Friday 27 April 2012

Insert your own lazy Oasis joke here.


Morning Glories Vol 1 &2

Image Comics

Joe Eisma( Artist) Nick Spencer (Author).

If you don'y have a school uniform fetish before you read this you will afterwards.


 
For those of you who are soundly of the mind that internet piracy is an evil, I would like both of you to take note of the following true tale. During a recent adventure on the Interpipes , I (completely by accident of course) downloaded an issue of Images Morning Glories, and within ten seconds of having completed it I  went to Amazon and bought the first two graphic novel collections. When the books arrived I read them both in one sitting, and then like some feeble junkie I went crawling back to Amazon to get Vol 3 only to find out that they had JACKED UP THE PRICE. Or, rather, there was no sign of the next collection, and a cursory investigation seemed to suggest the next issue may also be delayed. Just like all good pushers Joe Eisma and Nick Spencer can not be relied upon to deliver their goods when they say they will. That creates a bit of a problem as, to say Morning Glories is Moorish would be a bit like saying Hitler was “a bit of a rascal”. Not since ‘Lost’ first hit the screens have I been so completely engrossed in a narrative to the extent that I HAVE to know what happens next. And the comparisons to Lost don’t end there.

The story is purposely both intriguing and mysterious (like Lost), the characters are all absolutely gorgeous (like Lost); the whole thing is beautifully presented (like Lost). And just (like Lost) if I don’t get some straight answers soon I am GOING TO FUCKING SCREAM. In fact it’s so like Lost , that if I were a cynical man ( and I am), I would suggest that Morning Glories almost reads like a pilot for the next  hit show coming this fall on Showtime or AMC.



Right in the gentlemans teabags.


The central conceit is a simple one: pupils attend a mysterious boarding school.  Happily for us, the story completely avoids giving us the sorts of "golly gosh lets go and have a feast with Hagrid" scenarios that occasionally made the early Harry Potter books unbearable, and goes straight for those old family favourites: insane sexual tension, Machiavellian intrigue and ultra-violence. No real explanations are given for anything, and you are bombarded with unanswered question after unanswered question:   what the hell is this school for? Are the pupils and staff prisoners?  Didn’t she die in the last issue? Are the staff experimenting on pupils? What’s going on in the cavern under the school? Why is this classroom starting to fill up with water?  IT’S INSANE. And it’s brilliantly done. The artwork is absolutely top notch. It has an ethereal almost dream like quality to it, which adds a great deal to the stories “what is real and what isn’t?” vibe. Joe Eisma is destined for great things in the future.

"She makes me feel kinda funny. Like when we used to climb the ropes in gym class"

Writer Nick Spencer could well claim to be the hardest working man in show business (now that James Brown has snuffed it) working on not only his creator owned properties, but also for Marvel and DC. I can’t help but feel that he might be spreading himself a trifle thin in much the same way Kevin Smith did while he was working on Spiderman/ Black Cat.

The bad news for addicts like me is that the erratic nature of the publishing schedule, plus the labyrinthine  nature of the various story arcs suggest that getting through Morning Glories is going to be a very drawn out process indeed. God damn it. I can’t wait for the TV show.



Thursday 12 April 2012

2DCAST EPISODE 3: Back in Training




2DCAST EPISODE 3 : BACK IN TRAINING

Not to be stopped by your puny human “technical difficulties”, Ciaran and Bobby return for another episode of the podcast that melts in your mouth not in your hands. In this episode we discuss recent plot revelations on Garth Ennis's The Boys, who we Hope gets killed off in Marvels A vs X mega event and \we discuss Alan Moore and his recent conflicts with publishers, move moguls, co creators and sanity. Festival director David Campbell joins us to announce our new GUESTS OF HONOUR as well as to give us his thoughts on the latest Hollywood Blockbusters. Were also joined by Dublin based comics artist Stephen Mooney who talks us through his career and gives us his thoughts on TEEN WOLF. A reasonable time can be expected by all.

Stephen Mooneys Half Past Danger blog is www.halfpastdanger.com

The Eclectic Mick’s website can be found here www. eclecticmicks.blogspot.co.uk/

The new 2d Festival website is now online at http://www.2dfestival.com/

You can email the show with any thoughts, requests views or competition entries at 2dcast@gmail.com

The crazy interview with Alan Moore is here: