2 Bad Guys From An 80s Movie

The Good News and the Bad News

2012-01-28T11:59:00.000Z

The Good News...

American Vampire is well and truly back on form with this promising new storyline set in the greaser-ific 1950s.

And The Bad News...

Unfortunately behind this beautiful cover by the inimitable Cliff Chiang, the art is by a fill in artist Tony Atkins, who... well,, isn't Cliff Chiang. Also, please no more fucking puns Mr Azzarello!

Hellblazer Annual

2012-01-03T19:15:00.000Z

Hellblazer Annual #1

“Suicide Bridge”

Story: Peter Milligan

Art: Simon Bisley

You may not have noticed, but Hellblazer has been enjoying something of a renaissance of late, under the fearless penmanship of Peter Milligan. Milligan’s a veteran of DC’s beautifully barmy Vertigo imprint, having a pedigree of quality work there, matched only by the likes of Grant Morrison, Alan Moore or Garth Ennis, having been writing exciting ongoings, one-shots and mini-series relatively regularly since the imprint’s inception (Notable works being ‘Enigma’, ‘Shade: The Changing Man’, ‘Girl’, ‘Face’, ‘Greek Street’, ‘Hell Eternal’). He has his misssteps, but as a reader you know a Milligan book is going to be in exciting journey wherever it takes you. I explain this to highlight what a perfect match Milligan is to Hellblazer, Vertigo’s flagship of weird, following the ongoing adventures of British blue collar mystic, John Constantine. Frankly it’s surprising no-one made it happen before this run. Having breathed new life into the longest running (in unbroken numbering) title of the big two over the past couple of years we actually find ourselves at a point when the series even gets its own Annual for the first time in over a decade. This, dear reader, is where we come in.

This Annual is written by series writer Milligan and pencilled with signature flair, by the inimitable (though many try) Simon Bisley. Bisley’s been the regular cover artist and semi-regular penciller for the series for a few years now, and has brought some of his career-best work to the title. His gaudy, tits-and-beasties fantasy edge is sanded down here to perfectly capture the spirit of the macabre life of John Constantine in these pages. To sound like a pretentious tit for a moment (or so) it’s really matured since his Lobo work but still maintains that mischievous edge and Biz’s innate brutality. This is top level sequential art, as good as any of the many industry legends who’ve depicted John in the past, and no less than the book deserves.

It's been so long since I first picked up an issue of Hellblazer that I forgot how one can get put off by the fact that so many issues have been published you don't know where to start. This is nonsense though; as long as you go from the beginning of a storyline, Hellblazer is easy to start cold and rarely continuity laden. Apart from the occasional story all you need to know to read Hellblazer is: John does Magic, John likes women, John's a bit of a prick. The story in this Annual is a classic example, it concerns the family of an old friend of his from his childhood. Have they been in it before? I dunno. Does it matter? Nope, all the information you need is there in the pages of the book. The story actually involves a suspicious series of teen disappearances, but in a way much of this is irrelevant too, what matters is that as ever, something moody’s going on, John’s deep in the heart of it and innocent people are getting hurt. And as ever John’s not a hero, he’s just the guy who, when the world goes up shit creek, might, just might, have the only paddle, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

If like many, you are curious about Hellblazer but just don’t know where to start, start here. This is what to expect, gruesome urban supernatural horror with a not entirely irredeemable rogue in the lead. If, like I was until a year or so, you’re a lapsed reader, pick this up, it’ll remind you why you fell in love with John’s dirty little world in the first place. Superior, supernatural horror for the modern reader, like an episode of Eastenders written by Clive Barker. So yeah, it’s classic Hellblazer.

Valhallahan

American Vampire: The Beast In The Cave

2012-01-03T19:12:00.001Z

American Vampire #19-21

“The Beast In The Cave”

Story: Scott Snyder
Art: Jordi Bernett

With issue 21 American Vampire wraps up its latest storyline, “The Beast In The Cave”, notable for featuring the first appearance pencilling on this series by seasoned professional Jordi Bernett. More famous in Europe for his work on crime classic Torpedo, Bernett has been DC’s go to guy for Western action for some time now, gracing the pages of Jonah Hex and All Star Western with his superior draughtsmanship. For that reason, Bernett is a superb choice for a story such as this, wherein we see a bit more of the adventures of the series’ central vampire Skinner Sweet during the American Civil War. This seems like a perfect fit to me, so, it’s quite disappointing that this has turned out to be a rather uninspiring three parter.

American Vampire is a solid if unremarkable series that has earned Vertigo solid if unremarkable sales (actually jolly good sales by Vertigo standards) and a decent critical response over the last couple of years. I’ve stuck with it from the beginning, due to the fact that although it doesn’t make me wait with bated breath every issue, it is still a very good series. I particularly enjoyed the recent epic set in the Pacific Theatre of World War Two, I would even have said prior to this misstep that the series was going from strength to strength. This story unfortunately did not meet the heights of the WW2 Pacific story, or the other Western-centric blasts from Skinner’s pasts shown earlier in the run. “The Beast in the Cave” had by far more in common with the recent “Survival of the Fittest” mini series, which again squandered a great artist (in that case star in the making Sean Murphy) and again focussed too much on Snyder’s newly introduced concept of giant magic vampire gods, which for my money suspends the disbelief far too far for me. Like so many vampire-centric franchises before it, Am Vam is branching out into different kinds of monsters, with limited success. One could argue that the evolution of the beasties’ species is a main theme of the book, that is, the different kinds of vampire, but that’s not really why I like the series. If I’m honest I’d happily see them drop the whole vampire angle entirely and just focus on people in the period setting. But I’m an awkward so-and-so like that.

The premise of this particular story boils down to “Cowboys vs. Indians vs. Vampires in the Civil War” and when a premise that awesome is brought to you by western/crime comics legend Jordi Bernett and fan favourite writer of great expectations Scott Snyder it screams “Unmissable” but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Not a terrible story, but not a particularly satisfying reading experience either. The story starts simply, escalates quickly and ends up all over the shop. I actually thought there must have been some kind of printing error in the final issue, the story jumped from scene to scene with very little connection other than the fact that both story lines seemed to be leading up to evens the reader isn’t even allowed to witness at story’s end. Tension builds and builds and then… well stuff happens that we don’t see then nothing happens that we DO see. I can see what Snyder’s going for here but it just felt like a standard Jonah Hex short story dragged out into three issues.

So a rare failure from American Vampire, but it’s still a strong series, and one that’s well worth trying if you haven’t already. Don’t start here though, begin at the beginning, or try the excellent #12 with art by the inimitable (and fairly unpronounceable) Danijel Zejelj. Hopefully there’ll be a return to form in the next issue, where series regular artist Rafael Albuquerque returns to kick things forward in time again to the 1950’s for new storyline “Death Race”. Bring it on daddy-O!

Valhallahan

Unpopular Opinions!

2011-12-24T16:35:00.000Z

Valhallahan

Comic Books Are Nice

As unfashionable as it is to say on the Internet, actually like monthly comic books, I like the look and feel and the objects as a whole. I like paper. Also, as someone who works 9-5 in front of a PC screen, I don’t want to stare at a screen too much when I go home. I try to make a trip to a comic shop once a week, on a Friday or Saturday, I tend to go with friends, often with that guttersnipe Action Ash because it’s a nice jaunt and you can all go to the pub afterwards. Obviously digital would make it easier to have but less fun. Making them something you just download in private in your nerd cave takes away a fun social aspect of the hobby. Like it's something to be ashamed of, you probably say a Hail Mary and cry afterwards.

Phonogram and Scott Pilgrim Were Both Shit

You heard me, what chu gonna do about it? Phonogram was a pretentious, wanky Hellblazer rip off that should've stayed an idea in the back of some sixthformer's excersise book. Scott Pilgrim looked like shit and was 90% one arsehole whining. Maybe I just hate indie kids.

X-Men The Animated Series Was Not That Good.

I know it got a lot of people into X-Men, but really... I dare you to watch an episode now. X-Men: Evolution was better. Wolverine and the X-Men is better. Pryde Of the X-Men was better and that had an Australian Wolverine!

Deadpool Is Not Funny!

Not even slightly. The fun's over now let it go.

Block Mania!

2011-08-11T20:55:00.000+01:00

Valhallahan
This week Brit Cit has been awash with Block Wars. Beware citizens and remember:
Be pure!
Be Vigilant!
Behave!

Whitewashing Mega City One?

2011-07-03T17:58:00.002+01:00

Valhallahan

In a rare act of Bad Guy synergy, like Ash, I've recently been renewing my interest in 2000AD characters. Largely the peripheral characters like Button Man and classics like Dredd and Bad Company. Anyway, in my Dredd reading I picked up on something I'd long since forgotten: Chief Judge McGruder used to be black.

Exhibits A and B

In the world of Dredd Judge Hilda Margaret McGruder was head of the SJS (Judge Internal Affairs division) who later became Chief Judge of Mega City One, after making a poor decision she opted to take "The Long Walk" which is the Judges' retirement package. The long walk entails the retiring judge exiling themselves from the city armed with their Law-Giver gun to "bring law to the lawless" in the radioactive wastelands of the Cursed Earth (and our public sector think they're hard done by!). Years later during the Judge Dredd Mega-epic "Necropolis" which Ash kindly loaned me the other day, an exiled Judge Dredd happens upon former Judge McGruder in the radioactive wastelands, whom he teams up with to save Mega City One from Judge Death and his Bitches From Hell. To cut a very long story very short, at the end of Necropolis McGruder is reinstated as Chief Judge and all is well, except for the fact that her time in the Cursed Earth has turned her into a mental with a lady-goatee.

It also turned her white.

McGruder in post

McGruder taking The Long Walk

McGruder post-Necropolis

To my knowledge there's never been an in-story explanation for this, so what happened? Was it a colouring error? Had they always intended her to be white? Had they forgotten she was black? What the shit?

As an aside, in the 1995 "Judge Dredd" movie starring John Spartan, McGruder is portrayed as white. But then again, I wouldn't even know where to begin, listing the problems whith that movie.

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-01T14:04:00.000+01:00

HAPPY CANADA DAY FOLKS!

Us Bad Guys are going to go get pissed with some genuine Canadians in Trafalgar Square, so should you.

Excelsior!

Valhallahan

Gene Colan 1926 - 2011

2011-06-24T22:01:00.001+01:00

Sadly, master artist Gene Colan, passed away last night at the age of 84. This is a great loss to the industry and he will be missed by all.
His work was fantastic and he could surely show some of these young'uns a thing or two.
-AA

Shopping!

2011-06-21T12:33:00.000+01:00

ValhallahanI spent the weekend bouncing around the bars of Norwich drinking my body weight in cheap Bourbon. I've lost my voice and gained the shakes, but thankfully I had the presence of mind to fill my boots with Vertigo back issues at Norwich's own Abstract Sprocket when I first got to town, so I've a great deal to read in my recovery.

Purchases included:
4 Horsemen, American Century, American Freak, Battleaxes, Chiarascuro, Congo Bill, The Crusades, Doom Patrol, Enigma, The Extremist, Faith, Fault Lines, Flinch, Ghost Dancing, Goddess, House of Secrets, Millenium Fever, Jonah Hex: Riders on the Worm and Such, Seven Miles Per Second, Solo, Strange Adventures, Vertigo Pop: Tokyo.

I also had time to read Jeff Parker's The Inter Man and Pat Mills and Leigh Gallagher's Defoe:1666 on the train. Reviews to come!

Isle of 100,000 Graves

2011-06-19T17:22:00.000+01:00

Action Ash
This year I've been getting into the works of the Norwegian cartoonist Jason. I had seen his books around and online and they had always intrigued me with their animal characters and their simplistic, minimalist aesthetic. I finally gave in to curiosity and bought The Left Bank Gang, and I was not disappointed, which lead to me also purchasing The Last Musketeer. Now I'm a fan and have been waiting anxiously for his latest offering to be released, which it was last week.

The story is that of a young girl named Gwenny (often referred to as "that ugly little girl") who recruits a pirate crew to take her to the Isle of 100,000 Graves so she can find out what happened to her missing father. While there, it is discovered the island is home to a school for executioners and torturers and that is where the adventure really begins.

Isle of 100,000 Graves is the first work of Jason's to be written by someone other than himself. Boy, did he choose a good one! The scribe for this comedic pirate adventure story is none other than French comic writer Fabien Vehlmann, writer of the WWII adventure drama 7 Psychopaths (you can the bad guy's review of that here). Vehlmann and Jason seem to share the same sense of humour. As I was reading the story it seemed so much like the previous Jason books I had devoured. Also the pacing was very similar, which made me wonder if Vehlmann was trying his hardest to write a "Jason" story. However, thinking back on 7 Psychopaths I can easily see the similarity in pacing and humour and, also, could totally imagine it being illustrated by Jason. Although that would completely change the tone, so wonderfully set by Sean Phillips.

Visually it is much the same as Jason's other works, which in my opinion are stunning in their simplicity. The sparse composition of the panels, the 'ligne claire' art style (yeah, I just got pretentious on yo' ass) and the fantastic use of negative space all add to the understated, dead pan wit of the tale.

A fun and entertaining adventure that just goes towards further proving the talent of these men.

5 ugly little girls blackmailing dead pan pirates out of 5

Missing In Action: Image United

2011-06-13T12:50:00.001+01:00

Valhallahan

Surprising no-one, the (alleged) hotly anticipated reunion of the Image founders (sort of) in one book has fallen woefully behind schedule suffering severe delays. They have managed to get three whole issues out in the last few years though, so more power to you, Image. Well done on losing all the goodwill you've clawed back in recent years. Who saw that coming? Surely noone's career is going to come off well from this embarrassment.

But wait! It's been announced that DC are giving Rob Liefeld a new series in their relaunch. Is it some kind of self referencing joke?

Oh, and it looks like Xombi's being cancelled.

But Rob Liefeld is getting a new series.

Fuck you too DC.

Flashpoint: Batman: Knight of Vengeance #1 Review

2011-06-13T09:17:00.000+01:00

Writer Brian Azzarello
Artist Eduardo Risso
Cover by Dave Johnson

Valhallahan

The boys, it seems are back in town. Flashpoint: Batman: Knight of Vengeance as it’s so wonderfully titled, reunites the winning 100 Bullets team of writer Brian Azzarello, artist extraordinaire Eduardo Risso and comic book cover god Dave Johnson. A winning formula indeed. I’ll preface this review by saying I have no idea what’s going on in Flashpoint, because frankly I couldn’t give a crap about The Flash, but Action Ash braved #1 and let me know the general gist; someone went and messed with DC Universe history so that The Flash never existed and the worlds in a right state. Sort of the Age of Apocalypse with less knobbly collars and more castrations. Anyway, as I have no intention of reading the rest of the crossover I’m just going to treat this as a “What If?” or “Elseworlds”.

“What If Thomas Wayne Became The Batman?” is what this story is essentially, things happened dramatically differently that fateful night in Crime Alley, and Thomas Wayne survived the encounter that otherwise would have forged his son’s destiny as The Bat. Whether Bruce and Martha survived is not clear from this issue, but I suspect it will be important in the story to come. Anyway, what we do get in this issue is a bit of set up with a very different, dangerous new Batman, stalking Killer Croc in Gotham’s sewers leading to a brutal confrontation. This Batman is a bit of a dick, to say the least, very Dark Knight Returns.

But is it any good? In a word, yes, but not thrillingly so. Risso captures moods like few others in the business; his pages are, as ever a delight to behold. I seriously love this guy’s art. And y’know, Azzarello, (although I find him a bit hit and miss) ain’t no slouch either, they set up a decent mystery, throw in some action and it looks pretty, what more do you want? If there’s anything negative to say, it’s that it’s a very brief read, it sort of whips by and you’re left wanting more, but at least you do want more.

Go buy it.

Or don’t.

It’s your life.

Gosh!

Well Who'd A Thunk

2011-06-12T17:23:00.000+01:00

Valhallahan

Please don't take this as an endorsement of their work, but by God, I never imagined a day when C-list X-Man Sean Cassidy aka Banshee* would feature in a music video by Pop dullards Take That. Says something about the place of comic book characters in popular culture in 2011.

The video is here, if you're that bloody bored.

*amongst others.

X-Men: First Class

2011-06-06T20:17:00.003+01:00

Valhallahan

Yesterday the nefarious Action Ash and I made a trip to our local picture house to see X-Men: First Class, and the verdict is that despite some terribly cheesy moments (Moira's gifts the CIA didn't give her, "Mutant and Proud") it really is a fantastic romp and a jolly good attempt to make a great X-Men movie. I'm going to give you a few thoughts on the film and a bit of a spoiler-free geek's eye view. Listen up punks!

