glcfarmboy

November 19, 2012 6:45 pm And- hey!- it's only $2.99! Way to go, Marvel, resisting the double shipping AND the $3.99 price tag. If only you had done that with the entire NOW line!!!!!

November 19, 2012 6:38 pm I do buy a good few $3.99 books, but they would definitely be the first to go if I had to cut my pull list down. I feel that $3.99 for a DC book with 30 pages of story content is a pretty fair deal, whereas paying $3.99 for a Marvel book with only 20 pages of story is a bit of a raw deal. Having said that there are some Marvel titles at the higher price point that are very good. I haven't bought a Bendis written book since the majority of his titles increased their price for the simple reason that I feel he is not a writer who can deliver a satisfying read in 20 pages. His de-compressed style of storytelling just doesn't cut it for me at four bucks a pop. Jason Aaron and Scott Snyder, however (to name just two), seem to be consciously making an extra effort to give readers a denser, more satisfying read for their money. I think I got as much story out of the first issue of Thor: God of Thunder as I probably will out of the first three of All New X-Men (which I'm about to give a try, mainly due to Immonen's art and the great Skottie Young variant cover which I managed to snag at cover price). I guess what it comes down to at the end of the day is, whatever the price point, do I consider a book good value for money? Batman at $3.99? Yes. A Bendis Avengers book? I don't think so. Would the $3.99 price tag deter me from trying a new title I thought had a great creative team or a lot of story potential? Absolutely not.

November 19, 2012 10:49 am Damn it, there's another Marvel Now launch I'm going to have to try! Thanks, Paul! :-(

September 28, 2012 9:53 pm Hey, Fo Sho, ain't you reading Before Watchmen: Dr Manhattan?!? They got your Hughes interiors right there, dude! And continuing the Hughes/Alan Moore vibe from the LOEG sketch to boot!

September 23, 2012 3:56 am P.S. I think labelling this review as "spoiler free" is largely redundant, as I can't recall the existence of a single plot twist or surprise in the whole damn movie. Unless I missed a post-credits introduction of the Dark Judges or something.... :-)

September 23, 2012 3:33 am Nice review, Paul. I have to say that while the positives you list here are all pretty much true, as a lifelong Dredd fan I found this movie hugely disappointing. The lo-fi approach to realising Mega City One left me cold, and the pedestrian, paper thin plot left me longing for the old Stallone version (though I know I'll be in the minority there)! For all it's flaws (and I admit there are many), at least the original adaptation aimed for a little of the scope and scale of the 2000AD "mega-epics" I grew up on, bringing in the Cursed Earth, Rico, the Angel Gang, even Hammerstein from the ABC Warriors strip. The closest we get here is a couple of throwaway bits of graffiti on block walls referencing Chopper, perhaps a teaser for an unlikely-to-happen future episode. While the movie does have some good things going for it, mainly the performances of the leads as Paul mentioned, and although it does seem to carry the approval of John Wagner, to me it misses the essence of Dredd completely, burying the spirit of adventure and satire in a swath of gore and nastiness. As such it is a huge missed opportunity- I can only hope that those who go to see it having never read a Dredd book will not be discouraged from picking one up and getting to know the real Mega City One as portrayed by messrs Wagner&Grant, Bolland, McMahon, Ewins, Ezquerra, McCarthy, Dillon etc. If you'll excuse the pun, this movie simply does not do these gentlemen and their work justice.

August 10, 2012 12:32 pm I hate to say it, always having been mainly a DC fan, but it looks like Marvel Now is gonna kick the New 52's ass right round the block! Almost every title announced so far seems to be A-list, and Marvel just seem to have access to a pool of talent with which DC can't possibly compete. So looking forward to Cap! And Avengers! And FF! And....Hulk?!?!

August 6, 2012 7:17 pm I don't like ANY of these covers! Did you see Aja's Hawkeye cover?!?!?

July 29, 2012 4:04 pm Warren Ellis and John Cassaday did such a good alternative take on Doc Savage and the other pulp heroes in Planetary. I would love to see more of that, like a "Tales From the Planetary Guides" type series - it'll never happen, but that would probably be one of my favourite books of all time! Also, Tony Harris would kick so much ass on a Doc Savage series it would make your eyes bleed! As would Darwyn Cooke! About time the pulp heroes were given some respect and some awesome creative teams!

July 20, 2012 6:00 pm Are you looking at that Declan Shalvey Batman piece, anyone at DC??!?!?!?