Xiu Xiu Cover the Twin Peaks Soundtrack

First of all a disclaimer. I am not proficient in the use of musical jargon and phrasing so I apologise. However I really enjoyed this album and wanted to share my opinions of this album with you.

I've already spoken at length here about my love for Twin Peaks and there are many more eloquent articles and video essays on why Twin Peaks was such a ground-breaking genre-blurring show than I could ever hope to surpass with my own ramblings here. The show was the first attempt to bring art-house vision to the American mainstream. However despite what it meant and what it did one of the aspects that raised it above the norm was its amazingly eclectic soundtrack by Angelo Badalamenti.

Xiu Xiu have made a very interesting album, respecting Badalamenti's work whilst also giving it a thoruoughly modern twist.

Xiu Xiu, an American experimental noise pop band (hey, it's what it says on Wikipedia, I didn't just make that up) with aback catalogue of varying success and ardent fan-base, took up the mantle to reinterpret the iconic score for the Australian Gallery of Modern Arts for their David Lynch: Between Two Worlds exhibition. I didn't know about Xiu Xiu and only heard about them through the release of this album but whilst researching them I can see why they were chosen to reinterpret the Twin Peaks score, the founding member Jamie Stewart is a bit of a maverick and is truly experiental, sometimes his music works out and sometimes it doesn't but he is a true musical pioneer in a way that David Lynch is with film and Angelo Badalamenti with music. So against this backdrop how does the music fare?

Well Xiu Xiu succeed in creating a solid album which captures the eerily spirit of original tracks whilst adding their own twist on it.
The album sounds like a live recording which gives it a real sense of presence.

They open with an instrumental version of Laura's Theme rather than the expected Falling, so they set their stall out early on that this is not just going to ride the the wave of nostalgia but be something more, something interesting and different. Laura's Theme is a great opener and portentious of what is about to come. It has a light metronymic sound which carries the pulse of the track forward, but all the while it is undercut with this sense of dread. It doesn't sound like it should work from my description but it really does, the grand blending in with the lighter moments of the piano motif. 

Into The Night is suitably dreamy and whilst Julee Cruise's voice is hard to too their interpretation is similarly haunting and will stick with you for a long time. It I the beat track on the album in my opinion.

Audrey's Dance is still suitably jazzy with a cacophony of sounds blending in and out regular instruments include theharmonica but more unusual sounds are there including some that sound distinctly industrial.

Track four, Packard's Vibration is a powerful with a driving base underlying the squealing guitar sounds and some more spacy sound effects courtesy of synths.

Nightsea Wind starts like a soundscape with gentle sounds slowly giving way to crunchier synth sounds and squeals.

Blue Frank/ Pink Room is a bluesy number pushed forward by a powerful electric guitar sound. The bass and the backing beat stay true to the original track but what comes on top is totally different.

Sycamore Tree starts of with a fast flurry of piano notes and then the vocals come in, raspy and powerful without sounding contrived or fake. The song is a welcome calm respite in a sea of powerful noise and crunches.

Harold's Theme is beautiful, one of my favourites. It starts of with a gentle piano and synth distortion that brings to mind the works of Haim Saban and Shuki Levy's score for The Mysterious Cities of Gold and Ulysses 31 or Decoder Ring unfamilair with the animated series stated. The track has a gentle piano motif playing through and the synths emerge gently and disappear. Just beautiful.

Dance of the Dream Man starts off like a classical piece of music with deep heavy piano notes that give way to lighter piano but then the electric guitar and synths kick in and there are moments of jazz and quiet, the cymbals gently being brushed to give it a shimmering otherworldly feel.

Track 10 is the stunning Falling, the vocals are good and powerful but never soaring like Julee Cruise. They lyrics and the power of the song carry this along, and when the chorus hits it is stunning... Not Julee Cruise but stunning nonetheless with the beautiful vibrato adding more gravitas.

The eleventh track, Love Theme/ Farewell is elegant and beautiful as always but it seems to have been played with a distorted kids mini Casio keyboard. Not a bad thing but just... different.

The final track, Josie's Past, is a bit of a strange unsettling track. It features several minutes of spoken dialogue from 'The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer' spoken in stilted English accent, broken by a short burst of Mairzy Doats by Stewart. I didn't take to it and it is the stuff that you will hear in the darkest night in your nightmares but at least it is daring and tells you about the abuse and exploitation she suffers at the hand of Bob.

