Swiped from the excellent Superman: New Krypton Special.PS I've been described as "a bit bitchy and hard edged"
And I thought I was a big old softie.
Monday, 27 October 2008
Panel of the Year
Swiped from the excellent Superman: New Krypton Special.PS I've been described as "a bit bitchy and hard edged"
And I thought I was a big old softie.
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Black comics and Man Toys
I enjoyed the bejesus out of the last issue of Final Crisis and the Submit one shot which should be read immediately beforehand. Submit is the blackest comic I've read since I ploughed my way through the monochrome madness of Essential Power Man Volume One. Alright, so it's written by a bald white Scot, but all the main characters are Afro-American. There is one conspicuous white cameo though...
Maybe I'm just imagining it, but that fellow on the left looks a lot like the David Tennant incarnation of Doctor Who to me.
Anyway, Submit: not only the blackest comic I've ever read, but also the most straightforward Grant Morrison tale I've seen for some time. No tripped out mystery to this one, it's just a simple story about Black Lightning and the Tattooed Man fighting Darkseid's evil horde of brainwashed loons. Top stuff.
Final Crisis #4 was also relatively straightforward. The story seems to have moved into a different gear with this issue. Darkseid's finally shown up and it's become clear that the speed force is the antidote to anti-life. That aside, Morrison writes a mean Green Arrow. I've never really had much time for that character, but Morrison makes him a heroic, angry liberal. Much more interesting than the wimpy leftie I've always seen him done as. Good stuff.
Away from the comics I've been hovering over the ebay bid button on some of the new DC Arkham Asylum Heroclix figures. The Batman villain figures are particularly pretty man toys...
Oh they'd look nice on my shelf.
Because the line is new, people are asking silly sums for the rarer figures though, so I'll wait a while before wading in.
Maybe I'm just imagining it, but that fellow on the left looks a lot like the David Tennant incarnation of Doctor Who to me.Anyway, Submit: not only the blackest comic I've ever read, but also the most straightforward Grant Morrison tale I've seen for some time. No tripped out mystery to this one, it's just a simple story about Black Lightning and the Tattooed Man fighting Darkseid's evil horde of brainwashed loons. Top stuff.
Final Crisis #4 was also relatively straightforward. The story seems to have moved into a different gear with this issue. Darkseid's finally shown up and it's become clear that the speed force is the antidote to anti-life. That aside, Morrison writes a mean Green Arrow. I've never really had much time for that character, but Morrison makes him a heroic, angry liberal. Much more interesting than the wimpy leftie I've always seen him done as. Good stuff.
Away from the comics I've been hovering over the ebay bid button on some of the new DC Arkham Asylum Heroclix figures. The Batman villain figures are particularly pretty man toys...
Oh they'd look nice on my shelf.Because the line is new, people are asking silly sums for the rarer figures though, so I'll wait a while before wading in.
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Friday, 24 October 2008
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Disturbing Dennis
A nice find in Hackney Oxfam today, A 1959 Dennis The Menace annual in reasonable shape for 59p. It's full of the usual pranks and slipperings, but features a back cover which disturbed me slightly...
Click for a larger image
Click for a larger imageLike every other British kid, I read The Beano and became desensitised to Dennis's frequent beatings, but this one? I don't know, it's all a bit sus.
Leaving aside the angle of Dennis' arse or the fact that he's pointing to a "Handle With Care" sign, there's also something a bit dodgy about the way Dennis' dad is rolling up that sleeve, it's almost like he's about to flex his biceps for the men in the background. His expression is, well, let's just say he's focused on that arse and he doesn't look like he plans on holding back, a fact that clearly meets with the approval of those onlookers. Take a look at their faces, the chimney sweep's fucking loving it! And what's with the identical folded arms, splayed feet, clamped shut legs and ramrod straight postures?
No wonder Dennis looks so scared. Those are some creepy, sadistic looking bastards his dad has invited round to watch him take a hiding.
Leaving aside the angle of Dennis' arse or the fact that he's pointing to a "Handle With Care" sign, there's also something a bit dodgy about the way Dennis' dad is rolling up that sleeve, it's almost like he's about to flex his biceps for the men in the background. His expression is, well, let's just say he's focused on that arse and he doesn't look like he plans on holding back, a fact that clearly meets with the approval of those onlookers. Take a look at their faces, the chimney sweep's fucking loving it! And what's with the identical folded arms, splayed feet, clamped shut legs and ramrod straight postures?
No wonder Dennis looks so scared. Those are some creepy, sadistic looking bastards his dad has invited round to watch him take a hiding.
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Shopping list
I've fallen behind on my reading again and find myself faced with another sizable stack of unread comics. I plan to make said stack even higher this week by adding the following...
Amazing Spider-Man #574
And now the LLC line on Venom: I'm an issue behind on Spidey. I hope we're all done with Venom now. Venom sucks nuts. That white Venom thing sucks nuts even harder. I just don't connect with the character, sorry. It's an old man who stopped reading comics in the 90s thing.
Captain America #43
So yeah spoilers and all, but Steve didn't come back. I'm fine with that. Absolutely fine. You know what though? I hope Marvel sticks with this new direction. Honestly, lets have Bucky's Cap for a good 5-10 years now. No copping out and bringing Steve back. Bucky's a good Cap. Let him breathe.
Criminal 2 #6
Fear Agent #24 1 Against 1 (Pt 3 Of 6)
Two of the finest books in the world and I'm pitifully behind on them both. I continue to buy the singles though and soon (VERY soon) I shall dedicate a whole day to ploughing through them.
Final Crisis #4 (Of 7)
Late! probably because JG Jones is struggling to meet deadlines. I see Doug Mahnke is taking over pencilling duties on some of the later issues. He's good and all, but I'm a wee bit worried that the change of artist is going to lend the book an inconsistent feel.
Final Crisis Submit #1
Given that I'm buying every fucking tie-in, I think it's safe to say that I have indeed submitted.
Superman New Krypton Special #1
I'm feeling used. I'm reading Superman and Action Comics, but now you're telling me that I need to buy this and Supergirl to understand what the fuck's going on? Bah! And another thing, the last part of the Braniac saga in Action (from which this whole New Krypton money spinner springs) wasn't half as good as everyone's making out. I mean Braniac got fucked up way too easily and as for Pa Kent - who cares? He's an old bloke in dungarees for fuck's sake! Booooring. Kill Ma too I say.
Unknown Soldier #1
I LOVED the preview that Vertigo did for this in the back of last month's House of Mystery. Great looking art and a new spin on the Unknown Soldier + there's a variant Rich Corben cover which I know is going to be ace. Rich Corben is magic!
I've also got the reprints of Bryan Talbot's classic Luther Arkwright on order from Amazon. I read these when they originally came out in the 80s and loved them. Looking forward to a good dose of nostalgia.
Amazing Spider-Man #574
And now the LLC line on Venom: I'm an issue behind on Spidey. I hope we're all done with Venom now. Venom sucks nuts. That white Venom thing sucks nuts even harder. I just don't connect with the character, sorry. It's an old man who stopped reading comics in the 90s thing.
Captain America #43
So yeah spoilers and all, but Steve didn't come back. I'm fine with that. Absolutely fine. You know what though? I hope Marvel sticks with this new direction. Honestly, lets have Bucky's Cap for a good 5-10 years now. No copping out and bringing Steve back. Bucky's a good Cap. Let him breathe.
Criminal 2 #6
Fear Agent #24 1 Against 1 (Pt 3 Of 6)
Two of the finest books in the world and I'm pitifully behind on them both. I continue to buy the singles though and soon (VERY soon) I shall dedicate a whole day to ploughing through them.
Final Crisis #4 (Of 7)
Late! probably because JG Jones is struggling to meet deadlines. I see Doug Mahnke is taking over pencilling duties on some of the later issues. He's good and all, but I'm a wee bit worried that the change of artist is going to lend the book an inconsistent feel.
Final Crisis Submit #1
Given that I'm buying every fucking tie-in, I think it's safe to say that I have indeed submitted.
Superman New Krypton Special #1
I'm feeling used. I'm reading Superman and Action Comics, but now you're telling me that I need to buy this and Supergirl to understand what the fuck's going on? Bah! And another thing, the last part of the Braniac saga in Action (from which this whole New Krypton money spinner springs) wasn't half as good as everyone's making out. I mean Braniac got fucked up way too easily and as for Pa Kent - who cares? He's an old bloke in dungarees for fuck's sake! Booooring. Kill Ma too I say.
Unknown Soldier #1
I LOVED the preview that Vertigo did for this in the back of last month's House of Mystery. Great looking art and a new spin on the Unknown Soldier + there's a variant Rich Corben cover which I know is going to be ace. Rich Corben is magic!
I've also got the reprints of Bryan Talbot's classic Luther Arkwright on order from Amazon. I read these when they originally came out in the 80s and loved them. Looking forward to a good dose of nostalgia.
Monday, 20 October 2008
No More Heroes
I feel at peace with the world tonight because I did something good with my life. Yes chums, for months I'd been telling myself that I had to get around to watching the second half of the second season of Heroes, all the time knowing that doing so would mean sitting through hour upon hour of insipid, derivative bilge. Then BING! the light bulb went off in my misguided head: I didn't have to watch it! And just like that, I deleted all the unwatched episodes from my Sky + recorder. Excelsior!
There was a lot I hated about Heroes, but I think that the Peter Petrelli goes to Ireland story was the thing that finally did for me. While George Takei, Malcom MacDowell and Christopher Ecclestone were around I could just about stomach the show, without the weight they gave it, Heroes just got harder to bear with every episode. By the time we got to Ireland and were forced to watch a procession of dreadful American hams delivering a string of "begoras" and "to be sures" in the worst Irish accents ever, I was unable to cope anymore. It was time to admit that Heroes was toilet.
For a while during the first season I was quite into it. That smack addict who painted the future was pretty cool, and hey, what right thinking nerd isn't a sucker for a good old fashioned Haitian mindwipe? But to be honest I only watched as much as I did because I felt I should.
Fine, I thought, the whole thing is a big X-Men rip-off but it's alright. More importantly all those people who think I'm odd for reading comics at 36 seemed to like it a lot. Would they suddenly rush out and start buying Ex Machina? Maybe! Shit this show could save comics, in which case I owed it to the industry to like Heroes!
Whatever.
In reality I found myself telling fans of the show that if they liked Heroes they should read some of the classic superhero comics it was based on. What a dufus!
Let's face it most of the people who watch Heroes think it's a cool adult-orientated version of a genre which is really for kids. I know plenty of folk who love Heroes but think that anyone over the age of 12 who reads comics is a freak. Of course those of us in the know realise that the opposite is true. The lack of spandex and some of the other more traditional elements of superhero comics makes the show popular amongst normal folk, but it's also part of what makes it so shit. Superheroes without spandex are just watered down versions of the real thing. And that's what Heroes is: a non-nerd friendly approximation of the superhero genre.
Once I admitted that, it was easy to jack it in. And you know what? I'm glad that I'm free of it. Glad that I won't have to put up with Fat Matt and his wanky telepathy. Glad that I won't have to watch Mohinder turning into a second rate version of the Fly. Glad that I no longer have to put up with Hiro and cunting Ando bumbling about like...well...like a couple of cunts. Glad that I've seen Sylar cock his head and sneer for the last time and glad that I won't ever have to hear Clare Bennett's sharp intake of breath as she comes back from the dead yet again.
Yes chums, I've come to terms with the fact that Heroes is a terrible show which does comics no favours at all. If you want well written superhero stories full of good characters and cool ideas go read some Alan Moore. If you want superheroes on the small screen pick up the DVD of Iron Man or The Dark Knight. Don't watch Heroes, it's pish and you know it!
There was a lot I hated about Heroes, but I think that the Peter Petrelli goes to Ireland story was the thing that finally did for me. While George Takei, Malcom MacDowell and Christopher Ecclestone were around I could just about stomach the show, without the weight they gave it, Heroes just got harder to bear with every episode. By the time we got to Ireland and were forced to watch a procession of dreadful American hams delivering a string of "begoras" and "to be sures" in the worst Irish accents ever, I was unable to cope anymore. It was time to admit that Heroes was toilet.
For a while during the first season I was quite into it. That smack addict who painted the future was pretty cool, and hey, what right thinking nerd isn't a sucker for a good old fashioned Haitian mindwipe? But to be honest I only watched as much as I did because I felt I should.
Fine, I thought, the whole thing is a big X-Men rip-off but it's alright. More importantly all those people who think I'm odd for reading comics at 36 seemed to like it a lot. Would they suddenly rush out and start buying Ex Machina? Maybe! Shit this show could save comics, in which case I owed it to the industry to like Heroes!
Whatever.
In reality I found myself telling fans of the show that if they liked Heroes they should read some of the classic superhero comics it was based on. What a dufus!
Let's face it most of the people who watch Heroes think it's a cool adult-orientated version of a genre which is really for kids. I know plenty of folk who love Heroes but think that anyone over the age of 12 who reads comics is a freak. Of course those of us in the know realise that the opposite is true. The lack of spandex and some of the other more traditional elements of superhero comics makes the show popular amongst normal folk, but it's also part of what makes it so shit. Superheroes without spandex are just watered down versions of the real thing. And that's what Heroes is: a non-nerd friendly approximation of the superhero genre.
Once I admitted that, it was easy to jack it in. And you know what? I'm glad that I'm free of it. Glad that I won't have to put up with Fat Matt and his wanky telepathy. Glad that I won't have to watch Mohinder turning into a second rate version of the Fly. Glad that I no longer have to put up with Hiro and cunting Ando bumbling about like...well...like a couple of cunts. Glad that I've seen Sylar cock his head and sneer for the last time and glad that I won't ever have to hear Clare Bennett's sharp intake of breath as she comes back from the dead yet again.
Yes chums, I've come to terms with the fact that Heroes is a terrible show which does comics no favours at all. If you want well written superhero stories full of good characters and cool ideas go read some Alan Moore. If you want superheroes on the small screen pick up the DVD of Iron Man or The Dark Knight. Don't watch Heroes, it's pish and you know it!
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