Big Red Hootenanny Write Up

Some of you may be aware that back in September of 2010, I hosted a charity party which raised over £300 for the British Heart Foundation and Marie Curie. It was a fun night, with live music, many drinks and people having fun. At the end of it, I decided that this was something which I wanted to keep doing. Holding an event like that, which so many people can enjoy, and which also raises money for a good cause, gave me a good feeling, and people seemed to be up for another one, so why not?

This Friday just gone (March 18th, 2011) gave me the perfect opportunity. It was Comic Relief night, and what better way to celebrate than a live comedy show? After scouting around for several possible venues (Callaghans had proven popular at the last party, but it was also pretty expensive), I eventually settled on O'Neill's at the end of St. Mary's Street in Cardiff city center. The function room in O'Neill's was of a good size (capacity of five hundred), had plenty of seating, a large bar and, best of all, it was free to hire. Sold!

In the weeks leading up to the party, I will freely admit, I got pretty stressed. I was firing off e-mails, text messages, facebook messages, tweets, phone calls and smoke signals to various acts, guests, helpers and possible prize doners left, right and center. There was the evening where I lost the venue (I got it back again), possible issues with acts, and the constant worry that no one would show up. The Big Red Hootenanny (as I dubbed it) proved a much trickier prospect than my previous event, and it was showing. Admittedly, it wasn't helped by my simultaneously being made to work overtime in work a lot of weekends, and also trying to get ready for the launch of our preview comic at Cardiff Comic Con, but if you saw me in the week running up to the party, you probably knew that I was more than a little stressed out. To the point where I was swearing blind that I wouldn't be doing another charity party ever!

I needn't have worried. More people than I ever expected turned up, and the night was a great success, despite two of the bands I had booked not turning up.

After an hour or so set aside for people to arrive, I took the stage to drum up some interest in the raffle, and to introduce our compare for the evening, Steve Mellor.

Steve hosted the evening wonderfully, displaying his dark brand of humour with jokes and songs about subjects which many comedians would shy away from, but which the audience were too busy laughing at to be offended by. Steve even extended his own set and gave us some extra songs when the other bands failed to show up.

The first comedian Seve brought on stage was Verity Smith. Verity, who is one of the funniest people I know anyway, had never performed solo on stage before, usually working with a troupe for improvisational shows. Her debut solo performance went really well, and I really hope she continues to pursue it. Verity's stand up routine was mostly about stand up comedy, and had the audience laughing throughout. Verity also came back on later in the evening to perform the unofficial Comic Relief single she and Steve had written and released together, All Red On The Inside.

Next up was my long time friend and Stiffs co-writer, Drew Davies. Unlike Verity, Drew had performed stand up solo before. He had the whole range of experience that comes with doing a show under his belt. And by a show, I mean exactly that. Drew had only done one stand up gig before. You wouldn't have known. Drew knocked it out of the park, with his self deprecating routine about his own stature, sexual encounters (solo and otherwise) and his admiration for Osama Bin Laden's beard. The laughs kept coming, and by the end of his set, Drew had the audience in his pocket.

I'm priviledged to count both Drew and Verity among my friends, I'm immensely proud of both of them for what they did, and I hope they both continue to play stand up gigs for a long time to come.

After Drew was someone who has plenty of experience with stand up comedy. I first saw Taylor Glenn when she hosted a burlesque evening back in October last year. She was hilarious, and I immediately took the opportunity ask her if she would headline the Comic Relief show. I'm hugely thankful that she agreed, as Taylor is an extremely funny comedian. With a mixture of prepared stories and improvised jokes riffing on the audience, Taylor had everyone in stitches from the beginning of her set to the end. She was also kind enough to help me draw the first raffle ticket of the evening.

We had a huge amount of raffle prizes, and I would like to take this moment to thank the following people who all very kindly donated:-

Bleedingcool.com, Anastasia Catris, Clutterfly Jewellery, Charli Cree, Dead Star Publishing, Drew Davies, Fresh Baguette, Joe Glass, Phil Jupitus, Jonathan Kyprianidis, Steve Mellor, Trevor Wayne

After the raffle, and once Steve and Verity had performed All Red On The Inside, we had an act who no one had booked. Being two bands down left us with a bit of a gap, which was very kindly filled by Lowri Williams, who took the stage and told the six jokes she knew.

After that, the wonderful JD Kelly took the stage, and performed a mixture of his own songs and cover versions of classic tracks such as Wicked Game and Faith. JD is a very talented musician, and his set went down very well.

Huge thank you to all the acts, Steve Mellor, Verity Smith, Drew Davies, Taylor Glenn, JD Kelly and, especially, Lowri Williams.

At the end of the night, we counted the money. We raised a very nice £508.52 for Comic Relief. And that's not the final total either. People who couldn't make it to the party are very kindly offering to donate money for their tickets after the fact, and the money raised from sales of All Red On The Inside will also be included. Once I have a final total, you will have one too. Having watched the Comic Relief footage on iplayer, I'm staggered at how far the money we've raised can go. It's a truly amazing thing we've done. Thank you everyone.

Please do visit www.allredontheinside.co.uk and download the single if you haven't already.

And, despite my earlier protestations, I will definitely be doing this again. I'll let you know when.

Also, for more on the generous participants in Friday's shindig, please see the following links.

Bleeding Cool

Anastasia Catris

Clutterfly Jewellery

Drew Davies

Dead Star Publishing

Fresh Baguette

Joe Glass

Taylor Glenn

Phil Jupitus

Trevor Wayne

Covering The Covers part 2

So, last time out in my look at famous comic covers and the subsequent homages/pastiches/rip offs, I looked at a couple of famous Superman and Spider-Man covers. This time out, my focus is on one group, and one group only, the ever Uncanny X-Men. Let's start with possibly the most famous X-Men cover of all time. Unlike many (though not all) characters, it isn't there first appearance. Arguably, and with apologies to the famous Jack Kirby pencilled X-Men #1 from 1963, you'd have to look at the 1975 relaunch, and Giant-Size X-Men #1.



This iconic cover, featuring the All New, All Different team bursting through the cover to the surprise of the original X-Men, has been riffed on many times, often by the X-Men themselves, be it to promote a line-up change, as in Uncanny X-Men #254



Or X-Men #70.



One striking version of the cover was used for X-Men: Deadly Genesis issue #1, which went back to Giant-Size X-Men #1 and showed us that, maybe, not everything was what we thought it was.



The X-Men aren't the only team of mutants in the Marvel universe though, and sometimes, some of their lesser known fellows want to get in on the act. Witness this cover from Excalibur #45 featuring the N-Men.



Or X-Statix, the team once known as X-Force, in their own Giant-Size relaunch.



Even DC wanted a piece of the X-Pie, with Justice League Europe #35.



Once again, as with Amazing Spider-Man issue #50, one of my favourite takes on it is back with Marvel themselves, choosing to subvert the image for What If... #35.



Of course, there are piss takes too, from Futurama Comics #8,



Or PVP issue #0.



Hell, even the X-Men themselves wanted a go with X-Men #46.



But what about the aforementioned X-Men #1?



Just because it's maybe not as iconic as Giant-Size X-Men #1, doesn't mean it hasn't been referenced it's fair share of times, by the second generation of X-Men on the cover of Classic X-Men #12,



By the Fantastic Four on the cover of Marvel Knights 4 #24,



By Excalibur (again) from The Mighty Thor #427,



And even the Autobots from this New York Comic Con exclusive cover to Transformers #12.



One of the all time classic X-Men covers is the one from Uncanny X-Man #141, which was part one of the classic Days Of Future Past storyline.



This iconic cover has been riffed on by the New X-Men in issue #26 of their own comic.



In researching this blog, I also came across this image. Apologies, but I couldn't locate where it was from. Still, this guy needs no introduction, right?



There are, of course, further piss takes, such as Alpha Flight #9 (which also riffed on the title, being Days Of Future Present, Past Participle part 1).



And, if we're talking piss taking, then there's one guy who's bound to have an appearance at least once an entry in this series of blogs. Yep, here's Deadpool #7.



My favourite take on Uncanny X-Men #141 though? It has to be this wonderful, and most unexpected, version from Star Wars Insider #7.



To be continued...

Covering the Covers part 1

We all like covers, right? Not all of them, obviously, some of them are shit. Still, there's some pretty good ones out there. But can you cover a cover? Of course you can. You all know I'm talking about comics, right? Yep, some of the all time classic covers have, for want of a better word, been covered on other comics over the years.

Call it a homage, a spoof, a blatant rip-off, whatever you like, it's been done again and again, and sometimes to quite wonderful effect. Here's some examples.

We all know this image, right?



Yep, it's only Action Comics #1, from 1938, featuring the first appearance of Superman. Pretty cool, huh? It's an iconic image, with the Man of Steel stopping some crooks by lifting their car over his head and trashing it. It immediately lets you know who Superman is, and just looks awesome. It's been riffed on a few times, including once in a much later issue of Action Comics itself. Action Comics is DC's second longest running title (after Detective Comics), and Superman has been the star for the vast majority of that time. For a long while, the comic was billed as Superman in Action Comics. Then Supes only went and got himself killed by Doomsday during 1992's Death of Superman storyline. During the Funeral For A Friend story arc which followed, Action Comics was given over to Supergirl. Her first issue as the title star was celebrated thusly...



Other Superman comics have riffed on Action Comics #1 too. Remember when Mr Majestic started appearing in Superman's books? Here's the cover to Superman #201 from 2004.



Then there's this fun take from 2000's Tales of the Bizarro World #9.



Hell, it was even featured in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns movie.



Of course, many other characters have played on Action Comics #1 iconic status including, bizarrely, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in this cover from season 8, issue #32, which even features a Joss Whedon cameo.



However, my favourite take on the Action Comics #1 cover, aside from the original? Has to be 1988's Amazing Spider-Man issue #305.



Speaking of Spider-Man, his own first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 features a pretty iconic cover, huh?



Besides Spidey himself covering the cover in Amazing Spider-Man #252 to introduce his new black costume,



Or in Stan Lee Meets The Amazing Spider-Man,



Or even in Marvel Zombies issue #1,



There are a few other characters who've had a crack at it. Here's Hardcase #24.



Spidey's alternate reality daughter, May Parker, let her dad join her for this homage from Amazing Spider-Girl #0.



And then of course, there's Deadpool, who took his own crack at it in Deadpool #11.



Deadpool was given a second chance, on the cover of Deadpool: Suicide Kings issue #4, but after the last time, they weren't leaving him unsupervised.



Of course, there's every chance that the cover to Amazing Fantasy #15 is itself a homage. Look at this cover to Detective Comics issue #27, featuring the first appearance of Batman. Look familiar?



There's another Spider-Man cover which I want to touch on briefly. Remember the classic Amazing Spider-Man #50, in which Peter Parker gave up being Spider-Man?



Well, this has been done several times since, including Howard the Duck #19,



And Bartman #4.



My personal favourite though? This elegantly simple reversal from Amazing Spider-Man #392.



To be continued...

Who's Your Billentine? You Are, Dumbass

So, St. Valentine's Day is almost upon us once again. I shall not be celebrating it, once again. I could go into why, could go into how I don't need reminding this will be my twenty-ninth February fourteenth as a single man out of twenty-nine, could discuss how it's a crock of shit as if you really love someone, you don't need one day a year set aside to show it, could go on at length how I'm still incredibly bitter and cynical when it comes to love thanks to what that hateful bitch did to me and how I hope she... Um... *achem*... I could even once more point out that it's actually a celebration of wolf fucking, or... Well, something along those lines.

I'm not gonna do that though. Two reasons. Reason the first, I think I've kinda drained the well on that the last few years. Reason the second, I just don't care any more. Seriously, I'm even bored of being pissed of with Valentines. What good does it do? I just get depressed, start drinking, order a takeaway and watch a film, probably one involving many explosions and as little in the way of romance as is humanly possible.

So, what's this blog about then? An alternative. Two years ago, my good friend, co-writer on Stiffs, former housemate and ex-closest-thing-to-a-girlfriend-Paddy-has, one Drew Davies, and I decided that, as single people, we deserved a day dedicated to our good, single, lonely, cynical and desperately pathetic selves. We deserved presents too. Why not? So that's what we did. February fourteenth may be for the loved up and sickly types, but February fifteenth? We've claimed that. February fifteenth has become St. Bill's Day.

St. Bill's Day is the day when all those who don't want to celebrate Valentines, for whatever reason, be you single or otherwise, can celebrate themselves. How do you celebrate? Simple. You have a day for you. You buy yourself a present. Forget the card, that would be weird, but definitely spend some money on something you want. You'll know it's a gift you're going to keep, 'cos who knows you better than you? My St. Bill's Day routine usually consists of present, alcohol, takeaway and a film, probably one involving many explosions and as little in the way of romance as is humanly possible. Yes, it sounds a lot like my Valentines Day, but it's more fun. Plus, present!

There are only two rules when it comes to St. Bill's Day. Rule one, you can't celebrate it if you're doing the Valentines thing the day before. That would completely miss the point. Rule two, whatever you do, do it for you. Be selfish. Just celebrate the most person awesome you know. You're your own Billentine. How can it go wrong?

You may be saying to yourself now "okay, that's good, I like it. I'm definitely celebrating St. Bill's Day this year. But, why St. Bill? Who is St. Bill?"

Well, Drew and I needed a name for the day. I can't take credit for this, it was Drew's idea. Why not name it after the cynic all other cynics aspire to be? A man who told the truth, and made it damn funny, and is, sadly, no longer with us? Thus, St. Bill's Day, named for the legend that is Bill Hicks.

So, Monday morning, when other people are making the rest of us want to vomit with mind-numbing displays of affection and *shudders* love, just ignore it. Then, on Tuesday, stick two fingers up at those simpering morons and just do something fun!

If you want to join me for my alcohol/takeaway/DVD combo, you're welcome to do so. Just let me know.

And now, to finish this blog, I'm going to share a story I once wrote when I was tasked with writing a story about love. I think we can all empathise.

Love

"I love you Darling. Happy Valentines day." said Eric to Debbie. It was sickening.

So thank God that at just that moment, ninjas jumped down and killed both of them. There was blood everywhere, and some organs were strewn about the place as well. There was an eyeball left in the goldfish bowl, I swear, an actual eyeball! Entrails draped the sofa. And the drapes. I think even the ninjas were surprised at what a mess they made, but then it's hard to tell through those masks. Still, it was a horrible site!

Poor Jerry, when he walked in, he had such a fright. Jerry’s not even in this story, but he heard a noise and decided to come and see what was going on. Boy, did he regret that! As soon as he saw the carnage before him, and the bloody ninjas (that's ninjas covered in blood, not me being exasperated at the ninjas. I think they're great!), he legged it, and who could blame him?

For their part, the ninjas vanished in a cloud of smoke. Where they went, nobody knows. Where do ninjas go when they do that thing with the smoke pellets anyway? Do you think there's a magical Ninjaland, where they ride the big wheel, the carousel and the roller coaster, and the ground is fluffy, like a lovely cloud, and they gorge themselves on marshmallow and candy? Sounds fun doesn’t it. I bet they’re happy there. I hope so. I like to think they're happy, because if ninjas can't be happy, then what hope is there for the rest of us?

Hey, wow, love is an anagram of vole. Huh. Who knew?

The End.

2010: Taking Stock part 3 - The Life and Times of PJ Montgomery

2010 then. That was a year which, I think, will always be remembered as the one which came between 2009 and 2011. I truly think that. Seriously though, if I had to sum up 2010 properly, I'd say it was a mixed bag. Here's the blog where I get personal, and tell you about my year.

I started this year a wreck. There's no point pretending otherwise. Without going into too many details (largely because I already have done so, at length, elsewhere), 2009 ended with a massive break up and a pretty bad head injury. These two don't mix, as the head injury means you can't get absolutely post-break-up-shitfaced like you're supposed to. I had a miserable December, and so when New Year's Eve came along, and I was able to drink again, I did so. With gusto. I was ably assisted in this by one of my very best friends, Ian Dowling, constantly spiking my drink with more vodka whenever I turned my back. What I remember of the night is a lot of fun. But then, what I remember is very little of it, and it's fuzzy at best.

The upshot of all of this? A two day hangover. I awoke on January 1st, 2010, still a little drunk. This soon changed when I sat down for lunch with some friends at Uncle Chan's Tasty Wok (RIP), and took a couple of mouthfuls of food. Then I felt very ill and had to come home straight away. Like a fool, I'd invited some of the guys back to watch Doctor Who. They dutifully showed up on time, and we watched Doctor Who. However, throughout the entire episode, much I loved my friends, I was suffering and just wanted them to leave so I could pass out. And possibly die.

Thankfully, some of my friends are an astute bunch, and they recognised my pain, and left soon after Doctor Who finished. I went to bed, and slept a lot, waking up on the 2nd only because I had to go to work. I didn't quite feel right, but didn't think much of it. It was only after a few hours in work, when I was still feeling a bit off, that it suddenly dawned on me. I was still fucking hungover! How much had I had to drink on New Year's Eve? A bottle of wine, half a bottle of vodka, several glasses of sparkling wine and a couple of shots of Dooleys, for the record. So, that was the start of 2010 for me. The longest damn hangover I'd ever had.

The next couple of months didn't exactly go to plan either. While there were some good developments on the writing front (see my last blog for details), I'm largely going to remember the first couple of months as a time I felt betrayed like I never have before. Again, I've dealt with this at length before, but suffice to say, I lost friends over it. At the same time as I was reeling from this, my job hit me with a £4000 a year pay cut, a not insubstantial amount, I think you'll agree. The result of the events of these first few months was my transformation into a being I like to call Angry Paddy. He's a bit like the Hulk, only not the Hulk at all. Okay, he wishes he were the Hulk.

I spent a good portion of 2010 angry. At first, it was anger directed at two people in particular and my job, but it soon settled into a general feeling of rage directed at whatever happened to be in my eye line at that point. It was during this period of time, when I started threatening to set things on fire, that Drew Davies, my good friend and Stiffs co-writer, first coined the phrase "Paddy Prescription". It means... Um... Well, it's what we call it when I set something on fire.

There were a lot of vitriolic blogs and comments around this time, some of which you can still find if you look hard enough, and a number of which got me into trouble with certain people. I also, and I'll freely admit this, probably wasn't always much fun to be around during those months.

It took a while, but I'm over the anger now. I'm also over the hatred of the two people who managed to cause it. I'm not saying they're forgiven, because I'm just not that big a human being as it turns out, but I really don't care about them either way. Let them live their lives, and I'll live mine. That's all there is to it now.

Of course, there was good stuff right at the beginning of the year. January 31st, 2010, was the day a little ball of fluff named Caliban entered my life. I'd always said that once I lived alone and was able to do so, I would get a cat. The loneliness I was feeling after the break up was also a factor. So, finding a guy in work who had kittens he was giving away, I went around and picked one of the tiny, six month old kitties he was offering. It turns out, I picked an idiot. Seriously, Caliban's a moron. Almost a year now he's been living here, and he still faceplants the washing machine on a regular basis. But I do love him, and he provides hours of entertainment and, when he wants to, affection. He's a lovely kitty, though not so small any more. He's only getting bigger, and if the Maine Coon theory holds water, wil continue to do so for the next three and half years, at which point he will be large enough to take on Godzilla. That's a terrifying thought. Also, not getting any less fluffy. And he does leave it everywhere. Technically, I should probably be hoovering every hour. Don't come over if you're allergic to cat hair.



2010 was also the year when I started playing tennis again. The previous three summers, I'd managed to have one game a year. I'd always intended to play more, but it just never happened for one reason or another. However, this summer not only did Andy Grierson and I have our long awaited rematch (a close thing, but Andy bested me again. He'll get his, one of these days), but we then found more people to play with, and sudenly tennis became a semi-regular thing, with myself and Andy joined by Nicki Tudor, Abby O'Sullivan, Dan Austin and Sian Prescott. Here's hoping that continues when the warm weather comes back again!

And so to Twitter, which had to get a mention eventually. While I didn't join Twitter this year, my usage of the site really went into overdrive in 2010. I tweet quite a lot now, and through using Twitter, have not only found myself back in contact with old friends, but have gotten to know other friends better and made a lot of new ones. You're far too numerous to mention individually here, but you are all awesome, and have definitely made the second half of this year a vast improvement on the first.

That said, one of my favourite weeks of 2010 was one in the first half. My cousin, Rhys Warburton, was marrying his long-term girlfriend, Anna Davitt, and guess who got invited to the wedding? Yep, loads of their friends and their families. Oh, wait, that includes me. Whoo! Party! One small detail though. Rhys and Anna are New Yorkers. The wedding was being held in Brooklyn. So, in order to attend, I would have to have another New York holiday. What a shame.

So it was that in mid May, myself, my sister and a whole load of my cousins descended on the Big Apple, and boy did we have an awesome week. A large portion of it was spent drunk and / or hungover, but free bars will do that to you. However, some key highlights of the week include, the first evening, when myself and all my cousins, despite our jetlag, went to a bar in Manhattan and proceeded to drink and laugh the night away until we passed out. The welcome party the night before the wedding was also a lot of fun. There was a free bar. I drank a lot of Jack Daniels. Then, we went out to another bar in the East Village. I think there were shots, and if I learned anything, it's that yes, American beers may be weaker than ours, but damn, they pour a lot more in when it comes to shots.

Needless to say, the following day, the day of the wedding itself, I, my sister, Charlotte Montgomery, her fiance, Chris Knott,our cousin Ed Simpson and Ed's girlfriend, Clare Morgan, all woke up with hangovers. So we did what anyone else would do. Went for a massive breakfast and then journeyed to the bright lights and loud noises of Times Square. It was here we discovered the clothes shop American Eagle, and their rather fun offer of buy anything, we'll take your picture and put it up on a massive screen above the shop! Of course, in our hungover state, we thought that was an excellent idea. Before we had the picture taken, Ed gave us a quick team talk. "Okay, let's make sure it's not a family photo like Grandma would be proud of. Make sure we all do something stupid." Here's the resulting photo:-



Note how only one person in that picture is doing something stupid. Also note how that person is me. When that flashed up, for all of Times Square to see, I turned to the others. "Why... Why am I the only one doing something stupid? I thought we were all going to." Ed responded. "Yeah, sorry. We've kinda let you down there Patrick." I gestured around at Times Square. "No one else here knows that! They all think I'm an idiot!"

Oh, well. Then we went for ice cream, which does cure hangovers, as I've discovered this year. Seriously, next time you have a hangover, go get some ice cream from Baskin Robbins or somewhere similar. It'll do the job. The wedding itself that evening also involved a free bar, and then another bar in Brooklyn, where my cousins and I proceeded to have more drinking and laughing until the small hours of the morning. All in all, an awesome time.

One final thing I want to mention in this blog, which happened in September, is the charity party I threw. Originally designed as a renuion for people who had started at the University of Glamorgan ten years before, but it soon grew beyond that, involving anyone we had known over the decade. We hired out Callaghans in Cardiff city center, booked three bands and had a bloody good night, in which we raised a nice bit of money for Marie Curie and the British Heart Foundation. It was lovely to see friends, both new and old there, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I'm planning for this to be the first of several such events, and the next one is coming up fast in March for Comic Relief.

So, looking ahead to 2011... Well, it's already starting better than 2010 did. Unlike previous years, I'm not making any definite resolutions or plans, but what I'm hoping 2011 will bring is the following: My writing finally reaches the public at large, I'm able to leave a job I hate, and that the Comic Relief event goes well enough that I can continue doing such parties. Fingers crossed, eh?

Happy new year.

2010: Taking Stock part 2 - The Writer's Year

If you read this blog, chances are you also follow me on Twitter, or have befriended me on Facebook. Or, ya know, not. You might just know me from my blog. Wherever you know me from though, you're probably aware that I'm a writer. I do tend to mention it. Anyway, I've got a number of projects brewing, at various stages of development, and I thought I'd use this blog to let you know how they're all going, what I did this year, and what you can expect next year. Let's start with the one I've been working on longest.

More Than This

My feature film script, this one's been in development for a few years. By January this year, I'd done four and a half drafts of it (half because one of them wasn't a full rewrite). I knew it wasn't ready yet, and needed, at the very least, one more draft, but before I embarked on another draft, I wanted to hear it. Read out loud. By people. Preferably people who have voices. And could read. Thankfully, I know a few such people, and so, one sunny Saturday afternoon, I gathered some wiling volunteers, fed them tea and biscuits, and listened as they read out the project above all others which I regard as my baby. More Than This is a very personal project for me, being vaguely autobiographical, and featuring a lead character who is very much in the head space I was in when I first started writing it. So, I was nervous, to say the least, and hoped to Odin that it would go well. And it did. My temporary cast all enjoyed the script, and were able to give me some very useful feedback to incorporate into the next draft. I've also sent it to another friend whose feedback I am awaiting in full. I'm hoping I can get cracking on the next (full) draft of More Than This next year, though there are a few things I have to work on first which have actual deadlines. Still, it's coming along nicely.

