Geek Syndicate - Issue 2 by Geek Syndicate

REVIEWS:

MASS EFFECT 3

HALCYON & TENDERFOOT

CABIN IN THE WOODS

iPAD 3

THE NEW KING OF WESTEROS? Geek Syndicate at the Game of Thrones DVD/Blu-Ray Launch!

LONDON SUPER COMIC CON Exclusive Photos from February’s Biggest New Convention!

THE NEW GEEK CHIC? Superhero Designs for the Catwalk

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! Review Inside!

IRON SKY COMES IN PEACE Interview With Director Timo Vuorensola

ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE | GEEK CRIMINOLOGY | CON ROUNDUP | BLUFFERS GUIDE TO STAR TREK www.geeksyndicate.co.uk

MAY 2012

GS Issue 002 - Credits

May News Headlines From Geek Syndicate:

Main Cover Photograh:

Something Wicked This Way Comes: Another Merlin Series 5 Guest Star Confirmed

Robert Schofield Designer:

Antony Thickitt Editors:

Barry Nugent & Antony Thickitt Contribuors:

Antony Thickitt Barry Nugent Brogan Hayes Christophe Montoya

The Novo Geek Opens with Star Trek, BSG and Dexter Merchandise New Cast Members ‘Spartacus’

Announced

for

Starz

Network’s

The Expendables 2 Gets an Inbetweener…Honest! BBC to make Zombie show and a Modern Take on the Three Musketeers An Audience with Nick Frost at Kapow! 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award 2012 Goes to Jane Rogers’ The Testament of Jessie Lamb

David Monteith

Check Out This Amazing Star Wars The Old Republic “Hope” Fan Film

David Williams

MCM London Comic Con Reveals Line Up

Dean Simmons

Live Action ‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn’ Web Series on the way

Dion Winton-Polak Holly Winnard Liz Luke Halsall Matt Farr Polina Roytman SilverFox Yan Williamson

A New Hulk File in 2012 ? First Look at the Lone Ranger Blighty Inspired Xbox 360 Coming to the UK Fringe gets a Season Five Flashpoint Animated Movie is Coming Soon Iron Man 3 News and Casting Atomic Robo Real Science Adventures Launches Steampunk Holmes

Geek Syndicate Comic:

Tron Uprising releases a New Trailer

Harold Jennett

All 5 STar Trek Captains to Attend ‘Destination Star Trek’ Convention

Typesetting:

GS Banner - Copperplate Bold Cover Text - Century Gothic Main Text - Nobile (Oben Font Licence)

Contents

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Features GEEK CRIMINOLOGY - Are The Heroes & Villains Of Batman Influenced By Lombrosian Ideals? ........................ 4 CONVENTION ROUNDUP - May 2012 ............................................. 10 THE BLUFFER’S GUIDE TO GEEKDOM - Star Trek ....................... 12 GAME OF THRONES - Season 1 DVD & Blu-Ray Launch Party ................................................................................... 14 FASHION EXTREME! ........................................................................... 16 AFTER ASSEMBLY - What Next for Marvel’ s Merry Men? ..................................................................................... 20 GEEK SYNDICATE AT LONDON SUPER COMIC CON .................... 26 ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE SURVIVAL CONUNDRUM An Introduction ............................................................................ 28 The Hunger Games & Young Adult Fiction The Current Big Thing? .................................................................30 GEEK SYNDICATE - Our Podcasts, Current Episodes ................ 74

Reviews FILM REVIEW - Avengers Assemble .............................................. 34 GAME REVIEW - Mass Effect 3 ....................................................... 36 COMIC REVIEW - Clockwork Watch - The Arrival ....................... 38 FILM REVIEW - Chronicle ................................................................. 42 COMIC REVIEW - Taking Flight ....................................................... 45 COMIC REVIEW - The Scorpion Vol. 2: The Devil In The Vatican .............................................................. 46 DVD REVIEW - Game of Thrones The Complete 1st Season ..... 50 COMIC REVIEW - Black Hawk The Intergalactic Gladiator ...... 52 TECHNOLOGY REVIEW - iPad 3 ....................................................... 56 FILM REVIEW - The Hunger Games ............................................... 58 COMIC REVIEW - Halcyon and Tenderfoot Issue 1 .................... 60 FILM REVIEW - The Cabin In The Woods ...................................... 64 COMIC REVIEW - Crossed Volume 1 ............................................... 66

Previews FILM PREVIEW - The Amazing Spider-Man ................................ 68 COMIC PREVIEW - Spooks ............................................................... 69 FILM PREVIEW - The Expendables 2 ............................................. 70 COMIC PREVIEW - Rainbow Orchid Volume 3 ............................. 72 FILM PREVIEW - The Dark Knight Rises ...................................... 73 ELEVATOR PITCH - Urban Legends ................................................ 75 ELEVATOR PITCH - Glasgow League of Writers 1 ........................ 79 ELEVATOR PITCH - 7String .............................................................. 85

Interviews INTERVIEW - Iron Sky Director Timo Vuorensola ......................... 8 INTERVIEW - Fashion Extreme Designer, Polina Roytman ...... 19

Editorial

Is it just me or is 2012 turning into a golden year for geekdom? Everywhere I look there’s fantastic television, comics, games and films that are either out or are on the horizon. The convention fever is about to hit us big time however with three, count em, three major conventions (Bristol Comic Expo, Kapow! and London Comic Con) being held in May and each one fighting to bring in and entertain the crowds. On the film front, once we all pick our collective jaws off the floor at how Joss Wheedon managed the impossible with The Avengers, we realize that this is only the start of the blockbuster season. We still have an all new - though I’m guessing not all dancing (nice moves in Spidey 3 Tobey!) - Amazing Spiderman. A Man in Black travels back to the sixties to save his partner in MIB 3 and Ridley Scott goes back to the stars with the epic looking Prometheus. There’s also Expendables 2 aka The Beard is Back…bring on the Norris. On the small screen we have the return of Game of Thrones, Young Justice Season 2 (Sorry, I meant Young Justice Invasion), Avengers Season 2, Fringe, Community and much more. Before I forget I guess should mention that small art house film…something about a Dark Knight rising against some fella called Bane? Keep the greatness coming 2012! Enjoy Issue 2!

Barry Nugent

INTERVIEW - Reboot Director & Producer ......................... 22

INTERVIEW - Anthony Woodley, Director of Outpost 11 ........... 32 3

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GEEK CRIMINOLOGY - Are The Heroes & Villains Of Batman Influenced By Lombrosian Ideals?

Comic books have largely been ignored by academics, yet analysis of their basic themes can shed light on many areas of interest to criminologists. In particular the Batman universe containing arguably the most realistic superhero character provides a lens through which to consider the theories of Lombroso and Baudrillard.

Cesare Lombroso (a pioneering Positivist Criminologist) put forth the notion of the born criminal: The born criminal had a low moral stance, he cannot be cured, criminality is a family trait, he is a savage with tattoos and a different look (deformed jaw line, cheekbones, arches and palms, also ears)

to the rest of society. (Wolfgang, 1961: 369-71) Lombroso argued the insane criminal commits a crime because of his/her insanity. In order to analyze Batman and The Joker and examine their social impact, it is important to define various themes.

Hero

Villain

Criminal

Strong moral stance, defender of the people

Enemy of hero with low moral stance

Breaks the laws of the state. Moral stance depends on standpoint of criminal.

State Response

Depends, some are targets others are not

Legitimate target

Origins

Tragic event and/or scientific disaster

Genetic, physiological, social or psychological

Enable

Destroy evil

Rehabilitation or fix the defect of the criminal

Not necessarily sane

Insane

Dependant upon the type of the criminal

Definition

Societal Response Sanity

For the purposes of this study it is crucial to make a distinction between the criminal and the villain. The criminal breaks the laws of the state, originates from a number of places, and the goal of society is to fix the defect. The villain simply is the antagonist to the hero. Both Batman and The Joker blur the lines, crossing between two definitions: Batman is a hero and a criminal (he uses criminal acts to further his goals) and The Joker is a villain (Batmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s antagonist) and a criminal. 4

Batmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s criminality raises interesting questions which show how important it is to study the comic medium. Batman is our hero yet he commits many wrongs to achieve his aims. Villainy has clear links to the Lombrosian theme of the born criminal. Villains are presented as being abnormal, different to the rest of society and in need of a cure (Reynolds, 1992: 67). They are placed in Arkham Asylum with the hope that they will be rehabilitated.

The Hero Batman is the hero of various comic series (Detective Comics, Batman, Justice League etc) and has a strong moral stance. Batman is portrayed to be more than a man: he is a symbol that strikes fear into his enemies. This argument has been well illustrated in Christopher Nolanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s movie The Dark Knight (2008) and the recent Batman: RIP comic book run written by Grant Morrison.

In The Dark Knight, Batman gives up what he knows is best for him in order to save the city: he takes the blame for the murders committed by Harvey Dent so that the city can flourish. Only his butler, Alfred, Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox and Police Commissioner Jim Gordon seem to know the truth (with Gordon being the only one who knows for certain). Batman’s mythos in the film is portrayed to pass on with Gordon’s final speech: that Batman is more than just a hero, he is a symbol. This is elaborated further in Grant Morrison’s Batman, where Bruce Wayne dies. Dick Grayson (the first Robin) takes the cowl (Batman R.I.P, Final Crisis, Batman: Battle for the Cowl) because he realizes that the city needs a Batman. The city needs its symbol: it needs its moral compass.

The Villain The Joker is the enemy of Batman: he is the ying to Batman’s yang. He has a low moral stance evidenced through the acts he commits. In The Killing Joke (2008) he cripples Barbara Gordon and in Death in the Family (1988-89) he kills Jason Todd (Batman’s young sidekick at the time). The Joker’s origin (that which we know for certain) was a tragic affair. The man he once was fell into a vat of acid, bleaching his skin and scarring his face into a perpetual grin. Society want to stop The Joker and many members of the public (Jim Gordon for example) have been close to killing him. Further he is clearly clinically insane and has been

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committed to Arkham Aslyum on many occasions.

The Criminal Police Commissioner Jim Gordon has often questioned his relationship with Batman. For example, in Nolan’s 2005 movie Batman Begins, he knows that Batman is a good influence on the city but he also knows that he is an illegal one and in many ways is just as damaging as the villains he stops. Both Batman and his villains are breaking the laws that Gordon is sworn to uphold. Batman’s criminality is shown to be a family trait: he takes in youngsters and trains them up to aid him with his vigilantism. Recently, this included his own biological son: Damian. All the characters in the Batman universe can be viewed as insane. The Joker is clearly insane, committing atrocities for his own amusement. Batman can also be argued to be equally as insane: does a sane person dress up as a Bat and fight villains? Batman might well be suffering from a type of madness known as split personality (Reynolds, 1992: 67). Bruce Wayne (Batman’s out-of-mask identity) creates a different personality (his public identity) to cover up his real identity as Batman.

Rebirth To examine the idea of rebirth, Foucault’s work on identity in The History of Sexuality Volume 1: An Introduction (1990) will be used. Foucault argued that an identity is continually under construction and can never

drastically change. An identity is created and changes, evolving as time goes on. This theme will be illustrated by portraying the argument that a person’s identity over time will die and be replaced with a new identity. This is the idea of rebirth: a character has died spiritually and been replaced by a new form of themselves. For example, Bruce Wayne died at the age of eight and was reborn as Batman. That version of Bruce Wayne would never live again, it would never be seen what he would have become; instead Batman has taken his place (Halsall, 2010: 33). For example, in the comic Red Robin issue 14 (July 2010), it was argued that Batman was born in Crime Alley: the place where Bruce witnessed his parents being killed resulting in his transformation. In The Killing Joke, (2008) writer Alan Moore presents one of the many Joker origins that have occured over the years. His memory and mind have been warped to such an extent that on many occasions he cannot remember a life before his days as The Joker. Whatever his true origin, the result was that he was born again as The Joker. Jack Nicholson’s Joker says it perfectly in the 1989 Tim Burton film Batman: “I’ve been dead once, it’s very liberating.” These damaging effects on the two characters’ personalities effectively makes them criminals from birth (they were re born when they became Batman or The Joker) and therefore fit the Lombrosian theme of the born criminal.

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The Joker’s identity is constantly evolving and changing throughout various media as time goes on. Throughout the character’s existence, he has been a psychopathic clown, a comical prankster, a highly sexualized serial killer, a self mutilator and an anarchical monster. His ever-changing personality was explained by Grant Morrison (Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, 2004) when he referred to The Joker as having “supersanity”: he is so insane that he is actually sane.

Are these characters Lombrosian? Whether or not these characters are complete Lombrosian analogues is questionable. In terms of the insane criminal, both Batman and Joker fit this category nicely, however it is questionable that the two are born criminals. Both Batman and Joker have shown that they cannot be cured of their condition. They are both savage in their methods such as fighting in order to solve their problems: The Joker will kill you whereas Batman will break your bones. Both characters look different to the rest of society. The Joker’s mangled cheekbones and deformed jaw line fit this perfectly and Batman’s ears are clearly not human and are very distinctive. Yet neither character has every physical abnormality to make them a born criminal. What is more, one of the characters has some of this attributes but the other does not. The Joker has the essential low moral stance and is sometimes portrayed with tattoos (Allstar 6

Batman and The Joker - Different from Societal Norm. The Dark Night, 2008

Batman and Robin, Frank Miller, 2008). There is no proof that his criminality is a family trait and if The Killing Joke (2008) is taken as fact, the opposite can be seen. Batman clearly shows criminality as a family trait with his training of various Robins and his other allies. Yet Batman has a strong

moral stance and has never been shown to have tattoos. This suggests that society has grown and adapted over time in order to move away from this stereotypes. Yet comic book characters such as Batman and Joker who have over a seventy five year history are constrained by their own medium: they are unable to change drastically in look be-

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cause they are cultural icons. Consequently they keep Lombrosian attributes.

Jewkes, Y. (2004) Media and Crime, SAGE Publications: London

Conclusion

Kitzinger, J ‘The Debate About Media Influence’ in C. Greer (2010) Crime and Media: A Reader, Routledge: New York

This article has examined what Lombroso’s themes of criminality are and their relation to the Batman universe. Terms such as hero, villain, criminal and re-birth were defined in order to examine the character’s attributes. The two characters chosen (Batman and The Joker) seem to show Lombrosian themes. They were both clearly the insane criminal yet neither were completely the born criminal. Therefore it would seem that as time has passed the Batman universe has continued to progress with it. Yet it would seem that this original Lombrosian ideas that many criminologists would argue are now archaic still have a place in mainstream media. Consequently they will still affect the ways in which we think about crime and the people that are committing crime.

Luke Halsall References Baudrillard, J. ‘Simulacra and Simulations’ in C. Greer (2010) Crime and Media: A Reader, Routledge: New York

Lindesmith, A. and Levin, Y (1937) The Lombrosian Myth of Criminology, The American Journal of Sociology Vol. 42 No 5 Lombroso, C. (1895)_ L’Homme Criminel – Aelas, 2nd Edition, Paris: Ancienne Librairie Germer Bailiere et Companie Lombroso, C. and Ferrero, W. ‘The Criminal Type in Women and its Atavistic Origin’, in E. McLaughlin, J. Muncie and G Hughes (2008) Criminological Perspectives: Essential Readings Second Edition, SAGE Publications Inc: London Miller, F (2008) Allstar Batman and Robin: The Boy Wonder, DC Comics: New York Moore, A (2008) Batman: The Killing Joke, Titan Books: London Morrison, G. (2004) Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Titan Books: London Morrison, G. (2007) Batman and Son, DC Comics: New York

Daniel, T.S. (2009) Batman: Battle for the Cowl, DC Comics: New York

Morrison, G. (2009) Batman R.I.P. The Deluxe Edition, Titan Books: London

Foucault, M (1990) The History of Sexuality Volume 1: An Introduction, Vintage: New York

Morrison, G (2009) Final Crisis, DC Comics: New York

Halsall, L (2010) Is DC Comics’ portrayal of Heroes, Villains and Institutions influenced by Lombrosian Ideas?: Glasgow

Rafter, N (2004) Cesare Lombroso and the Origins of Criminology: Rethinking Criminological Tradition, ERCES Online Quarterly Review

Rafter, H. and Gibson, M. (2004) Cesare Lombroso and Guglielmo Ferrero Criminal Women the Prostitute, and the Normal Woman. Candaian Journal of Sociology Reynolds, R. (1994) Superheroes: A Modern Mythology, University Press of Mississippi: Jackson Starlin, J. Aparo, J. DeCarlo, M. Costanza, J. Roy, A (1988-89) Batman Issues 426-429, DC Comics: New York. Valverde, M. (2006) Law and Order: Images, Meanings, Myths, Rutgers University Press: New Jersey Valverde, M. ‘From The HardBoiled Detective to the PreCrime Unit’ in C. Greer (2010) Crime and Media: A Reader, Routledge: New York

Wolfgang, M. E. (1961) Pioneers In Criminology: Cesare Lombroso (1853-1909), The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science. Vol 52. No 4 Yost, C. (2010) Red Robin No 14, DC Comics: New York Batman (1989) Dir. Tim Burton Batman Returns (1992) Dir. Tim Burton Batman Forever (1995) Dir. Joel Schumacher Batman and Robin (1997) Dir. Joel Schumacher Batman Begins (2005) Dir. Christopher Nolan The Dark Knight (2008) Dir. Christopher Nolan Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995) Dir. Various 7

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INTERVIEW - Iron Sky Director Timo Vuorensola for our earlier film Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning, and after yet another shooting day we were sitting in a sauna and a friend of ours, our community manager Jarmo Puskala, told us that we should do this film. We thought it’s a fun idea, but didn’t think of it more than that at the moment. Later on, after Star Wreck was released and became a massive hit all over the Internet, we started to think if we should actually do another film. The idea of Iron Sky came back, and we realized we should just go for it and stop worrying.

What happens when the occupants of a Secret Nazi MoonBase decide to return to the mother-planet in 2018? forthcoming movie Iron Sky holds the answe, and Geek Syndicate caught up with director Timo Vuorensola for a quick chat. GS: Give us your elevator pitch for Iron sky and why should people watch this film? TV: Iron Sky is a science fiction comedy about Nazis from the Dark Side of the Moon, and it’s the most fun you can have in a movie theater for two hours with your pants on. GS: Where did the idea for Iron Sky come from? TV: It’s quite a well known conspiracy theory that’s been going on around the world ever since the end of the second world war, and we thought it would be interesting to do a film about it. It became actual and real in somewhere during 2005 when we were preparing 8

GS: Iron Sky has been a long time in the making but just how many years has it been and what was the toughest part of the whole process? TV: The film has been in the making since 2006, which makes it 12 years, and by far the hardest parts were financing and script; both walked hand in hand, and were desperately complicated processes, and for both we had help from our fan community. GS: What was the most challenging aspect of the project raising the money or actually making the film? TV: Both were equally complicated, can’t really decide which one would be harder, but both took us nearly to our graves many times. GS: How did you go about raising the money for the project? TV: We raised about 4 million € in traditinal ways - Finnish Film Foundation in Finland,

HessenInvestFilm in Germany, Screen Queensland in Australia, Eurimages and Media in EU, Nordisk Film & TV Fond in Scandinavia, our world sales by Stealth Media and presales from Buena Vista and others, but then we hit the wall, we needed 7.5 and we only had 4. So we turned to our community and asked people to invest to the film. We created this option for people to invest, starting from 1000 € and going all the way up as much as you want (I think the biggest investment was 60000€), and for the investment they got shares of the film, so that when the film makes money, also they make money.

GS: The film has attracted a cult following even before it was finished. How does that make you feel? TV: Proud and happy; proud for my team that we’ve stuck together all these years and it paid of both financially and artistically, and happy because we did this damn beast for so many years and when we finally got it made, it went straight into people’s hearts and that’s what we wanted to do in the first place. GS: How much of the film was virtual sets and how much was built? TV: Our general rule for studio

(which is roughly about 50% of the film) is that we only build things that are 5 meters or closer to the characters, everything else is virtual sets. So, I would say a lot, don’t have exact amounts but ... well. A lot.

GS: Who did the special effects on the movie? TV: Our company Energia Productions (now Troll VFX) from Tampere, Finland, led by VFX supervisor Samuli Torssonen, who also did CGI for all the Star Wrecks, in addition for producing those films. GS: What is your proudest moment in the film and why? TV: I guess it must be in Berlin when the film opened for 1700 spectators and received long, standing ovations. I had been nervous on how the film works, how it works for Germans and how the crew and the cast are going to like it. There, all was solved in one bang: it works in all these fields. GS: What would you want the audience to take away from this film? TV: I hope they’ll get three things: first, they’ve been entertained for two hours; they’ve had great visuals, great story, actors and a lot of fun. Second, they’ve been told about Nazis and fascism, and hopefully they’ve realized something of the world of today as well; and third, they’ve been inspired by the film.

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GS: Can you tell us the craziest moment on set during the making of the film? TV: Hard question, can’t really tell what’s the craziest moment, so many, but it’s generally always those moments when the time on the monitor is running short, and the amount of shots on the list is not getting smaller at all, a lot of complicated action sequences ahead but we’re out of time; actors are getting nervous, crew is getting tired and slow and my brain is filling up. It’s always crazy. But we always got it through, so we can be proud of that.

GS: What single piece of advice would you give others trying to follow in your footsteps, espiecllay in the crowd funding aspects of the project? TV: Don’t wait for others to give you permission to do what you love, go ahead and do it, others will follow when they see your passion. GS: Can you give some insight into how you put the cast together and what roles was the hardest to fill and why? TV: Casting was done in two parts - first, we did German casting, led by awesome casting director in Germany, Uwe Bünker, who did an amazing job finding exactly the best possible actors for the roles. This was already in 2008, and the film was shot late 2010, so the German cast had to wait quite a long time before the shooting started. The Australian casting was sort of harder part, but we got it together quite well; one of the hardest parts was actually

for the smaller roles, because out of a production reason we had to shoot basically all the scenes that take place in “United States” in Germany, and all the scenes that take place on the German Moon Base in Australia; finding fluent US English speaking cast from Germany turned out to be quite a problem, but not as big a problem as finding fluent German-speaking cast

from Australia. GS: Where will people be able to check out Iron Sky in the Uk? Can we also expect as DVD release? TV: Late May, don’t have the date yet but should be quite soon. We had to push the date back from 20.4. to late May because of some stupid material delivery issue which then crippled the schedules (and we don’t really want to be competing with Avengers at this very moment, so it’s good to wait a little :), but it’s coming, no worries! And DVD for sure, but earliest August on DVD/ BRD. GS: What’s next for you? Iron Sky 2? TV: I’m in discussions with one bigger H’wood production, but we’ll see where that goes, and I also have a major scifi TV series for international audience in planning. Both big dreams, but I like to dream big.

Christophe Montoya 9

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CONVENTION ROUNDUP - May 2012

The busiest convention calendar in years continues to fill our months with events celebrating film, TV and comics across the whole of the UK.

Cy Dethan, Henry Flint, Victor Santos, Luca Erbetta.

KAPOW!

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

INVA2ION

Get ready for the second invasion, a three day event taking place between 11th and 13th of May in London, INVA2ION! celebrates the very best in science fiction. Shows coveredinclude: Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Stargate Universe, Firefly, The Guild, Dollhouse. Guests include: Eliza Dushku, Felicia Day, Amy Okuda, Alaina Huffman, Elyse Levasque, Alessandra Torresani, Dichen Lachman, Aaron Douglass.

BRISTOL COMIC EXPO

Probably the biggest Comic convention of the season, Bristol once again sees it’s Comic Expo on the weekend of the 12th and 13th of May. This is a must in the comic calendar for all fans of independent, Small Press, Manga and Anime. With a load of cosplay, it is sure to be a lot of fun. Guests include: Denny O’Neil, Mark Buckingham, Ian Churchill, Mike Carey, Gary Erskine, Dylan Teague, Rob Williams, Paul Cornell, David Hine, Simon Bisley, Mike Collins, Boo Cook, Paul Green, 10

The newest science-fiction convention on the block is shaping up to also be one of the biggest. Taking place in Peterborough on the same weekend as the Bristol Comic Expo (12th – 13th May), the event will have the usual photo calls and also talks and Q &A’s. Guests include: Jeri Ryan, Keeley Hawes, Nana Visitor, Eve Myles, Christophe Lambert .

Now in its second year, this London based comic convention aims at mainstream super hero publishers and also some film guests as well. This year, the event takes place on the weekend of the 19th and 20th of May. Guests include: Dave Gibbons, Mark Millar, Paul Cornell, Nick Frost, Warren Ellis, Sara Pichelli, Joe Quesada.

MCM EXPO London Comic Con

Asylum 8: Weekend at Bobbys II

Fans of Supernatural will want to checkout this event over in Birmingham between the 18th and 20th of May. Asylum 8 is a three day convention with Guest Talks, Photo and Autograph sessions, Evening Entertainment and lots of fun! Guests include: Jared Padalecki, Jim Beaver, Mark Sheppard, Misha Collins

UK’s biggest pop culture event that covers comics fim, tv and games returns for it’s Summer event between the 25th and 27th of May this year. MCM Expo is renowned foe the number of Cosplayers that attend. Guests include: stars from Falling Skies and Teen Wolf

Collectormania 18

June.

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Guests include: Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Daniel Gillies Milton Keynes is home to Collectormania from the 1st to the 3rd of June. This free event is suited to fans of all ages and has lots to see with photo shoots and autographs galore to collect. Guests include: Nichelle Nichols, Michael Dorn, Sean Astin, Brandon Routh, Jason Momoa.

THE 11th HOUR

A Doctor Who themed event, The 11th Hour is a three day celebration of Matt Smith’s tenure as the travelling Time Lord. The TARDIS sets down in Birmingham between the 15th and 17th of June.

London Film and Comic Con

Return to Middle Earth

Return to Middle-Earth is the event many have been waiting for. Massive Events celebrate the 10th Anniversary of “The Lord of the Rings” with this three day convention to celebrate the fantasy phenomenon. This unofficial convention is located in Bedford and aims to bring together fans of the movies and books to enjoy various events over the weekend of the 22nd to 24th of June.

Three days of film, comics, Manga, Anime, video games and cosplay. Once again the team have put together an impressive list of guests who will be attending over the 6th to the 8th of July in London Town. Guests include: Gillian Anderson, Jeri Ryan, Ben Browder, Tom Skerritt, Jane Balder. For full details go to Geek Syndicate website and look at our Convention Calendar 2012. Christophe Montoya

Guests include: John RhysDavies, Billy Boyd.

Guests include: Matt Smith, Mark Sheppard, Alex Kingston, Tony Lee

Insurgence 4

Insurgence is a three day convention for The Vampire Diaries fans with Guest Talks, Photo and Autograph sessions. With the two main leads of the show you do not want to miss this. Trot along to Birmingham between the 22nd and 24th of

A three day convention for fans of Chuck from the 29th of June to the 1st of July. T4 will be in London and features: guest talks, photo and autograph sessions, competitions, parties and much more. Guests include: Adam Baldwin, Melinda Clark, JEFFSTER! 11

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THE BLUFFER’S GUIDE TO GEEKDOM - Star Trek

Ever wondered what all those geeks in the corner were talking about? Sick of missing out of the sly references and obscure in-jokes? Never Fear! The Bluffers Guide is here to help.

So, what do you feel left out of this time?

phrase machine”. Sounds very familiar. Because it is - The Original Star Trek ran for two decent seasons and a weaker one (by popular fan consensus) but lived well beyond it’s years in growing consciousness. In many ways it defined what a Sci-Fi TV should be like, and what it’s fans became a byword for the sort obsessive geekdom you normally only see in sports fans.

thoughtful show on the whole and tends to resolve problems without too much shouting computers to death or blowing up space lizards with improvised cannons, and at it’s best managed to introduce more serialised and character focused plots into the genre. Its riddled with pastel-shaded idealism, which isn’t very fashionable in SF these days, but was a huge success, with the crew taking over the movie franchise for four movies once the TOS people retired.

Three seasons? Doesn’t seem a lot.

Star Trek. What, really? Yes. Embarrassing, isn’t it? I’m not sure being embarrassed about not knowing about Star Trek is quite the right emotion, but I guess it is pretty much the archetypal geek TV show. There is five main series, eleven movies, a cartoon spin-off and more toys and lunchboxes than you can imagine! I dunno, I can imagine quite a bit. That’s Star Wars. Sorry. So Star Trek is the guys in brightly coloured jumpers making out with hot alien women? Well that’s the Original Star Trek (TOS), yes. Its the “Beam me up Scotty” (pro-tip: never actually said in the show), the guy with the pointy ears being logical, and “Goddamn it Jim, I’m a Doctor, not a catch12

But there are still three more series? It’s never ending! Um, no. In the wake of the success of Star Wars the crew were reunited for a movie Star Trek: The Slow Motion Picture - whose sequel, The Wrath of Khan, is the one you have to say is your favorite whether you want to or not, although thankfully it’s a comparative rare case of fan consensus being correct. The ongoing success of the film franchise led to a TV relaunch set years later with a totally new crew and fledgling Computer-Enhanced Special Effects. More bright jumpers and Hot Alien Women? Less so, actually. Star Trek: The Next Generation is a more

Sorry. Overlapping with the end of TNG was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a darker and edgier take on the universe that at the time wasn’t warmly welcomed by a lot of fans for it’s lack of actually trekking through the stars and it’s air of grey morality and compromise. But this, and the heavy serialisation that showrunner Ron Moore brought to it, makes it a distinct and well

remembered show in it’s own right. Oh and it had darker jumpers and more fighting, which probably helped. But no movies for this lot then? No - DS9 and it’s slightly-overlapping follow up, Star Trek Voyager didn’t get to jump to the big screen, and Voyager and ill-fated prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise showed signs of a franchise starting to run out of creative juice. Enterprise in particular managed to alienate a lot of fans by taking liberties with established background whilst failing to use those liberties to reach out to a wider audience in the way TNG had. Other shows were coming along, doing it better, and after only four seasons Enterprise was cancelled, taking Star Trek off the air once again.

Awwww. But hang on, wasn’t there another film? A shiny one, with lots of lens flare?

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Yep. J J Abrahms of Lost and Alias fame got to pick up the franchise and make a reboot, which is the fashion of the time, recasting the TOS characters as younger, sexier and fightier, Technically this is all in a parallel universe to the main series - theres some hand-waving in the movie to explain it away - so that all the other series still happened along with all the tie-in toys, lunchboxes and so on, but any future movies can mine out what worked from the TOS series and films without having to obey any sort of master continuity.

others. Many of these shows define themselves against Star Trek, they certainly can’t ignore it’s presence.

Sounds sensible. That’s a lot of continuity to master. So aside from there being lots of it, why is Star Trek so important?

I think thats quite enough for now. Catch you later.

Well, as mentioned, for a long time it was the only real show in town, managing to be both popular and accessible and also managing to talk about “stuff” - TOS using it’s “planet of the week” format to tell SF parables about racism, intolerance, good and evil, all that sort of thing, sometimes subtly, sometimes less so, but it brings with the idea that SF shows can be more than mere entertainment in a way that its predecessors like say, Lost in Space, didn’t. TNG starts a boom in SF programming by networks that brings us Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica (rebooted by Ron Moore), Farscape and Firefly, amongst

Wait, what...?

