Hot for Teacher

Cameron Diaz is about to star in R-rated comedy Bad Teacher and, much to my surprise, it actually looks pretty damn funny. Shades of Role Models & School of Rock.

And in honour of hot teachers everywhere…

The solos here are mental…

Winter is coming…

In two months, HBO will premiere their latest big budget series: “Game of Thrones” adapted from the book of the same name. The first instalment in George R R Martin’s fantasy epic “A Song Of Ice And Fire”

Starring Sean Bean,  Lena Heady, Iain Glen and a host of other acting talents, this promises to be one to watch.

Here’s a trailer…

The Game Begins

Friends and Co-conspirators

I know this is usually comic and film related but I’m going to take you on a little bit of a tangent here.

The past 12 months have not exactly been the best in my life... In fact, I’d go as far as to say they sucked balls, and not in a good way, but they could have been a lot worse. I’ve still got my arms, legs, dashing good looks and razor-sharp wit (Shush, you. Don’t spoil my self-deception…)

I wouldn’t have got through all of it without my mates and there’s a few who really stepped up and went above and beyond in supporting me, helping me get my head straight, making me laugh and giving me a kick up the pants when I needed it.

Rather than do a name’n’shame gushing praise blog post, I’ve opted for this:

I’ve picked a song that reminds me of each of them. If they read this, they’ll be able to tell which one is for them.

If you think one of these songs is for you, then I REALLY hope you picked the right one. Don’t ask me as I’ll be mortified if you’ve gone for the wrong one!

So, in no particular order of how much you guys mean to me, these are for you…

1) There’s no way they won’t know this is for them…

1a) Couldn’t pick one so they got two…

2) Yeah, well, this isn’t the hardest to work out.

3) This is for someone who will probably kill me for thinking of them when I hear this song, but tough.

4) This doesn’t describe the person in question, but it does remind me of singing it with them.

5) There’s one particular moment last year, where this song made me and the mate in question crease up.

Here’s to good mates, who’d help you bury a body and escape to Tijuana if need be. (Don’t go ignoring my calls, I’ve already bought two shovels) You’re awesome.

Dx

Death comes to us all, and it sucks the big one

I haven’t posted in a while, life got in the way. Sincere apologies, but I’ll rectify that starting today.

This post was originally going to be about the recent death of the Human Torch in Fantastic Four 587, segue into the forthcoming Death of Spider-Man in Ultimate Spider-Man and a look at how death can be handled in comics, both very well and very badly.

Then my uncle passed away suddenly last week and the topic seemed alternately timely but possibly a bit inappropriate. My uncle was a collector, to the Nth degree, and I think he would have understood my passion for comics, so I’m going to write this instead, a slightly longer review of Fantastic Four 587, and save my USM/Death blog for another time.

If you’ve not been reading Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four, then you’re really missing out on what’s arguably the best run on the book since the Waid/Wieringo years. As the run has developed, threads from the early arcs have been brought together and weaved into one over-arching tapestry. He’s managed to bring in the key players in the FF’s universe, avoid the usual tropes and make the tales of comics’ first family feel fresh and exciting again. Something they’d struggled to be for a long time. The current arc promised a death that would shake the FF for ever, blah blah blah. Death? In comics? Back by Christmas usually. But the quality of Hickman’s storytelling, coupled with Steve Epting’s gorgeous pencils, really makes you feel that this IS a story that’s going to be important and remembered.

Last week’s issue, 587, came shipped in a sealed black bag, so no-one could spoil the ending until they’d bought the issue and opened their copy. I think the last time a major publisher did this was Superman 75 when he fell in battle against Doomsday. In the earlier issues of the arc the team had been split into three, with the previous issue ending showing each member in a perilous situation:

Reed (Mr Fantastic) was on an alien world about to get devoured by Galactus, trying to evacuate the inhabitants.

Sue (The Invisible Woman)was trying to stop an Atlantean Civil War between Namor’s imperial forces and a renegade tribe of Atlanteans. (Again? Seriously, they have so many inter-tribal fights down there, it’s like a waterlogged Africa. Geldof’ll knock up a charity song at this rate)

Johnny (The Human Torch) and Ben (A depowered Thing) were minding Reed & Sue’s children and their friends at the Baxter Building when an invasion force of mutated insect zealots (Don’t ask, it’ll take too long, just wiki “Annihilation Wave”) starts to pour in through a dimensional gateway Reed keeps around. (Why does he keep that around? Nothing EVER comes through that damn door with muffins or juice, only greebly invasions and powerhouse lunatics)

As the issue draws to a close Reed escapes being the garnish on Galactus’ dinner, Sue smacks Namor in the chops and tells him to stop being a dick, leaving Ben and Johnny to stem the tide of the alien invasion.

Here’s where Hickman shows his writing ability, for me at least. The only way to close the gateway is the controls on the other side, as the fighting has wrecked the console on Earth. It’s a well-worn plot device, the whole “noble sacrifice, one of us has to stay behind” but Hickman keeps things moving along at such a pace, that you forgive such an obvious move. The pacing and layout for the next few pages is perfect. The final exchange between Johnny & Ben. Ben’s sense of helplessness as he watches Johnny’s blaze of glory. The final image, of Ben, stressed back into his Thing form, slumped against the now-sealed portal, holding the heartbroken kids.

I think most readers had figured out that Johnny was the likely redshirt in the arc. In fact, I believe he’s the team member with the fewest previous deaths or near-death experiences, so it was his turn really! I hope that Hickman is allowed to let things unfold at his own pace and not be rushed by editorial mandate into bringing Johnny back too soon. I suspect FF 600 in a year’s time will either see his return or the start of a “Search for The Human Torch” storyarc

It’s quite a moving sequence and hits the right notes at the right times. As with ALL comic book deaths, you know full well he’ll be back sooner or later. But that’s ok, you can resurrect comic characters with impunity from fanboy slings and arrows so long as you write it well. Ed Brubaker’s work on Captain America with Bucky/Winter Soldier being a prime example.

It’s no coincidence that both books were illustrated by Steve Epting. Steve has been working in comics for several decades and has evolved into one of the best real-world artists today. He can draw the fantastic and the exotic, but make it seem as realistic as your PC, your keyboard or your hand in front of your face. Nothing seems impossible under his pencils. He’s got a real knack for facial expressions and communicating emotion. As opposed to, say, Mike Deodato and his three expression style. (There’s an blog in that one alone…)

If you’ve not read it already, hold fire and wait for the Omnibus hardcover which must be coming sooner or later. If you can’t wait, then Hickman’s run is already being collected, by storyarc.

Last word – My uncle worked as a mechanic restoring vintage cars. I nearly always saw him in navy blue overalls, but right now, I keep picturing him in an FF costume, smoking a cigar. It’s a little daft, but then, my family’s more than a touch eccentric so I figure it’s alright and he wouldn’t mind. I’ve still got the Sci-Fi omnibus he bought me for Christmas when I was 7 years old. It’s got the novels of 2001, Star Wars, Wrath of Khan & Close Encounters in there. Daft the things you keep hold of sometimes.

Rest in Peace, Uncle Chris.