No Joke, The Western Library Is Really Taking Off

This week's additions to my growing Western library were a couple of left-field, niche, publications that tickled my fancy for the peculiar and outré.

Written by Michael King of the Wild West Podcast, The Antic Tales of Luke McGlue: The Dodge City Prankster recounts a number of real life practical jokes and 'comedic' deceptions attributed to the non-existent character of Luke McGlue.

It appears that 19th Century Dodge City, the notorious Wild West town, had a reputation as a hotbed of  mischievous jokers and perpetrators of shenanigans, who would, in turn, blame their antics on the mythical Luke McGlue "the master of mischief".

The other publication I picked up was the first issue of Strange West Magazine, a 70+ page digest-sized booklet of articles relating to unusual occurrences in, and mysteries from, the Old West, including reports of cryptids, ghost stories, lost treasures, UFO encounters etc

All of which sounds right up my alley, as well as being perfect inspirational material for roleplaying game scenarios in the style of Deadlands and similar Weird West games.

Published by Bicep Books (based, appropriately enough in Roswell, New Mexico), there only appear to have been four issues of this delightful-looking pulp/Fortean zine, so I'm going to have to pace myself.

However, author John LeMay appears to have also written a ton of other non-fiction books in the same field (and published through his Bicep Books).

Fantastic Four: First Steps Tie-In Comic Announced

cover art by Phil Noto

Unsurprisingly, Marvel Comics has announced a tie-in comic for the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps movie which will (finally) welcome the First Family into the MCU.

Written by Matt Fraction, with art by Mark Buckingham, the Fantastic Four: First Steps one-shot is scheduled to land in stores on July 2, just ahead of the film's opening.

The suggestion from Marvel's publicity is this could actually be an in-universe artifact, released to celebrate the Fantastic Four's fourth anniversary "in our world", produced in partnership with the Future Foundation and recounting the early adventures of the team (the Phil Noto cover art is an obvious homage to the iconic first issue of the Fantastic Four from 1961).

TALES FROM THE VAULT: Marvel Team-Up #127 (1983)

There's a strong suggestion in Marvel Team-Up #127 that this is the first time Spider-Man has encountered the enigmatic Watcher. Not only does Peter Parker not recognise Uatu, but he doesn't know his name or understand The Watcher's enigmatic modus operandi.

To be honest, Small Miracles isn't a great story, scripted by JM DeMatteis and drawn by Kerry Sammill, but it's odd enough to merit inspection.

While a Christmas-themed tale, it's certainly no Christmas Carol or It's A Wonderful Life.

That said, although it might not tie-up all its loose-ends, it stands as a festive reminder of when comic book stories were 'one-and-done', a single story in a single issue, with none of this 'writing for the trades' padding plots that should have been wrapped in 20 or so pages out to four or six issues.

Throughout this story, Spider-Man essentially acts as The Watcher's sock puppet, being led - almost by the nose - from point A to point B, with only the semblance of free will.

It's Christmas Eve and Peter has dropped in on Aunt May and her wheelchair-bound fiancé Nathan Lubensky, and their friends, for some seasonal celebrations.

Unfortunately, the usually jovial Mr Chekov is rather down as his granddaughter, Bette, hasn't put in an appearance. Her parents were killed in a plane-crash, as were Peter's (although, sadly, nothing is made of this, or a subsequent 'fllashback'-potential moment towards the end of the story), and she has become distant with her grandfather.

Peter tries to be positive, but then his spider-senses go off and he races outside into a snowstorm.

Suddenly he is wearing his costume and standing before him  is the taciturn, bald giant, Uatu The Watcher, offering him a spherical jewel... in which is an image of Bette Chekov.

Spider-Man has the sudden feeling that he is supposed to find her, but no idea of how.

Eventually he resorts to "directory assistance" (remember that, kiddies?), which sends him to an address in Brooklyn Heights.

Arriving there, Spidey discovers the police and ambulance service removing the dead body of Bette's flatmate. A very Sgt Bullock-like detective tells Spider-Man that there was "a few thousand bucks worth of cocaine" in the apartment.

