Speculation!

Who is this!!!
No, not the big boobs - this guy on the group shot cover of Dark Reign (which is quite a nice little comic).
You see, obviously you’d think it’s Norman Osbourne, because he’s part of the cast in the comic. But it doesn’t look like Norman! That’s not Norm’s hair!
I really thought it was the Purple Man - and I thought I had rumbled Marvel - because we still don’t’ know the identity of Norm’s mysterious unseen friend who’s keeping the other Dark Reigners in check. I thought they'd unintentionally revealed him on the cover...
But nah, I think I’m just being too clever for my own good. It’s prob Norm. Which means that his mysterious friend is prob someone like Mephisto…or Scarlet Witch…
Damn you, Bendis!

Music

Why did no one tell me how good Ladyhawke are (is)???
I’ve been trying to cut down on music-buying - following a couple of recent months where I found out I’d spent more money on music than I did on essentials from Sainsburys… And I don’t like downloading illegally…
I was doing really well this month - just got the new Killers album - which is really good, so much better than their last proper effort, Sam’s Town.
It all went horribly wrong this weekend though - all thanks to Marsha on XFM lol! So yes, I got myself the aforementioned Ladyhawke (check them out if you haven’t heard of her/them - kind of a pop-rock Ting Tings), and I got Lykke Li (nice and quirky) and the new Cat Powers EP (altho she turns Who Knows Where the Time Goes - one of my fave songs - into a tuneless dirge).
And then it went even more wrong when I bought the new Beyonce album. I can’t stand R and B or those female warblers who do their scales in the middle of their songs, but she was so amazing on X-Factor, I think I finally ‘got’ her. And the album isn’t so bad - she says it was influenced by Coldplay, so it could be worse…
So anyway, no more album-buying til 2009...hopefully…
On a music-related note - I think my beautiful gorgeous video ipod is dying. It lasts for about a day of commuting and that’s it before the battery gets low. Ah well, I guess it’s almost 2 years old. I guess I’ll have to get a classic ipod. I quite fancy the ipod touch but it only holds 8000 songs or so - nowhere near as much as the 20000 that my beautiful gorgeous video ipod holds!

Comic Event of the Year

...Or at least that's what Wizard Magazine calls it. Yes, the final part of Secret Invasion came out this week, and boy is it bad.
As much as I love Bendis and Yu, this series comes across quite limp sometimes, and this last part really has its shoddy moments - parts which seem like they belong more in a really bad small press comic than in a major event comic. It's so cack-handed.
One really really good moment is when the Skrull Queen (who looks like Spider Woman) approaches the good guys - her jaw broken - the art is amazing... And then she gets her head blown off by a small shaft of pink laser.
Now I've got two problems with this - first, there's the pink laser, then there's the fact that it's quite a small panel for a big moment - and finally, the shooter is Norman Osborne. Sigh, now then, what's all this about. Another completely evil bad guy somehow putting the blinkers on everyone in the world? And didn't Bendis expose him as the Green Goblin back in Pulse??
Other problems with this issue - the 'death' of Wasp - what happened there then? And as lovely as janet is, does anyone care enough that she's died, or care enough to want her to come back? And we've been robbed of a poignant moment too, when Hank is told that janet is dead - their relationship is so up and down, and i'm sure it's 'down' at the momenet anyway, so why should he care? in his editorial, joe quesada says 'how will hank pym deal with the loss of his beloved ex-wife'. i'm sure he'll cope fine...
Other probs this issue - wasn't Hawkeye girl almost dead last issue? And now she's fine apart from broken glasses? The return of Mockingbird - as much as I love Bobbi - who cares??? And she died in West Coast Avengers - there was no Skrull body or whatever - what a copout. If she's coming back to the Marvel U, I hope they're gonna cool her up - make her a good match for Ronin. And the dribble of Skrull imposter survivors who came out of that ship - is that it? And did you notice Sue Storm's incredibly fat arse at one point?
And finally, the new line-up of villains in the end - Emma Frost evil again? Sigh, this happened already in Astonishing X-Men, make yer minds up. Oh well, at least the new female Loki has cool evil boobs.
(Oh and Dark Reign sounds interesting - I hope Elektra is in the line-up)

Raw-sharch

Check this out... The original design for Rorsharch from the Watchmen. Ouch!!!

Review

Cheers to Rol for the O Men mention/review on his blog :-)
http://rolhirst.blogspot.com/2008/11/small-press-big-fun.html

goOdnight travel well...

Well just as I take a break from The O Men, I get the urge to draw a new pic. It's inspired by the penultimate track - Goodnight, Travel Well - on the Killers' new album. The song is so atmospheric, moving and chilling and dramatic - just like the future of my O-guys.

Bridgeen Valentine

Look what my chum Bridgeen Gillespie's done for me!!! Love it!!!!!
You can check out Bridgeen's gorgeous stuff here:
http://www.koniption.blogspot.com/

Batman Really IncomPrehensible

I sat down with all six Batman RIP issues and also read the previous Black Glove story...
Morrison really did lose the plot. What crappy storytelling! So confusing. And if you read Batman RIP on its own - as I did - you have no idea who those silent villains are (I only just found out they were introduced in the Black Glove story) or who that League of Batmen group is. Sloppy!!!
Must do better.

First reaction to O Men 2.7

"You bastard, Martin"

Ha ha, perfect!

Grant Morrison, Batman RIP and Seven Soldiers. And strangeness.

Well what a palaver about Batman RIP this week, eh? Great publicity - but slightly embarrassing in that the issue isn’t very good. Spoilers for the rest of the paragraph: What a lame ‘death scene’ eh? Hardly a classic. And to be honest, I can’t say I understood the issue, but if Thomas Wayne is alive and a villain, then that’s really cool - altho Black Mask - Red Hood - where does it end? Yellow Pants? (Actually isn’t that Robin?) The art sucked too. Why does Morrison always make do with below-par artists? And why were the villains never properly introduced or names? They looked quite cool. One thing I did like though was Jezebel Jet. New female villain called Jezebel? Cool. Now give her some powers or something.
But still, full credit to DC for getting such good publicity.
Speaking of Morrison, I’ve been re-reading Seven Soldiers this week. Man, you need a degree to understand this book. And it’s so easy to miss stuff. All in all though, I think editors should get Morrison to rein himself in a bit - he does self-indulge a bit sometimes. Overall, re the series I’d say…
- The first issue is amazing - exceptional. One of the best superhero comics ever written…
- Klarion and Mister Miracle are pretty much gobbledegook
- Manhattan Guardian struggles a bit with boring art - but the final chapter is excellent, laying hints and connections throughout the series
- Zatanna - as one of my top 10 all-time favourite characters, I really wanted to like this more than I did… Amazing art, but a bit of a struggle.
- Frankenstein - a bit bizarre - one of the times when the Editor needs to stop letting him be so self-indulgent
- Shining Knight - very confusing in places. Nice art, if a bit muddy - but Bianchi definitely draws Justine as a guy for the first few issues.
- Bulleteer - possibly my favourite, if only because it’s the easiest to follow. Although having said that, the art and story often don’t match up - a bit sloppy. And what a huge tangent to go off on in the final issue - telling the origin story of a completely different character.
All of which probably makes you think I hated it - but not at all - it’s great to see some experimentation in comics - and maybe I’ll understand it all one day…

2.7 is DONE

It's done, it's out, I've finally done it...
Issue 2.7 is finished - hoorah! Took bloody ages...
This one spotlights Kelly and it's an issue I've been building up to for a long long time. Poor old Kel gets kidnapped and is stuck in a mansion full of nasty little traps... This one has two huge shocks at the end - I can't wait for everyone to read it and let me know what they think... (Copies are winging their way to subscribers as I type)
It's just a quid from the O Men website - highly recommended!!!
www.comix.org.uk/theomen

Movies...

A new chum in my Japanese evening class has been doing DVD swaps with me, and I got two interesting ones this week.
First up, The Happiness of the Katakurnas (that's wrong, but I'm too lazy to get up and see what it's really called - you prob know the one I mean) which is the most bizarre movie I've ever seen, but quite amusing in places.
Second one was the director's cut of Lady Vengeance. Hmm... The whole thing about this director's cut is that the movie slowly turns into black and white - which sounds really cool, but I've gotta say, it didn't impress me that much (love the movie though). Also, one of my favourite scenes is when the families meet together in the cake shop at the end, and the warm colours in that scene are a highlight for me, it's kind of like a rebirth for them all - but it's obviously lost with the black and white. Also I think rather than just fading out the colour, they could have used a more interesting technique, like making the picture grainy. Plus of course, having it fade to white, instead of fading to black right at the end would have been a really nice touch.
On another movies note - I rejoined Lovefilm.com recently. I was in it a while ago and found it really hard to find time to watch the DVDs they sent me. But I rejoined last week - and actually found it hard to think up movies I wanted to watch!
I'm not really sure why I rejoined actually (apart from avoiding Blockbuster's rip-off prices) because I have a ton of movies I've recorded on my BT Vision, plus I've decided to re-watch the Lord of the Rings movies in the run-up to Christmas (so that's like 20 hours).

Comica

I haven’t been to any cons for a couple of years for various reasons - but I popped along to a small press day at the Comica today. I’d planned to go all week - and then found myself busy on the day and almost didn’t go, but then my new comics chum Bridgeen ordered me to go - and I’m so glad I did!
So nice to bump into old friends and familiar faces including good old Sina Shamsavari who contributed to the O Men anthology, plus comics royalty Paul Gravett who I gave some O Men to in the hopes that he will somehow magically think I am the future of comics and will do a South Bank documentary on me.
It was quite a small venue, but it seemed quite bustle-y and nice and relatively busy. These are some of my highlights...
- I was chuffed to bump into Selina and Jay from Factor Fiction press. These guys are two of the nicest people in small press comics and they've just put together a collection of their Girly Comic in a beautiful book which I was glad to get my hands on, finally.
- Met up with Paul Rainey whose work I absolutely adore. He's just released the latest issue of his hilarious comic, There's No Time Like the Present.
- Got my hands on the fourth issue of the Whores of Mensa, which has the most gorgeous cover (see above). It's an anthology by Ellen Lindner, who I'm unfamiliar with, Jeremy Dennis who has such an amazing style (and is a lady, despite the name) and Sacha Mardou, who I met at Bristol a couple of years back and who is so cool and quirky. She was going to contribute to my first O Men anthology but was too busy (getting married, and silly things like that).
- Also nice to bump into Sean Azzopardi and Oli Smith, both who contributed to the O Men 2.5 anthology.

- Also got my hands on John Allison's 4th Scary Go Round collection, which looks really nice.
- Of course, the problem with comic cons is that you really want to have a look at people's wares, but you don't want to upset people by approaching their stall and not buying anything - so there's a lot of things I'd liked to have looked at but didn't. This looks like a cool mag - I bought it online when I got home - Last Hours.
So it was a really nice day, but cons normally are. I'd gone in with 20 quid but ended up wanting to spend more - luckily (because there no cash machines nearby) i found an extra tenner deep in my wallet.

The Return

I finally caught Sarah Michelle Gellar's The Return this weekend. I dunno if you remember it - but it got universally PANNED last year lol. You know what, I actually didn't mind it at all! It's slow-moving and not the most original movie ever, but it did kinda have the air of one of those Asian horror movies - I'm surprised it's not a remake actually. Not bad at all.

Batman Cacophony

I checked out Batman Cacophony 1 last week, mainly because Kevin Smith normally provides good value for money, and I liked that onomatopeia character. It's not bad, a good read - but it kinda doesn't end properly, the art is unbelievably amateurish and I really think the scene where the Joker offers sex to Onomatopeia is reeeaaaally strange... Surprised there's no mature readers warning on this one...

Gavin and Stacy

I'm in love! In love!!! (Twirls around)
No, not in love properly - but I'm in love with a TV show. In fact I devoured 2 series of it in a week.
Gavin and Stacy! I'd heard all the fuss but I loathe most BBC sitcoms (except for the classic ones) so I'd avoided it. Plus James Cordon irritated me a bit on Big Brother's Big Mouth.
But so many people can't be wrong, so I snapped a DVD up in a good old FOPP sale...
It's amazing. So simple and straight-forward, but the characters are laugh-out loud funny, especially Rob Brydon's partly gay Bryn and my Oscar goes to Ruth Jones as Stacy's friend. What a character - sheer genius. Everything she says and does is just so funny. Only slight prob is that the main couple are slightly dull, but they make up for it in sweetness
Aw

I'm Not a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here

What is a celebrity these days?? It's all changed hasn't it. I mean, in my day, the celebs that appeared on... what was that game show with des o'connor, and nine celebs in noughts and crosses boxes... well they were all celebs then.
So the new series of I'm A Celebrity starts and what do we get? An old Met police chief - not a celebrity! And two WAGS! Not celebrities by any stretch of the imagination. I don't even know these girls' names!!
But oh well, one of the WAGS made enough of an impression to get voted to do a 'Bushtucker trial' so she obviously made some impression on the viewers...

Beautiful

One of my absolute favourite artists is James Jean - the illustrator who provides the stunning, beautiful covers to Fables - a series I don't like whatsoever (over-written).
So I was very excited to get my grubby little hands on a beautiful new book today, which collects the first 75 of his Fables covers (plus the equally gorgeous trade collections). It comes with sketches, details, and it looks like it has only got commentaries for the trade covers, which is a shame, as I'd love to know more. Books like this are great - I really loved the Sandman dust covers book and also the Preachers book (can you believe Glenn Fabry never uses photo reference!).
So anyway, if you love good comic cover art, I really recommend this book. You can check out the covers here:
http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/fables
But I've pasted a couple of my favourites here too - a lovely sexy cover, and then a beautifully designed cover - I love the way the woman is reclining - and i actually didn't even spot the image in the mirror for a while! Oh and there's also the cover to the latest issue - quite scary and grotesque, but stunning.

