Whats everyone reading?

[Professor Bear]

Also, realised too late that by buying 1977 I wouldn't see what was banned in 1976. I can only imagine...

Sevenpenny Nightmare's archive of original (pre-censorship) Action issues is practically a service to comics-lover history: http://www.sevenpennynightmare.co.uk/?cat=4

[Fungus]

Also, realised too late that by buying 1977 I wouldn't see what was banned in 1976. I can only imagine...

Sevenpenny Nightmare's archive of original (pre-censorship) Action issues is practically a service to comics-lover history: http://www.sevenpennynightmare.co.uk/?cat=4

Cheers HB, just the thing 

[Apestrife]

Jack THE KING Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus vol. 1-4

Bought the missing book (vol. 2) recently for more moolah than I was comfortable with at first, but now it's all good. Really good. Especially since the 4th world saga is some of the best I'v read.

The less the said about it the better, since I'd never stop writing about it. But I can't avoid mentioning Darkseid. Incredible character. Especially towards the end, where he's saddened by the automatisation of destruction.

Same goes with Big Barda's confrontation of Granny, about being a traitor. Wow... Just wow. Or Orion saving his mother Tigra and ultimately (if Grant Morrison's Fifth world is avoided) himself by not giving into his anger and the prophesied confrontation with pops Darkseid. .

I damn hope 4th world becomes a couple of movies one day. The perfect mix of 2001 and Star wars.

[Colin YNWA]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Jack Kirby, as a writer forget his art (which of course ain't half bad) is one of comics geniuses. In fact he's my favourite writer the medium has ever known. Quite brilliant. And The Fourth World Saga is possibly his best work.

The very best comics.

[starscape]

Jack THE KING Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus vol. 1-4
I damn hope 4th world becomes a couple of movies one day. The perfect mix of 2001 and Star wars.

Some Lord of the Rings style big budget trilogy, done absolutely right would make Star Wars look like a Lego movie.  Opressed Earthlings, Thor-like heroes, a Darth Vader without the hope, a flawed protagonist, three completely different planets, the mystery of the Source, the chance of amazing special effects from Lightray's hair to the furnaces of Apokolips, amazing fight scenes with the weirdest array of villians.  Hell, you could even throw in Superman for a touch of marketing.

Boy, would it make a great film.

[Mardroid]

I just finished off Nemesis the Warlock: The Deviant Edition

Now you might remember me saying that I wasn't all that keen when I started. This is true, but by the end I'd changed my mind. It ended too soon! I'm wanting more.

I'd just got to the bit where baby Thoth [spoiler]had used his powers to fool the head terminator and his wife into thinking he was a human baby* and was planning revenge on the human race.[/spoiler] Then it ended and we have the bonus story "The Tomb of Tourquemada" which spoils [spoiler]Thoth's ultimate horrific fate! Actually that whole battle is rather vicious and nasty.[/spoiler] I guess the Deviant Edition was really aimed at those who have read the whole thing before and wanted something special rather than newbies like me, but I still think that chapter - amusing and interesting as it was - should have been left out.

I'd got to [spoiler]Mek-Quake in his new body torturing Tourqe-Amada (dear me. What a pun, hee hee.) for information on location of the other Ro-Busters. I was hoping to read their shenanigans in Nemesis, and then I'd go back to the Black Hole, as that's set later, but never mind.[/spoiler]

It was still a great volume. I imagine the original hard-back is a splendid thing.

*Inclidentally isn't a homuculous a kind of constructed being? I guess with the warlocks it's a kind of larval/infant stage. Or a mixture of both them being magical creatures and all. It's very interesting to see how different males/females/infants of the species look. The homunculous looks like a different species entirely... although it has a slight beak thing which gives a clue to it's adult stage. Kind of fits with tadpoles and frogs I guess.

[Colin YNWA]

Jack THE KING Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus vol. 1-4
I damn hope 4th world becomes a couple of movies one day. The perfect mix of 2001 and Star wars.

Some Lord of the Rings style big budget trilogy, done absolutely right would make Star Wars look like a Lego movie.  Opressed Earthlings, Thor-like heroes, a Darth Vader without the hope, a flawed protagonist, three completely different planets, the mystery of the Source, the chance of amazing special effects from Lightray's hair to the furnaces of Apokolips, amazing fight scenes with the weirdest array of villians.  Hell, you could even throw in Superman for a touch of marketing.

Boy, would it make a great film.

Yeah but would any of that make it as good as Kirby could make it look?

