Carrier bags and charity - Beard for Lent (for Shelter)

Hi folks,

Last week marked the end of the current financial quarter and the end of the first period of collecting money for charity from our sales of carrier bags.

As this was only started in February, it's not a full quarter but we have raised £4.28.

I've decided to donate this to the fundraising efforts of writer Paul Cornell (Action Comics, Captain Britain & MI:13, Doctor Who, Knight & Squire, etc)

Many of you will remember that Paul was kind enough to cut the ribbon here during the Grand Opening back on Free Comic Book Day 2008.

Recently Paul has been growing a Beard for Lent and quite a mighty specimen it has become. He's been busily raising money for Shelter and all donations are gratefully received! If you would like to know more, here's a list of his blog entries on the matter thus far.

If you can spare the time and the pennies, please do make a contribution. It all helps!

Thanks everyone. The next carrier bag donation will be after the end of June. If you have a charity you'd like Proud Lion to support, please email me at shop@proudlion.co.uk

The Mane Event - War Of The Green Lanterns

Across the three GL titles (Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps and Emerald Warriors) DC have launched the crossover War of the Green Lanterns. Advertised as an event that will be pitting friend against friend, it has the makings of an arc that could have significant impact on the titles. Regardless of where this is taken, the build up has been worked hard on as events ever since Blackest Night have been taken into account.

The revealing of the different Corps of the emotional spectrum has paved the way for some interesting alliances and temporary (yet frail) truces, all of which are playing out further in these titles. You also have some large hints of inadvertent hypocrisy considering the initial indignation towards Hal Jordan’s perceived recklessness and his bonds to all of the other corps when meanwhile in the background a partnership, - forged and endorsed by former Guardian, Ganthet - between Guy Gardner and Atrocitous seems to bear very helpful fruit.

With that all said, the story has been written across GL and GLC in such a way that it can easily picked up with some explanatory character narrative. This isn’t seen as much in Emerald Warriors as the title itself is only eight issues old, but judging by the interactions it will bring the title more to the front through the character and storyline.

What will be interesting is how closely the ties will run and if this means that following all three titles is an essential. Given that we have three different writers all working together, this could be a style clash or a great triumph, but considering that it is Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi and Tony Bedard, my feelings are that it will be the latter.

Part One

Although there has already been a prelude to the War, Geoff John’s issue opens well. Using a dual perspective narrative the reader is very quickly brought up to speed with the most current and pertinent events, namely Krona – the renegade Guardian. It plays very well to the strengths of the characters and the feelings they have instilled in others about them. Mostly. I did find myself questioning Sinestro’s motivation at one point. This left me considering the convenience of a rather significant (although almost not noticed) change of stance and his actions when he frees Hal from the Black Book.

Johns manages two separate storylines very well. On one side there is Hal’s predicament and its evolution, but on the other we see the Guardians' entrapment. Both are significant to the whole plot and neither lack any attention or feel that they have been under-written or treated with preference.

Most importantly is the re-introduction of Parallax back into the Central Power Battery as this infects all the Green Lantern rings and gives Krona an incredibly strong position.

Something I have really liked in this issue is the artwork by Doug Mahnke. This is mainly for two reasons. I like the fine detail that he places in every frame, from the capturing of thoughts across faces to the attention in the individual Lanterns, but also because it doesn’t take things too seriously. On the second and third pages (a double page spread), we see a team of Lanterns including a frog and a beaver! Instant giggle, I loved that alone.

Part Two

Tony Bedard helms the first of the Green Lantern Corps issues within the arc. Having had control of the title for just over a year now he is well placed to continue in the same vein. Once again this issue starts with narrative dialogue but only from Kyle Rayner on this occasion. I found this strange though. There was a lot of reflection inwards, almost to the extent of showing a lack of self belief, but that is quickly recovered.

The initial monologue does fade through the issue and the feel of it all being about Rayner does get lost with the story quickly turning to the trio of Ganthet, Rayner and Stewart culminating in the removal of their rings and leaving two of them powerless and hunted. A strong premise with a lot of potential, but I am waiting to see where it goes as a wedge has also started to form which could have some far greater ramifications. The story flows along a very specific path but whilst enjoying it I wasn’t massively grabbed as much as I had been whilst reading part one.

