Tom

Port Macquarie, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA


Joined October 3rd 2007

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About Me
A BA (political science major) graduate with an interest in all things science fiction, anime, fantasy, manga and entertaining. Enjoy the odd social drink, good conversation and every now and then chasing a little ball around a local golf course, followed by a few cleansing ales and a good laugh.

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MEGATOKYO (VOLUME 1)

December 2nd 2008 01:33
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: Fred Gallagher – story/art, Rodney Caston – story/co-creator & Dominic Nguyen – “shirt guy dom” comics.
Cost: AU $15.95/US $9.95.

Well the year is almost over, Christmas fast approaching and New Years swiftly following up behind, time certainly does fly when you are having fun or at least involved in doing what you are doing. So a month or two ago I was browsing in my newsagents looking for something to read or possibly even review and in doing so I came across an issue of…Fiend, an Australian Goth magazine that caught my attention. I forked over the few quid that was being asked for it, took it home and had a perusal of its contents. Now I am no Goth, although I do have a penchant for dressing in all black, steel toe capped boots and there the resemblance ends. Why do I mention this magazine? Well it was in its pages that I heard about this particular manga – Megatokyo. There was an interview with the artist Fred Gallagher about his creation and how it all came about, curiosity piqued I just knew that I would have to get my hands on a copy of this.
So as I was pondering some deep thoughts the other day…mainly what was I going to have for dinner and should I think about getting some amber fluid; not exactly existentialism but hey who but Sartre is into that nowadays anyway, that Megatokyo arrived on my doorstep courtesy of the local postal delivery team. Actually every time I see the phrase Megatokyo I just cannot help thinking about Akira or Doomed Megalopolis (which I haven’t seen) which has nothing remotely in common apart from geography with this manga. Now I can’t explain why these links spring to mind other than via some strange geographical association phenomena still suffice to say that even though this manga is nothing like either of the other works it is nonetheless enjoyable.
Originally the whole MT (Megatokyo) shtick began as a collaboration between Gallagher and Caston with Caston apparently nagging Gallagher to do a web comic and the latter eventually putting together something and then letting sleeping dogs lie so to speak. From such humble beginning it seems that greatness springs, when I ordered this volume I noticed that there were at least five other volumes in publication and the original website – www.megatokyo.com is still going strong. Not only that but Gallagher is apparently working on MT fulltime having quit his job as an architect, not bad for something that eventually started out as a little side project. There is also a fredart.com website which has various artworks created by Gallagher and it was here that he had initially pondered doing a single frame web comic.
Now even though MT is a manga work it due to its being originally created in English follows the standard western style format of publication. In fact there is a little note at the ‘traditional’ end of the manga saying something along these lines and that you should start from the ‘front’. In this way the format is precisely the same adopted with Tokyopop’s Sorcerers & Secretaries that I reviewed a while back on the Lantern. It is also like that manga in that its premise is heavily real world based – although there seems to be some elements of the supernatural and fantastic that has crept into the story.
Taken as a whole Megatokyo 1 is what could be called a slice of life genre manga, it is essentially about a point in the life of the two protagonists Largo and Piro commencing at the E3 convention in downtown LA and ending up with them being ‘marooned’ in Tokyo, Japan. It is a tribute to the work of the creative team behind the whole project that what initially began as a series of one shots intended as a purely web based thing has evolved into an ongoing storyline focusing on this mismatched duos adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun. Along the way we meet various other characters who people this rather unique version of Tokyo which has as much resemblance to the real Japanese capital as to various fictional incarnations in various manga and anime down through the years. There is Dom and Ed, friend of Largo and Piro, both come across as gun toting homicidal maniacs, Junpei the Ninja, Yuki Sonoda an ordinary Japanese school girl, Miho the enigmatic looking Goth (or is she a Queen of the Dammed?) just to name a few of the cast that emerges in the pages of this volume.
It appears that in creating this particular manga the team have based the two protagonists; Largo and Piro on the two driving forces behind the effort (Rodney Caston & Fred Gallagher) and even the character Dom is based upon the other participant in the series; Dominic Nguyen. So there is the trace of an autobiographical to the series as some of the events of the creators real lives have given inspiration to some of the elements in the unfolding tale. Very amusing is the scene where the duo meets up with Piro’s Japanese friend Tsubasa and he shows them they can pick up snacks from the vending machines as they make there way to his place to crash. It is here that Largo discovers what could be seen as the ultimate vending machine; one that sells the amber nectar of the gods…Beer! One wonders what the alcoholic content of vending machine beer would be? Maybe one day I’ll find out…
So essentially after leaving E3 as the result of drunken rant on behalf of Largo he and buddy Piro find themselves in Japan, swiftly end up spending their hard earned cash and not having the readies for a ticket back home. It’s a real comedy of errors and one that effectively sees them stranded in Tokyo, a place that the pair of them probably have only ever experienced via the mediums of computer games, anime and manga. But then again perhaps this is all that they’ll need in order to survive as it seems MT is not as ‘ordinary and mundane’ as the real version would be. Pretty much the bulk of this volume is essentially introducing the reader to the cast, the predicament of the two primary protagonists and how they intend to deal, or in Largo’s case not deal, with it. It certainly made for an entertaining afternoons reading – possibly something to enjoy over a refreshing ale or two at your local.
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X-MEN: THE BLOOD OF APOCALYPSE

November 27th 2008 00:27
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Production Team: Peter Milligan – writer, Salvador Larroca – pencils/inks/washes, Aron Lusen & Jason Keith – colours & Cory Petit (Virtual Calligraphy) – letters.
Cost: US $17.99.

With the demise of Magneto, leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, father of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, a vacuum of major antagonist to the X Men would be one result amongst many of this characters demise. Fear not though there is someone who seems is more than capable of filling these rather large shoes in more ways than one and that is (cue drum roll please)….Apocalypse. Having been a fan of the X Men since the eighties I do have to question the demise of Magneto and his subsequent removal as an active player within mutant affairs in the Marvel universe, still it seems that the big wigs in the Big Apple have decided to run with this particular angle. So who the heck is this Apocalypse?
Well on the surface he is this big blue dude in blue armour with some truly tremendous firepower, scientific knowledge and a back-story that literally spans millennia. Naturally there is a little bit more to the character than just being blue, large and aeons old, he has frequently popped up as an antagonist to the X Men and their various allied groups (X Factor, X Force etc) down through the years doing the usual super villain thing; take over the world, destroy humanity etc. His agenda has often seemed rather enigmatic and he always has a rather biblical slant on things, his efforts are often aided via the means of Horsemen ala the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse and they are often named for those particular entities and have abilities and powers commensurate with their name. Thus Pestilence is able to cause the spread of disease, Famine causes hunger… you get the picture.
Actually its rather interesting that Apocalypse should take this particular slant on things considering that he was initially born in the days of pre historic Egypt, we’re talking pre first dynasty here, in fact probably even before the first known kings and major settlements. So he’s a very old and long lived individual but essentially one shaped in part by the culture into which he was born, so adopting a Biblical slant is slightly odd to say the least. Originally called En Sabah Nur the individual who would later become Apocalypse translated certain unusual writings that allowed him access to technology far in advance of the current era. With this technology he was able to construct the Sphinx, which was in essence a vast ‘living’ spaceship. Of course such treasures did not come without a cost as En Sabah Nur would later find out…
The big problem with this tale of Apocalypse, the character and the impending doom he brings to human and mutant civilization, is that the story really goes nowhere and has no real discernible focus. In fact after reading it I wondered realistically what was the point of it all, super villain shows up proclaims himself as the Messiah of mutant kind, attempts to slaughter ninety per cent of humanity in order to level the playing field between humans and mutants and generally causes a swathe of destruction. Not much new there, not even the fact that he has managed to turn two of the vaunted X Men into his Horsemen - it has been done before with Wolverine; along with the old shtick of having some amongst the remaining mutant population think along the lines of “Well hey maybe what Apocalypse is saying is on the money”.
It seems to me that ‘The Blood of Apocalypse” was nothing more than a pastiche of various elements that have been used in so many other X Men stories and issues down through the years. And as far as super villains go Apocalypse is a little bit two dimensional when it comes to some bite, sure he’s got the firepower to go toe to toe with the best and strongest, he’s got a spaceship that can travel anywhere and no doubt anytime but in reality its all just smoke and mirrors. And don’t get me started about the whole love triangle between Rouge, her lover Gambit and the new guy trying to win her heart at the urging of her mother Mystique. Granted it has some bearing on pushing Gambit over the edge but not much, there seemed to be other issues than just solely that making him become the fourth and final horseman; Death.
Another triangle exists between Bobby ‘Iceman’ Drake and Alex ‘Havok’ Summers and Lorna ‘Polaris’ Dane which seems to have little real bearing on this story but on future developments that are hinted at in this particular tale but not covered. Tacked on to this emotional angst and chest beating is the tension between the X Men/Xavier Institute for Gifted Students and the Office of National Emergency (O.N.E) that exists as a result of actions which have occurred in the past. O.N.E is ostensibly protecting the mutants although the mutants themselves feel more like they are being monitored and imprisoned rather than protected – which makes some of them eager to take up the claims of Apocalypse and follow his banner. And of course it couldn’t be complete without the villainous henchman who decides to betray his master to his greatest adversaries.
All in all it has too be said that “The Blood of Apocalypse” is stale and rank, there is the feeling that Marvel probably made a big mistake in getting rid of Magneto as Apocalypse when all things are said and done fill the shoes of major mutant evil mastermind. Lets face it Magneto had gravitas, he had history, he had a very distinct rationale behind his disdain for humanity; as being a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps he had seen mans inhumanity to his own kind let alone those who were mutants and in a way the measures of human society to ‘regulate’ mutants could be seen in his eyes as just the fore runner to future Final Solution. Sadly Apocalypse doesn’t have this kind of oomph to him; even his secret bargain with the Celestials is a bit ho hum. Blood might be thicker than water but in this case it’s completely without substance…
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STAR WARS LEGACY 27: INTO THE CORE

November 10th 2008 21:40
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Production Team: John Ostrander – script, Omar Francia – art & cover art, Brad Anderson – colours & Michael Heisler – letters.
Cost: AU $7.95/US $2.99

In the immediate aftermath of Cade Skywalker’s escape/extraction from the Sith temple on Coruscant Darth Krayt the new dark lord and emperor of the galaxy is not at all happy with the mess that has been left in the wake of Skywalker’s absence. The window that overlooks the vast planetary cityscape has been shattered, Darth Nihil has had an arm cut off, Darth Talon lies unconscious but badly wounded and the Dark Lord of the Sith feels as depressed as Canterbury Bulldogs supporter in the wake of Season 2008. Things do not look to good for the new Sith Order and Darth Krayt once he has made his displeasure clear and is beyond the sight of his minions’ calls upon the aid of Darth Wyyrlok to help into the Stasis chamber.
You see Darth Krayt even though he is the mightiest known wielder of the Dark Side in the known galaxy has a secret that only his most trusted minion knows. In the initial phases of the invasion of the galaxy by the savage Yuuzhan Vong species some hundred or more years ago a former Jedi master by the name of A’Sharad Hett, was captured by this extragalactic species and imprisoned aboard one of their vessels. As with all their prisoners the Vong conducted various tests and procedures on Hett eventually implanting him with biots for some unknown purpose. Eventually Hett managed to escape but he was never able to rid himself of the biots and over time as he became Darth Krayt these organisms have slowly been consuming him and altering him to some undefinable blueprint and agenda.
Now in the wake of the confrontation with Skywalker he manages to project a façade of strength but in reality the fight has left him weakened and debilitated. Time it seems is running out, his best hope for a cure was Cade Skywalker but now it seems that that avenue may be placed beyond his reach. Still it seems that his trust in the Chagrian Sith Lord Darth Wyyrlok has not been misplaced, this worthy wielder of the dark side and Sith techniques takes it upon himself to try and find a means or source of knowledge that will help his master overcome the ravages of the alien biots.
Of course the ways and means of the Sith are not quite like those of other people, even other force users. Anyone else when confronted by the possibility that someone who they hold in high esteem is being eaten alive by a malignant virus of unknown origin would probably scour various medical databases and research facilities looking for a cure or at least means of holding back the infection. Not Darth Wyyrlok, he goes and consults some ancient Sith tomes and scrolls that he has stashed near his dark lords stasis chamber within the deeps of the temple. When perusing these ancient works proves fruitless he turns to the collection of various holocrons that the Sith have managed to retrieve from various sources down through the years.
Shaped like an ebon pyramid a Sith holocron is a holographic repository of various personalities each with their own area of expertise, one personality usually serving as the gatekeeper for the entire holocron and thus hopefully preventing the uninitiated from gaining access to things that they should not be perusing. Of course sometimes a holocron only has a single personality within its core and in this case the holocron Wyyrlok consults falls into that category, it is the holocron of Darth Andeddu, an ancient Sith Lord of the days before the Great Hyperspace War and Darth Revan. Sith legend claims that somehow Darth Andeddu managed to preserves his essence after death and used it to animate his body after death. Naturally the secret of this technique would be a boon to the current Dark Lord and Wyyrlok seeks to discover it through discourse with Andeddu’s hologram.
After his discourse with the ancient Sith Lord Wyyrlok boards his starship and journeys forth into the deep core, the region of the galaxy into which the deceased Darth Sidious and the Empire had established various facilities and research centres. It is on the world of Prakith that the Chagrian eventually arrives at, in a region far from the nearest Prakith community, at a forbidding looking keep in a region that makes the term badlands look positively tame. It is this place that is home to the true tomb of Darth Andeddu, the Sith Lord unlike many of his other predecessors did not have his remains interred on Korriban like many others of his ilk.
Such a location is not without its dangers; there are those who dwell within the keeps shadowy depths and for some considerable time. In the passing of that time they have become steeped in the ways of the dark side but as Wyyrlok points out to them, they are nothing in comparison to him. He is a Sith, he is what the pretend to be, an individual who can walk the walk along with talking the talk. Making swift work of these puny guardians Wyyrlok binds the sole survivor to his will and compels him to lead him further into the keeps depths. Thus like Theseus moving deeper and deeper into the heart of the labyrinth Wyyrlok goes on behalf of his ailing master, seeking some means to cure him or at least prolong his existence whilst a cure can be found.
As has been often noted in the annals of Sith lore and history “Treachery is the way of the Sith” so it comes as no surprise that Darth Wyyrlok finds himself in something of a bit of a bind at the hands of what he believed was the hologram of Darth Andeddu. Instead it seems the Chagrian has been something of a patsy, the holocrons personality is in fact the very essence of the ancient dark lord seeking reunification with its body. You can just imagine Darth Wyyrlok thinking to himself as he is suddenly confronted with the reanimated Darth Andeddu “Well this sucks big time”. Still all is not as it seems and the eventual denouement is something of a surprise.
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RUROUNI KENSHIN VOLUME 6: NO WORRIES

November 3rd 2008 21:09
Publisher: 1994 Shueisha Inc/ 2006 Orion Publishing Group.
Story & Art: Nobuhiro Watsuki.
English Adaptation: Gerard Jones


[ Click here to read more ]
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Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: Rob Williams – script, Dustin Weaver – art, Wil Glass – colours, Michael Heisler – letters, Dan Scott & Travis Charest – cover art.
Cost: AU $7.95/US $2.99


[ Click here to read more ]
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VEXILLE

October 27th 2008 21:39
Director: Fumihiko Sori.
Script by: Fumihiko Sori.
Producers: Toshiaki Nakazawa, Yumiko Yoshihara & Ichiro Takase


[ Click here to read more ]
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APPLESEED EX MACHINA

October 24th 2008 22:06
Based on the original manga created by Masamune Shirow.
Director: Shinji Aramaki.
Script by: Kiyoto Takeuchi


[ Click here to read more ]
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Publisher: Dark Horse Comics.
Production Team: John Jackson Miller – script, Alan Robinson – art, Michael Atiyeh – colours, Michael Heisler – letters, Brian Ching & Michael Atiyeh – cover art
Cost: AU $7.95/US $2.99


[ Click here to read more ]
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“The Jedi are relentless. If they are not all destroyed it will be civil war without end…”

Darth Sidious to his new apprentice Darth Vader. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith


[ Click here to read more ]
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VAMPIRE KNIGHT (VOLUME 2)

October 19th 2008 21:40
Publisher: 2005 Hakusensha Inc/2007 VIZ Media LLC.
Story & Art by: Matsuri Hino.
Translation & English Adaptation: Tomo Kimura


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Recent Comments

Comment by Tom
on That Which Should Not Be...

February 27th 2008 00:28
Yes I couldn't belive that they'd do this and I have now seen proof of the horror that now walks this world ready to pounce on unsuspecting comic/graphic novel fans in their local comic stores.

Hopefully the more discerning comic fans will heed my warnings and avoid this work like the proverbial.

Comment by Tom
on Batman: Year One

January 24th 2008 00:38
What was freaky about doing this post was that as I was doing it I heard the news that Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker in the new Batman film; Dark Knight, had just died. Kind of raised the hackles on the back of my neck I can tell you.

Comment by Tom
on Akira (Special Edition)

January 8th 2008 02:22
Yes it has to be one of the longest anime features I've seen, and apparently it doesn't scratch the surface of the material that's actually in the manga. I remember seeing an acutal copy of the manga years ago and it was thick, several hundred pages long and a price to match. I'm not sure if was the whole series in one volume, several volumes in one or horror of horrors actually one volume.

Cheerio
Tom.

Comment by Tom
on Laputa: Castle in the Sky

January 4th 2008 22:30
You can get it on DVD from Madman Entertainment, (www.madman.com.au), I don't know if any video stores have it amongst their stocks for rental, if they did it would most probably be in the Kids Section.

Cheerio
Tom.

Yep I've played all the games myself and enjoyed them immenesly, though KOTOR2: The Sith Lords was a bit lacking in story, there were elements in it that unfortunately were never fully developed. That being said the good thing about the comics is that they offer another perspective on that particular era of the Star Wars universe and a host of new faces as well as some familiar ones.

I aslo notice I made a blue with the categories calling it a movie rather than a graphic novel/comic, such is life.

Cheerio
Tom