New Beginnings - Secret Avengers #1

After the rather underwhelming Avengers #1 last week (short summary: not only is it a Bendis team book, and thus everything you’d expect of a Bendis team book, it’s practically the same team book he’s been recycling for the past five years, just with lacklustre John Romita Jr art and added Thor), I was placing a lot of hope and expectation on Secret Avengers. Ed Brubaker has been consistently scoring sixes with his run on Captain America for years now, so the prospects were good. This is the man that brought Bucky back from the dead and made it work. Hell, this is the man that made Steve Rogers an interesting character in his own book. As far as I’m concerned, he gets a free pass for years on that count alone.

Thankfully for my reviewer’s integrity, a free pass isn’t required.

The concept is that, Rogers has set–up a team of covert ops Avengers to complement Bendis’ media-friendly public team. Although not quite in the realm of a being a wetworks team like Osborn-era Thunderbolts, the Secret Avengers have been set up as a shadow-ops team to pro-actively prevent super-human problems. Brubaker quickly brings up the now-defunct Project PEGASUS (an experimental think-tank group that deals with super-science artefacts) as an example of items on the team’s agenda, which suggests we’re going to be seeing a lot more than simply knock-down drag out fights. Indeed this issue starts with the team looking for the Serpent Crown, before taking them off a tangent that would seem ludicrous if I spoilt it here, but manages to work perfectly in the context of the issue.

Being an off-the-books operation, the team’s line-up is devoid of real A-List characters other than Rogers, which means that we get an eclectic mix of B and C-list characters instead. As someone whose favourite super-hero is Stingray, this is an absolute treat. Black Widow and Sharon Carter are obvious transfers from the cast of Captain America, what with being spies and all, but we also get a varied mix of super-heroes in here – from techies like Beast and War Machine to morally questionable vigilantes Ant-Man and Moon Knight, from mythological Valkyrie to cosmic hero Nova, practically all bases of the Marvel U are covered here, which is promising for the future of the title.

Art is provided by Mike Deodato Jr, who has a penchant for very shadowy murk that gels nicely with the exclusively nocturnal tone of the story. He manages to get a good handle on all of the characters immediately, especially Moon Knight. He even manages to make Steve Rogers’ new costume look cool somehow, a task which scientists were so close to proving was actually against all known natural laws.

Secret Avengers may not quite feel like a return to the traditional Avengers style of team book that the Heroic Age promised, but when it feels this effortlessly well constructed and solid, that doesn’t seem like much of a problem.

Very highly recommended.

Martin S Smith is an author and blogger. He’s just released his first book, The Redundancy of Flightless Birds, and reviews stuff every week over at The Taste of Rising Bile.

New Beginnings - The Amory Wars – In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 #1

I’ve long since given up on getting other people to appreciate my taste in music (either I’m a philistine or everybody else is and I’d rather it wasn’t me), but if you like heavy metal you should definitely give Coheed & Cambria a listen.

Heavy, rhythmic and melodic, the band not only does concept albums, but is in fact a concept band, with all their songs telling the story of two married space adventurers Coheed and Cambria. But, while the music’s good, I’m terrible at discerning the story from the lyrics. Which was why I was keen to try out Amory Wars #1, which takes the tale of the pair and puts it in a convenient comic book format. Genius.

Unfortunately, the end result is a bit of a mess. And by ‘bit of a’ I mean ‘complete and utter’. Although it’s not made especially clear anywhere but in the back matter, this title is following on from a previous maxi-series, The Second Stage Turbine. But rather than summarise that story on a text recap page, writers Claudio Sanchez (lead singer of the band and driving creative force of the whole she-bang) and Peter David try to put it all across in exposition. Terrible, ham-fisted exposition that jumps around between locations and characters without even bothering to introduce half of them properly.

The one character you do get to know fairly well is the son of the aforementioned Coheed and Cambria; Claudio. Hang on, what was the writer’s name again…?

Yes, not only is this something of an impenetrable sci-fi mess, its lead character is also a massive power fantasy for the writer. Claudio is deep, because he’s plagued by (ill-explained) hallucinations of his father! Claudio is endearing, because he’s explaining everything to a hundred year old dog he’s stopped from attacking him! Claudio is relatable, because he admits that he’s not explaining things well (and really, when you’ve built your issue around a character poorly explaining the back story and nothing else, you need to rethink your approach to the story)! But most of all Claudio is cool because he has every super power under the sun, but doesn’t use them! Grief. He’s sort of a straight edge super-hero in a way. It just happens to not be any way that is at all interesting or worth reading about.

Art is provided by Chris Burnham, whose work is just the right side of Scott Kolins – that is that his work rarely has much line depth and is desperately crying out for a distinctive inker. There’s an occasional flourish of personality in some panels, but nothing that makes you think he’s being wasted on the book.

Amory Wars is good in only one respect – it absolves me of any guilt I may have felt for not having followed the story in all those C&C albums. Otherwise, it’s one to avoid completely and quietly forget about.

Martin S Smith is an author and blogger. He’s just released his first book, The Redundancy of Flightless Birds, and reviews stuff every week over at The Taste of Rising Bile.

VWOORP! VWOORP!

Look who just materialised at Proud Lion!

These cardboard standees cost £25 each and stocks are limited. They fold flat for ease.

Doctor Who is on at 7pm this week by the way...

Ben Fardon once crossed over with David Hasselhoff and Timmy Mallett. Now all three have a restraining order against each other.

Proud Lion will be closed on Tuesday 25th May

That's right. Proud Lion will be regrettably closed all day on Tuesday 25th May.

As a penance, we will be open all day on a Wednesday (rather than our usual Wednesday half day of 12-5:30pm).

Apologies for any inconvenience. Suffice to say this is because of something important and not something I am looking forward to, so I'd appreciate no hassle over this.

Many thanks.

Ben Fardon would much rather close the shop to do something fun. Or sleep.

New Beginnings - Zatanna #1

Zatanna’s a character that’s always walked a fine line between out and out super-hero and a slightly more down to Earth, if not realistic, magical fantasy character. She doesn’t operate like a traditional super-hero, even if she is a member of the Justice League of America, she doesn’t have a secret identity (her real name is just Zatanna Zatara) and she doesn’t wear a super-hero costume – just a stage outfit.

As such, it’s always kind of hard to pitch the tone of stories for her: having her do traditional, big super-hero stuff seems rather inappropriate and yet the direct opposite, gritty, grounded fantasy like you’d find in Hellblazer, is too dark for her.

Enter Paul Dini, who takes a middle-ground approach for this latest Zatanna solo series, taking her appearances in his run on Detective Comics as a starting point. Zatanna is off earning her living with her stage show, a blend of traditional stage illusions and her own real magical abilities, when she’s asked to consult on a magical crime scene by a San Francisco police detective, complete with horrifically murdered and magically altered corpses. Dini’s placing Zatanna on the fringes between those two worlds of super-heroes and fantasy, a buffer between the real world and the realms of magic waiting to sweep in.

The other notable aspect of Zatanna’s character is the iconic, fetishistic costume – top hat, fishnet stocking, boots and showgirl suit. It’s not exactly subtle day-wear and it’s hard to use it without falling into the murky realms of cheesecake art. Artist Stephane Roux does well to stay away from that pitfall. Although Zatanna is drawn to be attractive, there are only a few panels where the cheesecake gets too obvious and in your face, notably towards the end. Largely Zatanna’s drawn like a real human being rather than a purvy fashion model and even gets to wear normal clothes for a while.

This issue seems to be setting up the San Francisco location as a steady base of operations for Zatanna, which is a fair choice, it’s a very attractive city, but not quite enough is made of it in the art – there’s nothing that really makes you stand up and say ’that’s San Francisco’. In fact the location isn’t entirely clear until it’s off-handedly mentioned half way in.

I get the feeling that we’re going to be seeing more of Detective Dale Colton as Zatanna’s main supporting cast member, which is fine. He’ll make a good everyman foil to Zatanna’s magical knowledge as long as Dini resists the temptation to oversell his “down to earth, ordinary cop” nature.

Zatanna’s a pretty encouraging #1 – new readers can jump in without fear of being lost – though the final page reveal will probably mean nothing to those that aren’t hardcore DC readers, it’s functional regardless – and existing Zatanna fans… well, they’re probably just going to be happy that she’s got a new series; that’s it’s good is just a fringe benefit.

Martin S Smith is an author and blogger. He’s just released his first book, The Redundancy of Flightless Birds, and reviews stuff every week over at The Taste of Rising Bile.

