The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 2009 by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill
3: Let It Come Down
Minions of the Moon Chapter Three: Saviours
The final part of Century begins with Orlando. S/he's been an increasingly big presence in the books -- a lot of background material in Black Dossier, then one of the three leads throughout Century -- but this is the first time the focus has really moved from Mina (and Allan). It remains odd, but his/her increased presence has kind of earnt it.
It also contributes towards his/her character arc. Indeed, if there's one thing I'd note about Century's contribution to the series, it's the focus on character. All three leads undergo significant emotional changes throughout this series, more so than in previous ones I'd say, a lot of it focusing on their varied experiences of immortality. Those seeking an action/adventure book with pop-culture super-beings could probably care less, but despite being that on the surface, LoEG has never been about that -- the much-hated film proved that.
That's not to say the final chapter isn't without incident. I won't go spoiling stuff in case anyone who hasn't read it yet reads this, but the involvement of Harry Potter has received some press attention so there's no point trying to hide it. The stuff at Hogwarts is brilliant, though I'd argue Moore could occasionally do with remembering he's rendering a comic, not a storyboard -- there's a stream of panels that mirror each other very nicely, but putting them in blocks of three (rather than two or four) mucks this up slightly, in my opinion. Maybe he and O'Neill were trying to avoid making it too heavy-handed, but it's a deliberate parallel and the layout obscures it.
Then there's the Big Climax. Two things: firstly, it's good to see Allan turn up again here. He's barely in 2009. That said, when he does turn up his limited page-time is put to good use, with a particularly dramatic mini-arc. No spoilers on the end of it though. That said, I imagine this is quite possibly the end of the ongoing adventures of the League -- Moore has discussed doing other stories in already-established backstory, which is a grand idea because there are so many asides that could be more deeply explored there (and it might placate those who never liked the series' move into the 20th Century). Plus, having tackled the biggest franchise in modern media with the climax to this volume, perhaps it's a wise idea to not keep moving on. That said, there's an unresolved note at the end of this story -- I'm sure we all want to know what that's about!
Secondly (I got distracted there, but this is indeed "secondly"), the person who turns up at the climax of the climax to defeat the villain is genius. Well done on that one, Mr Moore. I loved it.
After three years of waiting and saving-up volumes of Century, I thought it was worth the wait. It's a different kind of story to previous League instalments, and certainly moves at a different pace. But hey, it's presented differently -- three long segments instead of six regular-sized ones, and, compared to most current comics, it comes out at nearly 11 issues of material. Can't sniff at that. But I can understand some of the objections to the series moving away from the style of the first two volumes, because that was great, but Moore and O'Neill are pushing the concept in interesting directions, and that's exciting and entertaining in its own way. You can always re-read the first two after all.
But it really will be interesting to see where they go next, whether that's back into the old style or increasingly pushing on.
Friday, 29 June 2012
Articles
Review: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
by Edward Champion (from Reluctant Habits)
I'm not especially excited for The Amazing Spider-Man, but I'm not desperate for it to be a failure in the way some fans of Raimi's previous trilogy seem to be. Considering Spider-Man was a huge superhero success, and the first film fullstop to have a $100m+ opening weekend, this one's looking surprisingly overshadowed, tucked between The Avengers (which has already claimed the first $200m+ opening) and The Dark Knight Rises (more likely to challenge that number, though without 3D is unlikely to do so).
Either way, this slagging off is a good read, entertainingly highlighting a myriad of problems with the film. It makes it sound, like I've heard in some other reviews, "fine" -- not bad per se, just uninspired (especially compared to Raimi's first) and consequently uexciting.
by Edward Champion (from Reluctant Habits)
I'm not especially excited for The Amazing Spider-Man, but I'm not desperate for it to be a failure in the way some fans of Raimi's previous trilogy seem to be. Considering Spider-Man was a huge superhero success, and the first film fullstop to have a $100m+ opening weekend, this one's looking surprisingly overshadowed, tucked between The Avengers (which has already claimed the first $200m+ opening) and The Dark Knight Rises (more likely to challenge that number, though without 3D is unlikely to do so).
