Read 2009-12
***
Where his earlier collected columns were time capsules of a recent past I'd mercifully missed for the most part, I was following along for this final volume in its awkward and frequently stressed-over transition from remorseless pop-culture critic to responsible establishment figure, middling satirist and dad. I'd have felt let down if he hadn't done made Black Mirror at the same time.
Neil and Sue Perryman, The Wife in Space, Volumes 1-8
Read 2015-16
****
I still probably would have made it through classic Doctor Who solo, but watching along with someone who was finding it even more of a chore (and someone else providing interesting trivia) turned it into a treat. Especially the really shit ones.
Barrie Tomlinson, Richard Elson and Sandy James, Sonic the Hedgehog (a.k.a. Sonic Sunday Strips)
*
Like pretty much all Sonic the Comic fans, it seems, I didn't know Richard Elson was seeing the News of the World Sunday supplement on the side, illustrating a customarily lame serial that gives the worst of licensed hedgehog media a run for its money. If I had known, my childhood would have been 0% richer.
Neil and Sue Perryman, Adventures with the Wife and Blake, Books 1 & 2Read 2019
****
When this series was good, it was great. The rest of the time, I could look forward to the colourful postmortem and imagining I was alive in the '70s.
Read 2019
***
I can't even do cryptic crosswords, so I didn't plan to spend too long trying to crack this legendarily fiendish picture puzzle. Solved a couple of borders to feel suitably cocky, then headed to the walkthrough.
