I almost got sick of the sight of comics and graphic novels during the Epic House Rearranging which is now thankfully done. A load of stuff got exiled to the ugly wardrobe but moving all those books made me go all reminiscey for olden times when comics cost 25p and the whole month worth of Marvels arrived at the newsagent up the road from my school on the last Thursday of the month. I still have three big bookcases packed solid with comics and bloody hundreds of graphic novels / trade paperbacks. Oh that smell of old paper, you cann’t beat it! How much do comics cost now, anyway? £2.50 or something mental?

Top comics bloke Kieron Gillen wrote both Phonogram volumes (you may have seen me blog about those before) and he has been writing the new but already cancelled Marvel series S.W.O.R.D. Damnit, it turned out to be the new Captain Britain and MI13 (great but doomed). There’s a good interview with him on the Newsarama site, well worth a look as it covers his past, present and future work:

Hell, you could look at ‘(Phonogram) the Singles Club’ as a cross-over between seven different indie-comics, if you see what I mean. That was good training for (Marvel’s) Siege.

New Mutants ties in with Siege and sees Dani Moonstar starting to pay off her debt to Hela, which she picked up in the ‘Utopia’ cross-over. Niko Henrichon is a phenomenon, frankly.

Gillen on New Mutants? I’m up for that.

The final issue of S.W.O.R.D is out in March. Damnit.

So what else is good at the moment? Well…

The Authority have been decidedly ropey for ages now but the current Lost Year series is good stuff, including their visit to the real world. Keith Giffen writing from Grant Morrison’s plots for that series that never got finished is definitely some kind of thing. Talking of Morrison, he has taken Batman and Robin to In-Ger-Land and may have slightly exaggerated some local ways:

Is this a new piece of cockney rhyming slang?

Batwoman is definitely one to watch, her current run in Detective Comics just screams Oversized Hardcover. Which sounds smuttty.

Still with the Morrison connection we have Doom Patrol 7 which features one of his old characters:

Hardcore geeks wet their pants over that. Maybe.

Forthcoming:

May 2010. For the gays.

I’ve been busy doing interiors stuff at home, as well as discovering old things in boxes to delight and baffle (blogs on that to follow at some pojnt) but for now here’s a nice new homagey comic cover coming in May:

Oh yeah, it’s X-Men 138 all over again. That was the first issue I ever bought, albeit in a black and white Marvel UK reprint form. This one is from the following release:

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #35
Brad Meltzer (W), Georges Jeanty (P, Cover), Andy Owens (I), Michelle Madsen (C), and Jo Chen (Cover)
On sale May 5
FC, 40 pages
$2.99
Ongoing

Brad Meltzer concludes his blockbuster run on Buffy Season Eight! After last issue’s climactic encounter between Buffy and the unmasked Twilight, the Slayer army’s entire mission has been altered and the true nature of the threat they face has been revealed.
Everyone is in place to confront the Big Bad once and for all as Buffy’s most epic season races toward the final arc, written by Joss Whedon!
• Executive produced by Buffy creator Joss Whedon!
• Final issue of Brad Meltzer’s game-changing arc on Season Eight!

I am such a geek.

I’m so behind with my comic waffle. Got a bumper week of new stuff to read so here are some highlights form the last fortnight …

Angel comic is very hit and miss but new writer Bill ‘Fables’ Willingham may be able to sort it out:

Gotta love those floating purple telepathic fish. Only in comics (probably).

Buffy has also been a bit crap/good/crap recently but they ‘leaked’ (on purpose) a big future revelation (not spoiling it here for non-comic website geeks) and sales may go up. Anyway:

I am such a nerd.

Other odd Buffy plot (which is not a spoiler now) is the slightly iffy Xander/Dawn thing. Here’s the blatant justification from Mister Whedon:

Not all my comics are TV tie-ins but…

I should stop now.

That issue of New Avengers was quite fun. Art currently being done by Stuart ‘Nextwave’ Immonen if that means anything to you. It does to me.

Meanwhile, Spider-Woman is still pretty but sloooooow:

She thinks too much, bless her.

While I remember, Talk About The Passion Magazine issue one arrived and is wonderful. You can buy it here and look at my column*

*Not a penis reference.

Honest.

A break from the 2009 lists with some comics waffle, although these are also kind of Best Of in their own way:

Warren Ellis has been writing those X-Men geezers (and birds) this year so it’s been a slightly slow at times experience with loads of good ideas thrown up in the air and some of them stuck. The current story is a bit too similar to another one going on in the same fictional universe but it’s good stuff and looks pretty so all is forgiven.

