Comic Cuts — 7 November 2025

I spent longer than I anticipated on last week's video, and it was only by the skin of my teeth that I managed to post it Thursday night, in time for Friday's regular Comic Cuts column. I thought I'd start putting part two together a bit earlier this week, only to discover that the scans I thought I had a good run of were incomplete. Thankfully, the ever-helpful community of comic collectors came to my rescue (a big THANK YOU to Dave Hayward) and you'll see the results above.

I should also add that those issues helped solve a little mystery and confirm that there was a small error in the Lion: King of Picture Story Papers book where, on page 129, I say that Joe Colquhoun was the artist on Paddy Payne except for Gino D'Antonio between 24-10 and 21-11-59. That should be 28-11. Gino did six issues, not five. It's always good to make sure these little errors are corrected.

While I was waiting to finish off the video, I cracked on with the Action Index, which is now mostly written. I've still to tidy up the details on the second run of the title, but I've now re-read almost all the stories (I'm halfway through '"Jinx" Jackson', which is the last series I need to read). Next up, I'll be going through issue-by-issue to see if there were any interesting features that need to be mentioned. Then I've got to go through the whole thing from word one to make sure it all makes sense. It'll be interesting to see what I wrote, as I started this five years ago and I've slept since then.

I've now had the contract for MYTEK THE MIGHTY Volume 4, so I'll be gearing production on that title next week, alongside the AIR ACE PICTURE LIBRARY COMPANION, which I'm now waiting on. They could be on sale as early as next week if I risk having them sent directly again. I'm tempted, as it means I can offer a discount for everyone who picks up the book(s) ahead of Christmas. Yes, Christmas. Apologies if this comes as a shock, but we're only six, seven (geddit?) weeks away from Christmas Day.

Question is, what should I do for the Bear Alley Christmas Party, and will I let myself go to the pub for lunch, or will I force myself to work through until Christmas Eve? Never work for yourself is my advice: the hours are good but the individual minutes can be grueling.

Commando 5903-5906

Commando issues 5903-5906 go on sale today, Thursday, 6th  November 2025!

5903: The Lions of Ypres

During the First World War, 1.3 million Indian soldiers fought alongside the British Army, men like Sepoy Ram Thapar and Lal Mathai who had been brought from the hot climate of India to the frozen, battle-torn wasteland of Ypres, Belgium.
    They were unprepared for what horrors awaited them in the muddy trenches but they met the challenge head-on, bravely roaring like lions.
 
Story: Bobby Joseph
Art and Cover: Mike Dorey 

5904: Brave Coward

Lieutenant Guy Merton was no good. As a fighting man, he was an out-and-out failure.
    Then something happened — something no-one else knew about — and it turned him from a coward into a first-class fighting fury!

Story: Bernard Gregg
Art: Gordon C Livingstone
Cover: Aldoma
First published 1971 as No. 585

5905: Goat Major

When Huw Arthur joined the Welsh regiment, it quickly became clear he wasn’t much of a soldier. He couldn’t shoot to save his life, and he wasn’t particularly brave. As far as his superiors were concerned, there was only one job he could do… 
    For decades, the regiment had kept a goat as a mascot, and each goat had a steward — the Goat Major. Huw knew next to nothing about goats, but before long, he’d learn what it means to be a true soldier!

Story: Hailey Austin
Art: Alejandro Mangana
Cover: Simon Pritchard

5906: Band of Warriors 

Warriors, that’s what they called them — men who could take on the enemy anywhere, any time, and lick him.
     The last thing they needed was a coward amongst them, but that’s what they got.
 
Story: Staff
Art: Denis Mcloughlin
Cover: Philpot
First published 1984 as No. 1797

Rebellion Releases — 5 November 2025

One of the greatest comics ever published, as you’ve never seen it before – Rebellion is proud to announce the Charley’s War Apex Edition.

One of the defining masterpieces of British comics, Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun’s deeply affecting and political serial from the pages of Battle Picture Weekly follows working class sixteen-year-old Charley Bourne as he eagerly signs up to fight in 1916 but then experiences the hellish world of industrialised warfare in a bitter fight for survival.

The Charley’s War Apex Edition will present a carefully curated selection of the finest pages from Colquhoun’s masterful, painstakingly detailed, harrowingly vibrant, and unflinchingly honest portrayal of the tragedy of the Western Front at their original size for the first time.

Collecting pages from the first few years of Charley’s War, and containing as many complete episodes as possible, readers will be able to fully immerse themselves in this artistic masterwork with this oversized (481×371mm, 19”×14⅝”) hardcover collection.

Due for release on 29 Apr 2026, this new 144-page Apex Edition will come in standard and slipcase editions. The standard edition will be available through all good comic book stores via Lunar Distribution, and both editions will are now available to pre-order through the 2000 AD and Treasury of British Comics webshops.

Written by British comics legend Pat Mills and based on in-depth research on World War One, Charley’s War is an unashamedly brutal but honest portrayal of ‘The War to End All Wars’, where Charley and his young friends soon realise they have been thrust into a conflict where ordinary people are expected to throw away their lives to serve the selfish interests of those in power.

