Shores of Night

For two comics universes that are in many ways very different, Marvel and DC are actually pretty similar in the teams they have. You have the misfits team, the team that's more like a family, and the big hitters, along with the inevitable teen teams. One group that stands out is the Illuminati, Marvel's think tank of big brains created by Brian Michael Bendis in 2005. He presented a shadow history of very powerful characters taking steps to make sure that the milestone events of the Marvel Universe didn't happen again, interfering in the wake of the Kree/Skrull war and the first Secret Wars. They also shot the Hulk into space so, you know, it's not all good (even if Planet Hulk is an amazing arc and the animated film is very good). Made up of Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Professor X, Namor, Dr. Strange, and Black Bolt, the group represents almost every part of the Marvel Universe (I think only the Eternals are left out) and are almost unarguably the most powerful member...

We all have them, songs we love that, when we see the video, we go WTF is this? Here are five of mine. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Bring It On Three words: gold lame pants. Ick. It's also that this is a Nick Cave video and there are gold lame pants and women who look like they've escaped from an R&B video. Type O Negative: I Don't Want To Be Me I love this song, but the video is creepy and cringeworthy. The Ting Tings: Do It Again The Ting Tings are great, a really fun band, but this video... urgh, it just doesn't work for me. I get the idea of it, deconstructing the pop video but it just looks rubbish to my eye. Lily Allen: Hard Out There This is a song I admire, Allen makes strong points about the music industry but the video, which is obviously meant to be a parody, commits those sins and I fear the message vanishes in the medium. Add to that the racist undertones to the piece and it's almost uncomfortable viewing. Manic S...

Today my country votes on whether or not to stay in the EU. I've voted, but it's a secret ballot so that's all you're getting on that front. The last few weeks have been torturous, as the Leave and Remain camps slugged it out. Sadly the bulk of the campaign seems to have focused on money and immigration. While I get why that's been the case, I also feel that it points to a sad situation, a lack of understanding of current affairs and politics. It's been like watching a group of blind people trying to find a light switch, groping about generally missing the point. I understand that money is important, and that immigration is a concern, but let's get a bit of perspective here. The cost of the EU, per person, boils down to a tiny fraction of GDP, even if we accept the largest number that's been bandied about, and without immigration where the hell would we be as a nation. Closing our border won't bring jobs back, not unless we're willing to b...

Mage the Awakening is a Chronicles of Darkness roleplaying game from Onyx Path Publishing, published under license from White Wolf Publishing. It describes itself as a 'Storytelling Game of Modern Sorcery'. Having recently purchased the second edition (which only came out recently) and wanting to dig deeper into something new, urban fantasy/horror based RPG, I thought I'd take a long, deep swim through its pages and see what's on offer. I should say at this point, that I was a huge fan of Mage: the Ascension and was disappointed with the first edition of Mage: the Awakening. Part of that was what felt like an overly strong focus on Atlantis, something I associate with Hippies and crystal wavers, even though I know that mythical place forms a strong part of the Western Occult Tradition as laid down by the likes of the Rosicrucians and Aleister Crowley. As I'm not a fan, even though it's a fun idea that fits the fiction of evil mages trying to become gods by...