Due 7th January 2011

Avengers Prime #5 (Of 5)
Brightest Day #17
Green Hornet #12
Ultimate Comics Captain America #1 (Of 4)

A small pile for the start of the year - probably a good thing bearing in mind that it is January and everyone is skint, including me.

Due 30 December 2010

Avengers #8
Batman The Dark Knight #1
Carnage #2 (Of 5)
Deadpool Corps #9
Detective Comics #872
Flash #8 Brightest Day
Gotham City Sirens #18
Green Arrow #7 Brightest Day
Green Hornet #12
Green Lantern #61 Brightest Day
Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 #5 (Of 6)

The last comic drop of 2010 and it has been a pretty good year for comics. From the previews I've seen 2011 looks to be pretty good too. I'll have to get used to the Wednesday comics though.

Due 23 December 2010

Batman Annual #28 (maybe)
Batman Incorporated #2
Batman Streets Of Gotham #18
DC Universe Legacies #8 (Of 10)
Green Lantern Corps #55 Brightest Day
Haunt #12
Justice League Generation Lost #16 BD
Nemesis #4 (Of 4)
Secret Avengers #8
Superior #3 (Of 6)
X-Men #6
Zatanna #8

Snow fuelled thoughts

Ok. The snow is back which means more blogging it seems.

Generation Lost. This was one of those titles that I decided to buy just so I wouldn't miss any Brightest Day events or tie ins. I thought it might last a few issues. We are now about 12 issues in, maybe more but I have to say it is really very good. I wasn't overly familiar with the characters although Booster Gold I know from 52. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a well drawn, well told DC comic. In recent issues the tie in to the Kingdom Come DC future is pretty cool. This comic deserves some respect.

Cloud Computing. We are not quite there yet - where everything (and I mean everything) that you own can be accessed from any of your devices. I dream of this. I dream of the time that I am in NY lets say at a comic con and I have a few hours to kill. I really want to watch Kick-Ass. It is stored on my computer at home (and has been made available by me for any contact) and so without having to buy or rent it again, I can watch it on my iPad, iPhone, laptop... Whatever. Now with a bit of setting up I probably could do this now but it is not user friendly. I simply want to right click on my files at home and decide which ones I want to make accessible, or with one click make it all accessible. Obviously with a little protection. But you get my point.

It is an exciting prospect and one that looms ever closer. Never again do you need to spend time forward planning which files and folders that need transferred onto computers and laptops. It is all in one place and can be accessed as you need it. I spent a little time looking into it insofar as I wanted to access certain files on both my iPad and iPhone (i.e. they will essentially shadow each other). MobileMe seems like a popular choice but costs and I am not ready to go down that road as a PC user. DropBox seems like an excellent free version for both iPad and iPhone. I have downloaded it but am yet to experiment with it. I will blog my findings.

Formats. That word may be boring for some but for me it is a world of possibilities. There is always a battle. Betamax v VHS. Vinyl v CD. Atrac v mp3. .vid v .avi etc. You get the gist. Now, I am thinking that for the most part mp3 is here to stay. Yes there will be variations, but the basic premise for now will remain the same. You can get better quality formats, but they are harder to work and take up more space on your beloved HDDs or indeed your cloud space. As for movies, iTunes favours the .mov format, which is good, but not overly versatile. It means converting anything that isn't purchased through the store which is an arse. Now surprisingly Apple have made available alternative video players for the likes of the iPad - but from what I have seen so far they are pretty crap. So, I say - a format war is coming - 2011 - I think we will see embedded software like iPad videos being capable of playing more than just .mov.

Green Hornet. I saw the trailer for this and reckon that it looks pretty good. I find Seth Rogen a bit irritating - I think it's his voice (sounds like he has inhaled a full pack of cigarettes in one go) although Superbad is cool. Anyway, I have been reading Kevin Smiths' run on the Green Hornet comic and it has been excellent (it has just come to an end - I'd recommend you get your hands on it when it comes out in trade). My understanding was that when Kevin was tasked with writing a script for a Green Hornet film this was what he came up with. Things got a bit messy and the film never got made. So he made it as a comic instead and what an awesome comic it was. Anyway, that meant a new script was needed and that is what you have with the film. Rogen playing the Hornet, a young male Kato ( the young Kato is female in the comic). The trailer looks like a lot of good effects meshed with humour and of course a moral tale woven within (as is the case with all superhero movies, unless you are Mark Millar).

Wednesday thoughts

Wednesday thoughts

So next year the comics are coming in on a Wednesday (if you're in the UK). I don't think that makes a massive difference. The US gets them on a Tuesday now. I suppose for us it is cool that we can do the whole Wednesday is comic day line from Heroes. Or not. I have had to put a reminder in my calendar otherwise I will forget. Things change.

At the beginning of this year I set myself a resolution to try and blog more. Overall I think I have achieved that. Yes there have been a few lists (I have explained that this is a good way for me to keep track of my collection), but there have definitely been more substantive blogs than last year.

Kapow Comic Con.

So London gets a comic con. Mark miller seems to be driving it hard. I have to say it is attractive insofar that the US has it all when it comes to the Comic Con. I'm lucky that have made it over there for one, but hell it isn't cheap to get there or easy in the grand scheme of things. So a London based one is a good start. So April next year we get a taste. I'm keen. Now I just need to get my ticket and convince others to attend.

Oh, Tron: Legacy. Nearly there. Soooo excited!

The weather and the snow

Please note: this post was written when the cold snap originally hit the UK.

As a Scotsman, I have to say in all honesty, that snow doesn't bother me. The wind and the cold doesn't bother me either. The rain... Well, not ideal but I can cope. But with memories of my formative years trying to battle my way to school through blizzards and serious hardcore cold snaps and eventually making it, when the bloody trains are not working into Waterloo, it is pretty feckin annoying.

In the last week, I seem to have spent more time in Waterloo than a homeless person without a home, who happens to be quite found of Waterloo and it's cosy cavern spaces.

I don't mind Waterloo, but I don't want to live there. Nor do I want to have to spend any more time in the less than adequate bars on offer.

Anyway, there is a point to this blog - gadgets. Or more specifically, the iPad. Since Tuesday last week, I have either been stuck at Waterloo (I know, I am entering this blog into the contest for the most mentions of the word or place, Waterloo), on an actual slow moving train (sometimes moving) or in a coffee shop/bar waiting for said train to arrive and take me home. So in those periods I have had considerable time to play with the iPad ( as have many other people I might add as I notice more and more using them).

So firstly, Pages. I have blogged about it before, but it is pretty feckin excellent (please note that as I write this I am on a slow train to Guildford after two previous trains were cancelled. It is 10 o'clock on a Monday night and I am not even close to being home). Pages is even better now with the update. For the basics it meets every need apart from a folder structure - I hope they bring that in soon. It is intuitive, comfortable and most of all easy on the eye. Highly recommend it... In fact I can't recommend it enough. It turns the iPad into a serious word processing offering (this was a massive sell for me).

Comics. As a comic lover I was somewhat dubious about digital versions but I have to say, the Marvel and Comixology apps are excellent, as is the DC app. The art looks pretty sharp and clear and the viewers are intuitive. I will definitely be downloading some stories I am not familiar with and getting up to speed.

Movies. Watching film on the Videos app (which I think is essentially the iPod videos section) is pretty good - but is highly dependent on the format of the video. If you have downloaded it from iTunes then you wont have any problem (other than maybe the price which for many things I think is not competitive). If not then you will have had to convert it. There are many options and I am still playing around with this. So far I seem to be having success, but I will blog about it in the new year when I have carried out some proper tests.

3G. I'd highly recommend that you get one with 3G capability. Wi-fi is great but is not always available in the UK. The 3G option gives you the added dimension. On a train, you want to access the Internet, assuming you have connection (just like your phone) you can and all is well in the world again.

Well, I could bollock on about the iPad and gadgets until the cows come home (which I suspect will be before I get home tonight) so I am going to watch Kick-Ass on my iPad and I'll see you shortly.

Due 16 December 2010

Batman #705
Batman And Robin #18
Birds Of Prey #7
Black Panther Man Without Fear #513
Brightest Day #16
Green Hornet #11
Green Lantern #60 (Brightest Day)
Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #5
Tron Original Movie Adaptation #2 (Of 2)

The Shadowland story arc has come to an end and now Hells Kitchen requires a new hero - step in Black Panther. Could be interesting.

Wow you non-IT people sure are stupid.

V3.co.uk has an interesting article about the "Top 10 delusions about technology".

It's obviously a nice broad title which gives scope for IT hacks to moan about the layman's ignorance of pretty much anything tech-related, but as usual it's articulate and amusing. I always enjoy reading the Mac v Windows wars in the Comments section.

Due 9 December 2010

Batgirl #16
Detective Comics Annual #12
First Wave #5 (Of 6)
Flash #7 Brightest Day
Justice League Generation Lost #15 BD
Red Robin #18
Shadowland After Fall #1

Another fairly quiet week.

Due 2 December 2010

Batman 80 Page Giant 2010 #1
Brightest Day #15
Daredevil #512 SL
Shadowland #5 (Of 5) SL
Supergod #5 (Of 5)

Quiet this week - probably a good thing. The end of Shadowland is here - I have a few issues still to read - perfect for a Christmas afternoon read.

Some geeky thoughts.

Geeky thoughts.

Firstly, I have just discovered a new comic shop in London. I think it might have been there for a while. I'm not sure why I have never been there before. Anyway I happened upon it and it is pretty sweet. It looks like they have a considerable amount of back issues which is always good. Unfortunately I didn't have sufficient time to properly investigate - but I will. Orbital Comics.

Iron Man 2.

Watched it last night for the first time. I was disappointed. The effects were good, the cast were good, Scarlett Johansson looked hot, but it didn't strike the right tone for me. I really enjoyed the first one. I think Favreau nailed the Marvel character both as Stark and IM. The second, just smacked of 'we are doing this film because it is the sensible thing to do.' Not because there is a good story to be told. War Machine is a cool character, but not as cool as Iron Man. The film should really have been called War Machine. The scene where they team up is nice, but I just felt that I wanted something different. The Avenger related scenes however did get the right tone, so I do look forward to the coming Avenger related films.

Crumpler.

Weekend manbag! Interestingly, on the train last week, the missus pointed out a fellow male commuter who had 'manbag envy'. That made me laugh, especially as it was my bag. Anyway, that is a side point. I needed a new weekend bag, to carry the iPad, comics, wallet etc. I couldn't resist visiting Crumpler, with their bags with the 'third leg'. Much hilarity was had with the female sales assistant and myself. Anyway, they have a lot of cool options, all covering the usual laptop, iPad, document conundrum. I've gone for the ' Super Snipe' option, which will ensure I'm covered at the weekend.

Due 25th November 2010

Batman And Robin #17
Batman Odyssey #5 (Of 13)
Batwoman #0
Detective Comics #871
Gotham City Sirens #17
Green Arrow #6 (Brightest Day)
Justice League Generation Lost #14 (BD)
Kevin Smith Green Hornet #10
Secret Avengers #7
Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 #4 (Of 6)

I have a lot of catching up to do. I reckon I am about 2-3 weeks behind on comics I need to read. Oh well! It'll keep me busy over Xmas I suppose. Note: Batwoman begins this week. If it is anything like the Detective Comics run, then it should be pretty good. Cleverly written, dark tones and basically a new exciting character.

The interweb for dummies

In its never-ending quest to "Not be Evil" - or should that be: In a continuation of the company's founders' maxim "Don't be Evil"*, Google has come up with a nice, if somewhat patronising explanation of the interweb.

So if you're confused about these browsers and apps and what-not, read on.

* followed by a long clarification.

Due 18th November 2010

Avengers #7
Batman #704
Batman Incorporated #1
Batman Streets Of Gotham #17
Batman The Return #1
Brightest Day #14
DC Universe Legacies #7 (Of 10)
Deadpool Corps #8
Flash #6 (Brightest Day)
Green Lantern #59 (Brightest Day)
Green Lantern Corps #54 (Brightest Day)
Superior #2 (Of 6)
X-Men #5
Zatanna #7

All the new Batman stuff is kicking off this week - sweet!

Batman Live

So, I am not quite sure where this all came from! News started spreading on the net that there was going to be a live action Batman show. But where? How? Was it a musical? If so, I am not interested. Of course I signed up to the Batman Live web page which contained absolutely no information - until yesterday that is. Yesterday, much... not all, was revealed. 

It is a live action stage based show, with an original Johns written story and live acting, video screens and a plethora of well known Batman characters and villains. I have to say I am excited. It plays at the London O2 in late August, September next year and tickets are already going fast. Will you check it out? With all the hype of the third Batman movie, surely DC are onto a winner with this. I'm keen!  

Digital v Print

As any avid reader of this blog will know I am a comic fan... lover... collector. I'd like to think that in the future, with a family and old age I will still collect these prize possessions. They are fun. Escapism. Fantasy. When they are beautifully drawn and magnificently worded, my fantasy world becomes a very special place.

"Giles" in Buffy was a great exponent of books. He liked the smell. He thought they were smelly. Computers seemed rather too un-human for his liking. I don't remember the season (it was an early one) but I remember the scene well... Because even though I love technology and I love anything forward thinking, I do get his point. I agree with it. Ok I am thinking comics and he is thinking books but the rationale is the same. I do like my books and comics as hard copies.

Marvel, DC and independents all seem to be carving a bit of a market for themselves. The iPhone, the iPad - computers generally, all seem to be nice and sexy platforms for comics. I'm on the fence! Crap, I know. What do you think? Will digital replace print?

iPad - it rocks!

So this is my first blog post on the iPad. After a false start I have to say I am kinda in love... with the iPad. I love my gadgets. I make no secret of that. But I do like justifying each gadget and indeed everything has it's use. In the past, the problem for me with the iPad was that as someone who ultimately loves using a good word processor for both work and enjoyment (Project number 1) the iPad wasn't a viable option - no keyboard!

Well in the same way that I gave up a Nokia mobile phone years ago for a touch screen version it looks like for my mobile life I can quite happily give up a Netbook keyboard for a touchscreen... Apple style.

I have mixed feelings about Apples products in general but have always hailed the iPod and iPhone as excellent gadgets that deserve some serious love and respect. The iPad was something that looked cool but actually, I couldn't see where it would fit in my life... that justification again.

My first experience was not a good one - in the new Covent Garden Apple store and as I was passing I popped in to have a play. It was nice but nothing special. It was a large iPhone and nothing else. I tweeted that I was disappointed and would not be purchasing one. Oops.

My second experience was a very quick play with a good friends new iPad (Simon - who I know reads this blog avidly and indeed loves the many comic book lists I produce). I explained to him my concern over the usability of the device on the basis of a lack of keyboard. He showed a couple of pieces of work that he had happily typed on the device without too much bother. After a quick play around I found that actually it was quite easy to type... As I am now. It is not the same as keys but maybe having spent almost 2 years typing on a Netbook I am used to using small keyboards.

So I buy one. Top of the range. It's a cool gadget, but is it just a really bloody expensive photo frame? My first weekend with it was a bit of a false start. I got the missus to get it in the US for me ( she was there anyway) and of course when I put a o2 sim card in it, it had a bit of a fit. We were in Leeds so I popped into a local Apple retailer, plugged the iPad in and tried to set it up. lt was fine from a wifi point of view but I could not get the 3G to work. I spent a weekend trying to get it working and absolutely no joy. This was not the fault of anyone in particular, it was circumstances conspiring against me. What was evident was two things: without Internet, the iPad has little to offer (unless you have already whacked loads of content on it) and secondly without another computer, it has little to offer (again unless you have already whacked loads onto it).

Eventually I got the bad boy plugged into my home pc (Buffy) and I had iTunes do a full restore in the hope that it would get things in line as far as the UK was concerned. Thankfully there was little in it and after the download my iPad was fully UK compliant. Inserting the o2 sim immediately brought up the necessary screens for signing up to 3G. All was good and before you know it I had a fully functioning iPad.

Now, what to do with it. One minor fear I had had before purchasing the iPad was whether or not it would make my iPhone redundant. Thankfully so far that has not been the case. I have begun to realise that there is little I can do in life without Google ( the android argument is a whole new issue and one for a whole fresh blog). My gmail account contains pretty much everything I need in life as far as online content goes. My gmail, bookmarks, docs, calendar. Without these simple tool I wouldn't know where I was suppose to be. These are essential tools and the fact that I can access them form any computer, iPhone or iPad is pretty awesome. I can type something on my phone and it is almost instantaneously on my iPad ready to be amended, sent etc. The Internet experience is excellent.. But the apps, I have yet to form an opinion on. There are quite a lot and they tend to be a little more expensive than their iPhone counterparts. That is to be expected. I guess I have to play around with the store a bit more. There are plenty to choose from.

So how do I wrap up this initial blog? The iPad is cool. Agreed. Having Internet access on a sexy shiny screen is equally cool. Having instant access to Apple App store is nice, although costly. Having another computer is absolutely essential! If you load the iPad up with stuff and go on holiday to a destination that has wi-fi, you will have a lot of fun. If it isn't loaded up and you don't have Internet access, then it is just a really expensive digital photo frame. But I love it.

Due 11 November 2010

Avengers Prime #4 (Of 5)
Batgirl #15
Batman Return Of Bruce Wayne #6 (Of 6)
Birds Of Prey #6
Justice League Generation Lost #13 BD
Red Robin #17

Due 4 November 2010

Batman And Robin #16
Batman Catwoman Follow The Money #1
Brightest Day #13
Red Hood Lost Days #6 (Of 6)
Tron Original Movie Adaptation #1 (Of 2)

Due 26th October

Avengers #6
Bruce Wayne The Road Home Oracle One-Shot
Detective Comics #870
Green Arrow #5 Brightest Day
Justice League Generation Lost #12 BD
Secret Avengers #6
Spider-Man Vs Vampires #1 (maybe)
Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 #3 (Of 6)
Curse Of Mutants X-Men Vs Vampires #2
Zatanna #6

Due 21st October 2010

Batman And Robin #15
Brightest Day #12
Bruce Wayne The Road Home Catwoman #1
Bruce Wayne The Road Home Commissioner Gordon #1
Carnage #1 (Of 5)maybe
Daredevil #511 Sl
DC Universe Legacies #6 (Of 10)
DCU Halloween Special 2010 #1 (maybe)
Green Lantern Corps #53 (Brightest Day)
Kick-Ass 2 #1 (maybe)
Ragman Suit Of Souls #1 (maybe)
Turf #3
Ultimate Comics New Ultimates #4 (Of 5)

That would never happen

Just quietly and contentedly watching Die Hard 4.0 (or 4 point-less as movie critic Mark Kermode would have it) and I thought it would be remiss of me not to respond to Pete's prodding to post again and test out Blogger on iPhone at the same time.
So here goes.
First impression, can't figure out how to post a link neatly. I guess I need to remember how to write in HTML again.
I was going to point you to this recent article of top 10 Technology movie cliches at tech newssite v3.co.uk: http://www.google.co.uk/m/url?client=safari&ei=IdOwTMDYIePEjQfW0oh5&hl=en&oe=UTF-8&q=http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2270835/top-technology-movie-clich&ved=0CBYQFjAB&usg=AFQjCNEm65tQuSAbjdAhqSKWjQlci6j_Yw.
Man that's a long link, sorry. Wonder if I can suggest to blogger that they automate a tinyurl.com conversion.
Anyways, so far in Die Hard 4 we have seen several of the examples of tech movie-clicheness highlighted in the adore-mentioned long-linked article.
I'd like to detail them but on a small screen it's kind of a pain to keep ducking out of Blogger and check the article. I guess the lesson is that Blogger is not designed for live-blogging a movie.
Also my wife is getting pissed (that's annoyed, not drunk) that I'm fiddling with my phone. She doesn't believe I can multitask, y'see?
And on that note, she's right: back to the film. Read the article, bits of it are funny/apt. But save Blogger for short, snappy posts and write long-overdue ones on your pc/mac.

Due 14 October 2010

Bruce Wayne The Road Home
- Batgirl One-Shot
- Batman & Robin One-Shot
- Outsiders One-Shot
Deadpool Corps #7
Green Lantern #58 Brightest Day
Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #3 BD
Justice League Generation Lost #11 BD
Shadowland #4 (Of 5) SL
Titans #28 Brightest Day
Untold Tales Of Blackest Night #1 BD
X-Men #4

Due 7 October 2010

Brightest Day #11
Bruce Wayne The Road Home
- Batman & Robin One-Shot
- Red Robin One-Shot
Red Hood Lost Days #5 (Of 6)
Shadowland Spider-Man #1 SL (maybe)

Sorry Pete

Right, so a new substantive post is definitely coming I promise. Hopefully tomorrow. I've just found this articleand am going to try to write something en route to the badlands of East London where I fully expect to be beaten to a pulp at rugby. Give my love to Rose etc.

Due 30 September 2010

Avengers Prime #3 (Of 5)
Detective Comics #869
First Wave #4 (Of 6)
Gotham City Sirens #16
Green Arrow #4 Brightest Day
Justice Society Of America #43 (maybe)
X-Men Curse Of Mutants X-Men Vs Vampires #1 (Of 2)

Due 23rd September 2010

Avengers #5
Batman Streets Of Gotham #16
Flash #5 Brightest Day
Green Lantern Corps #52 Brightest Day
Justice League Generation Lost #10 Brightest Day
Justice League Of America #49 Brightest Day
Nemesis #3 (Of 4)
Secret Avengers #5
Titans #27 Brightest Day

Captain America Pics

Stunt double is snapped in secret filming location, near Manchester!

Bummer

No Heroes movie - Poo!

Daredevil is being canceled - rubbish!

Oh well, in true Comic universe style, at least he'll be back early next year (January) in Reborn.

Due 16th September 2010

Birds Of Prey #5 Brightest Day
Brightest Day #10
DC Universe Legacies #5 (Of 10)
Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #2 BD
Titans #27 Brightest Day
Zatanna #5

Due 9th September 2010

Batgirl #14
Batman #703
Batman & Robin #14
Batman Odyssey #3 (Of 13)
Daredevil #510 SL
Deadpool Corps #6
Green Lantern #57 Brightest Day
Justice League Generation Lost #9 BD
Red Robin #16
Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 #2 (Of 6)
X-Force Sex And Violence #3 (Of 3)
X-Men #3

Bat-men

It isn't really a surprise that there's going to be more than one Batman - Bruce is coming back and Dick is hanging around. So we are getting two Batmen or Batmans!

I've so far been disappointed with The Return of Bruce Wayne (TRBW). The rest of the 'saga' i.e. RIP, Final Crisis, Battle for the Cowl I thought were good, especially RIP. Regardless of TRBW, it will be good to have Bruce back - well, he is the original. It will be interesting to see what angle DC take with splitting duties between Bruce and Dick and of course Tim and Damiens' roles.