Groundbreaking in scope and heartbreaking in its portrayal of the horrors that Charley must face, Charley’s War was a trailblazing and critically-acclaimed series in the pages of the revolutionary 1970s comic book Battle Picture Weekly, and is widely considered one of the greatest works of the comic book medium.

The Charley’s War Apex Edition will offer a unique perspective on this stunning masterpiece, allowing those familiar with Colquhoun’s work to see it in a wholly fresh light while giving new readers the opportunity to encounter this classic work for the first time.

Legendary original art – brought to you at its original size: Rebellion’s Apex Editions are a breathtaking collection of oversized artist editions featuring some of the finest art the comic book medium has ever produced.

These special, deluxe books are the closest to holding the original pages in your hands – scanned at high resolution and painstakingly assembled, these books are not just must-haves for any comic book fan fan, but for anyone who loves stunning, groundbreaking art.

Previous Apex editions feature the work of Brian Bolland (Batman: The Killing Joke, Camelot 3000), Kev O’Neill (The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Marshal Law), Mick McMahon (Sláine, The Last American), Steve Dillon (Preacher, The Punisher), Arthur Ranson (Anderson, Psi Division, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight) and Carlos Ezquerra (Judge Dredd, The Boys) – incredible artists whose influence echoes throughout and beyond the world of comics.

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2457
Cover: John McCrea with Jack Davies.

JUDGE DREDD // AND TO THE SEA RETURN by Rob Williams (w) Henry Flint (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
RED DRAGON by Rob Williams (w) Steve Yeowell & Patrick Goddard (a) Dylan Teague (c) Simon Bowland (l)
VOID RUNNERS // BOOK TWO by David Hine (w) Boo Cook (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
BRASS SUN // PAVANE by Ian Edginton (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
ROGUE TROOPER // GHOST PATROL by Alex de Campi (w) Neil Edwards (a) Matt Soffe (c) Jim Campbell (l)

Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 48 by John Wagner, Al Ewing, Gordon Rennie, Robbie Morrison, John Smith (w) Karl Richardson, Carl Critchlow, Colin MacNeil, PJ Holden, Mike Collins, Paul Marshall, Jon Haward, Colin Wilson, Peter Doherty, Kev Walker, Patrick Goddard, John Higgins (a)
Rebellion ISBN 978-183786607-6, 304pp, £24.99. Available via Amazon.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
The epic, world-shattering Tour of Duty storyline begins as Judge Dredd is exiled to the Cursed Earth in the wake of his decision to support new pro-mutant laws in Mega-City One.
    The best-selling series collecting The Law in order continues as the ultimate lawman of the future brings his unique brand of policing to the streets and creeps of the dystopian nightmare he calls home.
    Written by John Wagner (A History of Violence), Al Ewing (The Immortal Hulk), Gordon Rennie (Missionary Man), Robbie Morrison (The Authority) and John Smith (Vampirella) with art by Karl Richardson (Warhammer), Carl Critchlow (Batman/Judge Dredd), Colin MacNeil (Strontium Dog), PJ Holden (Terminator/RoboCop), Mike Collins (Captain Britain), Paul Marshall (Firekind), Cliff Robinson (Vector 13), Jon Haward (Tharg's Future Shocks), Colin Wilson (Point Blank), Peter Doherty (Kingsman: The Red Diamond), Kev Walker (Hellblazer), Patrick Goddard (Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley) and John Higgins (Watchmen).

Big-Ass Sword by Andreas Butzbach
Rebellion ISBN 978-183786563-5, 96pp, £16.99. Available via Amazon.

In a world far from our own reality, a robot warrior wanders through a vast and hostile techno landscape, filled with strange lifeforms and mechanical beings left over from a long, forgotten war. At the robot’s side is a talking Skull. On his back, a BIG-ASS SWORD!
    This stunning, Heavy Metal-esque adventure, marks a stunning, original graphic novel debut in the English-speaking market for Andreas Butzbach.

Comic Cuts — 31 October 2025

 A short video tribute to the late David Slinn. There were some problems with the glare of sunlight through the curtains which caused the colour to appear streaky and bleached out, so I turned the whole introduction into black & white. Hopefully the next one will see some improvements.

Rebellion Releases — 29 October 2025

2000AD's fourth and final bumper issue of the year arrives this week, with 48-pages of blistering sci-fi action and excitement! Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Void Runners, Brass Sun and Red Dragon are joined by two complete stories this issue, as Nightmare New York returns for another supernaturally-charged walk through the streets of the Big Apple.

Then, we have an exclusive BIG-ASS SWORD story from creator Andreas Butzbach, ahead of the release of his original graphic novel in November! 

And now, this week's release... yeah, it's the bumper issue mentioned above...

2000AD Prog 2456
Cover: Mike Dowling.

