Tuesday 28 September 2010

On the Pulse!

Action Ash
Well first up, it seems that Scott Snyder, scribe of American Vampire, will be starting a run on Detective Comics in November. The bad guys will be waiting for that one, Mr Snyder.

Marvel have released previews for the first two issues of their new superhero crossover epic, Chaos War. Koi Pham is on scribble duty and it is looking pretty nifty. For instance, check out this awesome depiction of Galactus. Click on it to link to the preview of Chaos War #2.

Last but not least: Aint it typical, that now I've decided to give up on Secret Avengers they go and put Shang Chi in the line up. That's right folks, issue 6 will see the fist throwing, fast kicking chinaman back in action as the new addition to the roster. I'm thinking about picking it up again solely for this reason.

That's it for now, see you in the funny pages. \m/

Saturday 25 September 2010

It Came From The Bargain Bin!

Valhallahan
I love giving to charity, particularly when I get a stack of comic books in return. With that in mind, I went to Oxfam in the leafy suburb of Hertford to ransack their rather tasty collection of second hand comic books and collected this funny little pile of picture books for the combined price of £2.94. Nice.
Here's what I got and why.

Icon #1 - I've always had a soft spot for the Milestone characters but apparently I didn't actually buy many of the comics (apologies to Dwayne McDuffie) and the books I did buy in my childhood seem to have largely disappeared, so I always pick up issues when I see them on the cheap. Icon was Milestone's sort-of-Superman character, but as with all of the Milestone characters, it's not quite that simple... Incidentally, the cover pictured here (that I nicked off the internet) is not the same as the copy I bought, I didn't realise they did alternate covers.

Marvel Two-In-One #86 - I'm one of those fans that really likes the thing in theory, but I rarely buy any books with him in. I bought this purely for the awesome cover image of The Thing and Sandman chilling in a pub. Good times. I'm actually amazed that this monthly book which featured various heroes teaming up with The Fantastic Four's The Thing (that's a lot of 'The's) lasted as long as it did, no way a title like that would make it to 86 issues in today's market. This Issue came out in 1982 - the year before I was born, fact fans!

The Shadowmen #2 - I'd never heard of this series before, it came out in 1990 and is written by some guy called Mark Millar. Never hear of him. Anyway the art is so bleak and "Adult Comics" that Action Ash will laugh in my face when he sees it. Love it, and from the looks of it, the story is about miserable people looking miserable. Get in!



Sebastian O #1 & 2 - This is an oddball, steampunk-y victoriana tale from Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell I've often glanced at this on the shelves but stopped short of buying it, but two of the three issues for 50p an issue was an offer I couldn't refuse. I'll let you know if it was worth it.




Satan's Six #1 - This really looks like some kind of idiot bastard son of a comic, but I just couldn't resist the creative team involved. The pencils for most of the book are by Jack King Kirby, and he's inked by Frank Miller, Todd McFarlane and Steve Ditko. Yes, you heard that right. Sadly there are a lot of awful looking filler pages by some 90s hack joining the dots. This is truly an odd fish. Published by Topps.

What I Got and Why 24/09/10

Valhallahan
Well hush my mouth! It turns out that far from being a slow week, I returned from Orbital with rather a stack (via a very sweaty gig at the 100 Club from which I'm still recovering). Sadly said magnificently stocked outlet didn't have what I said I'd pick up for Action Ash leading to a text I hope no one sees out of context: "I couldn't get Morning Glories for you today Ash". Anyway brothers and sisters, on to the books...

CBGB OMFUG #2 & 3 - As I said before, I wasn't blown away by the first issue of this anthology series based on the theme of the eponymous New York club, but I'm interested/pretentious enough to persevere in the hopes of something magical happening. Watch this space. Also of note, one of the stories written by Anna Matronic of Scissor Sisters fame.

Vertigo Verite: Hell Eternal - I seem physically incapable of leaving Orbital without rooting through the Vertigo back issues, and today was no different. This is a one off written by Jamie Delano, the original Hellblazer writer, and drawn by Sean Phillips, industry superstar and 2badguys love object. Hell Eternal is printed under the same "Verite" banner as Girl and I loved the hell out of that, so I figured I'd give this a try. I've no fucking clue what it's about.

The Walking Dead #77 - I really rate this book. If you haven't done so already, you should read the first trade. Just do it. Even if it's just so you can tell your friends you prefer the original when the TV series starts next month. You won't regret it!

The Bulletproof Coffin #4 - I spoke about this the other day, so I'll just say that at a glance this issue seems to be living up to expectations. Top Hole!

DV8: Gods and Monsters #6 - I'm in it for the duration now, and hopefully "In this issue, Something Happens!" Another great cover from Fiona Staples as well, her covers have been the highlight of the series for me.

Streets of Gotham #16 - This one's fallen into my "on probation" list, I think because the last few issues haven't gripped me that much. It's still a good book, don't get me wrong; I love the extended world of Batman's allies and rogues, and this series definitely delivers, but I might just have read too much of it now.

Invincible Vol 13: Growing Pains - As Ash was saying the other week, this is superhero comics at it's finest and all in one (mostly) self-contained series. In this volume we have action galore as Invincible is run ragged and the stage is set for the upcoming Viltrumite War! My only problem with is now I have to wait six months for the next trade or start buying single issues to see what happens next. Damn you Kirkman, 2 fine books in one week.

What I dropped and Why
Secret Avengers #5 - It's not that this is bad comics, I just don't find myself needing to pick up the new issue. The first story arc of this blockbuster, big-screen superheroics series was good n'all, but I just lost interest. It could be a product of my dwindling interest in the Marvel Universe, or just that having read as many Marvel superhero comics as I have, I just feel I've seen it all before. Either way, adios Secret Avengers I won't see you in the funny pages.

*I also shaved all my hair off this week, but you're probably not interested in that.

Friday 24 September 2010

CAN YOU COUNT SUCKERS?...

Action Ash
...because if you can, you may have noticed the growing number of double page spreads dedicated to assembling members of a gang or organisation, in Marvel comics at the moment. I know this sounds a bit tenuous, but let's take a look shall we. (click image to enlarge)

Shadowland: Powerman #2
Taskmaster#1


X-Force: Sex and Violence #2


I suppose it's a quick and easy way of introducing a number of characters (a lot of them b or c-listers in these cases) in to a story without having to go too deep into who they are. The first example cleverly uses it as a way to sneak in a reference to the warriors (one of my favourite films) which is further evidence that Van Lente is awesome. I must point out that the first two examples are both written by Van Lente, so that says something. However, Sex and Violence came out first, therefore Kyle and Yost seem to be the originators of this trend.

Although I like the gang assembly scenes, I can see them becoming over used, much like
quotes from The Mighty Boosh. Kept to a minimum they could remain a fun and or dramatic way of introducing characters into a story.

CAN YOU DIG IT!?

Shadowland: Powerman


Action Ash
I am generally quite positive about the comic book industry, but I thought I'd join in with Valhallahan's Positivity week anyway, to talk about the comics I've enjoyed in recent times.

Being a Luke Cage fan I was excited when I heard about the new Powerman character, as some of you may remember, and I must say it did not disappoint. Well it hasn't yet anyway. Sweet Christmas! I am loving the this series. The first two issues have been great, with references to Luke Cage's past and the cameos in issue 2, this mini series has been an enjoyable tribute to the legacy of Luke Cage. Although I am upset that nobody has been called, nor called anyone, a turkey. I think all this needs is a bit more jive and street talk to sweeten the deal.

Even so, this is a brilliant introduction to a new character, and one that I hope will stick around. The new Powerman is different from Cage, a fresh new take on the "Hero for Hire" deal. The writing is yet another example of Van Lente's wit and extreme competence in the realm of satisfying storytelling, with amazing action sequences. Asrar's art suits the tone well, not taking itself too seriously but could be a little better in some places.

Van lente my brother, you keep this up and you gon' have plenty of stash in yo' slide. Ya dig!

