One Man Went To Mo Day 16

For the 30 days of Movember I've committed to changing the face of men's health, I'm asking you to support my efforts by making a donation at http://mobro.co/robertmcintyre142.

We need to take action, as the current state of men's health is unacceptable:

·      Around the world, men die on average 6 years earlier than women - there's no biological reason

·      Every hour one man dies from prostate cancer in the UK

·      Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men ages 25-49 years

·      Tragically, 12 British men died from suicide today. Tomorrow, 12 more will die too. On average, 12 men die everyday from suicide in the UK

The Movember Foundation is working around the clock and around the world to improve the lives of men and their families affected by prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems. They can't do this without our support, so please support my efforts to make a difference.

If you're interested in learning more about the programmes Movember funds please click here. 

There's a lot riding on my efforts this Movember and I'd really appreciate your support
Together, we can have an everlasting impact on the face of men's health. 

  

One Man Went to Mo day 3

Starting to take shape.

 You can donate on the link below, all donations will go towards helping with men's health issues. I have chosen to support prostate cancer which will effect 1 in 8 men during their lives

http://uk.movember.com/mospace
 

One man went to Mo #day 1

This year I will be supporting Movember, and each day I will be posting a daily photo of how I am progressing.

You can donate on the link below, all donations will go towards helping with men's health issues.
I have chosen to support prostate cancer which will effect 1 in 8 men during their lives.

http://uk.movember.com/mospace
 

G.I. Zombie: Futures End #1

Now this is a bit of a strange title to throw into the futures end mix given that it has only had 2 issues prior to this one, even for someone who has read the first two issues I found it odd as I’m still getting to know the books characters.

As with all the FE books we are 5 years into the future and GI Zombie is in the middle of a zombie outbreak, he is leading the fight while the scientists try to find a cure before the outbreak overruns Gotham. There’s also a slight nod towards the film World War Z,as the fight against the outbreak is being conducted at sea from an aircraft carrier. The years and the zombie outbreak haven’t been kind to GI Zombies partner Carmen, and we now find her aboard the aircraft carrier been used as the test subject for the zombie cure.

The usual zombie siege clichés are all in place a city in peril, undead hordes overrunning what is thought to be a safe haven, and a hero who fights and wins despite the odds that against him. All of which make for a great one off story which is part of the problem with the issue, writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have crafted a great story but haven’t had the chance to build a following on this book. So I’m not sure how many people will actually buy and read this issue as other FE comics may take president, as people decide how best to balance their budgets with the array of FE comics out there. I do hope that isn’t the case as the book deserves to be read by a wide audience, as with all Palmiotti and Gray comics it’s a solid read.

 

Now there is one glaring continuity problem with the book that some readers or continuity fans may find hard to get over and that is the zombie outbreak, having read all the Batman and Batman related FE comics I haven’t come across any references to any zombie outbreak. Either in Gotham or in the wider future DC Universe so where this fits I’m not sure, now for me it’s not a big issue but for some it could be so if you’re one of the could be’s you have been warned.

I love Halloween

We are now into October and that means we are heading towards one of the best nights of the year Halloween, I am a big fan of all things Halloween and even though my children are now grown up I still put up decorations and buy sweets for the kids. Helen my wife makes chocolate apples to hand out to any youngsters that come knocking on our door, I have a selection of masks to wear to scare the kids and its also an excuse to get my Batman costume out of the wardrobe. Why do you have a Batman I hear you cry well its thanks to an old work colleague who was told by some unscrupulous workmates (not me), that the works Christmas party was fancy dress and having travelled as Batman on public transport to the party he found out it wasn't. Having a Bat costume he no longer wanted I bought it off him, is it wrong that this story still makes me laugh even after quite a few year probably yes but it was funny. 

However I have gotten off track, Halloween is fantastic and its great to see all the kids dressed up going from door to door, I know that a lot of people say that its not something we should be doing in the UK. Some people say that its an American import and that its not a British tradition well to them I say so what, I would rather see grown ups & youngsters dressed up as monsters or whatever they like out and about trick or treating. Than have someone sing one line of a Christmas Carol on my door step then knock on your door expecting money, now that's a British tradition that really annoys me and I can do without. I have found that by asking them to sing to me again while I stand watching them, because I didn't hear them sing properly the first time works a treat. Word soon gets around that the mad man at number 29 asks you to sing again in front of him, and its the most effective form of defence I have found against Carol singers over the years.

However back to Halloween and if like me you love Halloween there are a few links below to websites that are celebrating the scariest time of the year, oh and a reminder to anyone coming to our house to trick or treat we will have chocolate apples wont we Helen.


Needless Things 31 Days of Halloween: Phantom Troublemaker's Needless Things website will be posting about all things Halloween, click the link to see his latest posts on the most scariest time of the year. The website also has links to past posts which include reviews on a wide range of geek culture subjects, the Needless Things podcast can also be accessed through the site and is well worth checking out.

Mike Gordon: Halloween is one of Mikes favourite times of the year, he is celebrating it on his blog with his Creepy Tiki Countdown to Halloween. Mike is also a writer, editor, filmmaker, webmaster, comic fanboy, and co-founder of New Legend Productions, which is well worth taking a look at to see the wonderful work Mike produces.

The Earth Station One Podcast: The guys at ESO will be discussing various monsters over the month of October starting with Godzilla, before covering other monsters throughout the rest of the month. Click the link to the Earth Station One webpage where you can see links to the podcast plus lots more information, I recommend you check out all the great stuff on their site, including past posts, podcasts and the other associated podcasts on their network.

Syfy '31 Days Of Halloween' 2014:
The Syfy network will be showing over 600 hours of horror over the 31 days of October, click the schedule list link to see what's on.

Facebook: Your favourite or not so favourite social media site has a page that celebrates all things Halloween.


Countdown to Halloween:  If that isn't enough for you then take a look at the Countdown to Halloween website, there is bound to be something there for you, and if there isn't then you may just be dead?

Batgirl Futures End #1

 

Gail Simone ends her run on Batgirl with this Futures End issue, and in typical Gail Simone style she puts our heroine through the wringer.

The issue starts 2 years in the future and Barbara Gordon is in the middle of her wedding celebrations, unfortunately her deranged brother decides to crash the party and puts a bit of a dampener on the day. We then skip forward a further 3 years bringing the issue in line with the other Futures End books, and Batgirl is now known as the Black Beast who works in the shadows leading a team of Batgirls. The Batgirl team is made up of Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, and Tiffany Fox who is only 12 years old and looks to be more of a hindrance to the team than a help. In the missing 3 years since her wedding Barbara has infiltrated and removed the crime lords of Gotham, and spent time learning at the hand (quite literally) of Bane before returning back to Gotham. There is plenty of action in the book as we see the Batgirl team take down a group of gun runners, and witness the inevitable showdown between Bane and Black Beast also known as Bete Noire (French must be in vogue 5 years from now).

Writer Gail Simone has put together some very interesting concepts in this book, the Darker more focused Barbara Gordon who has clearly been effected by the events of her wedding and the League of Batgirls is simply brilliant. I also like the idea she has taken out most of Gotham's crime lords, something Batman's failed to do on a permanent basis during his time in Gotham I wasn’t total sold on Barbara’s new costume a Batgirl Bane crossover combo, but it does give the artist a chance to show off her pumped up physique think Arnie with a little less testosterone.

I loved the league of Batgirls and it was great to see Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain back in costumes again, something the so called new 52 is sadly lacking at present. What I’m not so sure about is the inclusion of Tiffany Fox as a Batgirl, even for a comic book it’s stretching it to have a 12 year old on the team. Yes I know Damien Wayne was only 10 but he was a trained assassin from birth, he also ended up getting killed so not a good argument for anyone wanting to go down that route

The art by Javier Garron’s art is excellent with strong character designs and action panels that flowed seamlessly, the lenticular cover for this is OK but like most of the covers for the Futures End tie-ins they are just a sales gimmick, I know because they hooked me.

There were also a few little Easter eggs splashed around throughout the story, its hinted that Commissioner Gordon is no longer around and Dick Grayson is also mentioned in the now tense rather than the past one. Given that in present continuity he is officially dead it’s interesting that he is mentioned that way, we may never get to know the back story of any of these tip bits but it made me as a reader want to know more.

Like all of the Futures End books I have read so far if you treat it as an Elseword or Multiverse story you will enjoy it, if you think that this is how the DC universe will be in 5 years time then you are heading for disappointment.

On a Final Note

The book is a fitting end to Gail’s run and you can tell she had fun putting together this 5 years later tale, personally I would prefer her to remain with the book as for me she has made Batgirl one of the must read monthly comics.

Sheffield Si-Fi and Film Convention

It’s a slightly cold Saturday morning as my wife (Helen) and I set off to the S-Fi and Film convention in Sheffield, all previous conventions we have been to have been comic themed so this is a totally new experience for me and one I was looking forward too. One train and a short tram journey later and we were at the Motor Point Centre where the convention was been held, a short walk to the green section and we were in the queue and within ten minutes we were in. We noticed a few signing tables with people sat on them as we stood on the arena concourse but it was no one I recognised, as I had booked to have photos with both Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann we headed for the phots area of the convention. Along the way we stopped at a few stalls to get a handle on prices been charged for various bits of memorabilia, what we noticed was prices varied by quite a margin the 10^th Doctors sonic screwdriver was £14 on one stall and £8 on a stall across the hall. The other thing we noticed was there was a large number of stalls selling autographed photos and pictures, some of which were guests at the event and were priced higher than the guests were charging something I couldn’t get my head around. 

     

 

After stopping for photos by the A-Team van and the Knight Rider car Kitt which was thankfully Hasselhoff free, we found our way to the photo area and were given the times Sylvester and Paul would be there which was 13:40 & 14:10. Happy with this information and having a few hours spare before photos commenced, we now wandered back through the main hall and up to the arena concourse, as we had been told Sylvester McCoy was signing up there.

 Well it just wasn’t Sylvester just about everyone who was advertised each had their own signing table and were scattered around the concourse, we made our way to Sylvester’s table and joined what seemed to have the biggest queue of any of the tables. It was then that I noticed Paul McGann signing at a table a few feet away, so been the ever so gallant husband I left Helen in the queue and joined the shorter one at Paul’s table. Before long it was my turn and I shook Pauls hand and asked him to sign the photo I had picked from the vast array he had, I briefly chatted with Paul about his work on the Doctor Who Big Finish audios saying how much I enjoyed them. He did say that he would be doing more of them and asked what my favourite audio to which I replied ‘’Dark Eyes both one and two’’, he then told me they were releasing a third box set of that story and that he was pleased I enjoyed them, I shock Paul’s hand and left his table with my signed photo and a big grin on my face. Meeting back up with Helen I took my place back in the queue for Sylvester McCoy and within a few minutes was having my photo signed him, as he signed the photo he spoke out load ‘’to Rob’’ rolling the R as he did when he played the Doctor the fan boy in me was way beyond happy. We spoke briefly about his time as the Doctor and about Big Finish and then I move on as the queue for him was getting big, I have to say both Paul and Sylvester were excellent and made me feel like I was the first person I had seen that day which cannot be easy.

It was then off to see Frazer Hines who signed a black & white photo of himself as Jamie stood alongside Patrick Troughton, he asked why I had picked that one and I told him it was because Patrick was my Doctor and I only remember seeing them together in black and white. We chatted about the recently found lost episodes with Frazer saying he had hopes that all the lost ones would be found eventually, next to Frazer was Sophie Aldred who played Ace to Sylvester McCoys Doctor and as there was no one with her at that time I took advantage and bagged another signed photo. I talked to Sophie about Big Finnish with Sophie saying that she loved doing them, and it is great that they can be set anywhere in any time at no real extra cost, with everything left to the listeners imagination. Having got all the autographs I wanted we sat down in the seats to have something to eat while we listened to the Doctor Who talk, then it was off to wander round the main hall to pick up a few pieces I had noticed on our previous walk round. After that it was time for my photo shoot with Sylvester McCoy, when we got to the photo area the queue was starting to grow and I said to Helen it will take ages to photo all these people. How wrong could I be the photo session was extremely well organised and before I knew it I was stood alongside Sylvester and smiling at the camera, the same again applied when we went to Paul McGann’s photo shoot and I take my hat off to the organisation of the shoots I was involved in as they both went seamlessly.

We then wandered round taking and having our photo taken with various cos players we came across, my favorite was the old gentleman dressed as the War Doctor with Helen’s been the Captain Picard look alike. Time was moving on so we went back to the concourse where I picked up a signed photo of Eve Myles who played Gwen Cooper in Torchwood, I asked Eve if Torchwood would be coming back and she answered ‘’you will have to ask the BBC’’, I mentioned that I had read that once the rights for Torchwood had reverted back to the BBC from Starz that it would be coming back. She just smiled and said ‘’ you will have to ask the BBC’’ but then added ‘’if they do make any more then I would be happy to be in it’’, Helen told Eve that she loved the chemistry in the show between herself and her onscreen boyfriend Rhys. Eve told her that Rhys played by Kai Owen was her best friend and she loved working with him, Helen said it showed then we both thanked Eve for her time and moved on. Again like all the people doing signings we meet and talked with, Eve made us feel like we were the first people she had talked to that day. Other guests we saw were Burn Gorman who played Owen Harper in Torchwood, Armin Shimerman who played Quark in Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Dirk Benedict Face from the A-Team and more importantly Starbuck in Battle Star Galactica, Dave Prowse Darth Vader and the Red Dwarf Team of Chris Barrie (Arnold Judas Rimmer) and Robert Llewellyn (Kryten). Helen also spoke with Anthony Head of Buffy fame telling him he was sexy when he used to appear in the coffee ads in the early 90’s, he shook his head then smiled and said thank you to her taking it as the complement it was meant to be.

My final thoughts on the convention are that it was extremely well organised both with the signing and photos, the talks could have been better as they were open to noise from the rest of the convention but that’s just a small niggle. All the guests we meet were fantastic and made our time with them feel special, as were all the cos players who were more than willing to pose for photos when asked.

My better half Helen said she enjoyed the convention more than the comic conventions she had been to, but this I think is down to the fact that she knew more of the guests at this one as she is not a comic fan. What I did notice was that there was a real family friendly feel to the whole day, with everyone just out to enjoy themselves and have a great day.




For me it was a great convention and I enjoyed myself a lot more than I thought I would, and I am already looking forward to next year’s convention.