Lord Samper's Library

  Page Count: 112 Pages My eldest daughter had a friend over, yesterday afternoon, and that was my cue to take my youngest daughter into town for Frappucino’s and a spot of shopping, Really, it was meant to be about picking some bits and pieces up for my youngest but… There is a Waterstones bang in the middle of two places that we were headed to, I’d won some money on a scratch card and… There was a copy of ‘Predator Versus Spiderman’ on the shelf. I’ve always had a soft spot for the ‘Predator’ movies (the franchise is a hell of a lot more consistent that the ‘Alien’ series), even more so since I introduced them to my eldest. These days then, I’m a little more willing to give other media a go so, here we are… Marvel's greatest hero faces off against the galaxy's greatest hunter in Benjamin Percy's grittiest PREDATOR series yet! In PREDATOR VS. WOLVERINE, we saw a single Predator stalk the killing machine Wolverine. In PREDATOR VS. BLACK PANTHER, Yautja invaded Wakanda and n...

  Page Count: 136 Pages How cool would it be if I could have coloured the word ‘Blood’ in red…? Yep, I’m looking at ten days with no work and I’m feeling just how you’d expect at the prospect of not doing an awful lot ;o) Anyway… I may well be fifty now but I’m still not above doing things like promising myself a new comic book if I made it through last week’s MRI scan without freaking out. Look, I know how I work and what the pressure points are ;o) I made it through the scan (just waiting on the results, I don’t think there’ll be anything to worry about though) so the next time I found myself near a Waterstones, I had the ideal reason to go in and not come out until I’d bought something. I always enjoy the ‘Alien’ movies but while I’ve got a few of the books on my shelves, I’ve always shied away from them as I can’t help but wonder… How many times can you tell what is essentially the same story? And again, don’t get me wrong (love the movies) but the whole point of the Aliens is ...

If I'm not sleeping today (or seeing if my stomach will accept food, fingers crossed...), the plan is to get all comfy and try and finish a book or two. Brian Keene's 'Island of the Dead' is the priority read but I'm also looking to polish off Charlotte Bond's 'The Fireborne Blade' as well. Wish me luck ;o) While I'm doing that then, you lucky folks can have the final trailer for 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' . Well, they say it's the 'Final Trailer' but don't bet against seeing a 'Final, Final Trailer' before the film is released next month ;o) I've never really read the comics but I love the Silver Surfer so I will probably make an effort to catch this one in the cinema... What do you reckon?

The more I hear about this movie, the more I'm growing to like the sound of it... :o)   I really liked how 'low-tec' and 'non-superpowered' 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' was and Bob notwithstanding, 'Thunderbolts' looks like it could be a little more of the same. I'm up for that. 'Thunderbolts' will be released in March next year and I'm really hoping that Lewisham gets its act together and sorts out a cinema by then, fingers crossed...

Thanks for bearing with me :o) I had a 'thing' carried out in hospital on Thursday and I was a little out of it on the Friday, certainly not in a fit state for writing anything and leaving it online ;o) I'm a bit more with it today so here I am. Sorry for the deliberate vagueness by the way, you don't need the details, I'm ok though. Anyway, enough of that. It's Saturday and now the Fentanyl is out of my system (they gave me a dose on Thursday and damn, that came back to bite me on the Friday...) I'm planning on getting some reading done ahead of my kids coming over on Sunday. While I do that, I thought I'd share this trailer I found yesterday. I'll be honest, it looks like fun but maybe isn't quite enough to get me to take up a Disney+ subscription again. I don't know... I loved 'Deadpool and Wolverine' but I'm still a little burnt out on the rest of it. It looks cool but I'm going to wait for some reviews first. In the meant...

I'm not even sure who some of these people are (that's what happens when you cancel your Disney+ subscription and fall behind with the MCU films) but it looks pretty cool nonetheless so... I'm in :o) 'Thunderbolts' will be in cinemas, May next year. (Left to Right: Big Russian guy from the 'Black Widow' movie, Not a clue, Winter Soldier, Black Widows little sister (?) and US Agent. That's two out of five, could do better...)

‘Cimmerian September’ has got me over another ‘reading slump’; I’m really excited to see what I can read this month as far as ‘Conan’ tales go. The plan is to write about at least a couple of Howard’s original tales but I’ve also been having fun just looking through my bookshelves to see which books I’d forgotten that I owned. Any excuse for a ‘bookshelf browse’ and a re-read ;o) All of which led me to Conan’s team-up with one Elric of Melnibone… Conan first met Elric back in #14 ( A Sword Called Stormbringer ) of ‘Conan the Barbarian’ back in 1972. It was a short-lived team-up, concluding in #15 ( The Green Empress of Melnibone ) and then they both went on their merry (well, ‘doom-laden’ in the case of Elric) ways. Moorcock, and James Cawthorn, supplied the plot; Roy Thomas and Barry Smith adapted it. I first came across the story in the early 2000s, working in a psychiatric hospital where one of the patients had an extensive collection of Moorcock books. It took me a little while lon...

