Keeping up my disjointed approach to blogging this week, I wanted to get down some notes on recent television viewing. Somebody asked me what I watched regularly and I didn't have an answer; however, this wasn't strictly true. It's just that I don't sit down to watch things when they…
Secret Invasion #8 And so we reach the end of latest Marvel crossover, years in the planning and months in the execution. And the result? It turns out to be the set up for another crossover – sorry, 'story'. This is annoying; in post-crossover interviews, Bendis has talked about the…
Serenity: Those Left Behind and Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews and Will Conrad Before I left the USA in September 2002, I saw the first episode of Firefly (not the pilot – in their infinite wisdom, Fox had decided not to show that first). I didn't…
Batman #608–612 and 613–619 by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee My love of Jim Lee's art overcomes the lack of enjoyment I get from stories written by Jeph Loeb (my apologies if I bore you with how much I don't get the big deal with Loeb – I'll stop doing…
Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper #1–5 Story by Guy Ritchie, script by Andy Diggle, art by Mukeshi Singh Poor Virgin Comics. Grand plans, big names, glossy books – but did they ever stand a chance? I liked John Woo's 7 Brothers (mostly because it was written by Garth Ennis), but I didn't…
By Brian K Vaughan and Niko Henrichon Even though it is based on a true story, the concept of four lions escaping from Baghdad Zoo during the recent war in Iraq is a strange starting point for a graphic novel, even if it is written by the man who bought…
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #19 This is the fourth part of 'Time Of Your Life', in which Joss Whedon has brought Fray, the vampire slayer from the future he created in his first comic book work, into the fold of the official Buffy lore. For some reason, time travel stories…
Astonishing X-Men #19–24 and Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1 by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday After the first three trades, Joss Whedon brings to a conclusion his X-Men story in rousing fashion, and his tribute to the Claremont/Byrne days is complete. Not that this is a negative – there is nothing…
Before I talk about the comic books I bought this week, I just wanted to mention Screenwipe – Charlie Brooker, the scabrous and viciously funny journalist/presenter, returns to BBC4 to review and comment on recent events. Best programme on television at the moment, and you should be watching it. On…
Power Pack: Day One #1–4 by Fred Van Lente and GuriHiru Back in March, when I first read about the mini-series, I took a slightly defensive stance to the announcement – why should they revisit an already perfect story? Hmm? On reflection, this was perhaps an over-reaction to a completely…