There are many, many tributes to the late, great Jean "Moebius" Giraud doing the rounds today, mostly from people who knew the artist's work far better than I ever did. I'd just like to say that Moebius was one of the first European comic artists I ever came across ( outside of the mostly uncredited Euro-artists working on British comics of the '70s ) and his surreal, beautiful artwork really blew my mind. Moebius was one of the very few comic creators who could reasonably be called a genius...
The above spread from Arzach/Harzak is not only my favourite piece of Moebius art but also one of my most favourite examples of comics artwork, full stop. I first discovered it in the wonderful Masters Of Comic Book Artby PR Garriock and it just seemed to symbolise the potential of the unfettered imagination, soaring off the page...
There are a few more examples of the great man's work below, including the cover of my first issue of Metal Hurlant and a very European take on a Marvel hero. Oh, and the... er, bottom image is what's known as NSFW. Handle with care...
Actually, it's not that hard to dance at a Florence + The Machine gig: she just gets the whole audience to jump up and down when she shouts the word "Cardiff!", until it feels like all of South Wales will break off and sink into the Bristol Channel. Luckily that didn't happen last Monday night although, if it had, a few hundred people under Florence's spell might not have noticed...
After an interesting journey around Cardiff's one-way system we arrived at the Motorpoint Arena to be greeted by the sounds of Spector who were... bloody awful. I'd heard their song Chevy Thunder a few times on the radio and quite liked its sub-Vaccines energy, but as a live band they were embarrassingly poor, a bunch of indie pub-singers. We took the opportunity to buy some ridiculously overpriced Cokes and hot dogs, before heading back into the arena to watch The Horrors who were... infinitely better.
I last saw The Horrors supporting the mighty Primal Scream at the Eden Project and, as good as they were there in the sunlight, they were even better here in the darkness where they seemed more at home. Playing all the best songs from Primary Colours and Skying they created an immense wave of psychedelic noise and Goth atmospherics, with Faris far more ( re- ) animated than last time, a striking and commanding frontman, stalking the stage, scaring the little girls in the front row. I was half hoping that Florence might have joined them to duet on Still Life like she did at the NME Awards, but sadly it didn't happen. Never mind, after a fantastic set they left us with an awesome version of Sea Within A Sea - worth the price of admission by itself.
Finally, Florence and her machine appeared to mass hysteria from the crowd. Florence cut a Batgirl-like figure in her black leotard and cape... which isn't surprising when you consider the fact that she's sold her soul to the Devil and is a member of the Illuminati. It's true, I read it on YouTube only tonight :-(
Fair play, there are some nutters out there on t'internet...
Florence is a captivating, mesmerising performer - running from one side of the stage to the other, spinning like a top, raising her arms to the sky as if in pagan supplication. ( Hmm, maybe there's something in that Devil-worship idea... ) If anyone was crazy enough to stage a musical version of The Wicker Man Florence would be first choice for the Britt Ekland role...
...which wouldn't mean much if her voice wasn't up to scratch. Luckily, it was. In fact, she's one of the best vocalists I've ever seen/heard , easily replicating the strength and range of the singing on her albums, while - amazingly - giving it even more passion and energy on stage. Literally ranging from a whisper to a scream, Flo leaves most other pretenders to her crown standing. In particular that looooong note in the middle of No Light No Light was just jaw-dropping. The only problem with her vocal gymnastics is that a large percentage of the crowd felt they had to scream and whoop like they were in the bloody X-Factor audience every time she flexed the old throat muscles. This is obviously the way a lot of mainstream fans think they are expected to act at gigs after years of TV talent show conditioning, but it just made me want to shout "Shut up and just let her sing!" Grumpy old git ;-)
Top moments: that first, shiver-inducing organ note of Shake It Out; Flo beating a drum for Drumming Song ( what else? ); the
a cappella intro to You've Got The Love; the kick-ass combo of Shake It Out segueing into Dog Days Are Over; the exquisite vocals and tribal drumming of Heartlines; everyone going absolutely nuts for Rabbit Heart ( Raise It Up ); the previously-mentioned No Light No Light... it really was something special...
