True Believers: Avengers - Nebula (re:view)

Welcome to a whole new adventure with... some cosmic intergalactic hoedown - cue the music! This time I'm bringing you some Avengers and Skrulls team-up as they bring the beat 'em up to Nebula. Let us dive in!

Diving straight into the deep end with this being part of Secret Wars II crossover event which I know very little about so don't really know Nebula's real motive but that she wants to bring doom and gloom. To be honest, I'm not very well acquainted with the comic book version of Nebula so can't really make much commentary on that front but the girl knows what she wants and she gonna get it!

Anyway, in what world does the Avengers team up with Thanos to take down Nebula??? I could almost forget that the Avengers are working with Skrulls. Anyway, in what world does the Avengers team up with Skrulls to take down Nebula??? 

It is revealed - spoiler alert - that Nebula and Starfox are related?!? Somebody write me a book of revelations and not of the biblical sense - amen!

A lot of the story focusses around Firelord who should have teamed up with the Avengers as he finds - spoiler alert - that Nebula has destroyed his hometown. Hell hath no fury like a - ummm - wo-man scorned as he exacts revenge and takes it to Nebula's ship. It's beautifully detailed and his anger comes off the page but funnily enough built up to the point that Nebula should fear him but is blasted off and no one there lit-ter-rally knew he was even there as he gets blasted off faster than team rocket and into the arms of the Beyonder. 

Beyonder does seem naive in this in that he pops in wanting to help the Avengers but zaps Nebula and the crew away when they truly just want her to be brought to justice. Oh Beyonder, you did it again! *cue comedic music*

So much does happen in this comic with great chemistry between the Avengers and Skrulls in taking Nebula's ship down. Captain America giving that fresh valiancy talk with the Skrulls to be less - uhhh - villainous. It's great to see Avengers out in space and adapting to their new surroundings. I just wonder why Nebula is that much of a foe that brings together the Avengers and Skrulls...

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Show me the money! Oh, I mean the true colours of the Beyonder and of why he wants the Avengers!

True Believers: Avengers - Nebula #1 (reprint of Avengers V1 #260)
Roger Stern - writer
John Buscema - breakdowns
Tom Palmer - finisher
Jim Novak - letterer
Christie Scheele - colourist
Marvel - publisher

Frieze Sculpture 2020 part 2 (re:view)

Welcome to a whole new adventure with... oh well, part 2 of my part 1 postie on Frieze sculpture! Here are the rest of the sculptures. Let us dive in!

7. Lupine Tower - Arne Quinze

8. Torre di Saba - Gianpietro Carlesso

9. The Plait - Kalliopi Lemos

10. Untitled 1 (Bronze Bodybuilders) - David Altmejd

11. Five Conversations - Lubaina Himid

12. Humans-Animals-Monsters - Patrick Goddard

True Believers: Fantastic Four - Marvel Two-in-one #1 (re:view)

Welcome to a whole new adventure with... a comic for your dollar! This time I'm bringing some monster on monster action as the Thing tends to Man-Thing for stealing their thunder. Let us dive in!

You know, the Thing is quite bully despite their many valiant heroism. I definitely would not want to get on the wrong side of them. The Thing gets wind that someone else has claimed the part of their name in "Man-Thing" so without any second thought wants to give them a taste of the same medicine for umm... claiming his name as part of their name. Sounds confusing but I'll work it. Then he torments the shopkeeper in paying part of his ride and then torments the bus driver to drop him off a point that isn't the bus stop. Like... take several seats, hun. 

Can't say that I'm very well acquainted with the Man-Thing but they seem charming for a being of very little words. They look very cuddly but probably best not to be caught dead of night. Poor Man-Thing, he can't seem to catch a break in the peace of the swamp. There is respite for the Thing in seeing that Man-Thing's situation is much worse than his.

Love that the word "porno" is exchanged between the Thing and the shopkeeper. I just hear a kid somewhere asking their parents, "mum, dad... what's a porno?" 

The son of the Molecule Man adopts the mantle seeking revenge for their father's exile. He is quite terrifying actually especially in his transformation. Kind of reminds me of the Gangers from the Doctor Who as they are terrifying in how they are formed. He does get too big for his boots by undermining Man-Thing who later gets him back anyway. The Molecule Man's power comes from umm... a magic wand which taketh away his power with Thing knocking it out his hand with a bit of ummm.... Man-Thing's sludge. This comic is all kind of weird.

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The turn of the century moment when Thing turns from wanting to give Man-Thing a thumping to lovey-dovey.

True Believers: Fantastic Four - Marvel Two-in-one #1
Steve Gerber - writer
Gil Kane - penciler
Joe Sinnott - inker
Jean Izzo - letterer
G. Roussos - colourist
Marvel - publisher

True Believers: Marvel Knights 20th Anniversary - Daredevil and the Defenders #1

Welcome to a whole new adventure with... a comic for your dollar! This time I'm bringing you some nailbiting tension as the crackdown of Daredevil whereabouts are sought while he is bleeding out. Let us dive in!

The pacing of the writing is beautifully done and in a matter of minutes, I was completely enthralled and wanting more, more, more like Rina Sawayama. It's propelled by a strong sense of urgency interwoven with different layers of story that ultimately comes together beautifully like a jigsaw in the final hurrah of the issue. 

The art style is I gritty, dark and unpolished. It complimented the writing and helped pace it forward. I did flit through this super quick so the art styling is very clear to follow - werk.

The camaraderie (or lack thereof) between Urich and Kingpin is so fascinating with Urich taking a swipe at him to get the answers. For a fleeting moment Kingpin looked vulnerable but I wasn't too sure if it was the intention or if I just got it wrong as a few frames later it appeared that Kingpin had their winning face which was mindboggling. Can't quite put my finger on it yet...

On the other side, you have Black Widow and Elektra duking it out with threats galore between the two with Black Widow saying she'll whoop Elektra's buttock. This is sooooo meta with Black Widow zapping Elektra in the face and Elektra being hilariously fine on the next page. Maybe Elektra is more of a threat than Black Widow anticipates but they're all on the same team for the moment.

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It does have a cinematic quality to it with fast pacing writing with action and art to compliment.

True Believers: Marvel Knights 20th Anniversary - Daredevil and the Defenders #1 (reprint of Daredevil Volume 2 #80)
Brian Michael Bendis - writer
Alex Maleev - artist
Dave Stewart - colours
VC's Randy Gentile - letters
Marvel - publisher

DC Classics: The Batman Adventures #1 (re:view)

Welcome to a whole new adventure with... some Batsy, Batsy, Batsy! Penguin's a do-gooder but Bats is having none of it and is coming to crash the party. Let us dive in!

Batman is my homie! I actually grew up with the animated series on which I believe that this comic spun from. But yeah, can't exactly remember fully well how the writing was but the one in this issue has its quirks with learning new words with Penguin. 

To be honest, I don't know much about Penguin except what I've seen in cartoons and Batman Returns. So it's refreshing to see that he's very well-spoken and has a certain knack to him that shines charm that quickly descends into villainy outcry. He calls the shots to some extent but it's interesting to seem a man of such intellect be pulled by the strings of their puppet master that is - spoiler alert - the joker (who other than him though?) and ironically gets the last laugh for their namesake.

Batman on the other side of the coin does not see the good in Penguin. I mean why can't villains catch a break when they "appear" to be good. He comes in for that bing, bang, wallop moment in bringing the henchmen down. Love a good sound effect - it can drive me wild. Just give me a comic full of thump sound effects and I'm there, babes. 

The art styling is very, very, very in tune with the animated series so no complaints from me there. It's pretty much almost like it's done down to a T.

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Bruce and I are on a first name basis

DC Classics: The Batman Adventures #1 (originally printed as The Batman Adventures #1)

Kelley Puckett - writer

Ty Templeton - penciller

Rick Burchett - inker

Rick Taylor - colourist

TIm Harkins - letterer

Scott Peterson - editor

DC Comics - publisher

Some light in the darkness (Star Log)

Welcome to a whole new adventure with... light magic! This time I'm bringing you some Christmas cheer in umm... February. Let us dive in!

So umm... it's lockdown 3.0 here in London and I was hoping to have already seen the Winter Lights festival which ironically I came across in Canary Wharf while visiting a friend and said I'll come back to it when I have time. That time never came. But... here are some Christmas lights to get us in the mood and bring some light into our lives.

