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Standing Order - 29/09/11

2011-09-28T20:45:00.015+01:00

Spoiler alert - I'll be spoiling a pile of comics you read weeks ago.

Red Lanterns #1
DC
Words: Peter Milligan
Pictures: Ed Benes & Rob Hunter
Atrocitus gets warmer and more cuddly by the minute. He's going to punish evildoers everywhere with his bloody vomit, but he's nice to his cat. Ed Benes finds a woman's arse to draw so is happy, presumably.

Green Lantern #1
DC
Words: Geoff Johns
Pictures: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy & Tom Nguyen
Sinestro is a Green Lantern and doesn't want to be, Hal Jordan isn't a Green Lantern and misses it so. Hal does stupid things without thinking them through properly and Carol Ferris has had enough of him. In short, NOTHING NEW OR INTERESTING HAPPENS.

Batwoman #1
Marvel
Words: JH Williams III & W Haden Blackman
Pictures: JH Williams III
Can anyone give me a good reason why JH Williams III isn't drawing a Neil Gaiman comic? Anyone? No. That's right. Get it sorted, DC. I was a bit worried about Williams writing this but this issue suggests my concerns are unfounded. This is solid, with flourishes of the sublime.

Stormwatch #1
DC
Words: Paul Cornell
Pictures: Miguel Sepulveda
Good idea to hand the writing chores on Storwatch to another Brit, given Ellis' influence, then later Morrison and Millar's turns on The Authority. As with many of the New 52, this is weighed down somewhat by the need for first-issue exposition, but I have high hopes nonetheless.

Batgirl #1
DC
Words: Gail Simone
Pictures: Ardian Syaf & Vicente Cifuentes
Smart move from Simone. New book, old Batgirl, but we focus here on how out-of-practice Barbara Gordon is. As such, the exposition is appropriate, and thus light of touch, and we have a great jumping on point.

Ultimate Spider-Man #1
Marvel
Words: Brian Michael Bendis
Pictures: Sara Pichelli
The Ultimate universe is Marvel's sandbox, somewhere creators can play with the legacy without screwing the franchise pooch. Bendis uses that freedom wisely and well here, showing plenty of the DC guys how you do a first issue into the bargain. I like the characters, I want to know what happens next, and there's enough of the Spidey magic to hook me in (a bit like the first issue of Kick Ass, weirdly). I think this book is going to be huge.

Uncanny X-Men #543
Marvel
Words: Keiron Gillen
Pictures: Greg Land & Jay Leisten
Colossus the Juggernaut! I like this issue. Keiron Gillen investigates what it means to be the Juggernaut, to be unstoppable. It's a good angle for an old character, albeit with his essence now transported to the body of the already conflicted Colossus. Quick note to Greg Land: not all women are slutty porn women. Look at the slutty porn White Queen. Look at the lady mayor, barely restraining her inner stripper. Contrary to stereotype, we're not all reading comics with one hand.

The Ultimates #1
Marvel
Words: Jonathan Hickman
Pictures: Esad Ribic
There's so much going on in this comic, Ultimate Nick Fury doesn't know what to do. Having read Hickman's entire Secret Warriors, I know how he feels.

Avengers #17
Marvel
Words: Brian Michael Bendis
Pictures: John Romita Jr & Klaus Janson
This comic has almost everything. A beautiful Alan Davis cover, simply gorgeous JRJr interiors, The Protector using all of Iron Man's suits at once, Iron Fist smacking Sin square in the chops and Ms Marvel getting punched across Manhattan. The only thing it doesn't have, the one thing that's missing, is Hawkeye and Spider-Woman getting it on like they do on the cover!!

Secret Avengers #16
Marvel
Words: Warren Ellis
Pictures: Jamie McKelvie
Hard not to draw Planetary comparisons. Who cares, it's brilliant.

Justice League #1
DC
Words: Geoff Johns
Pictures: Jim Lee & Scott Williams
It's five years in the past, Batman is gruff, Green Lantern is an arrogant tosser and I just couldn't care less. Jim Lee's art reminds me of the nineties. Not the good nineties. Not Starman or Marvels or Morrison's brilliant JLA (which this book can only dream of being). It reminds me of the shit nineties. The five copies we all bought of X-Men #1. Those terrible Image team books (one bad-ass, one big guy, one huge pair of tits etc.). The nineties I don't want to be reminded of. This is a bad comic and it's a lot like a lot of bad comics I've read before.

Kapow, kapow again

2011-04-10T21:04:00.006+01:00

Back to Kapow today. More nerdofun.

Bane popped along to offer his best wishes. Here he is being interviewed.

Hmm, something seems to be bothering him.

Oh, he seems quite angry now.

FUCKING HELL! BANE'S SMASHING EVERYONE UP!!

Maybe this guy can sort it out?

Two panels today. One was Toby Whithouse talking about Being Human, the other was the Amazing Spider-Panel with JRJR (for about three minutes). Crap photos:

Being Human Being A Bit Late

Toby says things. One of them is that Mitchell's not coming back as he is absolutely, definitely dead. I thought he always was, but the programme isn't called Being Pedantic, I suppose.

Coolest man in comics, John Romita Jr, answers one panel question before strolling off to fuck all the women. All of them.

This is Steve Wacker, editor of the Spider-books. He seems to genuinely love his job, in spite of the fact it sounds like a massive ballache. He's funny too.

The Amazing Spider-Panel. Wacker pointed out that Marcos Martin is off to do Daredeveil, which is a shame. I do love hornhead, but I will miss MM on Spidey.

Cosplayers waiting to be judged.

BYE KAPOW!!!!

Kapow, indeed...

2011-04-09T21:45:00.008+01:00

I never went to UKCAC. I've been to Bristol once for about an hour. But I have been to Kapow. And it was good. Here's some photos:

The Business Design Centre in Islington, chock-full of nerd.

Some sort of blue telephone box that just appeared mid-con.

The Breaking Into Marvel panel - left to right Doug Braithwaite, Keiron Gillen, Nick Lowe, Stephen Wacker, Avi Granov and Leinil Yu. Their suggestions regarding breaking into the medium were, respectively, be young and cocky, be old and practice, take an unpaid internship (yeah! Fuck you, Clegg), work really hard, work in the video game industry, just play a load of video games and get Whilce Portacio to do all of the work.

Having fun with my lady-love.

I've had a tres fun day, bathing in nerdy lore. The Q&A with Mark Gatiss was lovely, he so nice. Preferred the As to the Qs, being honest - one-too-many Qs in Q&As could be rephrased as "I have an opinion about which I feel very, very strongly, irrespective of how unimportant the subject matter is. Please agree with me, oh famous geek, and validate not only my opinion, but how strongly I feel about it."

Spent some silver-age money, too. Got #13 and #23 of the Avengers for a pretty penny.

More tomorrow!

Pass the tiny tea, mother.

2010-02-21T11:34:00.004Z

More Hong Kong nonsense.

Here's the view from the top-deck of a tram travelling up De Veoux Road through HK's Central District:

We were on our way to a (disappointing) arts and crafts fair in Hong Kong Park. Here's my friend Catrina on the tram, looking at me like I was brandishing a gun menacingly as I demanded she smile for the camera:

Here's the park. Crappy camera, but you can just about make out the skyscrapers in the background (I think that's the angular Bank of China building). It is weird being in a park but seeing very little sky due to the massive buildings all around.

And here we both are in a restaurant with tiny, tiny teacups:

I had the beef. I still have SARS.

Show me the way to Madripoor...

2010-02-20T10:53:00.009Z

Seriously? A blog post? Seriously?

Believe it, true believer. Ex. Cel. See. Or.

I'm in Hong Kong! I know! Hong Kong! I'm a travel blogger, briefly. As opposed to a comic book non-blogger, 'spose.

Here's some proof:

This is the view from the 17th floor of the Island Pacific Hotel on Hong Kong's Connaught Road West. Well, it's a poor photo of the said, but I haven't got the right lead to connect my friend/travelling companion's camera to my rubbish laptop, so I'm reliant on my phone (HTC Magic, everything but the megapixels) to show you where it is at. The hotel's in a pretty handy location, given that one can stumble out of the front door onto one of the island's many trams and get into the centre of everything for less than the price of a Curly Wurly back home. Win. Also, the local dried fish market provides the area with a sense of olfactory authenticity, but only in the same way that a trip to the Imperial War Museum's trenches exhibition is made more authentic if you actually shit yourself beforehand.

I'm currently in the hotel bar, listening to a very sweet Chinese singer/bontempi-botherer absolutely slaughtering a cover of Richard Marx's 'Right Here Waiting'. It's a distinct improvement on the original and makes everything feel Lost In Translation.

Angry Hong Kong poster:

So, what have I done, my four-colour friends? I went to Clark's Comics in the Causeway Bay area of the island to get my geek on, but this was cruelly cut short with the realisation that I have more comics than the only US comic shop in this compact metropolis. Shouldn't be too much of a surprise, I suppose, and tomorrow I hunt some more indigenous nerdcore.

My friend and I also went to the Namco Wonder Park Plus in the Hong Kong World Trade Centre, one of the loudest and most sensorily-confusing places I've ever been. It was like getting a kicking off all of the characters in Tekken at once in the cargo hold of a jumbo jet filled with laughing gas crashing into a neon cowbell factory. I was over-stimulated and, after a few goes on a Chinese drumming game, we ran off.

She's doing 'Smooth Operator' now. It's like a Cantonese Ashes To Ashes.

Other things we've done include:

And much more besides.

More to follow, but only if the head cold I've developed since yesterday morning doesn't turn out to be the AvianSarsPandemicAsianSuperVirus that I think we all know it really is.

In brightest day, in drunkest night

2009-11-29T13:03:00.004Z

Three ebay parcels yesterday, plus a visit to Orbital. Effin A, Cotton. Effin A.

Parcel 1 was Doom Patrol#1. I missed this and couldn't find it anywhere, so ebay came to the rescue, as it so often does. I can read them all now.

Parcels 2 and 3 were Avengers back-issues. I'm trying to collect a complete run on the cheap. Yesterday, I got perfectly serviceable copies of #36, #50, #53, #54, #64, #82, #83, #88 and #89, all for the princely sum of £30. Bargainous.

And, Orbital. Big week, this week. Biiig week. 21 books, including I Am Legion #6 and the final instalment of Straczynski's run on Thor. Given a minute this week, I'll chuck some reviews up.

After that, I bought some new clothes and a shitload of alcohol, which I then wore and drunk. I feel rubbidge, but at least I got to tell everyone in The Cock on Great Portland Street that I was the new Lantern for Sector 2814 after Orbital bequeathed me my own emerald ring, which I refused to take off all night. Reviewing events, maybe there were two cocks on Great Portland Street last night.

Yeaahh bwwwoyyy!!

2009-11-17T19:16:00.003Z

It's been a while. Some things have happened.

Fantastic Realm, my local shop, closed down, which is a sad thing. I won't lie, I didn't think it was a well-run shop, but I liked the guys who ran it badly, it was very handy for me and I felt, you know, settled.

As such, I've had to pick a new dealer to get my fix from and I've plumped for Orbital, just off London's world-famous shit-trap, Leicester Square. It's been my favourite geek-magnet for a while so this is a natural progression. Their new shelves are arranged by week, making shopping them so easy, plus they have a decent load of back issues and exciting nerd-shirts. One or two of the staff are intimidatingly pretty also - unusual for a comic book store, I'm sure you'll agree. I hope I'll be happy.

In the Fantastic Realm closing-down sale, I picked up a stack of trades, including the first Agents of Atlas collection, which is my current commute read. I'm right into it, and it begs the question of why I didn't pick it up to begin with. Maybe because I don't know what I'm doing: see, also, Glamourpuss.

Really enjoyed the first issues of the new Ares mini and Cornell's Dark X-Men. Unfortunately, I missed #1 of Strange, the Mark Waid/Emma Rios limited series, but at least that' something to look forward to on Saturday. Along with the two billion other books I'll lug home.

Funny letter, funny books

2009-10-14T20:02:00.004+01:00

Catch-up reading last night, with Michael Avon Oeming and Taki Soma's 6-issue Dark Horse mini, Rapture. I like it, it's a post-superhero-apocalypse story of lost love and spear-wielding champions. It looks nice and it reads well.

This is not a view shared by Craig Lynn, who's letter, bravely selected for print by Oeming and Soma, made me laugh my head, literally, off. I reprint it in full here, for your entertainment and wincing:

Dear Makers of Rapture,
Have you ever read Spider-Man? It's pretty good. I like it when J. Jonah Jameson yells at Spider-Man, because you're thinking, "Wow, did Spider-Man fuck his wife or something? 'Cause he is MAD." You should have the characters in Rapture get really mad at each other too, so readers will wonder whose wives they are fucking instead of wishing they were dead.

Do the characters have to cry in every panel? Sometimes when I was skimming Rapture I wished they'd stop. Then I turned the page and they hadn't, and I'd think, "Man, I could sure read me some Spider-Man right about now." Have you ever read Spider-Man? Did you write it? If so, I'd rate your comics like this: #1 - Spider-Man. A distant second: Rapture. Maybe make Rapture more like that great Spider-Man comic you wrote?

Another thing I love about Spider-Man is the "big" questions it makes me ask myself, like "How will Spider-Man catch Dr. Octopus?" or "Why does Spider-Man keep fucking J. Jameson's wife?" And not "What in God's name is happening in this comic?" and "I wish he'd put that fucking guitar down," and "Why can't these characters poop into their own mouths, choke on shit, and die?" like when I read Rapture.

Craig Lynn

Brilliant. Nasty.

And now, a list of what I'm going to buy on exciting new comic book day, tomorrow:
The Unwritten #6 - Yum
Secret Six #14
The Incredible Hercules #136 - HercuThor vs. Thorcules. Oh yeah.
Uncanny X-Men #516 - Why Greg Land? Why?
Blackest Night: Batman #3
Green Lantern Corps #41 - Blackest Night. Still.
R.E.B.E.L.S. #8 - You were right, Dom.
The Marvels Project #3 - so far, yawny.
Nomad Girl Without a World #2 - good first issue.
Web of Spider-Man #1 - Three stories. One by J.M.Dematteis, one by Sean McKeever and one by Tom DeFalco. One shouldn't prejudge, of course, but the DeFalco story doesn't attract me...

I'm also going to hunt down some Planetary trades. Bought #27 last week and I want more Ellis.

Put something new into the world

2009-10-08T11:01:00.004+01:00

I want to go back to university next year. To learn how to write fiction.

I have an imagination, but I struggle to get it out, onto a page. It's there, I can feel it floating about, but by the time it's been filtered through my brain, past fear, hubris and shame, battered into making sense, normalised, it's unsatisfying. Sanitised.

So, I want to learn how to do it. How to get my imagination out. How to let it out. I want to go back to university. Next year. Not a very imaginative idea, granted.

There's stuff I need to do. I need to prepare a portfolio, to show I'm not pretending. I need to square things with work, one way or another. I need to decide how I'm going to afford it.

I need to apply. In two senses.

It's exciting. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm on holiday this week, so I'm off to town now. With paper and pens. I need to make 5000 words.

Oh, and I have ideas for comic books. Imagine that - a future writing comic books, working with brilliant artists, realising a creative vision. From brain to page. I want to let my imagination out.

Holiday, celebrate

2009-10-06T23:42:00.002+01:00

I'm off all week and I've spent a good portion of today tooling around with my recording equipment - and some old songs I have lying around - giving serious thought to doing a podcast. A comic book podcast.

Trying a bit here, trying a bit there.

Maybe tomorrow.

Standing Order - 29/09/09

2009-09-29T19:22:00.008+01:00

Spoiler alert - what I don't understand is why you would want to read this if you still have comics to read. Go and read them. They cost you money and they're better.

Amazing Spider-Man #606
Marvel
Words: Joe Kelly
Pictures: Mike McKone & Andy Lanning
Peter's love square becomes a pentagle as the Black Cat returns to tingle his Spidey-sense; MJ, Norah and Michele look on enviously. This book reminds me so much of my own life, it hurts.

Giant-Size Wolverine Old Man Logan #1
Marvel
Words: Mark Millar
Pictures: Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines & Mark Morales
Goodness me. The story that didn't deserve a final chapter gets the final chapter it deserved. Lots of characters I don't care about kill each other in slightly amusing ways, like watching a fourteen year-old boy play a stabby X-Box game.

Spider-Woman #1
Marvel
Words: Brian Michael Bendis
Pictures: Alex Maleev
Too, too, too gorgeous as Maleev rules all - when he draws rain, it rains. Also, everything I like about Bendis and few of the things I don't. Except Skrulls. I'm done with the Skrulls.

X-Men Dark Reign The List #1
Marvel
Words: Matt Fraction
Pictures: Alan Davis & Mark Farmer
Largely pointless, as pointy-eared Namor and pointy-haired Norman Osborne point fingers at each other about who crossed whom. All yawny Dark Reign, but Oh, Alan Davis, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Immortal Weapons #3(of 5)
Marvel
Words: Rick Spears
Pictures: Tim Green II
Weakest of the three issues so far, but maybe that's says as much about Dog Brother #1 as it does anything else. Whereas the previous two issues enjoyed the bawdy tragedy of Fat Cobra and the trippy otherworldly menace of the Bride of Nine Spiders, our primary masculine canine sibling is just a bloke with swords, really. Not a bad comic per se, just not up to the excellent standards of its forebears. Nice art, mind.

Nova #29
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Kevin Sharpe & Nelson Pereira
It's looking grim for my favourite shiny golden scuttle head. Ego's returned, the Mindless Ones want their stash back, and Monark Starstalker is a colossal cosmic bell-end.

X-Factor #48
Marvel
Words: Peter David
Pictures: Valentine DeLandro & Pat Davidson
The best of the X-books (possible exception: Ellis' Astonishing) continues with a story far too complicated to outline here. In eighty years, Dr Doom's arse remains bad.

Who watches the Watchman? Everyone. Everyone does. And they're copying him, too. Copying him, I'm telling you.

2009-09-22T21:05:00.006+01:00

Alan Moore in crazy, narcissistic old crank shocker!

I was noticing that DC seems to have based one of its latest crossovers [Blackest Night] in Green Lantern based on a couple of eight-page stories that I did 25 or 30 years ago. I would have thought that would seem kind of desperate and humiliating, When I have said in interviews that it doesn’t look like the American comic book industry has had an idea of its own in the past 20 or 30 years, I was just being mean. I didn’t expect the companies concerned to more or less say, “Yeah, he’s right. Let’s see if we can find another one of his stories from 30 years ago to turn into some spectacular saga.” It’s tragic. The comics that I read as a kid that inspired me were full of ideas. They didn’t need some upstart from England to come over there and tell them how to do comics. They’d got plenty of ideas of their own. But these days, I increasingly get a sense of the comics industry going through my trashcan like raccoons in the dead of the night.

Megalomania, much? And I wonder if he's actually read it?

I still love him, though, while Blackest Night remains shit.

From here.

Today...

2009-09-20T11:34:00.007+01:00

...is comic mart day here in cloudy London. I'm off to the the ever-so literary Bloomsbury to spend my hard-earned on a stack of dodgy 80s Marvel books which I'll bring home and read with a childlike glee. I'm going to spend my Sunday bathing in New Mutants comics like a pig in shit.

Exciting post-mart update!!
No New Mutants!!!

But plenty of other stuff, all at 25p. Including the following:

Animal Man (v1) 22, 25-27, 29, 31-45
Morrison, Milligan and Veitch's metatextual masterpiece - been considering picking all of these up in trade, but at these prices...

And proof, if it were needed, that Blackest Night has been going on since at least 1990:

Dreadstar (v1) 32, 34
About halfway towards a complete set of first series Dreadstars. Jim Starlin is the greatest.

Shade The Changing Man (v1) 2, 3, 5-8, 10, 11
Back when I worked in a comic book shop, we used to call this Shade The Changing Room. Oh, how we laughed. If Pete Milligan wrote it, you read it.

Strangers In Paradise (v3) 3, 10, 12, 48
I'm only a few issues short now. Once I've completed the lot, I'll read it start to finish.

Terminal City (v1) 1-4, 7-9
Read this in trade about ten years ago. Gets a mention here.

Plus, a bunch of Chaykin books (Flagg and Black Kiss), some 80s X-books, a stack of First Comics' Michael Moorcocks and I plugged a few gaps in my Rising Stars and Midnight Nation runs.

A weird bout of looking forward to things

2009-09-05T19:07:00.004+01:00

Flicking through this month's Marvel Previews has got me excited.

First up, Strange, a four-issue mini about everyone's favourite former Sorceror Supreme. Currently enjoying both Mark Waid's Irredeemable and some trades of his JLA run, so looking forward to this. Best thing though, art is by Emma Rios, who I go on about a lot. Because she's absolutely marvelous.

War of King becomes Reign of Kings, with Abnett and Lanning penning two new minis, Imperial Guard and Inhumans. Drool.

Busy, busy Keiron Gillen has an Ares mini, a S.W.O.R.D. mini and is taking over as regular writer on the ongoing Thor series for six issues. I really liked Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter a whole hell of a lot, so I'm all over this. (Will confess I haven't enjoyed Phonogram, but one can't have everything, I suppose)

And the fabulous Paul Cornell's four-issue Black Widow mini is on its way as well.

Look at me, all positive. Next time: more snark.

Standing Order - 30/08/09

2009-08-30T16:41:00.013+01:00

It's my 34th birthday tomorrow. If you'd have told me, 25 years ago, that I would reach this milestone writing on something called 'the internet' about Green Lantern comics, I'd have considered it a magical vision of the future. Some context, reader. Incidentally, I'm going to spoil the shit out of your comics this week.

Edit: No wonder I'm such a feckless failure in life.

The Last Days of Animal Man #4(of 6)
DC
Words: Gerry Conway
Pictures: Chris Batista & Dave Meikis

A near-future what-if as Buddy Baker loses his powers and, along with them, his sense of identity; this is a superhero mid-life crisis, and a well-told one at that. Nice to see Starfire still dresses like an interstellar pole dancer come 2014.

New Avengers #56
Marvel
Words: Brian Michael Bendis
Pictures: Stuart Immonen & Wade von Grawbadger

Deep breath.

Dr Jonas Harrow has found a superhero power-drainer originally built by Tony Stark and has turned it on The Avengers, who are in bother - Luke is having a heart attack while the disabling of Clint Barton's super-antiemitisism sees him revisiting his breakfast. The Sentry turns up and is depowered. Norman Osborne's armour falls off. Ares falls over. Venom seems upset. Someone else vomits.

Seriously.

Basically, this reverse-engineered piece of Stark technology, that fits into a suitcase, has depowered the following:

Captain America's bionic arm, although quite why this incapacitates him is unexplained;
Like Cage's electro-chemically regenerated cell structure;
Spider-Man's mutated body;
Spider-Woman - who's powers stem from changes to her DNA structure;
Ronin - who has no powers. Not sure what Bendis is up to here, at least it surprises Mockingbird as well;
Ms Marvel's powers, the product of Kree technology;
Moonstone - her powers are also extra-terrestrial in origin;
The Sentry - you know, The Sentry. Blonde. Crazy. Has the power of a million suns, just not with Stark's lunchbox around.

And we are left to believe it may have depowered Venom, an alien symbiote, Ares, a god, and Daken, a mutant. None of whom could surely be depowered, because their powers are just who they are.

Oh, and Norman's armour has fallen off. Let's not forget that.

This comic is fun, and I enjoy it. Mockingbird kicks arse, Norman Osborne ends up looking very foolish and somebody vomits. But surely the first rule of any fiction, particularly fantastic fiction, is that it must be internally consistent in order for the reader to maintain their suspension of disbelief. With this all-powerful, plot-friendly depowering device (mechanical or narrative - take your pick), BMB is sailing perilously close to the wind.

Batman & Robin #3
DC
Words: Grant Morrison
Pictures: Frank Quitely

As creepy and unsettling as All-Star Superman was stellar and mythic. Morrison and Quitely are doing it again.

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #3(of 3)
Marvel
Words: Keiron Gillen
Pictures: Kano & Alvaro Lopez

Marvel's cosmic output at the moment is unimpeachable. Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, War of Kings and now this. It's the juxtaposition of huge ideas and personal moments that wins out time and again.

Blackest Night: Titans #1(of 3)
DC
Words: J. T. Krul
Pictures: Ed Benes, Rob Hunter, Jon Sibal & J. P. Mayer

Some heroes get together, then end up fighting some resurrected friends/foes. Just like every other Blackest Night book so far. The only difference between this and Blackest Night: Batman or Blackest Night: Superman is that Benes makes the whole thing a bit more pornographic.

Dark Avengers #8
Marvel
Words: Matt Fraction
Pictures: Luke Ross

Emma was having fun all along. Yeah, I knew it. Good cross-over, but Ross' pencils are poor.

Dark X-Men #3(of 3)
Marvel
Words: Some people
Pictures: Some other people

Three decent stories, with the spotless Paul Cornell's Namor/Emma Frost 11-pager a predictable winner.

Fantastic Four #570
Marvel
Words: Jonathan Hickman
Pictures: Dale Eaglesham

This continues from where Hickman's recent FF mini left off. It doesn't matter what reality he's from, Reed Richards is an arrogant know-it-all, it seems. Can't decide if I like Eaglesham's stylised art or not.

Flash: Rebirth #4
DC
Words: Geoff Johns
Pictures: Ethan van Scriver

I don't know as much about DC's history as I do about Marvel's, and no-one knows as much about DC as Geoffrey of Johns. I'm struggling to follow this. I'll probably stop trying.

Green Lantern #45
DC
Words: Geoff Johns
Pictures: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy & Tom Nguyen

To quote Johns:

The real central theme in this series is emotion. This entire series is about emotion. It's about conflicting emotion, and changing emotion, and dealing with emotion. What emotion means, what it is.

Sure? Is willpower an emotion? Is love? Is avarice? The Emotional Spectrum feels awfully contrived to me. I'm not even close to sold on this yet.

Guardians of the Galaxy #17
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Brad Walker, Victor Olazaba & Scott Hanna

The single best issue of a comic book I've read this year. There's a hole in the universe, the Magus is back, Martyr and Gamorra are dead, Groot is a genius. It has everything, including Rocket Raccoon at his most hilarious. Just how do we get a fifty-zillion ton inter-dimensional space squid to let go of a self-propelled interstellar city?

The Incredible Hercules #133
Marvel
Words: Fred van Lente & Grek Pak
Pictures: Rodney Buchemi

No Herc in this issue, as Amadeus Cho goes in search of his missing sister. Instead, he finds a seriously intriguing mystery. Always good.

Herogasm #4(of 6)
Dynamite
Words: Garth Ennis
Pictures: John McCrea & Keith Burns

A personal moment for me. I've always been a bit sniffy about Ennis, ever since Preacher - his gleefully juvenile sex/drugs/violence/swearing/conspiracy approach always seemed like cheating to me, all a bit easy. I'm really enjoying this, though, for all of those reasons, and went out yesterday and bought the first The Boys trade. Maybe I've got over myself.

That'll be £102.50 to you, sir.

2009-07-28T19:16:00.005+01:00

Goddamn it!!

I want comics and I can't get comics. I've been working away for a couple of weeks and my local guy only opens his shop for about 8 minutes once a month, so I'm two standing orders light and I'm jonesing for a fix. I've some 80s Alpha Flights from the last comic mart left to muscle through, but that's the lot.

Gah.

Here's my standing order list:

Amazing Spider-Man
When it's good it's very, very good, when it's bad it's Guggenheim.
Astro City
Batman & Robin
Buffy Season 8
Dying on its arse.
Captain America
He's dead. Did you know that?
Captain America Reborn
Oh no, no he isn't. He's lost in time with Batman.
Captain Britain & MI13
Now cancelled. If you didn't buy it, thanks a fucking bunch.
Daredevil
Dark Avengers
Surprisingly good, if you can ignore the entire premise of it.
Echo
Bored of people telling you to read Echo? Because it's brilliant? Because it's Terry Moore and he's ace? Read it, then.
Exiles
Fun and cancelled.
Fantastic Force
Buying this because it's Joe Ahearne. It's a bit confusing, actually. With shit art.
Fantastic Four
Now that Marvel have run out of alternative Earths for Mark Millar to destroy, Jonathan Hickman's taking over.
Flash Rebirth
Fuck knows why.
Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps
Who are all these people?
Guardians Of The Galaxy
Incognito
One day, Ed Brubaker's going to get that Tiny Titans gig he's been after for so long. Until then, this.
Incredible Hercules
Iron Fist
Invincible Iron Man
Irreedeemable
JSA
Sticking with this because Willingham's on his way. I'm long and versed enough in the geek ways to have been reading his Elementals stuff way back, which I loved.
Kick-Ass
Obv.
Madame Xanadu
I really like this book. Try it. Mystical, timey-wimey and a bit sexy.
Mighty Avengers
New Avengers
Well, until Bendis sticks Deadpool in it.
Nova
Rapture
I bought the first issue on a whim, read it drunk, then bought the second issue without remembering the first. It might be good.
Secret Six
Aces.
Secret Warriors
The Twelve
I'm beginning to think this will never get finished, meaning it will be on my pull list forever, reminding me of what could have been. Poignant stuff, I'm sure you agree.
Thor
Uncanny X-Men
Got back on the X-bike recently and I'm riding it all the way down the slippery slope to X-Force back issues. Woo!!! Ring ring!!!
Unwritten
War Of Kings
Amazing. Effortless. If Blackest Night is half as good as this...
Wednesday Comics
I'm paying three quid for a 12 page newspaper and I need my fucking head testing.
X-Factor
Young Liars
Crazy shit. I love this comic.

But does he tie it himself..?

2009-07-20T21:43:00.004+01:00

New Doctor, new assistant, new Converse, new tie:

New new Who. Looking forward to this a lot.

Some of my best friends are gay...

2009-07-05T12:07:00.009+01:00

In Rob Liefeld's world, his character's don't change, don't grow, don't have proper feet and - if they're boys - CERTAINLY DON'T EVER, LIKE, GET TURNED ON BY ANOTHER DUDE.

Cue furore. Rob can say what he likes, even if it comes across as arrogant, stupid, presumptuous and it's his right to do so. But why has he chosen to speak out about this X-Force story in particular? As Peter David points out in the comments section of the CBR story:

Speaking for myself, I’m pretty relaxed. Rob’s the one who seems rather heated up. I’m more amused than anything. Of all the changes and variations done to characters of Rob’s, homosexuality is where he draws the line?

For me, I'm not sure Liefeld's a homophobe. In fact, I think he's a bit jealous of old Shatterstar. He's always had a bit of a thing for Rictor, you see. Proof? As ever with Rob, it's all in the anatomy. Try this:

Oh, Rob is only focusing on one thing there, right?
Aaalllriiiiight......

And, of course, we all know Rob's never actually seen a real lady up-close...

Not right.

This post, and many others like it, is directly influenced by this all-time great.

Oh, for fuck's sake...

2009-05-19T22:39:00.002+01:00

...can be found here.

In Pod We Trust

2009-05-19T22:30:00.008+01:00

I listen to some comic book podcasts. Here are four I like:

Awesomed By Comics
I've mentioned Awesomed a couple of times before as I've bought things on its recommendation (most notably, the why-didn't-you-buy-it, Emma Rios gorgeous-fest Hexed). Aaron and Evie are married and live in New York. Aaron presents something on radio, I think, as well as knowing about audios, hence this podcast sounds really good. Evie is a music journo, is funny, opinionated and sweary and makes this podcast rock. They hand out their weekly awards ("Cover of the Week", "Panel of the Week", "Crap of the Week"... you get the picture) and, in this reviewer's opinion, have excellent taste. So, in short, I listen to this because they agree with me. It's a professional, enjoyable, cool piece of work and I really want you to hear it.

Comic Racks
Two women, one from Birmingham, one Bristol (I think), talk for a long time about geek stuff. This is friendly and accessible - mercilessly free from the uber-nerd cock-waving so many blokes are guilty of on their own podcasts - and has a home-made, and very British, charm. And Stace, even when she's talking about punching babies on buses, has a lilting Brummie accent that will melt your stony, stony heart.

Nerd Hurdles
A couple of smart and adorable Canadians (Jakob and Mandi) go nerd in-depth. There's a lot of fun here in following the nonsense. I don't mean to cast aspersions, but I think they might be stoned. Possibly. I'm a fan.

Quiet! Panelologists at Work
Matt and Jon should be in charge of the whole fucking world.

Huh..?

2009-05-11T16:31:00.004+01:00

I used to blog about comics.

Then work happened.

Oh, AND, I went to a festival. Where I saw a load of bands that I really enjoyed. And a couple I wasn't bothered about.

Tommorow: comics.

Standing Order - 16/04/09

2009-04-16T14:57:00.011+01:00

Spoiler, spoiler, blah blah blah. Just read your bloody comics.

Amazing Spider-Man #590
Marvel
Words: Dan Slott
Pictures: Barry Kitson & Mark Farmer
Spidey and FF go on holiday. Johnny Storm spends half of the issue whining that he can't remember the wall-crawler's identity, even though he used to know it. Everyone else knows it isn't worth mentioning. One More Day is a big shit that just won't flush.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #24
Dark Horse
Words: Jim Krueger
Pictures: Cliff Richards & Andy Owens
More fun when they move.

Eternals #9
Marvel
Words: Charles & Daniel Knauf
Pictures: Eric Nguyen
Oh. This has finished. Shit, I was really enjoying it. There you go. At least Sersi's not dead, I suppose.

Exiles #1
Marvel
Words: Jeff Parker
Pictures: Salva Espin
Marvel's premier dimension-hopping reality-fixers return for a third ongoing series with a bright, fun start. Looking forward to seeing where Parker's imagination can take this. And just why doesn't every Black Panther have a direct and literal robot lion?

Hexed #4(of 4)
Boom! Studios
Words: Michael Alan Nelson
Pictures: Emma Rios
This excellent mini draws to a close as Lucifer puts an end to Dietrich's reign of being-an-arsehole-to-everybody with a .45 and demonic stuffed toy. Have I mentioned before how much I love Emma Rios? I do. I truly do. Hope to see a lot more Hexed, while Rios is taking over art chores on Runaways from next month.

Irredeemable #1
Boom! Studios
Words: Mark Waid
Pictures: Peter Kraus
Waid is a guy who knows what he's doing. I really cared about the little Sam chappy, even after only a few panels, so to find out that he was a (briefly) reanimated corpse with half of his head missing was sad. The Plutonian is Superman if he'd read a load of snidey nerds on internet messageboards slagging him off and decided he'd had enough. Or, possibly, Grant Morrison if he had super-powers.

Secret Warriors #3
Marvel
Words: Brian Michael Bendis & Jonathan Hickman
Pictures: Stefano Caselli
I'm enjoying this. Nuno Bettencourt hands Nick's new team their backsides as Fury himself continues to uncover HYDRA's control of SHIELD. Spy-jinks ahoy.

War Of Kings #2
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Paul Pelletier & Rick Magyar
Abnett and Lanning have more cosmic ideas than you. This month: Chorus Sentries - massive space robots powered by Black Bolt's voice that sing Shi'ar warships into pieces. They're the bastard offspring of Mariah Carey and Master Mold and they're kicking-in Vulcan's dirtbox.

War of Kings: Ascension #1
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Wellinton Alves & Scott Hanna
And, with a wave of their cosmic rods, Abnett and Lanning undo all of the shitty work from the Darkhawk two-part series. Q: How can you tell the difference between a Darkhawk and a Nova? A: The Darkhawk is the one setting fire to your granddad's dog.

Script Frenzy - 14 days, 22 hours and 28 minutes

2009-04-15T22:28:00.002+01:00

Page count: 33
A non-productive (and by that, I mean incredibly drunk) weekend as far as Frenzy goes, but have picked up some slack over the last couple of days. I might post some comic reviews tomorrow, just for a change.

Incidentally, I have six issues of Glamourpuss to read and it looks fucking dreadful. Brian Wilson only knows why I've been buying it.

Script Frenzy - 8 days, 16 hours and 33 minutes

2009-04-09T16:33:00.002+01:00

Page count: 14
Because that is how I fucking roll.

Script Frenzy - 7 days, 19 hours and 27 minutes

2009-04-08T19:27:00.005+01:00

Page count: 7
Spent the weekend preparing for Monday's job interview then, bizarrely, spent yesterday preparing for the second interview, which was yesterday evening. At least it's out of the way. Did get a page done on Monday on the train home and prior to getting the call inviting me back the following day. Went for a trip out today to sweep up some missing issues (Echo, Hexed, Eternals and Incognito) and two new bits (Pull Shapes and Irredeemable) so tomorrow is writing. I pledge, right now, that I will have doubled my page count by tomorrow evening. Watch this space.

Script Frenzy - 2 days, 20 hours and 13 minutes

2009-04-03T20:12:00.002+01:00

Page count: 6
Oh dear. A snag. I have been invited to a job interview at 10am on Monday, for which I must prepare very thoroughly. I found out about it this morning, so have spent the day doing that. Rather than writing. Gah. This weekend should have been about the script, but I won't get any done now. Fuck it.

On the plus side, I have a job interview...

Script Frenzy - 1 day, 18 hours and 33 minutes

2009-04-02T18:32:00.002+01:00

Page count: 6
Not too bad. Hoping to get more done tonight before bed, something I didn't have the opportunity to do yesterday. It's a totally new form for me - comic book scripting - and I'm enjoying thinking in a visual manner. Luckily, I have thousands of hours of reading experience to draw upon...

Script Frenzy update - 15 hours and 18 minutes

2009-04-01T15:18:00.001+01:00

Page count: 4
And so it begins. Crappy night's sleep so didn't roll out of bed until 10 or so. 4 pages completed now, which I'm more than happy with. I have a meeting this evening about a possible new job (which might scupper my 100 pages! Oh no!) so I won't achieve much more today.

Script Frenzy update - 11 minutes

2009-04-01T00:11:00.002+01:00

Page count: 0
...oh God, I am never going to get it finished...

Standing Order - 31/03/09

2009-03-31T16:54:00.008+01:00

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of some comics I read over the last week. If you haven't read your comics yet, this post will quantitively ease your arse all the way to Ruinedcomicsville

The Mighty Avengers #23
Marvel
Words: Dan Slott
Pictures: Khoi Pham, Allen Martinez & Danny Miki
It was Loki! It was Loki all along! Dagnammit, that tricksy Loki... Dan Slott's choice of protagonist harks back to the original Avengers and gives the formation of this new team a good sense of occasion.

Daredevil #117
Marvel
Words: Ed Brubaker
Pictures: Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano
According to the geek wires, Brubaker's soon to leave this book. Hope not. Well written and beautifully drawn.

Fantastic Four #565
Marvel
Words: Mark Millar
Pictures: Bryan Hitch, Cam Smith & Andrew Currie
Sue Storm throws a church at a giant squid. Good, if you like that sort of thing.

The Incredible Hercules #127
Marvel
Words: Fred Van Lente & Greg Pak
Pictures: Dietrich Smith & Cory Hamscher
Gods, I love this book.

Nova #23
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Andrea Divito
This issue has a gorgeous Daniel Acuna cover which, unfortunately, gives away the ending of a great story. Crappy editorial decision notwithstanding, this is excellent. Rich Ryder is saved from certain death by donning the quantum bands and becoming the new Nova and gets it together with the absurdly-named Dr Necker, herself revealed as a member of AIM.

Squadron Supreme #9
Marvel
Words: Howard Chaykin
Pictures: Marco Checchetto
Slightly confusing battle-antics throughout this issue, which is not to the same standard as the previous ones. I think Howard has one-too-many capes scrapping here.

War of Kings: Darkhawk #2(of 2)
Marvel
Words: C.B. Cebulski, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Harvey Tolibao & Paolo Pantalena
Normally, when art is so abysmal that it's impossible to tell what's going on, it's a bad thing. However, when a story is this awful, it's much less of a problem.

Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse: Down The Pub #1(of 1)
IDW
Words and Pictures: Ben Templesmith
There's a particular type of British comic guy. He finds socialising difficult, unless it's with his own type, and he hides this difficulty beneath a boisterous, matey mask. He likes pints and the pub, but his constant references to these things are, well, a bit cringeworthy, as if there's some innate humour in drinking that all us blokes understand and a regular reaffirmation of this helps to underline his masculinity. That guy, that nerd, is what this book reminds me of. Beautiful art, mind you.

It's on..!

2009-03-30T14:23:00.004+01:00

1) Shut down Facebook. It's like internet crack. I don't want it but it keeps dragging me back. I've shut it down for the month.

2) Plot and characters pretty much sorted. I had planned to write a detailed treatment prior to kick off on Wednesday, but, you know, whatever. I've enough in my head and on big ideas board I put together to see me through.

3) I'm not going to drink. This is unusual for me. But I won't write three-and-one-third pages a day drunk/hungover, so it goes.

4) I've told enough people that I'm doing Script Frenzy that, to fail, would be embarrassing and public. Hopefully this will drive me on when I'm getting despondent or bored, which will almost certainly happen.

5) Celtx downloaded. It's all about the format, dude.

Can't wait to get started, now. Roll on Wednesday.

Standing Order - 28/03/09

2009-03-28T12:49:00.000Z

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of some comics I read over the last week. If you haven't read your comics yet, well, you know...

Amazing Spider-Man #588
Marvel
Words: Marc Guggenheim
Pictures: John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson & Tom Palmer
Character Assassination draws to a close in something of a box-ticking exercise. No major surprises here - Lily Hollister is publicly unmasked as Menace, Bill Hollister wins the election but decides against being mayor and the Spider-Tracer scam is blown open, all wrapped up in a neat little box, etc. It's hardly The Death of Gwen Stacy, but nor, I suppose, is it the Clone Saga.

Amazing Spider-Man #589
Marvel
Words: Fred Van Lente
Pictures: Paulo Siqueira & Amilton Santos
Good old Fred! This is great - a one-shot book-end after Character Assassination featuring the incredibly bizarre (and so, interesting) The Spot. Funny, intriguing and heartbreaking, all in 22 pages. Pretty and detailed art complete the package. If Van Lente could give Marc Guggenheim a lesson in Spidey-quips, we'd all benefit.

Captain Britain and MI13 #11
Marvel
Words: Paul Cornell
Pictures: Leonard Kirk, Mike Collins, Jay Leisten & Robin Riggs
Dracula has declared war on Britain. That's Count Dracula declaring war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Is there anything cooler than that? Pete Wisdom comes into his own as our last, best hope, while Cornell's Dracula is great - arrogant, super-smart, frighteningly powerful and intolerably racist.

The Immortal Iron Fist #23
Marvel
Words: Duane Swierczynski
Pictures: Travel Foreman, Tonci Zonjic, Timothy Green II, Tom Palmer and Mark Pennington
This Eighth City really is monstrous. Demons, torture, endless fighting and enough blood and body parts to map out an entire escape plan in morse code on the floor. It's good, although I'm starting to wonder if the constant ancient Chinese stuff might bore after too much longer. Danny Rand is more than just Iron Fist.

The Invincible Iron Man #11
Marvel
Words: Matt Fraction
Pictures: Salvador Larroca
Fraction's proving that there are some things you just can't polish. Turds, for one. Dark Reign, for another. The idea that everyone blames Tony Stark for failing to prevent the Secret Invasion is a perfectly believable one. I blame Joe Quesada for the same. But Norman Osborn is completely insane and makes no effort to hide it. To believe that everyone - from the great unwashed to the political elite - is happy to hand over the security of the world to this megalomaniacal nut-job shows just how much of a fucking idiot Bendis thinks everybody else is. And it's a shame, because Fraction's doing a great job on this book when he isn't having to play someone else's dismal tune.

Sub-Mariner: The Depths #5(of 5)
Marvel
Words: Peter Milligan
Pictures: Esad Ribic
Milligan's excellent mini comes to its bloody, claustrophobic conclusion. Namor is more force of nature than fish-man, monstrously depicted by the wonderful Ribic. Hell of a series.

Wolverine #71
Marvel
Words: Mark Millar
Pictures: Steve McNiven & Dexter Vines
If Marvel don't hurry up and get these issues released more quickly, Millar's dystopian future will be here before Old Man Logan concludes. And wouldn't that ruin it for everybody?

April Showers (of Shit)

2009-03-27T22:31:00.004Z

April is Script Frenzy month at Chez Push. 100 pages of script in one month is the challenge and I've accepted. I've had a bunch of ideas floating around for a little while that I think will make a decent comic book and, given that I'm still unemployed, now is the time to get it written.

I think 100 pages of script will come in at about two standard 22-page issues, unless I approach this as Alan Moore might in which case it'll be four panels. If I get this right, I'll have the first draft of a script ready in one month which, in spite of all of my talking about wanting to write, is not something I've ever managed.

I'll update here as I go with, probably, a load of bitching and moaning about how hard it is and questioning why I ever thought this would be a good idea.

Which will be fun.

The Year is 2999...

2009-03-25T21:51:00.022Z

... and the Earth has been taken over by barely animate puppet versions of Moses and Avid Merrion...

...without warning, our puppet overlords are attacked!

Oh, they is gonna get eaten.

But, wait! What's this...?

t's an experimental Earth Defence Force big robot! He'll be sure to see them off!

Let's meet the crew...

Handsome fuckers, no? Hell, yeah! All they need now is an annoying robot side-kick...

Those alien bastards are gonna get creamed.

So, I bought the looooong-awaited (by some/me) Star Fleet boxset. It features the first woman I ever fancied...

(Yeah, you thought I was going to go with pretty, nice, take-home-to-Mum Lamia there, yes? Wrong. Evil? Check. Psychotic? Check. Multiple Personality Disorder? Check. Commander Makara was the woman of my ten-year-old dreams.)

...the Earth Defence Force Missile guy upon whom I have based my 'look' throughout my adult life...

...and the inexplicable MonMons...

I'm watching an episode every breakfast-time, like it should be. Arrested development? What? (link from)

Standing Order - 24/03/09

2009-03-16T12:13:00.019Z

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of some comics I read over the last fortnight. If you haven't read your comics yet this post will whisper..."no".

Black Lightning: Year One #5(0f 6)
DC
Words: Jen Van Meter
Pictures: Cully Hamner
This has gone off the rails a bit what with all of the supernatural guff. Good when it was gritty. Van Meter is keeping one-too-many plates spinning as well, which is bogging the story down.

Daredevil #116
Marvel
Words: Ed Brubaker
Pictures: David Aja & Stefano Gaudiano
Oh, look. More ninjas.

Echo #10
Abstract Studios
Words & Pictures: Terry Moore
Moore's sci-fi-espionage-thriller-love-story-road-movie is perfectly paced and beautifully illustrated. I'm a bit in love with this book, and I think it's starting to show.

Fantastic Four: Dark Reign #1(of 5)
Marvel
Words: Jonathan Hickman
Pictures: Sean Chen & Lorenzo Ruggiero
Johnny and Ben argue, Sue tells them off and Reed tries to save the world with a big experiment. There's time-travel, Celestials and H.E.R.B.I.E.(s). In other words, IT'S A FANTASTIC FOUR COMIC! ARE YOU LISTENING, MARK MILLAR?

Hexed #1 to #3(of 4)
Boom! Studios
Words: Michael Alan Nelson
Pictures: Emma Rios
Another fine Awesomed recommendation. Lucy Jenifer Inacio Das Neves - Lucifer for short - is a young witch and thief mixed up with all the wrong sorts. There's little original in the premise, but the story is creative and interesting while the art (and colouring) is breathtaking. Highly recommended. By me. Just now.

Masquerade #1
Dynamite
Words: Alex Ross & Phil Hester
Pictures: Carlos Paul
The only masquerade performed here is the one where this cheesy piece of shit pretends to be a decent comic book by virtue of having a nice cover. Dynashite.

Secret Warriors #2
Marvel
Words: Brian Michael Bendis & Jonathan Hickman
Pictures: Stefano Caselli
I realised while I was reading this that I know next-to-nothing about Nick Fury's history, rendering the final page reveal a bit underwhelming because I don't know who the resurrected dude is. I think it's Nuno Bettencourt, only now he's a ninja.

