Five For Friday

Here are five tracks that I have been listening to a lot this week.

5. Misono- VS

4. Fact- A Fact Of Life



3. Nneka- Heartbeat (Chase and Status Remix)



2. MOVITS!-Fel Del Av Gården



1. Polysics- Electric Surfin' Go Go

Disney's takeover of Marvel. A view.

This week there has been a lot of talk about Disney's recent takeover of Marvel Entertainment, theres been much talk about the future of the Marvel characters that fans know and love, many fans feel that Disney will gain creative control of the content of the comic pages, watering down the storylines to satisfy a younger audience.

While it is true the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "Disney" is the likes of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and lately Hannah Montana and High School Musical, products that are geared towards children and pre-teens, what most don't realise is that Disney also owns Miramax which distributes films such as Pulp Fiction, Gangs of New York and City of God, hardly films which are suitable for children.

Marvel's biggest rival DC Comics is owned by Warner Bros which also produces content for children as well as adults. Warner's influence on DC editorial is minimal if that, what Warner Bros does do is allow DC the oppurtunity to keep low selling titles off the chopping block for a little while longer than normal because of the financial backing and support it recieves from Warner Bros allowing titles such as Manhunter to get several chances of publication. DC also has the Vertigo imprint which prints comics aimed at mature readers with no demands by Warner to tone down the content which may give comfort to fans of Marvel's Mature Readers line Marvel Max.

In short Disney's $4 billion takeover of Marvel should help it in several ways, within the comics division of Marvel Entertainment low selling titles will have a slightly longer shelf life than what they normally would have had and as such can get an extra boost to keep it on the shelf with new storylines or crossovers with titles that sell better. With the help of Disney Animation/Pixar, Marvel can begin experimenting and creating more Motion Comics with better animation skills and the benefit of a larger pool of voice actors to utilise. Finally Marvel Studios will have access to considerably more funds to get movie projects into production without the need to rely on the success of previously released films and comic sales to help generate extra income, which means that budgets for films like Thor and The Avenger's can not only help pay the actors but also fund greater special effects.

Another benefit of the takeover is now Disney has something to market to pre-teen boys, which it has noticably been lacking with franchises such as High School Musical and Hannah Montana being one of the main focuses of Disney's marketing.

There is one company who may not benefit from this merger, independent comic company BOOM Studios is currently printing several Disney/Pixar titles including Mickey Mouse and Friends, The Muppet Show Comic Book and The Incredibles. It is unclear whether BOOM Studios will be allowed to continue to publish these comics once the current contract (which was agreed upon in 2008) runs out.

Digging The Dirt: A Review of Mötley Crüe's The Dirt

They took the expression 'Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll' very seriously they've diced with death, jail time and copious amounts of women and drugs (sometimes even at the same time with regards to the latter) and yet Mötley Crüe are still alive today currently touring with their 9th studio album Saints Of Los Angeles which was inspired by their autobiography The Dirt which was released back in 2001.

The Dirt is written by all four members of the band (Vince Neil vocals, Mick Mars guitar, Nikki Sixx bass guitar and Tommy Lee drums) as well as contributions from managers past and present and former lead singer John Corabi the book gives a detailed account of life before Mötley Crüe and during it.

The Dirt is an entertaining read, every chapter has at least three interesting tales to tell. While some of the tales are funny such as Nikki Sixx trying to outdo Ozzy Osbourne, others are cautionary tales of Rock & Roll excess. There are some conflicting stories in the book especially surrounding the events that led to Tommy Lee leaving the band, both versions of the tale (one told from Tommy's POV the other told from Vince) however it just makes the book feel human and it leaves the audience wondering which story is true.

While the contributions from the band members aren't equal it's the insight into their personalities while Mick Mars' has the least amount of page space the others do it fits him because he is the quiet man of the group but in reading Mick's chapters you feel sorry for the guitarist who not only put up with the rest of the band's outrageous antics but also suffering from a back condition called ankylosing spondylitis. In contrast bassist and chief songwriter Nikki Sixx contributes the most to The Dirt like he does to the band's sound and image.

There are times when reading The Dirt where you feel sorry for members of the band, especially one moment in the book that left a lump in the throat as a worst nightmare comes to life for Vince Neil as he loses his four year old daughter to cancer. The way it is described in the book is heartbreaking yet slightly horrific to read and makes it a hard chapter to get through emotionaly. To some extent every member of the band has moments in the book where readers can't help but feel sorry for them, as well as times when the exact opposite occurs.

The Dirt is definitely an essential autobiography for fans of the metal genre, especially Mötley Crüe it's also a cautionary tale to those who think that the Rock and Roll lifestyle is just all about the fame, money and women, The Dirt examines both the personal and professional side of being a rock star, it's a brutal and honest truth about how the rock stars on the road to ruin get treated by tour managers, record label executives and their peers.

After finishing the book you have to wonder how a band could go through drug addictions, terrible relationships, jail time and in-fighting and yet still be together and out touring, and yet Mötley Crüe are doing exactly that.

Giant Robots in Japan

The Comicsvine website recently posted this article about Japan's unique way of celebrating the 30th annivarsary of one of it's most popular Anime Mecha series Mobile Suit Gundam by constructing a 60ft model of the first Gundam mecha (the RX-78 Gundam) it was recently completed and is now standing over Odaiba's Shiokaze Park where it will live for the next few months. It looks amazing and at first I thought it was made of some kind of metal, however while it does have a steel frame its actually covered with a hard plastic.

Its an interesting way to celebrate a franchise's 30th annivarsary, the original Mobile Suit Gundam series may have finished years ago but the stories are still a part of the anime genre with a dozen other Gundam series being made over the years. Most of these series are similar to the story told in Mobile Suit Gundam (a colony citizen is forced into piloting a new type of Mobile Suit in order to protect his friends or colony but soon becomes involved in the escalating war between the two sides who are fighting) while others like G Gundam (which was created for Mobile Suit Gundam's 15th annivarsary) take a different route (in that series the Mobile Suits are used as fighters to battle one another to determine who will rule the Earth).

While the original Mobile Suit Gundam series isn't available for viewing in the UK the episodes were edited into three compilation movies which are available on DVD. The 2002 series Gundam SEED and it's sequel Gundam SEED Destiny was seen as an adaptation of sorts of the original series for a modern audience.

Despite being around for 30 years the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise has yet to have a feature length animated movie (there is a live action film called G-Saviour, however Gundam co-creator Yoshiyuki Tomino voiced his disapproval of the project) originally Gundam SEED was going to have a movie made set after it's second series Gundam SEED Destiny however the project has been put on hiatus. The latest Gundam series (Gundam 00) is set to be the first Gundam series to have a movie released in 2010.

Doing Weekly Comics Strongly

You have to praise DC Comics for having guts, since 2006 DC have released a 52 week long series every year on time and with varying degrees of success (52, Countdown To Final Crisis and Trinity) this year however, they have changed their weekly comic (Wednesday Comics) not only in length (12 issues over 12 weeks instead of 52 issues over 52 weeks) but they have also changed the format as well.

Instead of the traditional comic format Wednesday Comics is about the size of a newspaper broadsheet (28" x 20") cleverly folded in the disguise of a normal comic (7" x 10"). It looks like a pull out comic strip section of a newspaper (like the Scottish Sunday Post) Wednesday Comics has 15 one page stories featuring ongoing adventures of some well known DC heroes like Superman, Batman and The Flash as well as the less well know characters like Kamandi and Adam Strange and written and drawn by some of DC's top talent like writer Kurt Busiek (who had recently finished scripting the latest weekly comic Trinity) author Neil Gaiman and Watchmen artist and former Green Lantern Corps writer Dave Gibbons as well as art from Amanda Connor (currently drawing Power Girl), Mike Alldred and legendary comic artist Joe Kubert as well as many others.

The great thing about Wednesday Comics is that it is completely accessible, you don't need to know whats going on in DC Comics to pick it up and read it. Most of the strips have a Silver Age feel to them, largely due to the colouring which has a that 60's retro feel to it (especially with The Flash strip) and because of the size of the comic, the images have a bit more space to breathe without being attacked for space by the word balloons the only exception to this is the Wonder Woman strip which feels cluttered.

Overall the first issue of Wednesday Comics has some interesting setups and what look to be fun stories, USA Today has already announced it will upload the Superman tale every week on their website (Week 1 is already online) which is great for those who can't get to a comic shop every week but the comic is something I will be grabbing every week because it is a bold and different way to read and enjoy comics.

Holy Belated Birthday Batman!!!

On May the second 1939 Detective Comics issue 27 hit the stands, introducing the world to a new 'superhero' just one year after the emergence of Superman, Batman (or as he was addressed back then The Bat-Man) introduced in the tale "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," which was written and drawn by Bob Kane.

Batman continued in Detective Comics despite getting his own comic in 1940 until very recently in issue 853 (Batwoman takes over from issue 854 onwards) during his time in Detective Comics, characters of great importance (such as Dick Grayson aka Robin and later Nightwing, Two Face, The Riddler and The Penguin) made their first appearances in Detective Comics.

Surprisingly though Batman's origins weren't explored until issue 33 of Detective Comics, in the comic we saw Bruce Wayne's parents get gunned down by a man called Joe Chill and with the death of his parents Batman was born.

Entering the Silver Age of comics, Batman's adventures would stray from the detective tales into the weird during the 50's from becoming a 'Zebra Batman' becoming Bat-Baby to meeting his alien counterpart Tlano from the planet Zur En Arrh who was inspired to become Batman of Zur En Arrh after observing the real Batman in action.

Perhaps the most popular period for Batman was during the 60's with the arrival of the TV Show which saw Batman portrayed by Adam West, and introducing everyone to the dance known as the Battusi and the concept of Shark Repellent Spray. While Batman was camping it up on the small screen the comics also took a similar direction however Batman shunned the camp look in the 70's with the help of writer Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams who presented readers with a darker, broodier Batman.

The comics would get darker still in the 80's with the release of Tim Burton's Batman film, Frank Miller's Year One story and Dark Knight Returns tale, the latter showed an old, retired Bruce Wayne return to cape and cowl and renew his war on crime. The 80's also saw Batman lose two of his companions to the menace of his arch nemesis The Joker, first in the one shot Killing Joke written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland saw the Joker shoot, cripple and abuse Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl and in the story Death In The Family saw new Robin, Jason Todd (Dick Grayson was forced to relinquish the Robin identity after a near death experience fighting Two-Face but became Nightwing in the pages of The Teen Titans) being killed in an explosion which was triggered by The Joker.

It wasn't just The Joker who killed Todd, it was also DC Comics fans who voted for the characters death by phoning a special number to either keeping Jason Todd alive or killing him, the votes were close with about a 28 vote difference. Though Todd would return years later it'd have an effect on Batman who didn't want to put another child through the dangers the Caped Crusader faced until Tim Drake deduced Batman's true identity and even worked out that Dick Grayson was Robin and after convincing Bruce that Batman needed a Robin as a balance, Tim became the third Robin.

Bruce Wayne hasn't always been under the cowl, in the 1993-1994 tale Knightfall saw new Hero Azrael take over the cowl after Batman ended up paralysed by an attack from villain Bane, although Bruce returned to reclaim the cowl after he was healed and when Azrael began acting crazy. Nightwing was given the cowl for a short while afterwards as Bruce wasn't fully recovered from his injuries but later came back and helped restore order to Gotham after it was hit by a quake and declared a No Mans Land.

Recently Batman has had to face different challenges, such as a rebellious son named Damian (who was raised by Talia Al Ghul, Ra's Al Ghul's daughter and the mother of Damian and trained by the League of Assassins) and a Club of Villains led by Dr Hurt who may or may not be Bruce Wayne's father Thomas Wayne (who according to 'Thomas' faked his own death) drugging Batman and leaving him on the streets of Gotham as a hobo, only for his crazy Zur En Arrh persona to take over. The Zur En Arrh persona was intended as a back up persona if Bruce's mind was ever corrupted to a severe degree, it also caused him see a being from another dimension called Bat-Mite. The final battle between a recovered Batman and Dr Hurt ended with a helicopter crash in water, at first everyone thought Batman was dead but Final Crisis proved to be the real 'death' of Batman being 'killed' by the Villain Darkseid who used something called the Omega Sanction which supposedly kills the person it hits but allows them to live a thousand lives, each one more miserable than the last however Batman was able to kill Darkseid at the same time.

Whether Bruce Wayne is actually dead or not remains to be seen though there is someone wearing Batman's costume in the past drawing the Bat-Symbol in caves.

However the Batman tales haven't ended there as a new Batman has emerged in Gotham City, fighting crime with Robin by his side. The man behind the cowl is Dick Grayson, who initially turned down the cape at the request of Bruce's will but after Jason Todd, who came back to life, began wearing an armoured version of the Bat suit and using guns to fight crime (something the real Batman would never have resorted to, except in very early stories) Dick became convinced that the world still needed Batman, and has chosen Damian Wayne to take on the role of Robin, leaving the current Robin (Tim Drake) to forge his own path, which has yet to be seen (though there are speculations that he will become Red Robin). The original hero may not be behind the mask but as long as someone is willing to continue the legacy of the Bat, and from Batman issue 666, Damian Wayne will some day take on the mantle that his father and also his mentor Dick wore to fight injustice in Gotham City.

Review: Bands from Japan

As I mentioned in my last blog, there were several Japanese acts coming to Liverpool as part of Liverpool Sound City I managed to catch most of them (missed out on Remain On and Levelload).

Tokyo Pinsalocks @ The Magnet 20th May 2009
Dressed in Kimono's this three piece band from Japan play somewhat hypnotic dance/electronic music that you can't help but dance along to. Songs like Circle and Antenna have a nice, warm and friendly electro feel to them, while new song Mannequin has a feel of an old arcade game, and is one of the few Tokyo Pinsalocks' which is sung primarily in Japanese (most of their songs are sung in English) the beats sound space-agey at times while the vocals sound very pop-esque, well when they could be heard over the instruments.

Skunkrice @ The Korova 21st May 2009
Another three piece band however Skunkrice's sound gives the impression that there are more than three members playing at a specific time, their blend of rock and techno comes together flawlessly it makes you wonder why other bands haven't tried this combination, neither the heavy guitar or the dance beats sound like they're fighting for domination i.e. every song's sound is a perfect balance of the two genres, the often distorted vocals make the songs like they are using a recorded voice instead of it coming from front man T2low.

100% Genki Tour @ Barfly 22nd May 2009
The 100% Genki Tour featured four acts; De De Mouse, Tucker, Riddim Saunter and 80Kidz
De De Mouse
First act of the night was De De Mouse a J-Electro artist whose music is filled with light synth beats and computerised vocals (mainly female vocals) his set was quite mellow, most of his music came from his laptop but his keyboard playing adds a more melodic touch to the music.
Tucker
Multi instrumentalist Tucker was up next, and his performance was perhaps the most memorable of the night, using mixing decks, a guitar, drums, a bass guitar, an electone and an old oil drum to create a unique performance, (often looping several instruments together to create a beat while he played one specific instrument. Tucker's performance wasn't just music based, at a couple of points during his set he would set the top of his electone on fire and at the end of the set he proceeded to do a handstand from atop his electone.
Riddim Saunter
This 5 piece band played with alot of energy, the small stage at the Barfly couldn't contain them or the mic stands, but that didn't seem to matter for this band whose tempo shifts from melodic rock to something reminiscent of old school punk which made there set unpredictable yet enjoyable. Not only would they change their style several members changed instruments. The band also played a cover of Counting Crow's Big Yellow Taxi, enlisting the aid of Tucker on Keyboards and unlike most bands when Riddim Saunter enlist the aid of the audience they provide hand bells.
80Kidz
Yet another techno/dance based band, 80Kidz finished the 100% Genki Tour in style, their music was more techno based than De De Mouse's work earlier in the evening and somewhat reminded me a bit of Skunkrice with the live guitar (and in 80Kidz case bass guitar as well) both weren't overpowering the beats and in some instances you forgot they were even there.

Natccu @ Bumper 23rd May 2009
Natccu rounded off the Japanese bands playing in Liverpool Sound City, her bouncy guitar tunes like Apple Z are helped by great bass lines and good guitar licks, while her song Crescent Moon (or Kagen No Tsuki the Japanese version of Crescent Moon which she played) have soulful lyrics sounding something like a Goo Goo Dolls song.

What struck me the most about all of these bands was that while they didn't have that many people watching them, is the real effort to put on a strong performance that people would remember them by, and for acts like Tucker who put on a show that didn't feel boring or like you were just watching a recorded song in its rawest element. It'd be understandable if these bands did that especially those who played at the 100% Genki Tour and Natccu who played gigs which were free entry but they didn't, they came out and played memorable sets and made me feel like I have been cheated by other bands who have played with little soul to them.