Either way, this slagging off is a good read, entertainingly highlighting a myriad of problems with the film. It makes it sound, like I've heard in some other reviews, "fine" -- not bad per se, just uninspired (especially compared to Raimi's first) and consequently uexciting.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
There should have been more this week (even with four titles turning up this morning), but TheHut have been typically tardy in sending out a recent order for several titles. Still, this morning's delivery is quite a boost -- though lower still than it might've been, because I finally got round to removing a couple of DVD box sets.
Number of titles in collection: 1,498 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,156 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 342 [up 4]
Number of discs in collection: 3,713 [up 8]
Number of films in collection: 1,582 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,579 [up 47]
See you next week, faithful reader.
There should have been more this week (even with four titles turning up this morning), but TheHut have been typically tardy in sending out a recent order for several titles. Still, this morning's delivery is quite a boost -- though lower still than it might've been, because I finally got round to removing a couple of DVD box sets.
Number of titles in collection: 1,498 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,156 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 342 [up 4]
Number of discs in collection: 3,713 [up 8]
Number of films in collection: 1,582 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,579 [up 47]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Thursday, 28 June 2012
TV
Battlestar Galactica [2004]
3x07 A Measure of Salvation
3x08 Hero
It's been nearly 18 months since I last watched Galactica -- oops, that wasn't meant to happen! I tried reading the episode summary at that link to remind me where I was, but it didn't really help, so instead just settled down to watch the episode and hope the "previously on"s would do the trick. And thank frak for those, they did. Shame I didn't manage one more episode before my accidental abandonment, though, because that really wrapped up the ongoing stories (for the time being, anyway) before apparently moving on to more episodic tales with Hero.
3x07 A Measure of Salvation
3x08 Hero
It's been nearly 18 months since I last watched Galactica -- oops, that wasn't meant to happen! I tried reading the episode summary at that link to remind me where I was, but it didn't really help, so instead just settled down to watch the episode and hope the "previously on"s would do the trick. And thank frak for those, they did. Shame I didn't manage one more episode before my accidental abandonment, though, because that really wrapped up the ongoing stories (for the time being, anyway) before apparently moving on to more episodic tales with Hero.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
TV
Dexter
5x06 Everything is Illumenated
Halfway through the season and what one might think was the premise has been established. Interesting change of pace, and I presume therefore they still have somewhere different to go with it. Personally, though they'd reach this point was pretty inevitable, I think it's working.
5x06 Everything is Illumenated
Halfway through the season and what one might think was the premise has been established. Interesting change of pace, and I presume therefore they still have somewhere different to go with it. Personally, though they'd reach this point was pretty inevitable, I think it's working.
Comics
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969 by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill
2: Paint It Black
Minions of the Moon Chapter Two: The Distance From Tranquility
Despite being set 59 years later, Paint It Black picks up where What Keeps Mankind Alive? left off in the investigation of Oliver Haddo and his attempts to take over the world with a Moonchild. (Aside: it would be interesting to read the League in chronological order, as the main story part of Black Dossier takes place between the first two parts of Century.)
While the first part almost functioned as a standalone tale, this is very much the next instalment of a longer story -- an Empire Strikes Back, if you will, that does have its own contained narrative but also ends on a devastating cliffhanger. The League is all but gone as the book begins, and as it ends it's certainly destroyed, with one member completely missing (both to the characters and to the reader), so it'll be interesting to see where 2009 picks things up.
I didn't find it to be as satisfying a read as 1910, perhaps, though there's some very nice character stuff about how Mina is coping with immortality. O'Neill's art seems to be scratchier and rougher than usual to me, which is a shame -- it looks positively rushed in places, rendering things too cartoonish -- but he pulls off the crazy climax well nonetheless. Maybe it's excused by rendering the psychedelic world of the '60s, but the gangland stuff feels sketchy too. Hopefully he's returned to his usual level of preciseness on 2009.
Last time I forgot to discuss Minions of the Moon, the three-part prose story that closes every issue of Century. It's surprisingly followable. Not what one might call "readable" -- it's still prose by Moore, after all -- but it's far from his densest, most frustrating work. And it's another League-related story, set largely in the '60s, so that's a plus. Will it fill in any gaps from the main story? That remains to be seen...