We have to wait till November to find out - as stated on DC's The Source:

Starting in November, DETECTIVE COMICS, BATMAN and BATMAN AND ROBIN will feature the ongoing adventures of Dick Grayson as Batman, with Damian as Robin. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne will take center stage in the pages of Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette’s BATMAN INC. and writer/artist David Finch’s BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT.

Exciting.

Due 2 September 2010

Brightest Day #9
Green Hornet #7
Red Hood Lost Days #4 (Of 6)
Shadowland #3 (Of 5)
Shadowland Elektra #1 (maybe)

Quiet this week, although I do have two previous weeks worth to collect, so lots of reading material.

Chuck

Well my summer is soon to be over. 'Project Number One' is almost at an end. This time next week hopefully and we'll be entering phase 2 - which is very exciting. Lots to be done before then of course.

Been watching Chuck when I've had the chance - first season was great fun. I'd been meaning to watch this for a while. Great mix of geeky humour with good TV action. Just got Season 2 so looking forward to that.

Got me thinking about all the series I've yet to watch.

I've never watched Lost or 24 - any of it.
Heroes Season 4
Battlestar G Seasons 4 & 5
Supernatural Season 3 onwards
Smallville Season 8 onwards
Damages - both seasons

Well that's a fair bit of telly to get through.

Due 26th August 2010

Avengers #4
Batman #702
Captain America #609 (maybe)
Detective Comics #868
Gotham City Sirens #15
Green Arrow #3 Brightest Day
Justice League Generation Lost #8 BD
Justice League Of America #48 Brightest Day
X-Men Curse Of Mutants Blade #1

Due 19th August 2010

Batman Streets Of Gotham #15
Brightest Day #8
DC Universe Legacies #4 (Of 10)
Deadpool Corps #5
Green Lantern Corps #51 Brightest Day
Image United #3 (Of 6)
Justice Society Of America #42 Brightest Day
Secret Avengers #4

A quiet-ish week. Daedpool Corp has been fun - really enjoying this. Image United - been so long since #2 I forget what's happening. The Brightest Day stuff is picking up again now we have some idea of what's happening.

Heroic Age

For those of you who are unaware, earlier this year Marvel rebooted some of their key franchises, under the banner ‘The Heroic Age.’ This is a new era for Marvel following the Dark Reign arc that saw key characters die and many go underground. From a marketing perspective, you can see why they did it. Now we are a good few issues into most runs - The Avengers, Secret Avengers, New Avengers...etc.The list goes on. I made the ‘sensible’ decision to be selective on what I bought. On the basis of the creative teams and characters involved, I opted to read The Avengers (flagship) and Secret Avengers.

Starting with The Avengers, I have to say this - and I know some hardcore comic fans will spit in my general direction - but I am not a massive John Romita Jr fan. I can see why people like it and it does work for this particular comic but there are other artists I enjoy much more. The writing by Bendis has been very good and it does really work as a comicbook. They definitely make a good team and I have enjoyed the first three issues (art aside). I suspect however that after the first arc I may stop collecting it - in an effort to keep my weekly comic shop down. Also, I feel there are only so many directions you can take a team of characters that usually have more important stories running elsewhere.

Now, I love the art in Secret Avengers - Mike Deodato Jr. When I think of Marvel, I guess I tend to imagine this kind of art - it is just nails! I loved Dark Avengers and I could look at Deodato’s art all day long. Brubaker’s writing is pretty good too and I really quite like this book. There are a number of people annoyed that Steve Rogers is no longer Cap America and is now running around looking a lot like a non-ultimate Nick Fury. I have to say, I think it works and gives a well known character new boundaries - that has to be a good thing. So far, this has been cool.

Lets see how the first arcs finish and take it from there. Did Marvel have to reboot the franchise? Im my opinion, probably not to the extent they did. But the Avengers are loved and Marvel know that with the upcoming movie, this could be an awesome bit of marketing As to the Ultimate universe, I’ll write a separate post as to my current thoughts on a number of their comics I have been reading over the summer.

JailbreakMe 2.0 - My thoughts

I loved my iPhone 3G. I just had to make that clear! Regularly I would make any non-believer get on their hands and knees and beg to be part of the ‘special’ people - those of us that had embraced a gadget that had got it so right. I have spent years buying gadget after gadget and ultimately, what I desired (but didn’t know it), was one gadget... that did it all. I loved my iPod, but it wasn’t as good as my Archos for playing movies, though it did do music a lot better. I thought that my HTC Touchscreen was the dogs danglies... but in retrospect... where was the App Store? Where was the ability to download music straight onto it?

Well, I am veering slightly off track here but the point is; the iPhone 3G got it very right when other companies were floundering and trying to guess the next technology move. Apple, in my opinion, did two things very very well with the iPhone - they integrated the iPod (simple but genius) and they made the App Store source code available to all and sundry.

As for things that were missing, these were well documented and Apple listened. The folder structure was something that would definitely make the home screen easier and multi-tasking was really needed by any modern day user. However, this was where the pain set in for me (for a short period). As a 3G user and tied into a contract with O2, I was keen (not desperate) to get the folder structure (well I am a long time Windows user - we need folders!) So I downloaded iOS4 (with some excitement) and can only describe my feelings as ‘disappointed’, ‘upset’ and ‘cheated’. Could my phone get any slower? Every app I installed loaded up with the efficiency of an English World Cup 2010 defence. How could this be? My amazing iPhone the one that I had told everyone was the best thing since the birth of beer and now, how disappointing - it could barely tell me the time, let alone direct me to the Britania Hotel, Lisbon or somewhere equally exotic. F*&k! Damn you Apple - you are making me want to buy an iPhone 4! I had about four weeks between release of the new phone and the end of my contract, so I had to survive technologically in that time, so I put the phone to the test. First, I tried to see who else was suffering from this awful ‘piss take’ from Apple. There were a lot of people out there on the Interweb who were suffering as I was. Slow app loading, crashing, some apps refusing to load and disgust that the greatest gadget was now a blubbering retard (can I use that word?)

There were comments suggesting a hard reboot or indeed doing it twice. Others were suggesting ‘upgrading’ to an Android mobile system. Which Multiverse am I in? It was clear that the 3G was not/is not capable of successfully running iOS4. Shame!

Well, thankfully I was able to upgrade to the new iPhone (I only had to use a slow 3G for 4 weeks) and now don’t have to worry about slow loading apps and no multi-tasking - all is well. I will post my thoughts on it at a later date, but the question was, what do I do with my old 3G? Keep it? Will I use it? Sell it? Will anyone want it? And then I thought - I can jailbreak it. Yes! I didn’t want to when it was my main phone, just in case something went wrong. But now it doesn’t matter. Just last week there was a ruling in the US that users could legally Jailbreak their phones (shame I’m in the bloody UK, but oh well). This opens up a whole new world, separate from the App Store. Jailebreakme 2.0 only runs on iOS4 so would this slow my phone down any more?

Firstly, I have to say how easy it was to download. As easy as sliding your finger to the right of the screen, from Safari, on the device (as shown in pic below). Easy! It adds an additional icon on the home screen (Cydia). Open it to further install the software and job done, your phone is jail broken. Now I am still playing around with it, but after a little research Winterboard is apparently a good shell to install (I love the constantly changing background on the home screen). It allows you to completely change the look of the home screen and all apps. Different icons, changing backgrounds, and a whole new store to buy and download apps. It is not quite as user friendly as the inherent Apple set-up but it is fairly intuitive and a good bit of fun for anyone who has techie curiosity. For now my jail broken 3G is lying around the house connected to wi-fi and serving as a fun new device. So now I have two new devices - I’ll never just have one gadget that does it all!

P.S.

