What I’m reading and will hopefully be watching… eventually

I’m having a real attention problem when it comes to reading just lately so Hellboy and the Dragon King are sitting there only three quarters read.  What I have picked up and am reading again is the Citizen Kane of comic books.

Watchmen.

The hype around the book is thankfully fully deserved and the story holds up even today.  I’m going to finish it, digest it again and may post my thoughts on this amazing book.  I got the hankering to read it again since I saw the trailer for the upcoming film which looks brilliant:

Now if only I could convince Tracey to read Watchmen.

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Sketches over at new blog

Because I hate having free time I offered to do some sketches for a new blog starting out.  This is in addition to the work I’m already doing for the other project that I already mentioned the other day but can’t talk about (it’s cool though).

This is also cool (which is kind of a pun considering the author), go over and throw a little link love the Ice Master’s way and enjoy the sketches I did (I didn’t do the header):

Visit http://howtobeasupervillain.com

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24: Exile

Is it wrong that when I watched this I pretty much didn’t see anything until Jack showed up on screen and started laying out some pain?

I know the second half of Season Six 24 left a lot to be desired, I mean I expected that a cougar would show up sometime towards the end.  Actually I think I would have only been more disappointed if Jack had climbed into a fridge to survive a nuclear blast, but that would have been way too stupid.

So what do you all think?  Are you ready to give Jack another chance as he single handedly sorts out Africa’s problems?

Popularity: 4% [?]

DC’s Trinity dropped from comic book Thursday

Last week I wrote a post titled Trinity: Last chance.  I never got around to publishing it but the general gist was that I was giving the new DC series Trinity (which I’ve talked about in the past) one last shot at keeping me as a reader.

I was giving the issue, that at the time was still wrapped in its paper bag the chance to redeem the series, to fulfill the promise that the idea holds.

I really wanted to be convinced.

I wasn’t.

The problem with the book is that it promises to be about the DC holy trinity that is Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.  Three characters whose interaction with each other should be riveting.

The reality is that the current storyline does little to nothing to actually explore their interactions, is only half a comic long with the remainder of the book devoted to some behind the scenes story featuring none of the trio.

The book has actually become a very lame version of the JLA.

It does have great covers though, but great covers do not maketh the comic.

What would be interesting is to get some of your edgier or fresher writers to write one shots of the three heavyweights interacting.  Accessible stories that focus on the characters as people who share the distinction of being the three greatest heroes (except for Gnort) in the DC universe.

I’ve got to tighten my comic book Thursday budget anyway and this is the first of the dead wood to be removed.  Maybe I’ll take another look when the current storyline finishes, then again maybe I won’t.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Taking up the challenge

I don’t think it would be a surprise if I admitted that I’m unfit, I have been for a while now and coupled with having diabetes it’s not really a recipe for a long life and the thing is I really wouldn’t mind a long life as I have stuff to do!

So anyway over at Lifehacker I was reading about the one hundred pushups challenge, push ups have never been my friend and the idea of being able to one hundred of the bloody things appeals to me.

So I took the initial test and was remarkably surprised at how lame I am at push ups, I won’t lie to you, lame.  So now I’m embarking on the program that if you follow through the six week program you will be well on your way of being able to do 100.

I’m also running at night now, it’s cheap, there are no gym losers and can do it around my schedule.

So I’ll keep you all updated on my progress and feel free to visit the push ups site and take on the challenge yourself.

Speaking of unfit gentlemen (ouch) young Dan is about to embark on his charity walk, so why not pop over there and help him over the £2500 mark.

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Christmas is coming?

Oh look the Christmas themed stuff is in the local sex shop’s window, must be getting to that time of the year… Hang on a second!?  No, it’s still July?

Come on!  I expect this sort of crap from the big supermarket chains but I expected better from the sex shop!

Honestly, the supermarkets put Easter stuff on the shelves on Boxing Day, I would have thought they’d be the ones to be first bringing the Christmas cheer.  But no, this year it is the sex shop that has bolted from the Christmas starter blocks.

Please note that I avoided using Xmas and made absolutely no inappropriate reference to Ho Ho Ho…

**Update** - It was pointed out to me that this in fact may have been a Christmas in July kind of deal.  If that’s the case all is forgiven

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What I’m reading: Hellboy - The Dragon Pool

Despite that the movie is still about a month away for us Hellboy fans down under I saw one of the Hellboy novels in the library and really felt like giving it a read.  I’m about half way through it and I’m reasonably happy with the storyline, in fact I would have been just as happy if this was made into the motion picture.