2: Paint It Black
Minions of the Moon Chapter Two: The Distance From Tranquility
Despite being set 59 years later, Paint It Black picks up where What Keeps Mankind Alive? left off in the investigation of Oliver Haddo and his attempts to take over the world with a Moonchild. (Aside: it would be interesting to read the League in chronological order, as the main story part of Black Dossier takes place between the first two parts of Century.)
While the first part almost functioned as a standalone tale, this is very much the next instalment of a longer story -- an Empire Strikes Back, if you will, that does have its own contained narrative but also ends on a devastating cliffhanger. The League is all but gone as the book begins, and as it ends it's certainly destroyed, with one member completely missing (both to the characters and to the reader), so it'll be interesting to see where 2009 picks things up.
I didn't find it to be as satisfying a read as 1910, perhaps, though there's some very nice character stuff about how Mina is coping with immortality. O'Neill's art seems to be scratchier and rougher than usual to me, which is a shame -- it looks positively rushed in places, rendering things too cartoonish -- but he pulls off the crazy climax well nonetheless. Maybe it's excused by rendering the psychedelic world of the '60s, but the gangland stuff feels sketchy too. Hopefully he's returned to his usual level of preciseness on 2009.
Last time I forgot to discuss Minions of the Moon, the three-part prose story that closes every issue of Century. It's surprisingly followable. Not what one might call "readable" -- it's still prose by Moore, after all -- but it's far from his densest, most frustrating work. And it's another League-related story, set largely in the '60s, so that's a plus. Will it fill in any gaps from the main story? That remains to be seen...
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
TV
Hitler's Children
A one-off documentary about "the descendants of the most powerful figures in the Nazi regime" (so, not literally Hitler's children). I stumbled across it during the Sign Zone last night and was quickly engrossed. It's a fascinating look about the various ways such people have coped with the horrendous events in their families' pasts.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
A Short History of Everything Else
1x02 Episode 2
This episode tackled such historical years as 2005, 2004, and 2011. 2011! I'm not sure HIGNFYs from as recently as 2011 are even on Dave yet! Cast the net a little further back please, programme-makers.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
A one-off documentary about "the descendants of the most powerful figures in the Nazi regime" (so, not literally Hitler's children). I stumbled across it during the Sign Zone last night and was quickly engrossed. It's a fascinating look about the various ways such people have coped with the horrendous events in their families' pasts.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
A Short History of Everything Else
1x02 Episode 2
This episode tackled such historical years as 2005, 2004, and 2011. 2011! I'm not sure HIGNFYs from as recently as 2011 are even on Dave yet! Cast the net a little further back please, programme-makers.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Articles
Alien in "3D": Just one frame
by Jim Emerson (from jim emerson's scanners :: blog)
It's a regular screengrab from regular Alien, which means it's in 2D -- but it demonstrates well the three-dimensionality of regular film; and, therefore, by implication, why "3D" as it's currently promoted is just a gimmick rather than a necessary tool.
And aside from that point, the brief article is just a good breakdown of how much a single frame can potentially convey about an entire scene, or movie, or even career.
by Jim Emerson (from jim emerson's scanners :: blog)
It's a regular screengrab from regular Alien, which means it's in 2D -- but it demonstrates well the three-dimensionality of regular film; and, therefore, by implication, why "3D" as it's currently promoted is just a gimmick rather than a necessary tool.
And aside from that point, the brief article is just a good breakdown of how much a single frame can potentially convey about an entire scene, or movie, or even career.
Monday, 25 June 2012
Comics
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910 by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill
1: What Keeps Mankind Alive?
Minions of the Moon Chapter One: Into The Limbus
I've been waiting years to read this: I read (and reviewed in six parts) the third League title, Black Dossier, four years ago this month; I've had this opening book of Century since it came out in 2009; but the third (and final) part came out this week, and turned up in my post today, so I'm finally settling down to read it (over three days is my plan).