For older content you can either follow the 'Older Posts' link at the bottom of the page, use the labels on the right or use the 'Blog Archive' at the bottom right. Plenty of options.

Summer Hiatus - over!

Well it’s been a while since I have posted anything of real interest. I have been spending the summer working on a new project, ‘Project Number One’ - original! I am hoping to have a separate blog wholly dedicated to that up and running in October/November of this year if possible.

Over the Summer there has been much to talk about. On the techie side, there is the new iPhone 4 (which is pretty sweet) , the new operating system iOS4, JailbreakMe 2.0 (I’ve now installed this on my old 3G), the rise of Android, my ever growing love for Google tools (not Wave) and the essential question of ‘Can I justify buying an iPad?’ to name but a few. These are some of the topics I will blog on.

On the comics side, there has been a lot of cool things coming out of the US over the Summer, mostly relating to SD Comic Con. There is much to say on Thor, Avengers, Captain America, Batman 3, Green Lantern and Tron Legacy. As for some of the current ongoing arcs, Daredevil: Shadowland is so far pretty awesome - I keep saying this but Daredevil is the closest character Marvel have to Batman. Grant Morrison seems to have been working overtime on the whole Batman RIP continuation and missing chapters - so far I’m not convinced on The Return of Bruce Wayne.

Well, that’s enough for now and the most I have blogged for about three months - hopefully I can get this back up and running again.

Due 12 August 2010

Batgirl #13
Birds Of Prey #4 (Brightest Day)
Daredevil #509 Shadowland
Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #1 (Brightest Day) (maybe)
Justice League Generation Lost #7 (Brightest Day)
Shadowland Blood On Street #1 (Of 4) (maybe)
Titans #26 (Brightest Day)
Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 #1 (Of 6)
X-Force Sex And Violence #2 (Of 3)
X-Men #2
Zatanna #4

Due 5 August 2010

Avengers Prime #2 (Of 5)
Batman Odyssey #2 (Of 6)
Brightest Day #7
Captain America #608 (maybe)
Red Hood Lost Days #3 (Of 6)
Red Robin #15
Shadowland #2 (Of 5)
Shadowland Bullseye #1 Sl
Supergod #4 (Of 5)
Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #6 (Of 6)

Due 29th July 2010

Batman Return Of Bruce Wayne #4 (Of 6)
Batman Widening Gyre #6 (Of 6)
Detective Comics #867
First Wave #3 (Of 6)
Flash #4 Brightest Day
Gotham City Sirens #14
Green Arrow #2 Brightest Day
Green Lantern #56 Brightest Day
Green Lantern Corps #50 Brightest Day
Haunt #8
Justice League Generation Lost #6
Justice League Of America #47 Brightest Day
Secret Avengers #3

Due 22 July 2010

Avengers #3
Batman Streets Of Gotham #14
Brightest Day #6
DC Universe Legacies #3 (Of 10)
Justice Society Of America #41 Brightest Day
Kevin Smith Green Hornet #6
Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #5 (Of 6)
Ultimate Comics New Ultimates #3 (Of 5)
Zatanna #3

Due 15th July 2010

Batgirl #12
Batman #701
Birds Of Prey #3 Brightest Day
Daredevil #508 Sl
Deadpool Corps #4
Justice League Generation Lost #5 BD
Titans #25 Brightest Day
X-Force Sex & Violence #1 (Of 3)
X-Men Hellbound #3 (Of 3) XSC
X-Men Second Coming #2

Due 8th July 2010

Batman And Robin #13
Batman Odyssey #1 (Of 6)
Brightest Day #5
Brightest Day The Atom Special #1
Red Hood Lost Days #2 (Of 6)
Red Robin #14
Shadowland #1 (Of 5)
X-Force #28 XSC

Due 1st July 2010

Captain America #607 HA
Death Of Dracula #1 (maybe)
Flash #3 Brightest Day
Gotham City Sirens #13
Green Lantern #55 Brightest Day
Jokers Asylum Clayface #1
Justice League Of America #46 Brightest Day
Predators #4 (Of 4)
Secret Avengers #2 HA

To be collected 28 June

Avengers Prime #1 (Of 5) HA
Joker's Asylum The Riddler #1
Red Hood Lost Days #1 (Of 6)

Captain America #606 HA
Deadpool Corps #3
Jokers Asylum Harley Quinn #1
Justice League Generation Lost #3 BD
Nemesis #2 (Of 4)
Predators #1 (Of 4)
Titans #24 Brightest Day
Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #3
Uncanny X-Men #525 XSC
X-Men Hellbound #2 (Of 3) XSC

Birds of Prey #2
Brightest Day #4
DC Universe Legacies # 2
jokers Asylum (whichever one is out this week)
New Mutants #14
predators #2
Ultimate Comics X #3

Avengers #2 HA
Batman Return Of Bruce Wayne #3 (Of 6)
Green Arrow #1 Brightest Day
Jokers Asylum Killer Croc One-Shot
Justice League Generation Lost #4 BD
Justice League The Rise Of Arsenal #4 (Of 4)
Predators #3 (Of 4)
Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #4
X-Factor #206 XSC
X-Men Legacy #237 XSC

Due 3rd June

Avengers Prime #1 (Of 5) HA
Brightest Day #3
Joker's Asylum The Riddler #1
Red Hood Lost Days #1 (Of 6)
Red Robin #13

Due 27th May

Batman Return Of Bruce Wayne #2 Of(6)
Detective Comics #865
Gotham City Sirens #12
Green Lantern #54 (Brightest Day)
Green Lantern Corps #48 (Brightest Day)
Justice League Generation Lost #2
Justice League The Rise Of Arsenal #3 (Of 4)
Secret Avengers #1 Heroic Age
Superman War Of The Supermen #4 (Of 4)
X-Force #27 X-Men Second Coming

Due 20th May

Avengers #1 HA
Batman Streets Of Gotham #12
Brightest Day #2
DC Universe Legacies #1 (Of 10)
Justice League Of America #45 Brightest Day
Superman War Of The Supermen #3 (Of 4)
Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #2
X-Factor #205 XSC
X-Men Legacy #236 XSC

Due 13th May

Big week:

Dark Avengers #16 Siege
New Avengers Finale #1 Siege (maybe)
Batgirl #10
Batman #699
Batman Return Of Bruce Wayne #1 (Of 6)
Birds Of Prey #1 Brightest Day
Daredevil Cage Match #1
First Wave #2 (Of 6)
Flash #2 Brightest Day
Justice League Generation Lost #1 BD
Marvels Project #8 (Of 8)
Siege #4 (Of 4)
Siege Embedded #4 (Of 4)
Superman War Of The Supermen #2 (Of 4)
Titans Villians For Hire Special One-Shot
New Mutants #13 XSC

Thor

First look at the new dude playing Thor...

Chris Hemsworth

Thoughts? Thor has never been I character I have followed but there have been the odd story arcs that have intrigued me. I'll hold judgment until I see some footage, a teaser or trailer.

Shadowlands

As I have said on a number of posts, I am totally loving the whole Daredevil run at the moment. I started at #500 and haven't looked back (we are on about #509 at the moment), so I am fairly new to it all. In an effort to try and get the good stuff I did manage to get my hands on the Guardian Devil story line by Kevin Smith, which I thought was excellent. I also read 'Lady Bullseye' which was pretty good. I have to say, Daredevil is the closest thing Marvel has to Batman and I would love to see both these characters in a cross over.

Anyway, the current Daredevil run by Andy Diggle is working up to the Shadowlands storyline and Marvel have released some cool promotional material. The most recent brings Wolverine to the picture...does he kill Daredevil? I f***ing hope not, especially since I have only just got into it....



The other battles are: Spider-Man versus the Punisher. Luke Cage & Iron Fist versus Elektra. Ghost Rider versus Moon Knight. It is looking pretty cool.

