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The Last Black Widow Day
Black Widow: Deadly Origin #4 is in US comic stores today, British comic shops tomorrow. It finishes off a miniseries that I'm very proud of, and you can see the first six pages of it here.
In other news, acting upon the suggestion of panto writer and Dalek operator Nick Pegg, I've become a vegetarian for Lent. So today is day one of forty, and I just bought some veggie mince. I gather my wife is with me in this mad scheme. But I alone face breakfast in America without bacon. At the Gallifrey convention, I may just eat baked goods in the con suite all morning.
In other news, acting upon the suggestion of panto writer and Dalek operator Nick Pegg, I've become a vegetarian for Lent. So today is day one of forty, and I just bought some veggie mince. I gather my wife is with me in this mad scheme. But I alone face breakfast in America without bacon. At the Gallifrey convention, I may just eat baked goods in the con suite all morning.
Until this weekend and, hmm, a new Ten Things for which I'm ill-prepared, Cheerio!
Labels:
Black Widow,
Doctor Who,
Gallifrey,
Lent,
vegetarianism
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America should be better for vegetarianism than Germany. We spent a few days in Berlin, and because the wife is vegetarian we ended up on an 85% cake diet. All those waffles and sugared pastries...
And being a vegetarian is almost impossible in Japan. They just didn't understand the concept.
I've gave up meat many years back -though I do still eat fish. Wouldn't go back to eating meat now.
So does Lent end on Palm Sunday and not Easter Day? This has always troubled me.
On a totally unrelated topic - whilst at the SFX Weekender I was really glad to be in an audience when difficulties reading comics/graphic novels was being expressed. I'm so bound by the conventions of reading just words (start at the top left and work down left page and the the right page etc) that I'm struggling - i really am - i may be being thick but i'm not being facetious. i heard you mention Stan Lee and i've entered a Stan Lee search in Amazon but the response was overwhelming. Any advice would be very welcome. My advice to myself is 'must try harder'!
Black Widow is out today? I didn't see it when I went comics shopping earlier! I must go back to my shop and check again.
And yay for a good Lent choice! I have to say, Ash Wednesday has been the saddest day for me re: my faith for a while now. I haven't gone to church in years, and Ash Wednesday is the time when I really feel like not a part of the club anymore. I used to take pride in getting smudged, as it were, and going out in the streets and seeing other people had gotten it done, too. There's a camaraderie there that I miss.
Ani: Nope, but Sundays aren't part of Lent for the 40-day count.
(Most people who do give up something for Lent don't relapse on Sundays, although as children I know we did on occasion.)
Found Black Widow at another store after all!
Won't spoil, but I'd just like to say I was very impressed with how merciful Natasha actually was.
Awesome work, Cornell. Thank you for giving me a version of this character that I feel is my very own! :)
Mark: I think my cake intake is going to rocket. Cav: I noted a few things while I was over there. If you did fish, you'd be fine. Ian: let's see how Lent goes! Ani: I have heard from a few people who just can't follow comics panels. I know you're not making it up. As an absolute first comic I'd recommend the first volume of Fables, or the first Scott Pilgrim book, or any Asterix the Gaul. They read in the same way as prose, left to right, vertically downwards, and part of the skill of the artist is to direct your eyes, which should be an unconscious process. Manga reads exactly the opposite way round, which takes some getting used to. I'm fascinated by the cognitive processes involved. Have you tried any particular comic? Tell us more! Ter: my wife got smudged yesterday, and nearly wore it out to the pub, but then decided that would be too showy. It's these small rituals that really create community. But then, community is a side effect, not the heart of it. And thanks about the Widow. I just can't do genuinely cynical heroes! Greg: I always thought that having Sundays off was cheating too!
Ah, well. The bacon on the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant at Gallifrey is sometimes too greasy, anyway. Which is about the only unfortunate thing about that buffet (aside from the price). Me? I'm looking forward to the pineapple and the strawberries. And the oatmeal for breakfast that can be had at the Starbucks in the lobby isn't half-bad, either, not to mention a lot less expensive.
But, you're right. There are some very good selections in the con suite sometimes, as well.
But why am I dwelling on the food? I'm mostly looking forward to Gallifrey for the interesting panels and the great people. Last year was my first year to attend, and I don't think I've ever had more fun in any one three-day period.
Elaine
Ah yes, the oatmeal, I must have some of that. And indeed, I'm looking forward to it hugely.
Thanks to Greg for answering the Lent question.
Thanks, Paul, for the advice about where to start reading comics and for understanding my difficulty. I will look out for Fables, Scott Pilgrim and Asterix.
I've been aware for years that i think i can't read comics/graphic novels because i've always struggled with them in many of the magazines i've subscribed to over the years (Dr Who being one). The impetus to do something about it came when i wanted to read Alison Bechdel but couldn't. I certainly want to try to crack the layout. Then i somehow need to improve my visual recognition of characters. In a book of just words it's usually clear to me who is who - Sally is Sally and Anne is Anne etc (amazingly few books seem to have characters with the same name!) but in graphic form i have to work really hard just looking at the picture to work out who is who from one panel to the next (well, when i say 'work hard' this is clearly relative - it's not like cleaning floors etc!)
Anyway, cheers for your help.
That's really interesting, Ani. Certainly, in superhero comics (of yore, it doesn't happen much these days) figures sometimes were hard to differentiate, but that's not generally the case. I'm fascinated by this topic. Scott Pilgrim actually doesn't have the world's easiest layout, but I think that Fables and Asterix do. Please let us know how it goes.
Paul, many thanks for your continued interest, (you are so polite).
Ian went to town yesterday with a list in his back pocket which definitely read 'Fables, Scott Pilgrim, Asterix'. He came back with DVD of a film called Moon, the latest Torchwood magazine and a comic called 'Captain Britain and MI13 Hell comes to Birmingham'. So far it's going OK -the layout i largely accessible. There are tricky pages where there's a column of panels down the left and a single panel down the right, and pages where the pictures are laid out in a 'scattered photos' way. The story's not bad though - I must look to see who wrote it!
These characters are well drawn and are easier to distinguish. In other work, I've attempted to work out who is who by the colour of clothes but so many of the colours are just indistinguishable for me.
Actually, Sundays aren't part of Lent because there are no feasts in Lent, and Sundays are always feats. So: bacon! :)
That's really heartening to hear, Ani, thanks so much! The joys of inaccurate shopping! And no, Garpu, no, I will not give in!
Sorry, I'm late, but I actually just got around to reading this issue. Sadly, I was kind of let down and my memories of Ivan will probably be tainted from this point on. It kinda paints him in a completely different light that he loved this woman so much that he snapped and completely altered himself in order to win her love (or in this case, force her into loving him). It's just not something I would expect from him. I was really loving the series up until this revelation though, so I'm kinda mixed on the whole thing now.
Well, fair enough, and thanks for putting it politely.