Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates #6

After one wild ride it seems a shame to end my coverage of the Death of Spider-Man on a low point. But here it is all the same. After much confusion the Ultimate Avengers and New Ultimates finally team up to take on Gregory Stark and save the world but what should be a bombastic climax completely underwhelms.

I can best compare this series to the bus from Speed. While racing along it can deliver all the thrills and laughs the audience want but if the pace slows down for whatever reason, the weaknesses of the writing becomes so obvious that the whole thing blows up. Or in this case just looks stupid. So once again the attempts to pull drama from characters that haven’t been fleshed out enough, such as the new Black Widow, fall limp. What seemed like an amoral satire tries to grow a conscience at the last minute. I understand that it needed to get in line with the other Ultimate titles in time for the reboot but the way it happens here feels too forced. I wish I didn’t have to resort to clichés but I can’t help that ‘too little, too late’ sums up this issue perfectly.

Bring us the next Superior. Bring us the next Kick-Ass 2. We need to be reminded that Mark Millar is a writer who can push boundaries and still take the time to develop his characters and stories. Otherwise I’ll go and pull out my back issues of Superman: Red Son.

Joe Read.

I chanced upon the first issue in one of the major comics shops in London and loved how old school it was, the diversity of the content was incredible and utterly compelling, and for £1 you can’t really go wrong. This Wednesday there will be a MEGA launch party for the Comix Reader #2, and YOU’RE INVITED.

As well as The Comix Reader, there will be two more comics launching on the very same night including The Black Project by Gareth Brookes (of Sherlock Holmes vs Skeletor fame) and Static Revolver #2 by Comix Reader cover artist Lord Hurk and Comix Reader contributor Kevin Ward.

So basically, there’s gonna be a whole bunch of incredibly talented people with a whole bunch of awesome comics, and you should probably come help us celebrate some awesome work! Click HERE for the facebook event, and then invite your mum along.

Anyway, at the London MCM Expo, which is as I’ve come to understand like Disneyland for people who like comics and junk, there will be many a cool thing to see. The headline sponsor is Green Lantern, which in my opinion is like preaching to the choir… Surely they should spend their money on getting folks who don’t read comic books to see it? Pfffttt, well they’ll probably be showing loads of new, unseen footage from it… footage like this:

As well as the movie, they’ll also be showcasing the video game, Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters. Note, if I’m standing behind you waiting for a turn, I will attempt to put you off by giving you a massage… You have been warned.

If Green Lantern doesn’t rev your engine, there’ll be an X-Men: First Class panel, featuring writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz who not only wrote X-Men: First Class, but also collaborated on the Thor movie, with other writing and production credits on hit sci-fi shows such as Fringe, Andromeda and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles… Which is nice.

The guys from Futurama will be there! That’s awesome, I’m gonna get the guy who voices Fry to say something obscure from an episode to impress everyone around me… Then I’ll be living up to the stereotype I’ve set for myself.

2000AD will be there for all you Dredd heads (that’s what you call people that look a bit like Sylvester Stallone). They’ll be selling their wares at discounted prices and there’s the chance to win a one-off piece of art from a very special guest apparently… I hope it’s Rolf Harris.

The Thrill Electric is a new online motion comic which won’t hit screens till October, but you’ll be able to get an exclusive look. It’s got online romance, cyberbullying and fanboys, Victorian style… Apparently. What that boy is planning to do with that glove is anyone’s guess though.

The Comic Village as always, is completely choc full of awesome people, the complete list is HERE. I’ve done a short list of people that I’m personally excited about, cause the full list would take me hours to do. Rest assured that those left out is down to ignorance and lack of time:

Kieron Gillen: Current writer of Uncanny X-Men and Journey Into Mystery, both have been awesomely awesome.

Joe List: Incredibly nice guy, who doodles on magazines in his spare time with good drawings as apposed to bad ones.

Marc Ellerby: Creator of Chloe Noonan, a wonderful comic about this girl who is a monster hunter, but has no powers.

Adam Cadwell: Great artist, who has his fingers in a lot of awesome good comic book pies. Never met him.

Beyond the Bunker: Creators of Moon, a comic which Good Comic Books like as it is a good comic book.

Other areas of the Expo include:

JapanEX:
Offering Japanese & Asian Culture… So expect lots of Manga and people with stupid hair.

Steampunk:
A fusion of Science Fiction and Victoriana, d’uh.

MCM Fringe Festival:
Stuff that’s happening in places other than the main arena… Whatever that means.

As usual, there’s the usual obscure celebrities sitting about, people dressing up in spandex, that kind of thing. Good Comic Books will be there (me) looking for awesome comics we never heard of to buy, so we’ll see you there k?

Need more details? Wanna buy tickets? Click your clicker HERE

]]> http://www.goodcomicbooks.com/news/3430/london-mcm-expo-preview/feed 0 http://www.goodcomicbooks.com/news/2593/moon-launch-t-minus-1-day http://www.goodcomicbooks.com/news/2593/moon-launch-t-minus-1-day#comments Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:31:02 +0000 Joe Innes http://www.goodcomicbooks.com/?p=2593

Our friends over at Beyond the Bunker have reminded us to remind you about this little shindig they’ve put together. This shindig will be like no other shindig was before. Not only is it a launch for their excellent comic Moon, and not only will there be music from some top musical chaps, but THE JOKER IS GOING TO BE THERE.

So if you fancy seeing some bands, reading a comic, and witnessing a murder or two at the hands of a maniac, then swing by The Square Pig tomorrow at around 7 or something… 30-32 Proctor Street, Holborn, WC1V 6NX. It’ll be fffuuuunnnn, AND you’ll get a copy of Moon with the £5 ticket price. Can’t get fairer than that.

For more info… CLICK THE FLYER

Here's Tom Hunt, he does Steeltoecaps, which is pretty much the acest webcomic ever.

STEELTOECAPS

Simon M and Nick Soucek of 'Smoo' and 'Misinterpreted Complications' pointing at something.

SMOO | MISINTERPRETED COMPLICATIONS

The Dirty Rotten Comics Crew

DIRTY ROTTEN COMICS | ANDY PANDA

Joe Decie and Joe List (Joe List annotates the Guardian's Weekender, he was doing it on the day!).

JOE DECIE | JOE LIST

Marc Ellercy, of Chloe Noonan fame. A thoroughly nice chap.

MARC ELLERBY

Simon Perrins, creator of Hope for the Future.

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

These are the guys behind Taroch (an absolutely beautiful comic).

TAROCH

Futurequake | 2000AD inspired awesomeness.

FUTUREQUAKE

Here's Elliot Baggott and Laura N Tamara. Both extremely talented makers of nice things.

ELLIOT BAGGOTT | LAURA N. TAMARA

Get a copy of this comic! I picked it up from creators Steve Penfold and Dan Thompson and it's ace.

MOON

Keep a look out for this one too.

SCHEME COMIX

Thanks to everyone who said hello! Again, this is only a small fraction of the great stuff that was there, we’ll be giving you some in depth reviews and recommendations later, but that’s your lot for now! If you wanted to see it all, you should’ve been there yourself. The next event is in Bristol on the 14th-15th May, GO! Click your clicker HERE for more details.

Joe Innes.

It was a great event, and a format that Orbital are planning on making a regular feature, so make sure you check it out. They even filmed the whole thing! Which you can find HERE.

This is invisible

Invisible

Paul Cornell is a guy you might be familiar with, his current run on Action Comics has been great, and he’s a really nice guy. I rocked up to the store with a whole load of comics with me, with the intention of deciding which ones I’d get signed once I was there. He spied the lot and signed them all! That’s quite nice.

Go visit his BLOG, it’s a writer’s blog, so it’s quite well written… as you might expect.

Invisible

Invisible

Paul Rainey is a man you may not have heard of, but really should have. He’s the writer of a really cool comic called There’s No Time Like The Present, which has now reached its final issue. Don’t worry though, because he said that he’s working on new stuff, and it sounded awesome.

He’s got a BLOG too, so make sure you keep up to date with his work… because it’s consistently brillant.

OH, and he did me this picture!

Invisible

Which was very nice!

So, in short; Paul Cornell and Paul Rainey are both really really nice, and you can go watch their discussion at another website entirely… HERE

GCB will be there, so if you can’t make it and were wondering if they just talked a lot of bollocks, we’ll have a report on what went on!

Joe Innes.