Paradox: Episode 1

For some reason, pretty much all of the reviews of the first episode of
Paradox, BBC's new "Flashforward-like" sci-fi crime series, think the show
is a bit... rubbish. Actually, that's not quite true - many think it's utter
tripe. They must have been watching a different programme to me or
something. Paradoxically, I loved it.

Paradox involves Dr Christian King (Emun Elliot), one of the Britain's top
scientists, who is in regular contact with various governments advising them
of the potential damaging affects (such as the "pretty lights" - an aurora -
seen over the north of England) of some very unusual solar activity. He's
apparently brilliant, but obviously alone with no family or friends. After
being stuck in a room on his own for years working on some secretive
Prometheus Project (or whatever it's called) for the MoD, his people skills
are, naturally, a little lacking. He's an annoying nerd. Nothing new there
then.

When he receives strange images from nowhere, he quickly realises that they
depict some disaster that's about to happen in 18 hours time. Of course,
this is one of those stretches of logic used to ensure that the rest of the
programme actually happens. He could have just dismissed them. Perhaps he
has before and, after finding out that the event depicted in them actually
happened, he now knows that these second set of images might actually be
true?

Whatever, he contacts the police to get them to investigate. Being a
high-ranking government scientist, of course he gets a bit more attention
than the average person. This guy advises NASA about radiation dosages. So
they send DI Rebecca Flint (Tamzin Outhwaite) and a couple of plain clothes
officers who work for her to see him.

Dr King, perhaps realising that if he simply said to these police officers
that he's got images from the future, decides to play things differently.
Helped by his somewhat disturbing manner, he makes them think that he's gone
a bit mad (which isn't far from the truth). The police begin to think that,
after the pressures of his position, Dr King might be planning some sort of
disaster. Not only that, it appears the madman is toying with them with some
strange photoshopped images of his planned terrorist activity to see if the
police can match his demented genius.

Still, they're not entirely sure. Working on top secret projects, he been
vetted every year and doesn't appear to have any criminal tendencies. So,
they do what detectives do best and investigate.

Unfortunately, all they have are those unspectacular images - one of a
takeaway coffee cup, one of part of a sign, one of a mobile phone with a
number and name, etc. Considering the distinct lack of information they
have, they do manage to work out what's going to happen and all within 10
hours, which isn't bad. I'm sure we'd all wish the police could be so
efficient with regular investigations!

However, it's not until near the end that DI Flint and her colleagues accept
that these are actually images from the future - and that the future is
destined to happen. By then, it's a bit too late. They haven't got time to
block the road (and anyway, who else in the police force would believe them
with a rushed explanation of having seen the future) and the train has
already stopped on the fateful bridge. Cue a mad dash to the scene of the
future crime accompanied by an ominous, red digital countdown and a stirring
soundtrack.

The ending was something of a shock, to me at least. (Spoiler time!) Yes,
I'd worked out what was supposed to happen at about the halfway mark (even
guessing that a wrong turn due to a dodgy satnav would be involved) but I
expected that the disaster would be averted in the end. Also, at the very
end, we see another batch of images somehow being downloaded to Dr King's
computer setting up next week's episode - and the potential death of one of
the main characters.

Now that the crew know these images are legit, next week they can get stuck
into the investigation straight away. Maybe next week, they'll actually
succeed in changing the future!

My main problem with this episode was in the depiction of Dr King. The
scientist seemed a bit too nutty. And what did he do all day stuck in that
room looking at pretty pictures of the sun? For one of the brightest
physicists in the country, he just seemed to sit there looking moody and
annoying the police.

Still, like many episodes of Doctor Who, I found this to be quite exciting.
Yes, at times it looked a bit cheap. Yes, it seemed like a cross between
Spooks and Casualty. Yes, there were some plot holes. But I could ignore
these faults and generally enjoyed it. Heck, it's a lot better than Merlin!

Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars

"The Doctor. Doctor. Fun" ;)

Although, surprisingly, I wouldn't describe the latest one-off Doctor Who
special "The Waters of Mars" as 'fun'. Yes, it was exciting, entertaining
and yet another great episode. I would also say that it was much better than
the last special "Planet of the Dead". But it was also dark and disturbing.
In fact, it reminded me a little of the last 5-part Torchwood series. Well,
it had a different story, a different cast, a different setting, and...
okay, so the only similarity was the somewhat downbeat ending.

The watery enemy, the Flood, were interesting but I found them not as scary
as I thought they'd be - perhaps I'd been spoiled by the many trailers I'd
seen. Mind you, the main "base-under-siege" storyline was really just a
backdrop to explore the Doctor's evolving character. He's the last of the
Time Lords, the Time Lord Victorious, the only one in charge of the time
continuum-thingy, which leads him to the realisation that he can change the
rules. He can stop running, take control and save everyone. But should he?

This cracking, intriguing episode was, like many of RTD's stories, peppered
with holes. How did a simple filter stop the Flood (at least for a few
weeks) when several inches of steel slow them only for a few minutes? Will
the suicide of Adelaide Brooke in her own home really have the same impact
to her grand-daughter? Where did those rocket boosters come from at the back
of Gadget? Why does Bowie Base One have such long, empty corridors that
appear to have no function when the material to build them would require
significantly more fuel than a few fold-away bikes? And so on. But, in the
end, these problems are minor complaints.

Overall, this was great stuff, with nice little touches and a fitting lead
in to the next chilling two-part special at Christmas. Only five weeks to
go!

Miracleman: A Dream Of Flying

There has been some renewed interest in Marvelman (or Miracleman as he was later called when Marvel threatened legal action over the name) recently due to the announcement at SDCC the other week that Marvel had bought the rights to Marvelman from Mick Anglo. So now seems like a good time to review this little 80 page trade paperback which collects together the first few issues of Eclipse's Miracleman series in the US - which were themselves reprints of black and white material originally in the Warrior magazine in the UK.

Marvelman was originally a British version of Fawcett's Captain “Shazam!” Marvel. First printed in 1954, Marvelman lasted until the early 60s before interest in the character faded. Then, Alan Moore took the idea and decided to reinvent and deconstruct the character. In the 1980s, a new, darker Marvelman was born in the pages of Warrior magazine to much critical acclaim. I'm not going to go any further into the history of this character - others have covered that much better than I could. It’s all quite complicated.

The story in this book goes something like this. Mike Moran is a reporter in his 40s who suffers from strange and terrible nightmares. One day, he's covering a story about the opening of a nuclear power station when the place is attacked by terrorists. By pure chance, Mike Moran happens to see the word "Atomic" reversed through the glass in a door and upon uttering the 'magic' word Kimota, is transferred in a boom of thunder into Miracleman. For twenty years he's been unaware of his powers - ever since that fateful, deadly, snowy day in 1963 which still haunts Mike's dreams.

Since the 60s, the Miracleman family were all thought to be have been destroyed - but Mike Moran isn't the only powerful superman who survived!

This was Alan Moore's first deconstruction of the modern day superhero. It came before Watchmen but covers similar territory to that fantastic story. Like Watchmen, it takes a person with all-too-human thoughts and emotions in the real, modern world, gives him unearthly superpowers and then examines the effect on the world and on the superhuman himself. It's an interesting story that rather cleverly manages to merge the bizarre, old-fashioned stories from the 50s by Mick Anglo into this modern day interpretation. And this *is* modern, in the sense that it's dark and brutal. Characters are beaten to a pulp or killed with little effort, whilst we're shown again that absolute power can corrupt absolutely.

The art by Gary Leach and, later, the wonderful Alan Davis matches the gruesome story and is dark and realistic. The complex emotions of characters are well depicted during the quiet periods whilst furious action scenes are stunningly shown in murky colours. And that's my only criticism of the art on this book - it's perhaps a little too dark to make out the details at times. Alan Davis' work is perhaps a little easier to follow than Gary Leach's although this is some early art from Davis so is not as polished as his later stuff.

