Comic book review: Sandman Overture #3: Reader meet author

Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artist: J.H. Williams III
Publisher: Vertigo (DC)
Released: 30th July 2014

Morrissey knows- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCR8T5YFHg4

It’s been a long wait, but we expected that, and now after reading the third instalment of The Sandman Overture I’m more certain than ever that what Neil Gaiman is doing here is working through his career as a writer, and the success that his most famous creation has given to him. 

I don’t know anything about Neil Gaiman’s life story, and I’ve only attempted to read one of his novels (it was boring and I stopped reading one third of the way through), so I’m not a fanboy. I enjoyed reading his Sandman comic books in the 1990’s, and I left it there, in the past. 

This new Sandman book has a nostalgic quality, and that’s why I’m reading it. It reminds me of some horrible times in my own life when I didn’t have much to look forward to apart from a good book.

Sandman was a good book, it opened a door to something better, something more interesting than my own lead weight life of predictable reality, routine and sleepwalking through crowds of horrifyingly indifferent people. 

I welcome its return, but everything has changed. Not just in my own life of course, but in the wider world as well. Read my other reviews, as that’s where I’ll detail the changes, this review is going to be simple, precise and short.

Sandman Overture #2 is heavy in text, and some of the background art looks wonderful. It has that mythical, mystical, intergalactic, otherworldly, spaced out quality that makes you think of larger, weightier concepts than everyday concerns on planet Earth. You can get lost in this world, and that’s exactly what the Sandman books used to do so very well when they were new, different and special.

The fanboys will appreciate that. They can pretend it’s still 1996. They do love to do that. I however read nothing in this script other than a writer talking about being a celebrity (a ‘star’) and how to deal with killing off the character that made him a star in the first place. Is it a subconscious thing? I think so. Gaiman is sitting down and writing his reality into the world of the Sandman. 

It’s not a bad book. It’s a book with a famous author revisiting the character that has allowed him to live a life as a celebrity writer. If you want to know how Neil Gaiman really feels about the character that made his name, then buy this book.  I can’t get anything else out of it.

I’m 100% positive that I would have loved this book if I read it back in 1996 as a bored and alienated young man. However, in 2014, and as the man that I am today, I read it, put it aside and think, man, life has really changed me. That’s all. 

Rating: 7/10

Comic book review: Evil Empire #3: The Hagman and Hagman Report of comic books

Writer: Max Bemis
Artist: Ransom Getty
Publisher: Boom Studios
Released: 30th July 2004 

Just when I thought it was getting predictable, with the fake liberal left, and the fake intolerant right lined up as the heroes and villains of the book, something happens at the end of this issue that has thrown my expectations into chaos, thus making this third issue of Evil Empire more than just another formulaic politically correct leftist leading comic book, and something that is trying to get in touch with the pulse of our times.

Corporate enforcers enjoying their time off with drink and drugs

This is a comic book unlike a lot of the others on the market today, in that it refuses to close the curtains, bathe in ignorance and pretend that we are all still living in the mid to late 1990's. This is a book that says something about the world, as it is today. It’s a book that is dealing with the present day anxieties that a lot of aware people are talking about. Evil Empire is the Hagman and Hagman Report of comic books.

I’m not going to spoil anything here, and I’m not going to detail the plot like many of those other boring and formulaic reviews you find on comic book web-sites. I'll briefly sketch some of the plot, but I'm going to spend most of this review talking about the bigger issues that the book is addressing.

This book is about the future of America, and how it has turned into a fascist totalitarian Police state ran by criminal elite’s and policed by drugged up psychopaths in corporate enforcer uniforms.

Yes, it’s the very near future, but like any good dystopic work of fiction, this is really talking about what is happening in America today.

So what is happening in the America of 2014?

America is a country where hard fought for freedoms are diminishing by the hour. A country taken over by private banks and corporations that own and control both mainstream political parties, and where democracy is a rigged game. A country where the media works against the people, lying to them, distracting them and telling them that black is white and up is down. A country where large numbers of people refuse to look at reality, simply because political correctness dictates that they cannot criticise a man of the president’s particular skin pigmentation. This is America as it is today, and yet the vast, vast majority of comic books just refuse to even go there, at all.

Here comes some justice

Evil Empire is unlike the vast majority of comic books that you will find in your comic book store today.

Before I talk about the actual content of the book I have to give credit to artist Jay Shaw for the fantastic cover that adorns Evil Empire #3. It really is exceptional. It is a cover that says everything about the state of America as it is today. A flag dripping down the plug hole, leaving a bloody stain around the rim. That is America, slowly fading away in a pool of blood. Blood from it’s foreign policy of supporting terrorists abroad, and blood from it’s using the fear of terrorism back home to erect a concentration camp around the sleeping distracted masses.

And as America slips away the vast majority of it’s citizens obsess over sports, celebrities, materialism and divide and conquer media ploys like racism, sexism and homophobia. It’s a liberal thing in 2014. Guilt tripping over their own thought processes the President literally laughs in their faces as he deliberately flushes America down the plug hole of history.

The book begins with some drunken corporate enforcers getting what they deserve. It’s a very good start. It then jumps straight into a thrilling narrative about a right wing politician going all Satanic whilst the feminist liberal left (as represented by a pierced and tatooed rock star with a funky haircut) do all they can to stop him. If that was all that was happening here then I’d congratulate it on the cover, applaud it for the corporate enforcers being shown as the control freak psychopaths that they are, and then just leave it as another feminist liberal book that thinks that political correctness and socialism is going to save the day, and stop America from going down the sink.

Not everything is as it seems here

But that is not the case. Something happens near the end of this book, something fantastic that really pushes this book over the edge, making it a country mile better than what you usually get in comic books that are dealing with socio-political issues.

This is not just an aware comic book though.  It’s an exciting, fast paced and unpredictable comic book as well. The pacing is spot on, and there is barely a wasted panel in the entire book. This book is tight. It doesn’t mess around.

Evil Empire really intrigues me now. Last month’s issue did a great job of sending me off in the wrong direction, but after the exhilarating events of issue #3 I’m back on this bandwagon big time.