Overall the album is a beautiful unsettling pleasure. It evokes the best of Badalamenti's music and the unsettling soundscapes of Xiu Xiu's sound to create a modern rough sheen to what is truly one of the best soundtracks of all time. Now I'm off to listen to more of Xiu Xiu's back catalogue to see if I've discovered a new band for me to follow.

Supernatural- Cult TV Review

It is a trademark of British fiction to take the mundane and shock, surprise or appal. The BFI is releasing all the British TV horror works produced by the BBC in the 70's and 80's and this was the first in the series. It is a well regarded piece of work and people said that it brought to mind the works of M.R. James, a prominent writer of Gothic tales.
The series itself ran during the Summer in late night slots in 1977 and added a dash of terror into the bright cheery festivities of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. It having been the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and also being Summer, a very cold and wet one though, I thought I'd dive in and view the series.

Supernatural is an anthology series in which the prospective Club of the Damned member is required to tell a horror story, their application for membership being judged on how frightening it was. There are 8 tales of varying quality; some stand the test of time better than others.
The settings of the stories vary from dark country houses,  shadowy courtyards and crumbling ruins but all are home to horrid evils and terrors. Even though the show was shot in colour the dark muted tones of the sets lend it a imposing brooding air.

The first episode, Ghosts of Venice, has an old theatre actor who believes something has been stolen from him but he doesn't know quite what. The story has elements of a timeslip and when the actor meets the ghost of a former lover, things begin to come together. Out of all the stories I found this to be the most boring and tiresome.

Countess Iliona and The Werewolf Reunion are episodes two and three. The story involves a Countess inviting four former lovers to a remote Gothic castle for a mysterious reunion. The men are all very different characters and as the reunion goes on the wronged Countess exacts her revenge. This story is very good but to be honest its run time is too long, the story could have been compressed somewhat to make a tighter episode.

A two-parter that could have done with being trimmed.

Episode four, Mr Nightingale, features Jeremy Brett, known to many as 80 TV's Sherlock Holmes. He plays a proper and boring businessman who is possessed by a doppelgänger, this leads to tragedy and death. Mr Brett shines in this episode as he goes into full crazy mode to give a nuanced unhinged performance. This is a good episode with some fine over-the-top acting.

In episode five, Lady Sybil, an old Widow is plagued by a stalker in her Victorian mansion, she believes it to be the ghost of her dreadful dead husband. She tries to convince her sons, one a respected doctor and the other a playboy musician, but they don't believe her, thinking her delusional. This episode is excellently actedand thetension is really cranked up as we find out who is doing the stalking. Oh, also there are more shots of a chameleon (the little green fellow) than you will ever see anywhere else in your life!

The green fellow features rather prominently in Lady Sybil.

Episode six, Viktoria, centres on a family where the wife is disabled in a wheelchair following a riding accident. She has a daughter but is married to an uncaring man who wishes her dead. The situation is complicated with a domineering housekeeper and an old lady steeped in folklore. When the wife dies her spirit is transported into a doll which becomes attached to the daughter. Strange things then begin to happen after the man remarries and settles into a house in England. This is an interesting episode but the poor special effects make it laughable, a shame as the story itself is quite interesting. Kids are creepy!

Night of the Marionettes is episode seven. The story involves Gordon Jackson, a writer who is researching the life of Frankenstein author, Mary Shelley. The writer, wife and his daughter settle in for a few nights in a secluded hotel and observe the hotels annual marionette show but the figures seem to be real humans. This is a good episode with lots of tension but the relationship between the father and daughter is a little incestuous and uncomfortable.

The final episode, Dorabella, is by far and away the jewel in the crown. It is the story of two friends who travel through Europe looking for adventure and excitement but after meeting an impossibly enchanting young woman, Dorabella, one of the men becomes besotted and the dynamics of the friendship change. The external shots, beautiful lighting and mood created make this a wonderful piece of work.

There's more to Dorabella than meets the eye.

Having watched the whole series I can say that I liked the stories which had a payoff as well a certain level of eloquence and characterisation. In this case the stories that stand out are Countess Ilona/ The Werewolf Reunion, Lady Sybil and Dorabella.  As a whole the series was worth a watch and I'm glad I did but don't trouble yourself with the whole set, the episodes I recommended above are the key ones to watch... or if you only have time for one watch Dorabella!

Gotham Central Comic Review

First things first, this series is definitely for a maturer audience and is not suitable for younger readers.

On this website I usually write about comics that are suitable for schools and pupils but I made an exception in this case as I want to spread the Gotham Central love as it was an underappreciated comic upon initial release but with these collected edition it will hopefully find the audience it deserves.

I bought the 4 graphic novels that make up the entirety of the Gotham Central series and read the whole lot over the course of a week. The premise appealed to me as it is one of those ideas that is obvious once someone explains it to you: a police procedural set in the world of Gotham City with its rogues gallery of the finest villains in comics.

The series is a mix of crime noir but what makes it stand out are the characters, no not the villains but rather the police officers. The cops are 3-dimensional and well rounded, they have their faults and issues but that's what makes them believable. The characters talk about real-world problems and I guess that's why I liked the series. For a series that's set in Gotham Batman features veryoccasionally and from the cops point of view is a nuisance, a vigilante who works in mysterious ways but can on occasion be a useful ally in times of great need.

As a fan of superhero comics it's wonderful to take a break from the norm and read a series that is unpredictable and requires some grey matter. I don't watch many cop shows or read many crime books, although I do have a soft spot for Columbo and Diagnosis Murder, but this series had me hooked with several standout stories.

In the first graphic novel In the Line of Duty, Mr Freeze is front and centre in a powerful tale in which one of the detectives gets frozen, his ear ripped off initially and then smashed into pieces as the villian leads an audacious plot to kill most of the GCPD.  This is gritty noir with a cold- calculating Freeze that sets the tone for the series.

The series is pretty violent at times.

In novel 2 there's Daydreams and Believers, the story about Stacy, the civilian who operates the Bat signal but has romantic fantasies about Batman. This is a great story that delves into the life and motivations of Gothams finest, all brought to life from the point of view of a civilian.

The characters are well drawn out.

In novel 3 the corruption within the GCPD and how good cops deal with it comes to the fore. The character of Corrigan and his corrupt practices within the force are a rich vein that is tapped throughout the rest of the series.

In novel 4 the 3 parter Dead Robin looks at the mystery of Boy Wonders turning up killed across Gotham.

The Dead Robins story is a pretty interesting one.

Across all the books is the theme of corruption within the GCPD and it is this fight against the enemy within that provides much of the heart for the story. It ends on a cliffhanger with Corrigan II and it is such a shame that after 40 comics it was cut short as I really enjoyed the stories and world that Rucka and Brubaker had created. Do yourself a favour and pick up the 4 graphic novels as they are amazing and worthy of the Eisner and Harvey Awards showered upon them.

Under the Mountain - Cult TV Review

I first came across Under the Mountain when I was carrying out research on another cult TV series, Children of the Dogstar, which I found out about when researching about Children of the Stones. From what I can gather Children of the Stones was exported to America and shown on Nickelodeon in the early 80's alongside Under the Mountain and The Witches and the Grinnygog under the banner 'The Third Eye'. This collection of series is fondly remembered as an oddity, especially at a time when America was quite strict on what could be shown on children's television and ensuring shows promoted traditional Christian values. These series must have caused quite a stir at the time as they were never shown again after their initial showing. I'd never seen Under the Mountain but was intrigued enough to seek the series out and here is my Cult TV retro review.


The series is about red-headed twins Rachel and Theo Matheson, who visit their uncle and aunt for the Summer in Auckland, New Zealand. The twins notice a strange neighboring house and sneak into the house to find out more about its owner Mr Wilberforce. The twins realise that they are in the part of a prophecy to defeat an ancient evil which lurks beneath the house and under the mountain. With the help of an old friend they will have to fulfill their destiny and stop the evil from taking over the world. This series is based upon the novel "Under the Mountain" by Maurice Gee and is told in 8 parts over 22 minute episodes, each ending with a cliffhanger and a providing a deeper sense of mystery until the final explosive confrontation.

This story is heavily influenced by the works of H.P.Lovecraft, with the theme that creatures beyond our comprehension are here on earth and are ready to take over. The young twins, played by Kirsty Wilson and Lance Warren are very believable and earnest, especially Wilson who carries much of the emotional weight, especially the scene where they are discussing xenocide. There is a real feeling of dread and scares in this series and I'm sure that if I was the target audience at the time of it's original release I would have felt suitable scared.

Under the Mountain features a lot of external shots and taking into account that it was shot in New Zealand the scenery is wonderful, I'll resist the temptation to say anything as trite as 'the real star of the show is the scenery' or 'New Zealand is a character' but the geology and natural history of the country is integral to the story and adds a lot to the feel of the series. Due to its age the special effects are dated, the costumes are of their time (think mates 70s/ early 80's Dr who and you'll get the idea) and in today's hyper aware world Mr. Jones comes across as a little predatory, but this doesn't detract from the atmosphere or excitement of the story at all.

As someone who had never seen the series before and thus had no feelings of nostalgia I can say that considering its age the series stands the test of time well and is definitely worth a look.

The Quatermass Xperiment- Cult TV Review

Last year saw the anniversary of an iconic sci-fi show, perhaps one of the most important in British TV history. It was pioneering in its writing and production and is fondly remembered even after 60 years... it is of course the legendary Quatermass! You thought I was going to say Dr Who didn't you? Well you shouldn't have as the title says it all!

The Quatermass Xperiment is the Hammer Film production based on the original 1953 The Quatermass Experiment. The plot is simple; 3 men are sent into space in a rocket and only 1 of them returns, ill and changed. As the film progresses we watch helplessly as the lone survivor, Victor Carroon slowly transforms into an alien monster whose sole purpose is to assimilate all living things on Earth.
So far so B-movie fare but as the story develops we build an extraordinary amount of sympathy for the 'alien' predator. The reason for this is the marvellous performance by Richard Wordsworth, a direct descendant of the famed poet. During the 1 1/2 hr movie he is given a couple of words to utter but his sheer physical performance, nuances looks and pained expression elicit a lot of sympathy.
In contrast Brian Donlevy turns in a poor performance as Quatermass. His brash brusque manner jars with the rest of the film and cast. One of the best moments is watching Mrs Carroon, the wife of the astronaut who is undergoing the horrifying transformation, put the arrogant Quatermass in his place. 

As a whole the movie works well and considering it's age has a good vintage. I look forward to watching the other Quatermass series as they are supposed to be better and contain more nuanced performances from the actors who play Quatermass.

The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses Concert Review

Concerts based on video game soundtracks have been a staple of entertainment in Japan but have only recently been gaining in popularity in the West, mainly due to the hard work of Tommy Tallarico and his Video Game Music Live concerts which have been going strong for many years.  The soundtracks to games are gaining prominence and airplay on the radio too and a wider audience is being reached. Bands like Anamanaguchi, who use old video game sound chips to help score their music, have further brought the video game sound to the mainstream and so people from all walks of life are developing a taste for video game music, in fact 3 out of the top 20 Hall of Fame tracks on Classic FMs poll last year were from video games!

This diverse audience for video game music was reflected in the Zelda concert where the audience ranged from early teens to people in their 40's and 50's. Most of the Arena was full and there were many people out in cosplays from the series. 

I was extremely excited as Zelda: Ocarina of Time is my favourite game ever and the series holds a special place in my heart. Joining me was my older brother, we had fond memories of working through Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening in our youth.

Before the concert started there was a moments silence for Prince and then the concert began.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra were amazing, bringing alive Koji Kondo's scores. The music was accompanied by stunning video footage of the various games in the series on huge screens and this made for a sense of synaesthesia, a real overload for the sights and sounds.
At just over 2 hours the concert went through a lot of classic tracks but my favourites were the Zelda Title track, Dragon Roost Island, Song of Time and Gerudo Valley.


What made the night even more special wad that there were pre-recorded interviews spliced in of people involved in the Zelda franchise including Miyamoto and Aonuma. This broke up the wonderful music and gave us an insight into the thoughts and feelings of the Nintendo staffers. Overall the evening was highly enjoyable and it has made me determined to finish Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, taking over 100 hours getting me motivated to do that the gig must have been inspirational!

Adventure Time: Masked Mayhem Comic Review

The world of Ooo is multi-coloured and weird, but the characters are what brings this place to life and so with this, the 6th graphic novel of Adventure Time we get a chance to travel with Jake and BMO as they party-hop during Masquerade Day, a sort of Halloween-type event. Unfortunately there's a problem, a prankster who is crashing every party and making it not cool!

Cue Detective BMO and Jake as they try to figure out who the prankster is and stop the different parties from being ruined. Kate Leth is the writer for this graphic novel and she gets the characterisation just right. BMO has never been cuter and seeing him in a deerstalker hat and an Inverness Cape just make me feel mushy inside... so cute!

Overall the Graphic Novel is great for young readers and I know that since taking it into my class a few days ago it has been widely read and liked by both boys and girls. This is a fun and colourful book and deserves a place in your book corner!

Nintendo Quest Review

Nintendo Quest is a Kickstarter-funded documentary based on a simple premise; a young man, Jay, has to find all 678 original NES video games which were released in North America within 30 days. This sounds like a simple enough task right? In this day and age of the internet auction sites and online shopping it's a no-brainer, but to make it more challenging no internet or auction sites can be used and his current collection cannot be included.