Spider-Man still has no clue where to find Bette, or any idea of what she is tangled up in, and just as he's losing his usual confidence, he bumps into Captain America on a rooftop:

Cap gives him a good, morale-boosting, talking-to and once Spidey's bucked his ideas up, Uatu beams him another clue through the magical ball, sending him to a dive bar called Jimmy's Corner.

After rousting the patrons of the bar uncovers no leads, Spidey overhears a couple arguing in an apartment above Jimmy's Corner, and realises it's Bette and a thug called Buck Todd.

Buck had stolen the cocaine from The Mob, and the gangsters had come looking for it, killing Bette's flatmate and trailing Bette to Buck's place.

There's a big showdown, during which Bette appears to be fatally shot while fleeing. Spidey is heart-broken - no doubt having Gwen Stacy/Uncle Ben-level flashbacks - until The Watcher appears... and "tricks" Spidey into putting things right:

It turns out that every Christmas Eve, Uatu allows himself to help humanity ("One night to be... as a brother to them") in ways his fellow Watchers might deem insignificant and beneath their notice.

In this case, he was steering Spider-Man to help Bette Chekov escape the life she had stumbled into and return to the loving bosom of her family.

Small Miracles leaves us with plenty of unanswered questions. For instance, the pivotal cocaine theft, and Bette's involvement with it, isn't clearly spelled out (What's her connection to Buck? Were they planning to sell it on or snort it? Was this lack of judgement on Bette's behalf a result of the death of her parents?).

And while Uatu's involvement in the plot takes enigmatic to a whole new level, it makes me miss the character's iconic role in the Marvel Universe.

Hopefully with his key role in the recent Disney Plus series What If...? this means the character will be restored him to his rightful place... in the 'Blue Area', on the dark side of The Moon, looking out for us all down here on planet Earth.

"Twenty Years of Tim" aka "Tim Day" aka "#TimFest"

This weekend we threw a party to mark the 20th anniversary of my life-changing aortic aneurysm, or more accurately to celebrate the extra 20 years (so far) that I have had since the National Health Service (NHS) saved my life.

Much to Rachel's surprise, it was actually my idea to host this event (I am, if you didn't already know, notoriously anti-social). I'd seen that 'new' Doctor Who was 20 years old this year and I realised that my brush with death had come several episodes into the regenerated show's first season.

Up until this year, I have been very nervous - almost superstitious - about even knowing we'd reached another anniversary and I never wanted to know the exact date or too many details of the circumstances (beyond the obvious facts that I had suffered a dissecting aortic aneurysm and then a stroke on the operating table).

But, this year, I finally accepted that two decades was far enough removed from the original, awful, event that maybe it was time to invite friends and family round to share a few drinks, have some nice food, and - at Rachel's suggestion - even raise a bit of money for the Aortic Dissection Awareness charity.

While Rachel - who actually organised the whole shindig, invited the guests, prepared the food, decorated the house etc - called the event "20 Years of Tim", others were calling it "Tim Day" and even "TimFest". 

I'll confess while it was immensely flattering to have all these people turn up to celebrate "me", it was also incredibly overwhelming and every so often I had to find a few calming minutes of quiet solitude with Alice and Obi (my two favouritest dogs in the whole, wide world).

Poor Alice, who is dealing with her own medical issues, seemed rather out of sorts as well, with so many people in "her space", that she didn't even engage in her usual rough and tumble with Obi (she's renowned for bullying him mercilessly, despite being a fraction of his size!).

I was quite gobsmacked by how much Acrobatic Flea (my signature character from our old games of Villains & Vigilantes) branding there was for the day - from the lovely T-shirt that Rachel's parents had made for me to the cup cakes created by the wonderful baker over the road from us.

Just before the group photograph was taken, Rachel gave a short, tearful, speech about how brilliant everyone had been in the wake of my sudden hospitalisation - from the amazing doctors and nurses of the NHS to all our friends who had pitched in to help us get through this. It even got to me, despite having already heard a dry run the night before, and a good number of other attendees. 

On the food table was a small framed poster with a QR code that people could scan, if they wished to, to make a charitable donation to Aortic Dissection Awareness.  