The first X-Men film came out in 1999, and was instrumental to bringing the worldwide audience to the possibilities of superhero movies. It discarded much of the details of the books, and the colourful costumes preferring to reimagine all the details, stick ‘em all in combat leathers, and focus on the core concept of the team. Since then we've had more faithful adaptations of the 4 colour wonder of comics, like the Spider-Man films and Iron Man, and the audience's increased willingness to suspend disbelief is certainly played upon here, with a rather colourful globetrotting adventure. We even get traditional blue and yellow X-costumes and a rather spot on rendition of Magneto’s signature headgear. This doesn’t detract from the faux-real-world angst, or inventive violence of the earlier movies, and in fact reminds us why we liked them too. This is a very nice mix. As I said, there are some naff bits so be warned, the odd line here, the Bond-esque unnecessary sauciness there (your mileage may vary), but nothing that really detracts from overall enjoyment. If anything it fits together nicely. The 1960s setting is a masterstroke. As with the rest of the series don’t expect anything but the occasional scene to come directly from the source material –this is very much the filmmakers’ own creation.

In terms of fitting in with the previous movies, it amazes me that within the space of 5 films they've managed to create as many continuity discrepancies as they have in the comics, which is a nice bit of meta commentary I’m sure. I won’t delve too far into these for fear of spoilers, but suffices to say ignore X-Men: Origins: Wolverine, which is arguably a good rule of thumb to stick to anyway. One baffling choice, not a continuity problem per se, but damned silly, was to portray Moira MacTaggart as an American CIA Agent when she has already been established as a Scottish Doctor in X-Men: The Last Stand. My advice is just go with it, you won’t regret it.

The film largely focuses on the Xavier/Magneto relationship and it can be argued that this is really Magneto’s movie – he certainly gets all the moments of anti-heroic badassery. It’s possible that they even went a bit too far with Magneto as I found myself liking him a lot more than Charles, who sometimes comes off as a bit of a berk. Perhaps that says more about me than the film, but I cannot stress too much how fucking cool Magneto is in this movie. His journey across the globe hunting Nazi war criminals is an underused but established comic book fact, and leads to some of the film’s more memorable scenes.

I enjoyed Mystique's story arc in this film, I found her more likeable than Charles even, despite some seriously hokey lines (try not to cringe when she says "Mutant and Proud" I dare you) she's quite an engaging B-character. I am surprised though by how wildly she differs from her comic book character, I realise they are using her as an audience POV character, much like Rogue in the first movie, but when you compare her to the older, ruthless globetrotting assassin turned terrorist of the comics the charming young friend of Charles is quite jarring.

Interestingly, the Hellfire Club itself is very much how one would imagine it, although its membership is entirely different to the source material with the exception of Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw. I liked Emma’s characterisation; I'm not a big fan of the modern, reformed, toothless tiger Emma that appears in books these days, so it was nice to see her as her old formidable self. Curiously, Sebastian Shaw’s character seems to be a bit of a mixture of his comic book self and that of Mr. Sinister, certainly in terms of motives and history. I won't go into it too much for fear of spoilers, but it’s very well done in my opinion. It goes without saying that movie Azazel is better than his comics because a dogshit on a baked potato with pop tart legs and the voice of a Dalek would be better than the comic book version.

I could go on, but I won't. Words don’t grow on trees you know! Go see the film, it's good.

Well, what are you waiting for?

What Is Wrong With You People? (A voyage into the DC readership Part One)

2011-06-05T11:31:00.005+01:00

Valhallahan

When DC announced that letters pages were returning to their books after a long absence, I was pleased to hear it. I enjoy anything that adds to reading time in my monthlies, even those annoying little Super 8 pull outs, I read The Walking Dead’s letter page every week and fondly remember the nerd raging fanboys in the X-Force/X-Statix issues, proving that sometimes there’s none so backwards as the fans of the fantastic. But what are today’s fan’s thinking what kind of person reads Jonah Hex? What are my fellow consumers thinking these days? How about the Vertigo readers, surely they’re my Kind of People right? Our survey says: “Hell Naw!”

Some people just don’t know when they’re on to a good thing. In this series I'll share some examples from three of my favourite books.

Scalped #48

In Scalped #48 Joe Fonseca of Kitchener, Ontario goes to great lengths to prove that not everyone in the land of Wolverine and Neil Young has the level of discerning taste we’d been led to believe. He writes:

“…Most Vertigo titles have Very good writing but poor art, Scalped is the exception…regarding the covers: I understand why Vertigo is going for a different look to their covers, but the fact of the matter is that the vertigo covers are not very appealing to the eye. The ironic thing is that of all the Vertigo books, I find Jock’s to be some of the more interesting ones (next to Bolland’s Jack of Fables covers).”

Couldn’t disagree with you more Joe, week after week the Vertigo covers pop out at you from the shelf, if anything, Bolland’s are the least interesting compared to the madness Jeff Lemire comes out with every month on Sweet Tooth, the pop art dynamism of Mike Allred on I Zombie, or the sheer force of Jock’s masterful works. Ask any grown up who hasn’t been trained for years to enjoy the stylised musclemen and women of modern superhero comics what stands out to them as something that might be worth reading...

“...If I was editor, I would let R.M. Guera do the covers as a straight scene from thee story or try some of the great superhero artists like Ivan Reis, David Finch, Gary Frank or Jim Lee.”

Well thank fuck you’re not Joe! I’d drop that book like a hot turd if you were! Perhaps you should stick to Green Lantern or Legion of Superheroes or some other artistically stunted dross. I’m just going to put up a little compare/contrast for you readers at home.

Vertigo's I, Zombie #1

Jim Lee's X-Men #1

Vertigo's Sweet Tooth #1

David Finch's Psylocke #2

Vertigo's American Vampire #1

Gary Frank's Superman: Secret Origin #2

Vertigo's Hellblazer #275

Ivan Reis' Blackest Night #0

Vertigo's Scalped #38

I guess it’s a matter of taste. Whether you have any, that is.

Stay tuned for parts two and three where I look at the letters from Hellblazer and Jonah Hex!

Crisis of Creative Competence!

2011-06-01T01:46:00.010+01:00

Action Ash
So, in case you haven't heard, in the wake of Flashpoint DC are restarting all titles from #1 and rebooting continuity to be more "contemporary" and more relevant to "today's audience". To top it all off, over 50 characters are going to be redesigned by Jim "add a jacket" Lee, apparently making them "more identifiable and accessible to comic fans new and old". What's more identifiable than Superman or Batman, I ask? Are they not two of the most iconic characters in pop culture history? Recognised the world over across a plethora of media? Apparently that's not good enough. Jim, get the jackets ready.
Of course I speak of only their physical appearance. DC probably meant identifiable as characters also. I for one will feel able to relate more to the orphaned billionaire turned vigilante, the indestructible alien super god, the super powered amazonian princess, the test pilot in charge of the most powerful weapon in the universe and the man who can run faster than the speed of light, if redrawn worse than before by an artist past his prime.

DC also claim that they are aiming to retell their character's stories while making them "reflect today's real world themes and events" and that "This was a chance to start, not at the beginning, but at a point where our characters are younger and the stories are being told for today's audience." So in other words, they're trying to be down with the kids. If I wanted to read about the Justice League as whiny youngsters I'd read Teen Titans. Did they not think that their continuity was convoluted enough, without adding "Post Flashpoint" to the list?

This is a most HEINOUS crime DC comics. I hope you're ready for the geek shit storm.

UPDATE: Here is a sneak preview of Jim Lee's redesigns, surprisingly sans jackets. He must of learnt his lesson after the Wonder Woman incident. The new Superman shield is truly bogus! All in all, not as bad as I thought they were going to be but an unnecessary waste of time. Click to make bigger.

Carlos Trillo RIP

2011-05-09T23:03:00.000+01:00

Argentinian Comic Book writer Carlos Trillo (Chicanos, Borderline) died today aged 68.

Conan Trailer

2011-05-05T15:03:00.000+01:00

Action Ash
The full length trailer for the new Conan the Barbarian film is out, and I must say I don't know what to think. It just doesn't seem very...Conan. It looks like every other action fantasy film. I dunno, I think I'll have to see the film before I make a proper judgement.

Check it out for yourselves and let the bad guys know what you think.

\m/

The Mighty Thor #1

2011-04-30T13:55:00.001+01:00

The Mighty Thor #1
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Olivier Coipel

Action Ash
I have yet to see the motion picture known as Thor. I'm not particularly happy about this, so to console myself I have decided to review the first issue of the new ongoing The Mighty Thor. The original title has reverted back to Journey into Mystery but seems to be concentrating on Loki, so I guess this is where Thor's main adventures will happen from now on.

Firstly, it looks great! I'm not surprised by this as I've always enjoyed Coipel's work. Asgard looks epic, as it should, and human and fantasy creatures alike are handled with great mastery. Laura Martin leads a trio of colourists that beautifully embellish the art, making the mundane, the cosmic and the fantastical equally attractive to look at. I praised Miss Martin recently in my post about Fear itself. This is the first time I've noticed a colourist as much as I would an artist, and I thoroughly enjoy her work.

Story wise not much happens, however it seems that this is just a set up for what could possibly be an epic meeting of Galactus and Thor. I enjoyed the side plot concerning the citizens of Broxton and their collective crisis of faith due to living so close to divine beings and witnessing their exploits. Also I enjoyed the dialogue. It was well crafted and notably every character had their own "voice" and expressed themselves according to how that character would speak (unlike a Bendis book).

Nice read, but doesn't take long. Looking forward to seeing where it goes.

3 sticks of "great stabbing" out of 5

Fear itself: The crossover I've been waiting for.

2011-04-13T14:11:00.002+01:00

Action Ash
Having read the one shot prologue and first issue of Fear Itself I am excited. I haven't been properly excited about a crossover since Civil War. I skipped Secret Invasion ("OMG! Everyone's a Skrull") because it didn't look particularly good and from what I've since heard from other people, it wasn't. I enjoyed the Dark Reign equilibrium but that obviously had to come to an end, which it did in a massively disappointing four issue fight sequence (the highlight of which, for me, was the Sentry being killed off and thrown into the sun). The most recent of these events, Shadowland, was good but it was a relatively small one and didn't quite fill the hole within me.

Now Fear itself is here, the first issue of which certainly grabbed my attention. And the best thing about it? It actually has a story. There is a bit action in the issue but not too much because the creators want to present to you the beginnings of a Sci-fi/Fantasy epic. The artwork does not let it down either. Immonen has beautifully crafted each page with the aid of Laura Martin, whose vibrant colours bring the pages to life.

I loved the first issue and I'm hoping it will stay this good throughout.I recommend anyone with an interest in superhero fiction trying this because I think it's what we've been waiting for. I look forward to the next issue, I think it will be most excellent and I hope I'm not wrong.

The Comic Books of March: A Valhallahan's Eye View

2011-04-04T14:04:00.004+01:00

Hi there!

Been a while, but now I'm back, from outer space! Well, Stevenage, but whatev's, the point is not where I was but where I am now. You know what I mean? The journey, though important is oft mooted by the destination. You dig? No? Ah sod you then, here's what I've been buying.

Mostly I've been buying from Chaos City in St Albans lately as I've been largely Herts bound and also because it's a jolly nice shop. It's a bit like when Silver Surfer was earth bound but with more pubs, less moping and a day job in social services.

Oh and Post It Notes. But I digress.

What I Got and Why...

Hellblazer: Original Sins

Inappropriate cover artist nothwithstanding (Jim Lee, WTF?) this is a loverly looking package. DC are finally reprinting Hellblazer in its entirety starting with his appearances in Swamp Thing. Thank The First of the Fallen for that! I started reading Hellblazer at around the #100 mark, so there's soooo much cool shit for me yet to read. Expect a full review of this when I'm done.

Joe The Barbarian #8

Finally this delightful little series has come to an end. I recently caught up on this series at Chaos City's sale, but I've been waiting for this issue to come out so I can sit and read it in one sitting. Sean Murphy's artwork in this is su-fucking-perb! He really is a superstar in the waiting. Also be on the look out for an American Vampire mini series from him soon. I can't wait. Never has a story about a young boy drifting in and out of a coma, whilst tripping balls looked so damned purdy. Top hole.

Sweet Tooth #19

The one we've all been waiting for... well, more like the one we've all been kinda curious about, but hey, this is my blog and I'll huckster all I like. This issue is primarily flashbacks and dream sequences, which has given series writer/artist Jeff Lemire a chance to rope in some other indie talent to give us their interpretation of his vision. and what a vision it is. A great issue, absolute top quality, well worth your shekels. This issue also pushes the overall story along in an exciting direction with the final pages' creepy cliffhanger. I bloody love this series.

American Vampire #12

Yee-Freaking-Haw! Danijel Zezelj, the unpronounceable master of the dark and moody, lends his considerable artistic talents to Scott Snyder's American Vampire this month., and a bloody good job he did too (pun not intended, but welcome). This issue is a standalone story featuring outlaw vampire Skinner Sweet going to and old timey rodeo show and reliving some past ignomies with some old... friends? This is one of those melancholy "how the west was lost stories" and a jolly good one it is too. I'd recommend this as a standalone, regardless of whether you're reading the series.

New York Five #2

I am now the proud owner of issues one and two of NY5. How is it, I hear you ask? I must like it right? Weelllll...... I haven't actually read them yet, I can't quite bring myself to. This stupid predicament stems from my ongoing beef with the artistic works of Brian Wood. I'm always suckered in by the gorgeous art, product design and premises of his stories, but I'm always disappointed by the characters. Every. Fucking. Time. It just seems to me that he can't write anything but pretentious hipster douchebags. Even his fucking vikings come across as hipster douchebags! How is that even possible? I'll read these at some point I'm sure but, maybe not soon.

Scalped #46

Scalped is Scalped. Scalped is good. Yep, it's still bloody great and I'm still loving it. I highly recommend this series to anyone comics fan or no comics fan. Actually, scratch that, I wouldn't recommend it to children or depressives as it deals only in adult themes and is truly fucking bleak. Anyway the point is, yet another top-notch storyline, back to the trials, temptations and failures of Chief Redcrow and the continual corruption of Dashiel Badhorse, and back on form after arguably dipping (slightly) with the Agent Nitz story a couple of months a go.

Jonah Hex #65

"Snow Blind" - Yet another classy Jonah Hex strip from Messrs Gray, Palmiotti and Bernet.Hex is one of those series that I have very little to say about month in, month out except that it's so damned entertaining, and such a quality package. $2.99 a month for a mean and fearless western yarn, that's done in one and features invariably monstrously beautiful art from some of the industry's most underrated masters. Just pick up a copy, I double dare you you sunofabitch!

Infestation: GI Joe #1

I'm still following the Infestation series, but after a little break, I'm losing enthusiasm. It really is absolute nonsense, good fun, but bloody stupid. The artwork in this GI JOE tie-in is proper shit though, someone should have a word as these 2 issues will probably outsell any other GI JOE book they produce, and they could have at least put a B or C caliber artist on this. To cap it all off the only character I've heard of in it is Baroness, and through boredom at work, Google and a childhood as an Action Force fan I probably know more than most about the franchise. They must know they can do better....and knowing is half the battle (drumroll optional).

Incognito: Bad Influences #4

When this issue came out I sat and read this series from #1 and boy does it read better that way! Don't get me wrong, I love reading my books periodically, but sometimes a book just takes an age to come out and you forget all about it. Anyway, Incognito is going from strength to strength. Expect a full review when we read #5 but suffices to say this is some of the very best super-work on the market. Brubaker and Phillips are so good at what they do it should be illegal. The Secret Ingredient is Pulp apparently...

Xombi #1

Xombi sees the return of an obscure Milestone character I know next to nothing about. I picked this up partly because the premise sounded kind of intriguing, but mainly because of the art by Frazer Irving who, to paraphrase, can make whippet shit look like the Sistine Chapel. The story, featuring living paintings, characters jumping from movie screens, inexplicable tuna sandwiches and mystery popcorn looks fucking mental. Expect a full review of this in due course.

Knight and Squire #6

I'm very sad to see this series go, but it has been a wild ride. I loved every minute of it. I wholeheartedly recommend this series. Also as Ash mentioned in the post below, writer Cornell had the dubious pleasure of meeting the bad guys last weekend. I loved what he did in Soundgarden.

iZombie #11

A slightly drab issue by comparison, but it's still so damned pretty. I really am enjoying this series immensely, despite the fact that it's mixture of supernatural action, soap opera, romance, pop-whimsy and occasional moping is not normally my bag.. Waitaminute, that's totally my bag, what am I on about? Anyway, check out this happening series daddy-o.

Casanova Gula III

Talk about happening! This series is happening as fuck! Not for squares dad, this is the heavy scene. If Jim Steranko and Ian Flemming wrote beat poetry this would be it. Dimension hopping, metaphysical espionage jazz from Matt Fraction and Fabio Moon.

Hellblazer #276-7

In which our hero (?) comes back from his honeymoon, tries to find a new thumb and deals with some pesky property developers all with the aid of nasty mysticism, demons and pure British obnoxiousness. I love Hellblazer. This run is really floating my boat at the moment, and as the cover to #277 says, it's the start of a new storyline and a fine jumping on point for new readers. Hellblazer hasn't been this consistently good for years. Long may it last.

