On Saturday 26^th of February, I got free entry into the Cardiff international comic and animation expo, in the Mercure Holland House hotel.  I got free entry thanks to Otakuzoku for helping them in-store in the week and for assisting their vendor in the expo. This was the first convention I was going to cover, and the fact that it was practically in my backyard was an added bonus for my legs and wallet. I’ve kind of made it an unwritten rule of mine to never visit conventions unless they where showcasing something new and exclusive to the convention.  I can flood this feature with a deluge of reasons like the Yangtze Flood of 1935, to why I avoid them.

First you got the fact that most of the concessions for promotional brands are inflated beyond belief, so unless they’re convention exclusive (Such as exclusive action figures, which you can later sell on Ebay for a considerable profit) it’s really worth waiting until such inventory becomes widely available in store or online.

Second you got the fact that these places are usually cramped and humid in which rushing around a lot can make you dehydrated if you don’t have water on you (which I suggest you buy before each convention because again food and drink does really cost here).

And final reason is the unbearably eccentric and devout fans  who “represent” each of the respective franchises on show. Fans such as Weeaboos ( people obsessed with Japanese culture)proselytising those without anime savvy to watch Naruto  or debate on who is the hottest character in Death note, L or Kira.  And not to mention the obligatory Star Wars Stormtrooper troupe for each convention, pelvic thrusting the air in your general direction and making other dancing motions not even fit for the Mos Eisley Bar. I know conventions  are made for people to just have fun and celebrate their favourite works of fiction, but I suppose your mileage may vary.

The Convention itself did have a very diverse selection of comic book fiction, however it was centralised mainly on promoting the work of local artists. A broad spectrum was available for different cliques, provided you knew what you where looking for.

For example a recent comic adaptation of Barry Nugent’s Novel “Fallen angels” was now available, which explored the  strange bedfellow cadre of heroes and anti heroes teaming up together to fight a mysterious evil.  For fans of classic literature, a group called “Classic comics” was also promoting their adaptations of classic literature such as “Great expectations”, retold in a comic book format.

There were also very outlandish titles such as Dr Geof and his amazing “Fetishman” comic which is about a man who is trapped in a restrictive latex suit who fails to fight crime because of this restriction. I failed to see the appeal of this comic, however apparently it has a small following due to its lewd nature.

Probably the biggest element to the convention was the appearance of “Charlie Adlard”, Artist for  “The walking Dead” Comic.  The Basic synopsis sets the Story in a post-apocalyptic world where a small time police officer rallies up several survivors to find a stable home in amongst the zombie-ridden holocaust.  The Comic has already produced a televised spin off, set to air its second season in late October.

The convention even had Welsh comic book Company Dalen books promoting their ventures, which basically set out to translate a selection of comics into welsh, such as Tin Tin and Arthur the Legend. They even had samples of the first few pages their own welsh comic called Derwyddon. My biggest complaint about this however, is that these comics had very niche appeal, and as a more lucrative business venture it might have been wise to include mainstream translations in their repertoire.

There was also a few vendors from local stores around the area, including Forbidden Planet that had a few Dr who memorabilia, and Genki Gear selling t-shirts with Anime motifs and other relatable Memes.  There were also Comic book vendors available, including Otakuzoku’s inventory which, while I’ am attempting not to sound to partial, had a very good selection of Manga ( anime comics) for a wide  spectrum of fans.

There were also a few events such as the Cosplay competition hosted by Otakuzoku which was interesting to say the least when people actually put of effort into their costumes, ( this varied from a meticulously designed Leon costume from the Resident Evil game, to the scant homage of Spiderman, discerned only from his  face-painted mask).

While at the convention I attended two Q&A panels including Matthew Savage who was the concept artist for the recent of Dr who as well as collaborating such films as The Dark knight and Kick-Ass. He discussed his experience working with Christopher Nolan and putting aside his own personal aesthetics into order to meet the desired output wanted by the executives he was working for.  ( for example he had to redesign his initial concept art of the Daleks, which where a homage to the 1960’s design, to something more accessible to a modern audience. )

I also sat in on the Q&A of Paul Cornell’s recent Comic “Knight and Squire” and his collaboration with artist Jimmy Broxton. The comic was an alternate retelling of the Batman franchise set in an anachronistic Britain, intended to be comic that celebrates and alludes to aspects of British culture.    The panel was not as formal as Matthew Savage’s Q&A, and the discussions were often more Light-hearted in nature and anecdotal. For example Jimmy Broxton recounted on the backlash of the in-joke of hiding his name in each panel, which many critics responded to  virulently, approximating it to something similar to tooting your own horn.

Overall my previous aside of rings true here in terms of going to a convention for the right reasons. Unless interested solely in Local comics, or Dr who, there wasn’t really much there to appeal to a wider audience.

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The novel, “Pocket Notebook” is the debut work of Mike Thomas, which has been adapted from Mike’s prior experiences in the police force. This creates a piece of work that is mimetic in its execution and portrays a somewhat unstable police officer’s decline. This decline is precipitated by his jaded outlook; the downfall of his character is because of a dysfunctional upbringing.  The novel is told in a first person account by the police constable Jacob Smith, in which the plot in unravelled by the day to day actives delivered in the form of note taking. This style gives us an informal look into the introspective view of Jacob himself.

The introduction of the book starts off in medias res without any establishment or explanation of what the story is about or what previously took place.  This scene instead displays the interior monologue of the main character Jacob Smith which portrays his feelings towards a car crash. The incident requires his composure, despite the victim being close to death.  In the first scene, Jacob deconstructs the formalities of police work; he is obliged to placate the victim by removing any sense of doubt or worry she might have.  The reader is aware however, in axiom; this girl is going to die.  This one scene represents a realistic account of how a police officer has to maintain a quasi- dignified professional veneer when dealing with situations as drastic as these; Any normal human being would realise that the situation is hopeless; Jacob however must not reveal these feelings to the victim project himself as a authoritative, reassuring figure: “but I still tell her, ‘it’s going to be ok everything’s going to be fine, these people are here to help you now’. I’m lying.”(1)

The scene continues on with medics arriving to assist Jacob, however he is also met with a drunk who causes an altercation by disparaging the police force with comments such as “all Coppers are bastards”(2). Jacob then proceeds to arrest the inebriate however due to his taunting and resistance, whilst mid-arrest, he provokes Jacob to beat him into submission:  “ I don’t know how long I’ve been here or how I even got inside, but I’m in the back of the van with him, in the cage, pummelling the fucker, watching in a detached kind of way  as my fists… land on his scalp” (3)

From this first chapter alone, we gain a good summary of Jacob as a Policeman and his character. He maintains a professional Veneer yet in reality has politically incorrect feelings towards certain things, and when provoked he can be quick to temper reacting with violence. This leads to the conclusion that a lot of his anger is very repressed. In places the book is written in a style that feels very realistic which is reinforced with the use of police jargon and modern day colloquialism due to the fact that the author’s original occupation was a full time police officer.

Mike’s real life experiences as a police officer resonate very strongly in this, and he uses this knowledge to create a believable setting.  He uses procedures as a police officer to create a very convincing and somewhat palpable universe in the book even if elements are exaggerated. However there are only a few instances that may cause scepticism, and generally the prose grounds itself by setting the story in reality, that is exacted by how the main character keeps account on every small detail of his day to day life despite how seemingly irrelevant these details are to the main plot. Because of this, the more ridiculous segments of the book cause a convincing suspension of disbelief.  Mike seems to understand the subscription of a modern day reader, and respects the reader‘s intelligence.

Mike also displays a cultured background in media and fiction, which is apparent from how he references this culture. For example on occasions Jacob quoting memorable films such as ‘Apocalypse Now’. It is obvious that these luminaries of art, literature and film have also influenced Mike’s style of writing. The most noticeable influence is shown to the reader before the story has begun, on front cover of the main copy of the book; a police officer with an iconic painted eyelash around one eye. This is an allusion to the novel and film, “A Clockwork Orange” in which the main character, Alex DeLarge has drawn an enlarged black eyelash on his eye. While “never judge a book by its cover” is usually the most prominent adage most critics of prose adhere to, the cover gives a pretty accurate tableau of the main character’s exploits and themes presented in the book.

What is noted when reading the novel however is how Mike integrates real life work elements, such as the judicial system, and in a sense parodies the dreary obligatory processes of this system through Jacob’s caustic opinions. These observations seem so implicit of an esoteric outlook inside the system that they are convincingly delivered as if they were real opinions of a police officer, “The crown prosecution service. The CPS. Crap Police solicitors. Can’t Prosecute, Sorry. Criminal Protection Service.” (4).  These seemingly invented acronyms  adopted from official real life aspects of the criminal justice system, display acerbic reservations in how certain procedures inside of police work are ineffectual.  The way some of these opinions almost seem tacit to how a real clique of police officers feel towards elements of the criminal justice system , at times makes the reader wonder if the text itself  displays a satirical tongue in cheek commentary of the way the system really works. The reader may also contemplate on whether the comments made in this work, in places, mirrors the writer’s personal feelings towards his work and the inner mechanic of the police service. Henry Sutton of the Ticket argues:

“in many ways he’s come up with a cracker of a read. It’s just that you can’t help feeling there’s almost too much truth in the tale, which either attests to his great imagination and literary skills, or his worryingly acute observational powers”(5)

While there are many evident strengths in the writing, there are some weaker elements to the plot. The police jargon and acronyms used are generally quite understandable with a basic knowledge of the terms used. However there are some usages that seem overly esoteric, and at times  feel heavily laden.

In addition to this there is a significant scene in the beginning of the novel, where Jacob and his wife Karen have a big altercation in Frankie’s party. We learn that he has said something untoward to his wife which leads to Karen’s silence towards Jacob. This obviously indicates that what he said was very insulting.  Despite Karen’s unremitting stubbornness, the impression on the reader is that this is a build up to a climactic scene, indicating that Karen might reveal what he said, which would shock the reader greatly. However this never comes to pass, and we never learn what he has said.

In addition to this, the end scenes are meant, in a sense, to be a form of catharsis for Jacob. This becomes the only somewhat unconvincing element of the book, mainly because of how little build up there is towards these climaxes. There are very few, if nonexistent previous hints or call-back scenes in the previous chapters of the novel which leave breadcrumbs to hint to the ending. This leaves the end result of the novel to feel rushed and somewhat shoehorned.

There is also a scene where Jacob is lent six thousand pounds by his best friend, Frankie, in order to pay a debt to a drug dealer. However in light of the fact that Mel, Frankie’s wife, has previous confrontations with Jacob, it is hard to believe that Mel would condone Frankie lending Jacob the said amount. Even with Frankie persuading Mel the money for something else, Jacob’s history or near malfeasance in the force would give logical mind the impression that the money is not being used by Jacob for legitimate practises.

To conclude while the ending of the book may skim over some explanations, the overall prose itself is very well written, entertaining and engaging in a way that displays great promise for Mike Thomas. As his first piece of work, this shows potential and ability that is very scarce in the majority of contemporary literature of this recent decade, and “Pocket Notebook” presents itself as a good foundation for Mike to develop his writing style further.

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Eikichi Onizuka is a 22 year old ex-member of the Onibaku street gang of Shonan, looking to turn over a new leaf, left in the dust of the success of his previous gang members and best friend Ryuji, who have all moved on with their lives.

Therefore he decides that finding the perfect gravy train of a job will suffice, and what is an easier occupation than becoming a teacher: easy pay, frequent holidays off term and of course the over exposure of young  impressionable 16 -18 year old female students  just waiting to be taught the finer elements of extracurricular activities.

That of course is until he applies for a position in Holy Forest academy, and witnesses first-hand the dismissive attitude of teachers towards students. And something clicks, perhaps something reminiscent of his student life, and after a mild altercation showing discontent at how verbal abuse can scar would-be achievers, The Director of Holy Forest academy Ryoko Sakurai decides to offer him a job. This is where Onizuka is put to the test given authority over the most problematic class of the school, and here is where we see him really shine.

Not that he’s a very competent teacher, he barely graduated from a third rate college, cannot teach curriculum that even he finds mind-numbingly boring,  and half the time his students know more about the subject matter than he does.  Despite this, he is the greatest teacher Holy Forest has ever had, because he can teach the only lesson, school academia can never fully enrich in the students’ lives; and that is the lesson of growing up.

The students of Holy forest, having previously suffered a trauma involving misplaced trust in a scofflaw teacher, have developed the consensus that adults are all transgressors, and that once you get close to someone, they will inevitably hurt you. But not Onizuka, he vies to win back his wayward students by any means necessary , with his own brand of street-wise tutoring, attributed from the experience of his own personal school of hard knocks,  where much needed role-models  was absent in his own former years.

This is what earns him his respect, by never backing down when things get rough, which many of the previous role-models have done without ever looking back. He never maintains an authoritarian bravado like his previous counterparts as a means to create a barrier between their personal lives and the problems of their students, and he is always there when his students need him the most.

All in all Great teacher Onizuka is an enthralling experience that is very rare in anime and even in television shows themselves, and even without a foreknowledge or appreciation for Japanese animation in its entirety, it’s really worth tracking this anime down to watch yourself. While elements of the show may be slightly effusive, the themes, delivery and plot in themselves, delineate this anime as a rare breed of television show that probably won’t be seen in the near future.

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With Charlie Brooker’s newest television show Black Mirror being released on DVD on the 27th of February, I decided to take it upon myself to look back through his roots as a game journalist. While his earlier pieces did maintain the no holds barred style with which he is most associated, they did not quite catch Brooker at his most refined. While the prank calls and infamous Cruelty Zoo column depicting children disembowelling animals are ashamedly funny, reviewing that stage of his career may turn into a backhanded compliment for the older and more highbrow of readers; discerning this depiction of Charlie as being a rebel without a cause.

This is where I decided to pick up Dawn of the Dumb, a book that comprises of all of Charlie’s Guardian columns between late 2004 and early 2007. This is in a similar style to his earlier piece called Screen Burn and his later piece The Hell of it All. The whole concept of the book is to serve as a collected archive of old columns, each serving as a weekly summary of noteworthy television programs within that week. Charlie attempts to defuse the popularity surrounding each show by deconstructing the bad elements of what is admittedly shallow viewing.

The overarching mood of the columns is of a negative hue with rare praise of any of the better aspects of programming schedules, which seems slightly biased. However considering the cornucopia of flaky programming that is readily available on television, it’s hard not to validate Charlie’s cynicism.

While the intention of each column is purely for comical effect, Charlie’s insight into the cynical production process of television heightens some of his observations into satirical wit. Amongst some of his more purposely scathing comments, lies some underlining intellect and perceptiveness. Charlie seems to show a level of investment in his analysis as well as the boldness to delve into some very uncomfortable and ugly aspects of the mechanics of television itself.

One of his most notable criticisms would be of celebrities claiming a level of authority and eruditeness on a subject area quite out of their depth such as when Paul McKenna claimed he could cure a blind patient or Jamie Oliver’s campaign to nationally reduce the weight of children aroundBritain.

Though almost all of the articles are very well written there are a few pieces that feel slightly slapdash. For example the article  where he takes a sore throat and turns it into a diatribe on the existence of God, while still reasonably well-written, was obviously done to fill his article with a last minute piece. There also seems to be a high focus on reality television, rarely picking fictional programs as a point of criticism.

Despite a few shortcomings, Charlie Brooker critical observations on the current state of television, are fairly well informed and accurately dissects the current trends in a  very celebrity-centric culture.

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Being a dye in the wool cyberpunk fan, I thought of reviewing a piece of fiction that may potentially convert the many groups of naysayers turned off by technobabble. It is a bit of a sweeping statement to suggest that all novelised cyberpunk fiction are always very dense in concept, but quite often the narrative and wordplay, seems to get plunked rather frustratingly on the bench as oversights to make room for the ideas delivered.

While reading the first few chapters I was hoping Snow Crash would break the mould in terms of accessibility and for the first forty pages, this piece seemed like a decent gateway for onlookers to take an interest in cyberpunk. The action and narrative was smooth to begin with, and written in a manner that seemed engaging for different types of readers. However this positive  soon starts to  fall by the wayside.

Snow Crash is about a Hacker called Hiro Protagonist, a now prodigal hacker and programmer whose pizza delivery role gives him a semi-covert guide to indulge in other pursuits. Pursuits that consist of the virtual online world called the Metaverse, which allows him to associate with other hackers. However while meeting up his old acquaintance Juanita, he stumbles across a weird new virtual drug called Snow Crash that purports to affect the user outside of the Metaverse as well as in. Observing this drug affect a fellow hacker first hand, draws him into the underbelly of the Metaverse, and into a sinister plot that threatens not only the Metaverse but the real world existing outside it.

The concepts provide a surfeit of food for thought, how the plot proves to be bloated at times. You’ll be so hard-pressed to be  quite attentive, and  it might feel too tasking a book to overcome without a few breaks within several sittings, with perhaps most giving up entirely, searching for a lighter read. However if you’re willing to invest the time and brainpower to follow the narrative even in its clunker moments, then it is a rewarding read.

The cyberpunk verbiage is probably the biggest criticism of this novel, particularly with its author’s obsession to create coined terms and portmanteaus in order to give his hypothetical future more gravitas. This wouldn’t be a problem if a glossary of terms was available inside the novel, however there does not seem to be a readily available edition that contains such a glossary. Despite this casual readers will be able to understand the broader elements of what is occurring in the main story.

In summary, cyberpunk has a bad reputation for isolating casual readerships outside of an established fan base already esoteric and plugged in to the ideas, terminology and concepts, and unfortunately with Snow Crash this is no different. It’s still a very good addition to the genre and I would recommend it for those interested. However for the uninitiated; you might want to return to your box sets of The Matrix if you’re looking for cyberpunk that’s easy to digest.

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