Writing Warm-up / Comic Stuff

Wednesday is here! Mid-week has arrived and it’s New Comic Book Day!

Of course, since I have to buy my comics on-line rather than in a store it will be a few days before I receive anything. But I can still be excited. Indeed, I may even have a new stash to look forward to when I get home seeing as I recently ordered the first (and, currently, only) seven issues of Ghost.

I have to admit, I was saddened to see that Kelly-Sue Deconnick’s run ended after issue #4. But I am psyched that her co-writer on some of those issues, Chris Sebela, is the one who took over. Everything should be shiny.

In other comic related news – Did you see the porn-butt on the Variant cover for the new Spider-Woman #1?!
Holy Cow Doodie! What the hell were they thinking when they green-lit that cover?

I LOVE (yes, all caps LOVE) Jessica Drew. She is a super kick-ass, complex, and interesting character on multiple levels in both the 616 and Ultimate universes. But it is very easy to over-sexualise her due to the sheer skin-tight/shiny design of her iconic costume.

However, there is absolutely no excuse for why her butt should be splayed open in an overtly slash-fic/fetish porn style on this Variant cover. This is a Marvel comic, not a Zenoscope one. Hopefully the editorial team will remember that for future issues.

Of Dark Heresies & Comics

After a very productive beginning to last week, documented here, time rather ran away from me. As well as work I’ve been GMing a Dark Heresy campaign for the past few weeks. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Dark Heresy is an RPG set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Your group play the part of acolytes of the Inquisition and much mayhem ensues as you charge around the galaxy (more specifically, the Calixis Sector) purging Heretics, Xenos and Daemons. It’s just a little bit awesome. I love playing my Battle Sister in my friend’s campaign because she kicks a lot of heretical butt.

However, we are currently transitioning from that campaign, which is on hiatus for a few months, back to another campaign with different characters. But before we start back down that road of blood and fire I’ve been filling in with a series of short, sharp, one-off campaigns whilst one of our number has been on holiday. It’s been a blast, although rushing to put everything together week by week (I’m one of those GMs that does handouts) hasn’t left a lot of time for much in between. Still, this week was the last of my campaign so I should be back to updating at least a couple of times a week.

On the subject of Comics:

I strongly suggest you catch up on X-Men Legacy. The first arc concluded with two endings(!), which included an unexpected twist and a lot of foreshadowing, whilst somehow staying very open ended. I will be going back to look through it issue by issue with as few spoilers as humanly possible. If you haven’t taken a look at this series yet, you definitely should.

Similarly, I will be going back to look through The Massive & Mara, which are two very different stories written by Brian Wood. I will also be taking a look at Saga, which is heartwrenching & brilliant. Seriously, it’s not often I find myself turning to the final page of a comic and swearing profoundly whilst choking back tears. But Brian K Vaughan seems to have perfected the ability to elicit this sort of reaction from his readers. The fact that everything is arted (real word, honest) so beautifully by Fiona Staples seems to double the emotional impact. Reading Saga is rather like reading George R.R. Martin. And if you don’t get the implication behind that after my previous sentence… well, just read Saga. You’ll catch on quickly.

And finally, on another tangent…

Happy Starcraft II Heart of the Swarm Release Week!

Prepare to be Zerged!

Happy 2013!

Obligatory 2012 dissection post will surface eventually with lots of recommendations for reading/watching/listening. Suffice to say, in the UK it’s 5 minutes to midnight and the year 2013. So, whether you’ve already seen the new year in or it’s still a good six/seven hours away, I wish you all a very happy new year.

Have a baby Galactus picture to start it off in style:

Baby Galactus from A-Babies vs X-Babies.

Gail Simone’s Departure from Batgirl: A Fan’s Reaction

When Gail Simone announced on Sunday that she had been asked to leave her incredibly successful run on Batgirl two emotions immediately hit me. Firstly, confusion. Why were DC getting rid of a prominent female creator in the middle of an extremely successful and critically acclaimed run on one of their only solo female character’s books? It didn’t make any kind of sense, especially so soon after the announcement that Karen Berger will be leaving Vertigo this coming March. Were they aware that this looked like a culling of their core female staff? Sure, technically that’s only two women out the door, not usually enough to merit cull status. But when you consider the impact these two women have had within DC and comics as a whole? It looks like a damn cull.

The second emotion was fierce, passionate anger. Why the hell was a much loved creator, with a clear vision of what she wanted to do with this, again, much loved character she had helped to define and turn into a shinning beacon of hope amidst the rest of the new 52 car crash, been dropped? And with no reason, good or otherwise, given to anyone!

I was not alone in thinking these things.

