2000AD Featuring Judge Dredd. First proper comic head-over-heels love

This is kind of a follow up to a readitorial from a while back where I confessed I'd started reading comics on a Kindle for the first time. Since getting my Kindle Fire I've found it almost impossible to resist those '99p' deals that often crop up on ComiXology and Amazon (though sensible folk will know that just like some exquisite drug, the first taste of a comic arc is always cheap - subsequent issues are crazily priced!)

Up till last week there was always one childhood comic obsession I never revisited for many, many reasons. I'd left 2000AD alone for years, giving up the regular prog and Judge Dredd Megazine habit some time around moving to Brighton in the mid 90s, never to pick it back up again.

Something seemed to happen to the progs in the 90s, I felt like things had gone off the rails and I'd shuffled off to cooler (short lived) climes such as reading stuff like Deadline before giving comics up for good around the time I got seriously back into work and stopped being an art student. To this day I've no idea why I stopped reading comics and graphic novels but looking back I realised it was more a question of having next to no spare time rather than totally disowning comics altogether.

2000AD (now owned and published by Rebellion) has kept the highest of high standards going for 40 years, seemingly with ease and when last week's issue kicked off with all new stories I felt like it was time to jump back in - for one issue at least.

Back in the day I was PROPERLY obsessed with this comic. I bought Prog 1 the day after my birthday back in 1977 with my meagre birthday cash and still had enough money left over for an obscenely large bag of Fizz Bombs (my tooth-rot of choice back then) and a Matchbox car.

I was hooked from the word go, and into the 80s I started to draw characters from the comics regularly, even taking on a nickname once 'online' became a thing, nicking P.J. Maybe as an assumed monicker, purely because that nefarious psychotic maniac's name was weirdly close to my own (middle name isn't Janet though, just for ref).

I grew up with the comic, watched some of its most amazing talent leave for the US (and to a certain extent I followed their moves to other studios and read pretty much anything Bolland was involved in art-wise including his phenomenal "Batman: The Killing Joke" for DC.

When my daughter was born I started to read comics again, realising that a little girl who loved stories might find a lot of love for comics as well (thankfully that panned out rather well with her sharing her old man's obsession with comics as an art form, a storytelling medium and a vitally important part of our culture).

C's comic of choice is another mighty Brit comic - "The Phoenix"

Taking a similar approach to 2000AD, it's fairly heavy on sci-fi and fantasy stories, often with an anarchic sense of humour just like 2000AD, and with a hugely talented bunch of artists and writers working on it - again just like the progs.

Through introducing her to the Phoenix early on and letting her 'own' that comic as her first proper comic love, she's since been introduced to all things DC and Marvel, a truckload of excellent independents and a few carefully chosen age appropriate classics to mix in with some of the truly stunning stuff kids get to read these days (the likes of Hilda, Gum Girl, Red's Planet and so many others really do make it feel like comics are truly going through an amazing time at the moment and riding a wave of popularity that I hope continues for aeons).

Like most comic fans, I'm exceptionally good at letting stupid comments about "Still reading comics at the age of 50" wash right over me. Like there was ever a cut-off date where it became unacceptable to read them, play with lego or play videogames.

Comics to me are still one of the most important ways that artists, writers and other creatives can push across important messages. Sometimes in the form of parody. Sometimes in the form of comic anthologies, graphic novels or story arcs for existing characters that reference and riff on the world we know today - sometimes exaggerating it, but quite often presenting the world as it stands - a sometimes deeply weird, dark and crazy place.

Picking up Prog 2073 of 2000AD was like coming home. All the exceptional talent I was familiar with back as a kid (the ones that are alive, at least) are still hanging on in there but the new blood are equally impressive, not only paying homage to those characters, story worlds and ideas but carving out incredible strips and stories of their own. It has morphed into a comic that feels more properly 'grown up' than ever (though that was never 2000AD's problem, you could never really lump it in with other 'kid' comics that were around at the time the first progs hit shelves). The new Judge Dredd strip featuring the nefarious SJS is truly fantastic (I'd not come across Judge Pin before but can't wait to see what that psychotic lunatic comes up with in this story run) and the alternative timeline story based in the Rogue Trooper universe is utterly compelling too.

