500 Great Comicbook Action Heroes (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Comic book historian Mike Conroy examines the history of comic books through the lens of action heroes of all sorts. Instead of just focusing on superheroes, Conroy provides thorough, albeit brief publishing histories of 500 different protagonists, many of which would be categorized as possessing tenacity, bravery and are superior physical specimens without being super-powered. 

His categories are male heroes, female heroes, teams, science fiction heroes, western heroes, horror and supernatural heroes and heroes that originated from the funny papers or pulps. The male heroes chapter is disproportionately the largest chapter. But considering how male dominated comics have been, it's understandable the amount of attention Mike Conroy bestows to those heroes.

It could be argued that most comic book heroes were granted a female paramour such as Dale Arden to Flash Gordon or Superman's girlfriend Lois Lane. However heroic those characters might be from time to time, don't expect to find any entries on them in the chapter highlighting female heroes. From 2002, don't expect very many anti-heroes to be in this book either. Characters such as Lobo, Harley Quinn and Deadpool are nowhere to be found. In fact, if there is a villain mentioned inside, it's in brief as framing for an action hero's reason for vengeance or ultimately meeting their demise; permanent or temporary. Perhaps those who straddle the line between right and wrong are listed in Conroy's companion piece devoted to 500 Comic Book Villains. 

The author provides encyclopedia-like entries for hundreds of characters. But one should not expect to find 500 of them. I think Conroy counts a lot of the 500 heroes as the brief mentions in articles he devoted to French comic heroes or Marvel's experiments with horror in the 1970s. Being from the U.K., Conroy spends a large portion of this 376 page book discussing British comic book heroes. However, Manga and a few other European heroes who have garnered universal appeal among comic book readers are explored- briefly.

One thing that I didn't bank on was the poor editing. Now I realize that I make my fair share of typos and mistakes in the blog posts I write. But I don't have a professional editor helping me either. Some of it could be explained as this is how a British writer spells words. I have no qualms with that. However, when he says that such-and-such character debited in issue #185 and died in issue #166, something is seriously wrong here. Unfortunately such confusing data happens more than once in this book. As much as I learned a lot about new characters and other series and minis that I might want to collect in the future, if this edition is any indication of what you'd find in Conroy's villain examination, I don't think that I have any desire to pursue obtaining it.

Features a foreword by comic book legend Will Eisner with additional contributions by cover artist John Watson.

Completing this review completes Task #40 (A prose non-fiction book about comic books) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Monster Fun School's Out Special 2022

Yesterday was the last day for students at the school I teach at. So it's only fitting that I read this Monster Fun special devoted to the end of class. Though really this was more about Summer fun than saying goodbye to teachers and textbooks. 

Take away the Steel Commando story and the Leopard From Lime Street which are serials, and thus forgivable to not be topical or even 'seasonal'. Still, only 1 or 2 segments take place at school and they don't involve leaving for Summer. Though that Hell's  Angel story where the diminutive hellion turns the tables on a trio of bullies was pretty funny.

The Hire A Horror story with all the beastly employees on holiday was hilarious. Kid Kong was slapsticky but entertaining. The clone adventure with Frankie Stein was predictable but worth a chuckle or two. I just wish that the artwork was a bit less hideous as a Basil Wolverton doppelganger as a PB and Brains sandwich is pretty nauseating to look at

There was another story that was a one-shot tale and not a regular segment of Monster Fun. 'The Sun' crafted by Juni Ba reveals the secret reason behind Dracula's ability to suddenly be able to exist pain free in the sunlight. It was my favorite story. Maybe if only because the punchline was eerily close to to a story proposal I wrote years ago for a now defunct Indy publisher.

Sadly, this will probably be my last read of a Monster Fun special of any type. This issue was from 2022 and being an import from the UK, it's been really difficult for my favorite comic shops to get a hold of them. Mostly, that's due to the bankruptcy of Diamond Comic Distributors. I'm suspecting our current tariff trade war isn't helping matters much lately.

Maybe I'll get lucky and find a lot of 10 issues for $20 bucks somewhere down the line. I'm always open to reading more of these. It's just nigh impossible to find these in the States anymore.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Monster Fun Easter Special 2022

This Easter special is from 2022. Direct from the UK, because of customs, it came about 3 months after Easter had occurred that year. Then it took me 3 years to remember in time for the holiday that I had this book to read.