But I decided not to write about it straight away. That would have been dumb. I was feeling pissed off on multiple levels. I, the same as a lot of current (though sadly, probably not future,) readers picked up Batgirl because Gail was writing her. If anyone could keep Barbara going through an unwanted reboot, it was Gail.

Batgirl #5

In the wake of the announcement that she has been asked to leave this now appears, more than ever, to have been DC’s only reason for letting her write the character in the first place. Gail’s presence helped to quiet down us detractors who were not impressed with the hyper-sexualisation of many other prominent female characters who seemed to lose their intelligence and identities almost as fast as their clothes in the reboot. With her dismissal DC seems to be giving a very public middle finger to the growing portion of the comic reading community that have been questioning the treatment of a lot of their characters. Not to mention the treatment of their female fans and creators.

Naturally, DC top brass won’t comment on Gail’s departure. They’ve already proved on multiple occasions that they’re not interested in reaching out to the fan community to provide any reassurances that they actually have a plan.

As you can tell, even after leaving it for a few days, I still can’t write about this from an emotionally detached perspective. No doubt this will be boiled down to the simplest – always trite – explanation of,  Creative Differences. I could probably add a paragraph in here referring to Gail’s very public  push (check her tumblr) to introduce a prominent transgender character into the DCU, but it would be pointless speculation. They haven’t even given the aforementioned trite reason, yet.

Batgirl #14

There is no winning side here.

Fans of Gail and her take on the new Barbara will feel betrayed and let down; especially since we will never see her already written recovery arc. The book will also inevitably lose readers, which in turn is completely unfair on the new creative team, whoever they may be. 

Put simply, this was a dick move by DC, and it won’t be forgotten as quickly as they hope.

Batgirl #8

***

Screw it, at least they can’t interfere with LEAVING MEGALOPOLIS!

Kickstart The Week [Mini Edition] & a Farewell

#1 :

The Parlour Trick

Meredith Yayanos (@Theremina) and Dan Cantrell’s first full-length “ghostly, atmospheric” chamber album has surpassed it’s goal. But if they can push it a little further in the next 65 (and counting) hours, this project will attain a whole new level of macabre awesomeness. Go and take a look. Even better, have a listen.

#2:

Peter Pan: The Graphic Novel

As I have previously written about this project at reasonable length, you are probably already clicking this link here.

If you haven’t read my previous article, or visited their main page, you should go and do those things now. The rest of you know the talent behind this book, and you know they can deliver the quality displayed in the gorgeous promotional art.

It only has seventeen days left to reach its target!

GO!

That’s all the kickstarting for this post.

So, on to the farewell.

I realise that this will seem odd to a lot of people, but this is a farewell to someone I have never met, and most likely never will. Nevertheless, it should be said anyway because, to mercilessly borrow and butcher a line from the song, ‘even if you never read this, somebody else will know.’

I am currently processing the news that Karen Berger is leaving Vertigo. I’m sure that a lot of rumours will come flooding out in the next few days/weeks regarding her departure. But as a long-time fan of Vertigo’s output, and having seen numerous authors and artists I admire and respect repeatedly thank and praise her in letters pages, forewords and acknowledgements; all I have to say is, thank you. Thank you for supporting (and harassing when needed) those who have worked for you and for helping to shape comics, as a whole, for the better.

Sincerely, thank you.

Review: X-Men Legacy #2

X-men Legacy #2

Writer: Simon Spurrier, Pencils: Tan Eng Huat, Inks: Craig Yeung, Colours: José Villarrubia

X-Men Legacy #2 Cover by Mike Del Mundo

I have been looking forward to this second installment of Messrs Spurrier and Huat’s new X project since I finished reading the first issue. After that emotional roller-coaster of a re-introduction to the fractured psyche of David Haller (aka Legion, aka Professor Xavier’s son,) this issue keeps up the frenetic pace admirably. Yet, there is an ineffable sadness lingering at the edges of each panel as David is forced to struggle with his personal demons in public.

The way in which we, the readers, get to see what David is trying to deal with internally, whilst simultaneously seeing the consequences in the real world when he loses control, is adroitly handled. It is this fracturing of perspective that allows us to fully invest in the character. Instead of being subjected to mindless sequences of carnage that conclude with our poor, miss-understood hero standing in the wreckage staring at his hands in disbelief at what he’s just done, we are treated to something of a novelty in mainstream comics. We are actually getting to know the character! We may not be able to immediately comprehend his actions from one second to the next, but neither can he. We are in this together.

With the knowledge that (some of) the X-men will eventually make contact with David, most likely assuming the worst of him (he has a history,) the foreshadowing in this issue is both ominous and ambiguous.

