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Yes, I'm going to go for it all over again, because I'm mad, mad I say, MAD!

Also, I have so many books.

Steven wrote: "Yes, I'm going to go for it all over again, because I'm mad, mad I say, MAD!

Also, I have so many books."

And because you read so fast! Glad you're coming back for more.

Bev wrote: "Steven wrote: "Yes, I'm going to go for it all over again, because I'm mad, mad I say, MAD!

Also, I have so many books."

And because you read so fast! Glad you're coming back for more."

Well, I read fast when I'm being organized...! I'm almost being organized right now, in fact. Desperation can be an amazing thing.

I'm actually doing that thing again where I try to get my ducks in a row for the year, so I know what I'm doing and where I'm going. This expert planning will last until 12:01am on January 1st.

Hopefully I'll include the three books I just added on Audible (and perhaps even the rest of the books I picked up on Audible during the course of the year.) Those would be:

Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years
A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918
Where Roses Never Die

as well as all six of the James Bond comics omnibuses, Warren Ellis' James Bond: VARGR, more vintage spy/spy-fi novels, B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs 1 (and the three subsequent volumes), more of the Theodore Sturgeon short fiction collections, and various railway, tram, trolley, streetcar and Interurban books, and a ton of poetry.

What I'll actually end up reading in January is anybody's guess.

Yes--I make all these plans (and lists and...) and then do about 1/3 of what I initially say I'll read and change out most of the others. Fortunately I have hundreds of books in stacks all over so I can switch to my heart's content...

I went off my list immediately this year. Of course, the thousands of unread books do lead to that....

And because I can't keep myself from a bargain, I added another to Audible yesterday: The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks by Amy Stewart.

#1 - Stairs Appear in a Hole Outside of Town by John Philip Johnson, et al

Describing itself as "graphic poetry," this is a collection of shorter prose poetry and free verse worked into artwork that ranges from traditional comic art to fine (if experimental) art that reminds me a great deal of the work of Gerald Scarfe, even as the incorporated poem immediately made me think of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. The poetry itself is relatively adequate, with some nice work but perhaps needing some further development. The incorporation of artwork is a nice touch, but the poems actually might work better without it.

#2 - The Immortal Iron Fist, Volume 1: The Last Iron Fist Story by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and others

Actually, it's not the last Iron Fist story at all, but a prelude to an arc for the revamped Iron Fist, who discovers that at least one of his antecedents is still alive -- Orson Randall, who was the holder of the post until after World War One, when PTSD caused him to abandon conflict altogether...a choice that didn't go down well in K'un-L'un. Orson, being pursued by the resurrected Steel Serpent, has come to New York City to find Danny Rand, the current Iron Fist -- who is up to his neck in Hydra goons (there's plotty bits involving the Rand Company and trains for China.) Much running, jumping, and kicking follows.

It's actually a fairly decent piece of work, even if it's only the first act of the story. It's never easy to write a martial arts character, and those panes with names for the blows might well seem risible; fortunately there's few enough of those examples.

Off to a great start! :)

I'm determined to get a good number up this month. I'd like to have room to slip a little this year. Or knock down a LOT more.

#3 - Invincible, Vol. 22: Reboot? by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley

While Rex continues to make positive changes to Earth, and gradually manages to bring the surviving Global Guardians onto his side, Mark and Eve are trying to make the best of their self-exile to Talescria, and are finally on the verge of settling in when Mark and his stepbrother Oliver are sent on a mission to bring down would-be Viltrumite Emperor Thragg before he carries out whatever plan he's been working on.

Which is when things go thoroughly pear-shaped for Mark, who encounters a strange glowing alien being...and finds himself back in his eighteen year old body, just before he gets his powers. Is it real? Is it Memorex? On the principle it *is* real, Mark makes contact first with Eve, and then with Teen Team, and from there with others...and he begins to change things subtly, for the better.

Which is when the alien turns up, and makes him an offer he can't refuse...stay in the past, and prevent a terrible future for all, and save billions of lives.

