I participated last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I posted every single day of November and was pretty proud of myself for doing so. It’s good to force the creativity sometimes; it takes you in directions you hadn’t thought of before.

But often forcing it can be damaging too. It can cause rips, tears, and general discomfort. And sometimes, when you look at what you’ve produced you’re not particularly proud of it.

I’ve been forcing it for a while now. Probably since the end of the walk back in July.

So instead of posting every day of November I’m going to not post every day of November. I’m going to watch some films, read some books, and get a bit more sleep instead.

This isn’t a proclamation that I’m quitting. I’m going to be back in December. I’m just going to have a bit of a break so when I come back my blog movements will be a little more fluid. I’m still going to be around other people’s blogs too, although perhaps not quite as much as I have been. I’ll still be answering email ( dghughes28(at)yahoo.co.uk ) and hanging around instant messaging (AIM username: dghughes28 ) so feel free to look me up.

And don’t forget, you can still get a daily dose of life in the Hughes household over at my wife Kerry’s blog: CeleryJam.com.

See you in December.

Note to self: Laptops and children jumping on the bed do not mix. I might not be around much for a little while.

My levels of excitement were maintained throughout the first three quarters of season 1. Sure the program had faults: everyone was far too good looking, the plot crawled along at a snails pace, and I felt like punching Peter Petrelli firmly in the nose. But I put up with it, just happy to see a superhero show that was accepted in the mainstream.

But then suddenly about two or three episodes before the season finale I had an epiphany - Heroes actually isn’t very good.

Certainly the program is well made (although the dialogue leaves a little to be desired), but unfortunately it falls victim to the malady affecting most modern genre shows these days: the obsession with having a conspiracy based meta-plot.

Ever since The X Files science fiction producers and script writers have been obsessed by crowbaring their own version of The Smoking Man into their programs. It drives me completely bananas. I find conspiracy’s very boring and manipulatively drip feeding snippets of one out over twenty odd episodes is a sure fire way of losing my interest in a show.

It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have a nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that the writers have no bloody clue what they are doing.

In the hight of X Files mania fans used to regularly chant their mantra of The Truth is Out There; believing that the program’s creator Chris Carter had a grand vision as to where the show’s mythology was going. Of course we know now that he didn’t have a clue. As the seasons progressed the various conspiracies got so tangled and convoluted that even the most dedicated viewer had a hard time keeping track of what was going on. The show eventually disappeared up it’s own anus, leaving behind only a slight whiff of disappointment and nostalgia for what it could have been.

I loved The X Files. I loved the characters, I loved the premise, and I loved the script writing. But the meta plot ruined it. Not in the first three seasons; no, they were great; but it ruined it eventually and I can’t help feeling that is what is going to happen to Heroes.

Too much of Heroes depends on the ongoing story, there just isn’t enough emphasis on an episode being self contained. And although it may not seem like it, it is possible to have both. You can have your cake and eat it too. Just look at the Whedonverse: Buffy, Angel, Firefly - all shows with metaplots, but with a clear individual episode integrity. Great stuff.

And while I’m ranting I’ll tell you something else I didn’t like about Heroes: The ending to the first season. Twenty two bloody episodes I sat through hoping to see some good old fashioned superhero battles. Twenty two episodes. We got a tantalizing glimpse of how glorious a super ruckus could be when Peter and Sylar were fighting in the episode set in the future, and boy was it exciting. So come episode twenty three I was anticipating a special effects laden royal rumble of epic proportions. And what did I get? A big pile of steaming anticlimactic pants, that’s what I got.

Bah, humbug.

In the interests of full disclosure I should perhaps point out that I’ve only actually seen the first season of Heroes. Kerry has seen the second one, she watched it while I was wrecking my feet doing the Dales Walk. I plan to get round to it too eventually, but from what I’ve heard I doubt I’m going to be overly enamored. Still, I’ve still got the Animated adventures of Batman to sate all my small screen superhero needs. That should keep me going for a while.

I probably should warn you that this post is about as geeky as it gets. In fact there is a real risk that unless you have at least a passing knowledge of comics then you will only understand about every third word. But in the immortal words of that woman who sang that song:

It’s my blog and I can geek out if I want to.
Geek out if I want to, geek out if I want to.
You’d geek out too if it happened to you.

So here we go true believers, my answers to Lee’s excellent questions:

Favorite regular series right now?

Right off the bat I’m having to start spouting exceptions and caveats when answering this questionnaire. I don’t actually follow a regular series at the moment. I get all of my comics either from Lee’s cousin Larry or by sneakily reading graphic novels in Borders. As a result I tend to read comics in big blocks of back issues rather than waiting for monthly installments.

The comic that I’m most enjoying at the moment which is currently a regular series is probably Batman Confidential. It chronicles Batman’s adventures in the early days of his crime fighting career. Like Legends of the Dark Knight the stories aren’t strictly canon, but that sort of stuff has never really bothered me anyway as long as the feel of the character was right.

I haven’t quite reached the more recent issues in my reading, but if they are anything like the earlier ones then this title is well worth taking a look at.

Comic book character you only recently discovered/started reading?

I’ve recently started dipping my toe into the waters of Marvel, focusing mainly on the Ultimate line of books. I’m really enjoying the Ultimate Fantastic Four at the moment, which is suprising as I’ve had nothing but contempt for them in the past.

If you could draw/write one character who would it be?

Assuming I suddenly developed enough talent to pull it off I’d love to write a Blue Beetle/Booster Gold team-up book.

They kept on promising one in the letters pages of Justice League International, but it never got delivered. Damn their eyes.

The new version of Blue Beetle is pretty cool, and I like what they are doing with Booster at the moment. But nothing will ever compare to those glorious days of Giffen and DeMattis.

Are you a fan of the big Multi-issue crossover extravaganzas.

I must admit I do get a little fanboy jolt of excitement every time “The world’s mightiest heroes team up to face the greatest danger they have ever known!!”.

However, every time DC hold a Crisis on Infinite Zero Hour Armageddon event they end up killing or ruining one of my favorite characters. Hawk and Dove, Blue Beetle, Elongated Man, The Question - all victims to the murderous editorial staff at DC. Why can’t they ruin characters that I’m not interested in, like Wonder Woman or Aquaman. It’s a conspiracy to drive me out of comics I tell you.

Last comic book series that you dropped and why.

I think it was probably Batman. I dropped it purely because I could no longer justify spending two or three pounds a month in order to gain about five minutes of reading pleasure. That was about five years ago now.

As I say, these days I get all my comics from Lee’s cousin Larry. It’s immoral I know, but I’ve made my peace with it. I really wouldn’t be reading comics otherwise.

Favourite Character?

The Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle, hands down. Closely followed by Booster Gold, Batman, Robin, Mister Miracle, the Martian Manhunter and of course Gnort.

Are you a DC or a Marvel?

DC all the way baby.

Do you remember your first comic/series

In my early teens DC used to put out a Batman reprint anthology in Britain. This was the only American style comic available in our local newsagents and I eagerly swopped my subscription for the Beano for it, even though it came out only monthly and the Beano was weekly.

Is Watchmen the movie going to be as good as the comic book?

I think it has the potential to be, as long as you haven’t read the comic. If you see the movie first then the development of the plot and characters will be fresh. If you’ve already read the book then you’ll start to focus on the inevitable flaws.

Favorite Comic Book movie?

Batman Begins. In order to protect myself I’d managed to keep my expectations pretty low for this film, and as a result I was completely blown out of the water by it.

The Dark Knight was damn good too, but it was the first movie that made me believe in a celluloid bat again and so it will always have a very special place in my geeky heart.

Worst comic book movie?

Kerry and I watched Ghost Rider the other day. Sweet Jebus it was awful. That film undershoots the “so bad it’s good” barrier by about seven hundred miles. Apparently they are talking about making a sequel. May god have mercy on our souls.

Character you’d like to see in a movie?

I think there would be plenty of milage in a decent Nightwing movie. Lighter in tone than Batman, but still gritty and with a focus on his feelings of inferiority towards his mentor.

Series that you’d like to see on TV?

A really good quality Teen Titans live action show with high production values. The Warner Brothers animated cartoon is fantastic, but there would be room for so much character development in a live action show aimed at late teens/adults.

As long as they keep all the bloody intrigue out of it that is. I’m fed up of mysterious Smoking Man-esqu characters in my Sci Fi. Can’t we have a show without a bloody conspiracy for a change? Swop subterfuge for explosions, that’s my motto

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So there you go. Tomorrow: The Mighty Wombat

Long time readers of this blog will probably have picked up by now that I have an tendency to lose things. As way of an example the past six months have seen me lose my wallet, my iPod, my car’s tax disk, my work swipe card, my colleague’s work swipe card, approximately seven thousand scraps of paper on which I had written important bits of information, and about 37lb in weight.

No matter how hard I try, I just lose things. It’s what I do. As Whit would say, it’s how I roll. In fact I’m not even sure where my mobile phone right now. But up to press I have never lost my keys.

Oh sure I’ve misplaced them a fair few times. In fact I need to add roughly half an hour onto my morning routine just so I can look for them. But they’ve never actually gone missing never to be seen again.

I have evidence to back this up. On my keys is a key-ring that I’ve had since I was twenty years old. It was given to me in a characteristic act of magnanimously by a man who I considered to be my arch nemisis at the time. Mike Pickard.

I shared a house with Mike throughout my three years at Sunderland University in the mid nineties. We were good friends until half way through the third year when I fell out with him for a reason that I can’t quite remember.

Anyone who knows me well will tell you I have a tendency towards curmudgeoncy when it comes to spending prolonged periods of time with other people. This trait was particularly pronounced during my early adulthood, and to be honest it’s a wonder that I’ve got any friends left from those days at all.

As far as I can remember Mike was an OK sort of guy. Sure he had his faults.. He had an unnatural enthusiasm for Star Trek: the Next Generation, probably nurtured by the similarity of his last name to a certain Jean-luc’s. We once attended a seven film Star Trek movie marathon together and he wore full Starfleet uniform. For some reason I wasn’t particularly embarrassed by this. Probably because my mind was numbed by having to sit through Star Trek: The Motion Picture (I like Trek, but I still maintain that that film is the worst movie ever made).

But as I say Mike was nice enough chap; and my negative feelings towards him were probably completely unwarranted.

But despite my surly attitude he continued to be pleasant and polite towards me; even going so far as to buy me a present after a trip to the Warner Bros store in Newcastle. He told me he’d bought everyone else in the house a gift and didn’t want to leave me out.

What a bastard eh?

And in a strange twist of fate I’ve still got that present; the Superman keyring pictured above. In fact I think it’s probably the only possessionthat dates back from those days that I still own.

If this blog was one of those Chicken Soup for the Soul books I’d tell you that every time I unlock a door the sight of the key ring brings back memories of my unreasonable behavior in my youth. Reminds me that I should be tolerant and fair to other, treating them with the respect and the courtesy that is their right. After all, those are the tenants that Superman himself lives by: Truth, justice, compassion and understanding.

Yes, if this were one of those Chicken Soup books that’s what I’d say. But it isn’t. The truth is that I don’t think about those sorts of things at all. In fact I rarely even register that the key ring’s even there. If it does cross my mind my thoughts usually center around vague regrets that Mike didn’t buy me a Batman one instead.

Ahh, humanity. Don’t you just love it.

Still, I do regret my attitude towards Mike. I even attempted to look him up on facebook the other day so I could apologize but I couldn’t track him down. Last I heard he was a biology teacher in Whitley Bay. I hope that everything is going well for him.

And these days I’m a little better at controlling my curmudgeoness. I still have my arch enemies don’t get me wrong. And I’ll be the first to admit that these enmities are based on relatively superficial foundations. But these days I try not to be quite so petulant. I think it’s called growing up. I haven’t quite mastered it yet.

Still, I’m committed to it now; and anyway, I find these theme weeks invaluable in kick starting my blogging creativity. And I’ve certainly felt in the blogging doldrums for the past couple of months. Forcing myself to sit down and come up with six or seven takes on the same subject is a good way of stimulating my creative juices. And as you know, there is nothing I enjoy more than stimulating my juices.

A couple of months ago I mentioned in a guest post over at A Family Runs Through It that I was more qualified to teach my children about my favorite Batman villains than algebra or geography. Jeff rather foolishly commented that he’d like to see that list of villains. So this post is your fault Jeff. I hope you’re very proud of yourself.

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5) The Riddler is the epitome of the silly Batman villain. There have been various attempts to darken him up and give him more menace and credibility, but in my mind these have been to no avail.

And that’s no bad thing. Batman has a heritage of kookyness just as much as grimness, and the Riddler represents this era to me. The greatest screen Ridder was of course Frank Gorshin in the 60’s TV show. In fact, according to the mighty Wikipedia, the character was relatively obscure before he took up the mantle, having only three appearances in two decades in the comics. So perhaps its Gorshin’s hyperactive portrayal which actually cemented the Riddler in the cultural conciseness, and him who we have to thank for his longevity.

Apparently David Tennant has expressed interest in playing the Riddler in the next Batman movie, which would be fantastic. Johnny Depp has also been linked to the role. While Depp is a good enough actor to pull it off, I think his name would over-shadow the character somewhat. And anyway, Tennant is British so it stands to reason that he’d be better in the role.

4) The Penguin is another example of a Batman villain with a history of campness. Sporting trick umbrellas and commanding flocks of trained birds, the 60’s Penguin was a comedy character with very little believability. Unlike the Riddler however, this version of the character doesn’t really appeal to me. Nor does Tim Burton’s mutant sociopath as played by Danny DeVito in Batman Returns .

No, the Penguin I like is the current comic’s version. A devious criminal strategist and owner of the popular underworld haunt, the Iceberg Lounge nightclub. The Penguin has a almost unique position within Batman’s Rogues Gallery, in that he is completely sane. Sure he has a bit of an umbrella fetish, but when compared with characters like Two-Face, the Scarecrow, and the Ventriloquist, he is the very picture of good mental health.

Additionally I like the complex relationship Batman has with the Penguin. They are adversaries first and foremost obviously, but the villain also is a valuable source of information for the Dark Knight; albeit usually tinged with a liberal dose of unscrupulous self interest.

Christopher Nolan has ruled out the Penguin’s appearance in any of the new Batman Films, although Philip Seymour Hoffman’s name was attached to the character for a while.

3) The Joker is one of the few members of Batman’s rogues gallery who has had any significant negative impact on his life. Not only did he manage to kill Robin (the second Robin, Jason Todd, that is), but he also permanently paralyzed Batgirl from the waist down. Not bad for a guy in clown makeup.

Joker was created to be the polar opposite of Batman. Where the Dark Knight is grim, disciplined and principled the Joker is lighthearted, anarchic, and utterly psychopathic.

I’m strongly in favor of the origins of the Joker being shrouded in mystery. This is one of the many things that The Dark Knight got right about the character in my opinion. Unfortunately the comics appear to have gone with the origin suggested by Alan Moore in the seminal Batman: The Killing Joke. While it’s as good a backstory as any, I much prefer a bit more ambiguity in my clown faced psychotic killers.

2) Ra’s al Ghul is the most international of Batman’s villains. On the face of it Ra’s al Ghul’s motives are pretty ethical: he wants to protect the environment and achieve balance in the world. Unfortunately he believes that the only way to do this is by eliminating most of the human race.

Other villains may have a few henchmen kicking around to do their bidding, but Ra’s al Ghul has an entire secret society: The League of Assassins, who’s resources appear almost limitless. In addition he has access to various Lazarus Pits: natural occurring chemical pools which can rejuvenate the sick and even bring the dead back to life.

Not only does Ra’s al Ghul know Batmans secret identity, but he also considers him a worthy heir to his empire. Ghul’s daughter Talia also shares this opinion, and her on/off relationship with Bruce Wayne injects some seldom seen romance into the Batman mythos.

The thing I enjoy most about Ra’s al Ghul’s appearances in Batman stories is that it is seldom immediately apparent that he’s involved at all. He’s behind the scenes, manipulating and controlling events for diabolical reasons which are only revealed at the end of a twisted path of investigation and intrigue. He’s an ideal foil by which to highlight Batman’s detective abilities.

I think Ra’s al Ghul is thought to be dead within the current comic continuity, but in comics death is frequently a temporary state of being. No doubt he’ll be back at some point in the future.

1) Gotham City isn’t a villain as such. In fact I’m sure that Batman himself would argue that it is his greatest ally (If he existed that is, I may be a geek but I’m not a deluded geek). But I pick Gotham as my number one choice because my favorite stories are not based around Batman’s freakish costumed opponents, but around the grit, grime and squalor of the city itself.

Gotham fits the Dark Knight like a glove, just like the brighter and more optimistic Metropolis is the perfect match for Superman. In fact I would go so far as saying that once you remove the Caped Crusader from Gotham you loose a vital component of what makes him such a great character.

Batman is a longstanding member of the superhero team the Justice League, and as such fights interstellar spacecraft and supernatural demons from the bowels of hell. But to me it never feels quite right. Let Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern fight off the alien invasions; Batman’s place is in Gotham beating seven shades of crap out of Eddy the Fence.

It was Gotham City that made Batman who he is. Gotham City that gunned down Thomas and Martha Wayne in Crime Alley (seriously though, who goes for a walk down a street called “Crime Alley” after dark?). And Batman belongs in Gotham, fighting the good fight against a relentless tide. He is a dark candle in a darker city.

Lets face it, it doesn’t get much cooler than that.

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Honorable mentions go to Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, the Ventriloquist, Two Face, Scarecrow, and Mr Zsasz; all of whom could have easily made this list if I’d written it on a different day.

I’m very tempted to follow this up tomorrow with a top 5 list of Batmans allies, but I don’t want this week to get bogged down in my fanboy rantings about the Dark Knight. Instead you can look forward to a riveting tale all about my key-ring. Hey, I never promised this week would be entertaining. Let’s all just keep our heads down and plough through it.

Much like the Queen, Evan is having two birthdays this year. Today was his ceremonial birthday and we had various family members round for sausage rolls and hundreds and thousands sandwiches. He had a great time and amused the room with his enthusiastic reactions to his numerous presents.

Monday sees the actual day when the invisible chronometer of his life oficially hits the number 2. He and I are planning on spending the day together at the National Railway Museum in York. This will probably turn his already maniacal fascination with trains into a full blown obsession.

So, happy birthday big guy. We all love you very much.

Evan stages a spontaneous sit-in protest in the aisles of Wilkinsons in order to demonstrate against the injustice of not being bought an Iggle-Piggle bubble-bath.

With the release of the new MacBooks yesterday I’m quite tempted to stage a similar protest of my own next time Kerry and I are in the Apple Store. Mmmmm… aluminum casing.

Incidentally has anyone else noticed this blog has deteriorated into a rolling infomercial for Apple recently? Well fear not, because on Monday I start a brand new none apple related theme week here at All That Comes With It. Hot on the heels of Meme Week and Ice Cream Week comes Superhero Week.

I can tell you’re almost wetting yourselves at the mere thought of it. Here’s a little taster from the archives for those of you who just can’t wait

Take the whites of two eggs and whisk until firm.
Add 4oz of caster sugar a tablespoon at a time, whisking for 3-4 seconds between each spoonful.
Drop a spoonful of the mixture onto parchment paper and place in an oven set to 200ºC for 90 minutes.

Hang on…. aren’t they meant to be white?

Or as Amy put it: “Hey! They look just like poo!”

It appears that my recipe book has a slight misprint. Apparently the temperature should have read 100ºC, not 200ºC. The idea that the reason my cooking tastes so bad might be due to the book I’m following rather than my slapdash culinary techniques is a new one on me. And I must admit I find it rather appealing. From now on, every time my cooking produces toxic waste rather than gourmet meals I shall place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the recipe writers.

Since starting this diet (another 9lb lost since I last updated you) I’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Cooking nutritious and healthy food takes a lot more time and effort than chucking a frozen pizza in the oven. Still, I’m enjoying it and it gives me a chance to take a break from the kids and listen to my mp3 player for a while.

Unfortunately, despite me trying to mix it up everything is starting to taste the same. A lot of the dishes I’m preparing are basically quorn, tomatoes and vecon. This combination is labeled by Slimming World as either curry, chili, bolognese, hot pot, or jambalay depending on what spices they tell you to stick in it. It’s like that Monty Python sketch where you can have anything you like as long as it’s spam.

I did make my own tomato ketchup the other day which is very exciting. It tastes horrific mind you and Kerry refuses to touch it; but I’m slowly making my way through the pint and a half of it - my digestion powered by pure principle and stubbornness.

I think I’m going to have another go at the meringues again tonight. They aren’t exactly on our diet, but I’m going to try replacing the sugar with sweetener and see what happens. It’s that kind of pioneering chemical experimentation that gave us so many of the things that we take for granted today.

If you hear of a nuclear explosion taking place in Huddersfield you know what’s happened.