Wednesday 22 September 2010

RIP Wildstorm 1992-2010

Valhallahan
Founded in 1992, Wildstorm was the Jim Lee and chums' sixth of the original Image partnership, and as of 2010 DC have finally taken the poor old dog round the back of the shed, shotgun in hand. That noise you hear is a resounding "meh" from Action Ash and a large percentage of the comic book buying public, but personally I'm a bit sad to see it go. Strangely Wildstorm universe was one of my lasting comic book love affairs. I had nearly everything they produced in the '90s, I was genuinely smitten. They had by far the best artists in the business at the time, many of today’s superstars got their big breaks in Wildstorm; John Cassaday, Brian Hitch, Adam Hughes, J Scott Campbell, Humberto Ramos, Ed McGuinness, Adam Warren, Travest Charest, Dustin Ngyuen, Tom Raney, Cully Hamner... And on the writing side they had Warren Ellis, Ed Brubaker, Brian K Vaughan, Alan Moore (for a bit) and... er... Brandon Choi? Did I say Warren Ellis already? It wasn't that bad, but the draw was for the most part style over substance, for me at least.

Eventually the second generation of artists were a bit of a let down and some of the reboots were downright shocking (Al Rio's DV8 art is some of the most inappropriate art I've seen in any book, and Cedric Nocon's Wetworks issues some of the most unrelentingly shit). There still remained a strong stable of characters and some really cracking runs, gems like Planetary, Sleeper, Point Blank, the first year of DV8, the Gary Frank/John Arcudi Gen13 run, The Gen13/The Maxx crossover, the Last years of Stormwatch that lead to the first year of the Authority, Aaron Wiessenfeld’s art in Team 7 and Deathblow Wolverine, Tim Sale's in the first year of Deathblow's solo title... those are few off the top of my head. Guilty pleasures like the entire run of Wetworks, which was a gold-plated black-ops team vs vampires vs werewolves vs corrupt secret agents vs aliens vs pretty much any other monster you can aim an RPG at before any of that was overplayed. I don’t know how good they'll be to reread now, and I can't imagine anyone even remembering the existence of things like Savant Guard or Hazard now, let alone in years to come, but I loved that shit when I was 15.

The last decade has been a bumpy one for Wildstorm, after the move to DC, its fully realised superhero universe, was reduced to a smattering of occasionally critically acclaimed, but seldom read series. Some high profile relaunches failed due to poor sales and delays, and everyone seemed to just give up. I genuinely can’t remember anyone talking about new Wildstorm books since Sleeper and Ex Machina came out (2003 and 2004 respectively) and Ex Machina had no connection to the WsU. By the late '00s Wildstorm seemed to comprise of a huge amount of franchise tie-ins for video games and the like and a few of the old flagship titles popping up every once in a while having been rebooted again. It really was a shadow of it’s former self. The last hurrah of Wildstorm was to completely devastate their version of earth and set all their stories in a post apocalyptic wasteland. Really. This last Hurrah, this Worldstorm, and the post disaster, post apocalyptic continuity rebooted Wildstorm U seem to have been in vain, as there were about seven people reading those books at the end; the readership breakdown I think was that two were just buying to review them, one was a Grifter completist and the others were the mums of the books' creators. Shame really, even I didn't bother, and I'm a Dingo completist.

As this is comic books, death is of course not the end, DC have even announced that the Wildstorm characters will be folded into the DC Universe at some point down the line, like Captain Marvel and many other characters from now defunct publishers have been over the years. As of Countdown (or 52? I dunno I don’t read that nonsense) the Wildstorm Universe is officially in the DC Multiverse, so it's not like they had a rigid distinction anymore. The question remains though; will they become DC stalwards like the Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel and The Question, or forgotten inserts like Icon and the vast majority of Milestone's largely underrated pantheon?

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Walking Wounded

"The House That Dripped War"

Story By Chris Denton

Art by Steven Denton

Valhallahan
I picked up Walking Wounded while in the grip of a buying frenzy. Me and Action Ash were at a Comic Exhibition (Con? Festival? I don't know what you'd call it, leave me alone) quite a while ago, but much like 12 Hour Shift, that I bought at the same time, I've only got around to reading it recently. My plan on the day was to buy a shit tonne of self published comics to review for the site, but for the most part I wasn't that impressed and rather than rip them apart on the blog, or just do a puff piece out of politeness they just ended up filed under "Shit I might Read At Some Point" on the floor next to my bed. It's a pretty big pile.