Siege Mentality - a look back at Marvel's Siege *will contain spoilers*

Phew, well that's over and here comes the Heroic Age like an out of control locomotive. Or an unstoppable Juggernaut. Ho ho. Oh, whatever. Everyone's a critic.

Juggy fans (all seven of you), remember he joins Thunderbolts as of next week. Shiny.

Back to everyone being a critic. Including me. Join me now - or in a little while if you decide to make a cup of tea, then read this blog entry - as I take a look back at Siege and notably the end that Bendis and co. served us last week.

Yup, it was basically moving pieces around the board so that they could begin the Heroic Age and relaunch a load of titles. Marvel have claimed this is the last big crossover. They then promptly announced Shadowland as soon as Siege ended, but I guess that was to be expected!

I'll say this about Shadowland and the preview pages of Secret Avengers, it does show that Marvel aren't going down the Disney route as some naysayers have suggested. The Heroic Age may be about shiny heroes, but it doesn't mean the darkness that dwells in men's hearts is entirely excised from the Marvel Universe.

Anyway, I digress. Here's the highlights of Siege.

1) Loki goads Norman Osborn is to laying siege to Asgard after they fake an incident akin to Stamford (Civil War):

2) The newly returned Steve Rogers rallies the real Avengers to come to Thor's aid:

3) Ares realises he is on the wrong side and Osborn orders Sentry to deal with it. He does so. Brutally:

4) Sentry then destroys Asgard:

5) ...and loses control to the Void:

6) Iron Man shuts down the armour Osborn stole from him and Norman stands revealed as the nutjob he is:

7) The Void kills Loki:

8) And Thor is forced to end the rampage of Sentry/The Void:

9) And suffice to say the heroes save the day. The President Of The United States asks Steve Rogers to lead them into a new future.

So there it is. Norman Osborn's Dark Reign is over. Many have fallen, but a shiny new age of hope beings.

Siege itself is a roller coaster ride, though Bendis does find time for the odd character moment. But really it's about bigger and bolder moments designed to shock readers. Like Ares' death or Loki's change of heart.

Sadly, the rest of it is mostly predictable. It's been obvious during issues of Dark Avengers that Norman Osborn has been playing with fire toying with the Sentry. Going into Siege it was readily apparent that the biggest problem the heroes and villains-masquerading-as-heroes would face would be Bob Reynolds as The Void.

Like Secret Invasion before it, Siege really feels like a means to an end. I liked Secret Invasion, but nowhere near as much as House Of M or Civil War. I did really enjoy Dark Reign era of storytelling though and I do have hopes for the new Avengers titles, etc. that will follow Siege.

It's great to see the band back together. Coipel's artwork shines when he is drawing the iconic Avengers standing tall alongside each other once again. The rest of the time, his pencils lack the charm they showed during House Of M or the impact they had when paired with JMS on Thor. Perhaps Coipel could see the scripts were a means to an end too.

Frankly, Bendis can still shine when writing solo books. Daredevil, Spider-Woman and even Ultimate Spider-Man have a quality that is lacking in his ensemble books. I enjoyed New Avengers but it never quite had the passion that was evident during Kurt Busiek's work on Avengers after Heroes Reborn. I've re-read Mighty Avengers recently and that really is a shambolic mess and Dark Avengers only works for because I enjoyed Warren Ellis' run on Thunderbolts so much.

If you have been following the Marvel Universe for some time, since at least Avengers Disassembled or even before that, you really should pick up Siege. The hardback graphic novel is due out in July. But otherwise, I'd skip it now and get involved with the Age Of Heroes.

Same goes for the Sentry memorial one-shot that Marvel released. If you like Sentry and enjoyed the hype around the original Marvel Knights miniseries then this is a suitable bookend until his inevitable return. If he does come back, I'd like to see him as a potential threat rather than a lacklustre hero, and i don't envy the writer who needs to tidy up his origin and the drug addiction aspect Bendis retconned into it during Dark Avengers.

The five one shots that filled in the skip month are also incredibly lacklustre. The Young Avengers one pales in comparison to the original Young Avengers series. Roll the Children's Crusade from Heinberg and Cheung. I reallly like the young Avengers but they have had little decent love in recent times. Dark Reign Young Avengers is one of the few things a certain British writer has done that I didn't really like.

The Captain America one was simply an exercise in reminding us that Steve and Bucky are different people. Brubaker has done that superbly in the Captain America ongoing title, so it's redundant here. And the less said about the Secret Warriors one the better.

Siege Spider-Man was a little more interesting to me, but only because I read Brian Reed's Ms Marvel series in the finally twelve issues or so. Really it just picks up threads from that series and the chemistry between Ms Marvel and Spidey he was trying to establish. Still, seeing the Venom symbiote bonded to Carol Danvers was kinda fun.

Finally, those who found Loki's story arc in Siege may find his one shot helps to explain his motivation a little better, but it's not a great piece of storytelling on it's own. Again just a means to an end.

Marvel, let me end by asking you please, please, please stick to your guns and give crossovers a rest for a while. Shadowland looks fun, keep it low key like the excellent DoomWar and it'll work. But huge, bloated, groaning, status quo altering events are done again for a while now. Customers need to spend a little less and retailers need to stop stressing about the minutiae of ordering mostly pointless tie-in issues.

Just solid stories in their own titles please. Look back at the Kurt Busiek era of Avengers, Iron Man and Thunderbolts. Give us that quality, but with the more recognisable characters that people like. Bendis was right to give Avengers a JLA makeover and Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Spidey and Wolverine on one team is a compelling mix.

Ben Fardon once crossed over with David Hasselhoff and Timmy Mallett. Now all three have a restraining order against each other.

Pulse - BBC3 Trailer

Remember that we mentioned Pulse when I interview Paul Cornell the other week?

Here's the teaser trailer:



Click to embiggen and enjoy.

Ben Fardon stole the word embiggen from Ain't It Cool News. He thinks they made it up, so surely it's fair game? And he did yell "YOINK!" as he pinched it.

Scarlet - Preview

Phew, Marvel are squeezing out some shiny titles from their Icon imprint aren't they?

Conceived as a new home for creator-owned stuff by writers and artists with whom Marvel have a strong relationship, Icon initially started with a new volume of Powers and new issues of Kabuki, of sorts.

Then came some nice stuff from J. Michael Straczynski (Dream Police and The Book Of Lost Souls) and Ed Brubaker's Criminal and Incognito series.

Icon made a huge splash with Kick-Ass and, of course, now we have Nemesis (issue #2 is now due June 10th). Matt Fraction is also bringing Casanova back for a new series under Icon.

Well, there's a new title joining the stable - Scarlet!

From Powers creator (and Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil and Avengers legend) Brian Michael Bendis. Illustrated by Spider-Woman and Daredevil artist, Alex Maleev, here is the solicitation text plus the covers for issue #1.

SCARLET #1

COVER BY: Alex Maleev

WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis

PENCILS: Alex Maleev

THE STORY: THE AWARD WINNING, BEST SELLING, POWERHOUSE CREATIVE TEAM BEHIND DAREDEVIL, HALO, AND THE AVENGERS UNLEASH THIR BOLDEST PROJECT YET! SCARLET! This is the comic experience of the year! The first creator owned series by one of the most successful teams in all of modern comics. Scarlet is the story of a woman pushed to the edge by all that is wrong with the world…A woman who decides to stand up and fight back…A woman who will not back down…A woman who discovers within herself the power to start a modern American revolution!! In the vein of Alias, Powers, and Jinx, Scarlet debuts a fascinating new comics character that, with every issue, reveals new things about herself against a completely original backdrop of intrigue and drama. Get in on the ground floor of the first creator owned series by Bendis since Powers, and the first creator owned series by Maleev…ever. (and, yes, the trademark obnoxious Bendis letter column will be here too)

Here's a link to an interview Bendis did with Marvel.com.

If you want it, drop me a line and place an order with Proud Lion today.

Ben Fardon is thinking this bio piece at the end is too long. So here's a shorter one.

Proud Lion Recommends cereal:geek

The Eighties. A time of shoulder pads, electronic music, the miners' strike, Roland Rat and Timmy Mallet. It was my childhood and a time of renaissance for animated TV.

The quality of the animation was better than the decade before, with Western cartoons taking more influences from Japanese anime. Plus, the censorship that began to plague cartoons in the Nineties had yet to kick in.

Whilst some disregard Eighties cartoons as glorified advertisements for toys, many of the cartoons were entertainment first, aimed at the prime Saturday morning children's television demographic.

Nostalgia is big business these days, both in comics and cinema. Plus, TV shows like We Love The Eighties can often be found filling the schedules.

Last summer, I was introduced to the Eighties animation magazine cereal:geek. A self-published magazine produced in the UK, cereal:geek features articles, illustrations, scripts, storyboards and a wealth of unseen production materials from your favorite shows, plus interviews with the creators.

Local writer, Martin S. Smith (The Redundancy Of Flightless Birds), is one of the contributors and helped me get in touch with the publisher, James Eatock.

Some of you may have heard from James earlier this year after he and Dan Schoening posted their pitch for a Ghostbusters comic online. If you haven't seen it, do check it out.

James was recently kind enough to take some time to catch up with me and answer a few questions about cereal:geek.

Prowling The Savannah: How did cereal:geek get started?

James Eatock: My now-ex girlfriend and I were on holiday in Wales. Whilst at lunch with another couple I drifted away from the conversation and thought to myself (without any prompting), "What if I made a magazine about cartoons of the eighties?" And that was how cereal:geek was born!

Soon after coming up with the idea I contacted all my on-line friends who had a love of animation (and discussing it) and numerous artists whom I had become friends with over the years. I explained what I wanted to do and began assigning work to each of them. As soon as the work started rolling in I began designing the magazine; and within a few months had assembled all the content for issue one!

What was your favourite 80s TV cartoon? What made you love it? And has it stood the test of time do you feel, or do you prefer a different one these days?

Without a doubt, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is my favorite show from the eighties! I love that cartoon above all others because of the wonderful balance between sorcery and science depicted on the show. I can safely say the adventures of He-Man truly inspired me creatively as a kid.

I think it has stood the test of time from a storytelling point of view. Many of those that worked on the show truly believed in what they were making. A lot of the writers and artists were limited in what they could do, so instead of large action scenes highlighting limited animation, they focused on character development.

The trend for nostalgia is something our generation has experienced and spent money on more than others in the past, as evidenced by the continued sales of magazines like cereal:geek, Retro Gamer, etc. and the numerous revivals, remakes and reboots. Is this something that you feel is a good thing, or is it damaging originality?

I feel that it is a very good thing; especially in the way that our generation have kept certain brands alive.

For example, Transformers was a cartoon/toyline in the eighties; and when it ended, people thought it had run its course. But because the fans actually cared about the product, those in charge gave them something new to enjoy in the form of Beast Wars, whilst introducing Transformers to a new generation of fans. Now Transformers is one of the biggest money-makers on the planet, and that is largely down to our generation celebrating these cartoons!

Comic characters like Superman, Spider-Man, etc., they have endured because the fans keep them alive; each new generation discovering the characters. I don't for a second believe that any of this nostalgia damages originality in the slightest.

Do you have any tips or advice for someone looking to start their own publication?

It's odd giving out advice because I knew nothing about publishing when I got into this. I literally made a decision to quit my day job and publish a magazine. I suppose the hidden message there is "If I can do it, anyone can do it!"

In all seriousness though, if you’re thinking about going into publishing be prepared to lose a lot of money in the beginning. But know that if you believe in the end product and stand by your convictions (and your magazine) it will work out!

What's next for yourself and cereal:geek? Any other projects in the pipeline?

I still hope to get issues six, seven, and eight of cereal:geek out before the end of the year, but that may be pushing it a little!

I've recently written an unofficial 300-page guide to the He-Man cartoon which will come out in June if all goes the plan.

I also wrote a Ghostbusters comic, illustrated by cereal:geek contributor Dan Schoening, that will be published by IDW later this year; with more Ghostbusters stories in the works!

I'm also working on a few secret projects which I hope will see publication before the end of the year. The remainder of 2010 should be quite exciting!

Thanks James.

cereal:geek is currently on sale in Proud Lion, or you can buy a pdf compilation of material from the early issues from the cereal:geek website.

Ben Fardon is the owner, proprietor, manager and filing clerk for Proud Lion. Bascially, Ben is Proud Lion is Ben. He often uses the personal pronoun 'we', in an attempt to not feel like a man alone. In that context 'we' refers to Ben, the bricks and mortar, the stock and the branding that comprises Proud Lion. It also makes him sound kind of crazy. 'We' are OK with that.

Ben has been reading comics since he was five years old and his Dad bought him a Transformers comic at the local newsagent. In the same comic were reprints of Iron Man in the red and silver armour. To this day, Tony Stark is his favourite superhero.