There was light-hearted talk about making Tim Day an annual event, which I did relay to Rachel, but I think one social event in 20 years is probably quite enough.

Top Dogs: Obi, the visitor (front), and our beloved Alice.

FAMILY PORTRAIT: Me, Rachel (holding Alice) and Rachel's parents

There were even garden games available for the young - and young-at-heart

EX-CUPCAKE! We're lucky to have a gifted cake maker live across the road from us

Excuse me, there's a Flea on my cupcake!

A mere fraction of the food and drink Rachel provided on the day

While the event was never intended as a "gift giving" day I was stunned
by the unexpected gifts I was given.

HAPPY ALIEN DAY (To Those Who Celebrate)!!!

Beneath London: The Story of Alien War (2025)

Journey back to London in 1993 - when two friends with a love of the Alien movies, a lot of ambition and a little bit of madness - set out to create the world's scariest walkthrough attraction with a little help from Sigourney Weaver.

With its release marking this year's Alien Day, Beneath London - The Story of Alien War is a wonderful, nostalgic documentary that takes me back. I went through Alien War at least once, possibly twice (back in my late 20's when I used to train it up to London solo to buy comics).

Although my memory is shot to pieces these days, I don't recall Alien War being scary per se, rather it was an incredibly exciting experience.

Django and Cullen Bohannon Have Moseyed On Up To My Door

Okay, so I treated myself to this swanky blu-ray release of the original Django this week.

According to one of my older review posts I first saw Django when I was at university, but I have absolutely zero recollection of that.

However, I guess, if you squint you can see some traces of influence in the Western movie script I wrote for my degree course.

I watched Django again, for the first time, the other week and was entranced by the violence and mud so prevalent in this once-banned spaghetti Western classic.

At the time, on Facebook, I wrote: "Oh, this was so good! [It] took a couple of unexpected turns along the way".

I'll probably write a full review of the legendary 1966 film when I see it next, now courtesy of this new blu-ray rather than Prime Video streaming. 

What I particularly love about this release is the inclusion of a Quentin Tarantino documentary - almost as long as the main attraction - in which the director sings the praises of Sergio Corbucci and explains elements and inspirations he drew from this work for his own.

On the gaming front, Django (complete with coffin) is available from Wargames Illustrated as one of its 28mm Giants In Miniature figures. Mine is off with Matt the painter at present, but I look forward to sharing him with you in due course.

Django - A Giant In Miniature figure

The blu-ray box set of the first season of Hell on Wheels arrived the other day.

My plan is, once I’ve finished my latest rewatch of Deadwood, to follow that up with Brisco County Jnr then start Hell on Wheels - which I haven’t seen since it first aired on TV.

I'm nearly at the end of Deadwood's second season - taking a break to watch other things when I finish each disc of the collection - so then it'll be the final season followed by the movie.

When it comes to 1993's The Adventures of Brisco County Jnr, the Bruce Campbell-fronted steampunky comedy-western, I'm not even sure I've actually seen the whole 27-episode season of that show before.

I'm looking forward to that as I seem to remember that while it lacks the horror elements there's a distinct Deadlands-style liberty taken with history (kinda giving it a Xena-like feel, but in the Old West).

THROWBACK THURSDAY: My First Work Station

Pictured above is my first "work station" at the Kent & Sussex Courier, in Tunbridge Wells, circa 1985, back when, fresh from school and still wet behind the ears, I began work as a "cub reporter".

Note the typewriter, kiddies. No computers back then. Stories were typed on A5 sheets of paper, with a sheet of carbon paper underneath so a duplicate of your story could be saved in the files (when we remembered to put the carbon paper in the right way round).

The top of each page would have your name and the story name; if there was a picture you marked the first page with the word "pic" and, if it was a submitted picture (rather than one taken by the staff photgraphers) you'd write on the back of it, sometimes on a piece of sticky pink tape if you wanted the picture returned, the name of story it went with.

I seem to recall that the first page of each story was reserved for the first paragraph (the "intro"), then the rest of the story would go on subsequent sheets (usually about three or four paragraphs per page). Every numbered page would end with "cont./", except the last page which was marked "ends".

Tokyo Gore Police (2008)

Simply put, Tokyo Gore Police is quite possibly one of the craziest, most mixed-up movies I've ever enjoyed.

Merrily playing hopscotch along the line between genius and insanity, decorated with more severed limbs than you'd ever want to see and almost certainly the largest volume of free-flowing blood, there is no escaping the "gore" in the film's title.

Set in the near future, with a recently privatised police force controlling the city and freaky cybernetic mutants, known as "engineers", running rampant, Tokyo Gore Police tells the story of Ruka (Eihi Shiina) - the Force's top "engineer hunter".

The katana-wielding cutie is haunted by dreams of the death of her father (also a police officer) and is plagued by a penchant for self-harming.

The movie mixes the body horror of David Cronenberg with the dystopian future and dark humour of Robocop, but just as you think it can't get any more over-the-top it pushes the envelope that bit further like a live-action anime where literally anything is possible.

The engineers have a power which may be scientific or supernatural (but most likely somewhere in between) to transform any wound into a weapon, leading to such mind-hammering creations as phallus cannons and breasts that spray acid.

In pursuit of a particularly methodical serial killer, Ruka, begins to find herself turning into an engineer as she is simultaneously drawn into mystery of her father's murder and the police impose a major crack-down on engineers (and anyone who shows the slightest resistance to their investigations).

There are definitely shades of Buffy The Vampire Slayer in there as well, with an attractive protagonist raised to fight monsters that she discovers she has a dark connection with but as blood-splattered satires go, Tokyo Gore Police is in a class of its own.

Enduring images will be seared into brain - from the police chief's quadriplegic gimp pet to the physically re-sculpted prostitutes in the night club (the human chair is truly disgusting) - but Tokyo Gore Police isn't just about the shocks, at its heart is a solid (if a bit hackneyed) mystery-revenge story that allows the horrific action to evolve around it.

Add in some random TV adverts for self-harming knives, supersharp swords and the Tokyo Police Corporation, and you've got almost two hours of crazy that is quite happy to swing from extreme violence to the poignancy of Ruka surveying the aftermath of a slaughter by her fellow officers.

Be warned though, where Western films might cut away and fade to black, Tokyo Gore Police lingers that bit longer and, yes, the special effects are often quite primitive puppetry but that doesn't make them any the less suggestive. You don't need a multi-million pound CGI budget to get under an audience's skin.

Certainly not for the feint of heart or easily disturbed, Tokyo Gore Police makes Hollywood nonsense shock-horror franchises look like the silly little homemovies they are by not sacrificing plot and character on the altar of excess, using the gore instead to paint a picture that actually tells a story.

Badlands Turns A Predator Into The Protagonist

The director of Prey welcomes you to a world of hurt. Experience Predator: Badlands on the big screen, in cinemas and IMAX November 7.

In the future on a remote planet, a young Predator (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Elle Fanning ) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.

Is it just me, but I'm getting serious Harry Harrison Deathworld vibes from the planet the Predator appears to find himself on? Haven't read those books since I was a teen, but that's where my mind immediately went when I saw this teaser.

Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), the young Yautja

Comic Book Collecting Isn't Just A Hobby, It's A Lifestyle

Latest comic book mail call: a pair of vintage issues of The Mighty Marvel Western

A combination of factors has necessitated constant revisions to my monthly comic book pull-list at Paradox Comics in Poole in recent years.

Not only do I find shelf space increasingly limited (despite dedicating most of the wall space in our office to my comic book collection, coupled with numerous short boxes under the bed and stacks of "to be read" books), but the cost of a single, new, comic book continues to rise while my pool of disposable income shrinks.

Yet while my list of new titles contracts, I can't help myself but seek out vintage back issues, either to fill holes in my collection or latch onto new (to me) titles that I decide I want to collect.

The latest arrival in this category is a pair of 1970's The Mighty Marvel Western (which, in turn, reprinted tales from the '50s and '60s), creating a fresh category on my list of titles to look out for.

There are 46 issues in that title, so that's going to take some work to fill up. But the joy is in the hunt.