Though I still miss rifling through comics in paper form (it's just not practical to do so any more - gone are the days where I could stack progs in thick bundles wrapped in plastic under my bed) digital has at least allowed me to play catchup with stuff I missed during those wilderness years. I almost feel like a 9 year old again, anxiously waiting for the next issue to drop. If you're like me, a lapsed Squaxx Dex Thargo it might be time to jump back in yourself. Bring it on!

This week's Readitorial crosses off a couple of things I've wanted a good old fashioned rant about for a while.

Since picking up a Kindle Fire a while back (I know, effectively the book blogging equivalent of not only selling your soul to satan, but gift-wrapping it with a little note inside with lots of Xs on it saying "Here you go Lucifer old chum, love you kissy kissy") I decided to try and catch up on comics.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I know, you're probably rolling around on the floor laughing at this point. "Catching up on comics" is, quite frankly, impossible. Just scanning the press releases and release schedules for the first half of this year, we're already hopelessly out of our depth. It would take an amazing feat of detection beyond even the mighty Sherlock Holmes to identify an entry point for most series, let alone have any clue about how to backtrack from a well-established story arc to ensure you don't miss anything.

I'm talking largely about US comics here of course. See, there's something that we've always done better on this side of the Atlantic (and I'd include all the fantastic Franco-Belgian and other Euro-comics in this praise, of course).

We are so much better at controlling fragmentation. It seems that if you want to pick up a particular Euro (or brit) comic, you have a fairly good idea where to start and where to finish.

The problem is that most comic universes get so obsessed with crossovers that it's nigh-on impossible to keep up with absolutely every possible twist and character development even for your faves. Just when you think you've got it all nailed, you'll start reading a comic that makes a massive assumption that you knew all about Captain America's switch to Hydra, or "Lady Thor" taking over from Asgard's favourite son.

"Yeah, I'm a girl now, get over it"

Yes, Marvel are, by far, the worst offenders when it comes to making it nigh on impossible (or at least  as difficult and expensive as possible) for 'comics noobs' to find a way into a well established series that makes any sense.

For example, pick any Marvel comic series based on anything in the Marvel Movie Universe (Say, for want of a better start, "Old Man Logan" because you really loved the living heck out of James Mangold's "Logan" movie, right?) and you're instantly placed on the backfoot of trying to identify and figure out whether Volume 1 is where you should be kicking things off, or whether the series is picking up the storyline from a multitude other secondary comics where the grains of that story arc might have started. GAHHHHHHHHH!

Comics aficionados will likely scoff at this. "Jeez you idiot, don't you even know that you should be reading "Infinity War Issue 6" before you even TOUCH that shiznit?" is likely to be what you'll get back from someone who obviously has a bit more devotion to their comic fandom (or a lot more disposable time and cash at least).

The problem I have with this is time. I really don't have the sort of brain that can keep track of hugely complex systems of story arcs, multi-universes, alt-versions of characters, origin stories (both genuine and one-shot). Thereby I have, by my own admission, no business reading comics in the first place, right?

Wrong. I want stories, I am addicted to stories. I want to read what goes on with certain characters (though with both Marvel and DC stuff, I've always played favourites and really won't go out of my way to read a secondary character comic just because it contains valuable elements of a main "interesting" character's story that would be lost otherwise). Following comics is hard, catching up (after even a short break) is even harder. Really though, it should NOT be this hard for me to share my love of comics with C - who is becoming really obsessed with kid comics (enjoying something of a golden age) but wants to push further into the sort of stuff I like (age appropriate of course, I mean I don't quite think she's ready for Deadpool!)

The big frustration for me is that more than ever there are comics that are being written FOR HER. Take any of the recent female-led comic revivals (for example, the utterly superb "The Unstoppable Wasp" or "Squirrel Girl"). These are fantastic comics for girls AND boys that have a strong and mighty feminist voice cutting through all that sexist bull that female comic fans have had to put up with for generations (though sadly, there's still a long way to go before some stupid nerd boys get the message)

Second rant: Digital itself. Now, I've gone through various methods of obtaining comics (we are lucky enough to be on the reviews list for a few publishers who are awesome and send us stuff to read on our Kindles) - Every single one of them legal and legitimate because I absolutely will not and do not have any truck with piracy at all. I believe comic creators should be paid like royalty for what they do, and that's the end of that.

But going legit is flipping hard and it's flipping expensive. We tried Amazon's quite laughable "Unlimited" service for a month's trial which looked really promising at first, until I discovered the piddlingly small selection of titles on offer in that service, and the distinct lack of ANYTHING in DC's "Big Guns" (one or two really crappy Batman titles but largely a real bust if you want to get DC stuff through that service).

ComiXology is the other source of stuff, and this has actually been a bit better - though prices aren't the best. Just to add even more fragmentation, virtually all big players seem to insist on you using their closed-loop subscription services rather than there being something that offers a satisfying multi-publisher service (A real proper and true "Netflix for Comics" service, in essence - but hey, thank god for libraries who do still seem to stock a ton of brilliant comics and graphic novels in our area, hooray!)

Which brings me to my third rant. The price of comics (collected volumes and graphic novels in particular).

A while ago I picked up the first couple of volumes of "Squirrel Girl" - a series that both C and I have loved to bits. These were reasonably priced, and I thought we'd eventually collect the lot.

Then the problems started. Anything beyond Volume 1 and 2 is ridiculously priced so high that we'd end up having to budget fairly restrictively for them. Not only are they expensive, Marvel's paper quality is dire. Horrid flimsy shiny paper like old Izal toilet paper, with covers that don't look like they'll last being stuffed in your bag for a trip to work.

Back to digital again and things do get slightly better there, with the kindle prices of popular stuff not being quite as bad as print - but if you're like me, you still prefer a graphic novel in print form than digital "just because".

We really want to increase our support of the comics industry. There are a lot of amazing indies out there who are showing the larger publishers how it should be done (Image Comics, First Second, Avery Hill) and I hope that continues, because at the moment it feels a lot like the major players are making the same mistakes bigger publishers in the games industry made not so long back - and are paying for at the moment. Shilling your customers, nickel and diming them is cutting your nose off to spite your face. The real weird thing is that comic illustrators, writers, colourists, letterers are all as pissed off by this as we are. So where's the sense in that?

Rant ends.

Welcome, welcome to an all new idea we've been working on for the blog. Now we're ready to embrace the digital age, we've been wading through the utterly amazing comic world with an aim of bringing you the very best children's and young adult comics and graphic novels (with a few grown up ones thrown in for good measure) in a regular monthly roundup.

There are so many comics to cover, so we're going to take the approach of rounding them up like we do with our Chapter Book Roundups, but obviously reviewing some of the more spectacular comics in boxed-out reviews too. Each month we'll take a look at a mixture of kid friendly and not-so-kid-friendly material.

From the start, we'll make it absolutely clear whether the comics are kid-friendly or strictly for YA / Grown Ups in each roundup and review, so without further ado, let's get going!

First up is the divine "Cici's Journal: The Adventures of a Writer in Training" by Joris Chamblain and Aurelie Neyret. This one is fantastic for kids and middle graders, particularly those who love fabulous artwork and interesting stories to pique their curiosity.

We join in the adventures of curious Cici as she spends her time people-watching in her local neighbourhood, chronicled in a fantastic scrapbooking style, beautifully written with huge appeal to middle graders

Stunning artwork from Aurelie Neyret (who, by rights, deserves to win a truckload of comic awards in the coming year) really helps to bring the story to life.

As Cici's investigations broaden, she begins to home in on one particular character - an old man - who mysteriously disappears into the forest every Sunday armed with tins of paint. He always come back from the forest looking sad. What is he up to? Cici is determined to find out!

A fabulous and atmospheric adventure, "Cici's Journal" by Joris Chamblain and Aurelie Neyret will be released on 7th November 2017, published by First Second. 

Next up, the current fantastic run of "The Vision" penned by Tom King with Gabriel Hernandez Walta and Jordie Bellaire is (thankfully) being collected together in a superb "Director's Cut" edition. This one is probably most suited to the older end of middle grade and into YA.

Breaking out one of the most interesting comic characters to come from Marvel's extended comics and movie universe into such a fantastic series has proved wildly successful, with Tom's "Vision" comic being bandied around for a ton of awards.

Collecting together the current run where The Vision, the all powerful superhero, begins to crave a normal 'human' life, we follow this amazing character as he travels back to the place of his birth - Ultron's Lab.

Creating a family for himself, The Vision soon discovers that his ultimate quest - some would say obsession - to become merely a man, is the toughest challenge of all for a superhero. A destiny sought that will bring him into conflict with some of the most powerful superheroes in the Universe.

It's been a stunning, stunning comic, easily one of the best things to come from Marvel this century.

Catch up with the entire story arc in "The Vision: The Director's Cut" when it's released in January 2018, published by Marvel Comics. 

I've become hoplessly addicted to Gumballs. No, don't worry, it doesn't mean I'm going to end up a giant flabby mess...

(Well no flabbier than usual anyway). "Gumballs" (with three issues currently available) is a fantastic YA / Adult comic anthology collection of stories from Erin Nations.

Like a lot of the most fascinating comics around at the moment, Erin is obsessed with the human condition - and an avid people watcher, contributing to his awesome wry humorous view of a world populated by geeks, freaks and chics.

Told from the perspective of a young trans author-illustrator, Erin's brilliant observational comedy nudges us in the ribs over the course of several story threads.

Life growing up as a triplet, or dealing with difficult (or just plain weird) customers in a grocery store - plus some of the funniest faux personal ads you'll ever see are all part and parcel of Erin's fantastic collection.

Really hoping these are eventually gathered together in one massive volume, but for you ComixOlogy / Kindle folk, they're up for grabs in issues 1-3 with more to follow.

"Gumballs" by Erin Nations is published by Top Shelf Comics and the first three issues are available now. 

Next it's "Butter and Blood" by Steven Weissman, best described as a YA / Grown Up collection of the most bizarre and surreal mini comic strips you'll find this side of Pittsburgh.

Find out what would happen if Guns and Roses ran a diner (would YOU want to eat soup cooked by Slash, particularly with his reluctance to wear a hair net?) or marvel at animal antics set to make your insides squirm and your stomach churn.

Weissman's acute observational comedy laced with bonkers pop culture references, crazy characters and quite a fair bit of spicy language won't be for everyone's taste (again this is another one of those "don't let the kids near it" titles, but hah, who said comics were for kids anyway, right?)

Entertaining, strange and kinda cool, catch "Butter and Blood" by Steven Weissman, out now from Retrofit Comics. 

Diving deeper into our comic bag now, something that the kids can actually enjoy, but again perfect for middle graders and YA too.

"Elf Cat in Love" by James Kochalka is a cute, quirky and whimsical little tale of a magical elf cat and his floating tennis ball familiar.

She's a sassy little madam for a tennis ball, but Elf Cat is lonely, and on the hunt for his perfect lifelong love interest.

This gentle strip unfolds over a series of encounters with the strange denizens of Elf Cat's fantasy world, but as danger approaches, Elf Cat might finally learn that sometimes the very thing you've looked hardest for has been right under your cat-like nose the whole time.

Charlotte actually ate this one up, and I'd always wondered how simplistic and largely monochrome comic strips would go over with her - as kids these days are so spoilt with richly coloured fabulously overworked comics. This keeps things purposely simple and delivers a rather poignant and touching message within its story. Rather appealing indeed.

"Elf Cat in Love" by James Kochalka is out now, published by Retrofit / Big Planet Comics. 

Let's take a look at another comic that middle graders will enjoy, particularly kids who love stuff like Gravity Falls and Adventure Time. Once again more suited to the older end of Middle Grade and into YA.

"Untitled Ape's Epic Adventure" by Steven Tillotson introduces the most unlikely pairing since Harry met the Hendersons. Untitled Ape is indeed an epic quest for a bizarre shapeless ape-beast and his Ray Winstone-esque cockney chainsmoking new best friend, a cat that basically steals every single scene he's in.

Untitled Ape is a tough hombre with a sensitive side. He has decided he needs to see his family but Cat doesn't think it's a particularly good idea. Before they can deliberate over their planned quest, a massive storm rolls in, and their epic adventure truly begins.

Without no map or much of a plan, they journey through flooded cities and stormy seas, across frozen plains and snowy mountains, and even up into the world of the clouds on their quest to find Ape's home in the jungle. Along the way they make the acquaintance of a cast of incredible characters, who both help and hinder them to equal degree.

Surreal, funny and at times full of moments of excitement that will make you gasp, "Untitled Ape's Epic Adventure" by Steven Tillotson is out now, published by Avery Hill. 

The next one definitely isn't for the kids...so once again we're slapping a YA / Grown Up only advisory on this one (don't be fooled by the cover!)

Rachael Smith's "The Rabbit" introduces siblings Eleanor and Kathy, who have run away from school and home.

Playing hooky for the day might sound like fun, but dad is constantly ringing Eleanor's phone, and the local bullies keep cropping up at the most inopportune moments.

