I read some stuff, and I watched some stuff. Now I'm writing some stuff about the stuff I read and watched, starting from the worst and ending with the best.
WORST: Avengers Annual (2014) #1 by Kathryn Immonen and pencilled by David Lafuente: It's a Christmas issue, which automatically puts it in my shit-list: there exactly one thing I like about Christmas, and that's Doctor Who. It's also by Kathryn Immonen, whose work has a madcap tone that just irks me. I'm not sure that this is a bad comic, but it's certainly one that I don't like.
WWE Smackdown episode 819: Nothing actively bad happened on this show, but it was back to the standard quality of Smackdown, with loads of storylines treading water and no memorable matches. My highlight was probably the New Day, who continue to be amazing as they vainly try to stay positive while the crowds rubbish them mercilessly.
WWE NXT episode 274: This is the first NXT I've seen that featured all of the top people, and it really made a difference. I'm still not blown away by it, but seeing guys like Hideo Itami, Finn Balor and Kevin Steen do their thing is entertaining. I have a lot of time for Steen, who looks more like Kevin Smith than any wrestler should, but somehow still manages to kick arse convincingly.
WWE Raw episode 1143: This was not a great episode, or even a very good one, but I was still into most of what was going on. Unfortunately, none of the storylines can progress until Extreme Rules on Sunday, so a lot of plate-spinning gets done here. I have to give credit to any episode that has Randy Orton just hitting RKOs on every random person he encounters, though.
Iron Man (2013) #1-12, written by Kieron Gillen, pencilled by Greg Land and Dale Eaglesham: This is, of course, quite a fun read: it's by Kieron Gillen after all. The first story suffers, though, from being a retread of the Extremis arc from 2005. (Holy shit, a decade ago? Really?) The second, in which Tony goes to space is an improvement, but where I'm at now they're doing some seriously dodgy stuff with Iron Man's origin. I'll reserve judgment until I see where it goes, but it's looking a bit iffy. (Bonus points for the appearance by Death's Head, who is never not awesome. Anti-Bonus Points for the Greg Land art, which is superficially great looking but stiff and lifeless.)
Avengers (2013) #29-37, 34.1, written mostly by Jonathan Hickman, pencilled mostly by Leinil Yu: These are still good comics, but I feel like Hickman has gone a bit off the rails here. It starts well, with Captain America finding out what Iron Man and the Illuminati have been up to (destroying planets, mostly), but then it veers off into weirdness with the Time Gem, and Cap being thrown further and further forward in time. I'm sure it will make sense when the whole story is over, but right now I'm not entirely sure what the point of it all was.
Game of Thrones season 5, episode 2: So, they're serious about deviating from the books, aren't they? Jaime Lannister never went to Dorne, and Brienne never found Sansa Stark. To be honest, I'm fine with it. Now I can enjoy the show without feeling like it will spoil the books when it inevitably overtakes them. Conversely, I can watch the show without knowing everything that's going to happen. It's a win-win, really.
Daredevil season 1, episode 8: How did I only watch one episode of Daredevil this week? I should be done by now! Anyway, this featured the origin of the Kingpin, and it was very good. It wasn't exactly super-happy fun times, but what TV show is these days?
BEST: New Avengers #22-25 and Annual #1, mostly written by Jonathan Hickman, mostly pencilled by Kev Walker: This title continues to be the best of Hickman's Avengers work, and one of the very best Marvel comics out there. After Namor's actions last issue the Illuminati disintegrates, but Namor continues their work with a team of villains. It's the highest of high-stakes drama, and smarter than any Marvel comic has a right to be.
Showing posts with label Daredevil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daredevil. Show all posts
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
All The Things I Did: 20th April 2015
WORST: WWE NXT episode 273: After last week's unusual episode, NXT gets back to normal, and I get back to not quite understanding the hype. I suppose I should cut the performers some slack, because they are in developmental after all, but I don't see how they are better than the main roster as the hype would have me believe. What I do see is a lot of talent that's not quite polished, an uninvolved crowd, and a collection of meaningless matches. Only the main event, featuring Sami Zayn vs. Rhyno, was worth watching, and those two guys are veterans who shouldn't be in developmental at all.
