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Terry Hooper-Scharf

Friday 10 October 2014

Storm Breaks Worldwide for Tim Minchin

Tim Minchin
Hardcover: 112 pages
Publisher: Orion (16 Oct 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 140915209X
ISBN-13: 978-1409152095
Product Dimensions: 26.3 x 20.1 x 2.5 cm 
£20.00
Trade paperback (no page numbering or pagination given so I am NOT counting them)
ISBN 9781409156253
£12.99

www.bookomi.com/storm


Tim Minchin, the award-winning Australian musician, songwriter, actor and comedian is to launch the illustrated book version of his hugely popular beat-poem, STORM, at an exclusive, global “Buy-to-View” event on Monday 6th October 2014.


The event will be streamed live via the Internet from Soho House, Los Angeles to Bookomi customers who have pre-ordered a copy of the special launch paperback edition of STORM in the Bookomi shop for the RRP of £12.99. They will also be able to submit questions to Tim using a hash tag released one hour before the event. 


The special launch paperback edition book will be available in the Bookomi online shop from 11am on Wednesday 17th September via the following link www.bookomi.com/storm

STORM, published by Orion on the 16th October 2014, is an illustrated book born from the hit online animation of Tim Minchin’s sublime beat-poem of the same name. With over three million views on YouTube, STORM has become an anthem for critical thinking worldwide.

With a foreword by Neil Gaiman, the special launch paperback edition is exclusive to Bookomi and includes a limited edition numbered print signed by DC Turner.

Tim Minchin has been performing his unique brand of musical comedy in front of appropriately excitable and ever-growing audiences since 2005. He is the composer and lyricist for the West End and Broadway musical MATILDA, provided narration for Shaun Tan's OSCAR-winning animation THE LOST THING, and completed an arena tour culminating in dates at the Sydney Opera House, and the Royal Albert Hall with the 55-piece Heritage Orchestra. He played a lead role as Judas Iscariot in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, is currently working on a DreamWorks animation and has played Hyde Park, London this summer. Tim has over 760,000 followers on Twitter and a dedicated army of fans. He lives in LA with his wife and two children.

DC Turner is an illustrator, animator, musician and award-winning coder. He created the original animation for the STORM short movie and has now fully re-designed the artwork for the illustrated book.

Tracy King is a producer, writer and consultant, working to popularise rationalism and science. She co-created and produced the animated short STORM and blogs regularly at tkingdoll.com.

STORM will be published by Orion simultaneously in trade paperback and ebook (priced at £12.99) on 16th October 2014.


I would like to open my case by calling up the quote by Jonathan Ross:

'Probably the greatest and most important thing ever published in the history of humankind to date and in the future. And it's very funny.' Jonathan Ross

Ross says this sort of thing a lot.  He also wrote that Batman III (yes, that Batman film) was the greatest movie ever.  He writes and says this sort of thing a lot.  Especially for mates.  And Jane Goldman waxes lyrical on this book (psst! She's Jonathan Ross's wife).  And Professor Brian Cox thinks the book is great...but he's an absolute ass.

Luckily I never read those blurbs first.

I have never rated Tim Minchin as a "comedian" and just do not think he's funny.  But I thought "Maybe he writes an okay graphic novel?   Boy, was I over-thinking things.  Apparently this book is based on his "beat poem" -listen, the cool cat Beatniks were performing beat poetry in the 1960s so that aint new.  And "Beat Poetry" in this case means the last word of each sentence ryhmes.  And there is not much to this at all.

If you've ever seen Stephen Fry or Dara O'Briain....or any of the 'new' comedians rant on about people being stupid if they believe in God or alternative medicine or any type of "unexplained mystery" and how they hate "that bitch at dinner who came out with the most dire crap" and how they snappily held back until they could take no more and then they verbally tore her to shreds---oh. Uh, well, in essence, that is the, uh, "beat poem".

It is crap.  Complete and utter crap.  I read this three -THREE- times because I wanted to be fair. It was still crap. I do not give a flying turd whether there was an animated film of this on You Tube and it got 3 million hits.  Here: put a video on You Tube and get your mates to visit it as many times as they can and see that counter go up.  But being honest Ylvis and "What Does The Fox Say? got 15, 391, 744 views and there are even worse that got 10 -20 million hits.  3 million hits...pfah.

Previously, I have stated that comics -whether Alternative Press or otherwise- seem to have 3-4 common styles that artists use. If only one or two used that style no problem but when you see so many well, it becomes tedious, unoriginal -worse.  Now I hate saying bad things about artists but the art in this book just does not impress.  The figures are that awful "Indie" look as some people call it.  I saw similar/the same styles in zines back in the 1980s.  It's what I call "Media Arts Style" -students who take these "studies" tend to start using this style.  And I just noticed that the artist did take Media Arts.  Oh well.

Do NOT believe the hype over this book. I would not recommend you pay £12.99 for the paperback nor £20.00 for the limited-to-2000-copies hardback edition...unless the promised "extras" include a £20 note. I see Amazon is already listing the book for £9.00 (trade) and left the hardback price open.

I like to see books by different creators or creative teams and in all styles.  It's why I love doing this at times. But when a book fails to offer on story...or "Beat the Meat" "Beat Poem" and the art is uninspiring...and the hype!!  This is a perfect example of arty farts over-hyping and not realising people with brains can see through the crap. I'm quite sure a few of these books will be on sale at "gigs" and elsewhere but I have not been so disappointed in a book in a long time.

Of course, I could go with all the hype and be "one of the crowd" but that just is not going to happen. My bad review against all those crawling, scabies-like reviews on other sites....I know which will win!



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