprisoned within the collectivised neo-liberal corporate/state reservation.

I’ve already written enough this week, so I’ll leave it there, and no, this is not a typical comic book review, and it isn’t supposed to be. I’m not being paid to knock out a boring review, so I’ll talk about what I want to talk about. This week I wanted to talk about the similarities between Death and Dredd, and how they are used to reinforce the current system of collectivised state tyranny in which we all live under in the west. I think that I managed to say something worthwhile. I think that what I said was more interesting than a review about panels, colouring and personalities. Thanks for reading it, be nice to each other, and have a great comic book reading week.



Rating: 8/10 (Judge Death and Judge Dredd, a one-two punch to the face of humanity)

Social Justice (Video): A poem about individualism

Comic review- Miracleman #2: In this wasteland of the now

Story: Neil Gaiman
Art: Mark Buckingham
Publisher: Marvel
Released: 16th September 2015 


I’ve spent my morning with Neil Gaiman, and he’s led me down the path of yesterday, leaving me drenched in sweet, nostalgic sad, empty, hindsight regret.

Still waiting.....

There’s an initial pleasure to be gained in looking back, but when you get to deep you see yourself as you actually were. You see the stupid mistakes, the missed chances, the should have beens, the almosts, and the never weres. Regret rises to the surface and pleasure soon ebbs into a useless, longing feeling that things should have been better, but they weren’t, and there’s nothing that you can do about it now, because the past is gone, the people are gone, and you yourself, as you used to be, you are gone as well.

Miracleman #2 is split into three individual parts. The later two are probably connected, and are tied into the larger narrative, hinting of a return, of the villain.

The second part is school in the late 80’s/90’s, in England, as I remember it, personally. It’s behind the bike-shed, a pretty girl, spots, being cool, being detached, messing things up, being a silly boy, it’s the things that I remember, and I’m not sure if it will mean anything to kids in their twenties who are reading the book, but for a 80’s/90’s kid, Gaiman is a witness to how things actually were, he gets to the soul of it, and he takes me back to that time, that place of memory and regret, a school uniform and the wish, now, that things had turned out a bit better than they actually did.

The first story, the main story is equally as sad, but in a grown-up sense of deluded expectations, disappointment and waiting for something that isn’t there. The story is about a man holding out for physical perfection, stupidly, rejecting the possibility of love, rejecting reality, and waiting for the return of an impossible Goddess.  It’s a lonely tale, and it reminds me of 90’s libraries, reading Gaiman, walking home in the rain, alone, of course, but with Gaiman in my head, telling me that the world is sad, telling me that I shouldn’t give up, because who knows? Perhaps, some day, somebody will give a s***.

for the girl

Yes, it’s an emotional trip for me to spend time with Neil Gaiman on a September morning in 2015. I have emotional baggage with the dude, old memories, mostly crappy, but they would have been even worse without him. He’s a bloody good writer you know. He’s a craftsmen, and I do appreciate him, and I do admire his work, even the new (old) stuff, with the memories that come with it, stuck in my own past.

I should probably leave Neil Gaiman well alone from now on. I’m too old, and it’s making me painfully aware of my own useless past. I read his work today, and it’s good, very good, but there’s deep sadness there.

When I read Miracleman #2 I feel a sense of time, of wasting it, waiting, too much time waiting, only for nothing to happen and to wake up one day with nothing gained from the wait, just more waiting, more waiting. Reading Gaiman takes me back to the past, my own neglected graveyard, of dashed hopes and an almost tangible feeling of time slipping through my fingertips.

The world outside swirls and changes, and yesterday fades into memory, becoming further, and further away, as new memories fail to materialise, so all that is left, though not worth remembering, is all that there is, in this useless, silent, far too still, wasteland of the now.


Rating: 9/10 (Taking me back, as Gaiman always does)

Comic review- Constantine: The HellBlazer #4- Sad John Goes On a Bender

Writers: Ming Doyle & James Tynion IV
Artists: Vanesa Del Ray & Chris Visions
Publisher: DC Comics
Released: 16th September 2015



If you’ve read any of my previous reviews then you’ll be aware that I reserve my best ratings for comic books that deal with real world concerns. Constantine ‘The Hellblazer’#4 doesn’t do that, but it’s a decent enough distraction for those uninterested in the world around them.

I can understand why people would want to hide, at least for a while, and this book gives you ample opportunity to do just that. The story is about the individual, not the world around him. John Constantine is on a bender, drinks and magic, and he’s doing what a lot of people do on benders, going around at night, annoying people and being all smart-arse with it, thinking that everything is funny when inside he is screaming with loneliness and self-hatred.

The book is a decent portrayal of a man alone, drinking too much, and refusing to address the issues from his past that have caused him so much emotional distress. The book has wonky, whirly, messy, disorganised art, and it’s perfect for a book about a man on a bender.

The story zips between now and then, and is set in comic book nowhere land. There are no mobile phones, no computers, no recognisable landmarks and the clothes that people are wearing don’t really connect it to any particularly time or place either. John is seen, bottle in hand, annoying a clerk in a record shop, the kind of shop that hasn’t existed in my own town for over ten years now. From there he goes to a generic ‘club,’ and onto a Gothic looking library.

It’s supposed to be England, but I live in England, and it could be anywhere. I saw nothing in the book that gave it any relevance to the world of 2015, it was nowhere, it was about John, it is a distraction book that is all about his personality, and everything else is secondary.

In that sense Constantine #4 is your typical DC comic book. It’s all about personalities, and has nothing to say about reality. The book is refreshingly free of identity politics issues, so it has that going for it, and for a personality book, a book about a man unable to deal with the mistakes of his past, it makes for a slightly above average ten-minute distraction from real world concerns.

I enjoyed the book, but don’t expect anything particularly memorable or game changing from it. I like the character of John Constantine, but he needs to be updated in order to make him relevant to the post 9/11, surveillance state world.

John as a ‘conspiracy’ guy would be fun, it would be controversial, and it would be relevant, but would it be allowed in a mainstream comic book? Probably not, so for the time being all you are going to get is John on a bender. It’s not bad, but is it saying anything about the world that we live in? No, it’s not even trying to.


Rating: 6/10 (Bloke on a bender, with a bit of magic thrown in)

Comic review: Tokyo Ghost #1- Old Man Fear

Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Sean Murphy
Creators: Remender/Murphy
Publisher: Image Comics
Released: 16th September 2015


I used to love Stephen King, but the last book that I read coming from his ever-prolific mind was about cell-phones and how people will turn into zombies if they use them too much. The idea was dull, easy, and I expected better out of King. I read the entire book and my lasting impression was of an out of touch, out of ideas, old man, looking at the world outside of his mansion, and having a bit of a ill-considered, lazy moan about it all.

That book was called ‘Cell,’ and this book by Rick Remender, is pretty much the same thing. It is drenched in ‘cool,’ with a cool name, a cool protagonist and cool artwork, but the mind-set that it’s all coming from is pretty much the same as Cell. The difference is slight. Cell was about cell-phones making people violently anti-social, whilst ‘Tokyo Ghost’ (see, told you it was cool) is about computer games and the Internet making people violently anti-social.

I’m calling BS on the entire idea that modern technology is making us violent and anti-social, not because I like modern technology, but because I remember the time when all of this technology didn’t exist, and here’s the truth, people were just as anti-social back then, and a whole lot more violent as well.

The only difference between now and 1991 is that in 1991 people hid behind books, Walkmen, newspapers and magazines, whilst today they hide behind iphones. People in big cities ignore each other. That’s how it has always been. If you want some social interaction then move to a small village where people still talk to each other. It’s not about technology. It's about the modern capitalist rat race life, and urban isolation. The violence in these books is just for dramatic effect. It makes the story more exciting, that's why it's there. In the real world it's the isolation that gets you, not the violence, which is actually quite rare today in comparison to the recent past.

Having rejected the initial premise I’m left to fall back on the characters within the book to get some enjoyment out of it. Unfortunately the main protagonist is that ubiquitous protagonist that you always get in comic books these days, that being the attractive young female (normally a cop, or special agent, as she is here) who goes around beating up intolerant, racist, sexist men. In this book we have another perfect specimen of a middle aged writers PC mind, outfitted in hotpants, with the requisite punk haircut and a good line in banter as she roars up and down the highstreet dispensing instant justice to all of the nasty men that she finds. She has a boyfriend in tow, he sucks, and it’s her job to rescue him from not sucking anymore. This boyfriend is a stand-in for an on-line gamer, so the message is clear. Boys suck, they spend too much time on the internet playing computer games, and it’s up to their social justice warrior perfect girlfriends to save them from themselves.

