Carrier bags and charity - United Nations System Response to the Ebola Outbreak

by Ben Fardon

Hi folks,

The last financial quarter finished a few weeks ago, and I've been mulling over what to do with our latest charitable donation from carrier bag proceeds. Then I read today's news reports and saw that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was appealing for more money to be donated to the Ebola trust fund and I knew what we had to do.

This was our fourteenth full quarter and together we raised £36.66.

Last time I donated to St Luke’s Hospice, an organisation that provides free end of life care in Plymouth, SW Devon & East Cornwall. St Luke’s has to raise £4.5 million year with 86p of every £1 that is donated going to patient care. St Luke's helped the family of a friend of ours earlier this year and he set out last month to trek 26.2 miles along Offa's Dyke, the ancient wall that once separated Wales and England. You can find out more by visiting his walking team's Just Giving page.

As I say, this time I'm making a donation to the United Nations System Response to the Ebola Outbreak. This trust was set up to unite efforts of the UN to stop the outbreak, treat the infected, ensure continuity within affected countries and prevent outbreaks in countries currently unaffected.  Our contribution will provide vital support to the United Nations as it works to halt the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and treat the thousands of people who have been infected with Ebola virus disease. Thanks to our contribution, the World Health Organization will be able to procure vital supplies, such as personal protective equipment and chlorine, as well as provide crucial technical assistance to the governments of Ebola-affected countries.

I won't grandstand or lecture you as to why this is important, other than to say this is something the rest of the world should have done something to help with far sooner.

The trust accepts donation is US Dollars, so I've converted the £36.66 and rounded it up to $60.00. If you'd like to make a donation yourself, you can do so here.

The next carrier bag donation should be in early January. If you have a charity you'd like Proud Lion to support, please email me at shop@proudlion.co.uk.

New Beginnings - Alien Versus Predator: Fire and Stone #1

by Matt Puddy

And so another piece of the Fire and Stone puzzle to slot into the bigger picture. Born originally from a crossover of two strong franchises, Alien vs Predator was a geeky marriage in heaven which went on to spawn films, books, comics and video games.

Dark Horse has once again included it in the various threads of a bigger Alien story arc. But - and here is a slightly tricky aspect - its inclusion in the Fire and Stone continuity is not from the start of all hell breaking loose. Much like the weird aunt and uncle at a family wedding, it arrives late to the main event but well before the evening reception. Placed after issue #4 of Prometheus: Fire and Stone (and subsequently Aliens: Fire and Stone as a result) but completely before Predator: Fire and Stone  #1, this issue suffers quite a bit from leaving the reader in an occasional state of “what exactly has happened here?”

Now I do understand and appreciate that this style of storytelling can pique interest in readers, as it promotes so many questions about what has gone on in the parallel stories, but for me, on this occasion the leap made is too big. 

Loosely speaking the situation in the story is such that we can identify with the characters physically but their personalities in some cases are compromised to such a degree that they are different entirely. Francis is now a captive with an almost subservient manner to him, and Eldon is a completely different entity to how we first met him. Don’t get me wrong, I want to know how he got to be what he is now - with the new growths, protrusions and aliens in tow - but I can’t see him as the artificial human that started the trip in the first place. I also have no clue as to why he is so desperate to retrieve and reunite with Francis as well. (Some of that journey begins in this week's Prometheus #2 which Matt has yet to read due to a business trip, BF.)

The plot is primarily an aftermath explanation that goes out of control. While trying to escape with both Francis and an alien weapon in their custody, the inhabitants of the ship find themselves at the mercy of Eldon. He controls the Helios which in turn has power over their ship. However, as we are dealing with mercenaries here the options are simple. Stay alive by handing over Francis.

This would have all gone smoothly (and made for an awfully short comic!), had this simply happened but unbeknownst to everyone, sci-fi’s favourite hunters had also set their eyes on the ship as a hunt. The Predator's breach of the hull didn’t go unnoticed and the subsequent alarm sets everyone on edge, spinning matters out of control. A deranged android leading a group of xenomorphs on a hide and seek raid of the ship quickly ensues.

With the xenomorphs running amok on the ship, it’s easy for the stealth suited hunting party to make their advances as well. Everything culminates in a variety of face offs and preambles to fighting with poor Francis just hiding for his life. The apparent prize of it all.

Ariel Olivetti has done a cracking job of bringing Christopher Sebela’s writing to life. I really like the artwork. It has energy conveyed through the clean lines and sharp shapes, with the colouring adding more depth. There is even the odd frame that, conversely, does a lot with zero background or using a silhouette, instead of flooding the frame with details letting the readers mind fill in the rest.

Putting aside the continuity I really liked this comic and can envisage that I will like it more when I’ve collected them all and re-read them in a more structured fashion. Fire and Stone is shaping up to be a superb event series.

Matt Puddy had a tough decision between the first episode of Gotham and the start of the new series of The Walking Dead earlier this week.

Big Game Hunting - D&D Encounters: extra player spaces!

by Rae

Last Wednesday was our first D&D Encounters night. Several characters were brought together to engage in the beginning of an epic adventure. Combat was waged, townsfolk were rescued, and the heroes successfully accomplished their first goal: to get to their target location in one piece!

There was one major issue with our first Encounter, though - there weren't enough player spaces! We managed to fill every available seat very quickly, and unfortunately we had to turn a number of people away. I am happy to announce that we have a solution! We have recruited a second DM to accommodate the extra people, so everyone has a chance to play!

This does present us with a new challenge: location. While the new Proud Lion store can just about cope with one group of adventurers, two is a bit of a stretch. With that in mind, this week we will all assemble at Proud Lion for 6:30pm. From there, we will move to Boston Tea Party. This is a trial run to test a change in venue, and may not be permanent.

We'll be able to support 12-14 people with our second DM in action, so join us this Wednesday at 6:30pm!

New Beginnings - George Perez's Sirens ¢1

by Matt Puddy

You may have heard the name George Perez come up in relation to a comic or two in the past, for example the new 52 Superman launched in 2011 or prior to that Infinite Crisis or Teen Titans. Big titles for DC and more for Marvel in the past as well including a long and well renowned run on the Avengers with Kurt Busiek. If not - and you simply enjoy comics for the read regardless of who created them - then just know that Perez is a well established name in the business.

This is a brand new title written and illustrated by him, with Leonardo Paciarotti aiding with the colours. Perez even worked on the majority of the covers as well so this was a huge amount of work for him.

Sirens is a story that starts multiple times simply because there is a whole team to introduce quickly for this six-part series. Each one of them is spread across time amongst various tribes and groups of people, but all of them standing out as a strong warrior. In Rome, a violent gladiator and in Iceland, a mystic crone are just examples of who they are.

The time period seems to be inconsequential as these are powerful matriarchs and someone is trying to get them together. Why exactly isn’t so clear but when they are assembled in the same timeline (in the future), things aren’t looking so good. Firstly, not all the team appeared to come back in one piece, as they can’t exactly remember who they all are or where they are either. To top it all off they are also immediately in the firing line of Naida, a woman who has hunted and killed Sirens in the past and only sees them as sport. She's the top enforcer for Perdition and certainly has an axe to grind. 

Immediately as a reader you are aware of exactly who and what the threat is, complete with huge battle cruiser, and just as quick the issue ends with what could potentially be their firey space-born graves. Admittedly, we know it’s not or this is going to be a very short run (!) but what comes next?

The story moves very quickly but it has to so that all the scene is set as much as can be. This does have its downsides though as for all the pace moving through the book, some of the elements are lost. As a reader you only get to know that there is an intergalactic force enslaving the universe and that the Sirens are considered villains because of either the previews or the letters in the back. This does change the context a lot. 

All of the artistic style is very typical of Perez as well. There is a lot packed into every single frame and it has a certain late Eighties/early Nineties feel to them as is his way. That does mean that as a reader the amount of information you are given can sometimes overwhelm you and you find yourself concentrating on either the wording or the images, just not always both at the same time.

This fast first issue is full of intergalactic swashbuckling – alongside the historical issues, time travelling and also the potential time paradoxes along the way. Time will tell if this finds an audience, but personally I was a little underwhelmed when compared to George Perez's back catalogue.

Mat Puddy is ready to face another week!