The Dragon Pool by Christopher Golden has been so far a fairly fast paced story featuring an archaeological dig that is uncovering the Dragon King Pool which is the sleeping place of a dragon king (as one might had gathered) who centuries past treated all the locals a little shabbily and demanded child sacrifices, nice guy.

This is pretty common stuff for Hellboy and the BPRD and as I say it’s satisfying enough so far, the real interesting part for me is that it features an ex-girlfriend of Hellboy’s.  Honestly even though he’s pairing up with Liz in the films and the animated films I always just assumed that he wasn’t really interested in that type of thing.  Romance and Hellboy didn’t really naturally come together in my mind.

So it’s interesting when they talk about that and the effect that he barely ages whilst everyone around him continues to.

The next book I’m going to read is The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I think someone recommended this to me.  No I just went and checked, I read about it over on Sunset Over Slawit quite a while ago and now I’m finally getting around to it.  I’ve got a tonne of stuff to do so I have no idea when I’m going to get the chance to finish them both, but of course you’ll all be the first to know.

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The Dark Knight - greatest film ever?

When the first Batman was coming out the ‘batmania’ was probably at its highest, people had bat symbols on everything, shirts, jackets even shaved into their hair.  For me it was a time when I was discovering comics in a big way, my local newsagent didn’t really carry too many so the couple of copies I could get my hands on were like treasure.

Then I got to see the film and it was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

This morning Tracey and I dragged ourselves into the cinema to see the Dark Knight, full of hope, I had said to someone that I wasn’t actually that interested in the film, that the hype was beginning to wear thin on me.

But the ads started their magic on me and I was beginning to be more and more hopeful that this indeed would be the best comic book movie ever.  The completely booked out cinema soon fell into darkness and the film started, it was 1989 all over again.

The Dark Knight is probably in my opinion the best film I’ve ever seen.

I know it’s a stupid thing to say, really it’s stupid to compare it to other films, Citizen Kane and Casablanca, brilliant films, but I find it hard comparing them to each other let alone movies made in my generation.  I used to say the Lord of the Rings was the best made film (different to best film), but I’d even reconsider this estimation in regards to The Dark Knight.

It has to be said straight away that Heath Ledger is brilliant, creepy and completely reviting.  A huge concern of mine was that he would steal the show, that it would become the Joker film with Batman as a supporting character.  This didn’t happen, and it is a credit to the editor and the director because Joker is simply brilliant and could easily have been the focus.  It isn’t Ledger up there on screen, he is the embodiment of the character and it is a tribute to the man.  His final performance is incredibly Oscar worthy, it will be an outrage and a clear example that the Academy is out of touch if they choose to ignore the performance based on the fact that it is a comic book film.

This is the real Batman that we are finally seeing on the screen, he moves and fights with fluidity rather than relying on the suit to create presence as he strides through a fight scene (he can now move his head which hampered Batmen of the past).  Bale has worked on his Batman voice and it never falters, he is a different man when he is wearing the cowl.  This is the warrior Batman that the comics have shown through the years.

When I first saw Gary Oldman as Gordon in Batman Begins it was like a page of Batman Year One had come to life, he so much looks like a young Jim Gordon as he appears in that comic.  But Oldman doesn’t just look the part he brings so much to the character, he is a sane good man in an insane bad Gotham.

The great thing about this film is that it is not the spectacle which delivers the impact, it’s the characters, especially the trinity of James Gordon, Harvey Dent and Batman as they struggle with how far is too far before you cross the line.

I’ve never seen Harvey Dent presented so well, no offence to Tommy Lee Jones or even Billy Dee Williams but Aaron Eckhart makes the role his own and puts in an equal performance to Ledger, Bale and Oldman.  The origin is an interesting twist on the Two-Face story and the effects are extraordinary in addition to being faithful to the character’s standard comic book appearance.

This is a huge story that is told on a huge canvas, I won’t lie to you, it’s long, but you don’t care because you still want more.

Please start working on the sequel, now.

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Hi Res Star Trek poster images

The official Star Trek Movie site is now offering the posters as wallpaper downloads which is very cool so you can now see much clearer images than the ones I had up before (I’ve removed that post now because I don’t want to double up the images).

They all look fantastic.

You may notice in the reflection on their eyes the Starfleet symbol as well as in the texture of Uhuru’s shirt.

Also take a look at Nero’s mutilated ears (he’s Romulan).  So what do you all think now you’ve got a clearer view?

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New Star Trek poster

Ummmm awesome much?

Spock looks great and is that a Starfleet uniform I see him wearing?  I can’t wait for this film!!

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