Reason For A Brit To Be Thankful

Even though it was announced in September that Alan Davis would be working on a new series of ClanDestine, it is still the best reason for this Brit to be thankful for the Marvel solicitations for February 2008. Obviously, I have a lot of love for this series (it was one of the reasons behind the naming of the blog), so it is with undiluted joy that I greet the return of this wonderfully charming series. I’m so full of glee I shall stop now, and just copy and paste the solicitation copy:

Alan Davis' freaky family returns! They've existed, hidden among mankind for centuries, a mysterious bloodline of superhumans, eternal and apart. And all they've desired is to be left alone, to pursue their individual interests in peace. But now, the existence of their hidden clan is threatened with exposure by the activities of one of their youngest siblings, Rory Destine, who aspires to be the costumed crimefighter called the Crimson Crusader! And now that the cat's been let out of the bag, who or what is going to come calling at the Destine family's Ravenscroft doorway?

In other news, Fantastic Four #554 sees the start of a year-long run from Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch. There is no denying that this should be huge – the team behind The Ultimates on Marvel’s first team, where absolutely anything can happen – but will it be timely? I’m going to wait for the trade, rather than the inevitable wait between issues for Hitch’s gorgeous artwork (although the cover looks a bit ropey), but surely the whole point of a big-name creative team on a monthly series is to bring in people on a monthly basis? It was okay with The Ultimates, everyone knew that it was finite; the Fantastic Four is and always will be ongoing.

The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death sees Matt Fraction going solo to tell a story of Orson Randall, the Golden Age Iron Fist. It’s great to have so much good Iron Fist material about at the moment – this news series is the best thing to happen to the character in years – but I worry about diluting the current character with what are essentially a collection of flashback scenes in a special. I have no doubt this will be enjoyable stuff, I would just prefer to see it as part of the core book. I’m sure it will be in the trade, but I follow this in the serial format, which is why I feel the need to point it out.

Joss Whedon sees two storylines round up this month – Runaways #30 sees the end of his first storyline on the title (which has been an odd story so far, with the history/alternate world concept at contrast with the idea of super-powered kids in modern day LA rebelling against their supervillain parents, but that could be just me), and Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1 is a huge (64 page) one-off marking the end of his work with John Cassaday on Marvel’s Merry Mutants. Hope it’s collected in the trade …

I would mention Kick Ass, which is interestingly in the Icon section, but it’s not as if Millar won’t be hyping this new series (looking at somebody trying to be a superhero in the ‘real world’) in his usual subtle and inimitable style …

The most interesting news in the Icon section is the return of Criminal, but as a second series and a new number one. Everything else is the same – Brubaker on words, Phillips on pictures – but the gap between this and last series suggest that the delicate balance of comic book economics have flavoured the decision to start again. This book is never going to sell in big numbers in the direct market, so I’m not sure if it will have much effect, but anything that helps to keep this excellent series going is fine by me.

[EDIT: Newsarama talks to Alan Davis about the new ClanDestine series]

Black Dossier Blackout

I am British and a fan of Alan Moore and Kev O'Neill's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, so was unhappy about the fact that DC went back on their position of distributing The Black Dossier worldwide, keeping it just for the US. However, I had been made aware that I might be able to get the book through certain under-the-counter means (in a perfectly legal fashion), so I didn't bitch about.

Unfortunately, I have now been told that the book won't be making it to these shores by the methods I had originally thought, and I won't be getting my hands on a copy. This is sad. Therefore, I have to ignore all the reviews of The Black Dossier that will be hitting the blogaxy, and try not to act like a petulant child. Bugger and blast.

Guess I'll have to use that work trip to the US office sooner than I thought …

TV Catch-Up Week: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

My best mate went to the US to work and live before I did. When I went to visit him, he knew the head cue card guy at SNL who got us in – we got to watch the rehearsals (around 2 in the afternoon) and then we were in the green room for the first half of the show, before being allowed to come down to the studio floor for the last third of the show. It was magical. Steve Buscemi was hosting – I had watched him practise his monologue and some sketches about ten feet away – and, as we stood in front of the audience, I could see Willem Dafoe not too far away, just watching the show like we were. (We even went to the after show party, where my mate was next to Buscemi at the urinal – he was still smoking and drinking a beer while he went, Buscemi, not my friend – so probably qualifies as one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life). The point I’m making is that the atmosphere was amazing and the perfect setting for a show, which is what Aaron Sorkin does with Studio 60 (based as it is on SNL).

Even though I know that this was cancelled after one series, I couldn’t wait to see it. I had to wait for the terrestrial airing on Channel 4 (More4 started showing it while I was on holiday) and, despite the fact that they are showing it at midnight (and in double episodes – obviously, this show hasn’t been getting the ratings on More4 that they hoped, which is a crying shame), it is still one of the best shows on television at the moment.

The double episode that begins the show sets things up perfectly – Judd Hirsch does a Network (a point that is referenced) in the middle of a live airing of Studio 60, on the night before Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) becomes the president of the National Broadcasting System. To change things and to counter the charges of dumbing down made by Hirsh, she gets Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) and Matt Able (Matthew Perry) to run the show – Matt is a hot writer who started on the show but was fired four years ago and Danny was a segment producer who went with him and is now a film director but can’t do a film due to having tested positive for cocaine (they agree to do the show while he gets clean for 18 months which is when he will be bonded to direct a film again).

There is some autobiographical stuff in this – Sorkin is a writer like Matt (writing by himself, ignoring the Room of writers, fired from a show that he made famous) and has a cocaine problem like Danny, and the concept itself is his personal dream for quality entertainment and not dumbing down.

The show is similar to West Wing – both places are high intensity situations where people who are passionate about what they do and have to survive under pressure from the public and people in power; there is a similar vibe, with the fast talking and the intelligent people who have an internet knowledge of trivia and are very funny when they quip, doing the patented ‘walk and talk’ because there is so much to get through in the hour.

The actors are very good – Perry and Whitford are amazingly good, and their chemistry as two old friends in the business is perfect; the cast of the show within the show is spot on (DL Hughley brings his previous experience to the role and Sarah Paulson is fabulous as Harriet, the talented comedienne and star of the show). The only one who seems out of place is Peet, particularly the first episode where she is constantly brought bad news, and the camera lingers on her face as she ponders on it – she looks completely gormless when this happens; she also doesn’t have the same ability with the dialogue that Perry and Whitford do.

What is this show is not is a straight comedy (which seemed to be one of the main criticisms about the later programme) – it is, like The West Wing, a fast-paced drama about a tense workplace with people who can be very funny at appropriate times. The show is moving and smart and interesting and occasionally moving; it makes me feel clever and better about myself just watching it. Yes, it is about a comedy programme, and it can be very funny, but it is not a comedy per se; if you want satirical sketches, watch SNL – this is something else. In my dreams, I am as sharp and funny and quick as the people populating Sorkin’s dramas, let alone be able to write as he does. Studio 60 is a wonderful and entertaining piece of television that makes the airwaves a better place.

TV Catch-Up Week: 30 Rock

I lived and worked in the US between the end of 2000 and 2002, so I finally got to watch film and television shows as they happened, rather than waiting for them for ages in the UK. I could see the Daily Show as Jon Stewart was hitting his stride, for example, and I got to see Saturday Night Live and get most of the jokes (seeing as it satirizes news of the week in the US and not outside it). Being a fan of comedy, I had always wanted to see SNL actually live; I’m strange like that. At that time, Will Ferrell was in his prime on the show. However, there was another reason to watch the show – Tina Fey on the news section. Jimmy Fallon was okay, but Tina didn’t have to resort to funny voices. It was also because she was writing the stuff as well, famously being the first female head writer on the show.

30 Rock is based on her experiences working for SNL (the name is the shorthand for the address of the NBC building, 30 Rockefeller Plaza), where she stars as herself, basically, as the head writer of a weekly sketch show, Liz Lemon. There is a change in who runs things – Alec Baldwin (who is hilarious) as Jack Doherty comes in and shakes things up by hiring Tracey Jordan (Tracey Morgan, an SNL alumni), who is a very thinly veiled version of Martin Lawrence, to be the star of the show. He is borderline insane, but people laugh because he is a film star, and Liz has to keep things under control as well as put up with Jack’s management style.

The set-up is a strong focus for the sit in sit-com, but the comedy is there too. Sharp lines abound, Baldwin is fantastic as the oily yet not evil Doherty, and there is slapstick and stupidity from Morgan as Jordan. There is knowingness (the harking back to the Mary Tyler Moore Show at the beginning of the first episode) and the reality basis of Fey’s SNL experiences. The second show was a little shaky, with the clichéd bit of farce where everyone hears what she is saying by having a live mike, but the third show is right back on track, with the poker game and Fey being set up on a date with a lesbian by Doherty.

I know that I am partial to behind the scenes of film/televison, but this is still a great show. Fey is the comedy nerd’s fantasy come to life – pretty, funny, smart and even makes wearing glasses look good – and it is good to have a show with a strong female lead who isn’t ditzy but still has normal issues. It was great to see it winning an Emmy, despite the low ratings in the US, and I look forward to more quality comedy.