Heroes: Trust and Blood (vol 4 ep 2)

Again, an exciting episode although slightly marred by the whole premise of this season. I’m still not convinced as to Nathan Petrelli’s motives behind rounding up all those with powers. It’s like he’s been shoehorned into this role with no real obvious motivation. Heck, not that long ago he was agreeing to his father’s plan to give everyone powers via that formula. Perhaps there’s more to it that we’ll find out later on?

Same goes for Noah as well although at least he mentioned that there was more to his agreement to round up powered individuals, implying something hidden that we’re not aware of yet.

As well as seeing the heroes avoid (or not) the Hunter’s men, we also witnessed Sylar’s evilness. That was lovely and graphic. It’s a pity the show’s makers are so enamoured with Sylar and haven’t considered raising the profile of another evil person with powers. Having said that, I quite like the Sylar / Peter dichotomy.

So nothing much new happened is this episode other than the set up of the fugitives on the run from Nathan and the Hunter but vowing to strike back at them. Still, I like Heroes, and it is well produced. So still a Fine grade for me.

Being Human: episode 6

The first series of Being Human ends as it started and continued - with some good characterisation, excellent acting and engaging writing. It's urban fantasy with just enough fantasy to keep someone like myself interested whilst enough mainstream urban drama to attract the 'normal' folk.

To be honest, I have very little to say that I haven't said before. See Frank’s review over on the Cathode Ray Tube for a more insightful view of this. This episode showed us the result of the cliffhanger last week. Mitchell wasn't stabbed in the heart - the wound was on the wrong side - and Annie didn't leave through death’s door. After getting better (due to a poignant sacrifice from Mitchell's old flame), Mitchell decided enough was enough and set up a confrontation with Herrick, local leader of the vampires. However, George realised it was time to grow up and accept who and what he was, as well as pay back Mitchell's favour two years ago by taking on Herrick himself.

This episode also saw Annie grow in power (becoming perhaps a little too powerful). She can now fling vampires around, teleport several miles and hear pleas from other ghosts. I've never been quite convinced of Annie's ghostly abilities. She never seems to actually pass through things, teleporting instead, and it seems too easy for people to touch, or hurt or restrain, her. I guess it's to save on the effects budget. Then again, Mitchell seems to be quite able to go out in sunlight, so I think things are played a little loose with the usual conventions here.

I thought the end of this episode dragged a little. The confrontation with Herrick seemed a little laboured and I'm not sure what the whole idea behind it was (George was supposed to show how human he was by sacrificing himself for his friends... or something). But there were still plenty of moments of excitement.

And the end, with Nina possibly being infected with lycanthropy and the old man letting Professor Jabat know that they've found them (who's Professor Jabat? why does he want the three housemates?) sets up season 2 quite nicely. And yes, apparently there will be a second series. Hurrah!

So, overall for the series, a healthy Very Fine grade to this. The best drama series on UK TV this year - so far!

Sunday Spotlight: George Perez

The above picture was produced as part of the JLA/Avengers crossover series and shows what George Perez is renowned for - group shots. The above perhaps isn't the best - or most overwhelming - example although the image at the end of this post certainly is. George Perez is easily one of my favourite comic book artists of all time. Ever since his early work on Marvel's Avengers, and then on DC's New Teen Titans, I've loved his clean, dynamic style.

More of George Perez's art can be found at his website.

WW: Watchmen (the movie)

Now, let me just point out that I haven't seen the movie yet even though there's apparently been a preview screening and some people have watched the movie. And I can't say that I've seen every photo, trailer or piece on the Watchmen movie. But what I've seen looks pretty good.

They've certainly managed to capture the look of the comicbook series, that's for sure. I suppose it helps when you've got the artist on the original comics, Dave Gibbons, working with you (one wonders how things would've turned out if Alan Moore was also on board?). So, for the most part, the Watchmen movie looks as close to the comicbook series as a film of moving images and real life actors / locations can look like.