Against Star Trek? What does that mean? Well Star Trek is not without its problems and you’ll find a lot of geeks very down on it. Its characters tend to be noble, idealistic and capable, and can come across as arrogant, patronising and smug in their shiny, ultra-tech spaceship of unlimited resources. There is also a tendency for lazy plotting that can be summed up as “oh help! our magic science machine has broken!” followed by “hooray! we have invented a new magic science machine to fix it”. Star Trek has given geekery the word “Technobabble” and not for positive reasons. Anything else?

Sure. Live Long, and Prosper.

Images © Paramount Pictures

Matt Farr 13

Geek Syndicate

GAME OF THRONES - Season 1 DVD & Blu-Ray Launch Party

What do quail eggs, a hog roast, thieves, dragon dancers, magicians, impromptu knife fights and an iron throne have in common? If you are struggling for an answer then you need to journey with us to the lands of Westeros via the Old Vic Tunnels in London and all will be revealed.

show and were in character for the whole evening. One example of this was when we had dared to enter the Winterfell hall to grab ourselves a flagon of warm cider. Soon after entering I was approached by two of the locals who demanded to know what house I was from. I turned to my trusty and stalwart companion Dave Montieth for aid but found he had suspiciously disappeared. The man repeated the question and glancing at my entry bracelet I replied I was House Targaryen.

Our adventure began when I received a scroll, sealed with wax, informing me that Dave and myself were now of the House Targaryen. Part of our duties, as members of the house, was to attend a great feast celebrating the launch of Game of Thrones Season 1 on DVD and Blu Ray. Not wishing to dishonor our house we graciously accepted the request. We were shocked to discover as we entered the dark and foreboding Old Vic tunnels that they had been transformed into a breathtaking spectacle. For one night, using the darkest magic, the land of Westeros as created by George R.R Martin and adapted to the TV screen by HBO had been bought to London. All of the staff working the event were suitably attired in garb similar to that of the TV 14

slices of hog from the kindly barkeep before moving quickly into another chamber before my alliances were uncovered once more. Instead of finding myself back in the Targaryen hall I now stood before the seat of power in Westeros, the iron throne. To my horror Dave had beaten me to it and had claimed the throne for himself. In an epic clash of steel, special effects, a four hundred person stunt team Dave and I fought for the Iron Throne until I stood…sorry sat victorious..for all of 2 minutes until it was the next person’s turn to get their photo taken.

My response caused the conversation to turn somewhat frosty with just the hint of possible violence as one of the men bellowed “What are you doing here Targaryen Dog? We don’t want your kind in Winterfell!” Now usually I would have taken the hint but the smell of the hog roast towards the right side of the great hall had reached my nostils. I downed my warm cider, shuffled away and I grabbed myself a few

After our quick photo op we returned to the Targaryen hall where we entertained by the local magician and merchants before watching three ladies performing the Dragon Dance. Soon after the dance concluded a knife fight broke out between two serving girls which was concluded on the stage to the rising applause of the guests, who were a blood thirsty bunch. As we stood watching the help disemboweling each other we were treated to such delicacies as quail eggs dipped in herbs and spices, slices of ham and melon, lashing of wine and other tantalising delicacies.

Most of the cast of show were in attendance all seemed to be enjoying themselves. During the evening I manged to get a brief chat with Ser Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd).

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As the evening drew to a close and we relunctancly took our leave of this spectacular launch party our presence was rewarded with a swag bag containing a Game of Thrones season one Blu-Ray, a Game of Thrones novel and a Targaryen t-shirt. All in all a good night of drinking and pillaging and we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even have to behead or disembowel a single guestâ&#x20AC;Śnot for want of trying though! Game of Thrones: Season 1 is out now on Blu-Ray and DVD

Barry Nugent

Geek Syndicate FASHION EXTREME!

Geek Culture is filled with recognisable fashions and costumes worn by heroes and villains alike. The clothing of these icons have inspired numerous fancy-dress outfits, referencial T-Shirts and costumes. But can a modern fashion designer take the costume themes from these books, comics, games and movies and create an outfit that would not look out of place on the high-street and yet would make somone in the know think - “you know what, that reminds me of ...” This issue, Polina Roytman presents five outfits inspired by the spandex-clad costumes of the comic world, three for the ladies and two for the gents. In each case, Polina has mixed ideas from multiple superheroes to come up with some unique outfits that wouldn’t look out of place in a designer clothes shop or on a night out on the town. Personally, I love the jacket from the Catwoman / Thor mix which I think has a slight oriental style to it. I also think both the hawkeye / Rogue and Wolverine / Storm inspired pieces are classy affairs that would turn heads for all the right reasons. For further examples of Polina’s work, visit her website at: http://www.polinaroytman. com/

Designs: Polina Roytman Words: Antony Thickitt 16

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INTERVIEW - Fashion Extreme Designer, Polina Roytman Having asked fashion designer Polina Roytman to come up with some designs for the magazine (see the previous pages), Geek Syndicate asked the designer a few questions to understand her background and influences more. GS: How did you get you into fashion design and did geekdom influence that choice in anyway? PR: My very first memory is sitting in my room surrounded by my mother’s sketch books and being amazed by this. Being in the Soviet Union my mom couldn’t just go into any store to buy whatever dress or outfit she wanted, so when she turned marrying age her mother would have things custom made for her, and my mother would design a lot of her own clothes and pick out her own fabrics. She had many sketch books of her designs that I somehow got my hands on and started looking through and thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. After that when we were moving from the Soviet Union to America we were waiting in Italy to get sponsored, and my parents bought me a barbie doll that I really wanted since we couldn’t have any other toys with us. I thought it was wrong that this doll only had

one outfit, so I would design others for her. A mother and daughter seamstress team that were very close friends of ours would make these custom clothes for my barbie from the scraps of fabrics that I would choose from that they had left over. One of my favorite characters at the time that I was able to watch on tv was He-Man. I loved him and that show, and it’s quite possible that this is where it started. Later when we were in America my brother was obsessed with comic books and drawing the characters (he’s an Illustrator and also studied Sequential Art) and he introduced me to a bunch of other characters. I was always most interested in what they were wearing. GS: What drew you to the mixes of outfits that you choose? PR: I loved the colors and the details. Something about each character stood out to me and I thought I could work well from this. GS: How hard did you find it designing these outfits for everyday wear? PR: It was fairly easy. I had a lot of fun with it! You start with one idea and the rest tend to flow after that.

GS: If you could redesign any superhero costume which would you choose and why? PR: That’s a tough one to answer. I’ve always loved She-Ra and her costume, so I don’t think I would redesign it but would probably turn it into a really cool evening wear dress that could be worn today. GS: What do you think are some of the best and worst designed costumes on film,tv and comics? PR: Some of my favorites are She-Ra, Storm, Catwoman, He-Man, Wonder Woman, Superman, Rogue, Batman, and Wolverine. There are none that I feel are the worst really. GS: If you could design costumes/ outfits for any genre show or film what would it be? PR: Sci-Fi. I love that it could be something that hasn’t been invented or done yet and could be anything you come up with. It’s all fantasy, I love this. For more information about Polina and her design work, visit her website at: http://www.polinaroytman. com/

Barry Nugent

Geek Syndicate

AFTER ASSEMBLY - What Next for Marvel’ s Merry Men?

So, you’ve gone to the cinema, stocked up on popcorn and refreshments, and then drooled all over yourself at the sheer awesome spectacle that was Marvel’s Avengers Assemble (not forgetting that jaw dropping after-credits scene), and are wondering: what next for Marvel Studios’ megastars? If your immediate response was Avengers Assemble 2, then nil points to you over-eager True Believer! The future of Marvel Studios is the second cycle of superhero movies to pave the way for a second Avengers movie. According to SuperHeroHype, there are four Marvel Studios flicks confirmed and scheduled for production. Iron Man 3 will throw the first punch on 3rd May 2013 followed by the hammer of Thor 2 on 15th November 2013. The Captain America sequel is penned for 4th April 2014.

goers around the world. In so doing, Iron Man paved the first slab on the way to Avengers Assemble.

Marvel Studios, The Walt Disney Company, and DMG Entertainment have also reached an agreement to co-produce Iron Man 3 in China. Anyone up for an epic fight scene in downtown Beijing, Shanghai, or Hong Kong? Iron Man 3 is scheduled to release on 3rd May 2013. President of Production for Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, has suggested that the intention with the third movie film is to keep Tony Stark more independent from Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers so we return to the more focused approach of the first Iron Man film. Which surely will be much appreciated by movie-goers.

Iron Man 3

Work on Iron Man 3 is already under way and filming is expected to start in a few weeks. The director of Iron Man 3 will be Shane Black whose last film was 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang starring Tony Stark himself, Robert Downey, Jr. It’s good to know that Jon Favreau’s replacement has some experience with the actor. Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle have been confirmed as reprising their roles as Pepper Potts and Lt. James Rhodes/War Machine.

Robert Downey Jr. managed to single-handedly sell the concept of a billionaire with a battery in his chest wearing a big metal suit to cinema-

Currently in discussions for undisclosed roles in the film are actors including Ben Kingsley, Jessica Chastain, and Chinese superstar Andy Lau. Guy

The fourth film (scheduled for 16th May 2014) has yet to be titled but could very well be the next Avengers film. Then again, it could be a new Hulk film. Or a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie. Or something else entirely (Hawkeye movie anyone? – Editor). Bringing together the rumours, Geek Syndicate brings you the scoop on what’s (possibly) coming up for the Marvel movie series.

Pearce is in final talks to play big bad Aldrich Killian who was featured in the Iron Man comic’s Extremis story arc.

Thor 2 Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba are all confirmed to return to their respective roles (Thor, Jane Foster, Loki, and Heimdall) in the sequel. The rest of Thor’s Asgard pals – including Ray Stevenson’s Volstagg, Jaime Alexander’s Sif, and Joshua Dallas’ Fandral – are currently in talks to reprise. As yet there has been no word on whether Anthony Hopkins will come back as Odin.

The screenplay will be handled by Don Payne with re-writing by Saving Private Ryan’s Robert Rodat. Alan Taylor from TV series Game of Thrones has stepped into the void left by Patty Jenkins, which makes this his feature film debut. Kenneth Branagh will not be

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returning to sit in the director’s chair but will likely return in a producing capacity.

the overly futuristic scifi we had before. Will this be equally jaw-dropping? Time will tell.

In an interview with Collider, Kevin Feige suggested that Thor 2 will continue to explore Thor’s newfound maturity, his changing relationship with his father, Odin, and adopted brother Loki. Feige was also keen to state that there would be a better focus on Thor’s relationship with Jane Foster. Interestingly there is this nice little quote:

Shooting is scheduled to begin in the UK in August 2012 and the film is to be released 15th November 2013.

“We’re acknowledging that that love story in the first movie was sort of a quick crush, essentially, over the course of three quick days in the middle of the desert.” So looks like we’ll get more drama and lest hammy stuff this time around. Slashfilm also got some quotes from Chris Hemsworth about the setting of the next Thor film. In particular, how Alan Taylor is planning to give Asgard a more organic Viking feel than

Captain America 2 As for Captain America’s next film foray, very little is known, besides the slated release date of 4th April 2014. In a recent interview with SuperHeroHype, Kevin Feige said “’Captain America’ will be a pure Steve Rogers story, but have more in common with the backdrop of ‘Avengers.’”

This suggests that Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. may still be involved in the life of the Star Spangled Super Soldier – which doesn’t entirely disagree with the early days of the Captain America comic in the 1960s. Marvel Studios has yet to pick a director but New York Magazine has suggested that there is now a shortlist of The Adjustment Bureau’s George Nolfi, and brothers Anthony and Joseph Russo. The Russo’s are currently best known as executive producers and directors of the TV series Community. Their last directorial job was the haphazard You, Me, and Dupree. Here’s hoping they do a better job with Steve Rogers’ new life in the 21st century. The script for the next Captain America film is currently being handled by the screenwriters of The First Avenger, Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus. Filming has yet to start, but chances are it will occur after Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 wrap up.

Dean Simmons

Geek Syndicate

INTERVIEW - Reboot’s Joe Kawasaki and Sidney Sherman

In contemporary Los Angeles, a young female hacker (Stat) awakens from unconsciousness to find an iPhone glued to her hand and a mysterious countdown ticking away on the display. Suffering from head trauma, and with little recollection of who she is or what is happening, Stat races against time to figure out what the code means, and what unknown event the pending zero-hour will bring. Set within a dystopian world that is a collision between technology and humanity, “Reboot” touches upon many of the current social and political concerns that arise from becoming more and more intertwined with the virtual. We caught up with Joe Kawasaki (Director) and Sidney Sherman(Producer) behind upcoming cyberpunk thriller Reboot. The guys reveal what the story is about, how they became involved with the project as well as some interesting marketing ideas and some tips behind achieving their funding goal on Kickstarter. 22

GS: What attracted you to Reboot? Joe: When you pound your head against the wall enough times, something attractive usually falls out on paper eventually. What attracted me to it? It was a story that I could actually pitch in a couple of lines, people seemed to get the essence of it immediately, and it was somewhat “contained” for a cyberpunk genre idea, making it produceable. It was love at first draft from there. GS: Can you tell us a little bit about Reboot? Joe: “Reboot” is a fun little ride around a female hacker who wakes to find herself banged up in an apartment that is completely thrashed, and with an iPhone glued to her hand which has a ticking countdown and some code running on it. What the code and countdown are all about, why it’s glued to her hand, and how she ended up where she is, are what the film is about. GS: Joe, what was it about Reboot that drew you back to the world of narrative film?

Joe: I’ve always been drawn toward narrative all my life; I just haven’t listened to myself very well sometimes. That “Reboot” was a story that was essentially “contained” within a couple interiors, honestly, made it produceable on a shoe-string budget and so it definitely helped to open the path. I think, strictly from a story-telling aspect, it was a genre that I’ve always loved, and the content was something that interested me – continues to interest me – so it was natural to go in that direction for the film. GS: When putting together a project like this with no financial backing to begin with, how do you go about attracting people to becoming involved with the projects? How difficult was it to put the team together? Joe: We were very fortunate to have some amazing, talented professionals that we can also call “friends” who were more than willing to jump onboard for the film; so getting people involved wasn’t so difficult. Even for the other key positions, we were so fortunate to have a team of young, talented, and energetic pro’s

come onboard that it just set the tone for everything early on and really made it a great experience. Sidney: Yes, very fortunate. We had a core group of “key” players that we had worked with in the past, and we knew that we wanted them on “Reboot.” They included our DP (Curt Apduhan), Composer (Riad Qabandi), VFX Supervisor (Adel Gandomikal), VFX Lead (Aleem Parkar), and Supervising Sound Editor (Roland Thai). It seems to me there is never a shortage of wonderful talented artists to collaborate with, it is raising the money to make your films that is always the challenge. GS: You used Kickstarter to fund the project and were successful. Would you use this method as a means for funding all your future projects? Joe: I think it can be specific in its use, and as interesting and wonderful as our experience was with crowd-sourcing, I’m not sure if I would personally want to go that route again on something bigger. It’s a lot of work. I mean, I know there are filmmakers out there who are quite involved with all this, and can be found tweeting while they shoot, or are neckdeep in pre-pro and sharing it with a “fanbase”, but honestly… not my cup of tea. As much as I’m into a lot of tech, and am a diehard sci-fi/cyberpunk/fantasy fan, I’m also quite old school; and the idea of being connected with the public 24/7 thru our devices and platforms is not something I necessarily embrace. I mean, I definitely need my disconnect times where I will

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disappear off the grid – making a film is definitely one of them.

