The Good, the Bad and the horrendously terrible…

I got comics! At long last, I have in my hands the last months worth of comics. All 35 of them. I shan't be reviewing them all, but if anyone is interested in any of them, let me know and I'll say my piece...

Scarlet #1
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Drawn by Alex Maleev

Batgirl #12
Written by Bryan Q Miller
Drawn by Lee Garbett & Pere Perez

Namora [One-Shot]
Written by Jeff Parker
Drawn by Sara Pichelli

Great Ten #9
Written by Tony Bedard
Drawn by Scott McDaniel

Justice League: Generation Lost #4 & #5
Written by Judd Winick
Drawn by Keith Giffen & Aaron Lopresti

Human Target #6
Written by Len Wein
Drawn by Bruno Redondo

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1
Written by Allan Heinberg
Drawn by Jim Cheung

Batman Beyond #1
Written by Adam Beechen
Drawn by Ryan Benjamin

Joker's Asylum II: Killer Croc [One-Shot]
Written by Mike Raicht
Drawn by David Yardin & Cliff Richards

Green Hornet: Parallel Lives #1
Written by Jai Nitz
Illustrated by Nigel Raynor

The Mighty Crusaders #1
Written by Eric S. Trautmann & Brandon Jerwa
Drawn by Julian Lopez

Young Allies #2
Written by Sean McKeever
Drawn by David Baldeon

Hawkeye & Mockingbird #2
Written by Jim McCann
Drawn by David Lopez

Birds of Prey #3
Written by Gail Simone
Drawn by Ed Benes & Adriana Melo

Husk #2
Written by Stephane Louis
Drawn by Arnaud Boudoiron

Batman and Robin #13
Written by Grant Morrison
Drawn by Frazer Irving

Green Hornet #5
Written by Kevin Smith
Drawn by Phil Hester & Jonathan Lau

Green Lantern Corps #49
Written by Tony Bedard
Drawn by Ardian Syaf

Green Lantern #55
Written by Geoff Johns
Drawn by Doug Mahnke

Legion of Super-Heroes #2
Written by Paul Levitz
Drawn by Yildiray Cinar & Francis Portela

Red Hood: Lost Days #2
Written by Judd Winick
Drawn by Pablo Raimondi & Cliff Richards

Joker's Asylum II: Clayface
Written by Kevin Shinick
Drawn by Kelley Jones

Kato: Origins #2
Written by Jail Nitz
Drawn by Colton Worley

Batman #701
Written by Grant Morrison
Drawn by Tony Daniel

Green Hornet: Year One #4
Written by Matt Wagner
Drawn by Aaron Campbell

Gotham City Sirens #13
Written by Tony Bedard
Drawn by Peter Nguyen & Andres Guinaldo

Sky Doll: Spaceship Collection #2
Written by Barbara Canepa
Drawn by Allessandro Barbucci

Zatanna #2
Written by Paul Dini
Drawn by Stephane Roux

Detective Comics #866
Written by Dennis O'Neil
Drawn by Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs

Teen Titans #84
Written by Felicia D. Henderson
Drawn by Jose Luis

Titans #25
Written by Eric Wallace
Drawn by Fabrizio Fiorentino

Brightest Day #5
Written by Geoff Johns & Peter J. Tomasi
Drawn by Ican Reis, Ardian Syaf & Joe Prado

Green Arrows #1
Written by J.T. Krul
Drawn by Diogenes Neves

Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal
Written by J.T. Krul
Drawn by Geraldo Borges, Kevin Sharpe & Fabio Kansen

New comics

Are going to be bought later today, so expect a review of em all by Monday/Tuesday. Busy weekend, as it was my birthday yesterday, and got a BBQ and stuff to do with the folks over the weekend. But it shall be sweet, and I shall have a months worth of comics to read. Gonna be alot :) - pretty everything that you guys have already read, but ain't it always good to get another opinion?

And in case nobody saw it (cause I hadn't until now), we have the Green Lantern costume revealed. So, um, yeah? Not the greatest I've seen tbh...




















See you guys then, er, then

Quick excuse

OK, well, I was pretty bad at not doing this last week. Hayfever is a right pain, and then I ended up staying at my folks longer, then my hayfever hit again, then someone called me up for a party which was unexpected. So yeah. I didn't get any drawings done. Whoops - I've done the Aquagirl one, but I ain't happy with it, so I'll probably end up redoing it. And I haven't started the Question one yet, but I've got it planned. So apologies to my loyal readers, I'll jus do a couple of quick three sentence or less reviews to appease ya all (and I'm totally not stealing X's idea at all) :D

Atlas #2 - an improvement over last months effort, though still not a fan of the 'Zombie' storyline at the back of the book

Batgirl #11 - always good. One sentence only needed as this is the standard verdict of everyone who reads this comic

Batman #700 - a pretty bog standard Batman story with seen before character hoping. Not Grants finest work... Good look in the Batcave though

Birds of Prey #2 - good story, Penguin being a perve, and 'White Canary' wielding a really weird-ass weapon. Might have to pick up Gail's old BoP run

Dream Logic - a rather weird sketchbook. Lots of nudity. Interesting though

Great Ten #8 - I'm the only one who reads this I think, but I like it. Do wonder what happened to issue 10 though...

Gotham City Sirens #12 - comedy, supervillains and a crazy lady killing cats and nuns = win

Skydoll - unexpected French lolita sex robot morality tale among others. Pretty cool. Popular with my non-comic reading friends too

Titans #24 - sortof alright but nothing really special. Much preferred Ink to this...

The Spirit #3 - interesting little thing. Predictable but enjoyable story

So yeah, those are some choice reviews of some of the comics I read. Some of the others I've read have had my opinions on them spilled on other peoples blogs, and I'm too lazy ta find em to copy them. Yep, avoiding the lazy method with a different lazy method. Anywho, cheerio for now chaps and chappetes

[Insert relevant title here]

After going out a couple of nights, having a few days of hayfever induced aggravation, my drawing mood has finally returned. My schedule is completely wack, but hey, it's my comic, I'll do it when I feel like it damn it. It's a shame the mood came at 2 o'clock in the freaking morning! Arf. So yeah, I spent about 2 hours researching, and then drawing. Only did two characters, and one was an afterthought really (and actually, a bit of a shiptease really, considering these two are never a couple. But hey, I'm shipping my own story. That's pretty bad...)
















I still have the urge to draw now, but no ideas. Plus it's 3:30 in the morning. Fargnuggets (unusual swearing much?)... So yeah, I think I'm gonna go to sleep now, thankyouverymuch.

So, from the poll, it seems I'll be drawing Aquagirl. Excellent, good choice everyone. I'll chuck a quick male one here, then, I'll have it so these polls finish in 4 days after I've posted them, meaning I do a man and a woman pretty much every week. Maybe I can keep to that schedule. Who knows?

