Ian Mayor

Planetside Memories Pt.2 of 3.

2012-01-15T15:57:00.000Z

A New Conglomerate Soldier - Mid Drop

That first raid into enemy territory was a heady taste of Planetside's potential (without highlighting any of its' failings).

Hot-drops (dropping from the transport, like a sci-fi paratrooper, without the 'chute) onto outlying enemy towers, killing the minimal resistance, hacking the doors and rushing to the control terminal as a squad, was a straightforward shooter thrill. Then fortifying the tower as a spawn point for bigger engagements (we were skirting around the larger engagements on the continent), gave us a sense of purpose. A sense of camaraderie was present from the off, instilled by mechanics that required co-operation, a commander who knew the game (and looked after folks) and no voice chat to sour the experience (unlike playing any FPS on Xbox Live, at no point did I discover that my squad's sharpshooter was a 14 year old homophobe from Idaho).

It was a proper war game from the 'grunts' point of view.

A TR held base... not much else happening

The following Monday I discovered that work colleagues had not only got into the Beta too, but had enjoyed much the same experience. We pre-ordered in unison.

Moving on a month or two. In the game proper, playing TR on the Werner server. Myself, a few colleagues and my housemate had hooked up with an American run Outfit (Guild) called the Bastard Battalion.

I knew the game inside out at this point and had carved a niche within the guild as a lead pilot/driver, with advanced hacking and engineering. My personal narrative was that of a 'right hand man' I was a support player, the guy who'd get you were you needed to be, or bring the A.M.S. (mobile spawn point, essential for bigger attacks) and fortify it, do the A.N.T. run (players will know, sorry, everyone else)... and when need be (or when logged in alone), a solo-ninja, all stealth hacking and espionage off the beaten path.

I stumbled into this route as a way of playing to the games strengths and avoiding its not insignificant flaws. Planetside was significantly better than the sum of its parts, most of which were rather ropey when taken in isolation.

It wasn't a pretty game, bland height-maps lightly peppered with a few generic buildings and trees.

Combat was poor, twitch gaming is always a tricky proposition in a laggy environment (and all MMO's are pretty laggy), but that consideration aside, weapon combat was seriously lacking in feedback's.

The physics were terrible (vehicles glided, lacking the sensation of traction or inertia and savvy players could abuse the system, finding routes up sheer mountainsides).

But the pay-off of these limitations was scale.

A 64 man fight (Battlefield 3's player limit) was fairly common, and commonly surpassed, with hundreds fighting for the same objectives every time you logged in.

The promise of Planetside was delivered in those rare engagements when the battle was big enough to feel like war but not so concentrated as to grind the game to a laggy halt.

The Alamo

The second Planetside experience I'll take to the grave was my Outfits futile, beautiful last stand against an entire faction (or so it felt like).

The New Conglomerate had all but swept the island, continent lock was on (when an islands population limit had been hit, no other players could join) our Tower was the final friendly spawn point on the map and we were ready to decamp en mass, when our commanding officer issued the simple order.

"No. We hold the tower"

NC troops that had just taken a nearby base were en route, a few none BB TR troops were with us and we braced ourselves for contact.

For forty five minutes we held. Repelling a Galaxy drop on the roof, a few engineers keeping our MAX's (mech-armour) standing as the ground level doorways become crowded with the corpses of our foes, a Vanguard heavy tank turning up, blasting pointlessly at our invincible walls. We couldn't last forever, all it would take was the NC to take the roof (one good squad with a little air support could do it) or put our MAX's down. The inevitable drew closer.

Then something cool happened.

A sandstorm blew in (a weather system had recently been patched into the game), dropping visibility to a few metres... and letting me sneak out of the tower.

Suddenly I was fighting a Guerilla Action. Killing lone snipers, planting automatic gun turrets on the NC troops attack routes (a nuisance more than a serious threat, but still), even hacking their A.M.S. spawn point (closing it down for the whole minute it took to kill me and hack it back).

We could not win, and we didn't, but it's the most rewarding defeat I've ever suffered in a game. I lived the drama, the romantic notion of fighting to the last.

Planetside Memories Pt.1 of 3.

2011-12-30T20:00:00.000Z

Troops of the Terran Repulblic. Space Nazis. My lot.

On a winter eve's when the nights are cold and the broadband is laggy and strained, I like to mix myself an Old Fashioned, wince at an imaginary war wound and reminisce about my tour of Planetside, the Sony developed Sci-Fi MMOFPS that I played during Beta and for maybe a year afterwards.

Planetside holds the unique honour of being the stage for two of my absolutely favourite gaming memories, the kind you recount with the real animation and an elevated level's of adrenaline, as if you were there (and it's the only MMO to do that).

To set the scene, it was 2003, I was working in my first Games Design job in Warwickshire, R Kelly was topping the charts with Ignition Remix and I was sharing a house with an awesome East German dude named Jens. We split the cost of what was my first broadband connection and between rounds of Soldier of Fortune II, we both chanced onto the closed Beta test for Planetside.

The Auraxis World map with warp-gate network... shivers.

Planetside appealed in concept because, well, it was the game I always thought I wanted to play.

Seemingly a simulation of full scale, asymmetric, army-on-army warfare that took place on a whole world, thirteen linked maps the size of continents (pretty small ones, like...and they were later re-contextualized as planets (weird)... and a cave system was added in an expansion).

It all looked so appealing (sci-fi warfare remains one of my favourite milieux) screen-shots revealed a pleasing, slightly G.I. Joe aesthetic to the soldiers, vehicles and buildings and there was a real sense of scale in environments and engagements. It was likened to a larger scale Tribes 2, which was a clear inspiration.

I joined the game, alone (my housemate was away), not knowing what to expect, and that first hour is one of my prized gaming memories.

Me. In Planetside. 2003.

There's a scene, right at the start of Platoon, Charlie Sheen has just arrived in a camp, apprehensive, the dust of Hughie's taking off, the bustle of armed men and armoured vehicles buzzing by. The makers of Planetside knew that scene intimately, and made sure to spawn newbies right at the heart of their factions' Sanctuary, faction chatter spams your feed, squads assemble, transport and armour and mobilise.

I was literally minutes into the game, basically a guy with a popgun stumbling around when, from a small group of soldiers right in front of me, an open call was put out for troops. Which (after working out the crap chat interface), I accepted.

The guy in charge of the squad (Planetside had a whole command XP progression, and a raft of command enhancements for squad leaders) was a classic Bartle socialiser. A mentor, interested in teaching, collaborating and group achievement. Consequently, he was willing to hand-hold newbs, had a similarly friendly command crew and a plan.

Galaxy Dropship. Part troop transport, part gunship, open homage to Aliens

After we hit the squad limit (10 guys), I got my first good look at the mighty Galaxy dropship (I was my Outfit's lead pilot by the time I left the game) coming to pick us up. We quickly set off for the warp gate to hostile territory.

As passenger in a Gal you can't do much but chat and cycle through fixed cameras of the Dropship. One of them is a classic, first person, as if you were sitting with your legs dangling out of a helicopter on route to Mai Lai... which was clearly the point.

That first flight, over the jungle continent (whose name escapes me), tapped into every Vietnam film I'd ever seen and delivered on the extremely childish premise that going to war would fuckin' cool.

I hadn't tasted combat yet, but I was well on the way to being SOLD.

2011 - A year that happened.

2011-12-28T17:24:00.002Z

2010. Amazing photography abounds this year.

2011 has contained a dizzying mix of highs and lows, a net win on balance, just about.

Anyway, here's my 'year in stuff'.

Game of Thrones

Ok, make sure your sound is on and watch the most beautiful TV intro sequence in the last ten years.

Game of Thrones* is superior television and one of the few things this year I've watched as it was broadcast, not at a subsequent, convenient time.

GoT is a highly political fantasy epic fashioned from grit, blood, lust and lies that has an utterly unsanitary middle ages vibe to it. Death is only "one bad potato away" (as my good mate James put it), and that appeals.

It feels big, the cast is roundly amazing and the production is as slick and grand as TV gets. I'm really looking forward to the second season in 2012.

Cancer

Odious little horror

This year my mother was treated for breast cancer, suffering the indignity and pain of surgery, hair loss and weight gain followed by months of invasive, preventative treatments that rob her days of joy.

My mother doesn't think she's a brave woman, but she is, and although she has a few months of Herceptin left to go, we can see the end of it. She's slowly getting her hair, energy and life back.

My mother's illness hit the while family like a hammer blow, we're ecstatic she's on the mend and immeasurably thankful to the NHS doctors and nurses for the treatment she received.

Engagement

The Rock

On the Saturday 13th of February I got down on one knee, presented a stunningly beautiful girl with the best shiny thing I could get my hands on and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me. She agreed, and although I'm pretty sure she was drunk at the time, a promise is a promise.

Alison and I, on paper, shouldn't get on. Fortunately the reality is rather different, ok, she can barely tolerate my crap (comics/books/games/films) geeking up the joint and refuses to put anything on TV that's not a 90's themed music channel after a couple of scoops, but as long as I ply her with sushi from time to time, she's happy.

She'll read this one day, and when you do, petal, remember, I will always make you happy... and sometimes make you sushi.

And cocktails.

Politics

George Osbourne, probably related to Norman, does not take a good photo

I find myself forced to be a little more politically aware these days and my rather left-leaning tendencies have found a little more focus while I've generally developed a less binary, more nuanced grasp on a few issues.

I say forced because, well, I really didn't want to have another thing to worry about (especially this year), but I find beliefs and institutions I hold dear under threat and felt rather compelled to find out why.

Yeesh.

I'll naively relate what I found out to something I'm a little bit qualified to talk about.

Now, as a designer of games systems, I don't much rate how British politics works (which I thankfully concede, is still better than most countries in the world). It's mechanically archaic, obscure in practice and is tied into so many other systems that the democratic component gets rather lost. Which defeats the point of 'democracy', curtails popular engagement and breeds a great deal of resentment.

Reality, of course, is not a game and this is a very simplistic assessment -but- I don't think there's any system in the world that couldn't use refining. British Politics needs a redesign.

Citalopram

Some Science: Yesterday

Last year (2010) I was "signed off" work with work-related-stress, which was the result of development problems my department were enduring for well over 24 months. I found the whole thing embarrassing and frustrating, but now I'm out the other side I've learned a lot from it, I guess.

Anyway, after three-ish months of home leave, I was in a 'return to work' phase. I'd work half-days at a time, a couple of days a week, before slowly upping the days and hours until I was back in the grind.

One of many pictures I took of crap in the river Tyne.

Leaving work on these half-days, walking back from the office to Central Station along the river Tyne, I generally found myself so mortified with my situation that I couldn't imagine returning to the office full time; I pride myself on being creative, a drive which had all but left me, and figured I'd have to leave games and work out some other way of living my life.

Enter science.

After declining the offer for some time I finally deferred to my Doctor's advice and began taking an antidepressant. Now, maybe a year later, I'm off the prescription (as of November 2011), sharp like cheddar and looking forward to a happy and productive 2012.

I had resisted taking medication because I was scared.

I like how my mind works, (dark moods and all) and was terrified that by taking a pill that tweaked my brain chemistry, I'd irreparably blunt an edge, lose some of the idiosyncratic thought processes that made me "me".

This fear was, of course, nonsense.

I commit this to 'blog' because, there's a stigma attached to mental health that is pretty damaging, and if it helps even one person have a slightly easier ride I'd rather speak out against it.

If you having a problem with stress or depression, and decline to seek treatment you'll suffer pain you could avoid, and if left unchecked, well, stress can kill you, depression can kill you. Don't let it.

My advice to anybody reading this is simple. Seek help if you even suspect you need it, take the advice with an open mind and don't be scared to take medication guys and gals, it helped me.

Drive

Caption irrelevant in this case

My film of the year was Nicolas Winding Refn's portrait of a psychopath, Drive*.

An exercise in precision film making this is diamond hard noir, simple but just about flawless in conception and execution.

Just get hold of a copy.

Terra Nova

More terrible than even this picture makes it seem

Terra Nova, the most expensive TV show ever made, is a perversely entertaining lesson in how not to do it.

Just beneath the show's leathery, multi-million dollar, CG hide rests the mutated fossil of a good idea, pulled apart by strange editorial gravity, wired back together by a committed production team, lipstick applied by a cabal of marketing ghouls and all the sharp edges removed by a moron (or possibly a hand picked team of morons).

It's sci-fi that's ashamed to be clever, or absurd, or even sci-fi. It's a harsh frontier story that looks like a holiday camp. It's a family drama without chemistry, conflict or any sense of attachment. It's a checklist of plot and character points, strung together as per manufacturers instructions, dutifully ticked off and about as much fun as that sounds.

It's tens of million dollars of nothing. Not even CG dinosaurs can save it.

It's as if a hundred chef's contributed to the same meal 'concept' and managed to produce 3 tonnes of PH neutral, uncooked, unseasoned dough. It is 'no things' to 'no people' with the occasional glimpse... the merest second of 'one' of the directions it could choose.

I watched every single one.

Dread

To you that looks like Jenga, to Paul, (pictured) it looks like death.

I fell out with Computer Games a bit in 2011, which is a remiss of me given A: My trade -and- B: That I bloody love them. But that's not to say I didn't have my eye on things; very much a year of well crafted sequels (including my own game, Driver: San Francisco), new product was thin on the ground on console formats.

Elsewhere, Minecraft was finally 'released', and was awesome. My iPhone got a lot of hammer with Tiny Tower, Sworcery and Jet Pack Joyride.

The most fun I've had with 'gaming' this year was a bit more social.

I hosted an RPG for the first time since my teens, using the Dread system, which can basically be summed up as containing 'no rules and a Jenga tower'. The campaign I ran, (back in January) was a genuine joy (must do more of that kind of thing).

Canny Comics and The Paperjammers

Am unreconstructed fascist thug. And Judge Stewart,

Since moving to Newcastle, some five years ago now, I've been a proud member of a sociable group of small-press comic book creators (and enthusiasts) called the Paper Jam Comics Collective.

Members have come and gone but the group has remained solid and is evolving into something a bit special. More and more of the gang are getting their work out there, and getting 'work' as a result, so while our meetings remain on a social tip, the members themselves are becoming comic book names to watch.

This year, one of our number decided to put a Comic Book Convention on.

The Canny Comics Con, was a free one-day con at Newcastle Central Library, which saw around 500 attendees, guests including Al Ewing, Gary Erskine, Bryan Talbot and The Viz, panels, workshops and more.

Organised primarily by the attention shunning Alexi Conman, his partner Stacey Whittle, and a few more Paper Jam types, the Con was quickly arranged, remarkably successful and something I was proud to play a small part in.

It was something of a highlight.

Looking forward...

I could go on about my year, but frankly... you've suffered enough. So I'll just leave you with a few things to look for in 2012.

North Comics

Ellroy - A Comic Book

I am finally getting off my arse and making some comics happen.

North Comics is me and my good friend Mack, we have a modest slate of books and pitches in the works (at least one we'll be developing, warts and all, very publicly), and we both have the annoying trait of bullying each other into activity.

You'll be hearing from us soon.

Prometheus

Noomi Rapace - Great name

The real deal, honest-to-Yaphet, prequel to Alien is happening, folks. Ridley Scott... 3D, the whole shebang.

I love Alien. I am nervous.

'Haven't been this nervous about a film since the Star Wars prequels.

I'm hoping that's not an omen.

Come at me Bro'

A deathtrap - soon

Oh, yeah, I'm designing a computer game too, a personal project pulling together a few things I've learned in the past nine years of pro-design and a desire to express myself in the medium.

This is a trickier proposition than comics as it takes more people (I cannot code for shit), more iteration, generally a bit more infrastructure, but I am thoroughly planning it before approaching potential dev partners.

If hectic, 4-player melee and platforming in a death-trap riddled mansion sounds like your bag, keep watching the blog.

The Social Event of the Season

Kirkley Hall, yo.

I'm getting married in September.

There's lots to plan but I cannot wait.

And that's it.

Happy New Year. Friends.

*Game of Thrones and Drive. Two occasions where I've preferred the adaptation to the novel... and there's not many more, Starship Troopers maybe?... That's about it.

Come at me... splut

2011-11-29T09:33:00.000Z

Please watch the above Video. Not unrelated to Come at me Bro'

Prometheus - the prequel to Alien

2011-11-27T16:44:00.002Z

Prometheus, shiny, scary face.

There are two reasons, as I can see it, for making Prometheus.

But first, let's talk Ridley Scott.

Counting Prometheus, Ridley Scott has directed twenty feature films. Two of which make my personal top-ten, both sci-fi, both directed 'about' thirty years ago.

When Russell Crowe was approached by Scott to do "a stupid gladiator thing" during the shooting of The Insider, director Michael Mann advised Crowe to take the role and told him that Ridley was "in the top two percent" of all directors in history.

He was born down the road from where I type this, and as of today he is seventy three years old (his Birthday is November 30th, I must remember a card).

Ridley Scott's second film, the 1979 horror/sci-fi Alien, means a lot to me. It scarred my brain at an early age with a depiction of the future that seemed perfectly plausible in aesthetic, theme and tone, has the most believable, relatable 'crew' in all of science fiction and features a genuinely terrifying (and uniquely 'alien') monster.

In the intervening years, Scott has made some great films, and some not so great ones.

Film-making is a dark art, with an array of forces pulling on any given multi-million dollar project, both commercial and artistic, they're collaborations too with all the strengths and weakness that brings.

Ultimately, films are fragile constructs. You never know how people will react to them, critically or commercially. This means that to make a film, even for a veteran, even for a master, is to roll a dice.

So why would Ridley Scott return to Alien?

For one of two reasons, or probably a mix of the two.

Alien is a legend. It was not a perfect film, but it touches perfection so often that the word clings to it. Aptly.

Alien has steered the development of two popular genres (horror and sci-fi) and it's tropes and aesthetic are now ingrained in our cinematic culture. It is a very important film, but one which you could argue already has a tarnished reputation.

A mixed bag of sequels and poorly conceived crossovers haven't hurt Alien as a film, but they have weakened the Alien 'franchise' to a pretty miserable state.

Now, franchise is a financial concept that you apply it to creative ventures with a very delicate hand (or, artistically at least, you break them), but in a world where you make more money from merchandise than box office it's the commercial reality of cinema.

So, as the artist who accidentally launched one of the most successful sci-fi franchises in the last thirty years, does Ridley Scott have the artistic ambition to put it back on track? Is Prometheus (note it's not titled Alien: Prometheus) an artistic refocus, or a simply a very commercial reboot of the franchise to exploit anew?

As I've implied, my guess is both.

I'm sure this 'reboot' would have gone ahead with or without Scott. But I believe, or like to believe, that Ridley Scott would not return to a masterpiece just to pick up a cheque. There has to be some meat here, right?

Prometheus scares me. I'm excited and optimistic, but don't know what I'm going to get.

Come at me Bro' Ethos

2011-11-25T20:22:00.000Z

Barbarian and its instant kills... bliss

The first rule of Come at me Bro' is that I talk about Come at me Bro'
The second rule of Come at me Bro' is that you listen about it... or read... you get the idea.

Anyway, let's talk ethos.

There's a lot of consensus in games design. A lot of common threads and accepted wisdom about accessibility, reward and progression that result in slick, compulsive time-sinks that, when taken to their logical conclusion result in your mum spending real money on a fake tractor.

Although I respect the evil super-genius it took to addict the middle aged to egg timers and spreadsheets I am virulently opposed to this crap and, frankly, resent the insidious creep of slow feed XP bars, achievements, economies and other misplaced RPG features messing with my chi (and the chi of every other frikkin' genre in games).

Come at me Bro' has none of that.

One of my favourite sensations in games is that of being under pressure, running out of time, pushing the limits of your ability against DEATH. This pressure a common feature of the fairly recent crop lethal 'one more go' platformer's, race games and their ilk (I'm thinking N, Meatboy, Trials HD).

My favourite venue for pressure is in the multiplayer arena, an FPS with especially lethal weapons, a (ever so rare) beat-em where one hit puts you down (IK+, Bushido Blade, Barbarian), and you're playing the game, playing the other guy and playing your nerves because the consequences are dire.

I want the player to face death and have a fraction of a second to triumph... or crumble.

The first time you play Come at me Bro', you won't be very good, you'll panic, flounder and lose. The second time you play you'll be better, a little sharper, surer of foot and fist. The third time you play you'll simultaneously dodge a death-trap and punch another player's digital face-off.

I want players to feel empowered, but, crucially, feel they've earned it in the crucible. Like steel is hardened by fire, shaped by hammer blows and sharpened against flint.

Come at me bro'

Foddy

2011-11-25T19:07:00.000Z

It's hard not to like Foddy...

2 player physics riot Poleriders

Dr. Bennet Foddy, deputy director of ethics and bioscience at Oxford university and creator of quirky, inventive and fun web-games.

Best known for QWOP, the part game-mechanic experiment, part joke where 'running' is not a player ability, but an impossible goal, Foddy actually has a diverse petit oeuvre of webgames that display a sense of humour, a retro-sensibility and, well, a love of gaming.

Do check him out.

Nidhogg

2011-11-05T20:40:00.000Z

In a not unrelated note, how cool does Nidhogg look?

Come at me Bro'

2011-11-05T15:30:00.003Z

IK+ ...inspirational

I'm a computer games designer (this fact still surprises me sometimes) and I have been for about nine years now.

In that time I've contributed to numerous designs, sharpened my craft around thirty odd other designers (at three different companies) and have become thoroughly conversant in game mechanics and the practicalities of production.

But I've never, in my life, designed a computer game that's reflective of my own creative leanings.

Which is a bit weird, when you think about it.

So. Inspired, in part, by my mate @DustOrgan and by some of the awesome mini-game projects I've seen around the office I'm going to remedy that.

MY game, preliminarily titled "Come at me Bro'" (a name I narrowly prefer to "Punch Three Guys") is a "a game of fighting and awesome", a variation on a multiplayer platform-game/fighter idea I've had for years, designed to accessible, swift and amusingly perilous.

The kernel of the idea stems from a game I used to play when I was nine. This one.

I'll be logging the design on the blog so expect sporadic updates.

Kahlua and Bacardi Chocolate Brownie

2011-04-17T15:09:00.002+01:00

Because a couple of friends have asked, and because it's awesome, here's the Brownie recipe I made yesterday, adapted from a recipe in Olive magazine.

Kahlua and Bacardi Brownie.

Ingredients:

120g unsalted butter
250g Golden Caster Sugar
Eggs 2 + 2 yolks
210g Very dark chocolate (mine was 60+%)
2 tbsp Kahlua
2 tbsp Bacardi
1/4 tsp Salt
1tsp baking powder
165g plain flour

Method:

Heat the oven, 180c (fan 160c) gas 4. Line something oven safe with foil, it needs to be about 5cm deep, the recipe I adapted called for 23cm square tin, I used an oval casserole thing and it worked fine.
Set your chocolate melting on the stove (in a bowl over a boiling pan, obv). Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl, when thoroughly mixed, add your eggs, one at a time, incorporating as you go. Let your melted chocolate cool a little, fold in, then incorporate the sweet sweet boozahol.
Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into bowl, fold in into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into the foil lined tin, when I did it the batter was about 3cm deep, I figure 4-5 would have been perfect. Place in the centre of the oven, you're cooking from between 15-25 minutes (and be sure to turn the tin at around 10 mins, most ovens have weird hotspots), I know the timing sounds vague, but you need check the cake at 15 mins, skewer it with something, if the skewer comes out hot with slightly crumby, gooey goodness on it. You're done, gooey is better than cakey.
Leave to cool. It should come off the foil easily, cut into squares and enjoy.

Serve with coffee, ice-cream cocktails, whatever.

Alien Facts

2011-03-06T10:23:00.002Z

One of my favourite films is Ridley Scott's 1979 classic, Alien. Over several years I've read every script draft I could find and studied the production history of the film, from Dan O'Bannon's original concept, through to H.R. Giger's addition to the production crew, shooting, editing and beyond. In that time time I've discovered some really interesting facts about the film that I've never seen collected in one place before.

So I give you, the top 5. little known 'Alien' facts.

Isaac Hayes

1. In an early cut, the Alien was voiced by Isaac Hayes and repeatedly stated his 'mission was dishin’ out good lovin’.

Wine

2. In early drafts of the script the alien not only had acid for blood but wee'd Pinot Grigio.

Japan

3. The Japanese title for Alien translates as: "Honorable Space Miss VS Tall Metal Penis"

Worcester

4. On set, Sigourney Weaver and Yaphett Koto had several fierce arguments about the correct pronunciation of 'Worcester'

Walter Hill

5. Producer Walter Hill wanted to call the film 'Scarysaurus'

Eye opening stuff.

What I've been up to.

2011-01-30T08:45:00.000Z

Busy times, my friends, busy times.

So:

Driver San Francisco

Cars. San-Francisco. Stuff

The game I've been working on approaches release, the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of different people. Not that much I can say about it, but it's looking cool, folks.

Comics

Ghostly visions

I have a couple of comic-book shorts on the go with good friends, one of whom, Mister Jack Couvela has begun posting WIP images on his blog.

This short is inspired by the song Paranormal Investigator by The Stillwells for a music themed anthology with the mighty Paper Jam Comics Collective (compiled by the supremely talented ginger yeti).

The other is with my buddy Malc, I'm sure we'll post some stuff in due course.

Dread

Claustrophobic Spacecraft

For the first time in many years I've been hosting an RPG.

Dread is a horror system that is all about story telling and tension creation, played without dice or character statistics any action for which the outcome is in doubt requires the player to make a successful pull on a Jenga tower.

I've set up a fun space setting and spent an afternoon torturing some good friends with it, the Dread Blog I've set up is pretty easy reading, do take a ganders. More to come, no doubt.

Other stuff

Other stuff. Ominous.

And there's more on the go, I've finally written a children's book, been dabbling with some interesting game and story concepts and generally getting my creative brain back into shape.

I plan on experiencing more 'stuff' this year, playing a lot more games this year (played very little for the latter half of 2010), doing a lot more things and generally broadening -and- honing my meagre talents.

Hope all is cool with however reads this. Later.

Awesome Spaceships

2010-11-21T13:22:00.000Z

Slave 1 - The Empire Strikes Back 1980

Liberator - Blake's 7 1978

The Normandy - Mass Effect 2007

Uss Cygnus - The Black Hole 1979

Far, far, far from any kind of exhaustive list, but I've been looking at a lot of sci-fi recently and I realise that the last 'memorable' spaceship I saw was the Normandy from Mass Effect.

Firefly's Serenity managed to create an iconic ship, but not a really a cool one. Am I missing some new, great spaceship designs?

Cheap blog post, I know, but still... spaceships.

Avengers. Joss Whedon.

2010-09-27T13:09:00.001+01:00

Note: I found this old post nearly completed in my draft folder, a couple of other details have cropped up since I wrote it, but as I've been quiet lately, thought I'd post it. Also... this is me at about my most geeky.

San Diego Comic Con saw Joss Whedon, director of Marvels comics 2012 Avengers film, take to the stage with the (to date) confirmed cast, he's been a bit chatty too.

Here's a little conjecture on what we might get.

1. Ultimate Influence

Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates, an alternate universe rendition of the Avengers was constructed as the cinematic, widescreen version of the Marvel Universe, and has in turn influenced Marvel's movie slate very clearly.

From the casting of Nick Fury to the boy-at-play demeanor of Tony Stark and the look of Thor, the hooks of the Ultimates are deeply embedded.

Although 'Asgard Tech' seems to be binding the wider universe together, and Joss is an old school Marvel head, expect a lot of Ultimates to find it's way into Avengers.

2. Conspiracy and Betrayal

Looking at Joss's track record: Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse, Serenity, Titan AE even (although I don't know how much Whedon remains in the script) each contain a conspiracy, close to the root.

In Buffy, Sunnydale was built to be a home to demons, the Watchers, Buffy's mentors, frequently worked to their own agendas, in Serenity, the Blue Sun Corporation were a 'hidden in plain sight' menace, pulling the strings.

The world's he makes contain riddles, trusted companions do betray, and looking back to the Ultimates, for a minute... there is form here.

3. The Appliance of Science Fiction.

The glue that holds the Marvel movies together is science, it's a straight-forward sell with Iron Man because he's dressed in technology that, far fetched though it is, we understand. It's grounded, our day to day reality is not far from Iron Man's world.

Expanding that logic to the wider Marvel Universe, inhabited by Gods and monsters of all kinds is a little harder.

The Incredible Hulk just about pulled it off, care was made to ground the 'wilder' fantasy elements in our reality, research labs in this version of the Hulk are on College campus's not in underground lairs for instance.

Next year's Thor is a far crazier proposition with an origin steeped in magic and myth. And one that's hard to reconcile with the grounded, 'reality' based approach of the other Marvel movies.

Here they've taken a more radical step, now Magic IS Science, and 'Gods' are those who wield technology too advanced for us to understand. It's a common Sci-Fi conceit, but using it as the glue of the cinematic Marvel Universe has some far reaching implications.

It's all science fiction, now. Expect the 'threat' in the Avengers film to come from science fiction too.

4. Scale.

An Avengers film has to be big. It has to be vast in scope, terrifying in peril and obscene in budget. If it doesn't, well that's kind of missing the point.

We know it's an ensemble piece, we can assume the crisis the team face will be at least global in scale... and I think puts us into Disaster Movie territory.

We also know it's got to be threat the Avengers can fight (it's not going to be a natural disaster)... so what does that leave us?

Guesses:

So, what do I think?

Ultimate Captain America's 'man out of time' bit, will be a thread in Avengers. His 40's sensibilities will be a little lost in 2010. Expect him to butt heads with Futurist Tony Stark.
One of the Avengers will betray them, be a plant of some kind, not what they seem (this is a Whedon-ism I just think he'll go for).
Although there are strong rumours Thor villain Loki will play a part, and I suspect Captain America's Red Skull too... along with the Cosmic Cube. My money is on the real peril being provided by a villain we haven't seen yet... my hunch, Kang.

It's a temporal invasion, folks, I've never seen it on the big screen before (although this guy sees it a lot on TV) and it plays very nicely into Cap's Arc (he is 'lost in time' as it were).

Final Wildcard Geekery Guess.

Although Fringe has nicked (and therefore devalued) his bit, I half expect this guy to show up too.

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

2010-08-10T08:10:00.001+01:00

Superheroes with longevity are often built on a simple conceit. This is both their defining appeal and their limitation.

The appeal is that we can all 'get them', see something of ourselves in them, a universal, a truth.

Spider-Man is struggling to grow up, a teenager with teenage problems learning to take responsibility for himself (in the absence of a father figure).

The Fantastic Four are your bickering family (or maybe the family you wish you had), they love each other and will solve any problem if they stick together.

The limitation is that in order to maintain this appeal, they can't really evolve. A mythos can be added to, changing attitudes in society can be reflected, but elements that damage the core conceit will not last. The successful superhero exists in an envelope that can be pushed, but if pushed too far will snap like elastic back to the status quo, and the same stories will be retold, again and again.

Daredevil, The Man Without Fear aka blind lawyer and vigilante Matt Murdock is my favourite superhero, but you need to dig a little to reach his truth (which may account for his relative lack of popularity). I think the allusiveness of Matt's conceit is because the book took a long time to define what it was and because its tagline, its sales-pitch, the Man Without Fear, is rather misleading

I'll admit at this point I'm only really familiar with the modern incarnation of DD (Frank Miller onwards, I have a passing acquaintance with the happier, swashbuckling character I understand him to be beforehand), I'm no expert (if you want one, I strongly suggest going here) and that the psychological assessment of characters that dozens of people have written is a pretty fraught exercise.

But simply put; a man with without fear is not brave, and Daredevil is about courage, physical and moral.

Courage: "live life not without fear, but with gallantry against it"

To be brave one needs to to make a choice and act when the outcome is uncertain and has wider consequences. It's a fair argument to say that every 'hero' and certainly every 'superhero', is written to act bravely. But I think you'll be hard pressed to find a character so firmly built around the idea.

Matt's origin, his ability (or more accurately his disability) pronounces his physical courage, many superheroes leap from buildings but few can't see what they're leaping into. He fights impossible odds and yet is vulnerable, no super strength, his bones break and his skin bleeds.

Blindness aside, the 'human' hero is not uncommon. Everything that has 'stuck' to the mythos of Matt Murdock, from Miller's run in the 1980's has emphasised moral courage, internal struggle and the consequences of actions. Writer after writer has gravitated towards the cost of Matt's actions and decisions and have burdened him with more and more reason to doubt himself.

He has lost family, the loves of his life and has put friends at mortal risk, he blames himself, shoulders the burden of this guilt and keeps going. He's lost his mind, he has had reason to doubt his senses, but he goes on.

The most interesting loss, for me, is anonymity. As a Lawyer, everything that Matt has achieved professionally can be undone by proof that he is vigilante, every trial he's ever been part of, undone. And it's not just his friends that know, or his enemies, it's everyone, every resident of fictional New York who has read a paper.

Matt is a knot of personal contradictions, he lives under the constant strain of compromise. He lies for his principals, he weighs the guilt of his dishonesty against the greater good, he trusts people, he suffers for his mistakes and keeps going. And there are recognizable consequences to his mistakes, more so than many superheroes Matt's life is rooted in the mundane (for instance, when his nemesis, The Kingpin, learns of DD's alter ego, the first thing he does is have his utilities turned off... imagine that affecting Superman). This is a world much like ours that Matt operates in, he lives in an apartment, he has a job, like us.

