fajrdrako: ([Buffy] - Spike)




1. Can anyone here suggest a word processing program with which you can start numbering the pages automatically on page 2? Or with which you can omit page numbers from any given page or pages?

2. Anyone know where I can find Dark Wolverine fanfic? Or good X-Men slash?

fajrdrako: ([Comics] - X-Men)


Wolverine Prodigal Son is a story about Wolverine, but it isn't Marvel. It's a manga put out by Del Rey, by Anthony Johnston and Wilson Tortosa. Logan has a healing factor, and claws, but no adamantian skeleton and the word 'mutant' is never used. Logan isn't a tough old soldier, he's a brash teen in a Canadian martial arts boarding school. (Cool idea.) He's fourteen years old, and pretty. He has attitude. They got that part right.

And a lot of the theme, as with many Wolverine stories, was about identity, and finding the honourable path. I particularly liked the chapter in which Wolverine has to take a dripping bowl of water to the heart of a redwood tree.

It isn't X-Men, but it's fun.

fajrdrako: (Default)


Since I posted this morning my answer to the Livejournal Writer's Block question, "What is your all-time favorite, romantic movie scene?" I thought I would answer the same question with regard to other media.

Books

From The Ringed Castle by Dorothy Dunnett; page 440 of the Century edition: the scene fans call "the anvil moment", edited here a little, by me.
...She was no longer ten, and had put to use the years of study and practice. How old, then, was she?

The year he fought his brother, they had met. )The chapter ends: Too late, too late, too late; it had happened.

Comics

In X-Men comics, the relationship between Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Jean Grey (Phoenix) was so long-established I thought it would last forever, nothwithstanding Maddy Pryor. But no: it has been superseded by the love affair of Scott Summers and Emma Frost, formerly the sexpot-villainous White Queen of the Hellfire Club, and I love it. Comics don't often get romance right; but this goes beyond romance, goes to the point where sexual tension becomes plot tension. It isn't even a match of opposites, as you would think. It's a match of equals. It's brilliant.

Its apex for me is a recent comics, from a few weeks ago: Dark X-Men: The Confession, a one-shot by Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost and artist Bing Cansino. It may be difficult to keep secrets from one of the world's greatest telepaths, but Scott has a few, and Emma has been hiding things from Scott - each had secrets so terrible they thought it would destroy the other's love for them.

Hank tells Scott "these secrets will kill us". Tensions mount: Emma is on the point of leaving. So Scott says to Emma, "I don't want there to be secrets between us any more." So they have it out. )

Television

The best television romance is that between Veronica and Logan in Veronica Mars. But how to pick any particular scene or moment? All their scenes together are wonderful: picking just one would be impossible.

But their first kiss is remarkable. For one thing, this is a show built on words, clever words, dialogue, plotlines. Logan Echolls is a smart-mouth rich kid, introduced to viewers by Veronica as the "psychotic jackass" of the high school, her best friend's mouthy former boyfriend. He is one of the prime suspects in Lilly Kane's murder )

fajrdrako: ([Comics])


This morning I read X-Men, Children of the Atom. That's also the name of a video-game. Well... good name.

The comic is by Joe Casey. I'm never sure what I think of him as a writer; in this one, he had good themes, but missed the mark emotionally. It's the story of the beginnings of Xavier's Academy, how Professor X gathered together that initial group of adolescent mutants who were already his students in X-Men #1.

Interesting theme, and not an unpleasant read. But the characters were too one-dimensional: Scott Summers in particular, too much the scrawny Oliver Twist; Jean Grey too much the sweet innocent; Warren too much the glamour boy. And Xavier - not sure what too make of him. Too much a crusader? But he has to be. Just not quite sympathetic enough.

I did like his FBI liaison man, caught between the anti-mutant establishment and his sympathy for the persecuted children. I also liked Starkey, the mutant-fighting punk who turns out to be a mutant empath - his own worst nightmare. And speaking of nightmares, I liked Jean Grey's night terrors, lashing out telekinetically from dreams not even her own. I liked it that Scott Summer's evil foster-father was named Winters.

I didn't like this version of Magneto, a vicious madman as bad as the other villains. I prefer a proud, powerful Magneto who may be a megalomaniac but who has a rational cause, and who is driven by prejudice but not hate.

Most of all, it felt odd reading this comic from only ten years ago, and thinking how old-fashioned it was in style. Part of that may be a reflection of its retrospective content - really, it's a prequel - but comics have changed a lot in ten years.

fajrdrako: ([X-Men])



X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Lots of action, lots of movement, many close-ups of Hugh Jackman breathing heavily. Not a bad thing. It isn't the X-Men movie I really want - I'll never get that - but it was fun in many ways. They played fast and loose with the canon I know - but the comics have done that, too. What a feared most was that Gambit would be sleazy or evil. And he isn't.

I loved Gambit. Love the personality - even the plot background given, apparently eliminating the Sinister connection, but connection him to Stryker's similar mutant projects. I loved his acrobatics (and wanted more) and his coat and his staff and the use of his powers, especially the fiery playing cards fanning and zipping from his fingers. Dare I hope there'll be a Gambit movie one day?