The Walking Dead #82

Another series that it's hard to write any more about, either you're reading it or not at this point. All I'll say is that we're currently in one of Kirkman's "everything turns to shit" storylines and it's as exciting as ever. Who'd a thunk a zombie series could still be so good 82 issues in. Wowsers. I will add that TWD is one of those series it's worth starting from the beginning, if you start here, you're really missing out (and Vol 1 is really affordable, so do it).

The New Frontier

Many thanks to friend of the blog, Rene, who sent me The New Frontier Volumes one and two which I can't wait to get stuck into. Rene definitely earned a 2Badguys No Prize!

Stuff I didn't bother with...

FF #1

Because really, who gives a fuck? Does anyone really like the Fantastic Four in 2011? Anyone? Actually I can think of one guy I know, and he's a good bloke so I'll let you have that. Still not buying it though. I'll ask him what it's like next I see him and let you know.

Anything Deadpool

Because, despite the great covers from Skottie Young and Jason Pearson, I really don't find Deadpool funny, interesting or cool.

Vertigo Resurrected: Finals

Because it looks like some magic fairy wizard flute bullshit.

The Marvel Universe

Not really doing it for me at the moment. For the first time in a long time, I'm not reading any Marvel titles regularly. Feel free to suggest something to me to rectify this.

And Finally...

Wow, the new TV Wonder Woman costume looks like one of those naff "sexy" Halloween costumes.

The new Thor animation from Marvel Knight looks fecking awesome!

I'm loving The Boondocks at the moment. Check it out. Thanks to Mr Nick for the recommendation.

I like drawing on Post It notes.

Keep your eyes peeled for some bargain bin reviews coming up from me.

TTFN pendejos!

Valhallahan

The Bad guys meet Paul Cornel

2011-03-30T13:40:00.000+01:00

Action Ash
I had fun on Saturday.
I had taken the day off work, the weather wasn't bad and I was about to meet Paul Cornell. The British writer of Captain Britain and MI13, Knight and Squire and a whole bunch of other stuff, was coming to St Albans very own comic dealership Chaos City for a signing.

Valhallahan and I geared up, transformed and rolled out, remembering to bring along our copies of Knight and Squire to be scribbled on by Mr Cornell's own marker pen.When we arrived the store was buzzing with life and there was great atmosphere, and eventually it was my turn to meet Paul Cornell. I must say, he is a bloody nice bloke and it was a real pleasure to chat with him about comics, beards and all sorts of other nonsense. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself talking us geeks and didn't drop his smile once no matter how many times he had to explain the plot of Knight and Squire issue 3.

When it was all over Valhallahan and I hung around for a bit, picking up our weekly stack and having a chat with Derek (Chaos City's kindly proprietor) and fellow geek Tony (of Never Iron Anyhting! fame). Then it was time for food and alchohol, of which we had much, and after which I awoke the next day with a pain in the gulliver.

As I said at the beginning, I had fun on Saturday.

Crisis On Infinite Basins

2011-03-16T22:31:00.001Z

Back in Black!

2011-03-16T14:33:00.000Z

Action Ash
Yo, yo suckers! Bah Weep Granah weep Ninny Bong! (and if you don't know what that means you're not geeky enough to be reading this blog)

It's been almost a month since our last post and I apologise. It seems like only yesterday that I was slagging off Marvel Girl and her crappy hometown adventures. I've been very, very busy recently writing a dissertation and Valhallahan has been busy with his own stuff.

It's good to be back and I am looking forward to telling you guys what I think about comics and, like everyone else on the Internets, pretending my opinion matters.

I'll see you guys soon, real soon.

Dwayne McDuffie RIP

2011-02-22T20:39:00.002Z

2 Badguys raise our glasses to writer Dwayne McDuffie, who died today.

Marvel Girl has issues... and I don't want to read about them.

2011-02-20T16:15:00.004Z

Marvel Girl one-shot
Written by Josh Fialkov
Art by Nuno Plati

Action Ash
I'm not going to beat around the bush. This was a bit rubbish really.

The X-Men characters are dear to me, and this series of one-shots looking at each of the original line up looked fairly interesting. This one, however, was not interesting. It was nonsense. The plot was boring, Jean was written unlike any portrayal of her that I've ever read and the way the overall story played out was, quite frankly, a bit whack.The art however was pretty good and the last page features a splash panel that would make a nice poster. Nuno Plati has a really interesting and stylised European art style that I totally dig. It gave the story a great look and I can imagine Plati doing character designs for an animated series or cell shaded video game. The tacky Roger Cruz cover, however, was not very good.
I suppose I should warn you that the next paragraph contains spoilers, as I'm going to give you an Action Ash abridged version of the story. Here goes:

The book opens with Cyclops and Angel fighting over Jean. Scott being the jock, douche bag that he is, wants to lay claim to his woman. Angel glides down elegantly and punches him in then face, while calling him a "Jerk!". If Warren Worthington III was real I'd fist bump him and buy him a beer. Jean breaks it up and shouts at them. Iceman makes a comment to Beast about never wanting to date her. Jean hears and psychic blasts the shit out of them even though Beast didn't do anything. Perhaps they should change Jeans codename to Unlikable Harridan.
Cut to Prof. X's office and he tells her that she should take a break from the team because she's out of control. She shouts at him too and then agrees to go home. When she arrives home her parents give her a hug and tell her that they've missed her. Apparently Jean doesn't like this so she decides to run out and go to the mall. While there she starts seeing psychic flash backs of her friend Annie and herself. They talk to a boy in the arcade who tells Annie she's a spaz (I lol'd) and Annie runs out crying. Jean then realises that everyone she knew as a kid is still there. She contacts the Professor with her mind and is all like "OMG there's a monster here keeping everyone under a spell", instead of coming to the conclusion that people in her home town are just boring and unmotivated to do anything with their lives.
She finds ghost/flashback Annie, who accuses Jean of moving on with her life after Annie was hit by a car. To be fair Annie, you were dead!
Then ghost/flashback/figment-of-Jean's-imagination-brought-to-life-by-her-powers Annie, transforms into a monster. Jean's all like "You're not Annie, she's nice and you're a jerk" The monster goes away, Jean talks to herself as a kid and then Prof. X comes. Jean says "ZOMG there was no monster it was just my pure bitch evil". Xavier says "Duh, This is all in your mind stupid. Check yo'self fo' you wreck yo'self" Jean says "I'm going to stop being such a dick and come back to the X-Men."

THE END

TL;DR = Waste of time!

The nonsense adventures of an unrecognisable Jean Grey out of a possible coherent and well executed story.

Do you think I'd look good in a yellow rain coat and pink shades?

2011-02-17T16:00:00.008Z

Action Ash
Mellow Greetings citizens! How are you on this glorious day? I myself, am well and happy, safe in the knowledge that soon I will own the entire run of the original 70's Werewolf by Night. Last Friday I acquired issues #3 to # 19 and soon I shall have completed my collection and no one can stop me!!!

But enough of my evil plans, I'm gonna tell you what I bought this week:

Magnus, Robot Fighter #3 - More pulp Sci-fi nonsense from Shooter and Reinhold. Love it!

Wolverine and Jubilee #2 - Looking forward to seeing what the dynamic duo get up to in this ish. Also loving the return of the yellow raincoat and pink shades. What a classic look, I wish I could pull it off.

Silver Surfer #1 - Interesting that they should bring out a mini series featuring everyones favourite herald of Galactus. I wonder what brought it on?

Marvel Girl One-shot - I like the look of these X-Men issues that are all set in the early days of the mutant's superhero career. Not too keen on the cover but the inside looks nice so we'll see how it goes.

So that's what my week is going to involve. Werewolves, yellow rain coats, pink shades, fist fighting with robots, silver space men and telepathic teenage girls. Sounds good! Catch you on the flip side. \m/

Remembering Marvel UK: Motormouth and Kill-Power

2011-02-13T23:52:00.000Z

Valhallahan

The Preamble

I've spoken before about my fondness for the old Marvel UK characters, I know they aren't the best examples of the medium of sequential art, but I have a lot of love for them nonetheless. It is a love/hate relationship though, as on the whole the concepts are a lot better than the execution, and the art is extremely hit and miss (mostly miss). I read a fair bit of their output as a child in the early 90s through the magazine Overkill, which was Marvel UK's attempt at a 2000AD-esque Science Fiction anthology, they chopped up the 22 page US versions into short chunks and printed about four stories per fortnightly issue. I think my love of some of these characters is less about actual quality storytelling and more a mixture of nostalgia and partly because it was such a brazen attempt to do these cyberpunky dystopian Sci-Fi tales, that wouldn't look out of place sitting between Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog, but set them all on the periphery of the Marvel Universe. Motormouth and Kill Power rubbing shoulders with Nick Fury and The Punisher, Death's Head II and Tuck scrapping with the X-Men, it's sort of like Tyranny Rex turning up in the Avengers or Judge Dredd in the Justice League. It shouldn't work, but every now and then it really does. So, on the whole I like the books, with caveats, but every now and then they have an outright hit, which brings me to Motormouth and Kill Power.

The Shop

I picked up the entire 12 issue US run (annoyingly sans #2 & 5) of Motormouth and Killpower (nee The Indescribable Motormouth) last week for a song from The Mighty World of Comicana II, a well stocked, dusty, decidedly old school comic book shop on Shaftsbury Avenue which sadly is not long for this world and well worth a visit before it closes its doors for good in the coming months. Seriously, go now, it's shutting down soon. The member of staff (I've only ever seen the one chap in the 15 or so years I've been going there) is friendly and the shop is full of gems from yesteryear, which for the most part are very affordable. I spent about a tenner in their 25p bin alone, before picking up this series and plugging a few of my ROM: Spaceknight gaps. Many thanks to Ian at Dead Universe Comics for promising to hook me up with the missing Motormouth & Killpower issues.

The Characters

Motormouth is Harley Davis (I see what they did there) a 90s street punk who happens upon some fancy new sneakers that imbue her with the power to jump between different dimensions, but make her the focus of attention for all manner of shady cloak and dagger types. Along the way she is introduced to Killpower, a heavily armed, grotesquely over-muscled ubermench type with an obscene amount of high tech weaponry at his disposal. The thing is, Killpower is not quite right in the head, he's the mind of a child trapped in a 170% 90s comic book shell. He's been raised by the shady agency that created him to become the perfect killer, but in actuality he's just an amiable little kid who's been raised for his moral compass to point in the wrong direction. Initially sent to kill Harley, they develop a friendship of sorts, her rankled sarcastic nature rubbing against his bizarrely skewed childlike innocence, creating a rather fun dynamic duo. The Riot Grrl and the 90s comic book anti-hero parody. Once they hook up they hop from plane to plane with all due ensuing hijinx. Fantastically named adventures they are too; "Electro Vampires in the 21st Century!", "Off to Kill A Wizard!". This series also treats us to a scene I honestly never thought I'd see, Nick Fury and The Punisher gate crashing a warehouse rave in Islington. I shit ye not!

The Rest

OK, so the art is not amazing, but it's not bad either, it's just quite of its time. Motormouth's design is great and actually not something that would look out of place in Camden nowadays, and Kill Power is such an over the top parody character that the artists can just go nuts with him with impunity. It's also interesting to see early work from people like Gary Frank, who grows up to become one of the best "acting" and facial expression artists in the business. I really would love to see someone pick up these characters again, and it was great to see some of them make cameos in Paul Cornell's Captain Britain and MI:13 not that long ago. I really feel that there’s tons of mileage in this set up. I can imagine a place for the punky hipster with the foul mouth and the dimension hopping trainers getting into all kinds of transdimentional, cross-time hijinks in today's Marvel Universe. I'm thinking Van Lente or Peter Milligan writing with someone like Stuart Immonen, or Jamie McKelvie or Mike Allred making with the pretty pictures; It could be like Exiles but more British and actually good. Let’s start a petition I say! Who's with me?

Anyone?

Oh, sod you then.

***Incidentally on my search of the web for Marvel UK info, I happened upon this blog. which is a great place for fans of the imprint.***

What I Got and Why: This time it's February

2011-02-13T02:47:00.002Z

Valhallahan

Aloha Chums! I picked up quite the haul this week, from the fine and friendly establishment that is Chaos City Comics in sleepy St Albans. It was a perilous journey, fraught with danger and worsened by the fact that I'd been up all night with friends and wine the night before like the bourgeois pig that I am. Anyway I came, I bought, I err... went home and blogged about it.

Star Trek: Infestation #1 - "He's dead Jim". Good clean fun.

Transformers: Infestation #1 - I don't normally read Transformers books so I don't know what sort of status quo they're running on, but if you've seen the original movie you'll know who everyone is. It's a stupid and confusing book but good fun nonetheless. What do you expect though?

New York Five #1 - I picked this up as a try out. I'll do a proper review, but it's written Brian Wood whose work I have a love/hate relationship with. It always piques my interest and he always picks fantastic artists to work with, but I'm almost invariably disappointed by the end product. I'll save that rant for the review though. Looks like classy stuff.

Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder #1 - I don't read much by Dark Horse but I'm often temped. This one stuck out for it's period setting. I'll post a proper review of this one in the week.

Knight and Squire #5 - An absolutely bloody brilliant issue of this excellent series. Top Hole!

Jonah Hex #39 & 56 - To make up for not being able to get the latest issue I picked up two issues I didn't already have. At least I think I don't have them... Anyone want an issue of Jonah Hex?

Incognito: Bad Influences #3 - I'm looking forward to reading all three issues in one sitting.

The Walking Dead #82 - Always a winner. It does say something about the state of the market though that I bought three books about zombies without even trying.

Power Man and Iron Fist #1 - Ash got my interest piqued with the revelation that 2badguys' favourite, the Don of the Dead appears. Looks fun, but I'm not keen on the new look Iron Fist, I like the Green Pajamas darn it!

Wolverine #1000 - Stan only knows how he's on #1000, perhaps Marvel just have gremlins, but I digress. This issue is an anthology, and although I don't read the regular books, I do love Wolverine stories. I've been burned before but I'm hoping this one will be a winner. I really like the look of the story with the young girl who wants to be Wolvie. Fingers crossed.

Chaos War #5 - Thus ends the saga of The Incredible Hercules. It's been a wild ride and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Casanova: Gula II - Beautiful artwork from Fabio Moon, crazy tales by Matt Fraction. Good job all round. I missed this series first time around, but I can see why it got so much hype.

Comics and ting

2011-02-10T13:54:00.002Z

Action Ash
Last week there wasn't a single comic out that I wanted to buy! I was confused at first, this hasn't happened in a while. It was OK though. It just so happened that week of no comics coincided with the first week of owning my brand new shiny iPad. Not so good for helping me concentrate on my dissertation but brilliant for games (I'm addicted to Dungeon Hunter 2) and the comic applications are pretty nifty. IDW especially impressed me with their line up of titles, FX (with John Byrne art) and Hammer of the Gods (by Michael Avon Oeming) being two titles I would recommend to anyone out there who has the device and likes funny books.

This week was the total opposite. Eight titles to keep me busy NOT doing my dissertation.

DC Legacies #9 - Continuing my history lesson of the DC universe. Particularly looking forward to the back up strip with Bill Sienkiewicz art and Black Adam being a bad ass.

Flash #9 - Finally back to main story instead of "rogue profiles" *cough*timewasters*cough*. Looks like a good ish and I hope this Flashpoint business will end up being a good event.

Knight and Squire #5 - A great issue with a great ending. Can't wait to see what happens next. That's all I'm going to say, I don't want to spoil it.

Carnage #3 - I've enjoyed this so far and I love the art but do have the feeling that it could turn out to be a bit pointless.

Heroes for Hire #3 - Last issue had me totally hooked and helped secure this book a place on my "ongoings" list. One thing though...the art. It's good and everything but some of the women look really ugly. In issue 2 Satana looked like a transvestite. Just saying. Also this issue features Iron Fist.

Incognito #3 - After escaping the whore house of doom, where will Zack Overkill's adventures lead him next?

Click the pic to see this sick wrap around cover in full glory

New Avengers #9 - That was quick. The last issue was only out two weeks ago. Never mind I'm not complaining.

Power man and Iron Fist #1 - I have been looking forward to this since the end of Shadowland! Written by my favourite, Van Lente, this new duo are sure to have some interesting adventures. Also contains the comeback of a character I love that featured in another book by Van Lente.

Comics Round Up! featuring What I Got and Why

2011-02-07T18:52:00.001Z

Valhallahan
Well, not a particularly exciting week to write about, comics wise. I suppose I’ll have to brush off the Wetworks: Mutations abattoir of a review and my fond remembrance of Motormouth and Kill Power. Before I do though I will explain what I got and Why.

As I said, not n exciting two weeks to write about, but a great little bundle of books... and Infestation #1. These last two trips have really just been my regulars, my satisfying old faithfuls, my Snickers. Obviously they’re all published by Vertigo.

This week I bought the latest issues of iZombie (fast becoming my favourite read of the month), Sweet Tooth (Sideways Special!), Scalped (all misery, all the time!) and American Vampire (Not Twilight!). I’ve spoken about these at relative length before, so I’ll save you the repetition, suffices to say they all come highly recommended.

I also picked up a few bits and bobs from Amazon, such as Kane Vol. 4: Thirty Ninth, Thirty Ninth. Kane is essentially a cop show in comic book format, written and drawn by Paul Grist, of Jack Staff fame. It’s been a while since I read it, as it took me ages to find a copy of this volume and I didn’t want to skip ahead, but it’s the ongoing stories of the cops and robbers of a corrupt US precinct. It walks a fine line between serious and whimsy, but it walks it well. Worth noting also, that for some reason, these black and white collections are a bit of an arse to find. As is fellow black and white crime series Chicanos. What’s that all about?

My other online comic purchases were a load of The Uncanny X-Men Pocket Books from Panini. The Pocket Books are digest-format reprints of Chris Claremont’s epic run on The Uncanny X-Men (from Giant-Size #1 onwards) they’re printed in full colour and have about 8-10 issues’ worth of story per book. They even throw in the annuals and specials like God Loves Man Kills. At £4-5 (or about 80p + P&P from Amazon Marketplace) they’re a brilliant and cheap way to read these classic stories. Some of the dialogue may have dated badly, and reading them all together does highlight Chris Claremont’s recurring plots a bit much (boy does he like mind games) but I thoroughly recommend these stories and this format. Spider-Man, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk and Silver Surfer Pocket Books are also available.

The Greatest Crossover Ever? No

2011-02-02T21:32:00.002Z

Valhallahan

My name is Valhallahan and I’m a sucker for hype. It’s a curse many geeks share, and in some cases it leads to disappointment. This is one of those cases.

I suppose this issue did all that was needed of it, in that it set up the premise for the crossover, ready for it to sprawl out into the various mini series it encompasses, but the comic itself is pretty bad. I can’t fault the art particularly, as it is accomplished stuff and looks rather nice when the writers give them something decent to draw, but the dialogue is bloody ridiculous and the plot progression is incomprehensible. This second problem stems from the fact that this issue, although titled "Infestation #1" is actually Zombies versus CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations. For those who don’t know, let me fill you in on CVO from what I gleaned from this issue of Infestation and the two issues of CVO I once got in a grab-bag: It’s a big load of shite. More specifically, it is the story of a group of covert soldiers who happen to be -wait for it- Vampires! Yeah! Woo! Awesome! No. The team consists of two interchangeable broody tough guy types and Lady Death. Oh sorry, that’s not Lady Death, that’s the third member of the CVO team, she’s a vampire commando that used to be a supermodel! How cool is that? Not very? Oh well, I’ll continue. Interestingly, she is quite curvy and buxom for a supermodel, methinks she’s been padding out her CV. Just because the place has a stage and people are watching you, it doesn’t make it a catwalk. So the 'Glamour' model and the two angry dudes seem to work for a bunch of ghouls in suits and... you know what? I can’t be bothered.

A Pony and Trap

But what did I expect? This is, after all the set up for a story which is essentially of the kind we all used to play with our toys when we were kids. "Then Captain Kirk beams down to the planet and there’s a zombie and then the zombie bites him and then Ghostbusters shoots the zombie and then more zombies come but Snake Eyes cuts their heads off but Megatron comes down and shoots Snake Eyes because he is a zombie too and then the Enterprise crashes because Dad stepped on it by accident but it transforms into Optimus Prime and then they fight and then Leonardo Kills Mum-Ra who looks a bit like a zombie and then Happy Meal transforming Big Mac shoots Grizzlor and then John was a zombie" and in that way, I’m still hopeful for the series.

Artist's Impression of writing process

It seems that this issue has very little bearing on what will proceed it. In fact the other titles aren’t really crossing over at all, it’s more like Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers where all the characters face a common foe, unbeknownst to them, with Infestation serving as the book ends which tie the stories together. In fact, the types of zombie don’t even appear to be consistent judging from the previews, with Transformers opting for a Blackest Night style evil dead, while Star Trek goes the more neoclassical route. As it stands the shiteyness of this initial part, is not going to stop me from trying the others, they are all previewed in the back of this book and have completely different, franchise-appropriate creative teams, and I must say though not a fan of his super-hero work, I look forward to seeing Kyle Holtz’s Ghostbusters art.

This was disappointing start, but not a deal-breaker. I’ll be trying out the Infestation minis but skipping the next instalment of this extended CVO advert.

Survival and Land out of a possible Dawn.

Johnny Come Lately: Incognegro

2011-02-02T00:58:00.000Z

Action Ash
I had flirted with the idea of buying this when it first came out but for some reason I never did. That was about three years ago and I had completely forgotten about it until Chaos City had a sale that I noticed it again and decided to make the purchase. I'm glad I did because this book was a fantastic read and is a fitting example of how the comic is a medium that can be used to tell all kinds of stories.

For those of you who don't know, Incognegro is the story of an extremely light skinned black man named Zane Pinchback who uses his genetic lot to go undercover, posing as a white man and reporting on the lynchings in then southern states. When his darker skinned brother is arrested for murder he decides to go "Incognegro" again and find out what really happened before his brother becomes the next lynch victim of a small southern town in Mississippi.

Set in the 1930's, this book is an intriguing look at the racial views of the time and shows you just how different being black was in the south, as opposed to somewhere like New York. However, Mat Johnson tells the story in a matter of fact way without trying to ram a message down your throat. It's clear that what is happening is wrong, but you are left to see that yourself without being beaten over the head with it too much.

The art is beautifully handled in stark black and white by Warren Pleece, and there is a remarkable attention to detail while keeping it relatively simple at the same time. Also, I would like to point out something which, as a person of black heritage I appreciated very much. Pleece draws black people that look like black people, with black features and although in black and white it is clear who the black characters are. This is refreshing to see in a medium where a lot of artists just draw a white person and colour them in brown (e.g. Storm from X-men, M from Generation X and some versions of Bishop... maybe it's just X-Men titles?).

A great crime thriller set against the backdrop of a time that was turbulent to say the least. I heartily recommend it.

The Greatest Crossover Ever?

2011-02-01T19:16:00.003Z

Valhallahan
Well colour me intrigued.

I picked up a copy of Infestation #1 this week on a whim. I’d seen this advertised a few months ago and knew I had to give it a go. Infestation is a crossover for all (or at least most) of indie publisher IDW’s licensed properties. Essentially it’s *insert name* versus Zombies. I know, I know, "Zombies? What is this, 2007?" I hear you cry. The Walking Dead aside, I’m as sick of zombies as the next man (unless the next man is a Necrophiliac they love that shit) but hear me out! Y’see where it gets interesting is who the licensed characters are, and IDW have quite the list of *insert name here*s.

So Roll up, roll up for

Transformers
Vs
Ghostbusters
Vs
GI JOE
Vs
Star Trek
Vs

Robots

Zombies!

Oh yeah you heard that right. Throw in Thundercats or Star Wars and that’s my childhood right there.

Aparently it crosses over with CVO (Covert Vampiric Operations) too, which is a shame because what I read of that (from bargain bin grab bags, I hasten to add) really did suck, if you'll parden the pun.

I’m going to go read this and tell you how it looks.

Be right back.

V2K: Totems

2011-01-31T19:37:00.001Z

Valhallahan

Totems is that rare beast, that rears its head up every once in a blue moon, the Vertigo Crossover. This book was published under Vertigo's short lived run of books celebrating the new millennium, branded 'V2K' (like Y2K, geddit?) and focuses on John Constantine's New Year's Eve bash. Being John, its got quite the guest list, and being John, it doesn't exactly go as planned. At the party we have Swamp Thing, Black Orchid, Doom Patrol's Robot Man, Shade: The Changing Man, Animal Man and Zatanna of Justice League fame. Zatanna's an interesting addition, because back when this was published they were still flirting with the idea of her being a Vertigo character, so she occasionally popped up in things like Hellblazer swearing like a person and on one occasion smoking a bit of pot. Obviously this wouldn't happen nowadays, because as a mainstream DC Universe character she should be doing wholesome things like mind raping people, vomiting blood, getting zombified and tearing out people’s hearts, snapping necks or rape-raping people, not having a normal sex life with a comparatively normal bloke using recreational drugs and swearing occasionally. That'd be sick! But that is now and this was then, so here we have the pleasure of this little exchange:

One thing I love about this story is that, having gathered this merry band together, John proceeds to puke all over himself and pass out like a true British hero. We salute ye John. Anyway with John out of the picture the rest of the motley crew of 'heroes' with the addition of some odd waiter bloke have to sort out whatever the shit is going on with the bizarre new world they are faced with. I thoroughly enjoyed this, the characters interacted believably and entertainingly and Duncan Fegredo and Richard Case really sell the madness of the tale, both in the mundane and fantastical elements on display. This story does feel dated in that it focuses on conspiracy theories, Y2K and the sense of impending dread coming with the new millennium that turned out to be total bollocks, shockingly enough, but without giving too much away, that’s kind of the point of it so it works well. One thing that really does need mentioning is how much this book screams out Vertigo. The characters, the art, the story, the dialogue, the mood, every little bit of this is 90s Vertigo, but strangely enough it also feels like a typical superhero team up too, the McGuffin could work equally well as a trad superhero annual or something, it’s a surprising dichotomy.

Get it, it’s good!

X-Men #7 Reviewed

2011-01-30T18:25:00.000Z

X-Men #7
To Serve and Protect: Part 1
Written by Victor Gischler
Art by Chris Bachalo

Action Ash
Now all that blood sucking bullshit is over it seems the X-Men can get back to doing what they do best, and it looks like that's where they're headed in this new storyline. To get the public to trust them they are making an effort to be heroes and it seems to be working, but they're not just saving the day in sunny San Fran. Something is amiss in the New York sewers and Cyclops has sent a small team to deal with it.

The story was simple but had potential to branch off into more complex narratives or even just a simple story that's really interesting/entertaining. This was, however, refreshing to read in an X-Men story. No sign of vampires and not bogged down in continuity, this ish would be a good jumping on point for new readers. It reminded me of the beginning of a classic X-Men adventure from the days of Claremont and Byrne.
Bachalo's art is pretty good too, and this issue includes some interesting page and panel layouts.

It's about time I felt optimistic about the X-Men again, and I look forward to getting back in to it.

3 and a half potential sewer dwelling reptilian cannibals out of 5

Comic books: The perfect hangover cure!

2011-01-27T13:51:00.002Z

Action Ash

I woke up to find myself sprawled across an air mattress on the floor of a flat I didn't recognise as my own (it was much tidier). As I rolled over to my right, above me on the couch was sleeping a hairy ogre of a man. You guessed it, it was Valhallahan. As he snored away, the previous night's events began to come back to me. I was at a pub in Hoxton, surrounded by trendy wankers while The Fabulous Penetrators rocked my face off. Then Liam and I ended up staying at a friend's place and that was where I had just found myself. After spending half the day there, kindly being made breakfast and watching a film, we felt it was time to get out of the way and we stumbled out into the streets of Limehouse feeling like mere shadows of our former selves. We were not, however, without direction. We both knew that the best way to regain our humanity was to find a comic shop and quick. We headed for central and Gosh was our first port of call.

One of the first things I noticed after entering was a particular horror comic high up on the wall, who's cover I had come across on the Internet: Chamber of Darkness #7 (1970). Chamber of Darkness was a short lived horror title that for some reason didn't sell well (despite wicked offerings from Bernie Wrightson and Steve Ditko) and was retitled Monsters on the Prowl from issue 9 onward. After browsing some more I bought it and we moved on to Comicana in Shaftesbury Avenue, which has a fantastic collection of back issues. I bought a bunch of stuff that I'm too lazy to mention but among my stack were two issues of Marvel Spotlight featuring The Son of Satan, some old Horror titles such as DC's The Witching Hour and Marvel's Tomb of Darkness and a bunch of other titles.

Monday and Tuesday went by without anything worthy of mention happening and then Wednesday rolled around and it was time for even more comic books from Chaos City. Here's what I picked up:

Conan: Road of Kings #2 - I read a preview online and this issue looks like a good'n.

Detective Comics #873 - The conclusion of Snyder's first story arc and I'm pumped to see how Grayson's going to get out of this one. Also it's nice to read a comic story that only three parts and not stretched beyond it's natural limit to six issues solely to make it easier for trade conversion.

Namor #6 - Now all that vampire nonsense is over I want to see what they're going to do with a favourite character of mine. Note the fantastic Phil Noto cover.

Astonishing Thor #2 - It's a shame they had to go and give it an Ed McGuinness cover when there's all that gorgeous Mike Choi on the inside.

Chaos War #5 - This didn't turn out to be as epic as I had hoped it would be. Still been fun but tbh I forget it exists between issues.

New Avengers #8 - I am not happy by the change of art and hope it's only temporary. It's not that I don't like Daniel Acuna, it's just that Immonen was doing a brilliant job and I think he captured the perfect look for the series. Never mind, prove me wrong Acuna.

X-Men #7 - Now all that vampire nonsense is over I want to see what they're going to...Whoa, I just experienced some De Ja Vu.

On top of this I also bought three back issues of Hellblazer to start catching up. Those of you with excellent memories will recall that I started buying it after a swap shop where Liam suggested it. Shortly after I forgot I was buying it and am now a few months behind. That's not so bad though as I know someone who has been buying it but is still YEARS behind when it comes to actually reading it. He shall remain nameless =P

Beyond!

2011-01-22T15:43:00.001Z

Valhallahan
Well how do fellas and fellerettes? I thought I posted this ages ago, but I, err... didn't. Anyway, here it is.
Beyond! is a Marvel team up book that came out in 2006, but was overshadowed by whatever event they were having that week. I think it was Everyone’s A Bastard Now or Iron Man’s A Dick This Month or The day the Earth Turned Bastard maybe it was All Women Is Bitches . Something like that. Anyway, this series is an old school Marvel Crossover which picks up where 80s crossover Secret Wars left off and It’s the same premise on a slightly smaller scale. A mysterious disembodied entity “From Beyond!” whisks away a random assortment of Marvel heroes and villains to a far off planet and offers them their wildest dreams if they do everyone else in. Of course it’s not just a free for all, there are enough twists, turns and what-have-yous in this to keep us readers entertained. At the beginning of this story it’s revealed that the events of Secret Wars was not a one off, and this Beyonder has been bringing group after group of characters to die fighting on this planet for years and now it’s these guys’ turn. Remarkably they manage to work in this premise, so steeped in Marvel Universe history, but make it totally new reader friendly at the same time. I think this largely stems from the choice of characters.

For Beyond! McDuffie picked a truly eclectic bunch of A-Z listers, I think it’s this mixture of characters everyone knows and characters nobody knows that are essentially clean slates for most of the audience. I was particularly happy to see Deathlok get an outing, it’s not my favourite version of the character, but I’m always happy to see Deathlok get some attention. The version in this story is the one from the series McDuffie wrote in the 90s and he obviously has a fondness for the character, so this Deathlok fan approves. Another character its good to see again is The Wasp who was rather pointlessly killed off by Brian Michael Bendis a few years later in Marvel mega-event Everyone Secretly a Bastard, which looking back on it was a load of cack. Rounding off the cast are Hank Pym (wife beating former Avenger), Firebird (uninspiring former Avenger), Kraven the Hunter (the not such a villain, more like Steve Irwin son of the original), The Hood (the sympathetic pre being written by Bendis version), Venom (the one that used to be The Scorpion), Gravity (I didn’t read it either, he seems a bit like Invincible), Medusa (the incestuous Inhuman) and Spider-Man (never heard of him).

Scott Kolins art suits the tone perfectly, his style has a fantastic mixture of the stylish modern artist, and the classic Marvel method. I do have one gripe about his art namely “what in the hell is Pym wearing?” but other artistic choices like Firebird’s naff Native American themed kit and Venom’s killer Scorpion tail, actually work if you ask me. The Venom tail particularly, which I thought was a nice addition to the character. On that note, it warrants mention that this was written when the Mac Gargan Venom was a fairly new concept, and people were having fun with the new design. Nowadays everyone just draws classic Venom, maybe a bit bigger, but still same old, same old which I think is a wasted opportunity.

The book is created by Dwayne McDuffie and Scot Kollins both of whom made their names chiefly from their work for the Distinguished Competition, McDuffie for his work on Static and his Milestone characters and later with the Justice League in comics and Animation; Kollins known largely for his critically applauded work on The Flash. It’s interesting to see these guys let loose on such unashamedly classic Marvel action, full of obscure cameos and continuity nods, and they do a bloody great job of it too if you ask me.

I wholeheartedly recommend this and it’s not just the hangover talking.