As if dealing with his own mind wasn’t enough of a tall order, this issue also introduces a rather bizarre character of dubious intent into David’s world. Whilst the character does not attempt to explain itself much beyond flamboyant demonstrations of it’s powers, this fleeting appearance helps to set things in motion for forthcoming issues rather nicely.

This is not a typical X-men book . This is a good thing.

I do love the X-men and their many, many, many teams, and solo adventures, and multiple team-ups/sleepovers/field-trips, etc. etc. But this book is different. It is from the world but not of the world. Having the legacy of, both, the X-men and Professor Xavier looming in the background helps to flesh out the picture, but it is not the focus. This is the story of a troubled young man trying to make something of his life whilst being painfully aware of the stark knowledge that when, not if, he messes up, the consequences could be catastrophic. All in all, this issue builds confidently on the solid foundations laid down by the first installment.

Now, I have talked quite a bit about the writing/story structure of this issue, which is top notch. However, it would be remiss of me not to comment on Tan Eng Haut’s brilliant artwork. I don’t know who made the creative decision to put this team together, but Haut’s art perfectly compliments David’s personality, as well as the writing. There is a manic energy contained in the line work that helps to convey the fraught tension that David struggles to contain. Similarly, the use of perspective for the scenes set inside his mind evoke a portentous, creeping dread.

I would highly recommend this series to anyone. Yes, there are quite a few, ‘%#@&,’ bits here and there. Mr Spurrier was/is writing this at the same time as his brutal, (yet, emotionally engrossing,) R-Rated run over on Avatar‘s, Crossed: Wish You Were Here after all. But it’s not there to shock. David Haller’s life is not all peaches and cream. So he swears from time to time, as would you if you had to contend with his mindscape and legacy. Please do not let such a tiny aspect of this wonderful book put you off.

Of all the Marvel NOW! books, this one is proving to be a red-hot wildcard, much like it’s protagonist.

You can pick it-up at you local comic shop now, or over at ComiXology, HERE.

Kickstart the Week, Preview: Peter Pan Comic

Renae De Liz is the illustrator of many gorgeous books, including The Last Unicorn and Anne Rice’s Servant of the Bones. She was also the driving force behind the gloriously ambitious Womanthology. So you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled across her new gem of a project thanks to a random follower (@PeterPanComic) suddenly appearing on my twitter feed. (This is why I love twitter).

Renae has already begun the preliminary groundwork (and more) required to adapt the stories of J.M. Barrie’s enduring character, Peter Pan, into a full graphic novel. She has enlisted her husband, the similarly, fantastically talented Ray Dillon, on colouring/inking/lettering and design duties; and together they plan to rule the world! Or at least make a damn fine graphic novel worthy of your support.

You can find their official project blog, replete with sketches and character tags, HERE. And if you like what you see (why wouldn’t you?) you will want to bookmark it and keep a very close eye out for their impending Kickstarter project.

Naturally, I will be hyping this to the high heavens, but not just due to the talent involved. The initial character sketches and full colour images look wonderful. As a father, I would love to have a graphic novel of this quality to share with my kids. Still, even if I didn’t have my son and daughter to read this with, it promises to be a visually sumptuous adaptation of a timeless classic, and good art made with passion is always worth supporting.

Please, go and take a look for yourself. This won’t be the last time you’ll hear me mention it.

Halloween Eve

This finally arrived today!

Halloween Eve, comic and print.

This is a very fun one-shot, for Halloween(!), written by Brandon Montclare with full art duties, (and lettering,) by Amy Reeder. At its core this is a, through-the-looking-glass, tale for Halloween.

Eve is a, somewhat cynical, store clerk in a fancy dress shop, and she hates Halloween. Needless to say, she is less than impressed when she learns that she will have to wear a costume for the dread day and the resulting fireworks lead to her ‘volunteering’ to do over-time, in preparation for the last-minute rush on costumes. Whilst working later that night, strange things begin to happen in the shop, and it’s not long before Eve’s world is turned upside down.

You can order a print copy from Image Comics, or buy a digital copy through Comixology.

The Demon Cold & Dissassociative Thoughts

As mentioned above, I have a thoroughly horrific flu-type cold at the minute. Therefore, this will be relatively brief since looking at a screen of any size is causing my retinas to feel as though they’re catching fire.

Thought Cycle #1 – Cyber Force #1

The first issue of Top Cow’s C.F. Kickstarter arrived in my inbox this week. Look at how pretty it is:

Below are my initial impressions after my first full read-through:

Positives

• As shown above, the artwork and coloring in this is absolutely gorgeous,
• One of the central characters is a teenage girl, but – unlike a lot of independent comics out there – this wasn’t used by the artists as an excuse to draw perky young breasts bouncing all over the place as she ran. Even when the panel view was looking top-down on the characters. In fact, there seemed to be a concerted effort not to over-exaggerate any of the female characters in this way. I wasn’t overly surprised by this as the example art on the project page hadn’t shown any leaning toward, what I refer to as, the Zenescope style. But it was still heartening to see the female characters being used as fully rounded characters; rather than eye-candy/exposition tools.
• As noted above, the team working on this have absolutely delivered on the visuals. Each panel is crammed with detail, and it’s a non-stop ride from start to finish.

Minor Gripes

• Because this is a relaunch, of sorts, a lot of information had to be crammed into this issue for those readers unfamiliar with the original series. This is obviously to ensure that everything is set-up for the rest of the ride but, at times, the jumps in narrative were slightly disorienting. However, I believe that this will flow a lot better once the next couple of issues have expanded on the information packed into this first issue. This is a five-part series after all.
• This really is a minor gripe, though I’m sure that some people will agree with me here. In the opening sequence several in-world tech words are used, eg. Blinders and Mole. Given the context within which they are used (a chase sequence) these are obviously fairly standard bits of kit that the Shoc soldiers use. Therefore, the decision to put these words in “inverted commas” aka “quotation marks” every time they were mentioned by a character was entirely unnecessary. Personally, I felt that their use served only to detach the reader from full immersion into the C.F. world. At least it did for me. Like I said, this is a minor, and very person specific, gripe.

Overall, this was an excellent start to the series and, minor gripes aside, I’m very much looking forward to issue 2. You can order your copy, and read a bit more background on the C.F. universe, over at Top Cow’s official page.

Thought Cycle #2 – Arrow

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that interested when this was first announced. In fact, I was so disinterested that I didn’t even follow the multiple production updates, set pics and poster releases for it. Justin Hartley did a fine (if somewhat sanitised) job of bringing Oliver Queen to the small screen in Smallville. But, Smallville aside, I’ve never really been that interested in the Green Arrow as a character. Being more of a Marvel fan, Clint Barton and, laterly, Kate Bishop have been my go to characters when it comes to archery grounded superheroes. Still, I decided to give it a go and I’m glad I did.

The pilot was an excellent introduction to the character, played here by Stephen Amell. From the raw opening, which had Oliver racing, bare-foot, through woods and over cliffs to signal a passing ship to rescue him from the island he had been stranded on for five years. To his solo assault on a heavily fortified high-rise office back in the city; the frenetic action associated with this character was conveyed perfectly. Some reviewers have complained that there has not been a clear enough explanation as to why Oliver feels compelled to go down the vigilante route once he gets home, but I disagree.

Whilst it wasn’t overly explained, there was enough alluded to in the flashbacks to suggest that Oliver’s dad imparted quite a bit of information to him before he was stranded. Oh yes, that’s right, he was stranded – FOR FIVE YEARS. One would assume that, as well as using those five years to teach himself Russian and become a self-taught archery expert, he probably had the time to figure out quite a bit from his father’s notebook. The same notebook that he keeps in the case with the bow. The bow that doesn’t look like it was fashioned on an island in the middle of nowhere.

The character’s previous playboy lifestyle is also on display, even more-so than it was in Smallville, which rarely shied away from showing Mr Queen as a hedonisitic, womaniser on par with Marvel’s, Tony Stark.

Ultimately, this was a great pilot. The supporting cast were played well, though the inclusion of Oliver’s best friend, Tommy, did at times feel rather stilted. The stand-outs from the extended cast were, Paul Blackthorne, as DT Quentin Laurel, and Susanna Thompson, as Oliver’s mother, Moira Queen. Again, some reviewers were dissappointed by Katie Cassidy’s portrayal of Laurel Lance, Oliver’s ex-girlfriend. But in all honesty she wasn’t given a fantastic amount to do here, and I was left with the impression that she will become a lot more important as the series progresses.

As pilots go, this one worked. I’m looking forward to catching up on the second episode, just as soon as this vile cold has been exorcised from my system by the fire behind my eyes.

The Demise of Horatio Lovemuscle

It’s finally here!

TDoHL is a two-page comic I wrote, a couple of months ago, to be illustrated by the highly talented, Donya Todd.

You can now find it in the third issue of The Curiosity Cabinet.

>DIRECT LINK TO THE COMIC, HERE<

For those that prefer the tactile comfort of paper, this issue is also slated for a print release at some point in the near future.

Of course, it goes without saying really, but, you should definitely take a look at everything else on offer in this issue. There’s more cakey goodness from Lucy Zirins (Who also just happens to be an *Amazing* musician – check her out!). There’s fantastic art by Laura Von Burns, and there’s some great photography, poetry and decent film reviews too.

So…