Dredd 3D movie .. Was it worth it?

Finally we get on the bandwagon and present our take on the Judge Dredd new movie...
here. I suggest checking out that review before reading the following review. >

I've been waiting to watch Dredd 3D for nearly a year, since I heard that it was being made last year. Judge Dredd is not your average 'good guy/'hero'. He is the epitome of a true anti-hero. He might even have been the first comic book character to be a anti-hero.

Are Reboots worth the RISK? (Part 2 of 2) : Marvel NOW?

(Continued on from Part 1 here.)

Okay so, lets get back to the real world and the current bombardment of the "NEW", "NEXT", "NOW!".

Usually when you hear, see or read any of those three previous words you would expect something, new, current and better, right? Well, sorry friend, but you are out of luck. Remember last year when all of a sudden Marvel decided to end the decades old run of the Uncanny X-men title and spilt it into Wolverine and the X-Men and renumber Uncanny X-men to #1 with Cyclops leading the team.
Wait.., Didn't this happen before? 
Yes, a similar thing did happen back in 1990s. I remember, because thats when I spent $100 of my wages every week buying comics, especially X-Men related books. There was a split with Cyclops,  'Blue Team' and Storm's 'Gold Team'. Preorder for that 'X-Men' book was 8 million but supposedly only 3 million sold. Which shows that the decision didn't pay off as was expected.

X-Men - 1991 series

Are Reboots worth the RISK? (Part 1 of 2)

Due to poor health, I spend a lot of time reading articles on comics, reading comics and going through reader responses to current trends in the comic industry. Along with writing comics, illustrating them and with a completed graphic novel before an international publishing house (my fingers are tired from crossing that I might get that much needed boost-to-my-ego and finally arrive upon the comic scene - you can cross your fingers as well. I need all the luck I can get. And also, I could do with a little less idiocy in my life), I am weary with how the Comic Industry is going to keep being relevant while rehashing the same characters in a new costume, only slightly changed, and  in a different team etc.

Now let me make myself very clear here before anyone starts to have a go at me for being an upstart, or if you're a little less polite, an idiot.

I LOVE COMIC BOOKS!

I do. Comics were my first love. They were an escape and several thousands of dollars were spent buying them as a collector and as a fan.

JUDGE DREDD: Day of Chaos (Comic Review)

2000AD #1743 - The start of Days of Chaos.

JUDGE DREDD: Day of Chaos (from 2000AD.)




When I was a kid, around 9-10yrs old, my friend who lived directly across the street from us was a huge fan of the British weekly comic series. The two of us at such an early age began a love of a genre in entertainment that I wasn't even aware that I was in love with: Science Fiction. Sure we had our favourite TV shows like Knight Rider, Star Trek and Automan, but they were to us just the normal thing to watch.

My friend Regan was in love with the ABC Warriors which was a series that ran in 2000AD. He made sure he got every single issue of the weekly and so in turn I got to read it and for free. We had our own gang of two called the 'ABC Warriors', with out own clubhouse which his father and the two of us built. That was some 30 years ago.

The Authority: The Lost Year.

The Authority: The Lost Year is a 12 issue maxi-series that came out between 2006 to 2010. Story by Grant Morrison and Keith Giffen and written by Keith with art by various artists.

The series begins with The Authority slipping through the bleed into an alternate earth where they some how end up losing the 'baby universe' that powers the Carrier. And so they are stuck until they can find a way to get back home. But they realise that a parasite like creature is using the people of this alternate earth as what can only be described as the humans caught in the Matrix. Well you can accept that explanation or that its a Cthulhu like creature feeding on the emotions of the people, who have no idea that its feeding off them. I think the Matrix is less gross.

 

Justice League Elite

Superman Vs. The Elite came out this week on DVD.  Rajat Mishra (fellow CA blogger) mentioned it on his Facebook page, so I decided to check it out. (Here's the review link of the DVD)

The story for the animated movie is based on "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?" is a story that appeared in Action Comics #775 as published by DC Comics in March 2001.

Written by Joe Kelly, pencilled by Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo, and inked by Tom Nguyen, Dexter Vines, Jim Royal, Jose Marzan, Wade Von Grawbadger and Wayne Faucher. (from Wikipedia) 

The basic plot for the film goes like this: A Brit by the name of Manchester Black decides he is tired of Super Villains allowed to run roughshod over humanity, killing, maiming and then getting thrown in jail only to break out and then begin again with the killing. And what's the response of the Superheroes? Throw them in jail. This is really not a realistic view or response according to Black and so he kills a super villain who had for the second time gone on a killing rampage, because he can. 