This one could be very good. It’s a book unlike so many others, in that it appears to at least be attempting to interact with the reality of the world as it is today. How revolutionary eh? A book that hasn’t got its head stuck in the sand and it’s ass in the air. What a revelation. If you haven’t been following then follow. Get the first three issues; read them all in one sitting and you’ll have the same expression that I’m wearing on my face right now. A big old smile, surprised that a comic book of 2014 is actually reading like a comic book that was written in 2014.
Rating: 9/10

Death metal review: Sluggard, by Sluggard: Ten minute Aussie head snapping growl-fest

Listen to the album for free by clicking here- http://abysmalsounds.bandcamp.com/album/sluggard-2

Two words to describe this three-track album. Sludgy and thumping. The vocals are harsh, growled, but the lyrics are easy to decipher. From what I can gather they are direct accounts of what I presume to be early (and disastrous) missionary expeditions, probably to Australia, as this is where the music comes from. To my ears the vocal style is reminiscent of the aggressive, snapping, snarling growl that you get from a death metal band like Carcass. The sound has that toe-tapping quality as well where you bang your head, get pumped up and head off down the gym.

Brent, the talented man behind Sluggard

The album is just over ten minutes long, and I’ve included a link at the top of the review so you can listen to it for yourself. I liked it, so ordered a tape cassette. That cassette comes with a digital download and is about as expensive as buying a sandwich. To say it’s worth the paltry sum I spent on it is a gross understatement.

If you want a good ten minutes of clenching your teeth, snapping your head back and forth and tapping your toes, click on the link above and listen to the music for yourself. Then if you want to show your appreciation for some great new music buy yourself a hard, or digital copy. We have to support independent music. Do you really want to live in a world where the only music on offer is corporate swill that is pushed down our throats by the same multi-national corporations that are trying to enslave us all? I certainly don't, and that's why I support great new bands like Sluggard. Just give it a listen. It's great stuff. Fast, angry, and with a thumping passionate beat that gives it all a real sense of urgency that demands you pay attention.

Rating: 9/10

Comic book review: Winter World #2- A good old fashioned comic book

Writer: Chuck Dixon
Artist: Butch Guice
Publisher: IDW
Released: 23rd July 2014


I’m not going to write a lot of words about this book, because there’s not that much to say about it at the moment. Don’t worry, this isn’t yet another review where I say horrible things about a ‘feminist liberal’ comic book. I actually quite like this one, it’s just that as it’s only issue #2 and the story is quite simple at the moment I need to give it a bit more time, and wait until more things have happened before doing a lengthier review.

The art is going to change up a bit as they are getting new artists in, but at the moment it’s decent stuff with some nice snowy landscapes creating an icy atmosphere of cold uncertainty and dread. Tomas (King Conan) Giorello is going to illustrate the arc after this one, and as he’s my favourite artist working in comic books today you can guarantee that I’ll keep following this book just for that one reason alone.

 The story so far is easy to follow and uncomplicated. It’s about two people in a frozen apocalyptic future, fighting for survival. A bloke and a young girl with a pet badger called Rah-Rah. It’s cute and funny, but there’s danger there as well, with writer Chuck Dixon doing a great job of making me care about his characters whilst keeping the narrative on a constant knife-edge.

Issue #2 introduces what every good story needs, a creepy villain. We witness him doing creepy villain stuff, and I’m sure he’ll be causing trouble further down the road. The issue concludes on a good old-fashioned cliff-hanger, with our heroes surrounded by gun-toting locals. That’s good enough for me. Likeable protagonists, decent art (with the promise of even better to come), constant narrative tension, the introduction of a charismatic villain, and a perilous predicament for our heroes that will hopefully will be resolved next issue.

Winter World is a simple, good old-fashioned comic book. There’s a lack of liberal nonsense in it, and although it’s not exactly exposing the problems we have in the world today, it’s refreshingly free of the usual race/gender/sexuality (divide and conquer) politics, man/family-hating 70’s feminism and the unrelenting statist propaganda that you get in your big Marvel and DC comic book titles of 2014. It’s got a really good front cover this month as well. I always appreciate a good Scarecrow, and the scene depicted actually happens in the book itself.
Rating: 8/10

Comic book review: The Superannuated Man #2- Working it’s magic on a subconscious level.

Writer: Ted McKeever
Artist: Ted McKeever
Publisher: Image comics
Released: 23rd July 2014


I’m not afraid to admit that the ending of this book left me feeling a little confused, and even after re-re-reading that ending a couple of times over I was still just as confused as before. However, something strange has happened to me whilst I’ve been putting this review together. Read on, and I’ll explain what I mean as I go along.

By looking at a small preview for next month’s book I can see that the confusing images of sperm that conclude this issue are going to lead into some kind of dissertation or perhaps even dissection of the theory of evolution. And as a man with an opinion or two on that subject matter, this certainly intrigues me enough to keep me onboard this excellent, if slightly, and perhaps only temporarily, confusing comic book.

The art, for those not yet familiar with Ted McKeever, is uniformly excellent, a bit grotesque and out there for sure, but you get the impression that the man takes great pride in his work, and it really shows in his inks. I love it, and I’m not usually the kind of guy that thinks something is ‘cool’ just because it looks kind of yucky. This is quality yucky. Yucky with style.

There were a couple of talking points that came to mind whilst I was reading this book. These are issues/concerns that resonate with myself on a personal and intellectual level, but that’s what you get here with my reviews.

The first of these issues was the way that meat was treated as meat. In this grotesque future world where animals are operating with the same level of consciousness as human beings they like to eat meat, just like a lot of us do, and some of that meat just so happens to be human meat. This makes a lot of sense to me, and this is coming from a vegan, a bloke who believes that we shouldn’t eat any meat at all.

If animals began acting as we do, why wouldn’t they eat human flesh? Why wouldn’t they have a butcher shop with a human carcass in the back- room? We eat animal flesh right now, and a lot of us think that this is normal behaviour. It’s morally wrong and we all know it deep down, but we hide it from ourselves, preferring to enjoy our pork chops and not even think about where they came from. If animals had evolved consciousness and became just like us, then surely eating human flesh would be quite natural for them, right? It’s wrong, but so is eating the flesh of animals, and that’s why I am a vegan.

The second issue this book got me to thinking about kind of ties into the first one really, in that it’s an issue about valuing conscious life. The Superannuated man is watching a movie, and this big blob floating head creature is ranting about mankind being a plague on Earth, and that procreation is evil. He’s an eugenicist basically, a talking head on the television set, telling us that human beings are bad. You know his type? Bill Gates, David Attenborough, all of those kindly old liberals who tell us that we should kill ourselves to save the planet. That’s how I see them, and that’s what I got from the floating head God creature in this book.

Perhaps I wasn’t as confused as I thought that I was. That’s why I do these reviews you know, to get the most out of these books, and if anybody bothers to read my thoughts, and I’m assuming that most of these reviews will never even be read, then that’s just a bonus. So I liked the book, it made me think about a few things, working on a subconscious level that has slowly been revealed as I’ve haphazardly put this review together. That’s quite clever really, isn’t it?
Rating: 8.5/10

Comic book review: Trees #3- Male guilt bullshit from the 1970’s

Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Jason Howard
Publisher: Image comics
Released: 23rd July 2014


Issue #1 of Trees was intriguing to me, as it appeared that writer Warren Ellis had the perfect allegory for the modern banking system, a toxic alien tree rooted in the middle of the city that periodically spat poison at the people. In other words the boom and bust cycle. Or, as it is in modern times, the austerity and bust cycle.

Issue #2 was slow, very slow, and I was starting to get worried that this book wouldn’t be quite as interesting as I thought it might be. There was nothing developed about the trees themselves, and the main protagonists were largely unlikeable.

Issue #3 develops the main protagonist, and as is usual in comic books of today she is a feminist liberal pretty young girl. A girl standing up for herself against evil men, you know the sort. The sort of girl that only exists in comic books because in the real world everything in the west is set-up to empower females. This would not be the case if the girl were living in a western backed Hell hole like Saudi Arabia, but no way is Warren Ellis going to touch anything to do with our corporate fascist ‘friends’ in Saudi.

Our heroine appears to be living in a future version of Italy, but as there are no details about the societal structure at all (it looks like now, but with big trees) it’s impossible to know anything else about where she is, or what kind of society she lives in. All I can do is compare it to my own world, as writer Warren Ellis hasn’t given me anything else to contextualise the half-world he is building.

Comic book writers like to pretend that Islam and countries like Saudi Arabia don’t exist, so their silly little feminist heroines end up being all aggressive and empowered in the very western cities that bend over backwards to accommodate their every whim. It’s ridiculous, purposefully ignoring reality as it is in 2014, but that’s what the liberals are all about. Ignoring reality and patting themselves on the back for their politically correct ‘bravery’ which of course in reality is not bravery at all, but the easiest sort of lazy conformity imaginable.

I don’t hate all liberals you know. They depress me more than anything else. The way they appear to be stuck in the 1970’s, unable to connect with the times as they are today and how they are being used by the elite’s, in terms of the mind control system that is political correctness and a childish obsession with race, gender and sexuality.

Tree’s #3 has a 1970’s feminist warrior doing it for the girls, stalking an elderly professor, moaning about her bad boyfriend, and then letting herself be used as a personal project for the elderly professor, but making sure it’s not about sex. Because sex is the only important thing, not whom the professor works for, what he represents or what his agenda is of course.

The girl in this book might as well be a Marvel super hero government spy/agent. You know the sort, a Black Widow, empowered because she is all tooled up and punching people in the face, but totally clueless about who she is working for (the state) and the slavery agenda that every modern state is all about. It’s stupid, it’s childish, it’s politically correct, it’s ignorant (it deliberately ignores reality) and the writer needs a kick up his feminist liberal backside.

Wake-up people. The year is 2014, not 1977. We should be more aware of what is going on in the world by now, and we need to leave this race, gender and sexuality nonsense behind. It’s a control system, where the liberals think they are changing the world because a female is now allowed to serve the control system as well as men. This is not equality; it is just the state further tightening its control system by bringing all groups into its orbit. Females are allowed to be Bishops in the Church of England now. Do you know why? Because it makes no difference to the elite’s that this is happening. The liberals think they have gained more freedom, when all they have done is sink further into the statist quicksand.

Writing a comic book about an empowered female in 2014 is bloody stupid unless the female is living in an Islamic country that is suppressing women’s rights. In Trees #3 our feminist heroine is walking around a western city in skinny jeans and a breast enhancing T-shirt, but when she talks she sounds like a 1970’s women’s-lib activist. That is ridiculous. I’ll say it again, put her in Saudi Arabia and we are talking.

In western countries of 2014 females are largely in charge. They are put on female only short-lists for employment opportunities. Laws are written to empower them, to take men out of their children’s lives and to have them reliant on the state. Abortion is endorsed by the state. Birth control is free, again endorsed by the state. The state wants females as corporate enforcers, and they will pat them on their heads and tell them good doggie whilst further tightening the corporate statist choke-chain around their necks. That’s how it works now, and I’m fed up with writers like Warren Ellis who are woefully out of step with the times.

Do you want to know where writer Warren Ellis is in terms of his understanding of the corporate statists control system that is being built up around us? Check out the words he’s put in his elderly professors mouth, words that say everything about his anachronistic world view, and how he still believes it’s a male/female power struggle that is the biggest problem of our times:

“Do you know why old men like young girls? It’s guilt. An existential horror at having crushed out female intelligence for our own amusement.”

He couldn’t be more wrong if he tried. What year is he living in? What country is he living in? Unless it’s at least way back in the 1970’s or he’s living in Saudi Arabia right now, this is nothing less than feminist liberal male guilt bullshit. I will no longer be having anything to do with this ridiculously dated and irrelevant comic book. How old is Warren Ellis? He must be in his late 80’s and housebound, right?
Rating: 2/10

Comic book review: The Goon-Occasion of Revenge #1- Smashing through the hive of conformity

Writer: Eric Powell
Artist: Eric Powell
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 23rd July 2014


This book is worth purchasing just for the first quarter of insightful writing from Eric Powell. This is where he details the true nature of a sociopath, and how many a man has wasted his life obsessing over a pretty girl who couldn’t care less whether he lives or dies. Seriously, they should teach that lesson to every young boy at school. It sure would save a lot of pain down the road.

I’m not joking. They should teach young boys and girls that some people they will meet in their lives will never care, because they cannot care. These people are quite simply not programmed like the rest of humanity. They are sociopaths, and if they’re not busy tormenting and using people up on a personal level they’ll do it on a professional level instead. It’s not a particularly original or revelatory thing for me to say, but a sociopath is the ideal politician, as lies are easy, as long as they serve their own selfish pursuits, and if innocent people have to die, well then they couldn’t care less. This book is about a pretty female sociopath, but what about the older and uglier female sociopath? Two words-

Hillary Clinton.

If America votes for that sociopath then the country really is irreparably broken, but back to the review.

There’s more to the book than the largely understood revelation that pretty young girls can kill men as easily as snapping their fingers. There is the usual Goon wackiness to enjoy as well. This book features a turd in a pint glass, but there’s more.

The book has a sub-plot about a girl who wins the respect of the Goon, earning it rather than relying on her beauty. There are some intriguing villains and there’s also a meditation on staying still for too long as well. Plant roots and you die. I live in the suburbs, so I know what he’s saying here.

This book begins a four-issue arc, and that makes me feel very happy. I always get something out of Eric Powell, his art as well as his writing. Here’s a quick example. Near the end of this book the Goon goes up to a lady drinking alone at the bar. It is the same lady he rejected earlier in the book, rejecting her because she was using her looks to impress and torment men. In the meantime she interjected herself into a fight, helping the Goon in the process. That won his respect. Now he is buying her a drink, not because of her looks, but because she deserves one. That’s the story, but there is a panel that says so much more than that. One panel of the girl looking at the Goon with a genuine look, a look that reveals everything about her, everything she was hiding behind drunken bravado and the flaunting of her looks. One panel. It’s perfect.

There’s something about the writing of Eric Powell that marks him out from the rest of the crowd. There’s an independent spirit about it, a combination of humour, pathos, intelligence and resilience. You get a real sense of the man through his writing, and although I know nothing about the guy I like what I read. He seems untainted by the politically correct mind control systems that have polluted so many of the comic book writers that I read today.

Sometimes I read all of these superhero comics and it’s hard to tell who has written what. They all have the same voice, the same jokes, and the same socio-political agendas. It’s like reading comic books designed by the bloody feminist liberal borg. This is not the case with Eric Powell. You read his stuff and you know it’s him. I like that. I admire that. What you get from him is an independent spirit happily separated from the self-satisfied hive-mind of conformity that now plagues mainstream comic books. I love it. Long may it continue.
Rating: 9/10

Comic book review: Ragnarok #1: Ticks all of the feminist liberal PC boxes

Writer: Walter Simonson
Artist: Walter Simonson
Colourist: Laura Martin
Publisher: IDW
Released: 23rd July 2014

There’s nothing here for me to enjoy. The main protagonist is a feminist woman who has left her drippy husband to look after their kid whilst she goes out into the world to kill people for money. She meets men along the way, and they are idiots who die because they are weaker and stupider than she is. She’s a great fighter, and that’s it.

The art is well pencilled, but let down by colouring that is too light, too washed out and lacking in palette variation.

The book might appeal to young tomboys, but as very few young girls read comics these days I see this book as being yet another in a long line of feminist liberal politically correct offerings to the false gods of our times.

The main protagonist is neither interesting, nor commendable. She is a blackwater operative working in Iraq, murdering whomever she is told to murder, for a pay packet. I’m not sure what the reader is supposed to make of her. Is she supposed to be a heroine? What makes her a heroine? I can’t see it, and I have no interest whatsoever in her further adventures.

This book has a very misleading title. It bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Norse mythology that it steals it’s name from. This is a feminist liberal book where a stay at home Dad plays at being a housewife whilst his masculine wife goes off into the world and does what he should be doing, thus emasculating him in the process.

It’s a book of our times, where up is down and down is up. What makes modern feminist liberal writers so arrogant to presume that the times we are living in now should be any different to the thousands of years that have come before us? They can try as hard as they want, but they’re lying not only to their readers, but to themselves as well.

When this era of politically correct feminist liberal nonsense is dead and buried the gender roles will realign themselves to their natural order. Men will still be men, and women will still be women, no matter how hard the Rockefeller indoctrinated comic book writers of today protest and try to pretend otherwise. You are fighting against nature, and nature is always going to win.
Rating: 3/10

Movie review: Elysium (2013)- Kill yourself to prove you’re not a racist

Although the film's story is set in 2154, Blomkamp has stated that it is a comment on the contemporary human condition. "Everybody wants to ask me lately about my predictions for the future," the director has said, "No, no, no. This isn't science fiction. This is today. This is now."

****Spoilers in review****

It took me a while, but I got there in the end and finally worked out that this movie wasn’t actually about the new world order but about liberal America’s attitudes towards immigration. To be more precise, it was about the Texas-Mexico border.

Matt Damon's liberal hero protecting poor innocent Mexicans

I was a bit slow on this one, but the clues were there all along. Why were all of the poor victims speaking Spanish? Why was Matt Damon the only white guy in the movie who wasn’t a villain? Why was the main villain speaking with a South African accent? Why was Elysium a big ‘lone star’ in space?

Yeah, I know I’m slow. So this was about Mexican people wanting to get citizenship in the United States, and how it’s really unfair and that the borders should be wide open so everybody can jump on the socialist bandwagon and into the loving arms of big brother government.

Here’s a spoiler alert. At the end of the movie all of the evil white people die, the Spanish speaking heroes are all made legal citizens of Elysium, and that’s it, end credits. Just how big is this Elysium then? Is there going to be room for everyone up there on that space station? How is this going to work resources wise? I guess we’ll never know, because the happy ending is just legalising everybody, and that’s paradise I guess. Big cheer for all of the heroic Spanish-speaking people, all the whites are dead, and everything is perfect now.

Errr, what? You don’t like that?  Sorry, but that’s the movie you’re getting here. Don’t you realise that we need to open our borders to all of the third world starving millions and only then will world peace and harmony be achieved. If you disagree, then you are racist.

Oh, this is a movie review isn’t it? So, the acting and what-not. The main racist South African villain was charismaticaly evil. Matt Damon did what he could with a largely unbelievable character, and Jodie Foster was mostly on autopilot playing a two dimensional evil politician. The plot had some nice twists, the special effects were great and there was a good fight scene at the end and a pretty emotional scene where the white man officially killed himself for the betterment of the human race.

Evil white racists

Matt Damon's character was self centred and unlikeable throughout most of the movie, but he was white, and I’m guess they’re trying to make a point here. Damon was nice to his Spanish mate, but his job was building brutal police robots, and when given the chance to act like a decent human being and help the little girl of the supposed love of his life he couldn’t be bothered and made a run for it instead. The movie really lost me at that point as I started to dislike the Matt Damon character, and he was at the centre of everthing that was happening. His selfish character didn’t make sense to me, and he came across as more of a vehicle for the plot than anything resembled a real human being.

What were they doing here? Oh yeah, I get it. White people are sociopathic racists who only care about themselves, so even though Damon was the main protagonist he couldn’t be portrayed as a good man until the end of the movie when he proved he wasn’t a racist by killing himself for the betterment of the Mexican people. Hey, that’s the white liberal dream, right? Killing yourself to prove you are not a racist. Great message for a movie that one. My only question is what the Hell did Matt Damon think he was doing here? Oh yeah, he’s a self-hating feminist liberal type isn’t he? I can just see him chuckling it up with Bill Maher and Jon Stewart now as he plays a game of who’s the most politically correct sap in town. What a bunch of twits.