There are differences though. For some reason, they've changed some of the costumes. Rorsharch, Dr Manhattan and the Comedian's costumes and looks are close to the originals. However, Silk Spectre, Nite-Owl and Ozymandias have variations on their comic book looks. To me, Ozy's costume has been changed the most, incorporating more black and less gold, resulting in a costume that doesn't look regal enough. Strangely, they've also changed the shape of the iconic blood splatter. Yes, this is a bit geeky but, still, it is different - albeit more realistic.

It's the story that seems to have been modified the most, from all accounts. Okay, it's difficult to tell from a bunch of trailers, but from various interviews with Zack Snyder and some initial reviews of the movie, it's obvious that some things have changed.

One of the main changes mentioned is, of course, the lack of the Squid. Why they decided to remove the extra-dimensional and psychic creature I'm not entirely sure. It does mean a number of things will have to be changed. The lead up, with reports of artists and writers going missing, is out (supposedly replaced by reports of scientists disappearing). So the link to the Black Freighter comic, which was written by Max Shea and who, in the comic, we saw involved with creating the "alien", is weakened. Also, what did the Comedian see to make him become a target of Ozymandias? He wouldn't have seen the alien on the island and wouldn't have witnessed the genesis of the biggest, cruellest joke on the planet.

The lack of a squid appears to be due to time considerations. I guess explaining to how and the why of this alien being would take up some much-needed time whereas a technological solution (a Manhattan reactor) is easier to explain - even if it doesn't have the horrific impact. Still, apparently a S.Q.U.I.D does appear in the movie. :)

There are probably going to be many more (minor) differences between the graphic novel and the film but, then again, I was kind of expecting that. The fact that the two mediums are vastly different already means that they are not going to be the same and never could be. The couple of reviews I've seen of the movie seem to indicate that, although there are differences, it's faithful to the look, atmosphere and overall story. And that it's a pretty good movie whatever it's origin. That, I think, is the important thing.

So, as Watchmen Week here at PRN starts to draw to a close, there's now only a week to go before the movie is officially out. I'll probably end up seeing it a week or two after that - if I'm lucky. I may even have to wait until it's out on DVD knowing my luck (we'll see).

WW: Just some random Watchmen pictures

Firstly, a scan of a Watchmen article from the Amazing Heroes Preview Special, January 1985.

And now a Lego version of naked Dr Manhattan:

Which is taken from the following picture:

(the left side shows Dave Gibbons' original sketch whereas the right side shows an image from the movie. They're surprisingly close)

And finally some more "cute" Watchmen toys:

WW: Watching the Watchmen

...by Dave Gibbons (design by Chip Kidd and Mike Essl)

With Alan Moore severing all ties with DC due to various reasons, it looks like we're not going to get a discussion by him of how the story of Watchmen came about or how he plotted the series, page-by-page and panel-by-panel. However, what we get here is Dave Gibbons' take on things, though primarily concentrating on the glorious artwork that he created over 20 years ago.

And my! What a lot of artwork there is. Firstly, this thick, oversized book is a lot bigger than I'd thought it'd be. It feels like it weighs half a ton. It also seems that Mr Gibbons has saved 95% of all his notes, doodles, rough drafts, and layouts (though none of the actual artwork used in the series) that he produced for Watchmen in the mid eighties. Does this guy throw nothing away!? Of course, nowadays he could sell this stuff for a lot of money - even the rather scribbly bits. In fact, in part of the book Gibbons laments the fact that he sold all his original artwork for the comic book series for a very reasonable sum during the early days.

Together with the treasure trove of art from Gibbons' Watchmen box, a number of other pieces of related artwork and photos of memorabilia are collected. Shown are the various posters used to promote the original series, lead minatures of the main characters, artistic material from the role-playing game and even a picture of a smiley face carrier-bag. I must admit that I quite like the Marvel version mock-up of the Watchmen. Very Kirby-ish.