This is a promising set-up, full of potential for insights into Nintendo history, a deep look at gaming and collectors and a look behind the recent surge in interest in retro gaming collection.

The documentary starts by talking heads saying things like, "It'll be a transformative experience", "He's going to go on a journey and find a lot out about himself" and so on, all set to background fast paced rock music! He's not after the holy grail, it's NES carts!

As an avid collector I love the thrill of finding carts in the wild but I would never be as hyperbolic as this documentary is. When Jay is finding the carts there is a UI (User Interface) that shows his money level and his NES cartridge count but there isn't a monetary value represented and the cost of the games isn't shared either. In some scenes I expected Westlife's 'Flying Without Wings' to be playing in the playground, all set to slomo images of the protagonist, Jay, digging through the carts.

When compared to something like 'From Bedrooms to Billions', again a documentary about gaming but this time about people making games in the 70's/ 80's, the information was interesting but well paced and not so hyperbolic, it made it a much easier viewing experience.

Nintendo Quest  fails to be insightful on what is a fascinating topic. For a documentary all about the vintage gaming scene it is fails to look at the reasons behind the scene, the cost of the hobby and even why there is a resurgence in old skool gaming. The documentary has a lot of potential but ultimately fails to deliver, being quite meandering and unfocussed.

Lucky Penny Comic Review

Lucky Penny is the tale of young Penny Brighton, an unlucky girl who leaves disaster in her wake but has a heart of gold. The graphic novel follows Penny as she tries to figure out where to go, what to do and how to cope in the real world. The story is similar to Scott Pilgrim and mumblecore movies like Frances Ha and similar works by Greta Gerwig, where charmingly clueless, young, main characters try to deal with all that life throws at them. In this case Penny is wonderfully optimistic and chirpy whilst living in a storage unit (garage) and trying to get a job and a boyfriend.

Lucky Penny is a quick read with relatable characters, beautifully expressive art and a gentle warm humour. Yuko Ota’s art is bold and solid throughout the whole book and the storytelling gentle but interesting enough to keep you reading. The ending of the book is very boombastic and out of pace with the rest of the book but I liked it.

The book is suitable for young teens and I would recommend it!

Clangers, Bagpuss and Co. Exhibition

Smallfilms may not be a name that you are immediately familiar with but the works of founders Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin probably are: Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, the Clangers and Bagpuss.
Since its birth in 1959 the works of Postgate and Firmin have delighted millions of fans across the world. To celebrate their contribution to children's entertainment and animation there is a free exhibition running at the V &A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, London.


The exhibition is in the main hall and consists of all the original figures and art materials from all the classic works. The original title card of the Clangers was a real highlight for me as I used to watch this show in my youth and now I watch the new series with my daughter nightly.

The original Bagpuss was there too and I was surprised at how small all the figures were. Overall the exhibition was excellent and the fact that they had the original episodes airing in a closed off room was great for those hoping to revisit these old classics. If you like old skool British animation then this exhibition is a must!

Baby Sitters Club Volume 1: Kirsty's Great Idea Comic Review

I am trying to engage some of the more reluctant girl readers in my class and came across this book by Raina Telgemeier. I've been a fan of Raina for a years now, enjoying her graphic memoirs Smile and Sisters as well as her original story Drama.
I remember that my younger sister used to absolutely adore the Baby Sitters Club series when she was younger so I am pleased to see they have been re-released for a younger generation to enjoy, in a more concise comic version. I read the comic myself to check for suitability and have to say that it reads well and tackles a few different issues like divorce, diabetes and friendship but never anything too adult or risque in theme.

When I took this into class the graphic novel was read by a couple of girls and they were very excited at the prospect of comics being introduced in the classroom; it was lovely to see this level of engagement.
The boys also wanted to read this so it just goes to show, comics can appeal to all genders and ages irrespective of the theme of the comic.

This comic is suitable for all ages but the pupils in my class, aged 7 and 8, really enjoyed it.

Get Lamp Review

Get Lamp is a fascinating documentary that looks at the rise, fall and resurgence of the text adventure game.
Text adventure games were huge in the 1970's and early 1980's, mostly due to the fact that the machines were limited in power and so programmers and game designers created immersive worlds which required the power of the word to create the image in your mind.