This protagonist girl (I forget her name, but she’s pretty much identical to Tank Girl from the early 1990’s) is the only person in old Rick’s universe that is not plugged into the Internet. Strange that, because in the world that I live, the most plugged in people to the Internet are not men, but young girls. Men are starting to abandon the Internet, and it’s the females that are stuck to it like wars to a government, but you’re not going to see that reflected in a comic book, because in the world of PC delusion the saviours of the world are always pretty young girls.

The most asleep, clueless, half-witted people on the planet today are social science educated young, feminist, liberal girls. They see none of the tyranny of our times, and are used to divide and conquer the population with identity politics nonsense. Their ideology comes from government approved university Marxism, an ideology that reduces everything to class, skin colour, gender and sexuality, thus missing all of the important issues that we need to sort out in order to enact some real change in the rapidly declining western world.

So, yes, I’m fed up of seeing pretty young girls portrayed as saviours in my comic books when in the real world they are anything but.

Rant over, I’ll try to be nice now. So why would anybody like, or enjoy Tokyo Ghost?

I know why. I do. People will like the art, and they will think that it’s addressing important issues about technology and how it’s isolating us from ourselves. They’ll think it’s smart, funny, cool and fun.

I (obviously) have a different opinion on the book. My opinion is that it’s liberal tosh drenched in cool, that says nothing, has a wonky premise, and features a generic protagonist that you’ll find in just about every other ‘independent’ comic book on the market today. So, is it worth buying? If you are a feminist liberal type, yes, go for it. However, for anybody else, for anybody that has broken free from the mainstream paradigm of feminist liberalism, don’t bother, it will annoy the crap out of you, and will make you long for the good old days when comic books still had genuine diversity, and when Stephen King still pumped out genuinely exciting, fresh, insightful and enjoyable books.



Rating: 5/10 (Dripping with generic cool, and not half as clever as it thinks that it is)


 Special thanks to John at the Incredible Comic Book Shop for recommending this book to me. I didn’t like it, but I got a lot out of it, and it gave me perfect ranting material, thanks mate. 
https://www.facebook.com/TheIncredibleComicShop

Comic review: 2000AD-PROG 1948- Judge Dredd as the villain that he always was

Writers and artists: Various
Publisher: Rebellion
Release Date: 16th September 2015



No messing about this week, let’s get straight into the content of 2000AD PROG 1948.

Writer Ian Edginton gets the character of Judge Dredd spot on, portraying him as a sociopathic murderer, using the magic words of arbitrary ‘law’ to justify his immoral actions. In ‘Ghost Town-Part One, Judge Dredd is shown for what he actually is. He’s not cool, he’s not tough, he’s not a hero, he’s a drone, not a man, but a machine, programmed with ‘law’ that gives him the excuse to murder anybody that fails to comply with his programming.

Joe Dredd is not a good man. He is not even a man. He doesn’t deserve to be called a man. He is a perverted stain on humanity, the kind of machine man who always backs up government, in all of its sick forms, and he deserves nothing but utter contempt. Ian Edginton writes him as a programmed murder machine, and it’s the most brutally realistic portrayal of Dredd that I’ve read in 2000AD since I came back to it over a year ago.

I usually hate Dredd stories, so to see him portrayed as he actually is, that’s a huge thing to me. Here’s a Dredd story that I can get something out of. It’s a Dredd story that refuses to excuse his behaviour, and instead addresses it head on. That is what you should be doing with a programmed, uniformed, sociopath like Dredd, and I’m extremely happy to see it being done here.

The Alienist Part 5 continues to look great, plus it has a very interesting plot reveal, a reveal that resonates with me personally, a reveal that gives a very convincing argument as to the nature of evil and the spiritual realm and creatures that inhabit it. I won’t spoil it, but I will recommend it. Last week I was unnerved by the lack of empathy shown towards it’s deceased characters, but this week I can let that go and enjoy a good idea played out in an interesting story.

Grey Area-Deadline concludes with an apocalyptic battle and final page reveal. I’ve enjoyed the arc, the dialogue has been very funny, and I did appreciate the sly dig it was having at the ‘new-age’ community, the peace loving types who do nothing whilst the world around them burns.

‘Dreams of Deadworld-Fear’ has a strong theme from beginning to end. The theme is that those that use fear will inevitably become victims to it themselves. It explores attitudes towards fear, and reveals how it can be defeated. Fear is a weapon that can be used against those that use it. Fear only works when people are consumed with it, and they let it rule their lives. Fear is the one thing that controls OUR lives RIGHT NOW. The state needs fear to control the slaves stuck within its tax net. Without fear we are free, but how many people do you know who live a life without fear? Do you know any? I don’t. Let’s change that, right now.

