Comics Wrap Up - Like a Bat Outta Hell

Film Trailers

The Suicide Squad trailer hit! (Stand by for minor fangirl moment: ohmygod!canyouseeitcanyouseetheawesomenesscanyouseeit?!?!?!OHMYGOD!!!NBFIURGHIWOR!!!! - ok, I think that's over.)

It looks pretty damn good. Jared Leto's joker man, Jared Leto's joker.

TV Trailers

 

Agent Carter is back, back, back! Loving the flamingo. Loving Peggy. Loving Jarvis. What's not to love?! (I will always love Peggy Carter. Always.)

Graphic Novels

My review of the graphic novel STARVE Vol 1 (UK - USA) (which I mentioned last week) was posted on Tuesday. You can read my review here.

Single Issues

Pretty Deadly #1 (UK - US) is a kind of western/cowboys type deal-y, only with a sort of supernatural element bunged in for luck (it's probably better than I'm making it sound.) There's a bunch of gore and a few naked ladies, so, y'know, it ain't one for the kids.

I thought the artwork was pretty damn good, and the story seemed to have some potential. It did take a while to get into, and the story wasn't really in full swing by the end of the issue - so probably one to read as a series-starter, rather than anything else.

Film

I reviewed Constantine (2005) on Monday - an uber-great film based on the Hellblazer graphic novels. You can read my review here.

Other Stuff

Die-hard Marvel fans learned a little more about the upcoming Civil War II this week - awesomeness!


Like This Post? Try These:

• Popcorn Review! - Constantine (2005)
• Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Starve Vol 1 by Brian Wood
• Trailer Review! - Suicide Squad First Look

Review (Yay!) - Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson

Title: Hetty Feather.

Author: Jacqueline Wilson.

Genre: Kids, Historical Fiction.

Series: Hetty Feather (#1).

Amazon: UK - USA.

A few starting notes:

Any British female (and hopefully quite a few males,) under 30 will have heard of Jacqueline Wilson. The vast majority will have read at least one of her many, many, books.

Hetty Feather is probably suitable for kids aged 10 or 11 and up. It's also more than suitable for teens and adults - good books don't require limits.

Premise:

Hetty Feather is a Victorian foundling. Her little life is not meant to be anything grand - but Hetty, a bright girl with a skill for 'picturing' - is not overly-keen to resign herself to her lot.

Best bits:

Hetty is a great character - part Matilda and part Jane Eyre, with a dash of Oliver Twist for luck. She's a fantastic little fire-brand, and the first-person narrative creates a lot of empathy with her.

Her relationship with an early foster family, particularly foster brother Jem, provides a real heart (and real heart-break) for the book - as does the slow dissolve of many of her childhood dreams. It's not over-done, leaves some room for hope, and is really quite beautiful.

The writing is mature enough to please adults, but not too complex for a kid to understand. The prose is pretty damn good.

Not so great bits:

There are things that may be upsetting to some here, the book doesn't shy away from the realities of the time: physical punishment, child death, poverty, and the implication of attempted child abduction. It's all handled pretty well, but younger readers in particular may find some parts distressing.

I personally didn't like the infancy parts - I know Hetty's supposed to be quite fanciful, but the first-person accounts of being a baby are just a little too unbelievable in my opinion.

Verdict:

I really enjoyed this book - I think it's excellent. Fans of Jane Eyre or Matilda will love it, and I think adults will be captivated (I know I was!)

Honestly, this was a fab book, highly entertaining, and certainly worthy of praise.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads – Author's Site

Liked this post? Try these:

 

• Review! (Woohoo!) - The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams
• Reviewing the Evidence Again! - The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O'Melveny

Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Starve Vol 1 by Brian Wood

Title: STARVE Vol 1.

Author: Brian Wood.

 

Contributors: Danijel Zezelj (artist,) Dave Stewart (colourist.)

Genre: Graphic Novel, Dystopian.

Series: Starve (#1-5.)

Release Date: 26 Jan 2016.

Amazon: UK - USA.

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

 

The cover here grabbed me. 'Don't judge a book by its cover' doesn't really count for graphic novels - the cover is the place where the artwork is showcased, after all.

 

It seemed different. And you know me, I like different.

Premise:

OK - my description probably isn't going to do this justice, because this book takes its premise and beats the living sh** out of it, but I'll give it a shot:

 

Gavin Cruikshank was the TV chef. Then he dropped off the grid. His TV show, STARVE, is now a huge hit without him - and has undergone some changes along the way.

 

Now the network wants him to compete as a contestant on STARVE. Gavin Cruikshank is back, bitter, and fed up of the network's sh**.

Best bits:

The artwork here is amazing. Every single panel is like a painting - and a beautifully grim one at that. Honestly, this book is... it's something that's incredibly difficult to explain.

 

The artwork has this grit and realism, while at the same time being beautifully stylised and slightly surreal. Partly, this is down to the colours: earthy and almost touchable (look at me, waxing lyrical and all that!) with slashes of crimson where required.

This is dystopian. What with all the fighting and inequality and everything. But it's so close to what we have now that it's actually hard to tell whether this is set in the future, or just a slightly exaggerated version of what we have now. Which is kind of unnerving.

 

I also liked the inclusion of Gavin's family - his struggles to re-connect with his daughter, and the bitterness of his ex-wife who feels he used her as a cover for his homosexuality. I like when there's very human feelings at the heart of things.

Not so great bits:

I could've done without the images of butchery and bloody meat etc. (and before you start with the 'you'll eat sausage but...' bit, I'm a vegetarian.) Doubtless there are some people who it won't bother - but it bothered me.

There's a lot of swearing and a fair amount of violence, as well as references to drugs. Not for everyone, but not done simply for shock-value either.
 

Verdict:

I hope I've given you some idea of just how fresh, original, and downright good this graphic novel is, but it's really a difficult one to convey.

It's just so different - in a good way, of course - and I truly loved it. Though I sincerely doubt I will ever be able to look at either chefs or reality TV in the same way - particularly chefs.

 

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads – Author's Site

Liked this post? Try these:

• Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Sons of the Devil Vol 1
• Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - The Private Eye Deluxe Edition by Vaughan, Martin, and Vicente

Popcorn Review! - Constantine (2005)

The Film/ TV Adap: Constantine (2005.)

The Bookish Inspiration: The 'Hellblazer' graphic novels.

Main Cast: Keanu Reeves, Shia LaBeouf, Rachel Weisz, Tilda Swinton.

Director: Francis Lawrence.

BBFC Rating: 15.

Amazon: USA.



Opening credits:

Perhaps unfairly, this film flies under most people's radars. Maybe that's appropriate - Hellblazer, and Constantine, has always appealed to a small cult audience, rather than being mainstream.

This is also my best friend's favourite film. So I've seen it more than once. Because we have to support each other's insanity, obviously.


Premise:

John Constantine is a demon-hunter and exorcist trying to avoid eternal damnation (as you do >.<).

Angie Dodson's sister is found dead. Is there more here than meets the eye?

Something's coming. Are they ready?


Best bits:

There's a louche gothic-ness here that wraps you in its intricacies. The horrors are harsh. Constantine is bitter: he smokes, drinks, and takes far too much cough medicine. And somehow you end up just loving it.

Keanu Reeves, taking the lead role, delivers what can only be described as an excellent performance. But it's Tilda Swinton's brief scenes (though you will love to hate her in this film,) that will stick with you; along, of course, with the fiery and rusted vision of hell.

The effects are great - though many will find them disturbing. And the whole thing has an awesome gritty feel to it that will please fans of horror films, as well as those who like things that are a little out of the box.


Not so great bits:

There's a lot of discussion of heaven and hell, demons, mental health, cancer, and suicide. I'm sure there will be a significant portion of people that aren't in the right place to be watching this film.

It also gets somewhat graphic in terms of violence and gore, with suicide scenes that could definitely shock many people.

Don't get the wrong impression - it's not gratuitous, but then, neither does it shy away from the physicality of the thing (hard to say any more than that without getting into dangerously spoilerific territory.)


Popcorn Worthy?

This is definitely worth breaking out the popcorn - great for evening viewing, but maybe not one to watch alone at 3am with the lights off. Unless you want to, of course, but I warned ya!


Buy Now USA - IMDb



Liked this post? Try these:

• Popcorn Review! - Batman (1989)
• Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Sons of the Devil Vol 1

Nerd Church - Just For One Day

This week, we lost people who we felt we knew.

True, most of us had never met them - but does that matter? We admired them. We respected them. In our way, we loved them.

I think that the world will always need heroes - whether real or fictional. And sometimes, when the actor is passionate enough, the singer unique enough, their image becomes inseparable from their creations.

