We watched Shaun of the Dead yesterday, and it’s so much fun. It’s all in the little details, like Shaun and Ed going through Shaun’s record collection to see which can be sacrificed as weapons against the very slowly advancing zombies. “Batman soundtrack?” “Chuck it.” Steven at Peiratikos does a marvelous job looking at why the movie works so well. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought it could have easily earned a Best Original Screenplay nomination. And I’m charmed beyond all ability to resist by Lucy Davis, who played Dianne. (Note to self: Add The Office to Netflix cue.) I wonder if they cast Dylan Moran as twitchy prat David for his uncanny resemblance to a grown-up Daniel Radcliffe?
My loot from the Spider-Girl contest arrived, courtesy of Dave Carter of Yet Another Comics Blog. This book is a heck of a lot of fun, and I’m certainly going to pick up more volumes of the series. I think Tom DeFalco has written some pretty bad comics in his day, but this certainly isn’t among them. May Parker is a strong protagonist: a good, busy kid with a strong moral compass and an instinctive thirst for adventure. DeFalco has given her an interesting and varied group of classmates and a nice start at a very Spidey-esque group of rogues. I’ve always found Peter Parker’s poor-me moaning off-putting, soI like the internal conflicts May struggles with much better. I was a little nervous about the art in the first chapter, as Ron Frenz has an… interesting way with faces. (I know Jubilee was only in one cameo panel, but that girl clearly lived rough for a while.) I much preferred Pat Olliffe’s work in the remainder of the digest. Overall, it’s imaginative, stand-alone super-hero fun, and I can see why it does well outside of the direct market. Of course, now I’ve got yet another title to catch up on, so thanks, Dave. 馃槈
Also showing up via the mails was my box of incredibly inexpensive comics from Top Shelf Productions. Looking through, I probably should have asked for some advice before I started clicking at random. Still, when that much material goes for one or three bucks a pop, it’s hard to go too wrong. I’m sure I’ll do some blathery overview at some point in the future. Can you stand the anticipation?