A common theme in these last few posts about my recent television viewing is the odd choice of channel that airs the show. Being Human joins this list because BBC3 is not the home of supernatural drama.
Being Human is about two friends who work in menial jobs in a hospital. Their connection is that they are not normal: Mitchell is a vampire and George is a werewolf. All they want is to be normal, which is obviously difficult for them. They decide to share a flat to help them feel more normal – it turns out that it already has a ghost occupant: Annie, the former owner.
When it turns out that both Mitchell and George can see Annie, who is simply a lost soul who doesn’t want to leave the flat where she died, the three of them find a happy medium (no pun intended) where they can co-exist in supernatural harmony.
The hour-long drama has other aspects to it (Mitchell created another vampire at the start of the show, and is approached by the cabal of vampires in the neighbourhood who want to reassert their superiority over the humans and want Mitchell to choose sides; George sees an old girlfriend on whom he walked out after discovery of his curse) but it is more to do with the interplay between the three main characters – the discussion in the pub at the end of which house in Hogwarts they would be in is extremely funny and indicative of the vibe of the programme.
Being Human is an excellent little programme, so I was amazed to discover that it was only a pilot, one of several to be shown on BBC3. It felt so assured, so complete and fully formed, it didn’t feel like a pilot. I would happily watch a full series of this, and I’m not the only one: there is an online petition for the BBC to make a complete series, and there is of course a Facebook page to the same end. I don’t think that either of these will help, but it would be nice if it did persuade the Beeb to do the right thing and continue the series.
Monday, 24 March 2008
Sunday, 23 March 2008
TV Catch-Up: Bionic Woman
I don’t understand the way ITV thinks: it puts Dexter on ITV1 (albeit late at night) but puts Entourage and The Office: An American Workplace. It’s a shame that they were able to purchase them in the first place – they are not the usual programmes that people who watch ITV want to see.And now we have the updating of The Bionic Woman, handily now called Bionic Woman, another show that feels out of place on ITV2 (even though the pilot got the best ratings for the channel yet). Coming from one half (David Eick) of the folk responsible for Battlestar Galactica, possibly the greatest updating of a television programme ever, this was a show with some expectation. Which probably makes the disappointment all the sharper.
Michelle Ryan is Jamie Sommers, a bartender who is saved from death by receiving bionic implants in her legs, her right arm, her right eye and her right ear (all because her boyfriend is the man in charge of the procedure, and son of the man who created them in). The first person who comes after her is the first bionic woman, Sarah Corvus (played with gleeful over-the-topness by Battlestar Galactica’s Starbuck, Katie Sackhoff: when she says the line ‘I’m Sarah Corvus. The first bionic woman. Ta-da’, you’d think it was pantomime).
In fact, this seems to be a pension show for Battlestar Galactica alumni: Aaron Douglas (who plays Chief) is a prison guard; Mark Sheppard (who played Gaius’ lawyer) is the original bionic pioneer.
The show doesn’t feel right. Ryan is fairly anaemic in the lead role, especially compared with the more interesting Sackhoff. She also has to put up with the annoying whining teenage sister she is looking after (which is the reason for her dropping out of college, allowing the character to be intelligent). The dialogue doesn’t help – when Miguel Ferrer (the big boss in the organisation that runs the bionics programme) says at the end, ‘Welcome to the game’, you feel sorry for him. Finally, the action itself is nothing special – seeing as this is the primary draw of the show, it needs to look good; no, it needs to look spectacular, and this doesn’t. Television shows don’t have the budget, which is why you can only have the one bionic fight an episode, and this doesn’t cut it (they try to hide it with lots of quick cuts and pouring rain, but it doesn’t work). there might be an interesting programme in the Bionic Woman, but this isn’t it.
Saturday, 22 March 2008
TV Catch-Up: Dexter
The idea of a serial killer who only kills other serial killers sounds like it could be a really clichéd B-movie. Instead, the television series Dexter, based on the Dexter novels of Jeff Lindsay (pen name of Jeffry P. Freundlich), is a fascinating and perfectly judged character study as well as an entertaining programme.Dexter (Michael C Hall) is a blood splatter analyst for the Miami police department who also is a serial killer. However, he only kills people who have killed (and more than once) and haven’t been captured, keeping only a blood sample as a memento. He was taught how to put on a normal façade and exist in normal society by his adoptive father, Harry, who was a celebrated policeman, who recognised what Dexter was but showed him how to channel the impulse against those who deserved it. We see these flashbacks to his youth with his father throughout the show, to give us the development of Dexter.
We meet Dexter as he kills a family man who had killed boys in his youth, before we see him working at the police station, and watch as he becomes involved with what will become known as The Ice Truck Killer, where he helps his adoptive sister, who also works for the police, to get on the case. We also see Dexter in his relationship with a woman (as part of his façade of normality, he must have a girlfriend) who is as damaged in her own way as he – there is no sex, something that Dexter has no interest in.
There are two aspects of the show that make it wonderful viewing. Firstly is the performance by Hall as Dexter – it is mesmerizing and captivating, showing all his flaws and strengths and conflicts. The look he gives straight to the camera at the end of the first episode, where he finds the clue left for him by the Ice Truck Killer, is exquisite – it should throw you out of viewing experience, but it makes you smile and want to watch more. The second aspect is the precision of the balancing act; this could be just awful, but the strength of the setting, the characterisation of the rest of the cast, the decision to show Dexter’s crimes (I’m watching the series on ITV – quite a bold decision for the bland mainstream of their usual output – so there might be watering down of the more gruesome details) as well as his contributions to society all make for a remarkable show.
Friday, 21 March 2008
TV Catch-Up - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
When I first heard that this was being made, I really didn’t think it could work. The first two films were fabulous chase films – there was no way they could do that in a television series on a weekly basis. Television can do many interesting things, but it can’t out-action cinema on a regular basis – the budgets alone dictate that. The series seemed to be ignoring the third film, an underrated flick that played the films’ storylines to a logical and satisfying conclusion.
Now that I have finally seen it (they are showing it on Virgin here in the UK, available on Freeview), I can lay aside my prejudiced preconceptions and say, this is actually quite good. I think that a lot of is down to the creators, mostly it would seem Josh Friedman (the main developer), who has created a complex and dynamic storyline, weaving previous and future events and characters.
Taking off after the events of the second Terminator film, Sarah Connor (Lena Headey, doing generic American accent quite well) is a woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders, looking after her teenage son John (Thomas Dekker), the future leader of the human resistance in the war against the Terminators. After moving on from yet another location, they end up in another place where they pretend to be normal and John goes to school again. Only, this time, he is attached by a Terminator, only to be saved by a schoolmate, Cameron (Summer Glau), who turns out to be another Terminator sent to look after him. Instead of always being on the run, they decide to stop the future by making sure Skynet never exists. This involves them jumping forward in time from 1999 to 2007 (but unfortunately taking with them the head of the Terminator chasing them).
Despite the negative reaction to Headey’s take on Sarah Connor (she has to be more complex character for a television series, rather than the one-note film version), she comes across as determined, driven and tormented, which is what the character would be after all she has been through. Dekker is okay as John – he doesn’t have that much to do – but it is Summer Glau who has all the fun, both in the action and the cool lines, as the Terminator in the form of a teenage girl. Admittedly she had practice from Firefly/Serenity of being the oddball who could suddenly turn tough, but she’s still the most interesting character.
The story itself seems to be developing well, taking the opportunity to play with timelines and ideas, bringing in future resistance fighters to set things up in the present, and having other Terminators doing other missions (such as collecting the metal alloy need to make more Terminators after Judgement Day). What could have been rather repetitive and formulaic has turned into an interesting television series.
Thursday, 20 March 2008
TV Catch-Up: Reaper
Reaper stars Bret Harrison (who looks a little like a young Craig Berko, who I always remember from The Long Kiss Goodnight) as Sam, a slacker who works at a home improvement store, whose parents sold his soul to the Devil (Ray Wise). On his 21st birthday, he becomes a bounty hunter for Devil, tracking down souls escaped from hell using ‘vessels’ provided by Satan, because the Devil will take his mother’s soul instead if he doesn’t. He does this with the help of his best friend and work colleague, Bert ‘Sock’ Wysocki (Tyler Labine), and another work mate, Ben (Rick Gonzalez). Meanwhile, he pines for Andi (Missy Peregrym), who works at the Work Bench with him (she came back there when her father died and she needed some familiarity to comfort her) as they maintain a ‘good friend’ relationship.Famously, the pilot was directed by Kevin Smith – who knows a thing or two about slackers – which probably helped the show get a leg up in the dog-eat-dog world of television pilots. He is listed as a consultant, even though he doesn’t really do anything, but his influence is felt in the relaxed atmosphere and easy-going dialogue. Also, especially in the pilot, he stated that there was a comparison to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost partnership from Shaun of the Dead – this works well, with Sam and Sock recreating the same dynamic (which means that Ben feels like a third wheel at times).
The pilot was a lot of fun and the set up was perfect for the episodic nature of serial television: Devil shows up (Ray Wise has a ball as the Devil, playing it charming, smarmy, oily, and threatening in perfect amounts), Sam gets a vessel and a mission, he and Sock do comedy, and there is the ongoing saga of ‘will they/won’t they’ of him and Andi. This last part could be annoying, but they balance this out very well, and it is one of the elements that keeps me coming back.
