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Thursday 6 October 2011
Wednesday 5 October 2011
Review - Huntress #1
Written by PAUL LEVITZ; Art by MARCUS TO and JOHN DELL; Cover by GUILLEM MARCH
Helena Bertinelli makes her DC Comics relaunch debut in style. The Huntress returns home to Italy, apparently to investigate the contents of a cargo container. Needless to say she finds more than she bargained for.
Paul Levitz returns to the character that he helped create (in a way) to write a very strong, competent and cool female lead. It says a lot about the skills of a writer when even the minor characters are well rounded. The unexpected, yet completely understandable, reaction of a young prostitute part way through sums this up perfectly; Helena's reaction to it adds both humour, sensitivity and an ounce of danger to her character in the space of four panels.
The art is let down by slightly (and only very slightly) misty colouring, but Marcus To's quality pencils can't be denied. His faces are expressive, his storytelling layouts flow wonderfully and the action - my goodness - the action is outstanding! Helena's fighting style reminds me of a bone-crunching Tony Jaa; I can't remember the last time that I actually recognised more subtle martial arts moves within comics. Huntress hooks her leg behind a thug's knee as part of her block before forcing him off balance and into the ground. Both as a fan of martial arts movies and as a kung fu black belt this type of attention to detail is highly appreciated.
This will be a classic mini-series. Whether you buy each issue or the collection YOU SHOULD OWN THIS BOOK!
My rating:
With this issue, Paul Levitz not only sets up the mini-series, but shows how and why Helena is an awesome character in one fell swoop. Marcus To impresses with his pencil lines, storytelling flow and fantastic action.
New Eaglemoss Batman Chess Set
I'm a little annoyed, because this Eaglemoss set looks better than my Batman Chess Set(but it's SO much more expensive).
Each superbly detailed chess piece has been sculpted by expert modellers, cast in metallic resin and then hand-painted – the white team with a silvered finish, the black with a bronzed sheen.
The characters are either the latest incarnation or are classic in appearance.
The series will include the following to build up the entire collection:
1. BATMAN – (WHITE KING)
2. ROBIN – (WHITE BISHOP)
3. JOKER – (BLACK KING)
4. COMMISSIONER GORDON – (WHITE PAWN)
5. TWO-FACE – (BLACK KNIGHT)
6. CATWOMAN – (WHITE QUEEN)
7. RED HOOD – (BLACK PAWN)
8. HUSH – (BLACK PAWN)
9. PENGUIN – (BLACK KNIGHT)
10. BLACK CANARY – (WHITE PAWN)
11. RAS AL GHUL – (BLACK BISHOP)
12. KATANA – (WHITE PAWN)
13. BLACK MASK – (BLACK PAWN)
14. RED ROBIN – (WHITE KNIGHT)
15. MR FREEZE – (BLACK PAWN)
16. ORACLE – (WHITE PAWN)
17. HARLEY QUINN – (BLACK QUEEN)
18. BAT MITE – (WHITE PAWN)
19. RIDDLER – (BLACK BISHOP)
20. HUNTRESS – (WHITE ROOK)
21. MAN BAT – (BLACK ROOK)
22. BATGIRL – (WHITE KNIGHT)
23. VENTRILOQUIST – (BLACK PAWN)
24. NIGHTWING – (WHITE BISHOP)
25. SCARECROW – (BLACK PAWN)
26. THE QUESTION – (WHITE PAWN)
27. BANE – (BLACK PAWN)
28. ALFRED PENNYWORTH – (WHITE PAWN)
29. POISON IVY – (BLACK PAWN)
30. AZRAEL – (WHITE PAWN)
31. KILLER CROC – (BLACK ROOK)
32. BATWOMAN – (WHITE ROOK)
The collection also comes with a magazine detailing the character and is available for subscription. If you do subscribe you will receive a free binder priced £6.99 and the chessboard worth £30.
Source: Gotham Knights Online
Each superbly detailed chess piece has been sculpted by expert modellers, cast in metallic resin and then hand-painted – the white team with a silvered finish, the black with a bronzed sheen.
The characters are either the latest incarnation or are classic in appearance.
The series will include the following to build up the entire collection:
1. BATMAN – (WHITE KING)
2. ROBIN – (WHITE BISHOP)
3. JOKER – (BLACK KING)
4. COMMISSIONER GORDON – (WHITE PAWN)
5. TWO-FACE – (BLACK KNIGHT)
6. CATWOMAN – (WHITE QUEEN)
7. RED HOOD – (BLACK PAWN)
8. HUSH – (BLACK PAWN)
9. PENGUIN – (BLACK KNIGHT)
10. BLACK CANARY – (WHITE PAWN)
11. RAS AL GHUL – (BLACK BISHOP)
12. KATANA – (WHITE PAWN)
13. BLACK MASK – (BLACK PAWN)
14. RED ROBIN – (WHITE KNIGHT)
15. MR FREEZE – (BLACK PAWN)
16. ORACLE – (WHITE PAWN)
17. HARLEY QUINN – (BLACK QUEEN)
18. BAT MITE – (WHITE PAWN)
19. RIDDLER – (BLACK BISHOP)
20. HUNTRESS – (WHITE ROOK)
21. MAN BAT – (BLACK ROOK)
22. BATGIRL – (WHITE KNIGHT)
23. VENTRILOQUIST – (BLACK PAWN)
24. NIGHTWING – (WHITE BISHOP)
25. SCARECROW – (BLACK PAWN)
26. THE QUESTION – (WHITE PAWN)
27. BANE – (BLACK PAWN)
28. ALFRED PENNYWORTH – (WHITE PAWN)
29. POISON IVY – (BLACK PAWN)
30. AZRAEL – (WHITE PAWN)
31. KILLER CROC – (BLACK ROOK)
32. BATWOMAN – (WHITE ROOK)
The collection also comes with a magazine detailing the character and is available for subscription. If you do subscribe you will receive a free binder priced £6.99 and the chessboard worth £30.
Source: Gotham Knights Online
Monday 3 October 2011
Awesome Thundercats and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Concepts
Wow! Just Wow! This guy is incredible.
I'd love to see the rest of the Thundercats, but those Turtles are fantastic.
Source: David Rapoza
I'd love to see the rest of the Thundercats, but those Turtles are fantastic.
Source: David Rapoza
Batman: Noel preview
This holiday season, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol gets the Gotham treatment. Inspired by the classic story, BATMAN: NOEL is an oversized, original graphic novel that offers a brand new twist on the tale of Scrooge and the ghosts who haunt him. The Dark Knight must come to terms with the rogue gallery of his past, present and future. And as much as Batman is the focal point, the other star here is the book’s writer and artist: Lee Bermejo.
Batman: Noel is in stores on November 2nd.
Batman: Noel is in stores on November 2nd.
DC Comics' New 52 Weeks 3 & 4 review round-up
Lovely art and it's always nice to see Black Canary kick ass. Not the best BoP story, but they're doing what the do best. Promising: 6/10.
Poor art and worse writing. There is so much wrong with this book that I don't know where to start. Desperately trying to warrant a T+ rating this goes too far. Awful: 1/10.
Both Eddy barrows and Kyle Higgins bring their 'A' game as Dick Grayson returns to being the Dick Grayson we know and love as Nightwing. Reminscent of Chuck Dixon. Excellent: 8/10.
I suspect that editorial had as much hand in this as anoyone else. It's difficult to feel anything for these characters as (with the exception of Jason Todd) they have lost any charm they once had. Dropped: 2/10
An action-packed action-fest with extra action. There is a lot of promise here. The art in particular stands out as being a potential hit. Promising: 6/10
Unlike apparently everyone else, I only thought that this book was okay. There were alot of good things about it, but it didn't really do much to raise it about what I expect from a comic. Promising: 6/10
A big improvement from the book prior to the relaunch, but this is still the week link in the Batman titles. Inconsistent art and the most obvious secret identity in the world don't help it's case. Disappointing: 4/10
Superb art that threatens to rewrite the rules on how comic book art progresses the storytelling unfortunately can't do much to lift an average script. Promising: 6/10
Standard vampire fare that hardcore fans of the genre will enjoy wallows in setup. The art is indie enough to give a horror vibe. I'll stick around for #2 to see where we go. Disappointing: 4/10
I think it was Denny O'Neil who said 'No-one reads text boxes.' By the end of Superman #1 I realised that I had only skim-read most of them. Both the writing and art were a throw-back to the 1980's. Weak: 3/10
Ignoring the fact that the main character seems to be Sil from Species with sensitivity, the book didn't really go anywhere until the last couple of pages. However the penciller, Sami Basri, must be given credit for good work. We'll see what happens in #2. Disappointing: 4/10
The Avengers behind the scenes photos
Behind the scenes shots from Joss Whedon's The Avengers (due next summer) featuring Captain Amercia, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye.
As if you couldn't tell from the huge watermark, the images are courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.
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