Chris Gage

Super Powered Comics: UK Conventions

By Chris Gage | March 12, 2012 - 11:36 am | Comics

While I’ve been reading comics properly for over a decade, it’s only within the past 2-3 years that I’ve been attending conventions here in the UK. I initially went along to one of them with a friend of mine who was running an exhibitor table for his small press comics and found myself enjoying the hell out of it.

“Comic convention” is actually a bit of an umbrella term that seems to be used to describe pretty much any event involving hobbies or interests that one might consider “geeky” These can range from films and TV, to videogames and cosplay. Some shows are more geared towards certain aspects than others which depending on your reasons for going can have a huge bearing on how much you enjoy yourself.

Convention season is starting up again soon (in earnest it actually started a couple of weeks back) so here’s a handy guide to the main UK shows for 2012 and what you can expect from each one.

First up in the 2012 calendar is London Super Comic Convention, which actually took place on the last weekend of February in what was the first time that the event had been held. Focusing solely on comics it had a guestlist that was refreshingly devoid of actors or TV personalities, instead providing a respectable roster of creators ranging from UK favourites to big names from abroad such as Mike Deodato Jr and Jim Cheung. Stan Lee was in attendance for what was only his 2nd UK appearance and by all accounts the weekend seems to have been a success. For a first-time event I’ve heard it was very well organised and it looks set to become a regular fixture of the UK convention calendar.

Next up on May 12-13th is the Bristol Comic Expo. Bristol is a show that I’ve attended twice so far and have already made plans to visit this year. While nothing about it is stellar, there’s something about the show as a whole that makes it more enjoyable than other larger ones with more impressive guests in attendance. It’s a popular show for the majority of the UK comic scene and as such you’ll find a lot of guests will be there year after year. It’s this familiarity that makes it a bit more relaxed and, for me at least, more enjoyable. I may already have 4 sketches from Marvel artist Neil Edwards for example, but Bristol is a show where adding a 5th isn’t any great ordeal. Bristol this year features Denny O’Neill as the guest of honour aswell as UK regulars such as Lee Garbett, Mark Buckingham, Dylan Teague and Ian Churchill. The impact of Bristol seems to have been lessened somewhat since the start of the next show in this list, and you’ll now find that there are fewer foreign creators flown in than perhaps there were in the past, but it’s still a very worthwhile show.

Step forward Kapow Comic Con, organised in part by Mark Millar and for 2012 in its 2nd year (May 20th – 21st) Kapow sits in the calendar right around the time that Bristol does, and it’s a shame to see the small yet noticeable impact it’s had on Bristol attendance. Here the focus is much more on a San Diego-type affair where comics, while present, take something of a backseat to other forms of media. The majority of panels held at Kapow 2011 were about film and TV, with a not insignificant amount of floorspace given up to IGN for their videogame coverage. Artist’s alley was threadbare, and it was a shame to see the impressive list of comic professionals in attendance only signing in small slots over the weekend. After promoting the show with what was basically just a list of the big names in attendance it was hard not to be disappointed in seeing demand so completely outstrip supply. The show is organised well enough for the huge footfall it experiences, and if you just want a show where you can get something of the Comic Con experience without flying to California you could do worse, it’s just that for me as a sketch collector it wasn’t ideal. Kapow’s admittedly impressive guestlist so far includes Joe Quesada, Warren Ellis, Terry Dodson, Adi Granov and a whole heap of others. Just don’t count on catching them all for signings or sketches because their time is VERY limited and queues are always huge.

Birmingham International Comics Show (BICS) was the first convention that I’d ever attended and it’s one that like Bristol is unspectacular but still very enjoyable. Organised by artist James Hodgkins among others, the show attracts an impressive array of creators from abroad supplementing a foundation of UK talent. It’s a fairly laid back affair, with most of the guests manning their own table for the duration of the weekend. In some cases guests will only adhere to small signing schedules, but mercifully, and importantly when compared to Kapow, these sessions are conducted a few times over the weekend. Knowing that the artist you really want to see is signing later in the day as well as tomorrow morning means there’s much less joyless rushing around or tough decisions about schedule clashes. 2011 saw the show running as a smaller 1-day event in Birmingham city centre because the usual venue wasn’t available. Apparently the convention will be reverting to the weekend format this year although as yet nothing has been announced in terms of dates or guests.