An aside – Missy (strange name) is just far too attractive for this show. She is very pretty naturally, but she seems to stand out even more when you watch the programme, as if they are reducing the attractiveness on the rest of the actors and turning up her beauty levels. It’s rather odd.
The show keeps on delivering (even if they have practically eliminated the family as supporting characters) and provides some good stuff on a regular basis – the episode where Gladys, the woman at the DMV who works for the Devil to take the captured souls, makes Sock have a dream about getting it on with her: Labine’s (over)reaction when he wakes up was absolutely priceless. Congratulations all around for an enjoyable show.
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
From A Library: Civil War
Civil War issues #1 – 7 by Mark Millar and Steve McNivenI know that I am coming to this very late – this was THE big book in the comic book corner of the internet when it came out – and I feel that I don’t even have to read it, after all the stuff I’ve seen about it and the various parodies. However, I felt I should actually read the thing for myself.
This is a BIG STORY – no subtlety, just plough through in blockbuster action movie style, with shotgun tactics and Big! Surprise! Endings! Namely, Captain America escaping SHIELD by surfing on a plane in the first issue, Spider-Man unmasking at the end of issue two, the return of Thor at the end of three, the new Thunderbolts team at the end of issue four, Punisher and the Negative Zone jail in issue five, and the big face-off moment at the end of issue six (although with the crappest last line ever from Captain America: ‘Now close your eyes, gentlemen. This might hurt.’ What the fuck does that even mean, let alone in that context? Shudder).
The real strength in this series, apart from Millar’s commitment to the over-the-top attitude all the way through, is McNiven’s art. He is perfect for this type of story. He is a top-quality superhero artist – strong, clean faces; a good handle on the costume as outfit mixed with the muscles underneath (or the pert buttocks of females – he does suffer from the modern artist problem of over-sexualisation of women, throwing in a few butt shots gratuitously into the story), which is necessary for the believability so that they don’t look like a second skin; a heroicness to the heroes; and able to stage big fights in an accessible and understandable fashion. There is a distinctness to his characters that delineates them, especially in the large group shots. It’s dynamic and yet captures the best moment in time to represent the idea of the panel – the single page of Hercules bashing Clor in the head (‘Thou art no Thor.’) is very cool. The only time I was taken out of the story due to the art was the panel of Stature’s face in issue four where she is Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Not that you’ll need reminding but the plot of the story: Speedball’s reality show New Warriors lead to Nitro blowing up Stanford and killing hundreds of civilians, which leads to legislation for registration of heroes. This causes a split in the two camps: Captain America and the more ‘street-level’ heroes against the legislation, and Iron Man, Reed Richards and Hank Pym leading the group supporting the initiative.
An aside. The X-Men are on the sidelines and don’t choose sides. This isn’t really explained – there is a lot going in the book that isn’t fully explained, as if it doesn’t have enough time to give the reader the complete information to understand everything. Also, there seems to be parts that are explained in books outside of the main series, so that it feels it needs only to use shorthand – why Peter flips from being a supporter of the legislation to being against it; the reveal of the Negative Zone as the prison; the new Thunderbolts; the status of the X-Men – which makes for an unsatisfactory read in one sitting.
The series succeeds in feeding the inner fanboy – issue three has the first big smack down, where the heroes fight each other and your inner child smiles. Millar has gone for moments rather than actual story – Goliath being killed by the cloned Thor; Spider-Man switches and is saved by the Punisher; Sue leaves Reed because he is an arsehole, but not without shagging him first – but he just about gets away with it. This isn’t a great piece of literature, it is a story about the Marvel Universe with an attempt at relevancy thrown in on which to hang the superheroes fighting each other. The double-page spread of the big face-off at the end is the stuff of a Marvel zombie dreams. Then having Namor turn up with his army (even if he doesn’t have much effect) and the fake Thor’s death, and you’ve got a lot of happy fanboys.
Well, until the end, which is so anti-climactic that you have to read it again to make sure that you’ve read it right, no matter what Joss Whedon felt about it. The big story limps home to the new status quo for the Marvel Universe. It has to be said that Tony Stark and Reed Richards do act like dicks, not like the characters we have been accustomed to for, oh, ever. The effect on the whole of the Marvel output is quite drastic, so I hope it doesn’t get ‘wished’ away by the Skrull invasion that is coming up. (I thought that mother of the dead child might be voodoo-ing Tony when she spat on him in at the funeral, and always seems to be around, but that seems a flimsy villain.) So, the story is BIG, the result is BIG, the ending is small, but the art is gorgeous. In other words, the typical Marvel comic.
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
From A Library: Identity Crisis
Identity Crisis #1–7 by Brad Meltzer and Rags MoralesContinuing my tradition for coming ridiculously late to important series in current mainstream superhero universes, I finally read the series that kicked off the new status in the DC universe. It was the centre of a furore among the comic book internet cognoscenti, which means that I don’t have to tell you the story. But that won’t stop me from condensing the plot to fill up this post.
Sue Dibny is found dead at the end of the first issue; the second issue uncovers the incident where Dr Light had raped her before: Atom, Hawkman, Zatana, Oliver Queen, Black Canary, Hal Jordan and Barry Flash get Zatana to alter his mind, to make him forget it and to make him less evil-minded (which is why he became a bit of a joke in the DC villain world). The third issue sees the group in the know go after Dr Light, only for him to have acquired protection in the form of Deathstroke (there are many things wrong with this story, but having Deathstroke able to plan and move quick enough to take down the Flash and the rest of the group, admittedly only for a short time, was just silly). The ensuing fight causes Dr Light to remember what happened to his mind (not quite sure how that works, but anyway), and we see that Batman was also there in his flashback. And this was not the only time – a famous old issue of the Justice League of America (issue #168, apparently) where the team swapped bodies with those of a group of super villains is referenced.
We see Jean Loring, Atom’s ex-wife, attacked but saved by the Atom. Lois gets a note telling her that they know who her husband is. The heroes go looking for answers (which causes the Firestorm die, albeit in a heroic fashion, but is it necessary?). Robin’s father is killed by Boomerang (who also dies in the attempt). Then, the autopsy on Sue reveals that she dies from a block in her brain – closer examination shows footsteps on her medulla …
So, let’s talk about the good. The first chapter dealing the love Ralph and Sue have is beautiful and beautifully done: it makes the relationship so real and deep, which makes the shock at the end of the issue so much more shocking. The story is a classic whodunit – you have the culprit appear early on as an innocent in story element that is unrelated to the main plot (in this case, the beginning of issue 2), who then is attacked to put the reader off the scent. The story is well written – Meltzer has a good handle on ALL the characters, what makes them tick, their specific dialogue, their attitudes. He is matched in the delivery by the art by Morales – nothing flashy, just a nice style with good distinguishing between characters (important for such a large cast) and solid on faces and expression. Meltzer is plainly a big fan of the DC universe because he has a good understanding of the heroes and their place – the story requires the long-standing, shared aspect of the DC universe in order to work: what keeps a superhero’s identity if they are always dealing with a lot of villains? – but it is also in this respect that the story doesn’t work.
The thing is that the huge love of the DC universe and its big, shiny, noble superheroes from the people who grew up with it means that it is not a universe for rape and murder as casual story elements. I am not one of those people who objects to the presence of these aspects of life appearing in stories and comics, but they don’t fit with four-colour spandex, especially the particularly the DC universe. The Justice League fights alien conquerors, not rapey super villains. The comic blogaxy had a very good point when it rallied against the book.
The other thing is the stupidity of the reveal of the person behind it all – sorry for the spoilers, but I’m sure you all know – but having Jean Loring as the responsible party, who was only doing it to get back her husband, is really stupid. It’s something out of a soap opera, and a bad one at that. It really detracts from the story – the seriousness of the piece has been portrayed well but this just sweeps the rug from under it all. Meltzer constructed a good story, albeit in the wrong milieu, only to have it collapse at the end.
Monday, 17 March 2008
Podcast People
Coming to the trendy things fashionably late, I have been listening to lot of podcasts recently. And I thought I’d chat about some of them.
It started with Smodcast – the fairly regular podcast from Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier (hence the name), who chat about … stuff. It started out as a way for two old friends to spend an hour together and talk about whatever was on their minds at the time. Working in film and living in LA, this could be an interesting insider look at the biz as well as their own bizarre experiences.
However, the constant need to chat does allow some strange stuff to come out. For example, a recent one (number 43) is really dull and annoying, as the two of them ramble on about the concept of children in The Matrix, where you just wish they would shut the hell up. They also display their ignorance about things (Smith more than Mosier) – the infamous 15 where they talk about Helen Keller for nearly an hour without actually knowing very much about her. They’ve now taken to having the internet for looking things up on Wikipedia (they’ve also taken to reading from books, such as General Ignorance from the BBC television programme QI, or reading out the film synopsis for Conan The Barbarian, because at least they can’t get that wrong).
Smith is the constant, but he also does them with other people when Mosier is not available. The ones with his wife (20, 22, 23) show Smith is seriously insecure about his relationship with Jennifer, and that she is a sensible and intelligent woman. Number 34 is a fascinating chat with old friends Walt Flannagan and Bryan Johnson about their youth in Jersey, which is a wonderful reminiscence about their time together, even though it doesn’t mean anything to people outside their sphere of existence. Another fascinating chat between the three is in the next one, 35, where Johnson talks about his experiences with mental health issues.