Movie Thoughts

The UK has just had another Bank Holiday and of course there is usually the first of the Summer blockbusters at your local cinema - this year we have Iron Man 2, which by all accounts looks frigging awesome. I hope to see it sometime this week and add to it's already staggering gross take-in. My only reservation (which won't stop me seeing it) is the fact that via the Interweb, I have already seen most of the film. Oh well!

If anyone can get excited about a date over two years from now, then look forward to the summer of 2012. On July 20 2012 we get to see the third Batman. That summer we also get to watch The Avengers movie, the second Star Trek reboot and Spider-man reboot (I am less keen on this last one as it sound slike they are taking Peter Parker back to High School and playing ont he whole Ultimates thing).

Anyway, what do we have in the Summer of 2011? Any guesses?

Free Comic Book Day

This last weekend has seen Free Comic Book Day in the US. I must confess, I never am quite sure how it works in the UK. I am assuming the Free Comics will ship with this weeks books, i.e. Thursday 6th. Looking at the titles, there are quite a few that look decent. I reckon I will check out War of The Supermen. I don't normally go for Superman comics, but I do like the look of this and I do enjoy James Robinson's work.

The first post - a wake up call

Turns out you can procrastinate for ages over what to write as a first blog post. Limited instructions and a vague remit don’t help.

There are lots of apps to assist blogging and although I don’t use any I am a little bit addicted to the app store and also apps-about-the-app store – Pandora’s Box being a useful one. I hope I’ve linked that properly. But it was old school media – a “magazine” if you will - which alerted me to Sleepy Traveller – the app you need when you end up in Weymouth after a drunken night out and sleep through your Guildford stop (Pete).

Sleepy Traveller* works by setting off an alarm when your GPS reaches a pre-selected destination. For obvious reasons it won’t work if your end station is underground but I guess worst case scenario underground you end up at the end of the line, not in a different County/local dialect area.

I haven’t been able to test it properly (ie. Drunkenly) as my end station is underground – but I did a sober test and (dependent on the reliability of your iphone’s GPS) it seems to work. Sometimes the simplest ideas are best and as it’s currently free in the app store you can’t go wrong. And if the price goes up to £0.59 you can’t go far wrong. Cheapskate.

Will be that much better when we get multitasking (with 4G?) so you can play games/text and email drunkenly as well as getting woken up when approaching home.

There are loads of iphone apps which apparently soothe you to sleep and one (Sleep Cycle*) which measures how good your sleep is. But this one is a handy solution to what must be a very common problem. It can’t be just me and Pete.

*Link to US site. Well, I can’t find the UK link. You find it.

Due 6th May

Batman And Robin #12
Brightest Day #1
Deadpool Corps #2 (maybe)
Red Robin #12
Superman War Of The Supermen #1 (Of 4)
Ultimate Comics New Ultimates #2
Uncanny X-Men #524 XSC
X-Men Hellbound #1 Of (3) XSC (maybe)

Delayed Comics

Batman Streets Of Gotham #11
Devil #3 (Of 4)
Green Lantern #53 Brightest Day
Justice League Of America #44
Ultimate Comics Avengers #6
X-Factor #204 XSC
X-Men Legacy #235 XSC

Detective Comics #864
Gotham City Sirens #11
Green Lantern Corps #47 (Brightest Day)
Justice League The Rise Of Arsenal #2 (0f 4)
New Avengers #64 Siege
New Mutants Prem Hc Necrosha
Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 #1
X-Force #26 XSC

Due 28th April

DETECTIVE COMICS #864
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #11
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #47 (BRIGHTEST DAY)
JUSTICE LEAGUE THE RISE OF ARSENAL #2 (0F 4)
NEW AVENGERS #64 SIEGE
NEW MUTANTS PREM HC NECROSHA
ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS 2 #1
X-FORCE #26 XSC

Batman: Under The Hood

This looks pretty sweet!



Thanks MSN and Comicvine.

Quick Catch-up

We are already way into Convention season - all taking place in the US. The most recent was C2E2, which I think was the first one! CBR and Comicvine both have extensive coverage of this - interviews of all the key players, outlines of various panel groups etc etc. All worth a look.

What I have been reading.

X-men. I have read three of the Second Coming arc and actually, I am enjoying it. As I stated in a previous post, I have never really been a massive X-man/X-men fan, but so far the story and art has been enjoyable. I hate that each chapter is in a different title, but other than that, I think I will keep reading - although I think there is 14 chapters, so we will see if they can continue the good work.

Turf by Jonathan Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards. I read the first issue yesterday and I have to say, I thought it was pretty good. It is a well known fact that Mr Ross is a massive comic geek (good on him) and indeed it is clear that he has obviously always wanted to write a comic of his own (don't we all). CBR have a 25 minute video interview with him that is very entertaining and shows his love for both comic collecting and reading and now writing. I did try to embed it, but for some reason it didn't work. It can be found here however: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=video&show_id=288691

With clearly years of pent up 'comic writing ideas' in him, it is no surprise that the first issue is particularly wordy...there are a lot of balloons. It is reminiscent of Kevin Smith in terms of the amount of words...I like it. You feel you are getting a proper story...with proper story backgrounds. His love for genres as well, comes through in this issue...you have vampires, gangsters and aliens. But it works! Finally, the art. It really works. If you read it, you will notice the darkness of the book. TLE absolutely nails the setting and each panel is a joy to look at. Yes, I am looking forward to the next issue.

Random stuff: Thor is getting a second title; there is to be a re-do/update of the Marvel Infinity Gauntlet storyline; Time Masters: Vanishing Point is coming out from DC, which will run side to side with The Search for Bruce Wayne (not sure of release dates).

Finally, I am currently reading an excellent comic/graphic novel called Logicomix and I have to say it is really really good. It tells the story of Bertrand Russell and his search for an understanding on maths and philosophy. It is beautifully drawn and it just reads like a classic film - one you will watch repeatedly. It is a marvelous find.

No Comics this week

Due to an 'apparent' dust plume that has brought the country to a stand-still, no comics will be available for purchase tomorrow in London (I don't know if other places further north have had better luck). Disappointed but hey, what can you do. We will just have to watch this space...to see when they are next shipped in.

What I do have on my buy list is:

Batman Streets Of Gotham #11
Devil #3 (Of 4)
Green Lantern #53 Brightest Day
Justice League Of America #44
Ultimate Comics Avengers #6

Siege - Loki

I don't usually read tie-ins on big events of characters I don't follow, but I felt that it might be a fairly key ingredient to the Siege background since Loki is playing such a pivotal role. So I added it to the pile and took it home and unsurprisingly I was a little disappointed.

The annoying thing is, it could have been really good. I quite liked the story ideas and the dialogue was quite enriched with a real mischief. But the art made it feel like a children's book. And I thought that was a shame.

There were some dark themes running through here and Loki, aside from his mischief, has the potential to be an extremely evil character. The darkness of his actions was not properly illustrated and it let the book down. Not recommended.

Tech update - Opera browser

Opera browser for the iPhone. I used to use Opera on my various Windows Mobile devices and HTC's. It was excellent and extremely quick. I am keen to see what it is like on the iPhone. I have to say the pre-installed Safari for the most part is impressive, so Opera will have to be something special to beat it. Will def check it out.

Avengers movie

Apparently Joss Whedon is in line to Direct the Avengers movie. This could be quite cool. I'll hold judgment until it is official.

A few April updates

X-men and Avengers - It is all happening over at Marvel. They are essentially doing a reboot. There are new Avengers titles coming up - The Avengers and The Secret Avengers seem to be the main ones. Then they are revamping X-men - I assume after the Second Coming story arc - so far Spiderman and Blade have been announced as X-men! Strange? Cool? I do like the Blade character so it will be interesting to see what happens there.

Ipad - In the US, it seems that for the last week any techie site or blog has been about the Ipad. Admittedly a nice looking gadget, thoughts have been mixed. Marvel announced their digital service which seems to run seamlessly with both the Ipad and IPhone. They do look cool!

Frank Miller and Jim Lee are back in collaborating mode and seem to be talking about finishing off where they left off on Batman - except it would appear that the focus will be Robin. More details to follow I guess.

General bits and bobs - Megan Fox is to play Red Sonja! Apparently! Birds of Prey Comic line up has been announced. After Siege and Second Coming (before Avengers) we have Shadowlands event - Daredevil written by Andy Dingle. Also Matthew Vaughn is apparently going to direct Turf - the movie. March sees Blackest Night #8 topping the sales tables according to ICv2.com.

Due 15th April

Batgirl #9
Batman #698
Brightest Day #0
Daredevil #506
Flash #1
Green Arrow #32

Batman: Odyssey

I am really excited about this project. The return of Neal Adams. In July he will be doing a 12 issue special, which he will be writing and drawing. When I was in New York at the end of February, I bought an old Batman issue that Neal had drawn. It was because it was one of his seminal classics that it cost so much - but it is pretty special. So, for him to be doing a new one - that is very cool. Art already looks stunning.

Google Bookmarks

For a while now I have been trying to find an easy way where I can access the same bookmarks or favourites regardless of which computer I am using. I have two laptops (one in the house and a netbook for daily travel) and a desktop (which acts more like a server). One of the annoying things has been having a useful bookmark on one but not the other. Ideally I wanted to sync them all for ease of use. I had the brief notion of using Delicious, but it required a Lycos login (I think) and I am not keen on signing up for anything else these days.

So I was looking for a web based option that didn't require a new login or indeed having to share it with every Tom, Dick and Harry in the world. This is a personal online need. If I want to share anything I will make that decision and do so appropriately.

I am not sure why I didn't look into this before, but Google have a service called Google Bookmarks. It is extremely easy to use and can be accessed online at any point (very much like your GMail). You can also install the Google Toolbar on each browser you are using to fully integrate it. Now admittedly there are two key things to getting this to work seamlessly - 1. sort out and clean up your bookmarks first in your browser and 2. some tweaking is needed in the Google Toolbar settings.

I use FireFox as my main browser on all my computers. I think it is excellent and better than either IE or Chrome. I had recently gone through a process of re-categorising my bookmarks and deleting ones that were no longer of interest. It took a few hours but it was a worthwhile experience. I did this across all my computers to ensure I didn't miss any good sites. I tend to stick to basic headings or labels - Email, Comics, Blogs, Techie stuff etc. This way it is easy to find relevant sites. So once you have cleaned up your browser and are happy with your favourites, you simply import them into Google Bookmarks. This is seamless. As long as you have a Google login, you can do it and just like checking your email online, you do the same with your bookmarks. Of course you can add as you go along and regardless of where you are in the world you can access your favourite sites and blogs.

On the settings front withing the Toolbar, there are a fair few and I would recommend running through each option to make sure that you have the same setup across various computers. It doesn't take long.

For someone like me who is a big Internet user and views a lot of content across a lot of different sites, this is great way to access those sites from anywhere. I can even access them on my IPhone which is just too cool. I strongly recommend it.

Nemesis #1

At its most basic, I really enjoyed this (apart from the slightest fear that I wasn't actually going to get my hands on a first printing). Millar does like to shock and cause some fan excitement or indeed fan annoyance. Either way, lets be honest, the reader knows what to expect from him. So when you pick a comic that has the tag line, 'Makes Kick Ass look shit' you know you are in for something graphic and shocking.

It was a good read. McNiven's art is excellent and the dialogue runs smoothly throughout. The main character 'Nemesis' appears quite cool, although is clearly a villain and keen to kill cops. Little is revealed about him and whether he is human or has powers, but he does seem capable of pulling off large scale incidents. I will definitely pick up issue #2 and hope that it continues with its fast paced approach.

Geek Corner

Blackest Night has ended.
Finally. #8 was actually pretty good but as I have said all along, I felt that it often lost its way and probably didn't need to run as long as it did. The final pages were cool and it does promise an exciting Brightest Day entry issue.

Second Coming.
I haven't read an x-men comic for a long time. My reason for this is that I found them to be excessive in titles and numbers. I don't like that you have to read 3 or 4 different titles to keep up. However, Second Coming seemed like a good title to dip my feet into. And I am glad I did. I thought it was an enjoyable issue. Well written, well drawn (some really cool scenes) and something I am glad I got my hands on. However, as usual, it is not simple and the following parts appear in various 'other' x-men titles and appear to have different art. For this reason, I will most likely 'not' be picking up any further issues.

Stark Expo 2010

In the run up to Iron Man 2 the viral campaign kicks off in earnest. It is definitely worth checking out the site as it makes Stark Industries very real.

http://www.starkexpo2010.com/

David Finch art

I'm a big fan of this guy. I think I first noticed him doing the Marvel Ultimate stuff. He kinda draws in wide screen. Pretty special. Anyway it was announced some time ago that he had made the switch and signed up for DC exclusively. This is exciting stuff. I think he is doing pretty much all the forthcoming Brightest Day covers (26 or something ridiculous) and he has done a Batman cover for issue #700. I really really like this:

Due 9th April

Batman And Robin #11
Flash Secret Files And Origins 2010 #1
Red Robin #11
Turf #1
Ultimate Comics X #2

Trailer: Iron Man 2

Teaser: Scott Pilgrim vs The world

Looks like good fun

Daredevil: Cage Match

Looks kinda interesting. I am loving anything Daredevil these days.
Writer: Antony Johnston
Pencils: Sean Chen
Out in May.

Batman Reborn - some thoughts

I thought I would take this opportunity to take an honest view of the current run of Batman comics in light of the upcoming 'Return of Bruce Wayne' story arc. Even if you don't read comics everybody knows the character of Batman. Most people are aware that Bruce Wayne is Batman - either through the films, the 60's tv series or a comic memory from childhood. But, Bruce isn't Batman. Bruce has been 'presumed' dead for about a year now...since the end of the Final Crisis story arc. In his place stepped Dick Grayson - Nightwing, formerly the original Robin. In light of these changes, the Batman books were re-vamped (around June 2009) and so we had: Batman, Detective Comics, Batman & Robin, Batman: Streets of Gotham, RedRobin, Batgirl and although not a Batman comic per se, Gotham City Sirens. Here are some of my thoughts.

Batman. This has been running really well since the whole RIP story line. Tony S Daniel has been doing a sterling job since taking over (Judd Winick handed over the reigns around #692)and although there has been a lot happening, I have thoroughly been enjoying this run. The art has been excellent, the stories are tightly written and you do get a feel of what 'being Batman' can actually do to you or indeed what it is doing to Dick. I think so far this has been an excellent Batman comic and looks set to continue the good work (I note that certain comic lovers are not convinced on this title at the moment).




Detective Comics. This title took a new life after the excellent 'Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?' storyline in #853. In #854 we find that the main character going forward is a lesbian Batwoman (Kate Kane). A different approach to what is the longest running Batman title. But, it has been excellent. I'll admit my doubts right at the beginning, but it has really grown on me. J.H. Williams was on art and Greg Rucka on writing duties. Jock has taken the mantle since issue 862 I think. This has been a good read - so far you feel that Kate is not a fully fledged 'Bat' character and I like that there is almost a feeling of 'getting accepted.' Of course that will come in time - we have already seen instances throughout other titles where Kate has brought in or referenced. One thing that J.H. Williams did was run two different styles of art through the title - awesome art for Batwoman current day and slightly muted art for flashbacks - it really works. Pick this up.

