The first Northants International Comics Expo (I think the ‘International’ is stretching it, but I guess they wanted the groovy acronym; a bit like the Dublin International Comics Expo wanted ‘D.I.C.E.’) was held in Wicksteed Park, Kettering, on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 September. I attended on the Saturday because that…
The great thing about Looper is that it blends smart sci-fi with exciting action without losing anything from either element – that’s a smart trick to pull off. It has a strong and simple hook: in the future, time travel has been invented but immediately banned, used illegally by gangsters…
By Kim Newman I have thoroughly enjoyed Kim Newman’s alternative world vampire stories, with their wonderful blending of history and characters from literature and film, so I was looking forward to sampling the next instalment. Dracula Cha Cha Cha is another delightful addition to his ongoing storyline and it continues…
‘Created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’. That’s the first credit that comes up when the film has finished, before the name of the director or the screenwriter. If I wasn’t smiling before, I was certainly smiling when I saw those words. I don’t remember those words appearing in the…
Wolverine #66–72 and Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven I haven’t purchased a Mark Millar comic book in ages – his overbearing hucksterism, his ‘film pitch as comic book’ approach, and his seeming dislike for people who read comic books make for an unpleasant taste…
Several weeks after the film came out – this is absurdly late to post my thoughts on this film. All the discussion has already occurred, although I avoided it for fear of spoilers, and I have nothing new to add. However, The Dark Knight Rises was such a wonderfully enjoyable…
Written by Roger Gibson and drawn by Vince Danks Published by Titan Books This hardback collects the six issues of the independent comic, which is (as the author admits) a police procedural television show you might see on ITV on a weekday evening at 8pm, but in comic-book form. It’s…
By Jonathan Maberry When I was recently lavishing praise on Gorlan Parlov’s art in Marvel Universe Vs Punisher, I didn’t talk too much about the writing, which is unusual for me. When looking for some information about Maberry, I discovered his website and that he is an award-winning novelist: in…
This is not a review of a film, it is a question about a film: Why did the media rag on John Carter so much? Because I watched a perfectly enjoyable fantasy adventure film, and I’m completely bemused by the treatment the film received. Is it the greatest film ever?…
Mysterius The Unfathomable #1–6 by Jeff Parker and Tom Fowler This is an oddly charming creator-owned series published by Wildstorm in 2008 about a selfish mystic/magician/magical expert called Mysterius. We meet him when he finds his new ‘Delfi’ – Delfi is the name he gives all his assistants – at…