[starscape]

One day, I was slagging off the original Dredd movie, noting about the helmet being taken off, when a friend said he liked the film and didn't care about the helmet as he didn't read the comics.  I came to the conclusion that comparing books, comics and movies was foolhardy.  Is LotR better or worse than the books?  Doesn't matter, as long as the films are good, it works.  Even LoEG was an acceptable movie if you ignore what it was based upon and just look at it as a sidekick to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

That said, yeah, I really think they could do New Gods justice.  Kirby wasn't subtle.  Of all the artists there have been, his was eminently transferrable to movies.  I'd love to see my favourite story of the [spoiler]ship powered by the dead body[/spoiler].  Maybe not the best one for the silver screen but I really think the whole film could rock if the budget was as big as any Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.  It couldn't be done as a half measure, otherwise it would be as hair-tearing as the Silver Surfer FF movie.  How could anyone make Galactus dull???

[Apestrife]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Jack Kirby, as a writer forget his art (which of course ain't half bad) is one of comics geniuses. In fact he's my favourite writer the medium has ever known. Quite brilliant. And The Fourth World Saga is possibly his best work.

The very best comics.

I fully agree. While VERY funky at times (Flippa Dippa still leaves me speechless) 4th world is like nothing else when it comes to action and heart. Just incredible.

And about it getting adapted. I get goosbumps by thinking of a quiet opening, Warner logo, screen turns black. A loud BOOOOOM. A dark and orange pulsing tunnel which Orion travels on his astro harness. The end of the tunnel, a sky melting in turquoise. The roar of the boom tube still echoing, and Orion flies towards the satellite town hovering over New Gensis.

Btw. I love how much Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang is channeling of the book in their Wonder Woman. It's a shame they didn't put Paradise Island on New Genesis. The themes they're touching upon would'v made it a good match, also making Diana a bit more cosmic looking (think more Big Barda like). But besides pure dreams, I still got hope for some additional 4th world connections beyond using Orion. Hopefully some sort of Old/New Gods union thing (my money on Hera and Highfather getting their groove on.)

[Hawkmumbler]

Dorohedoro is a proper bit of messed up comic writing but after only the first volume i'm still none the wise as to what it's all about! If nothing it's a gory bit of ultra violence with a hilarious counter culture to all the fan service baiting so sadly prevalent in Japan. Spoilers: The main female character is so obscenely buff (and obscured in biker leathers) she can punch a mans head clean off.

Blacksad, well, i'll be on it next. The DH hardback contains the first three stories (i've already read the first) and I rather enjoyed it, even if the in universe logic in gender design seems a bit inconsistent (men are fully anthropomorphic while the females are, effectively, humans in animal make up).

[TordelBack]

Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach.  A brilliantly observed if excruciating book, but with another of (what I find to be) McEwan's unsatisfying endings.  Having followed two characters' lives in some detail, and viewed the story's main events from both points of view, we learn only about the man's life after the titular event.  I desperately wanted to see how the woman's life turned out too, beyond a few lines about her professional successes.  It's an imbalance that is surely a deliberate choice, but it left me deeply unsatisfied with a book that that I had really enjoyed right up to the point that it ditched 50% of its cast.

[Spaceghost]

Just finished reading King of Thorns, the sequel to Prince of Thorns and the second in the 'Thorns' trilogy by Mark Lawrence.

Utterly fantastic stuff which I would recommend to anyone with even a passing interest in SF and fantasy. The protagonist, Jorg Ancrath, is the most fully rounded, nuanced, believable character I've ever met in a fantasy novel. He's cruel, hard and driven to acts of unspeakable evil but he is written in such a way that the reader always has sympathy for him.

This second book features a slightly more mature, reflective 19 year old Jorg, on the eve of, not only his arranged marriage, but also the impending battle to defend his newly aquired kingdom against the armies of the noble Prince of Arrow, whom the prophecies say will unite the broken empire and bring peace. Jorg opposes him simply, it seems, to prove the prophecies, and everyone who underestimates him, wrong.

One of, if not the most exciting, compelling and original fantasy series I've ever read. Can't wait to get stuck into part three, Emperor of Thorns.

[Tiplodocus]

Peter Hook's book about Joy Division UNKNOWN PLEASURES.

I'm only a couple of chapters in and it covers mainly his childhood and youth but by golly it's terrible terrible stuff.

In summary:
"We wuz poor. I was in fights and nicking stuff all the time, me. Teachers at school hated me, police used to beat me up. I left school with no qualifications 'cos I was such a rebel and I did fuck all at my first jobs (but still got pay rise and promotions) and got into loads of trouble. Little did I know I was going to change the face of music not once, but TWICE".

That last sentence is almost verbatim by the way so I'm not sure if I am missing a knowing wink somewhere.

Has there ever been a biography where somebody worked hard at school and work and didn't get into trouble all the time?

[Richmond Clements]

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Very very good.

[TordelBack]

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Very very good.

Have my eye on that one, good to hear.