War of Kings #1(of 6)
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Paul Pelletier & Rick Magyar
And it's here! I've been excited about this series - Marvel do cosmic as well as anybody (thank you, Stan and Jack). The Imperial Guard crash the wedding of Ronan and Crystal and rip it up. The Inhumans, now the Kree super-elite, are not happy.

Narcissus

2009-03-16T00:20:00.001Z

I used to be in a band.

Standing Order - 10/03/09

2009-03-09T14:16:00.023Z

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of some comics I read over the last fortnight. If you haven't read your comics yet this post will SERVE AS A STARK REMINDER OF JUST HOW FAR BEHIND YOU ARE ON YOUR STACK!!! GET READING!!!

The Amazing Spider-Man #587
Marvel
Words: Marc Guggenheim
Pictures: John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson
This story is veering just a little too close to Brubaker's The Devil in Cell Block D, to the extent that Danny Rand shows up at one point dressed in Spidey threads. Substitute Foggy Nelson for the imprisoned and imperiled Vin Gonzales and you're basically there. I wish John Romita Jr. drew my life.

Black Lightning: Year One #4(of 6)
DC
Words: Jen Van Meter
Pictures: Cully Hamner
A slightly unexpected twist as we learn that the local street gang are, in fact, a bunch of immortality freaks from fifteenth-century Spain. That never happened on The Wire.

Captain America #47
Marvel
Words: Ed Brubaker
Pictures: Butch Guice
If I'm ever captured by a murderous Chinese scientific super-genius (albeit one stupid enough to hold a captured Namor immersed in water), I really hope the Black Widow comes to rescue me.

Fantastic Four #564
Marvel
Words: Mark Millar
Pictures: Bryan Hitch, Cam Smith & Andrew Currie
In which Marvel's first family travel to Scotland for a Wicker Man-style holiday. Ooh, but what eerie secrets do these highland villagers have? Who gives a fuck? And why is this a Christmas issue?

Guardians of the Galaxy #10
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Brad Walker, Victor Olazaba & Livesay
Pow! Kablammo! Groot! Knock-down, drag-out cosmic super-brilliance. The only team with two foxy green chicks.

The Incredible Hercules #126
Marvel
Words: Greg Pak & Fred van Lente
Pictures: Rodney Buchemi & Greg Adams
Not so much The Origin of Hercules, more The Origin of Hercules' Costume. It's fun. The final panel, expanding on Athena's growing interest in Amadeus Cho, promises much. The back-up strip, in which Cho finds the real non-Skrully Kirby (and his main squeeze), is nice enough.

The Mighty Avengers #22
Marvel
Words: Dan Slott
Pictures: Khoi Pham, Allen Martinez & Danny Miki
Hank Pym and Jocasta get it on while Quicksilver turns into a hardback book. Weird shit.

The New Avengers #50
Marvel
Words: Brian Michael Bendis
Pictures: Billy Tan, Matt Banning & Justin Ponsor & everyone else
Billy Tan draws Spider-Woman's tits so big that she topples over.

Nova #22
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Andrea Divito
Great stuff. Worldmind is some kind of arsehole. Now, he's controlling his new corp with telepathic Ecstacy while Rich Ryder's only got 48 hours left to live. This series rocks.

Squadron Supreme #8
Words: Howard Chaykin
Pictures: Marco Checchetto
The shit hits the fan as Hyperion makes his move. Quite where the loyalties of at least half of the superhumans lie remains unknown. Can't wait to find out. Intelligent series.

The Pains of Being a Lazy Bastard

2009-03-02T22:27:00.002Z

Some cross-pollination: here's a short album review I wrote, published today on Echoes & Dust.

Who watches the watching of the Watchmen?

2009-02-25T13:27:00.002Z

Well, this dude likes it.

Standing Order - 12/02/09

2009-02-12T13:06:00.015Z

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of some comics I read this week. If you haven't read your comics yet, this post will MAKE UP STORIES INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY REVIEWING COMICS PROPERLY!!!!

The Amazing Spider-Man #585
Marvel
Words: Marc Guggenheim
Pictures: John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson
Character Assassination continues apace as the identities of the Spider-Tracer Killer and Malice are revealed. You guessed it - they're both clones of Peter Parker. In an added twist, Marc Guggenheim is revealed to be a degenerated clone of Gerry Conway.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #22
Dark Horse
Words: Steven S. DeKnight
Pictures: George Jeanty & Andy Owens
A landmark issue as Buffy finally reveals, having counted them, that there are 1,800 Joss Whedon copycats in the world and from now on, all Joss Whedon potential copycats will be born actual Joss Whedon copycats.

Darkhawk: War Of Kings #1
Marvel
Words: C.B. Cebulski
Pictures: Harvey Tolibao, Bong Dazo & Joe Pimentel
The greatest hero of the nineties returns as the most derivative hero of the 2009! Now with added dead family.

Echo #9
Abstract Studios
Words & Pictures: Terry Moore
I'm not taking the piss out of this book.

Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #3(of 5)
DC
Words: Geoff Johns
Pictures: George Perez & Scott Koblish
I have been sucked into a parallel world where Final Crisis is still going on. Here it's scripted by an evil Geoff Johns, of whom there are now three versions, all retconning each other's histories. It's a shitty mess. Next issue, I'm hoping to make it back to Earth-1/2/S/X/Prime/Whatthefuck.

Secret Warriors #1
Marvel
Words: Brian Michael Bendis & Jonathan Hickman
Pictures: Stefano Caselli
The all-powerful Brian Michael Beyonder gathers an assortment of heroes and villains on the patchwork 'Bendisworld' to determine who will win the ultimate fight between good and evil. Is Nick Fury's Super Heroes Freedom Playset a match for the unstoppable Doom Roller? Who cares?

2009-02-05T23:13:00.010Z

So, I went to the London comic mart on Sunday and went crazy in the 25p boxes. It's how much comics should cost, you know?

Amongst about 130 comics I brought home was this little gem:

Now, I've owned a copy of this before and I was really, really pleased to see it again. Captured by the Wizard, the Trapster and the Sandman, the FF are forced to sit through a super-villain try-out as the three villains make up their Frightful Four - sort of like the early rounds of the X Factor. The hopefuls include:

Watchmen Reject

Gay Cowboy

Timmy Mallet

Charming.

Standing Order - 02/02/09

2009-02-02T18:45:00.032Z

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of a few comics I've read this week. If you haven't read your comics yet, this post will SNOW AND SNOW AND SNOW AND SNOW!!!!

The New Avengers #49
Marvel
Words: Brian Michael Bendis
Pictures: Billy Tan & Matt Banning
Bendis ties-up a loose end from the final issue of Secret Invasion (of which there were so few, given just how neatly all of that finished...) as Luke Cage goes in search of his baby son, last seen hanging-out with the Jarvis Skrull. This is a nice issue - there's plenty of dog-kicking from Norman Osborn as he and a couple of his Douchebag Avengers shoot and chomp their way through some remaining Skrulls, while Cage's eventual double-cross is a nice touch. It all finishes with an angry Clint/Hawkeye/Ronin/Goliath/Whoeverthatguyis, and not for the first time.

Black Lightning #1 and #2 (of 6)
DC
Words: Jen Van Meter
Pictures: Cully Hamner
Following a recommendation by the Awesomed By Comics podcast (and a desire on my part to stop being a complete Marvel zombie) I bought the first two issues of this mini-series and I'm glad I did. A nice take on the super-hero origin tale, it's clear that Jefferson Pierce is a hero long before we see him throwing lightning all about the place and his family have it all worked out by the time he reveals his powers and nocturnal crimefighting. Looking forward to see where Van Meter takes this.

Captain America #46
Marvel
Words: Ed Brubaker
Pictures: Steve Epting
It's the relish with which Brubaker tackles his Cold War subject matter in this book that makes it so good, I think. His introduction of the Winter Soldier has opened 50 Russian years for him to mine for story and that's what he does here, with our new Cap teaming-up with Sub-Mariner to rescue the original Human Torch in some Chinese retconning fun. Also, has any artist - in the entire history of comics - improved more over his career than Steve Epting?

Daredevil #115
Marvel
Words: Ed Brubaker
Pictures: Michael Lark, Tonci Zonjic & Stefano Gaudiano
The end of the Lady Bullseye romp is a fun story and Master Izo is a great new character, but aren't the Hand just a bit yawny now? Looking forward to Return of the King - Brubaker's Kingpin should be worth the admission alone.

Fantastic Four #563
Marvel
Words: Mark Millar
Pictures: Bryan Hitch & Cam Smith
Meh. Another dimension's Earth buys it.

Final Crisis #7 (of 7)
DC
Words: Grant Morrison
Pictures: Doug Mahnke & Everyone Who Has Ever Picked Up a Brush Ever
I sincerely hope that Morrison can get off the crystal meth soon, if only so that he can explain this shit to me.

The Incredible Hercules #125
Marvel
Words: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pictures: Salva Espin & Clayton Henry
Love & War draws to a conclusion as Artume's matriarchy is unravelled by Delphyne Gorgon. Pak and Van Lente always make good use of their supporting casts and this gag-heavy, Herc-light issue is no exception. Rollocking godly fun month-after-month. Buying this? No? Wrong.

Nova #21
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Wellinton Alves & Scott Hanna
Has the Worldmind subsumed the consciousness of Ego The Living Planet, or is it the other way around? Was Richard right to refuse to return the Nova Force or has he been driven mad by its power? Are the other Centurions a new force for good in the galaxy or a misguided evil? The fact that I don't know the answers to these questions, nor am I willing to guess, is only one of several thousand reasons to read this excellent book. Abnett and Lanning are nailing it all over right now.

