27 Jun 2020

The end of the PCG...?

Matt C
: We've come a long way since the very first post appeared here back on 2nd November 2007, and we've written thousands of words on comics, comic book movies, comic conventions and more since then. We were the Paradox Comics Group to begin with, we abbreviated to the far more catchy PCG along the way, and here we are, twelve and a half years later, ready to say... goodbye?

We'll leave that unanswered until we get a few things out of the way. Or at least, until I've had the chance to say some things.

I started this blog with several aims: to promote Paradox Comics, to provide a wider platform for the members of our 'reading group' to wax lyrical about comics and to give me a creative outlet so I felt I was contributing something to the wider conversation about the medium. And, as this is essentially an extension of a hobby (it's not a paying gig!), it's often been a struggle to keep content coming on a weekly basis but, somehow, thanks to the support of my friends and colleagues, we've managed it.

The PCG has been witness to a lot in the last twelve plus years. The New 52. Marvel Now. The rise of creator-owned work, particularly from Image Comics. The birth and incredible success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The mainstream popularity of comic book properties, from the aforementioned MCU to The Walking Dead and beyond. Comixology's emergence, and the success of digital comics. The passings of such creative titans as Darwyn Cooke, Len Wein and the legendary Stan Lee. We've visited numerous conventions, from the sorely missed Bristol Comics Expo to Thought Bubble to the wonderful Melksham Comic Con. We've followed the careers of some breakout creators, now top tier talents, like Jonathan Hickman, Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire. Oh, and we also bore witness to our beloved Paradox Comics hosting various Free Comic Book Days, providing us with endless comic book delights and moving premises, the indomitable Andy Hine constantly working hard to keep us supplied with our weekly comic book fix. Basically, we've seen a lot, and we've done our best to pass on our thoughts and enthusiasms to our readers, many who've stuck with us from the beginning.

I couldn't (and wouldn't) have started all this without the green light from Andy, so I'm eternally grateful that he allowed my ramblings to be associated with his shop. But this was never intended as a solo venture, and I had plenty of help along the way, so a big thank you to the following excellent people: James Randall, Rob Nott, Stewart Ryder, Matt Tuffin, Dan Henry, Jo Sibley, Kenny Jeffrey, Simon McLean, Andrew 'The Butcher' Butcher, Tom Pike, Mike Smith, Billy Proctor, Mike Vincent, Ian & James Utley, Ann Luce, and, more recently,  my sons Harvey and George (who were barely twinkles in my eye when the first post was published in November 2007!).

And now, in 2020, with the world sort of turned upside down, it feels like as good a time as any to say that we've done the weekly review thing now, we've done the comic book movie reviewing thing now... it's time to move on.

But no, it's not goodbye. Because we're moving to www.thepcg.uk!

Yes, we're still going to be writing, but having written about just comics for so many years, and considering our shared interests are far broader than that, we're going to be covering not only comics but films, TV, books and more. Maybe not to the same kind of routine schedule but hopefully with some reignited passion for things we love.

When will this new site go live? It already is! Click there now to see the start of something new and check back with us for lots of great articles in the future. This site will remain (we've invested too much time to close the doors permanently) but this is likely to be the last new post you see here.

So a very brief goodbye and we'll see you on the other side very soon...

23 Jun 2020

Comic Book Arrivals 26 June 2020

The following comics and graphic novels will be on sale at Paradox Comics from 26 June 2020.
DC COMICS:
Aquaman #60 £3.45
Aquaman Giant #4 £4.25
Batgirl #46 £3.45
Batman #93 £3.45
Batman and the Outsiders #13 £3.45
Batman Beyond #44 £3.45
Batman: The Smile Killer #1 £5.15
Books of Magic #20 £3.45
Catwoman #22 £3.45
Catwoman: 80th Anniversary 100 Page Spec £8.40
Daphne Byrne #5 (of 6) £3.45
Dark Nights: Death Metal #1 (of 6) £4.25
Detective Comics #475 Facsimile Edition £3.45
Dollar Comics: Batman #13 (2013) £1.00
Dollar Comics: Green Lantern #1 (2011) £1.00
Flash #754 £3.45
Flash #755 £3.45
Flash #756 £3.45
Flash Annual #3 £4.25
Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100 pg Spec £8.40
Green Lantern: Season Two #4 (of 12) £3.45
Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey #2 (of 4) £5.15
Hawkman #24 £3.45
John Constantine: Hellblazer #7 £3.45
Justice League #47 £3.45
Justice League Dark #23 £3.45
Low Low Woods #6 (of 6) £3.45
Metal Men #7 (of 12) £3.45
Nightwing Annual #3 £4.25
Plunge #4 (of 6) £3.45
Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage #3 (of 4) £5.90
Red Hood: Outlaw #46 £3.45
Strange Adventures #2 (of 12) £4.25
Suicide Squad #6 £3.45
Superman #22 £3.45
Supermans Pal Jimmy Olsen #11 (of 12) £3.45
Teen Titans #42 £3.45
Wonder Woman #757 £3.45
Wonder Woman: Dead Earth #3 (of 4) £5.90
Young Justice #15 £3.45