Lastly, I stumbled across these two things as dress making programs. Yep, I'm pretty sad. Still, I think I made some cool designs using em (well, of course I do. I designed em using what they provided ;))

1 - The first one
2 - The second (and last) one

I think they're pretty cool maker programs, anyone interested in design should give em a go.

Proto cover

No new comic today - instead, you get the proto cover for Knighthood, featuring the five main characters (Omega, Starlite, Gaea, Johhny and EVGA X-18). It's nowhere near finished yet, but I thought I show I haven't been a completely lazy arse today! ;)

A contest and two polls

Right, so two things are happening in this post. One relates to my story, and the others relates solely to my drawings. There is a contest to design a character for my story, a chance to decide what superhero you want to be drawn as, and the other is to decide on a character who I'll draw this week as well. Yep, I'm stealing from the wonderfully talented Falisha now. Shock horror! We're all a bunch of thieves here anyway, aren't we?

Part 1 - The 'contest'

In a superpowered world, everyone needs some form of protection. Some are villains, others are just cillivians. Regardless, if you need a job doing, and you need it done with style and so many consequences, you can totally hire, The. Seven. Deadly. Sins. All are deadly killers, if you are in need of such a task. They are bodyguards, mercenaries, former military and child soldiers. They'll accept any task, so long as you pay them.

Listed below are 5 of the 7 Sins. All are related to their Sin name in some way, albeit either inverse or completely in line. Come up with a character, and it may be put in. Just no silly characters - this is a serious group, for serious people, in a serious England, on a serious Earth...

Pride
Leonard Prisky
Muscular black male, gauntleted hands with half finger gloves, armoured vest and t-shirt, armoured boots, sword on back, guns on hips, knives in holsters around forearms
Leader of the group
Biological nanobots provide enhanced strength, resilience, stamina, senses and total recall

Greed
x
x
x

Lust
x
Busty white female, flowy but revealing costume
Wields a bow with poisoned arrows

Envy
x
x
x

Gluttony
The Mannequin
Thin figure white male, completely covering costume, clear data input helmet
Four additional arms with web shooting capabilities, mind control through his dolls with the targets DNA on

Wrath
X
Standard figure white female, sensible flight costume, slightly flowy but sealed trousers, armoured torso, mechanical legs and wings for flight, with additional tail, four breather tubes going to backpack
Slight combustion powers

Sloth
x
Standard figure black female, tight full costume with half finger and open palm gloves, green leather with darker green highlights
Power, memory and skill absorption through touch

Part 2 - The first poll

Simple enough - provide a picture of yourself, or a description if you'd prefer, and a superhero/villain you want to be. Then I'll draw it. Simples

Part 3 - The second (and final) poll

What character should I draw? They're listed on the right, shame I can't get the pictures on em :( Ah well, ya win some, you loose some...

Temporialis - 4

- Temporialis - part 1 - page 4 - Tuesday 8th June 2010 - 5:15 pm -

Viewable on DeviantArt as well [here]

Commentary

Well then, today is brought to you by the letter S. As is sorry for slipping up, being shit at keeping to a schedule, and just generally be rubbish at this whole comic thing... Not that anyone reads the comic anyway, and therefore nobody reads the apology, and therefore nobody cares. Wahehy! As you can tell, I'm in a bit of an apathetic/feeling crappy mood. Oh well, sometimes it happens. I'm sure it's just the fact I don't have a job, and will be sitting on my arse for many months... Quite possibly that.

Anywho, I digress. On to the important stuff, like the commentary. Yes, this one is a bit of a rush job, and I may or may not get the last part of the Temporialis intro out today as well (here's hoping). I jus don't know yet. And yep, this does delay Knighthood, but hey. That's generally how it goes around here. Of course, I'm quite tempted to just write Temporialis and Knighthood, and leave Vampire's Reign for the time being. I have a guest artist who is going to do a couple of pages for that one, so I'm tempted to alternate between those two, and Night Watch instead. Just see how it goes and all that. But this last week and a bit wasn't the best time to start doing the comic really - preparing and entering a Warhammer 40K tournament over the weekend, up in Nottingham, well, kinda hard to do a comic along with that...

On the comic itself, you may have noticed that I can't truly define Skeletron right now - I have the idea in my head, but the idea doesn't include shoulder width description, so I'm still experimenting with it atm. The third/fourth panel I'm really not happy with. I feel it's a good idea with a bad execution - it's meant to show Skeletron talking to Herbert, crossing sides, and as his face disappears behind Herbert when we look behind him, his face changes to what Herbert is seeing of him. This is because Skeletron wears a holographic device that makes him look human. I'll explain more about this in the actual comic, but suffice to say, as the dialogue implies, he hasn't been like this for too long. It's new, he's getting used to it, roadtesting his new body. Hopefully you got that in the comic itself...

I'm actually quite proud of the second panel depiction of Skeletron - I think it's a winner when it comes to his basic design and proportions. Of course the design itself is still pretty damn hard for me to illustrate, but I think I'm getting there. Hopefully the page meant sense, and my laziness didn't impact too much on the story. Let me know, I really need the feedback on everything here.

Thanks for reading everyone

Temporialis - 3

- Temporialis - part 1 - page 3 - Thursday 3rd June 2010 - 9:50 am -

Viewable on DeviantArt as well [here]

Commentary

Yep, I slipped up again. Well, I'm getting used to this schedule, so it's bound to be cacked up in the first week or two. Still, I'm already improving it - just like how I paint, I like breaks in the middle of the drawing. I'll be doing some in the morning, then finishing it off in the evening and posting it then. We'll see how that goes, and whether it works. I expect it'll be better once the tournament is done, and I won't be traveling to my friends house. Instead, I'll just be drawing and being a lazy bum.

Now, I know what I said yesterday about backgrounds, but I'm really not doing very well with the whole schedule thing, and was getting quite fed up with drawing last night. Not at all happy with 'yesterdays' page, not one bit... Still, at least I did it I suppose.

This page was an odd one anyway, as it was the last page I scripted, but the third I drew. I'm just not a fan of fight scenes. I'm terrible at drawing them, and unless they're really well done, they just seem like padding to me...

Now, pay attention to the symbol on the guy's back - this isn't important in it's own right, but I'm giving everyone a free notice at a Lantern Corps reference. There will be others, along with other DC/Marvel/Dynamite/other webcomic references.

Anywho, I can't really concentrate any more. There's builders in the house, and it's damn noisy...

Temporialis - 2

- Temporialis - part 1 - page 2 - Wednesday 2nd June 2010 - 11:20 am -

Viewable on DeviantArt as well [here]

Commentary

Ok, so yeah, I've already slipped on my schedule. Suffice to say yesterday was very busy, traveling between separate places, back and forth. Anywho, today is better, I got my scheduling sorted out. Anyway, since I missed yesterdays, you do still get todays as well. That'll be up in the evening, with it's own commentary. Promise.