Overall, this is a bloomin' marvellous (or should that be miraculous?) story. Of course, by now, this sort of dark examination of superhumans has been done many times, but in the early 80s this was all very new and exciting. Plus, Alan Moore is one of the best at this sort of thing. I’d also recommend reading other reviews of this TPB that are out there.

And, if you’ve never seen this before and want to read this story yourself, I'm currently selling the book on Ebay. I’d certainly recommend it. So, you too can own a rare copy of Miracleman "A Dream of Flying".

What can I say? This review is a shameless cash-in. Still, at least it's starting at a decent price!

Grade: Very Fine.

One Giant Leap

Almost a year before I was born a couple of Americans landed on the moon.

I still find that amazing (and yes, that makes me 39). There are some big ideas out there but blasting off into space on a huge rocket and then guiding it to the surface of the moon is just massive. Thinking about doing it now seems difficult enough but forty years ago...?!

My dad was a big sci-fi fan, brought up reading Dan Dare and watching Flash Gordon. When he was a teenager in the mid to late 50s, he believed that in the near future - and certainly within his lifetime - man would travel into space and walk on the moon. Other kids teased and ridiculed him - I guess it would be like saying some one will travel back in time in the next dozen years or so. But, when he was only in his late twenties, he watched as one small step was taken on the surface of another planetary body.

Sadly, since then, things seemed to have slowed down. After landing on the moon, I suspect many people thought we'd have visited Mars and perhaps a few other planets by now. Perhaps by 1999 we'd have a base on the moon and by 2001 we'd be embarking on missions to Jupiter from huge space stations. If we could reach the Moon by 1969 after ten years of hard work then think of what could be achieved in another 40 years!

I'm sure many consider space travel a waste of time and vast resources. People probably thought the same about sailing off to the Americas or travelling beyond the limits of their own town. Each to their own, I guess. It still doesn't take away mankind's amazingly giant leap that was achieved in July 1969.

JSA: The Next Age

Y’know, I like the Justice Society of America. At least, I like reading about this latest incarnation of the JSA. Every since the JSA were "reborn" in Justice Be Done in 1999 I've enjoyed their exploits in the various TPBs I’ve picked up. This, I think, is primarily to do with Geoff Johns. For me, he's one of the best writers currently in comics. His writing is very "superheroic" - not subtle, not thought-provoking, not full of crazy, wacky ideas - but full of power, heroism, emotion and a fair number of "F#*k yeah!" moments.

And here Johns does it again with this soft reboot of the JSA. Following the events of DC's Infinite Crisis and the World War III event, this TPB tells the story of the JSA coming back together to help lead new generations of legacy heroes onto the right path. JSA veterans Flash, Green Lantern and Wildcat decide to restart the JSA and recruit new members - such as Cyclone, Damage, and Starman - into the Society. Meanwhile a new group of Nazi villains called the Fourth Reich - led by one of the JSA's arch-villains - is going around killing patriotic legacy heroes and their families, trying to ensure that there will be no future heroes for the JSA to train.

This is a four issue TPB covering #1 to #4 of JSA vol 3, which means that, although there is an extended first issue, it is unfortunately shorter than normal. Still, in this space Johns manages to restart the JSA, introduce a handful of new characters (as well as briefly establish many old faces), and tell an interesting story. It's not quite the "done-in-one" of the Silver Age but it's certainly not as decompressed as many modern day comic books out there.

However, I have two main concerns though with the story. Firstly, Johns' blood-thirsty predilection for gory fights and minor character deaths rears its head again, which is unfortunate for a light, colourful book like this. Secondly, because there are now so many active members in the JSA (there's around 16 of them!) some of the characters are sidelined to make way for the newcomers. In the final battles, you're left wondering what Green Lantern, Power Girl, Mr Terrific and others are doing and why they're not helping out the new recruits in fighting the bad guys.

Dale Eaglesham's art fits the tone of the book well. The action is generally clear and straightforward - though occasionally it is difficult to work out what's going on - and the style is smooth, clear and uncomplicated. Together with the solid, bright colouring it looks suitably superheroic in a sort of four-color way. It's not my favourite art ever but it does look crisp and fits in with previous JSA artists.