The key to defeating fear is to catch it, and throw it straight back into the faces of those that use it as a means to manipulate and control. Hey television, I’m looking at you, turning you off, and poof, your power is gone. Hey government, I don’t need you, I will not give my consent to be governed, poof, their power is gone. That’s how fear works. Reject it, live free, throw it back in their faces, and let it consume those that would use it against you.

PROG 1948 of 2000AD has achieved the impossible. It has published a Judge Dredd story that I actually like. I like the story because Dredd is portrayed as the villain that he actually is. There is nothing cool about him here. He is shown as the sociopath murderer that he actually is. Dredd is the law, a law based on the threat of violence, not choice, not morality, not humanity, but violence.

Dredd never was a hero. Dredd is the law, not natural law, but the law of the state. If the law states that you must be executed for wearing a hat, he will execute you on the spot. Judge Dredd is not a good person. Judge Dredd is an immoral drone, a weaponised murder machine. He is the uniformed face of tyranny, and that is how he is finally being portrayed in 2000AD.


Rating: 8/10 (Finally, a Judge Dredd story that I actually like)

Walk Away: To reclaim ownership of yourself

By: Mark.A Pritchard (aka SwindonPoet/Rorshach1004)
Date: 15th September 2015



I understand the feeling, the need intensifying, to leave it all alone.

To smile, though nobody looks, cares.

To turn from the noise, from the jump on sentences, repeating themselves for infinitely.

Recycled ideologies, personality types, life stories, falling for the same old tricks, again and again.

Our age, our time, our ruination, humans devolving, and now, it’s time to walk away from the crowd.

Degenerated mass, circus animals, performing tricks, to amuse each other, not caring about their own enslavement.

They love it.

They really do.

Exchange whip, fight for ownership of coercion.

Sales talk, just talk, they love a good con man, woman now.

The only option for the awake is to walk, away from their cage love, circus love, love of the lie.

To leave the car in rush-hour traffic, throw the iphone away, embrace the quiet solitary life, away from the dull noise collective.

Broken routine, reclamation, noise fading, mind silence, quietude expansion, a chosen walk, away.

Marvel’s Civil War: The Death of the Superhero and Rise of Comic Book Collectivism

Article by: Mark.A Pritchard (aka Rorshach1004/SwindonPoet)
Date: 11th September 2015



‘The Iron has spent the last six years isolating us from the rest of the world. They have embargoed our trading partners. Threatened those who help us. Spread lies.’ (Captain America in Civil War #4-2015)

Do American (and western) comic book ‘geek’ readers see the irony in that statement?

The words come from the mouth of Captain America, the ultimate American comic book hero, and what he is describing (and decrying) is US foreign policy since the end of WW2. He is outlining a deliberate strategy of economic isolation/suffocation deliberately designed to achieve hegemony and domination over an entire planet. It is a policy that has led to the deaths of millions of innocent people who never had a chance, people who died because of the deliberate policies coming from western democracies.

The original Civil War, by Mark Millar.

That is the policy of the west. That is the policy of the ‘heroes.’

Will readers see the statement as a critique of what America actually is? Will they see the reality behind the statement, or will it just be another piece of comic book story-telling that is read, forgotten, and seen as play-time fun and games that has nothing whatsoever to do with the real world?

My guess, and it’s just a guess, is that readers will read it as part of the story in Civil War #4, and will leave it at that. Captain America has given a speech that could easily have come out of the mouth of Saddam Hussain, or Muammar Gaddafi, or Bashar al-Assad, or Vladimir Putin. It’s a speech that could have been given by any leader that has seen his country targeted for destruction by western ‘democratic’ neo-liberal corporate hegemony.

What would happen if readers carefully analysed the statement made by Captain America, and looked at what has happened in the real world over the past few decades? How would they see the US as a force for good in the world? They would be forced to re-evaluate, and to re-consider what they personally are doing in the world, how they, through paying their taxes, and supporting the state, are complicit in what has happened, what is happening and what it going to happen next.

What is going to happen next is war, a big war waged against Iran and Russia, the last two holdouts against western imperialism. It will be called World War 3, and it will be the last war. The end result will be a nuclear holocaust, a tiny population of world-controllers, and a slave population of five hundred million people.