The true bravery of Daredvil is not that he does these things it's that he lives a life, he isn't a tortured loner, he makes friends, he takes lovers and trusts people, again and again. He is not The Man Without Fear, he is a man constantly at war with his fear, doubt and guilt. The truth of Matt Murdock is that he makes mistakes, he has many reasons to doubt himself and his actions, he has a complex life for a superhero, and the stakes are high but he acts, He acts in spite of doubt, bravely and with principle. Every time. And here lies the appeal.

What I feel has been lacking from recent incarnations of the character is the Daredevil needs to proven right, his bravey needs to be rewarded from time to time, because the value of courage is a truth we all need affirming.

Cocktail: Champagne Princess

2010-08-09T18:13:00.000+01:00

What to do with that leftover champagne? it's a quizzer isn't it?

Anyway, invented a cocktail (for my good lady scroll to the bottom) that's turned out rather well, presented here for your consideration (and so I don't forget the recipe).

Fill your shaker with ice and chill a classic Martini glass, into the shaker pour:

50ml Vodka (2 measures)
25ml Rose Syrup (1 measure)
12.5ml Raspberry liqueur (1/2 a measure)
the juice of half a lemon

Shake vigorously, pour into the Martini glass and top up with about an inch and a half (ish) of champagne.

Enjoy.

Werewolves of Montpellier

2010-07-11T13:32:00.001+01:00

Norwegian cartoonist Jason's latest work is an absolute gem, funny, sparse and poignant.

A tale of a thief, his complicated love life, urban living and werewolves this is a unique and entertaining work.

I've reviewed Jason before, while I loved 'Hey, Wait', I was a little cool on 'The Left Bank Gang'. Unfairly so, I think, as I've warmed to it considerably in the meantime. Looking at the three books together is an interesting exercise and reveals the artist to have an amazing sense of humour and pace.

Check him out if you haven't already.

The Internet, Comics and Octopus Pie

2010-07-04T20:15:00.001+01:00

Note: Ah, it's always the same, I start a post about one thing and end up gabbing about another, please tolerate my meandering whimsy.

I love webcomics for pretty much the same reason I love the internet, accessibility. Anyone with broadband can get involved.

For creators, this is mostly great.

Great because they can get their material to an audience without a publisher having to take a chance, without editorial influence and, crucially, at almost no cost.

Mostly because it takes some savvy business sense to make a living off it and with an extremely low bar to entry, the competition is vast (and of, shall we say... variable quality).

For consumers, this is awesome. Never before has so much sequential art, covering such a broad range of subjects, been so available to everyone.

For me this means I've sampled, enjoyed and since become a fan of material I otherwise would never have seen. Historical humour comics anyone? Low key, autobiographical musings? High fantasy, extremely smutty smut? (certainly the subject of another post, that one).

It's got the stage where some the best comics I read (and I read a lot of comics) are on the web.

And of those comics Octopus Pie is just just about my favourite. A classical sitcom premise, a girl in the city with a crappy job, a complicated love life and a growing cast of friends and foes.

Creator Meredith Gran delivers this simple premise with the razor wit, a flair for dialogue and an increasingly accomplished cartooning style.

Despite having read it all, I recently bought the first collected volume, There are No Stars in Brooklyn and it's a beaut'. A weighty, well produced, green toned tome that I'll undoubtedly leaf through many, many times.

The beauty of recommending a webcomic is that you don't need to take my word for it, please try it, and report back when you do.

Superpowers

2010-07-04T09:58:00.000+01:00

Just so we're clear. If I ever contract superpowers (via mutation, magic ring or awesome accident) I am totally getting rich of it.

Seriously.

Like, if it transpires I'm the last son of a dead civilisation and exposure to yellow sunlight unlocks my awesome strength, speed, awareness, frikkin' heat vision and the power of flight. I'm cashing in.

Ok, sure I'd help out at natural disasters and suchlike, using my x-ray vision and super strength to locate and free people from, y'know, wreckage and stuff, but I'd have charge what you'd have to consider a reasonable hourly rate for my services. Double at weekends.

Maybe I'll do some good with the cash, or maybe just buy a bunch of cool, useless stuff, forever.

Punisher Max: Butterfly

2010-03-14T13:54:00.000Z

Punisher Max: Butterfly

By Valerie D'Orazio and Laurence Campbell

A very neat one-shot. A portrait of abuse, defiance, self destruction and expression dressed in contemporary noir trappings.

Campbell and colourist Lee Loughbridge create a detailed, atmospheric and well acted world to paint the tale of a hit-woman with nothing to live for and a story to tell. There's a lot going on here, D'Orazio mixes a diarists, figurative recall with painful reality and well paced flashback structure. That's some tricky craft, and the result pays off.

It's a lean, mean noir. Rucka-ish territory, Bru-ish, you could draw parralels to Gotham Central or Criminal.

Good, solid comics.

Watchmen/The Dark Knight

2010-03-13T22:06:00.001Z

A frikkin quick one. Promise. (oh, and spoilers)

I watched Watchmen movie last night for the first time since I saw it at the cinema. It is not a good film, and it's needless, fetishistic depiction of violence (especially against women) is rather disturbing (please note the operatic slow-mo shots of the Comedian shooting his pregnant lover in Vietnam and Viedt's secretary being shot in the calf (in random close up), like a shoe fetishists snuff movie).

However, I can't deny that on a aesthetic, craft level, a lot of impressive work and real love of the superhero form ends up on the screen.

It gets silly too; the posturing, the rubber face prosthetics, the wire work. It's like a 00's reboot of the 60's Batman TV show, played straight, for adults.

Which is when a thought struck me.

Where as Watchmen really should have had the Dark Knight's "this is real" approach, The Dark Knight really should have had Watchmen's "comic style is cool", both would have benefitted (even the multi billion grossing Bat flick).

Watchmen is meant to be reality with one difference (a superhuman exists), the violence is infrequent, underplayed and meant to be horrible and emotionally affecting (The Comedian shooting his pregnant lover, played 'real' would have been appalling).

Batman (in it's many, many iterations) has a huge, broad scope that the narrow, realism led focus ignores. You could never, ever have a Poison Ivy, a Clayface or a Mister Freeze with Nolan's approach. But with Synders, beautiful, heavily art directed world-buiding? I think you could.

Thoughts?

Watchmen Sequel

2010-02-06T22:55:00.006Z

The internets are a flutter with rumour of Watchmen sequels, spin-offs, or whatever, all very much unconfirmed. Here's a few thoughts about it that I've been dabbling with for a couple of days now, but every time I'm ready to hit the publish button, new fact and rumour emerges... anyway, hope I'm covering the bases. Oh and I ramble a bit, sorry.

The Background

As Bleeding Cool would have it (and writer/artist Richard Pace would to some degree confirm), long time DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz has long put the 'block' on any additional Watchmen material being produced for reasons comics gossip mainstay Rich Johnston outlines below:

President Paul Levitz had personally prevented any Watchmen 2 projects, because, despite their differences, he believed that as this would be against Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ wishes, it would cause bery bad feeling in the creative community and would be a creatively bankrupt move.

One would have to assume, as a businessman, that Levitz 'ran the numbers' and weighed these negatives against the financial benefits of creating new Watchmen material and couldn't see the percentage.

But with Levitz stepping down, DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio having a different opinion and the Watchmen movie A: Existing -and- B: Pushing sales of the book through the roof, times have changed (and artist Richard Pace has pretty much confirmed this is moving forward).

A film sequel is bloody unlikely but another book or two on Amazon's virtual shelves is money in the bank.

In purely business terms of the decision to create additional Watchmen material, right now, is sound. But how do you do that? How do you avoid 'creative bankruptcy' while doing it? And how often have sequels and prequels to well regarded works (especially those by different creators) not... been... shit?

The Material

Watchmen is a rare, rare work (before we even get to the influence it's had on the medium).

It started life as a revamp of a Charton Comics characters that DC had acquired, but due to Alan Moore's pitch, soon developed into an original story and resulted in something quite unique.

It is a low key, adult, political superhero comic book that is about superhero comic books, dissecting the form and the genre. It's a subtextual maze and a lengthy murder mystery. It has precious little of the escapist tropes you'd associate with superhero fiction and, like great literature, it leaves every one of it's well rounded protagonists changed, dead or otherwise absent. It's a piece of its era, a reflection of Cold War paranoia and the politics of the time, yet it remains relevant enough that over a hundred million was sunk into a (misjudged) film adaptation last year.

And as for it's place in history of comics, well... It is, undeniably, the most influential superhero book since Stan and Jack's Fantastic Four and frequently voted the best comic of all time. It's a contender Comics' Moby Dick, its Citizen Cain, its Hamlet. It is fine art.

So what do you do with that? Mechanically, how do you build on it? Can you?

Prequels and Sequels

There are works, films, books, comics that suit sequels, are built to be expanded. And some that just plain aren't. Some compliment the original, some damage the fabric of the first, and others, quite rightfully, get ignored (and ignored). Most lie somewhere in between.

My take is... Watchmen isn't sequel/prequel material. It's complete, a singular statement, that Moore and Gibbons did their best to protect by insisting on a 'first refusal' clause on any new Watchmen material (and D.C's President never pushed the issue). Brendan McGinley eloquently compared it to Gone with the Wind on the Whitechapel forums. I'm with him, and I wouldn't be surprised if, creatively at least, DC's editors are too. But there's no profit in inaction.

So given that all that, or at least passingly acknowledging these concerns, what will DC do?

A sequel, a pure, unadulterated continuation, is fraught... dangerous, a minefield. Brave, some might say, foolish... probably. And something that would take a shed load of balls (not that I'd totally put it past DC). My guess is this route is unlikely, at least for now.

Prequels then. More likely, Watchmen contains it's own vast, history. Events mentioned but never articulated, relationships built on shared experience we never see. Gaps to fill, you could argue, but an extended prequel narrative is not without risk.

The least brave, or perhaps most sensible option would be prequel material marketed as a 'tribute'. An anthology, a mini series, as Valerie D'Orazio, postulated, multiple creators producing shorts. Spreading the blame, but also 'shotgunning' the chance of hitting a bullseye, new Watchmen material fans will accept.

The one common element to each of these approaches is that DC needs credible, high profile creators on board to produce them.

The Talent

"Whoever did it would have to be secure in their talent to a fairly... diagnosable degree."

Warren Ellis

A question that has been posed is, would credible, top tier comic book talent take the job?

Would Dave Gibbons? As writer, artist or both? It's possible, particularly as Alan Moore, who has severed his ties with DC quite categorically, might not even care.

Would others? It's a payday, pretty much guaranteed, is that enough (likely it is). But would we see the visionaries step up? The writers (especially writers... or the writer artists) who have carved their own names on the craft with authority. Morrison, Gaiman, Ellis, Ennis et'al... those lads. I'm really not so sure.

Richard Pace, the only, bloke to go on record about the project's existence, says the following of the writer in the frame:

Had a few discussions and I’m actually quite surprised at the name attached. The person’s got a much bigger set than I thought he had. Might be an interesting way to say goodbye to working in comics in transition to working elsewhere.

Which implies a credible writer with a foot in other media, The mind boggle. BKV? could be, he's huge Watchmen fan and he is working mostly in telly and film these days. JMS... again, a possibility. Flavour of the moment Mark Millar? Scary 'aint it?

Maybe a 'comics' credible creator isn't even the plan, comics fans, like myself are a fickle, picky bunch, we'll never be happy with whatever the outcome. Will we?

Post 100. 2009

2009-12-26T15:38:00.000Z

With yesterday's Chateu Neuf du Pape still gnawing at my brain I present this, my 100th post. It's taken me a good long while to get here, but I hope it's provided at least a couple of folk with something fairly entertaining to read.

And so, I give you...

2009

As 2009 prepares to level up (marked by an iridescent cascade of booze and Jools Holland's ever tedious Boogy Woogy piano) I offer a quick and ill thought out look at what 2009 gave to my world.

Twitter

2009 is the year of Twitter. You could not conceive of a better illustration of the terrifying power of the internet than this simple, elegant and free web service.

It scares people, and it should.

This year has seen everything from regime change, to journalistic practice and the Christmas Number One scorched, 140 characters at a time, by the focussed energy of a 'social network'.

This is a powerful thing, but it's so extremely versatile and has become the first thing I look at when I boot up my laptop. It's my 'hub' for chatting to friends, getting breaking news, catching up on comics gossip, reading scraps of fiction, writing a diary.

It's hard to define. It's everything and it's nothing, it's an empty vessel you can use for whatever purpose you can think of. It's the now and the future and as yet unsullied by the corrupting influence of big media business.

I love it. Join me.

Moon

My film of the year (although, to be fair, I've seen far fewer films than I normally do) was the low key and assured directorial debut of Duncan Jones, and I can tell you very little about it.

It's thoughtful sci-fi, haunting, sad and funny with an utterly compelling performance from Sam Rockwell. If you haven't yet seen it, please do so, but avoid reading anything else about it.

Trust me.

Raymond Chandler

I may be a little late to this party, but it seems that Raymond Chandler is a bit good and is definitely my writer of 2009.

The subject of a million parodies I've never read any of his novels until this year when a increase of noir in my diet and a loose book token prompted me to pick up The Big Sleep and I'm very glad I did.

Chandler writes solid, masculine fiction with blunt yet colourful prose that just plain connects with me. Read the following sentence without smiling, (it's impossible):

"the minutes went by on tip-toe, with their fingers to their lips"

Exquisite.

Comics

2009 has been a great year for comics and a great year for my friends in comics. Really.

The Paper Jam Comics Collective have been collectively and individually productive and proactive and remain a great, great set of lads and lasses.

My mate Abby is picking up more colouring work and commissions, Adam's work is getting a lot more play and attention and Lee's drawing frikkin Batgirl.

And it's been a great year for the medium.

David Mazzucchelli produced a masterpiece with a study of character and symmetry with Asterios Polyp.

Writer of the year Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams have performed an amazingly dynamic facelift on Detective Comics.

And Darwyn Cooke has produced my book of the year with his adaptation of Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter.

It has been a fabulous year to be a comic geek.

...and last, but by no means least.

Alison

In February. By the power of pungent animal magnetism I managed to lure a beautiful, intelligent UKTV Food addict 150 miles north of the most basic creature comforts to the heavily-accented industrial wasteland that is Newcastle. She quickly stole the TV remote, bullied me into moving to a bigger house and proceeded to fill it with cushions.

She makes me happy every day.

Things to look for in 2010:

And to save on time, here's a few suspected highlights of next year.

1. The Radically Improved UK Plug

Apple, Sony or some other big money electronics producer are going to make a huge deal out an RCA Design Student's graduation piece.

And so they should, because it's ace.

2. Shutter Island

Martin Scorcese does horror and early word of mouth is crazy positive. This is a no brainer.

3. Proof of life on other planets

This is in the post, surely.

4. Me

I have plans for Twenty Ten. Some involve cooking, some involve dieting, but plenty more involve writing. It may not show on the blog, but I'm up to stuff, wish me luck.

And that's that.

Have a great New Years eve and may 2010 see you in health, wealth and happiness

Tea and sympathy

2009-10-10T09:55:00.000+01:00

Been sick this week, which hasn't been pleasant. Throat sore, ears popping and generally knackeredness every time I tried to do anything. Which meant that I was forced to sip hot Ribena and watch Sky Movies on the sofa, fortunately, that bit was ok. Here's a couple of things I done sawed...

The Iron Giant is just about perfect. I knew this already, I guess, but must have forgotten. It's stunning; managing to be a love letter to 50's sci-fi, a treatise on paranoia and an amazingly rounded 'buddy comedy' all at the same time.

And the design of the whole film is amazingly slick. Do give it a watch.

The Incredible Hulk is better than I remember it, too. Great turns from Tim Blake Nelson and William Hurt as a brilliant, swaggering prick frame some very well conceived action.

Pick of the bunch being Tim Roth going all supersoldier on Hulky Pants, it really sells 'superpowers' in a way that the brilliant Iron Man film never had to leaving me genuinely excited for what's to come.

So that's that for now...

Oh, got a new blog up as well, should be updated every day I'm in work, it's called a prelude to tea and should be pretty self explanatory.

Things I have totally done...

2009-09-12T08:00:00.007+01:00

Eventful week.

I have a rough, malleable, mental list of things I want to do in life.

Some are things I want to achieve, write comics, publish a novel, open a bar that you can't get into without naming three Grant Morrison comics (keep out the riff raff)... Others are things I just want to experience, jump out of a plane, go into orbit (Branson, pull your finger out), rob a bank, punch a tiger etc.

