20 best commercially available/broadcast quality dance mixes!

OK, in no particular order, here are my top 20 favourite radio or CD mixes. I've been wanting to write about these mixes for a while, but just haven't got round to it, really!

1)Coldcut -JDJ 
It's funny, but most of my favourite DJ mixes are defined by a single moment or track dropping which elevates it above the rest somehow. In this case it was  the closing act of this mix: 'Dr. Who' theme, followed by The Moody Boys 'Free' and DJ Food's 'Dusk', by the time  'Sparky, the magic piano' exclaims-"Your time is up I will no longer play for you!" the awareness that it would  be a while before I heard something as good again almost turned to a sort of bereavement. I realised that not only was this mix one of the best I'd ever hear (despite my relative ignorance of dance music at the time), but that it was extremely rare to hear any DJ back then go through so many styles. From Joanna Law to BDP, Jello Biafra to Jedi Knights and Plastikman to Jhelisa, this mix is, I believe the first genre-hopping trip through late 20th Century music to achieve universal acclaim. My belief is that this mix is the closest in spirit to the original hip hop DJ's of the 70's and early 80's, whose main concern was in finding the breaks to make people dance, a style which had almost disappeared in an era of 90's era swagger rapping and murderous rivalry or political po-facedness. Of course, a few years later, 2 Many DJ's came along with pro-tools to dispel the dominance of single genre dance mixing forever(I hope)

2)Justin Robertson Select free JDJ, (tape)1995

3)Trent Reznor & Charlie Clouser -Natural Born Killers Soundtrack, 1994

4)Dj Sneak Essential mix, August 1997

5)Richie Hawtin mixmag live 20

6)Derrick Carter: Mixmag Cosmic Disco (&Cut The Cra Back To Basics)

7)Liam Howlett - The Dirtchamber/Breezeblock mixes

8)Daft Punk Alive 1997(& Essential Mix Aril 1997)

9)Chemical Brothers Brother's Gonna Work It out(& NME Xmas Dust Up tape)

10)Richie Hawtin Dex, FX & 909

11)2manyDJ's-As Heard On Radio Soulwax,Vol. 4

12)Freddie Fresh-Essential Mix, 1997

13)James Lavelle(w/ The Psychonauts)-Cream Live

14)Jeff Mills Live @ Liquid Rooms Tokyo

15)DJ Krush & Coldcut-Cold Krush Kuts

16)Carl Cox F.A.C.T

17)DJ Lottie Muzik Maagzine summer 2001

18)Any Weatherall Fabric(& Cut The Cra Back To Basics)

19)Fatboy Slim-Beat up The NME

20)Dope Smugglaz Essential mix November 1998

I believe next time, I will give a list of my favourite Ive sets an  DJ gigs, as all this listing is right u my street.

I love my comics sometimes, I really do!

Just as I was beginning to tire of the amount of stuff on my pull list, and at a time when I was of a mind to wonder if still reading comics at the age of 34 is a symptom, or part result of my M.E and depression, things begin to look  up, wahey! 

Topping the list of my new reasons to be cheerful is 'Batman Inc. #6', written by Grant Morrison and featuring  the fresh and almost fetishist pencils of Chris Burnham, which contains so many characters, concepts and locations that it would fill up at least 3 issues in a lesser team's hands.

  The scene(panel, rather!) with the aboriginal Batman was so cool I thought I might cry a little, and the other little touches, like Dr. Dedalus' coat-tails turning to smoke were no less affecting, either. Overall, I'm simply amazed that the whole Batman corps versus the shadowy Leviathan storyline has exploded the way it has, after a relatively slowbuild in the series so far and I'm looking forward to August, which is another new beginning for the DCU, it seems. According to a lot of sites, and the DC solicits for August, only one comics will be coming out on the last week of that month, and that comic is the last part of "Flashpoint", which began last week. Of course, at this stage my inner fanboy(and accounts dept.) is more fretting over which tie-ins won't be a total waste than the main book, but suffice it to say that Geoff Johns' story, pencilled by Andy Kubert, would have to have been produced under the influence of severe anti-psychotics and drink on the month in which both men's entire families had been kidnapped or something for it not to be at least worth a look, give both creators' stellar track records. As it is, the story put the readers squarely in the alternative reality  using narration by this other place's Batman, while making Barry Allen both the centre of the story and the character through whom we see what's up.There's a big reveal at the end which surprised noone, really, and the best element of the story so far was in the interaction between variations of characters most of us fans would know and getting to see Cyborg in action as the lyncphin hero, rather than the Teen Titan babysitter/JLA sideman he sometimes ends up.

Across the divide, Marvel's 'Fear Itself' entered into the second issue, and things seem to be heating up, as hammers hurtle down from space, landing next to the already fairly intense characters like the Hulk, and transforming them into super, ultra badasses in the service of an evil god, who was resurrected by Sin(Red Skulls daughter)in the last issue. The story is ok, Matt Fraction seems to be able to spin a tight yarn well, but the best thing about this for me is the art team of Stuart Immomen and Wade Von Grawbadger, whose work here is very clean, fresh and basically a joy to behold. I'm not the biggest Marvel fan(and I simply can't be arsed with Thor for the most part) , but I'll no doubt stick with this series til the close, for the art if nothing else.

Originally a reply to yet another Moore v Morrison rammy on the cbr forum board.

Grant Morrison has always maintained that he prefers to tell stories that attempt bring bright colourful superheroes into our corrupt and and morally decaying world, which is more or less in direct contrast to the Alan Moore method of bringing our world to the superheroes in order to see how they would fare. When fans(and Moore himself) then accuse Morrison of some vague type of plagiarism, it somehow reminds me of Stan Lee talking about Marvel comics of the early 60's being alone in reflecting the 60's counter-culture, simply because he added a little depth and pathos to his characters' personal lives. Now,  I'm not disputing Marvel's revival of the comics industry at all, but, in fact, DC's stories had begun to anticipate(whether consciously or not) the weirdness of  sixties youth culture in story elements involving mindbending chemicals, evil conspiracies and mind control and with the late fifties rebooting of characters like Green Lantern and the Flash(among other concept renewals and revivals.), under noted sci-fi fan, Julie Schwartz. To me, expecting a writer to come up with the amount of new concepts to satisfy all, is like asking a rock band to make music entirely with instruments they've invented themselves, while avoiding using any chords that have been used before: Impossible.