Sidney: Kickstarter is great for certain types of projects. If you are making a short like we did, and the amount you are seeking to raise is not too much, it is a wonderful resource and tool for the indie filmmaker. If you are looking to make a $30 million action film, then Kickstarter would not be the place to do it. At least not for now…LOL. GS: For every Kickstarter success story there are many projects that do not hit their goal. What do you think were the key ingredients to the success your Kickstarter project? Joe: We had a great network of friends and families to start off with, and that certainly was key in our success. But on a general view, it always helps to have a good pitch video, and a concept or idea that can resonate with enough folks to get the support you need. Sidney: Make no mistake, Kickstarter is work. You need to spend several hours a day campaigning and getting the word out to friends, work colleagues, and extending your own network via Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc. Also, it is very important to keep updating your current backers on Kickstarter and letting them know what you are doing vis a vis the film (i.e. casting, location scouting, etc.) while you are trying to raise the money. The more things you can share about your process that make your film sound like it is really happening, the better chance you have of actually reaching

your goal and getting funded. If you just sit back and think you will wake up one morning and you will have raised your goal amount, you are mistaken.

GS: For someone wanting to put together a Kickstarter project, what are some of the key factors that you think need to be taken into account? Joe: Faith and the willingness to put it out there in some form – and to present it clearly and concisely. From there, it’s really about networking and keeping up on informing and posting so that everyone can feel a part of the process, for whatever project you may be developing. If you can get a crowd to be excited about what you plan on doing, then half the battle is done. Sidney: Without a doubt, the video you create and post on your Kickstarter page is crucial to succeeding. It is the first introduction of your project and in some cases to who you are, and it needs to be great. We had a lot of backers that Joe and I did not know personally, and I attribute that to the strength of the video Joe created to help sell people on backing our film. I could discuss things to do on Kickstarter for hours as there is an entire strategy about how and when to launch a campaign to increase your chances of success. There is a great blog by filmmaker Ryan Koo who wrote an excellent blowby-blow account of what he learned raising $125K on Kickstarter. It is mandatory reading as far as I’m concerned if you are seriously considering a Kickstarter campaign. 23

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GS: Tell us three things about Reboot which can’t be found on your website?

Sidney: Good question. Well, visitors to our site have no idea that we are running an elaborate ARG in connection with the film. In order to learn that, people would need to follow us on Twitter as we run the game primarily via that platform. We also use Facebook and Tumblr to compliment our Twitter efforts and they are a great source of additional information about the film and the players involved. Joe, do you have two more? LOL. Joe: Tidbits and little insights into the making of the film could be found via the Tumblr blog – but that feed also goes through our site so technically it too can be found through the website itself, under “news”. You cannot find the film itself (in its entirety) there yet! GS: You have been really pushing the marketing side with Reboot. How important do you think a successful marketing campaign will be to the success of Reboot? Joe: The film was always meant to be a calling piece for us, and I think the more people we can get onboard to see the short, the more it helps us with all our future plans. So in that sense, it’s quite important to keep getting it out there in the ethos of whatever audiences may attract to it. There’s a lot of content buzzing around, and you want to be noticed. Sidney: I always say, making the film is only 50% of the job. The other 50% is marketing the film and getting people to see it. As much as we embrace the 24

creative side as filmmakers, it is equally important to embrace the business side of exploiting your film. I think you can be truly creative in how you approach marketing and distributing your film if you remember that we are creating a fun experience for the audience. Our world is changing faster than any of us can keep up, but one thing is very clear, there has been a fundamental shift in the way audiences consume and share entertainment and the rise of social media and our obsession with cool gadgets (i.e. iPad, iPhone, iAnything) has a lot to do with it. It is an exciting and fun moment in time for filmmakers if you are smart about using all of the media platforms available to you to maximize your impressions and create a dynamic and entertaining experience for your audience. As far as Reboot, we hope to get as many people as we can to see the film when it is released and running a smart and strategic marketing campaign is key to accomplishing that goal. GS: Can you tell us about some of the interesting ways you currently trying to market Reboot? Joe: This is a torch that Sidney has definitely been championing. The fact that he’d produced and pushed with us through the entire production process and is now tirelessly pushing the film on this global campaign says a lot about him. Sidney: Well, we touched on our ARG, but really that is the most innovative and bold thing we are doing as far as marketing goes. It takes a

huge amount of time and resources (we don’t have much of either…LOL) to run a successful ARG, let alone a successful campaign of any kind, and I don’t know how many indie short films have ever tried to do it, so that makes us a bit unique in the space. For those folks wondering what the hell we are we talking about, ARG stands for alternate reality game. Basicaly, we have created an interactive narrative that uses our film as a platform and transmedia to deliver a fun and exciting game that is a parallel expereince to our film. Our game starts by asking the player to watch our trailer and see what Easter eggs (i.e. hidden clues or messages) they can find. Once they find anything, we ask players to send us a direct message via Twitter (@Reboot_film) telling us what they have found and then we reply with a confirmation, a clue or simply goading them on to keep looking. When the player finds the “key” they move on to the next level in the game. As the game goes on, the difficulty increases as some of the challenges are geared more towards hackers, but we have consciously made each Level have challenges that anyone can solve. Since many of us are competitive, we have a Scoreboard where we track the Top 10 players in the game, and we are awarding prizes throughout the game for accomplishing different tasks. The goal of the ARG is to create a fun and dynamic experience for the player that will make watching the film later a more rewarding and enjoyable experience.

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GS: What has your supporters reaction been to the trailer?

GS: When and where can we expect to see the finished film?

Joe: Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been strong.

Sidney: We are waiting to hear back from several film festivals in order to determine where and when our film will have its world premiere. After a few key festival screenings, we hope to roll the film out online (via iTunes, etc.).

Sidney: Very positive. People seem to like it and keep asking us to see more which is nice.

Ultimately, we want as many people to see the film as possible. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a bit of an exclusive for you: we are planning to do a few sneak previews of the film in the near future so stay tuned.

Barry Nugent

Geek Syndicate

GEEK SYNDICATE AT LONDON SUPER COMIC CON

London, 25th and 26th of February. A new convention debuted with guests including the Original Captain Marvel, Stan Lee himself (you can catch the interview with Stan and our own David Monteith over on the Geek Syndicate Website). The convention was a massive hit. and representatives of Geek Syndicate were there to see what the convention had to offer. What follows is a series of photographs of the event, taken by photographer Robert Schofield on behalf of the Syndicate.

Photos: Robert Schofield Words: Antony Thickitt

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ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE SURVIVAL CONUNDRUM An Introduction

There has been much written on the topic of Survival – from simple information about living off the land to more complex Bushcraft about shelter building, trapping etc. From this, further assumptions have been made about how one would survive the (inevitable) Zombie Apocalypse.

The Guide’s Parameters In order to sustain any meaningful discussion on the topic of Zombie Survival we must first decide on our variables – what type of Zombie are we talking here? What are the parameters surrounding the survivor? We can exclude the Haitian Zombie from our argument as this is a different meaning of the term Zombie (A person brought under a trance-like Voodoo spell and controlled by a third party), they are still living. We will be discussing the walking dead concept that has become a common part of popular media. How about “fast” Zombies? I like my Zombies served up Romero style, slow, bumbling and relentless. There is something ultimately distressing about the ceaseless advance of the individual Zombie and the hoard as a whole, one is difficult to stop and en mass, they are impossible to escape. This guide won’t be discussing which weapon is the best 28

Zombie slaying implement. When was the last time you took up arms in aggression or defence? Could you? Really? If you did take up arms how effective would you be? Without training, will you be even as effective as you think? I live in the UK. Access to weapons, especially firearms is difficult (actually near impossible) and those firearms that are readily available (for example shotguns) are actually woefully inadequate and inappropriate, for reasons we may discuss when the time and opportunity arises. So. Would you cower in fear and indecision, would you find the whole situation desperately insurmountable, would you be able to fight your own crippling psychological demons first and think like a survivor?

Society’s Fall In order for us, modern humankind, to survive any form of Zombie outbreak and continue as a species, several fundamental factors of modern community living must be considered. Firstly, modern day humanity have removed ourselves from the environment in which we evolved to such an extent, that now it is considered “extreme” to go for a walk in the woods. Our ancestors survived and thrived in this habitat. If the electricity goes out how would we eat or see or read this? If you pluck a modern human

from their comfortable, fabricated shell and place them in the jungle, savannah or sea it soon becomes apparent how essential technology is to our very basic existence. Secondly, we are not as dominant as we would like to believe. However due to our big hot brains and nimble digits we have become victims of our own arrogance. We as a species have fought to tame and control our environment. To overcome and conquer that which fuels our fears, from lighting up the darkness, to fishing sharks to the point of extinction. Our perception of dominance is nothing more than a fundamental and insecure need to eradicate fear and attempt to harness the powerful, uncontainable nature that surrounds us. Thirdly, in the event of the dead rising, we will become prey again. We will be out of control. They will be advancing relentlessly and we will have to reconsider the very substance of our lives. Humans have not lived as a prey species for many centuries, particularly in Western and developed societies. There will be an unavoidable shift in our priorities as living entities. My suggestion in the first instance, for what it’s worth: Stock up on food and candles. Stay in. Block your doors and windows. Find a deck of cards and keep quiet!

Yan Williamson

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The Hunger Games & Young Adult Fiction - The Current Big Thing? fiction written, published, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, approximately ages 10 to 20.

When interviewed about the idea of a werewolf falling in love with a human girl, Meyer still says,

This market has been growing exponentially in the last ten years with movie bosses raking in the profits of predictable (if this could ever become boring!) storylines aimed at teen audiences featuring romance, heroism, teen love and the fight against evil.

“It really captured my imagination.”

TwiFans – a Whole Generation With the successes of the Twilight and Harry Potter movies, Hollywood seems to have hit gold again with the movie release of The Hunger Games. The movie so far has received only praise from both fans and critics and is expected to rake in record sales worldwide. The movie’s sales figure so far puts it on par with the income from the last Harry Potter movie, which took seven movies to reach that level! The Hunger Games has also had the third best opening weekend box office sales of any movie so far.

Cashing in on the Good Considering that all eyes are on everything Hunger Games related at the moment, it has been another bulls-eye for movie bosses who are keeping the young adult (or YA) audience very, very happy. Wikipedia defines the young adult fiction market as: 30

Which seems to be an understatement for what it did to the rest of the world’s population of young girls (and adult women too)! After documenting the dream and its details vividly, Meyer started spending more time in this fantasy world to find out what happened to the characters and their stories. After the books’ raving success, the movie offers came in and because of the movie successes, its three young stars were also catapulted to stardom.

In the case of each of the previously mentioned movie franchises, the authors of the novels they are based on also became an instant hit with rave reviews and the limelight propelling them to celebrity status. Stephenie Meyer, author of the young adult novel Twilight and its sequels, got the idea for the book in a dream. Being a stay-at-home mother of three though, she didn’t give it much thought. But after being plagued by the characters and their stories, she started penning the story and its details down at night when the reset of her family was sleeping.

The constant underlying competition between Edward and Jacob has created a wall of fans supporting Team Edward and Team Jacob. What has been captivating is how young fans feel part of how the romance between Edward and Bella developed. The unorthodox manner of the romance between these two very unlikely characters appeals to young readers in a day and age where they are constantly bombarded with imperfections and here they get a picture of an age old romance overcoming all obstacles – a true love story indeed.

A modern day young hero

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fulfilment, I don’t think people will ever be tired of it.”

The same can be said for the Percy Jackson books written by author Rick Riordan. In the first book, the reader meets Percy, a troubled twelve-yearold diagnosed with both ADHD and dyslexia, who also has behavioural problems. Unknown to him though, his supernatural powers puts him in another league than that of his peers. Percy eventually discovers that he is a demigod and that he needs to save his mother from the underworld. As the first book and the subsequent books proved, so many young adults associate themselves with Percy. Still in school, frustrated by everyday problems, this young man manages to go on quests, change his destiny, rescues and protects his loved ones and discovers he is actually quite godlike – who wouldn’t want to be that!

Take me far, far away… “Young-adult literature is a genre that takes place at a specific time in your life when everything seems to be high stakes,” says Erik Feig, president of production at Lionsgate, the studio behind The Hunger Games and Twilight.

Unlike Twilight, which was mainly aimed at girls and young women, The Hunger Games speak to men too. In Hollywood, it seems YA romance is out and battles between good and evil are in - particularly where the fate of the world depends on the actions of a young male or female. The “Hunger Games” is one such novel, from the pen of American television writer and novelist, Suzanne Collins, the novel centres around the world of a sixteen year-old girl, Katniss Everdeen. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged between twelve and eighteen are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle in which only one person can survive. Collins has revealed that she turned to Greek mythology and the historical Roman gladiatorial battles to provide the basis of the story.

The success of the first Hunger Games movie has paved the way for the other books in the trilogy to be adapted. The first of which is planned for release in August.

Tough crowd? Not every Hollywood adaptaptation of a YA book or series of novels has been successful though. “The Golden Compass”, “Inkheart”, “Jumper”, “Eragon” and “I am Number Four”, were all successful as novels, but their movies did not impress enough to warrant a sequel. Almost all of these movies had a stellar cast, but something was missing and they didn’t live up to the expectations of the fans of the books. The market has far from dried up, and the Young Adult audience has much to look forward to. The final movie in the Twilight series, “Breaking Dawn Part 2” will be released in the latter half of this year. There are also other adaptations, such as “The Mortal Instruments”, “Shiver”, “Just Listen” and “How I Live Now” currently in the process of being made. Holly Winnard is a freelance writer from England who specialises in finance writing and in particular analysing the interest on savings for major accounts in the UK. At heart, however, she never fully left her early twenties behind and still loves the young adult fiction genre today.

Holly WInnard

“If you set stories in different worlds with unique protagonists and an element of wish 31

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INTERVIEW - Anthony Woodley, Director of Outpost 11

Set in an alternative past where steam power still rules the world, outpost 11 is the story of three soldiers manning a remote listening post in the Arctic Circle. One day the warning light goes off unexpectedly and their world is plunged into chaos. Albert , Mason, Graham must fight the isolation, madness and arctic spiders to survive. Not long ago we ran a trailer for upcoming the Sci-fi film Outpost 11 which the makers are describing as The Thing plus How I Ended this Summer mixed with Videodrome. After taking some time out from finishing off the film Director Anthony Woodley chatted to Geek Syndicate about the project. GS: Can you sum up Outpost 11 for us Anthony? AW: Outpost 11 is the story of three soldiers posted at the end of the earth. It’s a psychological thriller with a Cronenberg style sting in its tail. Cold weather + Isolation x spiders = Outpost 11 GS: What attracted you to making a film in the Sci-Fi genre? AW: I have always loved the bizarre and the strange. I wanted to make a weird film and after uni I decided to dabble and made Arca. 32

I wrote two scripts last year, one I though I could sell (The Disappearance of Flight 86) and the other (Outpost 11) that was just for myself and possibly too different for audiences. We got the funding and I was supposed to direct Flight 86. Due to cold weather and my own doubts about whether Flight 86 was good enough, I decided to make Outpost 11 instead.

GS: You raised all the money for the project yourselves? Can you give us some background into how you went about doing that? AW: There are a lot of good things going for low-budget film making at the moment. The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is possibly the most important. If you are a serious about producing you should learn all about this. Also, embrace digital film making – the digital revolution is here and film is dead. It will save you a fortune and give you so much flexibility with your budget.

GS: How long did it take to make Outpost 11? AW: The script was worked on for around a year and there was about two months of pre production and set building by volunteers, headed by the amazing art director, David Monypenny (one to watch out for). We had three weeks in the studio, three days in Scotland for exteriors and about two days of pick-ups, model shoots and green screen. We spent a month in the edit and a month on the sound design, VFX and music. All to be ready for the Cannes deadline. GS: What do you think are some the advantages of going down the independent route with filmmaking? AW: Freedom and creativity, but to be fair we couldn’t have done it any other way. GS: What would you say is the hardest thing about going the independent route and doing it yourself? AW: Finding a crew who is good and can work well together is worth its weight in gold. It has taken me years to find the right people and it saves you so much time and money on set when everyone has that unspoken bond.

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GS: How did Bernard Hill become involved and what role did he have in the film?

GS: What advice would you give anyone wanting to follow in your footsteps?

AW: We originally approached Bernard for one of the main roles (Graham). He enjoyed the script and was trying to make it work but unfortunately due to other commitments he couldn’t work around our schedule. Luckily for us he was more than happy to lend us his voice for the role of Cranleigh. It was great to work with such a veteran of the screen and stage and it was very scary for me as a director.

AW: Write loads because it costs nothing and it’s the first big hurdle. Just completing a first draft is a big step towards making your first feature and not many people even get that far. Find a good crew you can trust and make shorts with them every year, if someone doesn’t work physically or socially within the group dynamic, be ruthless and cut them loose – film work relies on everyone putting in 100% and you have to be of the highest standard. A stupid man once told me you can make a film by yourself and I disagree massively, the teamwork aspect in film making is essential and you are only as strong as your weakest person. Know about the benefits of schemes like the EIS and embrace the digital revolution, its sad to say but film is dead. Most importantly be your own boss, as long as you are working for someone else you will always be making them rich. It may seem hard and an epic up-hill struggle but I am telling you it’s not as difficult as you may think.

GS: You’ve already released a trailer for Outpost 11 What has the reaction been like? AW: The reaction has been very good. I have already had a few enquires from distributors and lots of little bits of press.

GS: When can we expect to see the finished film? AW: It will be screened at Cannes this May and I imagine the official premiere will be soon after. GS: You are all part of the production company The Future Masters of Technology. Where did the name come from and how were you formed? AW: The name was created by Mike Pike our editor. It was for a previous film we made together, but it was just too pretentious. It hung around as a joke and it got out of control. It sounds like a bad Steven Seagal movie about internet terrorists. GS: What’s next for the future masters? AW: A new and improved version of The Disappearance of Flight 86. Think The Road mixed with The Langoliers. Find out more online at: The Future Masters of Technology

Barry Nugent

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FILM REVIEW - Avengers Assemble This film has been hyped as one of the most anticipated movies of the year, no scratch that, of the decade (so far). The hype started back in 2005, when Marvel decided to start producing movies of their own characters set in a single, cohesive universe. Iron Man, and it’s post-credit scene including S.H.I.E.L.D’s Nick Fury created the foundations of what would become The Avengers movie.

Writers: Joss Whedon & Zak Penn Director: Joss Whedon Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston & Clark Gregg

The Blurb: When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

The Review: Marvel’s master gamble has finally arrived but does it live up to all the hype? Do all the characters work well together? Has Joss Whedon done the impossible? Let’s find out!

First some background. For the record, I loved Iron Man and consider it one of the best comic book movies ever. Yes I am biased when it comes to Marvel and yes The Dark Knight is a great film but for me Iron Man was perfect in all areas and truly embraced its comic book roots. Next, we got The Incredible Hulk which was fun but just off in some ways; and for me, Iron Man 2 somehow missed the whole point of what made the first one so great. Last year held the double punch of Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Both proved that Marvel knows how to handle its properties and were the last pieces of the puzzle to be put in place for Avengers Assemble (aka The Avengers in the US) to work. “Enough!” I hear you cry. “What about the film?”

The first thing to note here is that we really do not get any major character building of any one character, either because they have all been done in their own solo movies or because it is just not needed. In fact this is by far the dumbest Marvel movie we have had so far. This is an Avengers movie not a Thor/Captain America/Hulk/Iron Man movie - and that means that it is all about the team. Director Joss Whedon knows this better than anyone and uses conflict and humour to move the characters from one place to another. This no bad thing as we really want to see them fight and have fun.

The characters who develop the most is actually Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner and the double team of Black Widow and Hawkeye. Ruffalo is by far the best Banner we have seen and I truly hope we see more of him in the future but I do have my doubts if another solo Hulk film would actually work. In this film, he’s perfect and the tit for tat between him and Stark is brilliant. Also the Hulk looks great and is even funny in this film. We have seen Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow before but we get a better understanding of her past and her rela-

Geek Syndicate tionship with Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye is something you can actually feel and shows off the human side of the team. The plot of Avengers Assemble is a simple one: Bad Guy causes havoc, heroes face their darkest hour, final act where the team overcome insurmountable odds to win the day. This is a by-the-numbers film breakdown and works perfect here with everyone getting screen time to shine. Sometimes the pace moves a bit too fast but surely that is what happens in the comics so why waste valuable screen time? As is tradition with all superhero team-ups there is confusion, mistakes when they meet for the first time and they end up fighting each other. Although this looked great, I have a feeling that with these interpretations of the characters, it was possibly out of place. But then we would not have had one of the highlights of the whole movie. Big Bad Loki’s actions in the movie are never that clear to me, even though Tom Hiddleston is on fine form. His character seems to either be playing a game, figuring out a plan, angry or all of the above. It’s proven fact that Joss Whedon can write ensemble, whether for TV shows, movies or comics; this movie shows his trademark humour that will have you smiling and laughing loudly. Even during the intense fight scenes we get some funny moments that work. The biggest change to the Marvel films with Avengers is S.H.I.E.L.D who get a real in-

troduction here with Samuel L Jackson and Greg Clark giving much needed depth to Nick Fury and Agent Phil Colson respectively. The newest addition is Agent Hill played by Cobie Smulders (of How I Met Your Mother fame) who is a very serious and by the numbers member of the team. But aren’t all S.H.I.E.L.D agents like that? Smulders portrays intensity and sexiness that fits what we have seen of the comic-verse character however she is the weakest link in this film because she just seems uncomfortable on screen.

S.H.I.E.L.D has a mobile base in the movie – the Helicarrier. This is a well known element in the comics and it is brought to life in the film using a mix of real life location shooting on a Aircraft carrier, sets and some amazing CGI work. Fans of the craft will not be disappointed as it gets some great scenes. I would love to see a S.H.I.E.L.D movie based on what we saw here but I would think it will have to wait till Avengers 2 comes out. The action in the movie was a joy to watch because it was clear, fresh and without one shaky cam in sight. The problem with many action films these days is that the fight scenes get too close to the action and you cannot tell what is going on at times. Here you can see everything. It is well lit with the visual and colours

shining through as though you were reading a real comic book. The final battle is a spectacle over substance affair but maybe that is what we want to see! The music in the film was composed by Alan Silvestri, who did great work on Captain America last year. I was hoping for a resounding score that would echo through the ages and make me hum it all the way home but from what I can tell it is decent enough but still left me wanting something more epic. Overall this film rocks in ways you cannot imagine but it is still flawed. It is a real life comic book event disaster film come to life and even Captain America’s new costume has won me over. Yes I have a few niggles with the music and the character building but that is just me wanting perfection which this very nearly is. The viewing time of over 2 hours and 20 minutes just flies by and you wish it did not have to end. Joss Whedon has done the impossible and made a film that really lives up the hype.

Christophe Montoya Rating:

GGGGG

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GAME REVIEW - Mass Effect 3 (XBOX 360, PS3, PC, Mac)

Developer: Bioware Publisher: Electronic Arts

The Review: Endings are hard. Ask yourself, how many trilogies fall apart in their third act? How many films or books end anticlimactically?. How many great, great computer games fall at that last, climactic boss fight, once you’ve got all the weapons available, or out-leveled the content and it becomes a routine thing really, to swat him aside and watch the end cutscene? With all the internet drama and commentary around the ending of Mass Effect 3 that’s blown up since it was released, do we have to add it to that list of series that gets so close to greatness but just can’t reach it? Well this is a review of the game, and I intend to keep it pretty spoiler free, but I can’t really avoid the ending “issue” so for those of you who have finished the game, I hope you 36

will understand it when I say that I have some issues with the last 5 minutes of a 25 hour playing experience, but they’re in the delivery of the ending, not the actual content, and you know what? 5 minutes of 25 hours, I can live with that.

The main plot of course being that the galaxy is threatened by ancient, massively powerful machines that are due to pop by soon for a cup of tea, some biscuits, and the extermination of all space-faring species.

So, let’s talk about the actual game, shall we?

So when Mass Effect 3 starts with you fleeing the Earth as it comes under massive assault from ancient, massively powerful machines, seeking to rally the races of the Galaxy and deploy an equally ancient and (hopefully) massively powerful super-weapon to save it and everything else, it really feels like this is the game you were promised. The game starts out by playing for the highest stakes and never let’s up; the fate of whole planets, alien races and civilisation itself really does seem to ride with you in your little ship, flitting across the Galaxy chasing leads and cries for help.

I remember buying Mass Effect, back when it was only available on the Xbox 360 in 2007 or 2008 and the franchise wasn’t the huge juggernaut it since became. I quickly fell for it, and the promises it made, both as an original Space Opera background with a sackload of potential, but also the daring concept of saving your save game so your decisions (some of which are life-anddeath for some characters) would carry forward to new instalments. The biggest decision was of course buying it for the xbox, not waiting for the PC version. This decision and turned out to be only reason that, by 2012, my xbox is still sat, dust-covered and forlorn, underneath the TV, waiting for Mass Effect 3 and the chance to be played with again. Mass Effect 2 followed on, heavily overhauling the games mechanics, whilst sending the main plot off down an extended, character heavy sub-quest which didn’t really seem to fulfil that promise outside of a few dialogue lines and some returning cameos, introducing a swathe of new characters and expanding the universe without seeming to move the main plot forward that much.

Ironically the greatest strength of ME3 may also be its greatest weakness. Everywhere you go, nearly everyone you meet, is someone with history. Cameos abound, references to previous games - to decisions you made, but other may not have - come thick and fast, characters appear who may be dead to other people, relationships and outcomes are fundamentally affected by the baggage you carry (Players not importing old saves won’t be presented with the same characters though, unknowns may well replace them! – Editor). For me, its a wonderful thing, knowing that the game my wife will play, the game

Geek Syndicate my friends played, may well be materially different to the game I played, but at the same time I can’t help but wonder how much some new to the franchise will be missing out on. Will they care? Will some of the games finest moments - which I won’t spoil, but there are some truly fine moments - even appear, or work as well if they do appear, to someone without an imported savegame? As you can probably tell from this review so far, it’s the story that has engaged me the most, and the universe itself is something that I’ve become fond of simply spending time in.That’s not to denigrate the gameplay itself, which is a solid cover-shooter in pretty, yet fairly linear environments with good range of variety both of the colour and design of the waist-high walls you velcro yourself to, and the enemies that you have to face. The gear system is finally, on the third game, both easy to use and sufficiently diverse that your loadout choices seem to matter, and the classes are nicely distinct, with your classes weaknesses balanced by the choices of companion characters you can take. In between missions you can wander around the Normandy, your starship, and chat to the crew as before, but this time they’ve realised they are allowed to leave their normal haunts and often move around and talk to each other which gives a wonderful sense of “life” to the ship, as you can now turn a corner and run into a crewmember, for example, getting drunk at the bar. Simi-

lar things happen at the games other main hub, The Citadel, which you’ll be seeing a lot of, and just wandering around the concourses can pick you up a bunch of fetch quests from the milling refugees. As you might expect, these are largely concerned with the Reaper Invasion, in keeping with the games admirably tight focus on the cataclysmic war raging across the Galaxy. Many (but not all) of these quests can be done at any point up to the games climatic jumping off into the final confrontation, but my one big criticism of the games story is that because they can’t know which order you’ll do them in, or if you’ll do them at all, they feel slightly fragmented away from the main story and really serve as cameos for returning characters that for whatever reason don’t join you on the Normandy. They’re usually great cameos, in all fairness, but usually resolve in some sort of dialogue sequence where the returning character tells you they can’t come help you directly, because, you know, they’re washing their hair that week. They’re really a moment that lays bare the tension between Biowares desire to tell an organically changing story, and the time and technology available to them. Mostly, however, the approach is more than successful, and amazingly immersive. Shepard is my character, living with my decisions, and even if that choice is illusory, it’s a pretty great illusion. The series as a whole has been, in my opinion, far more ambitious than it is often given

credit for - a whole new Space Opera Universe to play in, and a grand, space-operatic plot for the highest stakes played out against a background that shifts due to player interaction. The RPG genre is so often defined by the “game” part of “Role-Playing Game” but Mass Effect remembers the “RolePlaying” bit too - stripping back the number crunching to being a game about who you want Commander Shepard to be, and what sort of relationships you want them to form, and what sort of universe you want them to live in. There are walls to this sandbox, and you occasionally bounce off them hard, and it’s not the vast openness of say, Fallout 3 or it’s Bethesda stablemates, but the mix of strong story, and player ownership, is pretty unique. In the end, Mass Effect 3 is just that - an ending. Its caps off the story and the characters, a bold move in itself, although I can’t believe this is the last trip we’ll have to what has become a hugely successful franchise. It’s closure, in the spirit of the series, is bittersweet, it’s story tinged with death and sadness, even in the best outcomes. It’s grown up storytelling; at times some of the best you’ll find in gaming and even with the flaws big and small, an astonishing achievement.

Matt Farr 37

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COMIC REVIEW - Clockwork Watch - The Arrival The Review: The story is told through the eyes of Janav, a young boy who accompanies his parents on a trip from India to London. This is a nice plot device to use for the narrative as it asks questions and points out things that a normal comic might miss out. Janav himself is likable, inquisitive, funny and not afraid to speak his mind and when that fails not afraid to fight if needs be.

Original Story: Yomi Ayeni Adapted By: Corey Brotherson Artwork & Lettering: Jennie Gyllblad Title Design: Fabio Duarte Martins

The Blurb: London 1899. Steam billows out from every corner of the city while huge Zeppelin airships float in the sky overhead. Enter the world of Clockwork Watch, a place where Victorian values are coupled with anachronistic technology, not least of which are the clockwork servants - the mechanical slaves that keep this society ticking along - this is the world of Steampunk. Technological and social change is in the air - humanclockwork hybridisation is the talk of the town; the unwise employment of science has led to amazement and outcry - the public wants to know whether Science is about to play God.

The relationship between Janav and his father Chan is strained. Chan is an inventor consumed by his work and his desire to ‘change the world’. He is a man who is not afraid to use his family or, more importantly for the story, his son to achieve his goals. By contrast Janav’s mother appears to play the dutiful wife but if you look closer you can see that she is far from happy with some of the choices her husband has been making. She also seems set on ensuring that her son follows his own path, one not dictated by her husband. Although this isn’t pushed on the reader it is shown in the odd turn of phrase, facial expression and is heavily hinted at in one scene where Janav receives a gift. At its heart Clockwork Watch: The Arrival is about family and all that entails but is also the start of an intriguing adventure. It is clear by the end of the story that things in this world are about to change and little Janav and his family are the catalyst for that change.

Jennie Gyllblad’s art is classical in nature, elegant in execution and she shows a fabulous eye for colours and how to use them to add depth and emotion to every panel she draws. The scenes are not overly crowded and this made it an easy and visually pleasing read. The other nice touch was the use of real locations including Crystal Palace and some small history lessons thrown in as well. I am new to the whole steampunk culture but really liked this story and I would recommend it to anyone looking to test the waters with the whole genre. The other thing I liked about this book was that my ten year old son read it with me and really enjoyed it so the story translates well to both adults and younger audiences which is important to me as I start to see my boys look towards the comics industry for stuff to get their teeth into. Clockwork Watch: The Arrival is an engaging and well crafted graphic novel that left me with numerous theories about what to expect from the remaining two volumes. Pre-Order Clockwork Watch: The Arrival from the creator’s blog: www.clockworkwatch.com

Christophe Montoya Rating:

GGGGG

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Geek Syndicate FILM REVIEW - Chronicle

Writers: Max Landis & Josh Trank Directors: Josh Trank Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell & Michael B. Jordan

The Blurb: Three high school friends gain superpowers after making an incredible discovery. Soon, though, they find their lives spinning out of control and their bond tested as they embrace their darker sides.

