Batman: Hush

I finally got around to reading this two volume story arc, which was the big event of 2003, it’s been sitting on my shelf for a while. I had high hopes, most of the reviews on Amazon are very positive.

Everything seems to be going for it, two great talents, Jeph Loeb (Superman) and Jim Lee (XMen), and the introduction of a new villain into the Bat universe.

Jim Lee’s art is beautiful, every page, the characters jump out at you, big bold colour, not like the usual stuff I read which are much more, erm, arty, I guess.

However, this is not like other stuff I read, and I think that is why I am disappointed.

It’s like a big summer blockbuster movie, looks amazing and has everything going for it; big and brash set pieces, a story that twists all over the place, enough super heroes and foes to fill a whole library, etc... It is all just a bit hollow. You can leave you brain at the front cover and enjoy what you see, just don’t expect to be recounting it in the future.

It’s worth reading for the art, it really is that wonderful, but if you want killer story and dialogue you will come away disappointed.

Meh! Rating 5/10

Windows Home Server, Part 1 The Build

After living the last year with my ZyXEL NSA-220 NAS, the time has come to move up to the next level. This unit is great. I have not had one issue with it. It has just sat there on my desk purring away, being backed up to every day.

The NAS is all well and good with its RAID 1 and largish capacity, but I need more control and more expandability.

Welcome to the world of Microsoft Home Server:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx

So, as is customary in these circumstances, I have spent way too much time researching kit and confusing myself further.

I ruled out buying a commercial product (like the HP ex485 and ex487) since they don’t allow me to customise (read tinker) enough.

Also, I already had some serviceable parts lying around so I could save money by building my own.

After great deliberation, I narrowed down my required components to these:

Motherboard – M2N-VM HDMI -Something relatively cheap but reliable, low powered and able to work with the CPU I chose (see below). Asus have a good reputation price vs performance, especially in the mATX arena. . I wanted at least 4 SATA ports, onboard video and HDMI out (just in case this is a terrible disaster I can re-commission everything as a HTPC).

Processor - AMD Athlon X2 5050e - Needed something relatively cheap, low powered and reliable, noise is an issue, this box will be on 24/7 so the cpu has to be able to cope with this and not rack up a huge electricity bill.

Case – CoolerMaster Elite 340 – It had to me mATX form factor, it had to be able to cope with the current spec and be able to expand later as my needs grew, and it had to be a company I know. (And of course cheap! (ish)). The version I got also came with a CoolerMaster psu unit.

So that was it, all I needed to build

All parts were sourced from scan.co.uk – who, as always, gave a great, quick service.

Added to the above I already had 2x Samsung 750gb SATA drives, 2 x Kingston 1gb Ram sticks , and an external USB DVD drive to install the OS.

I put this all together this evening fired it up and it worked first time...woohoo.

Now I just have to wait for the postman to bring the software.

BTW, the cheapest place I could find to by the OS is Novatech.

I also have to decide how I am going to configure the drives; RAID or just let the OS decide, shall I put a smaller SATA drive in just for the OS or just the two 750gb and leave room for later expansion...

Decision, decisions...

Superman: Red Son

I don’t really like ready Superman graphic novels. He is not one of my favourite characters. I just struggle to connect with a ‘super’ man who is seemingly indestructible.

However I really do like alternate versions of super-hero stories especially those that add the extra excitement of alternate-reality versions of real, famous figures.

Red Son is a series is split into three parts and spans roughly 1950-2000, with a future set epilogue.

What if they young baby from that dying planet landed on earth 12 hours earlier? Instead of landing in the good old US of A, he instead landed in communist Russia and was taken under the wing of Stalin himself.

How would the cold war have changed? This and other interesting questions are covered in this TPB.

It really is a great read. I enjoyed every page, the art is very good, the story engrossing and the plot twists and turns all over the place.

There are several cameos from other super heroes / villains, all with a slightly different slant on them.

Highly recommended.

Meh! Rating 7/10

If you like this kind of thing, I really recommend the character Hyperion, from the Marvel series Squadron Supreme (Supreme Power). This alternative take on the ‘Superman’ stories has the super child falling into the hands of the US military, rather than a loving farm base couple.

Punisher War Zone - I still have tears in my eyes.

This evening I have had my heart ripped out and handed back to me all soggy and limp.

Growing up, Punisher was my favourite Marvel Comic’s character. I loved the premise; he was no super mutant, just a regular guy pushed over the edge with a huge arsenal at his disposal.

Three times I have now had my hopes raised by Hollywood; three times they have been dashed.

First there was the camp Dolph Lundgren version in 1989. After that flopped we were given the troubled Thomas Jane version in 2004. Now, we have this 80’s violent action film throwback. The phrase 3^rd time lucky is not one we can use here!

Let’s start with the positives, it won’t take long.

There is a lot of well choreographed, over the top, violence.

..and erm, that’s about it.

Negative? Well let’s keep this short; I still have a bad taste in my mouth.

There is a lot of well choreographed, over the top, completely unbelievable, violence.

The acting was more wooden than a wooden spoon convention in the middle of a wood on hug a tree day.

The story was more limp than a soggy newspaper a fed up delivery boy has tried to push through a stiff letterbox on a wet Sunday morning.

Agghhh, it is no good, I can’t write anymore, it is too upsetting for me. At least my other favourite character from my childhood (and still now) is being looked after (apart from Christian Bales gruff gravelly voice – what is it with that?)

Meh! Rating: 2/10

Blowing the dust off the PS3

Recently I have really been getting back into my PS3.

For months it has sat there under my TV mocking me.

If I want to game I use one of my Xbox 360s, if I want to stream video I use my Popcorn hour, you get the idea...

It all started when my youngest was driving me mad one miserable Sunday afternoon.

I did not want him to touch the 360 because he might break it. I know, I thought; let him play on the PS3. No big deal if an accident should happen.

So we started working through my PSN purchases.

Remember he is only 2 years old, but he loved it. Wipeout HD (which he calls RACING! – yes he shouts), Burnout (bikes!!), Super rub a dub (DUCKS!!!) etc...

He can’t get enough of them, and when he gets stuck, or leaves the room, I pick up the controller.

And when he has had enough, I carry on playing. I have just done 2 hours on Wipeout. As a father of 3 (including a newborn) the thought of spending 2 hours playing any game in an afternoon was unthinkable even up to yesterday.

I really am enjoying it. It is a very different experience to the 360. Here I mainly seem to play big, loud first person shooters.

On the PS3 it just seems more sedate. The console itself is much, much, much quieter for a start. I have even started to stream from it. Well, it’s on, why bother changing inputs.

(You must try: http://ps3mediaserver.blogspot.com/)

I am also playing a different range of games on the PS3, driving, puzzle, family.

But there are some big exclusives coming up... who knows, it’s been a while since I gamed on my 360, at this rate it might be a while longer until I do again.

Ok, now off to start Kung Fu Panda for the kids – on the Xbox 360, hey, if they break it, it’s no biggy.