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#11
Film & TV / Re: Apple TV Neuromancer Serie...
Last post by Proudhuff - Today at 10:45:52 AMWhy is all the good stuff on channels like this and never ever make it toeven netfilx/prime never mind cooncil telly 
#12
Prog / Re: Prog 2379 - Humanity on th...
Last post by IndigoPrime - Today at 10:41:13 AMI'm very close to fighting with norton cranes block this week. But let's not gloss over that cover, which is great – an excellent mix of sci-fi and horror.
Dredd vs Shako continues to be a blast, even if there's almost no Shako this week. (Boo!) But, yes, Dredd is being a bit of a dolt at times here. It does sometimes feel like there's a balance to be struck between 'Dredd can tackle anything' and 'Dredd is less effective out of his element', but this episode is trying to do both. Still great, mind.
Aquila has gone for full-on epic fantasy scrap, and I'm all for that. Brink is its usual excellent self, in every way. I'm thinking this has to be a top-tier thrill now, surely? Even if I imagine Kurtis will never make it on to one of those covers depicting Dredd, Rogue, Sláine, Johnny Alpha et all.
For me, Indigo Prime is the only blot in the Prog this week. It feels a bit too much like a certain kind of improv music that I used to partake in myself, which was an awful lot of fun to do, but less fun for anyone else to experience. For me, this entire run has been bouncing back and forth across a barrier of interesting|don't:care. And while I find some of its meta points interesting, I'm not sure I care about any of it. And when I think back to something like Killing Time, that wasn't the case.
As for caring, though: Proteus Vex. Yikes. A rip-roaring episode that should stop people griping that the strip is getting a bit talky. But that final page. Who knows if that means what it looks like on the page. I sure hope not. I guess we'll find out next week!
Quality Proggage, though. Tharg's been on something of a top-notch run of late.
Dredd vs Shako continues to be a blast, even if there's almost no Shako this week. (Boo!) But, yes, Dredd is being a bit of a dolt at times here. It does sometimes feel like there's a balance to be struck between 'Dredd can tackle anything' and 'Dredd is less effective out of his element', but this episode is trying to do both. Still great, mind.
Aquila has gone for full-on epic fantasy scrap, and I'm all for that. Brink is its usual excellent self, in every way. I'm thinking this has to be a top-tier thrill now, surely? Even if I imagine Kurtis will never make it on to one of those covers depicting Dredd, Rogue, Sláine, Johnny Alpha et all.
For me, Indigo Prime is the only blot in the Prog this week. It feels a bit too much like a certain kind of improv music that I used to partake in myself, which was an awful lot of fun to do, but less fun for anyone else to experience. For me, this entire run has been bouncing back and forth across a barrier of interesting|don't:care. And while I find some of its meta points interesting, I'm not sure I care about any of it. And when I think back to something like Killing Time, that wasn't the case.
As for caring, though: Proteus Vex. Yikes. A rip-roaring episode that should stop people griping that the strip is getting a bit talky. But that final page. Who knows if that means what it looks like on the page. I sure hope not. I guess we'll find out next week!
Quality Proggage, though. Tharg's been on something of a top-notch run of late.
#13
Prog / Re: Prog 2379 - Humanity on th...
Last post by norton canes - Today at 10:38:30 AMQuote from: norton canes on Today at 10:29:03 AMAquila is thrillingly epic - that nude scene's certainly an eye-opener! It's a shame my CBR reader displays the double spread as separate pages
Sorry, should just clarify that by 'double spread' I mean the face-off before the battle, not the nudity : )
#14
Games / Re: Gamebooks
Last post by Barrington Boots - Today at 10:38:00 AMSorry you didn't enjoy Nightshift, especially as I'm pretty sure I hyped it up.
I found it very compelling but you're right, the path through it is very tight and very Livingstone-y: I think I used a map from the authors website in the end to get through it as it's easy to get lost.
As a general rule I much, much prefer a gamebook with multiple paths through and where lacking items makes the book harder rather than the sort of Deathtrap Dungeon-y shopping list and if you're lacking one essential you lose... a bit like Master of Chaos really!
(You're right about the Dark Elf in MoC btw - you can find him in Ashkyros and if I had, it would have made the last encounter with him a bit more meaningful. He also gives you an item that can stop you getting beaten up in Rahasta)
Funnily enough I've been playing The Huntress books from Magnamund and they have so many multiple paths in places that I've found it a bit nerve-wracking. Having been conditioned by gamebooks to be following what is usually a very linear path to success, having a book constantly asking me if I've got things or have met people and then allowing me to continue without dying when I haven't fills me with a sort of dread that I've made an error somewhere and the axe is ready to fall.
I found it very compelling but you're right, the path through it is very tight and very Livingstone-y: I think I used a map from the authors website in the end to get through it as it's easy to get lost.
As a general rule I much, much prefer a gamebook with multiple paths through and where lacking items makes the book harder rather than the sort of Deathtrap Dungeon-y shopping list and if you're lacking one essential you lose... a bit like Master of Chaos really!
(You're right about the Dark Elf in MoC btw - you can find him in Ashkyros and if I had, it would have made the last encounter with him a bit more meaningful. He also gives you an item that can stop you getting beaten up in Rahasta)
Funnily enough I've been playing The Huntress books from Magnamund and they have so many multiple paths in places that I've found it a bit nerve-wracking. Having been conditioned by gamebooks to be following what is usually a very linear path to success, having a book constantly asking me if I've got things or have met people and then allowing me to continue without dying when I haven't fills me with a sort of dread that I've made an error somewhere and the axe is ready to fall.
#15
Prog / Re: Prog 2379 - Humanity on th...
Last post by norton canes - Today at 10:29:03 AMYeah once again the prog is firing on all cylinders. Okay, most cylinders (sorry, Indigo Prime). R&TWT&T takes a breather but I'm sure the action will be back soon, so I'll bear with it. I get Dredd's motivation for attacking their guide but I'm not convinced he'd eliminate them while they were all still trapped in the wilderness. While Moon is obviosly being shown as a resourceful cadet, it's important that isn't demonstrated by Dredd becoming stupid.
Aquila is thrillingly epic - that nude scene's certainly an eye-opener! It's a shame my CBR reader displays the double spread as separate pages. I'm sure that if I adjust the settings when I'll be able to put them together. Brink is for now just building the layers of intrigue, of course. It's certainly the only strip which could possibly finish on the cliff-hanger "You know we got golf here, right?".
Running out of superlatives for Proteus Vex.
Aquila is thrillingly epic - that nude scene's certainly an eye-opener! It's a shame my CBR reader displays the double spread as separate pages. I'm sure that if I adjust the settings when I'll be able to put them together. Brink is for now just building the layers of intrigue, of course. It's certainly the only strip which could possibly finish on the cliff-hanger "You know we got golf here, right?".
Running out of superlatives for Proteus Vex.
#16
General / Re: Mega City Book Club - a ne...
Last post by Sean SD - Today at 09:55:41 AMEnjoyed that episode Eamonn.
Got a digital copy of the book off Amazon.
Looking forward to checking out some more 70s comics
Got a digital copy of the book off Amazon.
Looking forward to checking out some more 70s comics
Quote from: Eamonn Clarke on 21 April, 2024, 08:26:08 AM
Colin Maxwell joins me to discuss a recent reprint of the first Codename Warlord stories from DC Thomson.
Find the collection here
https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/commando-comics-codename-warlord-book
And the episode here
https://megacitybookclub.blogspot.com/2024/04/259-codename-warlord.html
And here
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/mega-city-book-club/id1116473423?i=1000653081464
#17
Film & TV / Apple TV Neuromancer Series.
Last post by IAMTHESYSTEM - Today at 09:45:13 AMApple TV is about to gamble on producing a version of William Gibson's Cyberpunk landmark book Neuromancer. The blurb includes one of the confirmed actors.
https://collider.com/callum-turner-cast-neuromancer/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox-CL&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3FZGdUbYPZsFfxIVOd0EXkEYSU3E8f0lWA27AEAVTj1PrN2n0cVQZX1Mk_aem_AeDRr8ZYfSUkz3TU8wDbfeuYgDtDCUdIqxQLlOGt8S3RecRAYkjyE2-lwrIWTb9zxWXUlOai8094VNk_PnD1spmT#Echobox=1714033042
https://collider.com/callum-turner-cast-neuromancer/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox-CL&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3FZGdUbYPZsFfxIVOd0EXkEYSU3E8f0lWA27AEAVTj1PrN2n0cVQZX1Mk_aem_AeDRr8ZYfSUkz3TU8wDbfeuYgDtDCUdIqxQLlOGt8S3RecRAYkjyE2-lwrIWTb9zxWXUlOai8094VNk_PnD1spmT#Echobox=1714033042
#18
General / Re: Forthcoming Thrills - 2024
Last post by AlexF - Today at 09:38:25 AMHonestly, I am both excited by the Sci-Fi special mash-up idea, exactly the sort of thing Sci-Fi specials should be for,
and also tickled by those instant AI efforts, Funt! But I'm aware it's going to be a rather steep slope from me pointing and laughing at the AI crudeness today, to me licking the (rust-proof) boots of a robot master tomorrow.
I'm gently predicitng that AI art and writing will be fashionable for a couple of years, and then human creativity will come back to the fore, and then we'll settle down into a sort of hybrid thing where we all accept that a human prompting and tweaking an AI generator is still art.
and also tickled by those instant AI efforts, Funt! But I'm aware it's going to be a rather steep slope from me pointing and laughing at the AI crudeness today, to me licking the (rust-proof) boots of a robot master tomorrow.
I'm gently predicitng that AI art and writing will be fashionable for a couple of years, and then human creativity will come back to the fore, and then we'll settle down into a sort of hybrid thing where we all accept that a human prompting and tweaking an AI generator is still art.
#19
Announcements / Re: The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast - ...
Last post by Le Fink - Today at 08:53:51 AMI'm listening to the Lowborn High creator interview. It was commissioned specifically for Regened as "a working class Hogwarts". I was surprised to learn Tharg commissioned those 20 page episodes as 20 page episodes.
#20
Books & Comics / Re: Completely Self-absorbed T...
Last post by Colin YNWA - Today at 07:31:38 AMPart 2 - Not on the list Uncanny X-Men
His run worked to a formula and he worked and manipulated that to move with the times that his exceptional run covered. He experimented with ideas and character rosters, restlessly playing with that formula, though never really moving too far from it. As a teenager introduced to his work in the mid 80s these comics spoke to me so much and outside Daredevil, these were my favourite of that time.
Yet now, for all that, I can barely read them these days.
I don't really enjoy these comics as an adult at all. Why is that? Well for me they are so of their time and indeed my time then, but they don't hold up to my older eye. I see the formula, can't read past the cracks and the hookey dialogue. I see that crafted formula exposed so clearly and it isn't for me any more. The fact that they were so perfectly crafted for his audience of the time and age they were, means they simply don't translate to me as the reader I am now. There is no room in them to entertain the different reader I have become.
In my entry for Power Pack I talked about how I felt the characters there were honest, they felt real and I trusted them and their place in the story. It truly felt like the characters came first, the story developed from there. With Claremont's X-Men I just don't feel that any more, I don't trust the characters as drivers. The craft and skills behind them shows through, but not in a good way. In the way that makes me see what strings they are trying to pull, what aspect of the audience they are playing to. How they are being used to key into some element of teenage life that will make them appeal to the target audience.
I mean it's done brilliantly, it really works and it worked like billio on me when I was that audience. Now however I feel I see behind the curtain and the characters feel almost cynically built to pull certain emotional triggers. A large part of that is possibly the dialogue as well. I find it almost impenetrable these days. It's almost as bad as Stan Lees, it's hyperbolic and there's just so much of it. But written in a way that feels like it's sculpted to evoke a specific response, rather than feeling natural and evoking that response organically.
Fair to say all dialogue, all story will do this, I just feel with Claremont's work I can now see how he's pulling the strings. As said as well there's just too much of it, so many words, often not saying that much. It feels so written and underlines points which could have better been served by 'show not tell'. I do wonder how good it might have been if John Wagner had been a script editor and just chipped away at things to expose the essence of what was being said, not underline it three or four times.
