Monday 12 March 2012

TV

The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff
1x03 Episode 3 [season finale]
That was good. Hope we get more.

Pointless
6x18 (7/3/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Watson & Oliver
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) In HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Serpico (1973)
[#30 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Comics

Action Comics #7 by Grant Morrison & Rags Morales

After that mediocre aside, Morales is back as the series returns to its main story. Maybe it's just because I so disliked the interruption tale, but this is one of my favourite issues yet: the story progress nicely and there's plenty of it too. It feels wrong to have to praise a comic for giving you a good chunk of story -- surely you'd expect a decent amount for your money -- but, really, you do. And the pieces are beginning to come together here too, including the arrival of Superman's suit. Exciting stuff.

Perhaps even better, though, is the backup strip. Again written by Sholly Fisch and superlatively drawn by Brad Walker, featuring beautiful colours by Jay David Ramos with David Curiel, it's called Meanwhile... and again features Steel. While Superman is off in space saving Metropolis residents (Metropolisers? Metropolisians?), Steel helps out in a city that's just lost a great chunk of itself. Half a city being snatched by an alien is a relatively standard-feeling SF plot, but dealing with the real-life consequences of such a thing -- collapsing suspension bridges, failures in electricity and water supply, etc -- is nice. It gets a bit American at the end, with the whole "everyone coming together to help each other" stuff, but that aside it's a great eight-pager.

I was never sure about buying a Superman book -- the character never seems that interesting -- but Morrison and Morales are doing a good job of convincing me otherwise. Might even continue buying Action past the end of this story. Though if it goes the way of that two-parter I won't care.


Detective Comics #7 by Tony Salvador Daniel

Is that the end of that story? Not sure. A decent action-packed edition, anyway, even if most of the plot had to explained by people standing around talking. Or, as this is a comic book, fitting in an unfeasible number of words while doing a backflip or something.


Uncanny X-Men #8 by Kieron Gillen & Greg Land

Last time I said I wouldn't bother with AvX... but then there's intriguing stuff going on, and a five-page preview of Avengers vs. X-Men #0 was kind of interesting too... but oh, it's going to be expensive... Maybe I'll just exert some patience and wait for the collected edition.

Articles

Amy Reeder Is Batwoman No More
by Rich Johnston (from Bleeding Cool)
I was never convinced about them switching artist on Batwoman, and I wasn't hugely impressed when I saw the results, so I can't say I'm upset about this one. Based on the one piece of new guy's art included in the article, looks like he might be a better fit.

PayPal is blocking the book
by Steve Berry (from Behind the Sofa)
Not content with the outcry that followed their last attempt to stop a charitable venture, or with forcing people to destroy valuable antique musical instruments, now PayPal are trying to halt another charitable initiative. Bastards. And they basically have a market monopoly at this point, so it can be very hard to never use them. Bastards.