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Thursday 29 November 2012

Mini Marvel's



Friday 16 November 2012

Is Tyreese going to join the Walking Dead?


I have not posted on this subject for a while mainly due to still being in shock from last Friday's episode aired on FX. Don't worry no spoilers this time.
This season has seen fans get some major new characters we now have the sword wielding Michonne being played by Danai Gurira and the major villain the Governor played by David Morrissey and now according to Robert Kirkman the series creator fans are going to get one more character straight from the comics could this be Tyreese? In an interview EW.Com Kirkman stated that the fall finale will feature a new charactor straight from the pages of the comic book.
  "There’s a new character added,” Kirkman told EW. “A big deal fan favorite from the comic book is introduced into the show in this episode, so be on the lookout for that.”

From the Start of the series there has been one character that has been missing that was in the comic book Tyreese.
The former NFL line backer,Bouncer and Car Salesman first appeared in the walking dead #7 with his Daughter Julie and her boyfriend Chris and he soon became a co leader of the group with Rick.

The thing is Tyreese appears in the comic book way before the prison and then meets his end when the Governor tries to storm the prison. So unless the story moves even more away from the comic book he won't be in it for long.
Kirkman has not personally stated that it will be Tyreese make an appearance and when pushed he just said:
"I don't know, man!" he said. "I don't know. I got no clue!"
myself I think it makes no sense in him dropping into the story at this point.


So if it's not Tyreese who could it be? There are 2 people that would make more sense to drop into the story line now one is Caesar Martinez the former Gym Teacher that befriends Rick and the Gang before tiring to betray them to the Governor.


The other would be Sgt Abraham Ford and his gang. In the comic book we meet Abraham and his gang shortly after the prison when Rick ,Carl and Michonne meet up with Glen and the others back at Hershel's farm.
Abraham has with him Rosita and Eugene. We find out that Rosita is his girlfriend and the Eugene is supposed to be some kind of scientist how seem to know what happen and how the dead started to rise.
This group would be perfect to be introduced at the end of this TV series as it would then move the survivors from the prison in a new direction and on to Washington.


What ever happens we will have to wait and see as Kirkman is keeping things very close to his chestbut one thing have we seen the last of Shane?????







  
  






        

Friday 9 November 2012

Where I last saw Charley

Where I last saw Charley

I found this on Forbidden Planet and is quite apt for this time of year.

Charley's War


As we near remembrance Sunday 11/11/12 I thought I would write a post about one of my favorite comic strips from my childhood in the 1980's.
Charley's War was a story that appeared in the Battle comic from 1979 to 1985. The Battle comic was produced by IPC Publications to rival the Warlord comic.
Charley's War first appeared in the Battle in January 1979 written by Pat Mills and drawn Joe Colquhoun.
The story tells the tale of Charley Bourne who joins the British army at the age of 16 (under age) and he quickly finds himself thrust into the middle of the battle of the somme in the summer of 1916. As the story continues through the first world war showing Charley experiences in the trench's it is incredibly detailed and well researched with high amounts of factual information rolled into Charley's story.
The artwork as like many of the time was printed mainly in black and white which gave it a dark feeling which suited the subject and the horrors of trench life which the writer and artist never shunned away from this was a change from the heroic war stories show in other comics of the time.
The story started out mainly told in letters home to Charley's dad but this later started to fade out of the story. The story runs from the start of the battle of the Somme and ends just after Charley and his son (Len) escape from Dunkirk in the second world war so from 1916 to mid 1940 so we see Charley take part in the battle of the Somme, rescue his mother from a zepplin raid,take part in tunneling under the German trench's before the start of the 3rd battle of Ypres then on to the Etaples Mutiny,then back to the trench's of Passchendaele where he encounters a young Hitler all the way through the rest of the first world war then on to the BEF to russia  fighting along side the white and then into the 1930's where Charley finds himself on the dole in the Great Depression, This is where Mills wanted the story to end and in 1985 he left the comic because a cut in the research budget. The story was then taken up by Scott Goodall till the story ended with Charley and Len escaping from Dunkirk.

The story 1st ran from 1979 to 1985 in the Battle and the was re-printed and finally finished in the Eagle monthly which end in the mid 1990's.
The story has been collected into hard back by titan books of which at the time of this post they have produced up to vol 8.







