Comic review: Nextwave #1

Nextwave #1
by Warren Ellis, Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger

I thought I should stem the potential tide of negativity that my Trimming the Collection reviews might create by waxing rhapsodic about a comic that will definitely stay in the collection.

Nextwave is funny. That is all you need to know. But it's not much of a review. Not that I'm an expert or anything.

I'm talking laughs, here. Not just smiles or smirks; actual guffaws. This is a good thing. Everything about it is hilarious, in a deliberate way.

Take The Captain, for example. Captain (expletive deleted), or Fuck, if you can handle swearing. Actually, being British, I thought it was Captain Cunt, which makes it even funnier, but that's just me. Silly, yes, but funny.

The basics: Monica Rambeau, formerly Captain Marvel of the Avengers, leads a splinter team of C-list heroes (Tabitha, formerly Boom-Boom and other names of the New Mutants and others; the Captain; Elsa Bloodstone, demon hunter; and Aaron Stack, former Machine Man) from H.A.T.E., a (very) thinly veiled parody of SHIELD, with their leader, Dirk Anger, a paper-thin rip-off of Nick Fury. And they end up finding Fin Fang Foom, who is wearing purple underpants. Now, that is the start for a fun comic.

Thrown in to this, we get funny dialogue ('Silence, fleshy one.'), funny captions ('In purple underpants.'), great visual gags (see Mark's post for the prime example) and gentle mocking of the Marvel universe.

Now, I know I'm an Ellis whore, which is why I enjoy this so much, but the art is an equal partner in this cavalcade of chortles. Stuart Immonen, inked superbly by von Grawbadger, draws the shit out of this comic; he uses an angular, animated series style of cartoony art with a funky line, which allows him to draw beautiful scenery shots of a mountain behind a town, but also allows the scope for mad fight scenes and brilliant comedy facial expressions (witness the faces of the cadets after Dirk Anger's hysterical introductory speech.) Together, Ellis and Immonen bring me damn good comics, for which I am grateful.

The only qualm I had about the whole thing was whether you can use the copyright symbol for a corporation. The Beyond Corporation^© is mentioned in the comics, as a backer for H.A.T.E., but has the copyright symbol next to it – is that the correct usage? One for Suspension of Disbelief, I think.

All in all, a cracking comic – good writing, good art, good characters, good laughs. Bring on the next(wave) issue.

Nextwave: healing fans by giving them giggles.

Grade: A+

Trimming the collection: Channel Zero

Channel Zero by Brian Wood; sorry, 'created, written and illustrated by'

The excessive credits for Wood on the front cover should have given me a hint about what to expect. Something where the author (if that isn’t too limiting a description for Mr Wood) believes they know better, is going to tell us stupid people and we’d better listen.

As Warren Ellis writes in the introduction, Monoculture is a depressingly awful state of affairs, with everyone suffering the same cultural pap, and makes for a good starting point for a story. However, this isn’t really a story, it’s Wood railing against it in a comic book. There is nothing wrong with that; it is a good thing. But I wanted to be entertained during a diatribe, not feel that I’m reading an exercise in design. It is not a guide to or an example of the central idea – it is just Wood musing about it, using his stunning designs.

Wood does have a gift for placing strong images on a page – from the ‘Photocopy this page’ collection of images for stickers/flyers/t-shirts, to the stark, black and white artwork that is laid out like an artist’s portfolio. The visual aesthetic is raw and real, snap shots of life captured and spat on the page, with little info-bursts in the corner or in the gutter between panels. Personally, I don’t like the way he draws people, but he knows anatomy and how to place the camera.

Regarding the story: the Clean Act has been introduced, silencing freedom of speech, and TV is controlled. Jennie 2.5 is a hacker who puts out illegal broadcasts on network channels. She then gets caught, followed by an interlude where a cleaner (a police force assassin) is on assignment – there is nice misdirection as to who is who in this interlude – followed by Jennie being sent into exile, and then returning to New York because she likes dim sum. And that’s about it, really.

I didn’t have a satisfactory reading experience. I can appreciate the imagery and creativity involved in putting together the comic, but I didn’t feel a connection to the protagonist, even if I can understand what Wood is discussing in the book. I read to be entertained, and will take education as a side dish; I don’t order a steak for the accompanying salad, to use a silly expression. I’ll still eat the salad, but the steak has to be good. The book didn’t speak to me, or change my world view, so I can only assume that I’m not using my mind as a weapon, as the book tells me to do. But at least I remember the Public Enemy song of the same name; does that make me hip enough to be part of the gang?

Contemplating Back To The Future and It's A Wonderful Life

I recently got the Ultimate box set of Back to the Future and was rewatching 2 & 3 again. At the end of 3, I suddenly thought about Doc & Clara’s existence – what happens to them and the kids? Clara was supposed to have died; she is now out of the space-time continuum, so she and any offspring should not exist. Does that mean they must all stay out of time in case they have an affect on the time line? Otherwise, they would introduce an unknown element in it, causing a paradox that will destroy it. Won’t they hate their parents for that? I mean, apart from dressing them like complete prats in the Victorian outfits. Is the only way they are going to get laid is by being on the lookout for soon to be dead hotties whose existence won’t be missed by the time line? And don’t get me started on leaving the debris of the flux capacitor, as well as the remains of the Mr Fusion, lying around for someone to pick it up and alter time by inventing things at the wrong juncture; haven’t they seen Terminator 2?


Back to the Future 2 doesn’t have as many quandaries for me, only the problem with the film itself. It divests too much energy into weaving itself within the first film for it to be a satisfactory film in its own right, regardless of all the set-ups for the third film. You have to admire what they tried to do; create a sequel to a film that is not the same as the first, but includes the things that they think people enjoyed about the first. However, by having exactly the same things happen in a different context (the hoverboard around the square referencing the skateboard around the square, the manure getting dumped into Biff’s car in both films), the film becomes a slightly distorted copy of the original. The first is an almost perfect film, so the second seems a lesser film because of its replication.


Seeing BTTF 2 reminds me of my recent viewing of It’s A Wonderful Life, seeing as they are both have a beautiful small town turned into a sleazy pit through the greed of one man. (An aside: I’ve always loved the fact that the two best-loved Christmas stories, It’s A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, are science fiction – alternate universes and time travel, respectively. Makes me smile, for some reason.) When I watched it last, I couldn’t help but think about what would happen after the end of the film. George will still be a depressive with problems in a shit job, and Mr Potter will still be a money-grabbing bastard out to get him. And what about all those people giving him money at the end? Nobody is taking notice of who is giving how much, which is all rendered pointless due to the rich friend giving George a loan that more than covers the deficit. They are still going to live in a shit house that will possibly maim or kill his kids, and the kids will be in therapy over the disillusionment passed on from their father. Because that is the really depressing aspect of the film – George has had his dreams crushed at every turn: he can never fulfil his ambition to travel because of his father dying; his uncle being a useless twat when it comes to business; his brother swanning off and not giving a toss for George; his insanely saintly wife forcing him to live in a dilapidated hovel; and living on the poverty line just because he helps people. The question is why didn’t he try to kill himself beforehand? It is so soul destroying; if I’d had my dreams constantly shat on, I dread to think what state I would be in, let alone base a film on it.

Trimming the collection: Grrl Scouts

Grrl Scouts by Jim Mahfood

I really like the 'food. His art has this great, funky, angular, graffitti-cartoon vibe going on; his characters are visually unique and compelling; and there's a 'comics are fucking cool' attitude to his work. Some of his one-pagers are very funny, as can be his autobiographical stuff. And, he's a white boy who digs funky music and cool flicks, just like me.

However, Grrl Scouts doesn't work for me. It tries too hard to be hip and cool, his three ethnically distinct lead girls being so implausible in their traits. I couldn't handle one of the characters, the white girl who wants to be black, spouting lines like 'This is da' shit!! Saturday morning with the three essential Cs – coffee, cartoons, and -- da chronic!!!' before having the girls spout extended author rants on how cartoons brainwash kids.

Essentially, the story is about the three girls, who deal drugs to get by, and enjoy life in Freak City, before their lives are changed by the intervention of the Brotherhood of the Cracker and the Nykee Corporation, both of which should win special awards for total lack of subtlety. The girls retaliate, with extreme and over-the-top violence after a week (a week!) of training from one of the girl's long-lost father, and win the day.

The whole thing feels very juvenile, with gratuitous joke about Daphne being a noisy, sweary girl during sex, which goes on 3 panels too long, followed by a spot of fourth-wall breaking, and even an appearance from Jim in the book himself. The white male fantasy of cool, sexy chicks with guns who take no shit and stand up to The Man felt, well, a bit sad. I bought the book because I enjoy Mahfood's cartooning skills but felt rather disappointed in the result. I'm amazed it got a second series.

Trimming the collection: the explanation

My comic collection is quite large. This is understandable, as I've been collecting for a while now. I try to keep it controlled, with occasional pruning. In some instances, this has lead to me donating comics to a children's hospital (my karma was smiling that day), but sometimes I have just put them in a recycle bin, so completely horrible were the comics and the state they were in. (Don't worry, they weren't precious comics, just some old Marvel and DC rubbish that were produced in bulk.)

I am currently going through another rethink of my collection. There are comics and trade paperbacks that I have bought that I don't re-read. I believe that this is a sign that I don't really want them, as I would be dipping back into them on a regular basis. Looking at the titles in my spreadsheet that documents my collection, I can vaguely recall why I purchased them in the beginning. Sometimes, it was a recommendation from a good source, that didn't reflect my tastes. Sometimes, I was buying to support a title I thought I would like and would get low orders, only for me not to enjoy the title. Sometimes, I bought it and then found that it wasn't as good as I originally thought. So, it is time for them to move on.

I'm still thinking about where they will end up. I won't throw things away if possible, but they do have to go. eBay is an option, although it seems to be quite labour-intense. Giving them away is an option, but I would have to make sure that people actually wanted them. Another possibility is some sort of book exchange with like-minded individuals, the sort of people who might read this blog. Whatever the result of these ruminations, I shall be going through the collection and trimming it down to the books I really want, and subsequently reviewing them for the purpose of reminding myself and for honing my tastes and, hopefully, learning lessons about what to buy and what not to buy.

Trimming the collection: reviewing comics I don't want anymore …

Comic review: New Avengers TP#1

Review: New Avengers TP#1
(collecting issues #1–6)
by Brian Michael Bendis & David Finch

I didn’t grow up reading the Avengers. Bendis destroying them meant nothing to me. Even though I enjoy Bendis’ work and Finch’s art, I wasn’t compelled to try this out when it first arrived in stores. I was also trying to keep my weekly pull list to a manageable size. However, curiosity and a nice trade persuaded me to give this a chance. And I’m glad I did.

This isn’t earth-shattering superheroics but it is enjoyable superhero comics, which is exactly what I want from it. Essentially a story of rebuilding the team, with a specific reason for the team, it does what it says on the tin and does it well.

The stories starts with a secret bad guy obtaining the services of Electro Man to power down Manhattan in order to allow a breakout of the 87 super-powered villain currently in residence at Ryker’s Island Maximum Security Prison, although our mystery man only wants one person in particular to be able to escape; the rest are a distraction.

Unfortunately, even though the Fantastic Four and X-Men are unavailable, there are some superheroes in the vicinity. Matt Murdock (Daredevil) is visiting Robert Reynolds, aka The Sentry, on behalf of Reed Richards. He is being protected by his bodyguard, Luke Cage, formerly Power Man, and they are being escorted by Jessica Drew, formerly Spider Woman, in her capacity as a SHIELD agent. Captain America is on the way back from Washington, and Spider-Man follows the problem after the blackout in New York. In the middle of this, Iron Man joins in, helping them detain the villains. Together, they stop the breakout, but with 42 escapees still unaccounted for.

Captain America divines a link between the way this disparate group were drawn together for a specific instance, their combined powers adding to the sum of the total in a more-effective manner, and the way the original Avengers were brought together by Loki, which was equally silly in my opinion. From this, he believes that this team of New Avengers has assembled itself, and seeks them out, asking them to join the new team. Only Daredevil refuses, due to his outing situation. And a new team is born.

The mix is very bizarre, it has to be said, and reflects Bendis’ own personal ideas and characters (Spider Woman and Luke Cage particularly), but he makes it work. The team is interesting, has a specific goal (related to the secrets concerning the breakout and the remaining escapees), works within the context of the present-day Marvel Universe and has great characterization, an obvious Bendis strength. And it has a great sense of humour. Having Spidey on the team means it doesn’t take itself seriously ('Oh no. I am not joining The Champions.') and the dialogue between characters, another Bendis trademark, is fun to read.

The story is basically a blockbuster film in comics form, something Bendis & Finch did so well with the story of the same name in Ultimate X-Men. Finch handles the action and the cinematography of the story well, and he has a nice dynamic to his art style, sort of a Silvestri without the obsession with cross-hatching and a bit more presence in reality. Where he falls down a little is in the faces; dialogue comics requires the talking heads to express and emote a lot, something which is lacking in his mid-shots, but should improve with time.

Apart from the very odd decision to include Wolverine (and I don’t buy the reasoning attempted in the story), I’m sufficiently intrigued and impressed enough to read more of these New Avengers, especially the conspiracies and SHIELD stuff, who are a team with a purpose for joining and a specific goal to achieve by their continued presence, rather than just existing to service the trademark. Bring me more.

Rating: A-

No escape from the Gutter-snipe

I had a bizarre experience this morning in the shower.

No, it was nothing perverse, you sickos.

I listen to BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme while I perform my daily ablutions. I'm not the only one; it is the most-listened-to early morning news programme in Britain. There is a gravitas to the programme that might be hard to qualify to non-Brits but, suffice to say, it is serious radio (albeit with light-heartedness) about current events.