The Infinite Vacation

2011-01-22T00:03:00.003Z

The Infinite Vacation #1

Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Christian Ward

Action Ash
I wasn't even aware that this was written by Nick Spencer, of Morning Glories fame when I purchased this book. I saw it was coming out and thought it looked interesting, but it wasn't until I picked it up to read it that I saw the name and recognised it. If you've read my praise of Morning Glories then you will not be surprised when I when I say that I liked this too.

Plot: Mark lives in a world where if you're bored of your life, it doesn't matter. You can just buy the life of a another you from an alternate reality. However, no matter how many times Mark makes a switch he still ends up in the same boring dead end situations. Also versions of him are dropping like flies and he's worried that there might be reason other than chance.

In my opinion the story is original and unoriginal at the same time. It seems like I've come across this sort of thing before but it's done in an interesting way and seems to be making a point about current Internet/phone application culture. The story unfolds in a nice way and in some ways reminds me of a film or TV programme.

Aesthetically this is an interesting book. The main reason I like the art is simply because it's different from what I'm used to in mainstream comics. Ward does a great job of giving the feel that this world is like ours but completely different at the same time. One way he does this is by mixing the literal depiction of what's happening in the story with abstract colours and shapes to help portray what the characters are feeling. There is a cut and paste element to the backgrounds which I think really works and the middle pages fold out into a fantastic two page splash panel that would make a brilliant poster.

TL;DR = It is a good read and looks pretty.

3 and a half alternate reality cruising me's out of 5

Best Wishes John!

2011-01-20T20:07:00.007Z

Valhallahan

John Constantine, DC's least eligible bachelor is about to tie the knot in Hellblazer #275, out this week. What could possibly go wrong...

I also picked up Strange Tales II #3, which had been eluding me these past weeks.

What I got and why

2011-01-20T13:39:00.016Z

Action Ash
This week was a good one for purchasing comics. Some nice titles that I've been looking forward to came out.
Morning Glories #6 - The first story arc is over so I can't wait to see what's going to happen next.
Scarlet #4 - Seems like aaaaages since issue 3. Loving this series, reads great and looks better. Check out the sick cover Maleev cooked up for this issue. <<<

Superior #4 - Seems to be coming out on time each month, which is impressive considering it's by Millar.

Wolverine and Jubilee #1 - Thought I'd check this out because I like the Wolvie/Jubi tag team. Although last time I read a story about this duo one of them wasn't a vampire, so we'll see how it goes.

Infinite Vacation #1 - A new series that looks fairly interesting so I thought I'd check it out. Keep your eyes peeled for a review.

Thor #619 - I'm really liking this creative team's work on Thor. Still don't quite understand why old goldilocks was so desperate to get Loki back though.

Also I acquired a free DC poster, and guess what the image was. None other than the propaganda picture that I spoke of two posts ago. The only downside being it doesn't have the line "Keeping comics affordable for you!" across the bottom. Never mind, it was free.

Be Well citizens, I'll catch you on the flipside \m/

BREAKING NEWS: Valhallahan likes Greg Horn Image!

2011-01-19T13:03:00.002Z

Valhallahan
I'm usually not a fan of Greg Horn, he's an artist I actively dislike, in fact. Mainly because his work is for the most part incredibly fucking naff. But credit where credit is due, and this is indeed worthy of credit;

Speaking of Credit where credit is due, I saw it first here.

Drawing the line at $2.99

2011-01-19T00:37:00.004Z

Action Ash
I love DC's little self promotion/propaganda posters they're currently running in their books at the moment.

There's something so intrinsically comic book about it but I don't know what it is. Reminds me of something you'd see in a title from the 40s and 50s.

Adventuring in the DC universe with Action Ash

2011-01-19T00:02:00.007Z

Action Ash
I've been pretty busy with coursework recently so I've not had the time to review anything. I've barely had the time to read what I've bought. However at the weekend I did get the pleasure of playing DC Universe Online. A friend of mine had bought it and was kind enough to let me make a character on his account.
OMG! What an amazingly fun time I had flying around Gotham city beating up the Scarecrow's henchmen. Or even just flying around.

The character creation system is fairly in depth and will be more than enough for the imaginative among comic fans to make some iconic (or generic, depending on what you're going for) looks for their characters. My character looks totally metal, like a demonic Doctor Doom \m/.

I'm only level 5 at the moment, but next time I'm at my mates house I'm gonna see to it that I become one powerful mother trucker.

A fantastic MMORPG for comic fans, better than WoW I'd say.

What I Got And Why: January 2011!

2011-01-16T16:06:00.001Z

Valhallahan
Guten Tag Home-Friends! Welcome sie bitter to What I Got And Why 2011!

Jonah Hex - Well here we have another classic Hex tale, Hex takes a rare execution job off some wronged townsfolk, to take out some low down killer pervert. And kill him he does and then some! The art is by Jordi Bernet who is as close to a regular artist as they get in Jonah Hex. He good, he real good.

Oddly this issue is part of DC's line-wide "Covers with characters in front of logos without the title" month and as Jonah Hex doesn't have a logo as such, they've opted to go for "HEX" in the title font in the Dixie flag colours. I suppose just showing a Dixie flag would send the wrong signals what with the reb flag being the international symbol for redneck. I have to say I really like the idea behing these covers, and it looks great on the shop shelves but as Hex shows, it's not a comfortable fit for every title.

Knight and Squire #4 - Another dandy of an issue of Knight and Squire. Not my favourite by any means, if anything it's the weakest, but a weak issue of Knight and Squire is still funnier than a pile of Deadpool books big enough to build a stairway to the sun. This issue Knight fights... himself! And Squire fights... the awkwardness of budding teen romance! Plus Hank the American butler.

Scalped - Scalped is as Scalped does, so yet again we have some hard boiled brutal misery from Aaron and co. I wouldn’t have it any other way. This month the focus is on Special Agent Nitz as his overly complicated shitty downward drunken spiral misery he calls a life finally gets on top of him and he decides to end it. Hillarity ensues obviously.

Casanova: Gula I - I picked up the latest issue of Casanova, which is reprinting stuff I don't already have in trade now. This is one trippy book Daddy-o. It also looks rather delightful, drawn by 2Badguys' favourite artist Fabio Moon. Casanova is written by 2Badguys' seems-quite-good-but-not-quite-boner-enducing-yet-guy Matt Fraction and he really goes hell for leather with the nutso sci-fi concepts. Silver age madness filtered through European spy movie cool now in almost Technicolor!

Cutting the crap though, this is a great, fun series worthy of all the hype it got when it came out.

iZombie - iZombie continues apace, and what a pace! Actually that statement doesn’t even mean anything, I just wanted to say something other than "Still going. Still like it". I must say though, that this title has gone from a book I was considering dropping, to one I look forward to every month. iZombie is a fun, almost shamefully pretty-looking series.

Sweet Tooth - Sweet Tooth's second big storyline comes to a climax and shit really does hit the proverbial. I would like to talk about this series in depth at some point, because I really am loving it. The problem is I can't really understand why. I will say that it is a bizarre, exciting and utterly fresh book, once rather aptly described as "Mad Max meets Bambi". I recommend it to all, regular comic reader or not.

Science Dog #1 - Science Dog is a recurring double-fictional character in Robert Kirkman's Invincible universe. He's (Invincible alter-ego) Mark Grayson's favourite comic book character who apparently was created as a genuine comic book pitch by Kirkman and Invincible co-creator Cory Walker before they started on Invincible. This collects the first two mini stories by the pair which were originally printed in anniversary issues of Invincible. I really have said Invincible a lot now haven’t I? Anyway, it's a fun but forgettable romp, reminiscent of the lighter issues of that other book I keep mentioning, something beginning with I...

Incognito: Bad Influences #2 - To be honest it's been so long since issue one came out that I've completely forgotten what is happening in this series, but it's the second issue of the sequel to Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' superb Pulp-bad-guy-goes-sort-of-good series from a year or so ago, so you just know it's going to make a lovely collected story. I might wait till another issue is out and start from the beginning again.

The Walking Dead #80 - This Week: Zombies! Red hot zombie action makes a welcome return in the first part of new storyline, "No Way Out".

Bulletproof Coffin #6 - And so we bid adieu to one of my favourite series of 2010. I heartily recommend all you pretty folk go and by this series when it comes out in Trade Paperback. In fact, I fucking dare you!

Chaos War #4 - I'll admit that I'm kind of losing interedt now, but we're nearly done so fingers crossed for a doozy of an ending. I'll also note that this is the only Marvel Universe title I'm still reading.

Hellblazer #264 - This issue wraps up the time travelling trip and puts all the peices on the board for next issues big ol' wedding event. I'm on the edge of my seat! Hellblaxer really is a book worth talking about again. Nice.

and that, my freunds, is that. Keep your peepers peeled for some extra fun goodies from us in the coming weeks. not just more What I Got And Why's, oh no brothers and sisters, we are diversifying! Can You dig it?

This is why I love January Sales

2011-01-14T20:31:00.006Z

Action Ash
Last Saturday was a great day.
I had a nice day at work with the fishes, and then I went to meet with my partner in crime at Chaos City Comics. Twas the annual sale and it was a doozy!
Half price off trades and back issues were 50p! Nerdgasm!

I picked up: Kill Your Boyfriend - This classic Morrison story will freak out the squares without resorting to not making any sense, like some of his DC superhero stuff. I love this ridiculous story of teenage rebellion, but didn't own it so I had grab it.

El Diablo - Azzarello and Zezelj's Vertigo take on the Western vigilante.

Incognegro - A book I've been meaning to read for a while but kept forgetting about. The story of a high yeller black man who uses his light skin tone to go undercover as a white man and report on lynchings in the south. Fascinating.

Conan: The Newspaper Strips Volume 1 - I love Conan so I knew I was going in for this as soon as I heard about the sale. It's written by Roy Thomas and drawn by John Buscema and Ernie Chan so it better be good.

Fantastic Four in... Ataque Del M.O.D.O.K.! - Suggested by Liam because he read it and loved it. It does look pretty good, although a bit colourful for him, and it's not about criminals and detectives smoking in alleyways, so it must be good for him to of liked it so.

That night we enjoyed drinks in the nations capital in celebration of our friend Oli's birthday. I met and danced with an attractive young lady and Liam drank his body weight in beer and whiskey. It was fun.

As some of you might know, we in the U.K. now have our comics delivered on Wednesday just like the yanks. As opposed to Thursday like a bunch of chumps. So, on Wednesday, I made my weekly trip to Chaos City to pick up my fix. There were only three books out this week, which is probably good when I consider the backlog of things I have to read. There was:

Knight and Squire #4 - This issue looks fun I tell ya. It seems that Knight is going to do battle with his own armour. Interesting.

Heroes for Hire #2 - If this issue isn't great then I will drop this title. Simple as that.

Science Dog #1 - I love Invincible. In fact it's probably become one of my favourite comics. Therefore there was no reason not to get this spin off.

Also at some point I acquired a copy of Carnage #2 thanks to Valhallahan. It's been so long I can't remember much about the first one.

Well that's it for this post. Join us next time when I fight the dreaded Library gang for control of England's porn industry and Valhallahan goes on a spirit quest to find the ultimate Burrito, with pals Jack Daniels and Jim Beam. Don't miss it!

Face Front True Believers!

2011-01-05T16:06:00.002Z

All Hail Marvel Comic's new Editor in Chief Axel Alonso

-AA

2011: return of the 2 bad guys!

2011-01-05T14:40:00.006Z

Action Ash
I know henchmen. It's been a while since we have graced your screens with our literary skills, but what can I say? It was Christmas!

...and then it was New Years.

Valhallahan and I have been far too busy eating ourselves sick and drinking ourselves stupid to bother with you guys! However now the festivities are over and it's time to get serious again and talk about comic books. Srs Bzns!

On Christmas eve I bought a bunch of great stuff:

Morning Glories #5 - It wrapped up the first arc, but still doesn't really answer any questions. Still love it.
Teen Titans: Cold Case - I don't really have any interest in the Titans but it had Captain Cold on the cover. What's a boy to do? They had a big fight with the rogues, it was awesome.
Superior #3 - This is a really nice looking book and the story is fun. Thumbs up.
The Cape - An IDW one shot based on a short story by a dude named Joe Hill. Was good, I want to see more of it.
Namor #5 - I got this because the X-men vampire bullshit is over and I'm hoping this series will become good now.
Legacies #8 - I love the way this series is guiding me through DC history.

As you can see I had some reading material to delve into while pretending to be interested in whatever it was my mum was banging on about on boxing day.

Fast forward to New Years Eve and it was nearly time for partying, but there was just one thing I had to do. You guessed it, buy some funny books! Here's what I got...

Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword #1 - Holy blood stained axe! A magazine wholly dedicated to comic adaptions of Robert E. Howard's creations? By Crom, I'm in!

The Flash #8 - Professor Zoom looks pissed! I wonder what's got him so angry?

Detective Comics #872 - Jock is Super Geil! I'm really enjoying this story too, this issue introduces a creepy cult of rich people who auction and buy super villain's equipment and are obsessed with morbid landmarks. Well done Mr Snyder, keep it up.

Incognito: Bad Influences #2 - Seems like it's taken ages for this issue to come out. Glad it's here now.

SHAZAM! The Golden age of the worlds mightiest mortal - An amazing hardback collecting images of all sorts of weird and wonderful Captain Marvel merchandise and discussing his immense popularity before the lawsuit that killed it all off.

Happy New years suckers! I hope ya'll had as great a time as I did

Captain America Found Frozen In Ice!

2011-01-01T15:18:00.002Z

What I Got and Why Last Week!

2010-12-20T15:32:00.002Z

Valhallahan
Sweet Tooth #14&16 - It’s all kicking off now! And now that I’ve picked up the issue that I didn’t realise I was missing, it makes a lot more %$*&ing sense! There’s a big ol’ showdown a-happening at the compound and a glut of arses are about to get thoroughly kicked! Verily I doth Proper love this series init bruv.

DC Presents Chase - Ash pointed this out to me in Orbital and I had to pick it up for the J.H. Williams III art. It’s his early stuff, but he’s still a total master of the comics page. No Idea what the book is actually about, aside from the fact that it is set in the DC Universe and has that cool skeleton-in-a-suit guy who was in that Justice Society of America book that I got from a bargain bin in one of those warehouse clearance discount book shops, you know the one. You don’t? I don’t know why I even bother with you! Anyway, looks fun!

ASIDE!
As an aside, I want to point out that I’m digging these semi-Trade things that DC are publishing at the minute. It seemed to start with Vertigo Resurrected, but they’re doing them for quite a few mainstream DC titles too now. Essentially they’re three issues’ worth of stories bound as a cross between trade paperback and a comic, reprinting some out of print lesser heard of DC stories that aren’t long enough put into trade paperback format. I think they could do with being a quid or so cheaper, but it’s great to get these obscure stories back in circulation. Which leads me to...

Vertigo Resurrected: The Extremist - I didn’t actually but this, but the upshot of it being released is that the issues I was missing from the original mini series popped up in Orbital’s back issue boxes. I snapped them up for about a quid each. Nice! I’ll not say much about the story now, aside from the fact that it’s about ordinary people and the power of masked anonymity. By Ted McKeever.

V2K: Totems - I picked this up on a whim (it was cheap), it’s a one-shot crossover from 1999/2000 that sees different 90s Vertigo characters meeting up at John Constantine’s Millenium New Year’s Eve bash. Check out the full review what I has done.

Knight and Squire #3 - I don’t know what Action Ash is missing, but I’m loving this series. This issue the Potent Pair take on an evil army of cloned British Monarchs led by Shakespearian villain, Richard III. Sterling.

Jonah Hex - Jonah Hex drawn by Eduardo Risso. EDUARDO ****ING 100BULLETS ****ING RISSO! Yep you know I’m all over that like shit on a blanket (to paraphrase Lord Sugar).

Also I got a bit bored at home and ordered these beauties from Amazon.

Myspace Dark Horse Presents Vol.1 - I know Myspace is like so totally last week yeah? But short comic book stories from a fantastic selection of artists and writers don’t never go out of fashion. Well, maybe fashion was the wrong term, but you get the gist. Featuring bits and pieces from Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, Gerrard Way, Joss Whedon, Steve Niles, Guy Davis, Cary Nord, Tony Millionaire, Don Heck, Ron Marz, Rick Remender, Kieron Dwyer and others.

Beyond! - This little Marvel Universe team up mini series slipped under a lot of people’s radars when it came out but seems to be well regarded by those who did actually read it. The creative team is Milestone/Static/Justice League/JLU guru Dwayne McDuffie turning in a rare bit of marvel work and drawn by 2Badguys favourite Scott Kollins, so it should be a treat. Add to that the eclectic cast and the fact that it is a sort of sequel to the original Secret Wars story from the 80s and I’m hoping to find my Marvel Heroes itch well and truly scratched!