JUDGE DREDD // AND TO THE SEA RETURN by Rob Williams (w) Henry Flint (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
RED DRAGON by Rob Williams (w) Steve Yeowell & Patrick Goddard (a) Dylan Teague (c) Simon Bowland (l)
BIG-ASS SWORD // DEFRAG PROCESS by Andreas Butzbach
VOID RUNNERS // BOOK TWO by David Hine (w) Boo Cook (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
BRASS SUN // PAVANE by Ian Edginton (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
NIGHTMARE NEW YORK // HARD TIMES by Kek-W (w) David Roach (a) Peter Doherty (c) Jim Campbell (l)
ROGUE TROOPER // GHOST PATROL by Alex de Campi (w) Neil Edwards (a) Matt Soffe (c) Jim Campbell (l)

Eagle Times v38 n1-3

After a short break in the supply chain, I'm back on the mailing list for Eagle Times and have been able to catch up on the latest three issues, which have included their usual diverse mix of articles about and around the classic Eagle comic of the 1950s and 1960s.

The magazine runs to 48 pages with colour covers and its contents are chiefly the work of David Britton and Steve Winders now that so many of the former contributors have passed on to ventures new or simply passed on. Sadly this will happen when you have a magazine that is (a) about a comic that debuted 75 years ago; and (b) is now in its 38th year.

I'll scamper through the contents of all three issues as some articles are multi-part ventures and a new number for the year will often see a spate of "part 1" episodes. In this instance we have the launch episodes of articles on Blackbow the Cheyenne, The Happy Warrior and Montgomery of Alamein (also the debut of a new tale featuring PC49, 'The Case of the Elusive Elvis').

The issue begins with another regular, 'The Way We Were', a selection of readers' letters from 1950 issues showing how attitudes to some things have changed over the years. Blackbow begins with a brief overview and then concentrates on a single story which David Britton considers well thought out by author Ted Cowan, with Frank Humphris providing some high quality artwork.

The Happy Warrior (Winston Churchill) and Montgomery of Allemein are two strips written by Clifford Makins and drawn by Frank Bellamy that should need no introduction. That's not to say that they don't deserve study, and Steve Winders certainly puts both under the microscope.

David Britton has been writing a series on female contributors to the Eagle group which now includes June Mendoza and Daphne Rowles as well as his ongoing study of Jeff Arnold.

One-offs on the subject of Cricket, the Eagle Dinner, Wrath of the Gods and a new debut in the autumn number, a look at Luis Bermejo's contributions to Heros the Spartan, are all welcome and fun to read. I would also recommend Eric Summers' feature in the Summer number on George Beardmore and Jack o' Lantern in which the author discusses how reading old Eagle strips can lead you down many a rabbit hole seeking out the historical truths of the stories. It is one of the reasons why Eagle Times has survived so long and has featured such a range of subjects over the years. The Summer number was, incidentally, the magazine's 150th issue.

Of special note is a fantastic cover on the Summer issue by Graham Bleathman showing the Anastaia flying over London with Dan and Digby piloting. The artwork was bought by the Eagle Society and is the subject of a raffle open to members. Any income above the cost of the artwork will be donated to charity. The results will be drawn at next year's dinner, so now would be a good time to join.

The quarterly Eagle Times is the journal of the Eagle Society, with membership costing £30 in the UK, £50 (in sterling) overseas. You can send subscriptions to Bob Corn, Mayfield Lodge, Llanbadoc, Usk, Monmouthshire NP15 1SY; subs can also be submitted via PayPal to membership@eagle-society.org.uk. Back issues are available for newcomers to the magazine and they have even issued binders to keep those issues nice and neat.

Comic Cuts — 24 October 2025

Running repairs might have been a theme of this week. I bought 200 polypropylene bags recently, so I've started cleaning, repairing and bagging some of my paperbacks. They are 5 x 7 3⁄8 inches, so good for, say, old Penguin crime novels, but not for a lot of the 1950s digest-sized paperbacks, which is what I actually want to protect. Not that they'll go to waste, as I have hundreds (maybe thousands) of books that will comfortably fit. 

I've bagged up some of the books on nearby shelves, although I've had to skip some—I bagged my Raymond Chandlers, but couldn't do Killer in the Rain because the spine is too wide and my Hamish Hamilton edition of Pearls Are a Nuisance, which is digest size. I bagged all my Hal Clement books, bar The Best of..., which (again) had a too-wide spine. Hopefully I can buy some slightly larger bags next year.

And one of my shelves was looking slightly drunk and was listing badly; the top shelf began 8 inches to the right of the bottom shelf because the backboard that keeps it upright had bowed because I had stacked too many books on the shelves, some magazines, and a couple of dozen hefty reference books. The nails that held the board in place had mostly come loose, so it was a case of emptying the shelf (thanks Mel!) lugging it out into the kitchen and hammering two dozen nails into it. The lower shelf is permanently warped, but I managed to get a few nails in to hold it steady and even managed to get the two boards to fit back into the bit of plastic that runs from top to bottom down the centre.

