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HdE nice pose -  colours remind me o' Darren Stephens for some reason.

Cheers, Foxy!

Somebody elsewhere mentioned they thought it could do with a little extra rendering, and I'll admit I think there's some truth to that. I may tweak this some more when I get five minutes.

Also: hands. They are much harder to draw than you would think. At least, they are if you're me. 

So, I've got this new drawing board, right?

Figured I'd have a go at doing something 'a bit different', so I've put this together over a few evenings:



For the benefit of anyone looking at it and going 'Uh? What's that?', it's Kenshiro, the lead from the anime show 'Fist Of The North Star'. I've been watching it recently, as I acquired the whole thing on DVD - and IT IS GLORIOUS!

It's also EXTREMELY violent.

What aggravates me a little is that the second book actually contained a few tiny plot points that hinted that MAYBE Firefly was going to get some sort of continuation in comic book form. Check it out - there are a few little things seeded there.

But nope. Looks like that ship has sailed. And that's an enormous shame.

Elektra is a bog standard action movie with a few fantastical elements thrown in. It could have been any body and didn't need to be an ELEKTRA movie. 

Oy, that movie is bloody awful.

I've lamented for a while what seems to be the situation that superhero / comic book movies seem to either be too heavily geared towards either providing a dumb action movie or something 'gritty' (read: downbeat) in the interests of lending the movie credibility. It's almost as if the studios are faintly embarrassed to be putting this stuff out there. Even some of the supposedly better movies have been stymied by ill-fitting execution.

I think the tone of Avengers Assemble is what makes it work. All out fun, just the right mix of drama, humour and action, and nothing to leave a critical audience rolling their eyes.

Guys - seriously - if the notion of checking out 'The Shepherd's tale' appeals to you, grab 'Those Left Behind' and 'Better Days' as well.

Those Left Behind works as a bridge between the end of the series and the movie, and it caprtures the feel of the show and the voices of the characters extremely well. Better Days, in my opinion, isn't as good, but there's enough in there to make it a solid, entertaining read. There's a hardcover which includes several short stories and one-shots, which are all great.

Sadly, the Powers That Be doubt the potential for further Firefly / Serenity comics. Crying shame, as comics would be a superb medium for the story to be fleshed out in, in my humble opinion.

Man - that one hits me hard. Dunn really WAS a terrific musician.

You know, after reading up on a few bits that *may or may not* be movie spoilers, I'm actually wondering if I should NOT go and see this at the cinema. For fear that I may soil myself in abject terror.

By the team who did Green Lantern (don't know if that's a good thing but Mark Guggenheim is a good writer at least).

Oooh, let's be careful there!

Marc Guggenheim is indeed a superb writer. It was actually his involvement in the Green Lanterm movie that persuaded me to check out the movie recently.

Let me stress this: Green Lantern is a TERRIBLE movie. It's full of the sort of stuff that anyone who's seen a few movies should know you DON'T do in a movie. Especially something that's supposed to be a grand superhero movie and kick-start a franchise.

Here's hoping that the more expansive TV format works better for these guys.

I've said it elsewhere, but I think Black Widow's role in The Avengers is one of the strongest beats of the movie.

Now, I'll be up front about a couple of things:

First up, Black Widow is one of my favourite Marvel characters. I absolutely love the whole premise of her. So I went to the movie hoping she'd get some screen time to demonstrate why she's so great.

Secondly - not a fan of Scarlett Johanssen. At all. But she works as Black Widow, unbelievably well. She's always going to be a tough character to put an actress's face to - like a LOT of female superhero types, to be honest - but after this movie, I can't imagine anyone else playing the part.

What's great about her in The Avengers is that she 100% lives up to the claim that she would be in the mix, getting her hands well and truly dirty, and wasn't just there for eye candy. That part [spoiler]where she leaps off of Captain America's shield and grabs on to the passing Chitauri aircraft, and all that ensues, had me bouncing up and down with glee.[/spoiler] THIS is how you do female action heroes.

Also, she worked REALLY well alongside Hawkeye on screen.

Double thumbs up!

Shepard book. that has to be the biggest character back story never told!

Ahh, but it WAS told!

Book's back-story is fleshed out somewhat in the Serenity graphic novel 'The Shepherd's Tale'.

Not a bad book, but it suffers from trying to be too clever for it's own good in the way the story unfolds backwards.

I'd caution squeamish readers that it contains eyeball-related violence, though. [Gag!]

I watched Thor again the other night with some mates - there's something quite 1980s about the film - a sort of Splash/Crocodile Dundee fish out of water vibe.

Really like it.

I saw Thor for the first time about two days before going to see The Avengers. Nabbed it in Tesco, reasoning it might help me to enjoy The Avengers when I saw it.

Never been keen on Thor as a character - but the movie was unexpectedly good fun! I heartily recommend it to anyone who's not yet taken the plunge.

I watched Green Lantern last night... and wished I hadn't.

The way this movie jumps and lurches from one scene or plot point to another is really laughable. I laughed out loud at the bit where Ryan Reynolds waks out of the kid's bedroom, and is immediately seen STEPPING OUT OF HIS CAR! Jeez - those old classic motors must be helluva roomy inside!

Aside form that... yeah. Not a great movie. Way too much in-yer-face obvious CG, a weak set up with the jilted-friend-turned-baddie, and a forgettable turn by Tim Robbins.

Give it another 10 years, and maybe we'll see a decent second attempt, eh?

Your MOM will tamk at the box office!

...

That felt more like it.

Your MUM was--

Nah. Forget it. It's too easy.

Couple of bits here.

I've been writing more than anything else lately, so to keep my nose in, I've been fiddling around with inking.

Here's some Roger Cruz pencils that I inked a while back:


And I can't remember if I posted this before, but this is what happens when I unleash quills, pens and Photoshop over my own pencils: