by Sam Hurcom

Last week, I caught up on some much needed comic reading, and had a fairly productive couple of days (by productive of course, I mean I sat around in my underwear, reading comics back to back and drinking my weight in sugary fizzy drinks till the caffeine started making me shake – productive!). There were some definite highs and lows; a few comics that literally made me smile and one in particular that sort of made me frown…

Descender #1

I do love me some sci-fi, and on reading up on Image’s latest release, Descender, I got more excited than a Doctor Who fan finding Peter Capaldi buying a screwdriver in my local IKEA. Everything on paper seemed right on the money – a space opera (check) set in a universe where all robots have been mercilessly outlawed (robots: check) and hunted down by deadly bounty hunters (Boba Fett knock offs: check) and space pirates (space pirates: check), a lone android boy (android boy: check) and his robotic pet (Furbies: check), must scour the cosmos in search of his lost mother and brother (emotional attachment and sense of deep concern: double check).

by Sam Hurcom

We live in uncertain times. The twenty first century has seen a raft of individuals and organisations that could rival the villainous despots of Gotham and the global threat of Hydra. It seemed for many years that the old ways of war had been left in the last millennium, and terrorist cells, not nation states, were the new enemy to face.

But, no sooner did powers in the west think they understood the twenty first century threat, a bygone enemy in the east reared its ugly head. Russia’s recent provocation in eastern Ukraine has brought the world closer to the brink of a second Cold War than any other event since the late eighties. No-one knows how the conflict will play out and whether complex trade deals and sticky political relationships will heighten or alleviate the tensions between the aged superpowers. In the end, the smallest gesture could haul us back, or tip us over, the brink of war in Europe.

by Sam Hurcom



It’s time to take a look at some of the upcoming releases soon to hit comic book shelves across the country. There’s a lot of exciting new stuff coming our way, including a rather epic journey for sci-fi fans in a galaxy far far away…

by Sam Hurcom

It’s fair to suggest that of all the genres in comics, novels and film, science fiction is probably the one best placed to keep readers and viewers alike on their toes. That’s not to say that sci-fi doesn’t always fall into the trappings of formulaic storytelling. But the very notion of setting a story beyond the realms of reality - in the depths of space, the distant future or a fantasy world of imagination – results in narratives that are often highly original and innovative.

Enter Jim Alexander and his quite challenging sci-fi drama Amongst the Stars. Anyone aware of Alexander’s previous works, like Good Cop Bad Cop, will have some idea of what to expect from his latest release: a minimalist writing style that affords the reader as little information as possible, was top of my list. That may seem like something of a criticism but I assure you it is certainly not. If there’s one thing Alexander is good at doing, it’s making readers do a lot of work in interpreting and understanding what the hell is going on in his stories. One cannot simply consume Alexander’s work in the manner we have often become accustomed to in the age of high tech gadgetry and short attention spans. You have to actively engage with the work before you, and, dare I say, reread it once or twice.

by Sam Hurcom

Comics have never been more popular, and it seems as readers we’re utterly spoilt for choice. Zombie horror fans have The Walking Dead; warm hearted children’s literary fans have great titles like Abigail and the Snowman and Herobear and the Kid, Game of Thrones fans have Game of Thrones and sci-fi fans have just about everything their nerdy little hearts could desire.

 

by Sam Hurcom

This week was fairly momentous… well for me anyway. After several months of tinkering with electrics, a small amount of bodywork and some heavy duty welding performed by a nice man in a garage, I got my car back on the road! Anyone who owns a classic will know what it feels like to cruise about in an automobile a little out of time – turning heads often gives you that sense that you’re behind the wheel of something rather special. It’s a great feeling, especially during those rare moments when you’re actually on the road and not pulled over at the side of it, waiting for a recovery vehicle to tow you away.

by Sam Hurcom

We tried getting Trevor Mcdonald into a spandex Riddler costume to record a video of the Comic book news but unfortunately he declined… something about journalistic integrity and only doing it if Huw Edwards dressed up as Dr Doom. Bizarre! Instead, we’ve brought you a quick fire summary of all the latest machinations and new releases set for the coming weeks.

By Sam Hurcom

With 2014 still lingering on our minds, and bodies feeling like they’re suffering from a hangover from Thanos’ New Year’s Eve bash or a concussion from an unavoidable bout with Batsy, it seemed fitting to look back and reflect on some of the year’s top comic highlights. Befitting that great tradition of condensing thousands of man hours and creative talent into a brief review of an entire Earth years’ worth of work, this is my 2014 top 5 comic countdown!

