Ahead of the release of X-Men: Apocalypse, the crew over at Screen Junkies the seminal X-Men: the Animated Series an Honest Trailer. This show over twenty years remains one of the greatest superhero cartoons ever made, even if the censors prevented Wolverine from truly being able to let loose. So if you are a child of the 90s, why not check it out.
Comics are weird. So often we forget the joy that comes with the bizarre nature of the medium. The joy that such oddities bring is why we love this form. Yet, it also is a barrier to entry for many. Sometimes, however, we get wonderfully wacky creations like Scooby Apocalypse ; a dystopian take on everyone’s favourite crime-solving gang and their dumb dog. Having already teamed up with Vincent Price, encountered extraterrestrial life and engaged in a monster derby, the only logical place to take Scooby and Mystery Inc. was the end of days itself.
Scooby Apocalypse follows books like Afterlife with Archie and the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in putting classic cartoon/comic characters, in scenarios that starkly contrast their light-hearted origins. The conceit here is that each character, while retaining their core characteristics, is radically re-invented from their iconic counterparts. Scooby, for example, is presented as a genetically engineered experiment (loving branded subject 24602) as a way of explaining his limited intelligence and speech ability. Velma is the one character who differs substantially from her original form as the quirky, nerdy sleuth is turned into a near nihilistic Oppenheimer; scared of her own creations. There is a limit to when concept encroaches on character and this book tethers on the edges of style over substance.
One is left wondering if the story itself would have been better served if the classic version of the gang faced the end of the world. This inaugural issue marks the first time that these versions of Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby meet. Instead, we are presented with facsimiles of the iconic characters who we have little relation with. Continuity may not have been one of the franchise’s strong suits, but it would give a weight to the series that it currently lacks.
There is a lot of exposition in this issue, in order to explain how the Umbrella Corporation Complex created a nano-tech virus that turned humanity into Scooby’s rogue gallery of monsters. This style of information dumping isn’t something that the Scooby Doo franchise has ever shed away from. Indeed, the series is premised on characters explaining another’s motivations in a master-class of show don’t tell. Having Velma becoming self-aware of her tendency to monologue to herself, is in many ways, a loving tip of the hat to continuity, but it is also a clear of example of the writers trying to be a bit too clever for their own good. The dialogue, therefore, ranges from clunky world-building to compelling Whedon-esque character moments which is a shame because it truly excels when it gives the gang breathing space to allow their personalities to manifest. It is in those quiet moments that we remember why these characters have endured for nearly 50 years.
Howard Porter’S interior artwork presents our heroes in a photo-realistic style that ground them in a semblance of reality. It does so to great effect, even if the sight of Shaggy as a modern-day hipster rather than his more traditional beatnik is quite jarring. Meanwhile, Scooby manages to retain his cartoonish charm even with his revised mad science origins. This style, much like Afterlife with Archie, serves to distinguish this iteration of its predecessors. Rather than present itself as cynical “not your father’s Scooby Doo”, the art serves to highlight the cruelty of this new world and the challenges that Mystery Inc. will face. Rather than the cheap, stock-footage cartoons of the past, they are real flesh and blood characters. For the first time, they are as fragile and mortal as the rest of us, something that not even the live-action movies were able to achieve. For the initiated, eagle-eyed Hanna-Barbara fans may also catch references to Dyno-Mutt among others in the backgrounds, though as the title suggests they may not be long for this world.
If it feels like Scooby Apocalypse was a book designed by committee then you aren’t far off the mark. Although Jim Lee is credited with the initial concept, Keith Griffin handled the plot and breakdowns while J.M. DeMatteis handled the dialogue. The term “too many cooks” springs to mind. The result is as mixed a bag as one might expect which makes this quite a difficult comic to review. I am slow to call this a bad comic by any means because when it focuses on these characters and their relationships, it does to tremendous success. It certainly suffers from a sever case of “set-up syndrome” where the weight of establishing it’s own concept overpowers the more personal tale it wants to tell. There is potential here for a compelling narrative about a group of meddling-kids way in over their heads. It longs to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but often forgets that it was the characters and not the concept that made that series work. This has the bones of the classic Scooby Doo underdog story and the talent to execute it, but they need to return to first principles. The creative team has a way to go if they want to earn themselves a Scooby Snack.
A review copy was kindly provided by the publisher; DC Comics.
With DC Rebirth around the corner, Geoff Johns, DC’s CCO and writer of the upcoming mini-series, has stated that he will personally buy back any copies from fans disappointed with the story.
This news came from comicbook.com, in an interview with the longstanding writer. Johns stated in the interview, “If anyone wants to check out comics, wants to check out DC Universe Rebirth #1 and doesn’t like it, they can mail [the comicbook] to Warner Bros., to me, and I will send them a check, I literally will, for both postage and for the book. I will buy all these books back because I believe in this issue a lot. I think it’ll do very well. I hope it does well. But I seriously will; I’ll buy back this book.”
This will also be Geoff Johns’s last writing in the comic book as his recent promotion to co-heading DC’s film division, as well as running the television projects already on the air, will take too much time to attend to the writing of several comic book franchises. However, Johns is more than excited for this storyline, stating that this would help bring back the sense of hope and optimism missing from the comics following the New 52 introduction. This is also something he is hoping to fix in the DCEU as soon as possible.
Source: comicbook.com
“VIVA LA LOUVRE.” There’s no such thing as a coincidence, and the open ectoplasmic hostility at the Louvre go a long way towards proving that point. Can the Ghostbusters fend off a spectral assault without damaging one of the greatest art depositories in the known world? Um… can we get back to you on that?
As the team works to find out what is happening at the Louvre, Egon is working to figure out what is going on with the weird markings they keep running into. He stumbles on a lead to a much more powerful puppet master at work. Its nice the plot is finally starting to move a bit. Sure it hard to follow up the last storyline where the Ghostbusters ended up losing the firehouse but this new series really seems to be taking its time with doing anything major with any of the characters. It’s was starting to feel like the purpose of the new book was just to be able to fight ghosts at different European landmarks. Writer Erik Burnham does seem to know where he’s going with the story but just seems to be taking a while to get there.
The art is striking at the right times. The ghost they fight at the Louvre looks incredible menacing and seems be a homage to the Colossal Titan from Attack on Titan. The ghost causes all the different exhibits to come to life which is very creepy to see in motion. Dan Schoening’s art and Luis Antonio Delgado on colors really is a winning combination.
Though they are finally starting to make some connections to the mysterious symbols they keep finding, the new series is moving slower than previous ones. Hopefully the team is leading the readers to a bigger destination. Still, the book remains incredible entertaining filled with the humor and action fans have come to expect. Even if this turns out to be a more average Ghostbusters’ story, it will still be a very entertaining one.
There’s something unbelievable going on in Tinseltown: it’s a very quiet, slow-burning, Mel Gibson comeback. After popping up in Cannes this month to promote his revenge flick Blood Father (sounds excruciating), and making a handful of public appearances over the last year at premieres (namely the Mad Max: Fury Road premiere last year), the volatile and probably mentally unstable Gibson’s name is beginning to just sort of creep back into the pop culture news stream. I’m calling it now, the guy will be back on a regular basis before long.
Shane Black has been a busy man too, making the rounds to promote The Nice Guys – which, go see it please – and last week at Uproxx he made a throwaway comment about Robert Downey Jr. himself possibly wanting Mel Gibson to direct Iron Man 4, which RDJ has said he’s on board to make. It was a blip in an extensive interview, but still worth noting:
*Would you do another Iron Man? Downey seems to have changed his position and is open to another.
I think he wants Mel Gibson to direct it.
*Really? Downey has been supportive of Gibson.
And for good reason. Mel was great to him. Mel’s been really nice to a lot of people, including me. I’ll go on record saying I don’t believe anyone should be held accountable in any way for something they say while they are drunk. It’s not who they are. I know this because I’ve said horrible things to people and made them feel bad. And it wasn’t who I was, I was just drunk. Mel’s a great guy and I understand his new directing project is actually quite interesting. So, whatever. If you say something sober it’s one thing. If you’re drunk, you’re going to deliberately be belligerent just to piss people off. You know the effect you’re having and you don’t care. Yeah, one of these days, maybe Downey will do another one. I’d love to work with Robert again.
Again, just a throwaway line, but rumor-worthy and probably never going to happen. Handing a nutcase like Mel Gibson the keys to one of Disney’s biggest franchises in a string of insurmountably dominant franchise films would be totally insane. And yeah, Black says don’t blame the guy because he was drunk and people say bad shit when their drunk, but you can’t convince me those insane rants we’ve heard either first or secondhand from Gibson aren’t his true feelings on some very touchy issues.
Gibson is anti-semitic and definitely not the greatest guy, no matter how his previous transgressions are spun as alcoholism run amok. I’m sure he’s a great guy to his friends, and he and RDJ have probably been close for a while – they did star in Air America ages ago and they probably shared some late nights together before RDJ got his act together. But let’s just tap the brakes on Gibson returning to the director’s chair for an Iron Man movie, of all things.
Those meddling kids—Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and their dog, Scooby-Doo—get more ghost-debunking than they bargained for when faced with a fundamental change in their world. The apocalypse has happened. Old rules about logic no longer apply. The creatures of the night are among us, and the crew of the Magical Mystery Machine has to fight to survive—because in the apocalyptic badlands of the near-future, the horrors are real!This new monthly series takes Scooby and the gang to a whole new level and features character designs by comics superstar Jim Lee!
The second installment of DC Comics’ attempt to re-imagine Hanna Barbara characters tries to add a darker spin on those meddling kids. Of all three of the series announced this was the one which resonated with the fan base because of the wall concepts and character designs. Now, after all is said and done, a new cry will ring aloud as people read the issue and collectively proclaim: “Meh”.
Let’s ignore the whole hatred people had with the idea of “Shaggy is a hipster using terms like “Sheeple,”” argument and focus on what else this series has to offer. The issue is filled with exposition to explain this new world Scooby and the crew will be exploring. It can be easily summed up as Velma is working in a facility which did wild experiment including engineering Scooby (which is why he can talk) and the world will be full of monsters thanks to nanotechnology they release by the end of the issue. There! The premise is explained in one sentence instead of the eight pages of panels it takes Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis (who is actually credited as “Dialog and More Dialog”) to accomplish. They properly could have gone with a little less dialogue and come out alright and simplify it. It’s a series with a talking dog. There really isn’t a need for extensive explanations of how it all came to be. Readers are perfectly okay with notions like “Evil Research Facility” to explain what happened.. There is a small back up story about Shaggy’s first day at the facility and why him and Scooby are so close which is nice. Good to know as much as things change, Shaggy and Scooby will always be the best of friends.
Howard Porter’s art is serviceable but a bit odd. Every character is drawn with shiny lips like they coated them with lip gloss. This wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t in every single panel. There’s a lot of good detail work in the wider shots but the issue is so full of panels with talking heads it’s hard not to notice this odd choice with character designs.
So there it is. The most wild and off the wall attempt to reinvent Scooby Doo in a while and it sadly comes off as bland. Maybe in the following issues with the plot established there will be more intrigue but for now there doesn’t seem to be much substance here.
ComiXology, an Amazon.com subsidiary, announced today that they are joining the ranks of Marvel and unveiled a new subscription plan called comiXology Unlimited. “We’re in a new golden age of storytelling with more incredible comics, graphic novels and manga than ever before,” said comiXology’s CEO and Co-Founder David Steinberger. “ComiXology Unlimited is fantastic portal to tons of great comics at a ridiculously great price. Get in there and start exploring.” They are giving their users the chance to freely read thousands of comics, graphic novels, and manga.
The service features books from Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, BOOM! Studios, Dynamite Entertainment, Kodansha Comics, Oni Press, Valiant Entertainment, Archie Comics, Fantagraphics Books, Humanoids, Action Lab Entertainment, Aspen Comics, Zenescope Entertainment and more. The features include:
“You may have heard of Love and Rockets, Krazy Catand Ignatz, or Lumberjanes – but had no idea where to start reading or what collection to buy. Now you can simply start reading all these great titles today,” said John D. Roberts, comiXology Co-Founder. “ComiXology is changing the game again. First, we ignited digital via our Guided View reading technology. Now, with comiXology Unlimited, everyone can easily explore the expansive world of comics.”
ComiXology Unlimited debuts in the USA today and will open to other regions soon. Start your one-month free trial at https://www.comixology.com/unlimited.
Quotes are taken from a press releases provided by ComiXology.
The first trailer for Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond was not well received but it looks like the second trailer is much more promising. They have released a new international poster that is very bright. We’re seeing a lot of Sofia Boutella’s (Kingsman: The Secret Service) character Jaylah so perhaps this Trek movie will do better by its female characters than previous installments. If nothing else it’s a good looking poster.
Are you excited for Star Trek Beyond? Let us know in the comments.
Star Trek Beyond is directed by Justin Lin and stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, and Simon Pegg. it comes out July 22, 2016.
The X-Men franchise has seen incredible highs and lows over the last 16 years, since it blazed a new trail for superhero movies in 2000. From Bryan Singer’s first two films, to Brett Ratner’s abysmal entry, to spinoffs and new casts, X-Men has always been somewhat of a stepchild when it comes to the genre. Ahead of X-Men: Apocalypse this weekend, let’s look back at the seven entries (including those Wolverine flicks. Not including Deadpool) and see how they stack up:
7. X-Men Origins: Wolverine – Following the commercial success of the original trilogy, a spinoff of the X-Men’s most compelling character, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, made perfect sense. Unfortunately, the movie itself made little to no sense, and was a mess of misused characters and aimless storytelling. And it’s definitely the worst portrayal of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool we’ve had thus far…
6. X-Men: The Last Stand – Brett Ratner’s failed entry into the original trilogy sure felt like the last stand at the time. With a profound lack of awareness of his characters, Ratner’s film transfers from a weird CGI opening scene into a series of empty-headed action scenes and the very definition of more is less.
5. X-Men – The debut of the franchise still didn’t quite have its legs beneath it. Singer’s first film is morose and dreary, almost to a fault, but it nevertheless introduces us to the franchise’s most interesting characters. It was the breakout role for Hugh Jackman, perhaps the most perfect fit for a comic book character this side of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man.
4. The Wolverine – After the first Wolverine spinoff, it seemed the branch to the franchise may have died before it could even begin. However, the second installment was superior in just about every way. Taking Logan to Japan, a staple in his 80s comic adventures, and benefiting from lowered expectations, James Mangold’s film succeeded in giving our hero something worth fighting for.
3. X-Men: First Class – Matthew Vaughn’s reset was certainly a breath of fresh air for the characters, taking us back to the tumultuous 60s where the characters began. The Cold War setting was fully realized and richly textured, and casting Michael Fassbender as Magneto was a definite coup.
2. X2: X-Men United – By the time the second Singer film came around, the director was more confident, the budget was bigger, and the actors more comfortable in their roles. The sociological implications of these mutants on earth took center stage, which was a key element in the comics and what made them so indelible for fans, and the inclusion of Nightcrawler was pretty sweet to boot.
1. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Clunky title aside, this most recent entry saw the return of Singer to the franchise, and completely understood the misfit elements of these characters. On top of that, the 70s setting and the time travel all worked in perfect harmony, creating an expansive and complicated morality play amid some terrific action set pieces.
Right when this Finding Dory trailer begins, you hear the sound of Bill Hader’s voice, and you know everything is going to be okay.
Finding Dory, Pixar’s first “long gap” sequel (Nemo came out 13 years ago!) puts the focus squarely on Marlin’s sidekick from the original film, voiced by Ellen Degeneres. This story picks up a mere six months after the original, and after becoming homesick, Dory decides to try and find where she came from.
Here’s the trailer:
I’m game for anything in this world, especially since my two-year old son has recently begun to get into these Pixar films and is currently consuming Finding Nemo like only a two-year old can do: a thousand times in a row.
Aside from Hader and Degeneres, Albert Brooks returns as Marlin, with newcomers Idris Elba, Kate McKinnon, Dominic West, Ed O’Neill, and Diane Keaton headlining a seemingly endless cast of recognizable voices. Andrew Stanton directs, as well as returns to voice Crush the turtle. Far out!
Finding Dory hits theaters June 17.
