REQUIEM VAMPIRE KNIGHT Book 1 review

REQUIEM: VAMPIRE KNIGHT graphic novel (Collects RESURECTION and DANSE MACABRE stories)

Writer: Pat Mills

Art: Olivier Ledroit

Published by Panini Books

Review by Stewart Loud

From the godfather of British comics Pat Mills, comes this frighteningly original and deliriously dark story about German officer Heinrich's horrific journey into a demonic afterlife filled with vampires, zombies, dark gods and mutants. Like something out of the sort of nightmares I get when I forget to take my medication, this comic blew my fucking mind with just how messed up it is!

UNTOLD TALES OF THE PUNISHER MAX #1 Review

Writer: Jason Starr

Art: Roland Boschi

Colour: Dan Brown

Review by Stewart Loud

With the death of Frank in the MAX ongoing series, Marvel have launched a 5 part mini series telling standalone short stories set before his recent death after his battle against the Kingpin. #1 isn't brilliant to be honest. It's a nice enough story about criminal shenanigans but since the Punisher only appears briefly at the very beginning and end of the comic, and all of the other characters featured are new to the MAX universe, there's not much to connect you to what's going on.

PROMETHEUS Review

Director: Ridley Scott

Writers: Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshal-Green and Guy Pearce

Review by Stewart Loud

Ridley Scott's long awaited sci-fi spectacular is here at last. So, does it live up to the hype? I think it does.....well.....apart from the utterly senseless ending but I'll get to that later.

THE BOYS: BUTCHER, BAKER, CANDLE STICK MAKER review

Writer: Garth Ennis

Art: Darick Robertson

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

Review by Stewart Loud

War, brutality, Infant murder, a messed up childhood and more than a couple of supes getting horribly killed. The mysteries of Billy Butcher's past are finally revealed in the last of the Boys origin stories and as you'd probably expect, it's not for the faint hearted.

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE review

Director: Joss Whedon

Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlet Johanson, Mark Ruffalo and and Chris Hemsworth
Review by Stewart Loud

Did you ever have that conversation with your mates when you were a kid at school, about how great it would be if they made one massive comic book movie that had loads of characters in it like some sort of special event cross over? I did. We'd talk about who'd be in it, what stories they could use, possible set pieces and ideas for the action scenes. Even play with the idea of writing to film companies with our ideas. but deep down we were always sure it would never actually happen and even if it did it'd likely just turn out to be a load of shit that bore little resemblance to the comics it was based on. Comic book movies when I was a nipper were few and far between and what was around very rarely came close to doing the source material justice.

GHOST RIDER 2: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE review

Directors: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor

Writers: Scott M. Gimple, Seth Hoffman and David S. Goyer

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Ciaran Hinds, Idris Elba and Christopher Lambert

Review by Stewart Loud

Cinema 3D might be a load of crap but this film definitely isn't. Directed by the guys responsible for the Crank films, this high octane fire fest is everything you could possibly expect from a film about a flaming skeleton who rides a motorbike. Nicholas Cage's hair is looking a lot better than it did in the first one too.

MAZEWORLD graphic novel review

Collects THE HANGED MAN, THE DARK MAN and THE HELL MAZE originally published in 2000ad progs 1014-1023, 1101-1110 and 1151-1160

Writer: Alan Grant

Art: Arthur Ranson

Published by Rebellion

Review and pictures (most of them) by Stewart Loud

Described on the cover as “a nightmarish fantasy” that's exactly what this epic tale is. Read this and you'll lose yourself in one of the most original story lines ever to be published in the pages of long running British comic 2000ad. Mazeworld is the kind of setting I imagine you'd end up with if Studio Gibli made a movie that was a cross between Lord Of The Rings and the old Another World computer game on the PC. Dark, frightening, violent and relentlessly inventive from start to finish, Mazeworld is second only to Pat Mills', Requiem: Vampire Knight in terms of how unique it is.

