TV REVIEW: Misfits – Series 3, Episode 1

The highly anticipated third series of Misfits kicked off last night and it’s all change for our favourite young offenders.

BOOK REVIEW: House of Fear

I think it was Isaac Asimov who said that writing short stories is harder than writing novels, as with a novel you have space to build your characters, amplify the plot and create a believable world, but short stories have to do all this in just a few lines and good short stories can be far and few between.

In House of Fear, Jonathan Oliver has gathered nineteen short horror stories by both horror and science fiction authors who have all excelled in creating believable tales with well fleshed inhabitants and worlds that could well be our own.  Each and every story will give you that delightful frisson of fear, and yet all are without a single vampire within them.

TV REVIEW: The Fades – Season Finale & Look Back at the series

By now all of you should have seen the last episode of The Fades. Let’s talk about that and also the series as a whole. (Spoilers ahead)

COMIC REVIEW: Spandex Issue 5

Spandex 5 continues the O.M.F.G story arc that was established in Issue 4. With the world recovering from some of the most ingenious zombies in comic book existence to the knowledge that Spandex has a mole in the team. Spandex continues to push the boundaries in everyway possible: from showing that small press comics can do crisis stories to the most outrageous cast of heroes and villains you are likely to read anywhere.

If Call of Duty was made into a film….this is what that film would be. Act of Valour.

I watched this new film trailer for the first time today and immediately thought that this could have been a live action trailer for Medal of Honor, Battlefield 3 or Modern Warfare 3. What sets this film apart from any other action, war film is that the cast is made up of real life serving Navy Seal operatives not actors. That’s right, these are the real deal  Spec Ops who have been in actual real life combat missions. The docu-drama style film recreates actual Navy Seal missions that previously happened and in the making of the film live ammo was use in several scene instead of blanks and the scene where the truck was blown up, a real rocket launcher was used instead of special effects.

If there’s 2 action films you need to watch in 2012 (The Expendables 2 being one) this might be worth checking out.

A “Grimm” Tale of Product Placement

A woman's Nike, or a woman's advertisement

It is possible that I am looking too deeply into this, or maybe I’m too jaded, but while watching Grimm (good show, check it out when you can) a pattern began to appear. So the questions that came to mind when I saw the following images were “Do people really speak in brand names?” and “In what context do people use brand names in conversation?”

Okay, what can you call it other than an iPod?

TV REVIEW: Merlin Series 4, Episode 5 – His Father’s Son

One might call tonight’s episode one of the most humorless episodes of Merlin‘s run and one would be right. The brilliant Lindsay Duncan guest stars as Queen Annis who is hellbent on getting revenge against Arthur after a decision he makes creates huge ramifications for his reign and Camelot.

Thousands of lives on both sides hang in the balance and Arthur must learn to believe in himself and truly become the King of legend before it’s too late.

COMIC REVIEW: Western (Cinebook Review #7)

This is the last of my current series of reviews covering the less well-publicised milieu of French and Belgian comics, courtesy of the terrific translators and publishers Cinebook.   Here we’ll take a look at Western, one of Cinebook’s ‘Expresso’ collection – so called because of their brevity and strength.  This is no ongoing series with multiple strands, reboots, alternate realities and back up stories; it’s a straightforward tale and it’s told damned well.

There’s a reason that I kept this book until last.  You take a look at that front cover, stark but beatifully detailed – reminiscent of an ancient photograph, with its sepia tint and carefully posed air.  You flick through the volume and catch glimpses of the startlingly well drawn characters, haunted and full of depth.  You pause on one of those gorgeously atmospheric, fully painted splash pages and you soak it all in.  This book is quality (Capital Q) and like all consumables of high value it deserves to be savoured.

Jurassic Park: The Game

Earlier this morning, I received a newsletter from Telltale Games asking if I’d pre-order their latest title Jurassic Park, prompting me to check out what the game is all about. So I thought I’d share what I had gathered with the GS community.

Ninja Gaiden 3 and Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends on show at London Comic Con

Warriors, ready your blades! Tecmo Koei will be previewing action-adventure NINJA GAIDEN 3 and hack ‘n’ slash epic DYNASTY WARRIORS 7: XTREME LEGENDS at this weekend’s MCM Expo London Comic Con.

Hi-Res Photos from Merlin Series 4, Ep 6 “A Servant of Two Masters”

On next Saturday’s episode of Merlin “A Servant of Two Masters”, Merlin becomes Arthur’s enemy by means of what else? Magic.

Falling into Morgana’s hands, the warlock becomes a deadly weapon in her fight for supremacy. Using ancient magic, she pits friend against friend and creates the perfect assassin. An oblivious Arthur is in great danger. Will anyone notice Merlin’s unusual behaviour before he does the King some serious harm?

We’ve got a few hi-res stills from the episode behind the cut and Merlin airs Saturday, November 5th on BBC One at 7:55PM.

Digital Comics Round-Up: Clowns, Spider-Man & The Thrill Electric

I’ve been away from GS for a while…

But less about the past, now I’m back and am bringing you a weekly round-up of digital comics news as far as I see it!

First though, the name – Digital Round-Up doesn’t really inspire much, so if anyone has any ideas what I can call this weekly piece, please leave your suggestions below.

Who am I?

As it’s been a while I’d better do a short introduction. My name is Michael Nimmo and I am a fan of digital comics. There! I said it. I was an early adopter onto digital comics (before they were cool?) and run my digital comics blog – 3Millionyears in which I try to give as much information as a man can give on digital comics!

So below you will find some links and news about digital comics, along with latest releases and reviews. If I’ve missed something, or you want to draw my attention to your digital works, please email me

•  Clown Commandos – After releasing a preview, Clown Commados #7 is now available for download on your iOS device. This ground breaking series incorporates sound into the stories, adding a new dimension to the reading experience!
• Newsarama gives us some information about Comixology leadership in the digital comics market, as well as an interview with Comixology CEO David Steinberger
• iVerse Media – the people behind the Comics+ app for iPhone and iPad – have an excellent blog post from Michael Murphey about their web based service and Diamond Digital
• Following the massive ‘Death Of Spider-Man’ arc in Marvel’s Ultimate Comics line, some fans have created their own motion comic of it!
• Multiverse Magazine has joined the Graphicly distribution network!
  

  “Graphicly is the premiere place for creators to share their stories,” said Graphicly CEO Micah Baldwin. “We’re excited to be connecting Mike Conroy and Multiverse with a wider audience.”

•  Brian Garr over at the statesman.com asks “Will our appetite for tablets and e-readers eventually kill traditional booksellers?”
• Graphicly’s latest titles – Including a free preview of Image Comics “Extreme 2012″
• Boom! Studios have released their maxi series Dracula: The Company of Monsters as a webcomic at http://draculacomic.com It refreshes daily and is defiantly worth reading.
• Thrill Electric is on its way….
• You can now get a Kurt Cobain graphic novel on the iPad!

• “In Maps & Legends” writer, Mike Jasper writes on ‘how to go digital’ for comics creators
• Marvel Digital’s latest titles for its Digital Unlimited service and it’s app on the iPhone and Android!!
• The latest digital titles from Dark Horse, Graphicly’s day and date titles, IDW’s titles including Ghostbusters & Doctor Who, the latest titles on Comics+, loads from Comixology! and some more #2′s from DC!
• Avenging Spider-Man is going to have digital download codes with it!
• Bleeding Cool discusses Shonen Jump’s digital jump
• iFanboy’s Mike Romo gives us his Digital Manifesto
• Newsarama has Three Thoughts on the Announcement of Avenging Spider-Man’s digital expansion
• Viper Comics is making a larger push into digital comics
• DMI Launches Vampire Hunter D App!
• Comixology are the top grossing app on the iPad! – next the world?
• Appolicious review the Marvel Comics app for the Android OS
• The Beat asks is the Kobo Vox a Viable Platform for Digital Comics?

And finally – for the Halloween weekend, Dark Horse have a sale on for some scary comics! Including Hellboy, Beasts of Burden & More

3 Million Years is another comics blog.
With a slant towards digital and iPhone comics.
I will endevor to bring the latest news, reviews and commentary in this new medium.

See Boba Fett Play the Batman Theme on his Accordion

Sometimes blog titles just write themselves.

GS Reporter: Nuge

Source:accordion

Sophie Aldred Set to attend the SFX Weekender 3

Image via Wikipedia

All you Ace aka Sophie Aldred fans who are attending the SFX Weekener 3 will be pleased to hear that the lady herself will be in attendance. Check out the press release below for all the info.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE GHOST PROTOCOL – New Trailer Arrives

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to let us know what you think of the new trailer for the latest Mission Impossible film.

As always should you or any member of the GS team, be caught or killed, we will disavow all knowledge of your existence.

This post will self destruct in 30 seconds.

Good Luck!

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE GHOST PROTOCOL, posted with vodpod