Which is why it was so odd for them to include, in their review of the day's papers, a mention of an article in The Times talking about The Flying Friar, Rich Johnston's new comic. I stopped washing myself, so stunned was I by this mention of comics on such a renowned radio programme. It was even more bizarre that the article was in The Times; usually, The Guardian is the funky paper of choice for articles about the ninth art – last Saturday, their Weekend magazine had a journalistic piece by Joe Sacco, which you can read here. (Warning: large pdf.)

Of course, media-whore Rich talks it up in his latest Lying in the Gutters. And well he should; it's quite a coup. However, I don't know if it will actually do any good, particularly. I don't know the numbers, but I would guess the pre-orders were quite low, and a news article doesn't necessarily equate to people buying the comic. How many people, especially the conservative readers of The Times, would venture into the alien world of the comic shop to look for a book that will most likely not be found in the shop, as the few copies ordered will have gone?

I've always admired Rich's shameless pursuit of media coverage, even though I don't like it. It's part of the job, and Rich was shilling his wares in the world of self-publishing long before he gained a certain notoriety for his rumour column: anyone remember The X-Flies? No, didn't think so. Anyway, coming from an advertising background, Rich obviously has no soul and no qualms about how he goes about his business, so good luck to him. Let's just hope it doesn't go to his head …

British television comedy: a year in review

I felt the urge to talk about British television comedy for a bit after seeing a trio of shows: The Thick of It, Hyperdrive and Tittybangbang. The Thick of It is extremely sharp political satire, first shown on BBC 4 and now making it to BBC 2, masterminded by Armando Iannucci, a man who was part of The Day Today and Alan Partridge. Shot in documentary style, it looks behind the scenes of a junior minister and the government spin doctor who really runs things. It is quite brilliant and hilarious. Hyperdrive is a sci-fi comedy on BBC 2, starring Nick Frost (Mike from Spaced) and Kevin Eldon. This show has the shadow of Red Dwarf looming ominously over it, and never manages to peak its head out. Although very modern looking, it feels influenced by The Office, and suffers from not being very funny, even if it's nice to see Frost in a lead role.

Tittybangbang is a woeful sketch show on BBC 3 that has a female cast doing sub-Little Britain material. I watched the first show and didn't laugh once. This is not a good sign. I'm not saying that Little Britain is the gold standard of sketch shows, as it isn't (personally I feel that the quality has suffered due to the popularity of the show, and they have rushed characters out that aren't as funny and rely solely on 'shocking' the safe audience of BBC1. Series 1 was based on the radio version of the show, with the characters and gags tested out before making the transition to television, thereby bringing fully formed and funny sketches straight to screen.) but, at the very least, a sketch show should make you laugh. The only salvation is the form of Lucy Montgomery, who seems to be a very good comedy character actor, even if the material is very weak.

These three shows got me thinking about the recent year of British television comedy, so here's my run down of shows that tried to make me laugh last year.

Sitcoms

Peep Show (Channel 4) had its third series last year, and it was a blistering return to the brilliance of series one, after a slight dip in the laugh quality of series two. Definitely one of the best comedies on television, as the quote accompanying the poster ads from Ricky Gervais attests. Like Thick of it, it has a unique style (getting inside the minds of the characters) and a commitment to making people laugh. Very, very funny.

Nathan Barley (Channel 4) was a patchy affair that had moments of brilliance, interspersed with too much of the anguish comedy of The Office. A fantastic creation from Charlie Brooker, writer of hysterical television reviews in the Guardian's Guide supplement, and co-written by the comedy genius that is Chris Morris, it poked fun at the trendy world of media types in the Hoxton area. The programme was filled with bits that realised the world perfectly, but the main thrust of the storylines left me (and apparently the audience, as dwindling viewing figures showed) cold and lacking in laughs.

The Robinsons was a gentle but enjoyable series on BBC 2, starring Martin Freeman as an everyman chap, called Ed Robinson, and his bizarre family. They weren't 'wacky' or 'zany' but that very British eccentric oddness that this country seems to produce in quantity. Freeman is a good comedy actor, with the sort of face that elicits laughter and sympathy, and the series progressed nicely without being earth-shattering.

The big name sitcom of the year was BBC 2's Extras, the first episode I reviewed here. Ricky Gervais & Stephen Marchant followed up The Office with a look at the life of the extra, with much of the same comedy of embarrassment, mixed with star names. The star names provided some highlights (Patrick Stewart wanting to do a project where he was able to telekinetically remove the clothes of women, Les Dennis able to mock his life, and Kate Winlset savaging her 'nice' image) and the laughs through your fingers were equally painful and funny. The series didn't hit classic status due to the insular nature of the situation – while The Office was universal, Extras was quite insular, stopping it from reaching across different levels.

Smoking Room was a BBC 3 comedy that, as the title suggests, is based entirely in the smoking room of an office-based company. The scope for situations were, therefore, extremely limited and the humour is all talk-based, but the laughs were present and the characters strong, particularly Robert Webb from Peep Show. Another low-key show was Sensitive Skin on BBC 2, which I include here only because I don't know where to put it. Joanna Lumley and Denis Lawson are a couple in their late 50s, wondering what they've done with their lives, with Joanna having conversations with aspects of her conscience in the form of memory-inspired characters. Bridging comedy and drama, there was a quiet poetry to this programme, and I'm angry to have missed the last one. Another strong show was Absolute Power on BBC 2, set in the world of spin doctoring, with Stephen Fry. Boasting strong scripts from people in the know, and a good ensemble cast, this was a joy to watch and see them playing off well-known incidents and celebrities.

BBC didn't have it all their way in the comedy stakes. They produced some rubbish. I won't talk about My Family, as I have only seen five very poor minutes of this show-by-committee, a process that works in the US but not here. However, there were others. From the same stable was According to Bex, starring Jessica Stevenson from Spaced, which I reviewed here. It was criminal to see her talents wasted on such dross. Ben Elton produced a new sitcom, Blessed, about a couple with a new baby. The man who brought us The Young Ones and Blackadder II (one of the greatest sitcoms ever) has matured into an unfunny old man, producing not so much a sitcom, rather an excuse for the lead male, Ardal Hanlon, to vent Elton's stand-up bits, which sounds so forced and horrible in the dialogue of a sitcom. Worst Week of My Life was traditional British farce that was desperately unfunny. I couldn't watch more than one episode of this predictable and pedestrian mainstream comedy without wincing and shaking my head in shame. So I stopped.

A disappointment was Catterick, the series from Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer making its debut on BBC 2 after debuting on BBC 3, which tried to infuse their funny weirdness into the sitcom format, in the form of a road trip. The characters were suitably bizarre and well-acted (from the likes of Reece Shearsmith and Matt Lucas) but it didn't really work. It seemed stretched from a movie into a six-episode series, and didn't have enough to hold the whole together. That said, it had one of the funniest images, when Matt Lucas' character asked his wife to pull his finger, in imitation of the notorious joke, only for him to produce a stool instead, the shape of which we could see travel down the inside of his trousers. Other poor attempts, hardly worth mentioning, are BBC 3's Ideal, with the irritating Johnny Vegas as a comedy drug dealer, and Channel 4's A Bear's Tail, a puerile spin-off from the improbably successful (even-though-it-hasn't-been-funny-since-series-one) Bo' Selecta, following the antics of the titular Bear character, dragging down Sean Pertwee, Patsy Kensit and Davina MacCall with them.

