This is the card sent to me by Benjamin K that I discuss in this week’s podcast:
And the back:
Remember if you dig my stuff and wouldn’t mind seeing semi-daily journal entries which include sneak peeks, behind the scenes and first looks then head over to Patreon and subscribe for as little as $1 (US) a month.
I’ve been putting off watching Joker.
I wasn’t a fan of the inked up Leto Joker, though I also feel he didn’t get a fair go at the role. I’ve been hovering just out of the current Batman ongoing comics, and I’ve noted a particularly nasty streak from what I have seen.
Yes, I know, how old do I sound?
The Killing Joke, of course, pushed the boundaries and stood out as an essential Joker / Batman / Gordon story. But it was a standout because it was out of the normal. It pushed things, maybe a little far, but that was fine because the shock of the story was due to the uniqueness.
I remember the follow-up Joker story which reflected on how things had changed because that story was so savage (it was an excellent comic with an even better cover by Norm Breyfogle).
So with the Joker in the comics becoming harder-edged and the Suicide Squad Joker following this pattern I didn’t feel like seeing another “realistic” depiction. Heath Ledger’s Joker was brilliant, but it was still sat very much in these fantastic comic book films.
Joker promised something different, a serious depiction of a comic book character and with the state of the world and my life (LOL) I wasn’t interested in that bleakness.
Then the whole toxic masculinity conversation swirled around it, and the appeal dropped even further.
But it’s a comic book movie.
So I’m obliged to check it out, and Friday night that’s what I did. Tracey reluctantly agreed to watch it with me (she’s more than over comic book movies by this stage), she was particularly wary as I burned up a lot of goodwill watching the last two Star Wars films.
I can’t praise the film more.
It was one of the most effectively depicted origin stories I’ve ever seen, with any number of Joker depictions being the result of this very logical and realistic path. There are hints of Romero, Nicholson and Ledger in the film and while we know the 89 Joker’s origin story, you could easily swap it out for this one.
The added joy to this film is that it ties into the Batman mythology which I wasn’t quite expecting.
Joker certainly knows what has worked in the past for these characters and leans heavily on the aesthetic of The Dark Knight. Joaquin Phoenix is phenomenal the whole cast is, but he is embodying the role.
The music is perfect and marries up well with iconic scenes.
The editing and pacing are exceptional as the story heads towards the eventual ending and we are left with the beginnings of a universe we know well and, for me at least, would love to revisit.
I reject the premise that Joker is to be celebrated by toxic masculinity as a hero or some justification of how the world has treated them. If that’s what you take from this story then you were probably going to imprint that reasoning on almost any storyline, maybe if more pretty girls chatted to Hannibal Lecter on the train, then he wouldn’t have had to go around eating people’s livers.
The Joker’s story is indeed tragic, but then you could say that so was Charles Manson’s childhood, but it doesn’t make what he became less horrific or vile.
Joker is a beautifully made film, and I’m so glad I eventually got around to seeing it.
I hate Section 31.
There’s a bunch of reasons why I don’t like it, probably an equal number of reasons why someone else loves Section 31 so lets not get into that circular argument.
And here’s the episode that kicked it all off the Season 6 Deep Space Nine episode Inquisition.
I was pretty unhappy when I read this was the next random Trek and wasn’t 100% sure if I was going to watch it, but then my excuse of not having the time fell apart as I missed last week altogether. So I popped it on and actually enjoyed it.
LOL, I was about to launch into a Section 31 rant again, it’s a hard thing not to do.
It was interesting as the I already knew what was happening but I liked how there were just little bits and pieces that were off, especially from the rest of the cast. I think the pacing of the story is really good and it all unfolds quite well.
Surely though there are more suspect people in Starfleet than Julian and I wonder if the suspicion itself was also a ruse just to test him. I mean there’s probably some Admirals out there that need a little closer inspection.
A young Vulcan named Oh????
This is part of the Random Trek Tuesday. I have gathered together EVERY episode of Star Trek, every season, every series and every film except for Star Trek Picard and put them into a big spreadsheet. Every week I let the randomiser pick one episode out which I’ll watch and then draw a scene from. You’ll find the original over on the Lee Draws Stuff shop immediately after publishing here on a Tuesday night (unless already sold).
Remember if you dig my stuff and wouldn’t mind seeing semi-daily journal entries which include sneak peeks, behind the scenes and first looks then head over to Patreon and subscribe for as little as $1 (US) a month.
In this podcast, I discuss the differences between the season one and season two VHS covers for Star Trek The Next Generation.
I had it pointed out on Patreon that I’d missed Wesley Crusher’s change while listing them out and I indeed completely overlooked the update!
I’d love to hear your thoughts; you can leave a comment here or head over to Twitter.
I was excited when this one came up because I just listened to the Delta Flyers podcast about this episode!
It’s a solid early episode of Voyager and I really wanted to capture the shift into the past so I could do both colour schemes.
This is part of the Random Trek Tuesday. I have gathered together EVERY episode of Star Trek, every season, every series and every film except for Star Trek Picard and put them into a big spreadsheet. Every week I let the randomiser pick one episode out which I’ll watch and then draw a scene from. You’ll find the original over on the Lee Draws Stuff shop immediately after publishing here on a Tuesday night (unless already sold).
Remember if you dig my stuff and wouldn’t mind seeing semi-daily journal entries which include sneak peeks, behind the scenes and first looks then head over to Patreon and subscribe for as little as $1 (US) a month.
This week’s Random Trek is late because I’ve got a floater in my eye that has chosen now to make its presence very known. It’s very slowly drifting out of focus and I’m getting used to it but it was unsettling on the first day,
This week’s random Trek episode though is finally a Voyager one, the Season 5 opener “Night“.
And for a ship in a bottle episode it’s a surprising cracker of an episode. Chakotay has a lot of solid work to do in this episode which makes for a pleasant change. In fact everyone gets to shine a bit.
We also get introduced to two new species as well as a classic Star Trek moral dilemma. Also the crew all mutiny and I hope that Janeway court martials the lot of them when they get back to the alpha quadrant.
Hard to pick a specific visually appealing scene to draw (I’ve drawn the opening scenes in black and white a lot so I wrote that off).
I just really enjoyed Chakotay in this episode and his order to Seven of Nine for some good news is a great example of what kind of Starfleet Captain he would make.
This is part of the Random Trek Tuesday. I have gathered together EVERY episode of Star Trek, every season, every series and every film except for Star Trek Picard and put them into a big spreadsheet. Every week I let the randomiser pick one episode out which I’ll watch and then draw a scene from. You’ll find the original over on the Lee Draws Stuff shop immediately after publishing here on a Tuesday night (unless already sold).
Remember if you dig my stuff and wouldn’t mind seeing semi-daily journal entries which include sneak peeks, behind the scenes and first looks then head over to Patreon and subscribe for as little as $1 (US) a month.
I’ve only briefly played Resident Evil the game.
I don’t do horror games, I don’t have the right temperament for it. So all I knew about Resident Evil when I first saw it was that it was based on a video game, it was a horror franchise and there were either zombies or mutants.
I watched the first one and actually really enjoyed the trashiness of it, which I mean in the nicest possible way of course. Then as the films got bigger and arguably sillier (or is that just more fun) the franchise earned a spot in my heart. I love that they keep doing them.
This is part of the 366 Characters from 366 Films project running throughout 2020. The original illustrations go on sale over on the Lee Draws Stuff store the same day (around 9:00 am Brisbane time) and are available until someone snaps it up.
Remember if you dig my stuff and wouldn’t mind seeing semi-daily journal entries which include sneak peeks, behind the scenes and first looks then head over to Patreon and subscribe for as little as $1 (US) a month.
Not two weeks ago I was saying how little I enjoy Grand Negus episodes and yet here we are with the randomness of the universe dropping another Negus episode in my lap.
But, like all the random episodes I gave it a proper watch and I have to say.
I really enjoyed it!
It was clever, there was a little slice of life b story in Doctor Bashir being nominated for an award that he secretly gets his hopes up despite the odds being firmly against him. It’s a nice character piece especially between him and Dax. I like seeing some of the more “office” like stories.
But the Negus being influenced by the Wormhole Aliens is quite clever and enjoyable. When Rom is reading the new rules out and poor Quark starts to get dizzy, it’s quite delightful.
The best scenes though are Quark’s promise to the Prophets that no Ferengi will bother them again.
It’s just a really fun episode.
This is part of the Random Trek Tuesday. I have gathered together EVERY episode of Star Trek, every season, every series and every film except for Star Trek Picard and put them into a big spreadsheet. Every week I let the randomiser pick one episode out which I’ll watch and then draw a scene from. You’ll find the original over on the Lee Draws Stuff shop immediately after publishing here on a Tuesday night (unless already sold).
Remember if you dig my stuff and wouldn’t mind seeing semi-daily journal entries which include sneak peeks, behind the scenes and first looks then head over to Patreon and subscribe for as little as $1 (US) a month.
Before anyone starts I know how to spell Raiden but the film spells it Rayden.
I don’t know why they would do this but here we are.
This is part of the 366 Characters from 366 Films project running throughout 2020. The original illustrations go on sale over on the Lee Draws Stuff store the same day (around 9:00 am Brisbane time) and are available until someone snaps it up.
Remember if you dig my stuff and wouldn’t mind seeing semi-daily journal entries which include sneak peeks, behind the scenes and first looks then head over to Patreon and subscribe for as little as $1 (US) a month.
Yes this installment has been a long time coming, in fact I inked this weeks ago! I just needed a break from the 366 Project whilst things settle into a routine. I will get the 366 done by the end of the year as planned though!
I love Gamora and this scene in Guardians 2 was just beautiful so it was hard to pass it up and what a great movie to return with!
This is part of the 366 Characters from 366 Films project running throughout 2020. The original illustrations go on sale over on the Lee Draws Stuff store the same day (around 9:00 am Brisbane time) and are available until someone snaps it up.
Remember if you dig my stuff and wouldn’t mind seeing semi-daily journal entries which include sneak peeks, behind the scenes and first looks then head over to Patreon and subscribe for as little as $1 (US) a month.