Dante, as so often recently, was first read and then re-read before I started anything else. Cracking, cracking stuff. As so often.
I AM, for a change, starting to tire of these interludes to some degree, mostly because of the wild west elements which are a little hackneyed to my eyes. I read to two parts in one go and it DID work better together though. Given the nasty things going on in your life, Jon, I am astonished you managed to turn in such an accomplished job. I'm hopeful Tharg'll give you another shot soon to remind us of what you can do at your best.
ABCs are fun, but we all know it only really works (as with so much of Pat's recent stuff) as a collection or read in one go. Can't imagine how all this is going to tie up, but I reckon Blackblood will never rejoin the squad. Hopefully he'll live to be a thorn in their side for a while before a suitably nasty end. I am hoping for the redemption of Mek-Quake though. He's a simpleton and very suseptable to Volkhan's psychic powers/hypnotism/whatever. Given Pat's mentioned that Mekkers is his own favourite I am hoping that this means he'll be around and given meaty, fun things to do for some time yet.
Don't tend to bother with Future Shocks until later in the week, personally.
I can't get enough of Stickleback. Second only to Dante in my opinion among the current thrill line-up.
As for the cover, it's eye-catching and a genuine "WHAT THE FUNT?!?" image. Reckon it's done it's job. Although I agree the colouring is a little hard on the eyes. Almost gave me a migraine. Maybe THAT'S part of Tharg's evil plan......
