Image from screen grab of the video below

When I heard that Green Arrow would be coming to the small screen, I got pretty excited; it isn’t every year we get new show based on a well-known comic book superhero. Going in to the pilot I had high hopes, but after watching it (I didn’t stop 10 minutes in) I would have to say I was firmly on the fence.

My main problem with the pilot was that it felt like it was rushing us through the plot without giving us time to really get a feel for the characters. That is kind of understandable when consider that they were trying to fit Green Arrow’s origin story into one show. For me though, the show would have really benefited from a two episode back-to-back pilot. Spending a little more time developing the characters would have given the events of the pilot much more emotional impact.

To be fair though, there were plenty of plus points, the foremost of which were the action sequences. They were well directed and well choreographed, the use of parkour was impressive and the actions sequences could rival many you’d see in the cinema.

After watching episodes two and three, I can confidently say that I’m off the fence and firmly on the pro Arrow side. The show’s not perfect; it could do with a bit more drama and emotional weight, but it’s certainly heading in the right direction.

It looks like the writers are going to be using flashback scenes throughout the season to help show how spoiled rich kid Oliver Queen becomes the hard as nails fighting machine that is Green Arrow. The story unfolding in these flashback scenes really has caught my attention and I’m optimistic that these scenes will really give the character more depth and help us connect with him.

I’ve also got a feeling that the Arrow writers have a few very interesting plot twists up their sleeve which could add a bit of spice to the show.

If you like superheroes and action sequences then Arrow will be right up your street, if you’re after drama and emotional depth you should probably give it a miss.

Here’s a clip from the pilot to whet your appetite:

Have you watched the first few episodes? Would you recommend it? Leave a comment and let us know.

I’m going got take a leaf out of Dredd’s book and get right to the point, I liked this movie. It’s action-packed, it’s stylized, it’s true to the original source material, it’s direct and it’s thoroughly entertaining.

Be warned though, Dredd will certainly not be everyone’s cup of tea; the movie is extremely violent and the plot is virtually non-existent. The story basically involves Judge Dredd and rookie Judge Anderson being locked inside a giant high-rise and having to battle an army of criminals under the command of ruthless gang leader Ma-Ma.

To her immense credit Lena Heady plays Ma-Ma so well that I never once thought “Cersei Lannister”. Props must also go to Karl Urban for an excellent and egoless performance as Judge Dredd. Never once does Urban remove the iconic helmet, but he still manages to perfectly covey that sense of uncompromising discipline masking a cold, hard rage.

As a character Judge Dredd makes a very welcome change to the vast majority of recent action movie protagonists. He doesn’t agonise over his decisions, he doesn’t torture himself with the ghosts of his past and he doesn’t fall to pieces and drink himself into a stupor. He just gets on with the task at hand in an aggressive, inflexible and self-assured manner.

Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) is there to add the personal journey and it works well. She initially comes across as thoroughly vulnerable, but as the movie progresses we see she’s got a hard edge which is being continually toughened by her first day on the job.

Stylistically the movie also works very well. The sets look appropriately futuristic and grimy without going over the top, while the costumes look realistic and functional, but still have enough of the 2000AD styling to keep fans happy. The 3D slow motion shots are also used in an interesting manner. On one hand we have a close up of a bullet ripping through a cheek, on the other, a macro shot of Ma-Ma’s hand rising out of water followed by glimmering droplets of water hovering in the air.

Dredd is a good movie and the bravery of the film makers is a breath of fresh air. It might not be perfect, but I’ve got a feeling that’s the point. If the producers had decided to try to be too clever and messed with the source material to try and play to a wider audience they would have most likely lost the best thing about this movie. They resisted the urge to add a crisis of conscience, a back story or a romantic interest for the main character. By doing so they’ve faithfully brought a great character to life and made a pure action movie with a strong personality.

And how would I describe the movie’s personality? Brave, direct, aggressive and uncompromising, much like Judge Dredd himself.

How would you describe the movie? Leave a comment and let us know.

Image by "Port of San Diego" via flickr

This year’s San Diego event had a wonderful glut of teasers, cast panels, announcements and exclusive footage. Aside from the usual stuff there was seriously tricked out Skype trailer made by none other than West Coast Customs.

The Skype Lounge was offering video chat, wifi, product demos and more to the assembled denizens of Comic-Con.

With so much going on it’s been difficult to whittle it down our top 3 Comic-Con 2012 highlights, but here goes.

Image by Skype, via Facebook

1. Iron Man 3

Marvel certainly didn’t disappoint: there were announcements galore, Guardians of the Galaxy artwork, details of Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But the biggest buzz was around Iron Man 3.

Robert Downey Jr. got into character and partially into costume as he danced his way into the San Diego Conference Centre. Wearing a shiny red shirt, gold tie and iron man gauntlet he gave fans the show they’d been hoping for.

The clip of the new movie gave a glimpse of the new suit and also showed Tony’s armoury of suits being blown to smithereens.

Fans were also delighted when it was announced that Sir Ben Kingsley will be stepping into the Mandarin’s villainous boots.

2. Man of Steel

Another of Comic-Con 2012′s major moments came with a trailer for next year’s Superman reboot: Man of Steel. The trailer was narrated by Russel Crowe (Jor El) and seemed to show the classic Superman origin story.

The latest actor to don the red cape, Henry Cavill and director Zack Snyder were of course on hand to introduce the trailer and answer questions. The most entertaining of which came when someone asked who would win a fight between Superman and Batman, to which Snyder answered “I love Batman, he’s awesome. But, really?”

3. The Hobbit

Clips from The Hobbit have been shown before, but it was Comic-Con’s 12 minutes of footage which got fantasy fans really excited. There was rapturous applause at the end of the miniature screening which was shown at the traditional 24 frames per second rather than the 48 frames per second which the movie’s been made in.

There had been concerns that the Lord of the Rings prequels wouldn’t live up to the standard of Jackson’s legendary trilogy, but if the reaction of the audience is anything to go by, they were unwarranted.

What Comic-Con news excited you the most? Leave a comment and let us know.

Gillian Anderson

Anderson is still one of those fantastic actors who happens to turn up out of the blue in a lot of British TV and film and just knock every last body out of the water. She’s probably still best known worldwide as Agent Scully from The X-Files, the show that did more to scare the absolute crap out of me on a regular basis growing up, but just watch her performances in A Cock and Bull Story and more recently The Crimson Petal and the White and Great Expectations. Lady got range.

Firefly

Everyone’s favourite little show that could has some good representation at this year’s LFCC, with both Adam Baldwin (Jayne) and Jewel Staite (Kaylee) turning up to remind us of a simpler time when Joss Whedon should have been given all the money to make all the shows. Incidentally, there is a Jayne/Kaylee fan video on the YouTubes but I’m going to let you investigate that for yourself.

Game of Thrones

Hands down the best fantasy TV show yet produced, and one of the finest productions on television right now. One of the little joys of this year’s season was Tywin and Arya’s flourishing father-surrogate daughter relationship in Harenhaal. Tywin (Charles Dance) is joined by Samwell Tarly (John Bradley), Xaro Xohan Daxos (Nonso Anonzie), Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen), Lancel Lannister (Eugene Simon), Ygritte (Rose Leslie), Dagmer Cleftjaw (Ralph Ineson) and Jeor Mormont (James Cosmo). Not a Stark in sight. Typical.

In addition, there’s an Artist’s Alley, Video Game Zone, Anime Zone, and a Cosplay Masquerade on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm! So look up some trains to London, head to the Olympia Grand Hall and have a chinwag with some of the greatest characters to grace the big and wee screens alike.

Who are you looking forward to seeing at the LFCC? Let us know in the comments.

Here are my favourite comic-tweet-picks-of-the-week (who knows it might become a regular feature).

If you like any of these comic images tell them, I’ve embedded their tweets to make it easier for you to show your appreciation.

1.

This comic is trying to explain to us the absurdity of loving some animals and eating others. Although now I’m just thinking what would my cat taste like? No, seriously, why don’t we eat cat?

