My latest review for D+Pad Magazine is up, where I take time away from my full time office job to play the role of a man doing petty bureaucratic work. Don’t worry though, there are bombs, dissidents and armed guards!
Papers, Please is a strange little game which is definitely worth your time, even if it’s just to look at a video of. Have a read of my review here.
I write weekly comic book reviews on Google Plus’ Comic Book Community and I thought I would finally put them up on my own site each week for a while. So here’s a week which messes with both space and time.
CAPTAIN MARVEL #16
Normally the less popular titles suffer in a crossover like Infinity. Captain Marvel’s involvement in the main series and Avengers has been pretty big for such a massive ensemble. This issue (and the previous one) have been fantastic for showing what’s happening to Captain Marvel in this event. Last week’s Avengers issue had a view of Carol’s interrogation and being dragged away by Ex Nihla. We see the same scenes again but expanded and with Captain Marvel’s inner monologue to help expand on her decisions for that issue. The issue begins with Carol with her Binary powers trying to save all the Avengers but being captured, then we have her interrogation and listening in on the villain races’ betrayal. The interactions between Captain Marvel, Spider-Woman and Hawkeye are great fun as they bicker while captured and when out of their prison.
DAREDEVIL #31
Mark Waid brings even more interesting limitations to Daredevil’s senses this issue, as well as a touching moment and a new mystery in the courtroom. Foggy’s cancer treatment is still going on and he’s got his fellow patients dressing in Daredevil tops to help get past their fear. I like that Daredevil’s identity is kind of publicly accepted as pretty much known but skirted around as it adds to social awkwardness in many issues, or helps Foggy inspire other people. Then we get into the meat of the story. A defence attorney’s interview on television is edited in a way only Daredevil senses, and he seems to give the identities of jurors in a controversial case. The public go nuts and Daredevil has the confusion of the crowds to contend with while he tried to save each jury member’s life. The cover gives away the villain as the Jester, but I’m just happy he’s still the version from Superior Spider-Man using modern media technology to try and do evil.
HAWKEYE #13
How wasn’t this on my standing order? Man, I really hope this comic was delayed. I’m going to have to hunt down a copy at my comic shop.
INFINITY #3
Infinity may only be three issues into the main series, but it feels like the heroes have been losing this conflict for ages now. The two Avengers, New Avengers and Captain Marvel books probably help that sense. This time, the heroes strike back and win the battle even while the Builders are going pretty well at winning the war by getting other races to bend the knee. After two issues of near-unstoppable ownage from the Builders, it’s good to see that the heroes can do something to fight back. Earth meanwhile has Thanos’ forces facing off against a distracted Illuminati and Black Bolt who’s done something a tad crazy to save his people. We know the next era of Marvel will be all about the Inhumans, and this series will lead us there, but we don’t know how or why. Not yet. It’s pretty certain that the son of Thanos must be an Inhuman but not why big T wants him dead along with all his peers.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 23.3 / DIAL E #1
Dial H ended last month after pulling a strange story together into something much better and more entertaining. This issue does little to put an actual ending on the series, but is an interesting showcase for 20 different artists. I’m not sure where “Dial E” comes from, I assumed it was “Evil” but the dial involved doesn’t actually dial that. A bunch of smalltime crooks find a Q-Dial and are able to dial villains while on the run. Each page brings at least one new Q-Dial villain as the crew pass the dial around to fight off their enemies. The Centipede from the Dial H story arrives and is stopped eventually. A ‘nothing’ story with some fun art, little more.
NEW AVENGERS #10
Set shortly before Infinity #3, New Avengers shows the gathering of the smartest (and most conflicted) minds of the Marvel Heroes. Dr Strange is still the Ebony Maw’s meat-puppet, Black Bolt is planning his gambit against Thanos, Namor’s scheme to destroy Wakanda is ticking over quite nicely and the others deliver exposition about how they drove off the Cull Obsidian visitors. At times the New Avengers can seem like those classic science fiction movies where scientists talk about huge goings on in a lab for 90% of a film’s run time. With Hickman behind the wheel that’s okay, he keeps things compelling as we look behind the tacticians of both Earth’s forces and Thanos’. The search for Thanos’ son kicks off with signs of Inhuman influence all around the world until Dr Strange (and therefore Ebony Maw) find him in a hidden Inhuman settlement.
POWERS: THE BUREAU #7
A ‘done in one’ story for Powers, which is something I like given the frequency of the comic and how much I normally have to backtrack and see what had happened previously. This is one of those issues of a comic which is a great example of the theme and tone of the series are, from the gruesome killings, the personal life drama and the two pages where Pilgrim and Walker talk about manscaping around a dead body. Again, this has it all.
A woman is found shot and killed in her bathtub. A simple murder, in theory, but she’s a power and therefore part of our dynamic duo’s remit. They look into the case of a woman who could turn into multiple versions of herself, all of whom are dying. The killer is an easy one to guess, but the reason’s a fantastic take on any hero who can make copies of themselves. In fact, Multiplicity would have been a lot more interesting (and darker) if it went down this route. Despite the horrors Deena’s faced in past issues, seeing her at her saddest here is almost worse. She’s normally far more guarded and seeing that bravado knocked down is brutally humanising and affecting after all these years of getting to know her.
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #18
Time travel’s a weird creature. In the present day, Spider-Man’s nerdy nemesis is wreaking havoc with Spider-Man 2099 trying to keep the future safe. Now that Otto-Peter murders villains when he feels it necessary, the challenge now is for Spider-Man 2099 to stop Tiberius Stone from being killed by Otto’s hands or Tiberius’ own. The young Stone is a Grade A jerk and the moment he finds out he’s essential to the future he throws himself off a building to prove that the Spidey of 2099 is forced to keep him safe. Despite having zero investment in the 2099 era, I like the challenge for both our protagonist and the actual good guy.
UNCANNY X-MEN #12 (BATTLE OF THE ATOM #4)
After an issue which felt a little short on actual events, we have a lot more going on. I hate to sound like a Bendis fanboy (partly because I am one) but there’s a kind of ease in this issue which wasn’t in part three. Young Scott and Jean have found their way to Utopia and the Uncanny X-Men who are just as conflicted as the Jean Grey School staff about keeping the past X-Men in the present. Cyclops grows a heart for once and wants his young self (and of course Jean) to stay. Emma and Magneto are less keen given the problems of messing with time. Emma’s been on the outs with Scott since the end of AVX, but this time she makes their conflict more pronounced by summoning the future X-Men in. There’s only one problem; she doesn’t realise that Jean Grey’s one of the people she summoned. Agent Dazzler and the constantly frustrated Maria Hill stick to the background and provide comic relief in their frustration at anything the X-Men do. I’d feel bad for her, but it’s not stopped being funny yet.
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Well I’m weak. I’m an easy mark, and the natural flow of events in Uncanny X-Men #12 are great. Not only is the Uncanny X-Men issue still about the book’s team even in a crossover event, but it threatens to shake up the status quo of Cyclops’ team and shows more of Scott’s conflict with his past self, past lover and present team. I can’t wait to see the fallout.
BRIEF COMIC REVIEWS
CAPTAIN MARVEL #16
Normally the less popular titles suffer in a crossover like Infinity. Captain Marvel’s involvement in the main series and Avengers has been pretty big for such a massive ensemble. This issue (and the previous one) have been fantastic for showing what’s happening to Captain Marvel in this event. Last week’s Avengers issue had a view of Carol’s interrogation and being dragged away by Ex Nihla. We see the same scenes again but expanded and with Captain Marvel’s inner monologue to help expand on her decisions for that issue. The issue begins with Carol with her Binary powers trying to save all the Avengers but being captured, then we have her interrogation and listening in on the villain races’ betrayal. The interactions between Captain Marvel, Spider-Woman and Hawkeye are great fun as they bicker while captured and when out of their prison.
DAREDEVIL #31
Mark Waid brings even more interesting limitations to Daredevil’s senses this issue, as well as a touching moment and a new mystery in the courtroom. Foggy’s cancer treatment is still going on and he’s got his fellow patients dressing in Daredevil tops to help get past their fear. I like that Daredevil’s identity is kind of publicly accepted as pretty much known but skirted around as it adds to social awkwardness in many issues, or helps Foggy inspire other people. Then we get into the meat of the story. A defence attorney’s interview on television is edited in a way only Daredevil senses, and he seems to give the identities of jurors in a controversial case. The public go nuts and Daredevil has the confusion of the crowds to contend with while he tried to save each jury member’s life. The cover gives away the villain as the Jester, but I’m just happy he’s still the version from Superior Spider-Man using modern media technology to try and do evil.
HAWKEYE #13
How wasn’t this on my standing order? Man, I really hope this comic was delayed. I’m going to have to hunt down a copy at my comic shop.
INFINITY #3
Infinity may only be three issues into the main series, but it feels like the heroes have been losing this conflict for ages now. The two Avengers, New Avengers and Captain Marvel books probably help that sense. This time, the heroes strike back and win the battle even while the Builders are going pretty well at winning the war by getting other races to bend the knee. After two issues of near-unstoppable ownage from the Builders, it’s good to see that the heroes can do something to fight back. Earth meanwhile has Thanos’ forces facing off against a distracted Illuminati and Black Bolt who’s done something a tad crazy to save his people. We know the next era of Marvel will be all about the Inhumans, and this series will lead us there, but we don’t know how or why. Not yet. It’s pretty certain that the son of Thanos must be an Inhuman but not why big T wants him dead along with all his peers.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 23.3 / DIAL E #1
Dial H ended last month after pulling a strange story together into something much better and more entertaining. This issue does little to put an actual ending on the series, but is an interesting showcase for 20 different artists. I’m not sure where “Dial E” comes from, I assumed it was “Evil” but the dial involved doesn’t actually dial that. A bunch of smalltime crooks find a Q-Dial and are able to dial villains while on the run. Each page brings at least one new Q-Dial villain as the crew pass the dial around to fight off their enemies. The Centipede from the Dial H story arrives and is stopped eventually. A ‘nothing’ story with some fun art, little more.
NEW AVENGERS #10
Set shortly before Infinity #3, New Avengers shows the gathering of the smartest (and most conflicted) minds of the Marvel Heroes. Dr Strange is still the Ebony Maw’s meat-puppet, Black Bolt is planning his gambit against Thanos, Namor’s scheme to destroy Wakanda is ticking over quite nicely and the others deliver exposition about how they drove off the Cull Obsidian visitors. At times the New Avengers can seem like those classic science fiction movies where scientists talk about huge goings on in a lab for 90% of a film’s run time. With Hickman behind the wheel that’s okay, he keeps things compelling as we look behind the tacticians of both Earth’s forces and Thanos’. The search for Thanos’ son kicks off with signs of Inhuman influence all around the world until Dr Strange (and therefore Ebony Maw) find him in a hidden Inhuman settlement.
POWERS: THE BUREAU #7
A ‘done in one’ story for Powers, which is something I like given the frequency of the comic and how much I normally have to backtrack and see what had happened previously. This is one of those issues of a comic which is a great example of the theme and tone of the series are, from the gruesome killings, the personal life drama and the two pages where Pilgrim and Walker talk about manscaping around a dead body. Again, this has it all.
A woman is found shot and killed in her bathtub. A simple murder, in theory, but she’s a power and therefore part of our dynamic duo’s remit. They look into the case of a woman who could turn into multiple versions of herself, all of whom are dying. The killer is an easy one to guess, but the reason’s a fantastic take on any hero who can make copies of themselves. In fact, Multiplicity would have been a lot more interesting (and darker) if it went down this route. Despite the horrors Deena’s faced in past issues, seeing her at her saddest here is almost worse. She’s normally far more guarded and seeing that bravado knocked down is brutally humanising and affecting after all these years of getting to know her.
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #18
Time travel’s a weird creature. In the present day, Spider-Man’s nerdy nemesis is wreaking havoc with Spider-Man 2099 trying to keep the future safe. Now that Otto-Peter murders villains when he feels it necessary, the challenge now is for Spider-Man 2099 to stop Tiberius Stone from being killed by Otto’s hands or Tiberius’ own. The young Stone is a Grade A jerk and the moment he finds out he’s essential to the future he throws himself off a building to prove that the Spidey of 2099 is forced to keep him safe. Despite having zero investment in the 2099 era, I like the challenge for both our protagonist and the actual good guy.