AT NUMBER 5… a bit of a soggy one.

The New 52 Aquaman (Vol. 1 The Trench)

Good start, a comic that wasn’t released in 2014 at all! The first volume of the latest Aquaman run was actually released early 2013, but I only got my hands on a copy this past summer (my teachers always told me I was a little slow!). Even though it wasn’t one of the brand new releases I read this year, I feel it deserves a mention for one basic reason… it took me quite by surprise. With a character so riddled with strange origins, dodgy love connections (yes, those rumours about dolphin love are true) and shite superpowers, I found myself wondering what the hell all the hype and fuss surrounding this collection was about. Simple really – it’s a comic not afraid to have a laugh at its own expense and is happy to admit that Aquaman is (and always will be) one of the strangest, most uncool superhero characters going. In doing so, it sort of makes Arthur Curry, well… kind of cool. Bizarre, with some quite lovely artwork.

By Sam Hurcom

There’s one, rather bold way, to test the quality and intrigue of a comic book’s writing – strip back just about everything that can distract the reader from the core narrative. Remove bold speech bubbles, vibrant colours and unnecessary panels of filler. Reduce even the images drawn to their bare components; mere black lines and squiggles on a white canvas that provide only enough to present characters and objects in their simplest, recognisable form. Pull back a comic in this way, to the very minimal characteristics that define it as a ‘comic’ at all, and you’re left with something quite remarkable, if not challenging to a reader.

This is the intent of Jim Alexander in his recent series Good Cop Bad Cop. If nothing else, it’s a comic you cannot passively engage with.

By Sam Hurcom

Last week, I suggested Marvel had taken something of an easy option in their new found cause of diversifying their character roster. In my mind, whilst having more women in the mainstream Marvel universe is nothing but a good idea, simply introducing female versions of well-established characters was something of a cheap trick. The all new Thor run is no exception. For me, a fairly weak narrative (based on a gender war held between Thor’s Mum and Dad) coupled with the extreme likelihood that the original, male Thor would return on the scene (reducing the new female Thor to little more than a tacky tag-along like She-Hulk or Spider-Woman), makes the series a little gimmicky. In the end, I argued that Marvel would be better advised to invest money and intellect into creating brand new female characters who could fully reflect the struggles and ideals of modern women.

 

About an hour after the article was posted online, I picked up Dan Abnett’s Guardians 3000 #2. Anyone who knows me will be sick of hearing how awesome this comic is – in my mind its only close rival is Skottie Young’s Rocket Racoon (but I’ll laud over how wondrous that series is another day!). For those of you who haven’t read issue two, I apologise in advance as I may spoil a big chunk of what happens.

The series follows the original crop of the Guardians of the Galaxy – Captain Vane Astro, Charlie 27, Starhawk, Martinex and Yondu Udonta. The team rescue and recruit a young human woman Geena Drake who is gifted with a unique power regarding space and time. Geena can recognise shifts in the flow of reality, meaning if time skips forwards or backwards and reality is subsequently altered in some way, Geena (as a ‘temporal singularity’) can recognise the big or small differences.

Time is a massive part of this comic as Dan explained at the recent MCM Comic Con in London. When I asked him whether the story would see the original team return to the 21st Century and meet up with the current Guardians crew (Rocket, Groot et. al) he explained that the narrative itself would literally be premised on the fabric of time ripping apart. Subsequently, time hopping and the breakdown of coherent causality would become ever more prominent, giving rise to plenty of bizarre and exciting consequences.

In issue one, the entire Guardians team including Geena (from whom the narrative is told) are killed. Time shifts backwards and Geena (being aware that she and her companions are reliving their lives only minutes before) acts to prevent their impending deaths. The ramifications of this are made clearer in issue two however, as it turns out the supposed shift in time is actually more like a jump to a parallel universe. Whilst it appears that Geena is reliving her life exactly as it was, she becomes aware of one quite big difference: her once male companion, Starhawk, is now a woman.

So I’m going to be quite hypocritical here. I stand by my underlying argument that I’d much prefer to see a whole new bunch of diverse female Marvel characters with their own original stories, powers, villains etc. But, if you are going to take the easy option of simply switching a characters gender from male to female, this is probably the best way to go about it. Let me explain.