Another anthology mutant title (Nation X) has a nice bit of Mike Allred art this month and some mutant urinal chat rule-breaking:

Meanwhile, over in Uncanny X-Men, Storm has gone all regal:

Psylocke is back and only slightly less convoluted than before:

DC Comics’ highlight of the year has to be the current run of Detective Comics with the Bat Woman tale as it is a work of bloody art that is crying out for an oversized hard cover collection:

James Robinson’s Justice League is taking shape nicely, using an interesting mix of characters. I am rather biased as I’m a massive fan of his work:

Gotta love them funny-coloured aliens!

Tomorrow will probably involve more lists of some sort.

I could blog about packing up the bloody office, orgasnising a sales conference and attending it while some men move the office contents to a new location and then having to unpack it all over a period of several days, making me rather tired, but I won’t. I’ll show you some pretty pictures from comics instead:

Doctor 10.0 is still having fun over in those wacky comics, and is currently getting in a pickle with an Orgon, a Draconian and a Sontaran. As you do.

Mike ‘Lucifer’ (the comic he wrote, he is not the devil) Carey’s X-Men run is a jolly good load of fun, and not just because he included a cameo from long lost (perhaps for the best) 80s character Ariel. No not that one, the other one. You know, from that Fallen Angels miniseries you’ve forgotten about but I remember buying in Basildon.

Meanwhile, in Gotham, District Attorney Kate Spencer (this is becoming like a Manhunter fansite) goes for a swim and meets a Dick. Mr Grayson of course.

Not a lot happened in my finally-found issue 4 of Phonogram Singles Club but they did play some good tunes.

Early period every time, none of that generic anonymous mix & match R&B tat.

So do I. I also like Phonogram. Talking of Phonogram writer Kieron Gillen…

He also writes the new S.W.O.R.D series for Marvel featuring a rather belligerent Lockheed.

It stands for Sentient World Observation and Response Department in case you were wondering. Blame Joss Whedon, he created the idea.

With Jamie working in sunny Milton Keynes for a couple of days (boo hiss boo) I had time to catch up on my comic reading and this might seem like an easy way to fill a blog post up with pictures but… you’d probably be right.

Astonishing X-Men still exists in a ‘Continuity? What continuity?’ state as it does so like its slow writers and artists which make it difficualt to place chronologically. Never mind, it currently has Phil Jiminez drawing Warren Ellis’ freaky stories and he’s a great fit because he can draw people and things very well indeed. The characters still have a tendency to lapse into Ellisisms occasionally but I can cope with that.

X-Factor (no not the nothing-to-do-with-music TV ‘talent’ show) is still consistently entertaining and amusing and the 200th issue is almost here!

While DC are bringing black loads of dead characters as super zombiefied Black Lanterns in Blackest Night, Marvel’s mutants have their own dead-rising-from-graves problem in Necrosha. It could be horribly crap but so far is quite nice. Well as nice as resurrected slightly-possessed versions of old dead folks can be.

Talking of the revolving death door, Psylocke has a mini series of her own where they look like they’re sorting out some of the shit done to her character since someone had the dumb idea to turn the telepathic English rose into an Asian ninja because it was more “cool.”

Spider-Woman’s new series sure is pretty but not a lot has actually happened yet.

Kate Spencer has pissed off Two-Face in Manhunter (in her back-up strip in that other Batman book called Streets of Gotham). Oops.

James Robinson’s Justice League mini series is still going strong. I am glad to hear that Congorilla and Mikaal will be turning up in the regular series soon too, as every book deserves a super boffin gorilla and a blue gay alien Starman.

Right, time to read some more comics…

I bloody love a good read, I do.

For instance James Robinson’s Starman, which I will never stop wittering on about to anyone who will listen. The perfect self contained 80-odd issue series about family legacies, the value of old ‘junk’ and a trip into space featuring some brand new characters alongside classic DC ones from the last 60 years and set in a city that was as much a character as any of the humans. Well Robinson is currently writing Superman (which is merely alright, I was never a massive fan) and Justice League of America which is coming along just lovely…

Robinson has brought back the 1970s Starman Mikaal Tomas only to have his life pretty much destroyed by the villain of the piece. He’s made friends with a bloke who is now a super intelligent and strong gorilla though so he might get through this. The latest issue has a little appearance by one of those classic DC characters that Robinson made his own: it’s only the bloody Shade! :

This got me super excited. Justice League: Cry For Justice is a mini series with beautiful painted art and once this ends Robinson is on the main book. There’s a nice video interview with him over at Comic Book Resources that I recommend.

