Well, it was bound to happen. DC is hard at work producing a range of Watchmen- related comics. I can just imagine Alan Moore sitting in a pentagram over the dead body of a sacrificed toad and screaming spells and curses against the DC CEOs (OK, cheap joke). The various mini- series will be called Before Watchmen and they will be prequel stories set in the Watchmen universe. Details:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/books/dc-comics-plans-prequels-to-watchmen-series.html?_r=3&adxnnl=1&ref=arts&adxnnlx=1328270417-MQdxT/op82SG6x5MvPhpKQ 

● RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo
● MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
● COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones
● DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes
● NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert
● OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee
● SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner

Anyone who has any knowledge of comics can see that there is a huge talent pool here. Everyone involved with the project is an accomplished artist or writer. And yet, I am almost speechless with the bottomless stupidity of the whole project.

I am not an Alan Moore fanboy. Watchmen is indeed a masterpiece but it’s not necessarily the best comic of all time. Hell, I’d argue that it isn’t even the best thing Alan Moore has ever done. Moore believed that the whole thing couldn’t even be translated into film and I think he was wrong about that (although I wish it was Terry Gilliam or Darren Aronofski that got to do it and not Zack Snyder).

I am not going to comment on the ethical issues arising with the idea of continuing a story against the explicit wishes of the original creator. DC has the rights to the property of course, but, as a reader, I have the right to demand respect or to not buy their product. Watchmen was a perfectly contained story with a beginning and an end and that’s something that DC seems incapable of grasping. Continuing the story now, more than 20 years after the thing was concluded is idiotic beyond belief and smacks of, shall we say, “financial” considerations and not artistic ones. It’s a prime example of MISSING THE POINT. The mainstream comics industry (that is, Marvel and DC) needs to stop pestering us with stupid sequels, prequels, events and crossovers and learn again the concept of innovation.They don’t need a new Watchmen, they need a new Alan Moore.

Lets leave the last word on the man himself, commenting on the news:

” I tend to take this latest development as a kind of eager confirmation that they are still apparently dependent on ideas that I had 25 years ago.”  

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

We haven’t been paying much attention to the global hacker collective known as Anonymous. Lately, they seemed to be making some threats that were either outlandish or pointless. Shut down Facebook? Who gives a fuck (did the Timeline feature piss them off that much?). What next? Carving Julian Assange’s face on the moon? It all seemed a bit, well, irrelevant.

Wrong. Anonymous posted a protest video on Greece’s Ministry of Justice web site yesterday. The site of course was taken offline until it was secure. The hackers said they were protesting against the country’s bailout by the EU and the IMF which has been associated with unpopular austerity policies, along with the fact that our Government signed the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) treaty.

“You have joined the IMF against your people’s acquiescence… democracy was given birth in your country but you have killed it,” said a two-minute video that you can watch in full below.

And we say excellent! Greece has been Governed by idiots and crooks for too long and we are now paying for it. Our current Government is not elected. Far- right hate crime is on the rise. Businesses are closing down. People aren’t safe in their own homes. Politicians are attacked on the streets. People are scavenging the garbage bins in the center of Athens. Pensions are slashed. Suicides are up by 30%. Unemployment is the norm. People are very very angry and- while this anger can be creative- it can also lead to horrifying results, which is why an eloquent act of dissent like this is important.

These days, we have the fortune or misfortune to live in are considered troubled days. I remember when I watched “Johnny Mnemonic” or “The Matrix” or “V For Vendetta” years ago – I was thinking …what tha fuck, if things like this happen in the future it means that our society and all this vanity world we live in, has simply failed … and now that we have actually failed, “V For Vendetta” suddenly transformed into something more than just a movie or a comic book and Alan Moore isn’t just another comic writer but a prophet.

hm, reading comic’s isn’t a so naive entertainment after all!!!

Anonymous stated that their next target will be Greece’s famously propagandistic media. Frankly, we can’t wait. Our friend Mihaliz has all the details in his blog:

http://whitetrashsoul.blogspot.com/2012/02/ministry-of-justice-in-greece-hacked-by.html

-manoc- & (-Dimitris Kontogiannis-) on behalf of the Crows ‘n’ Bones Team

PS: UPDATE: It now appears that the hacking was the work, not of Anonymous, but of Greek hackers in solidarity with them. The plot thickens…

watch the video:

Art by Alex Pardee

Alex Pardee is a freelance artist, apparel designer, and a writer born in the US. He is best known for illustrating The Used’s album “artwork”. He has also done works for Hurley International, Twenty Twenty Skateboards, Bay Area rapper TopR and In Flames’s “A Sense of Purpose” and “The Mirror’s Truth”.

you can check more of his work at:  Eyesuckink

-manoc-

From the This Is Fucking Priceless! Department: Fox News is now attacking The Muppets. Seriously. Fox Business Network “television personality” Eric Bolling suggested that the new Muppet movie carries an insidious anti- capitalist message to the children. I don’t know whose idea was this. Perhaps Bolling is more of a Fraggle Rock fan. Or perhaps Fox thought that bullying fictitious stuffed animals would be easier than debating an actual person like, say, Barrack Obama.

