League of Volunteers

Bats Versus Bolts: Marvel Animé

I know, I know, I know I said I’d do Black Widow. But that was before I realised a couple of very important things:

Not doing a horror themed post on Halloween is super lame.
In the 1980s Toei animation did two animé movies based on Marvel’s versions of Dracula and Frankenstein.
One of these movies is regarded as one of the worst animé ever made, which, as you can imagine, is a title with competition that is not merely “stiff” but positively turgid.
Both of these movies are just sitting on YouTube, misshapen shambling things made and then abandoned by their creators to the cruelties of an uncaring world like…someone…I can’t think of a good analogy right now.

I mean c’mon! A crappy animated Marvel Bats versus Bolts on Halloween? How could I not?! I was BORN for this post. Seriously, this is what it’s all been leading to. My magnum opus. My masterpiece.

Our story begins in the late seventies when Toei Animation acquired the rights to the Marvel comics horror series Tomb of Dracula and Monster of Frankenstein. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Who the hell buys the rights to a property based on Dracula or Frankenstein? That’s like paying for a Pornhub Account. They’re public domain for chrissakes! Why not just do your own version of the characters? Well, friends, you’re missing a crucial piece of relevant context, namely that Tomb of Dracula and Monster of Frankenstein were the mutt’s nuts. TOD in particular was one of the very best comics produced by Marvel in the seventies, with one of the all time great portrayals of the Count in any medium. From this acquisition came today’s movies Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned and Kyōfu Densetsu Kaiki! Frankenstein. They are…my God. Words fail me…

These movies are special. They are dear to me. Come, come.

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State of the Mouse 2018

Hey Mouse, how you been?

Good, good. Great actually. After last year’s unpleasantness I feel like I’ve rebounded in a big way. I’m feeling a lot more confident and hopeful for the future, been writing loads and, long story short it’s good to be Mouse (for now).

Aw, that’s great. Well, see ya…

Not so fast, my bold-faced friend. This is the part where I use you as a sounding board to tell the readers all my news.

Aw c’mon, dude, it’s like half five in the morning, I got work tomorrow…

Here is my news!

Marvel Rankings

Yes! So, with the Homecoming review now gone up and Ragnarok not out on DVD until February, seems like this is a good time to put up a page where I rank all the Marvel movies like I have with the canon Disney films. Gasp in wonder and ooh and aah and say “But I really liked Doctor Strange” and “Thor is HOW HIGH? This dude’s crazy!”. Basically, your thoughts are an open book to me. Speaking of…

New series of reviews

Hmm…so we’ve reached the end of the canon Disney movies and we’re almost at the end of the MCU movies. What to review next? It has to be something with a lot of variety. I don’t want to be constantly praising or panning week in, week out. It has to be a series that wakes up each morning and flips a scarred two-headed coin to decide whether its going to suck like it was built by Dyson, or be literally Oscar worthy…

Oh yeah. That’ll do…

Shortstember

So, we’ve finally wrapped our series of reviews of WW2 propaganda shorts (spoilers, the good guys won. For about seventy years. Now it’s a little up in the air.) If you missed them, the reviews are here:

Fascist Jackboots will not Trample our Motherland

Momotaru no Umiwashi

Nimbus Libéré

Das Dumme Ganslein

Hope you enjoyed them, and if you have suggestions or preferences for another series of short reviews, holla atta mazerunner.

12 Gigs in 12 Months

So I’ve decided to go back to doing stand up and I’ve set myself a challenge for 2018: 12 gigs in 12 months. Gig #1 is already in the bag (it was at Cherry Comedy, no footage I’m afraid) and #2 is in the Ha’penny Inn on Wellington Quay on Tuesday 20^th January at nine if you’re in Dublin. If you’re not, do please head over to Facebook and follow Neil Sharpson-12 Gigs in 12 Months where I’ll be posting updates and footage of how I get on.

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The Unshaved Mouse’s Greatest Comics of All Time

Soon, I hope, issue Number 2 of my arc on League of Volunteers will be hitting the stands and will shortly thereafter, I have no doubt*, be acclaimed as the greatest comic ever. Before that happens, let’s take a look at some of the other greatest comics ever, before they are consigned to the ash pile of history.

Apologies gentlemen.
C’est la guerre.

So here is The Unshaved Mouse’s Top 17 Greatest Comics of all Time. Why 17? Because I wrote the list and then realized I’d left off Bone and Maus (which would have been both hugely unfair and, in the case of Maus, also weirdly ironic).

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Ever wondered what Mouse’s voice sounds like?

Check out this interview that I did with Oisín Boyce of Belfield FM, where I talk about League of Volunteers, Joanna and of course, Unshaved Mouse.

https://soundcloud.com/oisin-boyce/neil-sharpson-interview

League of Volunteers now available for online purchase!

Right, so you may remember that back in August I mentioned that I was writing a three issue arc for superhero comic, League of Volunteers and that the first issue would be on sale soon. Okay, so I may have stretched the definition of the word “soon” to the point where it could now probably play in the NBA but I am delighted to announce that League of Volunteers: Return of the King #1 is now on sale at the Atomic Diner Website for €5 (’bout seven dollars). If you like superheroes, and you like this blog…you see where I’m going with this right?

If so inclined, you can buy the comic here. Ah go on.

Shameless self promotion!? THAT’S OUR SECRET WORD OF THE DAY!!!

So yeah, I wrote a play which is being staged as part of the 10 Days in Dublin Festival . If you like what I write here…I’ve got to be honest, it in no way resembles what I write here but I am really, really proud of it. It’s called Joanna and it’s about two teenage girls who hire a legendary vigilante named Joanna to abduct, torture and kill the man they blame for their best friend’s suicide. Cheery stuff, right? It’s running in the New Theatre in Temple Bar for three afternoons, tomorrow, the eighth and the ninth at one o’clock. Any local Unshaved Mouseketeers (can we make that a thing? No?), or anyone who just happens by pure, random chance to be in Dublin right now, pop on over and say “Hi.” Tickets are €10 or €8 with concession.

Oh, and because I want to get all my shameless plugging done for today, check out this interview with me and artist Stephen Byrne over at Mentalist Dave for the new issue of League of Volunteers.

Now, back to the Pocahontas review. Where’s my hatchet?

Presenting: THE LEAGUE OF VOLUNTEERS! (Mouse wrote a comic!)

League of Volunteers is an award-winning comic chronicling the adventures of a team of superheroes operating in Ireland during World War 2, known in Ireland as “The Emergency” (because we Irish like three things; alcohol, not being English and understatement.) The team, which includes veterans of the Spanish civil war (from both sides), a half-demon vampire huntress, an ancient and powerful druid and the mythical Irish hero Fionn Mac Cumhail battle to save Ireland from both Nazi agents and the most powerful and dangerous creatures of Irish legend.

It is freakin’ awesome.

Creator Rob Curley has very kindly given me the oppurtunity to write a three issue arc for the series and the first issue just hit the stands last week. If you’re based in Dublin you can pick up a copy in Sub City comics just off Exchequer Street for just under five euro (and if you would, that would be the final, clinching proof I need that you are as awesome as I’ve always suspected.)

Of course, I know most of you are not in Dublin so the above information is of little to no use to you.

You want me to go to Dublin to buy your comic? Sure Mouse, I’ll get right on that.

But worry not, the comic is also available to buy online at the Atomic Diner Comics website.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this absolutely phenomenal artwork by Stephen Byrne featuring Blood Rose and Glimmerman asking some vampires if they’ve been to Bahia.