The other mainstream-yet-smashing team book for me right now has to be X-Factor. Not the tedious telly talent sap-fest but a rather dysfunctional ‘family’ of mutants (and ex-mutants) who run a detective agency when they’re not getting their friends pregnant, being trapped in an apocalyptic future, pitching in during alien invasions or other scrapes. The current volume is about to reach its 50th issue and then its numbering does that old chestnut of incorporating the old volume and jumping to issue 200:

There’s an interview with writer Peter David over here for any interested parties.

In non-graphic books, Douglas Coupland has a new book out and I hope I can get through it when I buy it. I’m a bit fussy and won’t waste my time if they don’t grab me after the first 50 or so pages which I think is fair enough. Bonus point for his odd grumpiness in a recent Guardian interview:

When a mobile phone in a far corner of the room sets off a twinkly ring tone, he freezes again. “Oh, sometimes I really don’t like 2009. Use your indoors voice, not your outdoors voice!” he exhorts under his breath, as the phone’s owner begins to talk. A pair of guests pass by on the landing, talking quietly together as they walk; Coupland tenses, then relaxes in relief. “That’s good,” he murmurs approvingly. “They’re using their indoor voices. Good.”

Oh yes. I bloody hate outdoors voices used indoors, on public transport and even outdoors. Meh.

I’m currently reading Dexter By Design which is the quite recent fourth book in the series and it’s coming along quite nicely. Non-spoiler: There’s been a murder!

So, what’s been going on?

Well, I had a snotty cold which kept me awake at night making nasty green stuff…

How did that picture get there?

I went to a barbecue last weekend and a garden party on the weekend just gone. Mixing with humans two weekends in a row? With no major incidents of saying the wrong thing or an attempted adoption by someone looking for a gay best friend? Excellent! Makes up for the loneliness (and looniness) of the solo office work. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t miss the joys of dealing with the public or the more petty and childish aspects of my former colleagues (ooh bitchy. But true) but some days the only thing I say is “large white Americano please.” I say that only once (but I am not in a stage production of ‘Allo Allo), it’s not my catchphrase or anything.

Bill ‘Fables’ Willingham and Matthew ‘Jack of Fables’ Sturgess started writing Justice Society Of America, which was a bit odd:

Yes, I am weird.

I started watching Eastenders by accident and found it to be actually rather good. A well-written soap opera with character-driven plots (none of yer Hollyoaksy event-driven stuff), actors with chemistry, a whole episode devoted to just three characters the other day (which worked because of logical writing and more of that character-driven plotting which is the key to decent drama), a muslim family who don’t just do stories about being muslims and a non-tedious gay character. Its only faults were some of the ever-present absurd ugly blokes getting hot women into bed (never the other way around) and some tedious soap villainy but that’s what you get with yer soaps. Whatever next? Countdown? No. I leave that sort of thing to Jamie who has spent this evening watching a triple bill of Countdown, some new quiz presented by Alexander “Mr Smith, I need you!” Armstrong and Only Connect.

Normal service resumed: Marvel Divas, if judged by the cover, is a big chunk of camp cheese… or is it? Well I looked inside and found it to be not that bad. It stars Monica from Nextwave, Felicia ‘Black Cat’ Hardy, Patsy Walker and Angie aka Firestar, in a rather soap opera-ish Marvel (the clue’s in the title) adventure where they mostly do a lot of talking:

They also do ‘issues’ but it was a success to this reader:

I think I recommend this.

I also recommend the almost-here Lost Stories:

The Doctor and Peri finally get to go to Blackpool after that fun on Necros in a new series of audio nonsense (I use that word in the loving way, I am a massive fan) from Big Finish. I have subscibed to this so now have three bloody Doctor Who series on the go from them.

Also coming soon:

Dollhouse is coming back and if it maintains the form of the latter part of series 1 we are in for a treat.

Ed and Oucho’s Transmission Impossible has finished, leaving a cactinian gap in my weekend schedule but they are of making more Excellent Inventions episodes. They have also been turning up on other CBBC programmes as these clips show:

Oh yes.

And oh yes again.

I have run out of time and space so not going to do mini reviews of new albums by Theoretical Girl (beautiful music with an ugly cover. Very recommended and not just because she’s my friend Cheryl’s mate, honest), Erik Hassle (reasonable Swedish indiepop), or Calvin Harris (much better than I thought and good if you crave an early 90s dance music thing from the present. Or am I?