It is now back in place, looking good, and I have a small stack of books that I will sell off one way or another that are no longer causing the shelves to bow. 

Tuesday and Wednesday was my weekend—it tends to move around as Mel never has the same days off one week to the next—as I'd spent Saturday and Sunday going through the proof copy of the AIR ACE PICTURE LIBRARY COMPANION and ironing out some textual anomalies and tidying up a couple of bits that needed clarifying. I was back on the same text on Monday when proofreader extraordinaire (stand up and take a bow) Richard Sheaf sent me an embarrassingly long list of corrections and queries.

The text is now done and the book will be out next month. Quite when I don't know as I need also to sort out the contract for MYTEK THE MIGHTY Volume 4. This should be sorted out shortly, hopefully next week. Once I've coughed up some money to Rebellion I should be able to get a decent print run sorted by (hopefully) mid-November. Then it's full steam ahead with the ACTION Index. 

As well as the bagging and repairing of books and shelves, I'm also trying to clear the shelves of some book I no longer need, so you might find a few things turning up on Ebay. 

Ships of the Sky (extract), unpublished strip by David Slinn

Sad news arrived on Wednesday. My good friend and occasional collaborator David Slinn passed away at the age of 88. David worked for a variety of comics, including Eagle and Express Weekly. He was an amazing source of information as he had contacts with most of the comic publishers of the 1950s and 1960s and had an amazing memory for names and incidents. 

He was a delight to chat with, and a conversation could veer sideways into all sorts of areas: it might start with a focus on Cowboy Picture Library (to which he contributed) but could end up with a discussion about Bob Geldof's opinion on teenage girls' magazines. Email took over from phone calls, which meant scans, lists and research could be bounced around—often between David, myself and David Roach—hoping for a consensus of opinion on who an artist might be. Sometimes he could be elliptical with an answer: there is still a Cowboy Comics artist he identified but never got around to naming. "Think so-and-so" [I forget the name] he said, implying that I would recognise the similarities and then make the mental leap that he had. I hadn't a clue and still to this day those issues remain unidentified. (My particular skill when it comes to indexing comics has always been to listen to people smarter than myself and write down what they say.)

David had helped so much with the Ranger index that I thought he deserved a co-writing credit; that's not to say that his contributions to all the other indexes was any less welcome. David and I had launched into a new project, an index and history of (Junior / TV) Express Weekly and the first results were bounced between us in January of this year. I mentioned in my blog for 10 January that I had been writing an article on why newspapers were rationed for so long after the war, full rationing only ending in 1956. Yet new publications were allowed from 1950. Well, that's all part of the Junior Express story and the first thing I sent over to David. I wrote up a second part in April while I was waiting on paperwork for the first two Mytek books. Once that arrived I dived straight back into getting them ready for publication, unaware that David was not well, having been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

He spent his last few months in a hospice, where he was well cared for by staff and family. We chatted a couple of times on the phone and I sent him the second section of the Express Weekly history. Sadly, his condition deteriorated and he passed away on Wednesday morning.

His family will still be processing the news themselves, so it's too soon to write more. Hopefully I'll be able to share more in a week or two. 

• 1 Nov. John Freeman recalls Dan Dare's 'Mission to the Stars'. "The strip was the work of writer William Patterson, perhaps best known for his stories for Sydney Jordan’s “Jeff Hawke” strip, published in the Daily Express, and drawn by Don Harley, one of the great “Dan Dare” artists."
• 29 Oct. The return of Vertigo will also see the return of Grant Morrison's Sebastian O, re-teaming with Steve Yeowell. “I thought I’d take a swing at one of those late career renaissances I hear about!”
• 28 Oct.  Ian Edginton on the long-awaited return of 'Brass Sun'... and writers' blocks. "In a not so small nutshell, at the heart of the story is The Orrery, a fully functioning, life-sized clockwork solar system. A clutch of planets, moons and asteroids orbiting a vast, life-giving brass sun via immense metal spars. This once unified collection of worlds fell into war and has regressed into eccentric fiefdoms and petty baronies. Millenia later the sun is now winding down and the outer worlds are giving in to entropy and icing over with the rest to inevitably follow."
• 27 Oct. An interview with Al Davison, author of The Spiral Cage and his recent work, Muscle Memory. "The book covers some of the same ground as The Spiral Cage, but also addresses my surviving systematic physical/ritualistic childhood abuse at the hands of my father, which I couldn’t write about when my parents were still alive. It also looks at disability hate crime, something I continue to have to deal with on a daily basis, and the political landscape that has lead to a huge escalation in these crimes."
• 23 Oct. “Basically, I’m hoping to please both nostalgia fans and those who enjoy pop culture critique!” – Paul Cornell on the Bronze Age Avengers, his first Commando comic, and new publishing venture Cosmic Lighthouse.
• 17 Oct. More Grant Morrison as they were involved in an "ask me anything" session on Reddit to promote the Batman/Deadpool crossover.  Asked (for instance) about what their plans were for an Arkham Asylum sequel, Grant answers "I may still write it, so no details yet." One exchange worth highlighting (and Rich Johnston did just that) concerned Zenith and 2000AD: "I'd have preferred if they'd left Zenith alone, but they can't help themselves. Due to their own administrative error, I didn't sign away my rights to the series, but they've been unwilling to acknowledge my position or offer me even a minimal cut while doing everything they can to sneak Zenith stuff in behind my back. If they'd been smarter, I might have come back for a new Zenith story. I'm sure Rob Williams will do a decent job and I have no beef with him, but I find the whole thing a bit distasteful and prefer to have nothing to do with it…. There are legal issues with Zenith that make any return unlikely."