That's Eight Runs: Three Run And Five Penalty Runs

2009-01-31T11:56:00.004Z

RIP Bill Frindall

Standing Order - 26/01/09

2009-01-26T19:08:00.032Z

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of a few comics I read this week. If you haven't read your comics yet, this post will ONLY HAVE 70 HOURS, OR GOD HELP US ALL!!!!

The Amazing Spider-Man #584
Marvel
Words: Marc Guggenheim
Pictures: John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson
Part 1 of Character Assassination arrives as Guggenheim promises to reveal the identities of Malice, the Spider-Tracer Killer and the next mayor of New York City. Helped by Romita's art, the Malice story is reminiscent of the Hobgoblin saga of the mid-eighties (which I remember with great fondness) and I'm enjoying the Spider-Tracer Killer arc. What Spidey ought to be.

Captain America Theater Of War: America The Beautiful #1(of 1)
Marvel
Words: Paul Jenkins
Pictures: Gary Erskine & Chris Sotomayor
Why did I buy this? I've no love for war stories, especially not ones as hackneyed as this one. The back-up strip, by Jurgens and Ordway, seems to be a file story from 2000 (unless it's a reprint I've not read) and is equally clichéd.

Dark Avengers #1
Marvel
Words: Brian Michael Bendis
Pictures: Mike Deodato
Okay, I'm done being cynical about Bendis' Dark Reign. Yes, it's yet another fucking cross-over and the basis of the story, that Norman Osborn is now in control of everything, is utterly absurd. But - you know - these are comic books, so maybe I shouldn't be taking them too seriously. In that light, I enjoyed this issue, in which Osborn establishes a new team of Avengers made up predominantly of villains. It's all talk, which Bendis does so well, and Deodato's art adds an appropriate brooding darkness.

Guardians of the Galaxy #9
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Brad Walker, Carlos Magno, Victor Olazaba & Jack Purcell
I think this is one of the best books Marvel are producing right now. War of Kings warms nicely as the villains defending 42 from Blastaar's legions have some tough decisions to make and Rocket Racoon's new team get involved. Drax and Quasar Phyla-Vell get killed, but it probably won't last. Groot rules.

The Invincible Iron-Man #9
Marvel
Words: Matt Fraction
Pictures: Salvador Larroca
Fraction really know what he's doing - this book is savvy, quick and tech-smart, just as it should be. As good an Iron Man as has been written for a long time. Kudos to Marvel, whose decision to use Frank D'Armata as colourist, in spite of the fact that he's clearly blind, is a victory for equal opportunities.

The Mighty Avengers #21
Marvel
Words: Dan Slott
Pictures: Khoi Pham, Allen Martinez & Danny Miki
Slott's (dark) reign begins with the end of the world and the return of the Scarlet Witch. Hank Pym as leader? Hercules and Hulk in the same team? The Captain??? Reserving judgement...

Squadron Supreme #7
Marvel
Words: Howard Chaykin
Pictures: Marco Checchetto
I love this book. Given a whole universe to play with, Chaykin's reinventing Marvel's Silver Age with all of the paranoia, corruption and pyscho-sexual drama his long-term fans will be accustomed to. The fact that this book feels so relevant proves that Chaykin's been right since American Flagg - it's just taken the world 25 years to catch up.

Because I Don't Care If Nothing Happens...

2009-01-25T15:06:00.005Z

...I'm VERY excited about Lost coming back tonight. It happens here.

Live Blogging Event! Demons, ep. 4

2009-01-24T19:49:00.025Z

We cold open on Mina in a Victorian hospital - she's all sexy fangs and stealing blood. Gene Hunt and the boy have a radio argument between Johnny Cash and some thumping techno. There's a punk vampire driving a hearse. And there's the absurd theme tune.

5 mins: The punk vampire is being sound-tracked by AC/DC. Not Stiff Little Fingers? Mina's acting suspiciously. And bitching at Ruby.

10 mins: The blood of Dracula runs through Mina's veins! Gene Hunt's preparing our juvenile hero for the possibility of smiting her. He does like to smite. A quick check of the ITV website reveals that Ruby has yet to be given a surname, which seems a bit dismissive. Granted, she's whiney and annoying, but everyone deserves a family.

15 mins: Mina meets with a vampy ginger vampire (Annika, for it is she) and tells her to do one. Quick prediction: Mina's going to show some shit-hot super-powers by the end of this episode.

20 mins: Ruby refers to Mina as a 'bitch' on ITV prime-time. Can she do that? Mina goes to see the second of the vampire baddies, Quincy - I don't think he's a forensic coroner. There's history. Luke's engaging in the staple of blindfold kung-fu training, as every young hero called Luke ought.

25 mins: These vamps can only be killed by other vamps, Galvin explains, unless they can be brought back from the undead first. A misplaced chair around the back of the head stops Vampy Ginger Vampire from handing Galvin and Luke their arses, while Ruby follows Quincy into a backstreet bar (the sort that exists in all vampire tales - exposed brickwork, low lights and the cool kids). He's onto her. Peril's in the post.

30 mins: Quincy's chatting up Ruby as Calvin Harris plays in the background. Blade, this is not.

35 mins: I'm not sure that Ruby should be mocking Mina's blindness, but mock it she does. The next scene needs to be seen to be believed. Our vampire pair are bowling. BOWLING! Quincy, annoyed by punk vampire, unzips his mohicaned head at the neck and chucks it down the lane. At least we now know why punky's called Zippy. Very, very odd. Mina's agreed to join them. All part of a plan, I reckon.

Quick plot update: For some reason I've missed, Galvin and the gang need vampire DNA in order to defeat them. Ruby, for a completely unexplained reason, was allowed to walk away from her night out with Quincy with his DNA (via his hair, thankfully, rather than anything less prime-time friendly).

40 mins: Quincy is Mina's son! It's a sad, sad story. Loved ones grow old and die, vampire doesn't age blah blah blah. Ruby has fallen into Quincy's clutches again, along with Galvin - there is no indication if more DNA is required or will be forthcoming.

45 mins: Mina's fondness for arm-length gloves remains unexplained. It's shared by Vampy Ginger Vampire, though. They meet for a drink. Quincy wants Mina's blood, for a reason I have grasped but probably won't explain.

50 mins: My neighbours are being quite loud and there's a very long commercial break during which I experience no urge to buy a Toyota. Mina's three-quarter length leather coat makes her look dumpy, which she demonstrably is not. Luke heads for Quincy's HQ in (according to Mina), a warehouse in Shoreditch - maybe he's also big in the media.

55 mins: Of course, Mina has sent Luke on a wild goose chase. She's preparing for a showdown - her hair looks amazing. As predicted, she's got some serious powers and spends some time whaling on Quincy. There's all manner of farce and fisticuffs until Luke (who has found them in some way I've missed) shoots Quincy with another DNA bullet. He's none more dead. A humorous ending follows.

In spite of everything, I'm starting to enjoy Demons. It's basically a nonsense mish-mash of supernatural stories and ideas that have gone before it, but it's fun and it rarely drags its feet. It certainly doesn't take itself seriously, shown best in tonight's bowling scene, which I still can't get over. I care about the characters (with the possible exception of the vapid Luke) and I'm enjoying the in-one stories. There's a bit of suspense, too, as Galvin is clearly hiding something about Luke's father (who I presume wasn't called Darth). I'll certainly be watching again next week.

Standing Order - 21/01/09

2009-01-21T15:38:00.006Z

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of a few comics I read this week. If you haven't read your comics yet, this post will KILL BATMAN!!!!

Final Crisis #6(of 7)
DC
Words: Grant Morrison
Pictures: JG Jones, Carlos Pacheco, Doug Mahnke, Marco Rudy, Christian Alamy, Jesus Merino, Ronald McDonald, Idi Amin & Krypto the Superdog
If it moves it's biology, if it smells it's chemistry and if it doesn't work it's Final Crisis. Something happens at the end that you might have heard about.

The Amazing Spider-Man #583
Marvel
Words: Mark Waid
Pictures: Barry Kitson & Mark Farmer
A nice enough story about how much everyone thinks Betty Brant is a massive bitch, but this sort of thing used to appear in Spectacular and still should. The weekly schedule really isn't doing it for me. Something happens at the end that you might have heard about.

Captain Britain and MI13 #9
Marvel
Words: Paul Cornell
Pictures: Leonard Kirk, Mike Collins, Jay Leisten & Cam Smith
The finale of the Hell Comes to Birmingham arc is full of surprises. Meggan's reappearance is revealed to be genuine, not a creation of Plokta's Dream Corridor, while Blade and Spitfire suck face rather than blood. Something happens at the end that you might not have heard about - it's very cool.

Code V for 'Very Unsure If This Book Will Be Any Good'

2009-01-17T13:18:00.013Z

Reported in Joe Quesada's myspace blog last week, Joe Ahearne is writing a new Fantastic Force series, launching in April. A new Fantastic Force is hardly cause for celebration as the original 1994 series was a pile of shit, but Ahearne is a writer and director of British TV with a sound track record and geek credentials. He directed 5 episodes of the Ecclestone Doctor Who (including the amazing Dalek), a few episodes of the excellent This Life, and Apparitions. He also wrote and directed 1998's Ultraviolet (not to be confused with this 90-minute suckathon).

Ultraviolet was a six-part series originally broadcast on Channel 4. It starred Jack Davenport, whose star was on the rise following his portrayal of Miles in This Life, as Michael Colefield, a police detective recruited into an ultra-secret government vampire-hunting squad after his best friend and colleague is seduced into becoming an undead blood-sucker. The series follows the squad as they wage a secret war of extermination against the vampires.