Easter comics are pretty rare. I think I can only think of enough to fill one hand worth of fingers. And with exception of 1 book, a Marvel one-shot from the 90s, none of the rest of them involves the death and resurrection of Jesus. But being a fan of holiday comics, I was excited nonetheless for a Springtime treat.

I got halfway through this magazine sized read when I started wondering what was Easter about this book? There was a story about a robot commando, a girl who's special makeup turned her into a monster and Dr. Frankenstein's monster losing yet another brain. Other than the cover that cleverly placed the stars of this book having an egg hunt on Easter Island, there wasn't a single appearance by a bunny was to be had. Tons of cats in a caper involving the felines trying to take over the world. But not 1 fluffy rabbit.

Then at the exact mid point of this issue do we finally get an appearance of the Easter Bunny. It's a funny fable about how a young boy gets to eat all of his family's Easter candy because he defeated the Easter Bunny. (At least that's what he tells his younger sibling.)  Then a temp agency where you hire monsters run by Dracula, decorates for Easter. Lastly, a little demon girl tries to help the Easter Bunny escape from the pits of Hades- to disastrous effect! Throw in a couple more creature capers and you've got about 9 stories with only 3 being holiday themed. 

I don't fault the 'Leopard From Lime Street' story for not taking place during Easter. It's a serial and possibly changing things to fit into the spirit of the season could upset the story flow. One story sees a little vampire girl going on a Spring vacation with her adopted human family. So while not a holiday book, it at least was seasonal.

Look, I get it. Easter isn't an easy holiday to craft stories about. There's only so many ideas involving bunnies and egg hunts you can come up with without getting stale. And very rarely do even Christmas comic books delve into the Christian elements. But  if only a third of your book is even focused on secular Easter festivities, maybe call it a 'Spring Holiday Special' instead.

I like Monster Fun. I think the stories are funny and I enjoy the art. Their Halloween and Christmas books have become must haves for me. I just wish that I wasn't set up for an accidental 3 year wait to fall so flat in terms of the amount of holiday material that I felt I was promised.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Steed and Mrs. Peel #1 (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The quirky spy series The Avengers originally ran from 1961-1969. Contrary to popular beliefs, The Avengers didn't air on the BBC. Instead it was part of the programming for ITV. Also known as Channel 3, the independent free-to-air public broadcasting network had a budget way smaller than the state-run British Broadcasting Channel. So in 1965, American broadcaster ABC bought the series, making the names John Steed and Mrs. Emma Peel household names. The series made actress Diana Rigg a cultural icon. 

After The Avengers ended in 1969, it seemed that the show was doomed to languish in reruns. Surprisingly, the episodes that started Mrs. Peel's replacement Tara King, were lasting hits in France. As a result, champagne manufacturer Laurent-Perrier created an advertising campaign starring Patrick Macnee as John Steed and Linda Thorson as King. 

The success of the campaign brought about interest in a reboot. Macnee returned as Steed in the retooled New Avengers. As Patrick Macnee was pushing 50, The New Avengers featured younger actor Gareth Hunt taking on the more strenuous stunts as trained martial artist Mike Gambit. Playing the role of the beautiful but deadly Purdy was the blonde actress Joanna Lumley, about 2 decades shy of her role as the boozy Patsy Stone on the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.

This 1990 3-issue miniseries takes place in between the events of the original series and the 1976-1978 reboot. Written by Grant Morrison with art by Ian Gibson, the Acme Press/Eclipse Comics published series sees Steed reuniting with Mrs. Peel after it has been revealed that a mole has infiltrated the never named branch of British Intelligence that Steed works for. After a military strategist is murdered and Tara King is incapacitated, Steed turns to the only person he can trust: Emma Peel. 

Mrs. Peel has been spending her time away from the intelligence community with her husband in the South American jungle. An anthropologist, Mr. Steed was presumed dead, which led to Emma becoming an unofficial agent for the British crown. When Mr. Peel was found safe and sound, Mrs. Peel left to reunite with her spouse. In this miniseries, Mr. Peel is alive and well, observing native ritual sacrifices. It's a subject that clearly doesn't hold Emma's interest and she's more than willing to help out her old partner for old times sake.

This series, like other subsequent titles based on the British TV series, are titled Steed and Mrs. Peel. Not The Avengers. That's because in the United States, Marvel Comics owns the naming rights to The Avengers as well as The New Avengers. It's made for a little bit of confusion amongst comic collectors looking for the adventures of John Steed and Mrs Peel in print. Muddling things is the fact that because John Steed and his revolving door of partners debuted on the boob tube and later the silver screen in a 1998 American made film starring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman, the British franchise has naming rights over Marvel when it comes to live action works. Thus, the cinematic adventures of Earth's Mightiest Heroes must be officially titled as Marvel's Avengers. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the first Avengers film goes by the name Marvel Avengers Assemble.

In 2012, Acme/Eclipse's 3 issue miniseries was reprinted as a 6-issue limited series by Boom! Studios before releasing a regular series penned by Mark Waid. Both publications by Boom! were released as Steed and Mrs. Peel.

Completing this review completes Task #21 (Written by an Author From the UK) the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandria Benedict

A young woman is guilted by the final request of her deceased aunt into returning to her childhood home for one more round of Christmas Games. In the past, the Armitage children would solve puzzles during the 12 Days of Christmas in order to find their presents. But after the apparent suicide of her mother, Lily Armitage hasn't participated in the event in years. With the promise of revealing that her mom's death was in fact murder, Lily agrees to play the games one last time with her now adult cousins. The winner of the games gets the family mansion, which has been turned into a lucrative hotel. Lily just wants answers. However, someone is willing to kill off the competition for the home with no regard to helping Lily prove her mother did not commit suicide. Lily very well may have to win the game to not just get the answers she seeks, but to survive the holidays.

This very British holiday murder mystery that promises a number of games, some of which are interactive. One mission is for readers to find passages of the book turned into anagrams of the gifts from The Twelve Days of Christmas. I misunderstood the rules of that game thinking that the phrase 'A partridge in a pear tree' was hidden in Chapter One. So I spent way too much time analyzing every unusual looking sentence. It was getting really tedious going back and forth trying to determine if I was right or not. Once I found out that there wasn't a single line of the song in each chapter, I settled down and just enjoyed the book for the complex thriller it was.

This book is full of characters I liked- most of which died. This book also has a character that I absolutely despised. You'll have to read the book for yourself to determine if they lived or not. I kept going back and forth as to who the murderer was. At one point I thought it might be Lily doing the killing because her thoughts often would be expressed out loud in the next paragraph by one of the other characters. That train of thought got me thinking that maybe the whole thing is in Lily's mind. Alas, I must say, that sort of thinking is a red herring. 

To have a family member die and everybody keeps playing the games seemed a bit far fetched for me. The Armitage family get snowed in on the day of the first murder and of course, the phones go out and personal electronics and WiFi has been forbidden to prevent cheating in the Christmas Games. So I can understand why none of the characters make any attempts to go get the authorities as the nearest town is a long ways away. But I refuse to believe that a family, even as callous as the Armitages, would keep playing frivolous party games as the bodies begin to stack up.  Promise of inheriting an expensive home or not.

As much as I had difficulty with that aspect of the book, I kept on reading. I wanted to know more about these family mysteries that kept piling up. I'm pretty sure not all of them are ever fully uncovered. There's talk of one cousin who did something really bad to make them the black sheep of the family. But it's never fully explored. Another cousin has important things to tell Lily. Only they kick the bucket before saying what they know. Actually, I think this happened twice. 

Until I read this book, I didn't know that there was such a demand for Christmas set murder mysteries. However, it turns out that there are a bunch of such books. As I like a good mystery, I very much might consider making a holiday themed mystery novel a new annual Christmas tradition. (Actually, I read a Sherlock novel last year, so I guess I have already started such a tradition.) As much as this book had some implausible elements to it, this work by Alexandra Benedict did get my attention and it kept it throughout its whole 288 page length. Definitely a guilty pleasure sort of thing full of mind benders, deceits and a healthy dose of anglophilia. A passing knowledge of music theory helps. Though as I'm not very good at reading music or playing instruments, I was at a bit of a disadvantage there.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Monster Fun Halloween Spooktacular

A little unusual background about this UK Halloween special. It was published last October over in England. However, due to whatever reasons, shipping delays, customs, you name it, I didn't buy this book new until later this past spring. That means I've been hanging on to this tabloid sized release for quite some time.

In the spirit of British publications such as Beano, Monster Fun isn't a brand new anthology. Instead, it's a revival of a cult favorite weekly magazine from 1975-76. That book along with this bi-monthly reboot is aimed at readers aged 7-12, containing series devoted to the more macabre, unusual and bizarre comic book characters from across the pond. Most of the stories are humorous franchises. Yet, there are a couple of more dramatic pieces included in this book.

