Comics Wrap-Up - Ain't We All Just Runaways?

Film Trailers

Apparently there was a big-noise American football doo-dah called the Super Bowl over the weekend.

Here in Wales, there was far more noise about the rugby - a not dissimilar game to American football, except with a lot less padding, and a lot tougher. (I recommend the Friends episode where Ross tries (and pretty much fails) to play rugby - the clip they show on the TV actually seems to be an old Wales match.)

Anyway, this American football doo-dah seems to be a big deal-y over there - so much so that it has a bunch of trailers and stuff, and huge ads, and Beyoncé, apparently.

As a result, we were treated to a new clip of Civil War (ohmygosh! Arghhhh!!!!!!!!!!)

There are going to be feels with this one: I can sense them.

There was also a teeny tiny X-men clip (the clip is teeny tiny, not the X-men, though that would be cool,):

And one for Deadpool :) which is out on Friday. Although, technically, the Deadpool ad was for the 'Superb Owl' - which is just awesome.



Graphic Novels

This week, I reviewed two graphic novels - Grumpy Cat, Vol 1 (UK - US) (reviewed here,) and Red Sonja/Conan: The Blood of a God (UK - US) (reviewed here.)

Two very different graphic novels - but both published by Dynamite. I received free digital review copies of both in return for fair and honest reviews.

Single Issues

Runaways #1 (2003-2005 run) (UK - US) is about a group of kids whose parents have a considerable secret.

It has artwork in a bright-coloured, bold-lined, style; which you tend to find a lot in comics aimed at teens and tweens.

It also has a YA kind of tone, but doesn't feel overly 'young' - if that makes any sense.


I really enjoyed it, but now this song is stuck in my head:

Ahhh, you've got to love The Killers. Even if it is now playing on a loop in my brain.

My neighbours are going to hate me (I only have two singing volumes: quiet and LOUD - I tend to use the loud.)

Swords of Sorrow (#1 of 6) (UK - US) is a Gail Simone Dynamite Comics series featuring a range of heroines (including Red Sonja - who you all know I love!)

This first issue does an adequate job of introducing the plot and coming up with a mechanism to allow different heroines from different planets and time periods to unite and have massive cross-over-y-ness.

 

I can't say that I was immediately bowled over - but it did seem a promising start to the series.

I don't like that cover in particular though... how are those women balancing like that?!? It's not possible!

Siege #1 of 4 (UK) is a part of a Marvel event from a few years ago.

Honestly, I wouldn't advise this one for complete comics/Marvel newbies - you need at least a basic understanding of Marvel lore to figure out what's going on.

This is set during the period that Asgard ends up on Earth, and the Dark Avengers are faffing about with Norman Osborne - see? You need at least basic Marvel knowledge for this one. Sorry.

Basically, it's like they decided to hit the 'sh** hits the fan' button (that button was pressed by Loki, by the by,) and then stand back and watch what happens.

The artwork is fairly good: serviceable, but not noticeably 'wow' (not to me anyway.)

Other Stuff

The Super Bowl deal-y also gave us this:

I don't know what I just witnessed - but it's awesome.

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• Comics Wrap Up - Little Gods and Political Problems
• Review (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Grumpy Cat Volume 1
• Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Red Sonja/Conan: The Blood of a God

Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Red Sonja/Conan: The Blood of a God

Title: Red Sonja/Conan: The Blood of a God

Author: Victor Gischler, Roberto Castro

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, High Fantasy

Series: Red Sonja/Conan (#1-4)

Release Date: 16 Feb 2016

Amazon: (UK - US)

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.

This is a crossover between the wonderful she-warrior, Red Sonja, and Conan (i.e. the Barbarian,) which I really was looking forward to (swords and battles and two legends together, what could be better?)

  

Premise:

Red Sonja and Conan combine (mercenary) forces to defeat the foul schemes of an evil sorcerer - Kal'Ang; is there more to this battle than there seems?

Best bits:

Nothing does barbarian sword-and-sorcery quite like Red Sonja or Conan do; and if that's your shtick (guilty, as charged!) then look no further than this book.

I also love the art - well executed, and in some places verging on beautiful; certainly striking, though the covers (including the cover gallery included in this volume) are variable in both quality and the amount of anatomy on show.

And the characters rock: that is the major strength here.

Both Red Sonja and Conan (wearing his hair in a heavy-metal style-y - as all the barbarians are doing these days,) are strong and admirable characters, who, quite simply, take no sh**.

Not so great bits:

I felt like the story could've done with just a touch more fleshing-out. It was nearly there but there was just something missing - I honestly couldn't tell you what.

And I'm going to say it again. And I will keep saying it until it is no longer true. Sonja is over-sexualised in this book.

