Obama: still cool

The only Prime Minister I can imagine doing this:



in recent years is Tony Blair. And he wouldn't be slightly shy yet effortlessly cool, he'd be grinning and smug and embarrassingly bad. I mean, Ted Heath could conduct, and I can imagine Wilson doing something with a brass band, but singing with BB King and Jeff Beck? C'mon, that's just awesome.

I'm sure there are policy reasons to disagree with Obama, and I'm sure there are reasons his supporters are disappointed in some of the stuff he's not done, but you've got to admit, the man has style. And yeah, I would.

Comics and things: Update

• 2000AD is 35! Yay! Happy birthday 2000AD. Stay Awesome! I hope that one day miss Holly will be drawing Dredd. And not Nicolai Dante, who I never really got the appeal of. Maybe Anderson PSI or Sinister Dexter or Durham Red or Venus Blue Genes...


• The Phoenix, though difficult to get hold of (we had to go to OK Comics in Leeds, which is an hour's journey), proves to be perfect for my Hol. She loved the section on how to make your own comics (thank you Neill Cameron), and she loved ZomBee in issue 6, and she loves Corpse Talk (yeah, she's her mother's daughter).


• Doctor Who Stuff - sadly I think Hol is growing out of Doctor Who Adventures. She still likes the freebies, but I think this is going on the probably discontinue list. And she's already told me she'd like to stop getting Doctor Who Monster Invasion. IDW's Doctor Who Comic, OTOH, continues to be a delight in terms of writing and humour. The art is OK, although not to my taste, but it ALWAYS causes me to laugh out loud, and thus is worth the money.


• USian comics. I'm just going to talk about the DCnU here: Batwoman continues to have the best art I have ever seen in an American comic; certainly comparable to some of Siku and Simon Bisley's 2000AD stuff when I was just graduating from the Beano to 2000AD. Also, the character is awesome and the story is great. If I were to recommend just one American comic to an adult reader it would be this. Batgirl, OTOH, I am close to dropping. I love Gail Simone's writing, and I love the flatmate in particular, but... Barbara Gordon is Oracle. Having her as Batgirl is Bad and Wrong. I've given it six issues and I just can't get used to it. Sorry. Suicide Squad is also Bad and Wrong in all sorts of problematic ways, from Harley's costume on down... But I'm enjoying it. I'm not enjoying Batgirl. I am flawed and human, oh dear. Birds of Prey... I thought it would be impossible to get used to the new lineup on Birds as it has been with Babsgirl, but I am really enjoying having Ivy on the team (helps that she's always been a favourite of mine), and I love Ev and Katana too. Justice League Dark I am loving too; by contrast Green Lantern Corps is just DULL, although not as dull as the main Green Lantern title, which got dropped after two issues of Hal Jordan's MANPAIN.