Pants & Mittens enjoying their first experience of snow, as captured by The Woman To Whom I Am Her Husband.

If You Surrendered to the Air, You Could Ride It”, by Amy Sherald, 2019.

Good morning! It’s Sunday January 4th 2026! Another day already? Crikey! Onwards we go. (Dated today in 1986, a mere 40 years ago, 2000AD #451, with its cover by Ian Gibson featuring his and Alan Moore’s Halo Jones.) You be careful out there among them English, Joanne Book.

So that was Saturday January 3rd 2026. Crikey. Another day done, another day (more or less) here. So it goes. (Released this very week in 1952, a mere 74 years ago, EC’s Weird Fantasy #12, with its classic cover by Al Feldstein.) And so to bed. Sleep well, gentle sentients.

Saturday night’s movie: a rewatch of Knives Out: Glass Onion, which is quite fabulous. I liked it before, I adore it now. To be hyper-smart, technically brilliant & unpretentiously popular is a rare business. “It’s a dangerous thing to mistake speaking without thought for speaking the truth”.

“Americans will always fight for liberty”, World War II propaganda by Bernard Perlin, 1943.

The Joker & The Batman, a playing card design by Kevin Maguire, from the early years of this century.

“By Night Train to Scotland - It’s Quicker By Rail", by the great Philip Zec, 1934.

Treebeard with Merry & Pippin, by Alan Lee, a single gorgeous example of his many, many design pieces for Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings movies.

Good morning! It’s Saturday January 3rd 2026! Another day already? Crikey! Onwards we go. (Dated today in 1958, Eagle #9.1, with its epic Dan Dare cover strip by Frank Hampson & his studio.) You be careful out there among them English, Joanne Book.

So that was Friday January 2nd 2026. Crikey. Another day done, another day (more or less) here. So it goes. (Dated this very day in 1954, a mere 72 years ago, The Beano #598, with its cover-strip featuring Biffo The Bear by Dudley D. Watkins.) And so to bed. Sleep well, gentle sentients.

Paolo Rivera’s splendid original cover art for 2009’s Daredevil #506.

We’re having a Knives Out weekend. I know it’ll be a pleasure to see the first two films again. And I’ve every faith that seeing Wake Up Dead Man on Sunday will be a delight too.

There’s no such thing as ‘definitive’ when it comes to book illustrations, of course. But there is inevitably personal taste, and nothing comes close for me to Eric Fraser’s vision of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, as here, from the Folio Society’s edition of The Hobbit.

Paolo Rivera’s splendid original cover art for 2009’s Daredevil #506.

I never met a single person in the Seventies who listened to The Beatles. Their day was just… gone. Much of the music press was sniffy too. They weren’t at all cool. So I’m always resistant to the idea they were The Greatest. Really? But the likes of Hey Jude on the Frost Show always puts me right.

There’s no such thing as ‘definitive’ when it comes to book illustrations, of course. But there is inevitably personal taste, and nothing comes close for me to Eric Fraser’s vision of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, as here, from the Folio Society’s edition of The Hobbit.

Good morning! It’s Friday January 2nd 2026! Another day already? Crikey! Onwards we go. (Dated today in 1982, 2000AD featuring Judge Dredd #245, with its not-at-cheerful Apocalypse War cover by Carlos Ezquerra.) You be careful out there among them English, Joanne Book.

So that was Thursday January 1st 2026. Crikey. Another day done, another day (more or less) here. So it goes. (Out this very month in 1989, a mere 37 years ago, Damage Control #1, with its cover by Ernie Colón.) And so to bed. Sleep well, gentle sentients.

Japanese movie poster for 1979’s “The Warriors”.

A 2016 alt-movie poster for 1982’s Blade Runner by Krzysztof Domaradzki featuring the Nexus-7 replicant Rachael as played by Sean Young.

“New York From Glasgow By The Anchor Line”, by Douglas N. Anderson, c.1910.

A sunny Sunday afternoon, looking down on Whitby Harbour, England, 1974, by Ian Berry.

Good morning! It’s Thursday January 1st 2026! Another year already? Crikey! Onwards ever onwards! (Dated this very month some 40 years ago, 1986’s Captain Britain #13, with its cover featuring Betsy Braddock by Alan Davis.) You be careful out there among them English, Joanne Book.

So that was Wednesday December 31st 2025. Crikey. Another year done, another year (more or less) here. So it goes. Onwards! (Dated this very day in 1966, The Dandy #1310, with its Korky The Cat cover-strip by Charlie Grigg.) And so to bed. Sleep well, rest deeply, you gentle sentients.