According to the publisher, this special was 48 pages in length. But it felt longer than that and mostly in a good way. The Monster Fun Halloween Spooktacular read to me like a deluxe British version of the Sunday funny pages. About half of the stories were less than 2 pages in length, making for some immediate laughs. Of the remaining segments, I don't think anything was longer than 8 pages.

My favorite segment was probably the Leopard From Lime Street, about a teenager who is granted the mystical powers of the jungle cat when he's attacked by one at the local zoo. It was a legit superhero story with a creepy antagonist and great art. French artist, Laurent Lefeuvre's work is a cross between Francesco Francavilla (Afterlife With Archie) and Derek Charm (Star Wars Adventures). I'm really hoping to find more adventures of this character in the future.

Another favorite was the superhero parody starring the classic duo known as the Birdman, and Chicken and their new partner, the Sparrow. It's All Hallows Eve and the 3 heroes are summoned to save the city from Solomon Grundy of all people! Grundy is a character of folk legend. But wonder if this version is in any way affiliated with DC'S big baddie...

Other enjoyable stories involved a company of monsters trying to compete with the internet in the no-quite-so lucrative jump scare business, a young girl who helps her father save his fledgling studio by putting on an impromptu blockbuster horror picture, and family that goes on a Halloween yard sale for some spooky bargains. (BTW are Halloween yard sales a thing in the UK? Because if so, I am in!)

A lot of the remaining stories were entertaining, just not favs. But there was a story inside that I absolutely hated. Called Sweeney Toddler, The Demon Baby, it's a story about a devil of a toddler with foul intentions and that emirates even more foul odors. The story was one endless diaper joke after another. With it's what I am assuming cockney slang, the yarn was also darn near impossible to understand. I thought that this was a gross parody of the British version of Dennis the Menace that I couldn't wait for to be over. Ironically, the ending was most cerebral thing about the whole thing. Neat twist ending. But not enough to save it in my opinion.

I also really liked the lead story that starred Frankie Stein. Mostly for the amazing array of Easter Eggs that artist John Lucas peppers throughout the short. Speaking of Easter, I recently got a copy of this year's Monster Fun Easter Special and I can't wait until next spring to read it! Mostly because it's extremely rare to score an Easter related comic in the states for some reason...

Lots of British fun. But you'll need to check with your favorite LCS for availability due to the really wonky delayed releasing of this series.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack

On my most recent trip to my local library, I chose this book just because of the great title. Not one to judge a book by its cover, I flipped around a bit and laughed at each cartoon I ran across. So I checked it out. And I was not disappointed!

From the mind of New York Times Magazine's Tom Gauld, You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack is a collection of his work from Britain's The Guardian. The majority of the subject matter is about classic works of literature. I think that would be typical of a British publication. There's not a lot of pop culture references aside from a couple of toons about Harry Potter, which I think is the most modern reference. There's a few about Dracula and Frankenstein. But it's more about the lit versions not the Universal monsters from the movies. 

The jokes might be high brow but the art is primitive. It's the kind of stuff I'd expect to find on those caves in France. Surprising, as it's not what I'd expect from a publication as well regarded as The Guardian. 

Not every joke connected with me. Maybe 1 out of 10 went over my head. But thanks to the laughs, I enjoyed this book and in the end, I felt smarter after completing it. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Beano Annual 2016

The Beano is a legendary weekly comic book from the UK. The book has been going strong since 1938. With over 4000 uninterrupted issues, the big boys from the US such as Superman and Batman can't boast such a feat!

There's about a dozen different characters and segments to The Beano; all of which occupy a shared universe in the little hamlet of Beanotown. My favorite were the Bash Street Kids, General Jumbo and Dennis the Menace. 

The Bash Street Kids are a bunch of school kids who are rather undisciplined. For some reason, their antics reminded me of a lower-income version of the students from American TV's Head of the Class.

General Jumbo is a young boy who creates these amazing automated war toys that he used to fight crime and solve mysteries. It's the only drama in the entire book.

Then there is Dennis the Menace. No, it's not the tow-haired moppet who terrorizes his next door neighbor, Mr. Wilson. This raven-haired fellow is quite the little demon who literally has sent his pop to the funny farm on more than one occasion.  Oddly enough while neither Hank Ketchum's American creation nor Beano's Dennis have anything to do with each other, the two Menaces debuted within a week of each other on both sides of the Atlantic!

