I'm still here and I have big plans.

So, I know I said I'd be posting regularly very soon, about two weeks back, but shit happened. I am definitely still doing the blog and I am definitely still planning some cool things in the near future, it's just that life caught me. I haven't been depressed and I haven't been through a tragedy, I've just been feeling very sluggish and melancholic lately. I'm not going to go into the reasons why because it's the sort of pointless, banal minutiae that everyone goes through at one point or another.
Anyway, excuses aside, here are a few things I have planned as features for the blog and they WILL be coming within the week. Bearing in mind that this site is still in the embryonic stage and I really have no vision yet as to the overall theme/focus of the thing, here are some ideas I'm toying with.

I'm a grumpy fucker. It has to be said. You will find that out for yourself sooner or later, should you choose to keep reading. My passionate and opinionated nature will start to become very apparent. It's very much a 21st century notion that opinions are bad if they are said too loudly or with any kind of confident conviction. Since we are heading towards a philosophical and spiritual dark age of illiteracy and simplistic thinking, I think only an idiot could take such an idea seriously or condone such an idea given the state the world is in right now. My views are all based on careful thought, rationality, and a sense of ethics. This is what separates an opinionated person from an anonymous spewer of garbage on the Internet. Anyway, there is a point to this rambling. I am going to be doing opinion posts on whatever strikes me and whatever it is I've been thinking about, be it novels in Hollywood or 21st century frustrations.
I know I'm just some random unknown with a blog, but I hope you'll stick with me through this and just try it out. I promise you that all of my opinions will be informed and/or thoroughly thought out. I know you'll need to be convinced, so maybe this will help: I use a pseudonym on here but my real name is Kyle Whitehead. That is my name on Youtube and the only names I ever go by on the Internet are Kyle Whitehead and Kyle J White. This means whenever I go on a rant or engage in an argument online, it is under a real human name. Not some username. I have aspirations as a novelist and the name that will be on my books will be one of the names I go by right here on this blog. My opinions will stick with me so rest assured when I tell you I am not just going to shoot off at the mouth without thinking. When I say something, I believe it and I tell the whole truth of my belief. I will be releasing a piece on my feelings about film adaptations of novels within the next day or so.

Moving on.

I've been inspired by the great speculative fiction author, Harlan Ellison (Look up "Harlan Ellison's Watching" on Youtube) to dabble in criticism and endorsement. When I say criticism, I don't mean taking a look at something and listing the ways in which it is horrible, and when I say endorsement, I don't mean infomercials for laxatives or anal bleaching products.
We are in the 21st century. That's how I, an unknown and unpublished writer, am on here self publishing. One of the many faults specific to this time is that everyone seems to have a short memory and a woefully short attention span. It's all about what's out this week and what happened today. What new Hollywood film is being shoved in our faces this month?
Truly great literature and writers have fallen into obscurity because of the convenience over quality culture we are living in. Another side effect of this culture is an increasing illiteracy and lack of free thought.
I want to have a feature on this site dedicated to bringing authors or specific works to your attention by reviewing them and to telling you about literature/comic book related items I think are worth buying. You won't see the "The Fault in Our Stars" heralded as great literature here. If you want that sort of thing, there are plenty of thirty year old YA fanatics on Youtube who'll tell you all about the week's fluff. This is dedicated to writers and stories you may not have heard of. The greats who should never be forgotten and who you owe it to yourself to read. This blog is not monetized and I have no sponsors so everything I tell you about and all the opinions I'll express, I'll be doing so genuinely. The endorsement side of it will pertain mostly to quality books and anthologies.

Now onto the main event. The initial motivation behind starting a blog was simply to get myself out there as a writer. The plan was -and still is- to write for Cracked.com, to sell some short stories to magazines, and to get some sort of internet following so that when I submit a novel to an agent, I'll have X Y and Z on my portfolio. It stands to reason then, that I should be producing fiction of some sort for the blog. Therefor, I plan on releasing a serial novel (or novella, perhaps) written to my highest standard for you to read for free. I don't yet have an idea for said story and I don't think it will be appearing in the coming weeks but I expect that in a month or two there will be part 1 of a serial novel on the site. I may also be putting the occasional (very) short story on here, but as I said before, I plan on selling those to magazines so you will be more likely to receive links to read my sold short stories than see blog exclusives. That being said, I expect there will be a few blog exclusive short stories.

Well, that about does it. I will continue with the occasional comic book reviews and you can expect a gradual increase in comic book related material as I get more acquainted with the comic book world. There may be a personal blog or two but they'll be few and far between. I hope you'll pay me a visit some time next week if any of this sounded remotely interesting to you, and I would appreciate it if you'd spread the word if you think anyone you know might find any of this remotely interesting.

When I'm not whoring myself out, I'm wasting my life on Facebook as Kyle J White.

Deadpool issue #1 review

Deadpool is back and I am psyched to the Nth degree. My favourite deranged degenerate has had a good run of late. He's had quite a few entertaining titles including: Dead Presidents, Night of The Living Deadpool, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Deadpool kills Deadpool, and Deadpool vs Thanos. And now, with his own film coming out next February, I recommend that newbies jump into the character for the first time with this new series.

Issue 1 starts off with a gorgeous half-page spread of Deadpool at night in some sort of wing suit gliding over a beautifully lit city block. The way the light from the street lights and the cars interacts with the road and the windows of the buildings really sets the standard for the rest of the book, and this book lives up to that standard throughout. Penciler Mike Hawthorne, Inker Terry Pallot, and Colourist Val Staples have done an excellent job of the artwork with interesting panel layouts and solid lines and colours. The characters are drawn very expressively and each one has a distinct  appearance, even when masked as Deadpool. Not to mention the vibrant, lively cover by Tony Moore. All in all, this is a good looking comic book with an all-star team at work.

In this iteration, Deadpool is world famous and has taken Tony Stark's role as the Avengers' benefactor. To keep up with the demand of his new found fame, he's hired a team of down on their luck D-listers who dress up as him and lighten the work load. These include beloved Deadpool regular Madcap, previously one of the voices in Deadpool's head. Another interesting addition is James Bourne, or solo, who bears a striking resemblance to movie Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds. Clever, Duggan. Very clever. The story begins in Seoul, Korea, where deadpool -actually Solo- comes face to face with Korean Marvel hero, the White Fox. There have been talks about bringing this iconic Asian hero to the west, and this is her debut. After these three pages in Seoul, we meet all the Heroes for hire, starting with Terror the organ harvester and Foolkiller, and then Slapstick (my personal favourite so far) and then, in a hilarious gag, Stingray. Hilarity ensues right till the end, where we get a disturbing reveal about Deadpool's past. This sets the story very nicely for the coming issues. And it looks like we're going to be seeing Daredevil in action at some point, as Matt Murdock makes an appearance. 

  

Leading the team is writer Gerry Duggan. Anyone familiar with Gerry Duggan or with Deadpool will know that Duggan and Hawthorne are fan favourites. I think that title's further established here. The humour is on point. It is different from the tone of the previous incarnations, but not so much so as to take away from the character. Deadpool has always been somewhat slapstick but here the humour is a little more subtle. There is the gag with Stingray crashing in through the window, but that's made funny by Madcap and Deadpool's reaction to it. However, you definitely see more of the trademark Violence in issue 2. Issue 1, while changing pace a little compared to Deadpool's other recent adventures, is still filled from start to finish with the zaniness and charm that made the character popular, including a George Stephanopolis cameo. So far, the fourth wall breaking that Deadpool is loved for hasn't been used (unless you count George Stephanopolis showing up), but considering the movie trailer broke the fourth wall, we can expect that in coming issues. 

Excellent comedy aside, issue 1 has set up an intriguing story that promises a look into Deadpool's past and some disturbing discoveries on his part. Not to mention further appearances of the White Fox. 

Whether you're a comic book buff or not, you should definitely be reading this.

Issue 2 carries the story along nicely and has an appearance from Hawkeye. Not to mention it has another shock ending and gets bat shit insane. So go and read it, ya nerds!

When I'm not writing sub-par, one-off comic book reviews, I'm pottering away on my woefully lonely Facebook page as Kyle J. White, 

Hello!

Hello, reader. Do you like comic books, novels, lifestyle blogs, or listening to unknown writers ramble about nonsense? Then this is the blog for you!

I'm called Kyle Whitehead in life but in the world of blogging and my writing, I am Kyle White. Because a whitehead is a type of painful pimple, and nobody wants that. I am seventeen years old, only one year out of school and trying to kickstart a writing career. You can expect to find me in the not-so-distant future on Cracked.com (as Kyle Whitehead) and in the maybe-a-bit-more-distant future as Kyle White (maybe) with a novel out. I also have aspirations as a comic book writer.

I've recently started reading the new Deadpool series. I think I'm going to review issue 1 either tomorrow or the next day. I also plan to write the occasional short story for the blog. I hope you stick around because the content will start coming soon. Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your cat if you have no friends! There's a new inexperienced teenage blogger in town, and why would you possibly not enjoy that?