MARVEL'S ASTONISHING TALES #1-6 review

Writers: C.B. Cebluski, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, Shane McCarthy,Jonathan Hickman, Christopher Sequeira, Matt Yocum, Jonathon Green, Ted McKeever and Frank Tieri

Art: Keneth Rocafort, Lou Kang, Martin Redmond, Nick Pittara, W Chew Chan, Adiana Melo, Fiona Staples, Ted McKeever and Marko Terini

Published by Marvel Comics in 2009

Review and pictures by Stewart Loud.

A Mini series showcasing a lot of creative talent containing three six part stories and six individual short stories starring a dazzling array of Marvel characters including Wolverine, Punisher, Cannonball, Sunspot, Mojo, Iron Man and Daredevil. The beauty part about this short run of comics is that none of the stories are part of some long running complicated continuity or massive universe wide cross over so even if you don't know much about the characters in each story you can still pick up the comics and enjoy them all without having to add three dozen back issues to the list of comics you need to get hold of to work out what's going on.

THE BOYS Volume 9: THE BIG RIDE review

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TROLL HUNTER REVIEW

Review by Stewart Loud

This came out on dvd and blu-ray last week and after I saw the action packed trailers portraying it as a non stop thrill ride and riddled with 5 star review scores with quotes labelling it as one of the most original and exciting films in recent years, I just had to get my self a copy. People hunting great big fairy tail trolls? I can't remember the last time I got this excited about a film! Unfortunately, having watched it now, I can't remember the last time I was this disappointed by one either.

HAS THE 616 PUNISHER BEEN RE-BOOTED? I JUST CAN'T BLOODY TELL ANY MORE.

Before I articulate my confusion over what's happening with the Punisher's continuity in the main Marvel 616 comic at the moment, let me just say that I am enjoying the current series written by Greg Rucka. He's taken the approach that Garth Ennis put to such good use in his Max run, that you don't need to have the Punisher appearing in every single page of the comic just because it's got his name on the cover.

ABC WARRIORS: THE VOLGAN WAR Volumes 1-4 review

Originally published in 2000ad progs 1518-1525, 1550-1559, 1601-1606, 1611-1616 and 1666-1677

Writer: Pat Mills

Art: Clint Langle

Published By Rebellion

Review by Stewart Loud

Lots of action, comedy, violence, war flashbacks and shit either getting spectacularly blown up or horribly imploded left right and centre as the ABC (Atomic Bacterial Chemical) Warriors continue their galaxy spanning crusade to increase the peace in this jaw droppingly gorgeous sci fi epic from Requiem Vampire Knight writer and UK comic 2000ad creator Pat Mills and artist Clint Langley (Slaine, Judge Dredd, Sinister Dexter).

Review of BATMAN JUDGE DREDD graphic novels

THE BATMAN/JUDGE DREDD FILES

Writers: Alan Grant/John Wagner

Art: Simon Bisley/Carl Critchlow/Dermot Power/Glen Fabry/Jim Murray/Jason Brashill

Collects vol 1-3 of the Batman/Judge Dredd books. You won't find too many other books as beautifully illustrated as this one. Neither character has looked much better than they do in this trilogy of stories that take place in both Gotham and Mega City One (courtesy of a trans-dimensional device) that all tie in together as Batman and Dredd join forces to fight criminals, monsters and cyborgs with a few inevitable clashes of personality along the way.

Review of BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD animated movie

BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD animated movie

From WARNER BROS. ANIMATION

Written by Judd Winnick

Directed by Brandon Vietti

Starring the voice talent of Bruce Greenwood, Jensen Ackles, John Dimaggio, Jason Isaacs and Wade Williams.

