Comics and Cartoons
So I'm just old enough to have been born right at the time cartoons became excellent!
It was the early to mid-1980's - the Cold War was settled in, the psychadelic era was over and the hippies now let their kids play with toy guns.
And what lead this dawning of cool?
The toy-tie in 22 minute advert.
And they were good!
It was the early to mid-1980's - the Cold War was settled in, the psychadelic era was over and the hippies now let their kids play with toy guns.
And what lead this dawning of cool?
The toy-tie in 22 minute advert.
And they were good!
Space Battleship Yamato 2199 - A Must See ANime, ESPECIALLY on Blu-Ray
As you may have gathered from previous entries on this site, I am a huge fan of 80's cartoons.
My afternoons in the mid to late 80's were spent watching Robotech, Mighty Orbots, Thundercats, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Centurions, Transformers and the like. In terms of quality animation, I was born at pretty much exactly the tight time!
In fact it was at this time that we started to get a number of Japanese anime shows translated into English (sometimes butchered into English) on our TV screen; the afore-mentioned Robotech, G-Force, Astro Boy and the subject of this post Star Blazers - one of my favourites!
So it was with much joy that I discovered Space Battleship Yamato 2199.
It's a brand new anime, retelling the exploits of the crew of the Yamato as they head into deep space to fight the Gamillons who have destroyed earth. ... and it's amazing!!
The tweeks to the old designs, the inclusion of the original score (rerecorded thankfully) and the familiar character are all there - PLUS more back story, some great new characters and none of the 80's censorship! This series is brilliant!
My afternoons in the mid to late 80's were spent watching Robotech, Mighty Orbots, Thundercats, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Centurions, Transformers and the like. In terms of quality animation, I was born at pretty much exactly the tight time!
In fact it was at this time that we started to get a number of Japanese anime shows translated into English (sometimes butchered into English) on our TV screen; the afore-mentioned Robotech, G-Force, Astro Boy and the subject of this post Star Blazers - one of my favourites!
So it was with much joy that I discovered Space Battleship Yamato 2199.
It's a brand new anime, retelling the exploits of the crew of the Yamato as they head into deep space to fight the Gamillons who have destroyed earth. ... and it's amazing!!
The tweeks to the old designs, the inclusion of the original score (rerecorded thankfully) and the familiar character are all there - PLUS more back story, some great new characters and none of the 80's censorship! This series is brilliant!
Now - to be honest, I've had limited success with animation on Blu-Ray - generally finding it's not much better than normal DVD, or if it's a classic animation often Blu-Ray brings out the flaws.
This however, is beautiful on Blu-Ray - flawless, deep shading, 3D-esque depth, brilliant colours - it is truly perfect on Blu-Ray.
I have looked at it on normal DVD and it's still good - but Blu-Ray knocks it out of the park!
This however, is beautiful on Blu-Ray - flawless, deep shading, 3D-esque depth, brilliant colours - it is truly perfect on Blu-Ray.
I have looked at it on normal DVD and it's still good - but Blu-Ray knocks it out of the park!
In the tradition of anime - it's not just a cartoon - it's got merchandise!
... and have a look at the quality - this is a 1/72 scale kit!
So Space Battleship Yamato 2199 - watch it! If you can get it on Blu-Ray I highly recommend that option. You will not be sorry.
And if you're a fan of the original 70's series, this is a fantastic retelling of a classic space opera story.
And if you're a fan of the original 70's series, this is a fantastic retelling of a classic space opera story.
17th August 2013
Guarding the globe - a superhero team that's not just naff!
Okay - so I'm hoping this doesn't turn into "I Love Todd Nauck - isn't he awesome", but it's early days and I promise nothing...
On the left I would like to show you Exhibit 1 - the book that made me look at superhero comics differently. I was in my local comic store (some years after no longer being the manager) and I discovered in the $10 TP bin, Wildguard. It was a take on superheroes I hadn't seen before with cracking art by a guy called Todd Nauck - and there it began - my gateway into superhero comics... WIldguard was built on the premise of superheroes coming together to audition for a Big Brother-style show, and it really was very good. There was action (BIG action) a great sense of humour and a huge array of characters - most of whom I would have been happy to read about on their own! So when I saw that Todd Nauck had new series out called Guarding the Globe - Hard To Kill, I had to get it. So I bought the first 2 issues, then lost track of it, missed an issue and thought "BY ODIN - I MUST OWN THE TP". The premise is pretty simple, Image Comics wanted their own Justice League, so they built on DC's universe and created a hero to reflect each one. |
Now I didn't read the first TP (it's on my list - take a chill-pill), but it's not really the earlier incarnations i'm interested in. They were down-the-line superheros, it was the twist I was interested in and 2010 brought that our way.
So what's the big deal (apart from Todd Nauck)? Look, we've all read us some superheroes; Kevin Smith's Daredevil was probably the best in recent years and of course pretty much anything by Frank Miller that involves reinventing lycra. In fact this series probably owes as much to Watchmen as it does Justice League - it's just another take on the superhero team. If you read Image Comics, you will already recognize Invincible (God I remember when that come out - I'M SO OLD!!) and a few others and the team works. So the personalities are great - they all have their quirks and back stories (which will hopefully one day be explored more fully) , but at no point did I feel it over powered the story, with Nauck keeping the art so each character looks very distinct - a real challenge in a team book! The villains in this universe are really interesting too, from intergalactic monsters to twisted beasts to the usual bad girl or two! Guarding the Globe - Hard To Kill - totally worth a read and Wildguard (if you can find it) worth a look too! Oh and if you have time (Hell you may disagree) - let me know what you thought |
Oh and if you are interested in buying these books: Wildguard: Casting Call - get in quick, they only have one left! Guarding the Globe - Volume 1 TP Guarding the Globe - Hard to Kill |
June 2013
Punk Rock Jesus TP - The Review
The stereotype of comics is big pecks or big boobs wrapped in lycra, lots of colour and fast action with big splash pages.
Here's the rub - in general, I don't like superhero comics. This generally means that 80% of comics just aren't for me, which is cool - in the past I have found refuge with Jim Mahfood's work on Grrl Scouts or Humbertos Ramos' work on Out There plus many others, all great reads and well worth your time. So when I first saw the cover of Punk Rock Jesus by Sean Murphy, it pipped my interest. When I opened it up, the artwork blew me away! Beautifully detailed black and white images, crisp lines and dark shading - masterful stuff! Punk Rock Jesus was first published in July 2012 through DC Imprint Vertigo, a house that has brought us classic comics for years and, believe me, this is one to add to the list! The story revolves around a reality TV series (not unlike Big Brother) where they have made a clone of Jesus Christ using DNA from the Shroud of Turin. The birth and passage of the Jesus clone's life will be broadcast to the world nightly from the island purpose-built for the show, bringing huge $ from advertisers to the corporate entity funding it. The tandem story is about the Head of Security, brought up in war torn Northern Ireland whose links to the Catholic IRA and a brutal childhood make him the perfect candidate to protect the new Jesus clone. Religious fundamentalist of course object and begin a violent campaign against the show and the mother of the Jesus clone... this is where it all goes horribly wrong! Packed with amazing art, intelligent writing and powerful individual characters with real emotions and conflicts, Punk Rock Jesus is the best Trade paperback I have read in 2013 - in fact in some years to be honest! The themes of religion and family, belonging and duty pervade the story and create a real atmosphere, perfectly complimented by the dark and moody art. A great read from beginning to end - I highly recommend it. |
May 2013
Was Centurions the Best Cartoon of the 1980s?
Have you forgotten this cartoon?
If you weren't around in 1986, then you are forgiven. If not, go back to playing with My Little Pony... Centurions originally aired in 1986 with the usual comic and toy line tie-ins attached. What made this show different? Cracking animation, son! The animation was handled by Japanese animation house Sunrise, who had already done the Gundam franchise and would produce some of the very best non-computer animated shows including Gundam MS 08th Team. So who were the Centurions: Max Ray, Brilliant Sea Operations Expert Ace McCloud, Daring Air Operations Expert and Jake Rockwell, Rugged Land Operations Specialist Lead by Crystal Kane up in the stratosphere, they battled Doc Terror and his cyborg companion Hacker! |
In later series they were also joined by Rex Charger - Energy Expert and John Thunder the Apache Infiltration Expert.
The thing that made this series really stand out was two-fold:
1) excellent writing, including prolific science fiction writers Michael Reaves, Marc Scott Zicree, Larry DiTillio and Gerry Conway
2) great animation
The thing is - the basic concept is cool.
It's not dissimilar to G.I.Joe, just a much smaller cast and better stories.
I mean I love G.I.Joe for many many reasons, but this is a superior cartoon if truth be told!
For something that was origianlly just a toy tie-in - this gave and gave.
60 episodes of goodness, still (sadly) not on DVD.
And the toys?
They were always expensive and lacked the articulation of G.I.Joe and were bigger than similar figures of the era, so lost out in the end.
Still though, they hold a certain nostalgic flair - ebay has seen me pick one or two up recently.
The mini-series is available on demand: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/54647/centurions-the-original-miniseries-the/ - but the whole series would be amazing!
Centurions - don't forget it.
It deserves to be remembered!
The thing that made this series really stand out was two-fold:
1) excellent writing, including prolific science fiction writers Michael Reaves, Marc Scott Zicree, Larry DiTillio and Gerry Conway
2) great animation
The thing is - the basic concept is cool.
It's not dissimilar to G.I.Joe, just a much smaller cast and better stories.
I mean I love G.I.Joe for many many reasons, but this is a superior cartoon if truth be told!
For something that was origianlly just a toy tie-in - this gave and gave.
60 episodes of goodness, still (sadly) not on DVD.
And the toys?
They were always expensive and lacked the articulation of G.I.Joe and were bigger than similar figures of the era, so lost out in the end.
Still though, they hold a certain nostalgic flair - ebay has seen me pick one or two up recently.
The mini-series is available on demand: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/54647/centurions-the-original-miniseries-the/ - but the whole series would be amazing!
Centurions - don't forget it.
It deserves to be remembered!
April 2013
The Only Good Nazi is a Dead Nazi... oh and The Rocketeer is cool!!
|
So there was this movie. It was based on this comic.
Sounds familiar? Well this was the Rocketeer. Indiana Jones doesn't have the market cornered on fighting Nazis and saying cool things - enter The Rocketeer! Ok, so it's due for a reboot soon, and the original movie wasn't amaz-balls, BUT this video tells the evils of fascism in the coolest way EVER!! To read more about The Rocketeer - this |
Thanks to Nick Monfries for the inspiration to share the Rocketeer love!