After an unfortunate incident with a catapult and a stray shot, Kathy unwittingly injures a rabbit. Seeking to right this wrong, Kathy takes the rabbit under her protective wing and decides to call it Craig. But it soon emerges that Craig is far from the innocent fluffy doe-eyed bunny-wunny Kathy first imagines.

Both sisters are drawn into a bizarre and surreal undercurrent of sugar-fuelled underground parties, badly behaved animals and opportunistic theft as Craig exerts his horrifying influence, growing bigger and more powerful by the second. Is there anything that two brave sisters can do to defeat the emerging monster?

Thoroughly original, as dark as the blackest espresso but undercut with a strong tale of siblings banding together in a crisis situation, this is quite strong stuff but a completely riveting read. Again, fair to stress for YA and adults only.

"The Rabbit" by Rachael Smith is out now, published by Avery Hill. 

Another surreal and YA / Grown up strip from someone I hugely admire. Now and again awesome Donya Todd tweets up a storm on Twitter so let's have a look at "Buttertubs".

No, it's not the tale of a cute kick-ass girl and her equally cute kick-ass dog, it's the tale of a sassy madam and her gigantic slimy slithery dog-made-of-butter.

Though Buttertubs has all the trademark bad habits of just about every other dog on the planet, in this surreal world his heart is in the right place and really all he wants is to love and be loved.

But there's always some awkward annoying jealous anti-hero waiting in the wings to mess things up, so as Buttertubs and his 'owner' embark on an epic quest to rescue a princess, things take a turn for the greasy - and it could be the end for our dairy-based canine chum.

Donya's black and white linework is every bit as fantastic, bonkers, weird and surreal as her brilliant colour art. The comic gets a bit sweary and saucy in places but certainly nothing your average YA reader will blanche at. Once again, not for kids, but for adults / YA who love to tread on the more bizarre side of comics.

"Buttertubs" by Donya Todd is out now, published by Avery Hill.

Two brilliant graphic novels next from a relative newcomer to the comics scene, but someone who is already making huge waves in the industry with her amazing and mature storylines and observations. Again a YA / Adult advisory on these, though many parents might want to read these through and assess themselves whether they'd also be suited to the older end of middle grade.

Tillie Walden's "I Love This Part" is the story of two young girls who are the best of friends. From an early age they are inseparable, drawn together by a love of music and a love of just being in each other's space.

They watch videos, share earbuds as they play each other songs and exchange their stories. A deep and unexpected relationship begins to develop, the sort of scary almost overwhelming love that jabs at just about every emotion, sometimes all at the same time.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but there's definitely nothing wrong with being a young and curious writer-in-training, right Cici?

Ben Hatke's comics are fast becoming a mainstay for kids who love amazing art, tons of originality and frenetically paced storytelling...

As many blog regulars will know, we're massive fans of Robin and Lorenzo Etherington. The Etherington Brothers not only create some of the most fantastic epic comics (including many you've probably read yourself like Transformers, Madagascar - you name it, they've probably worked on 'em) but tons of amazing strips for The (sadly defunct) DFC and The Phoenix.

We got to know their work through The Phoenix and we've steadily collected their own published stuff too (but have loads and loads to catch up on).

We heard they were coming to Oxford, to the fantastic Story Museum for a couple of brilliant comic workshops, letting us into some of their secrets.

Some of you will already know that Robin and Lorenzo host a brilliant interactive show, teaching us would-be comic noobs how to perfect our plots, carve out our characters and mix genres like we're putting 'em in a blender and hitting the 'frappe' button.

"The Greatest Comic Making Show on Earth" - Really can't argue with that (oops, took this pic before we were told not to take any pics!)

Robin and Lorenzo traded places on stage, with a hilarious collection of quickfire gags, improv and character acting (with both Charlotte and I giggling like nutters throughout).

Things we learned: 

- Mixing genres is hilarious fun. Ever seen a romantic comedy with a Zombie in it?

- World building is awesome. Make the world your characters live in as interesting as possible and the stories will practically build themselves.

- Props turn an ordinary everyday character into something a bit more groovy. Think of how cool Harry Potter is, but how doubly cool he is when he's carrying his wand.

- Robin is flipping hilarious, as is Lorenzo. Give those guys their own TV show and it'd be even better than Art Attack (and that's definitely not faint praise!)


We finally got to meet the guys, a real honour and could've spent all day chatting (but figured the rest of the people queueing up for autographs and fantastic drawings might've got a bit peeved!). The guys kindly signed some of our graphic novels and Lorenzo even managed to do an uber-quick sketch of Charlotte's comic crush, Von Doogan. Totally brilliant!

If you're lucky enough to get the chance to see Lorenzo and Robin in action, we'd heartily recommend you do so - in fact if you're doubly lucky and they come to your school, you're in for a heck of a fantastic comic-creatin' time.

Huge, huge thanks guys, you really made our days, so great to meet you both at last!

You can keep up with The Etherington Brothers' comic adventures over on their excellent blog, packed with tutorials, comic tips, awesome art and tons of news about Robin and Lorenzo's publications and events. Go get some! http://theetheringtonbrothers.blogspot.co.uk

I have a feeling that once again this year, the awesome "The Phoenix Presents" collections are going to be regulars in our Book of the Week slot...

He's short, he's portly, he smells faintly of herring but he's the most evil despotic villain in the universe (and we love him!) Our second Book of the Week this week is "Evil Emperor Penguin Book 1" by Laura Ellen Anderson

Still riding the tide of dino-mania from the summer? Looking to exercise your doodling skills? Time to get your draw on with this awesome and spectacular new doodle activity book!

It's the most outrageous talk show on the planet and our Book of the Week this week. Give a big hand to Adam Murphy and the glorious undeadyness of "Corpse Talk Season 2"

The Lumberjanes are on their way. Who can stop them? Actually, who would want to stop them, they're FAB! Let's dip into Issue 14 of this ridiculously brilliant new comic...

Lego Batman gets his own standalone movie before Batgirl even gets a whiff of a big franchise-builder. Not atypical, sadly.

The title of this blog post pretty much sums up my day today. It started with a trip into town to pick up some clothes for Charlotte. We visited a popular high street chain (H & M) to buy a couple of white T shirts for her nativity.

Browsing around, I noticed two things

1) Girls get a slightly larger clothes section than the boys (fair enough, girls are - I guess - more interested in clothes than boys, perhaps?)

2) Girls get absolutely no options for licensed clothing lines other than the usual cute pony, hello kitty or ballet / princess / pink pink PINK stuff.

What incensed me was the fact that the boys section carried a fairly hefty selection of comic and superhero-based clothes. T-Shirts, pyjamas, dressing gowns, dressing up clothes, even flipping UNDERPANTS all adorned with characters from the moneyspinning movies that drive merchandise sales to such lofty heights. I would dearly have loved to have seen even one or two items featuring our header image star (Batgirl) or even Captain Marvel (who we'll have to wait all the way till 2018 for, to be Marvel's first big and proper female led franchise movie star). No such luck though in store but if you dive onto the H & M website, things are a little more positive…Awesome Batgirl T Shirt but it's fairly lean pickings! Most other high street chain stores do absolutely nothing superhero-ey for girls at all, let alone entire sections of the store given over to awesome girl comic or superhero movie characters (you can't sodding MOVE for Elsa and Anna / Frozen stuff though, blechhh!)

I came home, heavy hearted, wondering if my efforts to get Charlotte interested in comics were all for nought because eventually I'd have to explain to her why big players like Marvel and DC consistently let women and girls down, providing female character only when they can shoehorn them in for a bit of a sprinkle of sex appeal or just to tick a few demographic boxes (I don't agree that a Standalone Black Widow movie would've been awesome, Black Widow in movie form is a waste of space compared to her comic book counterpart. As for the upcoming Wonder Woman cameo from DC, I would dearly love to be proved wrong that her first appearance in Bats vs Supes is going to be anything more than eye candy to please male viewers, when we all know that an effective standalone movie would've really been preferable).

Fantastic female superhero characters exist despite a male-dominated industry (thankfully with more and more women kicking ass and putting together some of the best stories and artwork out there at the moment, and more and more men paying proper homage to well established female superhero characters by giving them a depth and dimension that stretches far beyond just being 'pretty' and 'clever').

An evening's conversation with Charlotte made me feel a little better. I asked her if she would wear a superhero costume to a party. She said she would, and that she would dress as Batman (interesting that - not Batgirl, but Batman!)