The Review: Spoilers Ahead Okay, so if you’ve seen the trailer, Chronicle delivers exactly what it promised: “Heroes with HandyCams”! The style of the film is very much in the same vein as Blair Witch, Cloverfield etc and the story is partially derived from the television series Heroes (with relation to characters like Claire & Hiro): “what would you do if you woke up and discovered you had superpowers?” 42

The story surrounds three college students, Steve, Matt and his cousin Andy. Andy is a bit of a geek / outsider, not fitting into mainstream college life and the focus of bullying by the jocks. On top of this, he is burdened by the weight of his mother’s terminal illness, something which he is blamed for by his alcoholic father. He is also source of the bulk of the camcorder chronology (think Wes Bentley from American Beauty). Matt is a ‘regular’ guy, and Steve is the antipathy of Andy: sporty, popular, gregarious and ambitious. It is true to say were it not for the event portrayed in the film, Andy and Steve would never even acknowledge each other’s existence. One night these three through happenstance find themselves in the local woods. Guided by an unfamiliar sound, they discover a hole in the ground. Climbing into the hole they encounter an “entity” and it is this encounter that unknowingly bestows them with superpowers. Quite simply they wake up the next morning to

find they are all telekinetic. This takes us to the middle of the film as each day, their powers become stronger and they learn to control them better. Initially they keep it low level – playing pranks on each other, and then unsuspecting individuals – for example, moving parked cars around the car-park to confuse drivers. The scene in the supermarket (often using CCTV footage) is hilarious as they make trolleys move off by themselves, or Teddy bears chase children around the store. We also discover that intensive use of their powers by one or all of them cause all three of them to experience nose-bleeds. Very cleverly sown into the storyline is the conceit that Andy uses his telekinesis to move the camcorder around, pretty much 24-7; this giving the filmmakers the ability to legitimately view from any height, angle or distance – a hindrance of all previous films in this style which are limited to what an average person can capture with a handheld camera. This also means that

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the cinematography is a lot steadier, making for a much more pleasant and easier on the eye experience. The three friends reach the high-point of their powers when they realise that telekinesis can make them levitate, and this for me, was some of the most enjoyable viewing, as they are learning to flying through the clouds, narrowing missing aeroplanes and discovering that the higher up you go up, the colder it gets. They also get bolder: in a bid to make Andy more popular, he is entered into the college talent contest. His talent is a telekinetically enhanced ‘magic act’! The third act takes them into the final part of their story. Whilst out driving, Andy takes umbrage to the driver of the 4x4 behind him and nearly kills the driver by forcing him off the road. Steve and Matt chide Andy explaining that this is totally “against the rules”, something which Andy does not take kindly to, as by this point, it has transpired that he is the most power of the trio. Secondly, his mother’s health

deteriorates significantly; this is not helped by the fact that his unemployed father cannot afford the required medicines, and continues to blame Andy relentlessly for the whole situation. Finally, despite winning the talent contest, Andy’s status in school is only promoted minutely from ‘geek to freak’ – a confirmation of his belief that he “can never fit in”. This perfect storm of events sees the beginning of Andy’s spiral down into paranoia, resentment and then anger, leading to a final conflict with his two super-friends. I have to say I really like this film. It is short a running time of eighty-four minutes which does make you wonder if you

are just going to get an extended episode of Heroes or MisFits for your money. When the film gets going, it does seem longer even though the film never drags noticeably at any point. The filming, as previously commented on, makes the storytelling very simple and easy-on-the-eye to follow. The three main characters are all very likeable and believable – we all knew someone like them at college. Except possibly Andy – his life just seemed improbably tragic to me. To have a terminally-ill mother, not helped by a lazy-ass father crawling in and out of a bottle and being totally alienated at school for being a misfit... as bad as things are today, I like to think that the human race still has some redemption left, rather than to continually kick this dog when he’s down. All in all, although I’m not a fan of this style of film-making, if you like your urban superheroes, I recommend you see this - unless you REALLY don’t like the HandyCam technique, in which case you’re not going to listen to me anyway.

SilverFox Rating:

GGGGG

Geek Syndicate

COMIC REVIEW - Taking Flight

er and Halcyon and Tenderfoot. Furthermore Glasgow, which has produced such talents as Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly, Jamie Grant and Mark Millar is a creative hub for comics with John Farman’s The School of the Damned, Gordon McClean’s No More Heroes, John Lees’ The Standard, OR Comics’ Villainous, Team Girl Comic and even web comics such as Gordon Robertson and Cuttlefish’s Arse Cancer and Colin Bell’s Jonbot and Martha.

Writer: Stephen Sutherland Art: Garry McLaughlin Publisher: Laser Age Comics

The Blurb: The latest release from Laser Age Comics is a brand new superhero one shot written by Stephen Sutherland and drawn by Garry McLaughlin, with pencils by Keiren Smith. This is a warm, human story of an ordinary Glaswegian man who releases he has superpowers. How will he cope in a world that makes superheroes tabloid fodder and victims of compensation culture?

The Review: There is no better time to live in the UK if you like comics as there is currently so much top quality variety and choice. In the blossoming superhero section there is Grant Springford’s The Abnormals, Martin Eden’s Spandex and Daniel Clifford’s two projects Sugar Glid-

To many this might already seem a busy area where there is little room for more. Yet Stephen Sutherland and Garry McLaughlin manage to completely disprove this theory with their stunning one shot Taking Flight. Taking Flight is a simple enough concept: it is about a man getting superpowers. Yet the creative team manage to bring an intriguing twist that makes it all the more worthwhile reading. Set in an alternate Glasgow where people have powers, we follow one man’s journey into understanding how to use his power of flight. I have read many an alternate universe take on how a world similar to ours would work if there were superheroes (I have even written one myself). Sutherland and McLaughlin bring something new to the table and at the end of the day something even more interesting: something very British. The history of the last eighty years or so is a fascinating journey that the reader will adore being taken down on. One of the main strengths of this story is that

it is a coming of age, going full circle. We see the characters develop and change and we understand why. Newcomer Sutherland’s dialogue is natural and works well with the story. He manages to make you care for these characters even though you have only known them for twenty or so pages. McLaughlin’s art compliments the script perfectly providing many a stand out moment. The opening scene is a joy and the symmetry later on in the story works very well. What is more, the final couple of panels in the book are well presented, allowing the reader to fill in the gaps where they should. Further his innovation with panel structure really adds to the story such as where we see a panel as if we were looking at it from a smart phone. In a crowded area, some may not have seen the place for another indie comic but Sutherland and McLaughlin’s Taking Flight proves that is far from the case. A truly fresh and innovative take on the superhero story, illustrating that the UK and in particular Glasgow is the place to be for comics at the moment.

Luke Halsall Rating:

GGGGG

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COMIC REVIEW - The Scorpion Vol. 2: The Devil In The Vatican The Review: Here we are again, continuing to pan for gold in the stream of Franco-Belgian comics issuing from the mighty Cinebook and between you and me I’ve just found my biggest nugget yet. It’s criminal that so few mainstream comic fans will be familiar with The Scorpion as to my mind this comic is head and shoulders above ninety percent of what is out there on the market today. Big words, I know. Allow me to convince you.

Writer: Stephen Desberg Artist: Enrico Marini Publisher: Cinebook

The Blurb: The Stone Cross: The Scorpion, whose mother Cardinal Trebaldi burnt at the stake for loving a man of the cloth, discovers that his father was the murdered Pope himself. When Trebaldi addresses a huge crowd at the end of the mourning period, the Scorpion is there to tell the truth about how the people’s beloved Pope died. The Devil in the Vatican: Trebaldi claims that the sacred cross of St Peter miraculously appeared in his castle. The Scorpion must find the real cross if he is to prove Trebaldi’s treachery.

Why do you read comics? You’ll each have your own answers and priorities - but here are mine. More often than not I’ll want a fast-moving adventure with all the snap and pizzazz of a movie but none of the budgetary concerns. I want gorgeous artwork I can go over again afterwards and pick up fresh details and nuance. I want to be inspired, enthralled, titillated, but most of all I want to plug straight into the brains of the creators and be told a great story. With The Scorpion I get it all. And in spades. The setting is Rome in the latter half of the eighteenth century. The Catholic Church is a monumental power, with the Inquisition in bitter decline. Our story follows the adventures of one Armando Catalano - treasure hunter, thief and an incorrigible rogue. The Scorpion birthmark on his shoulder marks him out as the Devil’s get, but a little thing like that isn’t going to stop

him from having fun and getting rich selling holy relics to the Italian aristocracy. He’s well-travelled, highly educated, a ferocious swordsman and an accomplished lover, but who is The Scorpion really, and why does the Church want him dead? Some light has been shone on these mysteries in Volume 1: The Devil’s Mark but I won’t let any spoilers slip - partly to protect the enjoyment of newcomers and partly because I get the impression that this series will be full of twists and misdirection before the truth about Armando is revealed. As with The Devil’s Mark, Cinebook have gifted us with a double pack of adventures in their second Volume. It’s a great way to bring new readers in to a series and offers real value for money. The first part is called The Stone Cross and deals with the wicked Cardinal Trebaldi’s attempt to legitimise his rise to the Papacy. In his ancient home, he claims, lies the True Cross of Saint Peter, the rock upon which the Catholic Church was founded. Filled with wrath and sorrow after their previous clash, The Scorpion is determined to prevent him achieving his goal. The story is awash with political manoeuvrings, and Armando’s mission begins to look increasingly desperate and futile as he tries to lay bare the Cardinal’s sins. A little more history is revealed, moustaches are twirled, swords clash, things get a little sexy, treacheries unfold and narrow escapes

Geek Syndicate are made all round. It’s stirring stuff and exactly the kind of tale that ticks my boxes. The second half of the book is the title story (though let’s be clear here, The Scorpion is one long story split into convenient easy to publish sections) and deals with the fallout from The Stone Cross. The ‘Devil’ in the Vatican is determined to protect his interests, and top of his list is crushing a certain Scorpion underfoot. Armando and his stalwart companion Hussar are on the run. Worse, they’ve got tangled up with the venomous assassin, Mejai. With warrior monks on his tale, two intelligent, beautiful and deadly women vying for his attentions and a foreign destination that is far from safe, this is a brilliant little interlude. The tale fizzes with swashbuckling relish and The Scorpion himself is chock-full of Errol Flynn bravado and humour. Of the books two halves this is the most crowd-pleasing in terms of action. You just can’t beat a bit of ropeswinging sword-play and the bedroom antics (whilst neither full-on nor prolonged) is both titillating and funny. The art-work is magnificent throughout both of the volumes I’ve read so far. Enrico Marini has a real gift for breathing life to his complex

urban landscapes, ably blending subtle linework and shifting shades of watercolour to project the sense of detail, texture and light (and if his exteriors impress, his interiors astound.) He populates his world with a fine variety of figures, from the lowest of beggars to the noblest of aristocracy, eagle-eye always on posture and movement. His tiniest smudges can trick the eye into seeing distant individuals in a crowd, which is quite an achievement. As a period piece he is given the priceless gift of Costume, and what clothing he has to play with! If you like your thigh-high boots and flintlock pistols you’re in for a real treat here. The warrior monks are masked and uniformed, a chilling image but also a good way for the artist to economise. The main characters are fantastic to look upon. Armando himself is sexy as all hell, with a razorsharp little beard, floppy shirt and tight, tight trousers. Saving my sexuality are the exotic Mejai in her Egyptian garb, and the lovely Ansea Latal in her horse-riging gear - both of whom are admired by the artist’s pen, but not perved over in the way American comics do. As Hussar is not meant to be portrayed in an attractive way, Marini gets to have a bit more fun playing with some

of the more extreme facial expressions. He’s an eminently likeable character and a fine foil for The Scorpion. I could go on an on about the quality of Stephen Desberg’s plotting (clearly very well thought out) and sizzling dialogue (well translated by Jerome Saincantin), the lettering - not something that usually catches my eye, but here it is used in a variety of ways to accentuate emotion and heighten drama - or the fight scenes, which simply have to be seen to be believed; each movement captured at the perfect point to convey the fullness of the action... but I don’t want to wring every damned detail out for you. Look, buy these books. Enjoy them for their dark deeds and thrilling escapades, their romping, their action, their mischief. Treasure them for the spectacular artwork and their relative obscurity amongst your comic-buying friends. Then come back and tell me how right I was. This IS a cut above the rest.

Dion Winton-Polak Rating:

GGGGG

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DVD REVIEW - Game of Thrones The Complete First Season The Review: When it first graced our screens last year, Game of Thrones caught the imagination of viewers around the world, in fact the show was picked up for a second season just two days after its premiere.

Writers: George R.R. Martin, David Benioff & D.B. Weiss Directors: Alan Taylor, Brian Kirk, Daniel Minahan & Timothy Van Patten Starring: Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey & Kit Harington

The Blurb: Summers span decades. Winters can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun. It will stretch from the south, where heat breeds plots, lusts and intrigues; to the vast and savage eastern lands; all the way to the frozen north, where an 800-foot wall of ice protects the kingdom from the dark forces that lie beyond. Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men...all will play the Game of Thrones. A new original series based on George R.R. Martin’s bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Game of Thrones is a medieval fantasy series set in the fictional realm of Westeros. The show is based on the novels by George R.R. Martin and Martin, who has been involved in the writing of the TV adaptation since the beginning. The show follows Ned Stark – the Lord of the North – as he struggles with the political games being played for control of the land. Several families are squabbling over the right to the throne of Westeros after the rightful King was murdered many years previously. The Stark family is separated as Ned heads to the South to serve the King and his illegitimate son is sent to The Wall to protect the inhabitants of Westeros against the mysterious and dangerous White Walkers. When Ned Stark learns a dangerous secret, he is arrested for treason and put on trial. Meanwhile, Viscerys and Daenerys Targaryen live in exile after their father – the previous King of Westeros – was assassinated. Viscerys dreams of claiming the throne back, and to this end marries his sister off to Khal Drogo, the head of the Dolthraki warriors. Once the alliances are formed, all eyes turn towards King’s

Landing; who will be the one to claim the throne from the usurper Robert Baratheon? Game of Thrones has been critically acclaimed, and celebrated by fans around the world. The show is a look at the complex games that people play for power, and the alliances that are formed, and just as quickly broken. Betrayal is currency in Westeros, and everyone has their own agenda. The DVD special features of Game of Thrones The Complete First Season are designed for both the avid fan and the casual observer alike. There are audio commentaries for every episode. There is also something special on each of the boxset’s five DVDs. There is a complete guide to Westeros, encompassing the Lands and the Houses. The legacy of each is explained, as are the main players within the families, and therefore, the show. This is perfect for viewers who come to the show with no knowledge of the novels, as it gives backstory to the on screen action, and deepens the audience understanding of the characters. The same is true of the Character Profiles; the actors from the show explain their character, which allows a more in depth understanding of their hopes, fears and motivations. As well as this, it is always good to hear an actor talk with love about a character that they play. Characters examined in this feature include; Tyrion Lannister, Ned Stark and Daenerys Targaryen. From Book to Screen is a fasci-

Geek Syndicate nating look at translating the novels into a TV show; this is always a challenge, and those behind the show explain how they approached the project, and whether they were apprehensive about adapting such a beloved series of books. As well as this, there is a look at how the language of Khal Drogo and the Dolthraki warriors was created and a look Inside the Night’s Watch; an examination of those charged with protecting The Wall.