He likes eating, swimming and science fiction Tv series. He recently became addicted to The West Wing.

One day, he'll finish a script for something.

Welcome to the Land of Shadows

The Siege of Asgard has brought an end to Norman Osborn's Dark Reign. I'll do a review round up of the Siege finale soon, but just because Osborn is gone and the Heroic Age is beginning, it doesn't mean the whole Marvel Universe will march into the light.

As part of Norman Osborn's List, H.A.M.M.E.R. Agents entered Hells Kitchen and tried to apprehend Matt Murdoch. Bullseye put aside the Hawkeye costume and went looking for The Man Without Fear.

It didn't end well.

Mstt Murdoch is now the leader of the ninja clan known as The Hand.

In a move similar to Angel Investigations taking over Wolfram & Hart, Murdoch hoped to make a difference. Changing evil within. But power corrupts. Andy Diggle, the writer behind this story, spoke to Newsarama recently:

"Matt's always been a very driven, self-righteous character -- but of course, every villain believes himself to be the hero of his own story. Matt is walking the road paved with good intentions -- but we all know where that leads. So putting Matt in charge of the Hand is a great way of addressing these fundamentally dramatic questions -- where is the line between good and evil drawn? How far is too far? Will Matt turn the Hand towards the path of good, or will the Hand turn Matt towards the path of evil?"

In July, that story comes to ahead with a mini event called Shadowland. Unfolding in Daredevil, plus a separate five part miniseries and various other tie-ins including the new Thunderbolts - Marvel is promoting this as The Battle For The Soul Of New York.

Rather than the epic battles between God-like superheroes, this promises to be street-level vigilantes fighting for their lives. Eight teaser images have been released so far, giving us a indication of the players who will be knockling lumps out of each other.

Shadowland will be written by Diggle and illustrated by Billy Tan. It begins in July. The solicitation promises "a jaw-dropping final page that will have everyone talking for years to come!"

Ben Fardon is the owner, proprietor, manager and filing clerk for Proud Lion. Bascially, Ben is Proud Lion is Ben. He often uses the personal pronoun 'we', in an attempt to not feel like a man alone. In that context 'we' refers to Ben, the bricks and mortar, the stock and the branding that comprises Proud Lion. It also makes him sound kind of crazy. 'We' are OK with that.

Ben has been reading comics since he was five years old and his Dad bought him a Transformers comic at the local newsagent. In the same comic were reprints of Iron Man in the red and silver armour. To this day, Tony Stark is his favourite superhero.

He likes eating, swimming and science fiction Tv series. He recently became addicted to The West Wing.

One day, he'll finish a script for something.

Proud Lion Recommends The Return Of Bruce Wayne #1

Back in February, I talked about the 'death' of Bruce Wayne and how clever fans new this was inevitable.

It's great that Grant Morrison will be seeing this whole story through. There are two issues this month. The rest will come out monthly. Each issue will see Bruce in a different time and will be illustrated by a different penciller.

Issue #1 is out tomorrow. There's a few preview pages below.

BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #1 (OF 6)

Written by GRANT MORRISON

Art by CHRIS SPROUSE

Covers by ANDY KUBERT

Variant cover by CHRIS SPROUSE and Sketch Variant cover by ANDY KUBERT

The most anticipated series of 2010 is here! Superstar writer Grant Morrison tackles his most ambitious project to date with THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE, a special six-part series that chronicles the return of the original man behind Batman's cape and cowl! Each issue spans a different era of time and features the dynamic artwork of one of today's artistic juggernauts, starting with Chris Sprouse (TOM STRONG) on the extra-sized issue #1 and Frazer Irving (SEVEN SOLDIERS: KLARION) on the 40-page issue #2!

Ben Fardon is the owner, proprietor, manager and filing clerk for Proud Lion. Bascially, Ben is Proud Lion is Ben. He often uses the personal pronoun 'we', in an attempt to not feel like a man alone. In that context 'we' refers to Ben, the bricks and mortar, the stock and the branding that comprises Proud Lion. It also makes him sound kind of crazy. 'We' are OK with that.

Ben has been reading comics since he was five years old and his Dad bought him a Transformers comic at the local newsagent. In the same comic were reprints of Iron Man in the red and silver armour. To this day, Tony Stark is his favourite superhero.

He likes eating, swimming and science fiction Tv series. He recently became addicted to The West Wing.

One day, he'll finish a script for something.