Batman & Robin. As an aside, before I read this title I struggled with Frank Quitely and his work. Don't get me wrong, as a fellow Scot, I like to encourage and support but I just didn't take to his work. Anyway, I still wanted to read the new Batman & Robin title and always enjoy Grant Morrison (another Scot). Well, as far as Quitely is concerned - I am a convert. It took a couple of issues, but I do see the attraction - something pulls you in - the detail, the angles. Upto #6 this has been my favourite run of the newly formed Batman comics. Quitely did upto #3, Philip Tan got involved and Cameron Stewart also. Quitely has continued to do the covers. #7 wasn't great but it seems to be picking up again and is the lead into the 'Return of Bruce Wayne' story. Issue #10 was excellent.




Streets of Gotham. For me this is the most difficult title the review. I struggle to see where in the grand scheme of things it fits. You get the feeling that it is trying to be a bit more adult and contain adult themes. I am not sure it works. The art is okay although I find some of the faces weird. I also don't like the second feature Manhunter. I feel like it steals some of the pages from core story. It has had its moments but overall this is the weak title from me.

Red Robin. I have mixed feelings about this title. I do like Tim Drake and remember when he first came onto the scene. For the most part this is a more junior title than the rest (alongside Batgirl). To be fair, Tim is quite cool and although he looks a bit Doctor Midnite, the outfit works. Since the title began, Tim has been convinced that Bruce is still alive. We saw him lose his way a bit and it was good seeing him teaming up with Dick in the Blackest Night tie in. But I just want Tim to be a bit more hardcore. There are glimpses, but it just falls a bit short. I think this will be the most inconsistent title - there will be the awesome and there will be the shocking.

Batgirl. I am undecided on this title. The Oracle: The Cure mini was excellent and was promising something quite cool in the pages of this title. It hasn't delivered as promised. Stephanie is an okay Batgirl but is a bit high school for me. I don't like the outfit and she comes across as too maverick. It currently ties in to red Robin and that works quite well but you do feel that you're reading about kids whereas Damien in Batman and Robin acts beyond his years. Dependent on where this goes, I could be dropping this in the next few months.

So there you go!

Due 1st March

A quiet week. 3 DC titles and 1 Dynamite. Most importantly, the final segment to Blackest Night!

Detective Comics #863
Blackest Night #8 (Of 8)
Gotham City Sirens #10
Green Hornet #2 (Kevin Smith)

Geek catch up

So Siege is actually pretty good. Issue #3 was excellent. Tony is back. Cap is being cool. Thor is being God like and Osborn showed his true colours lol. All round excellent issue and looking forward to the finale.

Dark Avengers is still going well. I have really enjoyed the run and am conscious that in line with Siege is soon to come to an end. Issue #15 was pretty cool and is lining up the Sentrys' character nicely.

Blackest Night - lost. I have so many titles that I haven't yet read and the prospect is quite daunting. When Brightest Day comes out, I will probably collect the main arc and leave the tie-ins unless something looks awesome.

Captain America - Chris Evans has been cast apparently as Steve Rogers. Not sure about this. There seem to be limited actors who can play comic book heroes - he already played Johnny Storm. But He did that well and I liked him in Push, so we will just have to wait and see.

Haunt - Think I have said this before, but it is excellent. I think the first trade is out already - you should definitely pick it up.

Due 25th March

Batman Streets Of Gotham #10
Breaking Into Comics The Marvel Way #2 (Of 2)
Green Lantern #52 Blackest Night
Haunt #6
Justice League The Rise Of Arsenal #1 (Of 4)
Marvels Project #7 (Of 8)
Nemesis #1 (Of 4)
Supergod #3 (Of 5)
Thor #608 Siege (maybe)
Green Arrow #31 (to collect)



Looking forward to Nemesis. The previews look good and of course Mark Millar does like to cause a stir...a Joker/Batman character from Marvel!

Green Arrow falling

Really enjoying the whole 'Fall of Green Arrow' stuff. The end of Cry for Justice was cool. Rise and Fall of JSA was cool and I will definitely be reading the 6 issue story arc in Green Arrow.

Art looks awesome.

Batman 697

I am really loving Tony S Daniels work

Due 18th March

Dark Avengers #15
Azrael #6
Batman #697
Choker #2
Devil #2 (Of 4)
Green Arrow #31
Green Lantern Corps #46 Blackest Night
Haunt #6
Siege #3
Siege Embedded #3 (Of 4)
Spider-Woman #7

March - catch up

So a quick update. It has been a mental few months. My last proper post was a good few weeks ago, so I thought a quick 'bring us up to speed' session was in order.

Was in New York last week for 5 days. Awesome. 2 days of snow. It felt like a movie set. Managed to get to Mid Town Comics and St Marks Comics. Oh what a joy. Managed to get a few classic Batman issues from the 60's - excellent condition. Oh and a few cheeky daredevil titles!

Dark Avengers - so an Avenger did die - got a bit of a kicking right? Not really sure where that story is going to go, but enjoyed issue 2 - cool Avengers Initiative cover with Deadpool (though I am tiring of him) - check it out.

Managed to get to the end of Season 3 of Heroes - cool! But I didn't see that coming. Kinda confused actually but hey, it is heroes, so whatever happened, probably didn't.

First Wave - read the first issue this weekend - really liked it. The Spirit is a character I thought I wouldn't like but I found it thoroughly enjoyable and looking forward to the next installment. Will be interesting to see how a young inexperienced Batman comes into play.

Cry for Justice - I think this lost its way as the issues went on. Having said that - the very last scene was very cool. I have started to read the Justice League of America and actually quite enjoy it. Justice League Rise And Fall Special #1 looks like it will be fun.

Oh and Detective Comics #27 sold for $1,075,500 while I was away. Amazing. Wish I was the lucky buyer...would I sell? Not sure I would. Anyway it is great that these original classics are fetching the numbers they deserve.

That's all folks!

11th March

Batgirl #8
Batman And Robin #10
Batman Widening Gyre #5 (Of 6)
Breaking Into Comics The Marvel Way #1 (Of 2)
Justice League Rise And Fall Special #1
Red Robin #10

Batman #699 cover

Very Cool!

Buy Pile 4 March

Detective Comics #862
First Wave #1 (Of 6)
Justice League Cry For Justice #7 (Of 7)
Ultimate Comics Avengers #5
Ultimate Comics New Ultimates #1 (maybe)

Action Comics #1

$1million. The most expensive comic ever sold. Exciting. The names of the seller and buyer were not disclosed, though I suspect that we will get more info in due course. The previous record for the most expensive comic - another, not so well maintained copy of Action #1, which sold last year for $317,000. Apparently there are about 100 copies of the issue in existence. One day...oh yes...one day...you will be mine.

More secret avengers pics

Its Iron Man!

Well it has been released now anyway - we know the line up:

Buy Pile 18th & 25 Feb

Batman And Robin #9
Black Lantern Green Arrow #30 Blackest Night
Blackest Night #7
Blackest Night JSA #3
Flash Rebirth #6
Gotham City Sirens #9
Marvels Project #6

Azrael #5
Batman #696
Batman Streets Of Gotham #9
Black Widow Deadly Origin #4
Blackest Night The Flash #3
Daredevil #505
Dark Avengers #14 Siege
Devil #1 (maybe)
Green Lantern #51 Blackest Night
Green Lantern Corps #45 Blackest Night
Spider-Woman #6

Return of Bruce Wayne

Well it was only a matter of time. He has been gone since the end of Crisis and I must admit I expected it to be a lot longer before he returned. What will happen to the cowl? Will he take it back? Will Dick continue in his role? Grant Morrison is on board so it has gotta be good. Some pics: