I was surprised to find that the new extended timetable and the return to everyday routine distracted me from any melancholy about the end of the summer holidays and a new academic year. In any case, we're very fortunate to have so much free time in our job, even if I felt I really needed it at the end of June!
I do feel a little sad, however, that this is my last weekend living in Elgin's West End. I have been the happiest I can recall for years in that house.
Although I'm excited about owning and occupying my own place again, I haven't been nearly industrious enough about packing. I had been on a roll when I came back from Glasgow over a month ago but I invested that energy into tidying and sorting out my classroom after redecoration. Then... I stopped. Now I feel a bit pressurised to get the books - so many books!- and graphic novels boxed up.
I will choose something for my last or second-last Summer Saturday Horror dvd Night: it might be Taste the Blood of Dracula but I also have The House That Dripped Blood and an ebay US burned copy of The Ghoul starring Peter Cushing to one side. I had planned a post about this annual tradition of mine and the BBC's Nightmare Man but that might have to wait a week or two.
With weeks packing, cleaning and moving, I have fallen behind with a review of this summer's Marvel movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp. As usual, I saw it at the Moray Playhouse but unlike Ant-Man, I hadn't previously fallen in the street and slashed my hand open, so: winning already.
As signalled by its knowing appropriation of the Partridge Family theme, AMATW is a likeable comedy heist movie but, in terms of tone, it didn't feel quite as refreshing as its predecessor. Co-scripter Paul Rudd continues to play Scott Lang as a goof and a bit of a schlub, a watered-down version of Nick Spencer's hapless ex-con.
Evangeline Lilly's Wasp ( really Hope Van Dyne, the Red Queen of the MC2 universe) is, in contrast to Scott, a confident, efficient super-heroine, if a little one-dimensional.
As a fan of Black Goliath, I was disappointed to see Bill Foster (Man of Steel's Perry White, Lawrence Fishburne) portrayed as an antagonist. The Ghost has been imported from Iron Man ( via Captain Atom) because Ant-Man just doesn't have any good villains ( Egghead? Porcupine?!). She also turns out to be more of a victim than a villain. The climax of the film, where Michael Douglas's Hank Pym rescues his lost wife ( Michelle Pfeiffer) in the Quantum Realm. reminded me of Janet Van Dyne's reunion with the Avengers in the final Bendis issues. However, the mid-post-credits scene (sigh) is a ominous tonal shift from that happy ending.
Despite its charm, pace and dazzling use of perspective, there's something a little safe and forgettable about AMATW. I didn't feel that at all when I watched the first season of Iron Fist on dvd.
I came to it with some reservations: in 2016, I had found Daredevil Season One very slow and very violent. IF had also had some very negative reviews. But I found I enjoyed the series very much, even if there was a loss of momentum in the third-and- second- last episodes.
In the days of Marvel UK, more than 40 years ago, I always liked the ostensibly more super-heroic Iron Fist better than Shang-Chi ( although those pricey Moench/Gulacy omnibus editions are on my wish list- they've aged better than Claremont's work). When I last lived in Elgin's East End, I read the collected Immortal Iron Fist by Fraction and Aja and really enjoyed that.
Finn Jones (formerly Jo Grant's grandson Santiago in The Sarah Jane Adventures) plays unworldly space-case Danny Rand, erstwhile Shaolin monk and now grungy billionaire and Living Weapon. Roy Thomas and Gil Kane's origin for Iron Fist blended Lost Horizon and the Golden Age origin of Amazing Man - just as Pete Morisi did with Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt. Netflix extend, invert and reimagine that story, teasing it out so the more outré and fanciful elements ( Himalayan Immortals! Deathless Dragon-Gods!) work more soundly in contrast to the "Martin Guerre" strand of the story.
The reptilian Harold Meachum, his son Ward ( originally Harold's brother in Marvel comics) and daughter Joy are Danny's corporate antagonists and are as dark, damaged and dangerous as those of Iron Fist: the mystical ninja clan, the Hand.
My only complaint would be the romantic relationship with vulnerable urban sensei Colleen Wing isn't as interesting as the unwilling psychic rapport from the comics. The last episode teased the development of Steel Serpent (Sacha Dhawan- at one time, one of my choices for the Thirteenth Doctor) in Season Two but as I don't currently do Netflix, I'm going to backfill my knowledge of the Hand's story with DD Season Two and then Luke Cage, at Xmas, maybe. So, ironically, the series that was most bitched about brought me back to Marvel's Defenders.
While I am gradually moving to trade-waiting only, my current favourite comics are the sublime YA-oriented Ms. Marvel and the miniseries Marvel Rising, which is an animation tie-in. Although I found the extended online gaming sequence in the latest issue ( above) a little overlong, that's because it's not aimed at me. However, its wisecracking tone and emphasis on friendship and teamwork is ideal for my new S1. I particularly like the diverse cast, who represent a variety of ethnicities and sexual identities, with a female majority. If Avengers 4 signals the end of the RDJ/Evans/Hemsworth ensemble, I for one would love to see the Marvel Rising cast on the multiplex screen.
I move house on Wednesday but I also have a hospital appointment the day before ( the realities of becoming an older gentleman). It'll take a while therefore to get organised so that might delay posts on Big Finish's Frankenstein, horror double bills, Conan and Star Trek in print ( which is taking almost as long to get around to as Dan Dare did). We'll see what happens next Saturday...
Coming soon: She was only a Doctor's daughter...
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