She left us "in the arms of the ocean" with the beautiful Never Let Me Go. We'll have to let you go for now, Florence, but we'll be back...
( Sorry, that sounds a bit creepy, really... )
And, in the audience, these two lovely Florence fans. Sarah's had a few health issues ( and a few teenage daughter issues! ) recently, so this gig was definitely some good therapy. I'm always trying to convince her to come out and see more bands, because I know what a positive thing that can be, so hopefully this will do the trick.
And this gig was Sophie's first big concert after only seeing a couple of local bands before. And she loved it, as the pic below demonstrates...
And here's some surprisingly good footage from the gig, which should give a better impression of the show than my feeble scribblings or blurry photos...
A big shout out to blogger par excellence "Kid" Robson who is currently posting loads of wonderful scans from old Power Comics over at his blog. After mentioning to him that I had a knackered, coverless copy of Terrific no. 1 in my collection, Kid very kindly sent me scans of the missing pages.
This is in fact the only Power Comic I've ever owned ( apart from a Fantastic Annual ) and was passed down to me by my cousin Paul, along with some long-gone issues of Lion and Thunder. I missed out on the Power Comics experience, as I was only four months old when this mag came out, so I didn't get my first hit of British Marvel reprints until Mighty World Of Marvel debuted in 1972.
Above is an example of my awesome childhood colouring skills :-) Who knew Namor had blond highlights? I also managed to colour Iron Man a sickly pink and green but I'll spare you that horror...
Yep, those two yellowed pages are from my dog-eared copy, while the nice, pristine pages are Kid's. I can't remember if my copy ever had covers whilst in my possession, but it's good to know that I can now assemble a complete Fantastic no.1 for the first time in too many years.
Thanks again, Kid! You're Terrific!!
Soundtrack: Rabbit Heart ( Raise It Up ) by Florence + The Machine
Still Life by The Horrors
( Both awesome live in Cardiff the other night! Review to follow... )
I finally got round to seeing Oscar-grabbing silent movie The Artist tonight. What a great film! I'll have to post a proper review here soon but, for now, I'm taking this opportunity to show a few pics of the movie's gorgeous female star, Berenice Bejo.
Although, as mentioned here, the first issue of the FF I ever owned was no. 106 from January 1971, I also somehow acquired this FF Special/Annual from December 1970. My mist-shrouded memory insists that I got this comic years later but that can't be right, unless I was given it second-hand by one of those strange kids who gave away their comics instead of collecting them. Imagine that? Hard to believe I know...
Anyway, behind this wonderful Johnny Romita cover is a treasure-trove of Lee and Kirby reprints from FF Annual no.1, starting with the epic "Sub-Mariner Versus The Human Race" in which Namor and his armies and undersea beasties invade New York. The longest FF story to date, when first published back in 1963, this is a Fantastically entertaining tale involving sea monsters, the FF going on an Atlantic cruise (!), Namor in disguise addressing the UN ( including Nikita Khrushchev ), a quick digression into Atlantean history, undersea armies conquering Manhattan, and the Thing saying "Whew!! That animated hunk of walkin' seaweed has more lives than a blasted cat!"
The issue also comes complete with some of those charming little extras that seemingly only Silver Age comics could boast: a gallery of the FF's greatest foes ( lovely Kirby images of Doc Doom, the Impossible Man, the Red Ghost etc. ) and a two-page question and answer section about the FF's abilities and interests, where we learn that Johnny's favourite hobbies are "sports cars, jazz records and girls ( though not necessarily in that order )" and Ben's are "weight-lifting, reading adventure stories and wise-cracking..."
At the risk of sounding redundant, they really don't make 'em like that any more...
The Woman In Black is the revived Hammer Film's adaptation of the classic ghost story by Susan Hill. Recently widowed solicitor Arthur Kipps is sent to the bleak, remote village of Crythin Gifford to settle the affairs of deceased widow Alice Drablow. Following a distinctly unfriendly welcome from the locals ( with the exception of Ciaran Hinds' wealthy landowner ) Arthur heads to the isolated and run-down Eel Marsh House to sort through the widow's papers. Here, alone on an island in the marsh, he is terrorised by the titular ghost and other phantoms, and is forced to confront his own fears and sorrow...
