The Wolverine (official trailer)

In cinemas July 25th 2013!

Hugh Jackman was born to play the Wolverine, and wanna know something? I can't wait to see this ace looking movie!

Man Of Steel trailer

In cinemas June 14th.

Commando Comics

The famous badge

Commando comics (formerly Commando War Stories in Pictures), began its life in Scotland in 1961 courtesy of D.C. Thomson of Dundee. They are a series of British comic books that are inspired by incidents from World Wars I & II and use it as a running theme. I remember first seeing them in a local newsagents as a boy in the late seventies and always thought the handy pocket size a nice idea because you didn't have to fold it like the Beano and thus spoil it. Comic fans are funny about little things like creasing but now all that is a distant memory! Why? Because like with everything else, you can get an App to read them. I love living in the future!
And whats great is when you subscribe, being the kind folk they are, D.C. Thompson will shout you 4 free comics ('Combat Zone', 'Desert Vengeance', Jack's Private War' 'The Winter Warriors). That's 66 pages per comic so you get *does sums* 264 of brilliantly drawn action. Cool huh? Be warned though, they are better read on a tablet because I found using an iPhone got to be a strain after a few pages.

30 Days of Night

As with every comic/graphic novel these days, the complete "30 Days of Night" collection is available via iOS App. Head on over to Comixology to get stuck into the human claret drenched series, the vampire romp also has a dedicated App of its own via IDW Publishing. They'll even shout you 3 free comics when you sign up. Ace. Everyone loves free stuff.
We all know the story by now (even non comic fans, thanks to the movie) where for one month in every year, Barrow, an isolated Alaskan town, is plunged into darkness, leaving it a party town for murder loving vampires. Its a satisfying slice of gore and storytelling (Steve Niles) with some brilliant illustrations by Ben Templesmith.
I recently read "Beyond Barrow" and "Bloodsucker Tales" and enjoyed both. Vampires fans who have not yet taken the plunge into Barrow should definitely do so. I do have some niggles though. Firstly the lettering; some of the panels have bold red words over a black background which makes it difficult to read. It feels very hard on the eyes. Secondly, owing to some of the fine drawings which have a faded look, this series is better read on a larger tablet over the iPhone.


Books in the 30 Days of Night series:

30 Days 'Til Death
30 Days of Night Sourcebook
Annual
Beyond Barrow
Bloodsucker Tales
Dark Days
Dead Space
Eben and Stella
Juarez
Original Series
Red Snow
Return to Barrow
Scriptbook
Spreading the Disease
Three Tales

Iron Man 3 trailer

Enter Mandarin into Iron Man's world on 26th April 2013

World War Hulk Movie?

War!

The Hulk may be getting another stand-alone movie after Avengers 2. Thats exciting enough but get this: it is thought that the new film will take its plot from the Planet Hulk and World War Hulk storyline! HULK SMASH!!

Dredd

I Am The Swag

A scene in the recent Dredd movie really captured what it was that made me a fan of Judge Dredd (and 2000AD) way back in 1988:

Anderson: Sir, he's thinking of making a move for your weapon.
Judge Dredd: Yeah.
Anderson: He's changed his mind.
Judge Dredd: Yeah.

Its PURE Joe Dredd, the kind of lawman you'd expect if Dirty Harry and Robocop had a lovechild (look its weird I know but an accurate description.) Dredd takes no prisoners in 2000AD, he is a no nonsense cop who is as happy dishing out the law as he is bullets.
Now I will happily admit to being a fan of the 1995 Stallone movie Judge Dredd, but this new Dredd amps it up anothrer notch, albeit in a different direction. Gone are the over the top characters like Mean Machine, but fret not because it loses none of its violence. Here be bullet orgies and loud guns. Director Pete Travis has gone for a more 'real' vision of Mega-City One and it almost looks like any US city, it certainly isn't the sprawling Mega-City that we're used to with the comics and Stallone film with 50ft high neon ads and busy traffic jams packed with flying cars.
Dredd reminds me of Robocop and this is a good thing. It has the same futuristic-but-not-quite buzz about it. Familiar-but-something-more is how id describe the city. Oh and dont expect huge gold shoulder pads on the Judges or Lawmasters built like monster trucks either because in keeping with the realism things are kept pretty sober. Urban does a good job of being Judge Dredd as does Lena Heady in her role as the movies villain, Ma-Ma. (And she's still hot despite the heavy scarring.)
You can check out Ma-Ma's back story here:



To sum it up, Dredd is a brilliant movie and I hope there are more on the way. It would be fitting Justice to the galaxy's favourite Lawman.
This isn't a review but if it was id easily drop it a 5/5 Star rating. A must see.

Judge Dredd: "Inhabitants of Peach Trees, this is Judge Dredd."
Ma-Ma: "Let him talk."
Judge Dredd: "Just in case you've forgotten, this block operates under the same rules as the rest of the city. Ma-Ma is not the law. I am the law."