Being the glorious leader and the one with the biggest camera (im not compensating for anything, honest) I get a chance to go to a lot of conventions.. this month it was MCM in my home town of Manchester. Bigger than last year and stupidly hot but great fun had by all.
Roll on MCM London in October!
Check out the pics below or see them on our FB page HERE
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Held at Manchester Central (formerly GMEX) every July since 2011, the Manchester Comic Con is becoming ever more popular each year, with 30,000 people showing up compared to last years 11,000 – there were so many people in fact that there was a 2 hour queue to get in, and there was still a queue when I left at 4pm.
This was my third year at the Con and it seems to get better every year – the stalls were great, the atmosphere was amazing and you didn’t even need to go inside to enjoy the convention, as the buzz extended to the area outside the GMEX, and even the graduates across the road got in on the action; coming up for pictures whilst still in their graduation robes.
Inside the GMEX it was a total sweatbox, even with the powerful AC on full blast. I guess that’s what happens though when you try and squeeze that many people into a confined space when it’s 26 degrees outside. Nonetheless, they did a good job with the layout, the staging was cordoned off unlike last year which meant that people crowding round to see the guest speakers didn’t get in the way of the stalls and comic village which was a major gripe last year. My only complaint was that it was quite hard to get from one end to another, which tended to leave people a little grumpy – not what you want when you’ve spent hours on a cosplay and some stroppy con-goer decides to barge past you. There was a lot of unused space at the other end of the venue too – last year this was used as a place to sit down and congregate, but this year it was mostly empty all day.
From a cosplayers perspective, everyone taking pictures was well mannered and generally speaking asked permission for photos (one guy came up to ask for a picture, clearly lost his bottle and stood there saying “Shiny” at me before running away again, bless) and other cosplayers were more than happy to pose and have their photo taken too. I went down with photographer Matt Denton to see the sights and find the best cosplay’s out there and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of some of the outfits – especially by some of the kids cosplay outfits that we saw.
Here are a selection of my favourite cosplays of the day, see if you can spot yourself.
As regular Geek Pride readers will know, we all love our superhero movies. You will also know that the lack of a female lead in the aforementioned superhero movies is a sore point with our female contributors, who by the way, make up half of the GP staff. So it won’t be any surprise that we’re a little annoyed at DC Entertainment’s stance on a Wonder Woman film.
The president of DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson, has this to say on the subject:
“We have to get her right, we have to. She is such an icon for both genders and all ages and for people who love the original TV show and people who read the comics now. I think one of the biggest challenges at the company is getting that right on any size screen. The reasons why are probably pretty subjective: She doesn’t have the single, clear, compelling story that everyone knows and recognizes. There are lots of facets to Wonder Woman, and I think the key is, how do you get the right facet for that right medium? What you do in TV has to be different than what you do in features. She has been, since I started, one of the top three priorities for DC and for Warner Bros. We are still trying right now, but she’s tricky.”
Apparently, a Wonder Woman movie would be “tricky”, and I can understand why. A world unlike our own spawns a great warrior, who comes to our world and takes it upon themselves to defend their new home. It’s a ridiculous premise which could alienate potential viewers… except that it’s the same premise as Man of Steel, which DCE didn’t seem to think was too “tricky” to make. This gives off the impression that the only thing potentially “tricky” about Wonder Woman is the fact that she’s, well, a woman. DCE can try to dress it up all they like in a pretty little “oh, but we have to make sure we get her absolutely perfect” outfit, but that’s a weak excuse; either they just admitted to not caring about making Batman and Superman perfect, or it’s a delaying tactic. Look, if making movies is your job, you don’t get to use “I want to do my job properly” as an excuse for taking almost a decade to get something done. If I told Matt that he wasn’t getting any articles from me for the foreseeable future because I was determined to write nothing but perfection, I’d be fired and rightly so.
If you’re not sure how to make a Wonder Woman movie work, how about talking to some of the many amazing female comic writers: Gail Simone, Jodi Picoult -both of whom have written for Wonder Woman, even!- Ann Nocenti, Amanda Conner, Devin Grayson… even Kelly Sue DeConnick and Marjorie Liu if you feel like poaching from Marvel’s workforce. Not just the women, either, why not have a chat with male Wonder Woman writers Brian Azzarello, J. Michael Straczynski or Allan Heinberg, who’s also got a fair bit of screenwriting experience to boot! Talk to Joss Whedon, who has proven not only his love for Wonder Woman and desire to see her on the big screen, but also his ability to produce a superheroic behemoth that generates oodles of tasty, tasty money for the production company. Talk to Jane Goldman, who co-wrote X-Men: First Class and is working on X-Men: Days of Future Past and a further two comic book adaptations. Talk to Geek Pride, or DC Women Kicking Ass, or The Mary Sue, or any media outlet that is expressing so much anger and frustration at not only your complete and utter failure to deliver a Wonder Woman movie, but the fact that you are crying “But it’s haaaaaaard!” like a petulant child instead of addressing and fixing the things that make it hard.
As for the fact that Metal Men is in your top five “priority” movies and Wonder Woman merely gets an implied mention as part of a Justice League movies, I will not dignify that with a response. Mainly because I physically can’t respond without using bad words and violent gestures.
With the 40th anniversay of Red Sonja coming up Dynamite Entertainment ,currently enjoying massive exposure thanks to the relaunch 
of their most well known title with new writer Gail Simone, have revealed plans for a new mini series Red Sonja: Legends written by a team of female writers.
Gail Simone had this to say,
‘The idea just took off, as some of my artistic heroes, people like Colleen Doran, Amanda Conner, and Nicola Scott all contributed these gorgeous, eye-popping pieces of art for the book. It made everyone tremendously happy and gave us a wonderful extra kick for our relaunch of this classic character. So when Dynamite told me that the 40th anniversary of Red Sonja was coming up, I thought, I wonder if we could do the same thing, but with all my favorite female writers?’
Devin Grayson, Marjorie M. Liu, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Blair Butler, Rhianna Pratchett, Leah Moore, Tamora Pierce, Nancy Collins, Meljean Brook, Nicola Scott, Mercedes Lackey are all set to contribute.
Following their successful launch of Judge Dredd IDW are set to bring another 2000AD/Rebellion classic character to their roster, Rogue Trooper.
The classic series was co-created by Gerry Finley-Day and artist Dave Gibbons, set in the far future where war has poisoned Nu- Earth’s atmosphere. In order to defeat their enemies the Norts the Southers create blue skinned genetically engineered soldiers named G.I’s to fight in the corrosive atmosphere. Someone betrays the G. I’s leading to them all being slaughtered by the Norts but for one survivor who now stalks the battle scarred landscape of Nu-Earth with vengeance on his mind.
Alongside a new Rogue Trooper series set to start in 2014, IDW will be re-releasing the classic Rogue Trooper story in new full colour collections with colours provided by colourist Adrian Salmon.
In this first issue of the relaunched Red Sonja, King Diamath has fought a bloody war and overthrown the Zamoran king only to make a strange discovery in the castle’s dungeon. On the Cimmerian Border Red Sonja finds herself the subject of a Royal Summons.
Dynamite have always been been somewhat looked down upon despite their excellent modern pulp titles like The Shadow and cult favourites like Warlord of Mars and Dejah Thoris amongst others. This looks set to change however with acclaimed writer Gail Simone taking on Red Sonja Dynamite’s most enduring title, on-going since 2005.
Red Sonja#1 is an impressive example of how to pull off a relaunch, it doesn’t really change that much it’s the execution here that is key.
This issue features several different covers from Amanda Conner, Fiona Staples, Colleen Doran, Nicola Scott and Jenny Frison amongst others. After Simone voiced an idea of getting the best women doing art in comics to provide covers, they were forming an orderly line.
The prologue featuring King Diamath and his clearly somewhat unhinged son Tiath, making their way through the aftermath of the bloody war with the Zamorans and investigating the dungeons, is an excellent and ominous start to the story. More than that though it establishes character traits which will become important later on in the story and this is just the first few pages.
A scene featuring a trio of thieves attempting to sneak up on Sonja sleeping by her camp fire is reminiscient of Dirty Harry’s infamous ‘Do you feel lucky punk’ as the still prone Sonja says ‘I keep a throwing dagger under my pillow always. Are you a gambler cutthroat?’
This in itself establishes a far more badass Sonja to what has been seen previously.
Red Sonja has always been a gender switch on Conan ever since the character first appeared in Marvel’s Conan in the early 70’s, a warrior woman capable of being Conan’s equal and that character was based on the character created by Robert E. Howard for the story ‘The Shadow of the Vulture ‘, although that story wasn’t set in the Hyborian age like Howard’s more well known work.
Other scenes reinforce this element of the character like Sonja having to wear a dress much to her dislike before seeing the King and learning the details of what has befallen the kingdom . This works on more than one front, it’s a nod to the way Sonja chooses to wear very little in the way of clothing or armour. Her ‘chainmail bikini’ has become a staple of fantasy in itself but also it works in the sense that a warrior whose survival is dependant on fluid movement and agility wouldn’t want to be wearing something restraining.
As well as establishing characters there’s also a refreshing humour present with a messenger/bodyguard referring to Sonja as ‘She of the impressive cleavage’. Humour is hard to pull off in a sword and sorcery setting without it spoiling the tone and seeming too tongue in cheek however this works well and is a nice nod to the notoriety of the chainmail bikini.
Whilst Simone’s writing is one part Red Sonja veteran Walter Geovani’s art brings the hyborian world to life with some impressive scenes. The opening page featuring King Diamath and the siege of the Zamoran castle is impressively busy and the different approach to panels with the more dialogue heavy scenes being more traditional square panels and the action oritented scenes being more random in their layout and shape is a nice touch which adds to the kinetic nature of the action.
Adriano Lucas’ colours also bring scenes to life, with the camp and dungeon scenes making good use of shadows and fire as a lightsource.
This issue features a lot of stuff happening but it never gets confused, it’s easy to follow events even though there numerous shifts in location and time which is a credit to Simone’s writing. Superfluous dialogue is a pethate but there’s none of that here, every line is shot through with purpose of
This issue also introduces a new villain, who is far more than just another warlord (which is one of the problems of the sword and sorcery setting) and the ending of this issue makes you want to pick up the next to see what happens, which is the best .
Red Sonja deserves to be in the ascendant with this relaunch, Sonja has never been more of a bad ass heroine.
Atlus, the developer responsible for the Persona series, Demon’s Souls and Catherine, has been put up for sale by its parent company, Index Corporation, which is currently facing stock market de-listing in Japan. Bids will be taken from next week and it is expected that several Japanese publishers could be interested. To me, Atlus has proven time after time that it would be a valuable asset to any games company so I’m sure it will be snapped up pretty quickly. Apparently publishing plans for upcoming titles Dragon’s Crown or Etrian Odyssey Untold shouldn’t be affected by the sale.
Here’s the full story from Shopto.net:
Index Corporation is moving to sell off its various subsidiaries – which includes Japanese developer and publisher Atlus.
The news comes via Bloomberg, which states that the company is facing stock market delisting on July 28, and will begin taking bids next week.
Total sales of assets, which again includes games publisher Altus, are expected to earn around $149 million.Atlus is responsible for publishing some rather big titles such as Persona 4, Demon’s Souls, Catherine and the upcoming Dragon’s Crown. It’s currently unknown which companies would be interested in picking the publisher up, although some Japanese based publishers such as Capcom could very well be interested.
If I asked you to think about movies involving giant robots, what comes to mind? Transformers? Anime like Macross and Gundam? Power Rangers? For me (being the old-ish fart that I am), it was early nineties movies Robot Joxx, Crash and Burn and Arena.
If those nineties films ring a bell, or you’re of the younger generation and are a fan of anything else that I’ve mentioned, then Pacific Rim is something you’re going to go batshit for… at least, initially.
Yet again, this is a movie that is not complicated in the slightest – Giant monsters called Kaiju emerge from an inter-dimensional rift at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and proceed to lay waste to the human race. In a bid to defend themselves, humanity kickstart the Jaeger program, and build enormous robots to assist in exterminating the Kaiju. Jaeger pilots gain almost rockstar status as a result of their exploits, however the Kaiju ramp up their assaults and start sending much larger and meaner monsters which decimate the Jaegers with speed and precision.
The film predominantly follows the pilots of the American Jaeger codenamed “Gypsy Danger”, in particular Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam – Sons of Anarchy). Teamed with his brother Yancy (Diego Klattenhoff), the two pilots’ minds are merged in a process called “Drifting”, where they see and experience each other’s feelings, memories and more. The process is necessary as controlling a Jaeger is too much of a strain for one person, so the drifting is involved to share the neural load (a process that funnily enough isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds).
I’m not really able to go into much more story detail than that without unleashing spoilers, so I’ll stop there – however although Pacific Rim may be light on complexity, it certainly makes up for it in terms of charisma and eye candy. Just to clarify the movie isn’t exactly dumb, but as it develops the twists and turns can be seen coming a mile off.
Charlie Hunnam’s performance is actually really good, and he’s basically unrecognisable as the kid I saw on UK TV a few years ago. Sons of Anarchy has moulded him to perfection for this role, and his gravelly vocals are used to good effect for the narration of the movie as well. You’d think that as the film mostly centers around the Jaegers and Kaiju, the actors get left by the wayside a little – this isn’t the case. There’s plenty of action outside the metal behemoths – some great fight scenes between Raleigh and Mako (Rinko Kikuchi) and rival pilot Chuck Hansen (Robert Kazinsky) show off Hunnam’s physicality and some great choreography.
There’s a great supporting cast as well, with Idris Elba (Luther, Thor, Prometheus) stealing the movie as the hardass commanding officer Stacker Pentecost. The comic relief is supplied by scientist and Kaiju groupie Dr. Newton Geiszler and mathematician Gottlieb played by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman respectively.
Ron Perlman makes a brief appearance too as the Kaiju organ farmer Hannibal Chau, wearing some pretty spanky shoes too I might add. Perlman’s character is prettymuch the same as every other character he’s played though – the deep-voiced, violent and angry badass… anyone would think he’s been a little typecast… and they’d be right.
The action between the robots and monsters is fast and frantic (try not to sit too close to the screen at the cinema, especially if you suffer from motion sickness at all), taking place on land, underwater, in the air… no stone building is left unturned destroyed while they are beating seven shades of shit out of each other. Whereas in the Transformers movies the robots fighting each other seems a little too fake, what Pacific Rim achieves brilliantly is that the impacts actually carry weight and feel that much more real as a result.
This is where I can’t applaud the visual effects department enough – the Jaegers and Kaiju are incredibly convincing, and when any of the fights are taking place you feel like a kid watching your first superhero movie all over again. It’s edge of your seat stuff, and so fantastical that you can’t help but ignore the film’s faults and keep saying how awesome the spectacle is over and over. The pilot’s movement and controls all seem to work really well with their respective robot’s movements too, and seem convincing (especially compared to the giant robot movies of old like Robot Joxx) with both regular movement as well as battle maneuvers.
The design team behind the Jaegers and Kaiju have to be commended too, as there’s some really innovative and spectacular monster creations – some that spit acid, and even some that can emit an electromagnetic pulse. To get a bit more of an idea behind the Jaegers and their design and weaponry, you should check out the Jaeger Designer on the official Pacific Rim webpage – in building your own monstrous robot you can learn about the different design facets.
The soundtrack to the film is suitably rousing and inspiring, along with including those deep pounding basslines to add to the dramatic effect during tense battles. I couldn’t fault this at all, and nothing felt out of place.
In terms of what I didn’t like about the film, this boils down to the story. It’s a little weak, and as I’ve said before there’s several plot developments that you can see coming.
I think the reason for this is that del Toro was intent on making a family blockbuster, and as a result he’s catered a little bit too much to the younger audience – with this in mind I can understand the relatively simple story, but I can’t help but think that if the movie had been given a 15+ rating (an R rating in the US) that it could’ve become something truly epic.
As it stands, Pacific Rim is a good movie, but not great. It ticks all the boxes in terms of the effects-driven summer blockbuster, and it’s hugely entertaining… but a thought-provoking film it is not. The film definitely needs to be seen on the big screen though – if you wait until DVD/Blu Ray before you see it, you’ll lose the impact of the immense spectacle and scale of the movie… much like my experience with Reel Steel (not that Reel Steel was a good movie, but I know I would’ve enjoyed it more on the big screen).
Worth your time and money? Absolutely. But Guillermo del Toro can definitely do better – lets hope for a sequel… and if the extra scene after the credits is anything to go by, it’s possible.
Trailer:
MonstersThe Free Dictionary: an abnormal dread of deformity, usually in others. →
This morning, fanboys and fangirls throughout San Diego Comic-Con had their pants explode this morning when this image was shown on the screen as writer/director Zack Snyder came onstage.
Zack (the legend behind the “Dawn of the Dead” remake, “300”, “Watchmen” and the latest Superman film, “Man of Steel”) said that he was working with writing legend David S. Goyer (“The Dark Knight”, “Call of Duty: Black Ops”, “Man of Steel”) to bring together Batman and Superman, but it won’t be like anything we’ve seen before.
This is actually the second time these two legends have worked together, considering that Goyer and Nolan wrote “Man of Steel” and Snyder directed it, but it will be Snyder’s first time writing with him. When someone asked whether it would be a collaboration or a fight between the two heroes, Snyder pulled an interesting trick out of his sleeve. He pulled actor Harry Lennix, who played General Swanswick in “Man of Steel”, to read the following bit of dialogue:
I want you to remember, Clark…in all the years to come…in your most private moments…I want you to remember…my hand…at your throat…I want…you to remember…the one man who beat you.
If that rings a bell, then odds are that you remember this scene:
Batman/Superman fight, fast forward to 2:02 for the juicy bit.
Following that, Snyder said it wouldn’t be an adaptation of “The Dark Knight Returns”, but it would be inspired by the book. At that point, the fans in the audience lost their ever-loving minds.
AND NOW FOR THE GUESSWORK:
Given Christian Bale’s recent statements, it’s safe to guess that WB is either going to have Joseph Gordon-Levitt as our beloved Dark Knight. When you consider how much he abhorred killing in Nolan’s version of the Bat, and how much death Superman caused in “Man of Steel” (directly and indirectly), my guess is that Batman refuses to see Superman as a hero. Heroes don’t kill, villains do. Killing doesn’t make them any better than the men they killed, regardless of intent. My guess is that we’ll see Batman look for Superman’s weaknesses, utilize them, and put him behind bars, only for Superman to whoop his ass in the process, with the two of them arguing back and forth about the merit of killing (or lack thereof, in Bats’ case).
However, this could also serve another purpose. Goyer’s no stranger to political commentary, and recent years in politics have shown humans to be more divided than ever (if you doubt me, go to CNN), and considering the iconic nature of these two heroes and their symbolism as Americans, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to use them as representatives of the conflict beweeen liberals (Batman) and conservatives (Superman). While Batman was no stranger to collateral damage (see “The Dark Knight”), he did everything he could to minimize it, while Superman showed no hesitation, seeing it as an unfortunate consequence of conflict. More importantly (SPOILERS IN 3……2……1……GO) Superman KILLED Zod. He didn’t throw him into an undetermined hole, he straight-up snaps the dude’s neck in a fit of uncontrollable rage! Batman went out of his way to AVOID killing people, no matter who died at the criminals hands.
For this argument, I return to TDK. In this one, we see the Joker kill the love of Bruce’s life with a bomb. He had the Joker’s life in his hands later on, and he had two options: get his revenge and drop the bastard, or take the high road and let him live. He chose the latter, saying that killing wouldn’t make him any better. VIOLENCE can solve problems, but KILLING doesn’t. If you watched your parents bleed out on a dirty alleyway, you’d probably feel the same way. He controlled himself when he could have lost it, unlike his younger extra-terrestrial adversary. This is a very liberal attitude towards life, while Superman was rather conservative about it, demonstrating that threatening and taking the lives of innocents is the same thing as forfeiting your life. Zod killed hundreds, causing a fight where Superman killed hundreds more in the collateral damage, but it was Zod who started it, and Zod who would continue unless stopped by any means necessary- including death. Clark may feel terrible about it, haunted even (as he was in the comics), but there’s no way for Bruce to know that. This could cause the BVS film to climax on a monologue where Superman rants about his regret and the necessity for it, the personal cost of a violent life, and the horrors of war, making them both realize that fighting won’t solve anything, but working together will solve everything.
Stay classy, junkies.
It was Manchester Comicon today and I decided to go as Kaylee from Firefly – I think that this costume could be done by anyone anywhere with minimal effort and without requiring too much skill. I’ve prepared a tutorial where I’ll deal with each element in sections to keep it nice and easy for anyone who wants to follow suit in future!
Firstly, the hair. Throughout most of the series, Kaylee has her hair straight, down and with a centre parting, but as I’m going for the look in the first episode, I needed buns! I’m not blessed with thick hair so I invested in some of these mini ‘hair donuts’ from Claire’s Accessories which are simple to use and give a bit of volume to the style.
As you can see, it makes for a very similar effect to the updo she’s sporting in this episode. As for makeup, I’ve kept this minimalistic, at best she has a touch of mascara on.
Next up, the jacket. She wears a blue silk kimono-style stunningly embroidered jacket and I must say, I really lucked out here. I’ve been scouring the internet for the last few years for one which was close enough to the article in this episode and one day I came across this on Ebay. Never been worn, someone’s granddaughter was helping her clear out her wardrobe and wanted it to go to a good home. It has certainly done that.
I had to compromise somewhat on the top. In the pilot she is wearing a white long-sleeved top with a temple scene on it. Luckily it isn’t really visible when the jumpsuit and jacket are on so I went with the style from the Firefly promo shoot instead.
I actually managed to find a very similar top by Phase Eight by chance so until such a day as I find a top the same style as the one in the pilot (and I’m told by reliable sources that they are out there) this will have to do.
Now for the jumpsuit – I couldn’t find one with a zip that would also be tall enough for me, being 6ft tall, but mine has a velcro strap that sits open in the same manner so I’m quite happy with that. You can pick up an olive green jumpsuit at most Army Navy stores, the one I found had long sleeves which I loved, but for the sake of authenticity I have chopped the sleeves off and hemmed the edges; I also muddied up the jumpsuit a bit as it looked a bit too clean. The main detail is the important part with the jumpsuit; When Kaylee meets Shepherd she has two patches. One is a cute little teddy above the left knee, and the other is a little heart on the midrift section.
I got a cheap applique heart from Ebay and actually managed to find an exact replica of the bear patch on yet another Ebay store – the listing was under “Fuzzy Brown Teddy Bear Sew On Plush Applique Patch 6.5 Kaylee Firefly ”.
Onto that famous parasol of hers.
I bought a plain white paper umbrella with a bamboo frame from Brollies Galore and I used acyrlics picked up from the local hobbyist store to paint the design on the outside of the umbrella which shines through to the inside well enough not to have to do both sides.
As you can see it isn’t perfect, but it does the trick!
Last, but certainly not least; below those rolled up jumpsuit bottoms Kaylee sports a rather charming pair of black and red sandals.
I searched for ages to find a pair like these but I seriously struggled, so settled for normal sandals instead (I’ll spare you a picture of my gnarly feet, I’m sure you can get the idea!)
What I love about this costume is that anyone on a cheap budget and even on short notice can pull it together, it’s instantly recognisable to the legions of fans out there, and yet it isn’t overdone at conventions so you aren’t likely to end up being one of twenty Kaylee’s that turn up; I only saw one other Kaylee today. If you enjoyed my little tutorial or have any questions please make use of the comment sections below.
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