David Bowie re-formed his own image so many times that he may well have been a timelord of sorts. We didn't know him, true. But we were given enough of a glimpse of the man to know we admired him; and his characters.

The people that he managed to become through his music and costume showed us all that we really needed to know.

Don't get me wrong - I don't think he was actually Ziggy Stardust, or the Thin White Duke, or any of his other personas.

But they were a part of him, and he a part of them: and they enchanted us, spoke to us, told us something about ourselves.

And then there's Alan Rickman. We will never be able to imagine Snape without Alan Rickman's heavy silences, meaningful looks, or deep and powerful voice.

To me, Snape's memory from the last Harry Potter film is a class in 'how to act,' - that scene stole the show. It's already iconic, and I'm sure it'll only become more so in time.

So yes, we mourn people we did not know personally - because we know how beautiful they were. We know that the world has lost incredible men. We mourn them because they spoke to us, in one way or another.

Nerd Church is a weekly post discussing moral, ethical, and topical issues in a friendly, nerdy, and non-denominational, setting (non-nerds also welcome.) Feel free to write your own posts - on this or any other topic (but please link back to this blog.) 


Like this post? Try these:

• Welcome Back to Nerd Church
• Nerd Church! - Four Tales of Incredible Courage

The Writer Diaries (or, 2016, I'm Gonna Getcha)

As I've mentioned on probably more than one occasion, I love both reading and writing.

Of course, I consider this blog writing - I'm here putting the words from my head into type, aren't I? But I'm also keen to up the amount of writing of various other sorts that I do.

I've decided that I'm going to make myself write more in 2016. Not in a loads-of-pressure, have-to-do-this-or-else kind of way: because that sucks. No, this is in a 'wow, this is fun! And I can do this, and then that, and then...' kind of way.

So yeah, I'm gonna have fun, I'm gonna write stuff, and lord knows what I'll do with said stuff once I've written it, but that's a problem for the future (I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it.)

Expect more 'Writer Diaries' posts in the next few months!



Like this post? Try these:

• The Writer Diaries (or How to Destroy a Blank Page)
• The Writer Diaries (Or What I Learned From NaBloPoMo November 2015)
• The Writer Diaries (Or, I Blog From the Heart, How 'Bout You?)

Friday Fics Fix! - FrostIron Strikes Again!

I have a serious FrostIron problem - as regular readers of this blog may have noticed. I can't help it, ok? I ship the ship.

I ship. The ship.

(Fangirl translation for the non-fangirl/fanboy fluent:

A ship is a wished-for romantic, often sexual, relationship, between two characters. Usually, these are characters of the same gender.

Occasionally there's a straight relationship in fanfiction - but it's not common.

'I ship the ship' means that I have bought into this relationship to what is probably an unhealthy level.)

So, yeah. FrostIron is Tony Stark and Loki's fandom relationship. I read far too many fics of this ship. It may even be my otp.

(Translation: 'One True Pairing' - that one (or many) ship(s) that you will defend and obsess over to your dying breath - melodramatic, yes. But this is fandom.)

I also read far too much Omegaverse for my own good/sanity/chances of not losing my soul to the fandom (yay!) I've explained Omegaverse before, so please read that post if you want to know more.

I am not explaining that again.

This week's fic then isssss (dramatic pause...)

of hormones and tinfoil hats by Arvensis5 and plumadesatada

This (oddly enough, given what I've been harking on about for the majority of this post,) is FrostIron Omegaverse. It is also excellent.

Given that my definition of 'excellent' when it comes to fanfiction has become a little blurry (you try reading this much warped fanfiction and not becoming just a little lenient and/or lightheaded!) it is still very good by any standards.

Seriously, this has been thought through, carefully executed, and well-written (barring the odd typo.) And it definitely makes you want to give Loki a big ol' hug!!! (Sigh, the feels.)

It also includes some pretty rockin' corresponding fanart.

Given that it's Omegaverse (and fanfiction in general,) there's a refreshing lack of explicit sex; there are a few depictions of the aftermath of torture though, so reader beware.

Given the title, I really would've loved if there were more tinfoil hats involved. But oh well, beggars can't be choosers and all that jazz (yay, mixed clichés!)


Like This Post? Try These:

• Friday Fics Fix - There Is Omegaverse (And I'm Taking You All Down With Me)
• Friday Fics Fix! (In Which the Blogger Falls Off the FrostIron Wagon)
• Friday Fics Fix! (In Which There is Much Loki)