However, the award for worst sitcom goes to Meet the Magoons, from Channel 4. This was about Scottish Asians running a curry house in Glasgow and was below the level of a sixth-form revue. It was painful to watch. I couldn't believe that this had got past the stage of a script review, as it was complete rubbish. How the channel that could bring us Peep Show and Green Wing could dump this turd on our screen is beyond me.


Sketch Shows

Spoons was a mostly successful sketch show on Channel 4, coming from the guiding hand of Charlie Brooker, about modern life for the twenty-something couple. Highlight characters included the man who found himself trapped in a relationship and tries to escape with the help of complete strangers, and the woman who replies to he boyfriends requests, 'I. Want. A. Fucking. Baby.' Some of the recurring sketches wore a little thin, but they mostly hit the mark, and tapped a rich vein of humour that particularly appealed to me. On a similar theme was BBC 3’s Manstrokewoman, a sketch show with a similar look at modern couples, and included Nick Frost in the troop of actors. Some of the recurring characters weren’t as strong, such as the woman who always tries bizarre new fashions, much to her boyfriends bemusement, and ends up by saying, 'You couldn’t just say I looked nice.' Both of these sketch shows were well shot and had a good ensemble cast, making you believe the skits.

A bit more slapdash was ITV’s Monkey Trousers, coming from the minds of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, with a wealth of big name comedy talent, such as Steve Coogan. This was an attempt from ITV to get its name onto the comedy stage by throwing lots of money to get named comedy actors (including Alastair McGowan, Ronnie Ancona, Richard Wilson, David Walliams and Matt Lucas) to perform in a very mixed selection of bizarre sketches, definitely more miss than hit. The only worthwhile character was the creepy toy shop owner, played by Steve Coogan; even the bizarreness of Vic Reeves playing a police negotiator who talks gibberish (the only discernible words being ‘Monkey Trousers’) couldn’t help.

Talking of sketch shows cannot go without mentioning Little Britain, the current Chelsea FC of sketch shows. However, I don’t want to talk about it much because I don’t think it’s funny anymore; despite the popularity (it was one of last year’s top ten watched programmes) and the catchphrase ubiquity in playgrounds throughout the nation, the show has not been even vaguely amusing in the third series, using shock and willing celebrity appearances to ride the wave of viewing figures. So I’ll move on.

Even less funny, although not as popular, is the Catherine Tate Show. Despite the staggering popularity of one character (the 'Am I bovered?' teenage girl), this show is torturous to watch. Tate is a great comedy character performer, inhabiting all her grating characters fully, but forgetting that the point is to make people laugh, rather than show off how good she is at creating new people. Although I admit that the swearing granny can raise a smile, it quickly lost repeat value, and nothing can make up for the agonisingly awful laughing couple who find the inane anecdotes they tell each other impossibly funny – if I saw those people in real life, I would strangle them. I cannot fathom how this show is allowed to continue, let alone get a second series.


Missed shows

Try as I might, I cannot possibly see everything. I completely missed out Help on BBC 2, with Chris Langham playing a psychotherapist to the many characters of the excellent Paul Whitehouse. I didn’t watch anymore Keith Barrett Show, as I found the first one to be a Alan Partridge affair with celebrities, and a rather lame vehicle for Rob Brydon’s talents. I couldn’t be bothered to keep up with BBC 3's The Mighty Boosh and its student antics. Despite liking Brydon, I didn’t laugh at Supernova in the fifteen minutes I saw on BBC 2, so didn’t come back for seconds. Carrie and Barry wasn’t on my radar, as Neil Morrissey is not funny to watch as a main character. I saw some of the Channel 5 sketch show, Singles, which was quite funny, but never saw anything after that to comment fairly on it. If there is anything I have missed, I apologise for not being diligent enough in my efforts and hope you can forgive me.


The final question, therefore, is the much-asked, 'Is the sitcom dead?' I think not, although you might not think so from my review. British television can still bring out some brilliant comedy, even when producing dross, and it also comes down to taste; why is Little Britain so popular again? There is a new series of Green Wing coming our way, which will bring the laughs in abundance if the first series is any indication. Robert Webb and David Mitchell, the stars of Peep Show, will be bringing their radio sketch show, The Mitchell & Webb Experience, to BBC 2 later this year, and BBC radios 2 and 4 are constantly trying out new comedians and ideas. And we have The IT Crowd, the new sitcom from Graham Linehan, one of the men behind Father Ted and Black Books, which looks like it will be one to watch. And there is always some excellent comedy from the US to take up the slack; Scrubs is a continual hilarious delight, and Arrested Development was very enjoyable, despite the lack of commitment from BBC 2 in keeping it to a regular schedule, and My Name Is Earl is shaping up to be very enjoyable (I have yet to see Curb Your Enthusiasm, much to my chagrin, but it should be included here.) The future isn’t as bleak as some nay-sayers would have you believe. And I always have my personal three favourite sitcoms on DVD to watch: Spaced, Blackadder and The Young Ones.

Marvel solicitations for April

Marvel announce over a gadjillion books for you to buy in April (info here).

Spider-Girl #97 has the line 'He’s back by popular demand!' in the blurb. Isn’t this the comic that is being cancelled at #100 after years of near-cancellation due to low numbers? What does popular demand mean then? The editor, his wife and their tennis partners?

Black Panther is looking for a lady. According to the blurb, 'the outcome of which will send reverberations throughout the whole Marvel Universe.' Not sure how, exactly, but I can’t help but get the image out of my head of T’Challa saying, ‘Once you’ve had Black Panther, you’ll never go back.’

Moon Knight looks like an interesting attempt to reinvigorate an old Marvel character, even if they do use the awful cliché of 'back and badder than ever'. Shudder. I’ve never heard of Charlie Huston, but the blurb sounds like it has a good angle on the character, and I do like David Finch’s art, which would be well suited to a dark tale. I’m not sure whether to buy it in serial form or wait for the trade; I want the New Avengers trade but the price doesn’t seem pan out, as it looks like the price I will be able to get it for (~£9.50) is the same as if I bought the individual trades (£1.70 x 6 = £10.20). Surely one of the reasons for getting the trades out is that people would be willing to pick them up if they are cheaper?

I can’t get my mind out of the gutter when I see the words 'The Package' and 'Special extra-sized issue' so close to each other in the Wolverine #41 ad copy.

Is Marvel following the DC Identity Crisis format of having a handful of mini-series as lead in to the main event? If you are thinking about following the Annihilation event, you have to get 4 four-issue mini-series. That’s a big investment. And, with the exception of Giffen, the creators aren’t exactly big names, and Giffen isn’t exactly A-list. Did it work out for DC? Am I being cynical? And should we call it Ann Nye Al Ashun or something equally new?

