Jean Grey #2

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Written by Dennis Hopeless / Drawn by Victor Ibanez

After a disappointing first issue that didn’t suggest anything new or fun was going to happen to one of Marvel’s oldest characters in her first solo series, issue 2 ramps up the excitement levels to the point that it feels like an entirely different book – a book written by the same Dennis Hopeless who gave us the wonderful Spider-Woman series which wrapped up at the start of the year.

After sensing that the Phoenix Force is on its way to find her, Jean Grey gets in touch (via Cerebro, naturally) with every previous Phoenix host she can find – which includes established characters like Colossus, newer ones like Quentin Quire and “oh yeah she’s still around!” characters like Hope. Hopeless handles the different interactions  Jean has with each of her fellow mutants deftly, and artist Victor Ibanez clearly had a ball drawing each of them, especially during their chaotic fight with the Reavers. Jean Grey #2 feels like a more genuine celebration of X-Men history than both X-Men Gold and Blue have tried to be since their launch.

Kamandi Challenge #5

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Written by Bill Willingham / Drawn by Ivan Reis

DC are celebrating the 100th birthday of comics legend Jack Kirby this year by having some of their top creators compete in the Kamandi Challenge. Each issue sees a different writer/art team work on one chapter in the life of Kirby creation Kamandi, the last boy on earth, ending their issue on a cliffhanger that must be solved by the next creative team. It’s been patchy so far, maintaining a sense of fun overall that pays homage to Kirby nicely but rarely offering anything that memorable. That all changes with this phenomenal fifth issue, written by Fables scribe Bill Willingham with art by Ivan Reis – a genuinely top tier creative team.

Willingham ups the stakes for Kamandi almost immediately in this quick moving adventure that feels more packed with development than all the issues prior to this one combined. We meet pirate dogs (literal dogs – Kamandi is a boy surrounded by anthropomorphic animals at all times), lemur mad scientists and a Sherlock Holmes-esque lion detective who almost steals the show – were it not for an incredible, genuinely shocking cliffhanger at the end. I don’t envy the next creative team who have to get Kamandi out of this one. Provided they do, and the Kamandi Challenge finishes as planned at the end of the year, fingers crossed we get more Kamandi adventures from Willingham and Reis, because this was fantastic.

James Bond: Service

Written by Kieron Gillen / Drawn by Antonio Fuso

It’s possible to be a James Bond fan even if you haven’t enjoyed one of his movies in a good 20 years. Warren Ellis made it especially easy last year when he wrote a 12 issue run featuring the character, a genuine surprise from Dynamite comics which saw Ellis modernise the M16 characters from Ian Fleming’s 1950s novels, ignoring the flashiness of the movies and getting to the heart of the character. This was a sharper, more brutal take on 007 – perfectly paired with cold, precise art from Jason Masters.

Since then Dynamite has given us shorter James Bond runs by Andy Diggle and Benjamin Percy but neither have lived up to Warren Ellis’s stint. This week’s new one shot James Bond: Service sees writer Kieron Gillen build nicely on that run, while adding his own signature wit and a risky story that mirrors the current American politic climate. In the most 2017 Bond story ever, America’s new Secretary of State rudely understates the value of Britain before a visit, upsetting one nationalist enough to plan an assassination attempt, which M16 plans to stop.

This well paced one and done story features a rarity for James Bond – having to hunt down a would be assassin who’s British for once – but there’s enough appearances from M16 staple characters to keep the feeling of familiarity. Gillen’s Bond is razor sharp, but there’s a warmth to Gillen’s writing that stops the book from ever feeling as brutal as Ellis’s run did.

Although Antonio Fuso draws a few dodgy faces in the opening, exposition heavy pages, as soon as the action kicks in he’s in his element, keeping the book moving forward as fast a good thriller should. Dynamite should consider releasing more Bond one shots like this, especially if they all get covers as gloriously phallic as this one, drawn by frequent Gillen collaborator Jamie McKelvie.

LIVE FROM MEREDITH

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I played the Meredith Music Festival in Melbourne at the end of last year and some people were mad at my set so I was a bit of a dick to them online and a few people thought that was funny/newsworthy so for a hot December minute I was all over the internet.

I finally got my hands on the audio from the festival and uploaded my set. I really like it, it’s just a bunch of party songs with me telling a few shit jokes and farting out a few airhorns from time to time (the intro in particular is obnoxious as hell) but I’ve never uploaded a straight up party mix so have at it.

My Soundcloud got deleted for having too much fire on it and endangering the lives of others so it’s up for streaming on Mixcloud. Let me know in the comments if you want me to upload an mp3 of it somewhere and I’ll break the law for you.

Earlier today Thump put up a pretty funny piece about it all – ‘An Oral History of Levins’s Iconic Meredith 2015 Party Set‘. Read that while you listen. If you like this mix and would like to hear something like it in a club near you, get in touch using the contact form in the top corner.

Tracklist

FETTY WAP feat MONTY 679
KAMAIYAH how does it feel
YG feat DJ MUSTARD left, right
TRAVIS PORTER feat TYGA ayy ladies
JCE feat SKIPPA DA FLIPPA twerkin
JUVENILE feat LIL’ WAYNE and MANNIE FRESH back that azz up
HOT BOYS feat BIG TYMERS i need a hot girl
PARTNERS-IN-CRIME feat DJ JUBILEE n.o. block party
MAGNOLIA SHORTY monkey on tha dick
BIG FREEDIA azz everywhere
BIG FREEDIA rock around the clock
NICKY DA B hot potato style
NICKI MINAJ feat LIL’ WAYNE and DRAKE truffle butter
BASENJI can’t get enough
DRAKE feat MAJID JORDAN hold on, we’re going home
GYPTIAN hold yuh
JUSTIN BIEBER sorry
KREPT & KONAN feat JEREMIH freak of the week (SEAN PAUL hype edit)
THE MEETING TREE r u a cop
TINASHE all hands on deck
USHER good kisser
SAGE THE GEMINI feat JUSTIN BIEBER and IAMSU gas pedal (remix)
BEYONCE love on top
RIHANNA no love allowed (BIGGI & RAJEEV GUALTIERO zouk edit)
RICH GANG lifestyle
JAMIE XX feat POPCAAN and YOUNG THUG i know there’s gonna be (good times)
DEJ LOAF try me
DEJ LOAF back up
iHEART MEMPHIS hit the quan
RICH HOMIE QUAN flex (ooh, ooh, ooh)
T.I. what you know (CUTSO remix)
RAE SREMMURD feat NICKI MINAJ throw sum mo
BEYONCE drunk in love (JR BLENDER remix)
USHER climax (JR BLENDER remix)
RIHANNA where have you been (JR BLENDER remix)
FRANK OCEAN thinkin bout you (RYAN HEMSWORTH bootleg)
DRAKE hotline bling
SILENTO x ARIANA GRANDE whip it one last time (VAPORDOG x CASHMERE CAT bootleg)
JEREMIH pass dat
TRAVIS PORTER turn up
DRAKE feat RIHANNA take care
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE my girls
WHITNEY HOUSTON million dollar bill
CARIBOU odessa

My new podcast: Hey Fam!

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I’ve started a new podcast, three years after the death of my short lived Hip Hoptimists podcast with Franco. This new one is called Hey Fam..! and I host it with with my good friend Angus Truskett, the genius behind my favourite Facebook page, Plucka Duck Memes. Each week we hang out in his living room and talk about all the pop culture we’ve ingested over the past week – movies, tv shows, comics, video games etc etc. Recording the podcast has become the highlight of my week and we’ve started getting guests to join us in Angus’s living room.

You can subscribe on iTunes (and leave a review if you like it!) or listen to each episode individually below. Thanks fam!

Episode 1: Entourage

For our very first episode we slap on a few classic Entourage eps and talk about the new season of True Detective, our reservations regarding the upcoming Suicide Squad movie, the emotional rollercoaster that is being a Nintendo fan and our favourite lines (AKA every single line) in The Rock’s new HBO sitcom Ballers.

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Episode 2: The Review

Episode 2! Levins and Angus get deeeeep into Pixar’s new movie Inside Out, catch up on the latest True Detective (and Ballers obviously), discuss the recent Spider-Man and Marvel comics news and compare Arkham Knight to Yoshi’s Wooly World.

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Episode 3: Talk Show

We’re back! Angus and Levins check in on Vinnie and the boys before going through the highlights of the latest episodes of Ballers and True Dickies. Angus tries to convince Levins to buy a PS4, we go through the latest Star Wars news (and comics!) and try to work out what those darn Minions are all about!

Episode 4: Date Night (with Gen Fricker)

Angus and Levins welcome the first ever guest to Hey Fam HQ: comedian Gen Fricker! She brings with her some hot takes on Magic Mike XXL, we reflect on the new DC previews from Comic-Con, read the new Archie comic, catch up on True Detective and pay homage to gaming legend Satoru Iwata.

Episode 5: The Script and the Sherpa (with Siobhan Coombs)

This week the babybros are joined by comics guru Siobhan Coombs for A long look back at the work of Geoff Johns after it was announced he was co-writing the new Batman movie! We also review Marvel’s latest flick Ant-Man, dissect another episode of True Detective and make some bold predictions for the future of Ballers!

Episode 6: Busey and the Beach (with Henry Stone)

Our first drunk episode! The fam is joined by Henry Stone, former YouTube star and host of our rival podcast The Blank Slate Movie Podcast. Angus plays a drinking game where he drinks whenever Levins says something. We discuss the latest episode of True Detective, Henry’s habit of finishing the Arkham games a day after they’re released, the dark side of the extended Star Wars universe and work out what the funniest part of the male anatomy is. Oh yeeeeah!

Subscribe to Hey Fam..! on iTunes or stream it on our Libsyn page.

HOTTEST 100… LEAKED!

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After weeks of what I assumed was a joke campaign to vote Taylor Swift into triple j’s Hottest 100, it turns out everyone’s fears were completely valid. I thought for sure that those suits upstairs at ABC would never let Taylor get past 50, let alone into the top 10. But then I saw this leaked Hottest 100 and my world turned upside down. I mean sure, she definitely has a lot of fans, but I would put good money on that NOBODY saw this coming! I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to listen to music again.

100. Taylor Swift – Shake It Off

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1. The Offspring – Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) 

What a result huh? Talk about a “shake” up! Sorry to make a joke during this hard time for our country. RIP MUSIC.

ALL CAKE EVERYTHING


 

Good pal Sampology promised me he’d make a video to my stupid edit of the dumbest Jay-Z verse of all time. A few months passed and Sam came good on his promise.

This video is truly wonderful and in three days it’s gotten more than 16,000 views. Hopefully Jay-Z records more songs about pastries this year!

I GAVE A TED TALK

Earlier in the year I was asked to give a talk at a Tedx event at the Northern Sydney Institute. Without hesitating (also without having ever watched a Ted Talk in my life) I said yes, opting to speak about the music workshops we run with Heaps Decent and the lessons young kids can learn through hip hop. Basically I wanted to focus on all the positives that can come out of using rap as a teaching tool.

I spoke about using rap to improve reading and writing skills through repetition, this was brought to my attention last year by a friend and speech pathologist Georgina Smith, who was in Wilcannia at the same time as us in 2012, running workshops at the Central School. She forwarded some relevant essays my way, in particular this one which I referenced a few times in my talk. 

I love rap and so does almost every kid in high school and primary school. It seems to be a taboo in most schools, a bad influence that parents and teachers refuse to understand. We get incredible results using rap in our Heaps Decent workshops, from the short term bursts of confidence and teamwork to the long term improvement of reading and writing skills.

The Ted Talk was a great opportunity to focus on the educational side of Heaps Decent (and rap music!) and find case studies that backed up our personal experiences working with young people. I’m keen to explore this further and hopefully give more talks on the subject. Hopefully I can encourage teachers to further their knowledge of rap instead of ignoring it completely! 

If you want to find out more about Heaps Decent head to our website. To speak with me further about using rap in the classroom – or maybe even Heaps Decent coming to your classroom – email me! Levins at heaps decent dot com.

Thanks to everyone at Tedx and the Northern Sydney Institute for giving me the opportunity to talk at length about something I love in front of a room full of people. I hope the video finds its way to the computer screen of someone who can gain something from it.

JAY-Z LOVES CAKE SO MUCH

If your favourite part from Drake’s new album was when Jay-Z rattled off the names of his favourite cakes for half a minute you’re in luck – I made an edit that is 100% pure cake. After listening to an entire album of Drake still being confused by girls it was definitely refreshing to hear a 43 year old rapper fill out his verse by saying the word cake repeatedly.

Thanks to Leon Smith for making the wonderful accompanying artwork.

LEVINS EATING FOOD! EPISODE ONE!

Yeah hoe! I made my own tv show about me eating food – exactly what the public wanted!

I shot this thing with my pal Aidan Keogh. Last month we spent a day driving to all my favourite weird hot dog spots around Sydney, eating some dawgs and making cinematic history.

Here are the spots we visit in the video:

La Paula, 9 Barbara St, Fairfield 

Kana Express, 359 Pitt St, Sydney

Chinatown Night Market, Dixon St, Chinatown

And one more which you really don’t want to visit. Not for food anyway.

There will be a new one of these every month or so. I’m really psyched about it! I love eating food!