Similar to Bedrooms to Billions, a documentary which looks into the micro computer scene in Britain in the 70's and 80's, this documentary is a chronological look at the rise of the video game industry but specifically the text adventure/ interactive fiction based genre.
It kicks off by talking about the importance of Adventure by William Crowther, the first text adventure game that emerged from the university mainframes and moves onto Zork, a smash hit text adventure.
The documentary then moves onto the creation of video game companies like Adventure Software and Infocom, both huge companies who laid the foundations of the billion dollar industry. It briefly discusses how they died out in the late 80's with the evolution of graphics and more complex games before reflecting back on the industry.
Get Lamp is an illuminating (pardon the pun) documentary that is informative and interesting. As someone who enjoys video games but hasn't had much experience with text adventure games at all I found this explained things well, featuring people who were there at the time as well as enthusiasts of the genre.

With tools such as Power Point, Twine and websites like the Internet Gaming Archive there has been a resurgence in interest in these types of games. I played The Hobbit as child in my friends house, he had a ZX Spectrum. I was impressed by the world created but the parser frustrated me.

The documentary had me thinking about the recent resurgence in text based games. For example there was an interesting take on the death of the interactive fiction in that with the advent of the internet text adventure is back, just in a modified form. We no longer >GET KNIFE but rather click links, explore the billions of possibilities on the web and go on a journey almost; we journey through the web. We do what interactive fiction asks of us; we read, make decisions and move on. I don't agree with this point but it is an interesting viewpoint and that is what I found this documentary did, it made me look at this genre of games in a different way.

For anyone with even a passing interest in video games this documentary is a fascinating look at a fondly remembered genre.

If you have been inspired to make your own text adventure then I have produced a series of lesson plans on interactive fiction using ppt and twine.  Check here to see and download them.

LINK- Adventure Maker App

LINK- The Hobbit ZX Spectrum online (free to play)

LINK- Steve Meretzsky Treasure Trove of Infocom Material

Black Canary: Kicking and Screaming Volume 1 Comic Review

Straight up off the couch from the soft rebooted Batgirl comes Black Canary, a comic about the world of music and the intrigue within.

After years as a crime fighter, Dinah Lance (Black Canary) never imagined herself as a singer...but now she's the lead singer in a band which consists of Lord Byron (drummer), Paloma (keyboards), and Ditto (guitar), their manager Heathcliff and Driver Flo. This band of misfits has trouble following them around and has a central mystery about the record company which put the band together. There are also other plot points that appear along the way but the main story arc is about Dinah and her relationship with her band. We get an insight into their lives and this is where this comic diverges from many other capes costumes hero comics, it's less about superpowers and more about the interaction between individuals, although a super sonic battle of the bands sees plenty of powers used too.
The art style overall is frenetic and chaotic but in the best possible way, and the story has me invested in this world. I look forward to the next collection.

The softcover collects issues #1-7 of the series, and a story from convergence blue beetle #2

For The Love of Comics

I've been into comics for a long time, I first fell in love with them through the bande dessinée, Tintin and Asterix but when a friend lent me Iron Man #256 my mind was blown and it was love at first sight.

I'd go weekly to my local comic shop,  Rodney's Books and Games, in the town centre for my pocket money infused fix of comics. By buying grab bags for £1 I'd find a wide mix of stuff, some great some dreadful but comics nonetheless.

I fell out of love with comics in the late 90's when there were too many titles to keep up with and so many 'event' comics that I couldn't keep up with the pace. I went instead into manga and anime, which at that time was smaller and more focused here in the UK. It was here that I discovered Battle Angel Alita and GTO and again it was love at first sight. I also discovered Vertigo and voraciously devoured Sandman, Preacher, Hellblazer, Y: The Last Man and Fables.
Since then I've fallen out of favour with anime and manga for the same reason I had fallen out of love with comics in the first place and now once again, over the past 4 years have delved back into mainstream comics.
There has been a sea change in the mainstream comics as I feel the higher ups have realised that they had huge successes with their films but this didn't correlate with their comic sales. The reasons are numerous but I'd say it was due to the fact that the comic scene is overwhelming for newcomers and that the comics didn't cater for all tastes. A lot of the comics were created in the 50's ,60's and 70's and were often white male power fantasies, not a problem in itself but when you are catering for a world market you do need to appeal for a wide range of people.
In the past few years there has been a push for diversity with a black /Hispanic Spiderman in Miles Morales, an Asian American Ms Marvel with Kamala Khan and a female Thor.
However it's not just the mainstream where comics are diversifying, the fringe comic scene has always been the champion of change and difference and there is a huge market here with Junji Ito, Emily Carroll, Raina Telgemeier and Noelle Stephenson catering for different tastes. 
I'm introducing my pupils to comics as I feel it opens up worlds, encourages reluctant readers and promotes creativity. I will be reviewing the comics I buy for them here and hope to encourage other schools and people to push comics and graphic novels into their world. As well as comics for my pupils I will also be writing reviews about comics I buy for myself.
Come join me on my journey and if you get into comics I'd like to recommend a couple of comic podcasts I listen to which are linked below.

Don Hertzfeldt's Amazing Animations

Don Hertzfeldt has been producing animated short films for a long time yet the man himself is only in his 30's, an extraordinary achievement for the Oscar nominated animator famed for his rudimentary stick figures and whimsical philosophising. Hertzfeldt released World of Tomorrow a little while ago, it is a simple story of a 4 year old girl who meets her future clone. Without going into spoiler territory the story is equal parts hilarious and deeply profound. The film has garnered a lot of praise and is up for an Oscar at this years awards ceremony in the Best Animated Short Film category. Check out why there is so much buzz for this film, you owe it to yourself.

The story carries themes that were explored in Christopher Nolan's Intestellar but in a more playful and lyrical way. The animation is a step above Hertzfeldt's previous work, enhanced by his use of digital animation techniques. The short film is only 17 minutes long but is well worth the £1.49 price of admission.

Gravity Fall Complete Series Review- No Spoilers

Gravity Falls is a special place—a town that feels like it's just a stones throw from Twin Peaks and a hop skip and a jump from the island in Lost. In this land oddities including rainbow vomiting gnomes, mermen and ghosts roam free. The series involves twins Dipper and Mable, who are sent to stay for the duration of the summer holidays, with their Uncle Stan (Grunkle Stan) at the Mystery Shack, a ramshackle building housing fake phenomena. There's no Log Lady but there are a stereotypical miner Old Man McGucket, Lazy Susan and manchild Soos; a colourful range of characters that give Gravity Falls a wonderful eclectic cast that brings the place alive.

The series is 39 episodes long and is similar to The X-Files in structure in that there is a story arc, as well as a monster of the week. The central mystery is where the monsters are coming from and who is the author of the 3 tomes that Dipper discovers which describes the phenomena in the town in great detail? Over the course of the 39 episodes many questions and mysteries arise. The cliffhanger at the end of series one was reminiscent of the end of series one cliffhanger in Lost but this one had the writing chops to pull it through to the second series and continue wonderfully through the second series to a satisfying conclusion.

Gravity Falls is a Disney production, surprisingly so, as it does feel like it would feel more at home on the Cartoon Network alongside Adventure Time, Over the Garden Wall or Stephen Universe. It feels edgy and on the nose, especially when you consider the age of its target audience but there is a definite heart and maturity to it that has led to a larger adult and maturer teen fanbase who enjoy the cryptography and codes that litter the episodes, but without excluding the younger viewers. During the course of the show over 3 years, thousands of fan theories abound, each week after each show discussion boards would be ablaze dissecting the details in intricate and exacting detail. The last time I saw this kind of clamouring around a series was with Lost when it was at its prime and in gaming when Bioshock Infinite wowed/ confused us with it's ending.

The final episode of Gravity Falls was on earlier this week and I won't spoil it here but I will say that the ending was a wonderful way to tie up the series and had a huge emotional punch. The character arc is beautifully realised here and unlike Lost, the ending was worth the many years of waiting and delivered. The pure wonderful weirdness of the final arc, the 3 part Weirdmegeddon, truly encapsulated what made Gravity Falls such a pleasure for its fans. The stakes were high and it didn't patronise its audience, there was real danger and real cost and true character development, something a lot of animation has lost today.

There are very few series that are as well conceived, written and executed as Gravity Falls and when an animated series leaves you thinking about parallel dimensions, alternate universes and man's place in the cosmos then you know there's something special. There are few shows that quote or are influences by Satre, H.P. Lovecraft or Danielkewski.

Gravity Falls is the perfect example of what other kid shows should strive to achieve. If you haven't watched Gravity Falls yet, look it up. You'll be glad you did.