RT @michellevegan: Why love one but eat the other? http://t.co/7hXCkh69 #comic #vegan #animalrights

May 16, 2012 8:51 pm via Sprout SocialReplyRetweetFavorite

@peta

PETA

2.

I feel this comic is a post-modern masterpiece, it inspires, but in the end it is up to the spectator to speculate what “stuff happens”

RT @whoajordie: Since @ekubli and @burtdurand will never leave me alone about my horror comic I started two years ago. Here it is. http: …

May 11, 2012 6:03 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@declanshalvey

declanshalvey

3.

What a terribly sexist world your great grandfather lived in. If you want to see this image more clearly click on it.

Comic of the Day: “Husbands Scared Into Protecting Themselves When Suffragettes Win Out”-by Rube Goldberg, May 14, 1912 http://t.co/09kFwQWc

May 14, 2012 11:50 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@CenturyAgoToday

100 Years Ago Today

4.

A nice topical one.

I can never tell y’all ‘what Jesus said about homosexuality’ enough. So this time it is in comic book form. http://t.co/0HTiFdYd

May 6, 2012 5:56 am via TwitpicReplyRetweetFavorite

@tylergleason

Tyler Gleason

5.

I really don’t know what’s happened to you James, but I am worried. “Hitler, Cancer, Chocolate” what an opener!

My comic Chocolate & Me is still available at these comic shops @orbitalcomics @PlanBBooks @OKComics @goodgriefshop http://t.co/BMh7Qvn6

May 15, 2012 10:37 am via tGadgetReplyRetweetFavorite

@themooks

James Howard

What is your favourite image? let us know in the comments below. Would you like to see us do this again?

Image via Inside Pulse

Sure, DC hasn’t exactly been getting accolades all over the place for retconning Batgirl out of the wheelchair and for pretty much all of the first few issues of Voodoo. However: that doesn’t get Marvel a pass for getting rid of the only two solo ongoings this year featuring women front and centre.

It’s especially disappointing after all the hoopla over the Women of Marvel. Because, wait. We’re going to devote a whole year to promoting the roster of female characters, then as soon as it’s done, axe the only two female solo ongoings? Despite the fact several lower-performing titles were kept? Should have guessed it was too good to be true after the Greg Land cover for the Women of Marvel TPB.

OK, I admit I didn’t really expect the post-Fear Itself Ghost Rider to do incredibly well, considering how there were complaints all over the place about the very existence of the Fear Itself storyline. How do we boost sales? Everyone is a Thor! You get the feeling the recent Disney merger has taken time away from creative meetings in Marvel HQ. Plus, Johnny Blaze is a tough act to follow, as all the other Ghost Rider iterations have proved.

Now, X-23… she’s a bit of a problematic character to begin with, but Marjorie Liu’s actually being doing a pretty serviceable job. The character’s seen some major shifts since her introduction as Wolverine’s angry, preteen clone in X-Men: Evolution. Later she was a masochism-oriented teen prostitute, she’s been Captain Universe (for a little bit) and she’s been a key member of a secret killing squad, but under Liu’s tenure, her character was definitely being made more introspective and non-comic-reader friendly. It’s nice when an author can acknowledge an only in comics sex and violence past, but in a subtle and measured way you don’t often see in the medium.

Sure, X-23′s apparently being scooted over to the absolutely fantastic Avengers Academy and the absolutely crazy looking New Fantastic Four mini, so we’ll still have more to look forward to in Adventures in Teen Angst if that’s what you’re into. But being on a team isn’t quite the same as heading a solo title, even if it’s a girl-heavy title like Academy. In team titles, you’ll tend to see the characters as they relate to other people in their group, less of how they stand up on their own two feet and deal with problems that affect them (unless someone decides to gift a character with starring role in a multi-arc story). And frankly, there’s a ton of Marvel comics with the team dynamic out there, I want to see something a bit different. Like girls being badass all on their own.

I’m not mad, Marvel. Just a bit disappointed.

Hey, at least there’s always that ABC TV show they’re making out of Alias to look forward to, although AKA Jessica Jones is a pretty rubbish title (also, please Marvel, make a Valkyrie miniseries, I’ll love you forever).

What do you think about Marvel axing their two female-fronted solo titles? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Image via pinguino

Hello Frank.

Can I call you Frank? I hope so. I feel you have spoken to me through the years through your work. I was hoping to reply to your blog post. Is that okay? Thanks Frank. I knew you’d understand.

The great thing about a democracy is that everyone has an opinion. From the workers on the street, to the CEOs of big companies and even guys who work in the comic books industry. But for too long the left wing government have controlled the masses through the media, orchestrating campaigns to bring down all that makes America great from the inside. Finally the internet has caught up to the idea of democracy and allowed the repressed minority to finally have a voice. That voice is yours Frank. You are so much more than a comic book writer and artist.

For years you have helped to show that all women can be strippers and hookers (look how empowered they are with their big guns) and now you are telling it like it is to this “pack of louts, thieves, and rapists” on the Occupy Wall Street movement. Surely the police should be stepping in to stop all that rape. Maybe they got to the police too. Hopefully your message will get to them before it’s too late.

I couldn’t possible do justice to your great words so here are some highlights to remind you. I know you like reading your own work.

“Occupy” is nothing short of a clumsy, poorly-expressed attempt at anarchy, to the extent that the “movement” – HAH! Some “movement”, except if the word “bowel” is attached – is anything more than an ugly fashion statement by a bunch of iPhone, iPad wielding spoiled brats who should stop getting in the way of working people and find jobs for themselves.

This is no popular uprising. This is garbage. And goodness knows they’re spewing their garbage – both politically and physically – every which way they can find.

Wake up, pond scum. America is at war against a ruthless enemy.

Maybe, between bouts of self-pity and all the other tasty tidbits of narcissism you’ve been served up in your sheltered, comfy little worlds, you’ve heard terms like al-Qaeda and Islamicism.

Frank,  there’s been some kind of misunderstanding. The children do not know what they do wrong. They’ve lived such a sheltered life. The iPods their rich parents have given them, have not informed but rather corrupted. Where there is an entrepeurial spirit they see only greed, where there is fair reward, they see injustice. Like Batman, if only their parents had been killed then maybe they would actually see the true enemy, join the Army and fight the good fight rather than sponging off the state with their hippie communist ideals.

If religion is dead, then they’ve turned to the media and what messages are they getting? Clearly the wrong ones. In your position as a rich and influential media figure, it is your patriotic duty to speak up. A hero should rise to demonstrate the differences between right and wrong in black and white. Hey, you should write a graphic novel so all those kids can be informed. Wait, what?  You have?

Holy Terror is a highly nuanced comic book interpretation of the war on terror. Well except for the nuanced part. It’s recieved high critical acclaim such having been described as one of the most “appalling, offensive and vindictive comics of all time“. Poor brainwashed critics. It’s sad.

Hopefully if people read the gospel according to Frank they will finally see the light, stop these peaceful protests against a machine they don’t understand and finally start fighting.

Together maybe we can save this lost generation.

Are you occupying Wall Street and wasting your time reading this post? Can you even read? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

Image via TineyHo

Today’s pull list involves more Dark Ages fantasy adventures, a new magic-based superhero and the grimdarkest of X-Men.

Demon Knights #3

Madame Xanadu starts off the book with a magic shielding spell that comes at a terrible price and Etrigan is pissed that his girlfriend now looks about 80. Oh, and barbarians are still knocking at the metaphorical gate. It’s a dire situation for a band of seven heroes that don’t even know each others’ names, but things are only going to get worse from here.

Absolutely love how they’re showing the relationship between Xanadu and Etrigan/Jason Blood in this issue. Duplicitous romantic double-dealing is exactly the kind of thing that makes Etrigan such an intriguing character. What does it mean for your worldly relationships when you’re essentially two extremely different people occupying the same space? When one of those two is a badass Prince of Hell?

Also, I’m curious to see what’s up with Shining Knight being reluctant to admit to being a woman. Could just be one of those Mulan “woman trying to make her way in a man’s world” type things, but I get the feeling there might be some proper angst behind it that’ll make for a neat little subplot in the future. Or maybe they just decided to bring the whole bishonen thing over from the manga world (twist of the century)?

