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48 Hours with… PlayStation 4

Nick Hanchet
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48 Hours with… PlayStation 4

Thursday

20:00 – Five people, not knowing each other, all sit outside Game in Bluewater whilst resting on their glorious thrones (read: camping chairs), start to have a friendly chat about their hobbies, interests and, of course, the reason they are all there: The midnight release of the long awaited PlayStation 4.

20:01 – I decide it’s probably too early to go and join the queue, as I don’t have the comfiest backside in the world, so I resort to buying overpriced goods from Costa, including a Hot Chocolate with raspberry sauce. Bad idea.

21:30 – The queue had only grown by a couple of people, now sitting on the floor, and I still decided it was too early. Off to go get a smoothie. Another bad idea.

22:00 – My rear hits the cold, unforgivingly hard, marble floor and I unleash the Playstation Vita to keep the girlfriend entertained whilst I try and catch a couple of Z’s. She’s new to video games, and so sometimes it’s quite adorable to watch her face screw up as she falls off the bridge for the 50th time, but it’s gets too much for me; I lean over, hold my hand out as a gesture of help, and get given the Vita to aid her. Happiness all around. Regardless, video games to me have always been something that everyone can experience, whether they are participating or watching, and Sony and Nintendo deliver this in spades. With titles such as Tearaway (which I enjoyed watching almost as much as I enjoyed playing) and any Mario title, everyone can enjoy it. My first gauge of how successful the Playstation 4 is would be the reaction that my other half expressed whilst watching. It was almost time.

23:57 – The line has, as a collective, stood up now, the people at the front of the queue have folded the chairs up now and everyone is anxiously looking at phones to know when they should be allowed in. Everyone has pre-ordered, so everyone has their own allocated number, and this enables you to walk in to the shop, give them your number and they will immediately give you your bag of games and your console. The last few minutes count down and…

Midnight!

The rush, the look on everyone’s faces as they walk out their shop with their brand new console, the excitement. As I got given my games, I checked to make sure I had the correct ones, and I waited for my console. They pass it to me, and I immediately turn around and walk quickly to my car, leaving my girlfriend to walk double time to keep up with me (she only has little legs, bless). We were home by quarter past, and the console was up by twenty past. It is beautiful, elegant and sleek. The minimalistic approach that both Sony and Microsoft took with this new generation are, in my eyes, a lot better than last generations designs, but the Playstation 4 looks special enough so that it can’t easily be mistakes for, say, a VCR. Yes, I went there, but all jokes aside, it stands out more than Microsoft’s effort, whilst not shouting “Hey, look at me, I’m so beautiful!”. I download a few games, and sleep. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow (technically today, but hey ho).

Absolutely stunning!

Friday Morning

Featuring a beautiful Parallelogram design, the console is an understated beaut. It features a slot almost half way along the console where it lights up, different colours depending on what is going on. Upon start up it’s blue, otherwise it’s white. Amber shows that the console is on standby. The controllers are also a wonder to hold, featuring an improved feel in the hands, a touchpad and, thank god, better triggers. The general feeling of this console is that they knew they had something amazing with the Playstation 3, but they were fully aware of all it’s downfalls and just simply refined every aspect, leaving a brilliant product.

Four retail games lay in front of me, whispering sweet nothings to me, trying to persuade me to play them first. Killzone: Shadow Fall, Need for Speed Rivals, Battlefield 4 and Injustice: Gods Amongst Us Ultimate Edition. It’s a hard choice, but having come with the console I chose Killzone: Shadow Fall, and marvel in it’s beauty. I’m not here to talk about the games as such, but instead what the hardware enables within those games, and the possible new experiences that can come of it. So whilst yes, the game is beautiful and they changed the way the character feels (in previous Killzone games the character handled like a tank, heavy and cumbersome as opposed to, say, Call of Duty’s characters) the controller plays a massive role in helping the player enjoy the game, and in comfort this time. The positioning of the analogue sticks now prevent your thumbs colliding in the middle now, and the new design of it stop your thumbs from easily slipping off during frantic games. Whilst a small change, it was needed nonetheless. The touchpad, upon Sony first revealing it to the world, was something I was curious about, but worried. Would developers try and shoe-horn touchpad functionality into their games? Well, my initial reaction is yes and no.

Killzone and Injustice have both used the touchpad in some way or another. Killzone has swipes to determine the use of the OWL, a robotic drone. Injustice has swipes for mini games. Whilst neither of these are revolutionary, I’m going to place my trust in Sony and bear with them. Tearaway for the Vita has finally given the handheld a good use for all the functionality the console has to offer, and I’m sure we’ll see the same from the Playstation family in the nearby future.

Beautiful, sleek, and a joy to hold

Aaaaaaanyway…

The Operating System is a wonder to use. Slick, smooth, fluid. Every other word you can think of that means the same. I look forward to being able to use the “What’s New” functionality, the Facebook-esque feature that shows you what your friends have been up to, minis the relationship breakups and pictures of what they had for dinner. The functionality was turned off for the initial European launch to prevent crashes, slow-downs, etc. The Playstation Store was the first application I used, knowing I had a multitude of free-to-play titles to download, including but not limited to DC Universe Online and Warframe. Sony has, arguably, the best first party games, coupled with brilliant third party support and free-to-play titles, there should very rarely be a moment where someone doesn’t have something to play.

Friday & Saturday Night

This was a social experiment of sorts. I took the console to basically, exhibit to friends, and gauge their opinions. One was our very own Mike Orvis, where we played Injustice for god knows how many hours. Not much exploration of the console itself, was done, but instead we just got on and played games until the wee hours of Saturday morning. Nothing was really said. You could take this two ways; That the console itself wasn’t anything remarkable or the controller was so comfortable yet natural that it didn’t need anything to be said. The Injustice graphics took a mention, saying that they weren’t all that impressive, but a slightly shinier and stable PS3 game never will steal the show.

Saturday night had much more exportation. With all four retail games having a moment in the spotlight, with Need for Speed having a 10 minute test-drive (see what I did there?) and Battlefield 4 having a few Conquest games played, the impressive graphical power that drives the initial batch of games was received very well.

There’s the Playstation Family Portrait!

My closing statement? Upon first playing Killzone, my girlfriend (who really isn’t a gamer) heard the name Helghast and immediately recognised it, and from that point on, was interested in the story, most notably the opening gameplay sequence. I started by saying that her reaction would gauge whether the console, and games, had managed to be an initial success. I’ll reiterate that games are not only designed to be entertainment for those playing it, but those watching it, experiencing everything it has to offer. On that basis, I believe it is a success, and I look forward to what the console has to offer in not only the coming months, but the coming years.

‘In Sickness’ British indie horror film needs your help.

Andy Haigh
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‘In Sickness’ British indie horror film needs your help.

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Up and coming director Danny Lacey, the man behind several short films, is wanting help for his latest endeavour short film ‘In Sickness’.

Lacey is joined by producer Emily Cook, Director of Photography Phillip Bloom and make up/prosthetics artist Melanie Lenihan, whose previous credits include Game of Thrones amongst others.

In Sickness is a character driven horror story set in the near future focussing on two characters trapped in a hellish world full of the shambling undead.

In a stark contrast to the hordes of undead everywhere approach, which reached its zenith with the recent adaptation of World War Z, Lacey is opting for a much more focussed and claustrophobic affair.

Interestingly rather than just wanting to appeal to horror fans Lacey is offering insight for those with a passion for film making. Several rewards focus on the behind the scenes aspect of film making from access to an exclusive backer only behind the scenes website to access to daily rushes from the set and more besides.

Horror fans, those intrigued by the aspects of film making and those with an interest in supporting British film can visit their Kickstarter here CLICK ME

or Follow the project on Twitter @InSicknessfilm or Facebook In Sickness Film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zKQOtUELeQ

You Know Nothin’, Jon Snow

RyeZuul
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You Know Nothin’, Jon Snow

When Charlie Brooker met Jon Snow. No, not Ned Stark’s bastard from Game of Thrones, but the Channel 4 news presenter. It’s… pretty cringe worthy.

I know nothin', and I should know; I'm Jon Snow
I know nothin’, and I should know; I’m Jon Snow

Not him.

TL;DW?

Well, I’m very disappointed in Mr Snow. The well-meaning back and forth on the nature of social gaming in Call of Duty: Ghosts, clearly bewilders and frightens the veteran newscaster and makes him default to:

The lazy stereotypes

The ultimate badass
The ultimate badass

All gamers are male.

Brooker responds: “Now you say that – that’s simply untrue.” Later he adds, “Approximately 50% of the contributors were female.”

To which Snow responds that Brooker must’ve been “searching through the hedgerows.”

As it happens, research has been done as found here:

[quote]“The image most people have of a gamer is usually a young boy, holed up for hours in end in their bedroom, only stopping the game for food, drink and toilet breaks. But these results show that the stereotype couldn’t be more wrong. Not only are women just as likely to be gamers as men, but we are talking about fully grown adults who work, have a family and are in a relationship.”[/quote]

According to this source, 45% of gamers are female.

 

Rage-faceAll games are violent and horrid and probably influence people to be violent

Snow believes the most recent Lego game is incredibly violent and horrid, accusing players of experiencing the vicarious thrill of murder and mayhem through … loud hailers and Iron Man’s “electronic urination” (it was actually Iron Man’s flight jets, but whatever).

As it happens, despite (possibly even partially due to) the increasing complexity and depiction of violence in (age-rated) games, violence across the world, especially in the countries that embraced the principles of the Enlightenment.

Stephen Pinker’s book The Better Angels of Our Nature – Why Violence Has Declined outlines the great wealth of evidence for this.

This Forbes article also delves into the subject:

 

[quote]“They found that the games had no impact on aggressive behavior whatsoever, and that the group which played no game at all was the most aggressive after the task, whereas the group that played the violent games were the least hostile and depressed.

There are many other studies which come to the same conclusions – or lack of conclusions – about the risk of violent video games affecting behavior in real life.

Many social and behavioral researchers point out that violence in the home and poverty are better indicators of anti-social or violent behavior.

Add to this the fact that the gaming industry is now measured in the tens of billions of dollars every year, with global revenue well over $60 billion annually.

At the very same time as video games started going mainstream, violent crime began to fall.

Indeed, the correlation between the growth in the gaming industry and the fall in violent crime is startling even if it is only a correlation.

Violent crime is at an all-time low in America.”[/quote]

As Charlie himself puts it, Snow is “like a dog at the controls of a helicopter,” – being a star of the “old media” the man doesn’t play games and approaches them with a preset bunch of opinions and stereotypes and dismisses whole swathes of culture and experience out of hand. Most annoyingly, people like now are usually proud of their ignorance, which is not something you really want in a journalist.

Though I do wish Brooker had fired this one off for posterity:

Charlie Brooker’s How Videogames Changed the World aired on the 30th of November, and is currently on 4OD. Watch it. It is wonderful.

Science For The Win! Brittany’s weekly science roundup

TheWookie
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Science For The Win! Brittany’s weekly science roundup

This week, science is weird. We go from GMOs to comets to bacteria cheese. Humans are a strange species, but at least we are learning in our own fun way.

GMOfood

Research showing a link between GM maize and tumors in rats has been retracted.

Just going with my gut on this subject, I’m not all that scared of genetically modified organisms. In 2012 a paper was published linking the GM maize to a large amount of diseases including malignant tumors. This week though, the publishers retracted the paper stating that the small amount of species tested was not enough evidence to support the claims. For more information on this dying subject, just follow the handy link. http://www.nature.com/news/study-linking-gm-maize-to-rat-tumours-is-retracted-1.14268

Stemcellskin

Stem cells have been used to successfully create skin to treat burn victims.

So we have all heard of skin grafts to treat humans with varying skin related ailments, but now that stem cell research is legal again, the medical community is making great strides in treatments. Researchers have perfected the process of using stem cells called Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells, found in the umbilical cord, to literally grow skin faster than the traditional grafts. After the process, the skin can be stored to use at a later date. This eliminates the long process of a patient growing the skin on another area of their body which actually prolongs the healing process. Here’s a nifty article on the entire process. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/stem-cells-can-create-skin-burn-victims

Purplebacteria

Alien Life is Purple Bacteria… Wait…. What?

Yes you read that correctly. While we have always known that alien life could very likely be anything but humanoid, scientists are now saying that our first encounter with alien life forms could come as purple bacteria. In a paper published earlier this month, researchers described a baby Earth (billions of years ago) that was covered in this bacteria. This spurred curiosity about life on exoplanets, as well it should. We have been searching for life in space for as long as we could comprehend the idea, but we have been looking for life that is Earth like. It’s about time we started looking at other ideas. Maybe we have already discovered life but it jut isn’t what we are able to detect yet. Maybe there is a ball of gas on a planet somewhere that has a consciousness but we overlooked it. How about that weird tar/oil alien in the episode of Star Trek? I actually considered that a very real possibility. Here’s some more on the actual science behind this. http://www.iflscience.com/space/search-alien-life-little-green-men-are-out-and-purple-bacteria-are

comet ison nov 2013

Part of Comet ISON may have survived the encounter with our sun.

ISON was hoped to be visible through December, but when the predicted orbit was taking it closer to the sun, hope diminished. The comet travelling at more than 200 miles per second, Ison passed 730,000 miles above the sun’s 6,000C surface on Thursday evening. This would have heated the comet to almost 3,000°C, enough to vaporize rock as well as ice. So is that a part of the comet that appeared on the other side of the sun following the same trajectory as Ison? Scientists say it is, stating that they believe the nucleus of the comet survived. http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/29/comet-ison-survive-encounter-sun-earth

bellybuttoncheese

Cheese made form Belly Button bacteria?

This is probably the most popular story going around this week. The Science Gallery in Dublin had an event showcasing this new cheese this week. Now people didn’t actually eat this stuff but they definitely drank the wine. The cheese is grown from bacteria from some very well known celebrities. Researchers received sterile swabs from several peoples bodies, including feet, armpits and belly buttons. The cheese was then developed in a lab and sent off for a showcase. People in attendance were given the opportunity to smell the cheese that oddly carries the body odor of the bacterias host body. Perhaps the most amusing thing about this story are the people looking at it in horror. Don’t you all know what cheese is? Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go fry up some mozzarella and blue cheese. http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2013/11/people-are-making-human-cheese-using-belly-button-bacteria/7659/ 

Good bye, Paul Walker!

Cristina Bogdan
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Good bye, Paul Walker!

The news of Paul Walker’s death broke a few hours ago, stunning his family, his friends and his fans. Unfortunately it wasn’t a hoax made up in some poor attempt at humour, but the sad reality. The 40 year old actor died while heading with a friend (Roger Rodas) to a charity event for  Reach Out Worldwide. Both Paul and his friend, who was driving, lost their lives. The confirmation came from the actor’s official Facebook page and his publicist, earlier today.

[quote] It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide. He was a passenger in a friend’s car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news. Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences. – #TeamPW[/quote]

PaulWalker_Mazur_5163884 Perhaps best known for his role as Brian O’Conner in the Fast and Furious franchise, Paul Walker has  been acting since he was a child, some of the roles that helped establish him as an actor being in movies such as Varsity Blues, Pleasantville and She’s All That. 

Other than his acting career, Paul was involved in several charities, most importantly in Reach Out Worldwide, having joined in in the efforts of aiding Chile, after the 2010 earthquake and Haiti, as well as in helping out other areas around the world that were in need.

According to some of his interviews, despite having a career as an actor, his “first love” has always been Marine Biology. He had a degree in the field and he managed to accomplish his life-long dream of using his skills in the area by joining in on the Expedition Great White, tracking and tagging sharks off the coast of Mexico. A National Geographic series, in which he appeared, has mapped out the efforts of the team, as well as his activity as a member of the crew.

Everyone that knew him praised him as a smart, funny individual and his charity work shows that there was more to Paul Walker than being an actor or a pretty face. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him and by those that only knew him through his acting.

Rest in peace, Paul.

 

Release The Kraken! Mike’s Magic Reviews

The_Dark_Mike
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Release The Kraken! Mike’s Magic Reviews

This week those I have been handed a pretty Kraken Deck. hahahaha. ha.

MANIPULATIVE MONSTROSITIES

Deck list: (Taken from wizards.com)

Main Deck60 cards
16  Island
10  Mountain

26 lands

2  Archaeomancer
1  Burnished Hart
2  Coral Merfolk
2  Crackling Triton
2  Ill-Tempered Cyclops
2  Omenspeaker
2  Sealock Monster
1  Shipbreaker Kraken
2  Stoneshock Giant
1  Wall of Frost
1  Water Servant

 1  Curse of the Swine
1  Disperse
1  Dissolve
2  Griptide
2  Lightning Strike
1  Lost in a Labyrinth
1  Magma Jet
1  Ordeal of Purphoros
2  Rage of Purphoros
1  Sea God’s Revenge
2  Shock
1  Volcanic Geyser

Initial thoughts:

Upon opening the box and having a nosey, It seems the main mechanic is to fox your opponent until you have enough mana to summon the Shipbreaker Kraken, hence the high land count. The amount of scry ability creatures also looks like it will be helpful in planning the next turn.

Kraken, ho!
Kraken, ho!

 

Play Test:

The mechanic works relatively well; being able to hit opponents early on with burn spells sets them on the back foot, the counterspells helping to waylay any threats pre-Kraken. As with any big monster, getting out the Kraken itself feels great, and the monstrosity ability allows you to essentially “level up”- really handy late game.This said, some of the deck filler is a little too expensive, meaning that you’ll be wasting too much mana when you should be spending it on hitting your opponent with spells.TO THE FACE.

Massive tentacaley messiness
Massive tentacaley messiness

Great Against:

This deck trumps anyone without a barrell-load of counter spells, the burn spells are really useful, and bringing them back with Archeomancer is a very neat trick. Any deck that dosen’t swarm or have many creatures will probably suffer early game.

Sucks against:

The milling. Oh God… The milling. Without the counter spells and burns to retort the cheeky miller, this deck falls apart like an X-factor hopeful’s singing career. Milling really messes with the mechanic of holding the opponent at bay until you have the mana to release a sea-beast.

Room For Improvement:

The focus here should be on getting out massive creatures, much like a Gruul deck. I would suggest throwing in a few more cheap counters, a few shocks and the deadly combination of a quicksilver amulet and Stormtide Leviathon for some devastating play around turns 5 or 6.The amulet will allow for a drop in land cards and an increase in other goodies, keeping your deck in the 60-65 region without suffering mana starvation.  The Stormtide Leviathon’s insta-island ability would double the effectiveness of the pre-existing  Sealock Monsters. Overall It’s a good deck, and with a few tweaks it can be great.

Graffiti artists + Warehouse = Stunning piece of art

Becca Harper
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Graffiti artists + Warehouse = Stunning piece of art

Give four graffiti artists a warehouse and unlimited paint and the result is a visually stunning piece of stop motion art.  Watch them create magnificent murals with a satisfying a touch of tom foolery, set to a upbeat track.

I am a big fan of street art and believe it is a part of artistic culture that doesn’t get enough credit and is still widely unappreciated. It’s a shame when pieces are removed or covered and I’m not talking about your average tags done by teens with their pants around their asses,  I’m talking about the truly talented artists.

So lets take a moment and show some appreciation to the collective talents of artists Sofles, Fintan Magee, Treas and Quench.

 

BBC’s Sherlock gets an air date

ScarlettNight
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BBC’s Sherlock gets an air date

The wait is nearly over for Sherlock fans! BBC revealed that the new series of Sherlock is to première on the 1st January, making for an extra special New Year’s day for the fans who have been waiting nearly 2 years for the return of the detective.

As part of a publicity stunt to advertise the new series and the first episode, ‘The Empty Hearse’, a black hearse drove around London visiting a number of filming locations including Baker Street and St. Barts, which is home to the rooftop that Sherlock fell from in the series 2 finale. In the back of the hearse a flower arrangement showed ‘Sherlock 01.01.14’.

sherlock

The dates of the second and third episodes have also been released with the ‘The Sign of Three’ due to air on the 5th January and the third episode, ‘His Last Vow’, following on the 12th January in the UK. The series will start slightly later in the US with PBS Masterpiece airing the first episode at 10pm on January 19th. 

The third series is set to be filled with some huge moments including John finding out Sherlock is still alive, the introduction of Lars Mikkelsen as Sherlock’s new nemesis, the big reveal of how Sherlock faked his own death, which was a topic of great debate after ‘The Reichenbach Fall’ and, of course, John’s new moustache… or mournstache as it’s been nicknamed by some online fans. 

Slaine: The Book of Scars

Andy Haigh
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Slaine: The Book of Scars

Slaine, a barbarian fantasy series which takes in various elements of Irish and Celtic mythology, created by Pat Mills and Angela Kincaid, recently had its 30th anniversary. In celebration of this, The Book of Scars finds Slaine catapulted back through time by his long time foe Guledig to some of the landmark battles of his lifetime. Only this time, his foes have been told of Slaine’s previous victory and are prepared.

Slaine has, over the years, firmly established himself as one of the most popular characters to emerge from the seminal British anthology comic 2000AD. A thinking man’s take on the barbarian fantasy popularised by Robert E. Howard’s Conan, The Book of Scars is in essence a ‘best of,’ as several artists responsible for depictions of classic stories in the characters history return to their previous work in a six part story, with writer Pat Mills adding a distinct twist to things.

Glenn Fabry's return to Slaine after over a decade.
Glenn Fabry’s return to Slaine after over a decade.

One of the inherent appeals of Slaine, and its parent title 2000AD. is the variety that always presents itself, the art styles of Simon Bisley and Clint Langley are distinctly different, but both are responsible for classic stories: Bisley works on the story The Horned God, which stood out with its lush painted art, and Langley drew the characters’ recent ascendence with The Books of Invasions, where his eye popping digital art brought life to the Fomorians in a way never seen before.

Elsewhere, Mike McMahon, the artist for Sky Chariots, returns alongside another artist whose work on Slaine was one of his first real art jobs, Glenn Fabry, a name now synonymous with the best covers in comics on Garth Ennis’ Preacher.

Clint Langley also pays a fitting tribute to artist Massimo Belardinelli, who had the unenviable task of visualising Slaine’s infamous ‘Warp spasm’ for the first time in the story The Bride of Crom. For most of these artists, it’s their first work on Slaine in over a decade if not more.

Pat Mills biggest accomplishment with Slaine was incorporating real mythology into the various stories. Slaine himself is inspired by Cú Chulainn, amongst others, the Irish folk hero who wielded the power of the Earth to warp his body into a monstrously powerful form, and appears in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Slaine fights to protect the realm of Tir Nan Og in the name Danu, the Earth goddess and amongst others his enemies are the Fomorians. The inquisitive and the curious can research the real myths behind numerous characters, gods and goddesses which appear in Slaine.

Recent artist Clint Langley's recognisible digital painting.
Recent artist Clint Langley’s recognisible digital painting.

Having several of the best artists working in comics featured in the same book is quite a feat to pull off, and fans will no doubt have their favourite dependent on when they first discovered the character. The best thing, of course, is seeing that already skilled artists have improved over the years: Bisley’s work in particular is more refined than his work on The Horned God, and those only familiar will Fabry through his covers will be surprised to see his crisp and instantly recognisable style rendered in black and white panels.

Langley’s take on Bride of Crom features several stunning images like Lord Weird Slough Feg and his cadaverous soldiers, and Slaine enduring a warp spasm these are just a couple of numerous memorable images. As for Pat Mills story, long-time fans will benefit more from revisiting Slaine’s past, picking up on the various changes that have been wrought by Guledig’s interference.

The Book of Scars, though, isn’t just a story, it’s an encyclopedia, as, along with the story, it also features The Art of Slaine, a gallery featuring every 2000AD cover Slaine has appeared on, from his first appearance way back on the cover of prog 330 in 1983, to his most recent prog 1849 this year. Along with the art, though, is commentary from various 2000AD contributors over the years: Pat Mills, Clint Langley, Garth Ennis, Angela Kincaid, Mike McMahon, Jock, John Higgins, Colin McNeil, Henry Flint, Glenn Fabry, and more besides.

As with all Rebellion’s recent hardback editions, this is a well-produced and glossy affair more at home on the coffee table than the book shelf.

Clockwork Watch

Callum Tyndall
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Clockwork Watch

Clockwork Watch is an odd project consisting of various transmedia projects. The comic book is an adaptation of the original story written by Yomi Ayeni, its new format worked by writer Corey Brotherson and artist Jennie Gyllblad. There are currently 2 books, Arrival and Breakaway, both of which follow lead character Janav Ranbir. The story is set in a retro-futurist Victorian England, placed firmly in the Steampunk genre, and it revolves around the creation of clockwork androids which have gradually advanced to become prominent in the society.

Clockwork Watch hits its stride
Clockwork Watch hits its stride

A major player in this movement is Chan Ranbir, a genius scientist and father of Janav, the story’s protagonist. The narrative starts with the Ranbir’s arrival in England and the first forays into the creation of the clockwork people, following Janav’s struggles to assimilate into this new society he has been thrust into, while simultaneously dealing with the tears the move is creating within his family. It is these early years that Arrival shows us.

Gyllblad’s artwork is certainly striking through both books of Clockwork Watch. Utilising a style akin to watercolour painting, she has developed an incredibly dynamic look, giving a good sense of movement, something that is essential given the action element of the story. However, though Arrival is good, it wasn’t my favourite. It’s well drawn and written, establishing an interesting premise rooted in a genre I love, but the childlike appeal of it didn’t click with me. It’s well done and presumably deliberate, fitting the tone to the age of the main character, but felt slightly disorienting for older readers. Don’t worry though, because Breakaway follows it.

The second comic of the series sees Janav as an embittered young man, a member of the government’s Clockwork Watch, a department set up to keep tabs on the now huge clockwork population, and the pro-machine Mechanist movement. It’s somewhat of a change from Arrival, to say the least. Far from the well conceived but child friendly first book, Breakaway sets its flag firmly into adult realms, as we see Janav get with a clockwork prostitute, fight “clocks” (as they’re colloquially called), and even get all sweary. It’s a far reach from the innocence of Arrival, and it’s great, as the world has new breath pumped into it’s lungs by Brotherson and Gyllblad. This second installment is even more well-written than the first and I found the adult tone to be hugely engaging.

While Arrival works, Breakaway struts, truly enveloping the reader in the world of Clockwork Watch and delivering a series that is well worth investigating.

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