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Day 167 of #UKBookIndustryClicheBingo2026 had 3 entries: exceptional • quirky • sorry 'Exceptional' makes a third appearance of 2026.

Alt: Exceptional David Acosta

Exceptional David Acosta

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Call is sub-text, created for the hard of thinking who fail to understand something is meant as a joke.

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Notoriously, there was actually even more Pure Chin is the original version; I made Siku repaint Dredd's chin in the first episode because it was so massive, so extreme! Wish I'd kept a copy of the original. It was... something. But yes, also love me some Siku art.

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#OTD 28 years ago @2000ad.bsky.social featured a cracking cover by artist Siku. He painted a lush three-parter for Slaine and I wanted him to become the strip's main artist, but writer Pat Mills wasn't convinced. I still think it was a missed opportunity as the art below shows, but such is life...

Siku painted cover for 2000AD Prog 1113, dated 30 September 1998

Slaine painted art by Siku for The Swan Children 3-parter

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 29/09/2026

#OTD 29 years ago the Space Girls made their first appearance in @2000ad.bsky.social. I co-created this silly, short-lived series with artist Jason Brashill, John Tomlinson wrote the scripts. Despite only running 5 eps, the Space Girls enraged many readers - and got featured in French Elle Magazine.

Jason Brashill's cover art for 2000AD Prog 1062, dated 30 September 1997

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Clear white gutters are better for reader legibility (and story engagement) than moody all-black page background with panels presented atop that darkness. Might not look as cool, but it reads better. Comics being readable > comics looking cool.

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 29/09/2026

"Ooh, it gets dark, it gets lonely In the cold vacuum of space I whine a lot, I find the plot Falls through without you I'm coming back love, cruel Zaphod My one dream, my only disaster"

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 29/09/2026

'Long meetings of hollow powerpoint presentations in airless rooms'? Luxury! Some of us dream of having long meetings of hollow powerpoint presentations in airless rooms.

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 29/09/2026

Amazing the things that stick in the memory. Have done the same thing for much of my writing career, though not with H&B.

SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 29/09/2026

Is this the album Douglas Adams listened to non-stop while writing one of his HHGtG sequels?

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 29/09/2026

(That should read 'coming from' or 'coming off', btw!)

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 29/09/2026

Short version: seemed like a good idea at the time, especially with the filmmakers coming over critical darling Shallow Grave and smash hit Trainspotting. Alas, ALLO was a bit of a mess with much surgery being done in the edit to make something out of a sow's ear. A flawed enterprise all round.

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 29/09/2026

Day 166 of #UKBookIndustryClicheBingo2026 had 3 entries: little • mind-bending • speculative 'Mind-bending' makes its third appearance of the year.

Mind Blown Reaction: Man with Sparkles

Alt: Mind Blown Reaction: Man with Sparkles

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 29/09/2026

Why writers spread themselves too thin, why doing events for 'exposure' is dubious, and why you shouldn't say 'yes' to everything - all revealed in this week's newsletter: dvbishop.substack.com/p/too-much-i...

dvbishop.substack.com

Too much is too much

You can spread yourself too thin, Bishop

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Lucy Bellwood @lubellwoo.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

We're screening HIGHLANDER for free at 7pm at the Ojai Playhouse tomorrow night in honor of my dad, one of the original film's co-writers. I have no sense of whether any Bluesky people are actually In My Area, but you're invited! ojaiplayhouse.com/event/highla...

A poster showing deep blue and black art from the 40th anniversary release of Highlander. Text reads "Free screening in memory of Peter Bellwood: Highlander, Ojai Playhouse, Tuesday, 9/29, 7pm. Reserve seats at ojaiplayhouse.com"

A film photograph of a cinema marquee showing Bronson Murphy's Law, Walt Disney Cinderella, and Highlander: there can be only one. On the sidewalk in front of the cinema, Peter Bellwood leans against a lamppost. He has a shock of white hair and looks uncharacteristically cool.

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 28/09/2026

I was halfway through watching WARM BODIES at the pictures which features two star-crossed lovers called R (a zombie) and Julie (not a zombie) before I realised it was a Shakespeare homage. It took a scene with Juliet on the balcony before the groat finally dropped...

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 28/09/2026

Day 165 of #UKBookIndustryClicheBingo2026 had 3 entries: enthralling • epic • perception 'Epic' makes its seventh appearance of 2026.

Epic Epic Epic Epic

Alt: Epic Epic Epic Epic

SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 27/09/2026

Brilliant news, congratulations Matt! Thoroughly deserved.

SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 27/09/2026

Thanks @leerandall.bsky.social, hope you’re having a grand time at Wigtown Book Festival!

SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 25/09/2026

Hope you have a brilliant festival!

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 25/09/2026

Will you still be in Wigtown on Monday Oct 5th, or will you have headed home by then? Am coming down to mentor someone that afternoon...

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 25/09/2026

9/25 happy Dolly Day to all those who celebrate it, and everyone who loves books

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Hey Kids Rock'n'Roll @heykidsshop.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Occasional reminder that I've got a bunch of unlikely but delightful items in my shop - heykidsrocknroll.etsy.com - to satisfy the most jaded souls.

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Annalee Newitz @annaleen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This is solarpunk art

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 23/09/2026

It is the Leslie sub-plot, they use the David Shire score. The scene with the pub landlady in the basement is a key scene in the homage.

All The President's Men: Not Very Bright Guys

ALT: All The President's Men: Not Very Bright Guys

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 23/09/2026

Nice homage to All The President’s Men in this week’s episode of Ted Lasso.

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 23/09/2026

Hasn’t that been drained yet?

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 23/09/2026

In fact the writer's name was Paul Neal - not Paul Neary! Those credits are doubly wrong!

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 23/09/2026

The art is by Marc Wigmore, the credits are wrong. This Paul Neary was a writer from Brighton, who approached the Megazine as a collaborative pairing with artist Marc Wigmore. Confusingly, he shared a name with the artist Paul Neary who was working for Marvel and Marvel UK at the time.

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 23/09/2026

Separated at birth: David Seymour and Arnold Rimmer #nzpol

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 23/09/2026

And calling a character Nob will always be funny.

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Kasey Gifford @kaseygifford.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This is my new favorite thing.

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 22/09/2026

Sad to miss this year's festival, but running on empty a bit...

SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 22/09/2026

Next year's Contessa Coltello book is a little kinder to characters!

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 22/09/2026

Catch-up for #UKBookIndustryClicheBingo2026; Days 160-163 had 17 entries in total: critical • dazzling • diversification • extraordinary (twice) • fearless • homogenise • human • irresistible • landmark • pirate • practical • rising • shift • social • thrilling • vital 'Extraordinary' hits 9 uses

Emma Heesters Sings 'You Are Extraordinary'

Alt: Emma Heesters Sings 'You Are Extraordinary'

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Rachael King @rachaelking70.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

So a really important New Zealand book is published today. No, not that one. This one! The fourth and final Violet and the Velvets!

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SHADOW OF MADNESS out now! @dvbishop.com · 22/09/2026

Glad you enjoyed it! Sorry about the murders...