Miley Cyrus: Wrecking Ball

I just watched the video for this, first time I've heard the song too (I'm slack).

The song is actually quite good, and she's got a dead nice voice, but I can't help but think that she didn't really need to be naked or to be having sex with the demolition equipment for it.  I might go so far as to say the song would be stronger had she had her clothes on and not been licking everything.

If you haven't seen it, here it is:

Honestly, who's idea was this?  I really hope it was her idea, or at least that she was keen to do it, because the idea of someone pushing her to do this is just creepy.

Oh, and the opening shot of just her head is the only thing this video has in common with Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares 2 U.

Moar comic reviews!

So I got those books back in November and I never talked about them.  Here's a few brief thoughts:

Supergirl: Part of the H'el on Earth crossover.  Actually not bad.  Didn't make me want to buy the other issues in the crossover though.

Sex Criminals I talked about on the last review post.

Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion, probably issue 2: I recall thinking this wasn't as strong as issue 1.

X-Men: I had to ask friends who this lady with the make up was.  I liked this issue a lot.  Good shiz.

Harley 0: Great stuff. Really great.  Cleverly told, lots of different artists who all worked really well together. The unknown who won the competition turned out to be not so unknown, but my main comment on his piece was that it wasn't very interesting.  His work was technically competent and his style is very 'now' but it was also pretty dull, to my eyes.

Wonder Woman: I can't remember what happens in this issue.

A further Merry Christmas to everybody!

I have two more things for you!

- By Mike Maihack.  Visit his site here and buy the comic here.

Was the Hogfather a God?  Why not?  thought Susan  There were sacrifices, after all.  All that sherry and pork pie.  And he made commandments and rewarded the good and he knew what you were doing.  If you believed, nice things happened to you.  Sometimes you found him in a grotto, and sometimes he was up there in the sky...

- The Hogfather, Terry Pratchett.

Merry Christmas!

Have a great day everybody!

Old comic reviews!

Covering Cataclysm Ultimate Spider-man 1, Fearless Defenders 11 and 12, Sex Criminals 1 -3, Revival 15, Adventures of Superman (can't remember the number), Hawkeye (can't remember the number), Larfleeze 3.

Probably not got any spoilers ahead because they came out so long ago I've forgotten the details!



Cataclysm Ultimate Spider-man 1
As I said in my review of #3, this is better than the previous Ultimate Spidey issues.  And that's all I can remember.


Fearless Defenders 11 and 12
I am absolutely gutted this series has ended.  Despite the occasioanlly dodgy art, this is the series that I would, without a doubt, hand to new readers of comics, who like adventure stories, smart women and fun writing.  Fearless Defenders is absolutley bloody fabulous and it's a bloody disgrace it's been cancelled.

Sex Criminals 1 -3
This series is great and has beautiful depictions of orgasms.  It's not about people who committ sex offences.  It's about two people who stop time whenever they orgasm so use that opportunity to rob a bank.  It's clearly not suitable for kids, but it's not smutty or filthy either.  It's a breath of fresh air.

Revival 15
Much like issue 16, I have no bloody clue what's going on here.

Adventures of Superman (can't remember the number) and Hawkeye (can't remember the number)
I can't remember what happened in these issues.

Larfleeze 3
All I remember of this is humourous dialogue and Scott Kolins beautiful art.  Worth buying. 4/5.

Happy Yule!

Woo-hoo it's the shortest day of the year!

For the first time it *really* occurs to me that the shortest day of the year also means the longest night of the year, which changes my perception of the day.  Previously I've always celebrated the Winter solstice for the extended light the next day brings.  Now, it strikes me that the longest night of the year signifies cold and fear and danger.  Or would have done were we still living in wooden huts in the middle ages.  But, these festivals are about marking the physical changes of the year and the symbolism associated with them, so I think it's appropriate to discuss and consider the psychological aspects of the light and the dark.

I mention every year that I hate the Winter.  I hate the cold, the dark and the general miserableness of it all.  I love Yule and Christmas because it gives us an excuse to celebrate and it takes our mind off the horrible time of year.  Having said that, it's been pretty mild recently.  Thank you global warming.  The trees in my back gardne only just dropped their final leaves and the birds didn't return to the garden for the birdseed and fats until about 2 weeks ago.  They just haven't needed to, there has been plenty of other food for them in the wild.  I haven't seen or heard a hint of Waxwings in Norfolk yet.

Christmas decorations went up a couple of weeks ago.  I haven't yet put up my Yule decorations, I'll do that tomorrow, once I've worked out where everything else can go.  We do however have a Ratotosk in the Christmas tree:

Now I want to get a Nidhog-dragon for the bottom of the tree and an Eagle for the top.

Lastly, I leave you with a link to the Norse mythology blog for the winners of their Midwinter art contest.  There are some lovely pieces in there.

Merry Yule everybody!

Comic reviews!

Hell I haven't done these in a long time.  Here goes nothing.
Spoilers ahead for the following:

Bendy dolls

I've been on a bit of a Bendy Doll making spree lately.  So I'm going to show them off because I'm proud.

Supergirl, made for my niece, who at 20 months is probably way too young for it, but her mother appreciated it:

Aquaman and Mera, made for my friend @Kap_L, who is a massive Aquaman fan:

A pumpkin doll I initially made my friend's 1 year old, whose birthday is around Halloween and who is definitely too young for it.  I have since decided to keep this and get her a Christmas present that comprises less of a choking hazard:

This is the tutorial I used: http://theenchantedtree.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/new-bendy-dolls-and-tutorial.html
It's fun making them and they are pretty quick to do.  I plan to make more dolls for Christmas presents. Once given to people, I will post pictures up.