Mark promptly refuses, because of his daughter. The alien returns him to the future. That is, not to Mark's actual present time -- as it turns out, he's been gone for years.

Now I really have to see how Kirkman and Ottley are going to go forward with this series. That was an interesting twist in the story.

#4 - Superman & Justice League America, Volume 1 by Dan Jurgens, et al

Following the departure of the Giffen/DeMatteis team from the Justice League titles after the "Breakdowns" arc (which has yet to be released in a collection), Dan Jurgens took over the Justice League America title. The two JL series were already losing their wittier edge, and the arrival of Dan Jurgens as writer/artist almost completely left the goofy humour behind. This was, in some degree, part of the lead-up to the whole Death Of Superman event.

Curiously enough, although this collection has Superman in the title, it actually has very little Superman in it. What it does have is rather too much Guy Gardner being loud, sexist, and overbearing -- Guy's a character who wears out his welcome fairly quickly, and is best treated as a bit of a joke.

Overall, then, this is a rather leaden collection.

#5 - Superman & Justice League America, Volume 2 by Dan Jurgens, Rick Burchett, Dave Cockrum et al

There's a lot stuffed into this volume, as the intention seems to have been to wrap up the Dan Jurgens period on the Justice League America book, rather than dividing the material more evenly between the first volume and this one. The series continues in Wonder Woman and the Justice League America Vol. 1 with Dan Vado writing. This is actually a period of relative calm with books not crossing over.

Like the first volume, Superman doesn't really play much of a part in the stories -- in fact, he's in even less of the volume, as he gets killed between issues of JLA (69 and 70, if anyone's counting.) Wonder Woman joins as team leader, several confused issues go by, and then the Destiny's Hand arc starts, which throws readers right into a world where the League are a bunch of murderous fascists -- something cooked up by Dr. Destiny. That arc is interesting, but relatively standard, but it does finally reveal the truth about Bloodwynd...well, sort of. The final story in the volume answers the rest of the questions.

Sadly, a slog to get through.

My goodness...I barely got my spacesuit on and stepped on the base of the mountain and you're already bounding up Olympus...five done!

Bev wrote: "My goodness...I barely got my spacesuit on and stepped on the base of the mountain and you're already bounding up Olympus...five done!"

And #6 finishing up right now, with Subwayland: Adventures in the World Beneath New York and Department of Temporal Investigations: Time Lock to come right behind (though perhaps tomorrow.) I've moved a little slower today, though. I'd planned to knock out Doctor Who: Arrangements for War this morning, but was distracted by other things.

The pace will slow down drastically very soon, though, as I intend to be back at work in my little studio now that I've installed the honking great monitor.

#6 - Superman: Panic in the Sky by Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern, Louise Simonson, Jerry Ordway, et bloody al

This is a new edition of the "Panic In The Sky" arc from the pre-The Death of Superman "triangle" era, where four Superman titles were connected in lockstep despite each one having a different writer/artist team. The new edition compiles not only the arc, but its prelude, its epilogue, and another story arc that begins in the epilogue.

The basic story: Brainiac, now partway between the version concocted by John Byrne and the cold green-skinned alien hyper-intelligence who's perhaps best known (despite attempts to make the robotic version with the giant brain-ship the preferred version -- say it with me, then: "Comics!") has taken over Mongul's Warworld ship/satellite/metal moon and is on his way to conquer and/or destroy Earth, as you do. On the way he picks up the Matrix Supergirl, the alien Draaga who has a grudge against Superman, and Maxima, former ruler of Almerac and also possessed of a grudge (Superman wouldn't shag her.)

The rest of the arc, pretty much, consists of punching, crunching, blowing things up, and Guy Gardner being a truly reprehensible idiot. There's dozens of characters, much confusion, some terrible artwork, and Brainiac gets his clock cleaned at the end (literally -- his moustache and goatee burn off when he's mind-wiped.)

After that it's epilogue, aftermath, and fun with Husque and Flashpoint (Flashpoint here is a walking trash fire, literally, that looks like a comedy devil; his job is...incinerator. Do not be in the same room as this guy when he farts) and Husque's sister Tehra, plus confusion because it feels like they switched storyline midway -- there was a revolution going in another dimension.

All in all, a lot of pages, and I wonder if there's going to be one more book to fill in the gap between this and the Death Of Superman stuff. I don't expect that to be any better, mind you...the triangle era was downright stodgy at times, which contributed to the run up to The Death Of Superman.

I think it's obvious I need to go to bed....I nearly posted that review on the 2016 group....

This is also going to be a year for banging through honking great omnibuses, as I just got a nice bookstand that will hold them, saving me terrible hand cramps.

Steven wrote: "This is also going to be a year for banging through honking great omnibuses, as I just got a nice bookstand that will hold them, saving me terrible hand cramps."

This sounds ideal. I need a solution myself. I keep reading in bed, which is PAINFUL with four-hundred-page-plus books. I, too, am a comic addict, I mean enthusiast.

Andrew wrote: "This sounds ideal. I need a solution myself. I keep reading in bed, which is PAINFUL with four-hundred-page-plus books. I, too, am a comic addict, I mean enthusiast. ."

I'm a book addict generally; I do enjoy the comics, though, although I'm somewhat focused towards DC and some of the indies.

The bookstand I got is a wooden one, made by Kloud City - and I don't think this would work for me in bed.

#7 - Doctor Who: Arrangements for War by Paul Sutton

Six and Evelyn try to take a quiet break from their adventures, mainly so that Evelyn can recuperate emotionally from recent adventures that have been very hard on her. She's also trying to decide something else: how to tell the Doctor that she's dying, as her heart is failing. She's also distressed that the Doctor can't seem to help getting involved in things, wherever he is, often to catastrophic effect.

For his part, the Doctor has every intention of being a tourist, and taking R&R, even taking a fishing trip. However, this is a planet made up of three countries on its single continent, and two of those countries have been at war for years and are now trying to broker a peace treaty through royal marriage. There is, however, a complication...there's a bit of a Romeo & Juliet thing going on between the Princess and a lowly commoner.

The Doctor, of course, gets involved...and suddenly the timeline is shifting, and events that happened are being replaced by the march to war.

This is actually one of the best Six stories out there -- there's no large-scale overly ambitious villain, and there's no avenue for the Doctor's cunning and intelligence, only for his compassion. And everything goes to hell. It's a very sad ending.

Steven wrote: "The bookstand I got is a wooden one, made by Kloud City - ... and I don't think this would work for me in bed."

That's super nice looking. Maybe I need to get one of those back support things for bed-reading, plus a reading stand, and problem solved. Anyway, I'm enjoying your fun reads.

Your taste in graphic novels is impeccable. Makes me want to break out my old collection in the closet, maybe Kingdom Come or Infinity Wars.

Steven wrote: "Your taste in graphic novels is impeccable. Makes me want to break out my old collection in the closet, maybe Kingdom Come or Infinity Wars."

Kingdom Come would be a good one for me to revisit, and I'm contemplating getting the Platinum edition of Marvels. I might also read Absolute DC: The New Frontier. I'm also hoping to get to the three JSA: Omnibus, Vol 1 by Geoff Johns.

Lots of good stuff to read!

Andrew wrote: "That's super nice looking. Maybe I need to get one of those back support things for bed-reading, plus a reading stand, and problem solved. Anyway, I'm enjoying your fun reads. .."

A backrest for in bed reading is definitely a requirement unless you have a bunch of pillows and a good headboard. I find that if I'm not propped up when I'm reading, I will inevitably end up asleep. Even worse with audiobooks, and it's the reason why I won't bother with a TV in the bedroom.

There are bed trays with book supports that might work for you in bed. For my part, I won't try anything more than my old iPad for reading; audiobooks get played through the bedside head to the entertainment system (it's an Android tablet, so I have Audible installed, along with Plex for the audiobooks I've ripped from CD.)

