Incoming Inventory – 13 July

To make up for last week’s barren list, this week the publishers of the ninth art provide me with periodicals:

100 Bullets #74
I’ve been reading this for too long to switch to the trades now, so I look forward to my monthly hit of 100 Bullets, as we head towards the last quarter.

Fables #51
I hope that this keeps up the hit of last issue, which was great. I worry that Willingham might be stretching himself, what with his work in the mainstream DCU and the spin-off, so I hope he keeps up the momentum.

Squadron Supreme #5
JMS has yet to convince me that this should have continued without the MAX umbrella, but at least he is one of the ‘tourist’ writers who has come in from outside comics who actually produces the work in a timely fashion. (See Paul O’Brien’s review of Wonder Woman #1 for a reasoned attack on the TV/film people who don’t understand the meaning of the word ‘deadline’ when it comes to something other than their ‘real’ jobs – the review is made all the more interesting by the fact that Allan Heinberg sent him an email to say that he never sends his scripts in late – doesn’t he have better things to do than scour the web for reviews of his comic books?) At least he didn’t take the clichéd route I was worried he would in the last issues, and he appears to be grounding it very much in a real-world setting, which should make for interesting story connections.

Diamond Geezer, one of the most consistent, and consistently entertaining, bloggers makes the jump from web to print, as he writes an article for Time Out (London). Naturally, it’s about London, and seems to be an extension of his journeying around London. This is lovely news, as he is a very enjoyable writer and it is good to see the adage coming true of if you enjoy what you are doing, then the people will come to you and reward you for your efforts. Congratulations, DG.

I’m really happy when bloggers I enjoy get into print (not that it is the only validation of their excellent work), as it is cool to see that other people can enjoy what you have been digging for a while, a bit like an indie band no-one’s heard of suddenly getting signed, or a cult film you’ve know about for ages suddenly getting respect. Obviously, I’m jealous of their success, because I am a shallow and pathetic human being like that, but I know that my writing isn’t print worthy, which is why I blog for myself, and so I can just live vicariously through their success and say I knew them when …

I saw Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang on DVD last night, and basically wanted to say how great it was. I don’t want to do a complete review (apart from the fact that it has taken ages for me to see it, due to the slightly bizarre calculation that LoveFilm does to select the DVD they are going to send you from your rental queue – I’ve had this film at the top of my list since it became available to rent, which was March for chrissake. If it wasn’t for the fact that they keep offering me 2-for-1 and 3-for-1 on monthly subscription, I would give up on LoveFilm) because, at this stage, it won’t help the film.

But it is an absolute cracker of a movie – Robert Downey Jr is on top form, Val Kilmer is great as Gay Perry, the mood is hard-boiled noir, but the humour of the dialogue and the narration is sublime. It is incredibly quotable (‘Still gay? No, knee-deep in pussy. I just love the name so much I can’t get rid of it.’ ‘When in doubt, cut up a pig – that was the town’s motto.’ ‘… and to all you good people in the Midwest, sorry we said fuck so much.’), it mocks itself, it plays with the notion that it is a film, it takes the piss out of LA – it’s just great entertainment.

Shane Black likes his private investigators (The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight) and he writes the sort of film I would like to be able to write, if, you know, I had the talent for his cool dialogue, and any screenwriting ability at all. This film was the top of a short list where I want to see what happens to the characters in the future, even though the story provided a satisfying experience. That’s a sign of a damned good film.