 When I compare the documentaries 'The Mindscape Of Alan Moore' with 'Grant Morrison Talking With Gods', although I clearly enjoy both depictions of two singularly talented creators, I personally feel the rolling stone gathers no moss 'argument'(or 'no beard vs all beard' to some) for Grant Morrison's style comes out on top. He puts a lot of himself and his life and travelling experiences into his comics, whereas Alan Moore does seem content to judge, sorry, write about the world, from the relative safety of his admittedly large library and his beloved hometown of Northhampton.

It's interesting to me that the two most revered comic authors, whose tastes and influences are similarly esoteric and occult, of the last 25 years are so heavily divisive in their appreciation by their respective fan bases. For a medium that has slowly been gaining literary validation, this war of trolls makes the 'Beatles Vs Stones' or 'Blur Vs Oasis' ego wars/marketing tools of the pop music industry look positively dignified  and worthy by comparison. 

In general, Grant Morrison's most ardent fans seem to think that Alan Moore's work is over-rated at best and unbearably stagnant at worst; Moore's biggest admirers apparently feel that Morrison is a Johnny-come-lately fopp, whose best work was ripped off from Mr' Moore's good chum, Mike Moorcock(completely ignoring the fact that Morrison was a self-confessed unwordly 17-year old when he wrote those stories for 'Near Myths').  This is an annoying often-raised point that Morrison himself can forget when it comes to the filming of  'The Matrix'(but that's another story). The only thing the trolls seem to agree on is that their least favoured is over-rated. On comic book forums, any praise for one is quickly followed by an infuriating war of words by fans of the other. The sad thing is that none of the endless viewpoints raised are right or wrong-they all just form a depressing part of of the geek landscape.

   For my part, I believe in some form of a shared consciousness, as it helps to explain such occurrences as why the world erupted into war in 1914 & 1939, the hippy/punk/metal/rave generations, the renaissance, the internet explosion, the sixties, the war on terror's impact on western life and much more besides. There can be no theft of ideas if we are all individual working parts of the same whole universal mind. For no real reason, other than having seen the concept in comics ages ago I began thinking about morhphogenetic grafts, then ended up watching those Morrison and Moore films back to back on a Saturday night when I couldn't sleep while yet another Moore v Morison raged on the Comic Book Resources forum. The experience further enhanced my view, from misspent weekends of my youth, that there most definitely is a shared consciousness for humanity(and perhaps more besides) 

Although I respect their individual achievements and ways of thinking, I see them as basically serving the same function, which is to disseminate subversive ideals, memes and ideas to the youth of the day through the refracted lens of an innocuous medium.  They are actually very close in those ideals, even if they arrived there from very different avenues and are so dissimilar personally that even their fans can't get along. Another analogy could be made from comparing them to the two party system prevalent in most systems of western politics, but I'm not going to even begin with who the fuck's who there, cos it's all the same to me now. 

 Finally, to confirm my slight allegiance to on or the other, I'd have to say Grant has definitely outshone Alan in the end, simply through being more gracious towards criticism and working well within the framework of his chosen  medium to its ultimate advantage for all. I consider the ABC line to be Alan's crowning achievement, but even that has been marred by ownership wrangles and demented accusations. That being said, anyone who says that 'Necronomicon', the one bit of 'League Of Extraordinary Gentleman: Century' that came out in 09 and 'Dodgem Logic' are better, or somehow worthier, comics than 'Final Crisis', 'Joe The Barbarian', 'Seaguy: The Slaves Of Mickey Eye', and the latest installments Gmo's Batman epic run clearly hasn't been bothering to read them all.

(Post-Script: I keep coming back to this post, as I feel there is more to say on the subject, so don't be surprised if it is, or will be, changed)

Superhero President Saves well, one campaign promise, anyway.*

It had to happen, didn't it? As soon as I post a blog that reveals there's still a soppy, blinkered hopeful twat somewhere inside me(See my loving rant on the qualities of 'Justice League International' as they apply to me!) that still believes in the basic decency of humanity and justice for all, a black, sorry, special ops team set foot on Middle Eastern soil to murder the world's most wanted man. I'm not saying I don't believe Bin Laden was evil and deserved death,  rather that a fair and impartial trial would have been nice first. Not only might it have laid to rest all the conspiracy theories of true culpability for the 9/11 attacks, and added to the enquiry over what happened that day, it could also have been America's spectacle for the whole world; a sort of darker equivalent to our Royal Wedding, except it would've lasted months and ended with a definite death sentence for one instead of possible life for two.
I don't believe that a 12 man team were incapable of taking the Bin Laden's alive, it was just easier to get it out of the way, as a sort of wish fulfilment thing for the Obama administrations failure to get out of Iraq and close Gitmo as soon as was promised. The glee on the President's coupon was so palpable, and his alluding to his role in the operation so prominent, that I fully expected him to tell the world he'd been controlling the leader of the kill team from his fucking X-Box 360. On the early evening news we were treated to footage of a plain looking albeit blood soaked, room where, we were told, Bin Laden had taken a bullet to either his right, left or maybe even both eyes. Where his son's fatal wounding occurred on his body remained unknown. I've never been more grateful that I don't have kids I'd need to explain some segment of the news to. Apparently, one of three helicopters malfunctioned just prior to landing, which was cool because it gave the team a great excuse to create a massive explosion on the way out, perhaps in tribute to Arnold Schwarzenegger's retirement from US politics earlier this year. In hindsight, Obama should have said "I was involved closely in all stages of the operation-except the pre-flight maintenance of the faulty chopper that was, eh, Hilary's job to oversee" its not as if his credibility would have been called into question.

Tearful celebration  and joyful hysteria has broken out since the world found out Bin Laden has died and the US gets to call out "Mission Accomplished" yet again, just like they did in Afghanistan when they drove out the Taliban and in Iraq when they sacked Baghdad. Actually, going by previous accomplished missions, it now seems that Osama Bin Laden is set to rise from the grave with some sort of new masterplan to destroy the west, perhaps as leader of an army of zombies, although as a shambling, brain ravaged monster, they'll probably find him in less than half the time it did before, for sure.  Probably about four years.
Just to clarify, there is not a single doubt in my mind that Bin Laden was responsible for unspeakable atrocities and deaths of innocents in their thousands, I'm just dispirited that he was never made to truly answer from his crimes. What can they be getting out of halfwitted, confused and idiotic British citizens such as Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, or other idiots like the one with the weird bomb in his pants, that is of any real use? One might begin to think they were not even remotely interested in interrogating the world's most notorious terrorist. I'm usually just another sad fuck who write about his favourite comics, and it occurs to me now that I'll probably be happier if I can stick to thinking about that stuff in the future. You have no idea how much I wish I was fucking dumb right now.

* At the time of writing this article, I was unaware that Mr. Obama had just recently signed his healthcare bill, and was more focused on promises made such as:- More transparency in White House goings on, as well as the closure of Gitmo and withdrawal from Iraq. I did not, do not, and will not ever, care if he was born in Hawaii or not. Also, I was a bit concerned and, yes, even offended at apparent slights to the UK such as the return of the Churchill Bust and his insistence on re-naming the multi-national oil company, BP, as British Petroleum(it's original, and long since discarded name) during lengthy press conferences during the oil spill last year. Kudos to Mr. Obama for listening to & implementing Ms. Clinton's long sought after health care reform. But Bin Laden should have been arrested, questioned, tried and sentenced to death on US soil. The End.

complaints about people #6,000,003- Folk too ready too agree with anything.

people who agree with everything you say

Being a total fucking  misanthrope, I see the reasons for this bizarre phenomenon being one or more of the following:-

a they want something
b they're pretending they're so smart they already know what you're saying
c they're thick
d they have nothing to say for themselves, so are agreeing to deflect conversation from themselves
e they're wishing they were having another conversation, with someone else, or else they'd contribute something
f  they're waiting for their chance to talk, so agree in order to pint out that everything you're saying is utterly superfluous
g they think you're a wank, so only enter into the minimal conversational requirement!

I'm aware many of these reasons totally contradict others, but they are all equal in the eyes of an attempted conversationalist who has ended up annoyed orator. Sometimes I disagree just for the sake of not having to repeat the other person by proxy, like the time I found myself arguing that Eminem was more of a true representative of the feelings of his generation than Bob Dylan had been, based purely on Dylan's tendency to go off on pretentious stream of consciousness rambles about Spanish leather boots, bloody traintracks or John Wesley Harding's beard or whatever. It wasn't how i felt for real, but it sure as fuck stirred the pot, like any conversation worth remembering usually does.

A conversation without even a tiny degree of opposition is pointless, like 5 word emails are. what's the point of bothering to switch a pc on, go online, type in your passwords, open up a mate's profile to say - "I'm oK, how are u?", its fuckin daft, man. Like "LOL", I hate fucking "LOL", whether it means Loads of Love of Laugh Out Loud, which is more often the case, because some people type it meaning that so often that if they'd been laughing out loud as much as they typed it in a similarly mundane real world conversation, they'd find themselves in Carstairs in twice the time it would take to punch them in the mouth for it.

 Some couples have so little to say that they boast about being able to finish each other's sentences, like that's a good thing and if they're married it always makes me think, "well, that may be so but d'ye think ye'll finish the fuckin the life sentences ye handed each other in the church ya borin fuckin bastards?"

On the other hand, i can't stand people who need to be agreed with at all times, and occasionally take to reasonable debate like a spoiled child being told santa has them on the naughty list:- moaning like fuck despite the knowledge that they'll still get the moon on a stick come the 25/12 and bloody santa doesn't even exist anyhow. This need for vague approval through obedient agreement is so fucking annoying I'd rather tell a drunken copper I'd fucked his wife than an attention seeking model she was gorgeous.

Takin a Licking; taking time to reflect before resuming the ticking.

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OK, I'm Obsessed- War Of The Green Lanterns Week 3(parts 4 & 5)

Green Lantern #65 & Green Lantern Corps #59

 To the casual observer, it may appear I've decided to give up writing on a variety of subjects and become, instead, the David Coleman of an imaginary science fiction war in comics. In actual fact, I am just very excited    and surprised by how much fun this inter-title series has been, and had expected 'Blackest Night/Brightest Day' would leave us a bit tired of the multi-coloured Lantern antics. Apart from minor quibbles over how easily Hal & Guy escaped an ice planet and some of Tyler Kirkham's art in this month's GLC, I have to say I haven't been this excited by this franchise since the frenzied anticipation for 'Blackest Night' two years back very nearly led me to buy my first action figure as an adult. Ironically the story really gets going just as we are deprived of Doug Mahnke's absolutely astounding art, and the reaction to Krona's hijacking of the Green Lantern Corps, Oa and the Source Battery is much less cliched than I guessed as I took my first clue from 'GLC 59''s cover, and the ads telling me this storyline will run through June seem to imply the best is yet to come. The scenes with Ganthet, Krona, Kilowog and even Mogo are amazing; the Earth based lanterns first strike against their former Corpsmen are fraught with genuine excitement and peril. The whole thing is just col as fuck, and leaves me wondering if Geoff Johns will ever conceive of  something that isn't completely epic in scale agai, the guy's becoming the David Lean of DC Comics arcs. I want to say more, but the truth is, I've been having having big problems with my notebook and only by using Stickykeys am I even able to gush about these latest two episodes of my favourite comics of the moment.   I'm going to be well pissed off if they decide to separate these two books before the start of July, I'm getting used to these double whammys of the Green, so I am.

Green Lantern movie is gonna do Gangbusters in the cinema, you wait n see!

If the above statement is untrue, I swear I will eat my hat. The footage from Wondercon couldn't have been more impressive than what we had previously watched with slight disappointment during the Superbowl(and after, on Youtube, for us non-Americans). My singular complaint is now the look of Hal Jordan's mask, allegedly a fitting cover for his true identity, but really it seems like someone's went for his face with a green marker during an all-night drink and drugs bender(hardly the image  any superhero would wish to project into  the public consciousness. One thing also seems apparent in the trailer; Parallax in not simply a far off concept in the movie; in fact, it seems to be the very thing to grant Hector Hammond his swollen head, heightened awareness, creepy telekinesis and Carol Ferris obsession!
 Anyway, having only witnessed 4 mins of absolutely thrilling and fun footage, it seems churlish to say much more until I get the chance to review the film proper sometime soon!  Whatever happens, this movie will truly be an indelible part of this sumner's busiest season.

Beware The Power



(2nd February 2012 Post-script:                      Shit.   I still don't think it was as bad as the media made it out  to be, but, boy, was I wrong. The only good thing to come from the movie's abysmal performance is I can use the incredibly inaccurate prediction of this post as an excuse for the lack of activity on my blog, rather than my laziness, which is the actual reason!)

Undervalued Classics- Garth Marenghi's Darkplace

Clever comedy about dreadful drama.

Some people may be surprised by the choice of director of the new British film, "Submarine", but  Richard Ayoade was always a lot more than just the geek with a lop-sided afro in 'The IT Crowd'.  In 2004, he was responsible for co-writing and directing the excellent 'Garth Marenghi's Dark Place', which is my favourite UK comedy of the noughties(this week), just eclipsing  'Nathan Barley', 'The Mighty Boosh'(both of which featured Ayoade, coincidentally, or not) and 'Peep Show'. The cast are excellent, and the 'show-within-a-show' concept works so beautifully that I'm beginning to wonder if its the reason we haven't seen much from the rest of the cast, cameos from Graham Linehan, Stephen Merchant and Julian Barret aside.
     The central conceit of the show is that it was too much for TV back then, as the dreamchild of horror writer extraordinaire, Garth Marenghi(played by Matthew Holness, also co- writer) and his publisher, the 'flamboyant' Dean Learner(Ayoade). Marenghi Himself had played Dr. Rick Dagless, chief surgeon with a dark and tragic past, along side his best friend, Dr. Lucien Sanchez, played by the would-be singer, Todd Rivers(Matt Berry in reality). As legend would have it, the show remained in the vault, save for a brief run in Peru, until the world and Channel 4's executives caught up with the dangerous and subversive vision of Garth Marenghi, who is presented as having wrote, directed, starred in all six episodes. Even the theme music is presented as being 'based on tunes originally whistled by Garth Marenghi', brilliantly sending up the sense of  inflated self-importance attached to many vanity projects of the time.
     I remember as a kid watching newsreel footage of the early twentieth century, along with 50's sitcoms and 60's sci-fi, wondering how tv from the 80's would look to me as an adult, and now I know for sure it is every bit as hilarious as Harry Enfield's 'Mr Chorlmondley-Warner and Grayson' was in the late 80's, and then some. The series evokes those times perfectly, using the camera, sound and editing techniques, lighting, and peculiar speech patterns that conjure up images of shows such as 'Tales Of The Unexpected', 'Dempsey and Makepeace', 'Doctor Who' and 'The Professionals'. Even the running gag that sees Thornton Reede having to fend of calls from random sex cases (arranged, of course, by Dagless and Sanchez) is a straight lift from 'Starsky and Hutch', proving that the key to really capturing that 80's feel is to bring in elements from just before and after that period. In fact, by the second time the oddly comforting original Channel 4 station ident card and tune was used, I had almost forgotten that  twenty years had elapsed  since last I heard it.
      I can't tell for sure if the character of Marenghi is based on Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Herbert in particular, or any of the legions of horror writers that arose around that time. I probably can't see him as a pisstake of Stephen King specifically because I do actually love King's books, but can't help but notice the series did come out not long after King's 'Kingdom Hospital', in which he also starred in am minor role. The inspirations for a character such as Marenghi were probably all too easy to find in the many writers of a genre in which the line between macabre masterpiece and ridiculous rubbish is so thin.
 Part of the shows brilliance is in the little touches; I actually watched the series a few times before i realised the fog swept, late night driving scenes were actually meant to be Dr Rick Dagless driving through the hospital grounds in a golf buggy. The series itself looks and feels like it was made by an unholy alliance between Ed Wood, Aaron Spelling and the unknowable forces of the ITC media group. The made up stories of  the fates of various actors, crew and 'techies' are well thought out, wickedly amusing, and probably ring true for anyone who has read 'Hollywood Babylon' or spent even five minutes researching the internet on the types of character who floated around the c-class showbiz set in those days.
  Another theme of the show was to send up of the type of bullshit, chummy talking head interview and somnambulant  voiceover track DVD extra which seemed to be attached to every release in 2004.  The actual dvd commentary for Dark Place proved that you can actually make a second audio track worth listening to, as long as you stay in character when you record it, like Spinal Tap or Alan Partridge and Lynne in the Series 1 DVD of " I'm Alan Partridge".
 One thing that put a couple of my friends off the series at the time was the character of Dean Learner, who was the most obviously gay-despite-being-married man since Freddie Mercury, although they were more offended by 'Man to Man with Dean Learner', a sort of follow-up with some of the same characters. Although I didn't enjoy this show as much as Dark Place, I believe the homophobia complaints on both are unjustified, as they merely poke fun at the closeted/in denial and thus bizarrely predatory figures who hid their  sexuality behind a disdain for women in general, and the series as a whole is simply holding a mirror up to that most naively futuristic of decades, the 80's; a period when many were shocked to find men with names like Rock Hudson, Liberace and Tyrone Power had been gay all along.  The episode 'Scotch Mist' was also a brilliant comment that, despite Dean Learner's Thornton Reede(Ayoade), being a black man in a position of authority, racism on TV, particularly concerning relations between England and Scotland, wasn't entirely off the agenda. Similarly, the fake cast's treatment of the character Liz/Madeleine Wool(Alice Lowe), are hilariously contemptuous of feminist values and seem to indicate that the makers were ready to embrace anything, except the idea that women are men's equal.  Another thing I now find ironic is that the parody of a show with borderline racist/chauvinistic tones fits so well with early Channel 4, a station that seemed to be pushing the boundaries of acceptance at the time, but is now probably better remembered for the ill-judged paedo-fest that was 'mini-pops'.
 All in all, 'Garth Mareghi's Dark Place' was brilliantly conceived, perfectly produced and ultimately deserved a lot more than the single Bafta  nomination it got (for its music),  which is why I am even now ranting about it in this blog. The show isn't particularly hard to pick up, either in the shops, or the internet somewhere, as it had an extended run on US cable station, Adult Swim, showing episodes 1 to 6, then simply going back to the beginning again for almost two years straight. That's how good it is.

Watch this for an idea of the show,

Visit the official website of the show

Fringe Season 4 is happening, woohoo!

 I wasn't at all unsure of 'Fringe''s popularity, as around 20,000 people rush to The Pirate Bay to download pirate copies of the show each night it's on, then it remains on top of the seeders list for at least the next 24 hours. Nielsen ratings can say what they like, but the show is popular in a big way with an audience who have grown up with the likes of 'Buffy',  'The X-Files', 'Twin Peaks', 'Star Trek', 'Smallville', 'Heroes' and 'Lost', whether they watched them first time around, or have caught up via boxsets and downloads. I am a fan of the show, and am glad it is staying on for another season, but the problems it has faced will still exist to the end of its run. Advertisers and short-sighted executives may be coming round to the idea that money can be made from properties such as 'Fringe' way after the television premiere, but they still have the power to either cut off a story in the middle, as in 'Heroes', or drag it out so long it becomes tired and incomprehensible, like 'Lost' nearly became, and 'The X-Files' inarguably did.  Similarly, as much as I liked 'Lost, it could have trimmed the flab and ended on a high note with a longer season 4. Hopefully, the lesson of 'The X-Files' incredibly drawn out and tired demise were learned by the Fox network, and 'Fringe' will come to a graceful end once the current alternate universe arc is resolved. Personally, I think Peter should activate the machine and the two conflicting universes merge into one stable whole, sort of the best of both worlds, but that's merely my inner fanboy having his say. Undoubtedly, I'd rather be pleasantly surprised by the ending in some way and feel the story has been naturally resolved, than watch something I enjoy stumble its way towards an untimely and unsatisfying end. The  fact that this can happen simply because the creators are forced to participate in a financial, demographic and statistical sideshow each year by the networks actually makes me wonder why I bother with these shows in the first place.

War Of The Green Lanterns: Week 2

Ok, looks like I've got more to say about this little sub-event(?), than I thought. Part 3 was out today, with the long-anticipated fist fight between Hal 'No. 1' Jordan and Guy 'Woulda been' Gardner. By, long anticipated, I mean from the preview pages in Emerald Warriors #1, if they've ever fought before I don't know about it. The Guy Gardner I remember best is the incarnation from the 1987 relaunch of Justice League by Giffen, Matteiss and Maguire. Page 1 was just a single panel of Guy on his own,  feet on the JLI conference table thinking of how best to announce his role as leader of the new group. Of course the minute Batman walked in, it was over and from then on Gardner dreamed of ways to usurp Bat's leadership until a) Maxwell Lord took over for both and, b) Bats knocked a ringless Guy out with a famous single punch. Over the years Guy Gardner has developed into a pretty complex and useful character(and has stayed powerful, even in the abscence of the Corps, with yellow power rings, morpho-genetic grafts, etc.) , and is basically essential to the DCU, as a perfect example of an everyday character who happens to have extraordinary abilities. He is as wilful as Hal Jordan, but more arrogant with it and so was  in the running to pick up Abin Sur's ring when he crashlanded on Earth, a fact that comes up every now and then, and does so here, as he and Hal begin to succumb to the influence of Parallax. Strangely, the fight doesn't feel as defining in terms of Guy and Hal's ultimate friendship as last weeks falling out between Kyle and John, despite Guy and Hal being known to be serios rivals in the past, while Kyle and John had always shared a friendly comradeship until then. I suppose its how the writers like to shake things up now and then, but I have to say I preferred the previous status quo. Kyle and John don't seem the type to go the distance as silent rivals the way Guy and Hal have over the years. 

Guy Gadner is so integral to the DCU, it must have been tough to decide where to place him for the events of 'Brightest Day', as he would have fit as well into "JL: Generation Lost", as he has into "Emerald Warriors" which is probably why he and Ice split up so suddenly immediately before both series began(she got the Justice League, he got the GL Corps;  not the same as splitting electrical equipment and furniture, but this is the DCU, after all.) . Of course, the fact that he came under the influence of Atrocitus' red ring in 'Blackest Night' was probably what kept him in the cosmic color spectrum end of the events, rather than as part of the earth bound adventures of his former comrades as they battle against Max Lord. Not much goes on in this issue, but I always like to see people put their differences aside and unite against greater danger, and with Guy and Hal unsure of how to proceed without their rings, and Kilowog left fighting half the corps in space, there is enough to bring me back next time, even if my collecting obsession wouldn't do so anyway.

 I started buying DC comics again almost three years ago now, with the advent of Grant Morrisons Final Crisis, and am now wondering if I'd ever find the perfect place to stop buying the comics altogether. Not that I want to, you understand, it'd just be nice to know that I'd reached a plateau where things could go either way and the signs point to " keep buying for the fun of it, but it'll be awhile before something 'unmissable' comes along, or stop right here and you won't miss what comes next", you know? "Flashpoint" is on its way however, and I just need to see what happens when today's talent is allowed to 'run amok' with the 75 years of mythology built up in the DCU(once again)

Green Lantern 64 Green Lantern Corps 58 Ranting Review

War of the green lanterns is here, so SPOILER'S

                                                  

At last, I have in my hands not one, but two episodes of the first of the summer's big crossovers. Not a preview, or a prologue, but two actual parts of a whole that not only set aside my worries that this 'war' will be both pointless and designed to appeal mainly to the curious newcomers attracted by the pre-release hype for this Summer's 'Green Lantern' film, but also(finally)portray what Krona's quest with the Entities is all about, and show how Earth's Green Lanterns will find themselves set up against one another at a pivotal point in DCU history.
 Some people don't care for Geoff Johns' revisionist approach to storytelling, and prefer to ponder for themselves the mysteries of the DCU he tries so hard to explain and skilfully incorporate into long term storylines, not me though. I love explanations of such bizarre DC anomalies as the GL rings' yellow impurity(here unexpectedly restored, as Parallax once again inhabits the Oan Power Battery),  why there are so many incarnations of the Legion, and the fact that Rip Hunter is actually the son of Booster Gold, etc. If nothing else, it definitely proves beyond all doubt the guy loves the universe and character's as much as anyone. Of course, I kind of understand the desire to leave certain aspects unexplained and therefore more mysterious. The knowledge that ALL the Guardians once had names and that the Manhunters' genocidal 'malfunction' actually had some purpose behind it works for me, though.  At least someone has had a real go at explaining these questions, some of which have bothered me since childhood.
  Green Lantern #64 is all about the set ups: seconds after sending half the Corps to arrest Hal Jordan,  Krona gets busy making Scar and Nekron's imprisonment of the Guardians in last year's Blackest Night look like a walk in the park, by using them as hosts for the Entities, once again proving that millennia of emotionless logic, borderline fascism  and wilful amnesia cannot end well. Sinestro, the sly dog, seems to know a lot about the white light and the book of the black, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him attempt to usurp Krona, rather than help destroy what the reborn cosmic nutter has been busy setting in place throughout BD. After all, Sinestro not only was privy to a lot of  Abin Sur's findings, but was also the White Lantern for as long a time as it would take to find out plenty about what's really happening here. Also, his newly reforged alliance with  the Weaponer is based on a new-found ability to manipulate the White Energy. Yeah, that bugger's up to summat, alright ; he was too quick to jump into the book of the black  with the other new Guardians,not only leaving all of the rings behind, but even  convincing the one member of the group who had beaten him countless times he'd be better off elsewhere for now. The biggest question for me at the moment is how will all this dovetail into "Flashpoint",and what will the alternate universe Abin Sur's part be?(Actually, I'm more interested in seeing if the Batman of Wayne casinos is Simon Hurt/Thomas Wayne, since I called it the second I saw those teasers, but thats another blog altogether!)
Green Lantern Corps 58 brings us up to date with Ganthet and co, who are busy with the in-fighting even before a bout of Parallax possession reveals what John Stewart and Kyle Rayner really think of each other, apparently once and for all altering their relationship. In Infestation Veritas, it seems.  As ever, the events in this book don't feel as relevant as in GL proper, but there's still plenty for the die hard fanboys like me. Old Ganthet really has been through the mill of late; losing his lady friend to Larfleeze, suffering demotion from Guardian of his own crew to Green Lantern Honor Guard and ending up Atrocitus' bloodacid spewing bitch. This week he even loses a hand, something he could relate to Aquaman about, except Aquaman has either died, been transported 'somewhere'(either to do with the White Lantern, alternate universes, or both), or has simply gone on into the world of Flashpoint ahead of the rest of the DCU.
Any way, if you've even half a clue of the characters and concepts I've been talking about here, and know a fair bit about what's been going on, then you could do a lot worse than buy these two books, as I think they are building up into something that'll be as much fun and worthy as any of DC comics' other output over the last few years. However, if you're just a casual one comic a month reader or are simply passing time in anticipation of the GL film, you'll probably spend more time looking up reference points off nutty blogs on the internet than you will enjoying the story.
At the age of 34, I'm wondering if I've finally lost enough braincells to fully accept and thoroughly enjoy  these hyped up events in my comics, or has the companies grasp finally got in synch with their reach with this stuff? I don't know, but whatever happens I'll be reading all I can just the same.

ALBUM REVIEW Daft Punk 'Tron Legacy: Reconfigured'

At last, it's here-the remix album of the soundtrack of the sequel to Tron. OK, put like that it sounds pretty dire and desperate, but the original soundtrack was one of those things I knew in my heart I was going to love, and didn't even have to pretend to when it arrived. The Boys Noize remixes have been floating around for a while, as have others, but a Daft Punk album of any sort is always a joy to behold, and any DP release at all usually contains at least 5 tracks we've all heard before, simply because they are absolutely too cool to be held in wait of schedules and have escaped the studio via mp3's, downloads and white labels passed on to the usual suspects. Speaking of the Daft Club, its a bit of a surprise not to find DJ sneak, van Helden, DJ Falcon, the Sanchezes and all the rest on here, and even more of one to see Moby and Oakenfold in amongst the names displayed here. Photek's take on 'End  Of Line' is my current favourite, but then so is his stuff in general, so that's not much of a surprise. I'm really enjoying his subtle, solid and saucy  take on every style he cares to  turn his hand to.
 In actual fact, some of the songs feel like remixes of the Wendy Carlos soundtrack to the 1982 original, more so than Daft Punk's sequel soundtrack did last Autumn, in particular kaskade's remake of 'Rinzler' and Moby's 'Son Of Flynn', while others like the Japanese Popstars' 'Arena' rearrange just enough to ensure they'll reach the dancefloor without losing the flavour of  Daft Punk's originals. Having long been a DP fanatic, my initial assessment of their first mainstream soundtrack was that it wasn't dancey enough, which was to be expected really, as they were scoring a movie and not a stimulant fuelled night on the tiles, which is what I'd come to love them for way back when. The Oakenfold and Crystal Method tracks sound pretty much like any other Paul Oakenfold or Crystal Method song I've ever heard, though the vocal samples and sheer awesomeness of the original 'The Grid' make The Crystal Method's version pretty hard to dislike. Similarly, Sander Kleinenberg's closing remix of 'Tron Legacy End Titles' conjures up images far beyond the source material; for anyone of my age echoes of the 'Airwolf', 'Street Hawk' and 'Miami Vice' themes, alongside the many Vangelis, Tangerine Dream and Harold Faltermeyer film scores are pretty hard to ignore. For all that, the finished product is much more than a nostalgia led dirge festival. Pretty Lights' take on 'Solar Sailer' sounds as fresh and original as anything coming out anywhere at the moment, and the Teddybears take on 'Adagio for Tron' takes my least favourite moment of the source material and turns it into a song you could use literally anywhere in a dj set. Finally, the opening remix of 'Derezzed' deserves special mention for turning the frenetic energy of the original into a nice laidback groove that still retains the energy somewhere inside;straining, but not quite managing, to burst free( harder to achieve than you might think, btw).
 All in all, 'Tron Legacy:reconfigured', sorry-' R3configur3d' is probably exactly what you fear most, a cynical attempt to get more money from the original soundtrack album that sold so well, but for that, it doesn't half have some good music on it.

