Lord Samper's Library

This is old news to everyone else but for me, ‘The Walking Dead’ comic book series finished a couple of days ago and I’m not sure how I feel about that. I mean, don’t get me wrong, every story has to end sometime and no matter what the reason was here (can you tell I’m still a little cynical?), it was clearly time for it all to come to a close. The story had run its course. Having said that though, ‘The Walking Dead’ is a story that I’ve been reading for a long old time now, years in fact. Not just that, it’s a series that has kept me company through some tough times and now it’s not here anymore. Despite the issues that I’ve had with the series as a whole (namely the ‘find shelter, meet this week’s version of the governor, lose someone special and have to either find shelter again or bolster what you have’ approach), I don’t mind admitting that I’m sad to see it go. Oh well, that’s what re-reads are for I guess, that and finding new series to read. Any recommendations? But I’m cle...

If I'm posting about the latest book in a series, I'll usually go back to the last post to remind myself what has already happened and how I felt about it. That was the plan before starting on this post and so I scrolled back, back and back again... It hasn't been that long since I read Volume 30, has it? It has, you know. I read 'New World Order' back in February last year and then nothing since. To be fair, there has been plenty of other stuff happening. But anyway, we're here now and I'm off a mind to polish off Volume 32 in no short order after I have a few things to say about 'The Rotten Core', I'm not leaving it so long before reading the next book (even though everyone has finished 'The Walking Dead' and moved on to whatever is currently cool). So lets go :o) Before we talk about the book itself though, a little lesson in 'try before you buy'... My copy of 'The Rotten Core' was only a pound and I thought, I've...

It's been a long old road (which felt far longer than it had any right to sometimes) but we're finally at the last episode (of Season One anyway...) of 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond'. More on the series, as a whole, in a bit, but for now lets concentrate on the final episode. There was a lot of stuff being built up to so it had better be worth it. Spoiler: It was worth it... Not a bad episode to bow out on and it has set things in motion for a hopefully much better Season Two. Actually, before we get started... I'm going to make a pretty big assumption that you all watched both episodes at once (unlike me) so all bets are off now and I'm naming the traitor and the asset in the paragraph below this one. You've been warned ;o) Everyone has suddenly realised that Huck has been pulling everyone's string and she has now disappeared with Hope. The race is on to rescue Hope then but does Hope actually need rescuing? If our groups can avoid danger along the ...

I didn't realise before but we're looking at a two part finale here, makes sense given everything that happened last week and the fact that the group has split and gone in at least three directions. If I'd thought about it, I'd have given myself a little extra time and watched both episodes at once. The way it went though, I had a great Saturday hanging out with my kids and I wouldn't swap that for a show that has been inconsistent to say the least. There's only two episodes left though so I'm seeing this one through to the end. You'll get my thoughts on 'The Deepest Cut' well, right now and we'll do the last episode tomorrow. Lets get to it. The group has split up and it looks like it's about to split up a little bit more with an injury playing right into our traitor's hands; now they have the 'Asset' all to themselves and their mission is almost complete. Secrets are about to be revealed though but is it too late...? And is...

If you have been following this blog for the last couple of months, you will have seen go from 'Wow, new Walking Dead Show!' to 'This show needs to sort itself out' to 'Okay, that was brilliant' on to 'What? No! Don't slow down again...' It's been a roller coaster ride alright, unfortunately spiralling downwards though... I'm a glutton for punishment though, and zombies, so figured I'd tough it out for the last three episodes. Having said all that though, last week's episode did end with a mystery to be solved. Did Silas really cave Tony's head in or was he just having a quiet drink in the toilet when it all went down? And if he was, why was he covered in blood? And why sneak a drink in the toilet when they're all in a large building with plenty of room to be alone? Okay, that last one was me (who has never boozed it up in a bathroom) but you get where I'm coming from ;o) So I sat down and watched 'The Sky is a Grave...

A little late in the day again but I somehow managed to spend most of the day asleep which was just what this Graeme needed after the last week. It's still Saturday though and that means it's time to take a look at what's happening in 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond' and more importantly, is it actually any good this week...? Because while there have been some good bits here and there, the season as a whole hasn't been up to much at all really, has it? Our intrepid gang of teenagers should be dead ten times over by now but the plot needs them to make it to New York State so make it they will; helped by no end of good luck, adult supervision and now, a truck with a tank full of gas and a map to help them on their way. All of us, on the other side of the screen, can only sit and wish that when the zombie apocalypse comes, it will be as kind to us as it is to them... The destination isn't in sight yet but it has suddenly become a hell of a lot easier to reach ...

I think I read somewhere that this season is going to be ten episodes long; if that's the case then I'm officially halfway through :o) If you've been following my 'World Beyond' posts then you'll know that it's been a strange old road, so far, with consistency being sought but never quite found, at least as far as I can see anyway. I've got my suspicions about why this is, naïve to a fault teenagers and the zombie apocalypse (sorry, the 'empty' apocalypse) just don't go together. Having said that though, 45 year old me clearly isn't the target audience so I'll happily admit that I may well have missed the point entirely. Who knows? All you can do is keep watching and, five episodes in, I'm here for the long haul. And I'm kind of glad that I am. 'Madman Across the Water' might (just might) be the episode where it all comes together and promises good things that the show might just actually deliver... There's still ...

It's a bit late in the day but I was up really late last night, and really early this morning, trying to get work done and I've been playing catch up ever since... Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit easier. I did find some time though to watch the latest episode of 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond', about two o'clock in the morning but never mind. I'm only four episodes in but have passed that strange point you get to when you know that you're going to watch the rest of the season, no matter what happens. At the same time though, I'm constantly feeling that I'm only ever about half an hour from turning the show off, removing it from my watchlist and pretending it never happened. Confused? I certainly am, it feels like there are too many peaks and troughs and that the show is still trying to hit its stride. For every moment where we get a real look at the 'World Beyond', there are several more where our travellers are trying to work out who they...

When we last left the group, Hope was about to face up to some demons by putting herself in danger to help her friends. It's a Friday which means we get to go back and find out what happened next. And... Well, we're still stuck in the middle of a tyre fire and true to form, not a lot actually happens until the last few minutes. This time though, things are a little different; 'The Tyger and the Lamb' ended up being an episode of 'World Beyond' that I wanted to go back and watch again instead of an episode that you feel like you have to get through in the hope that the next episode will work for you. Things are starting to take shape now, I'm not sure that we needed to wait three episodes for it to happen but it feels like we're finally on the move so I'm not going to complain too loudly.. ;o) Two of my big complaints, last week, were that seemed to be very little point to Silas and that the story really takes a hit when the Civic Republic have to m...

Every day, it gets less and less likely that I'll ever bother catching up with either 'The Walking Dead' or 'Fear the Walking Dead'. 'Series Fatigue' will do that to a guy... (I am seriously pondering a comic book series re-read though...) Give me a brand new series and promise that it's going to be a quick one...? I'm interested again. Then tell me it's about teenagers trying to find their father, and themselves, and all of a sudden I'm back to being not so sure... So I thought to myself, instead of going backwards and forwards with this, why don't I just settle down and watch the whole series, see where it takes me? And I had been looking for a show to get into... I'm not bad at knowing whether I'll like a show based on the first episode but as you'll see from my review of 'Brave' , I was left in the same two minds as I started. There was nothing for it then but to watch 'The Blaze of Glory' and see what h...

At the last count, I'm four or five seasons behind on the 'Walking Dead', about three for 'Fear the Walking Dead' and two volumes behind with the comic book series. Out of the three series I've just mentioned, I'm most likely to finish the comic books; the TV shows just went on too long to hold my interest (hell, even 'Game of Thrones' knew when to call it a day) and while there's a slim chance that a series re-watch could happen, I'm really in no hurry at the moment. So, with all that in mind, why am I writing about the first episode of yet another entry in the franchise? Well for one thing, 'World Beyond' only has ten episodes for the first season and rumour has it that it will end after the second season finishes. That sounds like just my kind of story, a definite ending planned and not drawn out at all. No getting bogged down in a story that lasts for years, I can get behind that. The second (obvious) reason is... zombies of cour...