Covent Garden

Trafalgar Square

Seven Dials

Carnaby Street

Regent Street

New Bond Street

Oxford Street

South Molton Street

Granary Square

Coals Drop Yard

Power Pack #1 (2020) (re:view)

Welcome to a whole new adventure with... some pow wow! Power Pack are back and ready to knuckle down on life and big bad tackles. Let us dive in!

Love the beginning! It starts off as a child's drawn comic book strip of the backstory and LIVING for it. There was a very funny moment when a character in the strip is shot down dead and I just can't... left my dying that something so graphic was in a child's drawing. The writing does shift to slightly bland compared fresh uptake start of the issue, as the kids try to contend with family life with humour that doesn't stick the landing. I felt that it was slightly held back and it could have been brought more forward in terms of pushing the humour envelope. It felt like dead air. This is slightly saved by the ending with as they work together cohesively to formulate a plan and take down the baddie.

I have to give it to them for re-establishing the characters and fully fledging their personalities out. It was a great joy to actually see them deal with situations in their own way and working together intuitively. It's a nice introduction for me anyway as I've not touched upon the world of Power Pack that often but have picked up a few issues as London Comic Mart after being recommended by a friend. I guess this a shortfall of the lack strong plot or story in the issue.

The art styling is very... minimal. I guess it's not a complaint but the focus was more on the subject but it would work better if there were more visuals on the subject too to push the oomph a bit more. It does feel good to see the powers in full display as well, as their powers are actually visually pleasing. 

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Lack of story or plot is aided by strong characterisation and slight visuals

Power Pack #1
Ryan North - writer
Nico Leon - artist
Rachelle Rosenberg - colour artist
VC's Travis Lanham - letterer
Marvel - publisher

WandaVision Season 1 - Episodes 1 & 2 (re:view)

Welcome to a whole new adventure with... WandaVision (it's in the name)! Wanda and Vision star in their very own sitcom and this is gonna be a gas. Let's dive in (spoiler alert)!

The styling is of 50's and 60's sitcom, not that I have much-experienced dating that far but I did grow up watching Bewitched and Ed instantly recognised the styling of the second episode. Who would have funked it those modern-day heroes living in a black and white world? It's probably because I'm so accustomed to the world of the MCU. It's a very welcome change and very refreshing to straight into headfirst. 

There's not much of a story going on but we see newlywed Wanda and Vision live their lives as much as possible and it's so much fun and very easy to get into like moments when the crowd clap it was very easy to anticipate and clap along with them with a sense of involvement. The title sequences are so much fun too and set up both episodes perfectly which are cleverly done in the retrospect of their era. There are genuine LOL moments like the cooking scene in the first episode and the talent show in the second episode but these moments.

It's not always so rosy as there is the punctuation of eeriness such as when Vis's boss choking causing Wanda to break character which begs the question of how fully self-aware she is of their situation (which Vis also questions when we first see him at work). But then by the end of the second episode, a beekeeper comes out of the sewers and she seems to know them and manipulates the reality around her... You know, tryna piece together the puzzle to solve the mystery!

I was never really invested in the relationship of Wanda and Vision much in the films as I felt that not much set up was done to cement in place but I felt the reckoning did happen from the end of Infinity War when I really shipped them. The episodes do really shine a different light on them bringing a warm, sweet and endearing awwww moments throughout which makes the moments of when the real world break.

There's also Agnes who helps out Wanda at the most opportune moments and brings the comedy in bucketloads. The running joke is the joke she makes about her husband Ralph which are hilarious but there must be more to it. There's Geraldine too who is such a sweetheart and very likeable and I know that she's Monica Rambeau but it'll be interesting to see who she really is outside of this world.

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This is gonna be a gas!

Frieze Sculpture 2020 part 1 (re:view)

Welcome to a whole new adventure with... sculptures in the park! Frieze it up in this place and par-tay. Let us dive in!

I actually attended this last year in October but I guess it's better late than never. It felt slightly weird attending this time and I did notice that it was a few sculptures short of previous year entries but hey ho still here living for it. I do this once a year and I love the mindfulness of the nature coupled with the thought-provoking umm nature of the art pieces as they play off each other. 

1. L'Âge d'Or (Green & Red) - Gavin Turn

2. Sandwich - Sarah Lucas

3. Torso - Eric Fishchl 

4. Aurelius - Rebecca Warren

5. Ad Keywords - Fabio Lattanzi Antinori

6. Circle for Sally - Richard Long