So that was Wednesday December 31st 2025. Crikey. Another year done, another year (more or less) here. So it goes. Onwards! (Dated this very day in 1966, The Dandy #1310, with its Korky The Cat cover-strip by Charlie Grigg.) And so to bed. Sleep well, rest deeply, you gentle sentients.

Times Square, New York, jammed with 350,000 roisterers, New Year’s Eve, 1958.

“Brighter London For Winter Sales - Travel By Underground”, by Harold Sandys Williamson, 1924.

I’ve just started to sort out my favourite comics from 2012 & it’s already clear that it was a remarkable year …

It’s time for what’s become my yearly rewatch of Doctor Who: The Husbands Of River Song. Which starts off OKish and, typically, ends with me forcing back tears while feeling improbably happy.

Marcos Martín & Muntsa Vicente’s cover for 2011’s Amazing Spider-Man #657. I do love this. It reminds me of the long-ago days when there were very few Marvel super-people who rarely met & hardly knew each other, if at all. When a few miles from home in NYC could feel like another universe.

Good morning! It’s Wednesday December 31st 2025! Another day already? Another year, almost? Crikey! Onward! (Dated this very day some 48 years ago, 1977’s 2000AD #45, with its cover featuring Dan Dare by Brian Bolland & hands unknown.) You be careful out there among them English, Joanne Book.

So that was Tuesday December 30th 2025. Crikey. Another day done, another day (more or less) here. So it goes. Onwards! (On sale during this very month in 2009, Hellboy: The Bride Of Hell, with its cover by Mike Mignola & Dave Stewart.) And so to bed. Sleep well, rest deeply, you gentle sentients.

I’m constantly surprised and delighted by how insightful & inspiring Ian Leslie’s “John & Paul: A Love Story” is. There’s next to nothing in terms of facts that’s new to me, & the story is SO familiar. But IL’s beautiful writing combined with his emotional intelligence makes for a marvellous read.

Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor facing a trio of fiendish foes, an early-70s publicity shot repurposed as a poster for December 1992’s debut issue of Doctor Who Classic Comics.

The Cuthbert Calculus-designed Moon Rocket, from the Tintin graphic novels Destination Moon & Explorers on the Moon, by Graham Bleathman, from 2024.

I’m constantly surprised and delighted by how insightful & inspiring Ian Leslie’s “John & Paul: A Love Story” is. There’s next to nothing in terms of facts that’s new to me, & the story is SO familiar. But IL’s beautiful writing combined with his emotional intelligence makes for a marvellous read.

It’s the kind of lazy morning where it feels right to be making a pinboard of the things I loved in 1998. Why? Well, whyever not? And now for the music & the books …

Good morning! It’s Tuesday December 30th 2025! Another day already? Crikey! Onward! (Dated this very day some 47 years ago, 1978’s Misty #48, with its beguiling front and back covers by Shirley Bellwood.) You be careful out there among them English, Joanne Book.

So that was Monday December 29th 2025. Crikey. Another day done, another day (more or less) here. So it goes. (On sale during this very month in 1961, Action Comics #285, with its cover by Curt Swan & George Klein featuring Supergirl & Superman.) And so to bed. Sleep well, you gentle sentients.

I’m not trying to be contrary, but we just saw The Hobbit, which neither of us liked back in the day, and we had a rather good time. It’s not that its problems have disappeared. But despite them, the movie’s strengths now seem far more considerable than they did(*) (*Other opinions are available.)

Morgan Weistling art for a 1997 pinball machine based on Paul Verhoeven’s satirical masterpiece “Starship Troopers”.

The magnificent Little Richard, Macon, Georgia, 1952.

Dancer at Oskar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet, Weimar Germany, 1926. Looking quite fabulous.

“Chancery Lane New Station - Opens June 25”, by Charles W. Baker, 1934.

Good morning! It’s Monday December 29th 2025! Another day already? Crikey! Onward! (Out this very month some 39 years ago, 1986’s Detective Comics #572, with its cover featuring Batman & Sherlock Holmes by Michael Wm. Kaluta et al.) You be careful out there among them English, Joanne Book.

So that was Sunday December 28th 2025. Crikey. Another day done, another day (more or less) here. So it goes. Onward ever onwards. (Still on sale some 44 yrs ago, but likely to be in the sales, the Batman Annual 1982, with its Brian Bolland cover.) And so to bed. Sleep well, you gentle sentients.

“Do Not Get Lost - Travel Underground”, by Kathleen Stenning, 1925.

Michael Cho’s delightful cover for 2019’s Batman #1000 featuring the Dark Knight and Robin alongside a legion of Bat-themed co-stars.

Another of Brian Bolland’s fine covers for London’s Time Out magazine, this time for September 23rd 1987’s issue.