Any road, I finally read WW this week and I was very pleasantly surprised. It's a series of rip-roaring war yarns held together in places by scenes of Martian historians in the year 3174, so far so mental. The artwork is strong, it's very reminiscent of the old Combat magazines or some such Boy's Own adventure magazine. What sets this apart is the tongue in cheek charm of it all and the extreme comic book violence betwixt the covers. I absolutely loved it, and although it's a little rough around the edges at times, I heartily recommend picking it up.

Oh and what made me get it in the first place? The title of this issue is The House That Dripped War! I don't think I need say anything else really.

The Bulletproof Coffin


The Bulletproof Coffin

Story by David Hine

Art by Shaky Kane


VALHALLAHAN
I've only managed to track down #2-3 of this so far, but I really like what I see. Shaky Kane's trippy visuals are certainly an acquired taste, a taste I hadn't acquired in the olden days when I were a lad and he was doing "Shaky's Believe It Or Not" in the back of 2000 AD those really twisted my melon man. Now, life having twisted my melon right round baby right round I am thoroughly digging Mr Kane's artwork. Kane somehow makes everything in central character Steve Newman's life so relatably mundane yet at the same time... off. The seams of Steve's little life don't quite meet. His drab reality is being broken apart by the comic book worlds he so obsessed over, the lines blurring between what is and isn't to the extent that he may be living his dream or he may just be tripping balls.

Packed with cultural references real and falsified at the same time as being a gripping yarn in and of itself, this is a real princely package. Kane and Hine also embellish their weird world with features on the double fictional stars of the story at the back, alongside fake letter pages, which is just spiffing of them quite frankly.

TOP HOLE!

All Will Be Well!

Valhallahan
Well I'm in a bit of a quandary this week; I skipped the What I got and Why last week because all I picked up was a back issue of The Bulletproof Coffin and this month's Hellblazer. I thought I'd just add them in this week but I've looked at the books due to hit the shops this week and the only one I'm interested in is Batman Streets Of Gotham #16, and I'm not 100% sure I'll even bother with that. Hmm...

I had hoped to do a proper post on CLiNT, having read it, but to be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the end product, and I didn't just want to harp on about how utterly bad the "Top 10 TV Mums" segment was (even though it really was bad), because at least they're trying and we at 2Badguys don't want this to be a relentlessly negative blog, so.....

I've decided I'll just tell you lovely people about some of the things I have really enjoyed the past week or so that I haven't really mentioned here yet. Some of it's recent, some of it's just stuff I finally got around to reading due to lack of shiny new cool things. Expect thrills, spills and cloying enthusiasm in what I'm calling:

VALHALLAHAN'S HALF WEEK OR SO OF PICTURE BOOK POSITIVITY!

Enjoy.

Wednesday 15 September 2010

Preview of Richard Sala's The Hidden

Action Ash
Richard Sala is one of my favourite comic book writers/artists. So I feel the need to share the awesome-ness and turn some of you suckas on to him too.

Mr Sala has been kind enough to set up a blog dedicated to previewing his new book which, due to delays, will be out sometime next year.

Click the pic to check it out yo!
At some point I will get around to doing a feature on his work, but until then this will have to keep you going =P

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Uncle Ben

Monday 13 September 2010

Weird War Tales #1: Review

Weird War Tales #1
Written by Darwyn Cooke, Ivan Brandon, Jan Strnad
Art by Darwyn Cooke, Nic Klein, Gabriel Hardman, Steve Pugh

Valhallahan
A few things led me to picking up titles, one is my love of the old Weird War Tales issues that I've picked up from bargain bins over the years and another being the overall concept: Eerie short stories set in wartime, with optional moral message. Like any given issue of Weird War Tales, I was expecting it to be a -wait for it- mixed bag(winner of 2010 award for Valhallahan's most over-used phrase). Thus it was but sadly it was a mixture of 4 good pages and a load of crap. The anthology features, as ever, a themed representation of Death, and as drawn by Steve Pugh, it is positively tattoo worthy. This one page is by far and away the highlight of the book, but at the same time it lacks the charm of Death's previous Weird War Tales incarnations.