Commando 5899-5902

Spooky season continues as creepy Commando Issues 5899-5902 go on sale from today, Thursday, 23rd October 2025!

5899: Frostbite

Caught in the chaos of the Battle of the Bulge, the 28th Infantry Division thought they had enough problems. But then, their comrades began mysteriously disappearing in the depths of the frozen forests.
    Tasked with finding the missing soldiers, Private Howard Kennedy and nine of his fellow troops were sent off into the snow in search of answers. What they found hidden among the frozen trees would haunt him for the rest of his days!
    A devilish debut from writer Julian Michael Carver, this first-person narrative puts you amongst the trees in Paolo Ongaro’s claustrophobic rendering of the Ardennes, and, with a cover like that from Marco Bianchini, you can’t help but shiver!
 
Story: Julian Michael Carver
Art: Paolo Ongaro 
Cover: Marco Bianchini

5900: Time of Terror

The sea mist clung to the three British Commandos as they paddled a rubber dinghy towards the dark French coast. Behind them, their submarine slowly vanished beneath the waves, leaving them to face any dangers that lay ahead. And of danger there would be plenty, for no plans had been made for bringing them back again!
    Motton’s story strikes at a squaddie’s worst nightmare — abandoned in France AGAIN. But there’s plenty of light comedy and charm in the trio’s banter and Gordon C Livingstone’s stellar artwork to turn this into a dream issue. 

Story: Motton
Art: Gordon C Livingstone
Cover: Gordon C Livingstone
First published 1971 as No. 544

5901: The Curse of the Zelda

Stranded in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the surviving crew of the wrecked HMS Avon was starting to wonder whether they would ever see land again. But the sight of a ship on the horizon soon raised their hopes.
    Once on board the strange frigate, though, it seemed their troubles weren’t over. Not a soul was aboard the ghost ship, and some of the men were hearing things. Who was the mysterious figure glimpsed out of the corner of the eye? What had happened aboard the Zelda?
    A spine-tingling story from Rossa McPhillips where Juan Fernandez’s dream-like artwork oozes the occult. Plus, the issue hosts another cracking cover from Marco Bianichini, the master of the macabre!

Story: Rossa McPhilips 
Art: Juan Fernandez
Cover: Marco Bianchini

5902: Flames of Fear 

No man is completely fearless — everyone has something he’s afraid of. 
    Take three soldiers caught up in the fighting in the jungle, each with a fear to overcome. For one it was fire. For another, tanks. And for the third, it was a dragon!
    Goodness gracious great tanks of fire! There is plenty to fear in this frightful fable as CG Walker stalks a trio of haunted soldiers, certain they’ll meet their doom in the jungles of Burma. 

Story: CG Walker
Art: Ruiz
Cover: Jeff Bevan
First published 1984 as No. 1792

Rebellion Releases — 22 October 2025

Hot on the heels of the best-selling Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley, Garth Ennis and Patrick Goddard return with a new standalone Rogue Trooper graphic novel which delves into the mythos of the character.

Nu Earth: an endless battleground between Nort and Souther forces – but Rogue Trooper is the sole survivor of the Genetic Infantry, and together with the bio-chipped “ghosts” of his dead comrades he hunts down the traitor who sold out his regiment.

Now, three years after the Quartz Zone Massacre which wiped out his platoon and stalled the Genetic Infantry programme, Rogue is drawn into a web of intrigue involving a genetic engineer’s attempts to kickstart the programme again, but with the bio-chips of the dead soldiers from the original massacre – with terrible consequences.

Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys) and Patrick Goddard (Judge Dredd, Nina Petrova and the Angels of Death) bring you an all-new adventure featuring the iconic 2000 AD character, combining intrigue and action, and delving into the backstory of Rogue Trooper. Following the smash-hit of Blighty Valley, the team are back for a hard-hitting and fast-paced action blitz which will see Rogue tested to his limit!

Alongside the standard edition hardback featuring a cover by artist Trevor Hairsine (Captain America) is a webshop-exclusive edition featuring a new cover from original story artist Goddard, featuring both Rogue and his re-gened comrade Gunnar as they blast the Norts! 

And to celebrate this huge milestone for Rogue Trooper, we’re proud to also announce a special limited-edition sketch edition featuring unique sketches from Goddard in each book. The Goddard droid will be hand-sketching inside fifty editions of When A GI Dies, and when they’re gone… they’re gone! These sketch editions will not be re-gened!