Avengers and Power Pack Assemble! should win a merit award for cheek. What sort of system have we wrought for ourselves when Marvel has to dispense what is, in effect, a Power Pack continuing series in the form of mini-series with guest-starring names on the cover? It’s quite sad, really, but at least it’s out there. Not that I’ll be getting it, but that’s not the point J (although the ad copy seems a little desperate: 'Don’t wait for the digest … Join the Pack now!')

Why, dear God, do we have Marvel Milestones: Beast & Kitty Pryde? Why? Why? Someone explain it me. Please?

I’ve already pontificated on Wolverine: Origins before, and I stand by my gibberish rantings there.

I’m surprised they haven’t done it before now – Uncanny X-Men Omnibus vol. 1 HC, collecting issues 94-131 of Uncanny X-Men, Annual #3 and Giant-Size X-Men #1, in colour no less, a whopping 272 pages of Chris Claremont reshaping modern superheroics in some of my favourite comic books of my teenage years. A hardback for a hundred bucks? I won’t be getting it, but it gives me a warm tingle to know it’s out there.

The trade paperbackization (I can invent words if I want) of Marvel’s back catalogue continues a pace, even collecting the early New Mutants (I don’t think the early New Mutants warrants the ‘Classic’ tag – the Bob McLeod stuff was quite stiff and Claremont’s stories quite pedestrian. It didn’t kick off until Bill Sienkiewicz came on board and things went crazy – see Dave's eloquent post for evidence), which goes to show that nearly anything will get reprinted these days.

Talking of collecting everything into trades, The Young Avengers #1–6 gets collected; I might give it a try, based on some good reviews around the blogosphere.

And I'm spent for another month. Time to write something else.

Image solicitations for April

The turn of Image to tease me with their forthcoming releases (details here).

Frank Cho Women – now this is what the fans really want. I think that Cho does draw a fine-looking female, but this is just baseless pandering. At least the cheesecake is hidden within story-telling in his other work. As Woody (of Quantum & Woody, for all you philistines out there) might say, there will be nippleage.

Astro GN is described as ‘beautifully painted graphic novel’. Does this mean that most painted graphic novels aren’t beautiful? Or that being beautifully painted is the only reason for this to exist. Surely the art in comic books is one of the most obvious selling points? Am I being a tad anal here?


Award for greatest title and promo text to Loaded Bible: Jesus vs Vampires One-shot:

In the near future, the United States is ruled by bloodsucking vampire hordes. Only one man can end their reign of terror: JESUS H. CHRIST. A tale of war, love, religion and severed heads, the controversial LOADED BIBLE answers an age-old question: "What Would Jesus Do?" Answer: He'd kick vampire ass.


Absolute genius. Not sure if the goods will be delivered, but it made me smile.


As an Ellis acolyte, I have to pimp Fell:

Another self-contained, standalone episode in the life of detective Richard Fell, working in the feral city of Snowtown. A place where things just get forgotten about. The small, decommissioned military storage facility on the north end of the docks. The nice girl from September Street who always said hello to the old men on the corner. The guy with the mark on his face who survived a walk on the dockside. Three things that connect into something Richard Fell isn't going to forget for a long time...


I know I preach about his work but Ellis delivers the sort of comics I enjoy reading, and he gets damn good artists to work on them as well. And he is constantly trying new things and analyzing what he does. These are GOOD things and should be lauded.

DC Solicitations for April

A quick peek at what DC has to offer that tickles my fancy (from here).

Supergirl #7 sees the debut of Greg Rucka, who is a good writer; I’m conflicted, though, as to whether this will be a good fit, even though the concept seems enduringly goofy enough (Supergirl and Power Girl as Flamebird and Nightwing in the bottle city of Kandor). I enjoy Rucka writing non-superhero comics but I don’t feel the same sparkle when he handles the fetish suits.

Checkmate seems more suited to Rucka, with the start of a new series, with Jesus Saiz on art duties, with the 'SHIELD done right' concept of a spy agency in a superhero universe. (Why haven’t Marvel got a SHIELD ongoing series? Perhaps because it doesn’t work in the long term …?) However, it’s all tied into the IC nonsense I have been deliberately avoiding, which makes me feel uncomfortable. I shall wait for the reviews and the inevitable trade.

I don’t fully understand all the complicated shenanigans of the Superboy/time bubble/Mon-el stuff that is a big part of the Legion of Super Heroes, but doesn’t the presence of Supergirl just open that can of worms again?

As an aside, I’d like to say that I like the covers from Daniel Acuna that have been popping up over the last few months. Nice, slick style and design.

Seven Soldiers #1, the final issue! (Bizarre numbering …) A tingle of anticipation just from seeing the cover, can’t wait to see how this finishes.

The Ex Machina special sounds like fun, and it will be interesting to see someone else delineate the adventures of Mayor Hundred other than Tony Harris (I’ve always liked Sprouse’s art), but why does it need a special? Is this to allow Harris a break? Surely it would be fine within the confines of the ongoing series?

I like the idea for Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit, even if I didn’t read the first series. The mixing of the vampire and police procedural has an attractive appeal; however, I haven’t enjoyed any recent material co-written by these two in a while (I gave American Century a long try, but it didn’t hold.) Great Quitely cover, though.

Childhood memory spasm

I read recently, via the NewsAskew site, that Kevin Smith is doing one of the voices in a film called Doogal. It turns out that the film is The Magic Roundabout, retitled for the American audience.

I've inserted a poster of the film to the right. As you can see, the characters are of the same weighting, suggesting that the film is an ensemble piece. Calling it Doogal suggests there is a lead character. I am slightly annoyed.

My unjustifiable anger is rooted in my childhood, so you'll have to excuse the completely irrational reaction. The Magic Roundabout was part of my childhood. (For more details, see this article at Television Heaven.) It was originally a French animation that was translated by Eric Thompson, who also provided the voices, and was Emma Thompson's father. It lasted five minutes and I used to watch it before The 6 O'Clock News on BBC1. It wasn't the greatest programme in the world, but I have a lot of nostalgia for it.

It was turned into a CGI film with celebrity voices; I have yet to see the film, but don't need to for the sake of this rant. I'm not against the concept of films being renamed, although it made playing film-related word games with friends in the US more tricky. (I only learnt that the Madonna documentary, Truth or Dare, was called that, when I started going on about In Bed With Madonna to blank looks.) It happens all the time – Joyride became Roadkill, The Rundown became Welcome To The Jungle – but you don't change the name of a film such that it changes the concept. The Magic Roundabout was about all of the characters. It wasn't a typical protagonist-driven idea, so I find it insulting to completely change the basis of the story so that it is about a supposed lead character. Even worse, they've changed the spelling. It's 'Dougal', for fuck's sake!

Aaahhh, that was cathartic. To read something to cheer yourself up after reading this, have a look at Tom's post about the preliminaries, pre-show and minute-by-minute account of the Golden Globes. Absolutely hilarious stuff.

Comic review: The Annotated Mantooth

The Annotated Mantooth! by Matt Fraction and Andy Kuhn

I feel a little guilty when I find books I have been meaning to try at half price but also feel good because I’ve found a bargain. Yes, I am conflicted, but that didn't stop me buying it.