November sees what in my mind is the best convention that the UK calendar has to offer in Leeds’ Thought Bubble festival. Spanning an entire week the festival encompasses academic conferences on the subject of sequential art, a film festival and then the convention itself on the weekend. It’s a brilliantly organised event that focuses purely on comics and always draws an impressive guestlist on the strengths of its reputation as such a great show. The show is popular with the more liberal media in the UK such as The Guardian, and seems to have a very mature approach to the entire thing, treating comics and graphic novels as the artform that they actually are. Thought Bubble 2012 runs from 11th-18th November and so far as confirmed guests Skottie Young, Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera, Kate Beaton, Yannick Paquette and Phil Noto.

Basically your enjoyment of any given show will depend on what you hope to get from it. If you’re mainly looking at going to a comic convention for cosplay, film/TV or just a general curiosity then you will probably enjoy a show like Kapow a lot. It certainly has more spectacle than the other shows to the point that if you’re attending with no real agenda and are just after a weekend out then you’ll probably love it.

If like me you want a show where you can get books signed and collect original sketches from your favourite artists then you can choose between Bristol, Birmingham and Leeds depending almost entirely on the guestlist and whether anyone in attendance peaks your interest. Thought Bubble is an exceptional show that should be your priority, but there’s a lot to love about the others too.

In the end there’s nothing to say that you can’t go to more than one convention. God knows I will be.

Super Powered Comics – Spider-Man: One More Day

By Chris Gage | February 27, 2012 - 3:34 pm | Comics

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If there’s one thing you’ve probably gathered about me from my time on this site so far, it’s that I’m not overly critical. Even I can recognise that there are a lot of things that seem to be universally reviled by the rest of the internet (not a great indicator, I know) but I always find myself enjoying them or at absolute worst ambivalent towards them. You’ll be shocked to find this pattern continue even when I look at one of the stupidest ideas to have come about in a long time. I’m clearly quite adept at finding silver linings.

If any comic ever had “editorial mandate” written all over it, it’s the “One More Day” storyline from Amazing Spider-Man. When it was originally solicited, it was made clear that the whole thing was the idea of Joe Quesada, a stupid idea that was forced through supposedly against the better judgement of the entire Marvel editorial team.

For anybody not in the know, it was decided that Spider-Man had become stuck in a rut and the blame seemed to be placed firmly at the door of one Mary Jane Watson-Parker. People didn’t want to read the adventures of a Spider-Man who goes out fighting crime and then returns to his loving wife. Readers were (apparently) yearning for a return to the younger more carefree Peter Parker, something that could only happen if he was free and single again. For some reason it was decided that broaching the subject of divorce with the younger readers of Spider-Man (of which we all know, there are none) would be irresponsible, and that the only way to proceed would be to have the marriage anulled thanks to Peter making a literal deal with the devil.

I know. I know…

As soon as it was announced fans were up in arms. Not a huge amount of time had passed since Peter’s unmasking during the Marvel Civil War, something that could’ve led to any number of interesting stories. The argument was that people weren’t sick of reading about the mature, married Spider-Man, they just wanted to read something fresh. Marvel pressed on, and after a botched assassination attempt from The Kingpin left Aunt May in critical condition, Peter and Mary-Jane made a deal with the devil to save her in exchange for their marriage having never happened. New status quo easily achieved.

Despite being such a profoundly stupid idea, if you can find a way to reconcile it from it’s very purpose “One More Day” is actually not as big a travesty as some might claim. Since it’s basically his baby and his stupid idea in the first place, Joe Quesada provides the artwork and just like his run on Kevin Smith’s Daredevil it’s mostly pretty damn enjoyable. Occasional quirks in facial expressions or minor details are easily forgivable when taken against some of the iconic images he creates.

Despite being hampered by its questionable main premise, Straczynski manages to make the best of things and crafts quite a sweet story that I found to strike similar chords to “Never Let Me Go” and the nature of feeling like there’s never quite enough time with your loved ones. When taken as a singular work “One More Day” is unremarkable and ill-advised but still somewhat enjoyable. It’s a testement to the talent of those involved that it wasn’t a complete and unmitigated disaster.