It takes a different structural form for League: whereas the first two were traditional six-issue miniseries, and the third a mixed-format book, Century exists as three standalone-but-connected books. This first is 72 pages, or the equivalent of three 24-page issues, so I guess that makes it three three-parters or one nine-parter. It's nice to mix things up.
It's a form that works here: without spoiling anything, there's a definite story that begins and concludes within the book itself, while events are set in motion that will obviously continue through the next two volumes. It's as entertaining as the rest of the League stories too, for my money, with the usual heady mix of horror, violence, humour, adventure, and some song now too. There's a new League, one that has obviously been working together for a little while, and that keeps things moving and entertaining for the reader. While Moore does mix in a few cultural reference points and a bit of filling-the-gaps-in-League-history, it's mostly slotted in around the story, unlike Black Dossier which some criticised for foregrounding it.
Anyway, the important thing is I enjoyed it, and I look forward to seeing it develop over the next two instalments.
1: What Keeps Mankind Alive?
Minions of the Moon Chapter One: Into The Limbus
I've been waiting years to read this: I read (and reviewed in six parts) the third League title, Black Dossier, four years ago this month; I've had this opening book of Century since it came out in 2009; but the third (and final) part came out this week, and turned up in my post today, so I'm finally settling down to read it (over three days is my plan).
It takes a different structural form for League: whereas the first two were traditional six-issue miniseries, and the third a mixed-format book, Century exists as three standalone-but-connected books. This first is 72 pages, or the equivalent of three 24-page issues, so I guess that makes it three three-parters or one nine-parter. It's nice to mix things up.
It's a form that works here: without spoiling anything, there's a definite story that begins and concludes within the book itself, while events are set in motion that will obviously continue through the next two volumes. It's as entertaining as the rest of the League stories too, for my money, with the usual heady mix of horror, violence, humour, adventure, and some song now too. There's a new League, one that has obviously been working together for a little while, and that keeps things moving and entertaining for the reader. While Moore does mix in a few cultural reference points and a bit of filling-the-gaps-in-League-history, it's mostly slotted in around the story, unlike Black Dossier which some criticised for foregrounding it.
Anyway, the important thing is I enjoyed it, and I look forward to seeing it develop over the next two instalments.
Articles
Watch A 25 Minute Version Of The Amazing Spider-Man Made Up Of Only Promo Clips
by Devin Faraci (from Badass Digest)
That's, what, a quarter of the movie? That's insane.
by Devin Faraci (from Badass Digest)
How many clips are too many clips? Probably when you can construct a TWENTY-FIVE MINUTE MINI-MOVIE from them. That's what Vimeo user SleepySkunk has done. He has taken all of the legally, publically available footage from The Amazing Spider-Man and edited it together linearly into a short film that essentially gives you the entire movie.
That's, what, a quarter of the movie? That's insane.
Sunday, 24 June 2012
TV
Dexter
5x05 First Blood
It's been 10 months since I last watched Dexter (in which time FX have not only finished airing it, they've aired all of the next season too), but now that there's not much else on I can get back to it.
And thank goodness for its solid "previously on" too, because without it I was struggling to remember what was going on, and with it I'm fully back up to speed. I knew I'd appreciate those things one day.
Episodes
2x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
MythBusters
5x17 Superhero Hour
5x16 Red Rag to a Bull
5x18 Myth Evolution
The episode about superhero stuff was pretty cool. Nearly didn't watch the second one -- I know bulls don't care about red; you know how a bull in a china shop is going to turn out -- but the other half of the episode, about bullets in ovens/on campfires, was cool... and it turns out a bull in a china shop isn't so obvious after all. And then the third one goes for a load of stuff they missed, according to fans, which fortunately meant it was more packed with stuff than usual. I like Mythbusters, but damn it's full of repetitious recaps.
Would I Lie To You?
6x08 Episode 8
Why the BBC have hung on to this until now I don't know. The outtakes episode, sure, they often air that later, but just a single regular episode of the series? Why?
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
5x05 First Blood
It's been 10 months since I last watched Dexter (in which time FX have not only finished airing it, they've aired all of the next season too), but now that there's not much else on I can get back to it.