Knight & Squire #6, out this week; 1 to 5 in review

                                                                      

"Knight And Squire" by Paul Cornell & Jimmy Broxton, a 6 part limited series, starring a pair of British superheroes initially dreamt up as an English counterpart to Batman in the zany fifties,.has been the best UK comic produced for the US market I've ever read. Knight & Squire, along with the group they belonged to the 'Batmen of all Nations/ Club of Heroes' had long been disposed of, consigned to the dustbin of DC  history that is labelled 'pre-Crisis', before Grant Morrison's revival and renewal of them in an evolved state made them the current ambassadors of UK comics culture within the DCU. The duo have been  pivotal characters in Grant Morrison's still ongoing, DCU spanning Meta-epic, first in JLA Classified #1-3, then as part of the revived "Club Of Heroes" concept, in the Batman:RIP prelude, "The Black Glove". Most recently they appeared in "Batman & Robin #7-9", which introduced readers to villains based on uniquely British concepts, like Smooth Eddie English, The Pearly Prince and his arch-rival, the Geordie kingpin of crime, Old King Coal.
  Grant Morrison has done a great job portraying the UK as Knight & Squire's home in "Blackest Knight" by having Batman race through London, into the Underground,  later ending up in an abandoned coal-mine which had been built over a Lazarus Pit; another neat touch was blending legends of the Thatcher years with echoes of  David Peace's disturbing Red Riding books to give the story a hint of the darker side of our culture. For Knight and Squire's own title, Paul Cornell has decided to retain the lighter elements established by Morrison, and has also injected more of the absurdly anarchic spirit of , now sadly defunct, UK classics such as  Buster, Eagle, Lion and Tiger, as well as the entire DC Thompson line. Yet, for all its references to a bygone age of Boy's Own adventures, the story is still firmly set in the 21st Century of DC comics and Post-Millennial Britain. A wannabe bad boy/love interest for Squire is a conflicted posh kid who talks street gibberish("U Feel  Me, Blud?) in a bid to impress the crowd in a pub that uses "truce magic" to allow heroes and villains a chance to rest up after a hard day's night of whatever it is they do. This is very much like the Oblivion Bar that is frequented by the magic types elsewhere in the DCU. Although, this is a limited 6 issue run, the first three parts were mostly self-contained stories, connected mainly by character growth and development, and fun explorations of the excellently portrayed hybrid society of Anglicised metahumans.
 The Knight, aka Cyril Sheldrake, The 4th Earl Of Wordenshire has led a chequered existence;  from titled nobility to tragedy, addiction, mental health problems, financial impoverishment and recovery. He has somehow been allowed  to move back to the  Wordenshire Estate he calls home. He first met his sidekick, Beryl Hutchinson, when she and her mother took him in off the streets at his lowest ebb, following the death of his father, the 3rd Earl( who was also the first Knight  alongside Cyril as the Squire).
   The generation and gender gap between Cyril & Beryl are a natural grounding for a fresh exploration of  the mentor/pupil relationship, most pronounced when Cyril is caught up in self-doubt and Beryl is applying her natural intelligence to the varied dilemmas.This is, after all,  the girl Batman trusted to search for, and retrieve,  the JLA from inside a baby universe by hand, for goodness sake. Another new spin on a familiar idea is apparent with  the duo's butler, Hank, who is basically an American version of comics' most famous butler.Alfred, and who, despite initially feeling very cliched, doesn't appear in the book often enough for my liking.
  The duo also each have relationships which handily  provide plot points and avenues to explore, such as Cyrils highly public date with starlet Cerys Tweed, which leads to a confrontation with Richrd III, and, perhaps most significantly, Beryl's burgeoning relationship with "The Shrike" aka Dennis Ennis, who isn't quite sure himself whether he's a villain or hero. Speaking of villains and heroes, there are some memorable ones on either side in "Knight & Squire", such as Jarvis Poker(The British Joker), The Morris Men and The Milkman. In fact, in amongst the various characters and places Cornell and Broxton(whose art is perfect for this concept) have brought to life, I got real, genuine shock when an extremely well known face from the DCU at large popped in, just in time for a good old fashioned cliffhanger at the end of issue 5. Now I'm just waiting for #6, the last in this series, but no doubt not the last of the adventures of "Knight & Squire". I would suggest the series so far to anyone, and for those yanks who are worried about some of the more absurd and eccentric Brit references and phrases, I  am happy to report that there is a well designed and amusing glossary, which even I, a lifelong resident of the UK, as well as rabid consumer of British comics, benefited from on occasion!