It's a real shame as one thing Claremont does better than almost any superhero writer is craft combat to do just that. To evoke tension and excitement in very deliberate ways. With his action pieces though he gets away with it much better as he whisks you along at pace, whereas the dialogue drags the character moments back. In the combat sections you genuinely feel our heroes are in danger and the fight is hard and they have to be creative to win the day. Or often not, defeats happened and so the danger in these superhero tussles was palpable. Not so with the character moments where nothing feels earnt, to me at least these days.
I accept I'm very much an outlier on this and folks either see past the cracks that I perceive to glory in the great plotting. Or the stories have such a foundational part in their reading they don't care. OR they see the craft as so good they don't even notice what I perceive as forced characters I don't trust. I mean none of us can ignore the countless dangling plot threads, but they never really mattered, they were part of the fun wondering when some long forgotten idea would spring back to life.
My not liking Claremont's Uncanny run is another case of the reader bringing different desires to the table and therefore getting a different reaction to what they read. I do completely get what folks see in them, but they are just not for me these days. And for me this one is a case of not just thinking these comics are good, just not that good. Rather I just don't get on with them anymore at all, wonderful art aside.
It doesn't matter how important you are if I don't trust you, you're not getting my vote.
His run worked to a formula and he worked and manipulated that to move with the times that his exceptional run covered. He experimented with ideas and character rosters, restlessly playing with that formula, though never really moving too far from it. As a teenager introduced to his work in the mid 80s these comics spoke to me so much and outside Daredevil, these were my favourite of that time.
Yet now, for all that, I can barely read them these days.
I don't really enjoy these comics as an adult at all. Why is that? Well for me they are so of their time and indeed my time then, but they don't hold up to my older eye. I see the formula, can't read past the cracks and the hookey dialogue. I see that crafted formula exposed so clearly and it isn't for me any more. The fact that they were so perfectly crafted for his audience of the time and age they were, means they simply don't translate to me as the reader I am now. There is no room in them to entertain the different reader I have become.
In my entry for Power Pack I talked about how I felt the characters there were honest, they felt real and I trusted them and their place in the story. It truly felt like the characters came first, the story developed from there. With Claremont's X-Men I just don't feel that any more, I don't trust the characters as drivers. The craft and skills behind them shows through, but not in a good way. In the way that makes me see what strings they are trying to pull, what aspect of the audience they are playing to. How they are being used to key into some element of teenage life that will make them appeal to the target audience.
I mean it's done brilliantly, it really works and it worked like billio on me when I was that audience. Now however I feel I see behind the curtain and the characters feel almost cynically built to pull certain emotional triggers. A large part of that is possibly the dialogue as well. I find it almost impenetrable these days. It's almost as bad as Stan Lees, it's hyperbolic and there's just so much of it. But written in a way that feels like it's sculpted to evoke a specific response, rather than feeling natural and evoking that response organically.
Fair to say all dialogue, all story will do this, I just feel with Claremont's work I can now see how he's pulling the strings. As said as well there's just too much of it, so many words, often not saying that much. It feels so written and underlines points which could have better been served by 'show not tell'. I do wonder how good it might have been if John Wagner had been a script editor and just chipped away at things to expose the essence of what was being said, not underline it three or four times.
It's a real shame as one thing Claremont does better than almost any superhero writer is craft combat to do just that. To evoke tension and excitement in very deliberate ways. With his action pieces though he gets away with it much better as he whisks you along at pace, whereas the dialogue drags the character moments back. In the combat sections you genuinely feel our heroes are in danger and the fight is hard and they have to be creative to win the day. Or often not, defeats happened and so the danger in these superhero tussles was palpable. Not so with the character moments where nothing feels earnt, to me at least these days.
I accept I'm very much an outlier on this and folks either see past the cracks that I perceive to glory in the great plotting. Or the stories have such a foundational part in their reading they don't care. OR they see the craft as so good they don't even notice what I perceive as forced characters I don't trust. I mean none of us can ignore the countless dangling plot threads, but they never really mattered, they were part of the fun wondering when some long forgotten idea would spring back to life.
My not liking Claremont's Uncanny run is another case of the reader bringing different desires to the table and therefore getting a different reaction to what they read. I do completely get what folks see in them, but they are just not for me these days. And for me this one is a case of not just thinking these comics are good, just not that good. Rather I just don't get on with them anymore at all, wonderful art aside.
It doesn't matter how important you are if I don't trust you, you're not getting my vote.