Ex Machina Vol.10 - This is it, the final volume of Ex Machina! I have to say that my interest in the series has waned over time but I’m eager to find out how it ends. Written by some guy called Brian K Vaughan, whom I’m led to believe used to be a comics writer?

Werewolf by Night: My collection begins.

2010-12-19T16:23:00.018Z

Action Ash
On Friday I arrived at Chaos City comics to find that there were only three titles I wanted to purchase this week.

They were:

Conan: Road of Kings #1 - The new Conan series which continues where the Cimmerian's adventures were left in Conan the Cimmerian.

Mighty Samson #1 - Another Dark Horse revamp. I love the Magnus, Robot Fighter revamp and this looks similar so I think I'm going to love this too.

Chaos War #4 - I still don't know what the hell is going on.

The small size of my stack did not bother me however, because I knew there was something else awaiting me on that cold winter day. A friend of mine, a mister Ian Hine of Dead Universe Comics, had obtained some titles I wanted to get my hands on and dropped them off in a long box at Chaos City. It contained some classic Marvel titles such as Marvel Spotlight #5 (first appearance of Ghost Rider) and Tomb of Dracula #1, but although these were cool, I was interested in something else.
Among the 60's and 70's Marvel wonders were some books I have wanted for a good few years, Marvel Spotlight #2-4 and Werewolf by Night #1!

It's safe to say that Werewolf by Night is one of my favourite comics.
Brilliantly written and beautifully drawn, it is a prime example of the days of Marvel past and a great chapter in Marvel's history. I am extremely happy now that I own these books and cannot wait until I acquire the full collection.

What I got and why, by the aforementioned unsavoury beast.

2010-12-12T17:06:00.012Z

Action Ash
I purchased quite a bit this week and after a weekend of drinking, chicken and finding out that my friends all think I'm a potential serial killer and/or sex offender, I'm ready to sit down and talk about comic books.

Flash #7 - This issue is a "rogue profile" which I believe means "filler issue". Could still be good though I suppose.

New Avengers #7 - Be prepared for 24 pages of conversation. It was a nice light read, however, with some amusing moments. In fact, it's probably my favourite issue so far. My favourite part *SPOILER* is a hint that Wolverine and Squirrel Girl, who is hired by Luke Cage and Jessica Jones to be their child's nanny, have a romantic past. Lulz

Knight and Squire #3 - I liked the last one but this series hasn't proven itself entirely to me yet. We'll see how it goes.

Strange Science Fantasy #6 - I have missed most of this series, in fact I only have one other issue apart from this one. This annoys me. I love it, it's brilliant and I'll probs buy it in trade if I can't get hold of the other issues first.

Thor #618 - This run is pretty good so far. This issue is good with some of the best art so far.

Marvel Spotlight #12 - The Son of Satan. I've not read much featuring this character, but what I have read, I have liked. Also he originates from that period in the 70's of Marvel's occult based characters, which I generally seem to enjoy.

Marvel Premiere #26 - I love the Prince of Power, so when I saw this old school offering of his might I just couldn't resist.

Defoe 1666 - Not having read 2000ad for a good few years I hadn't heard of this character before. After seeing this on the shelf I had a flick through and decided this is too up my alley for me not to purchase. So I bought it. Written by 2000ad legend Pat Mills, it follows Titus Defoe, Zombie Hunter General, fighting the undead in 17th century england. Wicked Sick!

As far as my non comic book purchases, I got:

Girl's Generation - Oh: Known in Asia as So Nyuh Shi Dae, this group have been storming the Korean, Chinese and Japanese charts with hits such as Gee and Oh. The album arrived in the post the other day. It's pretty damn good if you like oriental pop music. Oh...just me then?

Municipal Waste - Hazardous Mutation: I wanted to get hold of this for a while and now I finally have it. A great album from the hard partying thrashers, with brilliantly titled songs such as Unleash the Bastards and Terror Shark. Modern Thrash at it's finest.

I went to Dublin and all I got...

2010-12-11T12:10:00.022Z

Valhallahan
Well How do, folks? I spent last weekend gallivanting around Dublin meeting up with some lovely friends and drinking in some lovely sites. I also managed to get to a comic shop and see what the Craic was there. My friend gave me a little list of the three comic shops in Dublin and I plotted course for the first. Sub City on Exchequer Street. Sadly neither of the other two were open; one was clearly closed down, the other locked up, with the surly chap in the Head shop downstairs telling me that it never really opens. Balls.

Sub City is a small shop, oddly reminiscent of Gosh! or Comics Showcase (RIP) when it was still on Neal Street. Sub City was pretty damn poor for new releases (I didn't find one book I wanted – this could be due to snow induced lack of delivery though, I didn't ask but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt) I did manage to pick up #2 of Hellblazer: City of Demons, which I missed last month, which was a stroke. Where Sub City excels is the extensive selection of Graphic Novels and trades, they had pretty much all a seasoned pro or an adventurous newbie could want. Having to save money for cigs, gigs and lock-ins (which went rather well indeed thanks for asking) I didn't go nuts but could well have; their Trades clearance sale was particularly enticing, and on the subject of bargains, they had a marvellous selection of discounted books, recent and old. It would have been rude not to, so I picked up a 1 Euro grab-bag enticed by the Marvel UK title visible. Little did I know the horrors I would unleash...

Grab Bag A Go Go!

Warheads #6 & 7 (Marvel UK)
When I were a wee lad in the early ‘90s there used to be a real selection of anthology books for the UK market. There was 2000AD and Judge Dredd the Megazaine obviously, and others like, Toxic (violent), Crisis (righteous) and two from Dark Horse; Aliens (reprints of their US mini series’) and an odd tittle called Total Carnage, which reprinted Grendel: War Child, The Mask, Batman vs Predator, and the Army of Darkness film adaptation (I loved that magazine hard). I’ll halt my digression there and save it for a later post, but one of my favourite UK anthologies was Marvel UK's Overkill. Overkill had a few strips per issue and featured stories set in the periphery of the Marvel Universe, characters like Death’s Head II, Motormouth & Killpower, Hell’s Angel, Black Axe and Warheads (all as X-Treeeeeme! as they sound). Each strip had its own monthly printed in the states in the standard US format, which were released to varying degrees of indifference.

The Warheads were clearly -lets be charitable- inspired by the Space Marines in Aliens, but instead of dicking around in space getting killed by Xenomorphs, they dick around other dimensions getting killed by Warhammer 40,000 Rejects. At the behest of the shadowy Masons-stand-in cabal that is the MysTech board, they jump from world to world with their sass-mouths Liefeld guns and high mortality rate. In these nigh-incomprehensible issues a bunch of characters get massacred, some have a fight with Death’s Head II, some try to kill an off-model Mephisto (Spoiler: They fail), a talking gun has an identity crisis and starts talking like a Madam from the deep south and others do... I dunno, other stuff. There’s even an upside down Silver Surfer cameo. It’s a fun old romp, and I did genuinely enjoy the issues but I have to say they weren't as good as I remember. I will maintain though that these characters are ripe for a revamp. A Tigon Liger-led Exiles team anyone? Oh sod you then.

Shadowman (Valiant) Anyone remember Night Man? From Valiant? Valiant? Anyone? He had a cross-over with Aerosmith? The band Aerosmith? Now you're just being obstinate. Anyway, my words can not even begin to do justice to this '90s anti-hero, so instead I'll treat you to this scan of the final page. Oh yeah, check out the November Rain hair and brooding. So strong, yet so sensitive, a warrior and a poet. How did this ever cancelled?

Gross Point Presents #11: Mystery Meat (DC)
With a sub heading like "He turns into a monster at the touch of a pretty girl!" I was expecting something fun, but sadly this sounds a lot better than it looks. Not much to say about it other than it doesn't seem to live up to the promise of the premise and that I have never heard of this series in my life. The art is very much not to my taste. I would even go so far as to say that it's a big bag o' shite.

Team Youngblood #9 (Image)
Listen up kiddies and I'll tell ye of a time when industry hack Rob Liefeld's creator-owned super-team Youngblood was popular enough to have not one, but two ongoing spin-off series; Youngblood: Strike File, and this little wonder, Team Youngblood! Team Youngblood, as far as I understand is the more internationally active branch of Youngblood, who were US based... I think, but to be honest this issue is set in the states and from what I gather from the opening page roster shots, this issue of 'Team Youngblood' focuses almost entirely on characters from Youngblood, the parent title.

Somehow this issue, though not without some perverse charms, manages to be worse than expected. I never like to jump on a hate-wagon (this is a lie), but Good Lord this is bad! I think this deserves post of its own. Every criticism anyone has levelled at Rob Liefeld's 'art style' (pronounced 'hyperactive ineptitude') is painfully apparent here:

Nonsensical Plot? Check
Poor Anatomy? Check
Character designs ripped off from Marvel? Check
Inconsistent costuming? Check
Lack of realistic 'acting'? Check
Inconsistent Hair? Check
Even worse anatomy? Check
Lack of feet? Check
Ridiculously-spined women? Check
Weird weird weird haircuts? Check
Gigantic implausibly hanging tits? Check
Excessive 'detail' lines to disguise technical failings? Check
Total inability to draw normal street clothes? Check
Only 2 facial expressions? Check
Obscenely large guns? Check
With square barrels? Check
Pouches? Oh hell check!

I really could go on all week, but I'll stop there.

And Finally...

When I got back I picked up the latest issues of iZombe, American Vampire and Sweet Tooth. All of which were chuffing good. Also I got the unsavoury beast that is Action Ash to pick me up a copy of Taskmaster #4. I hope it’s not soiled when it arrives.

Excelsior!

A miniature essay/rant about mobile comics

2010-12-05T14:55:00.003Z

Action Ash

Since the late thirties, when publishers realised that comic books could be so much more than reprints of popular newspaper strips, the medium of comic books has remained fairly unchanged. That is until recently, with what could be the mediums greatest change just on the horizon.

Obviously comic books have always been mobile. With soft paper covers they can be carried around and read while commuting or at lunch time. I myself read them on the bus all the time, but would having a comic on some kind of mobile device be more convenient?

Converging with mobile media would indeed make it convenient for a lot of people to read comics. Readers who were not able to get to a comic shop could simply download the content for a price and the medium could be brought to a wider audience, especially if available in multiple languages.

There is also a novelty aspect to mobile comics. The idea of reading a comic digitally, on a mobile phone seems to excite some comic fans; however the reality is often less pleasing. Reading something that was designed to be read page by page can be tiresome to read panel by panel on a tiny screen. This is where the iPad comes in handy, with its much bigger screen. It seems a lot more enjoyable reading a comic on such a device, but in my opinion, still preferable to read an actual comic. So why bother with mobile comics at all?

The problem lies with the fact that the medium wasn’t designed to be read in this fashion. There needs to be a re-design, a re-formatting of content, for comics to be fully accepted on mobile devices. There are huge design issues when it comes to displaying comics on a mobile device, such as layout, composition, perception of story and established mood, which just haven’t been taken into account.

The key to the design of a truly great mobile comic is to figure out a whole new and inventive way of telling stories in comic book form that is specific to screens. The future of mobile comics depends on a yet to be discovered format that will take the medium in a completely new direction.

What I got and Why

2010-12-03T01:26:00.011Z

Action Ash
Yo, yo, you turkeys. While Valhallahan is boogying on over to Ireland for the weekend, I'm left here with coursework to write and fish to monger. Oh, and I have a cold too. I needs me some escapism, and what better form could it take than a couple of films and a selection of this week's funny books.

Heroes for Hire #1 - Following on from all that Shadowland jazz and looking pretty sick on a flick through, there's no reason why I shouldn't buy it really. Just hope it's as good as it looks.

Shadowland #5 - The conclusion to the street level, ninja noir, epic is here. Time for DD to bow down and get what's coming to him.

Taskmaster #4 - Last issue! I'm sad to see this go. I think I could quite happily read an ongoing of this every month.

Batwoman #0 - Saw Valhallahan's review and took the recommendation. Simple as that.

On the non comic book side of the spectrum, I recently picked up the new special edition release of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Including an extra 25 mins of footage that, up until two years ago, was thought lost. You can now watch it as German audiences would have seen it in 1927. Super geil!

So Long Suckers!

2010-12-03T00:12:00.003Z

Valhallahan
I'm off to Dublin for the weekend.

So long suckers!

Hellblazer: City of Demons

2010-11-29T16:43:00.006Z

Story by Si Spurrier

Art by Sean Murphy

Valhallahan
This really is shaping up to be a rather enjoyable series. It's been so long since I first picked up Hellblazer that I forgot how one can get put off by the fact that so many issues have been published you don't know where to start. This is bollocks though; as long as you start at the beginning of a storyline, Hellblazer is easy to start cold and rarely continuity laden. Apart from the occasional story all you need to know to read Hellblazer is: John does Magic, John likes women, John's a bit of a prick. Ironically, having said that, this story does draw from Hellblazer history, in that the driving plot is that some nefarious types have got their hands on a sample of John's blood which Hellblazer readers know, (but is explained in the script for Hellblazer virgins) is tainted with the blood of a demon. It's this dodgy claret, being passed around unsuspecting members of the public, that's putting ordinary folk on killing sprees across London, and it's up to John to sort it out.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the spectacular Art by upcoming superstar Sean Murphy (Joe The Barbarian). He really captures modern London like no other artist has in a number of years, from public transport to public house; from Oxford Circus to suburban council estate he totally nails it. It was a two-parter by Sean Murphy and Jason Aaron a year or two ago that got me into Hellblazer again after having dropped it a few years prior during Mike Carey's run. I really hope to see more Hellblazer from him in the future. This guy is destined for greatness, or my name isn't Sheriff Buford T. Valhallahan!

This series, or the inevitable collection, is a great introduction to the type of story that Hellblazer does; gruesome adult entertainment with a gritty urban feel - supernatural horror for the modern reader - sort of like Get Carter if it was written by Clive Barker.

19 Snouts out of a possible 20 Silk Cut (John's brand, not mine).

Review: Batwoman #0

2010-11-29T14:01:00.009Z

Story by J.H. Williams III & W. Hayden Blackman
Art by J.H. Williams III & Amy Reeder

Valhallahan
I adored the Rucka/Williams III run on Detective, and have been looking forward to this series coming out. If anyone reading this hasn't read that, it's collected as "Elegy" and it's a fucking delight! Unfortunately Greg Rucka has Jumped Ship and this ongoing series will be written and drawn by J.H. Williams III with art assistance from Amy Reeder. This issue 0 is more of a recap/introduction to the character than the start of a new story, so it's a great jumping on point without undermining what will be the start of the series proper with issue 1. The story itself is light, just Batman checking Kate out from a distance trying to prove his (correct) theory about the identity of the mysterious new Batwoman, which is exactly what you need as a new reader. The fact that we only see Kate through the filter of Batman in this issue adds mystique and leaves something to be said when the series gets going. It really is a good intro issue.

The real star of the show here is the artwork on display by the inimitable J.H. Williams III, who incidentally is from a relative of the legendary country music pioneer Hank Williams which officially makes him royalty in my book. J.H. Williams proves time and again that he is the most versatile, innovative and design-savvy artist in the game. He really is the best there is at what he does...and what he does is very nice indeed! This strength sadly highlights the art’s one weakness which is the fill-in panels. For whatever reasons, one assumes time constraints, the majority of Kate's civilian-life panels are drawn by Reeder, who while not shit, is painfully outclassed. Just look at the panel of the disguised Bruce and compare it to any of William' images. This is a minor qualm though, because this book still stands streets ahead of almost everything else out there at the moment. Shocking that this level of quality is in a spin off title, when by all rights it should be as shit as Supergirl.

Four Batgirl: Year Ones* out of a possible Batman: Year One.

*Batgirl: Year One was actually really good.

I tell you what, that Thor is ASTONISHING, isn't he?

2010-11-28T14:34:00.006Z

Astonishing Thor #1

Written by Robert Rodi
Art by Mike Choi

Action Ash
I do love a bit of cosmic nonsense. It's been a while since Thor has been allowed to "get cosmic" (Yeah, I just invented that), having been fairly earth based in recent years. That has now been rectified.
Astonishing Thor is an epic tale of a god on a mission, starting with Thor beating up a tsunami and ending with a visit to Ego the living planet. Brilliant!

Although harkening back to a silver age style story, Astonishing Thor is told in a serious manner that drags you in and makes you feel you have begun to witness an epic in the making. As there are quite a few Thor mini series out at the moment (that will ready to be released as trades about the time the film is released. Coincidence? I doubt it), I expected this to be an OK attempt at money grabbing, but I have been proven wrong. It seems that Mr Rodi wanted to tell a good story about every one's favourite thunder god. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've read anything by Robert Rodi, and I would definitely read more.

On the aesthetic side of things, this book looks fantastic. Choi has out done himself and made it look and feel epic. From the sensational splash pages to the detailed flashback sequence, Choi has helped create immensely beautiful visuals with which to tell Rodi's star spanning story with.

At the back of the comic, I am told the next issue isn't until January, which feels like a long time to me. More importantly, will January's issue keep up the epic cosmic standard set by this first issue? Well, I guess we won't know until January.

This is exactly the type of story I think Thor needs right now. A truly great addition to Marvel's modern mythology.

4 and a half Norse gods giving natural disasters a beat down out of 5

What I got and Why

2010-11-26T13:42:00.008Z

Action Ash
Let's take a look at which books are keeping me company during this cold winter week.

Detective Comics #871 - I bought this out of curiosity about the new creative team. Jock's cover for this issue is SICK!

Shadowland Power man #4 - I'm sad this has to come to an end... but it's ok. The Power man and Iron Fist series is starting in Feb and I'll be waiting.

Conan the Cimmerian #25 - Final Issue! That is until Darkhorse releases it's three new Conan series. I love the barbarian and everything, but I don't know if I want to read three different series about one character. Who am I kidding, I probably will. I don't know how Batman fans do it.

Astonishing Thor #1 - I like Thor. I like Choi. This better be good.

Legacies #5 and #6 - Missed these at the time they came out so just catching up. Amazing covers that link together to portray an epic battle from Crisis on infinite earths. Super Geil!

What I Got Cockney Week!

2010-11-24T21:38:00.006Z

Valhallahan
Cor Blimey Governor, my picks are a right bleedin' cockney knees up this week! To celebrate, the reviews are going to be done by some old scrote of a Cabbie I met in the pub.

Evenin' squires, I've gone an' got me some right kushti books this week, some real dark doin's. An 'ere's me thinkin' comics was just for kids, nonces and people who's backwards. Let's have a shufti shall we?

Helblazer: City of Demons #3 - There's a bit of argy bargy goin' on with John's shonky claret 'ere. Some dodgy docs have got their grubby mitts on it and and it's turning into a right carry on. The drawings a bloody master stroke an' all looks just like my old manor, ee aint half one talented Mick, that Sean Murphy. Someone needs to 'ave a word wiv whatever donut designed them tube turnstyles though they're about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Right good read though, I should cocoa!

Helblazer #273 - Right, so John's missus is stuck in the past with John the Punk from 1979. That's alright though, if you can’t trust your past self not to knock off your better half who can you trust? Oh bollocks! And while all that palaver's going on in the past, who's going to stop old Johnny yo-yo knickers from Knobbing that Succubus in the present? Himself? You’re having a bubble! Will that boy ever get spliced? It’s an outrage!

Knight and Squire #2 - So apparently this is our version of that Batman nonce. I dunno, at least vis one don't 'ang around wiv little boys. This Knight and Squire book's a right laugh, dunno about that Knight toff, but I'll give 'im the benefit of the doubt. This issue they're out in Scrumpy country givin' them inbreds what for! Tell you what mate, don't bear thinking about, what them rural types get up to. Geezers dancin' round poles wiv bells on their bonces? They deserve a kick up the Aris!

Anyway, I'm off. Be lucky!

Karl Urban is Judge Dredd! Photo Evidence!

2010-11-20T21:37:00.005Z

What's the verdict folks?

Valhallahan

What I Got and Why:Double Feature!

2010-11-20T21:21:00.005Z

Dear all,

I've been busy as a bastard these last couple of weeks so I haven't been gracing you with my Funnybook Wisdom. I don't know what the venerable Action Ash's excuse is. Maybe there’s a new Zelda or some shit. Anyway folks, let's crack on with the Round up...

I got some darned good Marvel books lately, I've cut down dramatically on my Marvel consumption this past year, but what I am getting is pretty much awesome with chips. They are floating my boat and no mistake!

Chaos War #3 - Zeus Versus Galactus. 'Nuff Said. But to elaborate, Zeus Versus Galactus! If that isn't enough to sell it to you, I give up, I really do. Hot and sweaty God-on-God action as The Chaos King unleashed hell on earth. Because that’s how he do.

Taskmaster #3 - "The Town That Was Hitler" - this has to be my favourite Superhero series at the moment, it's action packed and willfully revels in the inherent silliness of the Marvel Universe. It's laugh out loud funny and genuinely touching in places. If you want a giggle and a thrill and to be touched in places, give this series a go!

Strange Tales 2 #2 - Los Bros Hernandez do Marvel. Yes, you read that right. Los Bros provide the stand out strips, and really go to town with the goofy, this is more akin to the oddball side stories like BEM or Music For Monsters rather than recent Locas or Palomar tales. Both set firmly in the Silver age, that both brothers' styles fit perfectly. I never thought I'd read an Iron Man story by the auteur behind Birdland *ahem*. Oh, and other people wrote and drew stuff too, some of it good.

Scarlet #3 - I'm still digging this even though the I'm not really sure what message Bendis is trying to put across here. It’s a good comic with an intriguing premise, but I’m still waiting for it to really knock my socks off.

Jonah Hex #61 - Another one off story and another written by 2Badguys fave Jordi Bernet. Seeing his work in Jonah Hex really makes me want to track down his work on Torpedo. Which by all accounts is several shades of bloomin' marvelous. Bernett is a great choice for capturing the mood of these brutal, dark settings but without the excessive murk or overwrought detail that so many artists do. This go round we get to meet Mai Ling the broad what Jonah hitched. She must've been drunk...

Sweet Tooth #15 - Great to get some new Sweet Tooth this month too. I'm in the strange situation that I’m loving this series but not able to explain why. The story is odd, the art is odder, the pace is hard to figure out and it's really bloody good. To paraphrase Cliff Richards or someone "I don't know why I love you but I do".

iZombie #7 & American Vampire #7 - these are both really enjoyable, fantastic looking books that take these overplayed Horror concepts and give us a fresh new spin. Where American Vampire plays it straight and gives us a ripping yarn about yankee vamps in the 1930s, iZombie takes us on a far out trip man with Zombies and Vampires and Weredogs - Oh My! A pair of thumbs up from me.

Pilot Season: 7 Days in Hell - The Stelfreeze Cover made this stand out for me and I'm glad it did. If you don’t already know, Top Cow's Pilot Season is there annual run of one issue try-out series, the winner gets a full run. This is definitely the best I've read the premise is good and you can see how a series would run from it, a bit like a supernatural 100 Bullets. The art is by Phil Noto, which means it's beautiful to look at, this bloke can do no wrong in my book. I have to say that although I can see it working as a series, for me one shot was probably enough. I heartily recommend reading it.

Yours Sincerely,

Valhallahan

What I got and Why: The Return!

2010-11-19T17:14:00.008Z

Action Ash
HAIL! All henchmen of Action Ash and Valhallahan.
Apologies for the lack of blog-age these last few weeks, I have been a busy little bad guy. Coursework, Fish mongering and generally being a bad guy takes up so much of my time. Never fear though droogs because now I'm back to tell you what I got... and why.

The Flash #6 - About bloody time! It feels like a year since I read issue 5. On a flick through it looks like a good issue so I hope that will make up for the wait.

Morning Glories #4 - Last issues events were intriguing to say the least so whatever happens next I'm itching to find out.

Knight and Squire #2 - I didn't manage to get a copy before they sold out last week, but luckily I managed to get one this week. More superhero hi-jinks from old blighty. Love it!

Superior #2 - The first ish was pretty damn good so I'm hoping Millar and Yu keep it up.

Delphine #4 - I know this is old but I've only been able to to get my hands on it recently. I love Richard Sala's work and this is text book Sala, however I think this book would have been better as a graphic novel.

Revenge of the Creature - It was seemingly impossible to find this film in the UK. Believe me, I tried. Imagine my surprise when I saw Gill-man staring back at me from the shelf in HMV on the cover of this classic sequel.

Halloween weekend: Ash and Liam's most Expo-lent Adventure.

2010-11-01T13:06:00.035Z

Action Ash
Standing on the platform of our home town's train station, waiting patiently in the Autumn sun with the occasional chill wind brushing our cheeks, the last thing we expected was to be set upon by a couple of street children wearing Halloween masks. Unprepared for such blackguard activities we stood uneasy as they demanded something from us with the cry of "trick or treat". We clearly had no sweets with us, for as Valhallahan later stated "The only people who carry sweets around with them are old people and paedophiles". Valhallahan gave them 50p and they jogged on leaving us feeling amused and conned at the same time.

This was the start of our Halloween weekend adventure.

After a fairly short train and tube journey we boarded the DLR (Docklands Light Rail). Practically tripping over the sailor fuku clad jail bait, we were trying not to laugh too hard at the awkward, gangly, nerdlinger wearing tights and an unconvincing wig as part of his cosplay.

Eventually we arrived at the Expo and, while waiting for Valhallahan to finish a cigarette, I watched the cosplayers, amazed at some people's ingenuity but saddened by the lack of western comics inspired cosplay.
We walked through the doors only for Valhallahan to realise that he hadn't any creds on his person. So we joined the cue for the ATM behind what I later realised was a boy, but at the time assumed to be a deeply unattractive girl.

After quite a long time we reached the front, withdrew the notes and Valhallahan decided he needed a beer. In the mean time I found a great Robin costume and an equally good but very shy Poison Ivy.

With his alcohol levels now topped up we proceeded to find the ticket booth. Instead we found an hour long cue.
Time passed slowly as I annoyed Val with some Cannibal Corpse and Thai pop in the form of Neko Jump (which was then stuck in his head for the rest of the day) and discussed the differences between fences and walls with the kids behind us.
Finally tickets were ours and we could leave the depressing cue room and move on.

We both felt agitated and when Val decided it was time for a smoke and another beer, I decided to join him. A cool beer would take the edge off.

Now it was time to get in there and see everything this geekfest had to offer. The first stall I looked at was selling Anime DVD's at which some jive sucka dressed as Mario proceeded to tell me how great Dragon Ball Z was as if it wasn't the most popular anime series ever made. I moved away as quickly as possible.

Then we came across the Delorean. It even had the Hover boards propped up against the side. Awesome!

Shortly afterwards we found Twinkies! =O It was exactly the sugar fix I needed. As you can see Val was happy too. We found a comic stall and I bought a Namor grab bag which contained an annual which was a fun read. Also at the back of it there was a Marvel Masterwork pin up by Mike Mignola.

We continued to wander until we came upon what is called the "Comics Village". There was a hole bunch of indie creators flogging their wares. We stopped by the Accent UK stall and had a nice chat with the guys there and I purchased Martin Fink's The Man of Glass which was a nice read. I especially enjoyed the art. Valhallahan bought Wolfmen II: Fall of the Wolfmen. We moved on and saw some famous creators such as Bernard Chang, while he was doing a sketch for someone.

Next we had a chinwag with David Hine, who was kind enough to sign a copy of The Bulletproof Coffin #1 for Valhallahan, which was nice of him. The Bulletproof Coffin is a brilliant series which you should pick up if you get the chance.

We saw the legendary Chris Claremont, if only from a distance. I was totally annoyed with myself for forgetting to bring my copy of X-Men #135 (One of my favourite comic book covers ever) to get signed. Grr!

It was nearly time to go so we took on last look around and came across some great cosplayers such as...
...this Batman with Asian school girl genre combo. I think I had a dream a bit like this once but it was a lot more X-rated.

There was this great rendition of Rayne from the Bloodrayne series of video games (which I've never played). I know this has nothing to do with comics but just look at her. HAWT! This picture doesn't do her justice, srsly.

Also hot, was this fine young woman dressed as Black Canary, and looking pretty spot on.

This female Gambit costume was fantastic! The best Gambit I've seen.

I was impressed with the home made Invincible Costume and the brilliant female Dr Fate. I have no idea what the guy from Cats is all about, he just got in the picture. Dick.

It was finally time to leave. On the way out I caught a shot of a black Zatanna because I thought she worked it.

We ambled down the walk way towards the platform that adjoins the Excel centre, only to find security blocking the way. The platform was full and they weren't letting anyone else on. Because of this delay we failed to meet our friend in central and so we walked to soho. Thus began an amazing night out which including such antics as me giving 50p to a tramp who then took it upon himself to kiss me on the head =s, a brilliant gig from The Urban Voodoo Machine, an Addams Family themed burlesque act, being followed all the way to Old Street by an unknown Australian and finally ditching some acquaintances to make our way home.

Epilogue:

6:00 am, Kings Cross station. Valhallahan scoffs a sausage and egg muffin from the golden arches while I sip coffee and get ready to devour a tasty pastry, happy and safe in the knowledge that we had a most excellent adventure.

Excelsior!

What I Got And Why 29/10/2010

2010-10-31T22:10:00.010Z

VALHALLAHAN
Well... it's a belated What I Got from me as I've spent the last few days attending and recovering from two monumentally awesome Rock n Roll Halloween Spectaculars, not to mention the Con or "Day of Cosplay, Booze and Queues" as I like to call it, but more on that later, the order of the day is this weeks new books.

Incognito: Bad Influences #1 - I loved the first series of this, so I'm extremely happy to see Brubaker and Phillips' fantastic series back on the shelves. In case you don't know, it's about a (sort of) reformed Pulp Supervillain in a witness protection scheme failing miserably to stay out of the dangerous world of Supervillainy. It’s a damned fine series, mixing the fantastic with the mundane with considerable aplomb.

The Weird World of Jack Staff #5 - This fantastically bonkers indie British Superhero series continues to thrill and puzzle in equal measures. As a reader who jumped aboard with #1 of this run, I'm not sure who's who beyond the intro pages each character gets, which could mean I'm missing out on bits but it's more than entertaining enough and bloomin' lovely to look at. I’m digging this series wholeheartedly.

Scalped #42 - This week in Scalped: All Misery, All The Time!!! Yep, this series continues to do what it does best, Gina and Dashiel finally meet up and a decision is made! Great stuff, but not a good jumping on point for new readers, and not even slightly for the easily offended.

I failed to find a copy of Hellblazer: City of Demons #2. Which was annoying because after you get over the awkward, over-egged slang in the first half (I actually had to check online to see if the writer was British) and the fact that Essex Road is actually quite gentrified (go to the New Rose if you find yourself in the area) not the scumzone suggested in the book. I really recommend issue one, it's classic Constantine, there's gorgeous art from Sean Murphy and it's very new reader friendly. Well worth the price of admission.

The kind folk at Limited Edition Comix [Sic] held onto their sole copy of The Bulletproof Coffin #5 for me which was nice. It's been a real bitch trying to get copies of this series but I am really loving it. Highest recommendation from me, it's trippy as fuck and clever as a dentist. Top marks!

And that is it for the (Pre-Con) What I got and Why. It was a quality week. Bad for wallet but good for the soul. On an unrelated note, it seems like ages since the last issue of Sweet Tooth came out. I’m Jonesing.

What I got and Why.

2010-10-29T19:09:00.004+01:00

Action Ash
There was not much out this week that I wanted to spend my creds on, which is fine by me because it was merciful to my wallet. However here's what I DID get, and Why..

Incognito: Bad Influence #1 - My fellow bad guy and I have been waiting for this. The first series was everything a crime/pulp/superhero comic should be and this new issue looks sure not to disappoint.

Soldier Zero #1 - Didn't manage to get a copy last week. Got one now and, after reading it on the bus back home, I am underwhelmed.

Superman Earth One - Never really been a fan of the blue clad boy scout, but this caught my eye. I'd seen the hype that was floating around, and after a flick through in the shop, thought I'd give it the benefit of the doubt. I intend to see for myself if this is actually a new look at Superman, or just Superman with a hipster haircut.

What I Got And Why 23/10/2010

2010-10-25T10:24:00.001+01:00

Valhallahan

Vertigo: Resurrected #1 - This is an extremely fucking good collection of books from those lovely people at Vertigo, and I can tell you this with some degree of conviction because I've read 90% of the fucking thing before! It's an expensive package, but full of gems, I'm just peeved that I have so much of it already. YOU should definitelly buy it though. I'll do a full review in a bit.

Hellblazer #272 - The lead up to John's possible upcoming nuptuals continues! We have Epiphany stuck in the past with seedy young John and Bisley art and Our John in the present with Camuncoli and a Succubus WAG. It's like 'Life on Mars' but with more bastards and more sex. Also this issue ties in to the House of Secrets Annual which was a nice touch.

DV8: Gods and Monsters #7 - Stuff does seem to be happening in this series now, but I must say a lot of the sheen has worn off. One more issue to go and I'll be glad when it finishes to be honest, it seems like I've been reading the introduction to a story for over half a year now. It doesn't help that Brian Wood seems to have missed the mark completely on a couple of characters.

The Walking Dead #78 - It's all kicking off now! After what seems like (but actually isn't when you think about it) a fairly calm stretch, Kirkman's about to blow things out of the water again as the series leads up to "No Way Out".

Chaos War #2 - Buy this. It's flipping awesome. In this issue The All New, All Different God Squad is formed as all hell literally breaks loose! Some have said this is similar to DC's recent Blackest Night crossover, but I didn't read that, so some people can shut their holes. Go Herc!