Only fifty of these limited-edition sketch editions will be made available, each one of them hand-drawn by Goddard, making this the ultimate prize for any fan of Rogue Trooper!

Continuing our run of modern classic stories featuring Rogue Trooper, When A G.I. Dies is a standalone story for anyone interested in reading more about the character – but also forms a formidable alliance when read alongside Blighty Valley! As the Rogue Trooper movie from visionary director Duncan Jones approaches in 2026, this is a brilliant way to get onboard with 2000 AD and sign up for the Nu-Earth war effort!

Releasing on 24th March 2026, Rogue Trooper: When A G.I. Dies continues the modern missions of the Genetic Infantryman! Pre-order now to reserve your copy! 

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2455
Cover: Cliff Robinson, with Dylan Teague

JUDGE DREDD // AND TO THE SEA RETURN by Rob Williams (w) Henry Flint (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
RED DRAGON by Rob Williams (w) Steve Yeowell & Patrick Goddard (a) Dylan Teague (c) Simon Bowland (l)
BRASS SUN // PAVANE by Ian Edginton (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
VOID RUNNERS // BOOK TWO by David Hine (w) Boo Cook (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
ROGUE TROOPER // GHOST PATROL by Alex de Campi (w) Neil Edwards (a) Matt Soffe (c) Jim Campbell (l)

Judge Death 2025 Mega Special
Cover: Brian Bolland.

ENDGAME by Kek-W (w) Stewart K. Moore (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
JUDGE DEATH // CRUEL MERCY by Dale Halvorsen (w) Tazio Bettin (a) Matt Soffe (c) Jim Campbell (l)
JUDGE FEAR // THE JUDGEMENT OF ANNI CRIP by Alec Worley (w) Leigh Gallagher (a) Simon Bowland (l)
JUDGE MORTIS // FADE TO GREY by Antony Johnston (w) Lee Carter (a) Rob Steen (l)
JUDGE FIRE // EMBERS by Alex de Campi (w) Mark Sexton (a) Dylan Teague (c) Rob Steen (l)

The Art of Judge Dredd by Jock
Rebellion ISBN, 22 October 2025, 304pp, £24.99. Available via Amazon.

Jock is a highly influential stylist, an in-demand film poster artist, and one of the most respected comic artists working in the medium.
    Collecting sketches, layouts, and final unlettered artwork, The Art of Judge Dredd by Jock illustrates the artist's processes across sequential and concept art, including his character designs for 2012's Dredd.
    From his earliest work to his latest 2000 AD covers, this book showcases the artistic evolution of one of the modern masters of comic art.

The Complete Full Tilt Boogie by Alex de Campi & Eduardo Ocana
Rebellion ISBN, 22 October 2025, 192pp, £21.99. Available via Amazon.

INTERGALACTIC MAYHEM!
Out in the deep reaches of the cosmos, teenager Tee - together with her grandmother and a cat (called cat!) - is a wannabe bounty hunter operating from her patched-together spaceship, the Full Tilt Boogie. After rescuing the Luxine Prince Ifan from his debtors' prison, Tee finds herself on the run from various new enemies, including sacred knights and a deadly Anubite warrior, as war and unrest spread accross the universe.
    This thrilling love letter to space anime sagas includes the complete run of the strip!

Comic Cuts — 17 October 2025

It's always nice to begin with some good news. On Tuesday I received three boxes filled with about 60 books, restocking a few titles that I was running low on but also the second proof for THE AIR  ACE PICTURE LIBRARY COMPANION, which is now being re-read yet again. I've also called upon the services of a second pair of eyes to make sure I haven't made any particularly egregious gaffs.

Proofing is a necessary evil. I'm not a fan... I'd rather get on with something new, but I also know I make a lot of mistakes. Not factual—I put a lot of time into research and double-checking facts wherever possible, but that can lead to glitches in the text. A lot of writers will belt out a first draft as ideas bubble up and, once that's written, will go back and revise. For the most part I revise as I go along, as I find new information or correct things that turn out to be wrong. I've been writing a lot of biographical sketches lately and nailing down dates is always a nightmare, especially on foreign strips which may have been published across Europe and South America at various times under various titles. I found myself constantly moving chunks of text around. 

Similarly working on the introductions for the new book, I was constantly moving information around to make it flow better and tell the story more clearly. This can be as simple as altering a couple of sentences, shifting a couple of paragraphs to an earlier or later place in the narrative, or cutting out a whole section and reworking it for elsewhere in the book. 

What this means is that, once I'm finished, I only rarely need to make any changes. I'll tinker with the text, but once it's done it's done. But it's vital to proof carefully because moving text around can lead to unexpected problems. A particular bugbear with writing about comics is describing what people do: they work, they illustrate, they paint, they draw... remove text and you can find that now you have adjoining sentences using the same word or phrase, and you don't want to describe someone as "illustrating an illustration" or say "he drew" followed by "he then drew" and "later he drew"—it might be factually right, but it reads like an unfortunate stutter on paper.

Proofing for me usually consists of weeding out these little artifacts left by shifting things around or adding / changing details as I come upon them. And typos. For a writer, my spelling isn't always what it should be. And I know what I meant to write, so I don't always see what I actually wrote. That's why a second set of eyes is necessary when it comes to proofing.

Getting this book and the fourth volume of MYTEK THE MIGHTY sorted has meant that my work on the ACTION INDEX has been a bit stop-start, although I have now got a list of the contents of the Summer Specials and Annuals sorted and I've scanned a whole bunch of covers. The next step is to read some of the later stories that I didn't read at the time as I was one of the readers who deserted the comic when it returned to the newsstands after a two month gap in publication.  You could instantly tell that something had happened and the stories were somehow less Action and more tale-end Valiant (which I had also given up on a year or two earlier). Anyway, that's a whole other story... which I'm sure will be told when I get the ACTION INDEX into publishable form.

My trip to Specsavers to see if I needed new glasses was last week's cliffhanger. Well, the (more) good news is that my prescription has barely changed, so my old glasses will do me for another two years. Phew! That money is better spent on books. As there is no Paperback & Pulp Book Fair this month, I've treated myself to a bit of retail therapy and bought a few odds and ends that I've spotted on Ebay and some polypropylene bags to put them in. I'll have to wait until next year before I can get bags that will fit digest-sized paperbacks, but I can get started cleaning some of my older paperbacks, doing little bits of repair work to stop them disintegrating, and bag them up to keep them safe—something I've been meaning to do for years but never gotten around to.

Time to get back to the grindstone...

Rebellion Releases — 15 October 2025

‘Tis the season for chills and thrills — and you’ll be positively horrified to find there’s up to 80% off comics and graphic novels collections in Rebellion's Halloween sale!

From terrifying entities in sinister woodlands to tower blocks controlled by malevolent A.I., and from classic horror comics aimed at girls to Judge Dredd battling the undead Dark Judges, there’s something for all tastes in Rebellion's seasonal scare sale.

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2454
Cover: Neil Roberts.

JUDGE DREDD // AND TO THE SEA RETURN by Rob Williams (w) Henry Flint (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
RED DRAGON by Rob Williams (w) Steve Yeowell & Patrick Goddard (a) Dylan Teague (c) Simon Bowland (l)
BRASS SUN // PAVANE by Ian Edginton (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
VOID RUNNERS // BOOK TWO by David Hine (w) Boo Cook (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
ROGUE TROOPER // GHOST PATROL by Alex de Campi (w) Neil Edwards (a) Matt Soffe (c) Jim Campbell (l)

Judge Dredd Megazine 485 — 35th Anniversary Issue
Cover: Laurence Campbell, with Chris Blythe.

JUDGE DREDD // LETTER FROM AMERICA by Rob Williams (w) Colin MacNeil (a) Chris Blythe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
MEGATROPOLIS II by Ken Niemand (w) Dave Taylor (a) Jim Campbell (l)
ARMITAGE // DROKK THE RIPPER by Liam Johnson (w) Staz Johnson (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
ANDERSON, PSI-DIV by Alec Worley (w) Ben Willsher (a) Simon Bowland (l)
ROK THE GOD by John Wagner & Alan Grant (w) Dan Cornwell (a) Jim Boswell (c) Jim Campbell (l)
DREADNOUGHTS // QUALIFIED IMMUNITY by Mike Carroll (w) John Higgins (a) Sally Hurst (c) Simon Bowland (l)

Comic Cuts — 10 October 2025

Just in case you missed it, I posted an extra Comic Cuts column on Sunday about my exploits at the Colchester Comic Mart. Scroll down, or follow this link if you want to find out what happened.

You can probably guess how I spent the day after the Mart. Proofing and snoozing and watching the new Shane Black movie, Play Dirty. I've been looking forward to seeing this since it was announced because it's based on the Parker novels by Richard Stark (Donald E Westlake), which I like, and it was co-written and directed by Black, whose previous crime noir movies (The Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys) have been excellent. 

This one, not so much. It was good enough for passing a Sunday afternoon, but no more than that. Too many car chases/train chases and not enough sparkling dialogue, some pretty ropy special effects and a John Wick level body count don't add to making this a Parker movie of note. I still rate Point Blank with Lee Marvin and the Director's Cut of Payback with Mel Gibson as the best Parker adaptations. The Jason Statham Parker wasn't bad, but I haven't felt the need to rewatch it. That probably puts it on a par with this new version.

Monday and Tuesday were madcap. I needed to get the proofing on the AIR ACE COMPANION finished and I still had quite a way to go. The rush was because I wanted to get a second proof ordered alongside my restocks—now you know what the takings from the weekend went on! More books!

I'd gone through the book by Monday evening and fired up my old PC on Tuesday morning to make all the required corrections. There was only one major gaff, where I'd managed to put some pictures over the text on one of the biographies. The only way to fix the problem was to drop a couple of pictures. That still leaves about 320 pictures, so the book is still a visual treat. 

I managed to get the new book order placed before midnight on Tuesday, so I should have some restocks, and the second proof with me before the month is out. Any further corrections needed can be done quickly and that puts me on course to get this out alongside MYTEK THE MIGHTY Volume 4 in November, in plenty of time for Christmas as promised.

The Post Office delivered their twice-annual present on 6 October, increasing the price of postage for all "large letter" parcels both domestic and international. I'm going to have to sit down and seriously look at my costs, because my print costs also increased in August and I ended up with an order that came through Amazon actually costing me money—once you totted up the cost of production, postage to get the book to me, then the international postage and packaging to get the book to the customer, it added up to more than what Amazon sent me after taking their large cut.

Talking of postage... Our local post box was found wrapped up in a mysterious move by the Post Office last Monday. Like most villages, we have a village shop that has a post office counter just down the road. The post box sits just outside. There are also a couple of other traditional tall round and smaller square boxes dotted around the place. I use the one nearest for convenience and the fact that it is the most likely to be emptied daily.

I know the people in the shop well (I'm posting stuff most days) and there was confusion and anger. Apparently this was done without warning and not even the Post Office employees sent out in their vans to pick up the post knew anything about it. All the staff were told was that the post box was going to be replaced with an automatic postbox of a kind that scans a parcel as it was posted and opens a drop-down drawer. They're solar powered (so no more knitted postbox toppers) and I might need a "Royal Mail app" to post things. And it might be three months before the new box arrives.

The staff in the shop were already having to face the ire of customers who wanted to post stuff out to North America (Royal Mail suspended shipments recently until a new duty system could be implemented) and  Canada (where postal staff are on strike). Now you can't post anything out of hours at that box, probably the most convenient one for the most people.

Visiting the shop yesterday, I learned that the box would soon be back to normal as it is in a conservation area and the Post Office aren't allowed to put in a new box; in other words, it now looks like the box has been dressed up in a Hallowe'en costume just for October.

I'm writing this Thursday morning as I have an appointment in town to have an eye check-up to see if I need new glasses. I'll leave that as this week's cliffhanger. Come back next week to find out... 

Commando 5895-5898

Spooky season is here as creepy Commando issues 5895-5898 go on sale from today, Thursday, 9th October 2025!

5895 Commando vs Zombies 4

Squatted out at sea, just off Nazi-occupied Europe, was a lonely and isolated island. On it, wrapped in fog, barely visible against the gloom, was a mansion with a dark secret. 
An elite group of highly-trained British Commandos paddled towards that island, unaware of what awaited them. They would be no match for the monsters hidden beneath that house of horrors!
    The living dead return in Georgia Standen Battle’s ongoing series — this time, the story is expanded with twists, turns and riddles alongside monstrous ghouls and zombie dogs drawn by Vicente Alcazar and Neil Roberts! 

Story: Georgia Standen Battle
Art: Vicente Alcazar 
Cover: Neil Roberts

5896 Sign of the Vampire Cat

In ancient Japan, a legend was handed down from generation to generation, a legend about a vampire cat whose presence meant certain death. 
    Now a specialist unit of Japanese airborne troops wore the sign of that vampire cat on their headbands. They were highly-trained killers, and wherever they landed, death stalked with them...
    The second of our creepy Commandos is a fan-favourite issue released from its coffin for the first time in over thirty years! But this is No-sferatu story about fanged Draculas after your haemoglobin — this story features bloodthirsty Japanese soldiers hellbent on destruction!

Story: RA Montague
Art: Franch
Cover: Ian Kennedy
First published 1975 as No. 918

5897 Raven’s Hollow

At the height of World War Two, a trio of strangers arrived in a tiny coastal village with a hidden purpose, only to be told a trilogy of dark tales from its mysterious past... Stories of a Roman Centurion’s plans for a new road through a sacred forest are disturbed, Viking raiders encountering something in the unnatural sea mist, and a conniving witchfinder getting more than he bargained for when he rides into town! Perhaps the newcomers should heed these stories, for Raven’s Hollow has ways of dealing with unwelcome guests!
    Daniel McGachey — the ghoulish master of the horror anthology — is back, with another three stories in a Commando — each spookier than the last. What’s more, this time McGahey’s twisted tales are brought to life by Mike Donaldson’s eerie artwork in his second-ever Commando!

Story: Daniel McGachey 
Art: Mike Donaldson
Cover: Mike Donaldson

5898 Strange Magic 

Against all odds, three men — an Indian, an Australian and an Englishman — had escaped death in the jungle. They had been brought together in a common cause by a man who knew exactly how they were going to fight from now on. And how did he know that? 
    Because he was a magician!
    It’s a kind of magic… in McDevitt’s story for Issue 5898! With a story that will have you HYPNOTISED and has mesmerising artwork from Ibanez and Philpott!

Story: McDevitt
Art: Ibanez
Cover: Philpott
First published 1984 as No. 1786