1984-85 (collected 1991) / Ecomics / 192 pages / USA****
The irreconcilable post-Star Trek II comic continuity catches up with Star Trek III and boldly extrapolates another knowingly doomed interregnum, but at least they'll get a couple of years out of it this time. The actual story was always going to be less notable than the retro vintage, but it's got the authentic feel of dark '80s action movie Star Trek that modern pastiches wouldn't.
1992 / Audiobook / 224 pages / UK
***
Step through the mist to find yourself back in gaslit times, when idle moochers would write absurdly digressive novel-length letters and people with nothing better to do would read them in one sitting. Hill's the master of the style, but I think I'll go back to short stories.
1999 / Ebook / 144 pages / USA
***
As detailed an overview as you'd ever want on the history, art and therapeutic benefits of the mirrored tube. The best part is all the pretty pictures. The worst is the spiritual faff. The funniest is the introductory guide to the Internet.
2000-11 (collected 2013) / Ebook / 193 pages / France
**
Thirteen journeys through twisted nature, usually arriving at rape (supernatural or traditional). Good to see the French romantic tradition isn't dead.
Fave: The Story of Margaret
Rhys Hughes, Mirrors in the Deluge
2008-15 (collected 2015) / Ebook / 200 pages / UK
****
Skipping ahead to a more recent random assortment of tales concerning myriad humans, mechanical beings and mythological lifeforms, and desperately seeking points of differentiation to talk about (mirrors/opposites don't crop up quite often enough to be a convenient theme – it's almost as if he's just collecting some stories he's happened to write along the way!), these trend shorter and lighter and I was more conscious than usual of the pun titles leading the way, though I was probably swayed by the confessional introduction there. You can always tell when I'm enjoying a Rhys Hughes story; I scold it aloud.
Fave: 'The Soft Landing' (from the perspective of a photon)
