Comics-Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween

I just got Jeph Loeb & Tim Sales Batman: The Long Halloween-Absolute Edition. I heard that this book was the inspiration for the new direction of the Batman Films, so i decided to check it out.
Its a beautiful oversized book in a slipcase, with sketches and interviews. The story features classic bad guy characters from Batmans history .



Tim Sales art is reminesent of David Mazzucchelli (on Batman: Year one) and Frank Millers Sin City. He is also the artist that is used on Heroes-the TV series. Its 400 pages long, so do yourself a favour and get this! The book is also available in soft cover format.

TV - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

I saw an episode of this series on TV one night. It was enough to convince me the Blu-Ray first season collection was worth buying. I watched one episode a night for one week (that was a great week!) and have to say it is one of the best series in the last couple of years.

Okay, the terminators dont look like Arnie, but that doesnt mean they are not as powerful or deadly. It fleshes out nicely what happened after Terminator 2 (one of the best films of all time for me.). Its short at 9 episodes, because of the writers strike (it was supposed to be 22), but this is Terminator 2.1! It cost me €37 euros which isnt bad for what is a 9 hour long Terminator film!

The new Terminator film due in summer 2009, so this series will keep you going until then!

Film - The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight was the biggest film of this summer. I went to see it twice so far and hope to see it again before it finishes in the cinema!

It lived up to the hype and it was only on my second viewing that I could appreciate the story. It took characters like the Joker and Two Face and gave these comic characters a modern real world spin.

Christian Bales performance made me go and get some of his other work on DVD, such as Reign of Fire, Equilibrium, and Harsh Times. Hes currently filming the reboot of another franchise...The Terminator-Salvation. I've seen the trailer and even though the films not out until next summer, it will probably be as big as The Dark Knight!

Film - Cloverfield

JJ Abrahams new film Cloverfield has been surrounded in mystery. Nobody knows what its about only for the first teaser which starts with a going away party which is interuppeted by a unknown disaster in New York City, resulting in the decapatated head of the statue of liberty rolling down the street!

Its filmed from a hand held camera which replicates images seen during 9-11 and creates realisim, suspense and tension. Should be good!

Film - Hellboy

I got the Directors Cut of Hellboy on DVD last week at Play really cheap (under 10 euros!) and its worth getting for all the extra stuff (nearly 3 hours!). Theres Mike Mignolas art for the film with detailed commentary by Mike, and a short piece with comics teacher Scott McCloud (more on him later!), and other stuff that I haven't got around to watching yet! Worth getting.

Comics - Hellboy

Hellboy is a success story for its creator Mike Mignola, who created the character in 1993. Unlike the creator of Batman Bob Kane, Mike didn't have to wait 50 years to see his creation done justice on the big screen. The Hellboy film in 2004 was a big hit and Hellboy 2 is released this summer! The new film focuses on the fantasy side of Hellboy, so I did a bit of research I bought Hellboy the Chained Coffin and Others graphic novel.

Its a nice collection of short stories with Hellboy investigating cases involving shape changing goblins and other unearthly creatures, based on irish and other fantasy stories, all done in Mignolas unmistakable style that no others can match!

TV - Bionic Woman

The new Bionic Woman TV show is a remake of the 70s show brings Jamie sommers into the 2000s with more problems than just getting used to the idea that 50% of her body is robotic! The lead actress Michelle Ryan has put in a lot of work to change her voice to sound more american-its a big change if you have ever heard her on Eastenders! Its on hiatus now due to the Writers strike in America. The team behind the Battlestar Galactica revival (more on that later!) is behind this, with some actors from that show. Theres a trend at the moment of taking shows from the 70s & 80s and re-making them in a more realistic post 9-11 world. The first few episodes have been good so far!

24-08-08 Update - Series hasnt done well which is a pity as it started so good. Doesnt look like it will get another series. At least you should be able to get the season one boxset cheap!

TV - BatmanThe Animated Series

'The Dark Knight' looks great! It is maintaining the same actors and gritty realistic treatment that made Batman Begins a success.





I got the DVD collection of season one of 'Batman - the animated series' recently. It is amazing watching it again because its really dark for a cartoon show! Reliving those days of coming home from school and catching the latest episode, should keep me going until the new film!

Comics - Tangents

I first saw Miguelanxo Prados work in the british anthology Crisis, which was a british comic that set out to use comics to tell more mature stories and used european artists work because they explored relationships in comic form. I loved Prados chalk drawings on brown paper.

The writing isn't bad either. Tangents explores relationships and the stories usually do not have happy endings. Jealousy, unrequited love, old flames long extinguished are just some of the subjects.

A book that should be read, and shows just what comics are capable of. Available from Play.

TV - The Lost Room

Once in a blue moon a TV show comes along that is above the rest. This is one of them. In the tradition of The Twilight Zone, this pilot mini series examines ordinary people in extra ordinary circumstances. The premise behind the show is that an accident occurs at a motel room which affects everyday objects in the room. The objects get supernatural powers ranging from invincibility to controlling time. I got the DVD collection the other day and I'm hoping to watch it again soon. Run time is 252 minutes, so thats going to be a long evening! I got it on Play at a good price! Catch the opening title on Youtube.