The Occultist #1

Hey look, it’s a miniseries coming out of that oneshot Dark Horse put out last year. And it’s your basic supernatural setup: Everyday Joe finds out he has a magical destiny, bounty hunters are after the source of his new powers, you know the drill.

Artwise, I wouldn’t say it’s particularly stand-out (lacks a bit too much detail in the expressions and in the background for that), but it’s not exactly distracting away from the story. Of course, it’s also pretty heavy on the cheesecake, though nowhere Voodoo #1 levels. Seriously though, I question how easy bounty hunting would be in some of those costumes.

In all, it’s servicible for the horror-magic story it’s telling, but I have to admit that it feels a bit paint by numbers at times. It’s just so Dark Horse (admittedly, I do love a good Dark Horse pulp supernatural comic). Plus, I don’t know how much of a story they’re going to be able to tell in three issues, but still: need to see more plot development, but hopeful.

Uncanny X-Force #17

On this issue of Team Claws, Knives and Psychics 2.0, Betsy struggles with the whole on-a-track-to-be-Death-the-Horseman thing from last issue and Flashbacks are had. Oh yes, many pseudo-flashbacks are had.

The entire Dark Angel storyline has been pure operatic melodrama from start to finish, which is saying something since UXC is the series that had Fantomex shooting Kid-Apocalypse in the head, but it kind of goes with the territory if you’re going to tackle Archangel and his Death persona. I swear to god though, I’m going to cry like a baby if/when Archangel dies next concluding issue. He may not have had the strongest powerset out of the original X-Men, but the shoutout to X-Men Vol. 1 #1′s cover at the beginning is a reminder of how far the character has come from his squeaky clean ’60s origins. Which is to say, he’s so ’90s. They should do a Spawn crossover.

And I still strongly dislike Fantomex. Smarmy faux-French bastard.

I would say go and buy it, but if sales figures and reviews are anything to go by, you’re probably buying it anyways. While you’re at it, pick up a copy of Demon Knights, I’ll be extremely sad if it gets cancelled before its time.

What did you pick up this week? Share your thoughts on the new releases in the comments section below.

Image via Joelk75 via flickr

And we’re back for another batch of mini-reviews. So, what’s good this week? The answer is pretty much: Animal Man. But you probably already knew that.

Stormwatch #3

Stormwatch continues to fight the Moon, Apollo and Midnighter finally teams up with Stormwatch proper to help against this week’s threat to earth. Some great fleshing out of Jack Hawksmoor, the Engineer and Apollo here, though it still kind of feels like we’re in the getting to know you stage. Apparently Midnighter will be taking centre stage in the next issue though, so that’ll be something to look forward to.

Story-wise, have to say it’s all reminding me a bit of Starship Troopers, with the asteroid missiles and the tentacular insectoid monsters, all rendered in variable murky art and computer-generated shiny. (yeah, it’s not my favourite book in terms of art, that’s for certain)

But honestly, I’m mostly just reading this for when Apollo and Midnighter get back together. I still have yet to be convinced that the Wildstorm characters really work in DC continuity. Prove me wrong, DC!

X-23 #16

Remember that weirdly-out-of-character Captain Universe plot from ages ago? Well, it’s finally getting wrapped up. Last time we left off, Valeria Richards was being possessed by the Whirldemon King trying to open a portal to earth. You know, usual stuff.

X-23 the character actually makes some pretty good progress in this issue, showing off her penchant for self sacrifice in the face of danger. I’m personally of the opinion that Marjorie Liu has been doing some great work with turning Laura into more than Wolverine’s angsty damaged child soldier girlclone, and this arc is a pretty solid example of New X-23, especially in her interactions with Marvel’s First Family. Although I have to say, the writing veers a bit flowery when Laura goes all Uni-Powered.

Seriously though, I can’t imagine a better artist than Phil Noto drawing the whole X-23/FF crossover arc. He has this whole ’60s vibe that works incredibly well with the RETRO SCIENCE ADVENTURES that Fantastic Four tends to entail. Also, he draws one hell of a Sue Storm. I’d like to see him get regular work on an actual Fantastic Four book sometime, or maybe an alternate universe Avengers set in the mid 20th.

Animal Man #3

This is pretty much turning out to be one of the best trippy horror comics on the market right now, and we’re only on issue 3. Just… wow. The body horror from the previous two issues just got ramped up a notch, with some absolutely fantastic Clive Barker-esque sequences when Buddy Baker and Maxine travel to the Red Place to meet the previous Animal Men. Which of course gives us more backstory and a bit of daddy angst for Buddy. Also, can we just say that the villains in this (the Hunters Three) are just about the best things ever? Not giving anything away, but they’re twisted.

Horror fans, you need to be picking this up if you haven’t yet. Even if you’re not a comics person. Definitely my pick of the week, could not be happier with it.

What books are you picking up this week? Tell us in the comments section below.

Image by woss_hawkes via flickr

Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel, it’s your weekly round up of some new releases in the world of comics.

Voodoo #2

DC’s alien stripper superheroine is back for issue #2 and it’s… not quite what I was expecting from issue #1.

Now the first issue of Voodoo, I definitely had to agree with Rich Johnston on Bleeding Cool on his assessment that a mixed race bisexual female leading a title could have been a great thing if they hadn’t focused on the stripper part of her character quite so much. For pages and pages of ladies standing around in lingerie, that is. This issue has a lot less gratuitous stripping, a properly credible threat with Major Force and the beginnings of some proper interaction between Voodoo and Agent Fallon.

And the art…. The art’s still holding up the very high standard set by issue #1. Absolutely beautiful lines and colouring here, we’re talking equal to Mike Choi on X-23 in level of amazingness when it comes to posing. Sam Basri, we salute you.

In all, my ruling: this has the potential to be a good book in the next few issues, as long as it doesn’t fall back on relying too much on the exploitative aspects of Voodoo’s character like it did in issue #1. I’ll give #3 a try.

Oh, and there’s also a Batman Christmas special in the back for whatever reason. Batfans, get on it.

Wolverine and the X-Men #1

Well, after the events of Schism, Wolverine has officially allied with Professor X in the fight to let mutants actually have childhoods. This issue is basically setting the scene for the upcoming new series, starting off with a look into daily mutant school life with a visit from some accreditation inspectors.

At the moment, the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning (yes, Wolvie went there) seems a bit like the spiritual successor of New Mutants. You know, the one with Rockslide and Anole. Who, incidentally, are also in this book, which is going to mean awesome and hilarious brotimes worth tuning in for (I kind of hope they go off and do the superheroic duo fighting crime thing again, please Marvel?).

Kade Kilgore, the new Black King of the Hellfire Club, is the big bad in this new arc, but really: a bratty supergenius 12 year old? Are we trying to make this more of an 80s school hijinks comedy than it already looks like? At least making Kitty Pryde headmistress is kind of in keeping with the perfect Mary-Sue girlfriend beginnings she had.

Honestly, I’m expecting some pretty good things out of this book. I’m going to say that between the fun-looking stylized art and the snappy tongue-in-cheek humour, this is definitely worth adding to your pull list if you’re looking for a bit of lightheartedness. That is, as long as the book keeps up with the pace set by the first issue.

Avengers Academy #20

This is a tie-in with Fear Itself, but it’s really more about the fallout of Veil and others leaving the intrepid team of damaged teen superheroes and their equally damaged teachers (as if you can’t tell by the oh-so-dramatic shattered group portrait on the cover). So it’s exactly what you would expect: a set-up for the upcoming line up change, though we get some solid superheroic moral compass questioning going on in here when the members of the team get to say their goodbyes.

I can’t say too much without spoiling some of the impact for long-term fans, but seriously, if you’re wanting to get in on this underrated gem of the Marvel Universe, next issue is going to be where it really kicks off. As long as they keep up the precedent set by the really endearing previous 20 issues, you’re going to have to start getting this- and I’m not just saying that as an occasional fan of the Power Pack (because, spoiler, Julie Power is a new recruit).

What did you think of this week’s new releases? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.