Stiffs

This is another project which has been out there for a while now. When the year began, it was called Zombie Death Squad, the name it had been going by for a couple of years at that point. Within a couple of months, it was going by the name of Dead Enders. A couple of months after that, it was changed again to Stiffs. That title's sticking. The premise hasn't changed. The comic is still about a group of bored twenty-somethings and a talking monkey who fight the undead in South Wales. However, early in the year, we (Drew Davies, the creator, plus myself and our other co-writer, Joe Glass, and artist, Gavin Mitchell) met with some people who already work in the industry. Once again, we were given feedback which we took on board, and which lead to some changes, not to the central idea or themes, but in how we were going about writing the book. ZDS was originally going to be pitched as a #0 issue, followed by an ongoing series. Stiffs is a five issue mini series, incorporating elements of what would've been issue #0 and the first six issues of the ongoing. It leaves the story open to continue, should we be fortunate enough to actually sell it, but it will also stand on its own as a self contained story should it not go any further. We writers have worked together to rewrite it, and I think we've got something pretty tight which people will enjoy. Gav's also turning in fantastic artwork, getting better with every page, and we're ably assisted by the uber-talented Adam Cadwell providing colours and letters. While we've been turned down by one publisher, we've still got plenty more to pitch to. In the mean time, there's going to be a preview book, featuring some of the first issue of Stiffs, available at the Cardiff Comic Expo in February. Come along, and tell us it's awesome. We won't be able to handle any other reaction.

Supermarket Matters

So, earlier this year I responded to a tweet posted by my friend, Mark Chatterly. He was looking for people to write episodes of a comedy podcast he'd come up with set in a supermarket. It wasn't the sort of thing I'd usually write, essentially being a radio play and involving absolutely no monsters or superheroes of any kind. Still, I thought I'd give it a crack. I pitched a couple of ideas to Mark, and he liked them enough to tell me to go away and write them. Which I dutifully did. I wrote two episodes of Supermarket Matters (though as I type, I'm yet to turn my final drafts in. They're nearly there), and these are actually going to be recorded in January, ready for a release a little later in the year. Keep an ear out for these, as Mark has assembled a great team of writers (plus one hack), and they've put together something which I think is very special. By the way, the hack is me.

The Lie At The End Of The World

Okay, so I haven't actually done any writing on this short comic story I wrote a couple of years ago, in which Death kills the other three horsemen of the Apocalypse, but has been pitched to a couple of places again, and fingers crossed, it's looking quite promising that it may finally see the light of day in 2011.

The Liars and another untitled superhero project

I can't reveal much about these, as they're only in the very early stages at the moment, but they're both ideas which I had this year which I'm very proud of indeed. They're both comic projects, again, one of which I hope to start writing soon with my Stiffs collaborator, Drew Davies, while the other I'll be continuing to write on my own. But expect to hear more about both of these over the next twelve months.

Life and Ninjas

You know nothing about this. And I'm telling you nothing about this here. But it'll be here, and soon.

There are, of course, other projects I'm working on at the moment, but these are the ones which occupied my brain and my time for the majority of the past year. Fingers crossed, they'll all continue to move forward in 2011. Things are starting to happen.

2010: Taking Stock part 1 - At the Movies

So I thought I'd write a couple of blogs looking back at the year that was 2010, how it went, what was good, what was less good, and all that fun stuff. In this first part, I'm gonna talk about my own humble opinions on the films I saw in 2010. The next blogs will get a little more personal, as I talk about my writing and the events of the past year, but for now, let me indulge the film critic within.

If I had to use one word to sum up my general feelings on the films I saw this year, I would have to go with fun. For a number of reasons, 2010 was a year in which, more than any other I can remember, I came out of the cinema feeling like I'd had an absolute blast. A large part of this was down to cinema looking back to the heyday of balls to the wall, supremely fun action movies, the nineteen-eighties. Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Commando, Rambo, Predator... The list goes on. These were the films which shaped a generation (and possibly inspired Michael Bay's entire canon, but we'll forgive them that) and provided endless fun for... well, not the whole family, but for quite a few of us.

While there have always been action movies, they seemed to have lost their way in the nineties and the noughties (a term I hate, but I have no better word for the decade). Yes, we had sequels to most of those films, and while I enjoyed Die Hard 4 to a degree, it wasn't the same kind of fun.

While we had one direct sequel to the films of our youth in Predators (not bad, but didn't blow me away), it was largely left to the new boys to take up the slack. First up, was The Losers. Based on the comic by Andy Diggle and Jock, The Losers took the basic concept of its source material (a group of special forces soldiers are framed for a crime they didn't commit by their own government and have to attempt to prove their innocence), but changed the tone completely. The comic is best described as a thriller, with elements of an espionage story and a shadowy villain who remains unrevealed for a good portion of time.

The film though... Well, it was all about explosions, car chases, ridiculous missions, one-liners and an over the top, slightly camp, unhinged bad guy with a ridiculous plot for world domination. And, in its own way, it was quite, quite brilliant. It wasn't a thinking mans film, by any stretch of the imagination, but when your cast includes people like Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba and Chris Evans, men who can't help but be charismatic every moment they're on screen, you can't help but be swept up in the fun.

After the Losers came a film which was very much rooted in the eighties, being a remake of a classic TV series we all know and love. The A-Team may have shared a name and characters with it's forefather, but it was a very different beast. After all, when in the TV series did you have a tank, in free fall, taking on a fighter jet? Tank Vs Plane is really all you need to know about the A-Team. Plot? Who cares. It's not important. There's a fucking tank in the sky fighting a plane! It was ridiculous, and it was brilliant.

