Una obra rapidita de Ellis, leer y olvidar al mismo tiempo.

Reload

Formato prestigio 17×26cms, tapa blanda, lomo, 72 páginas a color

Guión: Warren Ellis
Dibujo: Paul Gulacy
Entintado: Jimmy Palmiotti
Color: Guy Major

Correspondencia Original: Reload 1, 2, 3,

El guión de Reload es obra de Warren Ellis, guionista británico que destaca por sus intentos de revitalizar la “crisis” del cómic aportando guiones frescos y nuevos planteamientos. Su trabajo en Planetary, Stormwatch o Wolverine son sólo una muestra de sus más de treinta novelas gráficas.
En cuanto al dibujo de Reload, es obra de Paul Gulacy, un dibujante que lleva desde los años 70 en el mundo de la historieta.
A veces, una sola persona, con el entrenamiento adecuado, puede causar más daños que todo un ejército. Ese es el caso de la agente Kiva Reed, una de las armas más mortíferas del gobierno de los Estados Unidos que ha vuelto para atacar a quienes lo crearon, y su primer objetivo es asesinar al Presidente.

Precio: 6.95 €

Reload: Chris Royal es un agente del Servicio Secreto que está a dos días de retirarse del servicio activo y en cuya vigilancia el Presidente de los USA es asesinado. Chris consigue tomar una foto de la asesina pero cuando comienza a investigar su identidad sus superiores le dicen que abandone su investigación y que ya han capturado a la asesina. Chris sigue la investigación por su cuenta y esta le lleva hasta una agente de Acción Directa/ ASI, Kiva Reed, que le dice que el gobierno está controlado por la Mafia y le pregunta si quiere ayudarle a deshacerse de los corruptos…
Tiene un buen dibujo y el guión es entretenido… pero tampoco se le puede pedir más. Se deja leer, es entretenido, tiene un buen dibujo y nada más.

Warren Ellis loves music! People, not so much

PREVIEW: VISIT Warren Ellis’s website/blog

This was news to me, but apparently when Warren Ellis isn’t lovingly insulting half the world on Twitter or writing some of the most acclaimed comics of the past two decades (Astonishing X-Men, Planetary, Transmetropolitan, The Authority, Stormwatch, etc.), he’s critiquing relatively unknown music for the benefit of the greater blogosphere.

For anyone who’s initiated in any way to Ellis’s writing (notorious for meticulously layered plots, course dialogue and biting social commentary), it comes as no surprise that he would have just as strong opinions on music in 2009 as he does on everything else he writes about.

In his latest blog post, some highlights he discusses include Zola Jesus (“a beautiful ghost moaning from the shadows of a bombed-out cathedral”), High Wolf (“wet lo-fi tropical dreamstates”), British Sea Power (“the best piece of classical building/soaring postrock I’ve heard since ‘Raise Yr Skinny Fists.’ I mean, flat fucking out…”) and Gary War (“A gorgeous gurgling gargoyle of a thing”).

Sometimes it’s just cool to know that a 40+ year-old misanthrope — who introduced you to higher science fiction and colored your opinions of establishment politics — digs some of the same genres of music.

To ape Ellis’s own words and his tendency to close with brevity: “It is really bloody good, yes.”

– Eric Vilas-Boas, Managing Editor

[NOTE: This post pertains to Warren Ellis the writer. There is another Warren Ellis, a musician and composer who has collaborated with Nick Cave, info on him here]

Seriously, this absolutely made my day –

Your humble author is located middle row, on the right, next to the angry pink-haired man drinking a pint.

P.S. – I’m not picking my nose; I swear.

1. WordPress.com has stopped working in Google Chrome. After contacting WordPress about this, they said it’s a known problem. I am a bit torked off about this, because of the way I Use The Interwebs. Firstly, I am torked off because it had worked fine until they “improved” something. Grr. Second, I am torked off because now I have to open Firefox in order to post. I know, I know, this is a trivial gripe. It’s still a gripe, though, because the only computer I have is an Asus Eee PC 904. It’s a wee little thing, with wee little Ram. If I run Zune in order to update Lockheed, I close all my other windows. I can run Twhirl and Google Chrome with about six tabs open, as long as I don’t try to stream video. To watch Hulu, I close Twirl and I turn off Google chat — they use too many resources. So, to be in Chrome, checking Google Reader and writing and glancing at LiveJournal, and to see something I want to blog about, I have to go boot up Firefox.

I’ve gotten used to Chrome, dammit. Firefox seems horrifically slow and clumsy to me. And let’s not even discuss the paroxysms of rage that I undergo when forced by my job to touch an IE browser. They are all so damnably slow.

So here I am, in Firefox, writing this. Meh. WordPress? Fix this, please?

2. Did anybody else see this article about the new Knx.to service? Here’s the key paragraph:

“To enable the application, you sign into your Twitter, Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr accounts via oAuth, Facebook Connect and more. When a friend calls you (or you call a friend), the technology will automatically scan all of your social networks, identify if the contact is a friend, and will pull all the most recent photos, Tweets, status updates, and more into its search pane. The idea is to give a social context to all of your contacts, which is definitely useful information for both professional and personal contacts.”

So, you are a professional recruiter or headhunter. So you add in to your 17 social networks the names and i.d. information of every resume you get, everyone you are scouting at colleges, all the employees in your specialty at other companies. And you plug in all into Knx.to. And you contact them — which gives you an instant picture of the things they are saying about theirs lives, jobs, and friends at the moment of your call. Wow. That’s a tool.

I can’t say I’m shocked or surprised. And . . . . and I’m not even really opposed. I mean, the difference between what we had available eighteen months ago in terms of social stalking and what we have now strikes me as the difference between the illegal mix tapes everyone made when I was in college and the illegal downloadable mixes people send via SendSpace. It’s a matter of degree, not kind.

3. Ariana Osborne is delivering a lecture series on the Get Excited and Make Stuff Movement. I highly recommend it.

4. Warren Ellis is putting a human face on the internet. Photos of people who read his board, get his email newsletter, and follow his blog. Hundreds of people. Because, as he says, the internet is made out of people. Behind each comment, each photo, each torrent, each blog entry, there is a person. And they all have faces.

5. M is over his cold, but K now has it. We’re hoping she’ll be well enough by tomorrow to do her two flamenco performances.

6. M lost his third tooth! One of the top front ones, so he now looks EXTRA goofy and cute.

…are these five albums:

1) Disc Two Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ “White Lunar”

2) DJ Shadow’s “The Outsider″

3) Nirvana’s “Sliver: The Best of the Box”

4) Prodigy’s “The Fat of the Land”

5) The White Stripes’ “De Stijl”

And you?

Rocking it,

-Shady

Back in 2004, there was an announcement for the ultra awesome limited comic series Global Frequency to be adapted into a TV miniseries.  Life could not get any better, right?  They even cut a pilot for the WB…and the fans loved it…the studio shit on it!  WTF?  Oh yeah, they probably had a reality show that was a priority, or maybe something to remake.  So it went nowhere unfortunately, but now there are rumblings again that the Frequency will be created and broadcast on the CW.  Whoa yeah!  So if you are a comic fan…a Warren Ellis fan…or hell, you just like amazing sci-fi stories, I believe this Global Frequency is on your wavelength.

Your pantz full of a load over this?  Me too!  More details after the jump…

According to /Film, Production Weekly sent out a random tweet announcing the project and there was later mention on Warren Ellis’ own site, so the deal is yet to be signed off, but there are serious talks!  If you are unfamiliar with the story, I highly recommend you go out and pick up the two volumes of TPBs that collect the comics on Wildstorm Comics.  Well if the opinion of Universal Dork is not enough to sell you one this, here is a little taste of the story to wet your palate (referenced from Wiki…but spot on!).

The Global Frequency is an independent, covert intelligence organization headed by a former intelligence agent who uses the alias of Miranda Zero. There are reportedly 1,001 people on the Global Frequency, forming an active smart mob communicating by specially modified video mobile phones through a central dispatch system coordinated by a young woman code-named Aleph

The purpose of the organization is to protect and rescue the world from the consequences of the various secret projects that the governments of the world have established, which are unknown to the public at large. The people on the Global Frequency are chosen and called on for their specialized skills in a variety of areas, from military personnel, intelligence agents, police detectives to scientific researchers, academics, athletes, former criminals and assassins. These threats that the organization deals with are equally varied and usually world-threatening, ranging from rogue military operations and paranormal phenomena to terrorist attacks and religious cults.

I realize that Warren Ellis is sometimes a polarizing writer.  Those that love him cherish his original works ranging from political journalist and espionage/terror organizations to zombie hordes created by volcanic ash.  Some of the most notable of his works include: Transmetropolitan, The Authority, Planetary to name a few.  Those that have a bad taste in their mouth are generally lovers of mainstream superhero comics…of which when Ellis has penned, he is typically criticized for his unpredictable nature to “produce” and how he seems to get tired of characters and does not give them a proper representation.  Some of those works included runs on Thor, Iron Man, and Wolverine.   Regardless, if you love him or hate him, it is hard to deny there is great talent there and Global Frequency is an amazing story.

Floating around on the net you can find torrent copies of the 2004 pilot and it is worth a watch…still wondering why the WB did not pick this up.  Here is a fan trailer for the pilot that you can check out.  I thought this was a great pilot and a can only image with today’s TV budgets and effects, this can only get better.   If this looks like it up your alley…I beg you, go out and read up.  And not if…when the series hits the broadcast frequencies, check it out.

According to Production Weekly, a second adaptation of “Global Frequency” is in the works courtesy of The CW and writer Scott Nimerfro. The news was further touched upon by Ellis himself, who wrote on his blog that he hadn’t “been cleared to comment yet” by the network.

“Shouldn’t say any more until I get the nod from the studio,” said Ellis. “But yes.”

Global Frequency was previously attempted as a television series for The WB Network — the initial form of The CW — back in 2005. The project went as far as the pilot phase, with “True Blood” and “Battlestar Galactica” actress Michelle Forbes assuming the role of Miranda Zero, the leader of the Global Frequency, an organization of roughly 1,001 people with specialized skill sets that are used to resolve top secret crises. The pilot never made it to the network, despite support from fans that managed to watch a leaked version online.

“I’ve spoken briefly to Scott Nimerfro — by which I mean I threatened to have him stabbed, and he thanked me and told me a funny story about how he’s had worse threats — and he is Okay,” Ellis described.

The writer also spoke towards John Rogers, the creative force behind the initial “Global Frequency” attempt. Rogers seemingly won’t be involved in the new pilot due to his own TNT television series “Leverage,” though he apparently “wishes [Ellis] luck.”

It is a great comic, an amazing concept and hopefully this one will go the distance.

Source: MTV

SWORD #1

“No Time to Breath” by Kieron Gillen (Writer), Steven Sanders (Pencils), And Craig Yeung (Inks)

“Not Yet” by Kieron Gillen (Writer), James McKelvie (Pencils), Matt Wilson (Inks), and Dave Lanphear (Colors)

The Story: In the main story, Abigail Brand spars with her partner, Commander Gyrich, welcomes Beast aboard her ship, and attempts to help her half-brother deal with a situation he has gotten himself into. In the backup story, Brand and Lockheed discuss Kitty Pryde’s current situation (being stuck inside a giant bullet).

The Good And The Bad: In the first issue of SWORD, writer Kieron Gillen throws a hell of a lot at the reader. New characters are introduced, conflicts are established, and the responsibilities (and hectic nature) of SWORD are explored more than they have been in the past. It’s pretty standard “new series” stuff, but thanks to the setting and slightly quirky tone of the dialogue, SWORD #1 feels quite fresh. While Abigail Brand doesn’t come across as the most likeable of characters, her supporting cast is more than strong enough to make up for it. Lockheed (in a nice touch, still reeling emotionally in both stories), Beast, Unit, and even Henry Gyrich all make quite a strong first (in the series) impression.

The artwork in SWORD #1 is serviceable, but only a few panels stand out in any meaningful way. Thankfully though, Steven Sanders and James McKelvie use a similar style so the book has a nice consistent look from start to finish. One thing I absolutely must mention is how horrid Steven Sanders’ take on Beast is. It’s like he’s part cat, part goat, and part Joe Camel…seriously…

Grade: C+

Sky Doll: Doll Factory #1

By Barbara Canepa & Alessandro Barbucci (Writers & Artists)

The Story: Doll’s Factory serves as a companion to the Sky Doll mini-series. There’s a short origin story that leads into the series released by Marvel a while back and a lot of behind the scenes/making of type of material.

The Good And The Bad: How do you feel about paying $5.99 for material that probably should have been put into the Sky Doll hardcover collection that came out some months ago? That’s really the key question that will decide how much you get out of Doll’s Factory #1. While the material is well presented and interesting (especially the short prequel), it isn’t really worth the money unless you are a huge Sky Doll fan. Since it’d be unfair to grade what’s, basically, just bonus material, I’ll instead label it…

For Fans Only!

Supergod #1

By Warren Ellis (Writer), Garrie Gastonny (Art), and Digikore Studios (Colors)

The Story: A scientist explains how the world went to hell as a result of the race to create superhumans that could be worshipped and save the world.

The Good And The Bad: It won’t be for everyone since it is quite dense and rather wordy, but thanks to Warren Ellis’ dry wit, intelligence, and sense of humor, the first issue of Supergod is well worth your time and money. Clever, smart, and damned good looking, Supergod #1 nicely fills the space that opened up when No Hero wrapped up. The two share similar themes, though No Hero was more about the drive to be superhuman while Supergod is more an exploration of the nature and meaning behind the superhero.

Tracker #1

By Jonathan Lincoln (Writer) and Francis Tsai (Artist)

The Story: An FBI agent discovers he’s not quite the same man he was before being found as the lone survivor in a bus full of mutilated people.

The Good And The Bad: Simply put, the first issue of Tracker isn’t a very good comic. From the clichéd main character with a five o’clock shadow and a hilariously stupid name (O’Roark) to the bland, somewhat predictable procedural stuff, nothing about the first issue of Tracker makes me want to follow the story to the end. While the premise of the series is all right and the potential is certainly there, Tracker #1 doesn’t have a particularly compelling or unique hook…or the characters that could possibly make up for the less than interesting things. At least Francis Tsai’s artwork is decent. Tsai’s art looks inconsistent as it jumps from being gritty and rough to polished throughout the book, but the storytelling is fine and the character work gets the job done.

Grade: D+

-Kyle Posluszny

This was me at about 12:00pm today.  I woke up feeling pretty good so I decided to go to the library to get a bunch of school work done.  I got there and dabbled on the internet for a bit and then got a little work done.  My nose started running and I wasn’t feeling too well so I went to the Bucmart to get some snacks.  As I was standing in front of the drinks I got really lightheaded and almost passed out.   I bought some chips and a drink and sat down to eat them hoping it would make me feel better.  It didn’t really help.  Right now, I’m sitting in my apartment reading Warren Ellis’ webcomic “FreakAngels.”  It’s really, really good.  The artwork is amazing, and the best part: it’s FREE!  It’s on episode 75 right now and I’ve read up to 38 since last night. If you are interested, and you should be, check it out over here.

Hey oh, ecco i libri di ottobre.
Evidenziato quello che più mi è piaciuto.

Navi a perdere – Carlo Lucarelli (Verdenero)
La vicenda della Jolly Rosso e della (potenzialmente) misteriosa morte del poliziotto che stava indagando su quella e su altre “navi dei veleni” sono raccontate da Lucarelli con lo stile tipico di Blu Notte, cercando da un lato di mantenere la massima attinenza ai dati di fatto e dall’altro di presentare questi in modo suggestivo e coinvolgente. Cosa in cui Lucarelli è, al solito, parecchio bravo.

Suck! – Christopher Moore (Elliot)
Inizia e pensi “ehi, che inizio in medias res!”. Poi va avanti e ti rendi conto che è il seguito di un altro libro, inedito in Italia. Quindi alla fine la leggi sì, questa storia d’amore tra due giovani vampiri con contorno di personaggi bizzarri, però non è che ti coinvolga più di tanto, perché dei due protagonisti non sai un sacco di cose che vengono date per scontate. Quindi alla fine ti aggrappi al diario della ragazzina dark, che invece è introdotta in questo romanzo, ma è un po’ poco. Peccato.

Con tanta benzina in vena – Warren Ellis (Elliot)
Della produzione fumettistica di Warren Ellis conosco pochissimo. Questo, che è il suo primo romanzo, si muove su temi e binari tipici di Palahniuk: il lato oscuro e bizzarro dell’America, pratiche sessuali inconsuete, leggende metropolitane. E percorre quei sentieri con una sicurezza e un vigore che il buon Chuck ha un po’ lasciato da parte. Non è un capolavoro, ma è lo stesso un romanzo parecchio divertente.

The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
Come il titolo inglese ammette, l’idea di fondo è quella di una riscrittura dell’idea di partenza del Libro della Giungla di Kipling: un bambino, Nobody detto Bod, viene cresciuto in un cimitero da una nutrita pattuglia di spettri e affini. E tutto ciò che ne consegue. È una storia che solo Gaiman poteva raccontare così, alternando con naturalezza i momenti più giocosi a quelli più cupi in cui si allarga la prospettiva e si mostra quale sia la vera natura della partita di cui Bod è una pedina. L’unica cosa che mi ha lasciato un po’ l’amaro in bocca è il fatto che Gaiman si sia andato a infilare in una vicenda un po’ “alla Harry Potter”, con il bimbo predestinato e tutto il resto. O, per essere più precisi, che abbia cambiato ambientazione a qualcosa che aveva già affrontato nella miniserie “The Books of Magic”. Però resta sempre Gaiman, insomma. L’edizione è poi impreziosita dai disegni del buon McKean.

Come scrivere un bestseller in 57 giorni – Luca Ricci (Laterza)
Favola sul mondo editoriale, in cui quattro scarafaggi chiamati come i Beatles scrivono “un besteller” per salvare il proprietario della casa in cui vivono, il libro di Ricci promette molto e mantiene pochissimo. O meglio: se siete completamente a digiuno di discussioni sull’industria culturale, sui tic degli scrittori italiani, sulla “letteratura industriale” e tutto quanto, forse questo libro potrà piacervi. Altrimenti, è probabile che troverete noiosetta e didascalica l’esposizione di cose che già sapete.

Che la festa cominci – Niccolò Ammaniti (Einaudi)
Dopo tre romanzi “seri” Ammaniti cerca di tornare alle atmosfere più cazzarone di Branchie o di alcuni racconti di Fango (uno in particolare, L’ultimo capodanno dell’umanità). Lo fa mettendo in scena una superfesta in una Villa Ada diventata proprietà di un ricco industriale e trasformata nel suo parco privato. Festa durante la quale le cose prenderanno, per opera di un gruppo di sciroccati satanisti, una piega imprevista, con una gran quantità di conseguenze più o meno divertenti. L’idea di fondo è la stessa del racconto già citato: condensare in uno spazio chiuso personaggi emblematici di società e cultura italiane e mostrarne il peggio. Ma se allora tutto si risolveva in una cinquantina di pagine dal ritmo travolgente, che culminavano  nella deflagrazione più totale, qui tutto è allungato in un romanzo che nella sua terza parte presenta al lettore un colpo di scena che mette a dura prova la sua volontà di stare allo scherzo. Alla fine è probabilmente la cosa meno riuscita di Ammaniti, purtroppo. Potrebbe essere interessante, però, mettere a confronto il romanzo e il vecchio racconto e vedere che immagini dell’Italia vengono fuori.

Nick Cave och Dirty Three violinisten Warren Ellis gör soundtracket till filmatiseringen av Cormac McCarthy´s fantastiska dystopi The Road. Jag hoppas och tror att det kommer bli 2010 års filmupplevelse.
Cave/Ellis har gjort mycket filmmusik tidigare och en väldigt bra samling, White Lunar, gavs nyligen ut på Mute. Men här kommer luringen, enligt Mute så kommer soundtracket till The Road ut digitalt den 23 november och på CD 12 januari. Men på samlingen finns sex låtar som måste vara från The Road:
The Road
The Father
The Mother
The Beach
The Journey
The Boy
Stämmer fint med intrigen i boken.

Efter mitt snajdiga detektivarbete ovan så utgår jag ifrån att det här är ledmotivet till filmen.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – The Road

Filmen går upp på svenska biografer den 22 januari.
Mer om filmen på imdb

No está claro si Bunny Monroe es el alter ego soñado por Nick Cave, o si tiene parte de él. La historia parece entretenida y escrita con bastante mala leche, como podíamos esperar de su autor. Pero aún y así, no me he decidido a comprar el libro, tal vez porque tengo demasiados acumulados como para entretenerme con uno de ficción, estilo literario que en este momento no está entre mis prioridades, por más que sea del maestro Cave y por más que, visto lo visto, me hubiese llevado el libro firmado por el propio autor tras la actuación de presentación del mismo en Barcelona.

La verdad es que se hace raro de cojones tener a un tipo como él a un par de metros y repartiendo besos y autográfos. A falta de libro, conseguí que me estampase su huella en la fotocopia que habían depositado sobre los asientos antes del show y que contenía la traducción de los tres capítulos a los que durante la actuación se iba a dar lectura. Porque al final la cosa fue algo distinta de lo esperado. A mejor, claro está.

A Nick Cave, con o sin Bad Seeds, hay que seguirlo allá donde vaya, y si se acerca por nuestros lares -cosa no demasiado frecuente-, ni duda cabe sobre si acudir o no. Pero fueron bastantes los que temiendo por ver un recital esencialmente de poesía y literatura -y ya que el bolsillo aprieta y hay que seleccionar el gasto- decidieron pasar del evento. Entre ellos el amigo Eloy, fan a muerte de este hombre y quien me descubrió la música de Cave hace unos quince años. Naturalmente, al final de la actuación no pude resistir el mandarle un SMS cabroncete del tipo “lo que te has perdido!”.

Minutos antes, mientras buscábamos los asientos, me tropecé con un colega de la promotora, Doctormusic, quien ya me alertó de que aquello era una actuación en toda regla, y puso ante mis ojos un setlist de unos quince temas. Ya en faena, salió Nick Cave a escena para dar lectura del primer capítulo de la noche, cómo no, con su estilo épico inconfundible. De ahí en adelante, el show se dividió en bloques de 4 canciones, entre las cuales los asistentes podían preguntar lo que quisiesen a Cave. Entre que el nivel de idiomas del respetable patrio no es demasiado alto (no había traductor), que el tamaño de la sala no permitía escuchar bien las preguntas (no había ni un misero micro que te acercasen o al que te acercases a preguntar) y que, como así fue en varios momentos, se supone que Cave debe ser un tipo borde y cortante (la calidad y profundidad de las respuestas fue en general bastante pobre, del estilo Buenafuente, para entendernos), lo bueno estuvo en lo musical. Cave y dos de sus compinches, el extravagante multiinstrumentista Warren Ellis y el bajista Martin P.Casey, que junto a Cave al piano o a la guitarra, según la ocasión, se marcaron un recital con momentos realmente buenos, aunque no sublimes, entre los que sonaron típicas como The ship song, The Wedding Song, Red right hand, Dig Lazarus Dig o Mercy Seat, y algunas no tan habituales como Tupelo, Love letters, Into my arms, Do you love me en su versión soft y la tremenda Grinderman.

It’s not that I’m an idiot (although, in the spirit of full disclosure, I sometimes am), it’s that I’m sometimes clueless. Or, forgetful. Or, mentally misplaced. You see, there’s a lot of shit floating around in my cranium. Some numbers, some interesting data, some bullshit ephemera about what episode of what season in what obscure TV show a character walked down the wrong hallway to go to the bathroom, tons of music, a few memorized beautiful things I’ve seen in my days, some horrors I’ve always memorized, and a collection of all the breasts I’ve come across and been mesmerized. Yeah, there’s a pun there. A bad one, at that.

This morning, I woke up and smiled that kind of smile that only happens on a day off. I got up, stretched, did the various things I do when I wake up alone, the scratching of places and releasing of certain human fluids, then went to the internet and began absorbing facts. A typical day. There’s “significant amounts” of water on the mother fucking moon!

from here.

And I was reading some stuff about the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which I knew I was a few days late to, but it’s still fascinating, right?

I even put on some music as I did this. Made myself a little playlist in my music player and put it on random/shuffle, and you know what song came on several times? My favorite song by the Cure, that’s what. This one:

That’s “The 13th,” and I just adore it. Not the video so much, but the song, definitely.

There was a commercial on TV for a Friday The 13th marathon. And I thought, “Huh, that’s interesting.” Thought about 2012, the batshit crazy stupid but fun looking Roland Emmerich movie that came on today that I’ll probably see tomorrow with Conrad Noir, who tells me he’s not all that interested because he was let down by The Day After Tomorrow. Well, no shit you were let down by The Day After Tomorrow, right? Anyway, that’s most likely on tomorrow’s agenda.

Long story short, it took me until like noon or later to actually fucking realize that it was Friday the 13th. I probably shouldn’t be bragging about that.

It happened at some local coffee shop that I went to, and, well, it was embarassing, but interesting. I live in a small town, the kind where it’s hard to not get to know everyone and their quaint little stories. And all the Southern gothic ghost stories that goes along with it. So I do my best to avoid people as best I can, but today I felt like getting out of the domecile for a bit and going for a run and experimenting with various Pandora stations on my smart brilliant phone.

The search for the perfect Pandora station is man’s constant crawl towards enlightenment, nirvana, and the fingerbanging of God. The pleasure is in the quest, not the capturing because the goal is unreachable, but we still try. That’s the beauty of the humans, or something. Regardless, I’ve been bouncing back and forth, trying to find a good station while running/walking, and I took a chance on an 80s station.

Not bad, but you know what? As great as they can be, Duran Duran and Frankie Goes To Hollywood and “The Safety Dance” just felt a little too gay for this job. I needed something less festive, so I figured I’d shift a decade forward and did a search for an appropriate 90s station. Came up mostly zero, no joke, except for a fascinating station that played 80s music stars trying to make a comeback in the 90s:

Okay, that’s the lovely Bryan Adams song from the Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves soundtrack, which is fantastic all on it’s own (except when it’s used for a Dawson’s Creek fanvid, sorry), but in actuality, the first song that came on that station was Adams’ “Run To You,” which isn’t bad. And following that was some Tom Petty, which is always good in my book, and some Bon Jovi, which is atrocious (though old Bon Jobi works appropiately in some bar settings, I’m loathe to admit), and a whole fucking lot of Guns N’ Roses. It was weird, but I guess it did the trick, workout-wise.

Then I got to the coffee shop, got something to eat, something to drink, and meant to hide myself in the corner with some headphones and devour my meal and some more internet on my phone. Also with me were some printouts of various things I needed to revise and a copy of Warren Ellis’ new POD book, Shivering Sands, which had just come in the mail today. I feel like I’ve read most of it previously (it’s a collection of various writings of his from the internet of the past few years), but still, I was excited.

But as it sometimes can be when interesting people are in the vicinity, and frightfully true when there’s less than interesting people buzzing around you, I got sucked into some conversation. Found out it was 13th day of the month coinciding with the fact that it was also a Friday. Also absorbed some recent gossip. And, because of the recent anniversary, got involved with a conversation about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.

You see, the conversation got even more interesting when it turned out that one of the women there was German, a former resident of East Berlin, who had been 18 when the wall came down, and moved to America shortly after. I’ve had a lot of bad experiences with Germans in the past (and no, I’m not referring to World War II, though that was no picnic either, ha ha!), but every once in a while, I have a good experience with their women.

The woman and I talked for some time about the Berlin Wall, and primarily what it was like for her growing up in East Berlin. Essentially, it was bleak, but fascinating. And we had one of those conversations that always pop where she mentions that she was feeling uneasy today because she had left her cell phone at home and she just feels like she’s naked and out of touch, but growing up poor in Germany, they didn’t even have a phone in their house til she was 16. “How did we live in that ancient, strange world?” she asked with a laugh.

She had just seen The Lives Of Others a few weeks ago, she told me, and we talked about the movie, which is really quite good if you haven’t seen it yet, and about the Stasi in general. She told me that the movie scares her because back then, when she was growing up, you just always knew you were being watched, being monitored. You always suspected who was a Stasi man, but you never really knew for sure. And it didn’t hit you until later that it wasn’t so much agents of the Stasi you had to worry about, but those around you because everyone was informing on each other to get ahead.

Could’ve been worse. He could’ve thrown up in her lap.

From there we went into little aspects of German history, talking about “The Iron Chancellor” and how the Prussians united the country a hundred years before the Wall fell, and we even talked a little about Merkel, or “Angie,” as she called her, and told me what a fan she is, being that they’re both East German girls. She told me how it was so weird for her to come to America in her twenties and get a more full view of her own little world up til then and to compare it to growing up in communist Germany, where history was repainted with a propaganda slant. She mentioned that as a teen they were never allowed to refer to the Wall as just “the Wall,” it was always as the “tool for anti-fascist defense” or something like that.

She told me how when she was in school, it was a mandatory field trip for the kids to be taken to the concentration camps and shown all the gross details, the rooms with human remains permanently staining the walls, with the empty shoes of little babies that were turned to dust, the lampshades made out of flayed skin featuring Jewish tattoos. She told me how the physical evidence of the darkest corners of history would never leave her mind and part of her was glad that she was forced to see that shameful part of her country’s past, but that it’s something she knows kids don’t go to see anymore.

I don’t want to use the word “fascinating” again in this post, but that’s what it was. A fascinating conversation, and a fantastic one, informative and insightful. I thanked her for her time and being so patient with my curiousity, and of course for letting me know that it was actually Friday the 13th. Then I left, since I had been there for quite some time and it was starting to look like it might rain. I wasn’t interesting in listening to sad old men with hair plugs crooning bar anthems into my ear, so I just walked in silence, my head heavy with thoughts about everything we discussed.

“Komm rüber!” Hans Conrad Schumann defects, from here.

It did start raining before I got back to my front door, of course, but my mind was elsewhere and I didn’t actually realize it until I was pulling my key out to let myself back in and realized I was shivering there as the water dripped off of me.

And how did you spend your Friday the 13th?

Yes I know the Jaws quote makes no sense in the context of the film about a former black ops agent (Bruce Willis) heading out of retirement, but Dreyfuss is now in it so that’s cool.

Heat Vision had the news that Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck, Fantastic Four), Ernest Borgnine (Airwolf and loads of other things), Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and Brian Cox (Trick r Treat, X-Men 2, and another film also called Red) are in negotiations to join the cast for Summit’s adaptation of the Warren Ellis Wildstorm/DC Comics miniseries being directed by Robert Schwentke.

“Red” tells the tale of a former black ops agent (Bruce Willis), now in retirement, who has to contend with younger, more high-tech assassins who show up to kill him.

McMahon would play a Vice President with a dark side who is at the center of a shadow conspiracy.

Borgnine will play the keeper of the CIA’s darkest records, while Dreyfuss will be a wealthy man who builds a fortune out of lucrative government contracts. Cox is a former Cold War spy and nemesis of Willis.

The actors join a cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John C. Reilly and Mary Louise Parker.

The film is scheduled to begin shooting early next year.

“Red” marks the 92-year-old Borgnine’s first role in a major feature in quite some time; the Oscar winner and Bensky Entertainment-repped actor has been appearing in Hallmark movies such as “A Grandpa for Christmas” and making TV appearances for the past decade.

Well Red is certainly getting a big name cast. I hope some of the original coolness from the comic makes it through to the big screen.

What do you think about the casting?

Nick Cave és Warren Ellis már tapasztalt filmzenekészítőknek számítanak, a páros többször is dolgozott együtt mozik soundtrackjén, következő munkájuk január elején jelenik meg. A The Road című filmhez készített dalok a fájdalomról szólnak, miként a John Hillcoat rendezésében és Viggo Mortensen főszereplésével elkészült, jövő év legelején bemutatandó mozi is…

“A film dolgok elvesztéséről, dolgok hiányáról szól, a feleség és anya elvesztése az alkotás minden képkockájában jelen van. A film törékeny felépítése az elvesztett személy miatt fájdalmat mutatja be gyengéden, a történet mellé komponált zene pedig közvetlenül erre reflektál. Egyszerű, visszatérő dallamok, amelyek a szív fájdalmáról szólnak” – nyilatkozta Cave a dalokról.

-est-

Releer tiene esa magia, esa cosa extraña que hace que aquello que se lee no parezca igual a la vez anterior. No. Mejor ampliemos la afirmación; digamos que la repetición de toda actividad de recepción estética produce este efecto de diferencia sutil. El urinario de Duchamp no es el mismo visto una segunda vez. Tampoco es la misma The Fountain de Aronofsky. Mucho menos lo es Echoes de Floyd. Y ni hablar de El proceso de Kafka. Y lo mismo podemos decir de una historieta, en este caso (porque la estoy releyendo) Transmetropolitan de Warren Ellis y Darick Robertson.

Me repito: no es igual, no me está pareciendo igual.

Cuando la leí por primera vez, recuerdo que lo primero que me llamó la atención fue lo desaforado del guión. Los diálogos, el lenguaje que utilizan, son absolutamente libres, recargados de insultos de lo más imaginativos y de un humor ácido que, al parecer, es la marca característica del amigo Warren.

Transmetropolitan empezó (aquella vez que la leí, hará dos o tres años) despacito, con poco ritmo, tal vez por eso que decía del guión (me costaba acostumbrarme a ese uso del inglés tan poco frecuente en los libros de texto escolar que usaban en el instituto donde iba a aprender) y porque el dibujo era detallista, muy cargado, con unos diseños de página casi tan desaforados como los diálogos y las acciones que contenían. Con todo, lo verdaderamente fascinante era (y es) el personaje principal: Spider Jerusalem, un periodista de los que buscan la Verdad. Loco, drogadicto, carente de filtro, hijo de puta, fumador compulsivo, ácido, idealista, impulsivo, cojonudo; esa sería una lista abreviada de calificativos posibles. Lo cierto es que no alcanzan y hay que verlo cómo se para y cómo se mueve, leer lo que dice y cómo lo dice, para entender la fuerza que Spider le imprime a la historia.

Recuerdo que la primera línea argumental no me produjo ninguna reflexión en particular: en ‘Back on the Street’, Spider Jerusalem vuelve de su exilio autoimpuesto porque adeuda la escritura de dos libros a su editor y la primera cuestión que lo ocupa es investigar las actividades de los transients (unos muchachos que se modifican partes del cuerpo mediante cirugías para parecerse a extraterrestres), lo cual lo lleva a encontrarse con dos cosas: primero, el vacío ideológico de estos transients representado en su líder (que solo se dedica a estar de fiesta) y reflejado en los otros (muchos de los cuales se hicieron transients porque no tenían para donde disparar); y segundo, queda justo en el medio de un episodio de represión atroz. Leído hoy, después de mucho tiempo y muchas otras lecturas, ‘Back on the Street’ me pareció una reflexión sobre las luchas de poder que encabezan las “minorías” en busca de obtener derechos o alguna cosa parecida. Me repito otra vez: la historieta no me está pareciendo igual.

Por estos días ya leí casi un tercio del total de números (casi 20 de 60) [nota del 12/11: hoy lo acabo de terminar] y la sensación que me está dejando Transmetropolitan es otra. La historia, por donde voy leyendo, narra las idas y vueltas de Spider investigando a los candidatos a presidente de EEUU; al parecer hay un presidente muy nazi en el poder, pero el candidato que le puede hacer fuerza es una ameba saturada de valium apodada The Smiler (“el sonriente”): Spider se ve en el brete de tener que elegir al mal menor y apoyarlo desde su popular columna. Recuerdo que cuando la leí allá lejos y hace tiempo me pareció una profecía: se estaban acercando las elecciones y Bush se estaba candidateando, yo tenía muy presente un montón de minucias de la situación sociopolítica del momento y mi cabeza relacionó inmediatamente lo que pasaba en Transmetropolitan con la coyuntura estadounidense. Hoy, por el contrario, me encuentro leyendo y pensando en la coyuntura política de la Argentina, algo que no acostumbro. No quiero que ésto sea una bajada de línea ni ponerme a argumentar por qué Heller, en la historieta, me hizo acordar automáticamente a tal o cual político argentino de mucho poder. Esa es mi lectura, que está cruzada por mis creencias e ideales políticos, por lo que sé y por lo que no, y principalmente por lo que leí en estos años. Lo remarco otra vez: esa es la magia de la (re)lectura.

No recuerdo si fue Italo Calvino el que dijo que los clásicos eran tales porque las lecturas que hacían las generaciones posteriores a la de su escritura generaban la impresión de que el libro seguía hablando de su propio tiempo (releer es reescribir). Si bien la historieta es un medio bastante joven como para que nos pongamos a hablar de clásicos o no (y mucho menos refiriéndonos a una escrita y dibujada en los noventas), me parece oportuno hablar de Transmetropolitan como una de las mejores historietas que (re)leí en mi vida. La coyuntura argentina hace que esté privado de una edición en papel y lo esté leyendo de la computadora, pero de esa magia rara que me deja la sensación de estar leyendo algo diferente de lo que leí aquella vez, de eso no estoy privado.

Texto publicado (con modificaciones) el 5/08/09 en Mondocomic

Yep, I got my copy of the new Warren Ellis book of essays, Shivering Sands.

Order it here, now!

This is stuff that a long-standing Ellis fan, like me, has already seen. But having it all in one place is priceless. Here, in my hands, I am holding some of Mr. Ellis’s great rants on the future, on the purposes of fiction, on what culture is and how we make it.

These essays, rants, and rambles over the last half-handful of years have been inspirational for me. Seriously. All that urging to get out there and do, and make, to get my vision of the future, my interpretation of the now out there and into the world — all those rants became part of my Personal Creative Vision, ™. So, yeah.

I don’t know if anyone else is affected by Mr. Ellis’s writing the way I am. I know a lot of people think it’s funny, or angry, or profane. And it is. But I find it painfully, painfully hopeful. It’s the hope of Orbiter, a book I cannot read with sobbing loudly. It’s the hope of Transmet — that we can be, we will learn to be, and we are GOING to be better than our worst, base natures. It’s the raging, furious hope of Planetary — that we will steal back control of our lives. These essays in Shivering Sands are some of that hope. Yes, there are obscene, profane metaphors. Yes, there’s humor. But I find the book is more accurately — to me — summed up by the last line of “ratStar”:

“If there’s no exit, then you make one. Break open the top of the maze and let starlight in.”

White Lunar, a compilation of soundtrack compositions by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, comes accompanied by a brief, explanatory note from the artists, identifying the sources of the album’s material: Three feature films, including The Proposition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and John Hillcoat’s yet-to-be-released The Road, as well as a pair of documentaries from the UK and a selection of unused, archival pieces from the duo. What the brief liner notes don’t explain—and indeed, what is completely absent from the album’s packaging—is exactly how this material is arranged over these two discs: There aren’t even song titles listed, much less an indication of which tracks come from which films, and the casual listener would be forgiven for thinking that all of these compositions come from the same place – which, in a sense, they do.

Read the rest at Stereo Subversion.

Lo sé, lo sé, lo publicaron hace años… qué le vamos a hacer. Yo también tengo una pila de lectura considerable.

Batman: Black & White Nº 02

Edición original: Batman Black & White Nº 2 USA

Guión: Warren Ellis, Ty Templeton, Walter Simonson, Brian Azzarello, Steven T. Seagle, Harlan Ellison, John Arcudi, Kelley Plunckett, Paul Levitz, Alan Brennert
Dibujo: Tim Sale, John Paul Leon, Eduardo Risso, Jim Lee, Marie Severin, Gene Ha, Daniel Torres, José Luis García- López, Tony Salmons, Paul Rivoche

Color: Blanco y negro

Formato: Libro cartoné, 176 págs.

Los primeros números de la colección Batman: Gotham Knights incluyeron complementos en blanco y negro que recordaban el exitoso volumen editado en los años 90 donde autores de renombre aportaban su particular visión al mundo del Caballero Oscuro. Ahora los 16 primeros complementos se recopilan en esta edición que además incluye 40 páginas de material exclusivo para el recopilatorio. Detrás de una portada dibujada por Mike Mignola se esconden historias cortas de autores como Paul Dini, Warren Ellis, Harlan Ellison, Alan Grant, Dave Gibbons, Brian Azzarello, Howard Chaykin, Alex Ross, Gene Ha, Jim Lee, Gene Colan, José Luis García-López o John Byrne, entre otros.

Precio: 11,95 €

Batman – Black & White – Volumen 2: al igual que en la revisión del tomo anterior, a continuación título, autores (o autor) y un brevísimo resumen de la historia mezclada con mi breve opinión sobre la misma…

Estudio práctico: guión de Paul Dini y dibujo de Alex Ross. Batman ha capturado al Joker y le ha vuelto a encerrar en Arkham, uno de los psiquiatras revisa su historial… escrito por Harley Quinn. Otra revisión del origen del Joker y van… buen dibujo.

Batsman: guión de Ty Templeton y dibujo de Marie Severin. Una aburrida parodia sobre Batman y sus historias. Francamente pésimo tanto en guión como en dibujo.

Cuestión de confianza: guión de Chris Claremont y dibujo de Steve Rude y Mark Buckingham. Bruce Wayne acude en ayuda de una vieja amiga que necesita… ¡un canguro para sus dos hijos! Es divertido ver a Bruce Wayne en un entorno tan diferente al suyo. Entretenido.

Noche tras noche: guión de Kelley Puckett y dibujo de Tim Sale. Bruce Wayne tiene todas las noches el mismo sueño con la muerte de sus padres y todas las noches sale a detener criminales pero no el que querría detener en realidad. Está bien, sin más.

Buenaventuras: guión de Steven T. Seagle y dibujo de Daniel Torres. Batman y un detective se alían para investigar la muerte de una pitonisa. Entretenido y dibujada por un español.

Convertirse en murciélago: guión de Warren Ellis y dibujo de Jim Lee. Batman investiga el asesinato de una prostituta y vemos parte de su preparación. La historia tiene un pase pero el dibujo es francamente pésimo y parece que Jim Lee no lo ha terminado.

Batman con Robin el chico maravilla: autor John Byrne. Una historia que recuerda poderosamente a el Superman/Batman Generaciones en la que él y Robin “protegen” a una banda de delincuentes a los que no pueden acusar de nada. No está mal, pero… cualquier tiempo pasado fue mejor.

Nariz rota: autor Paul Pope. Un ladrón le rompe la nariz a Batman y este le busca para devolvérselo después de tomarse un par de analgésicos. Por esta historia no me compré el tomo que apareció hace un par de meses…

Saludos desde… Gotham City: guión de John Arcudi y dibujo de Tony Salmons. Un recién llegado a Gotham envía una postal a su madre para decirle que ha visto a Batman en persona deteniendo a un grupo de criminales sin decirle que él era uno de ellos. Lo único que se salva es el giro final, si no pasaría sin pena ni gloria.

El juego del escondite: guión de Paul Levitz y dibujo de Paul Rivoche. Después de un accidente en el metro, Batman busca urgentemente a un niño desaparecido. Nada del otro jueves.

El acertijo: guión de Walter Simonson y dibujo de John Paul Leon. Enigma entra en la casa de un millonario recientemente asesinado para encontrar la respuesta a un acertijo escrito por Lewis Carroll pero Batman le está esperando. Otra historia relacionada con Alicia en el País de las Maravillas, viva la originalidad.

El juego del murciélago y el ratón: guión de John Arcudi y dibujo de John Buscema. Un criminal cree haber matado a Batman pero aparece un mendigo donde lo está celebrando y le dice que sigue vivo, el matón y su grupo van a rematarlo, pero… Ni fu ni fa, Buscema cumple pero poco más.

Cicatrices: guión de Brian Azarello y dibujo de Eduardo Risso. Zsasz es capturado por Batman después de asesinar a un grupo de pandilleros y discuten sobre lo que significa el poder. Como historia no está mal, aunque no creo que Batman ayude a la gente para que le deban una, pero si lo dice Azarello…

Apagón: guión de Howard Chaykin y dibujo de Jordi Bernet. Después de detener un robo de Catwoman durante un apagón en 1943, ella y Batman se alían para detener a un espía nazi. Lo mejor es que Catwoman está dibujada igual que Clara. El resto es legible, pero nada más.

Guardián: guión de Alan Brennert y dibujo de José Luis García-López. En medio de una detención, Batman se encuentra con la ayuda no solicitada del Green Lantern original con lo que se puede ver las diferencias entre sus estilos y su relación con la policía. Indiferencia total.

¡Un caso a punto de nieve!: guión de Bob Kanigher y dibujo de Kyle Baker. Batman tiene una pesadilla relacionada con un caso en la nieve y su hijo Batman Jr. Totalmente olvidable.

El bandido en blanco y negro: autor Dave Gibbons. Batman tiene que detener a un bandido obsesionado con los objetos en blanco y negro. Sin pena ni gloria.

Dinero falso: guión de Harlan Ellison y dibujo de Gene Ha. Unos agentes del Tesoro le piden a Batman que detenga a unos falsificadores de billetes. Legible y con buen dibujo.

La apuesta: guión de Paul Dini y dibujo de Ronnie del Carmen. Poison Ivy y Harley Quinn hace una apuesta sobre si Poison puede o no besar a todos los hombres de Arkham, cuando sólo queda el Joker, Harley toma medidas. Es divertido.

Infierno tormentoso: guión de Tom Peyer y dibujo de Gene Colan. Batman asusta hasta la muerte a un psicópata homicida. Me dejó totalmente frío, nunca me ha gustado Gene Colan.

¿El fin del murciélago…?: guión de Alan Grant y dibujo de Enrique Breccia. Batman y el Espantapájaros son infectados por sus respectivos gases del miedo e inician una lucha de resistencia para descubrir quién aguanta más. Legible pero poco más.

Mira que el nombre de los autores debería dar como resultado grandes historias y páginas de diversión continuadas, pero… podría contar con los dedos de una mano las historias que realmente me han gustado. Cosas que pasan en este tipo de tomos, uno no puede fiarse de los autores, está claro. Ahh, tampoco me convence que haya autores “repetidos”, pero bueno, ellos sabrán.

This Wednesday there’s a lot of interesting stuff coming out, if you ask me. New comics by Morrison, Ellis and Azzarello. Steve Dillon’s return to the Punisher. And so forth. More details here.

G.