UNCANNY X-MEN #12 (BATTLE OF THE ATOM #4)
After an issue which felt a little short on actual events, we have a lot more going on. I hate to sound like a Bendis fanboy (partly because I am one) but there’s a kind of ease in this issue which wasn’t in part three. Young Scott and Jean have found their way to Utopia and the Uncanny X-Men who are just as conflicted as the Jean Grey School staff about keeping the past X-Men in the present. Cyclops grows a heart for once and wants his young self (and of course Jean) to stay. Emma and Magneto are less keen given the problems of messing with time. Emma’s been on the outs with Scott since the end of AVX, but this time she makes their conflict more pronounced by summoning the future X-Men in. There’s only one problem; she doesn’t realise that Jean Grey’s one of the people she summoned. Agent Dazzler and the constantly frustrated Maria Hill stick to the background and provide comic relief in their frustration at anything the X-Men do. I’d feel bad for her, but it’s not stopped being funny yet.
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Well I’m weak. I’m an easy mark, and the natural flow of events in Uncanny X-Men #12 are great. Not only is the Uncanny X-Men issue still about the book’s team even in a crossover event, but it threatens to shake up the status quo of Cyclops’ team and shows more of Scott’s conflict with his past self, past lover and present team. I can’t wait to see the fallout.
“The Yawhg will be here in six weeks.
…And no one expects it.
Not a one of us.
We just keep on living our lives, week by week, unaware.”
The Yawhg is a game which I saw a trailer for, and knew I had to try it out. I begged and pleaded the (then) editor of D+Pad Magazine, the fantastic Simeon Paskell, for a review copy. The makers of The Yawhg graciously provided a copy, so without further ado, here’s my review of a strange little game of personal stories in a city soon to face… The Yawhg.
The day has finally arrived! Thanks to the work of the Mighty Mike Armstrong, Explosion High! is finally live!
The site has been made to change to an optimal view whether you’re on a PC, tablet or phone, even shifting the layout of the strip if you turn your phone. It’s a gorgeous site and soon to launch regular strips.
Until then, you can enjoy the first three Explosion High! strips here: http://www.explosionhigh.com/
I’ve also had some video game and card game reviews go up elsewhere, but this is a momentous enough time that I thought I’d link to this first and I’ll get to the others soon.
BLOG UPDATE
Once again I regret not providing more short fiction to this site, but there have been many irons in the fire. I have narrowed my work to four core projects to follow, as I’ve mentioned in some places, but not all. So here is how I’m doing with each of them:
NOVEL #1 – PLAY DEAD
On Friday I hit the two-thirds point of proofreading the novel. I think I’ve had one, maybe two pages without any red marks on them, which is a whole lot more than I thought I’d have.
After I completed the first part of the book, I’ve felt that it has improved vastly. When I go back through the book for the edit, I’ll see what that means.
I had to explain the premise of Play Dead to my father and his girlfriend last weekend and in giving the synopsis, I was shaken up by the end. Hopefully this will happen to the reader when they reach these parts, because otherwise I’m even more unnecessarily vain than I thought.
So my progress this week is reaching page 191 out of 285.
NOVEL #2 – LIGHTNING
My main work with Lightning’s new draft has been in my notepad, “Darling Killer”. I’ve laid out the new chapter division, decided a main family’s surname needs to change, an organisation needs to change and started on some language rules with a character who’s a strange visitor from beyond the stars with a backless medical gown and a gun.
WEBCOMIC – EXPLOSION HIGH!
The webcomic has taken the back burner this week as I’m working on the layout of strips for the second arc. I found a piece of paper with one of the crudely-drawn (by me) strips loose in my bag, so I’m wondering how much content has gone missing there.
ALL THE DAMN BLOGS
I’m pleased that my fourth project was ‘all the blog things’ as my duties have now expanded.
My comic reviews are still going on over at Google Plus, with my pick of the week being linked to in the Comic Book Community’s coverage of the week’s comics.
For D+Pad I’m repeatedly getting my arse kicked by Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, a game I’m enjoying but might have given up on if not for the review. I’m also preparing to laugh myself to death when I hear Microsoft’s speech.
Then there’s the new blog. In the week I was invited to join Hooting into the Abyss, written by my friends who were all part of the Guardian Gamesblog. It’s a blog which deals with tabletop gaming, so I’ll be adding RPG and board game reviews (both of which I’ve been meaning to break into) there.
It’s found at www.hootingintotheabyss.blogspot.co.uk.
My review of the addictive little card game Love Letter will be posted there in the next week, as will a piece on Fiasco.
Just a small update. After a couple of interesting games which intrigued me but weren’t deserving of a good score, we have Fire Emblem: Awakening.