After the new boys, the old guard tried to come back at them in The Expendables, and they largely succeeded. Like The Losers and The A-Team, it was filled with explosions, car chases and fist fights. But it also took the violence that one step further. From the moment in the opening when Dolph Lundgren makes a bad guys head go pop with a shotgun, you knew exactly what you were getting from this film. Bone crunching fights, body parts being removed and blood everywhere. More than the previous two movies, The Expendables was a true eighties action film. But then when the cast includes Sylvester Stallone, the aforementioned Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and the Governator himself, as well as Jet Li, Jason Statham and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin... Well, we all knew what we were getting into as soon as we entered the cinema. Rumours of a sequel, which will feature all those guys, plus, hopefully, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Segal and Dwayne Johnson are... Well, I sincerely hope they're true.

There was one more action movie, also based on a comic, which was a return to the eighties style of film making and boasted Bruce Willis kicking bad guy ass better than anyone, but which also featured an actual plot. Based on the comic by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, RED (Retired, Extremely Dangerous) told the story of a group of retired secret agents who are targeted by, who else, a rogue faction within the government. But where RED wins out for me is that, as well as the excellent action scenes (Bruce Willis calmly stepping out of a moving police car and firing his gun is one of the coolest things I have seen this year), but the fact that it was also damn funny, and not just in the comic violence sense of the others. John Malkovich as a twitchy, paranoid sidekick was hilarious, as was the sight of Dame Helen Mirren packing a sniper rifle. Of the four, RED was my favourite, but all of them are perfect for a beer and pizza night in front of the TV. Get some friends in, and just enjoy.

Of course, there were other films which were a lot of fun without being eighties throwbacks. Three of them were based on comics, and two of these managed to surpass their source material.

First up, the long awaited (well, two years) Iron Man 2. Now, when I first saw Iron Man 2, I came out of the film with mixed feelings, and having watched it again since, I still have those. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it. Robert Downey Jr is still perfect as Tony Stark, Sam Jackson gets more than a cameo as Nick Fury, the debut of the Black Widow in the shapely form of Scarlett Johanssen, Don Cheadle injecting more life into the part of James Rhodes than Terence Howard managed in the first one, plus War Machine, and Sam Rockwell clearly having a blast as Justin Hammer. I also thoroughly enjoyed seeing directo Jon Favreau get more to do this time around in his on screen role as Happy Hogan. Plus, the scene where Tony dons the briefcase armour in the middle of a motor race at Monaco, and takes on Mickey Rourke's Whiplash? A superhero fight AND motor racing? Two of my favourite things come together at last! The problem is, Iron Man 2 isn't (whisper it, wait for the backlash) that great a film. Mickey Rourke is criminally sidelined for most of it, Stark's drinking problem is really mostly glossed over and a lot of it basically feels like a rehash of the first, superior Iron Man. Looked at from a more critical perspective, it doesn't really hold up nearly as well as the first one and seems to have largely been used as a set up for the upcoming Avengers. But ya know what? I don't care. Like I said, I love Iron Man 2, and the reason is simple. I'm a massive geeky fanboy. I was in heaven! Look, it's Captain America's shield again! Oh my God, Howard Stark's in it. Hey, wait, Whiplash is named Vanko... So was the Crimson Dyanmo... Hmmm... OH MY FUCKING GOD IT'S MJOLNIR!!!!!! Yeah. Sometimes, just having a massive geekgasm and going along for the ride is way more fun.

After Iron Man 2, we were given Kick-Ass. Kick-Ass was absolutely sublime, and is a definite contender for film of the year. The comic of the same name was an excellent read, putting forward the story of what would happen if a well meaning individual in the real world actually put on a costume and attempted to fight crime. The comic was funny, poking loving fun at superhero conventions while also embracing them. The film, though, was better. It was hilarious, with some of the best lines of the year (Hit-Girl's opening line will never be topped as a character introduction), and some of the best shot action sequences to boot. Matthew Vaughan had already proven that he, with writing partner Jane Goldman, is adept at taking a popular story and making a good film out of it with Stardust, but with Kick-Ass, they excelled themselves. Throw in that rarest of beasts these days, a good performance from Nicholas Cage, who, as Big Daddy, gives a pitch perfect Adam West impersonation, and you have more fun in the cinema than you knew was possible. It also introduced the world to young Chloe Moretz, who is truly a talent to watch in the future, and for that, we must be thankful.

And so to Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. Like Kick-Ass, it was based on a popular indie comic (Kick-Ass was published my Marvel, but through their Icon imprint, so it's indie), but unlike Kick-Ass, it was a comic I really didn't like. I tried reading Scott Pilgrim, but I just didn't like any of the characters, especially not Scott himself, who I just thought was a massive dick. And if you don't like your lead characters, then you have a problem. Now, let's be honest here, Scott in the film? Still a bit of a dick. And while Ramona Flowers, the object of his affections, is very pretty to look at, she's also not exactly someone you end up liking very much. However, while Scott still very much acts like a dick, there's still something kind of likable about him, largely down to the fact that he's played by Michael Cera, who I don't think knows how to play anything else. Throw in some cracking secondary characters, some hilarious one-liners and some of the best fight scenes of the year, and you have a great film. Special mention must got to both Chris Evans and Brandon Routh, both of whom steal the film at various points, and the wonderful Vegan Police moment, featuring a Tom Jane cameo, is another highlight of the year for me.

