I went searching for a film to wrap up the October 13, which to be fair has been a touch underwhelming so far. I was really hoping to find something epic to end out the thirteen.
Well, I found something original for sure.
On AMC + on Prime, I found a stop-motion film called Mad God and it looked interesting. That would be an understatement for this.
According to IMDB, “Equipped with a gas mask and a crumbling map, the Assassin, an iron-clad humanoid, descends into a rusty, peril-laden underworld of grime, blood, and unsettling monstrosities. As the stealthy invader meanders through the labyrinthine post-apocalyptic wasteland on a mysterious mission, going deeper and deeper in the nightmarish realm, the Assassin gradually reaches his final destination: the heart of this grotesque tower of torture. But what cruel, vindictive deity allows fear and suffering to take its most complete creation further and further into despair? Only a Mad God would revel in humankind’s ordeal.”
That synopsis from IMDB is well done, but to be honest, the story is not anywhere near as straightforward as that description. I would venture to say that this film has a very limited narrative structure. The story seems secondary to the goals of this film.
Mad God has amazing, masterful stop-motion animation that creates an atmosphere unlike few movies that I have ever seen. It is frightening at times, disturbing at others. It imbues this nightmare realm with such darkness and alarming imagery that you can help but be taken aback from the visual daze.
The sound effects and score are very effective keeping you uneasy as the images build a surreal experience of monstrous creatures and violent despair.
Written and directed by stop-motion guru Phil Tippett, this passion project takes you deep into the mind of the director. And what a bizarre and warped experience it was. I usually prefer more of a story, and that is just short here, but this is an experience that I would not have passed on. I am conflicted on how I feel after watching this, which, I suppose, is a desired result.
The process of electing a new Pope is full of secrecy. That means you can tell whatever story you want about it, as this new film starring Ralph Fiennes opens wide this weekend.
This movie is based on a 2016 novel by Robert Harris. It is directed by Edward Berger, who directed the Oscar nominated All Quiet on the Western Front.
According to IMDB, “Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake–secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church.“
Ralph Fiennes was sensational once again as Cardinal Lawrence. He has such an understated performance that he fits into this story beautifully. He anchors the film with his work.
There are other great performances including Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati and Sergio Castellitto.
There is a twist at the end of the movie that came after it seemed as if the film was over and I am not sure if it was necessary. No spoilers, of course, but this feels as if this was done to create division among viewers. I have no issues with the ending outside that I am just not sure it was important to the story.
I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the script and the film looked beautiful. Great performances scattered throughout the film. I assume this will have a huge presence at the Oscars. This was very solid.
An exciting episode. With the three current day women dropping off the money, and the dramatic danger at the end of the episode with a pack of wolves, this was exciting throughout the whole episode.
So many things happened. Taissa had tackled the guy who was blackmailing them, but took an elbow to the face allowing him to get away. Kevin discovered that his gun was messed up and questioned Natalie about it. Shauna came back and had sex with Adam.
I saw that Christina Ricci was on the credits and I did not know that she was on this show. So I looked up who she played. I thought it might be current day Natalie, but I was shocked to see that she is playing current day Misty. Couldn’t believe it. Then, we see Misty and her sociopathy tendencies as she interviewed the reporter.
The wolves attack at the end with them tearing off parts of Van’s face. It was a brutal reminder how dangerous of a situation that they were in.
The whole Shauna/Jackie story with Shauna’s pregnancy was another key component of the episode. Jackie found the diary with the truth in it after Shauna had told her that it was Randy who had gotten her pregnant.
After a poor stretch of films in The October 13, I was hoping for a really great one to balance out the list. I had been watching The Breakroom, which is a YouTube show from the New Rockstars and they gave a list of horror movies to watch before you die. One of the panelists brought up Kill List and I had never heard of it, so I hoped that it would break the unfortunate run I had been on.
It did. It was good. It was not great, but I found it a good time.
According to IMDB, “Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.“
This is a British psychological horror film directed by Ben Wheatley. It was a real slow burn, so slow that after the first act, I was afraid that this would be just another failure in the October 13. However, the film absolutely picked up and wound up with a batshit ending that tied the whole film together in a tragic tapestry.
Neil Maskell played Jay and Michael Smiley played Gal, out two lead protagonists in the film. They were partners in this hired killers job that led to them getting involved in this story. MyAnna Buring played Shel, Jay’s wife and the mother of his son Sam (Harry Simpson).
Throughout the first two parts of the film, you can see the mental instability of Jay as the killings he was hired to do became all the more brutal as they progressed. You would begin to think that the horror would come from inside Jay’s mind, but then things got considerably more real.
Hit List was not what I expected when it started, but it morphed into a wild ride that kept the tension to the final moments and a dramatic final scene.
I found this on HBO Max and, because of that, I mistakenly believed, this movie would be a good one to include for The October 13, or at least was a real movie. It was five minutes into it when I discovered that this was the most amateurish, ridiculously bad film I have seen in a long time.
When the sound quality of a film does not reach the quality level of Birdemic: Shock and Terror, you know there is something wrong.
According to IMDB, “Six high school buddies accidentally kill a drug pusher and dump his body in toxic waters. When the pusher returns as a zombie and goes on a killing spree, their only recourse is to dump the body of one of their own recently dead, and have him return as a “good” zombie to face off with the “bad” one.“
I have seen this referred to as a cult classic, but if this is a classic in any form, I have to question the choices of the viewer. I know film is subjective, but I don’t think anything should be that subjective.
The budget of this movie must have been $25 dollars and a box of donuts.
I take that back, they did have some real music involved in the film, with a soundtrack involving real bands and musicians. At times the music was played so you could not hear what was being said. Best part of the film.
I seen better acting on SNL, you know when the host clearly has not learned any lines and is just reading off the cue cards off screen.
How bad was the dialogue? I don’t know, you could barely hear it.
This was not fun. There was a time or two where I laughed at the movie. Not because it was funny, but because it was so embarrassing that the only thing you could do was laugh.
The zombie make-up was more like blackface. Or eventually green face.
Then there was a zombie rape scene. I’m not kidding. Offensive as it could be.
The quality of the movies in this year’s October 13 has been really down. With Piranha, Sorry About the Demon, and this film, I really need to find a good film for #10.
It is time again for the EYG Comic Cavalcade. A little early this week since I had today off from work since we had to have parent teacher conferences the last two days. Today was a comp day. I left school last night at 8 PM feeling really brain dead. I enjoyed reading through these books today.
Absolute Batman #1. “The 200.” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Oragotta. Cover art was done by Oragotta & Martin. The new Batman story in the DC’s Absolute books is an interesting read. I did enjoy the new take on Batman, but especially Alfred. I am giving these new Absolute books a chance to see if they will hook my interest. I found this to be a good book, and I may want to give it a few more issues.
Mystique #1. “Intelligence.” Written, drawn and cover art by Declan Shalvey. Mystique is involved in a mission involving Maverick. A lot of action and shape shifting. Nick Fury Jr. appeared in the book too, and there was a shocking end to this book. Something that I did not see coming.
Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #1. “New Moon.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. Cover art was done by Davide Paratore. Mister Knight and Achilles Fairchild face off in a tense war of words over a new drug being sold by the latter. The new Moon Knight series kicked off with a reintroduction of Mr. Knight and the Midnight Mission.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #25. “Birds of a Feather, Part Three.” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Federico Vicentini. Vicentini & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. Black Panther comes to give some help to try and help Miles with his vampire tendencies. New suit, by the way.
Avengers Assemble #2. Written by Steve Orlando and penciled by Scot Eaton. Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr were the cover artists. Cap, Hawkeye, Herc and Night Thrasher went to a small town being beseeched by ghost apes. The story brings the Red Ghost into the mix.
Uncanny X-Men #4. “The Eye of a Hurricane.” Written by Gail Simone and art by David Marquez. Marquez & Matthew Wilson did the art for the cover. This has been a really great new X-Men book so far. Rogue goes to rescue Logan, and stays behind to do battle with Sarah, the frightening creature that has a background with Charles Xavier.
Ultimate Spider-Man #10. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by David Messina. Marco Checchetto & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Ben and Jonah are investigating a story that brings them into conflict with Harry Osborn. Who is behind Kingpin?
Big Guns Stupid Rednecks #1. Written by Austin Allen Hamblin and illustrated by Mariana Meira. Cover art was done by Kurt Belcher. From Band of Bards, this is a strange new series that followed retired detective Clint search for his white trash brother. It made me think of Mojo some, and it was a very bizarre issue.
Spectacular Spider-Men #8. “Triage” Written by Greg Weisman and art by Emilio Laiso & Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. After the trauma inside the Arcadium, the people who had been taken joined together for some group therapy. That included Peter Parker and Miles Morales.
Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter #4. “Descending” Written by Jay Kristoff and art by Tirso. The second story is written by Tom Taylor and art by Riccardo Federici. Cover art was also by Tirso. Rose caught up with Slade and bad things happen.
House of Slaughter #26. “Azure: Part One” Written by Sam Johns and illustrated by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was by Jorge Fornes and Werther Dell’Edera. New story arc in this series. Honestly, this has never been my favorite of these series. I much prefer the Someone is Killing the Children series. Still, there are some interesting things going down.
Blood Hunters #3. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Robert Gill. Ema Lupacchino & GURU-eFX did the cover art. The Blood Hunters are in some real danger as a bunch of vampires are swarming them. Dagger is in bad shape. Miles is trying to contain his vampire side.
The Department of Truth #26. “Deviation Seven: Fictional Women.” Written by James Tynion IV and art by Alison Sampson. Cover art by Martin Simmonds (Silver Medalist). The book takes yet another turn… this time to Marilyn Monroe. Is she real? Or is she like bigfoot? Only in this book.
Spider-Man: Reign 2 #4. Written, drawn and cover art by Kaare Andrews. Peter finally gets rid of the big white beard! YES!!! However, things are not going great for him otherwise. He has discovered that he is not able to save Mary Jane and he is preparing to head back to his own time because his presence can jeopardize the reality. I believe there is one more issue in this mini series.
Profane #5. Written by Peter Milligan and illustrated by Raul Fernandez. Cover art by Javier Rodriguez. This series comes to a close with the mystery of the murder of Spud Coltrane solved and Profane returned to the land of fiction. This was a fun series with an intriguing hook.
Wolverine #2. “Blood and Debt.” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Martin Coccolo. Martin Coccolo and Bryan Valenza did the cover art. This issue of Wolverine gives us a bit of a twist on the character of Wendigo, which is one of my favorite characters as is. I really liked how they used Wendigo here.
Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #4. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Michael Dowling & Ivan Fiorelli. David Yardin & Romulo Fajardo Jr. are the cover artists. This mini series ended with Elektra and the new Punisher teaming up after fighting each other.
The Creeping Below #1. Written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated and cover art by Vanesa Del Ray. I am not sure what this is, to be honest. I might have to give this one another read because I am just not sure what is happening.
Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1. Written by Kyle Starks and art by Piotr Kowalski. Piotr Kowalski with Vladimir Popov did the cover art. This new series is a follow up to the Dark Horse book from a few years ago involving a group of serial killers and monsters living together in a neighborhood. They’re in a cull-de-sac now with the former agent from the last series.
Grim #20. “Strangelove.” Written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Flaviano. Cover art by Flaviano (Bronze Medalist). Lots of weirdness going on as we see Death and his relationship with Jess’s mother. Lots of soap opera-like drama in the hell dimension.
You Won’t Feel a Thing Ashcan. The DSTLRY upcoming series released an ashcan, which, funnily, is a smaller, undersized book, unlike the oversized normal issues from DSTLRY. There is also part of the new series from James Tynion IV, The Cit Beneath Her Feet, in this ashcan.
Local Man #25. Story and art by Tim Seeley & Tony Fleecs. Hold on a sec… #25??? Um… what happened to issues #14-24? This is the final issue of the series (for now?) and there is a time jump in the story, but why change it to issue #25? I don’t know, but I always did enjoy the series so it will be missed.
The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos: Halloween Special #1. Cover art by David Talaski (Gold Medalist). Several short stories featuring the main characters of the regular series. There was some fun stuff in here with creators including Tate Brombal, James Tynion IV, Soo Lee, Morgan Beem, Isaac Goodhart, and Fernando Blanco.
Other books this week: Sam and Twitch Case Files #7, Domain #4, Crypt of Shadows #1, Black Cloak #9, Anansi Boys #3-4, and The Mammoth #4.
Piranha, a movie directed by Joe Dante, was a film that I never had any interest in seeing. Those type of B-movies were never in my taste. However, for the October 13, I decided to watch the original Piranha on Prime to see if it was more enjoyable than I thought.
It was pretty much what I expected.
According to IMDB, “An insurance investigator and her local guide search the Lost River Lake area to find too missing teenagers. When stumbling on an abandoned military facility, they release by accident in the river some flesh-eating piranhas that were bred to use in the Vietnam war. The piranhas are heading straight to a nearby summer resort’s lake and its guests.“
A Jaws rip-off, Piranha is a low-budget film that had some terrible special effects and the story about as simple as you could get. The acting was not very good either, especially with the secondary characters. The dialogue was atrocious for most of the film.
I have seen reviews of Piranha saying that it is a parody of Jaws or that the film was tongue-in-cheek humor. I didn’t think much of any of this film was funny, and the time when the film tried to add humor, it fell flat.
I can see why this may have become a cult classic, because there is so much awful about this that you can look at it an laugh… not with it but at it.
This would be a perfect film for Rifftrax Live as there is so much comedy to mine around what is on this screen. It was actually worse than I had thought and proved that I was right for avoiding it all these years.
So, this one was a horror comedy. I found it on Shudder, as most of the list for this The October 13 is this year. I found it to be really silly.
After dealing with a bad break-up, Will (Jon Michael Simpson) rented a house from a family. What Will did not know was the family, the Sellers, had rented him the house because they had made a deal with the demon that was in the house, Deomonous (voiced by Tony Vespe), to possess him and take his soul to Hell instead of their daughter Grace (Presley Allard).
This movie was funny at times. At least I chuckled here and there. Otherwise it was fairly messy with the plot and just silly as it can be. It was absolutely corny and silly. I am not sure if this was intended to be a parody or if it is just meant to be a horror/comedy. Either way, the film was not the worst thing I ever saw. I did not like the way it started, as it seemed fairly stupid to me. However, Jon Michael Simpson had a charm about him that made me want to keep watching, even though I wanted to stop watching at first.
Overall, it was not the worst film I have seen. It is not great, but if you are in the right mood, this could be a fun family horror/comedy for Halloween.
It will be a busy Saturday this week, with a couple of movies, Badd Blood from the WWE, and a Dodger post season game, so with a smaller number of books this week than recently, my goal was to get this Comic Cavalcade out on a Friday instead of the weekend. I just finished reading, even with a couple of new arrivals from eBay.
Books this week:
Storm #1. “Grand Opening.” Written by Murewa Ayodele and art by Lucas Werneck. I go the variant foil cover with the art by Jerome Opena. Storm is seeing quite the upswing of popularity as she is just recently in the Avengers and now with this new series. This is the fifth volume of Storm which surprised me, and she is one of my favorite mutant characters out there these days.
Hyde Street #1. Storytellers are Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis. Cover art was by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki and Brad Anderson did the cover art (Gold Medalist). This is the new series joining the Ghost Machine imprint from Image. It is very creative concept and it gave me an Ice Cream Man type flavor. This one is going to be very interesting.
Dead Eyes #1-4. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by John McCrea. Here is the eBay series I just recently purchased. A few week ago, I picked up Dead Eyes: Empty Frames and the book felt as if it were a sequel series, and, after a quick trip to eBay, I confirmed that truth. The Dead Eyes series arrived in the mail today. I loved this first series. Read them all in one sitting tonight.
Ultimate Black Panther #9. Written by Bryan Hill and art by Stefano Caselli. Cover art by Stefano Caselli and David Curiel. I have not done a write up for this series recently and it is because it has been my least favorite new Ultimates series. That is still the case, but we get a issue that is heavily featuring Storm and Killmonger and they do make a good team.
Daredevil #14. “Introductory Rites” Part Fourteen. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Luigi Zagaria. Cover art this issue was by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove (Bronze Medalist). Matt Murdock has to face off with Elektra and she is not having it. To say that she is spurned is an understatement. However, there is little time for hurt feelings as they are in search of the missing kid from the halfway house.
The Power Fantasy #1-2. Written by Kieron Gillen and art by Caspar Wijngaaard. This is a series that I missed the first issue of and I had heard positives about, so I got #1 on eBay and read these two. Only a handful of superheroes on the earth and they are causing trouble. How about one Kieron Gillen has done a solid job with that.
Immortal Thor #16. “Fire and Stone.” Written by Al Ewing and art by Jan Bazaldua. Alex Ross did the cover art. If I am being honest, this was a fairly pedestrian issue of Thor that was saved by a new group of villains and a shocking final page. I am excited to see where this goes from here.
Deadpool #7. Written by Cody Ziglar & Alexis Quasarano and art by Andrea Di Vito. Tauron Clarke did the cover art. This was okay, but I am not sure how I feel about the daughter of Deadpool taking up his mantel. I do like how they are keeping Wade’s body around with sunglasses on it expecting a resurrection.
X-Men #5. “Psychic Rescue in Progress” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Ryan Stegman. Stegman, JP Mayer & Marte Gracia did the cover art. Psylocke and Quentin Quire heading on a psychic mission together was a joy. I am a fan of Quentin Quire because he is such a little jerk. And I love it.
Redcoat #6. Creators are Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch. Variant cover art is by Francis Manapul. For awhile in this book, it was feeling like a end of the series as things were wrapping up with Benedict Arnold. However, there is another issue coming as George Washington has reared his wigged head. Next issue is entitled “Epilogue” so does that mean next issue is the final one? That would be sad as this has been a consistently entertaining book.
The Deviant #8. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Joshua Hixson. The penultimate issue of this series really sets this one up for a huge finale. The mystery of what is exactly happening is great.
Plastic Man No More #2. Written by Christopher Cantwell and art by Alex Lins. Alex Lins & Marcelo Maiolo did the cover art (Silver Medalist). Plastic Man is taking a huge step to try and solve the problem of his rubbery body falling apart, afraid that his son may wind up the same way. Unfortunately, it leads to a bad situation for the Metal Men.
Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #6. “Haunted” Part 6. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Paolo Villanelli. Mark Brooks did the cover art. Gwen Stacy joined up with one of my favorite female Marvel characters, Jessica Jones, and I loved it. I could always enjoy the appearance of Jessica Jones.
Get Fury #6. Written by Garth Ennis and art by Jacen Burrows. Cover art was done by Dave Johnson. The finale of this series is just as brutal as this series has been. Nick Fury is downright unbalanced. This was a series that I did not initially plan on getting, but after re-reading the first issue again, I was in and I have enjoyed it each month.
Other books this week: Creature Commandos #1, The Nice House by the Sea #3, Robbie Reyes: Ghost Rider Marvel Voices Special #1, All In Special #1, and Wolverine: Deep Cut #4.
Sometimes this show catches me off-guard. Chick followed Norma for awhile, and wound up coming to see her, offering to fix the stained-glass window that was broken during the break in. It was very stalker-like, but during the episode, Chick almost had me convinced that he was going to turn over a new leaf and just fix the stained glass and redeem himself for his past sins.
Nope. At the end of the episode, he comes to Norma and tells her the truth. That he wants to find her brother Caleb. When they were speaking before, Norma called Caleb her brother and Chick was able to piece it together since Caleb had introduced himself to Chick originally as Dylan’s father. Chick took this info and tried to play on Norma’s uncertainty, her deep seeded pain over what had happened to her. He was manipulating Norma and suddenly the good tidings that he had earned in this episode went right out the broken stained-glass window.
I really felt for Norma in that moment. Its as if she can never fully catch a break. She has just started to connect with Romero, so much so that she even asked him if he had killed Bob Paris. His response was that he had no choice, but you could see the truth in his face. He killed him because Bob was a danger to Norma. It was to protect her that Romero had no choice. Norma could see that. I say this every episode write-up but I loved Romero and Norma as a couple which makes what I know is coming up later this season all the worse.
Dr. Edwards met Norman’s Mother personality as Norman blacked out during a session. Edwards had pushed Norman about an imagined meeting Norman had with Norma at the mental institution which happened in Norman’s head and Norman flipped out. Freddie Highmore does a great job switching into Mother. The way he moves, the glint in his eyes, the tilt of a head. Highmore is exceptional in playing the role.
There was a sweet scene between Dylan and Emma where Emma showed Dylan her scar. She was embarrassed by it, but she wanted to get past it. Dylan handled it wonderfully, showing Emma the scars across his body from gunshots and other moments from the drug running career he had been involved in. Another fun moment was when Dylan interviewed for a real, honest job and told the interviewer the truth about his past in the drug trade. Amazingly, it seems as if the truth may have worked out for him.
We have gone past the halfway point in season four and I am not thinking that Chick is long for this world.
As a fan of the WWE, I was always going to see The Killer’s Game. It was not just because of Dave Bautista in the starring role, but also because of the debut of Drew McIntyre, a current WWE superstar.
According to IMDB, “…Veteran assassin Joe Flood, who is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness… authorizes a kill on himself to avoid the pain that is destined to follow. After ordering the kill, he finds out that he was misdiagnosed and must then fend off the army of former colleagues trying to kill him.“
This was not a great movie, but I enjoyed it despite that. The best part of the film was easily Dave Bautista, who was engaging and entertaining. I thought he was great in everything that he had to do, from the physical and brutal killings to the more softer and emotional bits. He was funny too.
I am going to say that there were some glimpses of Bautista’s acting skill in this film. Yes, it was mostly an action fest, but Bautista has a future in more challenging roles and we can see how successful he could be.
Some of the other assassins were fun, but were nothing but cannon fodder. Drew McIntyre was one of these, and it was fun to see him. He seemed like he was having a lot of fun playing this character.
It was fun and I did enjoy Bautista. Is it a great movie? No. If you are a WWE fan, you’ll think this is a hoot. If you find big violent action films unenjoyable, then you should stay away from this.
A brand new Batman animated series dropped its ten episode season one on Amazon Prime today, and I was able to watch episode one, “In Treacherous Waters,” to kick off the new show.
This first episode, which featured the new Penguin, a female named Oswalda Cobblepot, gender-switched for the animated program. She is voiced by Minnie Driver.
The new series definitely has the same flavor of the original Batman: The Animated Series, one of the greatest cartoons of all-time. Bruce Timm is back with an involvement in this new series, so that tone similarity makes sense.
Hamish Linklater is the voice of Batman/Bruce Wayne and the style of the voice is clearly in honor of the late great, EYG Hall of Famer, Kevin Conroy. Diedrich Bader, who has done a ton of voice over acting, is Harvey Dent, Eric Morgan Stuart is Commissioner Gordon, Krystal Joy Brown is Barbara Gordon, and Jason Watkins was Alfred Pennyworth. There are several other voices to come in the remainder of the episodes.
The style on this series again reflects the original series and looks really cool. However, the story itself was, at best, okay. I did like the first episode, but that is all I have seen so far and I would say that the level of animated TV shows from this past year (X-Men ’97, What If…? etc.) rates much higher than this so far. Of course, I have only seen one episode so far and I will definitely be checking out the remaining 9 episodes of this first season as soon as I can.
Of course, the gender-swapped Penguin will probably be an issue for some, but that does not bother me in the slightest. Minnie Driver is a talented actor and works well for the character. I am sure there will be voices out there who are angry at this change who will scream to the heavens about the impropriety of making Oswald Cobblepot a female. I am sorry for your pain.
It was Previews day at Comic World today so I am back with some of the upcoming books that spoke to me. As a trendsetter, I want to be able to share with you some of the books I found as I scoured the pages of Previews. There was a series of books that felt Halloween specific.
I did not include any Marvel books last issue so I wanted to make sure I made up for that this time. One of my personal favorite X-Men character is getting her own series. Storm #1 features Ororo Munroe in her major new role as an Avenger. I love Storm and it makes me happy to see her in her own ongoing series.
An Image Comic series debuts with Hyde Street #1. Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis are the creative team behind this new title from the Ghost Machine imprint. Labeled as character-centered-horror, Hyde Street sounds like a street that you could find yourself on from any city or town. I do like a good horror comic and I am intrigued by what this book will be.
Dynamite has not been a company that I have purchased many books, but Space Ghost may be changing that idea as we get a new book based on the movie The Terminator. Declan Shalvey is the writer of The Terminator #1 and Luke Sparrow is doing the art. The iconic character could have a lot of great fun with this idea.
There is a one-shot from Zenescope Entertainment that I was so excited for. It was a one-shot featuring the Bunnyman, from Man Goat and the Bunnyman, one of my favorite duos. This book is titled The Bunnyman’s Furry Nightmare, and you can give me as much Bunnyman as possible!
There is another one-shot advertised in this Previews that was really interesting for me. Archie Comics released a book written by Cullen Bunn called The Nine Lives of Salem. Salem is a familiar for a family of witches. Books featuring cats and other animals are fairly hot right now and this looks to be a great.
Dark Horse has several interesting books this issue. There is a futuristic book called FML that i am not sure I am going to buy. It is one of those apocalyptic tales that I am not a huge fan of typically. I have considered looking at #1 of this issue to see what I thin of it. But the other ones available are Living Hell #1, the story of a demon named Jerome Jameel who escaped Hell and began a new life with his daughter (A family tale of Hell? I’m in) and You Never Heard of Me #1, showing a character with the power to touch someone and see the best and worst moment of that person’s life.
DSTLRY is a company to keep an eye on because there are some really great books coming out from them (although I do believe that they may be struggling with releasing things on time). This Previews had two books from DSTLRY that stood out: Come and Find Me: An Autumnal Offering #1, a one-shot horror anthology for Halloween, and Through Red Windows #1, from creators Ram and Joelle Jones.
When I first went through the Previews, I did not think that there was much new worth mentioning, but as I was writing down the lists, I realized that there were many more than I thought, as there were some on my list that I did not write about here. The fact that I want to let you know what books you should keep an eye out for. The one-shots seemed to be a plenty here.
This day is officially here! I have my tickets and I am just counting the hours until Deadpool & Wolverine, the latest MCU film with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. I have been dying to see this movie since the minute Hugh Jackman walked behind Ryan Reynolds in the promo. The review (non-spoiler) will be up on EYG later tonight.
This was another massive week of books, mainly because the group of books that I had missed from previous weeks. They all seemed to be here this week… except for Judgment Day #1. I’m still not sure it exists. I have #2 and #3 comes out next week (supposedly), but that #1 is just the white whale.
Some cool books this week:
Hello Darkness #1. Hello Darkness is a new anthology horror book by some of the greatest writers of the current comic world, and this is awesome. Some were better than others, but it was a surprise when there was a short story (which will be continued) by James Tynion IV about Erica Slaughter coming into a bar. I was surprised to see it in the book. Paolo Rivera did the cover art on this book.
Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #3. Written by Joe Kelly and art by Adam Kubert. Cover art was done by Kubert & Frank Martin. The short series concluded with this issue. Deadpool takes the idea of regeneration to a whole new level as blood from Deadpool that had gotten inside Wolverine and then grew out of Logan’s back. I’m not kidding.
Man Goat & the Bunnyman: Beware the Pigman #1. Written by Joe Brusha and artwork by Jordi Perez. Cover art was by Guillermo Fajardo. They’re back!!!! I was really excited about this when I saw the new issue listed in Previews. I don’t know what it is about Man Goat and Bunnyman that gets to me, but it really is so much fun and filled with humor. I mean… Batsquatch? Love them.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1. “Inmate” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Joelle Jones. Cover art was by Eric Talbot (Bronze Medalist). I saw this book on the shelf. Todd had made a reference to it and I was curious with the restart of this book, especially with Jason Aaron as the writer. So I picked it up just to see and I found myself loving it. I actually think this was my favorite story of the week. Focused in on the life of Raphael stuck in prison. I really loved this book and I am looking forward to seeing what Jason Aaron has in store for the next issue.
NYX #1. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and drawn by Francesco Mortarino. Cover art was by Sara Pichelli & Federico Blee. I love Ms. Marvel and I am excited to see her involved in this new X-book with some very intriguing characters. Laura Kinney as Wolverine showed up with a less than friendly encounter with Kamala. The first issue began setting things up for the future and i liked the way it went.
Profane #2. Written by Peter Milligan and illustrated by Raul Fernandez. The cover art was done by Javier Rodriguez. This noir-style book is fantastic as a fictional character comes into the world of non-fiction to try and solve the murder of the fictional character’s creator. It is a exceptional premise and the noir style really works well for it.
Blow Away #4. Written by Zac Thompson and illustrated by Nicola Izzo. Cover art was by Annie Wu. Things are picking up big time in this book as Brynne survived her own fall off Asgard and is recovered by the person she believed was the hunter/killer she recorded. This is the penultimate issue of this series and it sets up the finale well.
The Nice House by the Sea #1. Written by James Tynion IV and doing the art and the cover art was Alvaro Martinez Bueno (Silver medalist). This was another book that I saw on the shelf at Comic World and did not think much about at first. I loved the Nice House on the Lake by Tynion IV, but I thought this might actually be a reprint of that. When I realized that it was a sequel, I grabbed it and read it through. I loved this book and I have to say that James Tynion IV is right near the top of my current list of favorite writers. I am excited about seeing the rest of this Black Label DC book.
Moon Man #3. Script by Scott Mescudi & Kyle Higgins and art and cover art was by Marco Locati. This was another book that was missed a few weeks ago and now I have. I was not sure about this book at start, mainly because of Kid Cudi, honestly, but it has been a good read so far and I am enjoying the development of the characters around Moon Man and how things are going.
Vengeance of the Moon Knight #7. “Incarnate”. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. David Paratore did the cover art. We get to see the resurrection of Marc Specter here and his reuniting with Tigra. That was all well done, even if the death of Moon Knight only lasted a few months.
Feral #5. “Chapter Five: Fall” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner. Variant cover art by Forstner and Fleecs (Gold Medalist). This first story arc of Feral ended with this issue in a dramatic and very tragic end. Fleecs and Forstner were able to build a connection to a group of cats as they are facing off with rabid animals and humans out of wipe out all those infected. The book will continue in a few months and I will be here for it.
Rook Exodus #4. Created by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok. Jason Fabok and Brad Anderson did the cover art. The battle with Ursaw is underway and things are looking bleak for Rook and his allies. Rook is able to save Pumba in one of the best moments of the issue. However, Rook sure looks like he should have learned how to fly…
Flash Gordon #1. Written by Jeremy Adams and art by Will Conrad. Cover art by Will Conrad & Lee Loughridge. This was another book I just picked up off the shelf. I had the Free Comic Book Day issue of this, and I was curious. I have to say that, while this was okay, I do not think that I was interested in it enough to read it every month. Fans of Flash Gordon may like this.
Wolverine: Blood Hunt #4. Written by Tom Waltz and art by Juan Jose Ryp. Cover art was by Guru-eFX. The Wolverine/vampire saga wraps up with the finale against Maverick.
Void Rivals #11. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Lorenzo De Felici. Mateo Cremona & Mike Spicer did the cover art. Void Rivals has started to become a little repetitive at this point. I would like to see this move along as it feels as the last few issues have been the same thing basically.
Captain America #11. “Trying to Come Home“. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Jesus Saiz. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. Cap is dealing with Gods and Death. They return to the idea of flashbacks into Steve Rogers’ past.
Strange Academy: Blood Hunt #3. Written by Daniel Jose Older and art by Luigi Zagaria & Eric Gapstur. Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. I love the characters of the Strange Academy and seeing them stuck inside this vampire story works really well for them. I would love to see more Strange Academy in the future.
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Something is Killing the Children #39. “Road Stories Part Four“. Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’edera. This was a great issue of Something is Killing the Children. Erica Slaughter goes to therapy. I loved this issue with the one-on-one between Erica and this therapist. It really gave us a wonderful look at this character even though there was something going on besides just Erica needing therapy. Excellent issue.
Uncanny Valley #4. Written by Tony Fleecs and art and cover art by Dave Wachter. This has been a fun series so far. We get a backstory of Oliver’s mother and how she became pregnant and how she is the daughter of her animated father. One thing that was left out though was who Oliver’s father may be. Tony Fleecs has been very creative with some of the more original ideas in comics today.
No/One #10. Written by Kyle Wiggins & Brian Buccellato and art and cover art by Geraldo Borges. I have loved this series and I have been looking forward to this finale for awhile and to be honest, I found it a little underwhelming. The mystery of who is No/One is revealed…sort of… the issue implied heavily that the person revealed as No/One was not actually No/One and that was slightly disappointing.
Dracula: Blood Hunt #3. Written by Danny Lore and art by Vincenzo Carratù. Cover art was by Rod Reis. Another issue that I had missed before, I liked the use of Dracula in this Blood Hunt saga. It is also cool to see Blade’s daughter, Bloodline, in the front of the battle considering how important a character Blade is in this story. I can see the end of the road for Blood Hunt coming quickly.
Universal Monsters: Creature from the Black Lagoon #4. Written by Dan Watters & Ram V and art by Matthew Roberts. Roberts & Dave Stewart did the cover art. I found this four-issue series engaging and exciting. The art is beautiful and the story was easy to follow. This was the first of the covers that did not receive a medal.
Local Man #12. Written by Tony Fleecs and Tim Seeley. Fleecs and Seeley share sections of the art as well. Big confrontations in this issue as Jack, Inga and Sheriff Bucholz get into their own issues. Local Man was Eisner nominated for Best New Series, so congrats and good luck.
Zatanna: Bring Down the House #2. Written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn and cover art by Javier Rodriguez. Once again, this is a very interesting take on the character of Zatanna. It seems as if Zatanna is in denial about her ability to do magic. I am not sure where in context this series is set, but I am enjoying it so far.
Something Epic #12. Written and illustrated by Szymon Kudranski. This has been an excellent arc for this series as Noa faces off with Set and Sirus in her apartment to the unhappiness of her downstairs neighbors. Honestly, there is a big reveal at the end of the book, but I am not sure exactly whom that is intended to be. It was quite dramatic though.
Self Help #1 and #2. Written by Owen King & Jesse Kellerman with art by Marianna Ignazzi. Jerry Hauser is a down on his luck driver, but he finds himself in a plot to impersonate self-help guru Darren Hart. This new Image series has had some ups and downs early, but I am curious to see where it goes.
X-Men #1. “Fire-Baptized Special” Written by Jed MacKay and illustrated by Ryan Stegman. I have the virgin variant cover by John Tyler Christopher featuring Magik. I have been waiting for this issue for awhile as it was not sent to Comic World properly. This is a great X-Men team featuring Cyclops, Beast, Juggernaut, Magneto as well as several others. The X-Men set in Alaska sounds fun too. Because of the lateness of this issue, I also ordered the Peach Momoko cover off eBay.
Other books this week: The Six Fingers #5, Ultimate Black Panther #6, The Addiction #1, Project: Cryptid #11, Minor Threats #4, Blood Squad Seven #3, and Monsters are My Business #4.
There is a lot to talk about with the penultimate episode of season seven of The Boys. I do not think that this show can be considered an allegory any longer. With the whole January 6th reference for the planned assassination of the president, as well as the obvious connections to our current political climate, the Boys is anything but subtle. The whole Christmas song, although very funny, might have been on the nose too much.
Sticking with the singing puppets Christmas special, I do love what Ryan does at the end of the episode, stepping up and talking live on the television about how this isn’t right. He felt very sincere and affecting. The only trouble I had with it was that was not the way Ryan seemed to be going last episode. It felt like a very different response and so I am not sure what that character is actually feeling. Maybe it is supposed to be that way considering he is a teen and they can be inconsistent as a rule. I just am having a difficulty with the overall execution for this character.
The Deep, however, is completely different. His arc of the season has been a rough one, messing with his self-image and confounding what he wants. I actually gasped when he crashed that aquarium, which led to the death of his octopus lover. Tilda Swinton was genius level voice over in this episode as she voiced first the anger and betrayal felt by Ambrosius and then the despair as her love Deep allowed her to suffocate to death trapped in a closet. This was very much an allegory for domestic abuse and, because of this, the Deep took a step of a descent into losing what little humanity he had remianing.
What can we say about poor Hughie? He has taken such a beating this season, mostly emotionally. He lost his father. He was assaulted sexually by Tek Knight (and Ashley too). His girlfriend’s abortion is plastered across the TV (something, by the way, that we have not had a reaction from Hughie about. What was his thoughts of Annie’s choice?). And now a shapeshifter comes into his home with Annie and has sex with him in the form of Annie, all to get the info they had on Victoria. I feel so badly for Hughie this season and I think he will have a lot of problems moving forward.
The fight scene between Butcher and Starlight and The Deep and Black Noir in the Boys’ office was tremendous and gave us some cheer out loud moments. The arrival of A-Train to save the day and then the arrival of Mother’s Milk with a Gatlin gun were two amazing moments within this fight that were just sparkling hero moments. I used to hate A-Train, but his redemption is complete for me as I see him as a hero and, perhaps, my favorite character on the show. I hope he survives.
Homelander had a tough emotional episode that will clearly lead into whatever craziness is in store for the finale. Antony Starr’s sly side eye to Firecracker’s breast near the end of the show was utterly perfect. Homelander’s tears at A-Train being revealed as the leak was amazing. It gives you a glance inside the mind of him and his deep neuroses. Then he watches as his son speaks to the nation live on TV. This does not feel like it will end well.
I do not know where this is heading, but it seems apparent that next week’s episode will deal with the plot to assassinate the president on January 6th. That makes sense. How it all falls together, I have no idea. It does feel as if The Deep’s story is wrapping up and I wonder if he will be killed. I hope A-Train makes it through. How will Sister Sage work into this since Homelander fired her? Will Butcher live past this season? He did not look good at the end of E7.
I don’t know how this is wrapped up, but I can see a rocket lashed to this show heading into its final season after this.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 