True, Conan wears very little clothing (though let's be honest, this is for the male aspirational angle rather than anything sexy,) but Sonja nearly pops out of her tiny coverings more than once - and please don't get me started on the horrendous posing, and the cringe-worthy flirting with Conan. (Sigh.)

Also, I imagine chain-mail wedgies are uncomfortable. Just saying.

Oh, and the gore, violence, swearing, and sexual content won't be to everyone's taste (though I honestly don't care.)

Verdict:

I enjoyed this book thoroughly - sturdy sword-and-sorcery fare that's well implemented and excellently illustrated.

I still have issues - but I still love Red Sonja in particular. I just wish she was treated in a way that's worthy of her awesomeness.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads

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Review (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Grumpy Cat Volume 1

Title: Grumpy Cat Volume 1.

Author: Ben McCool, Royal McGraw, Elliott Serrano, Ben Fisher.

Contributors: Steve Uy, Ken Haeser, Tavis Maiden, Agnes Garbowska.

Genre: Graphic Novels, Kids, Humour, Media Tie-In.

Series: The Misadventures of Grumpy Cat and Pokey! (#1-3.)

Release Date: 16 Feb 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.

It's Grumpy Cat! When I had the opportunity to review this, I just had to. I love kitties, and I love Grumpy Cat with her cute little face.

This is a comic compilation of The Misadventures of Grumpy Cat and Pokey (#1-3) which have several stories in each issue.

Premise:

Grumpy Cat just wants the chance to sleep, eat, and scratch things. Pokey and the dog insist she do something else with her day!

Best bits:

The artwork here is really cute - and the stories are the correct blend of cute, sarcastic, and funny.

The characterisation reminds me a lot of Garfield - which is by no means a bad thing, far from it.

I also love that the dog just wanders around saying, 'Good Dog!'

Not so great bits:

Some of the stories were just a little forced - no more so than many other kid-friendly comics, but I noticed it in one or two.

It probably goes without saying, but if you don't like Grumpy Cat, this isn't the book for you.

Verdict:

A cute and fun compendium that made me smile more than once and is suitable for kids. I love Grumpy.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads

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The Alternative Valentine's Playlist Part 1 - Diverse Love

It's nearly Valentine's day again, and everywhere there are fluffy hearts and balloons and teddies and the whatnot.

There are also plenty of love songs faffing around the place - and I figured, why not provide some alternatives to the usual cohort of sappy ballads? So I give you, The Alternative Valentine's Playlist.

Part 1 is a short list of songs about diverse love. Songs which deal with LGBTQ+ themes and love - literally or by clear subtext.

Obviously, this is a list that I've thrown together, and only represents my own musical tastes (which tend to veer towards the weird/emo/rock,) but I hope you enjoy it!

Oh, and there's probably swearing in one or more of these songs, just to warn you.

Panic! At the Disco - Girls/Girls/Boys

A really catchy song with about as clear a message as you're ever likely to come across: 'girls love girls and boys/ and love is not a choice.'

 

Mika - Billy Brown

 

A song about a man who 'fell in love with another man.'

 

 

 

Mika - Toy Boy

 

This is subtext rather than overt, but I think it speaks for itself: 'Had a boy once who loved me/ Now he's so afraid of me.'

 

 

Placebo - Nancy Boy

 

A fairly deep song (with a freaky video,) that talks a lot about gender and sexual fluidity.

 

 

 



 

 

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Nerd Church - More Tolerance, Please?

There are two things that really struck me this week, and reminded me that people can be stupidly intolerant.

The first is the UKIP broadcast that was shown this week - which I'm not going to link to, because I'm not going to help those b*****ds get more views. Suffice to say, it was trash.

For those in other countries, let me explain: UKIP stands for United Kingdom Independence Party; their dogma is that Britain should leave the European Union (EU.)

 

What they really are, is a racist, sexist, homophobic, generally bigoted, bunch of lunatics.

They are led by a man who looks like a toad but somehow is trusted by a lot of people because he drinks in pubs a lot.

They also believe that the BBC shouldn't be making drama or entertainment programming - like Sherlock or Doctor Who. They basically believe the BBC should be a propaganda network.

They have a much larger amount of support than I would hope.

Back to the broadcast - if you cut past the pseudo-documentary-style, and the blonde Northern woman (who presumably was there to make us feel all trusting and salt-of-the-earth-y,) the 'message' was that Britain shouldn't be in the EU because... Muslims.

I'm not kidding. The whole broadcast was based around the fact that Turkey want to join the EU, and Turkey has more Muslims than Christians, as well as borders with Muslim countries.

This type of trash makes me feel physically sick.

The other thing this week that made me think: 'dude, can't we just get along and treat people right?' was the story about the Northern Ireland bakery.