And thank goodness for its solid "previously on" too, because without it I was struggling to remember what was going on, and with it I'm fully back up to speed. I knew I'd appreciate those things one day.
Episodes
2x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
MythBusters
5x17 Superhero Hour
5x16 Red Rag to a Bull
5x18 Myth Evolution
The episode about superhero stuff was pretty cool. Nearly didn't watch the second one -- I know bulls don't care about red; you know how a bull in a china shop is going to turn out -- but the other half of the episode, about bullets in ovens/on campfires, was cool... and it turns out a bull in a china shop isn't so obvious after all. And then the third one goes for a load of stuff they missed, according to fans, which fortunately meant it was more packed with stuff than usual. I like Mythbusters, but damn it's full of repetitious recaps.
Would I Lie To You?
6x08 Episode 8
Why the BBC have hung on to this until now I don't know. The outtakes episode, sure, they often air that later, but just a single regular episode of the series? Why?
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
this week on 100 Films
Two new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...
The Man from Earth (2007)
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
Tonight sees the UK terrestrial TV premiere of Up in the Air (9pm BBC Two), so I've also added my review from last year to my new blog. You can read it here. (It should be there, anyway. If it isn't, it'll be at that link later today.)
More next Sunday.
The Man from Earth (2007)
what one might call Proper Science Fiction. Most films classed as sci-fi just feature aliens or what have you; they’re space opera, or just action movies where Americans fight off-planet enemies instead of out-of-country enemies; the kind of thing Ray Bradbury termed fantasy rather than sci-fi. Instead of Shooting And Blowing Up Stuff, or even comedy antics with a twist, The Man from Earth deals in Ideas.Read more on my new blog or my classic blog.
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
it really is a horror movie too. There’s not just the elements of occult in the myth of the Canadian town Holmes and Watson find themselves in almost by chance, but also the way the production is staged... [Roy William Neill's] direction is incredibly atmospheric, from a wonderful mist-covered opening scene, replete with an incessantly tolling bell, to regular instances of shadow-drenched photography afterwardsRead more on my new blog or my classic blog.
Tonight sees the UK terrestrial TV premiere of Up in the Air (9pm BBC Two), so I've also added my review from last year to my new blog. You can read it here. (It should be there, anyway. If it isn't, it'll be at that link later today.)
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 23 June 2012
TV
The Graham Norton Show
11x11 (22/6/12 edition)
Jumping ahead to last night's episode -- The One With mir.i.am -- due to the online reaction. It was indeed uproarious.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Mock the Week
11x02 (21/06/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
11x11 (22/6/12 edition)
Jumping ahead to last night's episode -- The One With mir.i.am -- due to the online reaction. It was indeed uproarious.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Mock the Week
11x02 (21/06/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Friday, 22 June 2012
TV
How I Met Your Mother
7x18 Karma
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Rules of Engagement
1x02 The Birthday Deal
More random late-night comedy viewing. It was quite good, as these things go.
Silk
2x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
I really enjoyed the first series of Silk, but I think it's been even better this year. Just fantastic stuff. How good is Maxine Peake? That first meeting with Jody Farr, the number of emotions and feelings she puts into it just by being there... Brilliant. And let's not forget Neil Stuke as Billy -- he could be a very simplistic, single-dimensioned character, but he too brings so much to the role.
So glad there's going to be a third run. Long may it continue.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
7x18 Karma
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Rules of Engagement
1x02 The Birthday Deal
More random late-night comedy viewing. It was quite good, as these things go.
Silk
2x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
I really enjoyed the first series of Silk, but I think it's been even better this year. Just fantastic stuff. How good is Maxine Peake? That first meeting with Jody Farr, the number of emotions and feelings she puts into it just by being there... Brilliant. And let's not forget Neil Stuke as Billy -- he could be a very simplistic, single-dimensioned character, but he too brings so much to the role.
So glad there's going to be a third run. Long may it continue.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Comics
Batman #10 by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
This seemed to be all over twitter when it came out nine days ago, so it's nice to finally be able to catch up with it (Forbidden Planet (.com) may be slow at sending comics out sometimes, but the fact I can do a whole month's order for flat-rate p&p and get it delivered every week (even if it's late) is what keeps me coming back).
And wow did it deserve the hype! The Court of Owls storyline has been fantastic on the whole, and this is the start of a blinding climax (it finishes next issue). Both Snyder's writing and Capullo's art are incredible -- the issue contains three splash pages, which normally means a dearth of story, but each exists for a reason: they pack a punch, and there's more than enough plot elsewhere to make up for it. Sure, the main talking point is a final-pages revelation/twist, and that's justifiably been much-discussed, but it's the overall quality of the storytelling (from both writer and artist) that makes this exceptional. (For a spoilersome interview with Snyder discussing his thinking behind the twist, the entire story arc, and his future plans, look here.)
The Snyder/Tynion-penned, Albuquerque-drawn backup The Fall of the House of Wayne continues with its second part (of three). I wasn't sold on the first part (the backup strips in general across The New 52 have felt like a waste of space to me), but this one really sells its worth. It builds up on the backstory hinted at in the main strip, making it feel an essential part of the story.
This is 100% wonderful. Next issue's concluding parts can't come soon enough.
Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1 by Darwyn Cooke
Another big, much-discussed comic. DC's summer event begins here. Well, I say summer event -- it's 35 issues (across seven miniseries) and will go on until the end of January. Not so summery. But it is a big, controversial event, for all kinds of reason that have been discussed to death across the internet, so I shan't be going into them here.
Personally, I really enjoyed this issue. Cooke's art is perfectly suited to a classic-styled '30s/'40s book, and the typical-Watchmen hard-edge (criminals pissing themselves, heroes paying off the cops, explicit swearing, etc) undercuts it nicely. Plus his compositions are visually arresting, making it a joy to behold all round. Phil Noto's colours compliment this perfectly.
Then Cooke's storytelling is very good to boot. This is clearly the very beginning of a multi-part tale -- but that's fine, so is the original Watchmen. Here he introduces each of the eight Minutemen one by one. Some get more time than others, suggesting relative importance, but with just six issues and so many characters that's always going to happen. And nonetheless, it feels longer than the usual modern 20-page book. That's partly because it's 26 pages, but still, it's super.
It's hard to judge an entire comic objectively on what is almost entirely setup for the rest of the story -- that hasn't stopped some laying into it, apparently forgetting that Watchmen was a longer tale told in smaller parts too. I think this is a solid opening with much promise, even if the ending is a bit unclear (is that supposed to be a cliffhanger? If so, how so?), and I look forward to the rest. Wise decision by DC to start here, I feel.
Linking the 35 issues together in their publication order is backup strip The Curse of the Crimson Corsair: The Devil in the Deep...! (to give the full title as rendered in the book), by Len Wein and John Higgins, included in two-page chunks. Whether there will be multiple Crimson Corsairs stories or it's 70 pages of The Devil in the Deep, I don't know.
This is less successful than the main story, unfortunately. If it's meant to be a contemporaneous comic (as readers may remember, in the Watchmen universe the presence of real-life heroes meant pirate comics were the most popular genre, not superheroes) then the art & colouring is far too modern. Even if it isn't, it's scuppered by only being two pages long -- that's nothing like enough to get a feel or tell a good chunk of story. It attempts to nonetheless, meaning it's stuffed with dialogue boxes instead of telling the story through art. Presumably it will somehow end up commenting on the main story, much like Tales of the Black Freighter did in the original, though how that's supposed to happen when it's spread across seven separate miniseries I don't know.
This seemed to be all over twitter when it came out nine days ago, so it's nice to finally be able to catch up with it (Forbidden Planet (.com) may be slow at sending comics out sometimes, but the fact I can do a whole month's order for flat-rate p&p and get it delivered every week (even if it's late) is what keeps me coming back).
