The Nation’s Ashtray

It’s a pretty common sight to see bumper stickers here sporting the text The Nation’s Capital.

But, to the point, quoting from wikipedia:

In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) a smoking ban will apply to all enclosed public places by December 2006. However, if the proportion of the public place that is is “open” (open to the outdoors) is greater than 25% of the total surface area of the ceiling or roof (assuming that this is flat) and the walls and windows (whether fixed or able to be opened), then the premises will not be considered ‘substantially enclosed’ and therefore, the smoking prohibition in the Act does not apply

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals in this document released on 15 September 2006:

• Tobacco smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia (Cancer Council 2006).
• It was estimated that tobacco smoking was responsible for about 8% of the total burden of disease and injury for all Australians (9.5% of total for males and 6.1% of total for females) (AIHW 2006: Begg et al in press).
• In 2004-05, 23% of adults were current smokers, about 3.5 million persons.

All statistics notwithstanding, it’s really difficult to walk any length of distance in Canberra without encountering second-hand smoke.

With the glaringly high incidence of smoking for a rather spartanly populated city, a bumper sticker with the blurb The Nation’s Ashtray wouldn’t be too far from the truth!

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PCLinuxOS 2007 Test release 2 available

To quote Texstar from the following announcement:

PCLinuxOS Test Release 2 is now available for download. This is mainly a bug fix update based on user feedback from Test Release 1. We still have a few pending issues to clear before final. More details are located on our download page and our forum is open for bug reports.

Get it from HERE

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Comic-book Review: Five Days of the Dragon

This is a follow-up on my recent discussion of Moonstone Books’ The Phantom Annual #1.

My vote for the Annual is Average, but it is arguably the best effort by Moonstone so far. What I disliked most was Mike Bullock’s part, which read like a dumb script and Juan Ferreyra’s totally crappy depiction of Guran! I really hate to think about the editorial process they have at Moonstone, but if the turbaned midget in the evening suit is Guran, then any idiot in purple long-johns can be marketed as the Phantom.

Ron Marz’s script has glaring inconsistencies. Is that a wolf in the skull cave in the panel on the 2nd page? And what’s the totally inane deal calling the 3rd Phantom’s horse Hero? Lazy scripting.

Tony Bedard and Allan Goldman raise the storyline up many notches with their dark and foreboding 2nd part. It’s perhaps one of the most impressive storylines crafted to date.

Graham Nolan is clearly in his element in Part 3, and for a change, Chuck Dixon gets the Phantom right (remember the pistol-whippin’ superhero in Slave Train? ugh) I don’t mind the fact that we don’t really see the Phantom until the final 4 pages of this part (discounting pages 3 and 6).

Part 4 by Rafael Nieves is also serviceable. But messrs. Akins and Wolak disappoint sorely. Though the art seems a tribute to strips in Milton Caniff’s heydays, it’s just not good enough.

Now, the conclusion in the fifth part. After such a build-up over the preceding 4 parts, this falls short of the task. The artwork is different indeed with the painted feel to it, but it’s visually pretty static. The Ghost Who Edits caption subtext in a panel is totally out of context and comes across as a rather lame attempt to ramp up the number of words on the page.

But what really takes the cake is the major-domo standing stiffly next to the Ghost who wears bleeding bandages and mouths the not-so-less-mouthful: Your mission is complete, Phantom. You almost expect him to say next: Would you like anything else with your order?

The major failing of the story is the basic premise. Wouldn’t it have been simpler for the 3rd Phantom to destroy the first piece of the dragon when he acquired it? What’s the whole deal with generations working to get the pieces and then having the 21st hand it over, gift-wrapped, no less? And the Sing(h) Brotherhood stories are overdone, in Moonstone lore and Egmont lore.

The layout of the cover (by Blevins and Austin) is good, but what’s the deal with the Phantom looking like some super-Skrull (as in Fantastic Four) wannabe? The Phantom’s face looks barely anthropoid in the cover illustration.

So yes, the journey was more exciting than the destination.

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The artwork featured in this post is copyright King Features Syndicate, Inc. and published by Moonstone, and is merely presented for informational purposes.

The Return of Chatu [15 May 06 to 2 September 06]

The 217th Daily Story features the return of the Python of Bangalla, Chatu.

The Ghost Who Speaks in Spooky Tones uses some psychology on the renegade Wambesi killer in this rather off-beat tale. The story once again highlights what makes the Phantom such an interesting and different character from the regular band of long underwear vigilantes strutting around in comicdom.

The Chatu yet once again seemingly bests the Ghost Who Walks, taking advantage of the Phantom’s code of not killing without reason. But this is what makes the story an interesting read. We do not have the protagonist filled with remorse or self-doubt, wallowing in self-pity, or drowning in shame and guilt. What we see in this tale is a battle of wits between an ordered and logical mind and an unpredictable maniac.

It will be interesting to see how writer Tony DePaul scripts out the next confrontation between the Phantom and the Python.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

The daily strip art of 7 July 2006 featured in this post is copyright King Features Syndicate, and is merely presented for informational purposes.

Moonstone Books’ The Phantom Annual #1

The Annual builds up fine, but then is a complete let down.

Imagine this: you’re watching a well-orchestrated bout… and all it takes is one badly crafted sucker punch to spoil the end.

Or better still: you have a wonderful meal, and in the last morsels off the plate… you uncover… a dead roach!

That’s exactly the case here.

Mike Bullock’s segment has the weakest script but he also had the most unenviable uphill task — the conclusion of the tale.

Still it might be considered a nitpick (among a few others in the book).

But, Juan Ferreyra and Mike Bullock are unpardonably guilty of a most horrible travesty: The turbaned major-domo poseur (thanks a heap, Paramount!) is no Guran.

So, Mike and Ron: Hang your heads in shame!

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