Cast shot

Been working on this for a while. I really wanted to do it all in a weekend but it proved to be a bit trickier (especially when I accidentally saved it as a jpeg and had to recolour it all from scratch) – so on the whole it took about 3 or 4 weeks (but that’s like maybe half an hour a day). It’s actually an updated version of a really early O Men cast shot I did maybe 10 years ago. I’ve put both versions up – I think the version of Blackie is pretty much pasted from the original as I really liked it.
If I ever did the ‘Complete Volume One of O Men’ collection, this would be the cover (but I probably won’t do it as it’d be an 800-page brick).

What if

Have you noticed how the new What If comics are missing the point? It shouldn’t be ‘What If starring Captain America/Iron Man’ etc, it should be ‘What if...(insert cool alternate universe storyline idea here)’. Bloody comics.

The Sword

Is anyone reading The Sword? I love the Luna Bros, but they’re really testing my patience with this one. It seems like a step down from their previous work. I’m gonna stop buying the monthlies after issue 12 – hopefully it’ll read better that way.

Madame Xanadu

I thought the new Madame Xanadu Vertigo series might be worth checking out – she’s quite cool in the DCU. Jesus what is that?! It’s all about pixies and elves (as far as I can tell). Yet another Vertigo disappointment :-(

Beowulf

Finally caught Beowulf at the weekend. Not really a film I was that bothered about seeing – but it was cool! Really good – if a bit long. The ending was really gripping, what with all the scary dragon action.
Two bug-bears though – did they really not realise that a naked/fighting Beowulf would look a bit ...silly.
And at one point, Angelina Jolie’s demon character is wearing magic-created high heels! C’mon...this is 507AD!

Quantum of...

Well I just saw the new Bond...
It's all very slick, it's all quite entertaining, Daniel Craig is cool (he makes Pearce Brosnan look like Norris from Coronation Street)...
But I think they're missing a trick, really. I love Bond to bits. I mean, I've kinda seen each Bond film about 10 times over various bank holidays (I say 'kinda' because I've probably never really watched one all the way through - if you know what I mean - they're so bitty - you can just dip in and out). You see, I don't think Bond movies are about the stories - they're about the cool villains - and the even cooler sidekicks - and the set pieces. Bambi and Thumper from Diamonds are Forever... Oddjob... Jaws... Mr Wint and Mr Kidd... We haven't had anything like that for AGES.
Quantum of Solace didn't give us anything like that really, sadly. A toootally forgettable villain - possibly the weakest villain yet - and his sidekick was just a bloke in a dodgy wig. The Bond girl was lovely - really cool - but she reminded me, facially, of Maria off Coronation Street, so that kinda diminished that a bit. And the theme tunes just aren't classic any more are they. They do the job...but they're no Shirley Bassey are they.
Another thing that annoyed me - too much M and too much government stuff. The scenes between M and Bond just seem by the numbers. it's as if the writers think they're really important scenes, but they might as well but cliches down on post-it notes and pick them out randomly. And Judi Dench looked like a hunchbacked gnome in this movie.
Oh yeah, and one other thing - please - no more parkour in the next movie! I'm so bored of watching it. You could just so easily substitute the parkour thing in Casino Royale with the parkour in Italy in this one. Bond is about many things, but it sure ain't parkour.
So all in all...I do miss the Roger Moore era...

Exciting TV times!

I was avoiding the news a bit recently, because the whole recession thing is getting me down...
But now there’s so much showbiz news going on! Has the world of entertainment every been so exciting??? Who will host Countdown??? Ben Fogle is being eaten by a flesh-eating bug... And the whole Brand/Ross thing is so exciting! And now Brand has quiet the BBC! Personally, I think it’s been blown out of proportion, and Brand/Ross were just being stupid, we’re all only human. But c’mon, the girl it’s all about it a ‘Satanic Slut’! How upset can her grand-dad, Andrew Sachs get...?
But it does raise one big issue – Jonathan Ross. I used to love his show but now it’s so tired, boring, unfunny – and pretty much the only jokes are about him wasting the license fee payers’ money. Great, thanks Jonathan. (Similarly, Brucie on Strictly Come Dancing seems to find the credit crunch hilarious each week.)
But the thing is, JR gets huge ratings – but then, what do ratings count for on the BBC? They don’t bring in any advertising money. So will the BBC get rid of one of their most (allegedly) popular stars...?

Secret Invasion 7

Is Secret Invasion so lacking that even the Editor isn't reading it? Black Widow's real name is Natalia is it? Right, cos I thought it was Natasha.
A chum of mine says that Natalia is actually a posh Russian version of Natasha. So do we credit the creators with intelligence or just feel like it's yet more sloppiness.
I know which one I'm opting for

Heroes

I'm starting to understand Heroes season three a lot more now... I was worried the season was a bit too sprawling, but they're actually reining it in a little by focusing on a different villain each ep - the bank raid guys in 3, black hole guy in 5 and Doyle in 6. so not so bad...

In the meantime, Entertainment Weekly, my fave mag in the world, is giving the show astonishingly bad press with a really cruel cover pretty much putting the semi-final nail in the show's coffin. A tad unfair I think. I mean, picking, for instance, on the over-the-topness of the ep 5 black hole power - well he was only there for one episode so what's the prob? Tim Kring must be pissed off.

Well anyway, I happen to know that the Villains arc really builds to a huge climax with a load of shocks on the way.

I must say though - is this the show that Tim Kring dreamed up? When I first heard the show's pitch it sounded a bit more laidback than it is. Y'know, a bunch of normal people with powers. It sounds fun and lowkey - but it's just become this huge rollercoaster that has to be topped each week. Hard to keep that up.

Bad and Wrong

Some people like football... Some people like politics... I like reality TV... I always feel the need to apolgise for it, but I just find a lot of it fascinating, you just imagine what you'd do in the situation - and of course you can just veg out and not use your brain much to watch it...
One of the shows I watch is America's Next Top Model. I kind of got bored of it recently, it was getting very samey, but I've been catching up with the 10th season ('cycle') on Youtube, and woah, it's great reality TV - mainly because the contestants are so shameless and lacking in self-awareness.
Look at it this way. How would you want to be remembered if you were on TV? Because in ANTM, 'Fatima' seems to want to be famous for being the one who was vaginally circumcised. Yes, I'm not joking. This is how she introduces herself, this is her sob story, and this is what she wants to bring to America's attention. (Fatima is in the picture above - I don't think you can tell that she's been circumsised)
And then we have Marvita. How does she introduce herself? 'I'm Marvita and I was molested and abused.' In ANTM, to be molested and abused seems to be almost an essential quality. The more tears, the better. And every other sentence Marvita says has the key words 'I'm in therapy'. But honestly, is that really how you want to be remembered on national TV?
Over on my beloved Project Runway, a similar thing is happening, sort of. We're near the final, and suddenly the contestants are in tears because a family member has just died, and they want to win for them.
It's just cheap, cheap, cheap. Yes, of course all these things are tragic and horrible and upsetting - but I wonder how much of it all is genuine and how much of the tears we are supposed to believe (because call me a cynic, but if every ANTM contestant has been molested and if every Project Runway contestant is upset over a dead relative - well I'm sure at least one of them is lying - and that is very very naughty). It just cheapens it for people who really suffer.
And I'm not even going to talk about the utterly mental screaming that takes place every time Tyra Banks appears - its fucking ridiculous.
But I still love it all.

Horror movies...

Quarantine just appeared on surfthechannel.com... It's the remake of the AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME spanish horror movie REC... The remake isn't so bad so far... But give me REC any time.
I just started becoming a downloader by the way... Spent about 6 hours trying to download Quarantine last night and it didn't work ha ha...
Tonight I went to see Fears of the Dark - which I didn't know much about, but it looked interesting. Its a series of animated horror stories...
I wouldn't recommend it whatsoever... The stories are a bit lame and lacking... It's interesting to see Charles Burns animations on the big screen, but the animation of it all is very odd...
It's only the last story that really starts to get going... It's just about a man who finds shelter from the snow in a spooky house - it's more about the stylish animation here rather than the story - but it decides to finish just as it's getting really good!
All in all, a very damp squib indeed...
Oh and a note to the film's producers - if you're gonna subtitle a film (Fears is French), then using white subtitles on a mostly black and very white film is a BAD IDEA. If you're struggling to enjoy a film, not being able to read what's going on ain't gonna help (and in fact, I did actually give up at one point.)

Speaking of good comics...

I was in Forbidden Planet a year or so ago and I saw this book on the shelf... There was something about it, it just drew me to it. It was the third book of a series, and I couldn't find the first two, so I didn't buy it. Luckily my friend had heard me going on about it, so for Christmas he got me the first book... And I soon had to buy the remaining four books - it was that good.
The series was The Sentinels by New Yorker Rich Bernatovech and artist Luciano Vecchio.
If you like good old stories and charaters like Alpha Flight... y'know, good old-fashioned story-telling, then you'll love this. It's got a superb cast of characters who evolve and grow, and I really can't recommend it highly enough.
The reason I'm writing this is because I received the fifth book in the series today, direct from Rich. It's an Anthology book and it is so beautifully put together, it just knocks the socks off any competition on the shelves. For an 'indie' comic, the production values are so impressive, it's just gorgeous. Glossy colour pages!!!
And these two guys are ones to watch, believe me. I've seen some of their upcoming projects.
Rich is probably gonna be pissed off at me for saying this (and if he is I'll remove this, don't worry Rich!!) but he mentioned he wished he was a bit disappointed by the sales of the new Anthology - and personally, I think that is a travesty, it really deserves a huge audience.
So honestly, check it out - www.sentinelsonline.com - treat yourself for Christmas, you really won't regret it. If you're looking for something that gives you that old-fashioned comic-reading buzz - and personally i'm always looking for that - then give it a go...

My life in comics!

I copied Rol on this...

Do you remember your first comic/series?
I guess it would have been Beano or Nutty really.
But US-wise, I think it was Peter Parker… I quite liked it, but wasn’t blown away. It was issue 77, he fought the Gladiator. So then I tried again with some Byrne FFs (253 and 254) – didn’t understand them.
I persevered though and I think the next Peter Parker storyline totally grabbed me – Spidey versus Doc Ock with the Black Cat in hospital (I was so worried for Felicia lol) - and I soon became the addict I am now.

Favourite regular series right now?
Well I only consider myself to be buying a handful of titles on a regular basis… I enjoy Powers, but it’s not as good as it used to be… I really like Walking Dead, but Kirkman doesn’t half mess it up sometimes. He’s really dragged the last few issues out…
I guess the prize has to go to Fantastic Four. I love Millar’s writing, Hitch’s art is beautiful – it’s an engaging, exciting read… I can’t believe everyone’s seems to think it’s so average. It’s art, it’s a classic in the making.

Comic book character you only recently discovered/started reading?
Hmm, I dunno. I guess I read a lot more manga now. Death Note etc.
Oh wait, hang on - update! - I just bought the first two BRPD trades. I'm not a fan of Hellboy at all (as much as I love Mignola), but the supporting characters seem really interesting, esp Johan Struass (who looked shit in the 2nd movie)

If you could draw/write one character who would it be?
Without a shadow of a single doubt, Crazy Jane.
It would have been Rogue if they hadn’t made her so generic, confusing and boring over the past 15 years or so.

Are you a fan of the big multi-issue crossover extravaganzas?
I’ve actually got nothing against them. I loved Secret Wars… Civil War was a bit stupid but I loved the outcome – The Initiative.
The writing is letting down the current stuff. Final Crisis is uneventful and confusing. Secret Invasion could be amazing, but they forgot to do anything with it.
Nah, I don’t mind them, as long as they’re done well. But when are they ever done well?

Last comic book series that you dropped and why?
I guess it’d have to be the X-books, but I’ve been in and out of them for a while now. They just lack Claremont’s vision – as confusing as it was.

Favourite character?
There are so many… Vision, Valkyrie, er, lots more…
But I think at the end of the day, it’s probably Daredevil (even though I’m not reading it any more because I find the current series boring, and I’m also bored of the continuous Matt Murdock-revealed-to-be-Daredevil-in-the-press stuff).

Are you a DC or a Marvel fan?
Marvel, all the way. I just grew up on them. I like the more down to Earth nature of the characters. I will never ever for the life of me understand certain DC characters – like the JSA for instance. I don’t know who they are or why they’re still around etc etc etc.

Is Watchmen the movie going to be as good as the comic book?
I really, really want it to be… But they never are, are they. The trailer is stunning. But I’m just not gonna hold my breath.

Favourite comic book movie?
X2 comes close, but really it has to be Superman 2.

Worst comic book movie?
Oh, Batman and Robin… I almost walked out of the cinema. Although having said that, when I catch it on Channel Five I get strangely drawn in.

Character you’d like to see in a movie?
Alpha Flight!!!

Series that you’d like to see on TV?
Invisibles, Invisibles, Invisibles!!!!

The Boys

Does anyone read The Boys?
I've been reading the first couple of trades...
It's a good read, but far from perfect. It just tries too hard to shock, I think. I don't want to think of Dardevil having HIV or most of my superheroes all being 'poofs'. And it's kinda weird, because it comes across as homophobic, but they they do a really earnest gay storyline which just doesn't come across as well as I think they wanted it to.
They use the 'c' word waaaaaaay too much.
We're promised that Frenchie and Mother's Milk are really cool and have exciting origins, but there's barely any sign of it yet.
And sometimes the humour doesn't quite work - it's as if it's a teenage boy is writing it and wants his mates to laugh at the crude jokes. I did cringe a bit in places - but they just about pull it off, so to speak. I must say, I did laugh at the Tek-Guy hero who fantasised about his team-mate's arse hehe
The art is a bit amateurish in places - almost small press-y.
So all in all, it's no Preacher, but it's entertaining enough.

Heroes ep 4

Just seen Heroes s3, ep 4...
No huge spoilers, don't worry...
Wow, great, back on track after a disappointing 3rd ep (a boring bank heist and Claire and her mom in a low budget showdown).
What the show excels in is it’s ‘wow moments’, and boy we get more than enough in this episode.
Mohinder isn’t so bad in this ep - in fact I don’t mind him at all. Milo does some great stuff as Peter. Great to see Nathan fly again - yay! But it’s a bit jarring that Tracy would just carry on with her business right after what she tries to do (lol it’ll make sense when you see it).
Re Tracy - I can’t wait til we meet the third twin - Barbara. I hope they write this well - it has real potential... but sometimes the Niki/Ali Larter stuff can be a bit confusing - a bit like they are making it up as they go along... Personally, i'd looove the Ali Larter stuff to be all test tube humans, or that all of the personalities are transferable into each body (so Tracy would also be Niki, Gina, Jessica etc), but I don't think they're doing that.
I wanna know how Daphne can run in high heels though. (Also not sure she's recognisable enough yet to change her look so drastically)
And why would the psychic Haitian be able to stop Peter’s physical powers (healing) - and why would (spoiler here so finish reading now lol) Future Peter die from being shot?
(OKay, one more spoiler to follow)
Daphne and Matt? Together? Wtf? Come on!!! No way.

Empire!

Well this is something new... (Well actually it's probably not new at all)...
Passed by a newsagent and was a bit bemused as to why Bruce Lee was on the latest Empire cover...
Turns out that the new Empire, featuring the 500 greatest movies of all time, has got 100 arty covers to choose from. Cool idea, altho some of the covers are better than others.
(The Carrie cover is amazing - Empire Strikes Back, Bladerunner, Gremlins and Matrix are gorgeous too. Heath Ledger has sold out, natch)
Although I'm sure they had that Catwoman cover as the actual cover way back when?
I'm actually trying to cut down on magazines at the moment - I usually get Empire, Q and Attitude - but i just never ever read them. They sit on my coffee table gathering dust. I probably should go on Spendaholics - I buy these things, and flick thru them when I get home, but don't really go any further. It's the initial 'thrill'.
And I went off Q when it became clear they hate my lovely, talented, beautiful wife Tori Amos.
I think I'll go for this issue though - and maybe Q if they have Kings of Leon in it, who I have grown to love.

But of course the problem is now - I want the Enter the dragon cover - and now having seen it once, I probably won't see it again!!!

O Men

See, look - O Men pages. It's coming along...
Slowly...

Heroes

Just caught Heroes season 3 episode 2 on the mighty surfthechannel website…
I’ve read a lot about what happens this season and I’ve discussed it in previous posts, but it’s obviously a lot different when you see the final version (especially when a lot changes between the outlines I read to the final version).
So without too many spoilers, some thoughts:
Claire - woah, do the writers hate her or something? She’s going through some brutal things and I think maybe it’s a bit too much… A bit too violent, might put off some viewers.
Claire and Peter - these two have so much chemistry. Such a shame they’re now related and can’t get it on - what was the point of that???? It’s not as if Claire and Nathan interact much. What a waste.
Mohinder - still can’t act. Embarrassing. Although he still acts Dania Ramirez off the screen.
Ali Larter - she has possibly the most confusing character ever lol! I wish they’d gone in a different direction than what they’ve done, it’s a shame. But we’ll see how it pans out. I was well up for a Crazy Jane-type character, but I don't think it's gonna happen.
Ando and Hiro - back to being good again. Such good chemistry.
Villains scene - soooo glad they included the awesome villains dream sequence at the start of episode two. Niki/Knox/Adam/Maury - so good.
Elle - while some of the new season two characters weren’t so good - and one by one they seem to be getting written out (although it’s such a shame they seem to have given up on Monica and Micah - an episode for them would be so cool) - Elle is just superb, and I think a lot of it is probably down to the talent of Kristen bell.
Sylar - a great character, but maybe less is more? We might be seeing maybe too much of him.
Too much going on - it’s the classic case. A show builds and builds and now it’s hitting the ground running - but maybe there’s too much happening. I’m concerned the show doesn’t have any breathing space. Look at season one’s Company Man - a small-scale episode, featuring a handful of characters, and it worked really well. They need to think about doing more of those sorts of episodes.
The new future-painting guy - Brilliant! Funny so far. The new Hiro maybe?

Escape from Marvel Limbo!

Jocasta and Valkyrie are back!!!!!!!!
YAY!!!!
Two of the finest examples of great Marvel female characters seem to have escaped Marvel Limbo.
Jocasta is in the new Initiative issue. She doesn't do much except have shiny boobs.
Valkyrie is apparently in the new She-Liberators - or something like that. Ah Val. How I love her. I would marry Valkyrie. She went through so much in New Defenders, helping that moody old Moondragon.
If i was Joe Quesada (What If...?) I would so put Val into the Avengers - but give her a redesign, let her hair down, get rid of the silly metal boobs. They've already done it in the Ultimates, and Avengers really does need a good stand-out female character. I mean look at the sitch if this Avengers movie happens - it's all gonna be blokes - Wasp is a bit too weak, Ms Marvel is too Marvel, She Hulk is too Hulk...
Make Mine Valkyrie haha
(Martin loses his sanity)

FF

I still can't believe i'm the only one who's loving the new FF comic!!!
Every single person I bump into in the streets, I say to them 'isn't FF the best comic at the moment' and they just stare nervously and go 'erm... it's okay'.
Okay???? Okay???? It's fucking amazing!
Latest issue finally lets us know who the 'New Defenders' are and who the kids' mysterious new nanny is - ooooooooh!
excellent stuff with breathtaking art.

Powers

Is it just me or has Powers been a bit of a dull read ever since it came to Marvel? It lacks the structure it once had and the Deanna story dragged on for waaaaaaaaaaay too long.
(Can you tell I'm having a comic weekend and I'm moaning a lot lol)

San Fran

When I first heard that they were going to relocate the Xmen to San Fran, it seemed like a good idea, quite fresh.
Oh dear. It just seems like another nail in the coffin really. It just doesn't feel right.
The XBooks are a mess at the moment. X-Factor seems like a sprawling, boring mess. X-Force has a strong concept but is a bit wishy washy and all over the place. Let's not even bother talking about Exiles (cliffhanger to issue one: Rogue falls over). Astonishing is popular with my chums, but I find it over-written and the art is too muddy.
And what the f is going on in Xmen Legacy? As a fan of 20+ years, I am so BORED of this already, and the boring art doesn't help. Over in the other Xmen title, and Greg Land's art really doesn't work. If I see one more over-beaming woman's face I'll just rip my comic up.
I was reading the new Xmen Legacy and they've got a picture from the Xmen when they were in teh Australian outback period - and this is what got me thinking. I mean, the OUtback days were by no means perfect - I'm not entirely sure Claremont knew what he was doing - but it was still compelling. So it just goes to show that a change of location can work, kind of, you just have to back it up with good stories. And who's even in the Xmen at the moment? It seems all over the place. REstore the status quo, redefine the teams, bring back Prof X properly, make it a much stronger concept than it is at the moment. It's just all over the place - I was reading issue 501, thinking who's that girl - Rogue? And you only find out later that it's Karma. Rubbish!
And then bring the Reavers into it to attack Greg Land and do to him what they did to Wolverine all that time ago...

