The Killing Joke - A newbie's review

Action Ash
We here at 2 Bad Guys like to encourage new readers as much as possible. So when a young man, by the name of Tim Ricketts, is searching for his first Batman fix, what's a bad guy to do? Action Ash was on the case with 'The Killing Joke' in hand. However, being the black hearted villain that I am, the borrowing of the book came with a price. Tim would have to do a guest review and forever sully his name by having it associated with those of the 2 Bad Guys from an 80s Movie...

Tim
After having watched and loved the recent Christopher Nolan film trilogy, as well as countless episodes of The Batman cartoon series when I was younger, I figured it was about time I actually picked up some comics and followed my favourite hero even further. One of my friends recommended The Killing Joke and, luckily, Ash just so happened to have a copy that he kindly offered to lend me. When I was finished with it, he asked if I'd like to write a review of it as not only a first-time Batman reader, but also someone that's never properly read comics before...

If Alan Moore had approached me (you're going to have to use your imagination here) and said "Hey, I'm thinking of writing a Joker origin story, but as flashbacks within another story. What do you think?", my gut reaction would be to reply "No, that's a terrible idea. Just focus purely on an origin story itself". That's what I expected The Killing Joke to be and, whilst I still think it would've been better like that, it's actual layout is brilliant. It's like you're getting two stories for the price of one, but it doesn't feel like you're hopelessly trying to juggle them both at the same time. Thanks to the perfect transitions between the flashbacks and current events, there's no disruption or stop-starting at all. For example, a frame depicting The Joker gazing into a puddle at a carnival cleverly switches to a flashback of him doing the same, but into a river outside a chemical plant. You really have to see this for yourself to appreciate just how well it's done.

The art isn't something to be underestimated either. There's so much detail on every page and Brian Bolland obviously spent a lot of time on it. It all paid off though and the result is just beautiful. It's generally very pleasing to the eye and compliments the story really well too.

The Killing Joke clearly has a very dark element to it and, without giving anything away, The Joker does commit some pretty horrific acts. New readers such as myself will find him more reminiscent of Heath Ledger's amazing portrayal in The Dark Knight than any other, which, in my opinion, is definitely the better kind.

After reading The Killing Joke, it's easy to understand why this issue is so revered and considered by many as one of the best. If, like me, you're new to Batman comics, don't worry about starting with this one and not something like Year One instead. Everyone knows about the Dark Knight's constant battle with The Joker anyway, so it's not going to affect any reading order too much (apart from perhaps one little bit, but I'm not going to ruin the story for you). And if you're into him already but haven't given it a go yet, you're missing out. Either way, it's definitely worth a read.

Hawkeye #1

Hawkeye #1
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by David Aja

Action Ash
Well what can I say. I knew it was going to be good because, aside from Brubaker, it had the team responsible for 'Immortal Iron Fist' (which was amazing).

The first issue's story is about Clint getting out of hospital to find out that his landlord has tripled the rent and is evicting the tenants that can't pay. Clint finds out there are dodgy dealings involved and tries to sort the situation out.

Now, I realise that this doesn't exactly sound like riveting stuff, however it's all in the storytelling and the character interactions. That's where the magic lies, and it was superbly executed and flowed nicely. This new street level approach really works for the character and definitely makes him more relatable. In the editorial at the back it is explained that this series was partly inspired by 70's cop shows but with a "modern sheen" and I personally think that is a great direction to go in with a powerless Avenger with a bow. I would totally watch that show but I don't need to worry because it exists in comic form and I'm more than happy with that. A major theme of the book seems to be Clint's awareness that he is just a regular guy of average intelligence amongst godlike beings (the Avengers). The only thing setting him apart from mundane suckers, like you  and I, being his amazing marksmanship. This was handled well and not too in-your-face or whiny, which it could have easily been. In fact, I liked the way Clint seemed content with his lot in life, despite his normality.

The art is fantastic in it's simplicity, David Aja is truly a modern master. It differs in style slightly from his Iron Fist work but has that same nameless quality that makes his art standout. He can make the mundane look cool, which is handy because this series seems to be specialising in making the mundane look cool. Also, he's really good at shadows and silhouettes. That may not sound like a thing but it's definitely a thing.

Interestingly, except for the first page, Hawkeye doesn't use a bow and arrow for the whole issue. Still rocks! In the editorial at the back there was the name of a song and artist as recomended listening for the issue, which I thought was a nice touch and I'm looking forward to future recomended tracks.

Five Russians in trakcsuits getting hit in the neck by playing cards out of Five!

...and my own personal Super Geil!

P.S. For those who've read it: I want to learn that penny trick.

Debris #1

Debris #1
Written by Kurtis J. Wiebe 
Art by Riley Rossmo

Action Ash
So I had seen the preview for this in the back of another book and I thought the cover art was really cool. I knew I was going to pick it up when it came out because what I had seen so far had piqued my interest. A girl fighting giant mechanical creatures in a junkyard landscape. What's not to like, right? Unfortunately there's not much else to it, and I was expecting a lot more.

Plot: Post apocalyptic world where the remnants of mankind live in a small fortified town and attempt to defend themselves against giant mechanical creatures, imaginatively named "Colossals". Oh and water is in short supply. Whatever.

The story is not that interesting and already within the first issue has fallen back on certain tropes and cliches of post apocalyptic fiction and typical quest stories. The lead character is chosen to go on a quest to a mythical place with the fate of humanity resting on her shoulders blah blah blah, you see where this is going.
The dialogue isn't anything special either.
Not a lot actually happens in this issue because it's mainly a set up issue, however this is only a 4 issue mini series so Mr. Wiebe might have wanted to have put more story in this issue and not so many of the page count swallowing action sequences.

On the other side of things, I couldn't fault Riley Rossmo too much, as his art is the best thing about this book. I recently read 'Wild Children' which was also drawn by him, however that also had a disappointing story (find better people to work with Mr. Rossmo). Getting back to Debris though, I think the 'Colossals' could have done with a bit more detail but I do recognise how hard giant mechanical snakes and birds can be to conjure up with just your pencil and imagination so I can cut some slack on that one.


It's not a completely bad book and I may buy the next issue to see where it goes, but I'm not digging Debris as much as I thought I would. The concept could be done much better. Distinctly average!

2 and a half mechanical monitor lizards out of a possible 5 Mecha Godzillas

Punk Rock Jesus #1

Punk Rock Jesus
Written/art by Sean Murphy


Action Ash
As the latest Vertigo title to hit the shelve, Punk Rock Jesus is just what the doctor ordered as far as Vertigo titles go. Unlike their other titles of late this book comes straight from the old school. Irreverence - Check, Indie sensibilities - Check, Anti-religious sentiment - Check, and all rendered in the scratchy brilliance that is Sean Murphy's art.

Brief plot summary - A company named "Ophis" has funded a famous geneticist to clone Jesus Christ using the shroud of Turin, for the purpose of impregnating a virgin who is chosen through an audition process. This is all for a reality TV show that will follow the pregnancy and then the child as he grows up to be the second coming of Jesus. Also, an  uber violent ex IRA member has been hired to be the head of security for the project. Shit is clearly about to get real!

Being primarily an artist does not hinder Sean's ability to plot out an engaging story. This book seems very well thought out and seems to have a good few sub plots, however not too many and handled well so you don't find yourself getting lost. Then you have the themes of blind faith, the moral issue with cloning, the moral issue of bringing a child into the world with such a big responsibility already thrust upon it and of course cold blooded corporations willing to do anything for money.

The art is a masterclass in stark black and white storytelling, all done with a tremendous amount of detail.  Murphy's use of shading and shadow is an art form in itself, the extremity of which, in certain panels, calls to mind German expressionism. At times it seems slightly manga influenced (I mean that in the best possible way) especially during the action. The fact that it's in black and white seems to help exhibit Murphy's already impressive talent for drawing facial expressions.

Clocking in at approximately 30 pages it is well worth the £2.65 ($2.99) cover price.Technically, there's been no punk yet but I'm more than willing to stick around and see where that will come in to it.

5 Ex-IRA members breaking placards upside old men's heads out of 5

Super Geil!

Back with a vengeance!

Action Ash
Yo yo, Action Ash here! After a long hiatus the 2 bad guys are back and in full effect, ready to talk about comics and make witty references to pop culture because that's what people do on the Internet. I'm gonna jump right in, if that's fine with you suckers, and talk about what I bought this week and then maybe a word or two about some other books that I've been dipping in to. There will be a quiz at the end.

The Punisher #13 - This is, in my opinion, the best book Marvel are putting out at the minute. An interesting crime story in which the peripheral characters are just as interesting as Frank Castle himself.

Danger Club #3 - An interesting take on the superhero genre from Image comics. The story revolves around teenage sidekicks fighting amongst themselves in the wake of the disappearance of the earth's superheroes after a dangerous space mission. Still not exactly sure where it's going but the artwork is quite nice and I'm enjoying the ride.

 Avengers vs X-Men #7 - I wasn't sure about this when it was announced but I am actually enjoying this event. I've been surprised at the amount of story in a comic that I was fully expecting to be a 12 issue fight scene. However, having said that, after this event I would like it if Marvel would stop doing stories about heroes fighting each other. It's been done. A lot.

The Cape 1969 #1 - I loved the first mini series based on Joe Hill's short story so I had to get this. Also I'm intrigued as to how a prequel set in the Vietnam war is even relevant to the original series. Should be interesting to say the least.

Morning Glories #20 - Yes, I am still following this and no, I don't yet fully understand what's going on. Yes, I'm OK with that.

Rocketeer Adventures 2 #4 - Loved the first series and love this series. It's refreshing to have an anthology title of short stories that are all self contained. Especially with the great creators they get on the title. Also, I'm a sucker for that retro pulpy feel.

Last week I bought the first trade of  Fatale. More Brubaker/Phillips magic and, even though I haven't finished reading it, I think this could possibly be one of my favourite comics ever. Also, as you might have noticed, Valhallahan has been attempting to groom me into a Vertigo fan boy over the years and it is starting to work. He recently lent me Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo's miniseries 'Girl' (which was brilliant) and Jamie Delano and Sean Phillips' 'Hell Eternal'. Both were fantastic reads, although I liked Girl more because I found it relatable and hilarious.

 So there you have it Dudes and Betties, I'll see ya soon. Hopefully sooner than last time.

Oh, hold on a minute, don't think I've forgotten about the quiz.

1. After saying the magic word SHAZAM, how much cooler does Billy Batson become?
2. Where the hell is Wally West?
3. Who would win in a fight between Spider-man and Hanuman?

Show your working!

Gene Colan 1926 - 2011

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

Isle of 100,000 Graves

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

Crisis of Creative Competence!

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.

The Mighty Thor #1

 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.

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 Bad guys meet Paul Cornel

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.

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

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?

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/

Comics and ting

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.

Johnny Come Lately: Incognegro

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.

Comic books: The perfect hangover cure!

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

The Infinite Vacation

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

What I got and why

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/

Drawing the line at $2.99

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

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.