indri

I haven't tried Preacher, no, but I should. My friend the stand-up comic also tells me it's good. Is it best to start with the first volume or is it one those series that took a while to reach its potential? I think I read some of Ennis's Hellblazer and appreciated it. (Some versions of Spike remind me of John Constantine at times; it's probably the moral ambiguity and the coat.)

I enjoyed Gaiman's one-volume Mr Punch, which is a sad kid's-eye view of family and innocence. His Sandman series is good but varies from formulaic to truly inspired. I suppose I feel slightly disappointed by him because he can great but often opts to be safe and unchallenging.When he gets beyond that, he's fantastic: I still count issue seven (in volume one) as one of the most satisfyingly horrible stories I've ever read.

One other English comics writer I've read is Brian Talbot. I thought The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was very memorable whereas I read and then forgot that I'd read the sequel, Heart of Empire. I'm told that The Tale of One Bad Rat is his masterpiece but I haven't read it yet.

Mmm, more reasons for me to go back to the comics shop...