And the world is happy. Why should the villains be allowed to go around killing? After all it makes no sense. 

Of course this puts Superman at odds with Manchester's logic and his team of 'The Elite'. Superman is after all the perfect do-gooder who believes that humanity has goodness at the center of their hearts.

The movie itself is an action-packed tour de force. But I am not going to talk about that, you will have to see it for yourself. No 'Spoilers' here. What I wondered while watching it was, 'Why does Manchester Black remind me so much of Jenny Sparks from The Authority?'

The Authority was published by WildStorm back in the day. Later on it became part of DC Comics. The series is an awesome character driven book which has two gay characters in it, i.e. Midnighter & Apollo. The character of Manchester seemed to me like a complete rip of the Jenny Sparks character and at times it put me off from enjoying the movie. But I wanted to know more. So I had a look through my comic collection. I have a rather large one, but not much DC Comics, as I had been a Marvel Zombie for decades, until recently when the 'cross-over' every month put me off. Oh, I am getting off-track here.

Back to 'The Elite'. Turns out I got the Justice League Elite  maxi-series (12 issues). So I sat down to reading the series to give me a better understanding of the The Elite. In this series The Elite are a team put together by Manchester's sister, Vera Lynn Black. The name seems to be a homage. Some of you older readers might remember the song from Pink Floyd's The Wall, Vera -song #4, disc 2- followed by the song Bring The Boys Back Home. 

Justice League Elite is not your usual JLA, but an experiment to see if a Justice League without a country of affiliation or backing can carry out justice across the globe. Think of it as a covert JLA. (see here for the members list). Having a JLA without the restraints of charters, to carry out Black Ops. Its the X-Factor of the X-Men Universe, but decade before the Marvel guys got a hold of the concept. But here in the hands of Joe Kelly we see a deep character driven story with an ensemble of second tier Superheroes trying to carry out justice in a way that hasn't been worked out since, Squadron Supreme or Watchmen in 80s. If you haven't read read Squadron Supreme, I recommend it.

In JLE, we get to see what the pressure of being under the scrutiny of the JLA is like, especially when those in charge don't know they are being watched. And what happens when things go wrong.  Of course, Batman and Superman is only to happy to put a end if they make a mistake. The question is are we the sum of our mistakes or are we made better by learning from them? 

JLE has a number of characters which are not usually seen in such high profile books. Central to the team are Manitou Raven and his wife Dawn. A North American Indian couple who are part of a tribe that would become the Apache. Raven serves as the Shaman and Witch Doctor who is able to travel in the spirit world and bring back charms that help the team. 

The character that stands out for me in the series was the Muslim, Naif Al Sheik. The series having being written in 2004/5, seemed poignant to have a Muslim male calling the women in the JLE, whores consistently when on the same page. The females of course laugh it off or take it in stride. Something which shows that Kelly though wanting to use a character like Al Sheik, also had the foresight not to overplay his hand and make the character a Koran quoting who spouted scripture even second sentence as is common in a lot of comics with a character with religious beliefs. Kelly does well in that though making Al Sheik a man of strong beliefs also gives him a sense of human, albiet it is more of the Ricky Gervais variety. Something that is common amongst the British. I know my dad's a Brit.

There are so many interweaving stories that at work here. Not only is the series a somewhat sequel to "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?", it also works as a standalone read. We see the desire of Vera to write the wrongs that her brother Manchester carried out with his 'Elite'. We see the stress of a husband always working and no time for his wife. We see an alcoholic hero who causes the death of his team mate due to being drunk.

One thing that irked me was the portrayal of sibling rivalry between ColdCast and his brother. The setting is nothing short stereotypical racism -black males dealing drugs. Something, which I feel could have been better expressed with a bit more thought. Black males in the comic world haven't always been dealt a good hand. Both Marvel and DC are to blame for this. 

When is comes to Superman I have always disliked the concept of a 'hero' who won't put an end to the murdering villains. My personal favorite 'heroes' are The Punisher, John Constantine and Batman -I like the fact he has no powers. But, then again all my top 3 favorites have no superpowers. Also, The Boys, by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson would have worked out great if they could've have been incorporated into the DCU. But then again I am glad it didn't, because the series has been a good excuse to still read superhero books. There were several moments when watching Superman Vs. The Elite that I was cheering for Manchester Black. Because like him, I am of the mind that the punishment should fit the crime. And to allow super villains to run around blowing people up and kill at random, and the only punishment is to end up in jail, doesn't seem like a deterrent to such as DCU Super-villains. So I relished the moments in the series as well as the movie where Superman gets his butt handed to him.All and all, I really liked the series and think its a better read than a lot of what is being put recently. Did I mention that the artwork by Doug Mahnke is amazing?