Other comic book runs I'm gradually tracking down include Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu (which I'm nearly there on); Blue Devil (I'm only a handful issues away from finishing the original run of this title); and Jonah Hex (which I have a long way to go on).

Jonah Hex #40, from 1980: one of my recent acquisitions

While I collected the modern Jonah Hex run as they were published (well, at least, until he got zapped forward in time - again - to contemporary Gotham City) and the gorgeous Joe Lansdale and Tim Truman horror mini-series from the '90s, I'm currently on the hunt for the Bronze Age books.

I'm aiming for the first volume of Jonah Hex, the 92 issues published between 1977 and 1985, with the idea that I'll then look further back in time and try to collect his appearances in All-Star Western and Weird Western Tales (1972 - 1977).

Ultimately, I can see my pull-list of new titles shrinking down to, primarily:

• Superman Family books, 
• Fantastic Four titles, 
• and Titan's Robert E Howard books (currently Conan The Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan magazine, and my top comic of the year so far Solomon Kane)

Hopefully, there'll be a bit of wiggle-room to still embrace the Justice Society and Justice League, Green Lantern and Daredevil. I'd like to also be able to squeeze some Archie in there too.

Sadly, top indie publisher Mad Cave's excellent books aren't getting distributed over here at the moment (because of the collapse of Diamond), which makes it easier to drop those titles and the first wave of EC horror books are coming to an end soon, so that'll make a convenient point to jump off.

Even though I've loved those books.

This month's Summer of Superman Special

Commemorating Barney The Bunny

This weekend was largely about saying 'goodbye' to our beloved Barney The Bunny, who died on January 29.

He was buried under his run, but I wanted to celebrate his life with a small rockery (rock garden) over his grave.

The first thing Rachel and I did on Saturday was move his metal-framed run, which - after almost six years here - had become quite firmly wedged into the ground.

Then I dug out a 1m by 1m area, about four of five centimetres deep, which we filled with pebbles. A weed-proof membrane (generously supplied by Rachel's parents) was laid over that, then I carefully placed the big stones that would form the core of the rockery.

Rachel then filled in the holes around the main rocks with the plants we had chosen and compost.

Finally a layer of smaller rocks was spread around the area to cover the membrane and fill in any other gaps.

The final job was to place the commemorative reclining rabbit statue, which has sat in my gamesroom for weeks - as it was the first thing I brought for this memorial garden project.

I’m immensely proud of the job we did, as well the planning and shopping beforehand of the rocks, gravel, plants, and statue. 

The only thing left is to get an engraved plaque, and Rachel has her eyes on one on Etsy.

Then, on Easter Sunday, Rachel's parents came round to help us dismantle Barney's old hutch, as well as do some other gardening stuff for us.

Rachel was also planting up the new, large pots which would take the place of the hutch, I helped a bit with some clearing up and Alice mainly demanded treats.

We also put Barney's run on Facebook Marketplace and it sold within three minutes, the buyer coming to collect it about 45 minutes later.

Growing The Western Library With Easter Treats

Magnificent Easter treats from Rachel today

Nothing says Easter more than books about American Civil War battles and a 19th Century cannibal outlaw.

As is "tradition" in our house, rather than exchanging chocolate eggs (we know Rachel's parents will have us covered in that department), Rachel and I get each other small gifts to mark this holiday instead.

Iain MacGregor's U.S. Civil War: Battle by Battle is a beautifully illustrated Osprey book that looks at 30 key engagements from the war, both on land and sea.

It is resplendent with illustrations of uniforms, flags, ships etc as well as the usual high-standard full-page 'action' paintings that Osprey's publications are renowned for.

The Kentucky Cannibal, by Ryan Green, tells the true story of Boone Helm, a murderous mental asylum escapee whose journey to "the West" earned him a reputation for killing and eating adversaries and travelling companions alike. 

I got Rachel a couple of outdoor, solar powered, lamps that she wanted.

The History Channel Turns West This May

America's History Channel is promoting a couple of imminent Western-themed docuseries that are right up my alley, although I have been informed that over here in the UK we're going to have to wait until September to see them both.

Stateside, the eight-part series Kevin Costner's The West begins on May 26, while the two-part Sitting Bull debuts the following day, May 27.