Game of Thrones is a sprawling political drama, which has the added element of magic and the unknown. It is always a challenge to bring an existing fantasy series to life on screen, but due to the quality of the production – from acting to writing to set design and everything in between – Game of Thrones draws viewers into the political intrigue of this fictional land. Alliances change as quickly as they are formed and the story twists

and turns; keeping the audience enthralled. There is plenty for fans and new comers alike in this five-disc DVD edition of Season One, and enough to keep enthusiasts of drama and fantasy alike going until Season Two reaches our screens later this year.

Brogan Hayes

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COMIC REVIEW - Black Hawk The Intergalactic Gladiator Written by 2000 AD stalwarts Gerry Finley-Day (Rogue Trooper) and Alan Grant (Mazeworld), and featuring the unforgettable art of Alfonso Azpiri (Lorna) and Massimo Belardinelli (Ace Trucking Co.), be prepared for a epic tale of sword and sorcery which spans space and time!

The Review:

Writers: Gerry Finley-Day, Alan Grant, Kelvin Gosnell Artists: Alfonso Azpiri, Massimo Belardinelli, Ramon, Sola, Joe Staton Publisher: 2000AD

The Blurb: BY SEBEK’S BLOOD! NOTHING CAN DEFEAT THE GALAXY’S GREATEST GLADIATOR! In 50 BC, an African warrior enslaved by the mighty Roman army defies fate to become an officer of Auxiliaries for the Empire. With his faithful desert hawk in tow, ‘Black Hawk’ is instructed to enlist a hundred men willing to serve under him. The exploits of ‘Black Hawk’ and his rag-tag army of misfits become legendary. But just as he starts to gain the respect he richly deserves, the warrior is suddenly plucked from the Earth and transported across the galaxy to battle in an alien arena! 52

It was 1979, I was eleven years old, a black kid growing up in a London that was still trying to work out how to deal with its first generation West Indian citizens. An era in which the black guy never made it to the end of the movie and a year away from race riots caused by the “Sus laws” ( a law which allowed the police to act on suspicion, but which at that time was perverted by racial profiling) Into this arena, the English weekly comic Tornado landed and launched a series called Blackhawk. The eponymous hero, Blackhawk was an African warrior of Nubian descent who was enslaved by the Romans. His warrior’s pride was reinstated when he saw a desert hawk (the symbol of his people woudn’t ya know?). The Hawk seems to adopt him and so our hero adopts the name Black Hawk. Presumably because he is Black and has a Hawk. (See what they did there?) Blackhawk and his fellow slaves are taken to a ship where the Arab auxiliaries turn on their Roman masters and attempt to kill everyone on

board. Showing the iron will and strength that will become his trademarks characteristics Blackhawk breaks his chains and helps defeat the Arabs, As a reward he is given his freedom and given the rank of Centurion. However due to the inevitable prejudice a Nubian faces in Rome he is left to find a hundred men to lead on his own. And that’s the first 5 pages. Blackhawk is forced to build his squad from ex-gladiators, criminals, and diseased outcasts. Despite these humble beginnings his squad are soon acknowledged to be actually quite good and get sent on all the dirtiest missions. They find themselves in German forests, Judea, Britain (fighting Boadicea) and back to Rome to face treacherous enemies in the senate. All the while, our noble centurion is wondering if he can trust his own men and facing racial prejudice at every turn. Yep poor Blackhawk is facing it on all sides. However Blackhawk’s aforementioned determination wins through every time. What stops the stories becoming run of the mill efforts is that Blackhawk’s sense of Justice allows him to see through the situation as it first appears and more than once he has to play a double bluff in order to outwit Rome as well as achieve his goals. Throughout all his adventures his Hawk has been his constant companion, guiding him true and casting good omens. This was all to change though.

Geek Syndicate Blackhawk appeared in Tornado issue 4 and by issue 22, Tornado was done. It was amalgamated into the fantastic 2000AD. Blackhawk was one of the only two strips to survive the transition but it needed to be Sci-fied up. So at the end of the last Tornado strip, Blackhawk was beamed up to an intergalactic gladiatorial arena. The biggest problem here is that he was taken without his hawk so really his name should have been shortened to Black but I guess the inherent problems with that are obvious. So now it all gets a bit wacky. Blackhawk faces the terrors of the arena, space pirates, a hell dimension controlled by the Great Beast, has his soul stolen by a soul sucker and becomes friends with a giant singing bear called Ursa and a psychopathic dwarf called Zog. The Tornado stories were written by Gerry Finley-Day and drawn superbly by Alfonso Azpiri. The wacky space stuff

was written mostly by Alan Grant and the majority of the art which was stunning (and had cleaner lines than Azpiri) was by the late Massimo Belardinelli.

justice, his indomitable will. I loved his space adventures, even though I kept querying the absence of the hawk and his wacky companions were a source of delight.

So, is this collection any good? It has many, many flaws. Prime among them is the prejudice experienced by Blackhawk from the Romans. While not overrun with black people, they certainly were not an alien sight at that time. Racial prejudice based solely on colour is a fairly recent invention. However this was the first time I had seen a black character take centre stage like this and experience the things that I myself was experiencing. So I happily accept the artistic license. For this alone the story is lifted to greatness in my eyes.

The art was consistently fantastic. When Blackhawk loses his soul, his eyes become pupil-less reflecting galaxies and nebulae from far away. The imagery has stayed with me for over 30 years, and that I think speaks for itself.

The characterisation in both incarnations of the story is fairly week with no sense of a meaningful backstory. However I loved Blackhawk, what he stood for, his pursuit of

David Monteith

It is truly a product of its time and must be taken as such but reading Blackhawk in its entirety is a joy. And to its credit, no comic has done what this one has done. Buy it, read it, celebrate it. ZOG!!

Rating:

GGGGG

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Geek Syndicate TECHNOLOGY REVIEW - iPad 3

vibrant, image with greater colour depth. It really shows. The camera is also improved from previous iterations. The iPad 3 is equipped with a five megapixel camera which actually records full 1080p HD video. The new iPad is 0.8 mm thicker, but only thirty odd grams heavier, which is due to the extended life battery. And for gamers on the move, the iPad 3 ups the ante from the A5 dual core processor to the A5X with quad-core graphics processing. So having got past the techno-geek stats, what does iPad / iTunes offer the SF-Geek in terms of content: Manufacturer: Apple

The Review: I’ve just been to the Mecca that is the Santa Cruz Apple store, on a shopping spree that has bagged me an iPad 3 and an iPad 2. Together with my trusty 2-year old iPad 1, this has allowed me to sit them all side-by-side to see exactly what you’re buying, and the key differences. In summary: iPad 1 – the original machine. This featured instant-on performance; could surf the world wide web (but could not handle Adobe Flash content); manage your email, contacts and calendar; offer stupendous battery life (4-5 hours with video playback) and access to the wealth that is the iTunes store. iPad 2 – significantly thinner than the first generation de56

vice, but not noticeably lighter (don’t believe the hype). The iPad 2 offered all of the above functionality though you got it little faster (thanks to the better processor), for a little longer (better battery and power management), and you also got FaceTime: Apple’s version of Skype. The device also came with two cameras which allowed you access to some really creative photographic apps that did very clever things with images. iPad 3 - Now we have iPad 3, or “the new iPad” as Apple refer to it. Be under no illusion, it is faster... much faster. Apple promise ten hours of battery life, but the real killer is what Apple call their ‘Retina’ display. The screen packs twice as many pixels into the same size as the screen of the iPad 2, which means you get a bright,

iBooks – links to the Apple iTunes store from where you can buy many titles. What many people forget is that there are plenty of non-copyright (and therefore free) titles from authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle (Lost World, Sherlock Holmes), Edgar Rice Burroughs (Pellucidar, John Carter, ‘... The Time Forget’) and others. Also you can upload any pdf format file to iBooks, so if you have books, comics or even just documents in this format then you can load them into iBooks Kindle App – Another eBook reader, this time linked to online retailer Amazon. Kindle offers access to a greater range of content than iBooks and offers the Top one-huindred free titles by genre as a default browse option. This list changes on a monthly basis, so it’s worth checking out regularly. The additional advan-

Geek Syndicate tage of the Kindle app, is that because the books are purchased against your Amazon account, buying them on your iPad means you can also have them on a computer or Kindle device. Additionally, Project Gutenberg on the World Wide Web offers a vast range ofcopyright free material in Kindle’s .epub format. DC and Marvel – These are great proprietary apps offering a great selection of modern titles. And to whet your appetite, there are plenty of free titles to download. DC in particular, have scored points by offering a full range of free “Origins” titles for pretty much their entire character catalogue. Reading comics on the iPad is a joy, offering full page viewing with pinch/expand zoom, or the app also offers a tap-screen ‘cell-by-cell’ reading facility. Dark Horse and Doctor Who - Offer similar functionality to the DC and Marvel apps, though naturally, the range of comics available is different. Comics & Comic+ - More comic readers, but these offer access to more independent titles. IMDB – For the movie fan, this app is the iPad version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica of the screen world. They also offer an IMDB Daily Trivia App as well. Marvel Games – A great little character based shoot-‘emup game Geek Syndicate – Our very own app, which offers access to the Geek Syndicate Net-

work of podcasts, this very magazine and other extended features. Trailers Apps - there are various new trailer logging apps; I recommend: Movie Trailers and Movies by Flixster, but there are many others available. Cinema Apps – Vue, Odeon and CineWorld all have apps that track your local cinema and give you the listings. This is one of the real pluses for the iPad – it’s better than waiting for your PC to boot up or even come out of standby, just to find out what’s on at the pictures! SFX, Sci-Fi, Doodle Movie and Scene It Movies – Test your knowledge with all these quiz games.

your interests, there is a wealth of apps out there; for example astronomy, I recommend SkyWalk, which plots your actual location and tells you what is in the sky above: stars, planets, satellites – it’s all there. TV – There are video-on-demand apps for all the terrestrial channels (ITV, C4, C5) as well as BBC iPlayer, and a SkyTV app – and plenty of intelligent TV Listing apps as well.

SilverFox Rating:

GGGGG

Video Apps – Those familiar with iPad will know that iOS 5 native video player only plays .mp4 files; AcePlayer and Movie Player both play .avi as well, means you don’t have to go through the lengthy conversion process. Oh, and there’s always the YouTube app! Zinio Magazine Reader – Possibly my favourite app, Zinio is a multi-title magazine reader. I get my SFX magazine subscription from here for £23.33, but there are some real bargains to be had from time to time. I got a two-year subscription to NewsWeek for £26.36 (the equivalent of 25p per issue) and a Maxim subscription for a year for £6.59. You usually get a £5 voucher towards every next purchase. Check out the available titles at http://gb.zinio.com/. Educational Apps – Whatever 57

Geek Syndicate FILM REVIEW - The Hunger Games

resentatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

The Review:

Writers: Suzanne Collins, Garry Ross & Billy Ray

Firstly, before I even attempt the review let me just say this to all the fans of the books, who were worried about The Hunger Games story, the respective castings of Katniss, Peeta, Gale and the portayal of their world, and the craziness of the Panem: you have nothing to fear. The makers and producers have given us a movie that is equal to the books and in some instances it surpasses the story Suzanne Collins has written.

Directors: Garry Ross Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson & Liam Hemsworth

The Blurb: Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’ young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger rep58

We meet Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) as she leaves her mum and sister Prim behind to go and hunt the forests beyond the District’s borders. As she moves through the town, we get visuals that are strongly Depression Era America: washed out colours and haggard looking people wearing raggedly clothes, going about the drudgery of daily lives in silence, eyes turned downwards. We see a group of coal workers heading to a mine, their faces dull, dirty and tired. It is only when we are with Katniss in the lush green of the forest, that we get our first hint of colour but even then, it

is nothing compared to what we are about to see when she gets taken to the Capitol with Peeta.

The Reaping scene is done superbly well. The camera takes us in close to the stony faces of those who live in District 12. There is a sense of palpable terror but also resignation as the proceedings unfold. When Prim’s name gets called, we see the unspoken relief on the faces of others standing around her, we see the shock in her eyes, we see the disbelief in Katniss’s eyes. The scene is wonderfully downplayed, making it all the more striking. And then, once Peeta’s name is called after Katniss volunteers to take Prim’s place and all of District 12 gives them the three finger salute in stoic silence, it literally encapsulates everything that makes Katniss such a great heroine: she will endure. The movie works because the visuals are so strong. Beautifully shot, it juxtaposes the characters and settings against the awful shocking reality of the horror that these teens are set against one another, to kill each other, by any means possible, to be the last one standing in order to win. I can make comments here

Geek Syndicate about our current obsession about reality tv shows and how behind the scenes people plot and plan and scheme how they should go about to make the most impact, to get us, the audience on their side. And this is of course everything that does happen in the run-up to the actual Games in the movie. The parade of those selected from the other districts is truly magnificent, their interviews on TV to the applause and adulation of the roaring crowds, the over the top clothes, their training, the trials, it is all televised and pumped out to a hungry audience who are deliriously happy for these young people to be murdered for their sick entertainment.

I was worried that the 12A rating would somehow take away from the visceral impact of

the movie and story. But the movie-makers have done a clever thing: they give us what we want, by holding back on some of the training shots, only hinting at the determination of some of the other contestants to win, so that when we see them off their starting blocks at the start of the Games, and they go ALL out with their weapons to kill, you literally feel the horror of it vibrate through you. I do not quake easily and yet there were instances where I had to look away because it just felt too real. The big scenes we were all waiting for were there and allow me to warn you: have your tissues ready for Rueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scene. It even made the elderly gentleman sitting next to me cry. And practice your salute, half the audience who knew what to to look for did it back to the screen when it happened. It was incredible. I realise this sounds crazy, but there you go. Audience participation is a bit of a thing here! The action sequences are well done, as is the developing re-

lationship between Peeta and Katniss. I never once doubted who they were supposed to be. The secondary characters and support cast are given great on-screen time. Haymitch starts off as this drunken sot and yet, by the end of the movie you are 100% on his side as he hustles sponsors to

send items into the Games to help Katniss and Peeta. I can wax lyrical all day, I genuinely can. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very much looking forward to see what they do for films 2 and 3 as the world, the politics, the seeds of the rebellion have been planted and we have our Mockingjay. In the meantime, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m planning to watch it again this Sunday, proudly wearing my mockingjay pin.

Liz

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COMIC REVIEW - Halcyon and Tenderfoot Issue 1 scheduling was to be tough too: with Art Heroes planning on releasing four issues a year of their ongoing title. Issue one of Halcyon and Tenderfoot has now arrived and thankfully it does not disappoint.

Writer: Daniel Clifford Art: Lee Robinson Publisher: Art Heroes

The Blurb: Brink City’s greatest hero, Halcyon introduces his new sidekick, Tenderfoot to the world just as his old foe, The Halogen Man is released from jail...desperate for revenge. What could go wrong?

The Review: Last year was huge for Daniel Clifford. His first comic book, Sugar Glider, was released to both critical and commercial success. He managed to top this success with issue two and announcing that with artist Lee Robinson he would be forming Art Heroes, a comic book publisher. It was a daring choice, leaving one character that had been successful to start fresh with new series Halcyon and Tenderfoot. The 60

Halcyon and Tenderfoot issue 0 introduced the father/son team and showed how Tenderfoot became a hero. Halcyon and Tenderfoot issue 1 builds on this story. Halcyon is a Golden Age hero who does not like what has happened to superheroes: he believes that they should always still do the right thing and not use lethal methods. The principal relationship in the title has a Batman and Robin feel with the teacher training his student, yet at the same time it manages to feel totally fresh. The story is tight and fun. More importantly in a time where comics are obsessed with appealing to the adult audience only, Clifford and Robinson succeed in making this a fun read for anyone. It has that Toy Story vibe to it: an eight year old will love it but so will an eighteen year old for differing reasons. Lee Robinson’s brilliant art has come on leaps and bounds since issue 0. There are certain points where the reader will look in awe. For example the shading of page eleven, the clever panel structure on page fourteen, and the final panel on page sixteen are all simply stunning. Robinson is a talent for the future. His characters look like a blending of The Incredibles and DC’s animated

adventures. On Twitter, Clifford has promised that the end will amaze you and that this is just the first of many shock twists we will get with this series. Halcyon and Tenderfoot does not let us down here. The twist is definitely enough to bring the reader back for more. One worry is where the story will go next. John Lees, writer of The Standard, had this possible problem also and showed that it can be solved. But it does mean that Clifford and Robinson are going to have to keep to their promise, coming up with something even bigger and better next time? Overall Halcyon and Tenderfoot is the difficult second album for Daniel Clifford. But he seems to make it look effortless as his top quality comics continue. Lee Robinson’s art is stunning and compliments the story perfectly. With a killer ending that is bound to bring the reader back it is only down to Clifford and Robinson now to make any wrong steps. From what we have seen from them so far I doubt that is going to happen - it was a thoroughly enjoyable first issue.