      

Monday 5 November 2012

Walking Dead Episode 3 The Governor and an Old Friend


Friday night saw the 3rd episode of season 3 air in the UK on FX.
Now if you have not seen it this post will contain spoilers be warned.
After the clearing of the cell blocks with the new cast members in episode 2 right at the end we see Michonne and Andrea strike out on there own in to the wilderness with Michonne's pet walkers in toe. The 3rd episode revolves around Michonne and Andrea, They stumble upon a crashed helicopter but before they can investigate they are interrupted by the Governor and his men, Who clear the area (with some kick ass bow and arrow action) before removing the injured pilot from the chopper. Andrea and Michonne are discovered by an old friend Merle who the last time we truly saw him was hand cuffed to the roof of a building in Atlanta (Dream scene not included).Michonne and Andrea minus the now headless pet walkers (Michonne chopped there heads off to stop them being discovered worked out well that! lol) are taken blindfolded to Woodbury.
Andrea is then given treatment for the heavy cold she has and then talks to Merle about everything that has happen since they parted. They are both introduced to the governor who gives them the guided tour of Woodbury.
Merle now with new Knife hand attachment
All is not what is seams with the Governor anyone who has read the comic book will know that more or less after about 5 minute we know that the Governor is a nut job, But the TV series Governor it is not so easy to spot how un-hinged he is. At first he seems to be a bit secretive lots of whispering in ears but comes across as a good leader with lots of weight on his shoulders but then after being sent to pick up the chopper pilots army buddies and bring them in to woodbury we see how much of a nutter he really is.
Right, Now we come to a bit that has bugged me for the last 3 days. The chopper Pilot and buddies are all National Guard with heavy weapons and combat training but they are killed in less then a minute by what can only be described as a bunch of bandits. this would just not happen in real life. Also Andrea at the start of the episode can't go on as she is to ill from by the looks of it possibly  from being out in the open for to long is up and fine after 10 mins on a saline drip???
The Governor brings back all the National Guard equipment to woodbury gives a speech to the people and then the last thing we see is the not so normal Governor sat in his secret room watching his heads in there tanks.

This is a good start for the First appearance of the Governor I still don't think they will make him as evil as the comic book but one good thing is that his Walker little Girl looks not to have made it to TV as of yet anyway i did think she was a little pointless in the book.

Also if you like your post apocalyptic zombie comics why not check out Crossed by Avatar Press Comics 
but be warn it is not for kids!!!





  
   



Thursday 1 November 2012

Dark Times for Dark Horse Star Wars Comic Books


Disney's 4.2 billions dollar takeover of Lucas Films looks like it will spell the end for Star Wars comics being published by Dark Horse Comics.
Disney have already rocked the comic book world with the 4 billion dollar purchase of Marvel comics 3 years ago which then gave them access to a library of already well known characters and some say that this is the main reason the Avengers became a huge hit. (nothing to do with the 50 plus year history of some of the characters or the fact Marvel were planing an Avengers film years anyway before Disney arrived on the Marvel scene, No no it's all down to Disney why the Avengers was so big!)
Now that Disney own both Lucas Films and Marvel Comics it is inevitable that Marvel will start to produce a comic book for the Star Wars franchise before the release of the new Star Wars film set for release 2015. 
Lucas Films at the minute has Dark Horse Comics producing a long line of different Star Wars titles dating back 20 years. 
  
Dark Horse have been doing a great job of Expanding the Star Wars Universe for the last 20 years with titles such as Empire,Republic and Rouge Squadron and many more ranging from the film universe to the past and into the far future of the films timelines.
Dark Horse Comic have done a great job of expanding the Universe of may different film franchises from Aliens and Buffy to the Terminator plus it has some great titles coming from in house such as Hellboy,Sin City and 300.
But why would Disney who already own Marvel continue to contract Dark Horse to produce the comic book when they can do it themselves?
Dark Horse's Founder and President Mike Richardson said this on Dark Horses Facebook page:
 "Dark Horse and Lucas Film have a strong partnership which spans over 20 years, and has produced multiple characters and story lines which are now part of the Star Wars lore. Star Wars will be with us for the near future. Obviously, this deal changes the landscape, so we'll all have to see what it means for the future."   
Which does not sound to promising for the the current comics now does it.



some of the many great covers done by Dark Horse over the years.

Marvel comics have had a shot at doing a Star wars comic themselves in the late 1970's early 1980's 
but it didn't expand much just concentrating on the main charters from the films. In my personal option the then Marvel art work was poor and cluttered with to much going on in each panel not a patch on what we have today with Dark Horse plus the story lines were very basis and some time very boring.
Marvel Comic star wars #1

Now we as the fans all know what will happen if Marvel take over the comic, one word that brings dread to many comic book fans.....Re-Boot.
I really do hope that Marvel prove me wrong with this but I have a feeling that they will just chuck away what Dark Horse have done and go it alone which for me will be a disaster. I also get the feeling the Art will suffer and there will be a general dumbing down for the kiddies.
Marvel at the minute have had that many re-boots and killing off characters left right and centre only for them to come back as a girl when was a boy or reverse or come back as a more PC character that it is getting hard to be bothered with any Marvel title also the amount of one shots and mini series produce just to coin in off the fans it is now becoming a bit of a joke.
I know that taking Star Wars away from Dark Horse won't kill Dark Horse comics but I fear that it will get ruined by what Marvel will do to it.