On the actual comic itself, well, this went through alot of revision. Originally 5 panels, and in a completely different layout to how it actually ended up being, this is something I'm learning when scripting and drawing a comic. It gives me a feel of both ends, and therefore I become a better writer - knowing where panels look better bigger or smaller, which ones make the better action shots - that kind of thing. Of course, it's still not perfect. Panel one is kndof redundant, what with it being highly similar to panel 4 of page 1. But hey, I'm still learning. And yes, I know I cocked up the fourth panel of this page. It was meant to be a zoom shot, and I just completely cocked it up, 'timesuit man' (names generally come to me during the post production process, which isn't a good habit when you think about it) and all. I'm sorry

When I wrote the script for this issue, I figured it would be in colour, and so the box-outs would be in different colours. Now, due to me now not colouring them, I needed a new representation. Obviously little pictures are the classic solution, but being at half a cm wide, they're a bit too big. It's a learning curve, and you'll see this comic evolve along with my ability to both write and draw it.

Now, I'm not sure how regular comic/web-comic artists do backgrounds, but I feel they're best left till last, as they aren't as important as the foreground stuff, where all the action takes place (obviously). But some artists on the web do cop out a little, which is a shame. I understand perspective can be hard, but it really does give you a feel of where you are, even if it's just small things. I'm terrible at them myself, but I feel the area I designed has enough 'action' in the background as it is. Plus I do leave huge areas of blank space, as I'm just not that good at the whole design an environment thing. People, yeah, sure thing. Places, well, erm... Not so hot on.

Oh, and I'm hating drawing that chair and bookcase. I wish I'd never put em in here... And I'm sure it's highly inaccurate of German design during the Third Reich, but, well, the sticklers who really love historical accuracy will just have to deal with it. As I'm more of a mythological accuracy (if such a thing exists) kind of person myself.

Temporialis - 1

- Temporialis - part 1 - page 1 - Monday 31st May 2010 - 10:30 pm -

Viewable on DeviantArt as well [here]

Commentary

Right, so here we are. My comic, on the internet, at last! This, my friends, is Temporialis, a time travel comic. It's part Doctor Who, part Stargate SG-1, and part Skins. And this is chapter 1, page 1. Good lord, it's nice to have done this. If I continue to do things like this, well, we might get my schedule up to five times a week. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Well, due to a major cock-up on Adobes part, making Photoshop not the ideal thing for me to use for my comics, unless I start by drawing it straight on Photoshop. As you might have guessed, I thought this was very stupid, and so I gave up on the whole Photoshop thing for the comic. I'll give it some more tries in the next few days, but I have a feeling that it'll continue to be a useless bugger. So you'll have ta suffer these photo quality pictures. Sorry

Something I was tempted to try out, but decided against (because it looked stupid in my head) was to make the vortex effect the only thing coloured on the page, another reality seeping into this comics reality. Instead, I showed things touched by the vortex temporarily changing, morphing and warping before snapping back as the vortex pulls back in on itself.

Now, as the story itself will iterate, traveling in the vortex is a damn nightmarish experience - it'll rip flesh to shreds, it defies physical boundaries, it's mentally unnerving. Plus, who knows what else exists within it?

The expanding comic panel effect I used here was something that came to me when actually drawing it, *not* when doing the scripting process. In the script, it was just four equally sized panels with the 'camera' drawing back away from the T junction of the corridor.

The beginning of a new era

Now, as all my readers know (all three of them anyway), I love to tease you guys about my story, what's gonna happen in it, and all that. Well, for all those who hate me for that, good news! You only need to hate me for a few more hours. As, for the next three weeks only, I shall be writing and drawing every Monday to Friday, giving you 15 comic pages for everyone to drool over. Aren't I generous like that?




















So, due to the way I'm terrible at deadlines and all that (as anyone who knows me knows), I'm really forcing myself to do this. They're not gonna be coloured, but should well be inked. And now, for the important thing: the scheduling. Now, what's that I hear you say, you already told us the schedule. Or did I?

Week 1 (May 31st - June 6th)
Monday to Friday: Temporialis
Saturday-Sunday: Offline due to a Warhammer tournament

Week 2 (June 7th - June 13th)
Monday: Temporialis cover
Monday to Friday: Knighthood
Saturday: Knighthood cover
Saturday/Sunday: optional sketch dump

Week 3 (June 14th - June 20th)
Monday to Friday: Vampire's Reign
Saturday: Vampire's Reign cover
Sunday: optional sketch dump

Week 4 onwards (June 21st)
Tuesday: Temporialis
Thursday: Knighthood
Saturday: Vampire's Reign
Sunday: optional sketch dump

Around Week 6 (July 5th)
Thursdays become a double day, sharing it's place with Night Watch

Around Week 8 (July 12th)
Vampire's Reign comes to a temporary end, and is replaced with Lone Wolf Origins. This is a limited series, showcasing Odin's beginnings. When that arc is over, Vampire's Reign returns in full force!
This is also my birthday week, so hopefully that won't impact too much on my writing

Week 15 (August 30th)
My time at my current house comes to an end, I start needing to go back to university in September, and I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen. How I think it'll work though is that I try and write Temporialis, Knighthood and Night Watch during the week, and then chuck em all up on the weekend. Vampire's Reign will come to an end for this time quite likely, concluding in a spectacular Temporialis/Knighthood crossover, starting a new era and evolution for all my stories

Ta-daa. And actual, official from me, written in keypad and posted online (as opposed to stone, which is pretty hard to make legible), an actual hard schedule. Now, as an explanation for this schedule - the first three weeks are setup weeks, giving people a brief look at the characters involved, how their world works, all that kind of thing. Then it cuts to them being once a week as their stories truly happen, in who knows what ways? There will be twists and turns, laughing and crying, life and death, and all the bits in-between. But until then, I leave you with what I suppose will be my sign off from now on (everyone seems to have one of those):

"Try not to die."

One Review, An Explanation and A Schedule

Right, now, as everyone who follows me at all might know that I've been VERY bad at getting back to people, letting conversations slide and all that. Well, the reason for that is very simple. I've been very knackered, and jus haven't got round to replying >.< I have about 30 posts to comment on, all in their own window, so I will get round to it, at some point. And yes, I know it is a slappable offence.

Anywho, I will be better at replying from next week - I finish work at the end of next week, and so from Sunday I will be free to do whatever I please. Which means lots of booze, gambling and hookers. *Beat* No wait, it'll be clothes designs, comic writing and maybe taking a holiday to the States. I haven't decided yet where or when, but if anyone has ideas or wants to meet up, let me know and we can see what we can arrange. Jus look out for the guy with long red hair and a fedora.