Luke Halsall Rating:

GGGGG

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FILM REVIEW - The Cabin In The Woods onsgate had raised it from the ashes to bring it to the big screen. The film opens with lab technicians calmly discussing personal issues. This ordinary opening is disrupted when a female colleague enters and raises some concerns for the forthcoming operation and from this point, the audience is hit with a grind house style film which cannot help but make you smile because it is from here that you know you are about to get something quite special.

Writers: Joss Whedon & Drew Goddard Directors: Drew Goddard Starring: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth & Anna Hutchison

The Blurb: Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

The Review: Cabin in the Woods is the brainchild of Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Avengers Assemble). Their was plan to rip apart the horror genre and start afresh. Geek Syndicate went along to a very secret screening of this film with a special introduction by Joss Whedon himself who told us that he was very proud of Drew and the film and was grateful that Li64

The scene switches to five teens that set out on a road trip to a cabin in the woods. On the way they meet a strange old man who warns them not to go but as in all good horror films they ignore the advice and set out to find the cabin. As you would expect, the five engage in drinking, swimming in the lake and, of course, the kissing of stuffed animals. Yep you read that right. All hell breaks loose and the five have to not only figure out what the secret of the cabin is but to also stay alive.

To reveal more of the films plot would spoil it – and trust me you do not want that. The beauty of Cabin in the Woods is that it gives you what you think you want and then flips it sideways to deliver a whole new level.

The five unlucky teens are all relative unknowns with probably the biggest star being Chris Hemsworth (Thor). Hemsworth plays Curt, the typical sports jock but one with a brain. His girlfriend is the token blond Jules, played by Anna Hutchison, who likes to party and have fun. All sounding clichéd? Yep it is, but that is the beauty of the film as it embraces the horror genre in all its glory. We then have Holden, the quiet mysterious friend who has just joined the gang for this trip. Jesse Williams plays Holden very straightlaced and you never know how to take him. My favourite character is the stoner, Marty, brought to life by Fran Kranz. The last one of the group is the shy female student, Dana, who would rather study than party and has just gotten over an illadvised relationship with her teacher. Other cast members include the two lab technicians, Hadley portrayed by Bradley Whitford (West Wing) who is one of my favourite actors and in this he downplays his strengths so well that it is like watching another actor. This character has some great one liners. Whitford’s lab partner is Sitterson played by Richard Jenkins who brings a sense of maturity to the film and then we have a whole host of smaller parts some of whom will be familiar to viewers of Whedon’s other work, including Angel’s Amy Acker. Whedon’s writing shines through from the dry sarcastic straight man right up to the hysterical drug fuelled stoner. Each character is given

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enough screen time to either make us care for or hate them and at some points I was even rooting for the monster. Cabin in the Woods moves along nicely and wastes no time with pointless filler. Humour is not uncommon in horror films but here it is pitched at a knowing audience who are in on the joke. This is not Scary Movie style humour or even Scream. This a higher class but at the same time the humour is so basic that it is obvious, much like the plot itself. In fact you

wonder why no-one has really done this story before. In the past there have been films that have employed the same technique and used the same plot idea to fool the audience but none like this. As the film progresses we find ourselves smiling, laughing and cheering in all the right spots with an ending that will have you panting for more.

the horror genre? It will make the next generation of directors and writers work harder to keep us entertained with original ideas and that is a good thing. It will also help make horror a great date night again and lastly will require Whedon to dip his toes back into the genre or face the wrath of his old and, after this film, new fans.

The special effects are minimal but effective with excellent use of surroundings to amplify the atmosphere which is a credit to Goddardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s direction, who has done a great job that will appease the horror aficionado and the casual cinema goer alike.

Cabin in the Woods slashes the horror genre to bloody ribbons before resurrecting its dismembered corpse to a whole new level of cool.

The real question is this: what does Cabin in the Woods do for

Christophe Montoya Rating:

GGGGG

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COMIC REVIEW - Crossed Volume 1

Writer: Garth Ennis Art: Jacen Burrows Publisher: Avatar Press

The Blurb: In the blink of an eye, humanity is lost, and the Crossed are upon us. Men, women, and children alike fall victim to the mystery infection that makes killers out of parents and rapists out of lovers. The world’s been overrun by sadistic homicidal maniacs. A small band of survivors crosses what’s left of America, in constant danger and trying to hold onto what little humanity they can.

The Review: The Crossed universe has become something of a juggernaut. Almost half a dozen series have now been set therein, but it all started here. This trade from Avatar collects the original ten issues (numbers 0 through 9) from the team of 66

Ennis & Burrows. The setting is a world in which a mysterious event has spawned “The Crossed”. These are seemingly normal people infected with some sort of virus, or similar ailment, which has two main effects. Firstly their faces break out into hideous rash/scarring/festering boils in the shape of a cross (hence the name), that’s actually the good news though as at least that makes it easier to see who will be experiencing the latter symptom. The Crossed are the absolute pit of humanity, they are sadistic hedonism personified... if it brings them pleasure then they’ll do it: Rape, murder, torture, gluttony and the very worst acts in between. Given the choice between fighting zombies and The Crossed, you’d pick zombies any day of the week. Our central character is Stan, he’s a bit of a nobody and the everyman who we follow from the moment when sat in his favourite diner, the world goes to hell. He’s gathered up by Cindy, who is frighteningly competent and is doggedly doing whatever is necessary to protect her son Patrick. Along the way they gain and lose other members of the group, sometimes due to The Crossed and sometimes due to their own stupidity. Throughout they’re heading to Alaska, where they hope to find respite from what America has become. Crossed is something that I’d seen in the solicitations but had never tried, gore really isn’t my thing. But when the opportunity came up to review

it for Geek Syndicate I couldn’t resist for exactly that reason. This wasn’t my sort of book at all, and whilst I’m a fan of some of Ennis’s work and enjoyed Burrows’s work in Absolution and 303 I was expecting this to be a challenge. Was it? Yes and no. Graphically (in both senses) it’s as extreme a comic as I’ve ever read, this is the only time I’ve consciously had to hide a comic from my five year old son and there are certainly some stomach-turning pages. Despite this, and perhaps because of the recent zombie zeitgeist, I clicked with the story straight away and thoroughly enjoyed it. The universe is harsh. When people do stupid things they’re punished and because of the extremity of the book they really get punished. I’m going to talk about the elephant in the room, The Walking Dead, for a moment. The big difference that struck me between these two series is the way in which all the characters degenerate within Crossed felt far more realistic. Maybe I’ve got a low opinion of humanity but the way the central characters in The Walking Dead continue to act to a moral code from “before” and seem immune to the harrowing effects of deep psychological trauma feels far less human than what we get in Crossed. By the end of these issues Stan and Cindy are horribly broken people, capable of acts which are barely discernible from The Crossed. The book is not without its faults. The timeline felt a lit-

Geek Syndicate tle off to me, the collapse of society happening a little too quickly and some of the moments lacked emotional punch. I think the latter may be because the book effectively immunises the reader by building up their tolerance to the disgusting, such that when something emotionally horrifying happens I found myself unaffected. There’s also a certain lack of clarity in some of the scenes which had me flipping back a few pages. The main instance of this was when Stan and Cindy take a course of action having found some school children. I had to infer what had happened rather than it being on the page.

That could well be my failing as a reader rather than of the writer. I’m deliberately avoiding the temptation to recite my favourite parts of the story, as that somewhat ruins the point, but I do tip my hat to a subtle reference to Sodom and Gomorrah which Ennis slips in. What I didn’t expect, but knowing Ennis probably should have, was the twisted humour throughout the book. It has a very British feel, from the reference to the mythical soggy biscuit game to quoting Bugsy Malone, but somehow whilst the book is gruesome it main-

tains a sort of lightness which is hard to really describe. I continue to enjoy Burrows’s art, although there’s one or two spots where it doesn’t quite feel as polished as it could, I wonder if this is because of the colouring, which is quite simplistic. The detail which goes into some of the scenes featuring the acts of The Crossed is stunning (in both ways), I wonder who I should send my therapy bills to?

David Williams Rating:

GGGGG

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FILM PREVIEW - The Amazing Spider-Man

Synopsis: Peter Parker finds a clue that might help him understand why his parents disappeared when he was young. His path puts him on a collision course with Dr. Curt Connors, his father’s former partner. Release (UK): 04 July 2012 Director: Marc Webb Writers: Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves Stars: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans Trailer: The Amazing Spiderman Geek Syndicate Says: “Not sure we needed a new Spider-Man film but if you going to do one then make it a good one. What I’ve seen so far looks pretty on the money so fingers crossed it all comes together on the big screen.”

COMIC PREVIEW - Spooks

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Synopsis: 1895. Members of the East Coast elite have died under mysterious circumstances. To investigate this delicate problem, Richard Clayton— against the wishes of the President—calls upon a man named Morton Chapel for his unorthodox methods and peculiar associates. As they begin to uncover strange, vanishing marks on people’s bodies, unexplained changes in behaviour and hints of widespread corruption, the team reforms around the name Ulysses S. Grant himself gave it years earlier: his Specialists in the Odd and the Occult—his SPOOKS. Release (UK): Launches at thr Bristol Comic Expo (12 May 2012). Volume 2 follows in July. Authors: Dorison, Nury & Rossi Geek Syndicate Says: “This sounds like a crazy mash-up of any Western film you care to mention, Ghostbusters and the X-files. This is definitely on my to buy list at Bristol! .”

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FILM PREVIEW - The Expendables 2

Synopsis: Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat. Release (UK): 17 August 2012 Director: Simon West Writers: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Wenk, David Agosto and Ken Kaufman Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth and Chuck Norris Trailer: The Expendables 2 Geek Syndicate Says: “I loved the first film but I always thought something was missing…in two words CHUCK NORRIS. A lot of bad guys are going to get a grade A ass whupping when this film hits cinemas in August.”

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COMIC PREVIEW - Rainbow Orchid Volume 3

Synopsis: Julius Chancer and friends journey to the roof of the world as the dangers intensify and the most unexpected discovery awaits them beyond the long-forgotten Uskandagadri Pass. Will they succeed in finding the mythical flower and make it back in time to prevent Urkaz Grope from winning the Wembley Orchid Competition and completing his nefarious plans? Find out in the long-awaited concluding episode of the biggest adventure in comics! Release (UK): Out Now! Writer / Artist: Garen Ewing Geek Syndicate Says: “The comic has been out for a month now and will have it’s first major convention debut at the Bristol Comic Expo. I’ve read and loved the first two issues of this all ages adventure and I’m looking forward to checking out the conclusion of the story.”

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FILM PREVIEW - The Dark Knight Rises

Synopsis: When Commissioner Gordon stumbles upon a plot to destroy the city from within, Bruce Wayne gets back into action as the Batman. Waiting for him is the mysterious Selina Kyle and Bane, a lethal adversaryon a crusade to tear apart Batmans legacy piece by piece. Release (UK): 20 July 2012 Director: Christopher Nolan Writers: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer Stars: Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gary Oldman Trailer: The Dark Knight Rises Geek Syndicate Says: “Batman vs Bane…BRING IT ON! ... ‘Broken and Done’!”

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GEEK SYNDICATE - Our Podcasts, Current Episodes 00:51:33 Promo: The Monster Hunters – A Three Part Audio Drama. Find out more here

Don’t forget as a companionto the Geek Syndicate Magazine we also have Geek to Geek, the audio magazine dedicated to bringing the sass back to geekdom.

Direct Download Geek to Geek – Issue 3

Contents 00:00:00 Geek to Geek with Monts and Nuge – David Monteith and Barry Nugent bring you their monthly slice of pop culture madness. No script, no preparation but a lot of fun and sass…always sass.

00:52:58 Interview - Little Witch aka Amy of the Birds of Geek podcast has a quick chat with comic writer Gail Simone. 00:58:05 Movies - Montoya and SilverFox from Trailer Trash Two discuss the greatness that was 1982 for genre films. 01:16:22 Comic Reviews - Stacey Whittle from Small Press Big Mouth reviews the Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel series from Self Made Hero. 01:22:05 Game Review - Barry and Ant from The Next Level review Mass Effect 3 (Spoiler Free)

01:39:13 After Hours with Dave and Barry – the guys close out the show in the Geek to Geek Studio bar.

Other ‘Casts Out Now: Dissecting Worlds Series 6, Episode 2: Nazis! and World War Alternatives Small Press Big Mouth: Episode 37 Tim and Max Solve All The Problems With Popular Culture: Episode 6 – “Obsession With Origins” The Next Level: Episode 43 Scrolls Chapter 18: Apocalypse Wow

ELEVATOR PITCH

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What’s an Elevator Pitch? Imagine you have a comic that you’ve put a lot of work, life and soul into. You love it.You know others would to. You get into an elevator, maybe in a hotel at a convention. At the same time, in walks a wellknown editor. The doors close and you are alone. This is your chance - but you only have a short time to get your work noticed ... That’s the concept of Elevator Pitches. Provide us with a single sentence summarising your comic and another explaining why we should pick it up. Follow this up with a five page preview and the pitch is done - let the work sell itself. If you would like to submit a comic for this section, email: thegeeks@geeksyndicate.co.uk.

Urban Legends Writer: Steven Stone Artists: Monty Borror, Valia Kapaldi, Sijo Art Lapham, Roy Huteson Stewert, Andrew Richmond, Robyn Seale, Jenn Corella Letterers: Nic Wilkinson, Paul McClaren Publisher: Markosia

What is Urban Legends? “Urban Legends is a series of 12 short stories all based on urban legends both old and new. These dark, twisted tall tales of terror will have you glued to the page.” Why should we pick this up? “If you like high quality art by a series of creative indie artists and just a damn good read then you will like this book. Twelve original stories from writer, Steven Stone, based on some stories you know and some you don’t. They’re only stories...aren’t they?”

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Glasgow League of Writers Number 1 Writer: Luke James Halsall Art: James Corcoran Publisher: Self-Published

What is Urban Legends? “GLoW 1 is a superhero anthology featuring stories such as The Healer, created and written by Luke James Halsall, art by James Corcoran following the story of a man who says he has the power to heal people. ” Why should we pick this up? “GLoW 1 is an essential buy to see the 1st product from an exciting new collective, the Glasgow League of Writers.”

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7String Writer / Art: Nich Angell Publisher: Zeta Comics

What is Urban Legends? “7STRING is an explosive cosmic-rad full colour sci-fi/fantasy comic about a dude with a guitar sword, adventuring out into a world of villages hung on guitar strings, cosmic melodies singing through space and a war fought by men aligned with clefs rather than nations. ” Why should we pick this up? “This book will take you to a place you’ve never been, but to a world you feel you know, with musical references, high octane action and adventure, and a world building experience that hits all the notes” Available: 7String will be available on Amazon at the end of May and in Comic book stores over the Summer.

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See you next Issue!