As an extra there are also some nice sketches at the back of the book by Eaglesham and Alex Ross, the cover artist and (apparently) creative advisor for this series. I have to say that I often find the raw pencils by many artists look better than the finished, inked pages.

In summary, Johns, Eaglesham and Ross have produced an enjoyable, exciting TPB and a great start to a new(ish) version of the JSA. But then again, I like this Justice Society of America, so maybe I'm biased.

Grade: Fine.

Friday Night Fights: Kung Fu Fighting

I missed last week's Friday Night Fight due to being on holiday but today... I'm baaack. So, without further ado, it's time for Friday Night Fights: G7. And today I'm going for a 70s classic...

Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas

So, of course, it has to be Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu:

(the above image is taken from Master of Kung Fu #22 written by Doug Moench with art by Paul Gulacy)

Ashes to Ashes: Season 2 Episode 8

It seems that a few TV shows I watch are coming to the end of their current season this week, Ashes to Ashes being one of them (Smallville and Primeval are the other ones that come to mind). And this final episode of Season 2 goes out with a bang - followed by a fade to white and lots of shouts of "Bolly!".

Season 2 was a better series of 8 episodes than the first season, although still not quite as good as Life on Mars. Maybe this is because AtA is retreading a lot of familiar ground that LoM first explored? Or maybe it's because LoM was set in and around Manchester (my "home city" I guess) rather than AtA's London? Still, it is improving - perhaps due to additional little twists and weird events (such as the inclusion of Martin Summers, who appears to be another coma victim from the future) - which is unusual but very welcome.

In this episode we get Gene hosting Jackanory (hilarious!), Alex trying to stop Summers, Gene losing his trust in Alex, Alex discovering Summers is in the room next to hers in the future, Ray chomping on a phallic-like sausage (tee hee!), and the partial redemption of Chris after it was revealed he was a traitor to the team in last week’s episode.

Highlights were Gene's "You've been Quattroed" and a wedding-dress attired Shaz blasting away saving Chris. Of course, the biggest shock was Alex getting shot by Gene, the gradual fade and then waking up in 2009. But as Gene starts shouting to her from the monitors, we're left wondering is this the real 2009 or just another coma-induced dream? Has Alex gone mad?

Of course, we now know they'll be a third season of AtA, so somehow they'll have to pick this up and (probably) send Alex back to the 1980s. The currently favoured way-ahead is that Alex will "wake up" from the dream-2009 and find herself in a hospital back in the '80s. But who knows? There are dozens of theories out there about where Alex is, what it's all about and what’s going to happen.

And it's all this speculation and theorizing that, for me, is so fascinating. Sure, seeing a pastiche of an 80s cop show and looking at it through Alex's modern-day eyes can be quite entertaining but it can only take us so far (and we've currently had 4 seasons of this between LoM and AtA). It's the uncertainty of what's actually happening to Alex - whether Gene's World is a shared reality for cops in comas, just something made up by Alex's mind or something more - that keeps this interesting. It also helps a lot that the main characters, Gene, Alex, Ray and Chris, are so well realised and engaging.

A great ending to a good season. I can't wait for the third, and final, season next year!

 

Friday Night Fights: French Kicking In The USA

It's the start of a new contest in Spacebooger's Friday Night Fight theme called G7-Fight Music. This time, instead of one panel of pain, each fight has a musical theme linking to a song or some lyrics. So, tonight, to "kick" (ha ha) things off, I thought I'd stick to an old favourite - Batroc Ze Leapair!

And tonight's wonderful nine-panel page of pugilistic pounding involves the foot-fighting Frenchmen attacking the living symbol of US of A, Captain America. Which links us to this week's song:

French Kickin' Kissin' In The USA, by Debbie Harry (of course!)

Paris is calling, indeed. Kiss the floor, Batroc!

(these lovely panels are taken from Tales Of Suspense #85 (1967) by Stan "the Man" Lee and Jack "the King" Kirby)