Of course, it wasn't all fun at the cinema this year. Early on, Drew, Joe and myself did a triple bill in the cinema, and one with a theme. So was born Apocalypse Tuesday, a day when we saw three films which were all set in a post apocalyptic setting. One of them was shit, one was okay, but largely forgettable, and the other was one of the most stunning pieces of film making I've ever seen. First up, Daybreakers, which gave us a vampire society hunting the last few remaining humans, when a cure for vampirism is discovered. It was awful. It made absolutely no sense, it was shot badly, and... well, to be honest, besides featuring Willem DaFoe, who clearly knew what he was getting into and didn't give a shit, it had nothing to recommend it. The second film of the day was The Road. Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, it's one of the bleakest films I've ever seen. It's hard going, and sitting through it in the cinema was tough. But it's also completely worth it. The performances by Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee (another breakout child star you should definitely keep an eye on) are perfect, and the direction from John Hillcoat is absolutely wonderful. The world has become a desolate wasteland in The Road, though we're never told the cause, but there's something beautiful and ethereal about it as seen through Hillcoat's eyes. The Road is another candidate for film of the year, though I'd have a hard problem picking it as my favourite, simply because it's such hard work to sit through. The final film of Apocalypse Tuesday was The Book Of Eli. It was okay while you were watching it, and Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman and Michael Gambon are always worth watching, but to be honest, it's entirely pointless.

Shit as Daybreakers was though, it wasn't the worst film of the year. One candidate for me, was Solomon Kane. While it started out okay, as something which could've been one of those bad movies which still manages to be fun, it slowly started to take itself more seriously as it went on, which just made me lose any and all good will I'd built up towards it. Still, even that wasn't as bad as the Goddawful Legion. Paul Bettany as an angel, defending small town bumpkins from other angels 'cos God decided to wipe us out again, some crap about a messiah, shit acting, shit direction, shit effects, I don't think there was a script of any kind... Avoid it like the plague. Worst film of 2010. Definitely.

Other disappointments for me were a Single Man (Colin Firth was excellent, and there was a good film in there, but first time director Tom Ford telegraphed any surprises far too early, and shot it in a very pretty but soulless fashion, pun intended) and The American (just... really boring).

So, what was my favourite film of the year? The previously mentioned Kick-Ass and The Road are candidates, though neither quite wins out. I've already gone into why with The Road, and while I loved Kick-Ass, there were a couple of films I loved more.

First, special mention to Ponyo. I went to see this at a point when I was still reeling from some events in my personal life, and I can categorically state without any doubt, that when you're feeling shit about things, there is nothing better to cheer you up than a Hayao Miyazaki film from Studio Ghibli. Ponyo is, as expected from the worlds premier animation studio (sorry Pixar, it's true) stunning to look at, and incredibly heart warming and wonderful to watch. If you don't come away from Ponyo with a massive grin on your face, then I don't think you're someone I want to know.

But there are two films, above all the others I saw this year (and I didn't see all the films, I know) which I find myself coming back to. Toy Story 3 and Inception. Both were incredible pieces of film making, with Toy Story 3 showing that it's possible to make a trilogy which gets better and better as it goes along, and Inception proving that you can make a summer blockbuster which is both original, and makes you think.

Toy Story 3 was one of the biggest emotional investments of the year for me. The moment when our heroes are heading towards a fiery death genuinely had me worry for them, while another scene, where they get one final play time with Andy, their owner who's off to college, almost made me cry manly tears of manliness, and actually managed to make me feel bad for all the childhood toys I'd gotten rid of over the years. Pixar know how to tell a story, they know how to make you laugh (Spanish Buzz Lightyear anyone?), they know how to create memorable characters (the new characters in this film, such as Lottso and Mr Pricklepants, are every bit as wonderful as their predecessors) and they know how to creep you out (seriously, that cymbal banging monkey? Yeesh). The other thing Pixar do better than anyone is the little touches. Look out for Boo from Monsters Inc in the Daycare, or the return of Sid from the first Toy Story. It also, and this has to be mentioned, is the first film I can think of in which the 3D worked as it's supposed to. It made the film look better without you ever noticing it was there.

Inception was just damn clever film making, but then, what else would you expect from Christopher Nolan? The dreams within dreams withing dreams plot, the mechanics of how the dream worlds functioned, excellent performances from a stand out cast, not to mention the number of questions the film raised which people are still debating now, and most likely will continue to do so for a long time. A film like Inception is rare. It's gutsy film making that most people are scared to try these days, but Nolan is riding high from the success of his Bat films, making film studios more willing to take a chance on him. The fact it paid off in spades means we may get lucky and see more original summer blockbusters in the future. Of course, it also means it's going to be imitated a lot in the near future, but that's not really Inception's fault. The industry still hasn't realised it doesn't need the next Inception, it just needs the next good film.

But, which of the two wins out? Honestly, I can't say. They're definitely my films of the year, but you'll probably get a different answer as to which I prefer depending on when you ask me.

So... Um... Call it a tie?