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I could not finish it. Everyone looks alike. But I returned to it after reading tress but still couldn’t finish.

Valley of Doll is basically the after school special book version from what I can remember I read it like 10yrs ago

Wow very interesting interview. Thanks

My book club is making me read this. This is ridiculous I’m 70% way through this and I’m trying to finish this. But I hate it. I can’t let myself read to anything else or I won’t finish it. I hate it.

Valley of the Dolls was huge when I was a kid. Really foul!

I completely agree-I couldn’t finish it, the chapters are so tedious the minute you know it’s all Ted. I was actually hoping Olivia and Lauren were real kids he or his mom kidnapped & kept locked up.

I was about to block you for your brutal take down of the magnificent Valley of the Dolls, but the rest of this episode was pretty great. Consider Slugs grossing you out a punishment. I need to read some Predator.

❤❤ well done review!

Great wrap up very honest 😊

Made an editing mistake while talking about Predator and covered up the text that said "Yes, with Mark Verheiden"

Wow. Valley of the Dolls is one of my favorite books of all time. 😂 I love all of Susann's books.

Great Wrap-Up! I also didn't take much part in Garbaugust. Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way. Valley of the Dolls sounds awful, will give it a skip. I loved Slugs! 🤣🤣 I need to read more 87th precinct books, I have had fun with the series so far. I am reading The Woman in Black this month, glad you enjoyed it. Happy Reading!

im sure you are super excited about Crossroads of Twilight lol. That was my least favorite in my first read.

Hmm. I was really excited to read this one, but after feeling “meh” about the last two Grady Hendrix books I read, I’m less inclined.

What did you think of the Veitch run? I read the Moore and Veitch runs as a teen and I still believe that although Moore is irreplaceable, Veitch’s run is phenomenal. Too bad DC butchered his run and forced him out. The series never recovered thereafter.

I found an audiobook here (thats now gone) of Tricks & it was my introduction to the series. I need to find more of them, I absolutely loved Tricks

Sounds like you had a fun time.

Nothing as refreshing as an honest opinion-no hype. Thank you!

Great video and you met some actual comic book legend. But, as an Alex Toth fan, that artwork is brilliant! Along with that Jason Striker pulp novel, you picked up some good stuff.

Great video! I had such a good time at Terrificon this year. I'm going to have to check out that book store near Mystic. Haven't been to that store since I'm on the other side of the state. That Alex Toth art of the dentist is actually really cool.

I loved Cruel Universe

I thought the exact same as you. Even the best story is something I've seen on low-budget horror anthologies on Amazon prime. The second issue isn't much better. Disappointing art, too on-the-nose storytelling, and in its case, only three stories with a cover unrelated to any of the actual stories. A great example of the writers not knowing when to quit is the last page of the last story, they just couldn't help themselves and ruined a solid finish. Cruel Universe wasn't bad, but they announced SuspenseStories and Cruel Kingdom. They are going to need to do a better talent search for so many stories when they are absolutely struggling with just three issues.

Can't believe I still get comments on this video from people who don't understand how jokes work. Yes, I am over-exaggerating for comedic effect. Yes, I am sure the series gets better as it goes on. This was not meant to be a nuanced review of The Dresden Files; it was meant to be an excuse to say "big ol' honkin' bodonkeroos".

I agree that this book does indeed slap

Sorry if I’m missing it, but where / how did you get the end pages?

Good video. You have highlighted the same problem I can have with these books: plot armour. Knowing that nothing serious can happen to any of the show's characters because they are still in it. I also enjoy media tie-ins more when the show itself is more episodic and character development is less. For me this includes X Files books and Dr Who books.

Great video I love this issue and I love Ben Grimm!

Will not spend money on new comics, ever again.

Fair but your being a little hyperbolic

Just a quick question. I'm intending to read all the GarbAugust host recommendations. What was your recommendation?

I've never purchased a copy (and never will), but from what I've seen, ALL of the "art" (line work, color, etc.) is done via computer software. Looks like shit to me...publisher should keep with the original EC look and feel by requiring real pencils, real inking, and real watercolor/gouache/even Copic markers for graytones or color. No matter how "advanced" these art software programs are, they all look fake and computerized.

There's no kinda about it. It sucks.

I'm of the mind that while Stan Lee was a bit of a thief, would never have built Marvel without the likes of Jack Kirby, men like Jack Kirby likely never would've been able to consolidate the intellectual property and rights to make a company the likes of Marvel because they lacked the cunning, ruthless business acumen that allowed a man like Stan Lee to create such a business juggernaut. Not saying that it's right, I just think there's a realistic consideration that we might be taking about the lost gems of Jack Kirby instead of the thefts that built Stan Lee's empire in another timeline. Don't know which is more tragic.