Managed a couple of the lower end experiences in the last six days.

1. Ride a horse.

Horse fact. 1: Horses are big. Really.

Organised by good friend and experienced rider Yvette, myself and a few hardy souls trekked out to a local equestrian centre and took and hour long, novice lesson in danger... I mean, riding.

It was pretty cool really, I feel I connected on an emotional level with my steed; Jimmy. So much so that he was perfectly comfortable taking a slash for a good minute and a half. It smelled.

2. Archery.

Man, I'm so rock and roll.

I must have had too much Robin of Sherwood in my diet as a kid but I've always had a passing fascination with bows and arrows, never shot one though, until last Thursday when, under the supervision of a bored, disinterested corporate events organiser I twanged the shit out of some bows.

It's harder than it looks. If you haven't done it, and get chance, really take care when you knock your arrow because what lazy, disinterested, crisp eating, corporate events organisers fail to tell you, is that if you don't line your arrow up on the string just so you'll miss the crap out of everything.

Great day though, rode a quad bike, and a rage buggy and that evening I got drunk at the free bar and had an argument about which is the worst turtle.

Although I'm clearly a more rounded, better human being thanks to these experiences, I really need to work on the harder end of my list in the coming months.

PS: Dear Paper Jam Comics Collective, I'm sorry I've missed the last few meetings, it's not you it's me. I should have something for the anthology and normal service will resume shortly.

New News!

2009-09-05T15:26:00.004+01:00

Not really.

Saw Space Hulk in the flesh today and man it's sweet. Good thick cardstock and the models are beautiful, stunning bits of plastic, you even get a C.A.T., reports are it plays well too.

But is it £60's worth of sweet? When I've yet to buy Batman? And y'know furniture?

In other news, seems I got linked from the BBC website. Who'd have thought it?

Comics, murder and me

2009-08-31T11:00:00.002+01:00

I was born in 1975 and I've always loved comics.

Always.

Part of it was the fantasy element so common in the form, I was always drawn to the fantastic in a way neither of my brothers or any of my family were. It was my thing.

Part of it was the violence they contained, if I'm honest. Fantasy and death has a great hold on a developing mind (something Games Workshop has known for decades).

But that was only a small part of it. Comic books, before I could read even, just connected with me; the idea of pictures making stories was completely natural, there were worlds between the panels and I sensed them, wanted to know it all.

This meant I'd pick up pretty much anything I could, lots of annuals, subscriptions to 2000AD, then Transformers uk with its many back-up strips, later the Megazine, Toxic, Aliens UK. Anything that fit the mold.

On my 13th birthday, 1989, I bought the Batman Year One TPB from a gift shop in Centre Parks which I'm sure they had stocked due to the Tim Burton Batman film. This was my first "Graphic Novel", far from the last.

I'd order them from a local Waterstones whenever I could, the usual suspects at first, The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Clairemont's X-Men. For a while this was the only way I could get hold of American comics.

This is until a dedicated comics shop, Arcadia Comics, surprisingly opened in nearby Ashton Under Lyne. This must have been 1991, 92' as it coincided with my first part time job.

This is the first place I bought monthly comics (on a weekly basis) I had a 'pull list', bought long boxes, I'd later understand how interesting a time it was for comics in general.

The speculator boom was in full swing, Image comics had just launched and the notion of superstar creators was completely new to me. Exciting too (around this time I convinced myself I'd be a professional comic book artist one day). Surfing this wave of cash and optimism a lot of great comics were happening, hidden between the chromium foil and die-cut covers.

Amongst the new imprints and publishing houses were some real gems; DC's Milestone line consistently told rock solid stories with a genuine social conscience, the Jim Shooter helmed Valiant, a superhero universe with an epic sense of scale and a tightly reigned continuity and Vertigo were coming into their own with their more or less 'adult', literate sensibilities.

And, for the first time I get a sense of a larger 'comic book community' that people other than me were passionate about them. I'd read the letter's page in Comics International and even made it to my first convention, UKCAC 93, in distant London (with my Dad).

This was a long time before the internet existed in a publicly accessible form and the only place I could really talk comics was the shop.

Ron, the owner, was a cliche. Overweight, grumbling, balding, perpetually bagging people's standing orders. But he would chat and did put me onto a lot of books, Grendel, John Buscema Conan, the odd one-shot I'd miss or never consider.

My mum would go in at Christmas or my Birthday and get a surprise which he'd advise on. To be honest, I think he unloaded a bit of stuff he couldn't otherwise sell this way, but it left me with some interesting oddities.

Then. I drifted out of it. I'm not sure exactly when, end of college, start of university, '95 ish. But I stopped buying comics from Arcadia, I'd still get the odd TPB for my Birthday, but for a few years that was it. My roving geek eye had decided that films and film making were for me and I took a degree in Television production at Manchester Metropolitan University.

I didn't enjoy University much, there was the odd highlight, the odd lass and a lot of hard work. I left with a first class honor's degree and (thanks to some great teaching) a belief in myself as a fiction writer and a solid grasp of what that means in a professional context.

I made corporate and educational films for a couple of years before chancing my arm as a freelance writer in the games industry, I had one job, for the now defunct ATD who soon employed me as a Games Designer. I love games, too, but that's really a different story.

Here I was surrounded by geeks with a diverse set of passions, including comic geeks like myself. But with no local comic shop my habit simmered, buying the odd TPB from bookshops and borrowing a few more from friends.

It would take a near collapse of the British games industry (ATD and then my next employer Acclaim going into liquidation, amid many more nationally) before I fell off the weekly comics wagon. 2005, no games work anywhere, I'd moved back in with my parents and taken an admin job at an exam board after a period of pretty soul destroying unemployment.

Arcadia had moved but still existed (I think, although I may be confusing this with an earlier visit back home), Ron was selling a lot of second hand computer games these days but it was a shop on the decline. I recognised a fair bit of stock on the walls from my previous patronage.

But my job placed me in central Manchester each day, and I discovered Traveling Man comics, a light, airy store that was on my route home (if I made the right detour), I started picking up a TPB a week, then frequenting their weekly comics night, made some good friends and fell right back into it.

Not for the first time, my love of comic books had done me some good, My job felt like a real step backwards and I found it hard living with my folks again (great though they are), but the comics night got me back into writing for pleasure and helped me suffer the grind of applying for more games jobs.

Then, while at work in April 2007 I read some shocking news. Arcadia's owner Ron, full name Ronald Castree, had been accused (the later convicted) of the 1975 murder and sexual assault of school girl Lesley Molseed. Which through the one of the most infamous miscarriages of British justice led to the wrongful conviction of Stefan Kiszko, a simple man who suffered sixteen years of incarceration, harassment and abuse, until his conviction was overturned. Kiszko died two years later, his mother, who had always protested her son's innocence, died four months after that.

Since his conviction, a lot of other details about his life, and how he treated his family have come to light. it makes for sickening reading, this man has destroyed many, many lives.

Over a lifetime, a lot of us will find ourselves in contact with someone who does terrible things, I'm fortunate that this is as bad as it's got for me, no one I know was hurt and my acquaintance with the guy was passing, but it strangely tarnishes something that's very much part if my life. Comics.

Thinking back is a strange feeling, I don't like that my love of comics brought my mum and some of my friends into contact with the him, I don't like that a lot of the first money I ever earned went into his till and I don't like that I can't look at a couple of long boxes, or a few images on this page even, without thinking of a child abusing murderer.

Ron Castree will live out his life in small brick rooms, disowned by his family, suffering daily abuse and indignity.

I'll always love comics and hope my life is never tainted, in no matter how small a way, by his like again.

Cool Stuff This Week [August 21 2009]

2009-08-21T20:16:00.009+01:00

Man, this planet be lousy with the cool stuff.

So... what've we got.

Batgirl Issue 1

So. The bat books are kicking arse right now, I've already bored folks with my unapologetically glowing opinion of Batman and Robin, 'tec is a master class of dynamically balanced form and content and Batgirl, well, Batgirl is simply a pleasure.

It's Spiderman, it's Invincible, it's of a noble tradition of four colour heroes who don't quite know what they're doing. A kid going out at night kicking arse and struggling with the mundane pressures of life the rest of the time.

This is good, solid comics, well written and well drawn. Check it.

Squares

Newcastle's finest indie pop collective. Squares. Fronted by friend of the show and all round talent Daniel Clifford launched their latest album not a fortnight ago and I was fool enough to miss it. Squares are an oddity, art rocker pop designed to make you smile, the musical equivalent of a cup of sweet tea, served with TWO bourbon biscuits.

And what's wrong with that?

In other news.

SPACE HULK

Goddamn it. Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in.

Cool Stuff This Week [August 9 2009]

2009-08-09T08:55:00.002+01:00

A quick one.

So, the Batman Arkham Asylum demo dropped on Xbox Live and it's pretty choice. Clear, simple mechanics (rather gymnastic hide and seek interspersed with punching folks faces off), no pretensions of open world play (well defined 'level boundaries') and a lot of effort in the polish (Paul Dini script, nicely acted and delivered)

It feels like you're hunting folk down, which was undoubtedly the design intention. Lovely.

Paper Jam Comics Group Blog

2009-08-01T10:14:00.003+01:00

And so...

PAPER JAMS

The Paper Jam Comic Collective's group cartooning blog opens its freshly painted doors for business.

Expect 24 minute comics and other hastily sketched hilarity soon.

Oh.. the pic is by the great Jack Fallows and was the first page of our contribution to the last anthology.

Paintings

2009-08-01T08:25:00.006+01:00

We moved house recently, or more accurately we moved from flat to house, which means we gained a lot of space, a garden and a leaky garage full of spiders.

I've managed to defend a room of my own from the missus decorating fetish, which means I'll have a dedicated office, comics library/gaming room and we'll have one corner of the new place that isn't decorated like a bordello.

To adorn the walls of my sanctuary I commissioned the awesome Jess Bradley to paint 'cover versions' of a couple of my favourite comics on canvas.

I think you'll agree the results are quite stunning

I chose the covers because I thought they'd suit Jess's style and they both mean something to me.

Quitely and Morrisons Batman and Robin is a destined for classic status, I am a huge fan of the retro yet bang up to date mix this extremely dynamic duo are riffing on.

And Mister Miracle, well... just look at the tagline "He cheats death! He defies man! No trap can hold him!". My discovery of Mister Miracle (courtesy of a mate) marks my recognition of Jack Kirby as the most influential figure in modern comics.

And, both look pretty good on the wall.

Wow

2009-07-05T17:33:00.001+01:00

Just wow

Cool Stuff This Week [July 5]

2009-07-05T08:24:00.004+01:00

I didn't work yesterday, which would normally be the case for a broadly 9 to 5 job, but we've been crazy busy at work recently and I've been in on the last few weekends in some form or another (and working crazy late at other times during the week).

Instead I tidied the flat for a viewing (we're moving) then chilled, loafed and mucked about for the first time in ages, sharing 4th of July* chili dogs with my girl, reading comics, playing games and slowly regaining the feeling in my frontal lobes.

I am a changed man, reborn and reinvigorated.

So, what's cool?:

Batman And Robin Issue 2

As I stated in my micro post about the previous issue. This here, is GOOD comics. Action packed, funny, pulpy and dynamic, Morrison is writing the socks off this particular subset of the Batman family, a capable but conflicted Dick Grayson, a great, sandwich and wisdom providing Alfred (I prefer the more Butlery and less 'ex secret service' takes on the guy) and Damian Wayne is the best Robin ever; a sullen, aristocratic, ninja ten-year-old with Daddy issues.

No one composes a frame like Frank, but I noticed something new about Mister Quitely this issue too. He does an interesting thing with time, in that he often splits up a moment and chooses to draw things 'just after' the first thing has occurred, then 'as' or 'just before' the second occurs.

Check out Panel 2 here, Robin has landed and is righting himself, Batman is landing 'that moment' it somehow 'lengthens' the panel, makes things happen slower, implies animation... clever stuff, from an absolute master of his craft.

Do buy this book.

What else is cool?

Deadwood Season 2 & 3

Been rewatching a solid candidate for the best TV show ever; Deadwood. A spit and blood, political, western drama with as strong and deep a cast as I've ever seen on TV.

At an abruptly ended 3 seasons long, the show died too soon but at least it never got old and tired. Sublime.

Deadwood is up there with the Wire, Auf Wierdesehen Pet and Father Ted. Give it a go.

*Even as a Brit, it's important to celebrate Independence Day, because if Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith hadn't stopped those Aliens we'd all be in trouble.

Quite Frankly

2009-06-05T21:54:00.002+01:00

...as good a single issue as I've ever read.

Ignition City

2009-05-31T09:51:00.007+01:00

The other day, William Gibson was tweeting about 'atemporality' in reference to art, how overtly expressing with 'the now', dates your work concretely, often to its detriment, and more and more artists are attempting to fashion the 'timeless'.

Ignition City is a one such work, a retro historical comic book, splicing 30's pulp sci-fi with the trappings of the wild west. Within it's pages you'll see such sites as an analogue of Dale Arden serving whisky to Uri Gagarin in a bar constructed from a rusted out rocket ship, a rocketeer inspired sheriff turn a blind eye to murder and a lot more booze and rayguns.

Historically, I like a lot of Warren Ellis's writing and his recent output with Avatar Press has been the most consistently entertaining material of his career.

Do check it out.

Review: Star Trek

2009-05-19T20:53:00.006+01:00

Star Trek is the best action film i've seen in many, many years. The kind of pacey, witty, gleeful ride that Stephen Sommers has spent a career spectacularly failing to make.

It makes no sense, not one jot.

The villain's 'plan' is as ludicrous as the metal spider plant they fly around in, the Enterprise engine room seems to have been replaced with a Willy Wonka-esque lemonade factory (really) and it breaks some firmly established 'rules' of teleportation (which really negate the need for Spaceships at all).

But these criticisms barely register because of the sheer audacity of the stunts, frequency of the gags and a uniformly enjoyable cast.

It is Indiana Jones in space.

Alexi Conman

2009-04-19T17:51:00.006+01:00

And so.

I know of an enigma wrapped in a conundrum draped in mystery and sprinkled in intrigue. He lives in Newcastle.

A comic book writer, artist and occasional film maker who goes by many names. Oscillating Brow, for one, Alexi Conman, for another.

He's had stories in the last Popgun Anthology, the latest Accent UK book and Insomnia's latest anthology too.

His work rate puts me to shame.

And yet, he strangely refuses to promote himself.

Weirdo.

Pimp. A bad word.

2009-04-19T14:30:00.007+01:00

I abuse them, frequently, but I love words.

The sheer dynamism of language is staggering; that you can string a few syllables together and create an image, a mood or a whole world in people's heads still amazes me.

Also amazing is the fluidity of language, words change in meaning all the time, constantly evolve. Metaphors die and are absorbed into common usage and yet, culturally, we all stay on top of it, just about, and rarely question how "Bad" came to mean "good" in the 80's, or how text speak is creeping into our shared lexicon.

But how did this word....

pimp
–noun
1. a person, esp. a man, who solicits customers for a prostitute or a brothel, usually in return for a share of the earnings; pander; procurer.
2. a despicable person.
3. Australia and New Zealand . an informer; stool pigeon.
–verb (used without object)
4. to act as a pimp.
–verb (used with object)
5. to act as a pimp for.
6. to exploit.
Origin:
1630–40; orig. uncert.

Come to mean to 'make glamorous'? Do a quick news search for pimp and tell me how it relates... or why it should?

Now, some pretty blunt, pejorative words have slowly evolved into something less flammable, highly emotive words, blunt tools of dehumanization and segregation, dyke, nigger (words I'm uncomfortable using in any context) have been 'reclaimed', to a degree, retooled and occasionally self applied by proud Lesbian's and black men and women who refuse to be insulted.

So how are we so casually, and so quickly using 'pimp'? it deserves no such redemption and there's no positive way to spin it, to use pimp as a synonym for ostentatious or extroversion is to incrementally sanitize the trade it represents and I refuse to use to do that.

That is all.

Normal service, talking about comics and making naff jokes will resume shortly

Running

2009-04-11T10:24:00.005+01:00

So. I'm 33 years old, I sit at a desk all day and I'm not shy of eating and drinking the finer things. I walk about three miles a day (which is more then most folks manage) but that's hardly strenuous exercise and I've been worrying that if I don't start doing more I'll get a bit rotund.

Historically I don't really get on with exercise, I've never got into the gym and although I did over three years of Kung Fu it never became part of my life and I didn't want to commit to that again if I wasn't going to see it through and become some kind of ninja.

So, I've taken the frankly ludicrous step of going running every couple of days. Only a short distance for now, my starter route is a herculian 1.3 mile circuit from my door, around the locale and back again.

Let's get one thing straight. Running IS bullshit.

It's embarrassing and painful and it smells of wee. Seriously, who thought this was a good idea? I can understand running from a lion or something, y'know, or you'd die, but running for "fun"? that sir, just does not fly.

It hurts! every single self-inflicted, blister forming, lung burning step, but I can cope with the odd bit of pain, what I despise is the bleedin' indignity of it all. There are PEOPLE, other PEOPLE on the pavements and roads, walking dogs, buying milk and a bunch of other inconsiderate bullshit, they smile and shuffle out of my way as a stumble past, desperate to find a quiet spot where no one can see me so that I can cough up a lung and die.

It's horrible, but three goes in I've slowed my regular running speed and have managed to improve my overall time by 4 minutes in three sessions. Looking at slightly bumping up the route distance next week.

I clearly am a masochist. Help me.

Comic Racks

2009-03-24T19:45:00.003Z

And so, I was guest host on the awesome Comic Rack's Podcast a couple of weeks ago.

Dedicated to talking about all things geek from the girls point of view, Comic Racks is the brainchild of Iz and Stace, the Ms Marvel and Harley Quinn of pod based presenting who produce a fortnightly magazine format show with news, review, opinions and features about comics, films, tv and, frequently, swear words.

It's a great fun and was a great and scary honor to be asked to cover for an extremely busy Iz.

You can find my rambling episode here. And do visit the extremely friendly forums.

Iron Man: The Five Nightmares

2009-03-14T18:40:00.004Z

It's hard not to love comic book writer Matt Fraction, from his batshit crazy Tweets to his batshit crazy characters everything he does strikes a tense balance between free-association stoner rambling and architecturally solid writing craft.

And that heady mix makes for great, great cocktails. I mean comics. Obviously.

Matt Fractions take on Iron Man manages to weave themes and character traits of the movie with contemporary Marvel continuity and a view of society and technology that is kinda thought provoking. And he still had time to create a Superhero team for the Philippines.

Good comics, folks, good comics.

Watchmen: Film Review

2009-03-08T09:53:00.008Z

Short one, I promise.

I never thought Watchmen was unfilmable, but this Watchmen film does not work.

it's either too short, not explaining or resolving many of the numerous plots it tried to juggle or (more likely) too long, some liberal (and brave) knife work here could have have concentrated on one or two themes and hit them dead on.

It's heavily stylised, reminiscent of the comic in terms of design and cinematography and focussed on delivering 'iconc' scenes with its direction. Film speeds change frequently, long sweeping shots cut to music (which is hit or miss) are present in most scenes and the numerous fights are heavy on the wire work and horror movie levels of gore. These choices conspire to make the Watchmen 'movie universe' as real as a cartoon show, which undermines our capacity to care or feel any sense of danger, fear or wonder. A man who can see through time and control every atom in the world and an aging villains prosthetic ears seem equally unreal and flat.

That's not to say the film didn't have it's moments, some faithfully adapted scenes from the comic translated very well to the screen (although others were laughably bad), and Jackey Earle Hayley, minus mask, gives a great, pained performance as Walter Kovacs.

But these rare gems are threaded on a long and gaudy string that leads pretty much nowhere.

Pondering on what might have been is a pointless exercise, but I can't help wondering what I'd be writing if the Paul Greengrass production had continued.

As it stand, I wish this film has never been made.

Paper Jam Comics Collective

2009-02-25T20:08:00.003Z

You, fair reader, like all civilized, trendy young things love comics.

I can tell.

And as such need to know about the Paper Jam Comics Collective, a soiree of independent minded, comics creating demi-gods who congregate around the Newcastle branch of the UK's best comics shop, Travelling Man.

We (for I am one of they) assemble on a fortnightly basis, create and publish anthologies (with awesome launch parties with live music and cakes, see above) and generally revel in all things comics.

Do check out the blog.

Machine Man pt 2

2009-02-22T21:37:00.002Z

Ok. Aaron Stack needs his day in the sun, I've been thinking about this for a while now and have the makings of a bloody good story that I must hammer into solid enough shape that I can leave it alone and get on with my own stuff.

There is so much coolness in this guys backstory, the fact he's relegated to sociopathic comic relief is a crime.

Space Hulk

2009-02-15T17:07:00.005Z

And so. Rumours abound that Space Hulk, Games Workshops self contained 40K meets Aliens board game from the early 90's is set to make a reappearance... and Tzeentch help me I'm interested.

A time critical order system, radar blips and screaming, purple alien death aboard labyrinthian, vacuum exposed, derelict space craft. Tension, solid play mechanics and the irrefutable sci-goth charm of the 40k universe in one easy to play boxed set.

That's pushing a fair few geek buttons right there.

What is it about Games Workshop? I've been clean for well over a decade but I still crave the stuff in my darker moments. I thought I'd got past this, what with my being 33, having a girlfriend and enjoying cookery.

Help.

Darwyn Cooke

2009-02-01T10:43:00.005Z

It took me a while to get around to Darwyn Cooke, he's always been one of those guys, the guys you hear good things about but don't really have the cash to check out ( this list currently includes Rick Remender, a whole bunch of Jason Aaron, Geoff Johns even... and many many more), but on a whim I picked up his first The Spirit trade a couple of weeks ago, and now I'm kinda hooked.

Cooke has a background as a magazine art director and as animator and storyboard artists for Warner Brother's Animation and you can see both those influences on the page; real graphical flare and precision, a sense of old fashioned glamour and economy of character design, dynamic, sweeping movement and always 'on model' anatomy. It's great art, especially if you like a bit of retro, Bruce Timm's stuff and the Fleischer Brothers, and the fact it's great probably makes people overlook how good a writer the guy is.

So far I've read his The Spirit work and Selina's Big Score, all solid tales, well told, using some clever writing. He uses multiple narrators al lot, and they all have really distinct voices so he's not afraid of switching narrators even during a flashback, but you don't get lost. Doing that right is a bit technical, a bit brave and a more than a bit tricky.

But the books are never just flashy demonstrations of craft, there's a 'goofyness' in everything I've read, that slightly absurd tone you find in movies from the 40's. There's glee here, a real love of pulp and noir and it translates into easy, fun reading. Do check him out.

Oh, and while you're here, do enjoy the titles to Batman Beyond that Cooke animated.

Cool Stuff This Month [January 09]

2009-01-25T18:07:00.005Z

Well, since the economy, flailing like a dying a dragon, mortally wounded UK Music/Film/Game retailer Zavvi; myself and the geekier half of the country have been picking it's bones of all the tasty, 50% off morsels we can.

The cheap XboxLive points went pretty sharpish but I did manage to bag a couple of series of Deadwood and the Wire on DVD, my mate Sean though, he picked up the complete Rome boxed set, and I wish I'd nabbed that one as well.

Rome is great, a joint BBC, HBO production with a uniformly brilliant cast, great writing and production values that do both justice.

Set in and around the Roman Empire circa 52BC with familiar names like Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony, Brutus and even Cleopatra taking prominent roles; Rome is a depiction of a intricately political society built on mud and war, fueled by sex and superstition. It's at once strange, familiar and sickening and a great backdrop for drama.

The series largely follows two soldiers of Caesar's 13th Legion, a dutiful officer, Lucius Vorenus (played by Kevin McKidd) and a noble brute, Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson, soon to be seen as The Punisher), unlikely friends and our plebeian eyes in this strange, old world.

Kevin McKidd has the harder job, Vorenus is the stoic, the family man, bound by a rigid adherence to duty at the expense of his well being and family. It's a credit McKidd that you still really like the guy, especially as he's frequently matched against the force of nature that is Titus Pullo

Pullo's stated purpose in life is to drink all the wine, smoke all the smoke and fuck all the whores in Rome, there's more to him than that and Ray Stevenson is an actor of great range, bringing a well written streak of sensitivity to the brute. He's also a giant, broad, thick and standing head and shoulders above the other cast members, lending a certain credibility to scenes where he hacks six guys to death without them doing that much about it.

Concentrating on these two, though, misses the point there is strength in depth throughout the whole cast, but I had the most fun with James Purefoy's brilliant turn as Mark Anthony, a cocksure brawler whose political judgement could be overruled by a flash of anger or an erection and the stunning, scheming Atia of the Julii, mother of Caeser's heir Octavian and Rome's premiere socialite, played with an amazing mix of venom and sympathy by Polly Walker.

There were a couple of unnecessary subplots, and the second series is not as 'tight' as the first, with an ending designed to keep the door ajar for sequels, but I can't say enough good things about the whole.

It's strong wine, but worth a few paying a few denarius for. Especially at half price.

New Years Resolutions

2009-01-13T20:55:00.004Z

A brief statement of intent.

I turn 33.3r this year, at the end of this month as it goes, (which strikes me as a far better and more meaningful milestone to celebrate than the birth of fictional deities) and I'm taking the occasion as an excuse to both have a beer and review the course of my life.

See what I've got, work out what I need to do more of, need to do less of to be where I want for the next few years.

I know I should be writing more, I want to do a bit more 'fun' stuff (I've still never ridden a horse) and I plan on being a better, nicer human being too.

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.

The Everyday

2009-01-01T15:43:00.005Z

The Everyday is Manchester based cartoonist, Adam Cadwell's diary comic, updated weekly (Monday and/or Thursday), each strip describing a short excerpt of the artists life with well rendered cartooning.

Now, when an artist, particularly a capable one, has decided that the most interesting subject he can find for his work is himself, then you can read a measure of vanity* into the work, and that is (infrequently) present here but I don't think this is a criticism Adam has attempted to avoid, instead embracing of the tradition of autobiography in comics with no small measure of self depreciation and humour.

And, let's face it, he can draw a bit too.

Do check it out.

Bob The Angry Flower

2008-12-29T10:47:00.004Z

I love Bob the Angry Flower, so much so that when the strips Canadian creator, Stephen Notley began doing commissions a few years back, I bought the first (which you can see in this post), a rather feeble Bob skit that I'm sure he regrets doing, but I love owning.

Anyway, Bob remains one of the best web cartoons out there, a surreal, literate comedy that's as likely reference to old school computer games as Quantum physics, as likely to talk politics as make rude jokes. Often in the same strip.

Do check it out.

It's Christmas [humbug]

2008-12-20T11:10:00.003Z

And so, time has marched cruelly on and once more we approach tinselpocalypse. Shopping, a behaviour I tolerate for the most part, becomes bloodsport.

Seriously, if you want to stare into the maw of hell, go to ToysRUs, quarter of an hour before closing time on Christmas eve.

Yet More Esoterror

2008-12-14T23:27:00.003Z

So, just played a second round of The Esoterrorists RPG (first round mentioned here).

Turns out there was foul play involved in that dead guy being resurrected. Who would have guessed?

Things hotted up a bit. During a routine breaking and entering of a dodgy chemist my party were confronted by the LA Police, guess which approach we took to get out of the situation:

A. Run away (using Athletics skill)
B. Kick their heads in (using Scuffling skill)
C. Convince local thugs that the Police had attacked one of their own and get away in the ensuing chaos (using Streetwise Skill)

Answer: All of the above, which is why Roleplaying will always have at least one edge on videogaming, improvisation.

The Mist

2008-12-14T10:38:00.004Z

For almost of all of it's duration, the Mist, Frank Darabont's third adpatation of a Stephen King novella is flawless.

The story is simple, after a violent storm, many citizens of a small, North-American village, find themselves at the local store stocking up on provisions and hardware to shore up broken windows, fix roofs and he like. Then a mist rolls through town, and in that mist are things, things that kill people. Forced together in the finest horror tradition, with a nameless threat at the door, courage is tested and characters proven, some of the people are, in their own way, monsters and all of the monsters are monstrous.

I will tell you little more. The cast large cast is uniformly great, Thomas Jane holding the centre with a great 'everyman' performance and Marcia Gay Harden pulling off a difficult 'crazy' (without veering too far into cliche).

I could get all film school about this and how I read it very much as a film about our fears for the environment, but I really don't want to dilute the message of what great horror this is.

This is Darabont's best film, and the best film I've seen adapated Stephen King's material.

Machine Man

2008-12-07T15:35:00.003Z

Man. I have a sense, an inkling, a borderline premonition that Machine Man is the coolest untapped character in the Marvel Universe.

But I don't know why, yet, I barely know the guy. I can vaguely remember the Barry Windsor Smith drawn run being reprinted in Transformers UK (I think), I've seen bits and bobs elswhere and his comedic rendition in Nextwave, but there's something deeper going on that hasn't been fleshed out.

I don't see Aaron Stack as a pinochio who wants to be human, this 'man' is a superiority complex made metal and, goddamn it, he was invented by a Jack Kirby for a comic book spin off of Kubricks 2001.

There's something here ladies and gents, something here.

The Blog of Garbett

2008-12-02T20:30:00.007Z

My old mate and current Batman artist Lee Garbett has finally got himself a blog. Do pay him a visit... oh and check a preview of his over at Newsarama.

How testosterone is civilising X-Box Live

2008-12-01T21:05:00.006Z

Ah, Marcus Fenix; you gruff, implausible, steroid abusing bastard. You and your pumped-up cohort of manly, gun-waving Gears of War 2 compadre's have achieved the impossible.

You've civilised the X-Box Live gamer. Really.

And how you ask? well, pure game mechanics baby.

Gears two is on the leading edge of popular co-operative gaming, games which absolutley require that multiple players look after each other, take responsibility for watching a flank and crucially; help each other up if they are shot. Alone you are fragile, together, unstoppable.

It's a subtle but pervasive message. You are 'stronger' if you are a 'good neighbour' and after a few rounds of play, even the most ritilin feuled, high pitched, teenaged american boy is telling you the ammo's respawned and asking if anyone needs cover (instead of looking for a n00b to teabag).

Fenix and the Gears boys really should pat themselves on the back for that one, possibly while wrestling, naked.

Cool Stuff this week [17/10/08]

2008-11-17T21:35:00.004Z

Detective Comics 850

I love Paul Dini writing Batman. More than any other 'current' Batman writer he makes the character quite broadly appealing without losing the edge, the 'darkness'.

He's a million miles away from the psychedelic anarchy of Grant Morrison's run, a more stable, less insular character than Frank Miller's 'Year One' vigilante and Matt Wagner's similar, if more pulp-ish rendition.

In Dini's hands he's driven but not compulsive, capable but not infallible, fiersomely independant but, crucially, supported by 'family' he acknowledges he needs. Alfred, Robin, Nightwing, Zatana, Catwoman, the list goes on. It's a hard balance to hit, writing a Batman that can, and will, torture information out of the Scarecrow and doesn't appear somewhat insane while doing it is quite a feat.

But that's what we've got here. A Young Adult take, if you will, that would work for fans of the Dark Knight and the kids slightly too young to see it but require a bit more edge in their diet than Dini's awesome Animated Series of the early nineties.

Issue 850 finishes up the 'Heart of Hush' storyline. Featuring, surprisingly enough Hush, a Jeph Loeb creation; a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne whose villianous origin mirrors Batman's striking at his rival through the woman he loves the most, even if Bruce doesn't realise who that is.

And it works, ably drawn by Dustin Nguyen, all cartoon dynamism, heavy blacks and broad acting, this a Bat-tale with all the right elements. A trail of clues, a spot of mad science, a noir core and a credible, taunting villian or three.

Lots of fun.

Seraphim Falls

2008-10-25T10:17:00.003+01:00

Bought and watched revenge/chase western Serpaphim Falls, yesterday. A tale two men and obsession told against an amazingly grand canvas, opening in the hell of a snow filled mountaintop and ending in the hell sun scorched dessert with a hell of a lot of hard miles in between.

It is, at it's core, an extremely simple story stunningly acted all round and solidly led by Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson, who both remind you just how effective and expressive a good actor can be when performing the simplest of actions, making a fire, drinking from a canteen.

It's well written and directed with admirable restraint and clarity by David Von Ancken, an experienced TV director with credits on shows as varied as CSI:NY and Heroes, my only, tiny criticisms of the film are addressed jointly at the writing and direction.

It is perhaps too simple and too crystal clear in its description of reality. So when, towards the end of the film we see characters that may, or may not, exist, there is no room for this ambiguity and we are forced to accept their presence as gospel. But this, in some ways, is like accusing a photograph for being too in focus, the director knew exactly what we wanted and was talented enough to get it.

Esoterror, the best kind of terror

2008-10-13T22:30:00.008+01:00

So.

Played a role-playing game for the first time in over fifteen years yesterday. The game was Esoterrorist, a contemporary horror/detective game which occupies a narrative space somewhere between CSI and Lovecraft, thankfully avoiding Torchwood with a healthy dose of anti-media paranoia.

I had a whale of a time wallowing in deceit and sarcasm as John Costello, a dropout medical student/drug dealer, who along with my group began investigating an alleged 'miracle' in Los Angeles.

I'm an inexperienced roleplayer, like, but I suspect foul play.

More news as it breaks.

No Heroics

2008-10-11T19:00:00.003+01:00

Superhero themed, ITV2 sitcom No Heroics is now airing on British TV and is roundly getting good reviews in geek circles.

I cannot fathom why.

No Heroics misses on two pretty fundamental fronts.

The superhero theme is sorely underused, powers and costumes are either crap (and that's the gag) or placed in a mundane setting (and that's the sum of the gag e.g. heat powers used to warm up a TV dinner).

And the actualy comedy is, to all intents and purposes, absent. Verbal exchanges are simply crude, which isn't a bad thing in itself but it's not inherently funny either and 'gay' jokes are pretty much constant, and there's no comedy in the 'set up' either, most of each show takes place in 'The Fortress' a superhero only bar with a no powers, no costumes policy, and the characters spend most of their time sitting at a table insulting each other. And that's it.

I don't know why they're always there or why, even, they hang around together, we're told they're old friends but we never really see it, the group dynamic revoles around sex gags and insults. Watch the trailer, it's all the best bits from the first four episodes, see how many times you laugh.

Review: Hangover

2008-09-22T20:19:00.004+01:00

My four day long Birthday celebrations ended around midnight last night.

I feel like I've just endured an experiment concerning the effects of sleep deprivation, alcohol and endorphins.

I'm bone tired and high as a kite.

Games Workshop Ambush

2008-09-13T10:07:00.004+01:00

It's not the first time it's happened.

A heady mix of nostalgia and a chance glimpse of some genius sci-fi/goth design has lured me into a Games Workshop, a decade and a half (at least) since I last wielded a 000 brush in anger, and each time it's the same.

The staff, whose working day an ex employee once described to me as 'mostly day care', spot anyone over twenty five like a vulture spots a staggering bison; from a distance and as a potentially rich meal.

This time, the guy behind the counter shouted at me as I crossed the black, thinly carpeted threshold "you alright?"

I informed him I was, his gaze tracking me as I from skipped from Bretonian rulebooks to a display case of amazingly painted Space Marine Drop Pods "anything in particular you're after?, no?", now I'd wanted to casually browse, but talking to this guy was clearly unavoidable.

Close up, he had a sheen. I've seen this before, on people who'd just done a heavy work-out and Christmas Eve shoppers in Toys 'R' Us, it speaks volumes about the day he'd had, I could hear the pre-teen shrieks, smell the spilled acrylic and see the effort of forced enthusiasm eroded into his face. I suspect he was desperate for adult conversation but the switch hadn't been flicked yet, he'd spent all day dealing with 'me aged 12' and the defence mechanism was stuck.

"Yeah, I was wondering how much a basic paint set would cost?" and Tzeentch help me I was, I'd recently seen friends and co-workers succumb to GW's old charms and I was feeling the pull like nerd gravity.

He, slammed the paint set on the counter, £25's worth of acrylic, brush, glue and clippers "Now, what do you want to paint?" 'a hasty retreat' I thought, but no, my geek itch had not yet been scratched, I wanted to see what Eldar Titans looked like these days, and despite the surprisingly high price tag, I wanted to paint again. It's a disease.

"I haven't painted for years, I'm just looking, for now"

"ok... that's cool... Ooh I'm hot, are you not hot?" he said, wiping his brow.

I was not, but at this point, I really felt for the guy. He could sense the sale disappearing and, I suspect, would have felt a bit of pride in returning a wayward sheep to the power-armoured flock, but it wasn't to be... I shuffled around for a bit looking for the most recent White Dwarf and unable to find it, shuffled into the drab street and away.

I've had similar experiences, what; three, four times now, but never quite so entertainingly and I know I'll be back in there within a month.

The Pitch #3 Black Widow

2008-09-01T21:36:00.004+01:00

This pitch is the one I've thought most about, I haven't suceeded to my satisfaction -but- I have stumbled upon a seam of interesting ideas and I'm definitely coming back to her one day.

I'm putting this out there in this state just so I can move on.

Now, I don't know Natalia Romanova much outside of her recent Daredevil appearances, her Ultimate rendition, Cap and a Silver Sable crossover years back (what happened to her?), but her potential as a character works on two fronts, firstly as a seductive, pragmatic and effective spy (which, loving Greg Rucka, works for me) and secondly as a woman who opens a historical, and importantly non-American, window on the Marvel Universe.

This historical perspective gets mined pretty regularly, but it strikes me that far more material becomes accessible if you broaden your scope slightly. So here's what I've got so far.

1956 pre revolution Cuba. Internationally, the Cold War is hotting up and Natalia is working to kickstart the Soviet Superhero programme by courting mutants to defect from the US (were nearly all of them in the world are from). She's doing this by making infiltrating with the first mutant organisation in the world.

The Hellfire club.

The story would centre around this infiltration, cold war politics and her relationship with one of the mutants she's trying to get to defect, a young girl with no family. I can see it working, I just haven't been able to sort it out.

Now, the vibe I'd go for with this would be very James Ellroy (if you like noir and politics you really should read American Tabloid) and I love the idea of a decadent Cuban Hellfire Club (kind of a pre-Studio 54) but seedy (not Austin Powers)

So, a failed pitch, but an interesting one.

John Constantine's up next.

The Pitch #2 Lobo

2008-08-31T16:10:00.002+01:00

Ah Lobo, I think your time has passed, DC's very 90's 'sick-funny' character could really use some re-invention because right now he's not really that relevant and not really that funny.

Shame that I only realised this by writing a very Alan Grant/Keith Giffen 'whacky' pitch.

Lobo: Balls and Chains (2 part mini)

After a Galaxy trashing, booze fuelled bender that saw the annihilation of a major civilisation and the invention of forty seven new criminal acts; Lobo: the Last Czarnian, feared galactic mercenary wakes up with a contract he doesn't want.

He's married.

Married to the vacuous celebrity heir to the a vast Empire of hotels with the legally binding ceremony and rather lengthy consummation vid casted around the multiverse. And Lobo's word is his bond, he is obliged not to harm his wife. After a week of murdering the inlaws, much vandalism of his newfound, galaxy spanning estate and the consumption of numerous small, mamal pets; Lobo discovers his nihlism was all part of his spouses plan to free herself from debt and aim the full force of the Green Lantern Taxation Corp at another. His only hope for salvation lies in returning to the homeworld he destroyed and re-instating the last Czarnian divorce court

So, opinions? (and suggestions for another?)

Next up. Black Widow.

The Pitch #1 Hellboy

2008-08-28T19:47:00.003+01:00

My mate Abby has been taking sketching requests recently, and her frankly ludicrous dilligence in the matter got me all riled up to do a bit more writing. Short of time and not really wanting to reveal too much about the bigger things I've got on the go, I've come up with a way to sketch in my own literary style, flex the story muscles and basically muck about.

I'm writing story pitches for any established character anyone suggests to me. Abby was up first with Hellboy, followed by Lobo (next post) with my other Manchester based artist mate Andy proposing Black Widow (which is proving a pain in the ass)

So let me know what you think of...

Hellboy: The Big Nothing (8 page short)

Like all good tales, it starts with a dame.

Hellboys dreams take a 30's turn when they are haunted by Ruth O'Hara, a dancer with a Hollywood dream who wants the world's greatest paranormal investigator to solve the mystery of her own death. Pulling Red through a dreamscape that features his detective office, flea-bitten appartment and the sordid gyn joints and clubs of her life the number of prospective murderers climbs, her husband, her gangster boyfriend or his jealous wife.

In present day Chicago, Hellboy investigates a bricked up cellar, her former dressing room, not so innocent a victim, this femme fatale was in turn a murderer, of first her love rival, then her husband until finally, racked with guilt she turned the gun on herself. Like the best hard boiled detetives, Hellboy leaves her to her fate, to roam the earth a lost soul with a mink coat, smeared mascarra and a cigarette.

What do you think? be brutal... and I'll take any requests (so post em if you've got em)

Yeah, I know...

2008-06-01T14:12:00.003+01:00

Yeah, I'm sorry, ok... I know it's been a while. It's not you, it's me.

So what's been happening, well... not to get all reviewery on you but Iron Man was all aces, Doomsday was mental and comics have remained of pretty high quality.

Next time I'm gone for a while, anyone who notices has my permission to slap me.

Cool stuff this week [28-04-08]

2008-05-04T10:50:00.004+01:00

So what's new? well, looking for a change, I was put onto Norwegian cartoonist Jason by the good folk of Travelling Man Newcastle.

The first book I picked up, Hey, Wait, is a devestatingly simple tale of childhood, loss and guilt and it blew me away.

Moment by moment, scene by scene, my attachment to and pity for the central character grew and grew and didn't stop. Not bad for a cartoon dog.

On the other hand, The Left Bank Gang, a strange mix of 'slice of life' drama featuring the ex-pat Parisian writer's of the 1920's (Hemmingway, James Joyce, Ezra Pound etc) and noir-ish, heist 'gone wrong' finale.

It didn't work for me. Where as Hey, Wait concentrated soley on one character and the implications of one event on that life, The Left Bank Gang spread itself more thinly, trying to sketch a host of historical personalities and deliver a crime drama pay-off using narrative techniques you'd associate with film-noir. Consequently, not one of these single elements had anything like the depth of Hey, Wait and it disappointed me.

Maybe a longer work would have better served the idea.

Pies and Pavements

2008-04-13T18:52:00.004+01:00

Ok. A tip for you all, if you're walking down the street chatting to your significant other about the fight that nearly happened in your local pub then you have the time to take the paper bag your Greggs Steak Bake is wrapped in and put it in the bin, you don't need to drop it on the pavement, especially if you're walking past the bin when you drop it.

Really. The loudly articulated minutae of your pretty shit life can wait the five seconds it takes you put it in the bin.

That is all.

Torchwood and Tosh (and Tate)

2008-04-06T15:21:00.006+01:00

Note: I can't get the hang of this blogging stuff, I always start out trying for short posts and end up wading knee deep in text that doesn't necessarily go anywhere. Brevity is God. Will try harder. Oh, and there's Torchwood spoilers here too

Anyhow, the second season of Torchwood came to an end last week, and I feel tricked into liking it so much. Everything that irked me about last season; the campness, the forced 'adultness' and over fondness of sci-fi cliche is still present but in far more palatable quantities. The cliche has been cut back but the other ingredients have been amped up to 11, so beneath the pink glittery plasticine lurks a proper sharp edge.

It's been a fun ride too, and the finale featured one of the best character deaths I've seen on TV for a long, long time.

Toshiko Sato, Tosh to her mates, has had a bit of a rough time throughout the show, she's a slightly introverted character (with a lot of thankless, sciencey exposition to deliver) and the writer's have enjoyed messing with her emotions; probably because the actress playing her, Naoko Mori, has a flair for conveying heartbreaking vulnerability and a bit of backbone in pretty much the same moment.

So when she bled to death, after comforting the unrequited love of her life on his own imminent demise without telling him, without even hinting that she was hurt, it was a powerful scene and a display of heroism you just don't see in drama that often, especially played with such memorable convinction.

Good TV.

In comparison, I've now seen two epsiodes of Doctor Who with Catherine Tate and I'm struggling to see what she brings to the show.

She's not terrible, but compared to the calibre of actors she's surrounded by (in the last episode especially), she just doesn't fit. Now, she's getting some really good lines which she's delivering quite well, but after so recently seeing what a better actress can do in a far harder part, with far more difficult material, it's hard not to be disappointed.

Writing in Games

2008-03-30T13:17:00.007+01:00

[note: a bit of a rough post, but I'm getting it out there so I can 'move on' from it, bear with me]

Writing in games is generally quite bad, that's not to say it's always bad, and frequently individual moments are delivered with genuine flair. But it's rare that a complete game experience is narratively complex and satisfying.

I think there's a few misconceptions on why that's the case.

Writing in games isn't bad because of a lack of writing talent. Tons of great writers from a variety of mediums have tried their hands, from comics alone there's a ton of big names; from Warren Ellis to Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka to Mark Millar and and many more from film and TV (there are also a few good writers knocking around in games development [ahem]).

It's also not bad because there's a lack of commitment on behalf of games companies to 'do story' right. There's a huge incentive, and a huge investment, to deliver a comparible experience to Hollywood, do check out the voice talent that frequently contributes to 'triple AAA' titles (look up the cast list of a GTA, or note that half of the Firefly cast turned up in Halo 3), the writing and production pedigree on the 'big bucks' productions does match up to 'blockbuster' standards.

Writing is generally quite bad because of the unique nature of games and because of the relative immaturity of the medium.

Think about the medium for a second. Imagine a story... a film, a comic, novel, play or opera where the protagonist performs essentially the same action, the same scene, again and again and again. That's what a game is, a huge writing problem.

Now, many bright men have claimed understand what it takes to make story in games work, Grant Morrison was one of them, back when he wrote the plot to a Battlestar Galactica game he claimed that he had a bit of time in his schedule to devote to games and loudly proclaimed the great things he would do. I love Grant Morrison and respect his skill at self promotion, alas, this particular claim didn't tranpsire.

Peter Jackson came out at a games conference and made similar claims (he had a big hand in the Kong game, by the way, selecting the lead designer personally), at the same conference, Peter Molleneux jovially took him to task on every point he made, leaving him convinced that he didn't really know what he was talking about.

Now, there are ways, means and techniques that could make games a medium for richer stories, which I'm going to try and explore in later posts.

Cool Stuff this week [17/03/08]

2008-03-20T22:52:00.005Z

The Sci-Fi Channel's new Flash Gordon series continues to disappoint (and it appears to be set Flash's mum's kitchen... which is weird), so I won't talk about that, especially as there's a bit of 'cool' to talk about. I've Been checking out the Geek Syndicate and Comics Racks, British based 'geek stuff' podcasts for the last week or so. So far neither pod has failed to keep me entertained.

Anyhow, a couple of blips on the comics radar this week... picked up JMS's Thor for the first time, really pretty pencils by Marko Djurdjevic (whose covers have been the best thing about Brubaker's strangely disappointing Daredevil run, but I digress), slow issue but nice enough.

However, Captain America #36 was all aces.

I really enjoy Ed Brubaker's work, Sleeper is one of my favourite books ever, his bits of Gotham Central were brilliant and Criminal is consistently the best thing out 'that week'. His Captain America, however, might be the thing he's remembered for.

In his long run, Ed has taken two comic book cliche's, the return of a long 'thought dead' character and the death of the books title character and proven that given a good enough plot and a bit of thought and commitment, these stories can work.

There's so much going on in the book right now that it's hard to know where to start. We have the Red Skull trying to destroy America's economy, Steve Rogers ex girlfriend (and assassin, thanks to some brainwashing) is pregnant with his child and the 'new Cap', Bucky Barnes is getting used to his new uniform and beating folk up.

It kicks off this issue and it's so damn pretty. Regular Inker Butch Guice provides the pencils for this issue (as regular penciller Steve Epting skips ahead), and he really draws the balls out of a well scripted fight sequence justice.

As with all his Cap stuff, Brubaker weaves a good amount of plot with some very entertaining action and the final panel is a kicker. I love it.

I suspect this is Ed's last arc on the book, he'll bring back Steve Rogers and bow out, like the best performers, leaving everyone wanting more.

Buy the trades.

True Urban Ninja

2008-03-13T20:48:00.004Z

Encountered a genuine feat of urban Ninjism this week. Really.

A bit of background. I live in Newcastle, and commute to work everyday via the Metro.

If you've reguarly used any public transport system you'll know you find yourself at the same places at the same times a lot of days, and as such you see a lot of the same faces.

Now one bloke I see most days is an older, slightly overweight gent who strikes me as a bit if a character; he has a well waxed moustache, is always carrying a satchel and constantly reading tattered academic looking tomes. I've never spoken to the guy, but I like the guy and respect his quintessentially English eccentricity.

An unlikely candidate for Ninja skills I'm sure you'd agree. But check this.

Of a morning I need to change Metro's in order to get to work, this change is frequently marked by a half asleep sprint to the other platform, navigating the zombie like hordes of other commuters and a pretty brutal staircase.

So we pull into the change stop, I'm stood, the gent is seated reading a book on greek history, we screech to a halt and the doors open. A scrum ensues and the more seasoned commuters like myself breach the platform like the orc hordes taking Helm's Deep.

I sprint to the next platform. The connecting Metro is already in, the driver's finger pausing over the 'close door' button, briefly aroused by the power he has to fuck with my morning.

The nearest Metro door, mobbed, impenetrable. The second, worse. I just about get through the third before the doors close. I catch my breath, like Indiana Jones having just made the plane.

The gent is already there, seated, reading, no sign of exertion. He casually flips a page like the secret ninja master he surely is.

How did he do it? Shadowclone Jutsu? Temporal powers? Dark magic? I don't know, man, I just don't know... but I'll tell you this, I'll never tussle with a dude with a waxed moustache.

Cool Stuff this week [03/03/08]

2008-03-08T12:35:00.005Z

I ended up with a few books this week, and enjoyed the lot of them... it's fun when that happens, 'aint it?

First out the blocks:

Midnighter #17

A big, long, punch up with new freak on the block 'Assassin 8' putting Middy on his ass.

Good comics. Does exactly what it says on the tin and manages to convey a 'Bourne (with super-powers) like' 'scrap in a confined space' very nicely.

Buffy #12

Buffy veteran and Cloverfield writer Drew Goddard's first issue sees a gang of magical, goth, vampires tussling with the Slayers and Buffy herself dabbling with Lesbianism.

Let the cycnics whinge about sensationalism, I'll hold judgement until this character twist has played out a bit. As it stands, the 'moment' itself was played with a great mix of conflicted emotions and humour.

As drama, I applaud it.

The Boys #16

I wish Garth Ennis would stop trying to shock and just write this book.

A very solid issue here, some likeable, vulnerable, characters flirting coyly, some mentalist characters hinting at a bit depth and backstory and the main plot ticking along nicely.

How it benefited from a full page spread of a bloke wanking I couldn't tell you. I'm no prude, and I have no issue with sex, violence and obscenity played for laughs, but right now it's just getting in the way.

Logan #1

I guess this is what Special K. Vaughan was doing in between picketting the Lost office.

A World War 2 tale of old snikkety as a POW (Mark Millar did a similar thing with Kaare Andrews not so long ago) in Japan.

It moves along at a pleasing pace, is pretty enough and has a good 'historic' sting on the last page.

I must admit I was hoping for a little more from BKV, this is a light read, but it's still good comics.

In other news, I am flat out in Love with HBO's the Wire, having just burned through season 3. But that bad boy demands a post all of it's own.

Mall Ninjas

2008-03-02T11:24:00.005Z

Stolen from Whitechapel.

Hilarious.

Go have a read, I'll wait and when you're done with the amazing 'biographies' of special-forces mall security, come back here.

I love stuff like this, witnessing an internal fantasy life leaks its way onto the internet, only for the fantasy to be re-enforced by the similarly deluded.

Just imagine what's goin on in their heads, if these guys believe even a tenth of their own bullshit, their convinced they're part of some secret, elite line that stands between society and anarchy (and homosexuality, it would seem), ever vigilant, ever ready to fight the good fight... in retail outlets.

Imagine walking around in that mindset, looking for cover, watching your back imagining concealed weapons on everyone you see, hoping it kick's-off so you can spring into action. Amazing.

I often wonder about the fringes of Christianity who are convinced that the devil is real and that his demons are out there, trying to get them. It must be like eternally LARPing Buffy.

This week's stuff: Queen and Country

2008-02-23T09:17:00.006Z

So, what's cool this week? Well, for one...

Queen and Country: Definitive Edition Volume 1.

Queen and Country is a comic book detailing the fictional exploits of a branch of the British Secret Service, the SIS, specifically Tara Chase, one of three 'Minders' in the department. A 'Minder' being an all purpose counter intelligence type, which can mean someone who bribes a guy for information, it can mean assassin or anything in between.

All well trodden ground but it feels fresh here and had me reading until way past my bedtime. The stories are satisfying enough, like, but to pin down its success it's worth looking at a few of the components.

1. Cartooning.

Although artists vary throughout the book a strong, stylised approach remains consistent. Which works because it plays the old trick of mixing stark, 'real-world' content, with the increased, what, empathy? investment? you tend to get with 'cartoon' characters (well, that's what Scott says, and I agree).

Now, sometimes, it goes a little far with quite, well, ugly faces distracting from proceedings but in general the tension between form and content works a treat. Furthermore there's a lot of talent chipping in throughout the book, I mean, how many books can you pick up with contributions by both Bryan Lee O'Malley and Stan Sakai?

And how many times do you read a book and wonder how Herge would have done with it?

2. Authenticity.

Greg Rucka breathes espionage, a fact visible on every page. The devil's in the details.

Politics, favours, procedure, legwork. I buy it, it feels like Bourne minus the ivulnerability of it's lead, plus a whole lot of stairing at the clock as bullets fly half a world away.

It's the 'deals' which do it for me, the CIA will provide surveilence for X if the SIS kill suspect Y, and the security of nations is at stake. A fine backdrop for drama.

3. Focus

At its heart the book is character based with the meat of each tale being the moments, the interactions, 'between' and 'after' every operation.

Professional, capable, people just getting on with their day-to-day, with the knowledge that they have killed, that they could be killed the next day. Getting back from missions, adrenaline buzzing round their heads, and dealing with it.

In writing this I realise that that kind of ground has been covered, in a few places, before. Why Queen and Country stands out is that it's not afraid to spend a bit more time 'in normality' and in doing so describes how experiencing 'war' colours every other experience, from taking a lover to smoking a cigarette.

Pride

2008-02-20T19:47:00.004Z

Neither of my brothers are Geeks, so when my eldest brother had sons I took it upon my avuncular self to school the lads in all that's good and right.

Little things, y'know, a Miyazaki here, a kick arse figure there, some of my comic books accidentally working their way into their sticky mits. Subtle stuff.

But with the boys living in a primarily 'sports based' house, it was hard for me to judge just how much awesome was being retained, until yesterday, when my Seven year old godson asked me the following question...

"Uncle Ian, can you draw me a ninja Turtle fighting Wolverine"

I could have cried.

Paris, on Valentines day... [with work]

2008-02-20T19:32:00.003Z

It's a strange thing, the business trip abroad.

On the one hand, it's work, lots of sitting around in boardrooms, drinking bad coffee and pretending to be a mature, civil, human being.

On the other hand, the expereince is bookended by all the trappings of a Holiday, getting up at quarter to balls in the morning, buying strange currencies at inflated prices and having your belongings bombarded with X-rays by people who really wish they did better at school.

Going to Paris on Valentines day, with work, added an extra layer of sureality to proceedings.

Seriously. I'm becoming slowly used to the pidgeon English circus that is getting a restaurant table (discovering Parisian's hilarious grasp of what vegetarian means is an especially French experience), but trying to do it, as a party of six blokes, on Valentines day is like wandering around Isreal trying to get a bacon sandwich.

Comics this week. 08/02/08 [and other stuff]

2008-02-09T11:58:00.000Z

There's a huge flaw in my comics reviewing policy, I only buy a few regular comics, tend to favour the same writers and my opinion on them and their books doesn't radically change from month to month.

Bugger eh?

Anyway, I'll avail to switch it up a bit... or maybe just ramble more.

Midnighter #16

All build-up this issue, the introduction of a meticulous killer from a lineage of meticulous killers, more of Midnighter enjoying the 'normality' of his fake identity, conspiracy theories and chat. A fight's on the horizon but we're not there yet.

It's still a bloody solid comic, as I've said before [ahem], Keith Giffen has bolted legs onto the character that we haven't seen before, largely by putting him in situations where killing is the wrong answer and by concetrating on him as a solo act and not as half of a gay marraige.

It's working. When out of his work clothes he's no longer the white suited, po faced 'alien' that Mark Millar and Garth Ennis wrote him as, Giffen's normalised him somewhat, made him a guy you could imagine having a beer with. Now I wouldn't be surprised if some people take objection to 'demistifing' Midnighter but this evolution was neccessary for an ongoing solo title to work; fast, hard, enigmatic characters never work on centre stage.

The art's great too, this month sees Lee Garbett take on the pencils.

I used to work with Lee and always pick up his stuff for a couple of reason, one: He's a great artist and I like seeing what he's up to and two: because I'm learning so much about the nuts and bolts of comics production with each new book he works on.

I've have seen Lee's art evolve. From his work in games, his stuff with Markosia, through 2000ad, to the Highwaymen and Midnighter to the previews of the DC/Wildstorm crossover Dreamwar. This evolution itself; subtley better panelling, more effective composition and framing etc. is interesting, but more than that, this is first time I've known an artists style 'before' it gets inkers and colourists on it. I can clearly see what people contribute, what they do well, what they don't and how the page 'changes' because of them.

It's fascinating

Torchwood Season 2.

I'm getting such guilty pleasure from Torchwood this time around. Guilty because I know it's bad, pleasure because the show knows too.

My mate Jaime claims to have a theory of Torchwood, I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I do understand the show in a way that the makers were seemingly oblivious of until Spike turned up in season 2 episode 1.

The Torchwood-verse is a 'what if' version of the modern Russel T. Davies Who continuum, and the what if is:

What if the Doctor galavanted through time and space banging his companion rigid?

It's the slash fiction Who-niverse. One where aliens get drunk and try and conquer the universe via the medium of shagging. And why not?

Comics this week. 28/01/08 (and other stuff)

2008-02-03T17:01:00.000Z

None comics first:

Watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night. First time I've watched a Potter film from a book I haven't read.

It really didn't work as a film in its own right, too many characters, too much story, too quickly told and as many roles are so cropped as to be cameos the stunt casting was even more distracting than usual.

On a plus note, the kids are all growing up well as actors and Imelda Staunton, given a villianous role to chew on, rules from on high.

Anyway...

Black Summer # 5

Speaking of pace issues.

Black Summer moves like a rocket ship with faulty wiring, interspersing sections of brevity and lighting fast violence with, let's say, a ponderous flashback or a few pages of army types talking politics.

The plot, featuring a rogue super type's coup de' tat USA and its consequences, meanders along amid some staggering (and amazingly drawn) carnage this issue.

Ryp's pencil's remain pyrotechinic enough to guarantee him a big, Marvel/DC book any day now, I would love to see him take on a marquee Superteam, the Ultimates, Avengers, J.L.A... hell, Ellis dragging Ryp back to his old stomping ground 'the Authority' would make my day...

As long as Black Summer's stacato pace wasn't repeated, I like Ellis and I know it's deliberate, but I don't know if it works.

Interesting though.

Captain America # 34

Brubaker finally fills Steve Rogers boots this issue as a new Captain America takes the stage.

And it's fun, Shields in faces, bullets in knees daring do framed by some oldschool, diabolical supervilliany.

Simple, solid, worth a look.

Daredevil # 104

Bru again but on lesser form.

I love Daredevil and a I love Bru's crime flavoured books but has he worn himself out on them? After Criminal, Sleeper and Gotham Central there seems to be nothing here I haven't seen before, better. Is he overworked? is he phoning it in? Am I over critical because Bendis was so good before him? I don't know... but something feels 'wrong' about the story being told here.

The art though, goddamn! Michael Lark could draw a pensioner knitting and make it the best panel you've ever seen. Good work.

No Country For Old Men [Minimalist Review]

2008-01-29T21:47:00.001Z

Footwear and fleshwounds. Singular. Stunning.

Mass Effect, Fox News and so on.

2008-01-26T14:14:00.000Z

Mass Effect, as predicted, is a bloody good game.

A beautifully realised space opera, epic in scale and breath taking in delivery, creating a satisfyingly complete universe and a narrative experience to compete with the best in print, cinema and TV.

It's a credit to Bioware's reputation that I expected no less.

The game has it's problem's. The inventory system is unwieldy, combat is a little confusing and I found myself in a situation where the quicksave system had me committed to a fight I simply couldn't win with the party I had (and I had to swallow gaming pride and lower the difficulty to get past it).

I can forgive these issues in a heartbeat because a new standard has been set in character interaction and the emotional, sometimes moral consequences of words and deeds.

For example, the tensest moment in the game, for me, was trying to talk an abused and mentally troubled girl into not killing herself and seeking medical help. This was the apex to me, but in game that flirts with such ideas of racial prejudice, relationships (sexual and otherwise), medical ethics and sacrifice there's a lot to choose from.

It is in these moments of character interaction, against a vast, rich canvas of Galactic adventure that Mass Effect becomes something special and worthy of any gamers collection.

I could extrapolate my views further but that's the sum of my opinion of the game

Here's Fox news's take on it.

Okay then. There is a stunning amount of misrepresentation and ignorance of what games, in general, 'are' are on display here. Attacking, as the feature does, the 'sex' in Mass Effect is like decrying an art gallery for featuring one painting with a nipple in it.

But what Mass Effect does or does not do, is beside the point. What bothers me about this kind of journalism is that there's a complete failure to recognise that Games are a medium (an art form, as it goes, but that's another post) and as such they have as much right to be as crude or sensitive, silly or serious, juvenile or mature in any combination as any other.

The common argument that games are 'for kids' and therefor shouldn't touch on mature themes falls down flat when you examine other mediums that are often branded with the same label and examine the work.

Can cartoons be deal with mature, emotional themes?

Can comic books be adult?

I'm sure even the most conservative stance on art would probably concede, they could. So why not games?

I revel in differences of opinion but I soon lose interest when those opinions lack foundation or logic, to pillory a game on it's representation of woman and sexuality, when in fact it does both with as tame and respectable a hand as... what, Ally McBeal? plain pisses me off.

Life Questions...

2008-01-12T21:02:00.000Z

I'm 32 now. 32. A couple of grey hairs around the temples.

Not exactly old, but far from young, and old enough, at least, to reflect on past decisions, moves I've made and the order I've got my life in with a bit of perspective.

One question has been bothering me greatly this afternoon and I wonder how many other men my age are having trouble answering similar questions about their own lives. The question is this:

Where... where did I put those Bourbon Biscuits?

Like, really, where? I distinctly remember having half a packet left (I had a couple while watching Saturday Kitchen and putting washing on the radiators), but they're not in the cupboard or in a different cupboard, or the bin, or the fridge, or the freezer, or the bathroom.

They're not in the draw I tidied some festive tea-light holders into, or the spare room where I ditched a number of books until I can be bothered sticking them a bookshelf. And they're not on a bookshelf.

Is my memory going? is this it for my brain? downhill from here until I start voting on reality TV shows and think immigration is the root of all evil? Did I eat them all? I can't have, have they spontaneously combusted? Unlikely. Have I put them down somewhere stupid then instantly forget?... seems favourite.

Getting old. Fuck me. So it begins.

UPDATE: They were in the 1st cupboard

Humanities reputation in the universe...

2008-01-09T18:50:00.000Z

It's a sci-fi cliche.

From Babylon 5 through innumerable novels the size of phone books; Humanity is a crude, brash, race not to be trusted by our more learned stellar contemporaries. We're an impatient, ambitious, cheap and dirty race of monkeys after quick gains and profit at the expense of anything or anyone that gets in our way.

I'm with the aliens.

I've been playing Bioware's Mass Effect for a few hours now and in that time, my character, Lana Shepherd (Mass Effect has a pretty comprehensive character creation tool, so I elected to go 'lass' and aimed to model Alyson Hannigan... ended up with Cynthia Nixon from Sex and the City, which works just fine), a soldier, and emissary for humanity, she has aided mercenaries murder folk, shot up night clubs and consorted with prostitutes all the while all chatting up Ambassadors, journalists and every other fecker like butter wouldn't melt.

"It's an honour to serve" she's says.

-Moments later-

Blast, Kill, Loot.

She's ace. Fantastic looking game too, full review at a later date.

Comics this week. 03/01/08

2008-01-05T20:17:00.000Z

I'm not responsible for my own actions right now. Really, I could strangle a cat right this minute and not remember it.

So, we'll assign responsibility for the following post to... I don't know, global warming. And with that, I give you, a NEW FORMAT for my weekly comics reviews (if anyone actually notices, please express your righteous outrage).

Anyway. A pretty strong comics week this week, spent more than I wanted to truth be told, having spent the working week (since Wednesday) eating salad to combat the Christmas pounds and worrying about all the cash I spent and a wave of upcoming expenses. Grumble.

Buffy Season 8 #10

Pretty bloody good.

Willow and Buffy demonstrating their best-friendness, talking pop culture related sexual fantasies, coping with temporal weirdness, kicking demon faces off and suffering the guilt of flawed human beings. I've been loving Buffy Season 8, it's both re-affirmed my love for Joss Whedon's seminal TV show while reminding me of all the stuff comics can do better than any other medium, not least of which is SCALE. Big things, big demon's, flashback's to anywhere... a worthy continuation of the Buffy mythos.

Detective Comics #840

I always pick up the Paul Dini written Detective Comics. Single issue Batman tales from the voice behind the frankly brilliant Batman: the Animated Series. This one is alright, a bit of an oddity but well worth a look, and surprisingly dark in tone, notable for Dustin Nguyen's introduction as regular penciller. Now, I remember this guy from his stint on the Authority, on Millar's run, bookended by fan favourite Frank Quitely (which is a thankless task).

The man can draw, really, really well, but I wonder at the wisdom of having his cartoonish stylings on such a grounded, almost Sherlock Holmesish book. we'll see.

Midnighter #15

Man, writer Keith Giffen, despite the really unsuitable, balloony pencils of Jon Landry, has been delivering a pretty awesome comic since he took this book on. There is kickarsery here on an epic scale.

Better than that, he knows how to really build a world; a world of threat and paranoia, a sustained dramatic environment that, if he left comics tomorrow, would stick to this book like a particularly delicious scent.

Not that he's fleeing (I'm just elaborating on the awesome job he's done), look out out for the next arc, pencilled by the greatest artist you've never heard of (and my mate), Lee Garbett.

And how can I neglect:

Thunderbolts #118

I like Warren Ellis, despite his protestations that he hates superheroes or whatever, he always does an alarmingly good job of writing dramatically interesting situations for them to piss about in.

This issue sees mental breakdown of a supervillian, shit blowing up, Venom in full on 'kill all humans mode' and at least twenty five more reasons to read it if you're into pulpish, political superhero soap operas (and who isn't).

At least five of these reason lie with the awesome Mike Deodato and his detail junkie pencilling. Exploding lair's never looked so good.

EDIT: hmmm, ok for drunken ramblings. Of course, if you don't 'know' comics you probably haven't I clue what I'm talking about, but what the hay.

Assassin's Creed

2008-01-04T20:16:00.000Z

Alright, here's a cut down version of the rather naff Assassin's Creed review I've been flogging for a week, I'm aiming to get it 1/2 the size, a good 20% less geeky and 3% funnier. Enjoy.

Assassin's Creed is a good, in parts brilliant game, with issues.

The animation system sets a new benchmark, Altair, chief Assassin of the 1001 Arabian Ninja's, jumps, climbs and free runs his way around 12th century rooftops with a hypnotic, immersive grace (no character since Lara Croft has represented such a quantum leap in expectations of an in game character)

The cities he runs around are expertly designed and simply beautiful, the best looking open world environments I've ever seen and the player interface, a clever take on context sensitivity proves intuitive if a little simple.

Where it stumbles is in the combat, which although pretty is a bit slow and formulaic and the mission design, which soon becomes repetitive and kind of pointless (the information Altair needs to gather before 'a hit' usually proves pointless) and the story is, well, a bit naff, unsatisfying and containing a weird 'future/past' twist that wasn't worth the effort, but it was the delivery of the plot that got my goat; interactive, yet strangely none interactive 'story delivery scenes' where the option to fluidly run, jump and murder your way through the 12th century was removed and you had to sort of shuffle around a couple of evil Arabs -or- Crusaders while they talked bollocks for a bit, impatiently waiting for them to finish so you could put the stab stab on them.

They kind of resembled avante garde theatre performances where, at any time, someone might blow a whistle which meant you could run on stage and kill the actors. Once you know the whistle's coming, the performance is as tedious as trafic lights.

Assassin's Creed was clearly an ambitious game and should be applauded for being both stunning to look at and containing the best animation of a human character ever (really). There's a lot of fun to be had running around the rooftops and rescuing peasants from brutish city guards (I pretended I was Batman) but the meat of the game is a bit samey and narratively unsatisfying.

A good game, an important game, but not a great one.

New Year and that...

2008-01-03T20:12:00.000Z

Right,

A confession, in the past couple of weeks I've started a couple of posts for the blog that, frankly, have been a bit crap. So I never bothered posting them.

This frankly won't do, will it.

Expect, nay, demand a bit more for me in the 08, I've got an Assassin's Creed review on the go and I'm planning to deliver, short, snappy comic book, film and game reviews at least once a week in the coming year.

And I might start talking about the thing I've been writing for a year or so too.

Nothing in his pockets but knives and lint.

2007-12-17T16:49:00.001Z

So, the new Dark Knight trailer is up (click the link, I'll wait).

Looks pretty good doesn't it?

I really like Ledger's 'goth' Joker, he seems to be playing a facially scarred, mentally unhinged guy with bad hair, a good tailor and a deathwish... and would appear to be gleefully killing folk in a personal and resolutely 'real world' manner.

Which works.

Comics this week. 03/12/07

2007-12-06T19:43:00.000Z

I must have been eight, or there abouts, when I was walking home from school amidst a crowd of other kids and parents, talking to my mate who was across the road. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going and I saw one of the mothers on the opposite pavement, nudge her daughter, gesture towards me and say:

"watch this"

A second later I walked into a lamp post.

It was with that 'mother of the year's' same sense of car crash anticipation that I opened...

Ultimates 3 #1

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Joe Madureira
Publisher: Marvel

I really enjoyed Mark Millar and Brian Hitch's Ultimates which played like a big, brash Hollywood treatment of Marvel's premier superteam. It had its' critics... and valid criticisms, it was frequently late, slightly repetitive and some people felt it disrespectful of classic Marvel characters. None the less, it was a very entertaining read, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Now, if you're a fan of the Millar/Hitch run, or just a fan of comics, no warning I can give (or that middle aged sadist failed to give me) will adequately prepare you for the skull-cracking-a-lamp-post like impact of 3.1.

It is a painful, embarrassing experience that will leave you with a head ache.

Jeff Loeb has managed the staggering feat of combining an 'early 90's comics' pointless superfighting with the the a sleazy, 'sex obsessed' tabloid quality you only ever see in teenage fan fic and HollyOaks (probably, I've heard...). Seedy, yet so vacuous that it actually sucks fun out of the universe.

This is all rendered with Joe Mads overworked, photoshop drowned artwork. Ignoring the cartoonish style, (which isn't for me, but I can deal with) the storytelling here is shocking.

Fortunately, I'm one of the exceedingly few purchasers of this abomination that I managed to sell it to a hapless co-worker at cover price less than an hour after I bought the blasted thing, all it cost me was narrative trauma and eye strain.

Heed my words, always look where you're walking and do not buy this book.

Comics this week. 26/11/07

2007-12-02T11:26:00.000Z

Well, last week's really, I haven't done this for a bit, have I?

Dan Dare #1

Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Gary Erskine
Publisher: Virgin Comics

This is a great first issue. Galactic threats, a hero in exile and a tone that's somewhere between James Bond and the Damnbusters.

This is not funny, pyrotechnic F-bomb dropper Ennis (who I'm enjoying immensely with his creator owned The Boys), this is a self 'leashed' Ennis, showing restraint and respect for a character and a world and meticulously laying foundations for some interesting plot.

Erskine's art is solid (and reminds my very much of first choice for the book, and one of my artistic heroes, Chris Weston) and designs the future with the right amount of retro charm and a functional naval/airforce clunkiness.

This is a buy on sight book (can't wait for the Mekon to show up)

Daredevil #102

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Michael Lark
Publisher: Marvel

Well, the sense of threat and urgency I'd felt was lacking from Ed Brubakers Dardevil is present in spades this issue. A mob war's kicking off on the streets of New York, Matt's wife is in the dock for murder and hornhead's on the trail of a revised and interesting Mister Fear with his usual borderline psychotic zeal.

My main criticism of Brubaker's DD run has been that he didn't capitalise on previous writer Brian Bendis' absolutely sterling work and support a lasting change in the status quo of the character. Instead, he got back to traditional DD territory as quickly as he could, Hells Kitchen, crime people not quite knowing Matt Murdock is Daredevil.

And it's been done, many times.

But despite my slight frustration, in this issue Brubaker has found his groove, is crafting a really nice villain and having it kick off with a big, brawly superfight, stunningly drawn by Michael Lark.

Now Lark is a great, great artist. A complete article, selling some difficult acting, staging really nice fights and rendering people, backgrounds and props with the consistent, pooled black shadows and 'charcoal' lines.

Overall, a good book.

Portal again (the cake is a lie)

2007-12-01T17:30:00.000Z

Right.

I think Portal might be the first feminist first person shooter (and a quick googling shows I'm not the only one) and although I don't have the sociological background to well articulate this, I'll give it a go at explaining why.

Portal is a first-person puzzle game in which you play an unnamed, fully dressed and sensibly proportioned woman (apparently called Chel, the credits say) who wakes in a lab/cell complex, the prisoner of a cuttingly sarcastic female AI and forced to escape a series of fiendishly designed cells of the Aperture Science complex using the least phallic 'weapon' in games history:

The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (the "portal gun") creates tunnels in space that you traverse by placing temporary apertures on any none metallic surface, like Bugs Bunny's movable hole trick in gun form.

Using the Portal Gun Chel must traverse the AI's test chambers and is subject to her entertaining proclamations and downright lies.

There's a sense of twisted maternity here, of a failed nurturing instinct. A promise of cake as a reward, and a couple references to subjecting Chel's daughter to her own testing.

This 'bad mother' is one of the most entertaining antagonists in games history and the central voice of the game. The only other being the politely malicious, and still clearly female sentry guns you encounter throughout the game.

But even ignoring the obvious imagery and lack of any male presence in the game world, the femininity of portal is also expressed in the mechanics.

The design of this game avoids most of the tropes of traditional, adversarial, high pressure first person shooters and replaces them with no less challenging, cerebral puzzles.

There's rarely time pressure, never a mobile opponent, it's all about problem solving, ingenuity, making order of chaos at your own pace.

And while I don't subscribe to the notion that girls don't like competitive games, or even violent games, it's refreshing to find a game that celebrates the absence of these traditionally boysy playmodes of death match and capture the flag and a scenario that's not about a male hero saving the world, but a female one, saving herself.

Art Theft.

2007-11-28T20:17:00.000Z

So, a mate of mine, freelance artist and Scott Pilgrim evangelist Andrew Tunney had a painting he did at an awesomely cool Manchester Art Gallery/Cinema/Bar photographed, photoshopped with a company logo, entered into a competition (which it won) and then posted on the company website without his permission or knowledge.

Check this.

Now, the company has been cool about it and we all know stuff gets around the internet, but this is a case of actual theft of creative property that could have earned him some DVD vouchers. And he likes those.

Check the link and don't rob people's art folks, it makes you a dick.

Portal

2007-11-20T13:30:00.000Z

Played and completed Portal last night.

Stunning and a bloody interesting for what it means as games as an artform (more later), but ignore that for now. Please listen to, and enjoy, the song that plays over the end credits.

By Geek/Folk musician, Jonathon Coulton of RE: Your Brains fame.

Dice? Cards?

2007-11-18T22:12:00.000Z

So,

I spent today designing a board game with a mate of mine which was both a mentally taxing and liberating experience. Y'see both of us are games designers by trade which means we spend most of our time designing someone elses game on someone elses dolar and for a very broad audience.

Which is awesome, but a lot of our job is making someone elses idea work. Not today.

Three hours, some scribbling and a canabalised The Settlers of Catan later we played the first itteration of what, already, is a pretty entertaining game.

In the week we plan to mess with the economy and draw up a deck of game cards before playtest 2.

Roll on.

Abby and Dave

2007-11-11T16:08:00.000Z

I'm a lucky guy in many ways, I have a job I like, a girl I love and a kick ass flat in the arctic circle. I'm skint most of the time (and really wish I was buying and not renting), but hey, the glass is definitely half full right now.

One of the reasons I'm especially buoyant is that a few of my friends are also doing pretty well. Like there's a swell of good vibes ebbing through my creative social circle, let's highlight a couple. Shall we?

Abby and Dave are collectively awesome and individually pretty special too.

Abby is the very smiley face of Travelling Man Manchester, which is my favourite comic shop in the world (sorry TM Newcastle) and when not in this secret identity is one of the best cartoonists I know, for real, check this out:

See.

Now, Abby has done comics work with some pretty well known characters, Sonic the Hedgehog, the Power Puff Girls, the Turtles and has recently got a couple of gigs drawing ponies and colouring cartoon cats and mice

Dave is also a bit tidy with the pencil:

Told you.

He writes stuff, has his own self published comic coming out, (by the name of Demon Tomato), he also sings, nay, creates songs that tap into that very appealing vein of geek nostalgia with catchy ease.

Now, together, they combine and form Devastator, which is to say, form a unstoppable juggernaut of comics creating power (maybe they're closer to Station) and with there long in production galaxy spanning epic, Nemesis Fleet, getting ever closer to the printed page and real pitches in with real publishers I suspect British comics is soon to be flooded by a wave of Abby and Dave styled awesomeness.

And they're my mates.

How cool is that?

Boo!

2007-11-06T12:55:00.000Z

A quick (and late one). Was rather happy with my pumpkin.

Published Stuff

2007-11-04T13:22:00.000Z

Oh, yeah.

Had a couple of small press things published, the first being my meagre contribution to Leonie O'Moore's stunning anthology Tag Team.

Leonie is a great storyteller who knows her way around a pencil, working here with a brace of different writers including myself and this entertaining fellow. Well worth your time (mine is the story with the GIANT SPIDER and DENTISTRY by the way).

Also, got another bit in Travelling Man Newcastle's second foray into anthology production. Halowe'en and that. Available soon from any Travelling Man or from me. (Mine's the one with the PIZZA and the VAMPIRE with RELATIONSHIP ISSUES).

More Games Design: Halo

2007-10-25T19:31:00.000+01:00

So.

I gave my speech on games design to a mixed audience of school children and a sprinkling of students on Northumbria University's Game Production course.

And it went ok, I hadn't prepared amazingly well so I rambled a bit. As well as talking a little about the practicalities of working in games, routes into the industry and so on (the stuff people wanted tio hear), I spent a bit of time (a bit too much really) explaining what game mechanics are and, as a designer, how you gauge whether a mechanic is suitable for the game you're working on. Why, in context, it's fun.

I gave examples. Take this bad boy:

Now Halo is a very successful series of games. It's popular, heck, it's populist, a Hollywood blockbuster of an FPS, and I state this not as some snobbish way to to tacitly devalue it, it is a solid, solid piece of design. It is, largely, fun and here's why.

Halo is designed with several objectives clearly in mind, ease of use, balance in multiplayer and so on but let's look specifically at the single player campaign, why that's fun and why it's struck such a chord with gamers world wide.

The single player campaign is EPIC and every aspect of the game has been carefully built to support what is 'fun' about that.

You are a giant amongst your fellow men, standing a clear foot taller then every other human in the game. Now I never used to like this (I generally prefer being the underdog) but I realise why this is the case: You are Achilles amongst the Greeks, you are favoured, the champion of your people.

The story, the context of the game, places the fate of worlds, of galaxies, in your hands. This is a simple and frequently overused technique but here it works and it works because you're not just told how important your actions are, you see it, globes burn, earth is scorched to glass beneath your feet.

Now it's commonly held misnomer that story is a big part of games design, this is simply not the case. But it's still important because its what players first get their head around, you pick the wrong context and no matter how good the game is, the experience won't be as accessible. What's also important is that the story isn't just cosmetic, it supports and is supported by what happens in the game, Halo does that very well in a number of different places.

The scale is huge, you are frequently confronted with vast architecture and sweeping vistas of a distinctive and grand aesthetic, on a technical level the draw distance is considerable further than any gameplay feature needs it to be and this is purely to support the well chosen context.

You are powerful, the weapon and vehicle properties endow you with great speed, great resilience and capability to destroy. And for the most part, these are very well sold, tanks rumble with real weight, bullets crack, plasma burns and many world features operate under simulated physics, allowing you to launch them around the world like a child playing with toys.

Your enemies are numerous and frequently afraid of you, they're smartly designed too communicating a surprising amount of personality and 'smarts' while being predictable enough to make your battle against impossible odds easily achievable yet still a fight (which is an amazing feat).

And finally, the masterstroke.

The most mimicked feature if Halo's design is the personal shield, a device represented as a bar on your HUD which can safely absorb an amount damage (bar goes down) and will replenish itself if no damage is taken for a few seconds (bar goes up). If the bar is completely depleted you are vulnerable to 'real' damage and can die, but if you're alive, you have the potential to get that shield working again, you're back at full strength.

Why this has been so frequently copied, and why it's superior to a traditional 'health' system is that it encourages the player to daring. There is no gain in undue caution, risk is not fatal, you can get in amongst your foes (and you capabilities make you most effective at short range) and this is where the fun is.

What most copiers of this dynamic fail to do (and what Halo does amazingly) is build every level to support this shield mechanic. You are always seconds away from cover and enemies generally allow you to stay there just long enough to get back up to speed.

Clever stuff.

Now, I know that was a really simplified explanation of what makes a game fun, but the talk seemed to go down well so I thought I'd share.

Games Design

2007-10-20T14:43:00.000+01:00

A real quick one.

Next week I'm giving a talk on Games Design and how to get into it professionally for the Codeworks I Love Games Event at Northumbria University.

In preparing a few slides on the subject I started wondering how the hell I'd got there myself, I mean, ask a few kids if they want to design computer games when they grow up and you'll get a few yeses.

So how what do I do and how did I get here? long story which I'm compiling right now, the edited highlights of which I'll share with the group soon.

Ah, Games Design, it's not a 'dream job' but it's a bloody good real one.