WWE Smackdown episode 273: Smackdown has been surprisingly enjoyable for the last few weeks. Adrian Neville has been an exciting addition to the roster, and his match with Sheamus was no disappointment. The all-champions tag-match was a welcome, if meaningless, novelty for the main event, and The New Day have made one of the quickest turnarounds on record, from one of the least interesting things on the show to one of the most entertaining. My only complaint is the way they're handling the Miz/Mizdow feud, which ought to have been a slam-dunk. But hey, it's wrestling. If there wasn't a part of the show that sucked it wouldn't feel right.
WWE Raw episode 1,142: Raw was in London this week, which guarantees a hot crowd, and a hot crowd usually means an entertaining show. Not necessarily a good one, but in this case the good outweighed the bad. Adrian Neville and Dolph Ziggler had a top-notch match, as did John Cena and home-town hero Wade Barrett, who got to look competent for the first time in months. I'm into Kane's gradual face turn, and I flipped out for Fandango's return to his original music. All that, and Roman Reigns having his head slammed into a taxi. What's not to enjoy?
Avengers (2013) #15-28, written by Jonathan Hickman, drawn by loads of people: I feel like this series has taken a dip since the end of the Infinity crossover, which I discuss below. With the threat of the Builders done for now, the focus shifts to the machinations of AIM, the sinister cabal of scientist/terrorists that's been plaguing the Marvel Universe for decades. It's a bit of a step down, especially in terms of epic scope, but these are by no means bad comics. They're excellent, they just happen to not be as good as what came before.
Infinity #1-6, written by Jonathan Hickman, drawn by Jim Cheung and others: I honestly don't know how this series became Marvel's major crossover of 2013. Don't get me wrong, it's very good. It is, though, intrinsically tied to everything going on in Hickman's Avengers books, and any casual reader coming into this must have been utterly lost at sea. The story is a double-pronged one, with one group of Avengers fighting a space war against the mysterious Builders, and another defending Earth from Thanos, the Mad Titan (coming to an Avengers movie sequel in a few years time). It's epic, it's intricate, and it's gorgeously pencilled, but the story is a little disjointed at times due to its nature as a crossover. There are also some pivotal characters that don't get nearly the development they need for their role in the plot; Thane, son of Thanos, being chief among them. I feel like this one might have done better simply as an arc in Avengers, rather than the centrepiece of Marvel's whole line.
Game of Thrones season 5, episode 1: It's back! And as usual, the first episode is a slow burn serving more to reintroduce the characters than to push the plot forward. I was a bit dubious about this season, as it's reached the point where the novels faltered under their own weight. So far it's holding up well, and steering clear of the obvious mistakes that Martin made.
Tear the Roof Off 1974-1980 by Parliament: Yes, it's a compilation, and I tend to steer clear of those nowadays. But this one is so damn good, and Parliament's funky grooves so consistent in quality and tone that it holds together better than any compilation ought to. The songs are deeply silly; most of them are about Afronauts bringing funk from the stars to save the galaxy. But they're catchy, and infectious, and their message is ultimately an uplifting one about bringing all peoples together into one funky whole. That's worth a little bit of silliness, I reckon.
New Avengers (2013) #8-21, written by Jonathan Hickman, drawn by various artists: Whereas Avengers lost a step in the wake of Infinity, New Avengers has only gotten better. This is the point where the crisis facing the Illuminati peaks, and they're forced to decide whether they can destroy a planet to save their own. It's a level of moral greyness that mainstream superheroes rarely goes to, and the way it plays out is intense, deeply satisfying, and true to the characters. Anyone who accuses Hickman of short-changing the emotional aspects of storytelling should read these, because his skills are on full display here.
BEST: Daredevil season 1, episodes 1-7: The entire season of Daredevil dropped on Netflix last week, and I've been trying my best to get through it. Don't have Netflix? Get it, because this show is that damn good. It follows Matt Murdock, blind lawyer and vigilante, as he tries his best to clean up the area of Manhattan known as Hell's Kitchen. It's nominally set in the same world as the Avengers movies, but the tone is worlds away. This is gritty crime drama (though not without humour), with a level of violence that Marvel Studios has previously shied away from. It does get a little flat around episode 4, but episodes 6 & 7 are superb, probably the two best episodes of anything I've seen this year. Get on it!
WWE Smackdown episode 273: Smackdown has been surprisingly enjoyable for the last few weeks. Adrian Neville has been an exciting addition to the roster, and his match with Sheamus was no disappointment. The all-champions tag-match was a welcome, if meaningless, novelty for the main event, and The New Day have made one of the quickest turnarounds on record, from one of the least interesting things on the show to one of the most entertaining. My only complaint is the way they're handling the Miz/Mizdow feud, which ought to have been a slam-dunk. But hey, it's wrestling. If there wasn't a part of the show that sucked it wouldn't feel right.
WWE Raw episode 1,142: Raw was in London this week, which guarantees a hot crowd, and a hot crowd usually means an entertaining show. Not necessarily a good one, but in this case the good outweighed the bad. Adrian Neville and Dolph Ziggler had a top-notch match, as did John Cena and home-town hero Wade Barrett, who got to look competent for the first time in months. I'm into Kane's gradual face turn, and I flipped out for Fandango's return to his original music. All that, and Roman Reigns having his head slammed into a taxi. What's not to enjoy?
Avengers (2013) #15-28, written by Jonathan Hickman, drawn by loads of people: I feel like this series has taken a dip since the end of the Infinity crossover, which I discuss below. With the threat of the Builders done for now, the focus shifts to the machinations of AIM, the sinister cabal of scientist/terrorists that's been plaguing the Marvel Universe for decades. It's a bit of a step down, especially in terms of epic scope, but these are by no means bad comics. They're excellent, they just happen to not be as good as what came before.
Infinity #1-6, written by Jonathan Hickman, drawn by Jim Cheung and others: I honestly don't know how this series became Marvel's major crossover of 2013. Don't get me wrong, it's very good. It is, though, intrinsically tied to everything going on in Hickman's Avengers books, and any casual reader coming into this must have been utterly lost at sea. The story is a double-pronged one, with one group of Avengers fighting a space war against the mysterious Builders, and another defending Earth from Thanos, the Mad Titan (coming to an Avengers movie sequel in a few years time). It's epic, it's intricate, and it's gorgeously pencilled, but the story is a little disjointed at times due to its nature as a crossover. There are also some pivotal characters that don't get nearly the development they need for their role in the plot; Thane, son of Thanos, being chief among them. I feel like this one might have done better simply as an arc in Avengers, rather than the centrepiece of Marvel's whole line.
Game of Thrones season 5, episode 1: It's back! And as usual, the first episode is a slow burn serving more to reintroduce the characters than to push the plot forward. I was a bit dubious about this season, as it's reached the point where the novels faltered under their own weight. So far it's holding up well, and steering clear of the obvious mistakes that Martin made.
Tear the Roof Off 1974-1980 by Parliament: Yes, it's a compilation, and I tend to steer clear of those nowadays. But this one is so damn good, and Parliament's funky grooves so consistent in quality and tone that it holds together better than any compilation ought to. The songs are deeply silly; most of them are about Afronauts bringing funk from the stars to save the galaxy. But they're catchy, and infectious, and their message is ultimately an uplifting one about bringing all peoples together into one funky whole. That's worth a little bit of silliness, I reckon.
New Avengers (2013) #8-21, written by Jonathan Hickman, drawn by various artists: Whereas Avengers lost a step in the wake of Infinity, New Avengers has only gotten better. This is the point where the crisis facing the Illuminati peaks, and they're forced to decide whether they can destroy a planet to save their own. It's a level of moral greyness that mainstream superheroes rarely goes to, and the way it plays out is intense, deeply satisfying, and true to the characters. Anyone who accuses Hickman of short-changing the emotional aspects of storytelling should read these, because his skills are on full display here.
BEST: Daredevil season 1, episodes 1-7: The entire season of Daredevil dropped on Netflix last week, and I've been trying my best to get through it. Don't have Netflix? Get it, because this show is that damn good. It follows Matt Murdock, blind lawyer and vigilante, as he tries his best to clean up the area of Manhattan known as Hell's Kitchen. It's nominally set in the same world as the Avengers movies, but the tone is worlds away. This is gritty crime drama (though not without humour), with a level of violence that Marvel Studios has previously shied away from. It does get a little flat around episode 4, but episodes 6 & 7 are superb, probably the two best episodes of anything I've seen this year. Get on it!
Friday, February 20, 2015
All The Things I Did: 20th February 2015
Another week, another lot of things I read, played, watched and listened to. As always, they're ranked from worst to best.
WORST: The Walking Dead season 5, episode 2: This wasn't exactly bad; it's still quite a well put together piece of television. I'm just getting bored with the whole enterprise. There's only so much I can take of the characters killing zombies and being depressed. I also had to dock it some serious points for the moment where Rick declares that "we are the walking dead". THANKS MATE, I HADN'T NOTICED THE SUBTEXT.
Thunderbolts #1-11 (2012 series) by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon: The Red Hulk has gathered some of Marvel's most ruthless characters (Deadpool, Elektra, the Punisher, Venom), and together they're taking on arms dealers in the Middle East and south-east Asia. This book is really flat. Daniel Way has assembled a cast of strong, silent types (except for Deadpool, but even he's a little bit subdued) and the result is a book seriously lacking in empathy and character interaction. The plot is tedious, the villains barely have a presence in the story at all, and Way keeps to his usual sluggish pace. Steve Dillon is the only saving grace, and I really wish that he would stop doing books with Daniel Way.
Resurrection season 2, episodes 7 to 10: Things are starting to happen, although there's still far too much time spent on the cast talking about their feelings. Still, on the whole I'm mildly engaged with it, although I am trepidatious about the religious iconography that's starting to take over. Given the subject matter I expected it earlier, but the show has mercifully held off. Now we're getting a sinister preacher and plagues of locusts, and I expect that the biblical overtones will only grow stronger. I can't say I'm looking forward to it.
Pretties for You and Easy Action by Alice Cooper: In my ongoing quest to find more things like David Bowie, I've turned to the other great rock persona of the early 1970s, Alice Cooper. As it turns out, the original Alice Cooper was not just a bloke but a whole band. Their first two albums are unfocused and a bit wild, with a hint of psychedelia thrown in. They're fun, but they're also a bit of a mess. There are hints of the 'sinister rock fairground' approach that Cooper would take in later albums, but it's not quite there yet.
WWE Raw episode 1,134: This is the last episode before the Fast Lane pay-per-view, with the focus mostly on building the rivalry between Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. There's some strange storytelling going on here. Both of these characters are supposed to be good guys, but with this current feud they're both acting like massive tools to each other. By the end, though, they had me buying how much they want to beat the hell out of each other, so good job even though it's not clear who the audience is supposed to support. The rest of the segments were a mixed bag, with the Seth Rollins/Dolph Ziggler match probably being the highlight.
Love It To Death by Alice Cooper: The third album by Alice Cooper sheds the psychedelia in favour of short, focused rock songs, and it's altogether a stronger effort than their first two. There aren't any stand-out tracks, but the album hangs together nicely, and it's starting to sound like the Alice Cooper that I recognise.
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle: I've started reading the Sherlock Holmes books, and this is the first. It's a solid mystery story, and Holmes is a fascinating character from the start. I question the structure of the book, though. The first half features Holmes and Watson investigating and solving a murder involving Mormons, and then the second half veers off into a flashback about said Mormons and the build-up to the murder. I can understand why Doyle wrote it this way: he needed to present the murder as a righteous one, and to do that the reader needed to be shown what led to it. But the result is that Holmes is absent for about six chapters, and I found myself impatient to return to him. Sometimes the needs of the reader trump the needs of the narrative, I'm afraid.
Cyclops (2014 series) #1-5 by Greg Rucka and Russell Dauterman: This series follows the young version of Cyclops, who has discovered that his long-lost father is alive, and a space pirate. The heart of the book is the touching father-son relationship, but there's plenty of space adventure to go around as well. Greg Rucka is incapable of writing a bad comic, and Dauterman is a great find on the art. It's a warm, fun book that never loses sight of the human story beneath all of the crazy alien shenanigans.
Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper: This is the band's sixth album, and considered by many to be the best. I'll echo that, because it really is a top-notch rock album. Cooper's theatrics are in full effect, and the result is operatic and subversively tongue-in-cheek. To be honest, the rebelliousness and shock tactics are kind of quaint, but they're always charming.
Daredevil (2011 series) #22-36 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee: Waid's amazing run on Daredevil continues, barely losing steam at all as it enters its third year. I said it last time, but it bears repeating: this is the best superhero comic of the last five years. The pay-off for the first two years is a storyline with Bullseye that goes to some intense, disturbing places without ever compromising the lighter tone of the book. The run concludes with a story about the Sons of the Serpent, basically the Marvel equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan, and their infiltration of the New York justice system. The finale is surprising, and takes the character in an interesting new direction. I can't wait to get to the next volume.
BEST: Tardis Eruditorum by Philip Sandifer: I almost forget this, because I haven't been writing about other blogs here, but this is one of the best. Tardis Eruditorum is ostensibly a chronological journey through the fifty year history of Doctor Who, but it's so much more than that. It's also a lens into British politics and society of the late 20th century and early 21st, with digressions into alchemy and radicalism and so many other things. It's a masterful piece of work, and easily the best long-form blog I've ever read. The final post went up during the week, and it's a doozy: a 100,000 word history of Doctor Who as a whole. I'd recommend, though, that any Doctor Who fan go right to the beginning and take it from there. It's really that good. (And yes Phil, if you ever track this back here I admit that I totally stole the worst-to-best format from your comic reviews. Mea culpa.)
WORST: The Walking Dead season 5, episode 2: This wasn't exactly bad; it's still quite a well put together piece of television. I'm just getting bored with the whole enterprise. There's only so much I can take of the characters killing zombies and being depressed. I also had to dock it some serious points for the moment where Rick declares that "we are the walking dead". THANKS MATE, I HADN'T NOTICED THE SUBTEXT.
Thunderbolts #1-11 (2012 series) by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon: The Red Hulk has gathered some of Marvel's most ruthless characters (Deadpool, Elektra, the Punisher, Venom), and together they're taking on arms dealers in the Middle East and south-east Asia. This book is really flat. Daniel Way has assembled a cast of strong, silent types (except for Deadpool, but even he's a little bit subdued) and the result is a book seriously lacking in empathy and character interaction. The plot is tedious, the villains barely have a presence in the story at all, and Way keeps to his usual sluggish pace. Steve Dillon is the only saving grace, and I really wish that he would stop doing books with Daniel Way.
Resurrection season 2, episodes 7 to 10: Things are starting to happen, although there's still far too much time spent on the cast talking about their feelings. Still, on the whole I'm mildly engaged with it, although I am trepidatious about the religious iconography that's starting to take over. Given the subject matter I expected it earlier, but the show has mercifully held off. Now we're getting a sinister preacher and plagues of locusts, and I expect that the biblical overtones will only grow stronger. I can't say I'm looking forward to it.
Pretties for You and Easy Action by Alice Cooper: In my ongoing quest to find more things like David Bowie, I've turned to the other great rock persona of the early 1970s, Alice Cooper. As it turns out, the original Alice Cooper was not just a bloke but a whole band. Their first two albums are unfocused and a bit wild, with a hint of psychedelia thrown in. They're fun, but they're also a bit of a mess. There are hints of the 'sinister rock fairground' approach that Cooper would take in later albums, but it's not quite there yet.
WWE Raw episode 1,134: This is the last episode before the Fast Lane pay-per-view, with the focus mostly on building the rivalry between Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. There's some strange storytelling going on here. Both of these characters are supposed to be good guys, but with this current feud they're both acting like massive tools to each other. By the end, though, they had me buying how much they want to beat the hell out of each other, so good job even though it's not clear who the audience is supposed to support. The rest of the segments were a mixed bag, with the Seth Rollins/Dolph Ziggler match probably being the highlight.
Love It To Death by Alice Cooper: The third album by Alice Cooper sheds the psychedelia in favour of short, focused rock songs, and it's altogether a stronger effort than their first two. There aren't any stand-out tracks, but the album hangs together nicely, and it's starting to sound like the Alice Cooper that I recognise.
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle: I've started reading the Sherlock Holmes books, and this is the first. It's a solid mystery story, and Holmes is a fascinating character from the start. I question the structure of the book, though. The first half features Holmes and Watson investigating and solving a murder involving Mormons, and then the second half veers off into a flashback about said Mormons and the build-up to the murder. I can understand why Doyle wrote it this way: he needed to present the murder as a righteous one, and to do that the reader needed to be shown what led to it. But the result is that Holmes is absent for about six chapters, and I found myself impatient to return to him. Sometimes the needs of the reader trump the needs of the narrative, I'm afraid.
Cyclops (2014 series) #1-5 by Greg Rucka and Russell Dauterman: This series follows the young version of Cyclops, who has discovered that his long-lost father is alive, and a space pirate. The heart of the book is the touching father-son relationship, but there's plenty of space adventure to go around as well. Greg Rucka is incapable of writing a bad comic, and Dauterman is a great find on the art. It's a warm, fun book that never loses sight of the human story beneath all of the crazy alien shenanigans.
Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper: This is the band's sixth album, and considered by many to be the best. I'll echo that, because it really is a top-notch rock album. Cooper's theatrics are in full effect, and the result is operatic and subversively tongue-in-cheek. To be honest, the rebelliousness and shock tactics are kind of quaint, but they're always charming.
Daredevil (2011 series) #22-36 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee: Waid's amazing run on Daredevil continues, barely losing steam at all as it enters its third year. I said it last time, but it bears repeating: this is the best superhero comic of the last five years. The pay-off for the first two years is a storyline with Bullseye that goes to some intense, disturbing places without ever compromising the lighter tone of the book. The run concludes with a story about the Sons of the Serpent, basically the Marvel equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan, and their infiltration of the New York justice system. The finale is surprising, and takes the character in an interesting new direction. I can't wait to get to the next volume.
BEST: Tardis Eruditorum by Philip Sandifer: I almost forget this, because I haven't been writing about other blogs here, but this is one of the best. Tardis Eruditorum is ostensibly a chronological journey through the fifty year history of Doctor Who, but it's so much more than that. It's also a lens into British politics and society of the late 20th century and early 21st, with digressions into alchemy and radicalism and so many other things. It's a masterful piece of work, and easily the best long-form blog I've ever read. The final post went up during the week, and it's a doozy: a 100,000 word history of Doctor Who as a whole. I'd recommend, though, that any Doctor Who fan go right to the beginning and take it from there. It's really that good. (And yes Phil, if you ever track this back here I admit that I totally stole the worst-to-best format from your comic reviews. Mea culpa.)
Friday, February 13, 2015
All The Things I Did: 13th February 2015
Here it is, for the third week running: everything I read, watched, played and listened to in the last week ranked from worst to best. And here's a warning in advance: there are spoilers for The Walking Dead's latest episode.
The Wheel of Time: Winter Dragon TV Pilot: Okay. This may take some explaining.
The Wheel of Time is a series of fantasy novels/paving slabs by Robert Jordan. It's immensely popular, and in the wake of Game of Thrones there has apparently been some interest from TV and movie studios. Unfortunately, many years ago Jordan sold the licensing rights to a company called Red Eagle, which has done nothing but cock things up ever since. The rights were set to return to Jordan's estate on February 11th, but lo and behold, look what showed up at 1.30 am on the FXX channel, right in the middle of the infomercials: a completely unheralded TV pilot. In other words, a hastily slapped together bit of telly made so that Red Eagle can retain the rights to the series.
This show has to be seen to be believed. It's one of the worst things I've seen in years, and I watch wrestling. Billy Zane is in this, playing one of the major villains of the series. Billy freaking Zane! It's a delight watching him attempt to deliver dialogue about "the nine Rods of Dominion" and the "One Power", all while smiling affably. Here's a link: http://io9.com/watch-that-weird-wheel-of-time-tv-show-pilot-here-1685036791. Check it out, Wheel of Time fans, and see just how bad an adaptation can be. This may be the worst thing on my list, but to be honest it's one of the things I enjoyed the most.
A Beard of Stars by Tyrannosaurus Rex: Okay, so bear with me: I'm going to write about some music here. This is not something I know how to do, so forgive me if I make even less sense than usual. I'm in uncharted waters.
With that out of the way, can we all agree that A Beard of Stars is an amazing, incredible album name? Okay? Good, because understanding how radical that name is will help you to know how let down I felt by this album. A few years ago I went through David Bowie's entire catalogue, and that was a positive life decision. T Rex is a band that often gets mentioned in the same breath as Bowie, so long as we're talking about his glam albums, so I thought I'd check them out. I went with A Beard of Stars because it had the best title (it was a toss-up between that and Futuristic Dragon), and I think I may have gone a little too early in their chronology. Instead of glam I got psychedelic folk rock, which is a genre I have an affinity for, but I didn't exactly warm to this album. Most of the melodies felt awkward, and I found Bolan's voice grating. Don't hate me, Bolan fans, I'll probably give one of their later albums a spin at some point.
Resurrection season 2, episodes 2 to 6: I'm still not loving this show, but I am getting a little more invested in it. Some of this is the growing focus on the conspiracy angle, which is more interesting than how such-and-such or so-and-so is feeling about their emotions this week, but mostly it comes down to Michelle Fairley, and her portrayal of the newly revived family grandmother. She's the most heinous character I've seen on TV in a while (and yes, I do watch Game of Thrones). Basically, I'm sticking with this to see her get set on fire or something.
The Walking Dead season 5, episode 9: The Walking Dead is back from its mid-season break, and it's also back to its old trick of killing off all the black men. Seriously, it's absurd how many have pegged it at this point. Have the creators not noticed, or are they taking the piss? There are still two left in the cast, but one has a gammy leg and the other is a nervous priest. The odds don't look good for either of them.
As for the episode itself, it was decent enough, but it still feels like the show is treading water, and has been since half-way through season 4. Rick and co. have decided to go to Washington, and see what's there, which I guess is a direction, but it's not really a compelling one. I think I know what's in Washington, anyway. I'll give you a hint: more zombies.
All-New X-Men #18-21 by Brian Michael Bendis and various artists: In the aftermath of Battle of the Atom (which I reviewed last week) the original X-Men have defected, and are now living with Cyclops and his team of revolutionaries. It's a move that makes sense, as it gives the core cast a whole new set of characters to interact with, and that's what Bendis does well. That's not the focus here, though. Instead we have the introduction of X-23 to the team (she's a female clone of Wolverine. Don't ask.), and a battle with the Purifiers, a group of militant religious mutant-haters. Bendis gets good material out of X-23, and particularly her rapport with the young Scott Summers. Not so much the religious fanatics, but those stories tend to be pretty one-note anyway. The series is holding up quite well so far. (I hate the new costumes, though. So much uglier than the 1960s designs.)
Morning Phase by Beck: Like everyone I saw Kanye making a knob of himself at the Grammys, but it did have the positive effect of reminding me that Beck is a thing that exists. His latest album is a mellow acoustic affair, with a lot of heartfelt, slightly melancholy tracks. I can see why Kanye dissed it: it's an album for introspective middle-aged white people. I liked it a lot.
Daredevil (2011 series) #1-21 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee: I'm revisiting this run of comics before I read Waid's final issues, and I feel pretty safe in saying that this is the best super-hero comic of the last five years. Waid took the character back to his swashbuckling roots after a decade of unrelenting noirish misery, while never ignoring the many terrible traumas that exist in Matt Murdock's backstory. The action is sharp and inventive, the emotional beats hit hard, and the art is crisp and sublime. If you want to read some Daredevil before the TV series begins, this is the one. (Oh, okay, there's also the Frank Miller runs. And the Bendis run. And Brubaker. But I like this one the best. It has Stilt-Man.)
The Wheel of Time: Winter Dragon TV Pilot: Okay. This may take some explaining.
The Wheel of Time is a series of fantasy novels/paving slabs by Robert Jordan. It's immensely popular, and in the wake of Game of Thrones there has apparently been some interest from TV and movie studios. Unfortunately, many years ago Jordan sold the licensing rights to a company called Red Eagle, which has done nothing but cock things up ever since. The rights were set to return to Jordan's estate on February 11th, but lo and behold, look what showed up at 1.30 am on the FXX channel, right in the middle of the infomercials: a completely unheralded TV pilot. In other words, a hastily slapped together bit of telly made so that Red Eagle can retain the rights to the series.
This show has to be seen to be believed. It's one of the worst things I've seen in years, and I watch wrestling. Billy Zane is in this, playing one of the major villains of the series. Billy freaking Zane! It's a delight watching him attempt to deliver dialogue about "the nine Rods of Dominion" and the "One Power", all while smiling affably. Here's a link: http://io9.com/watch-that-weird-wheel-of-time-tv-show-pilot-here-1685036791. Check it out, Wheel of Time fans, and see just how bad an adaptation can be. This may be the worst thing on my list, but to be honest it's one of the things I enjoyed the most.
A Beard of Stars by Tyrannosaurus Rex: Okay, so bear with me: I'm going to write about some music here. This is not something I know how to do, so forgive me if I make even less sense than usual. I'm in uncharted waters.
With that out of the way, can we all agree that A Beard of Stars is an amazing, incredible album name? Okay? Good, because understanding how radical that name is will help you to know how let down I felt by this album. A few years ago I went through David Bowie's entire catalogue, and that was a positive life decision. T Rex is a band that often gets mentioned in the same breath as Bowie, so long as we're talking about his glam albums, so I thought I'd check them out. I went with A Beard of Stars because it had the best title (it was a toss-up between that and Futuristic Dragon), and I think I may have gone a little too early in their chronology. Instead of glam I got psychedelic folk rock, which is a genre I have an affinity for, but I didn't exactly warm to this album. Most of the melodies felt awkward, and I found Bolan's voice grating. Don't hate me, Bolan fans, I'll probably give one of their later albums a spin at some point.
Resurrection season 2, episodes 2 to 6: I'm still not loving this show, but I am getting a little more invested in it. Some of this is the growing focus on the conspiracy angle, which is more interesting than how such-and-such or so-and-so is feeling about their emotions this week, but mostly it comes down to Michelle Fairley, and her portrayal of the newly revived family grandmother. She's the most heinous character I've seen on TV in a while (and yes, I do watch Game of Thrones). Basically, I'm sticking with this to see her get set on fire or something.
The Walking Dead season 5, episode 9: The Walking Dead is back from its mid-season break, and it's also back to its old trick of killing off all the black men. Seriously, it's absurd how many have pegged it at this point. Have the creators not noticed, or are they taking the piss? There are still two left in the cast, but one has a gammy leg and the other is a nervous priest. The odds don't look good for either of them.
As for the episode itself, it was decent enough, but it still feels like the show is treading water, and has been since half-way through season 4. Rick and co. have decided to go to Washington, and see what's there, which I guess is a direction, but it's not really a compelling one. I think I know what's in Washington, anyway. I'll give you a hint: more zombies.
All-New X-Men #18-21 by Brian Michael Bendis and various artists: In the aftermath of Battle of the Atom (which I reviewed last week) the original X-Men have defected, and are now living with Cyclops and his team of revolutionaries. It's a move that makes sense, as it gives the core cast a whole new set of characters to interact with, and that's what Bendis does well. That's not the focus here, though. Instead we have the introduction of X-23 to the team (she's a female clone of Wolverine. Don't ask.), and a battle with the Purifiers, a group of militant religious mutant-haters. Bendis gets good material out of X-23, and particularly her rapport with the young Scott Summers. Not so much the religious fanatics, but those stories tend to be pretty one-note anyway. The series is holding up quite well so far. (I hate the new costumes, though. So much uglier than the 1960s designs.)
Morning Phase by Beck: Like everyone I saw Kanye making a knob of himself at the Grammys, but it did have the positive effect of reminding me that Beck is a thing that exists. His latest album is a mellow acoustic affair, with a lot of heartfelt, slightly melancholy tracks. I can see why Kanye dissed it: it's an album for introspective middle-aged white people. I liked it a lot.
Daredevil (2011 series) #1-21 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee: I'm revisiting this run of comics before I read Waid's final issues, and I feel pretty safe in saying that this is the best super-hero comic of the last five years. Waid took the character back to his swashbuckling roots after a decade of unrelenting noirish misery, while never ignoring the many terrible traumas that exist in Matt Murdock's backstory. The action is sharp and inventive, the emotional beats hit hard, and the art is crisp and sublime. If you want to read some Daredevil before the TV series begins, this is the one. (Oh, okay, there's also the Frank Miller runs. And the Bendis run. And Brubaker. But I like this one the best. It has Stilt-Man.)
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