Austerity Reviews of the Year

By Jeremy Briggs on December 24, 2011

It is that time of the year when bloggers think of their favourite books, comics and magazines of the year. However since there can be a lot of overlap in what various people consider to be worth mentioning, and you don’t really want to have to read several long reviews of the same title, we have decided to do something a little different.

In the spirit of austerity Britain, with everyone having to tighten their belts, we have decided to tighten the word count of these reviews until their pips squeak. These reviews are cheap, cheerful and quick to read as their word count is the grand total of 1.

Now that might sound easy but one word to sum up a favourite British book, comic or magazine of the last year or so is more of a challenge that you might think, especially as we have decided that no one can use the same word twice.

So in the spirit of the time of year the team here at downthetubes, John Freeman, Jeremy Briggs, Richard Sheaf and Ian Wheeler, wish you all a Merry Christmas and in the spirit of the recession we present you with, in alphabetical order, our Austerity Reviews Of The Year.

ALAN MOORE: STORYTELLER

Written by Gary Spencer Milliage
Published by Ilex Books
Website: www.ilex-press.com/books/alan-moore-storyteller/

Richard: Moore-ish

THE ASTONISHING SPIDERMAN

Bi-weekly comic
Published by Panini UK
Website: www.paninicomics.co.uk

Ian: Efficacious

BAGGAGE
By writer Robin Etherington and artist Lorenzo Etherington
Published by David Fickling Books
Website: www.davidficklingbooks.co.uk

Jeremy: Manic

THE BEANO
Weekly comic
Published by DC Thomson
Website: www.beano.com

Ian: Legendary

THE BROONS AND OOR WULLIE 75 ANNIVERSARY GIFT BOOK

Published by DC Thomson
Website: www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/Group-View_All_Broons_and_Oor_Wullie_Gifts.aspx

Jeremy: Nice

COMMANDO – 50 YEARS A HOME FOR HEROES

Written by George Low
Published by Carlton
Website: www.carltonbooks.co.uk

Jeremy: Wow
Richard: Essential

COMMANDO

Four issues every two weeks comic
Published by DC Thomson
Website: www.commandocomics.com

Ian: Celebratory
Jeremy: Historic
John: Relentless

THE DANDY

Weekly comic
Published by DC Thomson
Website: www.dandy.com

Ian: Resilient
Jeremy: Cliff-hanging

DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE

Four weekly magazine
Published by Panini UK
Website: www.paninicomics.co.uk

Ian: Expensive
John: Brilliant

DRACULA

Adapted by Jason Cobley with art by Staz Johnson
Published by Classical Comics
Website: www.classicalcomics.com/books/dracula.html

John: Astonishing

EAGLE TIMES

Quarterly magazine
Published by The Eagle Society
Website: www.eagle-times.blogspot.com

Richard: Enduring

HURRICANE AND CHAMPION INDEX

Written by Steve Holland
Published by Bear Alley Books
Website: www.bearalleybooks.blogspot.com/2011/02/hurricane-and-champion-index.html

John: Fascinating
Richard: Necessary

JEFF HAWKE’S COSMOS

Four monthly magazine
Published by the Jeff Hawke Club
Website: www.jeffhawkeclub.com

Richard: Bargain

JOHNNY RED – FALCON’S FIRST FLIGHT

Written by Tom Tully and illustrated by Joe Colquhoun
Published by Titan Books
Website: www.titanbooks.com/johnny-red-falcons-first-flight-3951

Jeremy: Finally
John: Pleased

LONG JOHN SILVER

Written by Xavier Dorison and illustrated by Mathieu Lauffray
Published by Cinebook
Website: www.cinebook.co.uk

Jeremy: Lovely
Richard: (Cinebook in general) Prodigious

MIRABILIS

Written by Dave Morris and illustrated by Leo Hartas
Currently published by Print Media Productions
Website: www.mirabilis-yearofwonders.com

John: Marvellous

MULTIVERSE

Comics news magazine
Published by Hell Freezes Over
Website: www.multiverse-magazine.com/about.html

Richard: Occasional

THE PHOENIX

Weekly comic beginning on 7 January 2012
Published by David Fickling Comics Ltd
Website: www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk

Jeremy: Anticipation
Richard: Newsstand!

SPACESHIP AWAY

Four-monthly magazine
Website: www.spaceshipaway.org.uk/

Richard: Futuristic
Jeremy: Glossy
John: Wonderful

STRIP MAGAZINE

Monthly comic magazine
Website: www.printmediaproductions.com

(As John and Jeremy both work on Strip we will now point out that “other A4 comic magazines are available” and that Ian and Richard were not threatened with being fed to Hook Jaw if they didn’t choose their words carefully!)

John: Exhausting 🙂
Jeremy: Hurrah!
Ian: Promising
Richard: Retro

2000AD

Weekly comic
Published by Rebellion
Website: www.2000adonline.com

John: Ace

TOMORROW REVISITED – THE COMPLETE FRANK HAMPSON STORY

Written by Alastair Crompton
Published by PS Publishing
Website: www.frankhampson-tomorrowrevisited.co.uk

Jeremy: Gorgeous

WULF THE BRITON

Illustrated by Ron Embleton
Published by Book Palace Books
Website: www.bookpalacebooks.com/index.html

Jeremy: Weighty

Jeremy Briggs

News, reviews, interviews and features for print and on-line: Spaceship Away (since October 2005), Bear Alley (since February 2007), downthetubes (since June 2007), and Eagle Times (since October 2008). Plus DC Thomson’s The Art Of Ian Kennedy, Titan’s Dan Dare and Johnny Red reprints, Ilex’s War Comics: A Graphic History and 500 Essential Graphic Novels, and Print Media’s The Iron Moon and Strip magazine.