So...

...now they've hanged Saddam, do you think Bush and Blair will draw straws to see who gets his "Butcher of Baghdad" nickname?

Best doublepage spread ever!

NEXTWAVE #11 features six double page spreads. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Simonson! And remember my whole "comic bloggers love Modok" angle? Well, comic bloggers love Elvis Modoks, too.

Ebay goldmine

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, (Scotland, 1979), those crazy cats at DC Thomson jumped on the Sci-Fi bandwagon and started to produce the digest STARBLAZER. Anyway, the title is notable for being home to some of Grant Morrison's earliest professional work. Like a lot of comic writers, Morrison started off drawing as well as scripting (like Alan Moore, Brian Bendis and plenty of other notables). As far as I know, the only STARBLAZER completely pencilled by Morrison was issue 15. In fact, it remains his only real professional pencilling job (one page in the penultimate issue of THE INVISIBLES doesn't count).

And guess what I just bought on Ebay? But no need to sneer jealously, my fellow speculators, because the same guy is selling another five copies. Just don't tell him I sent you. Or expect it to be good.

So, while I'm waiting for the ham to boil..

...what about that DOCTOR WHO Christmas special last night? Best FX yet in any of the new WHOs, and Murray Gold's lush, orchestral score was also probably the best yet. I'm guessing the Beeb is throwing even more cash at it as this thing has clearly became its flagship (good, I was never a fan of that fucken Thatcherite ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES shite) - and a hell of a moneyspinner for the licensing department (two spin-off magazines, toys, DVDs, stickers, part works, models, you name it - hope some of that cash is being ploughed back into the show rather than Chris fucking Moyles' sweaty back pocket). Okay, some of it was a little too aimed at the kiddies to be really satisfying for a cynical, half-cut adult (Tate and Parrish playing it broad, screaming kiddies in Spielberg-style fake jeopardy, the cheering kids watching the Tardis car chase, etc), but Davies does have a nice way of undercutting all that stuff with real thematic darkness. And if I never heard the word Torchwood mentioned in another episode of WHO ever again, I'd probably be a happier man. Too soon, man, too soon.

As usual, the bit that gave me the most acute dose of the fanboy horn was the series three preview at the end (now streaming at the official website here). The good burghers at Behind The Sofa seem a little dejected at the continuing lack of classic WHO villains, but I reckon there's a good chance those big rhino-headed goombahs will turn out to be reimagined Sontarans. Plus, a pilot with a cat's face, from that race of nurses in season 2's opener, New Earth, I presume. The return of the little piggy alien from Aliens Of London in series one. The Face of Boe, again. And the main event, a Dalek - and a sexy black one at that - that Cult Of Skaro fella, Dalek Sec, if I'm not mistaken. So, plenty of indicators that the current creative team are taking time to really expand their own mythology, dropping little hints and namechecks that turn up again in unexpected places much later. Even the trailer for the New Year's Eve TORCHWOOD finale looked good. Here's hoping it culls a good two to three fifths of its cast, blows up their ridiculous SUV ("hello, we're a mysterious government agency you've never heard of. We're top secret, like." "Yeah, called Torchwood." "How'd you know?" "It's written all over your wee jeep."), answers a few annoying hanging plot threads, and pulls its socks up for a more consistent second series.

X-mas in minus 15 minutes and counting down...

...I'm already well stuffed, and well liquored up with some LBV port, a lager or two, and the dregs of a couple of bottles of red. Just time for a couple of stray opinions, and then it's radio silence for a couple of days. Tonight's penultimate TORCHWOOD? A bit of a stinker after a few consecutive good episodes from a series that took just a little bit too long to find its feet. Do they really think so few of us have seen FIGHT CLUB to not see exactly how that 'un was going to play out?


Over at Newsarama, that nice Scott Allie has been updating us on what Dark Horse have planned for the new year. It included a couple of choice panels from Duncan Fegredo's long awaited debut as artist on Hellboy, DARKNESS CALLS. Typically great work, and it looks like he's hit exactly the right balance between his own style and Mignola's. Well played that man.

Patchbox

Here's a link for all my superstar artist internet buddies: Patchbox. A groovy resource full of links to interesting illustrators. Great interface, too.

Enjoyed seeing this, though it's old news by now

I love the comic books EX MACHINA, RUNAWAYS, and THE ESCAPISTS, and enjoy Y THE LAST MAN; and spend way too much time hoping that the writing staff on the TV show LOST don't get so horribly mired in their own wacky plot twists that they don't pull the rabbit out of the hat eventually and end the series in a suitably spectacular pay-off.

So I enjoyed seeing this: comicbook writer goes legit.

Quality comics tat

If you grew up loving comics in the seventies, chances are you've a soft spot for Marv Wolfman/Gene Colan/Tom Palmer's TOMB OF DRACULA. And if so, you'll also dig seeing this. Very Colan.

future proofing

I've been away for a while, largely 'cus Blogger was acting up on my computer as they fully rolled out the Beta. I had to dump my cache, but it seems to be back to full strength. I'm not, though: I'm dosed with the man-flu, just in time for X-mas. F*ck it. Still, at some point over the next weeks I intend to post something about THE ART OF BRIAN BOLLAND, 2000AD #2007, and a little tribute to Phil Bond while I'm at it. There: I've said it out loud, now I've got to do it.

meme - Captain Annoying

cock knockers

JACKASS THE GAME. It'll probably be total shit, but something about the premise inherently amuses me. Possibly the opportunity to vicariously run through the streets of big cities wearing only a thong. Party boy!