I also got Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, so expect a movie review soon.

Accidental Cosplay!

2010-10-24T14:34:00.004+01:00

Valhallahan

Ash's post on Don of the Dead made me realise that I'd seen that chap before, at my birthday shenanigans this summer...

The Don of the Dead

Carnage

2010-10-22T21:42:00.002+01:00

Carnage #1
Written by Zeb Wells
Art by Clayton Crain

Action Ash
Plot: After witnessing a strange chase, involving an armoured car and Doppelganger, Tony Stark changes to Iron Man and calls fellow Avenger Spider-man to the scene. However, this is just the beginning of something much larger...

Although making reference to the famously shit Maximum Carnage storyline this seems promising. My interest was kept and my curiosity piqued with the addition of the new characters (as far as I'm aware) Royal Blue and Firebrick.

Script and plot wise, this is an alright story, fairy average but not bad by any means. Except, maybe, for the rushed explanation of the events of Maximum Carnage. It was an enjoyable read and I'm curious to see where it goes.

The best thing about this title is clearly the art. I'm a bit of a Crain fan from his run on the recent X-Force incarnation, and he does not disappoint. He seems particularly adept at drawing the otherworldly symbiote that is Carnage and the ghastly Doppelganger, adding his usual element of horror to the superhero genre. His usual flaw of not being able to draw more than one face, doesn't seem noticeable so far, as all the characters look different when mask-less.

Definitely worth reading if you're a Marvel fan, especially if you're a Spider-man fan.

3 monstrous Spidey lookalikes out of 5

What I got and Why.

2010-10-22T21:10:00.007+01:00

Action Ash
I braved the cold weather today for one reason. Wrapped in a hoody and my leather and armed with creds, I made my way to St Albans and the shop known as Chaos City comics to purchase this weeks hot titles.

Conan the Cimmerian #24 - I love Conan! I love the Cary Nord covers that currently grace this book each month. The creative team is changing soon, so that will be something for the 2 bad guys to talk about.

Carnage #1 - Clayton Crain is probably the perfect artist to draw the psychopathic alien symbiote. Should be good.

Shadowland: Powerman #3 - You all know what I think of this series, so I will bore you no longer. It's good though!

Morning Glories #3 - Issue two did not disappoint so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next and how they resolve last issue's cliffhanger ending.

Chaos War #2 - I missed number one, and couldn't find a back issue, but I'm hoping to be able to hop on here. Looking god from what I've seen.

I also bought some DVD's, a new hoody and some Adidas Star Wars trainers!!! But they aint comics, so this post ends here =P

Character of the now: The Don of the Dead

2010-10-20T13:24:00.008+01:00

Action Ash
Taskmaster has been a great ride so far, largely due to the antagonists. We here at 2 bad guys love a good gad guy, and my favourite that I have come across this month has to be...

The Don of the Dead.

This skull faced Mariachi positively made my week after reading this issue. Possibly the coolest thing about this guy is that him and his henchmen are also a band that play songs about his exploits to win over the local peasants.

Utter Brilliance!

Don of the Dead we salute you. Hail! \m/

what I Got And Why 16/10/10

2010-10-19T02:02:00.017+01:00

Valhallahan
Once again dressed in day-old, slept-in clothes and reeking of yesterdays booze, I dragged my sorry arse off my mate's sofa and met up with the esteemed Action Ash to get some 4-colour hangover cures (via a delightful jaunt round the Tate Britain's Turner Prize nominees exhibition with chum and 8 ball ink artist Oliver. Verdict: Poor). Here’s what I got (and why).

Jonah Hex #60 - This is a match made in heaven for me, Brian Stellfreeze drawing a Jonah Hex story! Stelfreeze is a massively underrated artist whose action sequences are second to none, his fight coreography in the Wilstorm Mini series Matador was superb, and his Domino mini series from Marvel many moons ago is also worth noting. We really don't see enough of this chap. Fahkin' Lahverly Mate! The chump who drew Return of Bruce Wayne #4 should hang their head in shame.

Taskmaster #2 - The shop I went to was out of this last week, so I picked it up at the wonderfully stocked Orbital this week. I bloody well loved #1 and with the introduction of characters like the Don of the Dead it looks like it's keeping it's levels of awsome set to high. I am loving this series, and as it's one of only two Marvel Universe books I'm picking up right now, it should feel honoured. So there.

Strange Tales II #1 -Marvel have returned with a new anthology mini series giving popular indie creators a pop at the Marvel character library to create one heck of a curio. While the quality of the last run of these was hugely varied, variation remains its biggest selling point. I enjoyed the madness of the last run, and like last time, most of the stories err on the side of comedy, there are some more thoughtful pieces too, and some that are just plain trippy, daddy-o.

Hellblazer: City of Demons #1 - I like John Constantine and I love Sean Murphy’s artwork. This is the chap who drew Joe the Barbarian for Mark Morrison last year and the su-fucking-perb Wolverine alphabet. He really is one to watch, and he has form on Hellblazer with the excellent Jason Aaron-penned two-parter "Newcastle Calling" in 2008 (#245-246) one of the rare occasions where a yank writer gets JC right. If you’ve ever wanted to try Hellblazer but didn't know where to start, get this new mini series and be schooled, you won’t be disappointed.

House of Secrets Annual #2 - I'm not a reader of House of Mystery, it seems like a whole bucket of fairy elf bullshit to be honest, but this Halloween special is essentially the Vertigo Annual. As it’s both Vertigo, and an anthology I’m sure you can see I’m in there like swimwear. At first glance it looks great, there’s a Hellblazer story by Milligan and Camuncoli, an iZombie tale by Robertson and Allred and rather a lot of other cool looking bits and bobs. It’s a bit like the Winter’s Edge books they used to put out actually, which is a good thing indeed.

The Amazing Spider-Man #577 - I've never been a regular Spider-Man reader, or much of an irregular reader for that matter, but this was in Orbital’s slightly water damaged, 50p each section (which is well worth a look), and it seemed to be a one-off Punisher story. The art is by Paulo Riverra, whose work I’ve appreciated for a while, but haven’t actually read much of. It looks rather good and well worth my half pound!

Multiverse #0 - Free sample issue of a new comic books magazine which will be out in November and it is apparently "Voted the best comics related magazine on Earth 616". Who am I to argue? It looks like it'll be quite good.

What I Didn't Got And Why

Knight and Squire #1 - I didn't get this because I an a massive fool who doesn't notice when something is in front of my eyes. Either that or it was sold out. As an English Comic Book Geek and an inveterate drunk, I apologise.**

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5 - I realised I really don't give a fuck. I really dig Ryan Sook's art (he doesn't do the whole issue), I like 30s/40s pulp detectives, I like Batman, but I really can't bring myself to give a shit about this series anymore. Adieu Brucie!

And Finally...

Love and Rockets: The New Stories Vol. 3 - As Ash pointed out in the shop when I excitedly told him that this book had finally hit British shelves; "You know you're the only person who cares about that, right?". Anyway, I don't care that it looks like half of Gilbert's contribution is cat people fucking, it's going to be great. Also one of Xaime's stories deals with the very real, very depressing subject matter so I should really enjoy it, miserable c*nt that I am.

**
Thankfully the kind folks at Limited Edition Comix, let me have their last copy, a variant cover no less, and at cover price, which was nice (I don’t really agree with variant covers, but that's a post for another day). This looks like jolly good fun, what? After a skim through, Double Entendre and the Back and White Minstrels are my favourites, What are yours?

In your face Action Ash!

What I got and Why: My comic book weekend.

2010-10-18T12:13:00.018+01:00

Action Ash
My new university timetable means that I am busy all day on Thursdays, so I now have to wait that extra day to get my grubby little hands on the week's funny books. This displeases me. Anyway, on Friday I dropped by Chaos City Comics (St Albans) and picked up a bunch of cool stuff:

Knight and Squire #1 - I just want to take the time to rub it in because Valhallahan did not get a copy (Sucker!). This book is quite simply brilliant in it's British-ness.

Superior #1 - The new creator owned project from Mark Millar and Leinel Yu. Looks great!

Shadowland #4 - Penultimate Issue! Glad it's coming to an end soon tbh.

Tomb of Terror - This one shot from Marvel is a nod to their awesome horror titles of the 70's, with all the classics, Werewolf by Night, Daimon Hellstrom Son of Satan, Man-Thing and N'Kantu the living Mummy.

Thor #616 - The new creative team are looking good. Can't wait to see where Fraction takes this title.

Magnus, Robot Fighter #2 - Loved the first one, this one looks just as good, with even better action sequences.

New Avengers #5 - I like this book but I hope not all the story arcs are going to be 3 issue stories stretched beyond their natural length for the convenience of trade conversion.

I also picked up this delightfully fiendish collection of horror comics from the 50's, entitled Four Colour Fear. There are some great tales in this book, and a glossy section in the middle displaying some amazing covers. If you're a fan of bizarre old comics then pick this up without hesitation.

My comic book weekend didn't stop there folks.

My fellow bad guy and I graced the streets of this great nation's capital, in search of thrills and spills. Instead we found comics and Chilango's. I picked up...

Morning Glories #2 (Second printing) - Almost forgot I missed this, so I was glad to get hold of it. This issue is looking just as promising as the first.

Vault of Evil #10 - A 70's horror comic from Marvel. I love this shit!

A fat pulled pork burrito - The absolute antidote to hunger!

What I Got and Why 08/10/10

2010-10-09T13:39:00.012+01:00

Valhallahan
CBLBF Liberty Annual - This is the Annual fund raiser for the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund, and as ever it's a big parcel of freedom of speech-themed shorts and pin ups from big industry names and characters. Here we have Conan by Darick Robertson, Dave Gibbons on Martha Washington, Frank Miller's Sin City, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba give us a 4 page short, Paul Pope a 2 page spread, a Milk and Cheese 2 pager, and many more... we do get a 2 page shit-smear by Rob Liefeld too though, so it's not all fun and games.

Scalped #41 - This months issue begins with an attempted abortion-by-coat-hanger, so cheery as usual then. In all seriousness though, this series is really, really fucking good. This storyline is dealing, not for the first time, in issues of parenthood and familial responsibility, among hardasses on the 'Rez. And because this is Scalped, we've also got a murder investigation, a man hunt and a struggle with heroin addiction to round things out. Buy Vol. 1 now if you haven't already (Which you should have).

American Vampire #7 - Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque's excellent off beat retro vamp story continues apace. It's 1936 and we're still in Vegas with Chief McCogan who unfortunately for him has just run into our old friend Skinner Sweet... Oh Crumbs!

iZombie #6 - Y'know what? I'm actually really digging this, I was picking it up for the super freaking duper artistic endeavors of Mormon Maestro Mike Allred, but I've found myself hooked on the story now too. Who'd a thunk? This issue is sub-titled "I, Were-Terrier: Who He Is And How He Came To Be" and appears to be an Origin story (duh). Also, does it make me a massive thicko that I've only just seen the Gwen/Dead Girl connection?

The Spirit #6 - This is the first time I've picked up The Spirit, despite it's reputation, Peripheral things like the Godawful Frank Miller movie and the classic Spirit's sidekick "Ebony White", I bit the bullet here because the back up strip is by the 100 Bullets team of Brian Azzarrello and Eduardo Risso.

Fanastic Four in... iAtaque Del M.O.D.O.K.! - I'm by no means a Fantastic Four fan, but I'm always curious about books that take characters in a different direction, and I'm a sucker for pretty artwork. Here we have incredibly eye catching visuals from Juan Doe and to my knowledge the first appearance of Puerto Rican hero iEl Vejigante! And AIM monkeys.

What I Didn't Got Coz It Woz Sold Out
Taskmaster #2 - Bugger.

Thanks DC!

2010-10-08T13:22:00.004+01:00

Valhallahan

"For the long term health of the industry, we are willing to take a financial risk so that readers who love our medium do not abandon the art form."

DC Comics apparently prove they're the bigger man by putting their cover prices back down to $2.99. Good show, chaps. I hate to say it, having been raised a True Believer, but the Distinguished Competitor is getting much more of Valhallahan’s sterling these days.

*I read this on Bleeding Cool News, Innit.

Mega City's Most Wanted?

2010-10-06T22:56:00.008+01:00

Valhallahan

Did these even come out? I can't tell if I think half of these look cool, or just that they look better than the other half. Found in the back of a comic from 1993.

Bye Bye Bucky: Captain America #610

2010-10-05T17:17:00.009+01:00

Valhallahan

Well that was... Ok, I guess. Perhaps I’m being unduly harsh, but after that drawn out story that lead to exactly nothing, I’m out. Adieu James Buchannan Barnes, I hardly knew ye. Actually that’s a lie. It’s a testament to Ed Brubaker’s skill as an author that I feel like I do know Barnes inside and out. It really is impressive how much Bru got out of what initially sounds like the worst, most clichéd 90s-esque character since Cable "It’s Bucky, like from the 40s, but he’s not really dead, and he’s all dark now and used to be a secret government assassin and now he’s got a robot arm and grunge hair and he’s got like, a bunch of guns and he’s got a mysterious past with Nick Fury, Wolverine and the Black Widow and did I mention he’s Dark?" See what I mean? This could have ended up like an X-treme Captain America, like Captain Mother Freaking America Liefeld Yeah! Thankfully it didn’t. Brubaker’s Captain America run has been superhero comics at their best, but aside from the Two Captains America story, it’s been treading water for a little while now, so I’m going to quit while I’m level.

Of course it could just be that I’ve read too much of it now after 60-odd issues, and when the next trade paperback release comes around I might have has a sufficient break and be singing a different tune but I don’t think so. I give Zemo storyline three and a bit star-spangled shields out of five, it was the last thing they had to do with the character, make him face the son of the man that ruined his life in the first place but now that’s over with I just feel that the story has run its course.

I can’t actually remember what happened in the back up strip, but I’ve not been impressed by that since day one, so I really won’t be missing it. Nomad scores two mopey hoodies out of a possible gang of happy slappers.

What I Got and Why 01/10/10

2010-10-02T01:34:00.041+01:00

Valhallahan
Howdy Folks! I must apologise for my state as I am bringing you this What I Got and Why from planet drunk! I made my way to that haven of comicdom that is Orbital on Friday eve and bought myself a real bag o' tricks; a fine haul indeed. Let me tell you all about it... I may even add pictures when I'm sober, but please enjoy my impeccably spelt drunken ramblings.

Atlas #5 - With this issue we (super hero comic book fans with taste) bid adieu to Marvel's finest super team. I must say that if you don't want to read about a Gorilla Man, an Atlantean Warrior Princess, a Roman Love Goddess, a Uranian Ubermensch named Bob and a killer Human Robot fighting crime alongside kick ass FBI agent, Jimmy Woo and his timeless untrustworthy Dragon advisor Mr Lao, then you really need to think about whether comic books are for you. Buy the first Agents of Atlas collection or I will hit you.

Captain America #610 - Here we have the resolution of new(ish) Captain America, Bucky's showdown with the son of the man who ruined his life so many years ago. I truly hold writer Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America as some of the finest super hero comic book writing this side of the new millennium, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to drop this title. I thoroughly recommend people pick up Volume One of this series in trade, but I think with this issue I'm bailing out. Don't hold me to it, but I think Brubaker's said all he has to say with the characters and has been treading water for the past 6 months or so. Adieu mon capitan!

Wetworks: Mutations #1 - After my empassioned eulogy of the Wildstorm Universe this week, I was heartened to find this title on the shipping list. I missed a Wetworks reboot a few years back, but I really loved the initial incaration of this team so I thought I'd give this one shot a go. Interestingly, it's written by the man mountain Kevin Grevioux, chief werewolf and writer of the Underworld movies, which one could argue nicked their back story wholesale from Wetworks original incarnation.

Vertigo Back Issues
Because I can't help myself, I picked up issues 2 and 3 of Millennium Fever, a romantic story written by Nick Abadzis and drawn by the inimitable genius that is Duncan Fegredo. Published in 1995.

I also picked up Elvis Must Die from the second hand section; a story with a premise so good I'll dedicate a post to it. More soon.

Magazines?
CLiNt #2 - The magazine bits of #1 were fucking awful, but there is still an abundance of comic book funtimes to be had from this periodical. A wonderful use for the money that, let's face it was burning a hole in your pocket anyway.

Dodgem Logic #5 - 2Badguys reader Nightwatchman inspired me to pick up Dodgem Logic, Alan Moore's very own glossy magazine, as a contrast to Mark Millar's CLiNT, and from flicking through, I am very pleased with this product. It looks like a great read. I do warn readers not to open pages willy nilly on public transport as fairly early on there's a graphic cock-shot which I'm sure alarmed the chap reading over my shoulder on the Piccadilly Line. Nothing to do with comics, but looks like a great magazine.

Addendum
Apparently no one has Love and Rockets: The New Stories Volume 3. This is annoying.

On the Pulse!

2010-09-28T00:20:00.007+01:00

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/