There were a couple of segments that I wasn't such a fan of. There's this one recurring spot called 'Know Your Squelchies.' A Squelchie is a pile of goo that comes in varieties ranging from farm cow to Dalek. Some of these guys are funny. But for the most part, I don't think I am getting the joke. 

There was another segment called 'Les Pretend.' Here a young boy dresses up like his mother and tries to woo his father for some weird favor. Again, maybe I didn't get the joke of this one. But it sure did make me feel uncomfortable reading it. 

Oh--- I forgot Bananaman! This one was awesome. A young boy becomes a superhero from eating the iconic yellow fruit. This parody of Superman and Batman and others was rather funny! I had a chance to grab a couple of Bananaman graphic novels along with this and I passed them over! I really regret that now! I really wanted more of him!

This hardcover annual was also filled with fun and games perfect for young readers. Though with the British slang, some American youngsters might not understand everything that was going on here. I would have been in the same boat if not for years of watching British sci-fi and comedy!

Well, I finally got a chance to read a Beano. I liked it. But that doesn't mean that I need to find more for my collection. Okay- Bananaman! I want more of the Man of Peel!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who: Hunters of the Burning Stone (Doctor Who Graphic Novels Volume 17)

  Hunters of the Burning Stone collects a trio of comics from Doctor Who Magazine starring the Eleventh Doctor. 

   The first story has the Doctor, Amy, and Rory on a tour of the Doctor's 1,000 Favorite Places To Visit. He means to take the Ponds to modern day Prague but winds up behind the Iron Curtain prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain. Things couldn't a more dangerous turn as Rory ends up kidnapped by Soviet agents and Doctor reveals that history could be altered as the fall of the Berlin Wall isn't a fixed point in time.

   Then take a look at a holiday adventure from Amy and Rory's childhood. It's a fun adventure filled with the dastardly Krampus, some evil elves, and a mysterious schoolgirl named Mels! Don't skip the last page of this story it is is such a beautiful goodbye to the Ponds after the events of 'The Angels Take Manhattan.'

   Lastly, the Doctor is reunited with his very first companions, schoolteachers Ian and Barbara. It's DWM's take on the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who and it was a surprise filled journey full of Easter Eggs, cameos, and much more. 

   These are the rarest of the Doctor Who comics to find. Published from the British publisher Panini Press, unless you find a comic book store willing to carry these imports, you have to either go on Amazon and hope the price is right or you get lucky like I did and find it at a used book store for a decent price. 

   Though all three of these stories are stand alone reads, they all continue a storyline that starts in the companion piece The Chains of Olympus. I do feel like maybe I should have waited until I found that book and read that one first- but it's British Who comics and like a kid at Christmas, I couldn't wait to tear into this this. I was a bit lost at times but this was worth it!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Sherlock Holmes #1

This is one of those comics in which if it wasn't for the group's I participate in on Facebook, I wouldn't have known that it existed. When I saw this posted as a comic convention find by a fellow group member, I was so jealous. I immediately went to the net to purchase a copy for myself. Needless to say, it wasn't cheap. So, I held off on getting the book and I waited.

  My wait wasn't very long as I found a decent good- to- very good copy for only a buck! I'm pretty sure I yelled out “MINE!”, even though I was the only customer in the store at the time. That's how bad I wanted this issue.

  This issue, dated October 1975, is based on the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by Dennis O’ Neil, who at the time of publication was doing masterful mystery work on various Batman series. So he was the perfect choice to head this up. The gothic style cover art is by superstar artist Walt Simonson (Thor) with interiors by Filipino artist E.R. Cruz. I'm not very familiar with Cruz and what little I could find about him could fill a postage stamp. But he did do some work on a variety of DC'S lesser known horror titles and his work here is really good.

  Sherlock Holmes #1 is divided into two parts. Part one retells Doyle's ‘The Final Problem’ in what was to be the last ever story between Holmes and his arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty. I've read the story on which this part was based and the adaptation was quite good.

 Part two covers a story that I have yet to read in prose form, ‘ The Adventure of the Empty House.’ That story marked Holme’s return after a brief hiatus in which fans of the detective went bonkers and demanded that Doyle resurrect his most famous creation. To rate the story on its merits alone, the solution to how Holmes survived his encounter with Moriarty was OK. But his reasons for faking his own death were actually quite brilliant.

  The biggest surprise about this issue is that not only is it the first issue, it's the only issue. I'm not sure why it didn't catch on with readers. And no this wasn't a one-shot as there's a plug for issue #2 at the end of the book. And no- this title wasn't a victim of the DC implosion as that didn't occur until 1978. (Speaking of book endings, there is a great article about Sherlock Holmes in fiction and film at issue's end that was really interesting. Be sure not to skip it!)