Ultraviolet brought traditional vampire lore into the 21st century with gleeful gusto. Not only do vampires have no reflection, their likeness cannot be recreated in any medium - no video, no audio, no fingerprints. As such, they cannot be magnified, be it their cells through the lens of a microscope or their chests through the scope of a high-powered sniper rifle - tricky hunting for a team fighting their war with a mixture of forensic science and a 'shoot-first' approach to gunplay. No stakes through the heart from our heroes, either - carbon bullets fired from handguns with video attachments (if it doesn't show up on video, shoot it!) are their weapons of choice, or gas grenades containing allicin, the 'active ingredient' of garlic. There is also no use of the word 'vampire' - these immortal haemo-hunters are known as 'code V' or 'leeches'.

Beyond this fun, there exists a dark, morally ambiguous story. The genocidal nature of the squad's mission is questioned by almost all who come into contact with them. Their motives are clearly questionable - all have lost love ones to the vampires and much of their zealous dedication to wiping them out is clearly borne of revenge. All who become 'code V' have volunteered, although many are coerced, and this question of free will is regularly revisited but no easy answers are forthcoming. Michael is the least comfortable with the team's kill-'em-all dogma and this is most apparent in the soul-searching he endures after accidentally shooting a known (human) paedophile he mistakenly believes to be 'code V'.

Smart, innovative, tense and darkly entertaining, Ultraviolet is a worthy addition to the pantheon of televampires. I'd urge you to look out for it. Hopefully, Ahearne can bring the same skill and depth to Fantastic Force.

This Ain't A Scene, It's A Goddamn Arse-Face

2009-01-14T14:31:00.004Z

Went out yesterday lunchtime (in an unemployed way) for supplies and couldn't find comic boards anywhere. In these uncertain times, I find myself seeking comfort in geek fetishising - such as bagging and boarding the last three month's comics (I've been a lazy bugger). To be denied this small pleasure sucks and blows equally. That said, I did find Echo #3 here, which went some way to making up for it.

Looking forward to this. Bring on the 25p boxes.

Standing Order - 13/01/09

2009-01-13T18:55:00.007Z

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of two comics I read this week. If you haven't read your comics yet, this post will MAKE YOU ACCIDENTALLY KILL ALL OF YOUR TEAM-MATES, THE ONLY REAL FRIENDS YOU EVER HAD. DAMN YOU, MYSTERIO!! DAMN YOU!!!!

Eternals #7
Marvel
Words: Charles Knauf & Daniel Knauf
Pictures: Eric Nguyen & Andy Troy
Ikaris goes rogue and starts in on Druig following last issue's death of Sersi. Wait! She's not dead, she's in a bar! Meanwhile, the Dreaming Celestial's evolving to feel emotion and the Watcher can't wait to explain it all, the big baldy windbag - no wonder the Hulk chinned him. Then the X-Men show up out of nowhere, of course. The combination of irreverence and unbridled imagination in this book evoke the spirit of Stan and Jack and that's no bad thing, and these Knaufs know how to pace their tale.

Sub-Mariner: The Depths #4(of 5)
Marvel
Words: Peter Milligan
Pictures: Esad Ribic
This is a smart comic book. Dr Randolph Stein's search for Captain Marlowe echoes Conrad's Heart of Darkness (in which the protagonist's name is Captain Marlow) and mines a similar seam, that of the disintegration of a man's humanity when he is divorced from his society and its mores and facing unspeakable fear - is brutality and violent struggle the true nature of man? Stein is hanging onto his treasured rationality only by a thread now and in spite of overwhelming contrary evidence. Ribic's painted work captures the claustrophobic, cramped and terrifying otherworld of the ocean depths beautifully.

Standing Order - 11/01/09

2009-01-11T16:19:00.005Z

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of two comics I read this weekend. If you haven't read your comics yet, this post will MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WENT OUT LAST NIGHT AND DRANK SIX PINTS OF ANTI-LIFE EQUATION WITH LEGACY VIRUS CHASERS.

Secret Invasion: War of Kings #1(of 1)
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Paul Pelletier, Bong Dazo, Rick Magyar & Joe Pimentel
Kicking off Abnett and Lanning's cosmic cross-over, Black Bolt and his Inhumans convert the their home city of Attilan into a cool-as-fuck spaceship and kick a lot of Skrull and Kree backside. This one-shot sets up the War of Kings between Black Bolt (now ruler of the Kree) and the loony Vulcan (the third Summers brother), Emperor of the ever-snooty Shi'ar. And it rocks hard.

The Amazing Spider-Man #582
Marvel
Words: Dan Slott
Pictures: Mike McKone, Andy Lanning & Kris Justice
The Molten Man does something then Peter Parker does something and then Liz Allan does something but it turns out that Harry Osborn was doing something all along. My question to Marvel: WHO CARES???? This comic book is so patchy, it's almost beyond belief. In this case, it's hard to blame it on the nonsense manner in which they're shifting creative teams, given that Slott wrote both this dross and the excellent New Ways to Die. McKone's shoddy, malformed pencils don't help, but I'm not convinced any artist could have saved this - had Michelangelo painted this on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel I'm not sure I could be bothered to look up. Character Assassination next. Here's hoping...

Add it: War of Kings! Woo!!
Drop it?: Two issues of Amazing Spider-Man a month. Thrice monthly = crappy too often.

They Say In Heaven, Lunch Comes First

2009-01-10T11:36:00.005Z

Boring non-comics post alert!!

We finally really did it. YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! OH, DAMN YOU! GODDAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!

Yes, I am now finally redundant, having been laid off yesterday by the spectacularly unsuccessful retailer, Woolworths. Although much-publicised as a victim of the UK's economic downturn, Woolworths eventual demise was also a result of a combination of an over-complicated business that was not always well-directed by its senior management, spineless super-cautious credit insurers, greedy banks and an administration process that rewards the adminstrator for breaking-up a business, with no regard for saving jobs.

On Monday, I'll search for new employment. Or maybe just go for a Babylon 5 marathon. Whatever.

Anti-life: Demons = shitty

2009-01-08T21:49:00.011Z

God it was so, so bad.

Things that were wrong:
Philip Glenister's preposterous American accent. Apparently, he wanted the challenge of playing an American. It's jarring and weird.
The whole 'we're the original Van Helsings and Harkers and Bram Stoker stole all of our names.' Ugh.
Mostly everything else.

Things that were right:
Love.

One of these two things is less surprising than the other:
1) ITV try to make Buffy to steal some of that Dr Who audience and end up making a big old dog's breakfast.
2) This opinionated post, and others like it, confirm that I have become the sort of snippy nerd who whines that kid's TV programmes aren't sci-fi good enough.

Hmm.

Standing Order - 05/01/09

2009-01-05T17:42:00.025Z

Spoiler Alert! These are reviews of the comics I read last week. If you haven't read your comics yet, this post will RUIN YOUR LIFE.

Marvels: Eye of the Camera #2(of 6)
Marvel
Words: Kurt Busiek
Pictures: Jay Anacleto
Slow-burner, this one. Anacleto is not Ross (who is..?), but he does a more than adequate job on this pretty nostalgia trip and the lowly-humans-in-awe-of-super-powered-mini-gods oeuvre is aging well, Secret Invasion: Frontline notwithstanding...

The Immortal Iron Fist #21
Marvel
Words: Duane Swierczynski
Pictures: Timothy Green
I was considering dropping this book when Swierczynskiskiskiski replaced Brubaker and I could not have been more wrong. This all-in-one tale of the Iron Fist of 3099AD is absolutely brilliant, both emotionally poignant and brutally pertinent to our modern apocalypse anxieties. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Guardians of the Galaxy #8
Marvel
Words: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pictures: Brad Walker & Victor Olazaba
Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are throwing the power cosmic all over the place, right now, and I cannot get enough. Big scope, space-opera brilliance. This issue kicks-off the War of Kings crossover which promises much.

Captain America #45
Marvel
Words: Ed Brubaker
Pictures: Luke Ross, Butch Guice, Rick Magyar & Mark Pennington
Ed Brubaker gives me the raging stork-on.

Wolverine #70
Marvel
Words: Mark Millar
Pictures: Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines & Mark Morales
I was sold on this by my local shop owner as I usually avoid Wolverine like a Sabretooth size-14 in the swingers. This 5th part of the Old Man Logan story sees Captain Snikt killing all of the X-Men accidentally then shoving his head under a train. If you like pictures of blood and stabbing and everyone dying in a way that won't change anything in any other comic, this is for you.

Avengers/Invaders #7(of 12)
Marvel
Words: Alex Ross & Jim Krueger
Pictures: Steve Sadowski & Patrick Berkentotter
This is like the middle twenty overs of a one-day cricket international. Which will mean nothing to you if you don't know cricket. Which you probably don't. Yawny but necessary.

The Incredible Hercules #124
Marvel
Words: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pictures: Clayton Henry & Salva Espin
Worth buying for the final splash alone as one of Marvel's finest (and funnest) continues to impress. Namora, Atlas - ow ow ow.

Fantastic Four #562
Marvel
Words: Mark Millar
Pictures: Bryan Hitch, Cam Smith & Andrew Currie
Sigh. Mark Millar ploughing a similar furrow here to the one he's toiling over on Wolverine - possible futures with headline-grabbing events that aren't really happening (The Death of the Invisible Woman, indeed) and never, ever will.

Kick-Ass #5
Icon
Words: Mark Millar
Pictures: John Romita Jr. & Tom Palmer
A comic book dominated by its erratic release schedule, which is a massive shame. Simply beautiful storytelling, proving that Millar is a great writer when he's not tossing about with future Wolverines/Hulk families (two of each this week!) and providing further proof, if it were needed, that John Romita Jr. is almost certainly the second-coming of Christ.

Add it: Immortal Iron Fist
Drop it?: Fantastic Four

First time around

2009-01-05T15:30:00.002Z

God, blogging is, like, so 2004.