Most of the book is taken up with Gibbons' roughs showing the layouts for each individual panel. Nearly all pages from all issues are shown in these little sketches. To begin with, it was quite fascinating to see these. But then, after a couple of issues, you realise that they're just rough versions of the art you've already seen and so start to skip over them. Still, it's certainly comprehensive.

Running through the book are words by Gibbons' describing his memories of the time planning, producing and promoting this landmark series. To me, this is the most fascinating part of the book. Obviously, the actual events are over 20 years ago so things are somewhat sketchy, but what is discussed is almost exclusively positive and steers well away from the Moore/DC debacle. John Higgins also chips in a few pages discussing the colouring on Watchmen, including some words about, and examples of, the new colouring job for the Absolute edition.

Overall, the book is a quality piece of work. It's size is large enough to show off the beautiful artwork on good quality, glossy paper. Chip Kidd's design works well and doesn't detract. And there's plenty in there to keep a Watchmen fan flicking through the images for weeks. Still, it's only for those who are real fans of the original comic book series - there's no shots or discussion of the new movie.

Grade: Very Fine.

Heroes: A Clear And Present Danger (vol 4 ep 1)

Well, Volume 4 of Heroes is off to a strange, but exciting, start. As hinted at right at the end of volume 3, senator Nathan Petrelli has decided to round up all the people with powers for their own safety and the safety of 'normal' people around them. In this episode, we catch up with the so-called "heroes" and what they've been up to for the last 2 months or so and then - blam - most of them are captured by Nathan's armed goons.

I had expected the state of things at the end of this episode (all the heroes captured, drugged and clad in orange overalls, and shipped off to a Super Guantanamo Bay) to take around half a dozen episodes and not just 40 minutes! Things seemed to whizz by without much explanation. Considering the creators want to start afresh so as not to alienate people, I'm not sure this episode was a great jumping-on point. For newcomers there's no explanation of who these folk are, what they can do, nor why they're being captured.

Still, for someone like me who has enjoyed this show from the beginning is does make more sense. Although I'm still not sure why Nathan is rounding up all the superpowered people. If he thinks that anyone with a power is dangerous why isn't he rounding himself up? If he thinks he can control his power and it's not dangerous, why not just go out and grab the dangerous or unstable superpeople?

It all comes across as Heroes' version of Marvel's Civil War, with Nathan Petrelli as a version of Tony Stark. And, like that crossover miniseries, it doesn't quite click together. It's like the characters and storyline have been shoehorned into this situation without much thought behind it. Perhaps all will be revealed later in the series?

Having said all that, it was still an interesting, exciting episode that ended on a cliffhanger. Hiro, Ando and the Ando-cycle were great fun. Ando's power is indeed pretty useless unless paired with another 'hero'. Not only has Peter become a paramedic now but his power has changed too. It seems he has to touch people to gain their powers. And why is Noah working for the bad guys and happy to let Nathan take Claire away?

Enjoyable, if slightly flawed, start to volume 4. Fine.

WW: Watchmen Annotations

Watchmen Week continues as I follow on from yesterday's review of the graphic novel with some links.

Assuming you've read the Watchmen comics before - perhaps numerous times - then I find it's best to have a read of some handy annotations listed on the web to further appreciate this fine series. Some of these annotations have pointed out things that I never knew about or weren't aware of on the first couple of readings. Here's some recommended links:

Watchmen Observations by Steven Blatt
Watching the Detectives by Stuart Moulthrop
Watchmen Annotations by Doug Atkinson (this list of annotations appears a lot on the web)
The Book in the Mirror: Reading Chapter V of Watchmen by Jessica Furé and Stuart Moulthrop

Plus here's a couple of other useful Watchmen webpages:

Wikipedia's Watchmen Page (I love Wikipedia)
Dennette's Watchmen Page

There are plenty of others out there, especially now that the film is just around the corner, but the above are a few of the best I've found in the past.