To fill you all in: there's this bakery in Northern Ireland that didn't want to make a pro-gay-marriage cake for a customer.

Now - it's OK to have your own beliefs, and to not support gay marriage (though I think you're being silly if you don't support gay marriage - but that's 'cause I have my own beliefs too.) What is not OK, is not serving people cake with whatever message they want to put on it.

They were found to be discriminatory against the customer who wanted the cake: but now they've appealed and it's got all wibbly and debate-y again.

And I'm there like: Just make the damned cake!!!! No-one is asking you to marry the guy! It's a freaking cake!

Also, are we talking chocolate cake here? Or just sponge? I want to know!


Nerd Church is a weekly non-denominational post (non-nerds welcome!) discussing issues and ethics and all that cr*p. Feel free to continue the debate, or start your own, but please link back here.


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Popcorn Review! - Seventh Son (2014)

The Film/ TV Adap: Seventh Son.

The Bookish Inspiration: The Wardstone Chronicles/The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney (published in the US as The Last Apprentice series.)

Main Cast: Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Ben Barnes, Alicia Vikander.

Director: Sergei/Sergey Bodrov.

BBFC Rating: 12A.

Amazon: UK - USA.



Opening credits:


I'd never read any of the books by Joseph Delaney, so didn't really know what to expect when watching this film - except that it looked kind of high fantasy-ish and was based on kids' books which are aimed at sort of 11 or 12-ish and up.


Premise:

'Spook' Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) recruits a seventh son, Thomas Ward (Ben Barnes,) to become his new apprentice in the fight against bad magic and the diabolical plots of the evil sorceress Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore.)

Is this the life Thomas wants to lead? And can they stop Mother Malkin?


Best bits:

Julianne Moore is decidedly both batty and beautiful in this film - and clearly enjoyed playing the part. B**ch be crazy.

I love all the robes and the magic and the Ye Olde Worlde feel to this film - it makes it seem more believable, and more involving.

Ben Barnes and Alicia Vikander clearly have a level of on-screen chemistry which made their will-they-won't-they relationship feel more engaging. I really liked this aspect, because unlike most romance, this didn't feel forced, and managed to contribute to the plot by creating questions of loyalty and morality.

Oh, and there's a bit part for Kit Harington, which is always good.

Not so great bits:

Parts of this felt... under-developed? I don't know - I guess that there was so much plot to cram in that the subtler nuances sometimes got left in the dust.

I felt like maybe this was trying to be too many things at once, instead of grabbing one or two of the main themes and playing them out.

There's a bunch of violence, implied sexy times, and some gore/horror which may not be suitable for everyone.


Popcorn Worthy?

This was a sort of background-noise, veg-out film, rather than something which blew my world. It was still watchable, still enjoyable - just missing a little bit of the wow factor.



Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA - IMDb



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Friday Fics Fix! - On a Scale of 1 to Sherlock...

Have you ever heard the phrase, 'On a scale of 1 to Sherlock, how crazy is your fandom?'

I have to admit, I use it a lot. Partly because it's true, partly because as a Sherlockian myself I love to draw attention to the insanity of this particular fandom - it makes my other fandoms appear normal (well, normal-er.)

Now, why am I harking on about this? Because I've been reading more Sherlock crack - and it's waaaaay more random than last week.

(Fangirl note for those who need the reminder: crack is fanfiction so very random that there is a high suspicion that the author was under the influence of narcotics (e.g. crack) when writing.)

So, I have three portions of fairly short random crack-fiction goodness for you:

Tumblr by XxMildredxX is a ficlet (short fanfiction) of what would happen if Sherlock found Tumblr.

Surprisingly, there is no porn - just Sherlock in an advanced-stage of Tumblr addiction. Which is fab - because it's so very, very, true.

A Cat Called Sherlock by wendymarlowe is about Inspector Lestrade adopting a kitten, which he names Sherlock, leading John to get the wrong end of the stick.

There's some fairly entertaining innuendo etc., but again, no porn (I know, it's a record.)

Also, what is it about the Sherlock fandom and cats? Dudes and chicks, I believe we have some cat issues. (I have to admit though, I love kitties!!!!)

Sassy Gay Sherlock by 221Brooke is what happens when you give Sherlock the role of YouTube's Sassy Gay Friend.

It's exactly as awesome and disturbing as you would suspect. I laughed a worryingly large amount - but that might be because I'm a huge fan of 'Sassy Gay Friend.'

Much innuendo/ implied sexy-times, and loads of swearing here: so be warned!

I realise that I've spent the last few weeks in Sherlock territory - I've got Avengers fiction planned for next week (I'm not going to lie - there's a strong chance of FrostIron.)

If anyone has any recs for pretty much any fandom (I don't read fics with real people in them - I have to draw the line somewhere,) then let me know! ;)


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