Thought Bubble 2013!

So last weekend I went to the Thought Bubble con in Leeds, and I had a fabulous time.  I went with an old uni friend and the Radio Bamf crew.  It was a really good weekend.

This is an image heavy post so I've put a break in.  Please do read more!

I brought loads of stuff up to get signed, and then had a look at the queues for Emma Rios, Jock, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction and thought no bloody chance.  I am just not in the mood to send my weekend queueing for a 2 minute chat with a creator.  I did however meet Richard Starkings and he signed my Superman/Batman: Supergirl trade, and I bought a book about lettering from him:

The message in the Supergirl book is Supes saying: You're really super, Supergirl!  He asked if I was a Churchill fan or a Supergirl fan, then clocked what I was wearing:

He said a few words about how Churchill was absolutely the sweetest guy to work with.

I also met Fiona Staples who signed a Superman/Batman comic and Lee Garbett who signed my favourite Batgirl issue:

I went to 3 panels - How they Work: Oscar Zarate, Frederik Peters and Ilya.  This one was mostly interesting for the people on the panel, not so much the topic.  Having said that, the panel did give me Christmas gift ideas and some of the art was very pretty.  We got to see in progress shots of each of the creators most recent books which focused various aspects of the comics making process.  How the panels are constructed to lead the readers eye in the correct path, how lettering and speech bubbles are important and affect the flow of the story, how to dry out watercolour paint - that sort of thing.  I'd really like to read Ilya's Room for Love now.

The second panel I went to was the Diversity in Comics one, on the Sunday.  There is a full transcript of the panel here.  From that post:

"Moderated by Louise Crosby of Leeds’ Laydeez Do Comics, the panel featured Mariah Heuhner (Angel, Emily and the Strangers, The Witching Hour), Howard Hardiman (Badger, The Peckham Invalids, The Lengths), Barry Nugent (Unseen Shadows), Gillian Hatcher (Team Girl Comic), Gary Erskine (2000 AD, War Story, Dead Boy Detectives), and Fiona Stephenson (Books of Magick, Judge Dredd, The Crow: City of Angels).

[Extra reading: You can read Mariah Heuhner's brilliant blog here; enjoy an interview with Howard Hardiman on The Lengths here; enter the world of Unseen Shadows here; celebrate Team Girl Comic here; catch up with the Roller Grrrls here; and love the gorgeous pin up art of Fiona Stephenson here.]"

The panel was really interesting and I came away from it desperately wanting to buy the Roller Grrls comic.  Number one is out next year so I'll keep an eye out for it.

The last panel I went to was titled Dreams of a Low Carbon Future.  The University of Leeds has worked with artists and schoolchildren to produce a comic about the need for a low carbon life and the effect of climate change.  It looks amazing.  The book itself was free, so I picked up 3 copies and am very much looking forward to reading it:

 Here are pictures of some of the inside art:

In terms of comic shopping, I bought rather a lot.

I got Lament of the Lost Lands Moor and The Empire of a Thousand Planets from Cinebook.  Lament is really rather good, I haven't got round to Planets yet.

I'll put a review of Lament on New readers and, Planets as well if I like it.  I think I will.  It looks like it influenced Star Wars somewhat:

I think my next Cinebook purchase will be Thorgal.  That looks good.

I got the next instalment of Clockwork Watch and Magic of Myths:

Clockwork Watch is a steampunk story and Magic of Myths is a mythic story with a modern day schoolteacher.  Here is a picture of the inside art, just to give you an idea of the amazing colours:

Both comics are darn enjoyable.  I highly recommend you try them out.

I went to @pmbuchan's stand and bought his two latest comics, Blackout: YOLO (friggin wonderful) and La Belle Dans San Merci (based on the Yeats poem).  I want to put a review of YOLO on New readers.

I got the final issue of Sugar Glider, which is bloody great because it's about a Geordie superhero, operating in Newcastle.  They call their mums Mam. I mean, it's just great seeing a well written, well constructed British superhero.  And there's a group of heroes all named after birds.  Rocking.

 Halycon and Tenderfoot is a kid's comic I haven't read yet, but am really looking forward to it:

Daniel Clifford writes both series and is invovled with ArtHeroes, an initiative encouraging kids to do comics.  By all accounts ArtHeroes did pretty well over the weekend, which is great.

I also picked up a free Science Comic, which looks fricking amazing.  And I got 20 Peter David Supergirl issues, only 9 more to go and I will have the full run!

Then I also bought Spandex, which fully deserves it's own New readers review because it is somehow excellent:

I bought one more comic which I won't detail here because it's a gift for a friend.

The last couple of things I bought were not comics at all, but pretty cool nonetheless.
AQUAMAN COASTER!!!

 It's awesome. I just wish I could remember the name of the company selling them.
I also bought this sketchbook primarily for the Wondy and Kara images:

You can find the artist at gazdowna.deviantart.com and drzwi-do-szafy.tumblr.com.
Finally, here's what I wore on the Sunday:

I'm posing with @jessienoochies.
Here's the view from my hotel room:

Here's the ceiling of the evening party venue:

And that is all I have the energy to write about!  If you got this far, thank you!