#8 - Department of Temporal Investigations: Time Lock by Christopher L. Bennett

Proving that Star Trek is quite happy to utilize even the most minor characters to good effect, the DTI books follow the (mis)adventures of DTI Agents Lucsly and Dulmer from the Deep Space 9 episode "Trials And Tribble-ations." Yes, those names are a riff on a couple of other oddball investigators.

In this outing, Lucsly is working at the DTI Vault on the asteroid Eris, while Dulmer has taken up a desk job at the Denobulan branch of the DTI -- something that leads to both the best of times and the worst of times for Dulmer, as the Vault is attacked, and its security system triggers the unbreakable Time Lock, which slows time inside relative to the outside, and does so according to a logarithmic formula that slows things more and more until minutes are passing inside the Vault and weeks on the outside.

From there it's a cat and mouse game, as the leader of the raiders turns out to be much more than she seemed to be, and Lucsly and his team are hard pressed to outwit her (never mind outfight her; they're a bunch of researchers and bureaucrats, essentially.)

It's a fun read, and the Treknobabble isn't dense (Bennett shows his work on the formula at the end, too, which is a nice touch.) It ends in such a way that I hope we'll be seeing more from the mysterious antagonist.

Currently going for this:

Doctor Who: The Harvest
Subwayland: Adventures in the World Beneath New York
Three Fingers
Justice League of America Omnibus Vol. 1
32 Fangs
The Collectors
The Belly of the Beast

#9 - Doctor Who: The Harvest by Dan Abnett

Hex: "Oh my God! OH MY GOD."
The Doctor: "No, I'm the Doctor. But hello just the same."

Complete with little in-jokes (Andy Lanning comes up on a roster of patients at one point.)

Seven and Ace, er, McShane are in 2021, where the European Union has begun to meld into United Europe (ha!) They've infiltrated a high-tech hospital near Shoreditch (why does Shoreditch turn up so often in Who-related things?) , where *something* mysterious is going on in one of the upper floors.

This story introduces new companion Hex, a male nurse who discovers a taste for lunatic adventuring when the big mystery turns out to be Doctors who are humanizing Cybermen and Cyberizing humans. It actually makes weird sense in context. It also turns out to be problematic, at least for those being converted. Seven gets a great chance to be the cold, calculating type at the end, as well as having an angry outburst at himself for screwing up and allowing the survival of Mondas, the original home of the Cybermen.

Do you have recommendations for good star trek next generation graphic novels. How about introductions to doctor who? Good comic to start with?

Steven wrote: "Do you have recommendations for good star trek next generation graphic novels. How about introductions to doctor who? Good comic to start with?"

Did you know there are STNG/Dr. Who graphic novels? My son has read those....

(just to show you what I mean...)

Steven wrote: "Do you have recommendations for good star trek next generation graphic novels. How about introductions to doctor who? Good comic to start with?"

Bev's pointed out one that's at least entertaining. As far as it goes, I haven't really delved into either the TNG graphic novels (aside from THE GORN CRISIS, which is absolutely terrible.) Hm, there *is* COUNTDOWN, which is a TNG prelude to the 2009 Star Trek movie. I actually have a scattering of TNG and TOS graphic novels in ebook format, picked up from a Humble Bundle a while back, but I've yet to get into most of them.

As for Doctor Who, again I haven't read most of the comics -- the Titan comics are supposed to be pretty good, but the Who comic I'm most familiar with is Doctor Who: Voyager, which originally ran in the Doctor Who Magazine in the UK and was repackaged by Marvel as a graphic novel in the US.

There's also a number of collections of the UK comic strips available, much of which is excellent stuff -- IDW issued a number of those in the US, but I don't think they did full collected editions. Panini did the collections: /series/5669...

Most of what I read in terms of Trek is prose, and some of the IDW TOS stuff, and for Doctor Who it's either prose or Big Finish audio.

Steven wrote: "Do you have recommendations for good star trek next generation graphic novels. How about introductions to doctor who? Good comic to start with?"

Oh Steven I'm just starting out in reading the Star Trek books. I'm starting with the original series then branching out from there.

#10 - Deadpool And Cable Split Second by Fabian Nicieza and Reilly Brown

Originally a Marvel Infinite Comic (i.e., digital-first release), the story sees a depowered and troubled Cable coming back to the present to stop Deadpool from killing a scientist and causing the world to go completely to hell (we see this terrible future, and it actually doesn't seem so terrible.)

It's really just an excuse to bring the two together again, and have some fun running both around in gradually more incomprehensible circles. In the finish we get one of the powered-up big beefy BFG-toting Cables back, with his mind intact. The end.

SIlly stuff, overall, that tries a bit *too* hard to be goofy.

#11 - Doctor Who: The Roof of the World by Adrian Rigelsford

The Fifth Doctor, Peri, and Erimem take a trip to Tibet for a combination of sightseeing and cricket in the late Victorian era. All quite benign, it seems, with a bit of cheerful bickering between the three. This being a Doctor Who story, however, things don't stay that way for very long, as Erimem becomes the focus of an ancient evil that needs her as a conduit to survive. It's a bit reminiscent of "Kinda" and "Snakedance" but done well enough with a chance for Five to get truly furious at the antagonist and a number of revelations about Erimem herself. There's also a good attempt to build up Peri.

#12 - The New Counter-Measures Special by John Dorney and Ken Bentley

It's Christmas 1974 in London, there's an oil crisis looming, MI5 is on alert, someone is trying to kill Sir Toby Kinsella...the last survivor of the Intrusion Counter-Measures Group. Group Captain Gilmore, Professor Rachel Jensen, and Dr. Alison Williams have all been dead for several years, killed in the line of duty.

When Sir Toby's body is reported as being fished out of the Thames, it falls to others to investigate avenues MI5 isn't able to -- enter Captain Benson, suddenly laid off by his airline, the suburban teacher Miss Hartigan, and Ms. Solomon, an Israeli immigrant working on a kibbutz. They're all old friends of Sir Toby, with an odd familiarity with Sir Toby's secret life....

This story serves to update the Counter-Measures series a bit, taking them out of the 1960s and into an even more fraught decade. This is also a much more straightforward story -- a thriller with espionage elements (the main SFnal element is that the bad guy was experimented on, and this led to physical alterations that various characters find startling.)

Awesome! Thanks everyone. Thanks. I'll see what I can find. There has to be some good TNG comics. I keep hearing about Dr. Who, but where to start!?!

Steven wrote: "Awesome! Thanks everyone. Thanks. I'll see what I can find. There has to be some good TNG comics. I keep hearing about Dr. Who, but where to start!?!"

Well, if you have to pick a starting place for the Who comics, I'd go with the Titan titles, and probably start (paid) with the 12th Doctor comics, although you could check out a sampling with Titan's two Free Comic Book Day releases on Comixology:

The first 12th Doctor collection is Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Vol. 1: Terrorformer and it's on ComiXology for $9.99 currently:

After that you can work your way both back through the other Doctors (Titan is doing books for all of them) and forwards with 12.

#13 - Star Trek Classics: The Next Generation: Enemy Unseen by Keith R.A. DeCandido, Christopher Golden & Thomas Sniegoski, Scott Cieni, et al

Three stories from the TNG era, two with the Enterprise-D, and one with the Enterprise-E. The first story, "Perchance To Dream," is a four-parter centered on gender politics on a three-gender planet (and Riker doesn't seduce ANYONE; old man's slowing down, it seems) with the dreams part involving an almost forgotten weapon that's recreated by the story's version of Rush Limbaugh (or Bill O'Reilly.) Keith R. A. DeCandido, one of the champion Trek tie-in writers, wrote this one, and he demonstrates an awful habit of needing to stuff commentary and backstory and general guff into caption boxes. The story is interesting enough, but feels overlong.

Golden & Sniegoski are up next with a sequel to the Original Series episode "Wolf In The Fold." RedJac has pulled itself back together again, and managed to nearly destroy an entire planet, and now it wants the Enterprise for its fun. Bonus Joy: it's a Holodeck Episode. Yes, it's awful.

