Recommendations

A TV Show, a Comic and a Novel.

A look back at some things I enjoyed in 2025.

Ted Lasso

I was late to the party with this, but the guys at The Brewgooders podcast talked about it so much I had to try it. That resulted in a binge-watch of this comedy about an American football coach arriving in south London to manage English football team, AFC Richmond.

Although it is actually a ruse by the owner to destroy the team, Ted's charisma and unorthodox methods eventually win over the players and fans.

It’s a great underdog story, and though ultimately predictable, the cast of characters make this almost into a soap opera rather then a football drama.

Recommended, even if you don’t enjoy a game where overpaid prima donnas kick a bag of air around a park.

Commando

Issue 5881, The Longest War.

Written by Paul Cornell (2000AD, Doctor Who, Coronation Street), art by Steve Yeowell (Zenith, Batman, Zoids)

A Korean man is forced into military service by the Japanese to fight the Soviets in 1939. As the story progresses he ends up fighting for different armies and switching sides! He seems like the unluckiest man who cannot avoid the war.

For me, what makes this story is the twist ending (no spoilers here).

Midnight and Blue

The latest Rebus novel by crime writer Ian Rankin finds the hero in jail for the murder of his arch nemesis and Edinburgh crime boss, Ger Cafferty. Protected in jail by Cafferty’s rival, Daryl Christie, Rebus finds himself drawn into the investigation of a locked room murder, as a fellow inmate is killed.

Another riveting read from Ian Rankin. At the outset I couldn’t figure how a Rebus story could work with him in jail, but it absolutely did, with quite a lot of the narrative heavy lifting shouldered by supporting characters Malcolm Fox and Siobhan Clarke.

Next time - some news about a new comic series I’ve been hired to work on.

Colin