In number 29, Smith berates and laughs at Mosier because Mosier reads the Harry Potter stories – this from a man who reads comics and therefore knows the flak a fan of a maligned medium can endure. Smith then badgers Mosier to tell him all the details from the final Harry Potter novel, all the time calling Mosier gay for Potter. Mosier is at least well-rounded human being who reads books with no pictures and wants to travel and expand his horizons. Smith doesn’t want to do anything or go anywhere and has therefore lost any sense of superiority in life – in fact, I’m amazed he is still alive based on the ‘junk food and no vegetables’ mantra that makes up his nutritional intake. Bear in mind, I’m a big fan of Smith and his movies.
Smith and Mosier are at the amateur end of the scale – Smith is a great raconteur on his Q&As, but they are not radio, which the podcast medium essentially is. Therefore, I cleanse the podcast palette with ‘podcasts’ from people who entertain people by talking for a living. The Adam and Joe Show on BBC 6 is an edited version of their radio broadcast (copyright rules mean they can’t play the music), which works fine for me and allows them to highlight their quirky sense of humour and playful banter.
Andrew Collins used to have a show on BBC 6 as well, but he now does a podcast with the comedian Richard Herring (they used to do a Sunday show together when he was still broadcasting) that is fairly new to the scene but is an interesting mix of Collins’ preparation and wide-read background mixed with Herring’s background in stand-up and television quick wit.
Stephen Fry, a lover of radio and someone who had his own radio show (Saturday Night Fry) some time ago, is another new player in the field but who sounds like he has been doing it for years (even though his first podcast was done under the influence of many drugs for the pain of his broken arm, which happened during filming of a television show in South America for the BBC).
I have listened to a selection of other things (the Bispectacult podcast with Mike Sterling, a Rotten Tomatoes UK interview with Neil Gaiman about Stardust, a Q&A with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright about Hot Fuzz for Creative Screenwriting magazine) that I wouldn’t have even heard aout before, and enjoyed the ‘radio on demand’ nature of the podcast (if that is a completely accurate description). But I’m always on the look out for more – does anyone have suggestions for interesting things to listen to?
It started with Smodcast – the fairly regular podcast from Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier (hence the name), who chat about … stuff. It started out as a way for two old friends to spend an hour together and talk about whatever was on their minds at the time. Working in film and living in LA, this could be an interesting insider look at the biz as well as their own bizarre experiences.
However, the constant need to chat does allow some strange stuff to come out. For example, a recent one (number 43) is really dull and annoying, as the two of them ramble on about the concept of children in The Matrix, where you just wish they would shut the hell up. They also display their ignorance about things (Smith more than Mosier) – the infamous 15 where they talk about Helen Keller for nearly an hour without actually knowing very much about her. They’ve now taken to having the internet for looking things up on Wikipedia (they’ve also taken to reading from books, such as General Ignorance from the BBC television programme QI, or reading out the film synopsis for Conan The Barbarian, because at least they can’t get that wrong).
Smith is the constant, but he also does them with other people when Mosier is not available. The ones with his wife (20, 22, 23) show Smith is seriously insecure about his relationship with Jennifer, and that she is a sensible and intelligent woman. Number 34 is a fascinating chat with old friends Walt Flannagan and Bryan Johnson about their youth in Jersey, which is a wonderful reminiscence about their time together, even though it doesn’t mean anything to people outside their sphere of existence. Another fascinating chat between the three is in the next one, 35, where Johnson talks about his experiences with mental health issues.
In number 29, Smith berates and laughs at Mosier because Mosier reads the Harry Potter stories – this from a man who reads comics and therefore knows the flak a fan of a maligned medium can endure. Smith then badgers Mosier to tell him all the details from the final Harry Potter novel, all the time calling Mosier gay for Potter. Mosier is at least well-rounded human being who reads books with no pictures and wants to travel and expand his horizons. Smith doesn’t want to do anything or go anywhere and has therefore lost any sense of superiority in life – in fact, I’m amazed he is still alive based on the ‘junk food and no vegetables’ mantra that makes up his nutritional intake. Bear in mind, I’m a big fan of Smith and his movies.
Smith and Mosier are at the amateur end of the scale – Smith is a great raconteur on his Q&As, but they are not radio, which the podcast medium essentially is. Therefore, I cleanse the podcast palette with ‘podcasts’ from people who entertain people by talking for a living. The Adam and Joe Show on BBC 6 is an edited version of their radio broadcast (copyright rules mean they can’t play the music), which works fine for me and allows them to highlight their quirky sense of humour and playful banter.
Andrew Collins used to have a show on BBC 6 as well, but he now does a podcast with the comedian Richard Herring (they used to do a Sunday show together when he was still broadcasting) that is fairly new to the scene but is an interesting mix of Collins’ preparation and wide-read background mixed with Herring’s background in stand-up and television quick wit.
Stephen Fry, a lover of radio and someone who had his own radio show (Saturday Night Fry) some time ago, is another new player in the field but who sounds like he has been doing it for years (even though his first podcast was done under the influence of many drugs for the pain of his broken arm, which happened during filming of a television show in South America for the BBC).
I have listened to a selection of other things (the Bispectacult podcast with Mike Sterling, a Rotten Tomatoes UK interview with Neil Gaiman about Stardust, a Q&A with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright about Hot Fuzz for Creative Screenwriting magazine) that I wouldn’t have even heard aout before, and enjoyed the ‘radio on demand’ nature of the podcast (if that is a completely accurate description). But I’m always on the look out for more – does anyone have suggestions for interesting things to listen to?
Thursday, 13 March 2008
Looks Like We Got Ourselves A Reader
Dave of YACB recently wrote of having too many comics to read and not enough time – he has three short boxes of floppies he hasn’t read yet, not to mention the trades and manga waiting to be perused. I can’t remember where he said it, but I’m sure that Augie (of Pipeline fame) has said something similar, having boxes of comics and trades to read.
Firstly, this makes me think they have too much money and an obsessive need to own everything (I’m joking). How can they afford to buy so many comic books that they can’t even get around to reading them? Unless they are still working late in order to pay for all of them – comics are expensive.
The second thought that hits me is ‘How do you stop yourselves?’ This is because I devour my comics when I buy them (no literally, that would be hideous) – I don’t get to the comic shop every week, so I have a pile waiting for me when I get there, and I can’t wait to start reading them. I LOVE new comics – all those new stories waiting for me to absorb, I have to slow down my reading in case the speed of it sets the pages alight.
This could be to do with me – I do read fairly quickly (not as quickly as Clandestine Chum Greg or writer/broadcaster/renaissance media man Andrew Collins, who seem to be able to blink at a book and be enough to read it) and always have; I once went to a speed-reading class in order to get through the many scientific articles required for the post-graduate student to stay on top of his field and write a thesis, and was told that I was already moving my eye across the page twice as fast as the average reader.
In fact, I never have enough to read, comics or otherwise. I’m lucky in the respect that my commute to work allows me about two hours of pleasure reading a day, where I read trades and novels; the only thing that can’t keep up is my wallet, so thank goodness for libraries. I would love to be able to buy more comics but realise that it is an expensive hobby (I get about 15–20 books a month, not including a trade here or there) and that I have limited funds and storage space: the loft already contains approximately 6000 comics and trades. So, for somebody to have piles of reading material that they have bought just sitting there, teasing them with the joy of their untold narratives, just boggles my mind …
The only thing that I can compare with this is the stack of video tapes (and now recordings on my PVR) of films off the television that I want to watch but haven’t yet done so – I have a huge taste and appetite for cinema, but I know that I can’t inflict all of that upon my long-suffering girlfriend. And at least I didn’t pay for them; although, saying that, I do have a large DVD collection as well …
Talking of books and films – the news is official: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be split into two films. I can see the logic in needing two films to fit everything from the book into cinematic form, but I don’t like the fact that it is just a money-making decision on the part of the studio. It was with other films (Kill Bill and the Death Proof/Planet Terror split in this country – interestingly both Miramax) and I can see no sufficiently good excuse for it in this case. There is a lot to get through in the final book of the series, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be judiciously pruned to make a 3-hour film, which would be more satisfying.
To add insult to injury, they’ve got David Heyman filming them as well – as I’ve said before, he did a good if unexciting job on The Order of the Phoenix, and I believe the final film needed somebody to make it really special (I would have loved Alfonso Cuarón, based on The Prisoner of Azkaban, but would have been equally happy with the suggestion of Guillermo Del Toro that had been rumoured).
Honestly, it’s enough to make a man wait for the DVD …
Firstly, this makes me think they have too much money and an obsessive need to own everything (I’m joking). How can they afford to buy so many comic books that they can’t even get around to reading them? Unless they are still working late in order to pay for all of them – comics are expensive.
The second thought that hits me is ‘How do you stop yourselves?’ This is because I devour my comics when I buy them (no literally, that would be hideous) – I don’t get to the comic shop every week, so I have a pile waiting for me when I get there, and I can’t wait to start reading them. I LOVE new comics – all those new stories waiting for me to absorb, I have to slow down my reading in case the speed of it sets the pages alight.
This could be to do with me – I do read fairly quickly (not as quickly as Clandestine Chum Greg or writer/broadcaster/renaissance media man Andrew Collins, who seem to be able to blink at a book and be enough to read it) and always have; I once went to a speed-reading class in order to get through the many scientific articles required for the post-graduate student to stay on top of his field and write a thesis, and was told that I was already moving my eye across the page twice as fast as the average reader.