Scott Cieni wraps up the volume with Picard vs Ninjas. No, seriously, that's what it is. Picard vs Space Ninjas. The mostly evil Sela, daughter of alternate Tasha Yar, shows up to help. The weird scene transitions that keep showing up *don't* help.

Overall, then, I'm glad I got this as part of a bundle. This was thuddingly awful, for the most part.

#14 - Three Fingers by Rich Koslowski

I picked this up on sale last year, out of curiosity, and I have to say that my curiosity has been satisfied (and I'm looking forward to another book by Koslowski, BB Wolf and the 3 LP's) and a certain amount of confusion instilled, as I'm not 100% sure what the point of the books is.

It's a mockumentary styled piece, intercutting historical sections with interview snippets, about the history of cartoons -- but it's not *our* history; this is more the history of a world that's somewhere between the book and film versions of Who Censored Roger Rabbit?. Toons are live action creatures, with their own ghettos; one such Toon, Ricky Rat, is discovered playing piano in a Toon club by the down and out Dizzy Walters, who sets to work to make his protege a movie star...leading to Hollywood success. But for the Toon who try to follow in Ricky's path...only failure awaits. Until something mysterious occurs, and, suddenly, Toon stars are appearing all over.

That mysterious event is the start of "The Ritual." Perhaps. You see, Ricky Rat was born with a birth defect...only three fingers on each hand. And Toon superstition has it that the way to success isn't so much talent, as losing a finger from each hand....

While I can certainly see satirical in this, I'm a bit baffled as to whether that was actually the point -- it's bleak comedy in the beginning, with gentle nods to life as it was, but halfway through it turns black and mean, and never quite defines a target or manages a conclusion. It can be taken as a blackly parodic look at the image factory of Hollywood, where a visit to the plastic surgeon is like a trip to the grocery store, but that never really comes into focus either.

#15 - Deadpool: World's Greatest, Volume 1: Millionaire with a Mouth by Gerry Duggan, et al

The start of yet another Deadpool series, post Secret Wars, with the now super-rich Deadpool funding one branch of the Avengers, and running a mercenary business on the side. And someone is trying to ruin Deadpool's now positive reputation.

Duggan tries to be edgily funny, but the story is draggy, undercooked and yet overbaked, and is overall a soggy mess.

#16 - Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 1 by Matt Fitton, John Dorney, Marc Platt, Edward Collier

The Eighth Doctor and Liv Chenka are off to new things after the events of the DARK EYES series...unfortunately for both of them, their plans are frustrated by the TARDIS being redirected to Gallifrey, where the Doctor is going to have to deal with the escape of the mad Time Lord known as The Eleven -- whose madness is created out of all his regenerative personalities being present. The Eleven was trapped and imprisoned by the Seventh Doctor.

This first quartet of stories (with twelve more interlocking stories scheduled) has Eight up against the Eleven in the first and last stories, with a spooky museum story and an adventure with the elderly Gallileo Gallilei in between (an unusually uncomplicated story from Marc Platt.)

Despite the gigantic stakes in spots, this is a nice step down in intensity from DARK EYES, which got very rough as it put the characters through hell.

If only comixology unlimited had Canadian service. Do you purchase digital or hardcopies? I see Marvel has an unlimited option but not DC.

Steven wrote: "If only comixology unlimited had Canadian service. Do you purchase digital or hardcopies? I see Marvel has an unlimited option but not DC."

I buy a mix -- because I'm fairly limited on space, I'll often pick up single issues and most trades digitally, and and just acquire omnibuses, library editions, and some oversized books as hard copies.

I do still get some trades in hard copy, though -- the Deadpool books, for instance, are print editions.

Among the current:

Subwayland: Adventures in the World Beneath New York
Justice League of America Omnibus Vol. 1
32 Fangs
The Collectors
The Belly of the Beast
Doctor Who: The Isos Network
Deadpool: World's Greatest, Volume 2: End of an Error

#17 - Doctor Who: The Isos Network by Nicholas Briggs

The Second Doctor, Zoe, and Jamie have just helped to cause the Cybermen fleet from "The Invasion" to self-destruct...but one of the Cyberships has escaped, and the Doctor sets off in pursuit of it, only to have the TARDIS drawn into a warp field and crashed on an alien world, where they discover and underground network of monorail tunnels, and a population that seems, at first, the consist of giant slugs.

