I’ve known Ian since high school and I probably consider him one of the better sounding boards when it comes to comic books (we got into comics around the same time and read the same Marvel books for a while). Â He is one of the few people that I know online that hasn’t succumbed to starting a blog
Favourite regular series right now? Right now, It’s Avengers: The Initiative. Â I really wanted to say Ghost Rider but it’s been pipped at the post the last few months. Â Danny Ketch is making a comeback so I hope this launches the book back into my #1 spot.
Comic book character you only recently discovered/started reading?
I recently started reading Angel: After the Fall as it’s set shortly after the end of the TV series. Â I don’t think I’ll continue with it though as I’m not that fussed with the writing or the art.Â
If you could draw/write one character who would it be?
The Danny Ketch Ghost Rider!
Are you a fan of the big multi issue crossover extravaganzas?
No! Â I’d be OK with them if there was a break between them, but one starts just as one stops and I just don’t have the cash to keep buying every title in the particular comic book universe indefinitely. Â What I really don’t like is that the events in the crossovers become ingrained in the continuum and only partially referred to after the event, so if you didn’t read what happened, you keep thinking ‘why are they feeling/looking like/doing that’. Â Annoying, very annoying.
Last comic book series that you dropped and why?
Heroes for Hire. Â I started reading after it launched dung one of the many crossover sagas but I dropped it after 5 issues because the characters weren’t focussed and the story’s were pretty weak.
Favourite character?
Ghost Rider!
Are you a DC or a Marvel?
Definitely Marvel.
Do you remember your first comic/series?
Absolutely. Â The first comic I bought was Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) #20 when I was 14.
Is Watchmen the movie going to be as good as the comic book?
I have no idea, I’ve never read Watchmen.
Favourite comic book movie?
The Dark Knight. Â That move blew me away.
Worst comic book movie?
Hulk. Â Arthouse? Â Really?
Character you’d like to see in a movie?
The Sentry. Â A guy with the power of a million exploding suns (or something like that) who is extremely mentally unstable could make for a really good movie.
Arkonbey is a graphic designer, oh-so-not-for-profit comic maker, mountain biker and uncle, living with a beautiful, talented painter in Underhill, Vermont, USA.Â
Favourite regular series right now?
PS 238 (the only monthly I get). Does the Flight compilation series count? We save our pennies for that.
Comic book character you only recently discovered/started reading?
Agatha Hetrodyne, Girl Genius (found it last week. It’s both web and print)
If you could draw/write one character who would it be?
Wolfsbane. I think she got a short shrift after the turn of the century.
Are you a fan of the big multi issue crossover extravaganzas?
No. It ends up diluting and adulterating the characters. It also shines a light on how large and convoluted the DC and Marvel universes have become.
Last comic book series that you dropped and why?
Dynamite’s Lone Ranger. A single thing that may sound silly, but it ticked me off: The LR melts his badge to make silver bullets. He casts the bullet in a single piece of wood carved crudely with a knife. This would not make a bullet, but would make one-half of a very crappy bullet! It was the old west, more than likely the LR had access to hand-loading supplies. In this day and age of Google, it is no excuse to do things half-assed.
Favourite character?
Nightcrawler.
Are you a DC or a Marvel?
Both? Neither? Leaning Marvel if they are the two choices.
Do you remember your first comic/series?
First comic: two Peter Parker Spectacular Spiderman issues given to me by an uncle (Punisher and Lizard); I still have them!. First series was the Bill Scienkwicz New Mutants. Followed religiously. (dropped when he left. Blevins wounded it and Lifeld killed it)
Is Watchmen the movie going to be as good as the comic book?
Not a chance. The Story drives The Watchmen. The art, while decent, was not groundbreaking, so a frame-by-frame copy will not do anything for anyone except the super-fanboys. Plus I hate slow motion for slow motion’s sake.
Favourite comic book movie?
Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton) (Batman Begins is a very, very close second. Missed Iron Man, so can’t say…)
Worst comic book movie?
Oh. Man. Umm. That Captain America from the ‘91 is up there. Followed by ALL of the Batman movies of the 90’s. Then that first Punisher. Ang Lee’s Hulk . It goes on and on…
Character you’d like to see in a movie?
Captain Britain
Series that you’d like to see on TV?
DMZ or PS 238Â
Oh the names of the people I get through here :), I have a suspicion that ‘Capt.’ Incredible is not really a Captain at all, I mean he does defend Neptune and all but would they really get a Captain? Â Maybe a Commander…
At any rate he’s been a welcome addition on the blogroll for quite a while now and it’s always a pleasure to talk comics with Captain Incredible…
Favourite regular series right Now? Daredevil
Comic book character you only recently discovered/started reading? Captain America
If you could draw/write one character who would it be? Batman
Are you a fan of the big multi issue crossover extravaganzas? Not a fan of crossovers - leastways, not on the scale we see these days.
Last comic book series that you dropped and why? Trinity - the second story was starting to drive me nuts. You could say it was in the cards.
Favourite character? Batman
Are you a DC or a Marvel? About 70-30 DC.
Do you remember your first comic/series? Batman - sometime in 1968 or so - my dad bought it for me because we both liked to watch the TV show. I’ve been hooked ever since.
Is Watchmen the movie going to be as good as the comic book? I hope so.
Favourite comic book movie? Iron Man.
Worst comic book movie? LXG (I haven’t seen Catwoman).
Character you’d like to see in a movie? Green Lantern (Hal Jordan).
I’ve known Swollenpickles for simple ages now, it may have been before joining the Aussie Bloggers forum but I can’t be sure. Swollenpickles and I have had a couple of good chats about comics and he also runs Comicologist where we share a lot of the same ideas when it comes to comic books.
Favourite regular series right Now? Probably a tie between Immortal Iron Fist and Moon Knight, with the current X-Men series running a close second.
Comic book character you only recently discovered/started reading?
I guess I’m still new enough to comics that they are all relatively recent discoveries. I only recently discovered Wanted and that was awesome. I also recently discovered the Dark Phoenix saga (not that is new, but it was new to me).
If you could draw/write one character who would it be? Besides Deadpool, it would have to be Moon Knight. He’s a super hero onion. Layers… plus he can make a grown man cry, I’m told it’s one of his powers.
Actually, I can’t limit it to one, so I have to say I’d like to take a crack at Wolverine Origins, if nothing else, just to pick up the pace a bit. Two things bug me about that book. The pacing seems unnecessarily drawn out and Dillion seems to have a Sylvester Stallone fascination. Take a look at any male face he’s drawn and see if it doesn’t look like Sylvester Stallone to you!
Are you a fan of the big multi issue crossover extravaganzas? Only when it’s done well. I think Messiah Complex was really well put together. Civil War was good also, but all the spinoffs became a bit much.
World War Hulk was kind of disappointing, especially after how brilliant Planet Hulk as.
Last comic book series that you dropped and why?  I’m not going to worry about the next Hulk series. Planet Hulk was awesome,
but then along came World War Hulk and they lost me. Some of the World War Hulk tie ins were absolutely terrible as well. The WWH X-Men four issue thing was unforgiveable.
Favourite character?
Deadpool, Gambit or Moon Knight. Gambit has been a favorite for as long as I can remember, Deadpool and Moon Knight I’ve only started appreciating later in life.
Are you a DC or a Marvel?  Marvel for sure. Besides Batman, I can’t think of a major DC series that I’m
in to.
Do you remember your first comic/series? Late bloomer, but it was Cable & Deadpool. Actually only got into reading
comics because of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance. What sort of geek am I? I bought Cable & Deadpool Vol.1 and Batman Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth at the same time. I tore through Cable & Deadpool and promptly order the other trades that were out at the time.
Is Watchmen the movie going to be as good as the comic book? I saw the preview at IMAX and it looks like it just might.
Favourite comic book movie?
The Dark Knight.
Worst comic book movie?
Ghost Rider. Terrible.
Character you’d like to see in a movie? Deadpool, Gambit or Moon Knight… see a trend here? I think Immortal Iron
Fist would make an excellent movie as well.
Series that you’d like to see on TV? I’m not sure. It would have to be something more character driven I think for it to work. Actually, I’d like to see the Walking Dead series adapted for TV or a movie. It’s got that epic serial feel, plus it has zombies so everyone wins!
The Road is one of the books that everyone you know who’s read it demands that you must too because it is so very good.
The thing is that in this case they’re pretty much spot on, the book is that good. Â A literary science fiction novel focusing on a father/son relationship. Â It is a very powerful book.
Forget that the world is over, forget that there are roving bands of cannibalistic killers. Â The book is about the relationship between the boy, who has never experienced anything but the apocalyptic nightmare and the man, his father who will do anything to protect him.
The picture that Cormac McCarthy paints of the world after the apocalypse is vivid in its cold starkness, there is nothing left alive and everything is covered in ash and refreshingly the world isn’t recovering.
The survivors (outside of the boy and the man) resort to some of the most horrible things in order to stay alive, it’s like all beauty was removed from the world and also from their souls. Â I’m not going to give anything away lest it lessen the impact of such encounters but they will stay with you afterwards.
This is a very tight and personal story, it’s quiet and moving with the backdrop of the end of the world. Â I will warn you though that this book does not contain answers, you will think long and hard on its contents. Â There is no big bright bow to wrap everything up neatly in the end.
Go read it now.
From one award winning novel to another, if you’ve been following the twitter feed you might know that I’ve been getting off the computer earlier in the evening of late in order to re-read Watchmen. Â I will post about it sometime in the coming days. Â It is just as good the second time round.
I’m having a real attention problem when it comes to reading just lately so Hellboy and the Dragon King are sitting there only three quarters read. Â What I have picked up and am reading again is the Citizen Kane of comic books.
Watchmen.
The hype around the book is thankfully fully deserved and the story holds up even today. Â I’m going to finish it, digest it again and may post my thoughts on this amazing book. Â I got the hankering to read it again since I saw the trailer for the upcoming film which looks brilliant:
Now if only I could convince Tracey to read Watchmen.
Arkonbey