In fact, I never have enough to read, comics or otherwise. I’m lucky in the respect that my commute to work allows me about two hours of pleasure reading a day, where I read trades and novels; the only thing that can’t keep up is my wallet, so thank goodness for libraries. I would love to be able to buy more comics but realise that it is an expensive hobby (I get about 15–20 books a month, not including a trade here or there) and that I have limited funds and storage space: the loft already contains approximately 6000 comics and trades. So, for somebody to have piles of reading material that they have bought just sitting there, teasing them with the joy of their untold narratives, just boggles my mind …
The only thing that I can compare with this is the stack of video tapes (and now recordings on my PVR) of films off the television that I want to watch but haven’t yet done so – I have a huge taste and appetite for cinema, but I know that I can’t inflict all of that upon my long-suffering girlfriend. And at least I didn’t pay for them; although, saying that, I do have a large DVD collection as well …
Talking of books and films – the news is official: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be split into two films. I can see the logic in needing two films to fit everything from the book into cinematic form, but I don’t like the fact that it is just a money-making decision on the part of the studio. It was with other films (Kill Bill and the Death Proof/Planet Terror split in this country – interestingly both Miramax) and I can see no sufficiently good excuse for it in this case. There is a lot to get through in the final book of the series, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be judiciously pruned to make a 3-hour film, which would be more satisfying.
To add insult to injury, they’ve got David Heyman filming them as well – as I’ve said before, he did a good if unexciting job on The Order of the Phoenix, and I believe the final film needed somebody to make it really special (I would have loved Alfonso Cuarón, based on The Prisoner of Azkaban, but would have been equally happy with the suggestion of Guillermo Del Toro that had been rumoured).
Honestly, it’s enough to make a man wait for the DVD …
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Buffy + Babe = Bad?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a show I really enjoyed, even the later shows with whiny Buffy, and I was delighted when Joss Whedon brought the next season in the series to comics, running it like a television show with different writers but him running it. This new comic series has been enjoyable, finding its feet as it straddles the transition from a television programme to a comic book format, and I look forward to each new issue.So it was a little unusual to hear rumours that issue 12 was going to be something on the level of Captain America being shot (Rich Johnston was incorrectly predicting the specifics back in February). What could be happening in Buffy that would be so huge?
As everyone now knows, the big ‘shock’ was the reveal of Buffy having sex with Satsu, one of the new Slayers, whose ‘true love’ kiss revived Buffy in an early issue and whose infatuation with Buffy was the basis of the previous issue. My first response was, ‘Really? Is this the big thing they’ve been pimping?’ I’m either getting old or I’m extremely cynical, but I didn’t think it warranted the build up, or the reaction (the story was picked up in newspapers and television websites (via Blog@Newsarama), there was the blog response, and there was even an interview with Joss to discuss it).
The ‘hot girl-on-girl action’ (to quote Hot Fuzz) is a plot twist, an unexpected one, but it’s part of the storyline. I don’t know about you, but I kind of expect to have interesting plot twists in the comic books I read; it’s one of the reasons I do it. The turn of events has previous form, in the character of Willow being in a heterosexual relationship before her lesbian relationship with Tara, even if this time it seems like they are repeating themselves. (It’s interesting to note that there was no build up for the first Tara–Willow kiss on the show, in the excellent The Body episode, compared with the ‘Check out this comic!’ approach for the book.) And Buffy has always had unusual relationships (such as screwing Spike in season six [I love alliteration]), so jumping in the sack with a hot Asian babe who loves her isn’t completely outside the realms of possibility.
I disagree with Greg’s extreme interpretation of these events in his review (PS, you’re not a moron, Greg), although I can understand his viewpoint – I genuinely believe that this event can create an interesting chain reaction that will affect the characters and the way they interact, and I believe that this was done for a good story reason. I can’t imagine it would have happened on the television show if it was still on our screen – Sarah Michelle Gellar would have nixed that one straight away – but that is one of the reasons why the comic is a great medium for the Buffy concept, allowing Joss to take it in new directions. I don’t think it was done for titillation purposes (we don’t see the titillation, for a start) and I have confidence in the storytelling capabilities of the creators to take the book into narratively interesting directions.
For my money, the best reaction to the whole kerfuffle can be found as a 'Bonus Feature' at the end of Chris Sims’ review.
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Original Origins
Power Pack have been sneaking an effectively ongoing series in the form of eight mini-series since 2005 (teaming up with X-Men, the Avengers, Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four and Iron Man in the process). And now they have announced the next mini-series – Power Pack: Day One, in which they reveal their origin.
This series has one goal (and I quote): ‘Establishing a new continuity for the Pack’. And this got me thinking – why is this needed? Surely the Pack have one of the best origins around? Clean and simple – a family of kids are given special powers by an alien who crash-landed. It doesn’t need updating or revising. It doesn’t need a JM Straczynski reimagining so that they are linked to some alien elemental totem or something.
I understand that these comics aren’t anything to do with the original series, but it still seems a strange thing to do. I loved the original stories – the magical little niche Louise Simonson and June Brigman (then Jon Bogdanove) created for Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie Powers when they are given their powers by a dying Kymelian, as well as his old spaceship (powers and a spaceship? A child’s dream!), was utterly charming but also intelligent and mature. It doesn’t need an updating.
But then, should the Power Pack be exempt from the re-evaluation of origins that is almost de rigeur for all other super heroes? How many times have the origins of Superman or Batman or Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four been revisited? All writers search for an extra story nugget to wring out of the origin tale (some more than others; I’m looking at you, Batman) but shouldn’t there be some that are off limits? I don’t think this is my proprietary nature towards the Pack talking – all I’m saying is that why do they feel the need to improve on a classic? Leave the Powers to their first perfect story with Whitey.
Monday, 10 March 2008
Who Watches The Watchmen Costumes?
Late to the party as ever, a few comments on the first images from Watchmen the film. There have been many comments (my favourite reaction was Kevin’s, the most thoughtful from Mike) about promotional images for a film that is still over a year away.
The aspect I think that has been missed is that the characters were never going to reflect the book – ever since the cast was announced, it was apparent that the filmmakers were going young, something which was always going to affect the costume designs (digression: John Cassaday and Adam Hughes were brought in to update the designs).
These actors aren’t going to be aged or fattened up, so the premise of the story is going to be skewed in its timeline: the original characters had a distance in years from their crime-fighting careers, which themselves were not short, giving an extra dimension to their adventures when they have been retired by the Keene Act. The characters in these images are far too young; they look as if they have undergone nothing more intense than puberty.
The film is never going to be the book and to expect otherwise is rather naïve. I love the book – I reread it again recently, just because I enjoy doing so every year or so, still finding new things to admire and wanting to get to the end – but I know that the film will be a different beast, solely interested in the plot but using the surface attributes to dress it up. So, yes, the costumes look odd and they look like they’ve missed the point (the Comedian and Rorshach are the exceptions) but then the whole film will look odd, and we should get used to it. Nonetheless, I’ll still be there on opening weekend, regardless of the cosmetic changes necessary to get one of my favourite comic books on the silver screen.
Friday, 7 March 2008
ClanDestine Week: ClanDestine v2 #1 Review
The ClanDestine (volume 2 issue 1) by Alan Davis
And now we come to the remarkable – the return of the ClanDestine. I didn’t think it would happen, even if Davis has been working with Marvel of late, but it would appear that the powers that be care to keep Davis at their house enough to let him create more stories of his creator-owned series. That’s fine with me.
First things first – what’s going on with the logo? The original had a classic elegance (similar to the Trajan font, as discussed the eminent letterer Todd Klein in this post about the Spider-man logo during Civil War), whereas this is crude and sinister (and drops the definite article from the title). I wonder what Mr Klein would think of the change? I don’t wish to appear as somebody who can’t stand change, but I prefer the original. I’m sure there’s a good reason (perhaps to make it more ominous) but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
The next immediate difference is the darkness of the whole affair – from the cover to the rest of the comic, the colourist (SotoColour’s J. Brown) seems to have taken their name to heart and made a bright and cheery comic and turned it to a muted, shadowy version of the original. Again, it could be related to the tone of the mini-series, as the brightness of the original series now takes a turn for the worse, but it seems at odd with the initial tone.
This comic has to get the reader up to speed on the ClanDestine as well as setting up the new conflict that will drive this story. Davis does a good job – we start with a family tree for reference, before a daydream reveals the twins’ existence in a school (which appears to exist in a time bubble from about 30 years ago). Up next is the new plot, in the form of a nefarious and secretive sect called the Guild, which handily also identifies our main cast members through their report of their analysis of CCTV footage of the Clan and their real identities.
Back in Ravencroft, in Walter's cottage (and family home) the family is doing its usual familial arguing, but also revealing character (Adam is analytic, even if he reiterates the myth about people in olden times believing that the Earth was flat; Dominic is cursed by his senses by today’s excessive broadcasting; Walter is worried about turning into Vincent when he loses control of his transformation; Jasmine/Cuckoo is amoral and has no respect for privacy; Adam has a strange temporal perspective which sets up the universe-spanning stories in the next issue).
Personally, I hope the stories we see will address some of the many interesting plots Davis has set up, including: Jasmine’s possible dark character within the family (and her potentially Aids-infected body); the power connection between the twins and the development of Pandora’s own personal interests outside of Rory's desire to be a superhero; the extent of the family; and how does the whole thing work with Adam and the djinn so that they have kids at different times and ages?
This is a very good first issue, not just for the return of a story from over ten years ago. People are introduced, plot is set in motion, things happen – none of this compressed storytelling for Davis. It goes without saying that I look forward to the rest of the series: the Clan is back, Davis’ art is as gorgeous as ever (even under a muted palette) and all is good with the world.
