Um... I'm supposed to write some kind of preamble to these things, but how do I do that when it's just a continuation of what I wrote on Friday? Ooh! Let's pretend it's a TV show!

Previously on Behind the Masks - Dracula...

People voted Gary Oldman and Christopher Lee as the best Dracula of all time. They were wrong about Oldman, 'cos he wasn't very good, in point of fact. The top ten currently stands like this:-

10. Gary Oldman
9. John Carradine
8. John Forbes-Robertson
7. Peter Stormare
6. Rudolf Martin

But who made the top five? And will Spider-Man and Iceman rescue Firestar? Find out... Right now!

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I am the Watcher. Of various films and TV programmes. I’ve watched loads of ‘em. And do you know what you need to make a film or a TV programme? Actors. You need people to play the many characters who will be appearing in said moving picture show, otherwise all you’ve got is a script scrolling across the screen or images of places where not much is happening.

The thing is, there are a number of actors who become so very linked to one of the parts they’ve played, that when you see them in something else, certainly to begin with, you can only see them in that part. A good actor can overcome this, and by the end of whatever it is you’re watching, they’ve become this new character, all trace of that other part you know them for gone and forgotten, at least temporarily.

But, sometimes, your brain starts to ask the question. “What if…” you ask yourself, “What if they were that other character I know them so well for? How would that change what I’m watching now? Would it make it better? Worse?” And then you’ve rewritten the entire film in your head. We’ve all done it. I know I have. So, here, for you, I present five of my own personal what ifs.

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Choosing which comics to have in your pull list can be a strenuous thing given the sheer amount of comic books released on a weekly basis and coupled with the price means you can pretty much bankrupt yourself if you are not careful.

From discussions on the interweb and in forums its clear to be seen that very few people can get every comic they want which leaves us all with the age old comic book collector question, to pull or not to pull?

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So recently I have been getting back into comics, which if you read my article here you will already know. It has been around 7-10 weeks now since I started my standing order (pull list) and since then I got my hands on some back issues for Batman Incorporated and am trying to snap up some All-Star Superman as well.

Since returning to comics I have come across a couple of things I’ve noticed that weren’t apparent in the industry when I was previously collecting. The first, which I’d like to discuss now, is the over use of superheroes and the amount of comics they appear in each month.

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So, last week I looked at the characters leading the charge of gay rights and representation in comics, and I heavily involved Apollo and the Midnighter in that. I praised the gay marriage and relationship the pair had, and I queried what may be to come as the pair find themselves part of the new DC Universe. Well, it would seem that some of our questions are answered now. Or at the very least, we have a little more info. Sadly, that info is a bit of a mixed bag.

Dan Didio was recently interviewed by Advocate, an LGBTQ news magazine and website, looking at diversity within the DCnU, with obviously a queer bent. The topic of Apollo and the Midnighter and their gay marriage came up, which is when Didio said this:

“The only thing that we discussed long and hard was the idea of where those characters would be in relation to their [own] relationship. Because they had an established relationship in the stories that were being told within the Wildstorm universe—and this is the first time they’re being seen in the DC Universe—we wanted to build them from scratch and watch an emerging relationship between these two characters. So in this particular case, Apollo is much more out and much more comfortable with himself [while] Midnighter is naturally a little more repressed.”

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This arrived in my inbox yesterday. I don't read Fantastic Four as I've eluded to earlier on this week, so I didn't really care. Then I heard this was actually a teaser for Fantastic Four #600. Next to arrive in my inbox was this second teaser...

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Link: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Marvel-Minimalist-Posters/1829335

I have to hand it to Marko Manev, his minimalist Marvel posters really are pretty cool and would look fantastic in my new minimalist lifestyle house (getting rid of some comics to make room for a dog!).

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And so, my look at the best actors to have ever played our favourite superheroes continues with Marvel’s webbed wonder, Spider-Man.

There have actually only been two live action Spider-Men, with Nicholas Hammond taking the role in a 1970s TV series, and Tobey Maguire in the recent films. Andrew Garfield doesn’t count as no one’s seen his film yet. Though that didn’t stop him coming in second place when I asked the public who people’s favourite Spidey is. Top of the public vote? That was Tobey Maguire. But is he my favourite?

No.

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I have a confession to make, I know little to nothing about Carnage and I know even less about Carnage U.S.A. What I do know is that it's drawn by the extraordinarily talented Clayton Crain, formerly of the stunning X-Force (written by Christopher Yost) and the trade I'm reading right now, Ghost Rider (written by Garth Ennis). There are times during X-Force where I felt Crain's art was a little too dark and didn't aid the storytelling even though I always enjoyed the style, whilst in Ghost Rider his work always lights up the panels with brilliant hellfire. I'm hoping for more of the same from this new Carnage limited series and judging by these stunning covers/promos by Crain, I won't be disappointed. I hear Zeb Wells (Robot Chicken, New Mutants) ain't too shabby with a bit of dialogue here and there, keep 'em peeld Sidekicks.either

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Welcome to a world of blood and violence, this week’s reviews and info sheet are all about the man who has been cleaning up the Marvel universe for over 30 years, yup this week we are looking at Francis Castiglione otherwise known as Frank Castle: The Punisher.

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