I had been meaning to check this out because it is a great concept – Rex Mantooth: Kung Fu Gorilla. I mean, I don’t have the monkey/ape fetish that a lot of comic fans seem to have (I’m always amazed that Dave can do a weekly post with a different comic book cover with a monkey on it – see here for an example), but the idea just grabs you by the nads and bitch slaps you into paying attention to the story.

The collection of three stories are vignettes in the life of Rex; there is no explanation of why a talking gorilla is a kung fu spy who is sexually involved with his delectable yet ass-kicking (and human) partner, Honey, but we don’t really need it. Back story is passé; bring on the ultraviolence and the jokes.

In the first tale, Rex fights ninja robots. The second sees him fight lesbian commandos. The third finds him fighting zombie scientists. That is high fucking concept right there. What’s more, this if funny. Laugh out loud funny. That doesn’t happen nearly enough. Rex sounds like a drunk, American Warren Ellis, if such a bizarre chimeric abomination can exist. There are some wonderfully silly ideas thrown in for fun: playing charades with the villain who speaks bizarre Chinese ('You are the bullshit fisherman.'); Rex writing a book called The Erotic Shatner; the lines, 'You will hit this shit all night long.' and 'there's nothing funny about zombies. Well, except how they keep twitching after you've cleaved their goddamn heads open. Now that's pretty fucking funny.' Matt Fraction is obviously deranged, in a good way, and is matched by the enjoyable art of Andy Kuhn. These aren’t the greatest comics in the world (Fraction admits that the lesbian commando story isn’t very strong) but they do bring a smile to the face, which has to be a good thing.

There are several forewords, including Ellis on fine vitriolic form, and an afterword from Larry Young to fill up page numbers. The original script is included for comparison purposes, which is an interesting academic exercise. The other DVD-like extra is the annotations, where Fraction comments on the story. I was looking forward to this the most but it came off like a weak director’s commentary, very sparse and with only the occasional anecdote of note. It doesn’t stop the enjoyment dead, but it detracts from the package. All told, I feel that the price I paid for it was worth it, but I might have felt a little cheated if I’d paid full price.

Rating: B+

Apparently, my jobs wants me to do WORK ...

I need to read the small print but it appears that my employers require me to work for my salary. Outrageous. In lieu of a post containing my unfettered ramblings, I thought I’d rely on the link-apalooza post to keep me regular, as it were …

Is this the new Spider-Man costume? If true, it’s quite garish, and I’d like to know who is responsible. Are Marvel only doing this for the (small) amount of press it might generate, prior to them bringing back the old costume via ‘popular demand’? Personally, I always liked the black costume …

In the sort of decision that a fan of the books could have made years ago, Torso is to be directed by David Fincher (yay!) but to be scripted by Ehren Kruger (boo)

Talking of films, the Clerks 2 teaser is online. Rosario Dawson just radiates sexuality in this; I mean, she’s obviously attractive, but she is droolingly hot in the trailer.

Talking about creators with a strong net presence, the best creator–creator interview I’ve read can be found here between Oeming and Warren Ellis; if you haven’t tried Fell (and you really should, as it was one of the best first issues of last year, as I said before and will say again), then you can read the whole first issue online.

Talking of referencing my own posts, Neilalien mentions me in his annual Dr Strange awards, and I’m such a whore when it comes to pimping myself.

Talking of pimping yourself, Robert Kirkman tells wannabe comic book writers the truth in a recent Buy My Books.

Talking of CBR columnists, Augie has the inside scoop on the newest storage system for your comic books, solving the problem of having to lug boxes to get to the ones at the bottom of the piles (I have over 15 boxes at the moment, much to my girlfriend’s chagrin, so I’m always on the lookout for something like this).

Talking of buying comics, Chris at 2 Guys Buying Comics (even though they have three contributors) writes a very funny letter for Tony Stark to the folks at Marvel, regarding his representation in comic books at present.

And, with my link-linking abilities finally defeated, I just wanted to mention the Comic Book Urban Legends feature at Comics Should Be Good. The good folks over there produce many a fine post but this regular item is their most consistently excellent

And I am spent. Back to work.

Reviews from a library: Ghost World and Maus

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes

Clowes is a darling of the critical comic literati and the serious end of the comic blogosphere. I hadn’t sampled any of his work prior to this graphic novel, apart from seeing the film based on this work. Much like my view of the film, I enjoyed the world created and the performances, but I wasn’t transfixed by it or came away with the feeling that I had encountered genius.

Following the lives of two teenage girls in America, Clowes creates a totally believable world of strangeness and captures the characters of Enid and Rebecca with their genuine-sounding dialogue. However, I never felt that I wanted to know more about these characters, fully realised as they are, nor the other people who invade their world. Much like my reading of Jimmy Corrigan, I could admire the artistry but not enjoy the story. A case of a sensibility that doesn’t match my own.


Maus by Art Spiegelman

When you finally get round to reading a Pulitzer-prize winning graphic novel, it can feel a little daunting. There is a certain weight of expectation that hangs around it, with that haunting cover looking up at you. In this case, it is merited, as this is an exceptionally powerful read that resonates during and long afterwards.

It took me a while to get around to reading this, as I didn’t want to read something so ‘heavy’ and potentially depressing. That’s not the type of material I read for enjoyment. Similarly, I saw Schindler’s List, was amazed by it, but never need to see it again because of the impact it had on me. I’m glad I did read Maus, as it was a rewarding experience.

Maus, as most people reading a comic blog know, is about Art Spiegelman relating the experiences of his father, Vladek, a Polish Jew who survived the Nazi concentration camps, as did his mother, who committed suicide when Art was a young man. It is told using the artistic device of portraying Jews as mice, Nazis as cats and Poles as pigs. This was used to help the story be told, as it would have been more harrowing with human figures. Artistically, it took me a while to acclimatise to the grimy style employed by Spiegelman, as it muddies the storytelling at times; however, it is appropriate for the tale, and the inherent humanity of the story soon means that you don’t notice it.

The exploits of Vladek are remarkable, showing the way he survived and how others didn’t, including a large proportion of the family. Equally vivid is the relationship portrayed in the book between Spiegelman and his father, as they argue during the process of taking down his story. This book is harrowing, moving, distressing and beautiful, and demonstrates the scope of the medium. I won’t need to read it again, but I would recommend it whole-heartedly.

Reviews from a library: a mixture

Tales of the Slayer
Writers include Joss Whedon, Amber Benson, Jane Espenson, David Fury, Doug Petrie
Artists include Leinil Francis Yu, P Craig Russell, Gene Colan, Karl Moline

I enjoyed Buffy; the first three series were great, the fourth series had the annoying whiny Buffy (only saved by the joy of Xander and Anya‘s relationship) and the later series were only saved by the occasional Whedon-written episode. However, I have never sampled the comic books that were pumped out, mainly because they weren’t by Whedon. I loved Fray, though, so thought I’d give this a try. Despite Joss’s presence, as well as people strongly associated with the show, this feels like mere footnotes, stories of no substance, evaporating once read. Even the strong line-up of artists didn’t impress, although it was nice seeing Gene Colan doing the '70s riff. One for completists only, I think.


Danger Girl: Odd Jobs
Written by J Scott Campbell & Andy Hartnell (with some artist contribution), art by Joe Chiodo, Art Adams, Phil Noto

I thought I would give this a try, as Danger Girl seems to have a presence beyond being a one-hit wonder. However, despite some gorgeous Adams art and the stylish, elegant work of Noto, this was fluff dressed up as post-modern knowing irony. Enjoyable if you like that sort of thing, I guess, but not for me.



Batman: Fortunate Son
Written by Gerard Jones, art by Gene Ha

Wow. What a complete waste of Ha’s talents. A silly (and not in a good way) and flimsy tale of Batman & Robin getting involved in the world of popular music for no particularly good reason. Utter drivel. In the post-script, Jones states that Archie Goodwin suggested the rock-and-roll Batman story, before going on to write, and I quote: 'Archie died after seeing only the first draft', which tells you something about this horrendous nonsense.


Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales: Book 1
Written by Alan Moore, Steve Moore (no relation) and Leah Moore (definitely related)
Art by various

Alan Moore’s Tom Strong was some light but fun speculative fiction, with some quality art by Chris Sprouse. The flavour dropped out when he did, so this seemed a nice halfway house. However, this is not Alan firing on all cylinders, which makes Steve Moore’s writing seem even more pedestrian. There is some blocky, stiff art from Paul Rivoche, some competent and uninspiring work from Alan Weiss, and some fun work from Jamie Hernandez and Sergio Aragones on two silent tales written by Leah Moore. Jason Pearson pops in for a story told in the form of trading cards; it’s a joy to see his work again, as his slick, dynamic, cartoony art oozes pizzazz and style.

The visually worthwhile contribution comes from Art Adams, who provides his delightfully insane, intensely detailed and exquisite art on some of the silliest stories, just as an excuse to draw beautiful, full-figured, attractive women in various states of undress. To quote the comic itself, 'the wenches are comely'. However, it seems a tad lurid at times, for example the dressing of Jonni Future in the second story (how do those breasts stay up? Is it some futuristic technology we cannot understand?), and the bevy of naked Jonni clones in 'The Garden of Sklin'. Kudos for Adams’s ability to hide so many nipples and pudenda, while still showing buttocks for some reason, but why the worry over nudity at all? Surely the ABC books don’t have to worry about that? For that matter, why doesn’t Adams just do straight porn? I’m sure it’d be fantastic. Just look at the cheesecake in 'Seraglio of the Stars' …


Batman: Nine Lives
Written by Dean Motter
Art by Michael Lark

Drawn in a landscape, rather than portrait, style, the moody art of Lark is the perfect compliment for the dark noir Elseworlds tale from Motter, which sees Dick Grayson as a former cop, now private investigator, trying to find the killer of Selina Kyle, socialite and club owner, with Bruce Wayne as the primary suspect. All the usual suspects appear in slightly altered form: Harvey Dent is Wayne’s lawyer; Barbara Gordon is Grayson’s secretary (and budding photojournalist); Jack Napier is ‘Joker’, a down-and-out card shark; Cobblepot, nicknamed the Penguin due to his tuxedo fetish, run Gotham underworld with his top hitman, Mr Freeze; Edward Nygma is chief accountant of Gotham First Municipal Bank; Clayface, so called for all the plastic surgery he’s had, is the most powerful mobster in the state. Even Croc turns up in this prime slice of hard-boiled crime fiction, thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying.

Reviews from a library: Jimmy Corrigan

Jimmy Corrigan: Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware

I recently moved, meaning I had a new library to investigate. Unlike my previous local library, this one has a large selection of graphic novels for my delectation. An added bonus is being able to read books that are outside my sphere of interest, but might warrant a read based on good word-of-mouth. This is how I ended up with Jimmy Corrigan, resulting in my decision to only read things that tickle my genre fancy in future.

I’ve heard good things about Chris Ware, and Jimmy Corrigan won the Guardian First Book Award 2001, and I like to think I can read a variety of material for review purposes. I was wrong, and I’m big enough to admit it. The book is about Jimmy Corrigan, a strange man in small-town America, harassed by his mother, who meets his father for the first time when he is in his 30s. It is also about his grandfather in turn-of-the-century Chicago, and the parallels between them. And that was all I got from reading the book. In fact, I got more emotion and resonance from Ware’s post-script, where he talks about the autobiographical nature of the story and how he met his real father after a similar absence.

Reading this book was a chore for me; there were times when I didn’t want to pick it up and carry on. I had to force myself to get through to the end. I did enjoy Ware’s illustrations, with the exquisite detail, the perfect geometry of design, his ability to create mood and moments in his pages, but I found the story itself rather dull and unengaging. I may feel sorry for Jimmy and his plight, but I didn’t care enough about him as a character to continue at times. I’m not criticising Ware’s ability to tell a story; his talents are not in doubt. It just didn’t do anything for me.

This could reflect on me, and an inability to connect with the emotional content, but I wouldn’t read this nor recommend it. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a fondness for genre, I think because of the fact that I like stories, narratives that compel me to read them, with bizarre and exciting and funny events. I want the story to exist for a reason, as a tale that simply had to be told. I find large, sprawling tomes about the human experience to be rather dull and up themselves. This may limit my literary experience, perhaps, but it doesn’t limit my enjoyment. Give me the comedy of Douglas Adams, the satire of Terry Pratchett, give me fantasy, give me crime/thriller fiction, give me the works of my new buzz, Jasper Fforde. In comics, the mind-expanding superheroics of Grant Morrison and Alan Moore, give me the crime and meta-superheroes of Warren Ellis, give me Usagi Yojimbo, give me Fables, 100 Bullets, Powers … I think you get the picture. Just please don’t give me any more of this.

Interactive Title: Select Your Own!

Not writing for a while didn't mean not reading for a while; I just didn't have time to say anything about them, unfortunately. There were things that stayed in my head after reading them, which is always a good sign. Even though these will be out of date, I still wanted to collect them in one place.

One of my last posts was a review of the recent Dr Strange mini-series; I'm not a big fan of the character, which might be why I rather enjoyed this updated treatment. This led to a highlight; being linked to by Neilalien, the leading Dr Strange authority on the net and comic blogging legend. Not only that, he also mocked me – I have truly made it in the blogosphere!

The ever-excellent Jim compared Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising cycle with JK Rowling's Harry Potter, and why he hasn't read the latter yet. I grew up on the Cooper books, the first genre 'proper' books that I absorbed, yet still enjoy the Potter books for their fun read. Yes, I am a child at heart.