Another of the major selling points of this issue is the presence of Darwyn Cooke, something which played no small part in my purchase of said periodical. Well, Cooke fans prepare to be disappointed! There are like, 3 pages from Cooke and it's a fun but very silly skit about dead military leaders in Hell. Enjoyable, but nothing to spend $3.99 on by any stretch. In fact there's little or nothing to justify that price tag for such a mediocre effort.

I haven't really mentioned the other two stories in the book, because quite frankly they're not worth mentioning. Not shit, but so ho-hum I'm struggling to remember what they were about a day after reading.

Two boring anecdotes on the bus out of a possible lock-in with some drunken veterans. Save your money for '70s back issues or buy the '90s Vertigo version(runner up in the 2010 award for Valhallahan's most over-used phrase).

Sunday 12 September 2010

Back in Black

Action Ash
Greetings dudes and chix0rz,
I have recently returned from my trip to visit family in the squaresville that is known as Peterborough. The population consisted mainly of chavs and mundanes, with a few small town emos thrown in for good measure.
I found myself being stared at wherever I ventured, as if they knew I was an outsider. However I'm used to this, mainly because I occasionally dress like a cross between an 80's metal head and the second coming of Rude Dog and the Dweebs.

While in this city I managed to find a quirky little comic shop named The Great Nothing which, interestingly, doubles as a piercing studio. Here's what I picked up:

New Avengers #4 - I like the Bendis and Immonen team and this is probably going to be the only Avengers title I buy from now on because I need to cut down on the amount I'm buying.

Scarlet #1 and #2 - I thought it looked nice and it was recommended Valhallahan as a good read.

X-Force: Sex and Violence #3 - Last part of a great little mini series and I can't wait to see how it ends. The last of the good X-Force line up too, in my opinion.

X-Men #3 - Still surprised that I'm enjoying this as much as I am.

Secret Avengers #4 - I got this to finish the story arc but this probably be kicked to the curb in my cutting back of comic purchases. It's been good though.

After I got back home I realised there were other bits I needed to get, so it was off to Chaos City to find the remainder of titles I wanted from this week and last.

Taskmaster #1 - A fun looking mini series that was recommended by Valhallahan and may be the subject of a swap shop massacre very soon.

1 Month 2 Live #1 - Sounded like the sort of thing I'd like. A good concept that makes you think.


Shadowland: Blood on the Streets #2 - More ninja-noir action from the Shadowland event.

Conan #23 - I never miss a Conan and I don't see any reason to start now.

I also bought Legacies #4 and Prince of Power #4 because I was broke the week they came out and couldn't get my whole stack.

Also I found a Calvin and Hobbes collection in a charity shop for 50p

Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons - You've gotta love Calvin and Hobbes.

Saturday 11 September 2010

What I Got and Why 11/09/10

Valhallahan
Weird War Tales #1 - I do rather love some hot anthology action and I do rather love weird, so this was a particularly comfortable fit in my alley. It's really slim though, and the $3.99 price tag seemingly is justified by a glossy fucking cover is a bit of a cheek. It also served to remind me that there was a Weird War Tales one-shot from Vertigo years ago that I must pick up at some point.

American Vampire # 6 - I've been digging this series, it's yankie vamps in the 1920's. This issue sees the start of a new storyline set in Vegas baby. Great cover too.

Daytripper #10 - And with that we bid Daytripper adieu. It's been one of my favourite series of the last 12 months and I've saved up the last couple of issues to read in one go. It's slice of life (and death) and death stuff set in very real-world Brazil. Twins Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon have really treated us with this. Highly recomended.

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Twelve Hour Shift

12 Hour Shift
by Sean Azzopardi

Valhallahan
I finally got around to reading 12 hour shift this week. I bought it at a comics fair/convention/thing a few months ago having previously heard the author speak at an evening about autobiographical comics hosted by Laydeez Do Comics (which despite the name is a rather interesting group of male and female creators who meet regularly in and around London), and the premise sounded oddly fascinating.