I really don't get Us Vs Us. Is it for vax or anti vax? The anti vaxxers are depicted as bad for burning a church full of mutants but the people who did take the vax are all mutants who plan to eat the infected once they're dead. There wasn't even a clever twist or anything at the end. I don't get it on any level? Having two very ''modern politics'' heavy stories already just in issue one was really off putting. I don't care what side of the political spectrum it is (though in modern western comics it's almost always one particular side) but I find either boring now in modern comics. I don't know why modern western writers can't seem to help themselves but push their political ideologies instantly.

Wow! Sería increíble sumergirse en el buffyverse en estos días!!!

At the time of its original release, Nick, I completely blew off Devil Dinosaur as I was heavily into books like BATMAN, Green Lantern, Daredevil, Badger, Nexus, some Fantastic Four, SPIDER-MAN and HULK. I even sadly blew off Kirby's treatment of 2001 A Space Odyssey and Machine Man. Because I wanted to learn to draw like Neal Adams and John Buscema and Gene Colan. And I really didn't understand where or why Kirby went outside of the traditional superhero genre. Was smart then, but also really stupid. A few years after their release, the issues were always found in great supply, beaten up and found in quarter boxes. The retail stores wanted to unload them. Marvel later brought back Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy in specials, oh, over 20 years later, and.. They kind of made sense released along with the restarts of Marvel, DC and the new Image Comics and Dark Horse lines. Devil Dinosaur was ahead of its time, even more suitable then for children. But when one looks at the Kirby Universe as a whole, on its own and separate from the rest of the Marvel and DC universes, EVERYTHING he did MADE SENSE together. The Eternals fit with Super Powers, the Newsboy Legion and The Dingbats. The Rawhide Kid fit with Nick Fury, Sgt. Fury and Silver Surfer. 2001 A Space Odyssey fit with Devil Dinosaur and Captain America. The Fourth World fit with Superman, Jimmy Olsen, The Hulk and Thor. And The Fantastic Four fit with The Demon, Kamandi and OMAC. It was as if, to me, Kirby designed his own product line within Marvel, DC and wherever else with his special name attached. I think this is the easiest way to understand Kirby's work - - to lump all of his work together as a single unit, watch how they evolved and for us to cut lots of slack for the oddball characters he created.

Ive thought about reading the Meg many times. I feel like i would probably like it. I remember being so happy that the Bowl of the Winds was finally finished in path of daggers

In the late 70s Crumb wanted to publish ZAP more regularly and invite new talent (The ZAP roster had been the same 7 guys since the late 60s) but S. Clay Wilson and Victor Moscoso said no. Weirdo, I think, is pretty well what Robert wanted ZAP to be. Incidentally, fans of R. Crumb may enjoy my series CANONICALLY CRUMB where I explore the comix and characters of the Crummy-verse!

I read about half of this book when i was about 12 or 13. I agree it was a book with alot of good ideas but did not have the proper writing to really keep me intrigued. Felt more like having to read a book rather than enjoying a book.

Most of today's writers have the subtlety of a wet fart at a funeral. Those two stories absolutely ruined it for me

Wasn’t there also a series called web of mystery? EC comic probably?

I think the fragmented style suited the story and found a lot of poignant passages throughout. This is definitely more a study than a straightforward story which I found refreshing and a lot of the characters do entwine in the end. Form is content with this one - loved the footnotes where characters were literally footnotes in someone else's story and there are a lot of overlooked invisible people suffering in the world. Even Thurwar as a character isn't your typical hero and the novel really plays on drawing empathy on criminals and the ethics of forgiveness and progress.

I really like Mr. Freeze's design in this issue.

Yeah, huge letdown. There’s better ways to make money than licensing your brand on crap. Edit: Your review is spot on. The lack of hosts for each story was definitely a miss. The Crypt Keeper, the Old Witch, and the Vault Keeper also provided the reader with a sense of consistency for all the differing stories. The ironic twist is also classic EC and was really missing in this issue. The cover nails the EC aesthetic and made me pick it up off the shelf! It definitely had the EC feel while being modern. It's a shame the interior in both the writing and the art didn't do the same. I completely agree with you about this being ham fisted. The nuance and subtlety was gone from this issue. It felt really dumbed down.

That actually sounds like an important piece of history. Thanks for sharing! Even today, when people are teaching illiterate adults to read, they give them "trashy" books, because that's what people like. We're always taught that the printing press made the Bible widely available, which increased literacy, but your story makes a lot more sense! That pope was a real piece of 💩 to have smutty paintings in his rooms when he's the head of a religion that made all the followers confess even lustful thoughts as sins. I wonder if there would have been a more forceful protest against the Church if half the people hadn't been killed off by plague in the 1500s? (We're watching The Decameron on Netflix. So far it's great!)

I just grabbed it because i really like Brian Azarellos art............yeah 2 out of 4 stories being super political in your face is an immediate pass on further purchases of this comic. If they already let things like that slip through in the BIG NEW start issue its only going to get worse from here on

Im gonna read the whole thing but i agree with everything you said, you are one of very few people who have given this book criticism its gotten so much praise, from all that ive seen.