Lord Samper's Library

  If you’ve been following the blog this week, you’ll know that this week has been the worst week, for reading, that I’ve had in a long time. I’ve been great at starting books, I’ve started loads (perhaps too many), but when it’s come down to finishing any of them… Yep, that’s when things went wrong :o) Apparently, ‘chemotherapy brain’ is a thing and can leave a chap short of concentration and memory. Thank goodness I was able to get more work done, than ‘books read’, this week… Fingers crossed for a quiet weekend and a better week, for reading, next week ;o) I did want to read at least one thing though, that wasn’t a work document, so on the way to a hospital appointment yesterday, I bought myself a copy of ‘2000AD’ to read in the waiting room. I didn’t read it in the waiting room, ended up talking to the man sat next to me, but polished it off on the way back home, go me ;o) I’m normally all about the trades (it’s the only way that I can guarantee getting the whole story, I’m rub...

Apologies for the 'blogging silence' yesterday, I was out at the dentist and when I wasn't at the dentist, I was sat at home feeling all sore and sorry for myself (minus one tooth). Okay, I watched some movies as well but 'sore and sorry for myself' were the order of the day, that and a little sleep ;o) Where does that leave me today then? Well, reading clearly didn't really happen yesterday so I thought I'd do myself a favour and swipe an older review from elsewhere, just to give myself a little breathing space today :o) Funnily enough, 'The Fourth Faction' was due a post here but until I can sort some new glasses out, certain 'Rebellion' collections are a nightmare to read so... Here we are ;o) The original review can be found Here but it's here in its entirety so, lets go. Sometimes comic book continuity can really trip me up (I'm looking at you Marvel) but, on the whole, I'm a big fan of storylines that can be traced right ba...

Page Count: 128 Pages ‘Judge Dredd’ stories have taught me a lot over the years… Yesterday, the ‘Citadel’ collection taught me that I can’t put it off any longer, I really need to get my eyes tested again :o) Or just buy a large magnifying glass, or maybe both. I’ll get back to you on that one. I do have a Kindle but I’m a little hesitant to go all in (and buy something that I read comic books off) as if I understand it correctly… You’re not actually buying the ebook, just a licence to read it? I don’t know. It’s probably cheaper just to get some new glasses :o) But anyway… I’ve had my eye on ‘The Citadel’ for a while, mainly because I love how tightly 2000AD maintain the continuity of Judge Dredd’s history and the blurb offered the chance of a little insight into a major event that still comes back to haunt both Judge Dredd and Mega City One itself. Check it out, The Apocalypse War rages and Judge Dredd leads a squad of Cadet Judges into battle, launching an assault upon The Citadel, ...

It took me a little longer than planned to get to ‘Dreadnoughts Book Two’ but, well… *Gestures hopelessly at everything* ;o) Last night suddenly ended up being a good time to do something about that so I didn’t hang around, just settled down for a couple of hours reading instead. And there were no surprises here (which was great, I wasn't after surprises in last nights reading), ‘The March of Progress’ is a very solid follow up to ‘Breaking Ground’ and I think I’m more or less following this series for the duration now. After a crime blitz in Boulder leads to riots against the Judges’ excessive use of force and violation of human rights, the Hemlock Cartel takes advantage of the chaos to declare all-out war against the Justice Department. It is up to Judge Glover to eradicate their threat – even if her crusade could risk revealing the long-buried secrets of her past. ‘The March of Progress’ keeps a little of the social commentary, of its predecessor, and what better way to do th...

I love reading comic books but the one thing that stops me really going for it is the nagging, inevitable feeling that with some titles, there is just far too much backstory for me to ever get my head around. ‘X-Men’ is one (lets be honest, all of the Marvel comics now), ‘Judge Dredd’ is the other. I mean, I’ve read a number of the stories but the fact that the ‘2000AD’ comic is pushing what, fifty years old now? I’m never going to catch up with it all. So when I realise there’s a chance to get in on the ground floor, just a little bit, and maybe get a little bit of that backstory after all… I’m in :o) The year is 2035 and American society is crumbling. State brutality in response to public protests sparks even greater restrictions on what American citizens are free to do. The police force are being replaced by Judges, paramilitary cops who can dispense summary justice on the streets, and the public are about to learn just what it means to have a Judge in your neighbourhood. Judge Vera...

THE ONLY BEAR ON THE C.I.A. DEATH LIST! ‘Shako’ is the eskimo word for the polar bear. It means simply... killer! When a US Air Force plane crashes within the arctic Circle, Shako the terror of the frozen wastes, is the first on the scene, getting his first taste of human flesh! Unfortunately for the CIA, the great white beast has also swallowed a top secret capsule which was being transported by the plane, and now they must track him down to retrieve it. This won't be an easy task, as Shako hates mankind. And what Shako hates, Shako destroys! I first came across 'Shako' in an old 2000AD annual belonging to a mate of mine. I can't remember a lot of what was in that annual now (apart from a story about a criminal who been released from jail in the future and travelled back in time to get his revenge on the Judges who jailed him, why didn't he just kill them in the future when they were really old...?) but one thing I do remember is Shako trying to eat a US Pilot...

It’s been a while since I’ve read anything set in the world of Judge Dredd (mostly because some of it is starting to look a little too plausible and I want my reading to cheer me up dammit!) but it’s been a shitty week and ‘What Measure Ye Mete’ kept popping up in my recommendations so I thought what the hell, lets follow the algorithm and see where it takes me. And where did it take me…? United States of America, 2053 A.D. There’s not a lot left for the last few cops of what was once New York City to do, these days. Officer Cera Cortez once dreamed of chasing down killers, but now she mostly just puts a friendly face on the implacable justice of the Judges. Until a tiny robot falls onto her face screaming murder, giving her one last chance to do her job—and signs point to the killer being a Judge...   ‘What Measure Ye Mete’ is one of those ‘quick Kindle reads’ (a very slender 89 pages long) that are just what I need when I really fancy a read but also know that I don’t h...

The 'Judgement Day' storyline was originally published back in 1992 (so thirty years old next year, way to make a Graeme feel old...) and was collected in Progs... Oh I don't know, I had trouble remembering what courgettes looked like yesterday (seriously) so don't expect too much from me right now. I do know that The 'Judgement Day' storyline is collected in 'Judge Dredd: The Complete Casefiles Volume 17' though, which is where I read it (this time round) funnily enough, so that's where you need to go if you want to find out more. 'Judgement Day' was one of those stories where I'd pop off up the road, during my breaks at 6 th Form, and read the newsagent copy of 2000AD. Yeah I know... You can judge me if you want, I wasn't eactly flush with cash those days but it still wasn't a cool thing to do. It kept me coming back each week so definitely did something right. . Or maybe it didn't and I was just reading it for the zombies...

A quick post today because you would not believe the day I've just had... I just want to go to bed but first things first ;o) I love the 'Case Files' series as they're the best way for a lazy type, like me, to collect whole stories without hunting down individual issues. While you're poring through cardboard boxes in car boot sales (nothing wrong with that to be fair, show me a box of books and I'll pore with the best of them), I'll be sat in my favourite chair, reading in the warm ;o) It wasn't until my teens that I started reading 2000AD and I'll be honest, I was always more into 'Slaine' and 'Nemesis the Warlock', Judge Dredd was a bit of fun but not the reason I'd buy a comic. Well, that was the case until I discovered that every now and then, the 2000AD writers had this habit of killing off large chunks of Mega City One (Dredd's stomping ground) in ways that would move the death count into the millions without even brea...