I did some O Men today

Yes it's true - not a dream, not a hoax, I did some O Men today...
Not much... Maybe half a page - but it's more than I've done in a while...
The issue had been going so well, but then those pesky Spandex kids came along...

Music

Is it me or is music improving a little bit? I think I'm vaguely liking some chart music for the first time in a decade or so... Bands might be becoming interesting again...
I have to admit, I buy a scandalous amount of music - now that I buy itunes instead of CDs, it's too damn easy... I think i might have bought about 10 albums so far this month (following the regular monthly vow not to buy any new albums at all). But even further, instead of popping everything on Shuffle, I'm actually listening to my new stuff properly, from start to finish... The new Joan Osborne album (which is of the same good quality as her first album, Relish, after about 4 or 5 very tepid albums), Kings of Leon (nice to hear him not mumbling on the new album), and Jenny Lewis...
A big shout-out to Jenny Lewis... I'm not a huge fan of Rilo Kiley - I found their first few albums a bit too twee... but their last album Under the Backlight was just pure quality. Her first solo album was good - but this new one is astonishing, absolutely love it. I don't even mind Elvis Costello on one of the songs, and I normally loathe him...
(And of course I cracked and bought a couple of Tori 'bootleg' itunes albums, hehe)

My Batman theory...

I haven't told you my theory have I...
No one agrees with me...
But you know in Dark Knight how rachel gets blown up (i'm sure you've all seen it) - well we never see the body...
so i don't think she's dead - i know it's far-fetched but this is a comic book movie we're talking about...
I reckon she got blown free - and I think she could be the new Catwoman! she'd be so cool. maggie gyllenhall is kind of sexy in that way.
throw in harley quinn (making up for the loss of the Joker) and poison ivy (how cool would it be if she wasn't all powered up, but just was kind of noir-y and used the poison of plants to kill) and there we have it! Batman 3.

Spandexxxxxxxxxx

Ha ha look - couldn't resist... My li'l Skrull homage...
Also, I've been working on this cast shot - ALL DAY!!! - and still haven't finished, but here's a sneak peek...

Strictly

It must be one of the coolest jobs in TV - selecting the contestants for Strictly Come Dancing...
So how did they come up with this motley crew???
Seriously, this show just gets bigger and bigger, and they should be inviting a wishlist to sign up, but this lot are a bunch of z-listers!
3 Eastenders (jesse wallace's short hair makes her look fat!), the obligatory BBC drama guy, the obligatory BBC entertainment show gal, several much older people who obviously aren't going to go far so what's the point?
the only innovative choices really are Gary Rhodes and Heather Small, Jodie Kidd too. These people are outside the box.
Can't staaand Lisa Snowden and I hope she goes soon.
And Bruno needs to stop being bitchy for bitchiness' sake...
i'd love to see people like Richard Madely...Vernon Kaye...
And I'm not even a massive STrictly show! I tend to watch it when I go home to see my parents, and I really enjoy it, but I don't really bother when I'm on my own...
Ooh, almost time for X-Factor... Now there's a show... Has me in tears... Cheryl is great! Danni is so redundant now...

Spandexxxxxx

I am so, SO excited about Spandex! I have been working on it a bit over the last week or so. So excited... Let me give you some teasers...
- The characters – I love the characters. They’re just so cool. And I finally named one of the ones I was stuck on (‘Prowler’, formerly Kindred or Unity) so I feel it’s quite complete now. I’m in love with Indigo, such a beautiful personality, and wait til you meet Liberty properly.
- I don’t think anyone’s done anything like it. It’s going to be a collection, five issues, but it’s not issues 1 to 5, it’s issue 1, then 4, then 8. You get to see the covers of the ‘missing’ issues and fill in the blanks yourself!
- I’m working really hard on the art. I’m even re-drawing pages if need be, which I never normally do. As far as I’m normally concerned, the story is what it is, so if I do an O Men page for example, I’ll stick with it.
- It’s so cheeky! There are so many tongue-in-cheek moments, although it’s not overly camp or anything.
- It may offend. Yeah, there are a few things I wasn’t too sure about including, but what the fuck. It is what it is!
Soooo excited...

Typo

Hehe let me tell you about a mistake I almost made at work this week.
I was writing a feature on the Heroes online comic, and I added a link to the site at the end of it. Except I'd been researching trips to Ireland online at the time, and I'd pasted the link to ticket info to Ireland via Ryan Air. Oooops. I think my readers might have got confused - glad I caught it!

Heroes season three

So Heroes season three starts next week in the US... I’m worried! I thought the first ep was great – but there are some samey elements to it – another big explosion to contend with, future stuff... But the biggest worry is the reaction of a couple of workmates – they weren’t impressed. I mean, in my opinion, this isn’t season two – it’s a league above... I remember the reaction to the first season two episode - it was a bit 'um, was that it?'. i really thought this was so much better!
But we’ll just have to see. I’m kinda worried it might be a bit samey, there are quite a lot of family revelations throughout – I dunno if it’s giving itself room to breathe...
I guess it depends on how it's shot and how it looks. There's plenty of story and plenty of shocks packed in, definitely. Fingers crossed...

Bronze tiger

For some reason, I want to declare my love for the DC character Bronze Tiger. He’s such a cool character.
And while I’m at it, let me say how much I hate The Demon. What a load of rubbish. I can’t be arsed reading all his poetry! Every time he turned up in Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, I shuddered with displeasure. He sooo bogged down that run.

New stories, same old, same old

I excitedly snapped up the new Love and Rockets this week. I’d given up on the series a couple of years ago, because it just seemed never-ending, and I’d totally lost interest. They’ve now gone annual – and it’s...not good. Instead of creating a jumping-on point, we get a bunch of really dumb and confusing stories. There’s no Hopey (not good enough for once a year!), no Palomar...
Jaime and Gilbert are so, so good (Jaime is one of my fave artists of all time) – I just wish they’d do something completely different now...