IMAGE:
Birthright #44 £3.45
Dead Body Road: Bad Blood #1 (of 6) £3.45
Die #11 £3.45
Family Tree #6 £3.45
Gideon Falls #22 £3.45
Hardcore Reloaded #5 (of 5) £3.45
Heart Attack #6 £3.45
Ludocrats #2 (of 5) £3.45
Middlewest #17 £3.45
Mirka Andolfo: Mercy #3 (of 6) £3.45
Monstress #28 £3.45
Moonshine #18 £3.45
Nomen Omen #6 (of 15) £3.45
Outer Darkness / Chew #3 (of 3) £3.45
Redneck #27 £3.45
Savage Dragon #249 £3.45
Sex Criminals #29 £3.45
Spawn #307 £2.60
Tartarus #3 £3.45
That Texas Blood #1 £3.45

MARVEL:
2020: Rescue #2 (of 2) £3.45
Captain America: Marvel Snapshots £4.25
Empyre: Avengers #0 £4.25
Immortal Hulk #34 £3.45
Iron Man 2020 #4 (of 6) £4.25
Spider-Ham #5 (of 5) £3.45
Thor #5 £3.45

MORE:
2000AD #2180 £2.99
2000AD #2181 £2.99
A Man Among Ye #1 £3.45
Angel & Spike #11 £3.45
Dark Ark: After the Flood #4 £3.45
Death to Army of Darkness #3 £3.45
Dying is Easy #5 (of 5) £4.25
Firefly #16 £3.45
George RR Martin: A Clash of Kings #4 £3.45
GI Joe: A Real American Hero #272 £3.45
Gung Ho #5 £3.45
Hotell #2 (of 4) £3.45
Lady Zorro #1 £3.45
Man Who Effed up Time #3 £3.45
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #50 (Foil) £5.15
Mirka Andolfo: Unsacred #6 £3.45
Old Haunts #1 £3.45
Once & Future #8 £3.45
Power Rangers / TMNT #5 £3.45
Red Agent: Island of Dr Moreau #5 (of 5) £3.45
Red Border #2 (of 4) £3.45
Red Sonja: Age of Chaos #4 £3.45
Resistance #2 (of 6) £3.45
Sleeping Beauties #1 (of 10) £3.45
Sonic the Hedgehog #28 £3.45
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #105 £3.45
TMNT: Jennika #3 (of 3) £4.25
Transformers #20 £3.45
Transformers vs. Terminator #2 (of 4) £4.25
Vamperonica: New Blood #4 (of 4) £3.45
Wicked Things #2 £3.45
Year Zero #2 £3.45

GRAPHIC NOVELS:
Against Hope Tp £17.99
Angel Vol.2 Tp £11.99
Ascender Vol.2 Tp £14.99
Batgirl Vol.7: Oracle Rising Tp £16.99
Catwoman Vol.3: Friend or Foe Tp £14.99
Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky Vol.3 Tp £14.50
Doomsday Clock HC Part Two £22.99
Farmhand Vol.3 Tp £14.99
Gideon Falls Vol.4 Tp £14.99
Iron Man Epic Collection: War Machine Tp £35.99
Morbius the Living Vampire Omnibus HC £89.99
Primer Tp £8.99
Silver Surfer Omnibus Vol.1 HC £89.99

9 Jun 2020

On The Pull: Lockdown Edition 3

Matt C: DC's announcement last week that they're severing ties with Diamond was a shocker (although not totally unexpected) but until then Diamond are currently the sole distributor to the UK and deliveries are currently on a fortnightly basis while the Covid situation continues. So that means there are new comics this week available from Paradox, and the complete list is as follows...

