viz “do you like hitler?” = BDELYGMIA“grebt”, “haf”, “ect ect” ect ect = METAPLASM“fan-feckin-tastic” = TMESIS“yay me” = BOMPHIOLOGIA or VERBORUM BOMBUS if ur betimes a LATIN)
c[…]

I don’t know why I put my RIP Helen Cresswell notice on NYLPM but it allows me to go into more detail here about the BAGTHORPE SAGA. This series of books doesn’t rate much as a ‘cult’ children’s book, there seem to be no[…]

GOTH OPERA by Paul Cornell, featuring the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa… or is it?!
“The age of humanity on this world has come to an end. The long night is starting. The age of the undead is upon us”.
First things first. You’ll be hearing mo[…]

MANAGRA by Stephen Marley, featuring the Fourth Doctor (huzzah!), Sarah Jane Smith and a cast of thousands…
“Europa is invested by ghosts, vampires, werewolves, ghouls and other grotesques spawned from old European folklore. I think we’re in a […]

Racial puppetry in right-wing comics – fascinating and well-researched stuff, right-wing strips (as opposed to editorial cartoons) have never really caught on in the UK so it’s hard to think of an equivalent for this kind of thing. Also j[…]

I’m a big believer in reading the classics – not to educate or better myself or anything like that, but because there is often a good reason for their status, and I’ve enjoyed many of them, found them hugely rewarding.
But there are[…]

One of the persistent awkward issues for writers of superhero comics is getting their top villains out of jail and back into the storylines. Many treat it as if there is no problem, and the villains have just escaped and that’s all there is to […]

In what might be his most daring adventure yet, join boy journalist and his grizzled hairy friend, and Captain Haddock the first stage production of his exciting adventure. At the Young Vic at Christmas.
Rumours that Tom Ewing has been seen muttering[…]

So it’s that time of year again, Open House Weekend is upon us, time to dust off the A-Z and look inside buildings you never knew were there in the first place.
Here are my top five tips for Open House:
1. Think of it as an excuse to see a bi[…]

The shortlist is a bit disheartening. Simple as that. It makes you wonder if the judges really tried with the longlist or actually just went for the names they knew. The presence of the Ishiguro suggests so (it is a terrible book). Of course if we kn[…]