The Cybermen are here, though, and they've been busy, both converting the local population into Cybermen, and working out how to convert the subway system into a warp portal. That's bad enough, but an alien task force has just landed on the planet, intent on dealing with the Cybermen, and they're not too pleased to see the Doctor and his friends.

This is both a sequel to "The Invasion" and a bit of a rerun in a different setting, but it's very careful to match its 1960s source, with the occasional update showing through. The setting, too, is a major upgrade, as the 1960s series would not have been able to depict it. Overall, it's entertaining (if a little slow in spots.)

#18 - Doctor Who: The Doctor's Tale by Marc Platt

The First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicky arrive in England in the year 1400, landing right in the midst of turmoil as King Henry II has been deposed and his wife, Queen Isabella, imprisoned, while Henry IV, formerly Henry Bolingebrooke, has been placed on the throne with the aid of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Arundel. It's also the time when poet Geoffrey Chaucer is thought to have died, though mystery surrounds that event...a mystery that the Doctor and his companions are immediately involved with, even as Vicky finds herself in a position to aid the young, headstrong Queen Isabella.

This is another of the rare pure historical adventures, in keeping with the early years of the series, and, surprisingly, one written by Marc Platt, who plays everything straight, right down to the educational element (it's subtly done, but it *is* there -- this story has a mission to teach you things.)

Overall, very well done, and a good entry in the Early Adventures.

#19 - Doctor Who: The Time Vampire by Niger Fairs

I'm rather surprised tat Marc Platt didn't write this one, as it has the warp, weave, and timey-wimey confusion that Platt seems to specialize in.

It's a story told from Leela's perspective at the end of her life, looking back to a time with the Fourth Doctor. The Time Vampire of the title doesn't actually show up until the end, but does influence events throughout...but everything is out of order, and dreamlike, and it's rather hard to get a grasp on exactly what's going on at any point.

A bold attempt, certainly, but not one that, in the end, actually works.

#20 - Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders, Vol. 2 by Len Wein, Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema, et al

This volume covers the Avengers-Defenders War, as well as various other two-part (and occasional single part) stories, and the part-reprint Giant-Size Defenders #1 (which excerpts Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and Doctor Strange stories from early in their runs.)

It's mostly nothing to shout about -- Len Wein hadn't honed his craft yet, Steve Englehart (providing the Avengers part of the performance) was a bit rough, and the artwork often seems rather slapdash. On the other hand, you get the Squadron Sinister, the ever-shifting Defenders roster (Sub-Mariner and Valkyrie repeatedly resigning until it finally took), loopy magic, and Magneto being turned into a baby. On the third hand...it's over three hundred pages of slog to read.

I think things get to Steve Gerber's time on the book soon, though....

#21 - Doctor Who: Echoes of Grey by John Dorney
#21b - Doctor Who: Damascus by Jonathan Barnes

In "Echoes Of Grey" Zoe Herriot is prompted to once again dig into her locked memory and recall an adventure with the Second Doctor and Jamie. The trio find themselves in a medical research unit in Australia (the Whitaker Institute, a little Easter egg) where a group of beings called the Achromatics are serving to heal humans by, it seems, drawing illness from them. But there's more to these creatures that initially meets the eye...just as there's more to the young woman who helps Zoe recover her memories than the woman herself initially admits.

"Damascus" is a short story read by Tim Treloar, who seems to be the chosen actor to voice the Third Doctor these days. The story itself is told from the viewpoint of a British Prime Minister (named Jeremy, but seeming like an amalgam of Edward Heath and Harold Wilson) who decides he needs to consult the Doctor in person about a mysterious spacecraft that's hovering over the English coast. This turns into both an adventure and a realization on the PM's part that the Doctor could be very dangerous indeed....