DARK HORSE:     
Butcher of Paris #5 (of 5)     £3.45
Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins II #6   £3.45
Frankenstein Unbound #2 (of 5)     £3.45
     
DC COMICS:      
Action Comics #1022      £3.45
Amethyst #3 (of 6)      £3.45
Aquaman #59       £3.45
Batman #92       £3.45
Batman Secret Files #3      £4.25
Batman / Superman #9      £3.45
Batman: The Adventures Continue #1 (of 6)   £3.45
Batmans Grave #7 (of 12)     £3.45
Birds of Prey #1      £8.40
DC Classics: The Batman Adventures #1    £1.75
Detective Comics #1022      £3.45
Far Sector #6 (of 12)      £3.45
Harley Quinn #73      £3.45
John Constantine: Hellblazer #6     £3.45
Joker: 80th Anniversary 100 Page Spec    £8.40
Justice League #46      £3.45
Justice League Dark #22      £3.45
Justice League Odyssey ##21     £3.45
Killadelphia #6       £3.45
Last God Sourcebook #1      £4.25
Legion of Super-Heroes #6     £3.45
Lois Lane #11 (of 12)      £3.45
Nightwing #71       £3.45
Scooby Doo, Where are You? #104     £2.60
Shazam #12       £3.45
Superman Giant #3      £4.25
Supermans Pal Jimmy Olsen #10 (of 12)    £3.45
Swamp Thing Giant #4      £4.25
Wonder Woman #755      £3.45
Wonder Woman #756      £3.45
     
IMAGE:      
Adventureman #1       £3.45
Bitter Root #8       £3.45
Decorum #2       £3.45
Die Die Die #10       £3.45
Ice Cream Man #19      £3.45
Nailbiter Returns #1       £3.45
Postal: Deliverence #8      £3.45
Reaver #8       £3.45
Sonata #10       £3.45
Stealth #2 (of 6)      £3.45
Undiscovered Country #6      £3.45
      
MARVEL:      
Black Cat #11       £3.45
Daredevil #20       £3.45
Deadpool #5       £3.45
Excalibur #10       £3.45
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #17     £3.45
New Mutants #10       £3.45
     
MORE:       
2000AD #2178       £2.99
2000AD #2179       £2.99
Alienated #3 (of 6)      £3.45
Boys: Dear Becky #1      £3.45
Buffy: Every Generation #1     £6.75
Cimmerian: Red Nails 1#      £3.45
Cobra Kai: Karate Kid Saga Continues #4    £3.45
Dejah Thoris #5       £3.45
Faithless II #1       £3.45
GI Joe: A Real American Hero #271    £3.45
Go Go Power Rangers #32      £3.45
James Bond #5       £3.45
Jim Hensons Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance #8   £3.45
Kill Lock #5 (of 6)      £3.45
KISS: Zombies #5      £3.45
Mountainhead #4 (of 5)      £3.45
Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys: Death of Nancy Drew #1   £3.45
Ragnarok: Breaking of Helheim #5 (of 6)    £4.25
Red Mother #5       £3.45
Something is Killing the Children #7    £3.45
Vampirella / Red Sonja #8     £3.45
     
GRAPHIC NOVELS:     
920 London Tp       £15.99
Mephisto: Speak of the Devil Tp     £35.99
Paul is Dead OGN      £14.99
Red Mother Vol.1 Tp      £10.99
Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed Tp     £14.99
X-Men by Jonathan Hickman Vol.1 Tp    £15.99

26 May 2020

On The Pull: Lockdown Edition 2

Matt C: Things are far from getting back to normal yet but they seem to be heading in the right direction at least. So that means that - yes! - new comics are arriving this week.

Some of you will be aware that, during the period that Diamond closed its doors, DC used the services of a couple of newly set up distributors to get comics to places that could take them in the States, meaning there will be a bit of catching up to do on these shores (hence two issues of Justice League). Marvel are taking a more cautious approach with their scheduling.

The below will be available from Paradox Comics this week but bear in mind the shop isn't officially open for business so make sure you get in touch directly if you need any of the below.

DARK HORSE:
(Nothing this week)

DC COMICS:
Basketful of Heads #7 (of 7)     £3.45
Batman Beyond #43      £3.45
Batman Giant #4       £3.45
Books of Magic #19      £4.25
Daphne Byrne #4 (of 6)      £3.45
DCeased: Unkillables #3 (of 3)     £4.25
Dollhouse Family #6 (of 6)     £3.45
Dreaming #20       £3.45
Harley Quinn #72      £3.45
He-Man & Masters of the Multiverse #6    £3.45
Justice League #44      £3.45
Justice League #45      £3.45
Justice League Odyssey #20     £3.45
Lois Lane #10 (of 12)      £3.45
Low Low Woods #5 (of 6)      £3.45
Metal Men #6 (of 12)      £3.45
Our Fighting Forces Giant #1     £4.25
Plunge #3 (of 6)      £3.45
Red Hood: Outlaw #45      £3.45
Suicide Squad #5      £3.45
Teen Titans #41       £3.45
Terrifics #27       £3.45
Wonder Woman Giant #4      £4.25