Comix Creatrix: House of Illustration Exhibition

Whilst in London for the London Anime and Gaming Con 2016 I popped into Kings Cross and headed for the Comix Creatrix exhibition currently being held at the House of Illustration. I've mentioned this exhibition before and was excited to see females being given the credit for their contribution to the comic industry. The exhibition is a small one but covers 100 female artists including Kate Beaton, Posy Simmonds and Audrey Niffenegger. The exhibition is in roughly chronological order and goes through the role that women played in the art form. I thought I knew quite a lot about comics but this exhibition really opened my eyes to a lot of the issues that women had to fight through to be an active and appreciated part of this counter-culture art form.

The highlight of the exhibition for me was the original pencil drawings of the Moomins from the first set of strips created by Tove Jansson in 1958. As a big Moomin fan seeing this really warmed my heart and filled me with joy.
The exhibition runs until 15th May and is well worth a visit. Some of the images on display were of a sexual nature so if you are thinking of taking children I'd recommend you do a quick scan beforehand.

London Anime and Gaming Con 2016

The London Anime and Gaming Con 2016 (LAGC) was on this weekend near London Metropolitan University. I had been to several anime and manga cons at the ExCel Centre but never to this one at the Rocket Centre in Holloway Road. So, having nothing to do this weekend I put on my best Tezuka t-shirt, hopped on a train and went into London.
The LAGC had been running for several years now and as a result is very established. There were lots of events running including the usual cosplay, anime voice actors and musical guests. But there was a big emphasis on gaming too. The Heart of Gaming were there with their arcade machines, pushing the retro gaming agenda and giving many youngsters an experience of social gaming that didn't involve headsets or online play. The whole vibe was very relaxed and there was a wide range in ages represented.

I was really into manga and anime in the 90s and early noughties but with the exception of a few notable anime and manga series am behind in the current wave of popular series. The last series I watched was Soul Eater and Death Note. I have Attack on Titan and Sword Art Online stacked in my 'to watch' pile but haven't got around to it, however classic series like Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion were present and correct so I didn't feel too out of my depth.
The Rocket Centre is a wide space and all spaces were packed with things to see, buy and do. I spent a long time with my cousin in the retro gaming area playing R-Type on the Master System and Rival Schools on the PS1.
The market area was packed with anime and manga goodies and I purchased a few bits including a cool Racoon Mario and classic Link figures and a great coaster for my mancave.

The LAGC is well worth the £13 price of admission and a younger me would have loved it more back in my manga prime even though I did enjoy myself, but for anyone with the anime and manga bug it's a great con to go to.

For the Love of Libraries

'Libraries give us power' extolled the Manic Street Preachers in their anthemic Design for Life and how right they were. The combined collective history of the world, the knowledge and wisdom thereof is contained within. I've always loved libraries, their peace, the smell of old books and the atmosphere they give... wonderful. I've always loved reading and read voraciously in my youth and formative years. Most Saturday mornings were spent going to Barking Library, heading off to Cash Converters to look at all the cool (probably stolen and resold- this is Barking after all) NES and Megadrive games then it would be topped off by a visit to my local comic shop, Rodneys Books and Games... But it all started with the library.

I would spend hours in there perusing the shelves, reading away in a comfy faux leather chair listening to my Jean Michel Jarre recorded cassette of Oxygene. Ah the memories. Well Beyond the Frame has created a marvelous mash-up celebrating the most wonderful places in the world. So what do your library memories consist of?

Life is Strange Complete Season Review (Spoiler Free)

About a year ago the first part of Life Is Strange was releases onto an unsuspecting world. The creators, Dontnod, had previously produced an okay but unremarkable game, entitled ironically enough Remember Me. As such, an episodic tale about an introverted photography student with the power to rewind time did not garner much excitement yet it has ended up being one of the most talked about games of the year, gathering strong reviews and approval from the video games community at large. As the episodes were released over the year Word of mouth spread that Life Is Strange was a great story based games and even though the graphics were not impressive the artistic style and quality earned it unexpectedly high sales.
The games has you play as Max Caulfield, a young student who moves back to her home town of Arcadia Bay to study photography at the local academy. Max discovers that she has the power to rewind time but there are repercussions for her actions

The game is like a mumblecore movie but in the best possible sense with authentic sounding dialogue delivered well with only a few clunky pieces of dialogue. The game is shot with an eye at cinematography and despite the aged software used is composed well with great angles which add to the mystery and atmosphere.

Playing the 5 episodes over the course of the week I found that in the game there were moments of wonder, surprise and tenderness that will stay with you for a long time. Max and Chloe are wonderfully nuanced characters portrayed with depth and personality and you can understand why the game has received a lot of praise for its portrayal of strong women. Overall, this was a great experience and at the price of just over £10 for the entire season is unmissable.