And now, finally, onto the review, and it will only be one, because the entire week disapointed me so much (Brightest Day was lame, with what, not even a page of Aquaman, some really confusing ass Martian Manhunter stuff, etc etc. Urge), Atlas (erm, so who the hell is this 3D-Man and why should I care? I wanted to read about the Agents of Atlas dammit) and my actual review. The good though were The Spirit (mediocore really, but enjoyable enough), DCU Legacies (enjoyed the stories on this, people living in a superhero world, good premise and all), Legion of Super-Heroes (passable, though when did Saturn-Woman have kids [though not any more, haha. It's like a dead baby joke...] and there were a few confusing moments, but it was alright) and Zatanna (tad disappointed, could've been so much more). But now, without further ado, it's on to the actual review, and if you read my blog at any point, you know what's coming. It's X-Men Pixie Strikes Back by Kathryn Immonen and Sara Pichelli. Fun times all round.

OK, now, this comic was just painful to read. Really, physically painful. I think I've got a brain injury from reading it. The plot makes sense, in a consistent sense anyway. But the way it's structured, the way the characters act, they way they talk is all wrong. And it's not just this series - Kathryn should not be writing comics in my opinion. Both Runaways and this have been utter disasters when she's been writing, hampered by her complete and utter inability to write something of any sense. The plot is just stupid, the writing is bad, characters don't act as they should do, scenes and segways are bad, everybody talks in the same disjointed style that Felicia Henderson of Teen Titans uses, I think they went to the same school of BAD WRITERS. URGH

And finally, on a final note on the writing on the final bit of the issue - so Pixie thought she was going home with her mom, but her mom things being with the X-Men is her home. OK, fair enough. But it's badly written and took me three attempts before I realised this. Before I just thought it was sounding stupid writing. Maybe it's my annoyance at Kathryn, I don't know, as I generally get this stuff straight away. It's just all horrible.

And now, on to the artwork. I suppose it's passable in a way, but I think that's more due to the colouring than anything else. I'll give credit where credits due, and the colouring is done in an offbeat, non usual comic standard, and I really think it works. Good work Christina Strain. But now, on to the bad, and first things first: where the hell have Pixie's wings gone? Erm, HELLO? WINGS people, WINGS!
And you know what else? It's comical the size of the breasts on the women in this series. Emma, both Masterminds and Psylocke. Just, wow. So much silicon and plastic in those things eh?

And now, before I pop multiple blood vessels, I'm gonna to stop right here and not review it any more. So, now that that mini-series is over and done with, maybe we can have some competent writers writing Pixie (and the X-Men I suppose). I do have to say with Kathryn writing both the on hiatus Runaways and this series, I did think that with the revelation of Jason being Pixie's dad, I thought she might run away from the X-Men and become a Runaway. But apparently not. I suppose it does save me from watching as Kathryn butchers Pixie some more.

So, and this is the final note, my ending statement, WHERE WERE PIXIE'S WINGS?!? ARGH!

Have you felt the fear yet?

OK, so admittedly, this is ill timed due to Falisha's excellent Scarecrow week having ended for to make way for her Poison Ivy week (still great drawings, just not a fan of the character ;)), but hey, timing was never my strong point ;) So, here's a character from my story I just quickly did a few sketches of, as I've been stuck inside all day due to the weather :( - got jobs that need me going outside dammit!

Anywho, here he is, a twisted sick individual whose story shall not be divulged here, as it is a true mystery story that will be unveiled over time in the tale itself. Suffice to say, the first arc this character appears in is under the working title of "Knighthood: Formidilosus Gaea", with one of the chapters being known as that classic of titles, the entering of the villain, "Enter: Frightmare". But that's all I'll say of that for now. It's an early tale, and hopefully it'll have a truly creepy vibe while being a decent mystery story.

By now I'm sure you're all fed up of my rambling, and so I'll leave you with my drawing. Not a fan of the head though, gas masks and bent witch/scarecrow hats are hard...

Two Weeks of Reviews

OK, so after curb-stomping the volcano (no picture for it :P), I've got myself two weeks worth of comics. Now, I know, it's a lot, so I'll just review em by week, in alphabetical order. So, without further ado, because these have been delayed for enough as it is, let's get on with the reviews.

- Last Weeks -

Blackest Night: Directors Cut
So, unlike what JT said, I bought this. And it was OK. But then I'm a sucker for anything involving sketchbooks and the like. Though the sketchbook was disappointed when compared to Final Crisis' sketchbook, which had a lot more of the design process and all that. Plus, there was no Jean Loring, Ralph and Sue Dibney or ones like Air Wave and the like. Which was odd. And only two, maybe three at the most, unused characters. Shame really, cause I really like that kindof thing. But that's me, the designer ;) The rest of the stuff was pretty useless really, save the two unused scenes, which I can see why they weren't used, though the Rainbow Raiders one was pretty damn funny.

Green Lantern #53
OK, so, like my GLC review down below, which I wrote before this because it was more fresh in my mind, and because I had it in front of me while this one is at home, I felt this one was just a set-up issue. I mean, sure, it was fine for what it was, setting up the Lantern plot points for the next few issues and all that, but the artwork was eh, not a lot really happened and Indigo-1 didn't appear at all. Oh, and Saint Walker (with SAINT BARRY, shamelessly stealing from X here) in all of 2 pages I think. But Larfleeze with his Guardian, now that, well, slightly creepy there, you know? Though a tad odd. Gives Luthor up, then comes back right away and sees him again. Erm, did I miss something here?

Kato: Origins #1
OK, so this was a nice little tale that's going to be happening for a while - part mystery, part origin, all period. It's nice, gives some background on Kato, who, being part of the whole Green Hornet stuff, I know nothing about, so it's all good to me. I do wonder how much this actually is accurate to the original stories - does anyone know?

The Spirit #1
I thought I would give this one a go, having never read any of stuff on the Spirit before, not seeing the movie (which I'm told was beyond pondscum on stuff you don't want near your eyes). It was alright as a beginning tale, but nothing brilliant. It did leave me wondering why the crooks couldn't catch the Spirit when he was having a meal with the commissioner in broad day light… And the Second Feature was just, er, odd. Not a fan of the art style, and I just couldn't really tell what was happening.

X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back #3
Now, this is the big un of last weeks stuff - the series where they're butchering one of my favourite characters. But, and it seems odd saying this, it wasn't too bad. The story makes more sense, there seems to be an actual tale involved in making her father a villain and her mum a weird ass fairy chick woman. I mean, I could actually tell what was happening for the most part, though whether it was just me or not but the artwork seemed a tad different, not as good as the last two instalments. The X-Men were still written strangely, and Rockslide just looked off in this one, especially on the final page. Oh, and X-23 just annoys me SO very much. You don't get to say that, you don't get to act like she's a horrible person and you're just an annoying character who either just insults others or smashes things because she's emo. That's the only two things I've ever seen her doing, and she just annoys me.

- This Weeks -

Detective Comics #864
OK, now this one I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I was disappointed to learn that Batwoman would not be in Detective Comics anymore, and yet forced to continue reading the Question even as Renee was destroyed as a character in the Second Feature story. But, the main feature was actually quite good - some good moments with Arkham threatening people, although still no explanation for his wacky ol' Black Mask antics. Or how Dick figured it out using the bullets (I still don't get that you know). The Second Feature did just annoy me, I'm not liking where they're going with these characters, but at least it was better than before, and they don't just reveal their identities to every single damn smuck, villain and hired hit-man that comes their way. And I suppose it's always nice to have Vandal Savage, as he hasn't appeared in that much (from my knowledge) - Final Crisis: Revelations (was that the name? I never read it myself), Outsiders: The Deep and now this. Not a truly unique character, but an immortal who isn't emo - now that's unique ;)

Gotham City Sirens #11
Ok, so I called the bit with the Hyenas, Ivy was acting even more of a bitch than normal (surprise surprise there), and this was the normal strong, enjoyable Sirens story with the usual art. If you've been following anyone who read this blogs blog, you'll know this is a good and consistent series which you're already reading.
Does seem a bit odd that this one has been going on for almost a year, but it deserves it - it's a good series, and totally deserves it's own spin-off TV show ;)

Green Hornet #3
OK, part 3 of Kevin Smith's tale of Green Hornet, that was gonna be a movie at some point. Well, I liked this story, though it was a tad predictable after the main even happened. Seems a bit of a shame, but it had some good moments, although it did use the standard old man kicks ass trope. But it did it well, so I suppose that's alright then. The artwork seemed a bit off on a couple of panels, like someone else had done it. But apparently not, so, hmm, just a bit odd.

Green Lantern Corps #47
This was a pretty good setup/ending series, concluding the Blackest Night stuff and beginning the Brightest Day story. And anyway, it was worth the price of admission for seeing Arrisa and the Guardians. Not as good as Red Robin curb-stomping Damian, but it was a good scene.

Husk
Now, this was an impulse buy that I saw on the stands, had a flick through and it looked interesting. It's a French made comic translated into English, and I gotta say, either something was lost in translation, or someone was taking advice on how to write a story by Grant Morrisson and Felicia Henderson. I mean, sure, the story was good, just confusing, and it was all self contained in it's 48 page goodness. Artwork was passable, nothing truly special.

Teen Titans #82
OK, still no impressed with this series. And it seems as if the writer doesn't actually like Aquagirl - she lists Wonder Girl, Raven, Bombshell, Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Miss Martian, but not Aquagirl or Static. Er, what? And that's on the second page. Plus she wasn't on the cover, yet Static was. Though Cyborg wasn't. And it just gets worse from here. Usual stilted and bad dialogue, unexplained and confusing panel changes. What did Beast Boy turn into to save the Titans - the Phoenix Force? And a Dragon later on? Since when could Gar do mythical animals? And all of them and they couldn't stop fat Superman T-shirt wearing man? Man, these Titans are seeming lamer and lamer each issue… Wasn't impressed with the Ravager Second Feature bit - just no.

The Rise of Arsenal #2
Urgh, do we have do this? I'd much rather read Pixie Strikes back having a baby with Final Crisis then this. Now, I now that's an odd metaphor, but at least those stories made a form of sense of where they were going, and that's saying something, considering my disdain for the direction Marvel are taking with Pixie. So, what happened with this atrocity anyway?
Roy's on drugs, dreaming of failing Lian, pissed off with Ollie for killing Prometheus when he should have done it, annoyed with Mia for not keeping Lian alive, he gets his robot arm then decides he's gonna break his bow because he can't shoot straight and then get attacked by Cheshire because he let Lian die.
A by the numbers idiot plot that I pretty much predicted would happen because I could see straight away the idiotic direction DC are taking with the Arrowclan, and I knew that any old writer could write this awful stuff. It's not a good idea, it's not a good plot, and it's just a damn stupid direction for many a character. I suppose ending my reviews on this horrible horrible comic, and so here's some more and good news. Well, maybe for me anyway. You'll see what I mean when ya read em ;)

Now, I was having a bit of a money spending splurge, which was a really bad idea considering my bank account, but hey, I wanted a sortof treat, and they have looked interesting for quite a while. And so I've bought the Mystic Arcana series (Magik, Black Knight, Scarlett Witch and Sister Grimm). Now, I haven't read it yet - just haven't yet. I've already read seven comics today, and wanted to just do the reviews and have a nap ;)

Now, on a final and completely different note, the releases of the pictures for the new X-Men seem quite quite odd. Have you seen the line-up? Just over half of them are actual mutants, huh. Novel… Still, least Psylocke being a member is always good.





















Oh, and the actual final note. We get Iron Man 2 a week earlier than you guys in America. Ha ha - sucks to be you :P Cause I'm seeing it tonight perhaps, and then on Sunday and Tuesday with some different mates I know. Two to three times, and you won't have seen it once. Now that's a two finger salute that would really annoy you Americans. Ha ha :P

Crossover post?

By popular demand (all of one request for each drawing), here we are. One quick doodle, and one quick Photoshop, to tie in with Jason Todd's blog (right here), and the other because I was unhappy with the original and told to do it again. So I did. Still not happy with it, but it was a rush job, as I just couldn't get it how I wanted :/ Ah well, you win some, you loose some, and today my drawings are just dire...

So yeah, without further ado, to coincide with JT's Spider-Man Noir review, here is my, well, drawing of a themed Spider-Man:




















Isn't it horrible? :D Oh, and here's my Cassandra Cain picture. Another bleh...

From Paper to Machine - the Fairy Tale ;)

I apologise for being slack today in replying - I was busy at work for alot of the day, and then got sucked into doing a drawing Miss Megan Gwynn, aka Pixie. Now, obviously I had to spend time and effort on her, what with her being my favourite Marvel character ;) Damn happy with how the wings turned out ^^
Now I just have to dread the Pixie Strikes Back #3 issue :/

The hand-drawn version:




















The digital lineart version:





















And then finally, the coloured version:

Nekron updated

Well, since I'd done the drawing, and I needed to test my tablet and CS4 at home (hadn't had a real chance to use CS4, and hadn't got the tablet working on the old laptop), but now I had, and the best drawing to update was the one I was unhappy with. So here's Nekron again, but done on the computer.

I still think the scythe is too small though :/

Quick-ass Nekron sketch

I don't know why, but I felt like drawing Nekron today. Was just looking up some Blackest Night/Brightest Day stuff, and boom, yep, let's draw Nekron :D I'm not too happy with the left leg (it's squashed around the hip), the scythe (it looks too weedy) or the face (I couldn't get the contours right), the arms aren't right, but it was a quick sketch, so I didn't really care :D it's really quite bad, but hey, it's a nice sunny day outside, and I need to do my shopping *shrug*

This weeks comics in a review?!?!?

Me? Doing some reviews? Say whaaaa? Yes, I know! Well, it's because I got my new laptop last week, and I was setting it up then. Nowadays I can actually use my preferred method of this (which is actually just TextEdit - a nice text editor with a spell checker ;)), which is always good :)

Batman 698
Tony Daniel sure loves his mystery men villains. Now, is it just me or is he also making the villain seem to actually be Riddler? I'm surprised that Tony has stopped drawing these issues, maybe he was too rushed doing both on his last run which caused the quality to slip? Here's hoping so. But I do like Guillem March's art - liked it in Sirens and I like it here. And why does everyone atm insist on Gordon calling Batman - can't he do anything nowadays?
The plots pretty mundane really, another case of showing that Dick is not Bruce, even though last issue it showed he was truly ready to be Batman (finally). At least B&R didn't have much of that, even if it did inflict Damian even more upon us… If you're wondering what I'm talking about, see the subtext - Dick needs Riddler to work everything out, that odd dream sequence and more.
I'm pretty indifferent to this really, and I don't like where DC are taking Riddler either. This arc will probably be done just in time for Bruce to retake the mantle. Urgh, another thing that wasn't needed. If I'd killed a character, I'd make sure they were dead, unless they truly was a story to tell (of course, there are a couple) and the reasoning on their return has to make sense - Bruce's doesn't, and it's happening so soon after he 'died'. But of course Bruce HAS to be Batman, otherwise the casual fans won't understand what's going on, we can't have him 'Dating Catwoman', which means no T&A shots of Selina etc etc.
And now I've deviated from a comic review into a rant against the current state of Batman comics. Whoops. Wasn't hard though, which is a tad disturbing. Mind you, it's easy to set me off on comic book rants - key topics include stupid storylines, using female characters to sell comics to idiotic horny buggers (I will probably do a proper post on this at some point, it's a key topic I feel quite strongly about - something I will never subscribe to because I just don't understand WHY it appears to be necessary nowadays), writers ruining characters (Immonen!!!) and people with the inability to draw (Federico Dallocchio.)

Green Arrow 32
Speaking of which, I'd much rather have Athena turn me into a spider or a Gorgon cause she's crazy than have to look at this guys art. Extreme? Yes. Painful to look at? Yes. Then it's acceptable *nods*
This story was stupid, but at least it didn't have Roy and Ollie fighting. But I'm sure that's gonna happen at some point. J.T. Krull seems to be a good writer, but quite likely hamstrung by the editors. But some of the things are just stupid. You'll know what I mean when you read it.
GAH

Human Target 3
Well, as per the last 2 issues, I liked this un. Nice art, good silly cheesy action movie like story, yet the main character is pretty genre savvy ;) was slightly disappointed with the shorter than usual Scars story, but hey, that's the 'backup' feature, as it were...

Brightest Day 0
OK, so yeah, I liked this, it shows the vague beginnings of the plan for Brightest Day. Just a few things though:
* They'd better not be making Aquaman emo. ARGH
* How'd they capture Thawne? I don't remember that happening in Blackest Night…
* What IS Maxwell Lord up to?
* I'm glad they're keeping J'onn pretty much the same, with a tinge of hope. It's nice
* How old is Hawk? History finals? O_o and Dove seems like she can fly?
* Is that Kyle's ring of Jade? What's that thing in the top left corner of the same page?
And it seems as if Sinestro is going to be doing the all powerful White Light route again. Fair enough, I suppose

And on the other series covers:
* Brightest Day itself - it's nice Mera is appearing more, but posed like that? Granah
* Green Lantern/GLC - surprise surprise on that plot - but the Indigo's don't appear to be out of the picture yet
* Green Arrow - well, since the ending of Green Arrow, perhaps it'll be Ollie travelling the world, ala a sortof Hard Travelling Heroes thing, perhaps with Speedy tagging along? Nice cover too
* The Flash - yawn. Move along
* JL: Generation Lost - cool, but why are they the only people who remember Max Lord? And isn't Captain Atom dead?
* Birds of Prey - so it's a real Bird themed group this time, with Huntress being the odd one out. Now, I never read the old Birds, so what exactly did Lady Blackhawk provide the group with? And put some proper clothes on Huntress. Grumble…
* Titans: Villains For Hire - I've already talked about this one elsewhere, but it looks interesting and it's written and drawn by the same guys who did Ink, which I liked

Batgirl 9
For the finale there's not much of a review, cause it's Batgirl. It's funny, story is good, and even though I never read Oracle: The Cure (which I heard was terrible), it made sense. Good as always, and am glad Lee's back on art - it seems slightly different to normal, but hey, it's still good. No real complaints here, and no Chris Yost in sight! ;)

Slightly more comic related

Right, because I'm a lazy arse when it comes to my own reviews and generally just comment on others now (because we're reading mostly the same anyway ;)) - I'll perhaps get back into a routine if there's a good un. Or I'll review straight after I've read em, without looking at others posts first. Probably a good idea. What does everyone else think?

Anywho, on a fan-art related matter, I've been doing some drawing today, and found a unfinished drawing I'd forgotten about as well. I do mean to finish it at some point, but my goodness, it is a complicated one.

In the end I got to getting inspiration from X's favourite series ever, and then decided I would change the characters round a little bit. I gave up after I found Pixie not going how I wanted (quell surprise on that character choice, eh? ;)). But I did get Wolfsbane with a sword (I imagine her as the new Vaklyrie), shamelessly stealing from a classic WW pose, Husk in a mix of her normal and AoA costume, and the basis of what I might do with Pixie. When finished it'll include Psylocke, Namor, Emma Frost and the Stepford Cuckoos as well, and then some others who I haven't decided on yet... Any choices guys?
















Then I thought I'd treat you guys to the madness that is my room :P well, my desk anyway. It's a bit of a mess, and a squeeze, and is the first time in a little while since I drew at my desk. And yes, that is a RotF Ravage on top of my PS3 :D













































Finally, this is the drawing I found. It's a elegant Lolita princess, for use in an RPG game world akin to Final Fantasy or something. She'd use a bow, with her quiver being in the bottom of her umbrella




















This will be my last post of the day, even though it's 5pm I'm tired and want to go back to bed. Which means waking up for work tomorrow. So yeah, go figure...

A non-review and some more knowledge of my universe

I feel I should do a review of something, but nothing came out this week that was really notable that hasn't either already been covered by others, or something I can't really say more except go buy it (Great Ten, of course). I dunno, I think it's an after effect of Blackest Night - I'm a bit burnt out by everything, tired while bored at the same time. Weekends last a bit too long for my liking nowadays - not much to do over them.

Ah well, instead of whining, let's have a look at what is atm, just known as my 'combined team'. It's a group of superheroes from all walks of life, and all teams. Some run their own teams, some don't do huge amounts of hero work, some are still learning how this all works. So, he's a teeny tiny summary of 25 of my characters

Asguardian (Asguardian weapon wielder, celebrity gym instructor)
Cheshire (perpendicular universe cat woman, psychologist)
Daemos (the Night Stalker if he used every method provided)
Dracula (iron crusader of the night)
Depth Charge (aquatic amnesiac environmentalist, jailbait lover)
EVGA X-18 (biologically powered robot from the stars)
Focus (time lost alien hybrid)
Gaia (silent moral guardian, queen of the earth)
Hades (Olympian deity in human flesh)
Hellfire & Brimstone (human volcano, former villain)
Honeybee (mystic bee queen)
Marlowe (child detective in a man's body)
Night Child (Victorian vampire, valediction in waiting)
Odin (one-eyed detective archer)
Omega (flying brick optimist, the first public superhero)
Orchid (man in woman's body, secret keeper)
Paladin (heavenly soldier)
Ronin (blacksmith footballer with a penchant for the Japanese arts)
Scarab (heat beam eye blasts with too much interest in insect armour)
Skeletron (time travelling cop, not anyone's chosen one)
The HIVE (another universe's psychic triplets)
Valkyrie (mentally addled criminal's daughter)
Voltage (undercover electrostatic cheerleader)
25 (15M 11F 1R)

A Fan Art Drawing post

What happens when you get someone who's back on their drawing roll, has tones of ideas at his disposal, and a huge amount of paper?

A fan art drawing of Miss Martian of course! If you don't know who that is, for shame. SHAME!

Next up will be Ultimate Psylocke, depending on when I draw her. In both these cases they're sortof practice for my own character, Orchid, whose story is so very complicated I can't be bothered to explain right now. But yeah, for now, enjoy my take on our fish out of water White Martian:

I'm not entirely satisfied with the hair, and definitely not with the face. But hey, it's hard to draw braided beaded hair dammit. And faces, well, I hate drawing faces ;)

Gordon's Alive!

aka, don't read this if you haven't read Blackest Night 8. And no, this isn't a April Fools thread. Trust me on that

Just a short one really, because I just want to say, BOOYAH! THE Arthur Curry is back among the living, as is our favourite Manhunter from Mars. OK, yeah, it was quite good, a good end to a series that dragged on for far too long. But now for the niggles, wiggles and tidbits that I come across when I read a comic.
Man, I think about these things a bit too much sometimes...

* Why is Black Hand considered a bigger threat than the Anti-Monitor?

* Why did they let Sinestro/Larfleeze/Atrocitus go? And where'd Scarecrow go?

* Nekron is such a pussy really. He's actually quite damn pathetic...

* White Lantern Corps costumes were pretty damn cool. As are MM and Aquaman's new costumes (similar to their old ones, but different enough all the same)

* The White Light resurrected those who died in anger, or who weren't at peace during their time in death. Hence no Sue/Ralph Dibney etc. Though that's just my theory.

* What happened with Maxwell Lord? He just kindof faded away...Erm?

* Wait wait wait. Deadman's 'face' was a mask? I thought it was his corroded body given ghostly aspect...

* According to the checklist, they're restarting Green Arrows comic? I'm pretty sure that times in with the end of Rise and Fall. I'm assuming Roy becomes the new Green Arrow. So what's gonna happen to Ollie? Or are we just gonna have three Green Arrows at once, like the Flashs?

* and finally, could the Star Saphires stop dressing like Pink Hookers from Space that I wouldn't touch with a two mile long barge pole?

Holy new post Batman

My goodness. A month has passed without me posting. Wow. Oops... Not that anyone reads these anyway :D Anywho, I might as well talk about couple of comics while I'm here, and show the quite dodgy line art of the Red Hood as I imagine him in Arkham Asylum.

Batman & Robin
First things first, that most variable and well, quite quite mad writer Grant Morrison's latest writings of the Batverse. What oh what to make of these. Grant always has some great ideas, but is let down by his craziness, stupidity and just mad and mostly nonsensical writing. The Batclone from Blackest Knight. Professor Pyg and his pink iPod dance. Damian Wayne. Flamingo. Whatever happened to Bruce's profile/where is he now/what's Hush doing/what do the public think of Bruce etc. Damian Wayne.
Now, I know I said that last one twice, but I'm sure we all agree the only person who should be allowed to write Damian is Bryan Q Millar.

Kick-Ass
I haven't spoken about this at all yet, because it's hard for me to say anything but I want to see this now. Trailers look awesome, comic was awesome, it's funny, graphic and it's written by Mark Millar. Nothing else to add really :D

The Veritable Army of Green Hornet comics
These are coming out from Dynamite, who I'd never heard of before, about a character I knew nothing about. But then I saw the covers and who was writing them: Alex Ross on some of the covers, Kevin Smith on the main line, Matt Wagner on Year One. That's some good names right there. They're actually quite interesting, though it seems Green Hornet doesn't have any major villains, which is always a problem. Sometimes this is nice though, but it does seem he mostly fights faceless mob goons and mob families, which is something that has been done ALOT before...

Blackest Night and Brightest Day
I'm sure we'll all exhausted by Blackest Night now, it's dragged on a little too long, the main issues haven't really moved anywhere and there's been too many formulaic plots in the extra tie ins. If it had just been Blackest Night, GLC and Green Lantern, with one or two extra comics it would be much better. But I'm a bit fed of up it, though the story is good, art's mostly good, there's just been too much of it. I mean, it's been going on since September.
And it leads straight in to Brightest Day, no respite whatsoever. Here's hoping it focuses less on the Flashes, and more on, say, I don't know, Aquaman. The original and best. And none of this stupid stuff they're doing to Green Arrow and Roy. Let's have Aquaman booting the old one up his arse, bringing the glory of Atlantis back, being pissed off because Tempest is dead, rejoining the Justice League, and making himself a more landbased character, with lots of intercontinental politics, environmental protests and that kindof thing. Seriously, there's so many stories that can be told, let's start cranking em out and having ourselves a ball with our favourite Atlantean.

The Losers
I just got the combined volumes 1 and 2 the other week, and it is sweet. Andy Diggle and Jock, one of the best writer/artist teams there is, telling a pretty cool A-Team esque story. I enjoyed, it's funny, good story and the art is good (save for the bit by the other guy who I can't remember atm for issues 7&8 - I think, might've been 8&9. Can't remember and too lazy to go and grab it to check :D). Movie looks good too, with alot of things from the comic included. Looks to be another good un'

Runaways
I've had a brief flickthrough of both Rock Zombies and Homeschooling in the shop, and I know I'm going to buy them at some point, along with the Civil War and Secret Invasion Young Avenger tie-ins, because I really like the Runaways themselves, but urgh. The issues do not look that good, sound pretty rubbish, and well, I don't like Kathryn Immonen. She's butchered Pixie in her own series, so I don't whether I'm going to like it, and the summary of the issues doesn't sound too good. And when I've got those four collected editions, it seems as if that'll be the last of me buying Runaways for quite a while, as we wait for Marvel to finish 'retooling' them...

Red Hood
The basic lineart of my design for Jason Todd as the Red Hood in Batman: Arkham Asylum. Obviously I'll be redoing this on the computer when I get a chance, but as of right now I don't have the proper tools to do this at home, only at work...

PotD among other things

A non comic orientated PotD, as I found it online and thought it looked cool ;)


















As well as that, you get some stuff I've drawn. Good news everybody indeed, eh?

This is the light coloured version of my character Talon. I prefer it for seeing the details, but the actual colour isn't that desirable to be honest...



















While this one is the darkened version, the one where the colour more matches my vision, but unfortunatly, it screws the lineart a bit :(



















Oh, and while I remember, here's the lineart:

One (yes, ONE) review

And guess what - it's not even a new comic. Well, it is. Sortof. Just not from this week. Or last week. Might not be from the week before either. I can't remember. Anyway, yes. A review! At long last. I did call this site Highly Irregular Comic Reviews for this very reason though ;) - some times I just get very busy, or get very tired, etc etc. So yeah, it's been both for a while. Job takes alot out of me, have been to the theater (seeing Jersey Boys), to music gigs (seeing Europe), the cinema (seeing Princess and the Frog), been on dodgems and went bowling with work (yeah, when we want a break, we go on dodgems. I jest. We've only been once). And that's just been in the last week and a half, so yeah...

Anyway, on to the comic review - it's Pixie Strikes Back! part 1 of 4. It's written by Kathryn Immonen (who I've never heard of before), drawn by Sara Pichelli (again, never heard of), coloured by Christina Strain (third times the charm of not having heard of her), and lettered by Dave Sharpe (who I have heard of actually). So yeah...

The story itself is quite confusing, having lept into it half way through it seems. For some reason they're in a high school populated with demons (brilliantly hid I might add ) thinking their not mutants. I think... While Anole and Rockslide continue to antagonize each other and have all the fun and comedy while exploring the inner workings of the female bathrooms. I do like whenever they appear, because they just have a great dynamic, and actually can show off other points if Marvel ever bothered to (like, you know, how the X-Men are actually soldiers and Xavier has just been training them to fight with their powers, which is one of the major reasons I don't like the X-Men). Them and Pixie should be on all X-Teams :D

The third part of the story concerns Megan's mother, who is quite the irritating bitch. She immediately is hostile, and is just, well, to put it mildly: the Damian of the Marvel universe in an adult female body. And she gets violent to, so no defence from me about how she's just a concerned mother. The main story I just don't get at the moment, it'll be explained in latter issues, but right now it's just confusing. Which is a shame, I was looking forward to this one (can anyone guess why?)...

The artwork in this issue is good (quite reminiscent of Skottie Young, who you may or may not be aware that I think is brilliant), and I feel most of the time she gets Pixie dead-on (with none of this classic all women must have a clear outline of boobs at the minimum *cough* whoever drew her a while ago when she was older and taller than she should be), and the colour is mostly good. And they're quite cool casual clothes. Just one minor niggle - what happened to her blue undertop from page 4 onwards? And why does she have some white/blonde streaks in her hair - it does look quite good, but, not her. I was never a fan of having the black in there either, but I suppose it's some form of representation of her lost. You know, subtlety ;) But these are minor niggles...

Anywho, enough rambling from me I suppose. Just one last thing - why does every X-Uniform need yellow on it? And most having those stupid big boots and glove/gauntlet/bracer things... And the current female ones just look stupid as it is...

Oh, and just for the record - well done Marvel on spoiling the fatherhood of Pixie, among other things.

SPOILER

"You can’t pick your parents. And if you could, Pixie certainly wouldn’t have picked Mastermind, the man who turned Jean Grey into the Dark Phoenix. But right now, that’s the least of her problems. A giant demon named Saturnine has been using her Pixie dust to lull her fellow X-Men into submission and it’s worked. Now he’s one step away from all the power he needs to take control of the world. Can the fast-talking Welsh girl with wings possibly stop him?"

I'm meh to Mastermind, so I'm not particularly bothered, and it makes a form of sense regarding her powers. I just don't see why they had to do that. Couldn't she just have the trauma of having her soul partially gone (which I don't really like. It somewhat does symbolise the current age of comics. Nobody is innocent, nobody can ever not have turmoil, nobody can have a happy family. ARGH. Sometimes you just need characters like that without screwing over their entire life. Grumble grumble. I do wonder whose idea this was. I'm betting it was Joe Quasemodo. I know that's not his real name, but sometimes I find high up editors just so infuriating. Grumble grumble)

END SPOILERS

And because I feel like it, I'll also just make a few comments about some of the ads in this issue:

• Super Hero Squad - please, just go away. The Hulk doesn't drive, Iron Man doesn't a fire truck, why is Spider Man driving Optimus Prime? And that's just for starters. ARGH. I hit spinoff toys like this >:(
• X-Men Second Coming - well, Scott's obviously not gonna be the leader, cause he's just an arse who I don't like. Yep, that's my reasoning on that one. Never have liked him, never will. Magneto would be the really controversial choice, and so seems most likely, while Emma is the middle ground viewpoint I suppose, but she's been in the spotlight alot recently, so it would make sense either way for her to have more spotlight or less. But regardless, please, put some clothes on. ARGH
• Fall of the X-Men & Avengers - because we haven't seen the Hulk attack his team-mates before... Repeated plot x 100 = ARGH
• The C2E2 - I hate being in Britain sometimes. I'm missing Alex Ross, Greg Land and Skottie Young, among others. ARGH
• Guardians of the Galaxy - now this looks interesting. Cool pic, and it's written by Dan Abnett. But I won't pick it up, as I don't normally buy Marvel single issues.

Oh, and if anyone could provide me with a concise timeline of the Runaways, that would really help - I've been collecting the collecting editions in various formats, and have got volumes 1-9, and I've really enjoyed em, but there's things missing, like the death of Gert etc... Grumble grumble