Unfortunately for Fox News, The Muppets decided to respond to the allegations. They held a press conference (I am still serious by the way) and eloquently demolished their opponents’ arguments. It must be difficult to retain credibility when you have been outclassed by a felt frog. So, Fox once again is shown up to be a collection of bottom- feeding, McCarthyite clowns. Thanks for the entertainment miss Piggy:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/53103

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

Rock legend, American Idol judge and occasional Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is releasing his autobiography Does the Noise in my Head Bother You? According to a recent Vanity Fair article, one of the most interesting revelations in the book was his flirtation with Aleister Crowley’s occult teachings. I bet his mate Jimmy Page will be proud. Specifically, Tyler has practiced sex magick with various girls, in an attempt to “achieve wider goals”:

http://ac2012.com/2011/05/22/thanks-steven-tyler/

Crowley was unavailable for comment. Anyway, somehow Steven Tyler always comes across as adorable, no matter what he blathers on about in the press (although perhaps Joe Perry would dissagree). Still, the comparison is inevitable. The old Tyler was a sex- obsessed junkie who recorded kick- ass albums, snorted Bolivia and performed sex rituals for the hell of it. The new Tyler is a sex- obsessed elder statesman who is on American Idol with J- Lo and Randy the session guy. If that’s not proof that drugs are good for you, I don’t know what is.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

It’s no secret that the British have a tradition for excellent horror movies that deal with witches, Pagan beliefs, human sacrifice and other charming subjects. City of the Dead (a.k.a Horror Hotel) is an atmospheric early entry in the genre. Made in 1960 and starring a typically sinister Christopher Lee, City of the Dead involves the Satanic shennanigans of a reincarnated witch (unsurprisingly these include the sacrifice of virgins). It was produced by Milton Subotsky and is widely considered to be the first Amicus film. It’s a fun movie in gorgeous black and white and now it’s getting remade:

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/165247-1960s-horror-hotel-with-christopher-lee-is-getting-remade#.TyLjfR1TsaQ.facebook

I don’t know what to think about this. I like the original movie a lot but it’s no masterpiece. Like the similarly- themed Night of the Eagle (a.k.a Burn Witch Burn) and Eye of the Devil it looks fantastic, but the rather ordinary script stops it from being truly great. Still, it has clearly influenced latter films like The Wicker Man and many punk and metal bands have been inspired by it (including the Misfits, Iron Maiden, King Diamond and Rob Zombie). I kinda like the poster for the new version, but I remain sceptical.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

After various line- up changes, Belgium’s Serpentcult are back as a trio with a fascinatingly  idiosyncratic album. It’s not easy to describe the music of Raised by Wolves. It’s only four songs stretched to 40 minutes and the sound is stripped- down, funereal and moody. I guess you could call them doom, but these songs tend to unfold from groovy to ethereal. In fact, as the album progresses, the band conjures up an introspective, almost Pagan vibe, before expanding into a grandiose, cosmic feel, which reminded me a bit of latter- day Amebix. Raised by Wolves is a rewarding, mysterious album, perfect for these dark Winter nights.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

And it’s goodbye for Nicol Williamson. One of my all- time favourite actors, he blazed a trail on stage and screen and was a great Sherlock Holmes in The Seven- per- Cent Solution and a wonderfully conniving Little John in Robin and Marian (with Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn and Robert Shaw). After his appearance in John Boorman’s Excalibur though, he simply IS Merlin. They truly don’t make them like this anymore. All together now: “Anaal nathrak, uthvas bethud, do che-ol di-enve“.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16727853

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

I’m not much of a Lamb Of God fan. I mean, they ‘re alright, but I ‘m too old for that modern American metal sound that the kids like. Still, a good band is a good band and I hear their are awesome live. Their new album is called Resolution and you can hear it here:

http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds#/3

What got my attention though, was the video for their song Ghost Walking. the band teamed up with the animators of Adult Swim to create an animated dystopian science fiction story and it looks fantastic. Check it out:

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

alex_gross Jozaikai

Alex Gross is a visual artist with a specialization in oil paintings on canvas. He graduated in 1990 from Art Center College of Design, in Pasadena, California. Since then, he has become established as an artist in the Pop Surrealism movement while his themes are dealing with globalization, commerce, dark mayhem and religion.

www.alexgross.com

-manoc-