Kirkham’s artwork has me mixed, considering he has the task of drawing John and his highly intricate and mechanical constructs the attention to detail is great, however, I find a lot of the frames very dark and loosely drawn. The detail has been saved for the big pieces or the impact points. I am not saying the artwork is bad, in fact quite the opposite, but I don’t think it’s the best purely as it’s not my preferred style.

Part Three

Unlike the other two titles, Emerald Warriors isn’t as well established. These warriors were touted as the Green Lantern Corps equivalent of a Black Ops team by working off the radar both figuratively and literally. With this in mind it is a good thing that for the past few issues a lot of time has been spent in the build up and Krona’s influence has been seen, even in the background, for a while now. I think that this has been necessary though, as I can’t see how this title could have been easily and smoothly integrated so Tomasi has had a lot of vested interest in it!

The story picks up with Guy, Killowog and Arisia heading back to Oa and throws them right into the thick of it. Having this issue released a week after the first two sees events from them start to overflow into it rather than the story muscling in and making space for itself. Faced with a barrage of Lanterns, Arisia falling under the influence of Parallax and ‘Wog getting captured, the story revolves around Guy ending up alone for a time. Illustrating the predicament further, Guy has nowhere safe to go and only one person that he can contact, Hal Jordan. Once again (and in synch with part two) we see a massive personality clash and also the realisation that the rings are not the way forward. So what do you do then? Faced with being on a desolate frozen planet with no rings, no back up and no real plan? I’m sure we will find out.

Strangely I think that the artwork by Fernando Pasarin is almost a halfway point between Kirkham and Mahnke. The punctuating point is more the colouring by Cam Smith as it has almost a decoupage feel to it with the characters popping into the foreground. Effective and interesting, but also maybe a little gimmicky.

So, the upshot of it all? We have the four human Lanterns free but without their powers against the entire Green Lantern Corps. It’s not quite the civil war that the teasers alluded towards but it does have a lot of potential. Given Guy and Hal’s situation it’ll be interesting to see what they do next and for me I like the ambiguity that is now residing in the storylines. What is going to happen to Killowog? Has Ganthet really gone? How do four normal humans be able to overcome a powered mind controlled army? All of this is to come and I’m looking forward to seeing it along with all the change it is bound to cause.

Ler Orak te matt Puddy. Luca. Klok Ner!

The Watcher special - Hail to the Chimp!

2011 marks a significant milestone in the history of space flight, as the 12th of April will see the fiftieth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s historic voyage as the first homo sapien in space. But while we celebrate this small step for man, remember that someone else got there first...

Picture the scene, January 31st 1961, the Atlantic Ocean. Emerging from his space capsule to the glare of flashbulbs and riotous applause, the first "American" in space – a chimpanzee named Ham. Although the pictures show a smiling true blue aponaut, eyewitness accounts report that Ham did in fact get, "just a little bit narky". Hardly surprising really, given that the poor fellow had just endured two years of rigorous training, electric shocks to the feet and a diet of dried banana pellets, only to be rewarded by being strapped to the top of a gigantic roman candle and blasted into space.

Inevitably, in 1968, Hollywood released the very first apesploitation picture and opening chapter of one of the greatest and most enduring sci-fi film franchises, Planet of the Apes. Recently, in honour of our soon to be Simian Overlords (and thanks to the miracle of affordable DVD box sets) I have been keeping myself entertained with all five original films of the Apes saga.

The first, starring Charlton Heston follows astronaut Colonel Taylor, stranded on the titular planet after rather cleverly trying to land his ship while still asleep. What follows is a thrilling mix of intelligent sci-fi and western action, as Taylor struggles to make friends and influence apes and ends up fleeing for his life.

Ignoring the warnings of ape know-it-all Dr. Zaius, Taylor heads to the "Forbidden Zone of Mystery" hoping to find evidence that man is basically better than ape, only to get proven wrong in spectacular, M. Night Shyamalan style. Taylor discovers he has in fact been on future Earth all along, discovering the charred remains of the Statue of Liberty (or is that Mega-Maid?) in the final reel.

For a major film franchise, Apes bucked the usual downward trend,and spawned four surprisingly original and enjoyable sequels. Continuing to draw inspiration from Pierre Boule’s source novel, Le Planet des Singes, the following films inventively mixed Sci-fi sub genres and tropes such as nuclear war, time travel and Orwellian dystopia to great effect. Whilst the first film is a stone cold classic, all five films dovetail satisfyingly when viewed together, the variations in style and content providing plenty of entertainment.

As if that wasn’t enough, Fox recently released the first official still from their upcoming ‘Apes’ prequel Rise of the Apes, featuring James Franco, of Spider-Man fame. Also starring is Andy Serkis - who is rapidly becoming Hollywood’s go-to guy for socially awkward and misunderstood apes. One can only imagine how the film makers plan to antagonise them damn dirty apes this time – stranding them in deep space with Mark Wahlberg?

Speaking of which – it's pointed out that Tim Roth turned down the part of Snape in Harry Potter to star in Tim Burton’s woeful 2001 "reimagining" Stop-the-Planet-of-the-Apes, I want to get off!

Guess they finally made a monkey out of him!

Robert Barton-Ancliffe wrote this article in exchange for bananas. True story.

The Reluctant Geek - If you can read this, you're too close...

While I was at university I was still labouring under the misapprehension that I could resist the decline into geekery that has since rather overtaken me. But even then, there were some worrying signs. One of the most concerning was my Linux programming, Counter Strike playing, physicist boyfriend of the time, who insisted on saying bafflingly meaningless things like "leet skillz" and who apparently needed three different PCs to function as a well-rounded person. Crazy student experimentation was all very well and good, but surely sleeping with the enemy was taking things too far?

I knew I was almost beyond redemption when I woke up one morning and found that I had inadvertently fallen asleep wearing his Chix Dig Unix t-shirt. I have never referred to myself as a chick and I can assure you that I have no higher regard for Unix than any other operating system, but none-the-less, there it was on my t-shirt for the world (or at least the rest of our equally geeky student hovel) to see as I ate my cornflakes beneath a cloud of puzzled resignation.

As it turned out, this was merely the beginning of the end for my pretensions towards normality, since it is almost certainly the case that if geekdom has a uniform, then the t-shirt with a hilarious/technical/obscurely slogan is it. I suppose it even makes sense. The final step in cementing your allegiance to a community that is frequently reviled, is to wear your counter-culturalism proudly for the world to see. Geekery is rarely associated with high fashion, but that’s OK, because let’s be honest, the geeky T-shirt is fundamentally anti-fashion. It doesn’t need ruffles or cleavage or shiny, bright colours. The clothes themselves are simply an irritating practicality when it comes to communicating the message.

More than that though, there is something of the ‘in-joke’ to be found in geekery’s strange affection for the t-shirt. Frequently there are references to cult TV shows, mathematical equations, or comic book heroes. Things that the rest of the universe just Does Not Get. Strangers in the street can recognise each other as kindred spirits in the split second where a knowing smile replaces the confused dismissiveness of the masses. It’s a private, hidden language that denotes belonging to a group with a large degree of geographical and social diversity.

That’s the justification at least. As for the t-shirts themselves? Well, apparently "There’s no place like 127.0.0.1," and "Han shot first". "Home is where the hearthstone is" and "I see fragged people." "5 seconds until I respawn" and "Available for Beta testing." Understand any of this? Congratulations, in all likelihood you haven’t just wondered onto this comic shop blog by accident. You are in all probability kind of a geek. Utterly baffled? Yep, me too for the most part. As it turns out, some of us speak more fluent Geek than others.

Despite my somewhat traumatic initial exposure, I’m afraid to say I haven’t managed entirely to steer clear of this particular brand of ‘heart on your t-shirt’ geekery since. There may or may not be a "This is what a feminist looks like" t-shirt lurking in my wardrobe. And whilst at some point along the way I managed to ditch the physicist, I kept his ‘Chix Dig Unix’ top. I am frequently beaten by my friends when it comes to being truly out and proud though, one of whom who owns a shirt with an inbuilt Graphic Equaliser. A cynic might suggest he particularly enjoys the tactile response it seems to illicit from tipsy girls (and boys!) in clubs. Another sports a dazzling array of identically formed but uniquely embellished t-shirts and to be honest, he barely looks like himself without them.

I suppose it comes down to the fact that we all use our clothes to express ourselves. Even an absolute indifference to fashion communicates something about personality. Maybe it’s no surprise then that the geek community does this a little bit differently, because hey, it does lots of things differently. Geeky t-shirts resist the ease of mainstream conformity whilst building a sense of belonging amongst their adherents. And if some gentle programming jokes and Star Wars references are just not hardcore enough for you, there’s always t-shirt hell...

This week Kate is shunning her Chix Dig Unix t-shirt in favour of a corset and some boots.