Next to my bed is this massive pile of comic books that I've been meaning to read for a long time but, as will be no surprise to you, I somehow haven't managed to get round to. You know how it is etc etc... ;o) This year then, I decided to make a conscious effort to finally pick up some of those books and get stuck in. This makes it even funnier then (to me, anyway) that I'm starting off proceedings with a book that never even got to sit on that pile, not once. I enjoyed reading 'Weirdworld' back in November and hearing that there was a sequel, grabbed a copy off Amazon. And that's when the postal strike kicked in... By the time it arrived, the other day, I'd pretty much forgotten that I'd ordered it but didn't hang around too long before (finally) cracking it open and getting stuck in... Becca has found herself on Weirdworld and has only one mission, get home alive. But will her new gig as apprentice to Goleta the Wizardslayer aid that quest, or ...

I've been going through a little 'MCU Burnout' recently (there's just much of it now and it's everywhere ...) but I've always had a soft spot for Ant-Man and 'Quantumania' looks like it could be fun so maybe it's time to dip my toe back in again... ;o) Plus, is that M.O.D.O.K? Please let it be M.O.D.O.K! 'Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania' is out in February so, not long to wait...

Just a very quick one today as it’s been another crazy day and there’s still a whole load of work to get through before I can go to bed. Too much to do and not quite enough Graeme to do it all… But anyway 😊 I first came across ‘Weirdworld’ years ago, when I was hiding out in ‘Time Trek’ (a lovely little comic in Bromley which is sadly long gone now), trying not to have to go back to an office that I hated. As much as I love Marvel, I’m always a little wary about jumping into their series as it always seems to rely on a knowledge of continuity that I just don’t have. ‘WeirdWorld’ was a first issue though and the cover suggested that I’d be in for a story unlike the regular Marvel fare. So I did what I always do… I picked it up, enjoyed the hell out of it, promised myself that I’d keep an eye open for the following issues and… completely forgot about it. To be fair, there were a lot of other things happening then and forgetting a comic book was so easily done. But again, anyway… 😉 ...

I don’t think you’ll be too surprised to find out that this week hasn’t been a good week for reading. Hmmm… what gave it away? 😉 I’ve managed to read a few bits but not anywhere near as much as I would have liked (given the number of books that are still left over after the ‘Big Cull’ the other day). A whole load of stuff, that you probably won’t be that interested in, all combined to keep me away from getting any serious reading done. Oh well, I’ll keep on chipping away at the pile 😊 One of the books that I did manage to read though was ‘King Conan’, the first issue of which I read back in February and true to form, totally forgot to carry on reading. Oh well, that’s what the trades are for 😉 I picked a copy up last week but only got round to reading it this week. I don’t know how many more ‘Conan’ books we will see from Marvel, given that the licence is reverting, but if   ‘King Conan’ is the last book we see, it could well be just the book for Marvel to bow out on, given t...

With everything that’s going on at the moment (up to and including making sure that the kitten and the rabbit remain on good terms, it seems to be working at the moment), I find myself forgetting to post all sorts of stuff here. And that includes my TV watching, two shows of which ended last week. You know the ones, most of Twitter was banging on about them last week and like someone who has finally worked up the nerve to go to that party (only to find that it’s been over for almost a week…), well.. Here I am 😊 I’ve got a few other bits and pieces to get done tonight so quick thoughts on ‘She-Hulk’ and ‘The Rings of Power’ are the order of the day once again. Not just that, everyone has said all the cool stuff about these shows already so I’m going to try and see if I can do this without repeating myself too much. Here goes… ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ 8. Ribbit and Rip it. 9. Whose Show is This? Two episodes left and two things to cover before the series ended… Daredevi...

Today is shaping up to be one of those days, I can see it coming on the horizon like a, I don't know... Add your own ominous adjective of choice ;o) It's nothing too major (fingers crossed) but it is going to be one of the days where I have to shut everything else out and get stuff done, hence this post right now. I'm having a little trouble getting my head round writing book posts, at the moment, so now is the best time to catch up on some of the TV I've been into these last few days. And no, I still haven't managed to watch 'The Sword and the Sorcerer' yet, I'm working on it though. Lets take a quick look at what I have been able to watch then. A couple of familiar shows and a movie that I wasn't planning on checking out but am pretty glad that I did... 'Kill Command' (2016) Set in the near future, an elite squad of highly trained marines are sent on a not so routine training mission to a remote island, home to advanced military robots that...

Well, the plan was to read 'Zombie' first but I did a little digging, on the blog, and found that I'd actually reviewed it already, albeit a couple of years ago. Look, it's been a funny couple of years, you'll understand that I can't remember everything; that's half the reason I'm blogging in the first place ;o) If you want to read that post, it's over Here , we'll wait until you get back... You're back? Great :o) Like I said the other day, I've been waiting for a reasonably priced copy of this book for a long time now and when I finally found it... It didn't take long before I was deep into the next instalment of walking dead man Simon Garth... On one side: An honest cop just living his life day by day and an innocent women lost high in the mountains. On the other: An ever growing horde of the flesh-starved undead, an angry husband and a murderous pair of mountain men. And the only person who can tip the balance is dead. Will Simo...

The plan was to get some reading done last night but then I realised that I'd be missing out on 'She-Hulk' and 'The Rings of Power' and that pretty much made my mind up. Last night was a 'catching up with telly' night; maybe, just maybe, I'll get some reading done over the weekend. Lets see... In the meantime then, lets talk a little but about my two favourite shows of the moment (actually, the only two shows that I'm watching... anyone have any recommendations?) 'She-Hulk, Attorney at Law' – Episode 6, 'Just Jen' Don't you do it 'She-Hulk... Don't you go and get me all excited for a Daredevil appearance and then make this episode all about a wedding... Oh, you just did. Dammit. Actually, it wasn't that bad. I just really wanted to see Daredevil ;o) If we're going to go with the whole 'ordinary things happening to extraordinary', then this is the kind of thing that we're just going to have to get use...

Friday ended up being a good moment to catch up on the TV that I'd been meaning to watch; a little bit of food poisoning left me in no fit state to do much else. I'm good now though ;o) I've been enjoying the hell out of 'She-Hulk' and 'The Rings of Power' so I was looking forward to a couple of hours of quality television (that and my kids are massively into 'The Big Bang Theory' at the moment, I just want to watch anything else...) Just quick thoughts today as I've got a few other bits and pieces that I need to get done (including making a start on some of my birthday books). Here goes... 'She-Hulk, Attorney at Law' – Episodes 4 & 5 4. 'Is this not real magic?' She-Hulk's new client Wong is suing a magician for unauthorised use of the Mystic Arts. 5. 'Mean, Green and straight poured into these jeans...' She-Hulk discovers that Titania owns the name 'She-Hulk' and is suing her for trademark infringem...

It was a busy one, at work today, and so what I was after this evening was something fun on the telly, something with a few laughs in it so I could decompress a little. Talk about timing... I remembered there was a new episode of 'She-Hulk' and that was me sorted; I feel a lot happier now :o) This is going to be another short post because 'She-Hulk' episodes are pretty short aren't they ?Well, not counting the obligatory seven minutes of credits that is, although you can fast forward through these. Pretty short then but a hell of a lot of fun at the same time, let me tell you about it. There will more than likely be spoilers though so bear that in mind before you carry on. Still here? Great, lets go. If you're really not sure what's happening, the clue is in the title this week as Emil Blonsky has his day in court along with... Wong? I love the way that all of a sudden, the MCU has suddenly decided that now there's legal representation for super powere...

Didn't I only do one these the other day? More like the day before yesterday... That's what comes of letting things getting away from me and then having to play a little catch up. Oh well, that's the way it goes ;o) Having see the first episode of 'She-Hulk', I was pretty determined not to let this series slide (I promise I will get round to watching you 'Ms. Marvel', promise...) so took advantage of some free-time to watch episode 2 last night. And I will get into that but before I do... Is it time for a little mini-rant about the end credits? Why, I do believe that it is :o) End credits are important, just to acknowledge the hard work that everyone does, but seven solid minutes of credits (I'm not forgetting the end credits scene but there's hardly any of that) after only twenty three minutes of 'She-Hulk'...? I don't know about you but I would rather have the credits run a little faster and send a few extra minutes back into 'S...

Because it's been a little while hasn't it? It has, we're talking May and finishing off 'Moon Knight'... What happened? Well, 'Ms. Marvel' popped up during a heavy period of work and turned out that it wasn't what I needed to switch off and relax.. I've heard a lot of good things about it though so wil give it another go (I only made it through about an episode and a half, maybe two, before putting it to one side). And as far as the movies go... Well, I think I've become that person who is happy to wait until it all hits Disney+ rather than catch it at the cinema. I also feel like middle age is hitting me pretty damn hard (especially in that last sentence) but that's another story. Anyway... I've had a little free time, in the evenings, just recently so decided that now would be as good a time as any to catch up on a couple of bits (otherwise it will be just like me and the comics, I'll never get caught up). Have some quick thoughts ...

I'll be honest... I'm paying for not getting much work done last week (I was studying but even so, it's time to make all those hours back) which has left me working today and with absolutely nothing to post here. At least that's what I thought until I saw the 'Wakanda Forever' and 'She-Hulk' trailers... So, apologies for the 'cheat post' but these trailers look awesome (although they also remind me how much 'Marvel Stuff' I still need to catch up on but anyway...) Did I feel a little bit sad watching this trailer? Sure did :o( Won't stop me from watching it though, looks like it's going to be another good one. Two things... First up, who was Jennifer talking to offscreen? Is there a fourth wall thing happening here? And secondly... Daredevil? I can't wait to watch this show :o) Look out for it in August. And now, back to all the work that built up last week... :o(