Also on this theme - fancy making a JAY AND SILENT BOB game? Kevin Smith wants you to.

"Cocaine's a hell of a drug"

Once upon a time, believe it or not, Bad Librarianship fave Neil Young was in a band with Rick James. Yes, that Rick James. And they were signed to Motown, too. Good god, y'all. Anyway, everyone pretty much denied the existance of any recorded output by this outfit, called The Mynah Birds, but both sides of a legendary lost single have now turned up, on a new Motown archive set, The Complete Motown Singles Volume 6: 1966. Groovy. The only problem being, I can't hear the name Rick James without thinking of this.

"Fuck yo' couch!"

lager, lager, lager, fighting

Jock's 20 Drawings. A little preview of some work he'll be showing in #3 of Ash Wood's magazine SWALLOW (click on that link for the stellar list of talent contributing). I say magazine, but each issue is a f#ck-off big book, really. Think of it as SPECTRUM for comic artists, I suppose. The next issue'll cost $50, but it's something I'd never dream of missing.

Oh, and great work, Jock.

comic booky links

1. Bryan Lee O'Malley has a new website. Eet is preety.

2. When comic titans drink, drink, drink!

3. Sam Raimi is producing a new THE SHADOW film. Unfamiliar as I am with the original pulps, I loved Howard Chaykin's miniseries in the eighties, along with the Andy Helfer/Bill Sienkiewicz/Kyle Baker ongoing that spun off from it. In fact, I'd say that Helfer & Baker's second annual from that series is one of my favourite comics of all-time. Not that I'd expect the movie to be anything like those: another case of comics being a smarter, more sophisticated form of storytelling than mainstream cinema, I'm afraid.

4. CBDLF auction over at Ebay. Buy Frank Miller's stool. No, not that kind of stool, you pervert!

Chris Weston: an intervention.

Look at this character design, for God's sake. Get some help man.

marvelous mechanical mind-reading webpage thingy

I'm probably pretty late in linking to the new, last ever internet issue of Comic Foundry (here). Anyway, there's a link there to a nice little quiz for all you curious non-comics readers out there who must be checking out this blog for the, uh, wine and cheese coverage.

I can assure you it's spot on, 'cus I gave it a test run, and it recommended SCOTT PILGRIM. Dude! It's like it can read minds or somethin'.

And good luck to the Comic Foundry guys as they try and make a go of a print version of their magazine. I've decried the lack of a middle-ground between TCJ and WIZARD before, so here's hoping they find the magic formula.

pulphope

In lieu of any regular updating of his website, Paul Pope has started a blog.

Eeek! Me happy like little girl! Oh, and Paul - big scans! Good man.

Johnson talks PREACHER

An interview with Mark Steven Johnson about adapting PREACHER here. Still hopeful.
One thing, though:

NRAMA: People have always said either HBO or the BBC for things of that nature.
MSJ: Yeah but there's no way the BBC would really do the book. The stuff is so controversial, so violent, so sexy and so funny. Everything about it is spectacular. You can't do it in a movie because it would take so many movies combined to tell the whole story and you can't do it on any network television, just for all the obvious reasons. So it was really HBO or nothing. When I went in to pitch it to them I said "I hope you love this as much as I do because if you don't want to do it it's done." There's nowhere else to go.

Can't say I agree with that. The BBC did all kinds of mad shit as bad or worse than PREACHER over the years (BRIMSTONE AND TREACLE anyone? Some ELEPHANT? More BLACK EYES, Vicar?). The big sticking point with them would clearly be the money (and the anti-fantasy bias of their commissioners). Though I'd love to see The Beeb go in with HBO on this, like they did on ROME and EXTRAS, in order to give me a little extra confidence that they'd be getting certain aspects of the books right. Like the stuff set in Ireland. And on that note, I've had another idea on who to cast as Cassidy: Irish comedian Andrew Maxwell. Dunno if he has any thesp leanings, though. He looks the part, as opposed to, say, Dylan Moran, and has the accent, unlike, say, Owen O'Neill (who does have thesp leanings, looks the part, but has the wrong accent - though, yes, I'm sure an Northern Irish actor wouldn't find doing a Dublin accent that much of a stretch).

Though I also realise I'm obsessing somewhat on Johnson casting an Irish comedy actor for Cassidy. Chances are it'll go to a pretty young Californian bit part actor who'll thoroughly mangle the accent, David Boreanaz style.

ladies and gentlemen, NATHAN FOX

I knew there was a reason I kept checking out DRAWN! every couple o' days. So they can blow my mind with great artists I've been oblivious to like Nathan Fox. This guy is great. More than a little bit Paul Pope, a little bit The Pander Bros, a little bit Tomer Hanuka, and all great. Dude has an intuitive, dynamic, and entirely kick-ass sense of design.

"The Beagles. They're like a cross between The Beatles and The Eagles"

So you love The Beatles, right, but haven't decided whether to buy the new record, LOVE, yet. Sure, it sounds interesting, and the reviews have been spectacular, but isn't it just another way to get you to pay yet again for music you already own? Check out the superb microsite. That might help you decide.