don't be dull, be fannish

There will be a 6 issue long comic book series based on Benedict Cumberbatch's STID character: link. ( Spoilers cut to spare those poor souls who haven't seen the movie yet! ) Isn't it awesome?!

So, I decided to start reading the X-Men comic books. But where to begin? Have you seen the mess that's the X-Men continuity and whatnot? In the end, I told myself, screw it. Just pick one list and follow it chronologically, girl! Do not try to figure out how it all fits together, you'll break your brain! And thus...



"Essential Classic X-Men Vol. 1" was bought! I got it for Ł12 incl. shipping from Amazon UK. Ł12 for an omnibus with 528 pages? Not bad. I namely decided to follow the list of trade paperbacks here: list. Trying to figure out any other list was seriously making my eyes spin in their sockets.

From the upcoming - or maybe the latest? - "Avengers vs. X-Men"...



Taken from CBM. I apologize for the weird cut but the rest of the scan could be seen as spoilery.

Charles and Erik, they make me so happy. And so sad. It's such a waste that they couldn't resolve their differences and ended up on opposite sides... They could've been so happy.

"Excalibur Vol. 1: Forging The Sword" by Chris Claremont

4 stars out of 5

Art: Aaron Lopresti's art is really pretty, especially the female characters - the pictures are sexy without being lewd and all of them are distinct, not carbon copies of each other. 5 stars.

Story: I was so happy to find a story about Charles and Erik! As much as I like Wolverine, Cyclops or Jean Grey, I don't have to have every X-Men book about them, really, it gets tiresome. And Charles and Erik, their differences and friendship, are so interesting! It's too sad that more comic books don't focus on them. It was interesting to see Charles so disillusioned with humans which brought him closer to Erik. I also loved Erik's admittance that, even after everything that happened, Charles was still his friend. Also: There are some very funny parts! 4 stars.

"Captain America: Winter Soldier" by Ed Brubaker

4 stars out of 5

Art: Four different artists are featured in this omnibus, but I liked Steve Epting's art best, even though all his characters look really rough and old. 4 stars.

Story: All the stories seemed rather depressing, at least to me. Steve's loneliness and weariness, the Winter Soldier's story, the Nomad's descent into madness and subsequent death... I liked the 2nd half of the book better, the Cap's hunt for the Winter Soldier, the revelation of his identity, Sam (Falcon) and Tony's (Iron Man) help... It definitely opened many interesting avenues that could be followed in the future. 4 stars.

I wanted to go and see Green Lantern this weekend - alas, the twins can't go, so no GL for me. Oh well, it's not that I was dying to see it *shrugs*

I've been spending my evenings listening to an audiobook, Kevin Hearne's "Hounded", first in the "Iron Druid" urban fantasy series. It's quite hilarious.

I got really miffed at the fandom in general yesterday. All bitching and moaning, hijacking threads and comments to stage petty wars. Seriously, I want to crawl inside some old or obscure fandom and pull the door shut behind me so that I can actually enjoy it in peace without having to stumble across these pissing contests!

I ordered a B-day gift for myself. My B-day isn't till next month but since I had the money and Amazon was giving me the "only so-and-so many in stock, order now!" notifications, I ordered all the remaining volumes in the "xxxHolic" and "Tsubasa Chronicles" series and "Green Lantern: Rebirth".

I wonder what to watch next, Geraldine McEwan's Marple, Idris Elba's Luther S1 or Kenneth Branagh's Wallander. Just something I can enjoy in peace for what it is without needing to pussyfoot around people with "issues".

"Tron: Betrayal" by Jai Nitz

3 stars out of 5

Artwork: Amazing. Very similar to the movie, it really felt like a different world! 5 stars.

Story: Kind of boring, to be honest. It took place between Tron and Tron: Legacy, it set up the second movie, it told us why Clu had decided to destroy the ISOs in the first places, yet... Yet it felt shallow, too much stuff cramped into 100+ pages. And honestly? After reading it, I found Clu more likable than Flynn because Flynn wanted it all - a company, a wife, a kid, a world of his own - and messed up everything. He was never there when he was needed and little by little, everybody lost their faith in him, until only Tron remained by his side. This comic book made me wonder if Flynn ever had it in him to be a leader or if he had always been an unrealistic dreamer for whose shortcomings everybody had to pay the price. 2 stars.

( Synopsis... )

Art by Ramon Bachs: Great action sequences and vibrant pictures. The only weak point, for me that is, are the faces of the characters: their features are very rough, not sharp enough, not... well, pretty enough, to be honest.

Story by Christopher Yost: Fascinating story, well written and perfectly interconnected, not told in a linear way, but every scene has its own place. It's a character piece and at the same time, there's a large picture that you don't see until you have all the pieces.

I'm loving this story of Tim Wayne, formerly known as Tim Drake. He has lost everything: his father is dead, his best friend Conner aka Superboy is dead, Bruce aka Batman - Tim's adoptive father - is dead and he has lost his status as Robin to Damien Wayne, an obnoxious brat that Dick, the new Batman, chose as his Robin. Tim's the only one who believes that Bruce is still alive, somewhere, but his friends think he needs psychiatric help, that he lost it after Bruce died. And consider the irony - the only one who believes him is Ra's al Ghul and his League of Assassins that Tim ends up leading against the Council of Spiders. Yes, for Tim, everything is about shades of grey these days...

( Synopsis... )

Art by Bill Sienkiewicz & Greg Land: Simply beautiful. Really top notch stuff. That's what a comic book should look like. I was smitten.

Story by Devin Grayson: The parts about the bad guys didn't interest me all that much, but the rest made up for it. I loved the banter between Nightwing and Huntress and then later on between Nightwing and Oracle. The part with Dick in Helena's apartment was hilarious. And the one dream scene with Batman made me laugh out loud. I loved the balance between the plot and the personal stuff, it made the story richer.

All in all, I liked it a lot. Especially the art made the comic book for me!

So, Amazon US is taking pre-orders for Batman: Under the Red Hood, you know, the animated movie with Jensen Ackles' voicing Red Hood?



Well, does it make me a geek that I'm actually considering buying this? I actually have three good reasons, you know?

a) I used to love the Batman animated series, though I hated the Batman Beyond one where Bruce Wayne was an old, rickety guy and the new Batman looked kinda ridiculous.
b) Jensen Ackles! \o/
c) I started reading comic books lately - right now, I'm reading "Lex Luthor: Man of Steel" - and I'm loving it...

Anyone else considering giving this one a go?

Man, I feel geeky! And I'm lovin' it! *dances*

ETA: Man, I love this vid: Andrea Romano talks about Jensen's work on the movie!