This is a suitably chilling and atmospheric version of the famous tale, from the pen of Jane ( Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class ) Goldman, and directed by James ( Eden Lake ) Watkins. Every creepy trick in the book is wheeled out to make the viewer uneasy as we follow flickering candles down darkened corridors, hear unearthly cries in the fog, and jump out of our seats as faces appear reflected in windows or glimpsed through a zoetrope. The gloomy, Gothic feel of the movie is reflected in the detailed production design: the jumbled, Edwardian mess of Eel Marsh House and the rain-lashed, grimy cottages and pub of Crythin Gifford. The Woman herself is a blurry, shadowy figure, often lurking at the edge of the frame, watching and waiting.
The main focus of the movie is, of course, lonely and troubled solicitor Arthur, as played by former boy wizard Daniel "Don't call me Harry" Radcliffe. He has to carry many long, wordless scenes in the middle of the slow-burning story as he explores the rambling, cobwebbed house, with only a small dog for a companion. ( No, not Rupert Grint... ) Radcliffe makes a fair attempt at pulling this off but is hampered by the repetitive nature of the scenes. He spends a lot of time looking out of the window at barely-glimpsed, spooky figures in the grounds of the house... then ventures out of the house to look back through the windows to see barely-glimpsed, spooky figures inside the house. But all this stage-setting pays off when the scares come thick and fast as the Woman's true nature and purpose are uncovered. While not as trouser-soilingly scary as the Nigel Kneale TV version from the 1980s, this is still a fine entry in the long tradition of English ghost stories and makes a change from the American teen horrors of recent years.
And, speaking of teenagers, the "Harry Potter effect" brought teens out en masse to view this movie in our local flea-pit the other night. Well, I say "view", but most of them spent more time talking, giggling, rustling popcorn packets, messing with mobiles and screaming like banshees at every scary moment. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, this almost completely spoiled the atmosphere of the movie, even worse than when we saw Paranormal Activity and kids were laughing like drains at the film's finale because they were too embarrassed to admit they were scared. I don't normally worry about this kind of thing, although I know a lot of people who do, but this time it really pissed me off. It was even more annoying because this was the first horror movie we'd allowed James to see at the cinema, because of its 12A rating, and it spoilt his enjoyment too. I think we'll appreciate it more when the DVD comes out...
...but at least we got to see some creepy toy monkeys :-)
The great comic artist John Severin has sadly passed away at the age of 90. Severin had a long and distinguished career and was famed for his instantly-recognisable, beautiful line-work and expressive characters. Most of his best work ( especially for EC and Marvel Comics ) was in collaboration with his sister, "Mirthful" Marie, an excellent artist in her own right.
Although best remembered for his war, western and humour artwork, I always think of John Severin as the definitive artist for Robert E Howard's King Kull. Here are a few fantastic examples of Mr. Severin's detailed and atmospheric Kull artwork...
I'm 45 years old and live in Gloucester, UK. I was brought up in the country but now live in the suburbs. I'm married to Sarah ( 20 years this year )with two children, Sophie and James, and two cats, Hero and Jasper. I used to be in a band with possibly the world's worst name, The Death Planet Commandos. Still interested in new music, films, books etc., unlike many of my age group, who seem to give up at 30-something.
This is our cat Hero's mugshot from the Cats' Protection League website, when he went by the name of Spider.
Jasper
And here's our kitten Jasper at 8 weeks old
FF no.1 Nov. 1961
Billie
Marvel retro
Sarah, Spain 2008
Tom and Lalla in Paris
Cerebus The Aardvaark
2 good reasons to shop at M&S
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
Jimi
Alien
Strange Tales 167
The Band
Conan The Barbarian no. 24
Steve McQueen
The Mighty World Of Marvel no.1
Veronica Lake
Disclaimer
Any artwork, photos or quotations on this blog are copyright their respective owners, and are only here for review/illustrative purposes. If anyone's got a problem with their stuff appearing here I'll remove it, no questions asked.
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