 A fun read that is best read at night. A must for fans and collectors that consider themselves a member of the Baker Street Irregulars.

  Worth Consuming.

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

   

Doctor Who: Nemesis of the Daleks (Volume 15)

  

 Abslom Daak: the Dalek Killer. The only man in the known galaxy who chose the death penalty over saying 'Sorry.' He's also the only other person that brings fear into the hearts of the Dalek race other than the Doctor. 

 (Madman Fun-Fact: Until last season's episode 'Time Heist', Abslom Daak was just a character in the comic books. But when his face popped up on a screen of known criminals at large on a data screen- he joined Doctor Who Canon. Read the stories that inspired that little Easter Egg in this edition: Nemesis of the Daleks.) 

   In this collection, the Dalek Killer meets the Doctor for the first time in an adventure filled with carnage, excitement, and lots of tiny tanks yelling 'EXTERMINATE!' Accompanying this multi-part story is Daak's origin along with an epic adventure in which Daak rounds up his team of Dalek-killing mercenaries.

    Along with the Daak stories are about a dozen Seventh Doctor adventures which range from deadly serious to down right goofy. There was maybe only one or two stories that I didn't like but as a whole, there were tons of time-travelling/ mind-bending plot twists that Doctor Who is known for. 

   Another awesome addition to this anthology was a couple of backup features. One segment is arranged like they were data files printed from the TARDIS or UNIT. The second feature is a director's cut style commentary behind all of the stories in this volume. Both were very entertaining and informative about the creative process of British comics.

   Featuring art and scripts by Richard Starkings (Elephantmen), John Tomlinson (John Constantine: Hellblazer) and others, Nemesis of the Daleks was an enjoyable read. It was also very British. To my knowledge, all of the stories in the collection have never seen print in the States before (except for a couple that appeared in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine.) Most appeared in a weekly Hulk comic or an anthology of Marvel licenses based on TV shows like GI Joe. 

   Published by Panini UK LTD, the same company that put out those collectible sticker albums when we were kids, volumes like this can be found in the US but they are hard to come by. I found mine copy at a used bookstore. It is only the second such volumes I've ever found in about 10 years of searching. But Amazon has just about the entire run of Doctor Who British reprints featuring your favorite incarnations of Timelord, available for about $15-$20 each.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
  

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

   Folks, it's actually NOT odd that I read a novel. I've read tons. It's just that after a long day working in a hot kitchen, I like to unwind with my favorite hobby- reading and collecting comic books. But when the legendary author Terry Pratchett recently passed after losing his long battle with degenerative brain disease, I felt it was time to take another trip to Discworld in his honor.

   Discworld is a flat planet that rests on the backs of 4 elephants who in turn rest on the shell of a giant turtle who floats through outer space. It's residents are an odd collection of witches, wizards, guardsmen, con artists, and even Death himself. Pratchett's stories are massive and my only flaw with this accomplished satirist is that he will often paint himself into a corner and rush to end his books with a random supernatural event that has little to do with the actual plot or fool the reader with an elaborate rouse.

  But Pratchett is a master at writing biting satirical dialogue. No topic is safe as he's skewered everything from religion to Santa and beyond. Often it's what's unsaid that is just as funny as the things the author makes his creations say. This book is a definitive reflection of that unique writing style.

   In Monstrous Regiment, young Polly is on the hunt for her missing brother who joined the Borogravia army a year prior and hasn't been heard from since. After cutting her hair, learning to walk with a swagger, and arming herself with a few choice swears and a strategic pair of socks, Polly Perks, barmaid becomes Ozzer Perks, corporal. But she might not be the only new recruit to the Borogravian army with a secret. Only time and the war corresponding Ankh-Morpork Times will tell of those skeletons in the unit's army.

   Featuring some great cameos from Death, and members of the Night Watch, including Sam Vimes, this volume was one of the better Discworld titles. I love all of the books in this series, but this volume had a really good ending to it and that's one reason I rate it as superior. My only regret is that Pratchett passed away too soon to see more Polly stories in the future. I think she is a character with a full rich story that's not finished yet. Sadly, the scribe of Discworld is now silent.

    Worth Consuming and yes- I plan on reading some more Discworld novels in the very near future thanks in a very large part to this awesome volume.

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.