And now we come to the remarkable – the return of the ClanDestine. I didn’t think it would happen, even if Davis has been working with Marvel of late, but it would appear that the powers that be care to keep Davis at their house enough to let him create more stories of his creator-owned series. That’s fine with me.
First things first – what’s going on with the logo? The original had a classic elegance (similar to the Trajan font, as discussed the eminent letterer Todd Klein in this post about the Spider-man logo during Civil War), whereas this is crude and sinister (and drops the definite article from the title). I wonder what Mr Klein would think of the change? I don’t wish to appear as somebody who can’t stand change, but I prefer the original. I’m sure there’s a good reason (perhaps to make it more ominous) but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
The next immediate difference is the darkness of the whole affair – from the cover to the rest of the comic, the colourist (SotoColour’s J. Brown) seems to have taken their name to heart and made a bright and cheery comic and turned it to a muted, shadowy version of the original. Again, it could be related to the tone of the mini-series, as the brightness of the original series now takes a turn for the worse, but it seems at odd with the initial tone.
This comic has to get the reader up to speed on the ClanDestine as well as setting up the new conflict that will drive this story. Davis does a good job – we start with a family tree for reference, before a daydream reveals the twins’ existence in a school (which appears to exist in a time bubble from about 30 years ago). Up next is the new plot, in the form of a nefarious and secretive sect called the Guild, which handily also identifies our main cast members through their report of their analysis of CCTV footage of the Clan and their real identities.
Back in Ravencroft, in Walter's cottage (and family home) the family is doing its usual familial arguing, but also revealing character (Adam is analytic, even if he reiterates the myth about people in olden times believing that the Earth was flat; Dominic is cursed by his senses by today’s excessive broadcasting; Walter is worried about turning into Vincent when he loses control of his transformation; Jasmine/Cuckoo is amoral and has no respect for privacy; Adam has a strange temporal perspective which sets up the universe-spanning stories in the next issue).
Personally, I hope the stories we see will address some of the many interesting plots Davis has set up, including: Jasmine’s possible dark character within the family (and her potentially Aids-infected body); the power connection between the twins and the development of Pandora’s own personal interests outside of Rory's desire to be a superhero; the extent of the family; and how does the whole thing work with Adam and the djinn so that they have kids at different times and ages?
This is a very good first issue, not just for the return of a story from over ten years ago. People are introduced, plot is set in motion, things happen – none of this compressed storytelling for Davis. It goes without saying that I look forward to the rest of the series: the Clan is back, Davis’ art is as gorgeous as ever (even under a muted palette) and all is good with the world.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
ClanDestine Week: The X-Men Special
X-Men and the ClanDestine #1 (October 1996)
A year after the end of the series, Alan is given the opportunity to round up support for his creation – nothing like slapping an ‘X’ on a comic book to increase sales. And Davis had form with the X-Men – apart from his run on Excalibur, he came to prominence drawing New Mutants Annuals #2 and #3, Uncanny X-Men #213 and #215, and Uncanny X-Men Annual #11 back in 1986/87.
The comic is set during the time when Wolverine’s claws were made of bone and were still somehow able to cut things – it was a stupid time.
I do like the busy double cover (I wish I had a bigger scanner – my Photoshop skills aren’t good enough, I’m afraid), with the classic ‘splayed legs’ of Alan Davis’ acrobatic characters and the double fingers. This sets out the stall from the start – old-school, fun superhero comic books with lots of action.
The story is titled: ‘Dreams of Darkest Destiny’ – he loves alliteration more than I do. Xavier, in his youth, comes across Gracie and Cuckoo fighting an ancient evil (a Synraith); he helps them but is made to forget … until now. Back in the present, Davis introduces us to the X-Men by having a quick demo of their powers on Sam ‘Cannonball’ Guthrie – this team is Scott, Jean, Hank, Bobby and Warren (in the post-Apocalypse incarnation).
Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Gracie Gamble is leading a dig. She displays her powers and instantly makes those on her team who witness it forget (quite cavalier about her abilities) and finds the ruins with hieroglyphs that say ‘The end of the world is nigh’.
In Ravenscroft, Rory & Pandora give us a quick recap of who ClanDestine are, and the adults have a discussion about what to do with twins (a continuation of the former story line, ignoring whatever was done in the few issues Davis wasn’t responsible for), followed by a quick display/recap of all the Clan’s powers (remember, he’s introducing the characters to a new audience, and he does a good job in an economical fashion), and the new information that Vincent destroyed the mansion and that this caused the family to scatter across the globe.
Meanwhile, in the Danger Room, Storm and Sam are practising when a hole erupts in space. Which is odd. Back at Ravenscroft, the Destines are still arguing with each other, and Gracie goes into the temple to stop the Synraith, only for the spell to backfire, a trick by the Synraith. At the same time, the X-Men are in the Danger Room, investigating the problem when a dimensional rift opens and tentacles erupt, dragging Xavier back into the rift, with Colossus holding onto him. Simultaneously, Kay goes into a trance and another rift opens, tentacles pouring out (nice bit with Adam, who is so dispassionate about it) which eventually pull Kay in with Adam holding on.
They call in Newton to help – he detects energy pattern and sets his teleport to that location, which appears to be the Danger Room, giving a classic team versus team panel.
Issue 2: The Destine’s Darkest Dreams (Alan Alliteration Davis)
This issue starts with two glorious two-page spreads of the ClanDestine and the X-Men (damn my weak Photoshop-fu), followed by Rory saying, ‘This is one of those clichéd mistaken identity hero versus hero mix-ups’, which stops the fighting.
Dominic, still delirious from the battle, notices that Wolverine is not as he appears, so starts poking him, leading Logan to gut Dom with his claws. Walt starts pounding on him, but Newton knocks him out. Walt is taken away, and Rory & Pandora are taken on a tour of the mansion by Kitty and Sam.
Meanwhile, Xavier and Colossus meet Adam and Kay and Gracie on the Synraith world. Back on Earth, Newton sees to Dom with Storm and Moira, while Gambit puts the moves on Samantha; Rory & Pandora are offered places with the X-Men; Walt is in restraints, which causes him to ‘hulk out’ even more.
Gracie then does the exposition – Cuckoo was Spanish nobleman going to Mexico. Gracie (then only 16) passed as a valet. Somehow, Gracie gets separated from Cuckoo and tries to channel a nexus of cosmic power to stop Cortez massacring Aztecs but ended up showing Synraith way to Earth. They stopped it, but Gracie knew it would return eventually.
While the others realise that something is wrong, Colossus wounds the demon, resulting in agony but he throws a fastball special with Adam; Adam goes through the demon, ending up in the Danger Room. Logan about to attack but stops because he recognises him from way back (yet another in the little bits of history that Davis throws into the mix; although it’s slightly implausible that Logan would remember everyone he has met after all the meddling with his memory he has suffered). Cyke goes ballistic, making Logan realise that Synraith has got into Danger Room programming (how many times has that happened? Seriously, it seems really easy to do this. Should they think about installing a firewall?), which gives Davis a great excuse to draw loads of old-school X-Men.
Obviously, things work out in the end and they all end up in the Danger Room: Colossus is back to normal, Rory is in his y-fronts, Dom wakes up to tell them the truth, Newton is entwined in a robot that he thought was Storm, Walter is smaller but more relaxed because he has purged his hulking out. More fun with Newton being slapped by the real Storm, the banter between Dom and Newton – the other aspect is the fun of family that Davis does so well. Gracie decides to stay with the family as psychologist.
The book finishes with the hopeful caption: 'The End?', as well as the order: ‘Want to see more of the Clandestine? Write to Marvel Comics’ Well, I don’t think that’s the reason why we have ClanDestine.
I think that the scope for stories with this book was limitless, and the basic premise of a super-powered family who don’t fight crime (in fact, the stereotypical crime prevention is what led to the family getting into trouble in the first place) but whose problems are related to who they are. Match this with the perfect Davis art – he draws comic book superheroics the way they should be done, in my opinion – and the delightful sense of humour and you’ve got a winning combination. I always thought that this was going to be another in the long line of ‘gone too soon’ series that have littered the mainstream history (such as Chase or Xero or Quantum and Woody); however, it looked like history was waiting for the right time …
Come back tomorrow when I finally talk about the first issue of the new mini-series of The ClanDestine. I hope these previous posts indicate that this is a good thing.
A year after the end of the series, Alan is given the opportunity to round up support for his creation – nothing like slapping an ‘X’ on a comic book to increase sales. And Davis had form with the X-Men – apart from his run on Excalibur, he came to prominence drawing New Mutants Annuals #2 and #3, Uncanny X-Men #213 and #215, and Uncanny X-Men Annual #11 back in 1986/87.
The comic is set during the time when Wolverine’s claws were made of bone and were still somehow able to cut things – it was a stupid time.
I do like the busy double cover (I wish I had a bigger scanner – my Photoshop skills aren’t good enough, I’m afraid), with the classic ‘splayed legs’ of Alan Davis’ acrobatic characters and the double fingers. This sets out the stall from the start – old-school, fun superhero comic books with lots of action.
The story is titled: ‘Dreams of Darkest Destiny’ – he loves alliteration more than I do. Xavier, in his youth, comes across Gracie and Cuckoo fighting an ancient evil (a Synraith); he helps them but is made to forget … until now. Back in the present, Davis introduces us to the X-Men by having a quick demo of their powers on Sam ‘Cannonball’ Guthrie – this team is Scott, Jean, Hank, Bobby and Warren (in the post-Apocalypse incarnation).
Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Gracie Gamble is leading a dig. She displays her powers and instantly makes those on her team who witness it forget (quite cavalier about her abilities) and finds the ruins with hieroglyphs that say ‘The end of the world is nigh’.
In Ravenscroft, Rory & Pandora give us a quick recap of who ClanDestine are, and the adults have a discussion about what to do with twins (a continuation of the former story line, ignoring whatever was done in the few issues Davis wasn’t responsible for), followed by a quick display/recap of all the Clan’s powers (remember, he’s introducing the characters to a new audience, and he does a good job in an economical fashion), and the new information that Vincent destroyed the mansion and that this caused the family to scatter across the globe.
Meanwhile, in the Danger Room, Storm and Sam are practising when a hole erupts in space. Which is odd. Back at Ravenscroft, the Destines are still arguing with each other, and Gracie goes into the temple to stop the Synraith, only for the spell to backfire, a trick by the Synraith. At the same time, the X-Men are in the Danger Room, investigating the problem when a dimensional rift opens and tentacles erupt, dragging Xavier back into the rift, with Colossus holding onto him. Simultaneously, Kay goes into a trance and another rift opens, tentacles pouring out (nice bit with Adam, who is so dispassionate about it) which eventually pull Kay in with Adam holding on.
They call in Newton to help – he detects energy pattern and sets his teleport to that location, which appears to be the Danger Room, giving a classic team versus team panel.
Issue 2: The Destine’s Darkest Dreams (Alan Alliteration Davis)
This issue starts with two glorious two-page spreads of the ClanDestine and the X-Men (damn my weak Photoshop-fu), followed by Rory saying, ‘This is one of those clichéd mistaken identity hero versus hero mix-ups’, which stops the fighting.
Dominic, still delirious from the battle, notices that Wolverine is not as he appears, so starts poking him, leading Logan to gut Dom with his claws. Walt starts pounding on him, but Newton knocks him out. Walt is taken away, and Rory & Pandora are taken on a tour of the mansion by Kitty and Sam.
Meanwhile, Xavier and Colossus meet Adam and Kay and Gracie on the Synraith world. Back on Earth, Newton sees to Dom with Storm and Moira, while Gambit puts the moves on Samantha; Rory & Pandora are offered places with the X-Men; Walt is in restraints, which causes him to ‘hulk out’ even more.
Gracie then does the exposition – Cuckoo was Spanish nobleman going to Mexico. Gracie (then only 16) passed as a valet. Somehow, Gracie gets separated from Cuckoo and tries to channel a nexus of cosmic power to stop Cortez massacring Aztecs but ended up showing Synraith way to Earth. They stopped it, but Gracie knew it would return eventually.
While the others realise that something is wrong, Colossus wounds the demon, resulting in agony but he throws a fastball special with Adam; Adam goes through the demon, ending up in the Danger Room. Logan about to attack but stops because he recognises him from way back (yet another in the little bits of history that Davis throws into the mix; although it’s slightly implausible that Logan would remember everyone he has met after all the meddling with his memory he has suffered). Cyke goes ballistic, making Logan realise that Synraith has got into Danger Room programming (how many times has that happened? Seriously, it seems really easy to do this. Should they think about installing a firewall?), which gives Davis a great excuse to draw loads of old-school X-Men.
Obviously, things work out in the end and they all end up in the Danger Room: Colossus is back to normal, Rory is in his y-fronts, Dom wakes up to tell them the truth, Newton is entwined in a robot that he thought was Storm, Walter is smaller but more relaxed because he has purged his hulking out. More fun with Newton being slapped by the real Storm, the banter between Dom and Newton – the other aspect is the fun of family that Davis does so well. Gracie decides to stay with the family as psychologist.
The book finishes with the hopeful caption: 'The End?', as well as the order: ‘Want to see more of the Clandestine? Write to Marvel Comics’ Well, I don’t think that’s the reason why we have ClanDestine.
I think that the scope for stories with this book was limitless, and the basic premise of a super-powered family who don’t fight crime (in fact, the stereotypical crime prevention is what led to the family getting into trouble in the first place) but whose problems are related to who they are. Match this with the perfect Davis art – he draws comic book superheroics the way they should be done, in my opinion – and the delightful sense of humour and you’ve got a winning combination. I always thought that this was going to be another in the long line of ‘gone too soon’ series that have littered the mainstream history (such as Chase or Xero or Quantum and Woody); however, it looked like history was waiting for the right time …
Come back tomorrow when I finally talk about the first issue of the new mini-series of The ClanDestine. I hope these previous posts indicate that this is a good thing.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
ClanDestine Week: The Second Half
Welcome back for ClanDestine Week, where we'll look at the second half of the Alan Davis run on the first series of ClanDestine.
Issue 5 – ‘Genie-ology’
The origin issue. Adam tells Rory and Pandora the story of how he became immortal and sired children with unnatural abilities in the family graveyard (we see tombstones for Sherlock [Holmes, perhaps?], Garth [the newspaper strip, perhaps?], and Lance [… nope, you've got me there], suggesting the sense of history that Davis has planned for the story).
Adam was bon in 1168, in England; a farm hand who is impaled on a scythe, but who comes back from near death. So, Adam of Ravenscroft becomes Adam of Destine. In 1189, he went to fight in the Crusades, where he is captured (‘Odds bodkin … It’s a trap!’) by the men of Al Kadhdhaab asking him to fulfil his destiny of freeing them from Sujama Min Raghbah, who fears Adam from dreams in which Adam kills him. Adam finds him in his citadel, where he has a trapped djinn giving him power. Raghbah can’t kill Adam because the djinn wouldn’t like it. Adam confuses him with logic and kills him, only for the original guy to wound him to claim the djinn for himself. Adam instead frees the djinn with the last of his strength – she revives him and their love is ignited (see the accompanying images for hot loving, Alan Davis style), and power is transferred to Adam and to his children. The story ends with said children all arguing, as families do, and the twins being told that they will be facing the one foe they can’t fight: school.
Issue 6 – Rory Destine’s School Daze
(Great cover.) Rory daydreams while at school (about a Skrull invasion – how ahead of his time is Davis? I kid), getting him and Pandora into trouble with teachers and other kids. Adam and Walt talk about the kids – I like the way Davis has Adam talking in a wise but not pompous fashion, indicative of his age. Meanwhile, Kay is reclaiming her business empire, using her telepathy to do so – Sam is naturally appalled, and it’s an interesting dynamic within the family: they’re not all good guys.
Dom in his anechoic (‘free from echo; tending to absorb or deaden sound’ for those of you who don’t know – I know I didn’t) chamber, suffering from being in the world of people again, telling the twins to leave him alone.
After being threatened with separation by Walter for getting into trouble at school, Rory decides to go to New York with Pandora. When they arrive, after a tough journey, they crash-land in Manhattan, where they are saved by Spider-Man.
Issue 7 – ‘Real Heroes’
Sam & Kay are attacked –shot by tranquilliser darts – but Kay is not so easily taken down (being ‘an eight hundred year old nomadic conciousness’) and we see echoes of her former selves (including an Arabic princess, Japanese woman, an English queen type, a native American squaw, a musketeer type, a pirate …) – the sense of history that AD instils in the panel and the potential for story is wonderful.
Meanwhile, Rory & Pandora are hanging with Spider-Man – he rightly wants them to go home but they don’t, so he challenges them to a contest: if he loses, he’ll take them as sidekicks.
Back in England, Adam & Dominic chat, including some fascinating stuff about Adam (no basic responses of survival instinct, he doesn’t flinch in anticipation of danger, he doesn’t twitch or fidget because he doesn’t tire – Davis has put a lot of thought into this).
Spider-Man easily dispatches Rory & Pandora and gives them lessons in superheroism. Sam & Kay are captured by a killer hired by the Financial Director of Kay’s business empire. Kay sends a telepathic message to Rory to help them, so go with Spidey & Pandora. The killer murders the Financial Director, thinking he’s been set up, and the killer is killed in turn by the Punisher (guest stars are soooo important in a new series), under the influence of Kay.
Issue #8 ‘Points of View’
Walt, Dom and Adam go on patrol, even though Walter is not happy about it, in order to understand the twins’ fascination with crime fighting. While doing it, each relates an episode from their past.
Dom tells of being in Greenwich Village years ago, when he was helped by Dr Strange. Walt is in 1944 (he was with military intelligence) when he sees the Invaders (while casually mentioning digging Maurice out of a landslide in 1839 and wrestling a Kodiak bear in 1904 – as I’ve said, I love the sense of history inherent to this book) and how he ‘hulked’ out and loved it, but was attacked by his own side even though he destroyed the enemy. Adam tells of an incident in 1615 (mentioning that Grace & Albert were in Japan, protecting the Shogun Tokugawa during a coup) where he met aliens; they attacked him, to no avail, inadvertently killing two and injuring the other, who says they sought to claim this world for their empire but now won’t.
The comedy footnote to this charming issue: they see no crime during their patrol but there had been a crime wave because the police had been chasing reports of ‘flying men’. This issue was the last that Davis did of this series – no promotion and a feeling of not being supported made him stand up for his creative integrity. Good for him, but bad for us. Fortunately, he was persuaded back for an attempt to drum up business – as we’ll see in tomorrow’s instalment, when The ClanDestine meet the X-Men.