Project runway australia

Well, my beloved Project Runway Australia finished this week. It’s kept me sane and happy for the past 3 months and I will love it. The contestants were amazing, so funny and so interesting, and it got to the stage where I didn’t want any of them to get eliminated. Roll on, season two. If you wanna check it out, it’s all on Youtube. If you have any interest in engaging reality shows (yes, engaging!) check it out, you won’t regret it!
The finale was great, with a cast reunion, gay Leigh was the funniest person ever to appear in Fashion Week, and seeing the much-criticised-for-being-too-wooden-but-I-loved-her presenter (pictured) cry when she announced the winner was just sooo moving!
I've got to say too - the show inspires me so much. The amount of creativity and hard work - it just makes me want to pull my finger out and get on with Spandex and O Men all the time.

Mobile phones

I have a hard time with mobiles...
I never really wanted one – the thought of being reach-able at all times chilled me to the bone – but of course you can choose to ignore it if you want. So I’m quite happy with mine and it is useful.
I do have a severe problem with them though – in the way that if you go out with a friend or on a date, I absolutely lose my wrag when the person I’m with is more pre-occupied with their phone than they are with me! And no it’s not because I’m boring, it’s because they’re rude.
And if anyone ever puts me on hold as another call comes thru to them, I will slam my phone down in a rage (well not literally, just, you know, turn it off). This happened with me when I used to phone someone I was dating recently – I was not a happy bunny!!!!!!! How can they even do it anyway? If I’m on my phone and someone beeps through, I just check it afterwards! If I ever do check, I inevitably press the wrong button and accidentally turn the phone off lol.
Anyway – rude, rude, RUDE!

Avengers

It’s nice every now and then to sit down and read a run of comics… I did it this week with New Avengers. Good old Bendis. Whenever I review a comic of his, I just lay into him and people are shocked by my attacks - it’s as if he’s attacked my family or something - but I just think he’s a very talented guy and he shouldn’t get so sloppy sometimes.
I did enjoy reading the Avengers stuff, but it’s so flawed…
First up, isn’t it funny how comics have changed. Back in the day, the new team would have been set up by the end of issue one. Not so much with Bendis, Wolvy doesn’t appear til issue 5 or so, Sentry’s in and out like a jack in the box…
Okay, let’s look at some fuck-ups…
- Daredevil - if you want him on the team, get him on the team! He’d be cool! But no, he teases us in the first arc, and then there’s the sham that is the Ronin storyline - c’mon, Ronin is a man, Echo does not look like a man!!! Listen, it’s a great idea to have DD on the team as Ronin (surely the original plan), so just do it…!
- The Sentry - what a dull character - I wish Marvel would stop trying to force him down our throats… And the early arc on him is so dull - plus why bring in all those other heroes? Plus Emma Frost? I mean, I’m all for Emma, but this is the Avengers. And then he just disappears for a few issues lol…
- Too many crossovers - If you read the Avengers run on its own, it’s so funny to see Spidey change his costume every other issue with no explanation, and the team changing (because of the events in another book, Civil War). Not good…
- The team: Okay, I’m with this here - JLA is composed of DC’s biggest icons, so Marvel’s Avengers should do the same. It’s great to see Wolvy and Spidey on board, and they so should bring Storm over to the Avengers (and pop Wanda with the X-Men) because Ororo is wasted at the moment in the X-books… But then I’m not sure about the new line-up of New Avengers - the street-level guys… C’mon, could these guys really take on Galactus?
- Spider-Woman - the character with the most convoluted origin ever, just got a whole lot more confusing. Whose side is she on, when did she become a Skrull, and does her Skrullness make it a total waste of money to have bought some of those issues? I was looking forward to her new series, but now I fear it…
- Crossover issues - soooo annoying and too lightweight. That Sentry issue - boy, that‘s 2 quid I‘ll never get back…
- Bendis’ writing - he’s good, I’m a fan, but sometimes it doesn’t work. The banter is great - Spidey and Luke Cage have some great one-liners - but sometimes you wonder if it’s appropriate for the Avengers. It kinda depowers them a bit, brings them down a level. Plus, c’mon, it took them 2 issues to take down the Wrecker? Please. These guys aren’t amateurs.
And then there’s another aspect of the writing - the Hand/Elektra and Hood arcs are in some places incomprehensible. I don’t know if the guy took too much on - but way too many time-jumps in the storytelling.
Plus the Collective storyline - not good, so confusing… What the hell did Xorn have to do with it. Mike Deodato’s confusing art didn’t help…
And finally, too many bloopers… Like one issue, Iron Man struggling to translate Japanese from some attacking Ninjas, and in a couple of issues’ time he mentions he has a universal translator in his suit… Which leads me to…
- And finally, didja get the Spider-Woman Skrull issue recently - the one with the flashbacks? Showing Spider-Woman after she first put her costume back on? Um, well I don’t know who edited this, but Wolverine is in the flashback issue - but he hadn’t actually joined the team at that point. Ouch… Surely between Bendis, the artist and the Editor, someone could have spotted this cock-up…
So all in all - well people think I hate Bendis. No way, I’m all for innovation, and I’d rather be challenged by a comic than read something bland… I just don’t understand why he fucks it up so badly sometimes…

I want my money back

Civil War was okay... The actual series itself was STUPID, but I like the Initiative idea...
But now I've come to realise what everyone who's got a downer on big crossovers has been telling me - Secret Invasion is really bad. I just read Issue 6...and...
NOTHING
HAPPENS...
(AGAIN)
In fact, nothing has happened really since that ship of heroes crash-landed in the Savage Land - and boy did that drag on.
I mean, c'mon, look at the 'previously' page of issue 6 - I like the way they show the cast of characters and put the Skrull characters in a green box... but out of 24 characters on teh issue 6 page, how many are in a green box? A grand total of ...2. Wow, Marvel/Bendis, try not to blow my socks off too much... (In fact, that should be 3, but they missed the green box off Captain Marvel, d'oh).
We wanna see big Skrull reveals, not a never-ending sea of boring super skrulls to battle. 'He loves you' shoulda been George Bush, not God! Now there's a revelation!
And as for issue 6 itself - why did the Hood's Syndicate suddenly join the heroes, without any comment? Why are the last 4 pages just boring fight double page spreads? How on earth is Bendis getting away with this?????? What is the point of all these Skrull double-life reveals, if they only go back a few months? would be so much more exciting if they had been there for years. And wouldn't it be interesting if the Skrulls had a huge plan in place - which they've actually been working on for years and years - instead of just a boring old invasion.
I keep expecting my beloved diamondback to get killed at any moment - she's been in every issue, she's expendable, and who knows, maybe she'll be the 'major death' in the series, just like Black Goliath was.... um.
But all in all, how fucking stupid - set yourself up as a huge crossover - and then present a damp squib. Way to go.
Bendis, you might just redeem yourself if you bring back Storm and Alpha Flight (ie, the character-raped Storm that we've known and not loved over the past decade or so, and my darling Canadian superteam who were so cruelly killed off recently). That'd do me.

