Topics

1

Off Topic / Jimmy Carter Appreciation Thread

« on: 03 July, 2012, 11:25:46 PM »

Jimmy Carter was a really cool dude and he was president of America. There was an episode of The Simpsons where a statue of him was the lynchpin of the plot. Also they made fun of him in Hate but you can tell they secretly respected him because he was clearly such a cool dude.

2

Off Topic / Pleasing sounds.

« on: 12 June, 2012, 04:50:24 PM »

"Do-do-do-d-do-doo-do"  - The Mario theme.

"Fhwt-aahhhhhh" - The HBO production ident.

3

Off Topic / It is my Birthday

« on: 30 May, 2012, 12:28:56 AM »

26 years ago I was thrust out of my mother's womb into a cold, unfeeling world which had Irish people in it. I'd like to think I've done my part to try and make everyone's lives slightly better.

On my last birthday I had the first in a series of bouts with depression which I think are behind me now, but to stay on the safe side it's probably best that I emotionally blackmail you into keeping this thread on the first page of Active Topics all day.

Also I will murder the Discarray guy if this happens so I guess I am regular blackmailing you as well.

4

Books & Comics / Who is the greatest living cartoonist?

« on: 27 May, 2012, 07:05:43 PM »

"Cartoonist" meaning any comic artist, and I'm thinking along "what have you done for me lately" lines rather than lifetime bodies of work. Also "greatest" doesn't have to mean "my favourite."

Using the totally-not-arbitrary-and-nebulously-defined axises of "craft" and "imagination" the scrawler who always comes to mind for me would probably be Jim Woodring, as he conjures up incredibly dense work that still retains a lightness of touch. Other people in the Godpletonian mix would be Trondheim, Ware, Mazzuchelli and Jason.



LET'S TALK COMICS.

5

Off Topic / Notice.

« on: 20 May, 2012, 02:21:42 PM »

I'm going out to the shops for a bit, so I'll be back in about 45 minutes or so.

6

Film & TV / Performance fight

« on: 24 April, 2012, 12:33:08 AM »

Still can't figure out how to make a poll, but this needs to be asked.

Once in a lifetime you see a performance, so great, so majestic, so pulsating and meaty that you know you will only see a performance like that once. But then you see another performance like that and you're not so sure. I can't decide which of these gigantic performances I like more so I'd like to know which performance you'd most like to spend some time with.

• Michael Fassbender in Shame

or

• Tom Hardy in Bronson.

Which is most likely to inspire performance envy in you? I'd be interested to know your're thoughts.

7

Film & TV / Countdown to Battleship.

« on: 01 April, 2012, 11:14:37 PM »

On April 11, the movie that we as a species have been waiting for arrives in theaters.


We will see our greatest enemy rise out of the sea to fire a bunch of peg bombs at us. We will see them and we will be scared and weary. We will see them sink our battleship.


But then we will see the triumph of the human spirit as we reassert our dominion over the sea. We will see Taylor Kitsch doing Navy stuff. We will see Liam Neeson inspiring us all to do Navy stuff. We will see a slow motion shot of Alexander Skarsgard's face getting blown around. We will see Rihanna acting.





We will see Battleship.

8

Film & TV / Legend of Korra pilot leaked!!

« on: 22 March, 2012, 10:00:46 PM »

Link is below, pretty crummy video quality though.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/lets-all-watch-and-judge-the-leaked-pilot-of-the-l,71362/

9

Off Topic / Where is House of Usher?

« on: 19 January, 2012, 01:36:00 AM »

He has been missing since December 4. You are not taking your duties as moderator seriously enough. People are trying to horn in on my racket now and you aren't hear to ban them. Please come back to us you ridiculous little Welsh man.

10

Website and Forum / The Thin Ice Awards 2011

« on: 29 December, 2011, 09:34:43 PM »

These awards commemorate the best in commenting on this board in 2011. I can say that it has been an odd year for me and this place has certainly been of aid to me and my sanity.
The categories are below:

BOARDER OF THE YEAR

THREAD OF THE YEAR

Please pick your top three in each category. Three points will be awarded to your number one, two points for number two and one point for your number three.

My boarders of the year are:
1. King Trout
2. Jared Katooie.
3. Joe Soap.

Mods, can this get stickied?

11

Books & Comics / Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2011

« on: 18 December, 2011, 08:45:12 PM »

I've managed to read virtually nothing in the way of "mainstream" capey comics this year but I think I've done an OK job keeping on top of boring B&W people-talking-about-laundry comics.

The GN I most enjoyed this year would be Paying For It. It's the first Chester Brown book I've really gotten into (Joe Matt and Seth are two of my faves) and I think his detached approach lends itself well to such a forensic confessional. The long scenes of him talking with his bros are strangely thrilling, and Brown shows true skill in animating what remain as rigidly static scenes. It's also absolutely hilarious.

Other standouts would be

Isle of 1,000 Graves. I think Jason has to be my favourite comic creator working today, perhaps purely in an aesthetic sense. Everything he puts out feels instantly familiar, yet he has never shown signs of complacency and always looks to unsettle the reader.

Habibi. Probably the most visually accomplished GN this year. I felt Zam was a tad underdeveloped but that's possibly because he's stood next to Dodola. Got a bit research-y in places but never in the leaden, contemporary Millsian fashion.

Love & Rockets: New Stories 4.[/u] You never really thought about what Maggie's "ending" would be like, but you always hoped it would be happy, even though there was plenty of reason to believe otherwise. Jaime gives her (us?) her happily ever after, but as ever, it's laced with the conditions and compromises that have always taken the place of the bad guys in Hoppers. Stunning stuff. I never know quite where to stand with Gilbert's stuff these days, but it doesn't look like he'll be getting boring soon.

Life with Mr Dangerous. This felt a bit blah when it was being serialized in Mome (yes, I know), but it really came together as a book. I was somewhat indifferent towards Hornschmeier before, but this is an agreeably sincere work that resonates to a remarkable degree when it could have been a dull Clowes pastiche.

I haven't read Ganges 4 yet.
 

12

Help! / What is that one song called?

« on: 22 November, 2011, 10:34:06 PM »

I think it's the third or fourth song off of that album from that mask guy or something.

13

Film & TV / Will Smith trailer (2011)

« on: 03 November, 2011, 10:38:07 PM »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7TDHHj6qyw

14

Books & Comics / The comics that made you like comics (the comics that you like)

« on: 01 November, 2011, 10:21:19 PM »

I feel as if we should all talk about comics for a while. What are the comics that shaped your perception of the medium? What made you think "I want to read more things like this?"

I'm not necessarily talking about your favourite comics, but your first comics, the ones that set you off in new directions and broadened your horizons. The comics that made you like the type of comics that you like. What do they mean to you? I like Duncan the Wonder Dog probably more than most of the stuff in the list below, but I didn't read it first. Also, I want to laugh at you when you put The Walking Dead and Preacher down.

WATCHMEN: Duh. This was the first comic I read that wasn't ultimately a transient confection. I was glad that someone had gone to the effort of doing this sort of thing with these sort of tropes. I hoped that there would be more comics like this.

THE SANDMAN: This is the comic I like the least on this list, but it made its impression before I grew out of it. In retrospect, this was the first comic where I noticed characters worrying about money and laundry and I noticed myself enjoying that stuff more than the guys with powers and junk.

BLACK HOLE: On a similar tack, this was what affirmed my love of verisimilitude in the drawn word. I enjoyed the fact that the freaky mutations were just the context and not the story. Plus it was in black & white and it was all done by one guy on his own.

LOVE & ROCKETS: Now this is basically the comic that made me really love comics. It made me love comics more than I love movies, music or video games. These are the fictional universes I would most like to live in. In the first volume I prefer Beto's stuff and from then on I think Jaime is more accomplished, but basically Los Bros are my heroes.

KRAZY KAT: This was the first comic that I had to read more than once before I understood it, and I was glad I persevered. I knew comics were art, but this was when I realized that comics were Art and were as valid as anything else.




Well?...

15

Books & Comics / ART WARS: "CARTOONY" VS "REALISTIC"

« on: 07 March, 2011, 06:55:06 PM »

I appreciate how some people may be upset by such terms, hence the SSCCAARREE QQUUOOTTEESS.