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Terry Hooper-Scharf

Saturday 30 December 2023

Movies: The Batman and The Flash. Both Awful?

 Okay I watched once, but NEVER again, the Marvel virtue signalling overload of The Eternals and Wakanda Forever. Both total and utter messes to cash in on the "We're relevant" agenda.

So I got Robert Pattinson's The Batman and The Flash. If you are going to tear movies to shreds in a review at least watch them and do not go by the sheep follower reviews online. 



The first thing that I thought "Oh gods, no" to was the Rorschach Diary beginning and voice over. I sat there and thought "Oh this is toilet material". Then the movie was over. What?? Yes, the actual acting and story pulled me in and it seemed as though the movie only lasted 10 minutes. 

The acting was all spot on and as not really a fan of Pattinson's he won me over. I could not fault anything or any of the actors. The music used as well as the credit and title text were also spot on.  

Would I watch it again?  

Yes -tomorrow night.

Thank gods for The Flash with its "bad special effects"/"bad editing" and "lame performances" Well, I had to have one movie to roast, right?  



Wrong. The opening is light hearted but still deadly serious (the baby wing of a hospital collapsing...oh..and a dog) and it was good to see Affleck as Batman and Gadot as Wonder  Woman again -and Aquaman's end credits scene!  

How the actual bleep are people seeing this as a "bad movie" or a "car crash movie"? Did they actually go and watch it or just type whatever came out of their asses? 

Michael Keaton's scenes were a treat and showed why he is always going to be THE movie Batman.  Considering all of the derogatory remarks and comments about Ezra Miller's performance he smashed it as both  the more serious and experienced Flash and as his counterpart Barry Allan. 

Flashpoint the animated movie had heroes all over the place and a more convoluted plotline and this movie keeps some of those -the re-creation of Barry's chemical/lightning accident for one. There were the light hearted moments and the very serious ones and Miller showed that he is a very good actor so those criticising his performance -you can go chew on my big fat hairy log. The end scenes with Christopher Reeves and Helen Slater, Nicholas Cage and George Reeves gave me goosebumps.

The Flash and The Batman smacked the awful Wakanda Forever and The Eternals down into the sewer where they belong. 

Would I watch The Flash again? Not yet. I want to wait a few weeks and then re-watch with a fresh eye but both the DC movies get a 10 out of 10 from me. 

Pity Gunn is going to screw it all up after the whole franchise was fecked by the new money-pincher.

Wednesday 27 December 2023

Cinebook Ltd Newsletter 192 - December 2023

 


Dear Reader,

Well, looks like it’s a wrap for 2023. As we prepare to celebrate another revolution around the sun and the seasonal festival of our choice, there’s time for us to offer you one last title for this year – and lo and behold, it’s actually season-appropriate!

It’s one of the most universally famous Christmas stories ever. A classic of English literature from 1843, adapted for the stage, the cinema, television … Even The Muppets had a (magnificent) go! Now it’s the turn of José-Luis Munuera, and oh, my, does he rise to the challenge. His art is as stunning and expressive as ever, bringing the whole gallery of characters to life, or unlife, in spectacular fashion … and there is his decision to make the main character, Scrooge, a woman. A choice that is inevitably rife with social meaning, and that allows him to describe a much more nuanced character with a much more subtle resolution. It’s a joy to read, and offers something genuinely new to the tale, without betraying it in the least. So, grab your copy of A Christmas Carol now!

December with Cinebook – Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone!

Goodbye 2023, hello 2024 – and hello 18 new titles and 3 new series! Head over to Catalogues (cinebook.co.uk) and take a look at our 36th catalogue.
We’ve got criminal supervillains, alien encounters, time travel, Irish fairy folk, Cold War dogfights … and a Maaaarsupilami in aaaa treeeee! Books for all and something for everyone!



A Christmas Carol
José-Luis Munuera

In 19th century London, on Christmas Eve, the greedy, selfish misanthrope Scrooge encounters the ghost of his dead partner, who warns him that three spirits will visit him to make him change his ways before he is damned forever. Charles Dicken’s story is universally known, but in this adaptation by Munuera, Ebenezer becomes Elizabeth … Read more


Buck Danny Classics 6
Red Alert

Harry Dickson 1
Mysterion


North-American readers, to locate a comic book shop near you that stocks or can order these titles and many more, use this handy Read more 

Or, if you're a retailer yourself, please go to: Read more

Saturday 16 December 2023

The Golden Age Superheroine Quartet Complete



Above: Acromaid, Electro-Girl, Cat-Girl and the Phantom Maid -all 3.75 inch figure conversions giving me Denis M. Reader's Golden Age quartet


Above: the ladies joined by Streamline  and Captain Might both created by Denis Gifford and more to follow if my eyes and hands can manage it!

 

Infinity Studio Full Booth Tour 2023! Avatar, Batman, Lord of the Rings

Saturday 9 December 2023

Comics, Graphic Novels, Comics and Books

 More Books covering all genres can be found at Black Tower Comic News

You'd be mad to miss out!

https://comicsshopsnews.blogspot.com/



Black Tower Gold Vol 5 -Back From The Dead

 


A4
Paperback
B&W
68pp
Price: £6.00 (excl. VAT)Prints in 3-5 business days

William McCail’s 1940 classic is reprinted for the first time in 60 years.

If you are into British Golden Age comics or early comics in general this is for you.

Robert Lovett rises from the dead and finds he has some startling powers: deaths follow, as does a Scotland Yard detective determined to track down the mysterious killer!

Comic Bits No. 2

 


Ed T Hooper-Scharf
A4
B&W
80 pp
£8.00
https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/comic-bits-no-2/paperback/product-2ed6pe.html?q=&page=1&pageSize=4

The second issue of the magazine celebrating creators, titles and characters of the British Platinum, Golden and Silver Ages of comics. 

In this issue William A. Ward finally gets some long deserved recognition for his contribution to comics John McCail gets "bigged up" something rotten!

 We look at comedian and actor Bob Monkhouse's comic creation career 

Steve Dowling -Father of the Garth newspaper strip speaks to Denis Gifford (the ONLY interview he ever gave) 

There is a look at Dennis M. Reader and his comics work that spawned some of the UKs first super heroes. 

also a look at William Fletcher Thomas, Ernest Wilkinson, Jos Walker, Mary Byfield and William H A Chasemore... oh, and LOTS of lovely art and stripwork!

Comic Bits: THE British Golden Age of Comics magazine!

 


A4
B&W
80pp
Text, comic strips and some rare photographs!
£8.00
https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/comic-bits-no-1/paperback/product-kjgvzy.html?q=&page=1&pageSize=4

The return of THE British Golden Age of Comics magazine! 

Interviews with Mike Western, John Cooper and Jon Haward plus a look at Ally Sloper on film, Defining the Ages of British Comics, William McCail plus a lot of art and stripwork. 

At this price -cheap!

Streamline and Moon Man #1

  


Dennis Holmes Wilberton & Friends

80pp

A4

black and white

£8.00

https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/streamline-and-moon-man/paperback/product-2p9q7y.html?q=&page=1&pageSize=4

Streamline the Golden Age British speedster and Moon Man get the Black Tower treatment in this one off comic with a difference.

These are new stories and art by Ben R Dilworth and not Golden/Silver Ages reprints

Saturday 2 December 2023

HEXAGON COMICS USA DECEMBER 2023 RELEASE: STRANGERS #11: FINALLY… ZEMBLA!

 

Hexagon Comics USA now offers a growing catalog of translations of selected titles from the library of a 70-year-old French comics publisher.

You can order our books from our website at www.hexagoncomics.com or through amazon.

Retailers can purchase the books directly from us at a 40% discount from our website or from distributor Ingram. Contact us at jm@hexagoncomics.com

 

 

STRANGERS #11: FINALLY… ZEMBLA!

7x10 squarebound comic, 94 pages b&w
ISBN-13: 978-1-64932-267-8. US$12.95 / GBP 10.99.

 

Two stories by Jean-Marc Lofficier; art by José Luis Ruiz Pérez; Nestor Vagas; cover by José Luis Ruiz Pérez.

 

In this eleventh volume of Strangers, the heroes clash with the renegade Salamandrite known only as Mr. 17, to prevent the return of his alien masters, the Wan Lords, whom Kabur once defeated in the distant past. First, they travel to the African jungle of Karunda, and then to a secret research facility in the South of France, to stop Mr. 17 from using dimensional gateways to bring the space vampires to Earth.

 

Special guest-stars: The Guardian of the Republic! Zembla! And the amazing Attaturkey!

 









Wednesday 29 November 2023

Cinebook Ltd Newsletter 191 - November 2023

 


Dear Reader,

Three new titles coming out is a blessing, but this month is all about disasters – both natural and man-made. Let’s be honest, though: in comics as in films, those make for some of the best entertainment. So, strap in!

In Largo Winch, for example, we start with nothing less than … a space shuttle crash! Sabotage, assassination attempts, heartless manoeuvring and financial manipulations … It’s all in a day’s work for Largo, sure, but fiery atmospheric re-entry is a first … and it only gets wilder from there!

Then there’s Yakari, whose tribe crosses the path of one of those terrible Great Plains tornadoes. After it has passed, the camp is in ruins, humans and animals are scattered everywhere … and it’s up to the young Sioux boy to locate several of them before it’s too late.

Finally, Jean Van Hamme’s sequel to Edgar P. Jacobs’s The U Ray is here at last, bringing answers and a conclusion 80 years in the making, and it’s got both: man-made catastrophe in the form of invasion and all-out war, and the wrath of nature – or perhaps it is the wrath of Puncha Taloc, the God of Fire. Either way, it’s spectacular and exciting, like the best pulp fiction!

November with Cinebook – the real tragedy would be not to read!

Thank you to everyone who came to see us at Thought Bubble in Harrogate. It was good to be back on the festival and convention trail after a long hiatus, and you guys definitely made our day. See you next time, we hope !



Before Blake & Mortimer 2
Christian Cailleaux, Etienne Schréder & Jean Van Hamme
The Fiery Arrow

The Marduk expedition has returned victorious to Norlandia, bearing a precious sample of Uradium. Now the professor can test his revolutionary U Ray’s potency when combined with the miracle ore. But Austradia, the old enemy, won’t take this lying down … Read more


Largo Winch 20
Philippe Francq & Eric Giacometti
The Golden Percentile

The last time we saw our friend Largo, he was orbiting our world in the company of one of his business rivals, having narrowly escaped death by asphyxiation. Who sabotaged their shuttle launch? Could it be the rival himself, Jarod Munskind? … Read more


Yakari 21
Derib & Job
Fury from the Skies

It’s summer on the prairie, a hot, oppressive summer that has everyone’s temper flaring. While Yakari’s family, eager to find the buffalo they are tracking, has moved some distance from the other Sioux, nature suddenly unleashes its rage, and a tornado tears through the main camp … Read more


Bear’s Tooth 6
Silbervogel

Buck Danny Classics 5
Operation Iron Curtain


North-American readers, to locate a comic book shop near you that stocks or can order these titles and many more, use this handy Read more 

Or, if you're a retailer yourself, please go to: Read more