Today’s sign of the impending apocalypse: Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy is due to be released next month.
A quick note on yesterday’s post: I’m not saying that “torture porn” in a Nightwing comic is either acceptable or unacceptable. To be honest, I have no interest in either the character or the title. But I’m still upset with DC about the Pa Kent thing. What can I say, my opinion on what constitutes a matter of importance where comics are concerned is a little skewed.
Kids’ toys: Can someone please tell me why the Transformers Classics line has so far released roughly a bajillion modern updates on Generation 1 characters, and yet appears to have no plans for an updated Wheeljack? Or why there’s no Wheeljack in Transformers: Animated? Or in the movie line? Sweet jumping Jesus, I need a new Wheeljack. I’ve only got 5 other versions of him.
You may all continue with your pointing and laughing.
Anime: As I think I’ve mentioned briefly before, I have fond memories of the Guyver animated series released in the 90s. I still find it odd that Japanese manga (a lot of it, anyway) is almost seen as a childish or girly thing to get, when back in the 80s and 90s (in Britain at least) it was seen as a wellspring of gore, horror and, ahem, “adult” situations. Anyway, there was a new updated Guyver series made a few years ago, and I can’t believe it’s taken until now for me to get round to watching it. I’ve seen the first couple of episodes that stick pretty closely to the first series, but I think it diverges pretty quickly after that as the creators get into the storylines that continued on after the previous run finished. I wish someone had the licence to release all the comics in English, because it’s really great stuff. Lots of action, lots of horror, and some of the greatest codenames ever given to giant mutated monsters.
I’m not sure whether it’s better than the original series yet, in that all the events are very compressed, to cover more ground in a shorter time. In the first series, you get more of a feel for the characters simply because you spend more time with them. On the other hand, the animation is way better this time around, and the second half of the first series was a fair bit ropier than the first half. Hopefully they did that a bit better this time round.
The first Guyver animation was actually made in the mid 80s, not long after the manga series had started, and had no connection to the series that followed later. I don’t have the link to hand, but if you check out “Guyver: Out Of Control” on YouTube, you’ll find it uploaded there. Very, very weird if you’ve never seen it before and you’re only familiar with the more recent series. Highlights include a main character with a strange doll-like face, and female Guyver with a seriously dodgy transformation scene.
SF: Given up on the second book of Kevin J. Anderson’s Saga of Seven Suns. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just average, and I’d rather read something great than slog my way though six more books of average. I’ve still got the Rebus series to finish, and Russel T’s tome, and I think I’m better off spending my time on them.