Okay, there's a flaw... )

Snickt...

Feb. 23rd, 2009 08:49 am
fajrdrako: (Default)


We all know that David Beckham is gorgeous and so is his wife, so it makes sense his kid would look good, but who'd have guessed what good taste he would have in superheroes?

He could dress up as anyone he likes. I like his choice. Good kid.

fajrdrako: ([X-Men])
Twelve Reasons to Love Gambit
Whether you are Rogue or not
12. He has a staff and knows how to use it.

11. Acrobatics.

10. Flirtatious charm and good looks.1

9. Floppy auburn hair.

8. Shady past as a con man, ambiguous morality, good heart.

7. Glowing eyes when he is charged up.

6. Sense of romance.

5. Sense of drama.

4. Long coat.

3. Long fingers.

2. Flaming playing cards.

1. Cajun accent.2

~ ~ ~

1 The loooks depend what artist is drawing any given issue. I don't know many comic book characters whose looks change so much from one artist to the next. Clark Kent? Bruce Wayne? Peter Parker? They always look more or less the same. Gambit? Different all the time.

Of course, this is suitable: he is chameleonic.

But he isn't a Skrull shapeshifter.


2 The more insightful among you may notice that Gambit has certain characteristics in common with Captain Jack Harkness.

fajrdrako: ([X-Men])


So I went to look at the IMDb entry on the Wolverine: Origins movie. A few interesting tidbits... )

fajrdrako: ([X-Men])


I am in a state of fangirl glee: I just saw the trailer for the coming Wolverine movie. And it features Gambit. It hints at X-Men. We get Sabretooth, of course. It shows a number of people I ought to know or guess - but I can't tell which one is Deadpool. Who is the vampire at the end?

I'll have to see it to know, of course. But... Gambit and Wolverine! Even if the rest of the movie is terrible, we'll get Gambit at last. And Wolverine too.

I guess I should read Wolverine: Origins before seeing this.

Who is it that says, "Don't worry, we'll get him?" Is that Deadpool? Doesn't sound like Deadpool...

Another copy on YouTube.

fajrdrako: (Default)


I got this from [livejournal.com profile] _medley_: Letter meme
  1. Comment on this post.
  2. I will give you a letter.
  3. Think of 5 fictional characters and post their names and your comments on these characters in your LJ.
So:
  1. Magneto, Master of Magnetism from X-Men comics. Magneto was the villain in the very first issue of X-Men - one of the greatest anti-heroes of Marvel comics: a mutant who suffered in a concentration camp in his childhood because of his powers, who wants to ensure that mutants need not suffer again under the control of Homo Sapiens. He has been both hero and villian, and White King of the Hellfire Club (not to mention ruler of Genosha). I loved the period when he was Headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in New Mutants. I've written both Magneto/Gambit slash and Magneto/Cannonball slash.

    It does no harm that one of my favourite actors has played him in movies - Sir Ian McKellen. They're promising another movie called X-Men Origins: Magneto, but nothing much seems to be done on it yet. I'm not holding my breath.

  2. Martha Jones, the Doctor's companion in the 2007 series of Doctor Who. Smart, beautiful, romantic and sharp, Martha was just about the perfect action heroine. Now she's Doctor Martha Jones in both Doctor Who and Torchwood, and I hope we see more of her.

  3. Methos, the oldest living man, born c. five thousand years ago and going strong, from the TV series Highlander. One of the best TV characters ever; and his meeting with Duncan MacLeod in the episode "Methos" was one of the best scenes in the series. I always wanted to see more of Methos. Much more. So much story to tell... He was Death of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; he married 68 times, but all his wives were mortal; and though he refused to admit to being a hero, he showed over and over that he was one. He had a great talent for avoiding danger and keeping himself alive.

  4. From the gone-but-not-forgotten TV show Firefly: Mal Reynolds, captain of "Serenity", a man who fought for the Browncoats in the war against the Alliance, and lost. ("May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.")

  5. Miles Vorkosigan, in the SF novels of Lois McMaster Bujold. Son of a powerful aristocrat on the planet Barrayar, he is a youth with military ambitions, an ingenious midget on speed, a 'hyperactive git' who might be the salvation of his planet. He combines wisdom and recklessness, his life built on forward momentum, or perhaps desperate gambles. The mind was the first and final battleground, the stuff in between was just noise.


fajrdrako: (Default)


From Warren Ellis's comments today: "So it seems that everyone now knows I'm taking over ASTONISHING X-MEN from Joss next year: the actual title of the book will be ASTONISHING X-MEN: SECOND STAGE."

I hadn't known.

I am delighted.

Warren Ellis on X-Men.

Dare I hope Pete Wisdom will reappear in the storyline?

Even if he doesn't... If you said to me, "in a perfect world, who would you like to see writing X-Men?", Warren Ellis would be near the top of my list.

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