Twelve Hour Shift is the partially fictionalised account of the author's time spent as a concierge in various buildings in London. The story follows the miserable day-to-day life of a London male; punctuated by simple pleasures and odd characters and interactions. Not a great deal happens in Twelve Hour Shift and it's all the better for it. There's a lot to relate to here if you've ever had a dull job, particularly if you've had a dull job in inner London.

Azzopardi really captures the mundane commuter life, the seemingly drab London streets and tunnels and the quirky denizens therein. Massive kudos to the man for the accurate portrayal of The Standard on Black Horse Road too, I never thought I’d see that in a comic! I really enjoyed the book, the art was a little too wobbly in places for my tastes, and I’m not sure I would want to read too much more about this guy's life, but it's a great idea well executed.

Four Hours and a lunch break into a six hour shift

How Assteroids Are Made

To counteract the Nerdrage-iness of the last post, I thought I'd treat you lovely people to an astrological diagram drawn from the Valhallahan archives. Enjoy.

Monday 6 September 2010

Oh Do Fuck Off

Valhallahan
I was reading the review of Jonah Hex in a newspaper this morning (they didn’t like it) and they mentioned a part of movie’s plot that really got my goat. It got it good! It seems that Jonah Hex has fallen for two of the old "Comic Book Movie" fuck ups. Firstly, the movie's writers, in their infinite wisdom, have seen fit to give their Jonah Hex supernatural powers. Yup, you read it right, they have given hard boilled western (human) bastard Jonah Hex the power to raise the dead. You see what they’ve done here is to change the character to be more "Comic Book"-y. By this I mean Superhero-y, because every geek worth his salt knows that there is only one genre in the entire sequential art medium and that’s superheroes, right? Fuck off. Why the hooting heck did they not just make a western? Why? I mean I’m pretty sure they have made western movies before, but then again I’m fairly certain cinema only does Rom Coms. I guess the comic book wasn’t "Comic Book" enough for the movies.

The second bugbear, and bear bugs it does, is that they’ve made the movie’s villain the man responsible for branding Jonah’s face. Why? Because everything has to be explained and in the moving pictures (and Daniel Way's Wolverine: Origins) every single thing that happens in a character’s life has to include the four or five main characters every step o’ the way. Nothing is random, which is fine, becuase like Clark Kent in Smallville, I too have never met a new person after the age of seventeen, in fact I’m nigh-certain I’ll never meet anyone I haven’t met already till the day I die. In fact it’ll probably turn out that St Peter was that strangely wise toilet attendant at Indie-Pounder’s I gave a quid to on my 18th birthday. Fuck off.

Hollywood just can’t seem to help themselves but eradicate any aspect of real world randomness in these stories. In Tim Burton’s Batman, The Joker Kills Mr & Mrs Wayne; In the first two Punisher movies (don’t get me started on this one) Frank Castle's family are killed on purpose by the main villain because he is a copper thus totally missing the point that it was the RANDOMNESS of the act that birthed Frank’s war on All Crime Ever; In Spider-Man 3, The Sandman is revealed to have killed Uncle Ben, thus breaking Spider-Man’s entire raison d’etre, he couldn’t have stopped the murder, so I guess he’s off the hook. I bet he feels silly now.

How fucking cute, I see what you did there, it’s like so poignant and stuff.

Did I mention fuck off?

Sunday 5 September 2010

What I Got and Why 03/09/10

Valhallahan
Howdy folks! Well it looks like I'm buying for 2 this week, because I got a bumper crop of (hopefully) awesome books. Let's get stuck in on the Whats and the Whys.

Jonah Hex #59 - Jordi Bernet, my favourite Jonah Hex artist (alongside Phil Noto and J.H. Williams III) returns this issue and it looks like another classic ish. I'm glad they haven't made a really shit film of this character to taint my joy.

Sweet Tooth #13 - I love this series, it's just so beautifully fucking bizarre.

iZombie #5 - I'm still getting this for the pretty pictures really, which means it could be lining up for the chopping block if the story doesn't hook me soon.

Scarlet #2 - The first issue had me intrigued but not entirely sold. Either way, Alex Maleev's art is gorgeous and it's nice to see Bendis away from the Marvel Universe for a change.