Review by Stewart Loud

It's a terrible thing when sidekicks lose the plot and start murdering lots of people but the silver lining on this particular occasion is that Warner Brothers released this blindingly good animated feature. Oh well, swings and roundabouts. Re-telling the story from DC's Batman comics of how Jason Todd, the second Robin, became the Red Hood after he was murdered by the Joker, this cartoon is everything a feature length Batman movie should be and a shit load better than the live action Dark Knight film, but don't get me started on that. “Lets not do that again.” What the hell broke your fall? The pissing ground?!

JENNIFER BLOOD by GARTH ENNIS review

JENNIFER BLOOD #1-3

Writer: Garth Ennis

Art: Adriano Batista and Marcos Marz

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

Review by Stewart Loud

Do you lament the absence of Garth Ennis' unique writing talents from the pages of The Punisher? Do you like gritty, realistic, violent crime/vengeance stories? Do you maybe just have a strange urge to see what the Punisher might be like if he were a woman who was married with two kids and living in a nice house in a quiet suburban neighbourhood? If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions then start reading Jennifer Blood!

ULTIMATE AVENGERS vs NEW ULTIMATES #1-6 review

ULTIMATE AVENGERS vs NEW ULTIMATES (DEATH OF SPIDER-MAN) #1-6

Writer: Mark Millar

Art: Lenil Yu

Published by Marvel Comics

Also available in collected edition paperback from Panini UK LTD

Review by Stewart Loud

Someone's been feeding the covert Avengers team and the Ultimates misinformation to turn them against each other and it results in one hell of a tear up! In the midst of all this confusion, someone puts a bullet in Spider-man and can you guess who pulls the trigger?

ULTIMATE AVENGERS 3 #1-6 review

ULTIMATE AVENGERS 3: BLADE vs THE AVENGERS #1-6

Writer: Mark Miller

Art: Steve Dillon

Published by Marvel Comics

Also available in collected edition paperback from Panini UK LTD

Review by Stewart Loud

All the vampires in the world have decided to get together in one massive bunch along with a few freshly bitten super heroes and go and batter Nick Fury and all of his Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D. mates at the Triscellion. Looks like Blade's the only guy who can save them all from being eaten or turned into vampires but no bastard will listen to him!

ELEPHANTMEN WAR TOYS Volume 1: NO SURRENDER review

ELEPHANTMEN WAR TOYS Vol 1: No Surrender

Collects Elephantmen War Toys #1-3

Writer: Richard Starkings

Art: Moritat

From Image Comics

Review by Stewart Loud

War Toys is a prequel to the on-going Elephantmen series set in the year 2239 during the war between China and Africa as they fight over what's left of Europe after it was devastated by a disease that reduced its population to mere thousands. If there's one thing I enjoy reading about, it's post-apocalyptic future war and chances are you'll enjoy this one too.

A look at PUNISHER #1 (2011 new ongoing series)

PUNISHER #1 (2011)

Writer: Greg Rucka

Art: Marco Checchetto

Article written by Stewart Loud

The new Punisher ongoing series written by Greg Rucka is finally here and #1 really is a very good looking book indeed. The comic opens with a shockingly violent, messy gunfight at a wedding reception resulting in a massacre and is followed by what looks like it could shape up to be every bit as good as Rick Remender and Garth Ennis' runs before it. Welcome back to the 616, Frank. It's been too long. And you seem to be sporting a hair do a bit more like mine as well!

THE BOYS Volume 8: HIGHLAND LADDIE review

THE BOYS volume 8: HIGHLAND LADDIE graphic novel

Collects #1-6 of the Highland Laddie mini series

Writer: Gath Ennis

Art: John McCrae and Keith Burns

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

Review by Stewart Loud

Women pooping out 17 foot tape worms and guys getting speared through the head by falling shafts of frozen piss. It's a Garth Ennis book all right! In the latest volume of his tremendous series The Boys, Hughie takes a trip to his home town of Auchterladle in Scotland for some time to himself after his break up with Annie since he discovered the details of her secret identity as a member of The Seven and how many cocks she had to juggle to gain membership.