(ARU), Aruneshwar has a Bachelors Degree in Digital Media -Digital Film-making. He took a semester of Multimedia earlier last year which kind of set him up for comictrade.co.nz, a New Zealand  online comic store. On the creative side, Aru is writing and illustrating a graphic novel about the 30yrs of Institutionalised Slavery of Indians in Fiji from 1885 -1915. He is a prolific script writer and writes in all comicbook genres which include several graphic novels for his own company,Rising Sun Comics. Aru also uploads a digital comic series on Facebook called, Zero as well as completing his first crime-noir graphic novel, The Circle. He is also trying to finishing off coloring and lettering a superhero comic book mini-series he co-created with Mike Burbeck called, Incredi-Girl.

Crowdfunding: The Circle Graphic Novel

Crowdfunding is when a whole bunch of people you know and most likely don't know, have an opportunity to support your project. Whatever the project might be. From a short film to a tuition fee to get you to a special course to further your skills, to getting a new computer application off the ground.

Recently there has been a huge variety of websites across the West doing really great things for Creators and Artists as well as for amateurs.  So, I decided to give it a go to see if I could get support to get my graphic novel printed.

(Click on here for my project on Pozible.)

Having tried to get onto the US Kickstarter website, after the initial acceptance of my project, I found out I had to live in the United States or have a US bank account to qualify. So, when I heard about the Australian site, Pozible.com which is a bit closer to myself here, in New Zealand, I decided to have a go.

Adventures of the Kite Family

Adventures of the Kite Family written by Dan Brader with the first issue illustrated by New Zealand artists, Yi Lang Chen & Csaba Mester.

Dan and I have been FB friends since I first was contacted by him a few months back, when he asked me to check out the first issue of Kite Family. Because the series is a Real Life genre book, the issues and situations in it, felt like it was speaking to me personally as an adult male. I felt at one with the character, even though there isn't much revelation about why Donnie is back from where ever he was. The story allowed me to put myself in Donnie's place and think about the shit, for lack of a better adjective, that I had/have been going through after my own split and returning to my parents home to recoup for a while before I decided it was time to stand up.

A Hell(Blazer) of a week.

I have been reading comics as mentioned the other week for close to 30yrs. And a small portion of that time I have spent a small fortune buying, selling and re-collecting, after my first collection was burnt in a fire. Amongst those were the Uncanny X-men run from #180-295. Some of the greatest X-Men stories told were written during those years. But I am digressing. Anyway, I restarting collecting 10yrs ago and haven't stopped since. As well as you know writing and creating my own. 

Hellblazer Pandemonium Jami Delano is a Must Read.

Auckland Zinefest 2011 part 2

So, as I mentioned the other day, I was quiet sick and wasn't feeling too good having spent the previous day locked up in my hotel room with the blanket over my head coughing and blowing my nose every ten minutes. But I made it up to the event after being dropped off by my father who had driven me down.


I was really interested to see what the turn out for this event would be like, since it was my first ever Zinefest. All day there was an even amount of people flowing through the tables, looking and buying books and items on display. I bought a ton of items myself.


But being my first Zinefest, I wasn't aware of the difference between a comic book and a zine. So, I sat in on a panel, which was being held below the event at an adjacent room to a wine bar.

Auckland Zinefest 2011 (Saturday pics)

I was pretty sick leading up to the Fest and also during the Fest on Saturday. The article about the day will be up on Thursday, while I wait for the anti-biotics to clean out my system,  but in the meantime here are some pics.


Sorry about no captions. More pics with all juicy details to be added soon... Stay tuned.

Who is Aru, anyway?

A little History… 

Archie Comics, Walt Disney, and 2000AD

The first memory of ever seeing or reading a comic book was in, Nacovi, Nadi Town in Fiji. It was two different ones, an Archie and a Walt Disney Comics, with Goofy etc. Its reading these comics at the age of 7 or 8yrs old that has become the focal point in my life. 

The second memory is, when having moved to New Zealand with my mother in 1981.  A tent created with my knees under blanket at night, a small torch lighting the 2000AD comics, my friend had lent me.

Who would have thought that the from the age of 17 to 21yrs old would see myself spending thousands of dollars on comics and then losing then to the fire in 1999. And then I didn’t pick up a comic again till I began my studies for a Bachelors Degree in Digital Filmmaking in 2003. I got back into the comics as a way of meeting/making news friends in a city, Invercargill, New Zealand. I also started trading in them and also collecting as an investment. And have continued that trend up till now 8yrs later.  

A Writer is Born