For me this was the stand-out of the first full week of DC's new 52.
Decidedly off-kilter, it shows a C-list hero living his life in the burbs with his family.
The only other Animal Man issues I have read have been Grant Morrison ones and this reminds me enormously of Morrison's first issue.
Showing us the family. Weirdness in a hospital. Super-heroics kept firmly in check.
However Morrison's first story arc feigns horror before becoming a battle with z-lister B'wana-Beast.
Jeff Lemire though steers this incarnation into creepy horror. Nightmare visions. Grieving father holding a children's ward hostage because his daughter had died of cancer.
And an incredibly sinister last page.
Yeah, he lays on the foreboding and foreshadowing something chronic but it's amazingly atmospheric and should attract people new to comics or lure the Sandman crowd back.
Which was the point of this whole new 52 malarkey....
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Doctor Who : The Girl Who Waited
A real mixed bag this one.
That first ten minutes is, well, dull is one word for it.
It reminded me of Terminus, Nyssa's exit story in which she finds herself in a space leper colony and that experience was as painful for the audience as it was for her.
Whilst the ending of this one is powerful, it reminds me too much of other things without especially entertaining. Jim Mortimore's The Book Of Shadows did a fairly similar story (first Doctor companions Ian and Barbara are separated in ancient Efypt and Ian finds her ten years older). Though that had the benefit of an interesting setting, which this didn't.
Thank goodness, Karen Gillan can act as she really sells Amy's fate.
But yeah, not the strongest episode for me.
That first ten minutes is, well, dull is one word for it.
It reminded me of Terminus, Nyssa's exit story in which she finds herself in a space leper colony and that experience was as painful for the audience as it was for her.
Whilst the ending of this one is powerful, it reminds me too much of other things without especially entertaining. Jim Mortimore's The Book Of Shadows did a fairly similar story (first Doctor companions Ian and Barbara are separated in ancient Efypt and Ian finds her ten years older). Though that had the benefit of an interesting setting, which this didn't.
Thank goodness, Karen Gillan can act as she really sells Amy's fate.
But yeah, not the strongest episode for me.
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Doctor Who : Night Terrors
The late Jon Pertwee once said that there's nothing more scary than coming home and finding a yeti sitting on your loo in Tooting Bec.
Which, whilst quite the mental image, is true and so therefore it's a bit of a shame that televised Doctor Who has only in this millenium got round to spending serious energy in showing the fantastical in recogonisable real-life settings. (Yeah, I know 7th Doctor companion Ace was grittier but in a middle-class-writer's view of grittiness)
And Night Terrors is a very solid example of how effective the show can be when things are pared down and it's just the Tardis crew in our world.
Yeah, you can predict the twists. A fellow Caravanner worked out where Rory and Amy were pretty quickly.
But it was the humour (Rory wondering if he was dead again) and the strength of the acting that really made this.
It reminded me an AWFUL lot of RTD's Dr Who novel Damaged Goods, set on a Thatcherian council estate beset with drug-dealers. Which is a compliment.
There was much brow-beating about things being hidden in plain sight. And before we get too excited about that as any kind of clue to this year's story-arc, we need to remember that this was originally going to be shown in the first half of the season when Amy was a Ganger.
All told, rather good, which is what we've come to expect from writer Mark Gatiss.
Which, whilst quite the mental image, is true and so therefore it's a bit of a shame that televised Doctor Who has only in this millenium got round to spending serious energy in showing the fantastical in recogonisable real-life settings. (Yeah, I know 7th Doctor companion Ace was grittier but in a middle-class-writer's view of grittiness)
And Night Terrors is a very solid example of how effective the show can be when things are pared down and it's just the Tardis crew in our world.
Yeah, you can predict the twists. A fellow Caravanner worked out where Rory and Amy were pretty quickly.
But it was the humour (Rory wondering if he was dead again) and the strength of the acting that really made this.
It reminded me an AWFUL lot of RTD's Dr Who novel Damaged Goods, set on a Thatcherian council estate beset with drug-dealers. Which is a compliment.
There was much brow-beating about things being hidden in plain sight. And before we get too excited about that as any kind of clue to this year's story-arc, we need to remember that this was originally going to be shown in the first half of the season when Amy was a Ganger.
All told, rather good, which is what we've come to expect from writer Mark Gatiss.
Doctor Who - Let's Kill Hitler
Upon rewatch, this stands up so much better than I had imagined.
You see, with any program, big event episodes tend to crumble a bit once you know what's coming.
Take 5th Doctor story Earthshock. When that was first broadcast, apparently there was no advance publicity that there were Cybermen involved and certainly no hint that companion Adric was about to snuff it. With that knowledge it is a lot of grim action in search of a plot. (though it can still shock as I found out when a casual fan I know watching on UKGold decades afterward berated me for not warning him that Adric dies)
So, yeah, Let's Kill Hitler is none of that.
While it does resolve the River mystery once and for all, there is much joy to be had, especially in the flashbacks to Amy, Rory and Mels.
The plot itself is a tad slight though it allows Alex Kingston to have a whale of a time. And Matt Smith to produce one of his most stunning performances as a dying Doctor.
But yeah, River. I do kind of think we need to rest this one a bit however we know from the midseason trailer that she will pop up again soon, this time with eyepatch.
Some folks don't care for the overly cryptic arc-plotting of the 11th Doctor's tenure but I do kind of enjoy the mysteries (even if they're not subtly presented at all).
Mewonders if the question that when asked dooms everything has nothing to do with the Doctor's name or lineage. And possibly everything to do with what exactly Rory is.
Time will tell. It usually does....
You see, with any program, big event episodes tend to crumble a bit once you know what's coming.
Take 5th Doctor story Earthshock. When that was first broadcast, apparently there was no advance publicity that there were Cybermen involved and certainly no hint that companion Adric was about to snuff it. With that knowledge it is a lot of grim action in search of a plot. (though it can still shock as I found out when a casual fan I know watching on UKGold decades afterward berated me for not warning him that Adric dies)
So, yeah, Let's Kill Hitler is none of that.
While it does resolve the River mystery once and for all, there is much joy to be had, especially in the flashbacks to Amy, Rory and Mels.
The plot itself is a tad slight though it allows Alex Kingston to have a whale of a time. And Matt Smith to produce one of his most stunning performances as a dying Doctor.
But yeah, River. I do kind of think we need to rest this one a bit however we know from the midseason trailer that she will pop up again soon, this time with eyepatch.
Some folks don't care for the overly cryptic arc-plotting of the 11th Doctor's tenure but I do kind of enjoy the mysteries (even if they're not subtly presented at all).
Mewonders if the question that when asked dooms everything has nothing to do with the Doctor's name or lineage. And possibly everything to do with what exactly Rory is.
Time will tell. It usually does....
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Justice League 1
I remember as a teenager going somewhat out of my way to get my hands on JLA 1 (Grant Morrison edition) at the height of my Morrison obession and being thorougly entertained by a) the storyline and b) the notion that DC's premier team actually had the company's iconic characters in it. Don't get me wrong I loved the JLI bunch of also-rans and the humour that emerged.
But it felt proper that the League had the big stars in it.
Which brings us onto this week's relaunch of not just this title but the entire DC comics universe.
I am not a huge fan of Jim Lee's art and it did kind of prompt memories of the horrors of Heroes Reborn, Marvel's mid 90s small-scale precusor to what DC are now doing.
And like, the HR characters, I do find it hard to like the new younger "edgier" heroes. Hal Jordan comes off as too much of a cocky sod.
Batman's greener than normal but entertaining enough. And Supes is barely in it.
I know this is relaunching the DCU and comics as a medium but personally I would hope that out of seven coverstars we get more than four in the actual book.
Going from the preview I have seen of Morrison's edgier man-of-the-people take on Superman maybe DC should have started with that. Or at least shown more than a page of him in this issue of Justice League. When Marvel started the New Avengers seven years or so ago, the first issue had the full roster. They weren't a team as yet but they were all in the book and it was a stronger story than this...
'Tis selling well though and it's available for download on Comixology so it's giving a shot in the arm to the industry. Time will tell if it succeeds.
But it felt proper that the League had the big stars in it.
Which brings us onto this week's relaunch of not just this title but the entire DC comics universe.
I am not a huge fan of Jim Lee's art and it did kind of prompt memories of the horrors of Heroes Reborn, Marvel's mid 90s small-scale precusor to what DC are now doing.
And like, the HR characters, I do find it hard to like the new younger "edgier" heroes. Hal Jordan comes off as too much of a cocky sod.
Batman's greener than normal but entertaining enough. And Supes is barely in it.
I know this is relaunching the DCU and comics as a medium but personally I would hope that out of seven coverstars we get more than four in the actual book.
Going from the preview I have seen of Morrison's edgier man-of-the-people take on Superman maybe DC should have started with that. Or at least shown more than a page of him in this issue of Justice League. When Marvel started the New Avengers seven years or so ago, the first issue had the full roster. They weren't a team as yet but they were all in the book and it was a stronger story than this...
'Tis selling well though and it's available for download on Comixology so it's giving a shot in the arm to the industry. Time will tell if it succeeds.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Doctor Who - Lets Kill Hitler prelude
Usually the preludes give an indication of the plot but this, well this doesn't tell us much about what is likely to happen in the mid-season opener.
Though the mood....
It's almost like the search for Melody's taken a tragic turn.
Or Amy's dead / made a desperate but bad decision.
Which brings me onto my suspicions that, comics style, we're going to have a major shock to the status quo which will be restored just in time for 2013 and the big 5-0 anniversary.
Or a war with the Timelords (who might well be Madame Kovarian's backers - certainly it's got to be someone worth all this build-up).
Bring on the second half of the season....
Though the mood....
It's almost like the search for Melody's taken a tragic turn.
Or Amy's dead / made a desperate but bad decision.
Which brings me onto my suspicions that, comics style, we're going to have a major shock to the status quo which will be restored just in time for 2013 and the big 5-0 anniversary.
Or a war with the Timelords (who might well be Madame Kovarian's backers - certainly it's got to be someone worth all this build-up).
Bring on the second half of the season....
Saturday, 6 August 2011
Ben Folds - an appreciation
'Twas recently announced that Ben Folds is going to release a retrospective album in the autumn.
Note retrospective rather than hits album as, in the UK at least, he's always been a bit of a cult figure only really troubling the charts in the late 90s with Battle of Who Could Care Less.
Here in Britain it was probably a case of bad timing. Ben Folds Five were competing with Britpop, which obsessed the media so.
Also, whilst they were championed by Simon Mayo on Radio 1, I think today's Radio 2 and 6Music would have allowed BFF to make more of an impact.
So, why is Ben so great?
He's an excellent pianist. There isn't enough indie-piano.
The lyrics are offbeat as well as incredibly sad (witness ballad Brick - about an abortion, such an emotional start to an emotional song). There's also Army, the upbeat music underlying a bleak song about crushed ambitions.
There's an emotional core to his work as well as a playfulness. Few other performers would do improv songs to strangers on Chatroulette (and in the unlikely event that it's starting to get samey, stick with it to the 3:30 mark when it becomes AWESOME).
When last we saw him play in London, on his Lonely Avenue tour, he vowed to do a cover of the at-the-time iTunes #1 song... it happened to be a Ke$ha track. He made it wonderful.
Epic sing-a-longs like Annie Waits, moving expressions of love like The Luckiest and wonderful-ness like Adelaide : Ben Folds has a great range. It is for that reason, he is awesome.
Note retrospective rather than hits album as, in the UK at least, he's always been a bit of a cult figure only really troubling the charts in the late 90s with Battle of Who Could Care Less.
Here in Britain it was probably a case of bad timing. Ben Folds Five were competing with Britpop, which obsessed the media so.
Also, whilst they were championed by Simon Mayo on Radio 1, I think today's Radio 2 and 6Music would have allowed BFF to make more of an impact.
So, why is Ben so great?
He's an excellent pianist. There isn't enough indie-piano.
The lyrics are offbeat as well as incredibly sad (witness ballad Brick - about an abortion, such an emotional start to an emotional song). There's also Army, the upbeat music underlying a bleak song about crushed ambitions.
There's an emotional core to his work as well as a playfulness. Few other performers would do improv songs to strangers on Chatroulette (and in the unlikely event that it's starting to get samey, stick with it to the 3:30 mark when it becomes AWESOME).
When last we saw him play in London, on his Lonely Avenue tour, he vowed to do a cover of the at-the-time iTunes #1 song... it happened to be a Ke$ha track. He made it wonderful.
Epic sing-a-longs like Annie Waits, moving expressions of love like The Luckiest and wonderful-ness like Adelaide : Ben Folds has a great range. It is for that reason, he is awesome.
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