I have five minutes

Yes! A five minute window has opened and I have chosen to use it to blog because hey, who needs to shower, right? Anyway, five minutes isn't going to allow for much, so here are some brief thoughts on stuff I've been reading on the loo or during bus journeys where I've been able to find a seat on my own (because I get embarrassed reading comics next to non-comics reading adults on public transport)

Captain Britain and MI13 #10
Back when I first recommended Captain Britain, I wanked on about the stuff that makes bad team books shit: "The problem that a lot of team books run into is that they involve such huge casts that effective characterisation tends to get buried by the action or, (and this is even worse in my opinion), the action gets overlooked in favour of a succession of conversations" I said.

I like Captain Britain, because on the whole Paul Cornell has managed to strike a good balance between these elements, but I have to say issue #10 was a bit too talkie, talkie, relationshippy, blah, blah, blah for my liking. Yes, there was some good Dracula action to be had, but for an issue which I and many others had been touting as a perfect jumping on point, I could've done with fewer heart to hearts and more stakes through the heart - know what I mean?

So yeah, if you bought it and were a bit bored by all the soul searching, I apologise. Stick with it, the action is bound to ramp up next issue and it really is an excellent book. Honest.

House of Mystery (various issues)

Still enjoying this one. What's it about? Well, that's a bit of a MYSTERY! Geddit?! Ha! I'm thinking we're exploring the power of stories and storytelling a la Final Crisis, but without the leotards. Could be wrong though. Anyway I like it.

Jersey Gods #1

Ah no, not another Jack Kirby as genre book! Hmmm, yes but to be fair it's a damn good one. New Gods and Eternals with a sort of sitcommy bassline. I liked it a lot and recommend you pick it up.

The Darkness: Accursed Volume 1

I bought this trade because it's being offered on the cheap (four or five quid, can't remember) and the fellers on the 11 o'clock podcast are always banging on about how good it is. I've managed to avoid The Darkness completely down the years and had no idea what it was about. For those who don't know, there's this mafia hit-man who is a vessel for shitloads of demons or something. He's taken over some south American banana republic where he's got everyone hooked on demon crack and, with the help of his mad scientist sidekick, created a devil woman who he can shag (because he can't shag real women as shagging would kill him because of the demons or some shit). Anyway, it's utter nonsense which scares me a bit in a 90s comics uber-violence sort of way and the art is of that Michael Turneresque sort where all the women have piercing eyes and elven bone structures. Despite all that I enjoyed its over the top madness. Ridiculous comics. Fuck that was all one really long paragraph wasn't it? Sorry haven't got time to sort it out.

Adventure Comics #0

This had a $1 price tag, but the bloke at my new comic shop chucked it in my nerd sack for nowt, which was nice. Reprints Adventure comics #247 (The first appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes) which is all well and good. But, you're really going to want it for the short back-up story by Geoff Johns which acts as sort of a prelude to a prelude to Blackest Night. Yes Green Lantern completists, you need to buy this comic.

There's more, but my five minutes is up. S'laters!