The absolute strangest thing about “One More Day” isn’t to be found in the storyline itself, but in what succeeded it in “Brand New Day” Marvel’s gamble with the reboot worked out, and thanks to some great supervision from Steve Wacker the title enjoyed something of a renaissance. With a stable of around 6 writers working in shifts Amazing Spider-Man went on to a weekly release schedule from some very talented writers like Mark Waid, Joe Kelly and Zeb Wells. For what seemed to be the first time in years, new characters were created and the freedom afforded by the new status quo seemed to be inspiring much more creativity than the title had enjoyed in a while. Not all of the new villains were great, but it was enjoyable to see new ones being created, and after the odd speedbump in the first few months it led to fantastic stories like “The Gauntlet” and “Grim Hunt”

It’s hard not to question the morals behind a cynical retcon like “One More Day” and while it wasn’t executed with the loving hand of other easily dismissed endeavours, it’s difficult to be too hard on it just because of the sheer quality it would one day lead to. If the very idea of it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you could do a lot worse than giving the series a shot starting with “Brand New Day”.

Super Powered Film: Daredevil

By Chris Gage | February 17, 2012 - 11:26 am | Film

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Following on from my recent gushy retrospective on Brian Michael Bendis’ run on Daredevil, I’ll be looking at the film released by Fox back in 2003. While the comic is what I genuinely consider to be a masterpiece, Mark Steven Johnson’s movie….well it just isn’t. That’s not to say that it’s without merit, though.

A property in development at Fox way back in the early 2000s, Daredevil turned from being a fairly standard superhero adapation with a modest budget to being something with greater expectations. Following the record-breaking release of Spider-Man the year before, the decision was made to increase the budget of Daredevil in an attempt to capitalise on the somewhat similar property. The result is somewhat uneven film that seems unsure of its aims. One minute it has a darker tone akin to something like The Crow or Blade, and the next there’s the kind of action sequence you’re used to seeing in much lighter fare.

At this point I should probably address the Director’s Cut of the film. Released on DVD in the years following the theatrical release, it is a vastly superior adaptation aswell as being a better film in general. Tonally it’s far more consistent, and viewing it after having already seen the theatrical cut you can actually look at the differences and see exactly where concessions were made to make it a safer prospect. The prime example of this is the difference in how the romance is handled between the 2 versions, with the theatrical cut having a very generic superhero film love interest that to my mind is much more effective when scaled back slightly for the directors cut. It’s also worth noting that there was an entire subplot cut from the film for cinema release that when re-inserted back into the film pays a much greater tribute to Matt’s life as a lawyer. The theatrical cut that I had enjoyed in the cinema now no longer exists as far as I’m concerned. Make no mistake, the Director’s Cut is the definitive version.

The Good

1) Ben Affleck

Affleck gets a lot of undeserved criticism in my opinion. While it’s true that he can’t pick a project as well as his friend Matt Damon, and he likes to play along with the jokes that he can’t act, he tends to really pull it together on certain projects. This is more evident in recent years with the talent he’s displayed in the director’s chair, but there is the odd film where he’s something of a joy to watch. Daredevil for me is one of those films. While he may not have been the obvious or popular choice to play Matt Murdock (Guy Pearce is a name that’s thrown around a lot) he does pretty well here. Rather than being any kind of stellar or stand-out performance, it’s really just a serviceable one with the odd flash of brilliance that lifts the quality of the performance as a whole.

2) Special Effects

Admittedly there are some ropey effects on show here. Having watched it not too long ago I was struck by a couple of shots that hadn’t aged very well and if I’m honest weren’t all that great to begin with. These are primarily the shots where a full CGI figure was required for the especially elaborate acrobatics. These few shots are entirely mitigated however by the clever depiction of Matt’s powers and the way that he perceives the world around him. I’m a big fan of the style they chose for the “radar sense” and love the feel that it gives to the action scenes where it’s used. There’s nothing technologically mindblowing on display, but it is clever and feels appropriate.