This was a game I declared dibs on for reviewing duties and luckily so as my colleague Ray Webster picked it up and we kept messaging each other about our character choices. When I politely told him that I’d laid down the dibs first, he was fine with that, saying that his review would just be a giant picture of the character, Sully.
My review’s a bit longer than that, but the tl:dr version is “buy this game if you have a 3DS”. My flatmate went one further and bought a 3DS specifically to play this game. It’s worth it.
The full review is here. I hope you enjoy.
I was kindly sent two review copies of games and in the last two days they’ve been posted at D+Pad Magazine.
My first was for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate. Castlevania’s a series where I know way more about the games than have experience playing them. It was a lovely looking side-scroller which got me all wistful for Metroidvania games. Luckily the 3DS store also had the very first Castlevania for sale so now I’ve the first and most recent Castlevanias!
I’m also surprised that I’ve found myself missing the 3D on the 3DS after playing a bunch of old DS games. It’s weird, given that it’s a total gimmick, but it does still look quite interesting.
The second review was more difficult, for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. I feel bad for the review score that I gave it, but it’s totally justified in the piece. A gorgeous (kind of) game with some interesting (and frustrating) mechanics. It was great to sink my teeth into, but so strange and so stuck in its ways that my enjoyment often felt blocked. In my flat it became known as, “Chorey McChoreson, the most chory game ever.” I should stop naming inanimate objects.
WRITING UPDATE!
I forget if I’ve mentioned here, but there has been a layout of an Explosion High! strip sighted. Things are going a little slowly, but as two full-time workers with a bunch of life events going on, we’re going to have a slow start.
I’ve started a stricter (in theory) timeline for proofreading Play Dead. It’s 285 pages long (I finally went through the proofreading copy and added page numbers) and I’d only read 20 pages. To get through the next 265, I have to proofread 9 pages a day.
I’m on Google Plus! Find me there and you’ll see weekly round-ups of the comics I’ve picked up. See my inability to manage my own standing order! Marvel at my bedroom carpet in the background of the review photos!
LIFE UPDATE!
My campaign of “20% More Awesome” is happening bit by bit. I’ve left my old job at Lloyds Banking Group, and even though I miss my old colleagues terribly, I don’t miss the commute or Haywards Heath. That alone is a pretty damn awesome thing, like at least 2-5% more awesome all by itself.
I’ve been trying to do a thing a month, like a couple of Rock Band nights at mine with a bunch of people, a couple of film nights. Now I need to arrange some outings to help my anti-hermit stance. Not sure what yet.
Oh, and soon there’ll be a couple more pieces on this site, not just fiction, but a little bit about my problems with owls. Yes, owls.
I’ve been meaning to start up on the Terribleminds flash fiction contests regularly, to provide content here and be able to flex my creative muscles. I’ve had ideas for the last few week’s worth of contests, but they always go by and I don’t get them written in time. At some point I may flesh them out into proper stories.
This week, I have managed to write a piece of flash fiction for the contest. The contest was to write a 1,000 word story inspired by random clicks on the fantastic site, “They Fight Crime!”
My random result was, “He’s an obese zombie astronaut with nothing left to lose. She’s a sharp-shooting blonde socialite in the wrong place at the wrong time. They fight crime!”
The idea I came up with was a combination of strange pulp adventure and stereotypical buddy cop action drama. My proofreader Steve said of it, “you deserve to go to hell for all the terrible… pulpyness…”
So without further ado, here is Dulcie St. Clements and Astronaut Jones in… Spoiled Meat!
On the D+Pad Magazine site, I have my first ever iOS review for Joe Danger Touch!
This is late news, but I completely forgot to link to the review. Soon on D+Pad there will be my initial views on the PS4 show last week, along with those of the other journalists on that site.
In other news, I’ve started proofreading Play Dead. I’m not instantly disgusted and hateful of it, so that’s good. I’d say how far through, but I forgot to put page numbers on the proofreading copy. I’ll sort that out soon, too.
I have a tumblr at fakedtales.tumblr.com and Explosion High! has a currently empty one at explosionhigh.tumblr.com. In unrelated news I don’t quite ‘get’ Tumblr. The Magnificent Mike Armstrong has been a great help with sorting out the technology side of things, as well as doing some amazing designs of core and supporting characters. I may have been hasty in saying that EH! would be good to go by the end of the first quarter, but now it’s looking like mid-year is more likely.