Item! Bleeding obvious from the picture but this is Miles Fisher:

My friend Ben Baker (comedy and pop pimp extraordinaire) pointed him out to me and I must say oh yes rather good etc etc even if the song I like best from his free to donwnload from his website EP is a cover. It has a very good video too.

With boobs.

Item! The Angel comic may well be redeemed with the news that one of my favourite comics people aka Bill ‘Fables’ Willingham is taking over the writing.

“The last thing we’ve found out is that Angel is now known in LA as a vampire and he’s famous. So we’ll see what happens when you’re a hero who’s suddenly so famous that, wherever he goes a crowd develops because he’s famous, but then they start getting panicky because, doesn’t he fight demons wherever he goes?”

That Drusilla Vampiric Look is out soon too, as part of the ongoing series. Co-written by the woman also known as Juliet Landau.

Item! Variety article makes me go “ooh”: Watchmen producer Lloyd Levin has acquired screen rights to Echo, a comicbook series by Terry Moore. Deal was six figures. Echo tells the story of a photographer who is preoccupied with her personal problems until she gets doused by liquid metal from a military experiment gone awry. She discovers she can now harness the power of a nuclear bomb, and soon the military wants its walking weapon.

Terry Moore is bloody great and also created this…

…which should really have been an HBO series by now.

Item! I love a bit of literary culture, what with working in publishing and shit:

Phwoar. I do love a nice natural pretty well-mannered lady writer…

… I believe this is far more accurate.

Item! Codshit ‘Journalism’ Award of the week goes to the Daily Mail again:

Harry Potter boy in exclusive “revealing of big secret” to gaymosexual mag? What could it be? Surely not…?

Nah. It’s this shocker: “I rather like Nick Clegg. At the next election I will almost certainly vote Lib Dem. If all the people who liked them voted for them you could change politics overnight and we could have a proper three party system.”

*Gasp*

It’s time for mega Nerd Nonsense Comicon-related uber-geeky excitement round-up time!

This blog is sponsored by Jan Hankl’s Patented Flank Pat System:

Item! The Prisoner remake is ready and looks good to these eyes. It’s not spooky swirly 60s marvellous nonsense in Wales but for what it is it is good.

Item! The trailer for Dexter series 4? Oh yes!

New book on its way soon too, in that whole Earth 2 Dexterverse way.

Item! Russell T Davies has been talking about the (over) reaction to certain things what did happen in that Torchwood thing off the telly. No, not the whole giving the 10% least academic children to a freaky three-headed projectile-vomiting alien but the fourth killing off of a member of the team from the first episode:

It’s not particularly a backlash. What’s actually happening is, well, nothing really to be honest. It’s a few people posting online and getting fans upset. Which is marvelous. It just goes to prove how much they love the character and the actor. People often say, ‘Fans have got their knives out!’ They haven’t got any knives. I haven’t been stabbed. Nothing’s happened. It’s simply a few people typing. I’m glad they’re typing because they’re that involved. But if you can’t handle drama you shouldn’t watch it. Find something else. Go look at poetry. Poetry’s wonderful.

On accustations of homophobia (yeah, really):

I think you can forget about people picking up gay rights as an issue. It’s rather like children picking up nursery blocks and waving them in the air but having no idea what it entails. We’re talking about issues in my entire life here, not just one small television program. If they did research they’d go and look at the history of gay and lesbian characters that I have put on screen. They should simply grow up, do some research, and stop riding on a bandwagon that they actually don’t know anything about.

That told ‘em, Uncle Russ!

Oh… stop it.

Item! How will the delicate little Torchwood fans (do they have a group name?) cope with Caprica? Probably not well. Big Cheese Jane Espenson (remember her?) let some cats out of bags about the forthcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel:

Caprica is set in the colonies 58 years before the events that launch the BSG series (the Cylon attack). It’s the story of the events leading to the creation of the first Cylon (not the first skinjob), and the events that follow. It’s not like BSG in that it’s not a war story. It’s more serialized, with stories based in the lives of characters living in a culture that driving itself toward its own destruction.
We’ve got organized crime and religious conflict and terrorism and show business and corporate misdeeds and robots. The tone is not unlike Mad Men or Rome or Sopranos — lots of events, often dark events, but with a light enough touch to allow all the irony and denial of real life. We concentrate on two families: The Graystones and the Adamas, and the people around them.

Hmm… I do believe I might well be watching that. More nerdy shit tomorrow as my limp wrists cannot take any more typing today.