Comic Guru's Top 25 Featured Comic - Fantastic Four

Volume 3 was launched at the start of a new age for Marvel Comics. Scott Lobdel and Alan Davis came together to create the first three issues of this series which took place straight after the Fantastic Four return to the regular Marvel Universe after their return from the ersatz Earth created to save their life by Franklin Richards their son.

Onslaught created an impact that shattered the cosy world of the Marvel Universe forcing creators and readers alike to embrace change and drama on a scale heretofore unseen.

Character development followed that would shake the foundations of the team and has lead to J Michael Straczynski (award winning writer of Babylon 5, Jeremiah and Amazing Spiderman) developing some of the most interesting changes to characters and situations within the FF's history.

Sci Fi Fantasy and adventure has never been more intriguing. Read this book, it's good. And Civil War has already started crumbling the walls of the FF's world. Could it see their family shattered forever? It begins with Sue's death.... How many more sacrifices will have to be made?

Sci-fi movies coming this year

Here are a few sci-fi movies worth looking out for in 2011:

Apollo 18
Blair Witch meets Paranormal Activity meets - um - Apollo 13. An interesting concept, presenting Apollo 18 as a hushed up moon mission that goes horribly wrong thanks to nasty extra terrestrials. The 'found' video footage tells the horrifying story.
Most people, who know me, know that I'm not a fan of this type of film making but maybe this one will actually be good. As opposed to the Blair Witch Project which was a big pile of animal leavings.

Attack The Block
Aliens meet their match when they land in a South London housing estate. A typically British take on the alien invasion movie, it sees a gang of kids take on the pesky xenomorphs in their own, unique way. I've been hearing a lot of good things about this since they began filming, so it should be a lot of fun!
Cowboys & Aliens
Possibly the most risky crossover movie ever made (apart from Real Steel - see below), this Jon Favreau-helmed actioner has plenty of well-known talent to carry the concept. The trailer looks good – let’s hope it lives up to the hype. The comic was cleverly marketed and very cheap. £3.50 for a full length Graphic Novel. No wonder it sold enough copies to generate a big budget movie.

Super 8
JJ Abrams has gone from strength to strength over the last few years delivering the goods every time. Kids making their own movie on Super 8 witness the arrival of something big and unworldly to their town after a train crash. All heck breaks loose and it's up to the little urchins to save the day. I wasn't a fan of Cloverfield and as a sub genre I don't like found footage in general. However, so far his movies have at least been entertaining.

Real Steel
Another crossover movie, this sees Hugh Jackman taking on the life-affirming coach role to a down-and-out robot wars-esque robo fighter. Whether it has the emotional - ahem - punch to connect with audiences remains to be seen. Jackman is a bankable star at the moment so I'm sure this will pull in reasonable first week grosses.

Contagion
Let's hope this virus movie has learnt from the mistakes of previous dire efforts (most notably Outbreak). An all star cast and high-profile director (Soderbergh) could finally redeem this genre.

Now
In the near future, everyone can live forever - as long as they keep up their insurance payments after they've reached 25! Therein lies an interesting twist on Logan's Run. The surprisingly good Justin Timberlake is the unfortunate protagonist who defaults on his payment and goes on the run.

Rise of the Apes
Monkey madness comes in the form of Andy Serkis' genetically modified CGI ape. Calamity ensues in this Planet of the Apes Reboot / Prequel thing as we witness the Apes wrestle control of the planet from us puny humans. The question is, is this a remake starting at the very beginning (Chronologically) of the story or is it in some way related to the Tim Burton film?

Dredd
To many Dredd fans, the hope of seeing the perp-busting anti-hero from 2000AD appear faithfully on screen were dashed when Sly Stallone stepped into the Judge's boots back in 1995. Now they have a new hope in Karl Urban as Dredd – Directed by Peter Travis and filmed in South Africa. Details are sketchy at best – images appearing on the internet have divided fans already so it’s hard to tell at this stage just how true to the comics this film will be. At least Urban has promised to keep the helmet on this time!

Exclusive First Look: The Final Curtain - Farewell to the Third Doctor

2|Entertain have released a 'first look' video to promote the forthcoming release of the third Doctor's final story, Planet of the Spiders.