Tom the Dog, who has a similar love of film, television and comics (and was the first person to link to me, poor chap), provided a perfect encapsulation of the magic, and subsequent loss, of Rob Reiner. That Tom knows of where he speaks …

Kevin Smith, who has lapses in his diary blogging nearly as bad as me, tells us all about his anal fissure. Yes, you read that right. I used to compare myself to Smith, in regards to being raised a Catholic, a love of comic books, films and comedy, and being the same age. Unlike him, I've never had a recurring problem with piles (he says he suffers from them several times a year – ouch). Sometimes, I am happy not to be a famous writer/director with tons of cash. Also, he shares too much, methinks …

I've been meaning to write about my favourite comic book artists for a while. Obviously, Alan Davis will be in the list (it's not called Clan-Destine for nothing) but, at another end of the spectrum, Bill Sienkiewicz is an artist whose work does good things to my eyes. Dr Sordid posted his Top 10 Bill Sink covers a while back, and you can never have too much Sink.

Logan always read my stuff, God bless him, don't know why, but I always enjoyed reading his posts. It's not clear if he will be blogging again, even if last post is longer than all of my content for the last three months, but I'm hoping it won't be permanent. Come back soon, buddy

I wanted to point out the Comic Bloggers' Poll 2005 because I think it's a great thing and I can't wait for the results. However, I won't be voting because I don't consider myself qualified to vote. Apart from not blogging regularly enough to have concrete opinions, I don't think I'm qualified to come across as an authoritative opinion, which is why you won't be seeing one of those end-of-year posts from me. Most bloggers do, but I haven't read nearly enough to have an opinion with weight, and it would only be a list of my favourites, based on my tastes. I am like Paul O’Brien; I enjoy genre, not the medium alone (from this article):

I self-identify as a fan of certain genres of comics. I am predisposed to hunt out and try new products within that area. I recognise the likely quality of many products outside that sphere, but it doesn't follow in the slightest that I should feel inclined to read them.

Manga, falling outside my existing sphere of interest, does not magically become of interest to me simply because it's a comic. Instead, it joins the long queue of other activities battling for my leisure time, behind the novels I haven't got around to reading, the DVDs I haven't got around to watching, the TV shows I keep meaning to check out, the games I haven't finished yet …

Talking of Paul, an excellent writer, I'd like to thank him for his recommendation of Jasper Fforde's books, which are wonderful, and shows how Paul and I have similar apetites for genre material, even if my writing is nowhere near as good as his.

Talking of excellent writing that makes me feel inferior, I have to mention Jog; reading his analysis of, say, Seven Soldiers, makes me feel like I'm an idiot, which is a good thing, honest. Even when he is only reviewing Alan Moore's worst comics, he is still superb and a joy to read.

I'll leave you with those links, and the eternal promise of original material here in the future.

Three film reviews with no link, other than I just watched them

Mr & Mrs Smith

Pretty people shooting and blowing shit up is mighty fine entertainment for a Saturday night. It’s not a great film, by any means, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to a popcorn flick. It’s a simple enough tale – Mr (Brad Pitt) and Mrs (Angelina Jolie) Smith are bored with their marriage, only to discover that each other is professional assassin, sent to kill the other – told with vigour and vim by Doug Liman. Vince Vaughan pops up pointlessly, doing his schtick imported from his Brat Pack films, so your mileage of enjoyment may vary, but it’s the Pitt & Jolie show, looking sexy and having fun. Watch, enjoy, forget.

Rating: VID


Kung Fu Hustle

Let everybody bow down and worship at the feet of the god of kung fu comedy, Stephen Chow. Harking back to the old Shaw brothers films, he mixes old school martial arts with CGI with insane cartoon comedy to deliver something completely new. The story, which sees the Axe Gang in charge of things, with the exception of Pig Sty Alley, until Chow unwittingly causes the eruption of a small war, is an excuse for fantastical scenes of martial arts action and laugh-out loud gags. While martial art films have been a source of unintentional amusement to some (like my father, who used to mock them as my brothers and I watched them), this is a deliberate and knowing gag creation, which is more than the, admittedly amusing, slapstick of Jackie Chan. Although it is still a little odd to see CGI in wushu, where the whole point was that it was human beings (with the sometime contribution of wires) performing the stunts, it is impossible not to be entranced by the spectacle.

Rating: DAVE


Ong Bak

My girlfriend, a martial arts enthusiast as well, summed this film up best: martial arts porn. The selling point of Ong bak is the 'no wires, real stunts' angle – everything you see on the film was performed without assistance. Which makes it so bone-crunchingly intense. It harkens back to the early days of Bruce Lee, where you watched the film for the prowess of the star, here Tony Jaa. However, it also harkens back to the early days by being a rubbish story, because you ONLY watched it for the martial art prowess of the star. It’s so silly, I’m not going to even explain it; people who are going to enjoy this won’t care for the story either. Watching Jaa is incredible. I found myself exclaiming, 'Whoa!' and 'Shit!' on a regular basis when the fight scenes started, such was the visceral response. The fighting in this is vicious, fast and insane; none of the beauty of a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon here, thank you very much. You don’t see them elbowing someone on the top of the head in that film. You will believe a man can kick the shit out of someone AND withstand that amount of pain without something breaking in half. In summary, then: silly story, stunning fight scenes.

Rating: VID

A silly story to pick to return to blogging

Clandestine who?

The short version of why I haven't posted anything lately: looking for a flat in London is fucking difficult, draining me of any energy; then I got a new job in the field I want to be, but have to work hard to keep; then there was Christmas.

I know I'm useless, you know I'm useless, so let's just move on. I've got ideas I want to write about, just have to find the time. The plan is to write for myself, and not worry about the audience until I earn one. However, I just want to write well and regularly, that's all. Let's see how it goes.

So, you've probably seen the story about the new Wolverine book that Marvel will be fleecing fans for. I'm an X-Men fan from my spotty adolescence, so it piques my interest, even moreso when I see that Steven Dillon will be drawing Logan. I'm not going to buy it, mind you, I'm just curious.

I'm put off by Daniel Way as author, as I haven't enjoyed anything he's written personally. But, it got me to thinking about the nature of these announcements, who is writing and drawing, and why they are chosen.

I think Marvel (and DC to an extent) has tapped into the desire to have 'proper' creative teams on their big launches, which are inevitably based on either major characters (like this Wolvie book) or derivations (like Young Avengers). Fanboys want the stuff they know, and people like myself want the creators we admire, as I find them more reliable than any particular character.

So, the announcement had to be about the character first, before they announce the creative team. And you have to have a big creative team these days, or it won't be noticed – why look at 'regular' writers when you have best-selling authors, television writers or film directors writing your books? But Daniel Way isn't a huge writer, even if Marvel are pimping him as one of their Ten Terrific Tit-tastic Top Types (or whatever the stupid title was). No offense, Dan.

So, why was Dan given this book? Because the premise is sufficent in itself, perhaps? I never read Origins, but that sold well enough, didn't it? Also, big names come in to do their thing, not follow the dictates of the editors (Way was 'offered' the job). Also, this book seems to involve research and interaction with other writers and editors, which sounds like the job description of a working writer, rather than a big name with a single story to tell. Hence, Daniel Way is on a big title, with the bizarre choice of Steve Dillon (who I think is great but is not the first choice for an action title like Wolverine) as artist.

So, no reason at all to be interested in this book, unless you really believe that there are any interesting stories in the origin of Logan. And here I am writing about it.

And you wonder why I haven't been writing much …