Issue 5 – ‘Genie-ology’
The origin issue. Adam tells Rory and Pandora the story of how he became immortal and sired children with unnatural abilities in the family graveyard (we see tombstones for Sherlock [Holmes, perhaps?], Garth [the newspaper strip, perhaps?], and Lance [… nope, you've got me there], suggesting the sense of history that Davis has planned for the story).Adam was bon in 1168, in England; a farm hand who is impaled on a scythe, but who comes back from near death. So, Adam of Ravenscroft becomes Adam of Destine. In 1189, he went to fight in the Crusades, where he is captured (‘Odds bodkin … It’s a trap!’) by the men of Al Kadhdhaab asking him to fulfil his destiny of freeing them from Sujama Min Raghbah, who fears Adam from dreams in which Adam kills him. Adam finds him in his citadel, where he has a trapped djinn giving him power. Raghbah can’t kill Adam because the djinn wouldn’t like it. Adam confuses him with logic and kills him, only for the original guy to wound him to claim the djinn for himself. Adam instead frees the djinn with the last of his strength – she revives him and their love is ignited (see the accompanying images for hot loving, Alan Davis style), and power is transferred to Adam and to his children. The story ends with said children all arguing, as families do, and the twins being told that they will be facing the one foe they can’t fight: school.
Issue 6 – Rory Destine’s School Daze
(Great cover.) Rory daydreams while at school (about a Skrull invasion – how ahead of his time is Davis? I kid), getting him and Pandora into trouble with teachers and other kids. Adam and Walt talk about the kids – I like the way Davis has Adam talking in a wise but not pompous fashion, indicative of his age. Meanwhile, Kay is reclaiming her business empire, using her telepathy to do so – Sam is naturally appalled, and it’s an interesting dynamic within the family: they’re not all good guys.
Dom in his anechoic (‘free from echo; tending to absorb or deaden sound’ for those of you who don’t know – I know I didn’t) chamber, suffering from being in the world of people again, telling the twins to leave him alone.
After being threatened with separation by Walter for getting into trouble at school, Rory decides to go to New York with Pandora. When they arrive, after a tough journey, they crash-land in Manhattan, where they are saved by Spider-Man.
Issue 7 – ‘Real Heroes’
Sam & Kay are attacked –shot by tranquilliser darts – but Kay is not so easily taken down (being ‘an eight hundred year old nomadic conciousness’) and we see echoes of her former selves (including an Arabic princess, Japanese woman, an English queen type, a native American squaw, a musketeer type, a pirate …) – the sense of history that AD instils in the panel and the potential for story is wonderful.
Meanwhile, Rory & Pandora are hanging with Spider-Man – he rightly wants them to go home but they don’t, so he challenges them to a contest: if he loses, he’ll take them as sidekicks.
Back in England, Adam & Dominic chat, including some fascinating stuff about Adam (no basic responses of survival instinct, he doesn’t flinch in anticipation of danger, he doesn’t twitch or fidget because he doesn’t tire – Davis has put a lot of thought into this).
Spider-Man easily dispatches Rory & Pandora and gives them lessons in superheroism. Sam & Kay are captured by a killer hired by the Financial Director of Kay’s business empire. Kay sends a telepathic message to Rory to help them, so go with Spidey & Pandora. The killer murders the Financial Director, thinking he’s been set up, and the killer is killed in turn by the Punisher (guest stars are soooo important in a new series), under the influence of Kay.
Issue #8 ‘Points of View’
Walt, Dom and Adam go on patrol, even though Walter is not happy about it, in order to understand the twins’ fascination with crime fighting. While doing it, each relates an episode from their past.
Dom tells of being in Greenwich Village years ago, when he was helped by Dr Strange. Walt is in 1944 (he was with military intelligence) when he sees the Invaders (while casually mentioning digging Maurice out of a landslide in 1839 and wrestling a Kodiak bear in 1904 – as I’ve said, I love the sense of history inherent to this book) and how he ‘hulked’ out and loved it, but was attacked by his own side even though he destroyed the enemy. Adam tells of an incident in 1615 (mentioning that Grace & Albert were in Japan, protecting the Shogun Tokugawa during a coup) where he met aliens; they attacked him, to no avail, inadvertently killing two and injuring the other, who says they sought to claim this world for their empire but now won’t.
The comedy footnote to this charming issue: they see no crime during their patrol but there had been a crime wave because the police had been chasing reports of ‘flying men’. This issue was the last that Davis did of this series – no promotion and a feeling of not being supported made him stand up for his creative integrity. Good for him, but bad for us. Fortunately, he was persuaded back for an attempt to drum up business – as we’ll see in tomorrow’s instalment, when The ClanDestine meet the X-Men.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
ClanDestine Week: Teaser, Preview, First Storyline
The first appearance of The ClanDestine is in an eight-page story in Marvel Comics Presents #158, in early July of 1994. We see a group of spandex-clad superheroes fighting a small army of robots, punching, kicking, slicing with swords – you know, the fun stuff. In the background is a Woody Allen lookalike with a remote control unit (from Acme).
Only it turns out to be the equivalent of a Danger Room session – in response to the kids desire to fight crime, they thought the training exercise might put them off. They were wrong.
The sense of acrobatic dynamism of Davis’ art is hypnotically beautiful, yet he also demonstrates his ability with expressions – the group obviously know each other very well and interact accordingly. Apart from the hairstyle that he gives Pandora, the team is a visually intriguing collection.
The next comic to appear is The ClanDestine Preview. It has a five-page preview of the first issue, but it is more than just that. It has mini-biogs for Davis and inker Mark Farmer; a double-page pin up; a sketchbook of early ideas (see the sketch of an early visualisation of the main group attached) and sketches of the main characters, including Adam, who we have yet to meet; and a checklist of Davis’ comic work until that date. The best part of the book is The ClanDestine Tapes, compiled by ‘Lana Vadis’ anagram fans, supposedly being interviews with Davis and Farmer about the creation of The ClanDestine. It is extremely funny back and forth between different views of the creation process, just another example of Davis’ wicked sense of humour.Issue #1 – Apparently Unrelated Events – Family Reunion part 1
The prologue places the book firmly in the Marvel universe, as something escapes from Modok and an AIM laboratory, before we are introduced to the Crimson Crusader and Imp, who are stopping a robbery in a museum. Well, stopping it after they have an argument after the Crusader, aka Rory, calls Imp, aka Pandora, his ‘assistant’. They have strength, flights, a force field that can repel bullets, so obviously believe they are mutants who don’t want to worry their family with the knowledge.
Davis then introduces us to other members of the ClanDestine while kicking off the plot – Kay Cera, fashion designer, is attacked in Barcelona by non-human creatures looking for the Gryphon. Kay reacts with psychic powers but is killed in the ensuing fight. In Switzerland, Maurice Fortuit is attacked by similar creatures who kill him, an event observed by master monk in a monastery in Nepal, as well as in the dreams of Florence, an old woman in the small village of Ravenscroft. She is being helped by Walter when the same creatures attack – only for Rory and Pandora to return and enter the fray. When they are attacked, Walter ‘hulks out’ (but in a more demonic manner, turning blue, increased canine size and hair turning fiery) and destroys the attackers. Then the truth is revealed to Rory and Pandora – Walter is not their uncle, Florence is not their gran: they are all brothers and sisters, born of the same parents but of huge age differences, and the existence of the family has been discovered …
This is a confident first issue – set the scene, introduce an element of danger, include fight scenes to display super powers, and humour: the image of the sleek Silver Surfer discovering a blonde man in a camper van is a delight. And, as I think should be taken as fact for the rest of the story, the art is gorgeous: Alan Davis is one of the best superhero artists in the business and he makes it all look sublime. From setting the scene, telling the story, the dynamic fights, the expressive faces telling more than words, his art is the complete package.
Issue 2 – Relative Strangers: Family Reunion part 2
We meet Samantha in France, another member of the family, who is attacked by the same inhuman characters from the first issue. Meanwhile, Kay is still alive and moves her mind into the body of a recently killed junkie hooker (who said comics are for kids?).
Walt and the kids go to pick up Dominic, another sibling with superhuman senses and a ‘capacity for flawless deductive reasoning’, who is a hermit recluse on an island off the coast of England. Davis sets up more of the history in this scene, where Walter and Dominic argue over the murder of their brother Vincent by their father Adam (who is talking with the Silver Surfer in deep space, which is obviously impossible by the laws of physics, but suspension of disbelief and all that).
In Australia, Will Chance is an action film star who is attacked by the inhuman creatures. Dominic calls on Newton, another sibling, a ‘whiz at creating technological marvels’, who has been ‘Warlord of Etherea’ using a super body engineered on Narcissus 4.
Issue 3 – Selfish Genes: Family Reunion part 3
We are introduced to Albert, another Destine sibling, who is brought to Barcelona in astral form to fix Cuckoo’s body, which is mortally wounded. He fixes her body, but leaves a warning that she will die next time.
Adam is assailed by images of his family dying, so the Silver Surfer fuels his suped-up VW van in order for him to get back to earth. Sam (Argent) is followed by the inhuman characters, Kay visits her in astral form, before going to Dom, Walt and the kids to help in their entry into Griffin tech.
In the middle of this, there is a fantastic little bit: Dom is intoxicated by chocolate due to the taste being hypersensitive to it. Just a small, insignificant piece in the middle of all the plot manoeuvring in this issue, but it highlights the thought that Davis has put into the characters and their abilities, and the sly humour he uses to show this.