                                                            

Random Links To Things I Enjoyed Reading Recently

The Title says it all

Music industry scum, by Steve Albini

Mort Weisinger, who brought pop psychology to Superman

At Last, some comics reviews:- Booster Gold #42 & JL: Generation Lost #21

Ok, I know, I know, they are both DC titles, but what can I say? I love DC,  always have; the only other comics I felt any connection to as a kid were assorted 2000ad titles, their US (four colour)reprints and Judge Dredd spin offs, while the only Marvels I ever bought were incomplete instalments of stories, randomly picked out of the frustratingly tangled web of  interconnected  Spiderman & X-men comics, which I quickly found were at lot easier to follow in the British editions, shortly before deciding to not bother with them at all. I was also very fond of Viz, Electric Soup & The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, from around the age of 13 and until the market became flooded with a slew of instantly forgettable(despite the graphic and tasteless depictions of heinous shit they usually contained) "Adult Humour" magazines that began to appear across the UK, giving us all the chance to rediscover dear old  Frederic Wertham's POV, refracted through the  lens of the UK tabloid machine, but I digress......

Spoilers Below!




Booster Gold #42 & JL:Generation Lost #21

JL:GL #21
Judd Winick (Writer0
Fernando Dagnino & Raul Fernandez (Art)

I've decided to review these two comics together, basically because BG #42 has me wondering how JL:GL # 21 would be this week, were Keith Giffin still on writing duties for both books. I think the problems of having Booster appear in both titles concurrently were apparent at the outset, and could have been the catalyst for Giffen's sudden departure. To enjoy both, I need to switch to extreme suspension of disbelief mode and look at it as though both storylines are happening somewhere in the same year, rather than concurrently. Thanks to the time travel factor, this is a lot easier than it would be usually for me, as despite being a lazy, unpunctual, slovenly and inconsistent individual here on Earth Prime, I'm something of a stickler for continuity in my comics.
   JL:GL#20 ended up with Max Lord ventilating a Blue Beetle's skull for the second time, and so, for most of this issue we were led on a tour of the other character's reactions to the apparent death of Jaime Reyes. From the death inspired passion, ahem, igniting between Beatriz LaCosta(Fire) and Gavril Ivanovich(Rocket Red), to the reflections of Nathaniel Adams(Captain Atom)  on his loss of humanity, as Tora Olafsdotter(Ice) brought a candle to his dark night of the soul by reflecting that he will always be there to protect humanity as a result of the accident that gave him his powers; a thought which comforts her. As ever, Booster Gold had the trusty, but sarky,  flying robot, Skeets, as his wise counsel, uging him not to beat himself up over letting Maxwell Lord take away another of his closest friends, while reflecting on the overall damage Lord had done since his resurrection  in Blackest Night #8. All of this made for a genuinely affecting requiem; that is, until Jaime stood up on the last page declaring he has a plan to beat Lord once and for all. Now, I'm sure there are many who cheered as they reached this page, but  I was not among them. When DC promised to close the 'revolving door' around the infinite deaths and resurrections in their comics, I took it to mean we wouldn't be seeing any more deaths followed by resurrections within 6 months to 2 years. Having a character shot in the brain, only to be brought back  by the life support system in his weaponizsd bio-suit is a renege on that promise; the fact that it happened over two issues, before the character had a chance to have a funeral does not make the 'death' exempt in my view. Although I generally enjoy this series, sometimes I get the feeling Judd Winick has simply been treading water, providing plenty of consequence free dialogue and giving . Of course, another way of looking at it is Jaime's apparent death was necessary to finding out what's going on with Lord, as his attempts to separate him from the sentient Scarab(which makes him Blue Beetle) may have afforded them some leverage into the war machine the enemy is operating from. Despite the misleading premise of the issue, it was an interesting read, while good art, character development and banter continue to make this a title I would most likely stick with beyond the limited run of 24 issues.

Booster Gold #42


Keith Giffen, J.M Matteis(Absolutely able writers)
Chris Batista & Pat Oliffe(also amazingly able as artists)

 In Booster Gold #42, we catch up with Booster in the 25th Century as he continues the five year sentence imposed on him for stealing the time-bubble and powered suit that transformed Michael Jon Carter, shamed foootball  player , into Booster  Gold, cocky hero in the first place. His cellmate, 'The Perforated Man', after some totally transparent build up, turns out to be an older, diseased and insane version of Booster himself, who appears to be twisted and insane as a result of his constant time travelling.  There follows a neat little twist on the myths and theories of what would happen if time travelling versions of the same person share the same space in time as the two Booster's go at it with each other, each punch landing them in a different time zone, from the dinosaur era via Paris 1600, etc,  to a cliffhanger on the surface of our dying sun. It becomes clear that Rip Hunter has set this event up on purpose, though since we know that Rip is actually Booster's son and his father is alive and well(as seen in Time Masters:Vanishing Point #6 last month) we have to assume that The Perforated Man is an anomaly of some kind, possibly arising from DC's upcoming alternate future crossover event,  Flashpoint, which will see the entire DC Universe change beyond all reason and recognition, leaving one or two good guys to save the day, much like every other comics event really, but let's not moan before we've seen issue 1, at least! Chris Batistas art is nicely done, reminding me of Carlos Pacheco, with a little beautiful simplicity similar to  Francis Manapul's recent Flash output; and the Perforated Man/Old Booster reminds me of one of the Furies of Apokolips, I think its the slightly kinky(or kinkier than usual) head and face mask! I'm enjoying the narrative device here, that's a twist on the old 'Dead Man Tells His Tale In Flashback',  since Booster couldn't possibly be dead as he has returned to Rip's Lab, yet  still seems in genuine peril in the story he's telling, leaving us to wonder how they got out of it, and if the right Booster made it back alive! Anyway, I liked this as much as any past Booster Gold comics, and although I'm looking forward to the return of Dan Jurgens(who is never very far away from this 80's creation of his while at DC), I'll miss Matteiss and Giffen on the title. Maybe I'll seek out their Metal Men(which ran as a back up in Giffens Doom Patrol)when they wrap up here, providing the next couple of issues don't finally reveal them as the tired old hack writers they actually are, "Bwah, hah, hah, hah,"*


*See Justice League International/Europe, out now in TPB, folks!