Wait! Before I forget...

"For me, ideas have never been the thing that stalls me. I don't mean to sound arrogant about that—I'm not even saying necessarily that these are good ideas. They may be ridiculous and stupid ideas—that's up to the reader. But that's not the axis on which I have difficulty, and I am convinced that the vast majority of us have many many more ideas than we think we do, all the time... Sit down and talk to a 5-year-old for 20 minutes, and you will have a barrage of ideas, just crazy ideas—what happens is that at a later stage, we get trained into filtering out a lot of our own ideas. And I think for some of us the issue is not that we have more ideas than anyone else, it's that either we have less of a filter, or we've learned to ignore our filter, that little voice that says, "Oh, you're being silly." We don't hear it or we don't care about it or whatever."
- China Mieville.

Nik came across that comment from China, and we both remarked upon how much we identified with it. So I thought I'd share it with you here.

Other stuff: I've been really busy this last week or so, with a battery-recharging visit to Black Library towers, from which I returned bursting with more ideas than... Something So Very Full Of Ideas It's Going To Burst. Just for now, I must make time to mention four things:

This Saturday, the 22nd, I will be making two more appearances as part of the "Prospero Burns Tour". You can find me at Games Workshop Thurrock (Lakeside) from 11 until 1, and then at Games Workshop Bluewater from 3 until 5. Be there or... I'll be lonely.

On Saturday the 29th, I'll be popping up at the Kent Adventure Gaming Society's GameCon, details of which you can find here. I'll be there from 12 until 2, waxing lyrical and defacing books.

Then, on Saturday 5th February, I will be at the SFX Weekender, talking, signing, and then attending a screening of Ultramarines with producer Bob Thompson. Details of the Weekender here, but please be aware I am NOT a weekender. I am only going to be there for the Saturday.

Finally, Saturday 12th February, I will be signing the hnaftafls off Prospero Burns at the Games Workshop Oxford Street Plaza store. Details from all good Black Libraries. I believe Graham will be there too, so it will surely suck for him, because I am Russ and he is Magnus, and I will therefore be obliged to poke him in the eye with my cock-spankingly giant axe.

Couple of pleasing reviews came my way, so I'm sharing them below. Here's a nice one from CBR.com...

"In some ways, "Heroes for Hire" seems to be Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's version of "Marvel Team-Up" where they can throw together any sort of character they want. What's that? Silver Sable and Paladin meet Satana and Ghost Rider? Hey, why not? As long as it works—and trust me, it works.

"Part of Abnett and Lanning's trick in making it work is that the book never feels like it's slowing down, not even for an instant. The pace is steady and quick, and every time you think the book is going to resolve itself, Abnett and Lanning throw in another obstacle that needs to be overcome.

"They're also not afraid to slightly buck reader expectations. Books where the controller is sending out heroes on missions (in this case Misty Knight taking that central role) and one hero needs the cash, well, you can predict some of what's to come. At some point the cash is going to come back up again, but Abnett and Lanning turn it on its head with Silver Sable being told to leave but still get paid and being told not to. It's a good turning point, that moment where you start to realize things are going wrong, and it keeps the interest up.

"Abnett and Lanning are also already starting to explore the overarching plot of Misty Knight and her captor, something which I figured we wouldn't see for a while. It's nice to know there's going to be that common thread knitting the issues together, and it makes me that much more eager to see next month's issue. Never mind the random heroes getting tossed into the mix, I want to know what's going to happen to Misty.

"I'm also pleased to see Abnett and Lanning reunited with Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessy after their time together on "Guardians of the Galaxy." Walker and Hennessy's art looks even better than ever, from the thick locks of hair on Silver Sable, to the rumpled and bunched up clothing we get whenever people are leaping through the air. They get the big moments just right too, from that demonic grin on Silver Sable's face as she starts firing one of the cursed weapons, to the dramatic reveal of Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider's on the cover of the book, but his appearance looks so larger than life and powerful that I ended up being startled in spite of my previous knowledge.

"This is a fun comic that's already picking up steam. When do we get #3? "Heroes for Hire," I'm sold"

And here's one from Ain't It Cool News:

“Y’know, it is a really rare thing for me to “fanboy out” I guess would be the term for getting all wound up about certain characters getting having a huge moment – Spider-Man taking down Morlun, Batman taking down a handful of White Martians with some gas and a match, etc. I would wager it stems back to honestly being more or less jaded at this point; I’ve simply read too many comics and seen most my favorite characters have countless moments. Taking that into consideration, what happens for me anymore these days in my superhero reading is I find myself getting my jollies when I see second or third tier characters getting their time in the spotlight. It’s why I have adored what Abnett & Lanning have been pulling off in the cosmic sector of the Marvel Universe and now that they are working with the Marvel Knights section of it as well, I could not be happier.

"Well, okay, I lied. There are some places I would like this book to go. But for now I am highly entertained. I like the build up that is going on here involving, for those who have not tried this yet, a rotating cast of anyone Misty Knight can call upon for a little butt kicking, which there has been a plethora of. There’s a pretty interesting and disturbing master plot going on to, where Misty has been calling on these heroes while in the thrall of the Puppet Master, a twist that was very unexpected at the end of the first issue but is an intriguing hook. At the least it is a means to a hopeful end, which I will get to now.

"While I do dig on this rotating crew thing for now, especially in the early going, I do hope this turns into something a little more stable. I know it is not right to judge a book on what it might be until it happens, but I think a rotisserie of a couple characters a month will get old fast, given that I felt a little momentum lost already with just one more issue. So I’m hoping this turns into at least a semblance of a team book, like a GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, with several characters you can count on to be mostly there but a nice drop-in/drop-out esthetic with a couple new MK-based faces every so often. But who am I to argue with these two gents given their handling of the Marvel Cosmic material?

"I guess “fun” is an easy word to throw around when it comes to any well produced superhero book, but HFH is excelling at it so far and with some rather dark overtones to boot. Lots of stylish action with a creepy missing persons arc to get things rolling. Digging Brad Walker’s work on this as well, in the wake of his material in the aforementioned cosmic books. It has the hyperkinetic tendencies this book needs and looks fantastic all the while shit is being blow up oh so good (even if Puppet Master looks like a pedophile caught in a wind tunnel). This book has it going on from both ends and is helping me channel that inner fanboy that I usually keep locked away, not unlike Ms. Knight in her current peril…okay, too far. Just buy it already…”

So that was nice. Anyway, like I said I'm very busy and I'm teetering on ideas overload, so I can't stay here gassing. I haven't had time to prepare a full response to the Gaunt casting ideas yet, but I have been enjoying them. Some in a "what the hell..?" kind of way, and others in a "Oooh, never thought of that one..." style (in the latter camp... Radha Mitchell as Criid, James Purefoy as Bask etc). I will make some picks of my own soon (though you won't like them). In the meantime, please feel free to keep coming up with ideas.

If you want a new task to focus on... Eisenhorn. Casting for him, Ravenor and the crew, if you like, but what I'm REALLY interested in is what he sounds like. Who would you pick to give Gregor Eisenhorn a voice?

Can't imagine why I'd be asking that...