Comic book readers need to put down the comic books, look at recent world history, and decide whether or not they want to go along with the unfolding agenda. They do have a choice; they don’t have to go along with it. They have a voice, and they can use it, if they want to.

The new 'Civil War' by Charles Soule.

This is not silly conspiracy stuff, it’s recent world history, and it’s happening right now as I type these words. Writer Charles Soule puts his words of truth into the mouth of Captain America at the beginning of Civil War #4, but then the book unfolds in a convoluted, contradictory fashion that makes pretty much no sense whatsoever, thus diminishing the impact of the opening statement. However, the statement is made, and it cannot be unmade. It’s truth in a genre that sees very little truth at all, and now it’s up to us to decide whether or not we want to face that truth, or just go back to reading comic books as usual.

US superhero comic books don’t do heroes anymore. Tony Stark won the original Marvel Comics Civil war, and the superheroes became agents of the state. Captain America, the symbol of individualism, of freedom from state control (Yes, I know it’s ironic, but perhaps he’s just represented the old America?), surrendered, and was murdered. Mark Millar wrote that ending in 2007. It was the correct ending to write.

Contemporary comic book heroes are collectivists, controlled by the state, working for the state. The era of individualism died with the death of Captain America in the original Civil War. What has followed since has been painful to watch, with Marvel and DC comics celebrating collectivised, order following, ‘heroes’ and the death of individualism and true heroism. The independent, moral, liberty minded heroes have become unthinking soldiers. I'm sorry, but soldiers are not heroes, no matter what the propaganda coming out of the state tries to tell you. Soldiers follow orders. Right and wrong does not figure in their actions, morality does not figure in their actions, they do what they are told to do, no questions asked, see Bradley Manning for more details.

Marvel’s original Civil War story-arc and this new extension of the original story (by Charles Soule) reveals a brutal truth about the death of individualism in post 9/11 America. That truth might be clouded and hidden within a jumble of plot twists, super-powered personality issues and contradictions, but the truth is there, and is something that we all need to understand.

Art from Yu, on the new Civil War #4

As the US Empire continues to crumble and morph into a one-world government, at least we all know how it happened, and who was responsible. The coming New World Order was made possible by the economic strangulation of sovereign states, a siege policy that ends in war or capitulation. All countries that have refused to be dictated to by US led corporate, neo-liberal hegemony have been under economic siege for decades, and those still holding out are being targeted by western intelligence agencies, NGO’s, mercenaries and the western backed lunatic army known as the Islamic state.

The policy of total, global domination is at the centre of western, neo-liberal political consensus. When you vote, you vote for war. All parties belong to the cult of neo-liberalism; your only choice is between personalities, not policy differences. Corporate lebensraum has made the world what it is today. Do you like it?

I personally am not a fan.

So who is to blame? It’s not the politicians or the liars on the television. They are there because we allow them to be there. We built their houses. We bred children to be used as their slaves, and now our children have guns, and the guns are turned at us.

We are to blame.

We built neo-liberalism.

We built it, brick by brick, vote by vote, order followed, after order followed. We refused to look as we slaved away at its construction, but we built it. It is our fault. The world is the way it is today because we had free choice, and we decided to give away our freedoms to the illusion of authority, because men and women calling themselves ‘Government’ ordered, and we chose to obey them.

Iron Man, a symbol of collectivism over individualism.

We shout and scream at the individual pawns, yet we play their game, we vote, we get what we deserve, we are willing dupes, and we have allowed ourselves to be used, abused, divided and killed. The world could be a beautiful place of free choice, free association, individualism and self-determination, but we didn’t want that. Instead, we chose collectivism, and if we continue to be spectators in our own lives then what happens next will be exactly what we all deserve.

Hoping for change will not change a thing, action is what is needed.

Real life heroes are individuals, people who do things not for ideology, reward or status, but because it’s the right thing to do. Change comes from action, from doing something, not hoping for somebody else to do it for you. Government kills all ideals of action and individualism and replaces it with the all-encompassing collective merged prison identity of the state.

We are living during a time of neo-liberal, cross-party consensus tyranny. We can change it, if we want to, but here’s my opinion on the matter. I think that some people would rather read comic books and go along with it, and some people would rather join it, than fight it.

A lot of people have become lazy, immoral, complacent, greedy and selfish. A lot of people are scared, or apathetic, or perhaps they are just confused? Learnt helplessness is a powerful weapon of the neoliberal corporate elites, and it’s pumped out 24/7 from their mainstream media indoctrination centres masquerading as ‘news.’  The message is to comply and that all resistance to neo-liberalism is futile. You are small, you cannot do anything, stand-down, comply, do what you are told.

Complicity, fear, apathy and confusion together with learnt helplessness imprison the programmed, collectivised masses and the end result is millions of people complying with their own enslavement and serving the system that imprisons them all.

Choose Cap, choose individualism over collectivism.

Individualism has become a bad word. It is being discouraged, because it is the individual that will destroy the collectivised state. We need to stand up, as individuals, not as a group. We need to re-learn how to say NO, and to do things for ourselves. That’s what I think. That’s what I think about the world today.

Comic books reflect reality, and the reality is that we have become collectivised slaves to state authority. Tony won, collectivism won. Cap lost, individualism lost. The world we live in today, the western world, the comic book world, it’s a defeated world. But is it over? Oh no, not yet.

I’m a scrappy bloke, and I’m up for a comeback fight. Cap died, but death is temporary in comic books, and here’s a truth, it’s temporary in the real world as well.

We die, sure, but the soul cannot die. The soul is immortal. The body dies, but we return, the fight does not end, it goes on, we live, learn, balls things up, but it’s never over.

Neo-liberal collectivist ideology might be in the ascendant right now, but that doesn’t mean that you have to go along with it.  I’m up for a fight. I’m up for saying no, and I’m ready to kick neo-liberal collectivist slave ideology in the balls. I’m not a superhero, but I’m not a slave either. I’m an individual, and individualism is the silver bullet that will kill the murderous ideology of neo-liberal state collectivism.

My blog is small, and it might only be read by a handful of people, but that won’t stop me from saying what needs to be said, and from talking about what is happening in the world today. Comic books reflect cultural consensus, but cultural consensus changes. We are living during a time of rising state collectivism, a time of war, lies and propaganda, but it doesn’t always have to be like that.  We can turn things around, but the only way that we are going to get out of our self-dug pit of collectivism is to realise that we are standing in a hole in the first place.

Comic review: Grant Morrison’s 18 Days #3- It’s an Omen

Writers: Sharad Devarajan & Gotham Chopra
Art: Francesco Biagini
Publisher: Graphic India
Released: 9th September 2015


18 Days #2 was a set-up issue, a book that set the stage for the battle that is to come. Issue #3 further delays the battle, but it is in no way a disappointing book.

The battle can wait, and I’m happy with that, as that battle will mean so much more when we understand who is fighting, why they are fighting, and what the stakes are. Issue #3 goes back in time, to the birth of the main villain, a man named Duryodhana.

This Duryodhana is the leader of the group that intends to end the golden age on Earth, and to plunge it into a terrible time of unholy darkness. 18 Days #3 shows his strange birth, the omens that came with it, and his father, a blind King who ignores all of the evidence that is around him.

This blind King is a very human character. He’s blind, but he’s not an idiot. He’s a father who refuses to believe that his son is destined for great evil. I can understand that. Could you convince a proud new dad that his tiny, helpless, new-born baby boy is destined for great evil? I couldn't, and perhaps no one could.

18 Days is about destiny, heroes, villains, warriors, super-powers and the battle between light and darkness, so it has a traditional, western comic book feel to it, even though it’s based on an ancient Indian text.

The key to it’s success is that writers Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra have managed to create the perfect amalgamation between ancient Indian mythology and the modern comic book superhero narrative. It’s quite an achievement, and I’m enjoying every single panel of it.

The art, by Francesco Biagini, is big, bright, clear, colourful and uncluttered. There is nothing confusing about it, nothing overly flashy, and it’s perfect for the book in that it allows the story to be easily understood without needlessly confusing matters.

The book concludes with the following promise:

Next Issue: Blood On the Battlefield! 

That sounds extremely appetising to me, and I can’t wait for it to start kicking off in issue #4. I’m getting a huge kick out of this look into Indian mythology/history. It’s fascinating stuff, and a lot more interesting than your average US superhero book. I’m fully immersed within the story and very much looking forward to seeing what’s going to happen next. 18 Days is a top quality comic book. Give it a chance, you won’t regret it.


Rating: 8/10 (The perfect amalgamation between ancient Indian mythology and contemporary comic book narratives)