Thor Movie YouTube Round Up

In case you haven't seen the Thor movie clips, here's a convenient round up for you!

'Paul' Movie Review

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the duo who brought us the likes of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, have teamed up again in an unsuspected combination of genres, a road trip and sci-fi spoof movie.

Paul, a film about a trash-talking alien, is exactly what you would expect from the well-known duo. They play Graeme and Clive, a couple of comic-book geeks from Britain who love American comic culture.

Whilst touring the USA’s big comic-conventions and conspiracy hotspots they unintentionally pick up fugitive and alien on the run, Paul, voiced by Seth Rogen. Paul is outlandish and down to earth, unlike his human counterparts, and he has no trouble persuading the pair to aid his escape from the federal agents tracking him down.

This film is a sci-fi spoof and has plenty of easy laughs, which makes for entertaining viewing. Pegg and Frost have created another cult epic – obviously aimed at the comic devouring and sci-fi loving fan base. It is a ‘no-brainer’ why this made it to the big screen.

Whilst it may not set any trends in the way their previous collaborations have Paul does have a loveable outlook and some entertaining one-liners, but possibly lacks as many laughs as the previous Pegg and Frost creations. Their phenomenal hit Shaun of the Dead was responsible for the zom-com outburst in 2004, and whilst Paul is a lacklustre follow-up to such success, it is easy viewing that passes an hour and a half without regret.

Perhaps with the direction change from British director Edgar Wright to American comedy director Greg Mottola – famous for directing Superbad – it’s not pure Pegg and Frost we all know and love. The general tone of this film has lost the subtle British touch of their previous blockbusters. If we were eating curry, Paul would be Korma, mild and easy to sit through.

- Sam Oxley

'Outcasts' TV Show Review

We've now had 2 episodes of the new sci-fi drama from the BBC, so here's Comic Guru's first impressions of the show...

Sometime in the future (conveniently non-specific), a planet called Carpathia has been colonised by, err, the British and South Africans – but all is not well in the settlement of Forthaven. Trouble comes in many forms including genetically-engineered soldiers gone AWOL, a frisky Irishman, low birth rates, disintegrating transport ships and a religious yank keen to seize power from the colony's leader.

The first episode was slow to get going, but this is forgivable given the huge scope of the show. It feels a lot like Blake's 7 (imagine if they made B7 now with today's budgets and SFX!), with a bit of Star Cops (remember???), Spooks and Survivors thrown in for good measure.

Of course, it's flawed in a number of areas:
- who lets a cocky Irish kid bring vinyl records and a turntable across several light years in a colony ship? Space is limited on those things, surely.
- the two most populous nations on Earth (China and India) are hugely under-represented
- if you have the technology to traverse the vastness of space, why can't you land your ship safely on a planet?
....but I won't go on....

Outcasts seems choc-a-block full of conflict, which I find difficult. Naturally, dramas need a bit of conflict and tension. If Carpathia was a paradise planet where everything was hunky-dory, Outcasts would be hugely dull. It's just that everything's a bit dark and humourless.

I understand that they've gone for 'gritty realism', which makes it stand out from something that the American channels would make - but I just think a little glimmer of fun or positivity would help lift it a little.

I'm going to reserve judgement for the moment, except to say that I think this show has some great potential. It would be great to see some aliens rear their heads at some point, and to explore more of planet Carpathia (presumably it doesn't all look like the South African bush!).

Let's hope that the fact the BBC cancelled Survivors in order to make this won't be a decision they will live to regret....

- Justin Chaloner

New Shop! New Blog Posts!

After something of a hiatus here on this blog, I've finally gotten round to getting things going again!

Not only that, but Comic Guru is now back in the heart of Cardiff! We've got a spanking new shop opposite the bus station which is about four times bigger than the original shop in Wyndham Arcade, plus it has a members only room for standing order customers.

We're really excited about the new premises and have a number of cool events lined up for 2011 - watch this space!

Look out for more posts from the Comic Guru here on this blog – witterings about all things sci-fi, Doctor Who, comics, films, fantasy and anything else in between!