And wow did it deserve the hype! The Court of Owls storyline has been fantastic on the whole, and this is the start of a blinding climax (it finishes next issue). Both Snyder's writing and Capullo's art are incredible -- the issue contains three splash pages, which normally means a dearth of story, but each exists for a reason: they pack a punch, and there's more than enough plot elsewhere to make up for it. Sure, the main talking point is a final-pages revelation/twist, and that's justifiably been much-discussed, but it's the overall quality of the storytelling (from both writer and artist) that makes this exceptional. (For a spoilersome interview with Snyder discussing his thinking behind the twist, the entire story arc, and his future plans, look here.)
The Snyder/Tynion-penned, Albuquerque-drawn backup The Fall of the House of Wayne continues with its second part (of three). I wasn't sold on the first part (the backup strips in general across The New 52 have felt like a waste of space to me), but this one really sells its worth. It builds up on the backstory hinted at in the main strip, making it feel an essential part of the story.
This is 100% wonderful. Next issue's concluding parts can't come soon enough.
Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1 by Darwyn Cooke
Another big, much-discussed comic. DC's summer event begins here. Well, I say summer event -- it's 35 issues (across seven miniseries) and will go on until the end of January. Not so summery. But it is a big, controversial event, for all kinds of reason that have been discussed to death across the internet, so I shan't be going into them here.
Personally, I really enjoyed this issue. Cooke's art is perfectly suited to a classic-styled '30s/'40s book, and the typical-Watchmen hard-edge (criminals pissing themselves, heroes paying off the cops, explicit swearing, etc) undercuts it nicely. Plus his compositions are visually arresting, making it a joy to behold all round. Phil Noto's colours compliment this perfectly.
Then Cooke's storytelling is very good to boot. This is clearly the very beginning of a multi-part tale -- but that's fine, so is the original Watchmen. Here he introduces each of the eight Minutemen one by one. Some get more time than others, suggesting relative importance, but with just six issues and so many characters that's always going to happen. And nonetheless, it feels longer than the usual modern 20-page book. That's partly because it's 26 pages, but still, it's super.
It's hard to judge an entire comic objectively on what is almost entirely setup for the rest of the story -- that hasn't stopped some laying into it, apparently forgetting that Watchmen was a longer tale told in smaller parts too. I think this is a solid opening with much promise, even if the ending is a bit unclear (is that supposed to be a cliffhanger? If so, how so?), and I look forward to the rest. Wise decision by DC to start here, I feel.
Linking the 35 issues together in their publication order is backup strip The Curse of the Crimson Corsair: The Devil in the Deep...! (to give the full title as rendered in the book), by Len Wein and John Higgins, included in two-page chunks. Whether there will be multiple Crimson Corsairs stories or it's 70 pages of The Devil in the Deep, I don't know.
This is less successful than the main story, unfortunately. If it's meant to be a contemporaneous comic (as readers may remember, in the Watchmen universe the presence of real-life heroes meant pirate comics were the most popular genre, not superheroes) then the art & colouring is far too modern. Even if it isn't, it's scuppered by only being two pages long -- that's nothing like enough to get a feel or tell a good chunk of story. It attempts to nonetheless, meaning it's stuffed with dialogue boxes instead of telling the story through art. Presumably it will somehow end up commenting on the main story, much like Tales of the Black Freighter did in the original, though how that's supposed to happen when it's spread across seven separate miniseries I don't know.
Articles
Clive James: 'I’m not dead yet!’
by Clive James (from The Telegraph)
Remember what I said about Clive James? Turns out, not so much with the imminent death. But this is more than just a "it's not true" -- it's a great piece on the media.
by Clive James (from The Telegraph)
Remember what I said about Clive James? Turns out, not so much with the imminent death. But this is more than just a "it's not true" -- it's a great piece on the media.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Very minor additions this week. Not much schedule for the foreseeable future, actually, just the odd one here or there. Loads in September though. Loads.
Number of titles in collection: 1,495 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,157 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 338 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 3,705 [up 2]
Number of films in collection: 1,581 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,532 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Very minor additions this week. Not much schedule for the foreseeable future, actually, just the odd one here or there. Loads in September though. Loads.
Number of titles in collection: 1,495 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,157 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 338 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 3,705 [up 2]
Number of films in collection: 1,581 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,532 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)