"It's not all black and white. There's shades of grey inbetween."

Ah, the one line (or variants of) that appears so often in cop dramas and other moral issue films. Heard it once, never want to hear it again. Sticks out? Sure does. Why wouldn't it with a box of crayons over on the side just wanting to mix it in and play on that board. Won't play in Gotham City though. That's where Batman calls the shots. And if colour is out, colour is out.

Jim Lee's version of Batman, as seen in this photo, is sculpted by Eric Sosa as part of the "Batman Black & White" line of Batman statues from DC Direct.

Clear as yellow snow and with no colour in it, it's just like a movie about a cop with metal plate in his head and Billy Madison to blame. Or, like a black and white comic, with grey tones to mark out not so white and not so black areas.

Batman works in black and white. Crushing the hopes and hearts of criminals is all the colour he needs in his life. (And maybe a young teen bounching about alongside in brightly coloured clothes for good measure.)


 

Days away from the end of the year and it'll all be over. A clean slate to start from on the tick over into 2007. New Year's resolutions to ready and possibly hold on to for a few weeks. Food to clear out and junk to dish out. Start with the vacuuming and bringing in the carpet fibres.

Down to the wire and there's nothing like what you saw from the previous months of this year to forewarn and help you for the adventures, mishaps and antics bound to happen next year.

Horror of horrors for those who choose to close their eyes, kiss the sky and walk in with a head down on the ground. Makes for a wall of thudding if not careful.

Buck up, things can only get a little bit different, if not better.

 

Take it ready to roll, and here it goes, one from another page jumping into her own...

Roaring out of the pages of Daredevil, the new White Tiger makes a ferocious debut, courtesy of the dynamic scripting of NY Times best-selling fantasy author Tamora Pierce (Trickster's Queen, The Will of the Empress) and masterful penciling of rising star Phil Briones (La Geste des Chevaliers-Dragons, Les Seigneurs d'Agartha).

Angela del Toro knows pain: Her uncle Hector Ayala, the former White Tiger, killed. Her FBI partner, murdered. Her career, ruined. Her mentor, Matt Murdock, jailed. And the hurt is just beginning....The Yakuza's bloodthirsty Sano Orii returns, a genocidal shadow organization appears, and a new-but-old super-powered madman is looking to put the squeeze on White Tiger.

Armed with mystical amulets---and finally in costume---White Tiger demands answers! But will she survive long enough to ask the right questions?

White Tiger #1 from Marvel Comics

Exclamation and question marks abound as Josh Blaylock, Corey Zayatz and Joe Dodd reveal the mystery behind Zartan. A dissection made in three parts from Devil's Due Publishing in the form of G.I. Joe Dreadnoks: Declassified.

Guess who owns the rights to and writes on the bone for Warren Ellis Black Gas 2? From Avatar Press and with art by Max Fiumara, tried to figure out what it was from the preview pages, not a lick of a clue outside a mystery of some codger burning up a body on an island. Super fun happy time!

Dysfunction, a little rochambeau, death and cannibalism, it's fun for the whole family. Chris Reid and John Kantz go with the squish-squishy on Monkeybug Madness: Search For New Lifeforms from Antarctic Press.

Five snowflakes fall on the ground and Ron Marz and Luke Ross are back in the saddle with Samurai: Heaven And Earth Volume 2 from Dark Horse. Saddles, ronin, swords, get the moving on on from Japan to Paris... who can write with bloodshot eyes?

Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson continue the ride through in Astro City The Dark Age Book Two. What? Where? Wildstorm.

Take the current maligned of society and power thrust them into the populace. With an entire world thrown about the other way with mutants and super powered beings the norm, Jam Packed Productions squeeze the juice from Toney Tapia and Jamie Biggs. End result is The Super Naturals.

Dark Horse quarter splice it four ways with the adaptation of a game yet to release in Hellgate: London. Ian Edginton and Steve Pugh take things down town London way heading off the pass that the demon forces are looking to wager against the earth.

Wildstorm unleash the Texas Chainsaw Massacre in about the same time as the prequel hits the screens in Australia. Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Wesley Craig take a road trip into what little horror and psychopathic gems small-town America has to offer its victims/tourists.

 

Snow drops from the skies like a man shaking his head of dandruff and the hammy dialogue runs a pound for the nickel in the soft shoe. Noir, the kind that makes the black and white movies all the more worth it at 3am on a deadline.

Difference here is that instead of guns and flatfoots, samurais, ninjas and ronin take the streets and cases. Tracking down their charges and looking at things through hazy cigar smoke.

"PAYBACK IS A NICHE"

On the third floor of a cluttered low-rent office, Sam Noir met his destiny. Destiny wore a dress, and she was the best thing to walk into Sam's life-right up until they snuffed her out, that is. They nixed his betty, and now he's gonna nix them. Once he finds out who "they" are.

Sam Noir: Samurai Detective

Arcade Comics may very well be on the shelf this week. Who knows. If indeed, then it'll be in the form of a refresher flip book with Suprema #1/Supreme Sacrifice #0 and NitroGen: Prophet. Credits may include Robert Kirkman, Rob Liefeld, Brandon Thomas and Jon Malin. Who knows though.

Over at IDW Publishing, Simon Furman and Nick Roche twist the lights and shine it on a Decepticon in Transformers: Spotlight Shockwave. Guest stars the Dinobots.

Another from the company with the light bulb for a logo, Super Deluxe Hero Happy Hour Lost Episode. Returning to The Hideout Bar & Grill with Dan Taylor and Chris Fason, includes interviews with the cast, out takes and blooper scenes.

 

Getting hotter by the sweat load? Want to quench your thirst but unable to move from that walk-in freezer you managed to sneak into? Bad luck, good luck, it's all the same. The heat is on and the clothes are falling off.

Autumn is creeping right around the corner with the tail end of summer bearing it's hot humidity. Comfort is out and school is back in.

There are many methods available for those looking to cool down. One such is purifying yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. Other people get about topless, not entirely a grand look. Especially when most of these people don't tend to their own bodies. Sleeping in shopping malls might not be everyone, but it is for some.

Walk down the right back alley in Sin City and find a man sweating? Not likely. Did anybody work up a sweat? Shellie (Brittany Murphy)? Did Marv (Mickey Rourke)? Was there even a hint of perspiration from Hartigan (Bruce Willis) while wailing into Yellow Bastard (Nick Stahl)?

 

On this Invasion Day, if all is to be believed there will be lamb chops as bats, barges made of emptied VBs and barbeques smoking more than the bush fires. Glory is this day in which the forefathers came slashing their way to a brand new life on an island prison larger than Alcatraz.

Celebrate today and stumble back tomorrow before the weekend begins again. A tragedy of public holidays to fall outside the prime real estate of Friday or Monday to rejoice.

Sipping martinis on Australia Day? Not likely if you're Australian. Don't bother looking for the red fire hydrants around either. Not yet, the recolonisation of this big brown land is at least a year away. At best hopes.

For the relief of bladders and stomachs made full from soft drinks, beers and burnt meat, trees, drains and empty bottles will be lying about. Step over and past each one of them to make use of the facilities.

Australia is already the big brown land without the extra leg up.

 

 

Score 10% off

pretty much everything if you're a standing order customer. And it's free. Check in store for more details.

Products

Stuff we sell along the shelves like statues to action figures and busts to all things Simpsons. T-shirts, head knockers... not to mention the bags, boards and boxes.

Services

With standing orders, mail orders and lay-bys, we're here to get you, the comicbook reader, your fix of comics and stuff.

Tour the store

Geezer at the guts of the shop.

 

 

 

Web design by Soon Van