Walt and kids have gone into the facility without the unconscious Dom and have been caught by a creature calling himself Alpha, who wants the Gryphon (basically the MacGuffin), which has been apprehended by the twins during a night patrol – Alpha shows CCTV footage of them obtaining the machine when stopping a robbery and Pandora losing her cloak as mentioned in the first issue, which shows the stage-setting that Davis has been doing – only for the Rory to be stolen away by teleportation, and the real villain revealed.
Issue 4 – Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: Family Reunion part 4
Walt and Pandora are rescued by Kay and Sam. Kay identifies the villain as Lenz – a ‘super-advanced prehistoric beast’. However, he is one of a kind, so he is only trying to reproduce himself, unsuccessfully. This is why he wants the Gryphon, which will help him in his quest.
(Again, Davis slips in what I call ‘Clone Wars comments’, to give a sense of history to the book in a short space of time – Dom: ‘Remember what happened in Bangkok in ’64?’ when talking about Walter hulking out. I love these little tasters and the sense that there is a grand framework of stories and the family’s past.)
We see Newton as Woody Allen again, as the family to return to Walt’s home, which is near the family home. [A nice Davis visual joke – in Pandora & Rory’s secret HQ, there are trophies of dinosaurs, a large coin and a Joker card]. We see the siblings argue like real family, rather than the faux family stuff we usually see; it feels based on reality.
Back at the plot, Newton teleports them to Lenz’s HQ, only for Lenz to take them out with ease and prevent them from teleporting out again. Fortunately Adam appears, invulnerable to physical harm, and saves the family from Lenz, only to let Lenz live. This leads to the family arguing again (as all families do) – Rory: ‘Are family reunions always like this?’
These first four issues set up the characters, the basis for continuing stories (I enjoy that they are a group of people bought together by fate that don’t feel the need to fight crime, the twins excepted), the interactions between members and a nice collection of super-powers set within the Marvel universe. When these comics came out, I was in my mid-20s, so I was able to appreciate a comic book with clean art that told an intelligent story about characters that I could believe in who acted in understandable ways. I can imagine that the bulk of the comic book fans of the time, hooked on ‘kewl’ artists and grim’n’gritty stories of violent heroes in armour shooting things, were probably completely bemused by all this. Coming from a large family and reading comic books, I particularly enjoyed the dynamic in the book of super siblings arguing in a manner I could easily relate to, so perhaps I was going to be inclined towards ClanDestine, but I still assumed that everyone else would be wowed by the quality of the work. How little I knew.
Tomorrow, I’ll discuss the remaining four issues of the Davis-written ClanDestine issues (I know there are other ClanDestine issues out there that had nothing to do with him, but they do not exist for the purpose of this collection of posts, nor do they exist in my collection).
Monday, 3 March 2008
ClanDestine Week: Prologue
ClanDestine: A Prologue, in which I explain why I’m writing about The ClanDestine
I’m not one of those comic book bloggers who have a ‘thing’ in addition to their blogging about comic books, such as Neilalien and his love of Dr Strange, Mike Sterling and his love of Swamp Thing, or even Dorian and his love of Wildcat. (Or Chris Sims and his love of kicking people in the face.)
This blog isn’t themed around a belief that ClanDestine is the greatest comic book ever created. I do believe that it was one of the highlights of Marvel’s output in the ‘90s and, given the promotional push and the time to find its audience, could have been a great run of a creator-based superhero comic book set in a mainstream universe (like James Robinson’s Starman or Garth Ennis’ Hitman).
Some history to set the scene. The early 1990s were a very strange time in the world of superhero comic books. Marvel, having been bought by Ron Perelman and its stock made public in 1991, was undergoing a massive overexpansion of its comic line in order to make money quickly. Over at DC, Superman had died and come back to life in 1992–93. Valiant, Malibu (with Ultraverse) and even Dark Horse (with Comics Greatest Worlds) were all creating superhero universes from scratch. After the insane numbers for Liefeld’s X-Force and Jim Lee’s X-Men in 1991, the hot artists form Image in 1992 with their own individual universes. The world of the comic book is undergoing a speculator-led boom that could never last but which didn’t stop people trying to make as much money as possible while they could.
At the same time, my comic book tastes are being refined during this tumultuous period. Having started life as an X-Men fan, I have kicked the habit (soon after Chris Claremont is kicked off the book he made the number one book in the industry). I still have a desire for well-written superheroes, but I have discovered other things: after reading Watchmen, I become aware of ‘proper’ comic books. I am reading Sandman, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Shade The Changing Man, and Hellblazer (which all become part of Vertigo in 1993). Hellboy (1993) and Sin City (1991) are part of my library. I even read Cerebus phone books. But this doesn’t mean I don’t read superhero comics anymore. For example, Alan Davis has just finished his 2-year run on Excalibur (#42–67), containing well-plotted, entertaining and fun science fiction-based stories. And now, he is being given his own creator-owned book, set firmly in the Marvel universe …I had been a big fan of Davis’ art for as long as I had been reading comic books (my collection of the non-Alan Moore run of Captain Britain with Davis art was extremely worn from excessive reading), so more work is very welcomed.
ClanDestine was and is a very enjoyable yet short-lived series that still bring joy. (I’m not the only one: Clandestine Chum Greg wrote a great piece on why you should own ClanDestine, and this piece from Dave Campbell about a single issue shows not only his appreciation but also that of the people who left comments about the post.) I thought it deserved a better shot that it was given so, when racking my brains for a title for this blog, a coalescence of ideas decided upon a title that might keep the memory alive; nothing more, and certainly not a tribute site. So, after threatening to post my thoughts on the original series for so long, I finally get round to it. In an ideal world, this would have come out the week of the release of the first issue of the second series, but life got in the way.
So, join me for a week of looking at the first series of ClanDestine and a review of the first issue of the second series. (And this will be a proper week, unlike, say, a Dave Campbell week.)
If you like your information official, Marvel provide a handy two-part history of The ClanDestine at their website here and here. If not, come back tomorrow as I talk about the ‘teaser’ story in Marvel Comics Presents, the ClanDestine Preview issue, and the first storyline; hopefully, it will be informative but in a more informal way and not too much starry-eyed Alan Davis worship.
I’m not one of those comic book bloggers who have a ‘thing’ in addition to their blogging about comic books, such as Neilalien and his love of Dr Strange, Mike Sterling and his love of Swamp Thing, or even Dorian and his love of Wildcat. (Or Chris Sims and his love of kicking people in the face.)
This blog isn’t themed around a belief that ClanDestine is the greatest comic book ever created. I do believe that it was one of the highlights of Marvel’s output in the ‘90s and, given the promotional push and the time to find its audience, could have been a great run of a creator-based superhero comic book set in a mainstream universe (like James Robinson’s Starman or Garth Ennis’ Hitman).
Some history to set the scene. The early 1990s were a very strange time in the world of superhero comic books. Marvel, having been bought by Ron Perelman and its stock made public in 1991, was undergoing a massive overexpansion of its comic line in order to make money quickly. Over at DC, Superman had died and come back to life in 1992–93. Valiant, Malibu (with Ultraverse) and even Dark Horse (with Comics Greatest Worlds) were all creating superhero universes from scratch. After the insane numbers for Liefeld’s X-Force and Jim Lee’s X-Men in 1991, the hot artists form Image in 1992 with their own individual universes. The world of the comic book is undergoing a speculator-led boom that could never last but which didn’t stop people trying to make as much money as possible while they could.
At the same time, my comic book tastes are being refined during this tumultuous period. Having started life as an X-Men fan, I have kicked the habit (soon after Chris Claremont is kicked off the book he made the number one book in the industry). I still have a desire for well-written superheroes, but I have discovered other things: after reading Watchmen, I become aware of ‘proper’ comic books. I am reading Sandman, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Shade The Changing Man, and Hellblazer (which all become part of Vertigo in 1993). Hellboy (1993) and Sin City (1991) are part of my library. I even read Cerebus phone books. But this doesn’t mean I don’t read superhero comics anymore. For example, Alan Davis has just finished his 2-year run on Excalibur (#42–67), containing well-plotted, entertaining and fun science fiction-based stories. And now, he is being given his own creator-owned book, set firmly in the Marvel universe …I had been a big fan of Davis’ art for as long as I had been reading comic books (my collection of the non-Alan Moore run of Captain Britain with Davis art was extremely worn from excessive reading), so more work is very welcomed.
ClanDestine was and is a very enjoyable yet short-lived series that still bring joy. (I’m not the only one: Clandestine Chum Greg wrote a great piece on why you should own ClanDestine, and this piece from Dave Campbell about a single issue shows not only his appreciation but also that of the people who left comments about the post.) I thought it deserved a better shot that it was given so, when racking my brains for a title for this blog, a coalescence of ideas decided upon a title that might keep the memory alive; nothing more, and certainly not a tribute site. So, after threatening to post my thoughts on the original series for so long, I finally get round to it. In an ideal world, this would have come out the week of the release of the first issue of the second series, but life got in the way.
So, join me for a week of looking at the first series of ClanDestine and a review of the first issue of the second series. (And this will be a proper week, unlike, say, a Dave Campbell week.)
If you like your information official, Marvel provide a handy two-part history of The ClanDestine at their website here and here. If not, come back tomorrow as I talk about the ‘teaser’ story in Marvel Comics Presents, the ClanDestine Preview issue, and the first storyline; hopefully, it will be informative but in a more informal way and not too much starry-eyed Alan Davis worship.
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