The Strangers

Just got in from seeing The Strangers... (spoilers follow, but to be honest, this isn't the most spoil-y film, really, you just go and see it for the scares)
Not a great deal to it - lots of bumps and bangs... Scott Speedman goes missing in the movie... Liv Tyler's too good for something like this...
But if I was stuck in a house surrounded by people terrorising me, I think I'd just get pissed off and stop being so scared, and I'd prob try and beat the living crap out of them.
One strange thing about this film - if you've read the slightest thing about it or even seen the trailer, there are soooo many spoilers and to be honest, pretty much all the scary bits are actually in the trailer. Even the spoil-y pic above is visible in most mags and websites. Even the tagline - 'why are you doing this to us', 'because you were in' - is in the trailer?!!??!!!!!
Not a bad movie, but not amazing (although I did have my hands in front of my eyes for most of it)
6 out of 10!

Frontier(s)

Well this movie crept up on me unawares. Apparently it's by the creators of Switchblade Romance - one of my all time fave films, so i was excited about seeing it.
Oh dear.
It's just nasty and has got no redeeming features at all. Switchblade is gory, but this one's just ridiculous. I don't want to see someone's Achille's Tendon getting cut off thank you, or someone being hung upside-down by hooks through the feet!
The story follows a group of 'hoodlums' who get mixed up with a Texas Chainsaw Massacre type family and end up fighting for their lives (not very successfully).
Maybe they're trying to repeat the success of Switchblade, but here the heroine is nowhere near as good as the main star of SR, as she just seems to spend most of her time stumbling around as if she's just pooed herself (well she probably has, considering all the violence she's gone through).
Thumbs down, I'm afraid!

Being ill is BORING

Well I've just been signed off work for my second week with this viral infection.
It's so so boring. Honestly, when I'm at work, all I do is yearn to be at home, and now I'm here it's just zzzzzzzzz. Cos I'm not well, I don't feel like reading or drawing or anything!
I'm starting to perk up a bit now, and forced myself to read Wolverine Enemy of the State and Young Avengers 1-6.
I seem to remember YOung Avengers being really popular - I thought it was okay, but not very dynamic. Lovely art. But what about the character names! Wiccan is hardly earth-shattering. Hulkling is the worst name ever! What about Incredible or Smash instead? Or Rage (kill off the other Rage dude, he's crap). And Stature??? OUuuuch!!! Isn't there a better name than that???
But it's good to see some new characters out there, because comics do need to keep inventing strong new characters.

Also been watching season one of Millennium. Hehe it's quite funny - way too grim, and unintentionally gay in places...

Also on my list is the Daredevil Frank Miller/Elektra issues and the Star Wars movies... I will defeat boredom!!!

Sandman poster

Ah this takes me back...
DC have released a Sandman poster featuring all the major characters drawn by the series' major artists. Wow, so good to see Dean Ormston back in action with Rose Walker, plus seeing Teddy Kristiansen, Jill Thompson and Marc Hempel in one place makes me yearn for those classic Vertigo days...

Ill again!

Well I'm ill again - this time it's a viral infection and I'm off work for at least a week. Ho hum, bored already... Sadly no energy to draw - but at least it's a good way to lose weight!

Heroes season 3

Just been lucky enough to see a preview of the first season three Heroes episode...
Wow...
I won't spoil anything whatsoever, don't worry (I can't anyway)...
But the quality just drips off it... So much happens...
I mean, I remember seeing the first season two episode, which only really had one exciting scene (between Hiro's dad and Peter's mom), and we all just assumed it would get better...
But this one - yeah, it's good. Some great scenes with Hiro, Claire, Sylar... Even Matt...
It actually reminded me of Twin Peaks in its moodiness and sinister nature, and it's also really really shocking and like a horror movie in places.
The effect are amazing too, and the music is gorgeous - if it keeps this tone, then we're onto a winner...
I can't really criticise it - the only criticism may be Mohinder's acting - which is a bit wooden - but it looks like he has a fun storyline this year.

Liar Liar

I seem to have begun a strange habit recently of...lying!!! Not horrible lies, but really stupid lies!
The other day, everyone in my house went up to the top floor to see the guy's new hatch and roof garden. So far so good. eveyone goes up the ladder - and suddenly I freeze halfway up! I'm not scared of heights, but i do have a thing about ladders, especially getting down onto one. So I made my excuses and said I had a terrible fear of heights (a lie). So of course this all backfired when everyone swooped around me to check I was okay, and asked tons of questions about my fear of heights ('it's been all my life') etc... Oh dear... I thought it was never gonna end.
And then just this morning, I was a the dentists and it happened again. Lies! You see, I have problems with my gums, and they'd got into a bit of a state again, and I was a bit embarrassed about them, so I just said 'Oh i'm sorry, I went travelling for a while, and you know what it's like when you travel...' (a lie). But obviously I didn't expect the dentist to ask me where I went to ('Egypt'?!!! WEll I'm going to Egypt in a month's time!), what it was like, where my tan was, oh god, again, it was endlesss...
Why do I do it to myself...

Big Brother...

Speaking of reality TV...
So yeah, I've said I always liked Big Brother, and I only missed one episode in the first 4 years or so! But I've got a bit bored of the gimmicks etc which alllways backfire, plus the fact that it goes on for faaaaaaaaaaaar too long. lazy Mo and cocky Rex are endearing for the first few weeks - but after 3 months? Not so much.
Heh, so they just did this stunt that totally backfired... They've been building tonight up soooo much, and so tonight they got each person to nominate in front of everyone, live (which was quite fun), and then ...they just do a Goldenballs rip-off. Is that it??? how embarassing!! Plus...the whole point of Goldenballs is that the contestants don't know each other from Adam, so they can totally screw them over without any worries - but here these guys have known each other for months - so they ain't gonna screw each other over.
Tsk, silly Big Bro.

Wendy Pepper

I’m still loving Project Runway Australia, although it’s gone a little bit flat without two of the most fascinating contestants, Mark and Helen.
I also caught up with season one of the US show, which I’ve never seen. Wow…
I mean, I know a lot of people look down on reality TV shows, but, and don’t laugh, I just find the psychology so interesting!
You see, there’s Wendy Pepper, a PR contestant. She’s 40, slightly overweight and awkward, but very confident. She’s a mum too - and - well this might be her main problem - she‘s not hugely talented. She starts off lovely, being mumsy to all the contestants and models - and all the forums say she’s pure evil. And it is actually so interesting to see her descent into evil! She just suddenly bursts into competitiveness, starts slagging off the other contestants first behind their backs of course, but then on the runway itself, in front of everyone, and then becomes this complete outcast, which is just painful to watch, because you’re actually not sure you love her or loathe her. At one point, she says to the camera how much she enjoys seeing her enemies squirm, which is so mean, and so stupid really if you consider that her enemies are all going to see it. By the final episodes, she’s not talking to anyone, except to lash out when someone defaces a photo of her daughter (which she may have defaced herself), and in the finale, no one minces words, especially in a huuuuge barney between the finalists. But she handles herself fairly well - in the reunion show, when accusations are flung around left, right and centre, about her, she just keeps fairly shtum and lets English soak Vanessa make an utter tit of herself instead.
Great, great show - I wish everyone would watch it!