Taskmaster # 1 - I've always had a soft spot for this character, goofy costume and all (think Skelletor's head stuck on a Deathstroke toy). This mini has Taskmaster fighting for his life against a who's who of Marvel's Manic Militias, all of whom his previous employers. With Fred Van Lente writing I'm sure it'll be a doozy.

Gorilla Man #3 - Despite some gripes I have about the art, I've really enjoyed this series. It's been a fun tale with Mr Hale and the golden age Gorilla Man back up reprints make each issue a groovy package.

Origins of Marvel: X-Men - I'm not a regular X-Reader, but I've got enough stored up fondness for Marvel's Merry Mutants that I do like to keep up to date with what's being done with the characters. This issue is another one of those one page per character origins books that I'm digging at the moment. Some lovely art (X-23) and some shite (Wolverine) but the good outweighs the bad. My problem is that they're starting to repeat themselves now, that and the feeling that this is something they should be giving out free to ensnare new readers.

Stumptown #4 - It's been ages since I saw this on the stands but I'm pretty sure I was enjoying it. I was wasn't I? Oh well I've bought it now.

Ex Machina Vol 9: Ring Out The Old - Another book I buy in trades and another book that I've totally forgotten what's happened in. Always a good read, stellar art by Tony Harris and it's written by Brian K Vaughan, remember him? He used to write comics.

CLiNT #1 - Hmm... could've done without the Lad's Mag bits but I'm glad it exists.

This weeks books were purchased at Chaos City Comics in St Albans. A fine establishment.

Saturday 4 September 2010

The Birthday of the Honourable Action Ash


It's my birthday...strip for me!

Friday 3 September 2010

Johnny Come Lately: Invincible


Action Ash
Looking on comic shop shelves for interesting new series is something I enjoy doing and if there's a new superhero that looks good, I'm all for it. So I'm not really sure how I missed something as pleasingly proud to be a superhero comic as Invincible.
I remember seeing it around and thinking it looked kind of cool, but also thinking that there was a lot of it, and not wanting to have to catch up. I still can't believe that I actually did that to myself.

For those of you who don't know, Invincible is about Mark, the teenage son of the alien superhero Omniman. He has recently inherited his fathers powers and we join him in his journey of learning to use them and juggle teenage life with being a superhero. I know, I know, the last part sounds like Spider-man, and it kind of is except without all the whining. Mark's attitude is mirrored in the comics light hearted feel, he likes being a hero and that's that.

The series is great at handling the superhero genre and is probably one of the best superhero titles I've read in years. It also has the uncanny, but satisfying, ability to give the feeling of a complete universe in one book. No buying ten different titles just to keep up with the latest event, Invincible makes you feel like you've got all of the action right there in your hands.

I'm now a complete Invincible junkie, waiting for Valhallahan to lend me the trades two at a time like a skag head waiting for his next fix of junk.

Thanks for that Valhallahan *Thumbs up*

Thursday 2 September 2010

CLiNT is here, and he's looking fresh.


Action Ash
For all you comic loving Britons, today is the day CLiNT magazine fly kicks its way onto the shelves of your local newsagents and supermarkets.
For those of you who don't know this is the new project of Mr Mark Millar, and it's basically like the mongrel child of a good lads mag and 2000 AD. Featuring comics celebrity interviews and all manner of features I can't be bothered to list here.

Interestingly it contains the sequel comic to Kick Ass (imaginatively titled Kick Ass 2) as opposed to it being released as a stand alone title. Other comics offered up are an all new series by Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle named Rex Royd (which looks wicked), reprints of Turf by celebrity Jonathan Ross and Millar's Nemesis, and also a 'future shocks' style feature called Space Oddities which showcases new talent.

If you live in the UK go buy it!

Word!

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World


Action Ash
Now I can't be bothered with the comics. My fellow bad guy can't either.

But Holy Shit, did we think this film was GOOD!

Most excellent film-age indeed, producing some genuine belly laughs.
The references were handled well, the special effects were awesome and the comic timing brilliant. All in all a wicked little package that will make you want to start a fight outside the cinema just to see if your opponent bursts into coins when defeated.

Super Geil!