Orbiter by Warren Ellis & Colleen Doran According to Ellis himself, he didn’t like science at school. Reading Orbiter suggests different; it makes you think he was the prize physics pupil, president of the after-school science club, what with all the amazing detail and understanding he brings to the workings…
If it wasn’t for the fact that he is rich and happy, you’d almost feel sorry for Ricky Gervais. Having struck gold with The Office, where does he go with his difficult ‘second album’? That he and co-creator/writer/director Stephen Merchant didn’t rest on their laurels and made Extras can only…
Spaced was one of the best sitcoms of the past 10 years. Shaun of the Dead was one of the best British films of the past 5 years (and the best rom-zom-com so far). What about Hot Fuzz? Hot Fuzz is the best British action comedy in recent memory and…
Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem is the story of Dylan Ebdus, the son of an artist (who constantly works on a hand-painted film that no one will ever see, but supplements his income by painting covers to sci-fi books he doesn’t even read) and a free-spirited woman who leaves…
Harold Pinter is a former Nobel Laureate and revered institution of the theatre. I have never seen one of his plays. All I really know about him is from references in comedy (specifically a Stephen Fry reference to ‘Pinteresque pauses’ and the Derek and Clive sketch about two critics discussing…
Hello. I’m Clandestine Critic. You may remember me from previous blog posts, such as ‘Sabbatical’ and ‘Goodbyee’. I like to post my thoughts for a time, stop, start again, stop and then make references to The Simpsons. I’m back. I hope. I’ve been away. I needed some time away to…
Goodbye or au revoir, I can’t tell just yet. Yes, it’s time for yet another sabbatical. The complete lack of posts of the last month were a big clue to the handful of readers that my inconsistency had reached critical levels again, and I’ve been ruminating on what to do…
To everyone who thinks that the ninja bats currently found in the Grant Morrison-written Batman comic book (the cover on the left, Batman #656) are a wonderful example of the mad ideas of the God of Comics, we would like to refer you to the Stan Sakai-created Usagi Yojimbo (cover…
I quit the X-Men shortly after Chris Claremont left in 1991 (when he discovered that all the hard work he had put into The Uncanny X-Men didn’t mean a thing to the editors who preferred hot artists doing their versions) having being a devout X-fan since I'd discovered them. I…
For some reason, Powers #19 didn’t make it to the UK, so I will have to wait for my latest Pilgrim & Walker fix. And I decided against Jack of Fables, waiting for the inevitable trade to try it out. Which means that my haul for last week was exceedingly…