3) Colin Farrell as Bullseye

Farrell’s having a great deal of fun with this. While in an ideal world it’s perhaps a more comedic interpretation than I would choose for Bullseye, it’s a pleasure just to watch some real scenery-chewing.

4) A solid supporting cast

Surrounding Affleck with talented character actors like Joe Pantoliano, and a charasmatic sidekick in Jon Favreau is another one of those small things that goes a long way to improving the film as a whole. With a less likeable actor playing Foggy Nelson the more reserved scenes of Matt in his professional life wouldn’t be nearly so enjoyable.

The Bad

1) The playground fight

Honestly, I still can’t quite get my head around this scene. As a fan of the property there were things that I was always likely to overlook in the interest of enjoying just getting to see a property I like on the big screen. That said, this scene more than any other is the one that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable when I’m with people watching it for the first time with no prior love for the series. It’s a bizarre wire-fu affair that is only really there to fulfill the need for an action beat. Tonally it didn’t really fit into the film in the first place, but it’s all the more incongruous in the more serious-feeling director’s cut.

2) The music

While the score is serviceable enough, the heavy use of licensed music dates the film more than most and in some cases makes the whole thing seem almost cheesy. Credited with expanding the profile of Evanescence, there’s 2 of their songs used in the film, and while I’m no great critic of the band in general, their inclusion here is a definite negative. Much worse than that though is the song by Drowning Pool and featuring Rob Zombie. Used in a fairly pivotal scene, it features a chorus that actually uses the word “Daredevil” quite a bit. While I can’t be absolutely sure, I feel almost like the track is quieter in the soundmix of the Director’s Cut so it’s not quite so abrasive. I could be wrong, but either way the song sounds like the kind of thing a child would improvise to himself while playing with Daredevil action figures.

Daredevil is a film that has something of a poor reputation with most viewers. There are those like myself that enjoy it despite some glaring flaws while it seems there is a greater proportion of people with an almost surprising amount of vitriol for the film. How many of those dislike the film as an adaptation, on its own merits or both I have no idea. The one thing that I can say is that there’s a pretty much unanimous agreement that the Director’s Cut offers a much more enjoyable film than the original cinema release. If you do decide to check it out, just make sure it’s that version. It won’t change your life, but you might find it surprises you.

Super Powered Comics: Daredevil – The Bendis/Maleev years

By Chris Gage | February 9, 2012 - 3:50 pm | Comics

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The very first Daredevil comic that I’d read was the “Guardian Devil” arc written by Kevin Smith and with Joe Quesada on art duties. I hadn’t been reading comics for that long and it was something that a friend of mine had picked up a few months before the movie was released in cinemas. Despite missing out on some of the references to Matt’s past in there, and struggling a bit with aspects alluding to the larger Marvel Universe, I enjoyed it a lot. As a newbie at the time, I was blissfully unaware of how poor the title had been in recent years, and was even less prepared for how great it would become from the 3rd arc onwards, under the guidance of one Brian Michael Bendis.

By the time I was reading this series I was casually aware of Bendis from his work on Ultimate Spider-Man, a title that I enjoyed a great deal because it appealed to my lifelong love of Spider-Man without the requisite trawl through continuity to catch up.I knew that Bendis was a writer who could deliver, but it wasn’t until he was teamed with Alex Maleev from the 4th arc of Daredevil onwards that I saw what he could really do. Together, they set the tone for a title that would become my favourite superhero work of all time.

The most famous aspect of Bendis’ tenure on the series was Matt Murdock’s outing as Daredevil to the tabloid press and the consequences of him trying to continue on his mission while simultaneously trying to disprove the journalists that are hounding him. Bendis has a reputation as a writer who deals a lot in decompression, mostly from his work on Avengers titles where readers were much more used to, and would often expect, something a bit more action-packed rather than the dialogue heavy fare he would often deliver. In Daredevil, this style of storytelling feels wholly approriate. There are aspects of the title that are immensely enjoyable even just as talking heads between Matt, Foggy and the rest of his supporting cast. That’s not to say that there isn’t great action in the series aswell, infact if anything it’s the quality of the writing in more sedate parts that really give the action such an enjoyable weight.

Artwork is stellar throughout, with Maleev demonstrating just how amazing he can be when experimenting more with the rough scratchy visuals that he carried through onto titles like Spiderwoman, Scarlet and Moon Knight (All with Bendis)

Going into too much detail about Daredevil would be doing it a disservice, as a great deal of the enjoyment I found from it was in how I could never predict what was going to happen. From volume to volume it was always something fresh while still building towards a cohesive and entertaining whole.

Quite simply, Bendis and Maleev’s work on Daredevil made it quite possibly the greatest title I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.

Super Powered Comics: Before Watchmen. Why CARE?

By Chris Gage | February 6, 2012 - 3:04 pm | Comics

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I read with some interest Kyle’s thoughts on the recently announced “Before Watchmen” comics and still can’t seem to get my head around what makes it such a divisive subject. Since DC Comics let the cat out of the bag the internet has been awash with opinions ranging from the mildly disappointed to the needlessly venomous, but so far I’ve yet to see anybody treat it with the apathy it should really illicit.

I love Watchmen as much as the next man and recognise that it’s a book that’s very important to a lot of people, I just don’t understand how this project should have any bearing on somebody’s opinion of Moore/Gibbons’ original series.

The arguments so far tend to play out as follows:

“This is nothing but a cynical cash-grab by DC”

While this is is almost certainly true to a point, I think we can all accept that this could’ve been handled a lot worse. There’s a lot to respect about DC’s choices in creative team for each title, and you can see that at the very least they’ve tried to attach some of their more talented creators. A truly mercenary approach would’ve been to hire cheaper less established writers and artists and just churning out any old crap. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I can see how at the very least they’re putting some effort into their pointless endeavour. Choosing Azzarello for the grittier characters like Comedian and Rorschach, with Darwyn Cooke working on the older, more classic superhero tone of titles like Minutemen gives the impression that at least some thought has gone into finding appropriate creative teams.

“DC should be using the money for this project on funding original new ideas and finding the next Watchmen”

Again, at least a little bit true. In an ideal world there’d be a great deal of opportunity out there for new talent to develop their ideas and create the original titles that imprints at Vertigo are known for. If a focused initiative like this led to more titles like Scalped, Y:The Last Man, The Unwritten or 100 Bullets I’d be over the moon, but realistically there’s only really the market for this kind of thing in special cases. Everybody says they want creator-owned titles, but then when they’re put to print nobody buys them. An established and beloved universe like Watchmen’s comes with significantly less risk than a bold new title, so it stands to reason that DC might jump at the chance. If anything it’s just a surprise it took 25 years.

“Alan Moore never wanted any sequels/prequels”

Yes, Watchmen is a complete work. It’s a fully-realised universe where everything feels very deliberate and intentional and it’s a fair bet to assume that if Moore had a story he felt needed telling he would’ve done it already. That said, just because Alan Moore is done with the characters and universe it doesn’t mean that somebody else can’t find something worthwhile to do with it.For somebody who deals so heavily in established characters from other’s work, it seems strange for Moore to get on his high-horse about this.

Moore seems like a friendly, reasonable and amiable enough chap, but for somebody who claims to want no involvement in the handlings of his old work he certainly seems unable to resist commenting on it. I personally feel that if you want to take an isolationist approach to the comics industry then you can’t really be taking shots at them everytime they do something you’re not happy with. I understand that he has no real reason to be restraint when somebody jams a microphone in his face to ask his opinion, (as comic journalists are so often want to do) but questioning the current talent pool in the way that he does just seems kinda petty.

Really every point I’ve made there has been in response to the incredibly negative opinions that most have about this project before it’s even gotten off the ground. By that token I can see that it comes across as endorsement, when really what I’m trying to say more than anything else is that I don’t care.

Maybe the whole thing will turn out okay. The talent is certainly there. I won’t be picking up the series but if I hear good things I’ll check it out. A title that I’ll likely never read can’t really have any kind of impact on me, which I guess is why I’m so confused at how precious people are being about the issue.

If it sickens you then don’t read it. I assure you your current copy of Watchmen will remain completely unaffected.