Well, I hope you are feeling very happy with yourself now Matt. Extra liberal brownie points for you my son. Back to the mansion eh, just like all of the other evil white guys who live in luxury. You do realise that you’re living in Elysium right now, don’t you Matt? Just like me actually. I live in Elysium as well. All of us white people are loaded didn’t you know?  Now I’ve finished this review I’m going to kick back in my huge mansion, take a swim in my big outdoor swimming pool, and then do random racist things before I sign off for the day in my big luxury bedroom with my blonde haired supermodel girlfriend. I tell you what, it’s great being a rich white guy, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. They’ll never stop us, never I tell ya, ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Rating: 4/10 

Comic book blitz review: The Witcher #5- A satisfying conclusion to an extremely enjoyable book

Writer: Paul Tobin
Artist: Joe Querio
Colours: Carlos Badilla
Letters: Nate Piekos
Publisher: Dark Horse comics
Released: 16th July 2014

I have to review this book as it’s the end of the arc, it’s been really good, and I want more of it. Hopefully somebody out there will read this review and get the word back to the creators that this was good stuff, and there’s plenty more comic book mileage to be had out of the Witcher Geralt character.

I’ve complained far too much recently about bad endings in comic book stories. Endings where you get the impression that the writer was making things up as he went along, not knowing how it will all end, so when it does end he doesn’t really know what to do and you get a damp squib that leaves you feeling really unsatisfied.

Writer Paul Tobin wasn’t making this all up as he went along. He knew where the story was going from the very beginning and issue #5 of The Witcher just confirms that to me. The plot threads are all gathered up, lies are exposed, the truth is revealed and we see the characters for what they really are, not what they were pretending to be, or appeared to be. Everybody is given ample speaking time, there’s a flashback that clarifies the main plot points, and the ending is satisfying because the villain of the piece gets what he deserves, and our hero leaves the scene probably even more interesting and intriguing than he was at the beginning of the book, and that really is some achievement.

The art throughout has been consistently good, and the colouring which is always important to me, has matched the tone of the book, adding a splash of gothic atmosphere that I really love in my horror stories. I want more of the Witcher, and I’ve discovered a new writer to keep an eye on. I really enjoyed this arc, it was a big surprise to me that I enjoyed it so much, and I just want to say thank you to all of the people involved. I loved your book and I want more of it.
Rating: 8/10

Comic book review: The Squidder #1- Hell yeah, I’m reading a decent comic book at last

Writer: Ben Templesmith
Artist: Ben Templesmith
Publisher: IDW
Released: 16th July 2014

I’ve been reading a right load of crap this week, and it’s been getting on my nerves a bit really. I mean, there’s so much junk coming out of corporate whores Marvel and DC. So much statist team worshipping nonsense, and ‘politically correct’ stories with women acting like men whilst men act like cowering wimps, but I avoid most of that now.

These days I'm starting to concentrate my time and money on ‘independent’ comic books, but all I’ve been reading so far this week is limp offerings from writers who are being as bland and politically correct as possible, presumably so they can weasel a precious career for themselves working as a house slave for the big two dusty dinosaur behemoths.

Where’s the sense of rebellion, the strong human urge to tell is as it is no matter what the consequences? Bloody comic book writers, sometimes I think they’re more entrenched within the new world order matrix than the soft feminist liberal readers themselves.

All I want is a book with balls, a book with aggression, a book with a strong individual fighting against something, not another soft bloody team-member of team UN or team Nato or whatever Police state synonym a writer is worshipping this particular week. That’s why I’m so relieved to be writing this review, on a Friday morning, when I’ve finally read a comic book that has a heart beat and a bit of life about it. Check out my previous reviews from this week. What a sorry pile of old tosh it’s been so far. This book is heads and shoulders the best thing I’ve read all week.

It’s not even that complicated, or original, but you don’t have to be clever just for the sake of being clever to write a good comic book. Keep it easy to read, stick some hair on it’s chest and tell the damn story, that’s all I want.

The Squidder is about a bloke living in an apocalyptic wasteland where the masters have full control over their slave population. That slave population fight amongst themselves for scraps at the foot of the masters table, some collaborate and worship the masters, and our hero despises the whole lot of them and fights against it as a man, as somebody with moral integrity, aggression, strength, individuality, courage and the spirit of humanity that spits in the eye of anything that wants to call itself ‘master.’

Love it, love it, love it. The comparisons between this book, the times in which we are living today, and what the elite’s have in store for our collective future if we don’t start doing something about it are obvious for anybody paying attention. The art is Ben Templesmith at his best, oh how to describe it? Nicotine stained, fractured, wounded, but defiant. I love it, love it, love it.

The book ends with our hero taking an assignment, he has a death wish, but you get a sense that it’s this death wish that is driving him on, giving him the courage to change things, shake things up a bit. After all, when you no longer fear death you really are a man to be reckoned with. Enough waffling from me. Get this book, get this book now.
Rating: 9/10

Comic book Blitz review: The Devilers #1- A bit tame, but understandably so

Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artist: Matt Triano
Colourist: Mark Roberts
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Released: 16th July 2014

This is a book that has to walk a tight-rope because it’s dealing with a number of world faiths that have huge problems with each other, these problems frequently resulting in bloodshed. The basic premise of the book is that demons are being unleashed upon the world, and that all the faiths have special warriors that are putting their differences aside, getting together as a team to defeat the demons. Issue #1 does a decent job of not offending anybody, but I always say that if you’re not offending anyone, you’re probably not saying anything.

The book isn’t going to say anything then, although it does have a bit of a pop at atheists, and that’s nice because it doesn’t normally happen, but it’s not exactly a dangerous thing to do is it?

The book then has to be judged on whether or not the story is exciting and whether or not you care about the protagonists. I didn’t really care, as they were just the usual collection of cynical people and cute feminist empowered comic book girls who will punch you in the face. The story isn’t that exciting to me either, as it’s just another team of heroes fighting against some bad guys. The art was a bit average, but I did enjoy the dark colouring. That worked well. I won’t be following this book because by its very nature it has to be a bit safe. It’s not terrible though, and I do appreciate the way that the writer is getting the Abrahamic faiths to work together against evil forces, it’s just a shame that it doesn’t happen here in the real world.
Rating: 6/10

Comic review: Black Market #1- What the Hell was that supposed to be?

Writer: Frank J. Barbiere
Artist: Victor Santos
Publisher: Boom Studios
Released: 16th July 2014


This book read like it was missing captions that explained what was happening now, and what was happening then. I’ve read it two times over now and I’m pretty clear on the plot now, but still a bit confused about the order of events and when they happened. That’s a pretty basic mistake for a comic book to make, as a confused reader is not a happy reader.

I don’t really understand why they’ve confused what should be a very simple story. It’s just another take on the Watchmen, and yeah I know that’s the last thing that anybody needs, unless it shines a light on contemporary concerns in a post 2001 setting of course. Does it do that?

No.

Okay, the plot. It’s set in a generic comic book no-man land of 2013 where superheroes fly around saving people from the usual unimportant minor issues that plague people in comic books, like office fires and bank robberies I guess. How about dealing with illegal foreign wars, criminal corporations and banks colluding with the government to screw over the public, poisons in the food supply and all of the jobs being shipped over to China whilst the remaining slave population in the west is socialised under tyranical control of the corrupt state?

Nope, none of that.

The idea of this book is that superhero blood can cure cancer, and all of the other diseases caused by the toxic chemical jungle that the elites have set up for their western slaves (this last part is not mentioned, that was me). So what’s the problem then? Surely the superheroes would be happy to donate their blood, wouldn’t they? And if they don’t want to donate their blood surely there’s a good reason for that, right?

Here’s the reason as explained by a cliché bad brother drug addict criminal type- “They’re not willing to share it.”

Okay, that’s that sorted then. Time to kill some superheroes to get their blood and flog it to pharmeceutical corporations, End of book.

What the Hell? The book features basic art with blank backgrounds that are coloured in the same shade as my bedroom wall, and the main hero protagonist looks like a weasly computer geek who you wouldn’t want anywhere near your kids. There is nobody to cheer for here, nobody to boo, nobody actually to give a rat’s ass about. The book ends with a damp squib that might as well be a page in bright neon lights that reads- NO POINT IN READING ANYMORE OF THIS CRAP.

Oh god, oh god, Oh god. You know I check out a website called comicbookroundup that is a good little site for quickly scanning a few reviews from all of those horrible ass kissing comic book sites that say nice things about absolutely every single awful comic in a tragic attempt to get re-tweets on twitter. It’s going to be difficult for the children writing on those sites to say something nice about this dried up old turd. What can they possibly say to get a mention on twitter? That’s going to be interesting, but as for this book? There’s absolutely nothing of any interest happening here whatsoever.
Rating: 2/10

Comic review: Robin Rises Omega #1- Everybody quipping, nobody interesting

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artist: Andy Kubert
Publisher: DC
Released: 16th July 2014

I’m not sure if it’s the uninspired writing of Peter J. Tomasi or perhaps it’s just a change coming over myself personally, but this book felt very, very childish and inconsequential to me. The plot is centred on Batman and his dead son, but as we all know in comic’s, dead isn’t dead for very long.

The book begins with a useful summation of recent events in the world of Batman and how we got to where we are today. I largely followed the story arc over the past year or so, but I’ve started to lose interest now that DC is doing more origin stories with Batman. I do give them credit for the summary of events though, as it is concisely packaged and helpful for long-term, lapsed and new readers.

After establishing the story context the book heads off to that favourite mystical region of all comic book writers, the Himalayas. It’s lazy, but they all do it. Snow always looks good, and you can have your heroes and villains doing pretty much whatever they want, with no consequences to anything happening in the larger comic book universe, plus if somebody dies you can just have them frozen in ice and brought back later. Do they do that here? What do you think?

So a big boring fight in the Himalayas kicks off the new story, where a set of good guys and bad guys fight over the mummified bodies of Batman’s son (Damien ‘Robin’ Wayne) and Ra's al Ghul's daughter. Oh, long-time Batman nemesis Ra's is on Batman’s side now by the way. Who is the bad guy this time? Nobody interesting, just some bloke who is an obvious rip-off of the Loki character in the Avengers movie. Batman’s Justice League mates eventually show up, Killer Whales somehow make it up to the mountains of the Himalayas and they all have a big quipping contest as they punch the bad guys. Here are some of the quip lowlights:

Batman- ‘You talk too much.’

Frankenstein- (Whilst slicing a demon in half with a sword) ‘Speak up demon! Steal got your tongue?’

Shazam- ‘We’re going to wipe the ice with these guys.’

Aquaman- ‘You obviously don’t come in peace. But feel free to leave in pieces.’

Lex Luthor- ‘I’m Lex Luthor. Welcome to Earth.’ (ZZRAAP)

Cyborg- ‘If it’s home you want, don’t let the boom hit you on the way out!’ (BOOM)

I’m sorry but this is no fun, no fun at all. The characters have all melded into one personality free blob of blah, and it’s like watching a cartoon for children who just want to see a big fight with the good guys saying cool things whilst they show off their awesome powers. There’s no depth to it, nothing that’s engaging my mind on anything other than a surface level.

That surface level looks great by the way. The art by Andy Kubert is fantastic, far, far better than the script deserves, unfortunately. The book ends with Batman saying he’s going to get his son back from dimension X, or whatever, and if you want to keep on reading to see the rebirth of Damien Wayne you’ll have to keep on buying these books as DC milks his return for as long as is possible. I’m neither criticising nor complaining about that by the way, it’s just what they do.  I won’t be buying those books. Why? Because I’m an adult, I guess. This book offers nothing other than surface thrills, quips and good guys punching villains. Whilst that might be enough for children it’s not enough for me, the big old boring grown-up that I am. I’ll leave this one for the kids.
Rating: 5/10 (for the art)

Morrissey- World Peace Is None of Your Business- Album review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEbve574h7c

http://pitchfork.com/news/55510-morrissey-performs-new-song-kick-the-bride-down-the-aisle-live/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Peace_Is_None_of_Your_Business

Album released: 15th July 2014

The problem with listening to Morrissey is that although he’s undoubtedly a bit of a poet, he’s also a bit of a pessimist as well. His view on human nature can be summed up by the following lyric from his new album, World Peace is None of Your Business.’ That lyric is from the nihilistic ‘Mountjoy.’

‘What those in power do to you reminds us at a glance how humans hate each others guts and show it given the chance.’

I would strongly argue that this is really not the case. Sure there are a minority of sociopathic and psychopathic personality types that gravitate towards positions of power and authority just so they can satisfy their need to abuse people, all done in an official capacity of course, but these people are not the majority, they are a very sick minority. The problem with humanity is that we allow this sick minority to have power over us because we vote to give them that power. The first track on this album illustrates that point with its refrain, 'Each time you vote, you support the process.’ That’s the problem with humanity, not that we hate each other, but that we give our power away to officially commissioned sociopaths who get together and call themselves ‘Government.’

Morrissey is getting there, but pessimism still dominates his work. Here are a couple of examples of that pessimism. In ‘Staircase at the University’ a girl throws herself down some stairs because she fails to get the three ‘A’ grades that her uncaring family and boyfriend demand of her. This observation is not exactly insightful, and it rings hollow as well. Do her family not care about her at all? This case is an exception, as most families care about each other, a lot. Why shine a spotlight on a depressing aberration?

‘Oboe Concerto’ looks bleakly at the failure of the dying generation that came before him, with a conclusion that his generation is also going to fail. I really don’t see how this helps anyone, as it’s looking on the unhappy side of life, telling people not to bother trying to change anything because it’s all hopeless and we’re all doomed anyway. Do you know who loves that kind of attitude? The control system known as ‘Government.’

Morrissey needs to concentrate more on the socio-political side of his lyrics and stop being gloomy just for the sake of being gloomy. There are some valuable insights into human nature and relationship dynamics on this album that say a lot about life without telling you that it’s probably best if you don’t bother getting up out of bed in the morning. The best example of this is in the song ‘Kick the Bride Down the Aisle’ where he shines a cutting beam upon a woman who picks a man not for love, but because she wants her own personal house slave who will do all of the hard work for her.

‘She just wants a slave to break his back in pursuit of a living wage so that she can laze and graze for the rest of her days write down every word I say.’

And yes, I will write it down, because that’s insightful and I agree with what you are saying here Moz. There are lots of people in the UK today who are exactly like the woman you are describing. So why knock out a song with the title ‘Earth is the Loneliest Planet?’ It’s a good tune for sure, but boy is it depressing, and you know what? It’s not even true. The last line of the song is, ‘And there is nothing anyone can do.’ I disagree; there’s a lot you can do. Learnt helplessness is something that the elite’s love, so stop indulging in it yourself Moz.

A quick wrap up of the best tunes then, although for long-time Morrissey fans you know what you’re getting here. Lyrics that seem forced because the content is more important to Moz than the flow of that lyric (‘Wolf down, wolf down T-bone steak, cancer of the prostate’), and songs that don’t quite work (‘Neal Cassady Drops Dead’ has very oddly compacted lyrics with Morriseey coming perilously close to rapping). There are a lot of musically interesting jingles and jangles on the album as well, so there’s some musical creativity going on, although let’s be honest, it’s the lyrics we’re buying this album for, not the musicianship.

The best song on the album is the title track, ‘World Peace is None of Your Business,’ both lyrically and musically this song just works. A lot of the other songs are ‘growers.’ The one’s with the most potential being the jaunty ‘Istanbul and the ‘Vauxhall and I’ reminiscent ‘Kick the Bride Down the Aisle.’

It seems like a strange thing to say, but Morrissey is almost getting there. He’s still a pessimist, but I see some light in his lyrics now. ‘World Peace Is None of Your Business’ is an excellent song that really captures the zeitgeist of our times in a way that is missed by the vast majority of contemporary pop songs that still obsess over teenage anxieties and bad boyfriend issues. The album as a whole has buckets of pessimism, but there’s wisdom there as well, littered amongst the nihilism of course. One of the most enjoyable things about the album is to discover the nuggets of gold amongst the black crumbly rock dust. I’ll begin to wrap up this review with one of those nuggets. You’re not quite there yet Moz, but you are well on your way.

‘World peace is none of your business, you must not tamper with arrangements. Work hard and sweetly pay your taxes, never asking “what for?”

People are starting to ask that question, and real change is coming. And after all this time it’s nice to see that good old uncle Morrissey is coming along for the ride.
Rating: 8/10

Comic book news: Thor to become a woman

‘This October, Marvel Comics evolves once again in one of the most shocking and exciting changes ever to shake one of the “big three” of Captain American, Iron Man and Thor. No longer is the classic Thunder God able to hold the mighty hammer, Mjölnir, and a brand new female hero will emerge worthy of the name THOR.’

More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/news/comics/2014/7/15/22875/marvel_proudly_presents_thor#ixzz37ZAxpeQn

In news that’s about as shocking as the Sun coming up in the morning, or another BBC presenter being arrested on charges of paedophilia, Marvel comics has announced that long running character the almighty Thor is to become a woman. The big question now of course being, will she be a gay woman, and the answer? Probably.

Marvel comics, the feminist liberal corporate whore of the comic book industry has long been dipping into it’s politically correct box of tricks in an attempt to spice things up and make it’s increasingly anachronistic and backwards comic books relevent to today’s Internet savvy audiences. However, the comic book giant has a serious truth telling problem. That problem revolves around the fact that they, as a large corporation owned by globalist child brainwashers Disney, are a part of the corporate tyranny that is enslaving humanity as a whole. Their problem is thus, how to make itself appear to be relevant, whilst ignoring all of the important issues of our times?

It’s simple; they turn their characters, black, female or gay. You see, in 2014 you can say pretty much whatever you want to say about ethnic groups, LBG’s (that’s lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and trans-gender) and women, just as long as you are saying nice things about them. It’s encouraged, and you get politically correct brownie points for it, everybody congratulates you on being ‘tolerant’ and ‘progressive’ and you can ignore all of the important issues of 2014 like illegal wars, NSA spying, corporate and banking corruption, political parties that represent nobody except the rich, poisons in the food and water supply, the funding of foreign terrorists and the fear of government funded terrorism as an excuse to take your rights away back home.

All of these issues can be ignored by focussing on gender, sexuality and race, so that is what mainstream comic book writers in 2014 do. The only problem with this is that it’s getting a bit tired now, and so when news comes out that Thor is to become a woman nobody gives two-shits about it. Many, many, many, many, many moons ago perhaps it would have been something worth discussing. But these days the news is released and nobody even cares. I won’t be buying the comic, but not because Thor is becoming a woman. I won’t be buying the comic because I’ve read writer Jason Aarons work on Thor before. His Thor is a US marine with powers, flying around the world ‘protecting the civilians from dictators.’ In other words, he’s a bloody idiot, written by a bloody idiot who has bought into mainstream media’s justifications for the next war, and the next war after that and the next war after that one. And so Thor is becoming a woman. Is that really the best that Marvel can do these days? Yes, sadly it is.

A critical dissection of the underlying themes and ideological assumptions in the opening segment of WWE Monday Night Raw (Monday 14th July 2014)

- The following article will attempt to critically analyse and evaluate the content of the most watched pro-wrestling television programme in 2014. It will look at the story lines, characters and underlying societal assumptions that are made within the programming. I am a long time pro wrestling fan, but this article will not be a typical pro wrestling article. There will be no match ratings, and no complaints about my favourite performers not being pushed. The article will look at portrayals of fake rebellion within the corporate slave plantation known as western capitalist democracy.

The show begins with the usual in ring talking segment. This time it’s the two biggest fan favourites in the company. John Cena- the old fan favourite who is nearing the time where he need to be replaced, and his replacement, Roman Reigns. Cena is a fake face of rebellion, in that he goes against the main villain group, a group called ‘The Authority’ who represent the companies owners, but on a closer analysis of why the authority group would dislike Cena there is very little reason for them to do so. After all, he is still very popular with women and children. Because of this he makes the company a lot of money. He never says anything ‘politically incorrect,’ he never criticises the company, he is clean living and never appears in the media doing something wrong, and he’s a loyal employee who always turns up for work, even when he’s badly injured. In other words, he’s the perfect corporate employee. He tells children to support the troops, to do what you are told, support cancer charities, never question anything and be loyal to your corporate employer. In WWE story line however they represent him as a ‘rebel’ to the authority figures. This is not at all believable, and thus John Cena is the perfect embodiment of fake rebellion within the corporate system. He’s safe, and he is easily controlled because he wants to be controlled. He even begins his talking segment by telling the fans to order the WWE network, an Internet only product that the WWE is hoping will be the future of their business. In every way possible John Cena is the perfect corporate yes man, and there is no reason whatsoever for the story-line villains to be against him and what he is doing. After all, he is perfect for them, and only wants to make them as much money as possible.

Roman Reigns

The young replacement for John Cena is a handsome, tattooed, long haired muscular man who has been given the name of Roman Reigns. Quite an appropriate name really for a man who lives in a country largely modelled on the old Roman Empire. Roman Reigns began his run with the company as a bad guy, beating up good guy wrestlers with a group of black clad thugs. The reasons for them doing so were revealed as being disingenuous and the group later aligned themselves with the corporate authority figures where once again they assaulted wrestlers, but this time because the authority figures ordered them to do so. That group of order following thugs became very popular with the fans, and so became fan favourites. This says a lot about the fans, that they would identify with order following thugs, simply because they looked ‘cool’ in black uniforms (like swat team members of the Police force) and further cements the impression that WWE fans are corporate statist slaves who love their own enslavement. Roman Reigns has very little individuality, personality, or character, but that doesn’t appear to matter to the fans. He looks cool, and he beats people up. That’s all the WWE fans appear to care about.

The opening segment is a popularity contest with the new young lion challenging the old lion. Who wins depends upon the reaction of the paying customers. In this segment the younger lion wins, probably because he’s fresh, and because of his good looks. This will inevitably lead to the old lion turning villain, as that is where the money is in pro wrestling. This will be built up over several months where it will be paid off in a big stadium, for as much money as is possible. The segment also includes a third man, a man called Dean Ambrose who is portrayed as slightly crazed and anti authority. This man also used to be a black clad order follower who worked for the authority figures, but who now wants to strike out on his own. Ambrose is then attacked by wrestlers working for the authority figures, and is beaten down in much the same way as he beat down people before him. This however will not be mentioned by the commentators. Ambrose is a good guy now, and his past order following actions are not to be mentioned, as are the past order following actions of Roman Reigns.

Dean Ambrose

The overall impression created from this opening segment is of two factions within the company. The first faction is the order following goons. They do what they are told, and they do not question. The second faction is of individuals who are individually fighting for power, but need to get together and work as a team to fight against the order following goons. This is a good message, telling the audience that authority figures divide and conquer their enemies, and that the best way to defeat them is to put aside your difference and team up with like minded individualistic people to fight them and their order following goons. The only problem with the WWE storyline however is that the individualistic heroes are only really fighting for themselves, not for any greater good or long-term change. Simply put, all they want is power, wealth and status. Not for any greater cause, but for themselves. They dislike the authority figures, but only because they themselves want to be the authority figures and enjoy the wealth and status that comes with that position. John Cena has been a long time corporate yes man, and both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose are corporate thugs who have put down their uniforms for selfish, careerist reasons. They represent nothing but their own self-interests.

The 'Authority.' A group that represents the owners of the WWE. 

Conclusions: 

The WWE is sending out mixed messages here. It is telling it’s audience that blindly following orders is a bad thing, yet its top heroes are all men who blindly follow corporate orders. All three main heroes blindly follow corporate orders in their real lives, as not doing so would disqualify them from the positions they now hold in the WWE. To illustrate the point, just imagine what would happen to one of these wrestlers if he went onto twitter and criticised what Israel is doing to the civilians in Gaza right now? He would be suspended, forced to apologise and his career would be irreparably damaged. They know this, and that is why they will never do or say anything that is politically incorrect or controversial. They are on the corporate plantation, and that is where they are happy to stay. However, on television they are the faces of rebellion, telling fans that fighting for what is right is the way to live your life, even when in their own real lives they are fighting only for themselves and their self-interests. They are fake fighting on television so they can buy a bigger house, buy a bigger car, date a hotter girl and take care of their immediate families. Even on television their motivations are see-through. They all fight for power within the corporate system, but they do not challenge the system itself. They are house slaves, fighting for promotion within a system that they will not challenge. That is how WWE portrays both its authority figures and its wrestlers. The authority figures known as ‘The Authority’ constantly mention, over and over again, that they can fire any of the wrestlers at any time, and for any reason. If you don’t blindly follow their orders then you’ll lose your job. This story-line has been portrayed many times recently, with wrestlers sadly assaulting other wrestlers simply because they fear for their jobs. The only possible conclusion to be made by the audience is that everything that is being portrayed here is fake drama, pre-approved by the corporation/authority, for the slaves on the corporate slave plantation. The wrestlers are simply lucky slaves, picked off the plantation, much like in the Hunger Games movies. They get to fight each other for promotion, but they do not get to challenge the circus ringmaster who is setting them to fight against each other. What you are getting on WWE television programming is the perfect embodiment of false rebellion and resistance within the corporate paradigm. It’s a boxing match, with the only winner being the promoter. It is the blue party versus the red party, with the only winner being the corporate elite’s that own both parties. They say that pro-wrestling is fake, but there’s more fakery involved than the pretend fighting. The fakery also exists within the story-telling and ideological programming of the product itself. It’s the same fakery that exists in the mainstream media, financial system, politics and all other areas of fake fighting allowed upon the corporate slave plantation. A system where you can say and do whatever you want, as long as you don’t actually challenge the system itself.