I asked about Spiderman ("I Don't like him, he's rubbish!" she answered (!) and Superman (Again she seems to be a DC girl, she would dress as Supes). Then I moved on to a few well known and less-well-known female superheroes. Wonder Woman she knew, had no idea who Captain Marvel was (understandably), no She-Hulk, no Oracle (Barbara Gordon) though she knew who Batgirl was (there's a whole level of awesomeness that could be constructed from an Oracle origin movie).

In most cases she seemed to prefer the idea of female superheroes who weren't just 'girl' versions of the male ones, also quite interesting from the perspective of trying to construct a franchise around something where a male character is already well established and bringing in vast amounts of coinage from movies and merch.

I pushed the conversation a bit. "Would she wear a Batman T Shirt if it was in the boy's section of a store" (this was how H & M was divvied up, and it's how just about every other clothes store with kid clothes in it is arranged too). She wouldn't, and I asked why - and she answered "Because it says it's for boys!" - I tried to point out that a boy's T shirt is no different to a girl's but the labelling won out (believe me, I won't let THAT one slide when she's old enough not to fall for that ridiculous gender pigeonholing).

So many excellent folk I converse with on Twitter and Facebook, and in the hazy real world (with their own mighty girls at home, their own comic fans both girl and boy who would love to see female superheroes where they belong - up there right next to the male ones) would be as annoyed about all this as I am, but after a day like this, it still feels like despite the best efforts of amazing folk like those behind "A Mighty Girl" and the wholly brilliant Tumblr "Little Girls are Better at Designing Superheroes than You" the rotten core of the problem still exists, still bugs the hell out of everyone, and still seemingly crawls toward no foreseeable satisfactory resolution.

(Apologies if this reads like an extended rant. There are truly wonderful folk out there involved in comics who will be able to read this and hand on heart swear they're doing their utmost to redress the imbalance and to them I offer a huge thanks, because they're working towards a better future for our comic-loving kids, both girls and boys).

The Phoenix Non-Choccy Easter Comic Pack. Tons of excitement in something that fits through your letterbox!

I love the effect The Phoenix Comic has on Charlotte and the continued effect that being sent one of these fantastic packs by the lovely folk at The Phoenix is having. You see Fridays are no longer "Daddy Picks Me Up From School" day, they're "The Phoenix Comic! YAY!" as our 5 lovely issues of the mag plop through the letterbox, clad in their deliciously decorated special envelopes.

Yes folks, for the bargain price of £14.99 you too can get yourself a slice of the action, it's simpler than falling off a chocolate log.

1) Order one of the packs from the Phoenix Comic website 

2) When it plops through your letterbox, pin the badges to your lapel, strut around the house like a thing possessed, stick the stickers on things (not on Mummy and Daddy's lovely wooden floor though!) and read the fantastic mini comic included (great if you're one of the increasingly rare people who has not experienced The Phoenix's raw excitement before!)

3) Fill out the special mail card inside and pop it in the post. As soon as it's processed, you will receive 5 (yes 5!) issues of the comic through your door every Friday.

We have been enjoying the stories, particularly Pirates of Pangea (Charlotte's favourite, she is demanding a Sophie costume so we're not quite sure how we're going to manage this!) and Star Cat.

It's a fantastic pack, lasts much much longer than a rubbishy chocolate easter egg (and it fits through the letterbox far more easily). Go grab yours now!

Charlotte's best bit: The excitement of knowing that each issue plops through the letterbox on Friday, no muss no fuss.

Daddy's favourite bit: Far better for my ever-expanding waistline than polishing off Charlotte's easter choc surplus when she's not looking (she can't read this yet, nyaa nyaaa!)

Astonishingly, we still have Christmas chocolate hanging around the house, and the thought of another Easter spent surreptitiously hiding Charlotte's crazy huge collection of chocolate confectionery around the house so she doesn't scoff the lot sends choccy chills down our spines. Sure,  it's still a while off yet, but shops have been stocking Easter Eggs since boxing day. Eeek!

If only there was something fantastic she could get as an Easter present that A) wouldn't give her a set of gnashers like gnarled tombstones and B) would mean our waistlines wouldn't expand from absolutely having to force ourselves to scoff her easter treats, purely for the greater good (the greater good).

Never fear, The Phoenix Comic is here with the best present idea ever - An easter gift box for £14.99 that contains...

• Five (yes Five!) issues of the fabulous Phoenix Comic
• Badges!
• Sticker Sheets
• A mini comic
• A chocolate Gary Northfield*