Tops and Bottoms – 19th December 2025. – Never Iron Anything

Thanks for coming back. I’ll kick off with a new comic and follow it up with more random late night thoughts.

Literally.

This is now on sale! It is full of great comics. It raises money for the London-based Cartoon Museum and its really good value. Everyone gave their talents for free. So be a good egg and grab a copy. Print on Demand all over the world!! Here’s is the link to the UK. Other countries have one!

Back to late nights and early mornings.

I suffer from frequent bouts of insomnia. I’m not complaining (really) because I quite enjoy the ‘me’ time. (No, not that!) As I write I’m going through a longbox of disorganised runs. Remembering/not-remembering those multi-coloured issues I’ve bought. This lot are from around 2012.

I’ve also got a Prime movie on in the background. My late night streamer of choice. So full of forgotten and old dirty gunk. I recently watched both ‘Carry on Columbus’ and ‘Inseminoid’ in the same sitting. Who says that media retires our brains.

There’s a lot of colour out there. It rushes into your eyeballs relentlessly. Overloading. Stupefying. And also making us even more stupid. You have to pick and choose, bob and weave between the bullshit, the nonsense, the asinine, the moronic and the under-performing. It’s never completely possible. Not even remotely close. I’ve got to the point where I actively avoid so much. Media, people, the news and the world. You have to limit your view to block out the obvious, the idiotic and the annoying.

Comics is the same. Or rather has become that for me. There’s so much crap out there. Big bright images running at you at speed. We block and duck from what won’t help. Things live out there that we don’t need and that never improve the immediate world or help our rollercoaster tempers.

And so I judge. There’s little time to assess the arses (asses?). To see and process immediate cranial rejection. I may seem pompous and opinionated. But to be opinionated you do need actual freakin’ opinions.

Nah.

OK.

Nah.

Oooh no.

Fuck no.

Hmmm.

OK, this looks…

It rarely is.

Quality and how it’s measured needs a look at. Currently there are exceptional highs, some truly awful lows and just a lake between of boring, predictable and over-hyped. I know it’s a hard pill to swallow. But a lot of stuff is just filler. Nearly everything in fact. Nearly.

Avoid the mediocre and read only what inspires. We never can get to that point completely. But 70% in life’s long exam cycle is still a passable existence.

Go right at the red light. Feeder lane that feeds.

Let us return to the main reason I started this weekly column. Every week I choose my favourite new comic, alongside the worst. I also add the odd other category because I can and am obtuse enough to enjoy changing this at a whim.

Small Press Comic of the Week. (Told you).

Go into this with no expectations that it should make sense. It doesn’t really. Just enjoy the narration (full of Southern charm) and the art (full of crazy bombastic energy). You also get a brilliantly weird back-up story from my comics brother Adam Falp that alone is worth the price you’ll pay. Comics need this strange quality every so often. I loved it.

Tops.

I know. I know. Every couple of years the Hulk gets a rethink. For the last three (or more) it’s been to treat him and his cast as if they are a horror movie or tv series. But , surprisingly to me, this one works.

Johnson adds some heart and genuine motivation to the characters. Nic Klein kills on the art! Combining loose and complicated with solid designs who really do live and then erupt on the page. Added to my pull list.

So Bad it’s Great.