Tops and Bottoms – 30th July 2025. – Never Iron Anything

Chaos! Isn’t that what we are made to think?

Panic only comes to those predisposed. Learn to be a little more jaded and cynical is my advice. Panic in the streets of Diss? Who’d have thought.

We’ve just got the last issue of the Previews Catalogue. Love it or hate it we’ve seen it as an industry standard ordering system for a long, long time at this point.

I heard a quote this week from the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci – ‘When the new order is struggling to be born and the old order is struggling to die, that’s when monsters are born.’ If you try to put aside the wish-fulfilment of a committed and imprisoned political activist you can see some truth in the weeds there. Got me thinking that this may well be the No Man’s Land that comics are currently walking through. A ‘battlefield’ of sales, formats, styles, annoying ‘personalities’ and digital vs paper sets us firmly in that period between ‘orders’. I suspect that there’ll be a change soon and it’ll surprise us with how quickly it acts. I have another quote floating at the back of my brain from another Communist (I promise this will be the last one).

‘There are decades where nothing happens and weeks where decades happen’ – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

It’ll all swing and flick about like an elephants tail swatting flies before we get that eventual full change. Where it lands is more to the shifting price and format ‘wars’. Nothing you and I can do to change it. It should be an interesting few years. But, the prices do need to drop!

I’m at that part of the academic year where I get pressure to actually use some leave. So I’ve a few trips planned to see buddies and visit some shops/events. This past week was a Trip to Grimsby.

Mainly to see comics artist Ian Ashcroft and celebrate him finishing the art on the new ‘Hellbreaker’ comic. Written by Pat Mills with letters by Ken Reynolds this is going to be the hot product on crowdfunding platforms very soon. We had an evening of talking about comics and he showed me the artistically finished article. This is going to blow your socks off. Already outstanding in Black & White the added colour looks like a BD wet dream of a story! It’s not my place to share but think I’m OK posting this one of the concept art for Detective Sergeant Asquith who features in the story, along with his trademarked hammer. Watch out for the Kickstarter on this one.

I also managed a trip to the local comic shop Star Rider. I love searching out comic shops in towns I visit. Not a massive amount of stock but I did pick out a few things to take home with me.

After a night at the less than prestigious Premier Inn, Grimsby I took the opportunity to pop in to Strange Apparitions, Spaulding on the way home. SO MUCH STOCK! Back issues for days along with a specialist Doctor Who section this is a regular visit for me. Half comics and half toys. AT A GARDEN CENTRE! A place you can easily con your partner into attending with you. The owner Alex is always up for a good chat and I spent the usual few hours and large amount of cash!

Next week, somewhere else.

In September myself and Falpy (and possibly another guest star) will be attending and tabling at Bridlington Comic Con. Andy Hampel gives tables free to small press comics creators and it’s a yearly event I never miss. What a gent! Come along and say hi.

Let’s get on with the task at hand.

Tops.

This proved to make a Sunday afternoon just an art filled gentle few hours. The a little by the numbers textures vastly overshadowed by the inky gorgeousness of the art! Nice and oversized. Inspired me to pick that pen up again.

Bottoms.

I dropped The Exceptional X-Men almost immediately. Described as the ‘Third X Book’ it was a mess of boring storytelling and bad pacing. I read an issue on the Marvel app this week and it ain’t changed. This does not deserve to be a double page splash (it’s barely worth a large panel).

And why is this series full of close ups of phone and computer text? I’m suspecting that the writer lives through their phone – which really doesn’t make it interesting!